Capítulo 65: Interlude: Star's End I
Captain Jennifer Zamoyski and Lieutenant Commander Elisa Bohm had spent the past six months ingratiating themselves and their crew to Morgan Fletcher and her subordinate Pirate Lords. Their Avenger-class Assault Dropship, the Steinberg Mount was rechristened the Valkyr and repainted to a matte black with silver-grey accents instead of the more uniform red and white of the Grand Ducal Flotillas. It helped that a lot of their crew had roots in Rasalhague and thus were easy to spin off as deserters from the Aerospace elements of the Draconis Combine's Rasalhague Military District looking to make their fortunes as pirates.
The fact that both the Captain and Second in Command were women helped as well. Morgan Fletcher was a noted misandrist, owing to an attempted sexual assault early in her career. This never would have worked with a Male Captain. However, both Jennifer and Elisa had managed to spin a tale of the horrors perpetrated on female spacers by Combine officers, one such abuse having led to them commandeering the Avenger from its Tai-Sho, a disgusting pig of a man from Yamarovka, and his XO, an equally disgusting man from Courchevel. It was all fake, of course, but they'd been coached on selling the story by Agents Rydzyk and Engdahl of the Ministry of the Interior, both men posing as technicians in Engineering and waiting for their cue.
At any rate, it wasn't difficult. Morgan Fletcher swallowed the story greedily and within four months, both Jennifer and Elisa were among her personal favorites. They and the Steinberg Mount had been assigned to the pickets guarding the Vasilisa Asteroid Base, where the control system for the various batteries and launchers of the Ship Defense System was held. It helped that they captained an Avenger-class. The class was pretty heavily armed for such a small ship, with about as many guns as a Union-class and Armor just about on par with an Overlord-class. Both the Union-class and Overlord-class were much larger and significantly slower than the Avenger-class, thanks to their roles as troop transports. The Avenger-class meanwhile, was an assault craft.
Mind you, the Steinberg Mount was also quite different in several key ways from the other Dropships of her class. The standard armor most Avengers had was replaced by Ferro-Aluminum, the Autocannon Fives in the nose have been replaced with Ultra-Autocanon Versions, the heat sinks replaced with Double Heat Sinks, the large lasers replaced with Extended Range Variants, the Medium Lasers replaced by Pulse Variants, and the LRM Launchers had been upgraded with Artemis Four Fire Control Systems. It was, in essence, a completely superior ship compared to the stock model, one that was being pumped out by the Iron Land Shipyard as a Pocket WarShip for system patrol and defense.
Of course, care had been taken to ensure that any of the Pirate Technicians be kept away from too close an inspection of the ship. The Matte Black paint job and a bit of chicanery with weapon casings by the Ministry of the Interior had ensured that anyone taking a glancing look at the ship wouldn't notice the upgrades, but a more thorough look would discover the changes. Then the whole game would be up. Fortunately, Morgan Fletcher's favor meant that they were allowed to use their own technicians. Ironically, Morgan Fletcher's biases would be the cause of her own downfall. It had been signals received by K-class Transmitter, another technical item that would have given them away if they hadn't played to those biases, that had told them to begin operations.
The flotilla would arrive at the belt in four standard hours, after calculating a jump from a pirate point that shortcut the vast majority of the time from the Jump Point using telemetry sent from the Steinberg Mount and corroborated by the powerful computers onboard the flotilla. When they jumped in, they would be close enough to the belt that unless the SDS system was shut off, they would immediately begin taking fire from the various emplacements in the belt. The SDS system needed to be neutralized before then.
This brought Agents Rydzyk and Engdahl back into play, as the pair made their way onto the Vasilisa Asteroid Base to shut down the SDS in advance of the arrival of the invasion force. Somehow, the two, nearly identical-looking, agents had managed to sneak their way into Morgan Fletcher's office and grab the access codes. Jennifer and Elisa were puzzled by how they'd managed that. When Jennifer had asked, they looked at each other before speaking up.
"It wasn't difficult. Morgan Fletcher drinks fairly heavily." Offered Agent Rydzyk.
"We simply brought her some Vodka spiked with a chemical agent that would simulate passing out, compliments of you and Lieutenant Commander Bohm. Reportedly, Morgan Fletcher is currently holed up in her quarters, too hungover to do much at the moment." Added Agent Engdahl.
"Her passing out gave us the opening needed to copy the access codes. Plus, she will be unable to take the field against the invasion force until tomorrow." Informed Agent Rydzyk.
"At which time, we'll have control of space and have at least taken New Silesia and the other supplemental Asteroids." Nodded Agent Engdahl.
"Leaving only the planet of Novo Cressidas, which should fall with a determined push over the next few weeks." Insisted Agent Rydzyk.
"By mid-December at the latest, we should have control of the system." Mused Agent Engdahl.
"Which fulfills our treaty obligations just in time." Remarked Agent Rydzyk.
"All right, how will you get into the command room, though? You have the access codes for the System, but the room itself is guarded." Questioned Elisa.
"Why, with the right uniforms, of course." Chorused both agents at once in an oddly offputting tone.
Jennifer and Elisa just let it go and let the two Agents get ready for their operation. It seemed like they had everything under control and it was better that they take the time to prepare instead of answering their questions anyway. After all, there was a lot riding on the pair's success and not just in terms of the Alliance Treaty with the Lyrans either. Jennifer, Elisa, and their crew would be right in the middle of any fracas should Agents Rydzyk and Engdahl be caught.
And nobody wanted to have to rely on Morgan Fletcher's mercy when the truth was revealed. . .
XXXX
Andi West and Martina Ustanov were two of the guards hand-picked by Morgan Fletcher herself to guard the SDS Control room on the Vasilisa Asteroid Base. Mind you, if Morgan could pick solely from her own, all-female, crew, she would have. Unfortunately, she had eight other Pirate Lords under her that she needed to placate, and while some of them were women, none of them had an all-female Crew like Morgan Fletcher's. Case in point, the two technicians that were standing in front of them, waiting impatiently for Andi and Martina to check out the security codes they'd given. Both of the men were oddly identical, both being average-looking with dark brown hair and green eyes. They were the sort of faces that would vanish into a crowd if not for the uniforms they wore. The blue, gray, and white arctic fatigues and tactical vests marked them as members of Pirate Lord Douglas McConnell's crew. The ice blue sash they wore at their waists revealed them to be technicians from his flagship, the Polar Wolf.
"What's taking so long? Lord McConnell isn't accustomed to having his men be forced to wait to take up their duties!" Growled the one on the right, security codes saying he was Technician First Class Piotr Yustapov.
"Yes, I'm sure the lads inside would prefer if they weren't kept waiting to be relieved too. Pissed-off technicians can get creative with how they take revenge." Scowled the one on the left, security codes saying he was Technician Second Class Erik Hoglund.
"Fine. The codes check out, and we're supposed to be relieved in a couple hours anyway." Sighed Andi.
"Go on through." Agreed Martina.
As she hit the switch to open the blast door of the Command Bunker for the SDS, Martina waved both men through. The pair of Lord McConnell's men swaggered through the open blast door with a sneer to let the pair of technicians at the terminal inside, two from Lord Javier DeSouza's crew in their jungle camouflage and orange sashes, that their relief was here. Both of DeSouza's technicians grinned with relief as they went swaggering out of the Bunker, taking a sharp right toward the lift up to the level above, where the Base Cantina was.
"Typical men." Scoffed Martina.
"Indeed." Agreed Andi.
She hit the switch again and the blast doors to the SDS Command Bunker closed, sealing McConnell's technicians inside. . .
XXXX
Agent Mariusz Rydzyk grinned as he began to input the command codes for the SDS system. He knew that would work, after all, all they'd had to do was ambush the two actual Technicians, take their uniforms and security codes, and do a bit of creative digital editing. With how decentralized the command structure was outside the topmost levels, there was a very good chance the Guards on duty wouldn't know they weren't the men the security codes said they were. It had helped that people went missing all the time in such pirate havens. With the advanced computers on board their ship, it'd been a small matter to edit their photos in place of the two dead Pirates.
Now all anyone in command would know was that Technicians Yustapov and Hoglund had checked into their shift. The normal shift for technicians was six hours, meaning the invasion force would arrive two hours before the end of their shift. Fortunately, they'd timed this whole operation to start during the changing of the guard shifts. They would disable the SDS system and make their way out of the bunker under the cover of the stealth suits they had paid a rather greedy pirate who had lost a bet and been forced to work janitorial shifts to stash in the lockers in the bunker. Mind you, the Stealth suits were disguised inside tool chests. Apparently, when a technician says they want a full range of tools in case something needs to be fixed, nobody questions it.
"How are we doing with the command codes, Felix?" Queried Mariusz.
"Almost finished authenticating. What do you think? Just shutting it down is suspicious. What should we do here?" Asked his partner, Felix Engdahl.
"It is a bunch of M-Six Targe systems from the old Rim Worlds Republic right? Stuff that isn't exactly as cutting edge as the stuff the SLDF put up over Terra, with their drone warships and Pavise Assault Stations?" Frowned Mariusz.
"It is, but it's still formidable enough to swat the invasion flotilla out of space, especially with the emplacements hidden in the asteroid belt. Why?" Questioned Felix.
"Because the maintenance cycle on those had an exploitable flaw. Why do you think that Stefan Amaris upgraded to the M-Eight Scutum system when he was building out his Castle Bryan copy on Apollo? If we put it into maintenance mode, it's locked there until the maintenance cycle completes in the next twelve hours. The only workaround for that is to shut down the system and try to crash restart the whole thing." Answered Mariusz.
"That's perfect!" Grinned Felix.
"I know, I know." Chuckled Mariusz.
As soon as the command codes were authenticated, Felix and Mariusz began inputting the commands for the SDS System to go into maintenance mode. The system immediately went on standby and began running diagnostics. Mariusz went over to the equipment lockers and retrieved the tool crate, cracking open the code-sealed lock to reveal a pair of new M-Twelve-A Chameleon Sneaksuits, along with a pair of silenced, Buccaneer Arms, N-Seven Stiletto Needler Pistols. They began to don the Sneaksuits and belt on the pistols silently and efficiently as they could.
The Chameleon Sneaksuits took all the best features of the M-Eleven-J Cloaking Device and added an experimental Active Camouflage system which would help not only deflect scanning signals but also help defy visual identification as well. This would be its first real test, though. Meanwhile, the Buccaneer Arms Stilletto used a combination of proven technologies and advanced materials to fire monomolecular flechettes silently enough to avoid detection by passers-by. Ideally, the Stilettos wouldn't have to be used, but this wasn't an ideal world. In the event things got out of hand or the new sneaksuits failed, the pistols would need to be employed. With their jobs done, Mariusz Rydzyk and Felix Engdahl sat down to wait for their moment.
It would come in the next few hours. . .
XXXX
Commodore Marko Niskanen had been assured everything was ready for his arrival. The telemetry from the Steinberg Mount was good and their jump point was confirmed, Agents Rydzyk and Engdahl were some of the best the Ministry of the Interior had and they were working on the SDS System. Their opponents didn't have a clue what was coming. Everything was, seemingly, ready to go. Still, he was a more cautious man by nature than Emma Clarke over in the First Flotilla or even old Ramesh Singh in the Fleet Reserve. He had yet to get a read on Commodore Juliusz Mickiewicz over in Third Flotilla or Christoph Torp in the Hidden Flotilla at Iron Land, so he couldn't say for them. Still, it made him want to be sure.
"Check the calculations once more." He ordered.
"Aye, sir. Checking calculations again." Confirmed Lieutenant Commander Ilyssa Černý, Chief Technical Officer aboard his flagship for this mission, the Star Lord-Class Jumpship Fir Bolg.
For a few long minutes, there was no sound but that of the whirring of instruments and the clacking of fingers on terminal keys, then Ilyssa Spoke up once more, confirming the computer's calculations based on the sent telemetry. That was three times the calculations had been checked, one more than even most conservative commanders would have them checked. Commodore Niskanen nodded, he couldn't exactly have them check again without looking a bit mad at best and cowardly at worst. Blowing a sigh out of his pursed lips he nodded before giving his next command.
"Very well. I'll be transferring my flag over to the Pentagon Two-class Assault Dropship Summa. When I'm ensconced there, I'll give the signal to jump." Intoned Commodore Niskanen.
"Aye sir, we'll be standing by." Affirmed Lieutenant Commander Černý.
Then Commodore Marko Niskanen turned and headed for the Summa. The ship was one of the new class of Pentagon Twos that had been rolling out of the fleet yards at Iron Land. The armor had been upgraded to Ferro-Aluminum and the nine PPCs had been replaced with six more Gauss Rifles and the Medium Lasers had been upgraded to Pulse Lasers. Of course, all heat sinks were doubles as well. It was one hell of a ship from which to fight an Aerospace Battle.
Last he'd heard, there were plans for a missile-boat version mounting AR-Ten Capital Missile Launchers, as it was a potential solution to the WarShip bottleneck afflicting the Iron Land Yards, who could only churn out a pair of Mako-class Corvettes a year, even with their automated dockyard systems running full-tilt. The slipways just weren't large enough and they couldn't build more until the technology to do so was regained. You could make fifty Missile Boat Pentagon Twos for one Mako-class and there would be less of a need to hide them, as they weren't true WarShips.
Regardless, now wasn't the time for such thoughts. Commodore Marko Niskanen shook his head as he stepped onto the bridge of the Pentagon Two-class Assault Dropship Summa. He looked around at his crew, Lieutenant Commander Jerzy Kaczmarek as the executive officer, Lieutenant Jane Sullivan on sensors, Lieutenant Marianne Bauer at the helm, Lieutenant Wulf Fredriksen on Weapons, and Lieutenant Romana Krupa on Communications. It was a good crew, all veterans of other skirmishes and battles, all knew their jobs. With a nod, Commodore Niskanen gave the command for all ships to jump into the engagement zone.
And the Battle of Stars End officially began. . .
XXXX
AN: The next chapter is already up on my Patreon, so check the link in the threadmarked post if you guys feel like throwing me a couple bucks to get chapters in advance. Everyone who does is super appreciated and I can't thank my patrons enough.
So yeah, here you get to see a bit of the prep work for the Battle of Stars End and get to see some of the Naval Improvements that have been made to various Dropship designs over the past couple of years, along with a hint of things to come with the mention of Anti-Capital Missile Boat Variants of the Pentagon Two-class Assault Dropship. The bottleneck is real, and the limit for WarShips that can be produced at Iron Land tops out at three-hundred-thousand tons. That generally means that until some homegrown designs get made, Mako-class Corvettes are going to mostly be what is being built in terms of WarShips.
On the SDS System of Stars End. I ran into problems researching it because the Periphery Books don't go into too much detail. Even the stuff in the twenty-year update is vague. We pretty much only know that they use the giant asteroid belt as a base. I've interpreted that to mean that it's a less advanced system that uses asteroid-based weapons emplacements controlled by a central bunker, instead of any of the geostationary station-battleships or drone ships you see in places like Terra.
Don't crucify me for that, there literally wasn't anything canon to go on.
At any rate, the next chapter will be the second Stars End Interlude, then we'll be back with Jozef.
Stay tuned. . .
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