“Hey, Julian, were you expecting a delivery?” Rampart asked him quietly.
“We were supposed to be picking up the last bit of supplies before we disappear on our mission, why?”
“Uh...there’s a guy with a clipboard and a couple of thousand tons of cargo. And personnel. Were we taking on new personnel?”
“Let me check…”
Julian flipped the comm channels to the encrypted LIC frequencies and dialed out.
“Lieutenant Sanders, how can i help you?” The soft velvet snuck into his ear.
“Ma’am, the last supply run we were supposed to get before we took off seems much larger than previously anticipated.”
“That’s not our supply drop. Our last bit of kit should be arriving on a freighter tomorrow. That’s a whole different kettle of problems.”
“What is it?”
“My understanding of the situation is that Dr. Kirov promised Hogarth a supply drop before the Sokolovs were taken. 7th Kommando has been lighting up the intelligence community looking for the Dead Man’s Hand and the Aces.”
“7th Kommando? What do the Dragoons have to do with this?”
“They have a lot of loyalty to one of their retired officers. Once they found out where you were, they poked a little deeper and after we had a long shouting match, they offered to provide additional intelligence assets and resources, if they could tag along with your mission.”
“Woah, i don’t need any cowboys running around this mission, It’s going to be stupidly dangerous as it is.”
“You are the mission commander, as far as they are concerned. I am told that Ghan will keep order among the tagalongs, and that he has intelligence resources that we could not have otherwise been able to secure. Remember Julian, they share a distrust of Comstar and are looking for answers as well. If at anytime you feel they are a detriment to the mission, your ship has containment cells for a reason.”
“I don’t like this.”
“I don’t like the weather, but it is still the weather.”
“Understood. I’ll get them stowed away and ready for the last drop in a couple of days.”
Julian flipped the comm signal back to Rampart. “Yeah, they are a late present.”
“Oh good, you still better get down here.”
“Why?”
“Because, i think Hayden’s about to take a swing at one of them.”
“What, why?”
“See, if you started walking the first time i suggested it, you’d be halfway to knowing the answer to that question.”
Julian frowned for a moment and grabbed his duty jacket.
The Cargo bay of the Mule
The impressive looking man with the clipboard was waiting at the bottom of the ramp. A half dozen heavy loaders were behind him waiting for authorization to begin the delivery. Julian’s eyes narrowed. He’d seen a person with that build before.
“Can i help you?”
“Are you Julian Sanders, Lieutenant in the AFFC, and the liaison officer for the mercenary command ‘Dead Man’s Hand’?”
“Yes, who are you?”
"My name is Ghan, If you will sign here, i will begin offloading this equipment for you.”
“Ghan, are you an elemental?”:
“Trueborn, of the Djerassi Baba genetic legacies.”
“Are you a Jade Falcon?”
The larger man stifled a laugh and shook his head. “No, Julian Sanders, i am not a Jade Falcon. We do have a bit of a schedule, if you would sign this, my crews will begin their work.”
“What’s in the boxes?”
“It is listed in the manifest, if you would like to review it while they work i will happily go over the details with you.”
“We should do that before i sign this.”
“What are you concerned about in the cargo?”
“Explosives, potential sabotage.”
“There are explosive munitions in the form of ammunition for Autocannons, missiles launchers and the Arrow IV missiles. The personal scale equipment is contained to a small shipping container that is approximately 3 meters by 5 meters and is sitting on this truck. If you would like to scan it for any radio frequencies or other means of detonation, i would be happy to assist you in that effort.”
“Arrow IV Missiles? Why did you bring those?”
“It would be a waste of time to bring launchers without the ammunition, Julian Sanders.” Julian stared at him for a moment. He signed the authorization papers and watched the technical crews start unpacking the crates and crates of equipment.
“Rampart, check this case, it’s full of explosives.”
“Well, that’s unexpected.” Rampart said slowly.
“You are Rampart? Of the 2nd New Ivaarsen Chasseurs?”
“Yes…” Rampart said slowly.
“Nice touch with the Claymore mine. In the future, in a similar situation, I would suggest a shape charge that blows the floor out from under the Elemental.”
“What?” Julian said slowly.
“Thanks, i think?” Rampart grabbed the electronics kit and started scanning the truck.
“How did you know about that?”
“Oh, it went wide over the network after you escaped to Apollo. I commend you for acquiring the database you did. That was quite a feat of tradecraft.”
“How did you know that we did that?”
“The exact chain goes something like...Jade Falcon technician Rogir sends the message to his warrior caste supervisor, a mechwarrior named Fan. Fan passes it up the chain of command to his supervisor, a Star Captain named Pryce. Pryce passes it up the chain to his supervisor, A Star Colonel named Nikolai Malthus, who passes it on to the Galaxy Commander and eventually the Khan. The Khan has to report the breach to the Ilkhan, and from there it passes down to the rest of the Watch officers of various clans to act on accordingly.”
“How long did that take?”
“Start to finish, about 4 days.”
“You and i need to talk more about a lot of things.”
“Now, before you get any funny ideas, attempting to imprison, detain or interrogate me would be considered a breach of the functional peace treaty my superior has negotiated with your superior.”
“What? You’re a member of the Clans.”
“But not an Invader. I am not your enemy, and you are not mine. That is the tenuous bridge that has allowed me to assist you in this endeavor.”
“So what are we then?”
“Allies of necessity, with an eye towards future cooperation between our people. I believe that is what is expected of me during this operation.”
“Allies, sure we can work with that until one of us proves untrustworthy.”
“I would hate for you to prove yourself untrustworthy, Julian Sanders.”
“This thing’s clear, Julian, want me to check the rest?”
“No let’s get this gear unpacked and have a company meeting before we go any further. I’d certainly like to know where everyone stands. We need more information.”
“In the pursuit of that, My superior wanted me to give you this.” Ghan slid the small memory crystal out of the fold of his robe.
“What’s that?”
“The decryption key for that database you stole. It should unlock everything that’s accessible to a Galaxy Commander or below.”
“How did you get this?”
“My superior wanted you to have it, as a gesture of good faith and a sign of how important he considers your mission.”
“Company Meeting, Briefing Room, Twenty Minutes.” Julian said quickly.
“Shall i set the Wrench Turners loose on unpacking and unloading all this gear?”
“Yes. Rampart, supervise them until it’s time for that meeting. While we’re in that meeting, I would like them to take a coffee break.”
“Certainly. It will be a pleasant change of pace working with you, Julian Sanders.”
“Are you a Jade Falcon?”
The larger man stifled a laugh and shook his head. “No, Julian Sanders, i am not a Jade Falcon. We do have a bit of a schedule, if you would sign this, my crews will begin their work.”
“What’s in the boxes?”
“It is listed in the manifest, if you would like to review it while they work i will happily go over the details with you.”
“We should do that before i sign this.”
“What are you concerned about in the cargo?”
“Explosives, potential sabotage.”
“There are explosive munitions in the form of ammunition for Autocannons, missiles launchers and the Arrow IV missiles. The personal scale equipment is contained to a small shipping container that is approximately 3 meters by 5 meters and is sitting on this truck. If you would like to scan it for any radio frequencies or other means of detonation, i would be happy to assist you in that effort.”
“Arrow IV Missiles? Why did you bring those?”
“It would be a waste of time to bring launchers without the ammunition, Julian Sanders.” Julian stared at him for a moment. He signed the authorization papers and watched the technical crews start unpacking the crates and crates of equipment.
“Rampart, check this case, it’s full of explosives.”
“Well, that’s unexpected.” Rampart said slowly.
“You are Rampart? Of the 2nd New Ivaarsen Chasseurs?”
“Yes…” Rampart said slowly.
“Nice touch with the Claymore mine. In the future, in a similar situation, I would suggest a shape charge that blows the floor out from under the Elemental.”
“What?” Julian said slowly.
“Thanks, i think?” Rampart grabbed the electronics kit and started scanning the truck.
“How did you know about that?”
“Oh, it went wide over the network after you escaped to Apollo. I commend you for acquiring the database you did. That was quite a feat of tradecraft.”
“How did you know that we did that?”
“The exact chain goes something like...Jade Falcon technician Rogir sends the message to his warrior caste supervisor, a mechwarrior named Fan. Fan passes it up the chain of command to his supervisor, a Star Captain named Pryce. Pryce passes it up the chain to his supervisor, A Star Colonel named Nikolai Malthus, who passes it on to the Galaxy Commander and eventually the Khan. The Khan has to report the breach to the Ilkhan, and from there it passes down to the rest of the Watch officers of various clans to act on accordingly.”
“How long did that take?”
“Start to finish, about 4 days.”
“You and i need to talk more about a lot of things.”
“Now, before you get any funny ideas, attempting to imprison, detain or interrogate me would be considered a breach of the functional peace treaty my superior has negotiated with your superior.”
“What? You’re a member of the Clans.”
“But not an Invader. I am not your enemy, and you are not mine. That is the tenuous bridge that has allowed me to assist you in this endeavor.”
“So what are we then?”
“Allies of necessity, with an eye towards future cooperation between our people. I believe that is what is expected of me during this operation.”
“Allies, sure we can work with that until one of us proves untrustworthy.”
“I would hate for you to prove yourself untrustworthy, Julian Sanders.”
“This thing’s clear, Julian, want me to check the rest?”
“No let’s get this gear unpacked and have a company meeting before we go any further. I’d certainly like to know where everyone stands. We need more information.”
“In the pursuit of that, My superior wanted me to give you this.” Ghan slid the small memory crystal out of the fold of his robe.
“What’s that?”
“The decryption key for that database you stole. It should unlock everything that’s accessible to a Galaxy Commander or below.”
“How did you get this?”
“My superior wanted you to have it, as a gesture of good faith and a sign of how important he considers your mission.”
“Company Meeting, Briefing Room, Twenty Minutes.” Julian said quickly.
“Shall i set the Wrench Turners loose on unpacking and unloading all this gear?”
“Yes. Rampart, supervise them until it’s time for that meeting. While we’re in that meeting, I would like them to take a coffee break.”
“Certainly. It will be a pleasant change of pace working with you, Julian Sanders.”
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