Book One: Iron Sails

A few minutes had passed, ION had run all the necessary checks for takeoff, flight, weapon systems, power systems, life support, and communications. Creating his hologram a short distance in front of Captain Duglas, he started pacing back and forth. "Why all the rush, Captain? I've received the mission reports and understand that there will be a week's travel to Oatheir, but you seem to be...agitated, or excited to some degree." ION stopped pacing, and turned to face John, hands held behind his back. "Regardless, the November is green across the board, and I've taken the liberty of plotting a course to Oatheir. Merely say the word, and we'll be off." ION was about to dissipate back into the depths of the ship until he recalled something from the mission directives, "Also, what are you planning for the new members onboard the November?"

Erik Gunnarson (Rico to his friends) was just arriving at the dock, still stuffing bags of purchases in his pockets when he heard the captains announcement. As luck would have it The November was at the far dock. He started to sprint in full combat gear and in full pack shouldering aside a lieutenant as he ran. That this lieutenant did not stop him proved the old adage, "A sergeant in motion outranks a lieutenant who has no idea what's going on". Still in full combat gear and with full pack he raced through the door hung a left and slid down one of the first ladders he saw, thankfully he'd memorized the layout of the ship prior to arrival. He sprinted along the hallways in record time, no one gets in the way of a fully combat loaded soldier moving at a sprint.

When he finally arrived everyone else was already there. As he skidded to a halt and threw a salute as he managed to snap off a crisp "Sergeant Gunnarson reporting for duty sir!". A package that looked suspiciously like brass knuckles a garotte wire and a couple exotic looking knives started to fall out of his pocket. He deftly caught them ant stuffed them back in. He looked around at the other soldiers assembled and smiled and winked as he caught Viranas eye. They'd previously served together during a previous command on the Albion. He hadn't realized she'd been posted here but it was good to see a familiar face. Especially another competent soldier that he got along well with.

"Fold!" The older grizzled soldier threw his cards down onto the table in disgust, he took a gulp of his drink and eyed his opponant balefully. Virana Kalre pilot, soldier and skilled sniper grinned at him as she leaned forward and pulled the small pile of currency towards her. It was not a large sum as they had only been playing for pennies really, mostly she and the others around the table had only been playing to kill time before they boarded their relative ships. Virana was the only one of the group posted on the November and during the card game she had gotten the distinct impression that some of the other younger men at the table were envious of her. That boded well as it meant that the November was a ship people wanted to work on and not one that they avoided.

She slapped the older man on the back and he grinned at her good naturedly showing that he wasn't really bothered by his loss, she was about to rib him about losing his touch when she heard the announcement to board the November asap, her captain clearly wasn't one to mess around and she liked that. She stood grabbing her gear and slinging it onto her back before waving at the guys gathered around the table.

"Have fun boys."
"Watch your back Kalre, I want to win our next game and I can't do that if you're dead." The older soldier said.
"Don't worry Mack, even if I'm dead I'll still haunt you until I have proven I'm the better player!"
Mack grunted at this and waved her off, the others nodded and grinned at her before she strode off towards the November, they had been playing by some equipment to be loaded using a crate as a makeshift table and so Virana was not far from the ship. It took her mere minutes to reach the large hulking shape at rest in the docking space. She had spent time learning the layout during the trip over and so did not have too much trouble working her way to the bridge. She passed various other crew as she walked, some higher ranking and some lower and she responded accordingly to them all but not stopping to talk. She did not intend to ruin her reputation for efficiency by being late for her first posting.

The bridge was the usual hum of activity you would expect from a Union ship with consoles blinking and beeping and various crew running here and there prepping for departure. She spotted the Captain and strode to where he stood, she confidently and with physical grace, saluted her commanding officer.

"Kalre present and ready for duty Sir!" She said.

As she spoke she saw another new member walk onto the bridge and she found herself grinning as the man made his way towards them. She knew that walk and the face that went with it. Well DamnShe thoughtRico still alive and kicking, this posting is looking up already
She had served with Rico, or Gunnerson as he was officially known as, aboard the Albion and they had saved each others ass on several occasions. There was no one else she would rather have at her back. She winked back and her answering grin was the typical playful one he was bound to recognise.

ION had dissipated his hologram by the time the soldiers had lined up by Duglas. He had overheard, and recorded (as was protocol), their brief conversation. On the captain's command, ION had opened a small holo-terminal within the lab, near where Zaal was working. "Zaal, the Captain has asked to see you on the bridge," ION stated quickly before closing the channel. One thing he had learned about Zaal is that he prefers things to be short, and precise. Especially with humans.

After that, ION felt the need to assist the two newest members of the crew. He was, after all, programmed with training procedures. He quickly located the group in the hallway to the hanger bay, using the cameras inside the ship. They must have already been shown their quarters, ION thought, or noted to himself, as he created his hologram near the soldiers. "Hello, all. I am ION, the ship's A.I. system. Captain Rayas, you may go perform your pre-takeoff checks, I'll show the pilots to their ships," ION said, deciding that the more physically done towards takeoff, the sooner they could be on their way. As Rayas was leaving, ION continued, "Follow me." He walked (in a sense) to the hanger where their ships were docked, ensuring that they were following him. He opened the doors, strolled inside, stopped, and turned towards the soldiers. "These are your ships. I'm sure you are familiar with the function of Falcon-class fighters, correct? At any rate, do you have any questions?"

While ION was introducing them to the hanger, he was multitasking and created another hologram by the captain. "Well, sir, all systems check out, all personnel have checked in, and the new crew members are being shown around. We are waiting on your word, sir."

Virana scowled inwardly as the Captain made a point of calling her a rookie, a rookie! Admittedly her service record was not that big but still she was the best damn pilot and sniper in the whole academy and on the ships she had served on since. Well except for Gunnerson of course, she might rib him constantly but if anyone was on par with her in terms of flying it was him, the moves he could do in a ship were amazing and she remembered quite a few races they had whilst serving on the Albion. He was her equal in the air but her superior when it came to ground combat, damn but the man could fight. Still she felt better when she thought of the times she had saved his ass from her snipers nest. He couldn't shoot worth a damn compared to her.

Dismissed she left the bridge and caught up with Gunnerson as he followed I.O.N, she good naturedly shoved him back and they both quickly fell into their old patterns and Virana was very relieved he was on board. Their companionship was like an old shoe that just fit perfectly and she would have it no other way. She responded to all his joking barbs with ones of her own including how a 'rookie' could out shoot him. That ended up with them arguing in jest over who was the best and as usual neither of them won. However all jokes were forgotten when they reached the flight deck and Virana saw their ships, she allowed Gunnerson to help her up onto a wing and grinned broadly.

"I think I'm in love." She proclaimed as she began examining the ship from head to toe, she poked her head up from the engine she was examining when she heard Gunnerson.

"Yeah I noticed that too, at the very least looks like these babies have had some serious engine upgrades. Right?" She looked at I.O.N.

ION listened as the soldier's overlooked their ships'. "There are some systems here I don't recognize, ION what can you tell me about those?" "Yeah I noticed that too, at the very least looks like these babies have had some serious engine upgrades." ION's hologram smiled at their attentiveness. "Yes, these Falcons have been modified to hold a Raptor-45X engine block. They now nearly have FTL capability. Also, there has been a remote tracker placed within these ships. Not that you would go rogue, but if the November would ever be destroyed, we could track it's last known location. Or if any of the ships made it out intact, where they went. Lastly, the system you may be referring to is the auto-pilot system. By auto, I mean that I will be authorized to take control of the ship, and do what it necessary for it.

Far within the bowels of the November, hidden (with relative safety) away in the numerous lab stations of the ship's research deck, Vox had been relatively busy working on quite a few prototypes that would be beneficial to his human "captors" in the future when a communications link between the ship's AI I.O.N. and the particular station he was in opened. As if by reflex, whether by nature or by mere annoyance, Vox had tossed aside the project that he had been working on, cursing out the AI as soon as the link opened. "Gah, you're lucky that the Shipmaster deems you too important, for I would gladly deconstruct you and turn you into a clerical VI with the processing power of a calculator!" his voice rang out, the disgust towards ION audibly present for most of the other engineers and scientists to hear.

After listening to the AI's message regarding Duglas and his request to see him on the bridge, the disgust in Vox's voice regressed into that of annoyance, as he made his reply for the AI to convey. "Fine, I'll humor the shipmaster for a little while. Now go away."

Despite Vox being the chief engineer, as well as lead scientist, aboard the November, he had a general dislike for the human crew, as well as the particular AI that served on the November. He secured the project that he had currently been working on, removing the much-needed focusing crystals in order to deter other, "investigative" crew members from trying to figure out what exactly he had been working on. His data was code-locked within his gauntlet's crystal, where only vox himself could access it with relative security and provacy.

Sealing off the particular lab from intruders, Vox made his quick and effortless journey from the research deck to the bridge. The tech lab where his various projects resided, like most of the other stations on the ship, didn't exactly have the best dimensions for a creature of Vox's stature, since they were originally designed and constructed with human scientists in mind, though Vox did make the best of what he had, as well as having limited freedom in redesigning the station.

It had taken Vox roughly a good ten minutes to make his way to the bridge, all the while attempting to dodge any of the crew between the two locations, in dismay that they may have questions for him to answer. He made his way through the security doors to where the captain was, and made his presence known as he crossed his limbs with his general attitude.

"Shipmaster Duglas, you need to keep a leash on your AI before I turn it into a digital paperweight. As I'm currently busy, there are also a few things we need to discuss when you have the time. Now, what did you call me in for?"

Hearing the ring of his old friends disgusting, muffled voice bounce through the room, John laughed and turned the captains chair around, standing to greet the towering giant near the airlock to the bridge. He chuckled openly, knowing that this was Vox's way of just saying hello, because he would never just be polite and say it...

"Chief Engine Squid Head, great to see you to. You know I.O.N annoys me just as much as he annoys you, but its Union regulation that the ship AI has full access to all on-board functions. Lovely to see you too, Vox... Beckoning his comrade to follow him back to the command panel, John began to talk as he walked back across the small 20 meter distance. The Bridge was longer than it was wide, being about 30 meters in length and about 20 wide. Connecting the command panel and captains chair to the airlock was a long catwalk, with a number of pilots of various races below, each one of them running through their systems to get the ship ready for launch.

"Were being sent to Oatheir to get new orders. According to the Admiral, the November was specialy selected for this task... and you're going to be the first one to know about it, besides I.O.N and I." Finally reaching the captains chair, he sat down and began to look through documents with Vox standing over his shoulder. Swiftly, he pulled up a 3D scan of the New Dawn's layout on the projection table in front of him, showing him a diagram of the remains of the New Dawn.

"The U.S.F New Dawn. She was destroyed. And we don't know what did it... The Admiral has sent us a few digital samples from the Dawn, and I need you to analyze them for plasmic of ballistic information. Of course, when we get there in about a week you will be able to analyze it for yourself up close, but the Admiral needs to give this to the Council for a preliminary report, and they know that you're the best the Union has to offer.

I.O.N has already sent the information down to the lab. Patten down the hatches, and buckle up down there in the lab. Were taking off."

As Zaal turned to leave, the Captain added one more note. "And by the way, Vox. Lets try to be a little more friendly with the crew when we get there. I don't want to have to replace two pilots like the last time I did on Oatheir..."

As his delightful awful friend left the bridge, the Captain turned himself in his chair that hissed forward to lock himself into the Command panel. Bringing his hands to the panel, John slightly turned to his left before asking out, in his Captain's voice: "Flight crew. Report."

To which the closest pilot in the trench responded. "Quantum Gravity Drive online, all green. Prepared for departure from Atlas."

"Disengage from Atlas, private."

"Disengaging, Captain."

Pushing his hands to the panel, the Captain brought online communication to the station. "Atlas Command, this is U.S.F 26th of November, disengaging from Dock 13, are we clear."

"Aye aye 26th of November, you are clear for take off at will." Said a female voice in response.

Smiling, the captain responded. "Thank you very much Sydney. When we get back to Atlas I'll make sure for round four."

"Counting on it, Captain~ Atlas out." Replied the voice in a playful tone, as the ship rose, and murred deep inside of her belly. Slowly rising off the ground, the 26th of November began to slowly creep forward from the dock, through the emancipation grid, and out into the vacuum of space around Atlas station.

"Attention crew, this is your Captain. Currently we are departing for Oatheir, with no stops along the way. Please make sure your seat-belts are fastened, with your tray-tables up and your seats in the full upright position. Expect the lovely harsh vacuum of space during our flight, with no turbulence. Ah, the wonders of space-flight people. Cargo, make sure all fighters are secure, and all cargo is fastened down. Captain out." He stated in his trademark playful tone that made the flight crew laugh to themselves.

"Private. Set our sights on Oatheir."

"Aye aye, Captain."

And with the soft hum of the Quantum Drive heating up, the ship suddenly blasted forward through the rip in space around it... Its target: Oatheir.

The 26th of November had only just begun propelling itself through space. Unlike the seas, space offered no resistance to the simple action of flying through it. Turbulence nonexistent for the most part, the only time things got shaky was when evasive actions were being performed, or during takeoff.

Appearing just behind the Captain, a similarly-clothed man made his debut out of his own personal cabin for the day, in his hand was a holo-clipboard. His straight stance and the very air he held himself at would tell anybody that he was a solider about to go off to battle, but of course, his clothes stated otherwise. When the man spoke, he spoke formally, and with respect. This was not because he was afraid of his superior, or not because of obligations, but because he truly thought highly of the man, even if he did not particularly agree with some of the Captain's 'hobbies'.

But, of course, people are different. Soldiers and officers aren't exempt from this.

"Captain," he spoke, offering the clipboard to the man as he continued. "The post-takeoff report show acceptable levels of heat emissions, and the engines seem to be running exceptionally well. There are no problems with the ship, as usual." and about as soon as he finished his report, he dropped the small act, taking a more friendly tone with the man. "And there's the boring information for your day. Well... until 'tonight', that is. Aside from that, I have nothing exciting to tell you. Then again, the New Dawn being destroyed might be the cause for excitement until we figure out who or what did it."

Nero glanced around the room. A very small hum from the various machines in the room was emitted, as well as the sounds of the many pilots below doing their jobs. Even so, it was still one of the more quiet areas of the ship until things got heated. The crew's quarters, as well as the cafeteria could never hope to let one think unless they were abandoned. And with the multitude of status updates, requests, mindless paperwork he had to fill out that was all sent through his computer, which made an odd 'beep' everytime he received an update, it too was louder than here, mostly. "Since we have new crewman, I wouldn't believe you if you said we were simply going to sit back and enjoy the flight to Oatheir." Nero stated. "That being said... how shall we handle things? I feel like this whole incident has a chance of becoming big - bigger than we think. But that's just what my instincts tell me."

As, ION recounted the various upgrades Gunnarson grew more and more impressed. However when the AI got to the part about remote control Gunnarsons smile almost faltered. Though he kept up an inner veneer of calm as he climbed in to the cockpit and fiddled with the controls "to get a feel for them" he was cold inside. No way was a damned toaster gonna be in control of his fate. No sir.

"Hey ION, you wanna just point these out to me?" He watched as the AI gleefully pointed out the new systems and where they were located and how to operate them. Then under the guise of leaning down to check the pedals, he quickly disconnected the auto pilot.

Then it was time for the fighters to be stowed. That done they were finally showed to their quarters for the FTL jump. "Hey, my own room, that's kinda nifty" he exclaimed. "I'm gonna shower now, but don't be a stranger" he said to Virana as they parted.

Gunnarson sighed as he closed the door and began to unpack. His power armour and most of his combat weapons were down in the armoury. Thankfully UNISEC (Union Naval Intellegence and SECurity) had kitted him out with a couple less visible pieces of equipment. He removed a hidden blade from his wrist ejector sheath, the micro comm implant on the other hand could stay in his ear permanently. It was so sensitive it could pick up subvocalized sounds via the Eustachian tube. UNISEC had been the ones to set up this mission in the first place. They had wanted an unofficial man on the inside, and having just gotten off a blackops stint that was him. A nice "cakewalk" mission.

He unpacked the rest of this stuff, his movements thoughtless yet economical. He was thinking about Virana. She'd come a long way from the rookie she'd been when he'd found her behind enemy lines. She was running out of food and ammo but that hadn't stopped her almost putting a bullet through him when he snuck up on her position. He'd manage to get her back to her lines but wasn't really sure who had saved who.

All finished unpacking he sat down to send a sitrep back to HQ, piggybacking it on some of the Novembers own communications. that finish he showered dressed and sat down to await his next orders

Virana entered her own quarters and smiled slightly when she saw that they were much nicer than what she had been used to, not large by any means, but nice all the same. She quickly stowed her gear, placing the few personal items, a picture of her family and her fiancée before they had been killed being the most important one, in various places around the quarters. Once done she decided to investigate the shower, a ship was only as good as its showers after all. As she stood under the spray her thoughts turned to Gunnerson and she smiled to herself. She had always intended to keep in touch with him after their last meeting but as was typical in the military, life had gotten in the way. She was glad to see he was still alive and seemingly none the worse for wear.

She remembered their first meeting with nostalgia, that had been a bad situation, as bad as they came really and worse she had only been a rookie at the time. Contrary to what her new captain seemed to think she had seen a good deal of combat and no longer thought of herself that way but back then she had been very green indeed. She had been trapped alone behind enemy lines when the rest of her squad had been killed. She had only survived due to being up high in a snipers nest, that had been her role in that squad after flying of course. The enemy had just discovered her position and killed her point man and she was in the process of trying to quietly escape when Gunnerson had found her. She grinned remembering how she had almost put a bullet in him, she had been chosen as a sniper for a very good reason after all.

She turned off the shower and it occurred to her as she was drying off that she had much to tell him as a great deal had happened since their last meeting. Not least of which how she had almost lost her sight and been given her new and improved tech eyes, she wondered what he would think to that.

"To hell with it." She muttered. "It's not like we'll be needed anytime soon."

She dressed in her typical black combats and vest leaving her hair down to dry and grabbed the bottle of whisky, an old good malt, and two glasses before leaving the room. She found his quarters quickly and knocked, she smiled again looking forward to the banter and catch up they were about to have. It had been too long since she had chatted with someone she trusted.

"Come on Rico." She muttered. "You gone soft and sleeping already."

Gunnarson swept most of his UNISEC equipment safely away then answered the door in his fatigue pants and sleeveless shirt. "Ahhh the impatience of youth, Recruit." He teased "You're a little wet I see." He quickly gave himself a mental kick in the ass for that innuendo "However I see you brought the party with you motioning to the bottle. He whistled in appreciation as she showed him the label. "A MacAbre! You must cheat at cards more than I remember."

He stepped aside from the door and swept his arm into the room indicating she should enter. He had always enjoyed their time together they got on like a close pair of siblings. Admittedly she made a damn hot sister he thought as he discreetly checked her out. It should not be possible to look that good in fatigues. "Make yourself at home, I'll grab the ice." He said over his shoulder as he walked over to a small refrigeration unit. As he filled their glasses with a little ice he continued their banter. "Now how did a nice girl like you wind up getting herself on a ship like this?

Virana was beginning to think he really was asleep and so breathed a small sigh of relief that turned into an admiring whistle, though not one he would hear of course. She might think he was damn fine but she wasn't about to tell him so as that would only serve to make his ego so big he wouldn't get through the door! Besides his ego was already a little on the large side but then you couldn't really be in this business without being confident and a little cocky. She laughed out loud as his comment about her, man his expression just then was a picture. She wiggled her eyebrows at him in a gross exaggeration of flirting. That's what she liked most about Rico, other than his prowess in combat of course, he could banter with the best of them.

She frowned though when he made the jibe about cards, she did not cheat at cards! But she wasn't really offended and she doubted that anything he could say would offend her. He would have to try really, really hard to do so. Probably the only thing that would do it was if he told her she wasn't any good in a fight and meant it, that would seriously piss her off. But this, this was just the usual way they spoke to each other. She did as he suggested taking a seat on his sofa leaning back and making herself comfortable. She saw his quarters were of a size with her own and just as minimally decorated though to be fair she hadn't really given him much time if he was going to but there would be plenty of time for it on their voyage.

"Nice girl? Me?" She leaned forward pretending to examine him. "You must be blind. I've kicked your ass enough times for you to know thats not true! Besides nice girls always finish last, didn't you know? But seriously, after my last posting on this hell hole of a rock where I near enough lost my sight, I was given some tech upgrades and sent to lighter duties on a smaller ship. I was bored out of my brains and so jumped at the chance when this posting came up? How about you? They finally realise you are actually useful on occasion?"

"Yeah, something like that" he said vaguely waving his hand. He'd lost his entire squad in a blown operation and been taken prisoner. They'd gotten him out after 3 long months. She didn't seem to have noticed the extra scars, the bulk of them were under his shirt but his arms still bore a couple. Thankfully she probably just thought they were from general combat. After that they'd promoted him and transferred him undercover to the regular infantry for this mission. "Wait, you lost your sight? Black hells, what happened?!" He shuddered, losing his sight was not something he'd wish on anyone, well maybe only a few people.

"Won't lie Kally, that's a hell of a story." He liked that nickname. He knew she didn't but he tended to be the only one who could get away with it. "Also, since when can you kick my ass. Fine, fine, except for long range marksmanship. Hell with those new lookers you've probably gotten even better" "Not that that should even be possible" He muttered.

Virana scowled when he called her Kally, the few others who had dared call her that had very soon learned their mistake, yet she wasn't truly annoyed. Oddly she liked it when he called her that though why she had no idea. She noticed his vagueness regarding his past and wondered at it but she wouldn't push, if he wanted her to know then he would tell her it was as simple as that. Their friendship was based on mutual understanding and she knew that to push would be the wrong thing to do.

"Hmm forgotten our sparring matches already? Admittedly I only beat you a handful of times but those times I still did kick your ass." She deliberately kept her tone light and playful as he had done. "These 'lookers' are useful but sometimes I do miss my old ones. I liked the look of them."

She took her drink from his hand and took a swallow nodding in satisfaction at the good, strong flavour. It warmed her as it went down and she realised it was just what she needed. Drinking good whisky and relaxing with a friend was the best way to unwind. She patted the sofa next to her indicating that he should sit and relax himself and took another swallow before leaning back in her seat and letting out a relaxed sigh.