A New Beginning Ch. 05

******

Jess and her team sat in Connor's Cutter as the 'Jean-Paul' got ready to drop out of FTL. The whole ship was at full battle alert already, Marines were on roving patrols throughout the ship. Its large cannons powered up and Lancer torpedoes in the launch tubes, engines already hot and ready.

Rawlings was on the bridge, the crew stood ready, some fingered their sidearms, unused to the weight of wearing one, made nervous by the new protocols and the presence of a six man Marine security team in full battle armour.

Miller stood next to Rawlings, his commlink active, waiting to take overall command of the Marines and direct them as things developed.

They dropped out of FTL and the 'Jean-Pauls' massive engines roared to life, taking over from the FTL drives, thrusting the old battle cruiser through space as the two old hornets launched immediately and took up a flanking position.

Tactical Officer Grey, scanned his readouts and looked for any signs of enemy ships, he would have let out a sigh of relief if it wouldn't have betrayed his nerves, as it was he announced the 'all clear' in a solid professional tone.

Rawlings nodded but didn't give the order to stand down yet, his instincts told him something wasn't right.

*******

Commander Beltrain watched from the bridge of his massive battle cruiser as the 'Jean-Paul' dropped out of FTL, almost exactly where they the intel said it would.

He grinned and let them sweat, aware the old ship was probably on full alert from the report he had seen from their Destroyers attempt.

This time would be different, his ship outclassed the old one and he had two Destroyers on either side of him.

All three ships were on full Black Alert, nothing but life support was active, they were dead to scanners, sheltered behind a large and almost stationary Asteroid that drifted slowly through dead space.

Unlike the young and inexperienced Destroyer Captains, he was older and wiser, he was confident that he wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating Captain Rawlings.

The 'Jean-Paul' drew closer, the bluish glow from it's engines made a halo around it's rear as it powered towards the ambush.

"Power up, launch Hornets and Dragonfly's. Red Alert." Beltrain said calmly, giving the order that sent all three ships into a frenzy as Hornets launched and they powered up, weapons systems becoming active and automatically locking onto the 'Jean-Paul'.

******

Rawlings didn't have to give the command, Tactical knew what it had to do and Lancers launched in a wide spread, only half locked to the enemy vessels, the main cannons roared to life, sending massive ionised shells towards the foolishly bunched Cruiser and two Destroyers.

Connor and the other cutter ships hurtled down their launch tubes, Hornets simultaneously launched and flew escort as they made a false attack run at the large ships that loomed before them, small dots fast approached, enemy fighters in a standard attack flight pattern. Forward mounted RFRG's flaring to life as they targeted the Hornets when they came into range.

Conner banked left and right, up and down, his own smaller Railgun firing at the slightest hint of a target, his skill kept them alive through the ordinance filled space as he dodged and fired with a desperate yet calculated ferocity.

Their Hornet escort fired off the jury rigged Hellcat torpedo and detonated it. A combination of luck and good estimation had it turn three enemy hornets into space slag, giving Connor the gap he needed, firing his boosters. The small cutter ship flashed past the oncoming hornets that remained.

He was under the lower most Destroyer's defence grid and already turning his ship into a lock on position as a second Hellcat torpedo detonated, ripping apart an incoming Hornet that had managed to turn and follow him.

Debris fell like rain against the cutters hull as he attached it to the underbelly of the Destroyer and activated the laser cutters that would bore a hole into the Destroyer within a few minutes.

Jess and her team breathed heavily, waiting for what seemed like forever as they watched the flickering lights through their closed up helmet visors.

Conner watched the battle as his ship cut in, there was nothing he could do for now and he itched to be in a Hornet, he saw one of theirs blasted apart by railgun rounds and swore, he knew every pilot they had and felt the loss of each like a physical blow.

He turned his eyes to the 'Jean-Paul' its hull was scorched by multiple hits, yet nothing looked like it had penetrated yet, two fast-moving Dragonflies flew circles around the old Hornets, heading towards the cruiser with the intent of locking on and disgorging boarding parties.

One hornet. torn in half by a Dragonfly, it's wingman banking hard to avoid a similar fate. Conner watched in horror as the Hornet pilot braked hard and twisted the old fighter into a spiral turn and deliberately slammed his ship into the second Dragonfly, turning both into a fiery ball of twisted metal.

The pilot's name, Flight Lieutenant 'Chopper' Briggs. Connor hung his head for a brief moment at his sacrifice.

The second Dragonfly locked onto the 'Jean-Pauls' hull and started to cut in.

"We're IN." shouted Jess, giving Conner a heads up as she and her team deployed trough the hole, spreading out like they had trained and practiced to do, covering the corridor as the full team got into place.

"Closing up, good luck." Said Conner into his commlink as he closed up the cutter hatch and released the clamps. They were on their own now, it was a win or die call.

Conner fired up his engines and pulled away hard, back towards the 'Jean-Paul', praying he had enough time to get a second team, the other cutter that had been assigned to this Destroyer hadn't made it and he feared for Jess and her team.

"This Corridor's clear, Ramirez, take team two and Williams, you're going to need the extra fire power to take engineering." Said Jess into the teams commlink.

Ramirez nodded as she gathered her team and set off at a fast pace, weapons ready and levelled down the corridor.

Jess didn't need to talk or issue any further commands, they had practiced this so many times they moved as one, covering each other and watching for the slightest movement as they headed for the ships bridge.

Her team made contact with the enemy first, rounding a corner and firing short bursts into a female and two men in New Order Fleet uniforms, only one of them was armed and he didn't get the chance to un-holster his side arm as Jess dropped him with a short burst from her Pulse rifle, shredding his chest apart and spraying the walls with dark crimson mist.

They upped their pace, the gunfire would draw attention and they moved quickly and efficiently towards the bridge, dropping anyone who got in their way with ruthless efficiency.

The crew seemed mostly unarmed, but that didn't stop Jess or her team from killing them without a thought, they didn't have time or the troops to take prisoners.

Pulse rifle's chattered fiercely at them as they closed in on the bridge, rather than fool around, her team laid down heavy suppressing fire as Jess and Smith lobbed smokers and AP grenades down the corridor.

The explosions ripped apart parts of the corridor, sparks flew from exposed wiring and smoke-filled the area with choking and deadly gases. Those didn't affect the Marines in their battle armour, fully encapsulated with their own regulated air supply.

Firing continuously, they advanced, stepping over the torn and bloody remains of the ship's crew and then three PI troopers in light armour. Poor security against the hardened professionalism of Jess and her Marines.

Smith set the charges on the bridge doors as the rest of the team made a defensive semi-circle, taking up positions to stop any counter attack as they prepared to blast their way into the bridge.

"Engineering secured." Ramirez announced over the commlink as Jess gave Smith the signal.

"Good work, losses?" Jess asked as the doors blew apart by the shaped charge and her team moved forward, guns levelled at the scared and young-looking bridge crew, the captain looked frightened, he had heard the reports over his commlink as the marines had slaughtered his crew.

"Non, Newman got hit, but he's okay." Reported Ramirez as Jess' team rounded up the bridge crew, forcing them onto their knees and cuffing them with MagCuffs.

"Fine, lock down the engines and then sweep forward to the Hanger bay, nothing lives." She ordered, making the Captain swear at her.

Jess opened her helmet and backhanded him. "Shut it, you fuckers started this." She growled out as she went to tactical and took a look at what was happening.

She swore softly, most of the Hornets were gone and any chance of more cutters making it past the Enemy fighters was lost. Only her team and Choi's had made a successful breach, she could tell that he had taken the other Destroyer as it's guns were now silent and the cruiser was firing upon it and the 'Jean-Paul.'

"Jones, you can operate tactical?" she asked the once formally well-educated Marine.

Jones nodded and stepped forwards, fingers flickering over the touchscreen. "I've got command of their weapons system Corporal, they didn't lock it." He said with a shake of his head, surprised that the tactical officer hadn't locked the command system down when they had breached the doors.

Jess grinned.

"Target that cruiser, launch everything and fire whatever they have at it." She smiled grimly. "We can't fly this thing, but we can use it."

"did they send a distress call?" she asked Jones.

He shook his head, "Looks like they panicked and didn't follow any of the protocols." He answered with a look of disgust at the kneeling Captain.

"Smith, take Penny and Lily, I want that Hanger bay and anything in it that can fly us off this ship." She ordered as she checked her charges and handed them to Franks the demolitions expert.

"Disable the commlinks and the command systems, set it for remote detonation." She ordered just as Jones launched a spread of Lancer torpedoes and fired the newly aligned main cannons at the underbelly of the massive cruiser.

******

Commander Beltrain couldn't believe what was happening, his Hornets had decimated the enemy fighters and what he now knew were cutter ships, but they had managed to take the Destroyer 'Helena', its guns were now silent and the last communication had said they were under attack by Marines.

Unwilling to loose a Destroyer to the enemy, he ordered it fired upon, hoping to disable it and praying that the Marines didn't have anyone who could fly it. The Command systems should be locked down, but if they weren't then the ship could be stolen.

He'd lost one Dragonfly and the other was still attached to the 'Jean-Paul', hopefully it's boarding crew of well-trained PI troopers were on their way to slaughter Rawlings and his bridge crew.

It wasn't a disaster, but he had expected a far easier victory and never thought he would lose a destroyer.

So far, the Gatling cover from the 'Jean-Paul' had stopped any of his Lancers from crippling it but he knew it was only a matter of time, those guns would need reloading soon, already things had gone longer than a normal fight.

Rawlings was aware of that, but experience had taught him well as he turned his ship, letting the portside guns take over as the starboard ones ran to empty.

Beltrain ordered another barrage of Lancers, hoping to catch the 'Jean-Paul' as it turned, to his frustration the tubes were empty, being reloaded and he realised that Rawlings had timed his manoeuvre with perfection.

The 'Helena' lit up with numerous explosions all along its hull, Beltrain grunted, understanding he had been wasting ammunition on her, obviously the Marines had set charges and had no intention of capturing her, two fast moving dropships launched from the crippled destroyer along with a few escape pods.

Far too few for what had been a crew of over two hundred. Beltrain balled his fists, the Marines must have killed most of them.

"Take us in, lets finish this farce." He growled out. His ship was twice the size of the 'Jean-Paul' with superior armour and shielding, he fully intended to let that work for him and pound the older and smaller ship to dust.

Up close, the two were ill matched and he still had the second Destroyer, the 'Lilith' as support.

He stumbled as explosions rocked his ship and he turned to see the tactical readout. The 'Lilith' had fired upon his cruiser and the damage control systems blared out multiple warnings. Deck breaches along his hulls underbelly and in engineering threated to cripple his ship.

"We're hit, decks One through five are decompressing." Shouted out a panicking Damage control technician as Beltrain realised the 'Lilith' must have been taken too.

"Engines two and three are out, FTL is fucked." Squawked the coms from engineering as Beltrain whirled around and ordered full thrust.

With dawning horror he realised he had been outmanoeuvred, his ship was crippled and the loss of deck five meant his lower Gatling's and cannons were offline and had no one there to bring them back.

Already the 'Jean-Paul' was dropping and taking advantage, firing up into the undefended area with it's cannons and launching Lancers.

Beltrain knew he was doomed and his ship was about to be blown apart.

"Abandon ship." He shouted as the lancers flew straight and true, unhindered and full of deadly intent.

The last thing he saw as the deck heaved below him was his Tactical officer running for the escape pods, neither of them would survive. He knew that for sure as secondary explosions ripped throughout his ship and the magazine was reached.

*****

The 'Jean-Paul' rocked, buffeted by the massive detonation as the large Cruiser erupted into a fiery ball of light.

Rawlings slapped his thigh and punched the air.

The fight was over, the enemy hornets flew away, with no where to go, they bugged out and set their distress beacons off. They would have to hope for rescue before they ran out of air.

Rawlings sent out a wide band offer. "Surrender and you will be well treated. Bay Two will accept any enemy pilot."

He looked over at Miller who nodded in understanding, sending Marines to Bay two for security.

"Harris, how's our prisoner?" he spoke into his commlink, wanting an update from Harris, who had led marines to counterattack the boarding party from the Dragonfly that had managed to breach them.

"Dead Sir, nanites couldn't help, sorry." Replied Harris as he looked around at the thirty bodies.

Almost all of them enemy PI who looked dangerous in Marine style battle Armour and had used Marine style tactics, but in the end had been out fought and out classed by the tough old Marine and his two squads.

"Shame, but well done, thank you Sergeant." Said Miller, pleased they hadn't lost many men in the brief but fierce firefight.

Harris didn't bother with a reply as he continued to check the bodies, gathering dog tags.

Honour compelled him to, it didn't matter that they were the enemy, if he could he would notify the next of kin.

The four dead marines were respectfully carried away, their tags already in Harris's pocket.

*******

Jessica Davis and her team sat in the debriefing room, next to them was Choi and his own team, he had lost one man, while from her team only Newman was absent, being tended to in medical.

Harris sat in the next row with the two squads that had converged on the area of the boarding alert.

Captain Miller went through things with them, he was justifiably pleased, but it was tempered with the loss of two cutters and the forty Marines that had been on them.

On top of that, there was the tactics the boarding party had used, far too close to those of Marines to be ignored.

The meeting was kept brief but through, quickly covering the relevant points and concluding they were in an overall better position than they could have hopped for.

"We did well and it looks like they had no clue as to our planning. Congratulations Corporal Davis, well done on the capture of the 'Lilith'. Glad you decided not to detonate those charges." Said Miller as they ended the debriefing and the men and women got to their feet.

"Dismissed, get some rest. Next jump takes us to our staging area and the rest of the fleet." Finished Miller with a smile.

Choi gave Jess a nod and indicated she should wait for him as he approached Miller.

Jess stood outside the debriefing room as Ramirez and the rest crowded around her.

"You heard the Cap, go get cleaned up and take a load off, you earned it." She told them with a wide grin.

They smiled back and walked away, Ramirez went to a waiting Suzanne, the pair had started to become close. Jess smiled to herself at the unlikely coupling, Suzanne was all PG and still fucked anyone who asked, yet she seemed taken with Ramirez and they were spending more and more time together.

Jess wondered if they would make it exclusive in time, she knew it was hard, she herself would still sleep with others besides Hank. As much as she wanted to just be with him, she knew it was impossible, there was no way they could steal enough moments for sex to satisfy her.

Suzanne and Ramirez though, they could fuck together as much as they wanted and if Suzi was willing to deny herself and put up with the constant need, she could in fact make things exclusive.

Jessica hoped they would, in a way it would prove it was possible and that given time, her and Hank could do it.

Her thoughts were halted as Hank stepped out of the room and joined her in the corridor.

"My office." He said as he turned and walked down the corridor, Jessica followed on long legs that matched his stride with ease.

Flicking her eyes at him occasionally, hoping he wanted her again, inside her tummy felt tight with anticipation. As they marched along, passing crew members all with a side arm now.

He opened his door, it slid aside smoothly and she followed him inside. He turned and pulled her into his arms and kissed her slowly.

She melted against him and let herself go, the feeling of being so close and in his embrace gave her a high like nothing else.

He pulled away and she went after him, wanting more, but he smiled and only gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Not now, we have a few things to deal with." His voice husky with desire for her but firm with resolve to be professional.

Jessica had to slow her breathing with effort.

"Okay, but after...... I want your cock in me." She said with a smile as she took her seat.

Hank grinned.

"That's a promise I won't mind keeping." He said as he too sat.

Jess unzipped her jumpsuit, she was braless and her breasts spilled out, erect nipples poked at Hank and he let out a throaty growl.

"I said later."

She grinned as she played with a nipple and licked her upper lip.

"I'm listening." She said innocently as she tweaked her nipples with both hands.

Choi shook his head in resignation, he liked the way she looked, her body was amazingly good and he felt his cock hardening as she displayed her breasts and played with them.

"Fine." He said with a smile as he tried to gather his thoughts, she was very distracting as she bit her lower lip in a way that made his already hard cock twitch in his pants.

"Conner thinks he can fly that Dragonfly we captured.... If he gets a co-pilot that's willing to let them in their head. It's a neural link and whoever does it is going to share their brain with his." He said as she pulled down her jumpsuit and lifted her hips, sliding it down her long legs, showing him she wasn't wearing panties either.

Jess nodded, still giving Hank an 'I want you look' as she replied.