A New Beginning Ch. 07

"Rig for HARM" she shouted as the incoming torpedoes raced across space towards her ship and others. "Fire.. take that ship down." She yelled into her coms. Hoping her own Gatling cover would take out the torpedoes headed her way.

Her fleet started to pivot to obey her orders. Firing multiple Lancers at the now fast moving target. A target that was now launching Hornets.

Most of the ex-pirates thought the move suicidally brave. Still they did their job and tried to smash the 'Jean-Paul' to pieces.

***

Damien Kowalski was trust back into his seat as his Hornet launched. The lights of the launch tube flickering past so fast they blurred into one long light.

"Fuck me. I'm so dead." He said to himself as his Hornet raced through space towards numerous fighters.

This was real. Not practice and he prayed to every god that he would do well. Like most of the Hornet pilots from the 'Jean-Paul' he was a volunteer. He had raised his hand when the call went out for men and women to man the extra fighter ships.

Unlike most he had done well enough to get into one. Then undergone a crash course in ship to ship combat. Facing off against Jessica and Connor in their Dragonfly. He had no idea how good he was or that the three times the DF had made him reset the clock was way over what anyone else had managed.

Damien was a natural. In a one to one fight against a Hornet he would always win. He just didn't know that yet and was scared shitless.

The Dropship/cutter he was meant to escort launched next to him and he rolled his fighter over so that he could cover it.

Three enemy ships raced towards him. He instinctively fired at the rear one. His twin RFRG's shredding it apart. The two in front didn't realise they had lost their back up and continued on course in a standard pattern.

Damien shoved his thrusters to max and weaved a mad pattern in front of the ship he was protecting. Firing off short efficient busts that made the wingman of the front running Hornet veer a bit. It was all he needed. A long burst from his RFRG's raked the wingman's underside and the ship went dead.

The last Hornet knew it was in trouble and fired long bursts as Damien weaved with natural ease, firing as he glimpsed the targeting icon go red.

"Come on... die you fuck." Damien swore as he braked hard and let the shuttle blast past him. Aligning his guns carefully into the path the enemy fighter would have to take to fire on the shuttle.

Sensing an easy kill the Hornet dove towards Katarina's shuttle.

Katarina thought she was dead as she yanked back on the stick and tried to evade the incoming hornet.

Damien fired a long burst that lit up the enemy Hornet in a brief flash as the explosion was snuffed out almost instantly by the vacuum of space.

"YES." He shouted as he watched the ship he had been assigned to protect power towards its target.

"Get back here." Shouted an annoyed Karina. She had nearly wet herself when that last Hornet had been coming at her.

Damien couldn't see the grin on her face. She was impressed and thinking she might have been mistaken when she kissed her ass goodbye at seeing how nervous her escort was when he got into the cockpit of his fighter.

***

The tech crew scrambled to fix the faulty wiring as seven of the improvised Gatling positions shorted out.

"GEL packs." Shouted one.

"Last one." The young cadet newly assigned to the aging ship said in a frightened voice as he handed over the bioelectric gel pack.

The woman who was chief engineer took it and screwed it into place before looking back at him with a grin.

"That's okay kid.. we have fibre optics that can handle some of the work." She told him with a confidence she didn't actually feel.

"Are we gonna die?" the young man asked nervously.

"Fuck no.. we got Rawlings." She answered with fake confidence. She knew her captain was good. but this felt like suicide.

"People say he's one of the best... Erm.. I guess." The young cadet stammered hopefully.

She looked at him and wished she was with her son. He was about the same age and starting high school. Same sandy hair and same blue eyes.

"Cadet... Rawlings IS the best. WE his crew are the best." She stated as she ruffled his hair. "and you are one of us."

The young man grinned and picked up a fibre optic cable.

"Where to chief?" he asked with such boyish enthusiasm she wanted to hug him.

Chef engineer Rebecca Billings smiled at him and pointed down the improvised gundeck.

"Gatling six, lets get to it Cadet." She said as she hoped and prayed for divine intervention that wouldn't see them both dead.

The rest of Rebecca's team worked fast on the other guns as she and the Cadet called Miguel ran towards gun six. Their helmets closed up automatically as they neared the sealing forcefield that stopped everyone being sucked into space. Their boots activated and clamped them to the deck as they entered the null-grav area. Forcing them to plant one foot in front of the other with slow care.

"Nearly there.. keep hold of those cables." She said as she moved closer to the inactive gun.

Miguel struggled on. He was determined to do well.

They worked quickly and efficiently. Rebecca nodded and smiled to herself as the young cadet performed well and they got the Gatling online.

"Flip it." She said to her young protégé with a grin.

Miguel grinned back as he flipped the switches that set the Gatling whirring into ready mode.

"Prepare for roll." Came the command over their commlinks and Rebecca swore softly. She knew that they didn't have all the guns ready.

"Lets GO." She shouted out to her team and they scrambled towards the next guns in the hope that they could get a few more online before the roll.

*****

Rawlings rolled his ship now that he had exhausted the Gatling's on one side and prayed his crew had managed to get enough back online to deal with the Lancers that raced across space towards him.

"Brace, BRACE, brace." Went out the call.

Rebecca and her crew flipped the last few switches as they held their breath and prayed.

Brrrrrrruuuuuuuuuudddd... Whirred the Gatling's in long busts as they auto targeted the incoming torpedos.

Miguel yelled in victory as he watched the torpedoes being destroyed before they got too close.

"Nice work people." Rebecca shouted with a fist pump.

*****

Connor and his team of pilots flew towards the lead cruiser and two others. Most of the enemy Hornet cover was out and they pulled their shuttles up at breakneck speed. Almost too fast but not quite as they bumped against hulls and forced a hard lock.

"Cutting IN." shouted out the cutter teams.

Marines and PG's sealed up and got ready to drop though the cuts.

"No prisoners... NOTHING lives." Commanded Miller as he waited breathlessly for the hatch to slam open on the cruiser his cutter was attached to.

Harris slapped Choi on the back and they ran forward as the hole blasted open and the hatch popped open.

"GO, GO, GO." Commanded Jessica as she ran to join Harris and the rest of her team. Disconnecting from Connor and activating her Pulse rifle.

*****

Cpt Valarie Franks screamed at her fellow Captains to converge fire on the Dreadnought as she realised her mistake. The 'jean-Paul' was a decoy and had weathered the lancer fire. Now the company fleet was attacking in a line and the massive Dreadnought was heading straight for her ship. It's remaining shields all powered to its prow.

Her reaction was too late and the huge mass of the dreadnought slammed into her cruiser, cleaving it in half as the rest of the company ships fired everything they had left at the other vessels.

The 'Lilith' was fully operational and undamaged. She fired all of her Lancers at nearly point-blank range as she passed by one ship and then targeted the next. Her crew reloading the tubes faster than any other crew aside from those on the 'Jean-Paul.'

"FIRE."

"FIRE."

The command was repeated again and again as the crews feverishly reloaded tubes with Lancers and even old Hellcats.

*******

Miller and his Marines hadn't gone through the boarding sim's that Choi and Jessica's teams had. They listened to their ZT360 chips and got it wrong. A mix of being disorientated and outdated computer advice got most of them killed as they raced through the ship they had boarded. Still, they were Marines and fought harder than the ex-pirates. Taking the ship after heavy casualties.

"He's gone." Grunted sergeant Moore as she looked down at Miller's riddled corpse with sorrow.

Private Kyle Smith nodded and closed Miller's eyes.

"What now Sarg?" he asked.

Moore shrugged.

"Fucked if I know.. I'm just a Marine." She admitted as she looked over the bridge of the ship they had taken and wondered if this was her last fight.

Out in space ships were being destroyed and turned to slag. She couldn't tell if they were winning or losing.

***

Jessica's rifle muzzle was white hot as she dropped the rifle and unholstered her side arm.

"CLEAR." She shouted as she looked around the bridge of the 'Reliant.'

Suzi cleared her throat as she slapped in a new mag.

"Engine room secure." Came Ramirez's voice over the commlink.

"Dawes.. hack tactical.. Jenkins, get me Choi on the com." Jessica ordered her team.

***

Hank Choi rammed his fist into Cpt William Bank's face.

"Codes.. that or I'll cut you into pieces while my boys hack this tub." He growled out.

"Alpha, one, six, nine, beta, seven six two." Bank's coughed out. Hoping to live.

"That work?" Choi asked his hacker.

"Got it... full command is ours." Answered the slim marine with a grin.

"target the other ships.. full spread." Choi growled out as he motioned for his team to regroup.

"erm... not sure how." Admitted the Marine.

"Point the red dot on the enemy ships and then hit fire." Choi snapped back.

"ah... okay... DONE." Skinny said with a grin as he hit the fire button.

"Lets GO.. back to the shuttle.. MOVE people." Choi commanded as the torpedoes launched.

****

Twenty six hours later...

The Battle was over. The damaged HC ships had pulled off a close victory that saw twelve of General Niles' ships flee as the rest were destroyed or captured.

Of the twenty Holy Company ships, only nine remained. The Dreadnought beyond repair without a space dock and full repair facilities. Delacroix's ship so badly damaged it would take another day just to get it ready for an FTL jump. The 'Jean Paul' and the 'Lilith' also in bad shape but remaining able to fight.

As for the rest, those looked a bit better as they were close to repairing their FTL drives and had managed to do a bit more than basic repairs.

Choi assumed command of the remaining Marines. They had suffered losses, out of nearly three hundred men and women that had set out to take ships a mere one hundred and thirty one survived.

Jessica had taken the remaining PG's aside and was now a sergeant with them under her command, thirty eight of them had survived the fight and were totally loyal to her. Ramirez had been promoted to Corporal and was Jessica's second.

In Choi's ready room the two made love quickly. They didn't have much time and the plan to run away was on hold until they could figure out something new.

Jessica clutched Hank to her body as she felt him pulsing his semen into her. The fear of the fight and having to suppress her emotions as he lead a team to take a different ship over with. Now she shuddered in relieved pleasure as he filled her with cum.

"Again.. do that again." She whispered softly.

He kissed her lips gently.

"later, I've got to go see Rawlings." He told her with a smile.

"not for another ten minutes... stay inside me." She bartered. Her legs wrapped around him firmly and giving him little choice.

They locked lips again in mutual agreement. He was getting soft but was more than big enough to remain inside her. Jessica caressed his short black hair as they kissed, her mouth becoming more urgent as she moved her hips in slow circles.

The motion made his cock start to grow. Hardening in a surprisingly short time.

"Jess... stop that." He said with a smile but started to move his hips, working in and out of her slowly.

"I will.. in a bit." She panted after a moan of pleasure.

Hank kissed her neck, his next words inaudible as he felt her warm slick walls pulsing and sucking him in.

Jessica bucked her hips faster and faster, everything receded as she pursued the orgasm that was rapidly building.

***

About Nine minutes later...

The small tactical room was mostly empty. Only Captain Jack Walker, Captain Delacroix, Rawlings and Commander Holly Reed of the 'Lilith' were in the room that also held Marine Captain Hank Choi.

The conversation was held in soft voices, not because they were scared of being overheard but because what they discussed was desertion and carried the death penalty.

Walker's face was tense, the subject matter something he had never considered in all his years. Rawlings looked resigned while Holly seemed ready to go along with whatever was decided. Only Delacroix and Choi looked to be actually enthused.

"We can't all go.. the 'Benedict V' has a Bishop onboard and it's Captain is pure Company, same goes for Kathrine Jameson on the 'Franco'." Said Walker with a frown.

Rawlings shrugged. He already knew that and had talked it over with Hank as they hurried down the Corridors of the 'Jean Paul'. Hank Choi still smelling of sex.

"Our ships are the most damaged, we send the rest to catch up with the main fleet... if it still exists." He said and Delacroix nodded in agreement.

"Jack.. you have command. Sounds good to me." She agreed wholeheartedly.

Walker grunted. The sound slightly unhappy.

Choi watched them all. This hadn't been the plan. Out of respect for Rawlings he had pitched Jessica's idea after the battle. He had been surprised when Rawlings had decided to bring the others in on it.

Under the table he unclipped his holster. If Walker decided to say no then he wouldn't have much choice.

"Jack.. this is OUR chance.. no more Company bullshit.. no more of what just fucking happened... Lets get the hell out of it." Delacroix pleaded with her lover.

Walker looked at the woman he loved. It wasn't that he liked the company. It was just that he knew how things worked.

"I'll go.. but this..." he waved his hand as if to encompass the universe.

"They rule it all.. Niles might put them on the back foot for a while but they will be back and once that happens they will take back his shitty planet and then take Kellos from the Reacher's." He continued.

Rawlings nodded.

"He's right.. we WILL end up fighting again at some point." His tone sad.

Choi knew he didn't want to kill Walker. If he did, he would have to take out Delacroix too.

"We go back and fight against Niles for a company we hate... or we go to Kellos and hope the Reacher's will take us in and end up fighting for them... either way we are fucked... BUT with the Reacher's we might get to live FREE for a while.. maybe even go past the outer rim and find someplace safe." Hank said softly. His words filled with the feelings that he had been harbouring since falling in love with Jessica.

Delacroix reached across the table to take Walkers hand. She squeezed it gently.

"Jack.. this is IT... I don't want to wake up alone anymore." She told him with wide pleading eyes.

"My crew won't all agree. Like most of us they have family on the Companies planets." He hedged, weakening.

Rawlings nodded.

"Already thought about it. After the rest go we tell our crews, give them the choice. Come with us or stay behind on your Dreadnought. They will be safe enough on it and can repair it enough to get to Shellan four in a few months." He said.

Walker let out a long sigh. His breath leaving his mouth slowly as he exhaled his doubts.

"Lets do it." He said with a sudden grin.

A grin that filled Choi with relief and made Delacroix beam happily.

Holly Reed smiled to herself. She had always wanted to be free of the Company and explore the outer rim. On top of that she would be on a more equal footing with Jerry Rawlings. A man she not only admired but had secretly loved for years.

***

Jessica stood in Cargo Bay Four with Ramirez at her side.

Thirty eight faces looked at her with admiration.

"You are NOT PG's.. you are MARINES... do you get me?" she hollered.

"We get you Sergeant." They responded in unison. More than a few smiling as they did.

Jessica suppressed the urge to smile. She knew what was coming next and hoped most of these girls would be as happy when facing Company Marines come the time.

Most were former Planetary Infantry, all of them made deliberately less intelligent than the average human yet all had come to realise and understand that they were better off as Marines than simple pleasure girls.

Only time would tell if they could live life as a human. The obstacles facing them were massive. Sexually they were toys. Mentally they were handicapped. Physically they were fitter and stronger with fast healing. Jessica also understood their basic need. Sex was an actual requirement for them.

"Basic rules... you FUCK who you WANT to.. rest of the time you TRAIN.. Get ME?"

The assembly roared back an affirmative as Ramirez rolled her eyes. To her Jess was special and she didn't really think this was going to work out.

"They are just following your lead." She whispered out of the side of her mouth at Jessica.

Jessica shook her head.

"Some are, but others see it... See what we might become." She answered just as quietly as she thought about how much her life had changed. Her eyes automatically going to Penny who was as smart as she herself was.

"I can promote Penny and maybe make Suzi a squad leader if you want to transfer." Jess offered.

Ramirez scoffed.

"No way... I'm your girl Sarg." She replied with a grin.

Jessica smiled for the first time.

"Split them up Corporal, boarding tactics for half, street to street for the rest." She ordered.

Ramirez nodded and stepped forward, automatically getting the attention of the gathered women.

The short pixie like marine looked far too young until you noticed her eyes. Sharp strong eyes that had seen battle.

"Squad leaders.. Front and Centre." She shouted.

******************

Miguel let out an explosive breath when the FTL spooled up and hummed into readiness.

"You did it Chief." He crowed out.

"WE did it." She said nodding her head in satisfaction as her team clapped their hands in celebration.

She wondered for a second if she would stay. Now she had done her job and gotten the FTL up and running she was left with a decision. Stay with her crew or go home on the battered Dreadnought. Rawlings had made it clear they all had a choice to make now that the others had left.

She guessed all of them would have a sleepless night as they came to a decision on what to do next.