The New Holland Incident

"We need to warn the ground teams." Llewellyn stated, bringing up his own terminals line in to the radar feed. "Leftenant Belvins, what's the status of our communications?"

"Still down, sir!" The officer shouted back his report.

"Make it a priority." The captain switched once again back to Ensign Smyth. "Weapons, can you confirm targets are heading to the transport?"

"Negative sir! I'm still plotting." Her answer came back.

'Dammit', Llewellyn thought. He had been content to assume that the ship they originally disabled was no longer an issue. Llewellyn had banked on the crew either asphyxiating from decompression or simply attempt to fix their ship and get back in the fight. The idea that they might try to double down on their occupation of the transport by abandoning ship simply hadn't occurred to him. It was a stupid mistake to just cripple the ship and assume it was out of the fight. Llewellyn clenched his fist and brought it down on the armrest of his chair. He should have finished them off. He had been cocky and arrogant and all too willing to show off his strength. And now he had inadvertently put the lives of his ground teams in increased and unnecessary danger because of it.

He turned his attention back to the radar display. Four small moving objects had joined the fray. From what he could tell, the Churchill was still very much in the fight. Llewellyn watched intently as a flurry of contacts blips flared from the smaller ship's icon. A missile volley no doubt. By the way the alien ships appeared to be moving, the captain could only assume that Dinesh was having troubles getting a stable firing solution for his main gun. Not that they had really been able to get one either after the initial salvo. Those pirate ships were deceivingly maneuverable. He could only hope that Captain Hilton and his crew could keep the heat off of the Battleaxe until they were at least able to get some momentum again.

"Captain." A voice called out to him, tearing him from his intent gaze at the digital readout. It was Haynes. She was standing just to the left of him, seeming stopped in mid motion.

"Yes Commander?" Llewellyn replied, concerned for why the woman was now just standing in the middle of the command room. "What is it?"

"Do you hear that?" She asked, taking a quick look around the bridge before settling on the captain.

"Hear what XO?" He said quizzically, becoming more concerned as the line of questioning continued. Llewellyn certainly didn't hear anything. Then it hit him, like a bucket of ice water hitting a passed out man. He went cold.

"They're not firing on us anymore." The woman plainly stated.

Llewellyn whipped himself around. Indeed the sound of slugs penetrating his ships armor had ceased. "Ensign Smyth, can you confirm that we are not being fired upon anymore?" The captain asked, already fearing he knew the answer.

"Confirmed, both Hostile Two and Three have switched targets to the Churchill." The officer said.

"Leftenant, can you also confirm the course of the boarding craft? Are they heading to the transport?" Llewellyn questioned.

"Based on direction of travel... negative, they are bypassing the transport." The Lieutenant paused for a moment, seemingly double checking their readout. "Correction, they're on an intercept course... for us."

Llewellyn hit the shipwide intercom almost before he realized he had done it. He found himself silently thanking God the internal radios still worked. It was a brilliant idea really. Abandon your dead and dying ship for one that isn't as broken (and probably worth a hell of a lot more as well). This time he was glad that he had at least a little foresight to not send all of the Marines over on the rescue op.

He wasn't sure how well ten marines and a hundred and fifty or so non combat trained sailors would do against alien marauders, but it wasn't like they had much of a choice. Not exactly an ideal situation. Then again, the situation had become non ideal the moment their computer core had been knocked out. The intercom chimed and once again the captain of the Battleaxe addressed his crew.

"All hands this is the Captain. Prepare to repel boarders. I repeat, all hands prepare to repel boarders." The captain began. "I want all available crews armed and checkpoints set up throughout the ship. All department heads report to XO Haynes for assignments. Give em hell lads! Llewellyn out."

Once the connection dropped, Llewellyn reached to the underside of his chair and slowly pulled out his duty pistol. It was a 9mm semi-automatic, made back on Earth by some German company. Or maybe it was Belgian... Regardless, he had never once fired it in anger, and even then only ever at the ships range on the rare occasion for the service mandated refresher courses. He had joined the Royal Navy to fly through the stars, not shoot at them. Llewellyn let out an anxious sigh. He supposed there was a first time for everything.

"Weapons, status on the boarding craft." The older officer demanded.

"At current speed they'll be on us in seven minutes." Ensign Smyth replied.

"PDC status?" The captain inquired, not looking forward to, but optimistic about the answer.

"Tracking software is still offline." The response came.

Llewellyn couldn't say he was surprised. He turned to his operations Lieutenant. "Mister Belvins, can we get the PDC's to target manually?"

"Sorry sir." The younger man responded. "With the amount of a mess the computer is in we wouldn't be able to bypass in time. I'm afraid we're just going to have to let them come."

"I appreciate the attempt Leftenant." The captain said, placing his pistol in his lap and sitting back in his chair.

Now it was just a waiting game. There was unfortunately nothing more he could do. Much like the simulations earlier in the day, Llewellyn could only watch as his officers preformed their duties. It was little consolation though. He attempted to distract himself by studying the radar feed once more. The battle was seemingly one sided, however it seemed that Dinesh had been able to get a lucky shot off at the larger pirate vessel. And while it was still very operational, the damage had seemed to make it back off into a more defensive posture. Seemingly opting to gain some distance between it and the Churchill. The smaller ship appeared to be acting more aggressive to compensate for it's ally's retreat. Firing off whatever it could to keep the Commonwealth ship on the defensive.

At least it seemed that Captain Hilton was aware of the Battleaxe's impending boarding action. The other Commonwealth ship kept trying to make an advance on the approaching small craft, only to be driven off before any real progress could be made. Llewellyn appreciated the effort, but with only a few minutes before they arrived it was too little too late. Proximity klaxons began to blare, signaling the final approach of the alien boarding teams. Llewellyn found himself holding his breath, releasing it only once he heard the faint 'clunk' of metal hitting metal reverberate through the ships structure. Not long after it was confirmed that the aliens had landed and had begun cutting their way into the hull. Hasty defensive checkpoint had already been set up at several junction throughout the ship.

Llewellyn found himself wishing that the Waterloo-class destroyer had been designed with an internal defense grid. It had been deemed unnecessary by the engineers as the prospect of being boarded in a combat situation was considered almost a non issue. Besides, they were supposed to have a detachment of thirty Royal Marines on board to deal with any intruders. After this was done Llewellyn considered sending a letter to Admiral Reiter requesting an increase in their on board detachment. That was to say, if they survived to send it.

Trivate Charters Transport Ship Hyande Val-Askanse

British Commonwealth Claimed System of 'New Holland'

"What do we do now?" Riley asked, a hint of anxiety lacing his words as they filtered through into his helmet.

Southers chewed his tongue. It was a nervous habit that he had been trying to quit for years. No matter how hard he tried, it always seemed to sneak up on him when he was trying to make sense of a tough problem. Losing contact with the Battleaxe would certainly put a hitch in the exfiltration part of the operation, but it wasn't necessarily the end all. Losing contact could simply mean jammers were in play or the ship had taken a hit to the comms array. No, he wasn't going to worry about it right now, he and his Marines still had a ship to clear.

"We continue with the operation." The Marine Lieutenant ordered. "We're still in hostile territory and our objectives are still the primary concern until I say otherwise."

"Yes sir." Riley's response broadcast into his helmet, the anxiety only slightly dissipating.

Southers could understand the man's anxiousness. The Battleaxe was Riley's ship and the man had been stationed there for obviously quite a while. It wasn't a comforting prospect to know that your friends and coworkers were possibly in danger and there was nothing you could do about it. If Southers unit had been stationed on a ship instead of security for a bumfuck nowhere mining colony he might be having a somewhat similar reaction. That however wasn't the situation. Most of his coworkers were on this ship right now, some of whom were already injured. Before he could think of their safety they had to make sure the transport was secure.

"What do we do with the xeno's?" Lynn's voice came next, giving Southers a slight nod towards the yellow looking tentacle girl and her reptilian friend.

Lynn's question was a welcoming little distraction. A problem that he could actually give a solution for. The reptilian needed appropriate medical treatment for sure, but the tentacle girl... Southers had to make a call. The lieutenant took a couple of seconds to think it over before responding.

"We need to MEDVAC the injured. I want it back on the shuttle for the first group out." Southers finally decided. "Riley, Sires, that's you. Radio in when you've made it." He said, giving a quick thumb jab at each of the men. The two marines nodded and headed over to the closet. The Lieutenant was just about to continue when he was interrupted.

"Sir, I think I should stay with the patient." Lavigne piped up, having donned his helmet once more and faced back towards the other marines. "He may need additional medical attention."

"Negative Corporal. There may be more casualties up ahead." Southers ordered, most likely to the silent disagreement of the medic. "Riley and Sires can handle it. We need you with us." With the interruption dealt with and a quick 'Yes sir!' from Lavigne, Southers returned to his previous train of thought. "As I was about to say, the female may have intel we can use. She's been here longer than we have and judging by the jumpsuit she's a part of the crew. I want to question her then send her back to the shuttle with Riley and Sires. Anyone got anything else to add"

A moment of silence was followed up by a 'No sir' from Lynn. Satisfied with the response he made his way over to the tentacle backed looking woman. He really should have asked her name, but the hectic nature of their meeting didn't lend much help for that. Referring to her as 'tentacle girl' made it sound like she was some kind of Japanese sex cartoon woman. Southers smirked as the image flashed through his mind. The uhh... 'Alien Woman', was sitting on the floor next to the reptilian that she had referred to as 'Rent'. She turned to look at him as he approached. Her eyes were still a little misty, but she seemed a lot calmer now than when they had found her. He stopped and knelt down in front of her.

"I need to ask you some questions." Southers said in the most calm and reassuring voice he could.

She stared and blinked at him. Southers waited a moment for some kind of confirmation that it was alright but none came. He decided to write it off as her people maybe not having any kind of confirmation gestures or she was still in shock. He cleared his throat and continued on without one.

"First, what's your name?" The Marine lieutenant inquired.

"My name is Vas Hiteal. I'm one of the ships pilots." The woman replied, answering Southers second question before he proposed it.

"Alright Miss Hiteal. What can you tell me about these attackers." He inquired once more.

Her already fairly expressionless face seemed to become more so. "They're the Breten Hvas. You didn't recognize them when you shot them?" Vas said, seemingly getting more confused.

"No, we've never encountered them before." Southers plainly stated. These 'Breten Hvas' were pretty much a mystery to him. He had never seen anything about them in any intel briefings that he had been privy to. If these aliens were as big of a deal as the woman's expressions seemed to give off, any information he could gleam could be invaluable to not only this operation, but for the navy's intel as a whole. He pressed on her a little more. "What can you tell me about them? Weapons? Tactics? Anything will help."

"Well I have one of their weapons from one of them that Rent and I killed." She said, pointing to a spiked looking rifle that lay just out of the way next to the rooms door. "I don't know anything about it though, just how to shoot it."

"That's alright," Southers assured her. A tech sample could prove invaluable down the road, regardless if it's owner knew how it properly worked or not. "What can you tell me about their tactics? What are they hoping to accomplish here?" He continued to probe.

"They're pirate slavers." Vas explained. "They terrorize ships and systems and take anything and everyone they can. That's if they don't decide to just outright kill you instead. They're monsters." She paused a moment before speaking back up. "They're not supposed to be here. This route is supposed to be safe..."

'Nothing stays safe forever', Southers thought. If the area around New Holland was supposed to be a safe area, this attack may be the start of these Breten Hvas attempting to extend their pirate and slaving operations into Human controlled space. The MoD was definitely going to want to hear about this. He refocused his attention on Vas. The woman seemed to be slipping away into thoughts that Southers assumed couldn't be good if he wanted to continue to get information out of her.

"Is that what they're trying to do here? Kidnap people?" He questioned again, trying to push the alien woman out of her thoughts and back into reality.

"Yes. They've rounded everyone up and put them in the cargo bays while they strip down the rest of the ship."

Southers eyes lit up. That was a key piece of information. If all the hostages were only confined to the cargo bays it would be a hell of a lot simpler to secure and extract groups. He needed to know more.

"The cargo bays? How do you know that's where they all are?" The Lieutenant pressed. He tried not to sound impatient, but with a revelation like this, the sooner he knew the sooner they could act.

The alien woman shifted slightly to her side and produced some kind of terminal screen from a bag next to her. She tapped on it a few times and it lit up as she handed it to him.

"I have access to the ships security cameras. I was using it to evade them before you got here." The woman stated. "They've moved all the passengers and crew that they haven't killed to the aft cargo bays. Males in one and females in the other."

Halle-fucking-lujah! Southers cracked a smile inside his helmet. Complete ship internal cameras that they now had control of! This was a game changer, a complete and utter game changer. As Southers looked over the device the only issue that started to crop up was that his translation software didn't translate alien writing. While the cameras pictures were self explanatory, the location ID's were unreadable to him. An idea began planting itself in his mind. Southers had originally not wanted the added weight of a couple of civilian xeno's slowing his team down, but with the revelation of this woman's terminal and their inability to properly read it, he was going to have to bring her with them. With that, the marine got back to his feet and keyed his suit's radio.

"Lads, this lady has access to the ships internal security systems cameras. We now know exactly where these bastards are and where they have put the hostages." Southers stated, continuing again after a moment to let the news sink in to his team. "Riley, Sires, take the injured xeno back to the shuttle. Miss Hiteal is going to be coming with us."

A pair of short 'Aye's were snapped off as Riley and Sires got to work lifting Rent off the deck. As soon as they started doing so Vas bolted up.

"What are you doing to him?" She demanded in a panicked tone.

"They're going to take him back to our shuttle." Southers explained, attempting to calm her. "He's going to be with the first group out. We need you to come with us however."

The alien woman looked stunned at the prospect. Very cautiously she began to speak. "Why do you need me? I'm not a soldier. I barely know how to use the rifle I have!"

Southers smiled again inside his helmet, an action he knew she couldn't see. "We need you to help us use the security cameras so we can tell our teams exactly where to go. You'll be working with mister Lavigne here. Just help him out and let us do any of the shooting, alright?"

Vas looked over to Lavigne who gave her a quick thumbs up and then back at Southers. "Is Rent going to be okay?" She asked concerned.

"He'll be just fine." Southers responded, giving an acknowledging nod to the two soldiers who had secured their patient and were just now getting ready to head out of the room. "He has two of the Commonwealth's finest protecting him. Those two will be dead before anything happens to him."

Vas fidgeted slightly and then finally seemed to force herself to relax. She took in a deep breath and let it out, staring directly into Southers visor.

"Alright, just tell me what you need me to do."

February 2nd, 2172 -- 1256 Hours Local Time

Commonwealth Patrol Ship HMS Battleaxe

Commonwealth Controlled Space, New Holland System

Twenty-seven separate intruders. They had only had about a minute to determine where the aliens were going to be coming in after they had attached to the hull. Most of the Battleaxe's hastily assembled security teams had been caught out of position or in the middle of assembling their checkpoints. Thankfully for them, the intruders didn't seem to be as heavily armed as the command staff had anticipated. Contact reports seemed to show that a lot of the quadrupedal aliens appeared to be using small sidearm like pistols or light rifles. Many didn't appear to be wearing any discernible armor either. Just mostly pressure suit analogues and jumpsuits, leading Llewellyn to believe that this was an attack of desperation rather than a coordinated effort.

If the captain had to guess, it was most likely pilots, engineers and conscripts fighting his men rather than the soldiers that had boarded the transport. Regardless they still seemed to be causing havoc within his ship. Five checkpoints had already been overrun by the aliens sheer force of numbers and the unpreparedness of his sailors hasty security teams. Their advance had been stopped for now however, as all of the intruders had been located and accounted for. Their element of surprise had been spent and as such a slugging match had began.

The aliens didn't seem to have an particular direction in which they were going. Just as the Human's didn't have much information about them, the aliens didn't seem to have all that much about his ships design either. One team of six appeared to be wandering around seemingly aimlessly through the crew living quarters to which they had breached into, opening up and probing the dormitories as they went. Thankfully none of his men had been caught sleeping. One of the larger groups however was a cause for more concern. They had been continuously attacking and probing the larger checkpoints they found, opting to bypass the smaller defended ones. Llewellyn could only assume that the intruders had figured that the larger the defense, the more important the area.