Three Square Meals Ch. 050

"Very nice," John said approvingly. He then glanced at the ship's chronometer and added, "They'll be sending out the night patrol in two hours, So if we leave then, we should arrive when they're well clear of the base. Let's have some dinner, then we can gear up and get ready."

The girls nodded eagerly, and even Irillith was too keyed up for the coming fight to bother with game playing. Dana and Calara offered to stay on the bridge to keep watch, while the rest of the crew headed down to the Officers' Lounge to prepare dinner. Irillith returned to her quarters, and briefly mused over the idea of looking for the tech repository, but realised she wouldn't have enough time.

She had grown weary of preparing her own meals over the last several days, and was looking forward to someone else doing the hard work for a change. Besides, she quite enjoyed John's company this afternoon, as he didn't seem quite so uptight as normal. She hooked up her armoured vambrace to the hacking portal, and sent off a fresh AI sprite off to gather another set of video footage to review.

John cooked pulled pork for them that evening, with roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables. He had also prepared them a light and sweet tasting apple sauce to go with the pork, and when he brought out the gently roasted meat, there were appreciative murmurs at the enticing aroma. Irillith strode into the room a minute later, and sat in her chosen seat opposite John, over at the other end of the table. She glanced at him flirtatiously to make sure he was watching her when she made her entrance, but couldn't be bothered to cause trouble, and they all tucked into dinner ravenously.

Glancing at his watch after they had eaten, John looked up at them and said, "It's getting close to that time. We better get ready."

Rachel and Dana rose with him, and Jade got up as well a moment later. "I'll go prep the Raptor," she said eagerly, as she followed them out of the room.

Alyssa glanced at Calara and Irillith, then smiled as she said, "Well ladies, time to make our way to the Bridge."

The Latina and the Maliri woman nodded, then followed the blonde girl out of the lounge as they made their way up to the Command Deck.

"I'll join you in a minute, I need my hacking deck," Irillith said, and descended in the red glow of the grav-tube, while Alyssa and Calara stepped into the soft blue glow on the other side instead.

They waved her goodbye as she disappeared from sight, and after ascending in that soothing blue glow, they stepped out onto the Command Deck and walked over to take their places. Irillith rejoined them a couple of minutes later, just as John strolled out of the Briefing Room in his blackened body armour.

Calara gave him a playful frown and said, "I prefer you as my white knight."

John laughed and said, "I'll have to rescue my dusky damsel in distress when I get back."

The Latina bit her lower lip coyly, and nodded at him eagerly. He looked up at Alyssa's beautiful face, and saw the worry creasing her brow. He smiled at her and said, "Don't worry, we'll be back in no time."

Alyssa frowned as she replied, "This is the first time I've let you go off on a mission without me. I want you to be careful, okay?"

He winked at her and said, "Hopefully you won't get injured after this one! I've had enough of seeing you knocked out!"

"It's not me I'm worried about," the blonde girl said, but smiled at him regardless.

*Seriously, be careful,* she told him cautiously. *Something doesn't feel right, but I can't put my finger on it.*

John smiled at her confidently and said, *We've got this, don't worry!*

He led Rachel and Dana over to the grav-tube, and they were about to step inside when Alyssa darted down the steps and gave him a tight hug. At least it would have been tight if he wasn't wearing double plated body armour. Pulling off his helmet, he leaned down and gave her a kiss, then rubbed noses with her.

"Keep in touch," he said softly. "You'll be the one coordinating all of us."

Alyssa looked up at him, and nodded earnestly, her bright cerulean eyes staring up at him intently. He suddenly remembered just how young she was, and how much responsibility he'd piled on her youthful shoulders. At eighteen years old, she was commanding a lethal, five-hundred-metre long warship, with enough firepower to level a small planetoid. Not only that, but he was relying on her to keep their team linked together via her extraordinary telepathic gifts.

*You're sweet to worry, but I'll be fine,* she told him bravely.

He looked at her soberly, his bravado gone for the moment, and said, "You stay safe up here."

Nodding, she waved him farewell, then sighed as she watched him depart. He descended in the grav-tube, his face cast in a foreboding red glow as he dropped down out of sight. When she turned and walked back up the illuminated steps to the Command Podium, she saw Calara and Irillith watching her intently. The Latina looked worried and sympathetic, and if Alyssa hadn't known better, she would have said the blue-skinned Maliri woman almost looked jealous.

"Let's get ready then," she told them resolutely. "We'll have to be ready to strike if they get in any trouble."

Calara nodded, and turned back to the holographic tactical map, studying the images intently. Irillith turned to face the brunette and asked, "You're the Tactical Officer aren't you?"

Surprised, Calara spun her chair to look at Irillith and replied, "Yes, that's right. Why do you ask?"

The blue-skinned woman hesitated for a moment, then asked quizzically, "Can you provide me some more detail on those cruisers? The more I know about them the better."

The brunette smiled and nodded, saying, "I can provide you generic design schematics for a Terran cruiser. They might have done some customisation work, so I can't provide you accurate detail without an active scan."

Irillith nodded curtly and said, "That will suffice." She then looked down at her vambrace, activated the holographic panel, and focused on it intently as she began to tap commands into the interface. Compared to her normally abrasive tone and mannerisms, the Maliri woman had almost been polite.

Calara exchanged a wry smile with Alyssa, who raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

***

Jade brought the Raptor down to the planet in a long, arcing descent, slowing their approach by carefully feathering the retro-thrusters. She managed to keep their energy signature to a bare minimum, so unless the Cobras had access to an incredibly sophisticated sensor array, she was confident they would remain undetectable.

The Nymph had powered off all extraneous systems, but she kept the sensors running on minimal power, to avoid any potential navigation mishaps. As they glided silently towards the base, she could see the outline of the perimeter walls, and the buildings within, highlighted in a green wireframe image. A column of heavy tanks had left the compound and were snaking their way off to the south, over the flat plains in that direction.

"There go the tanks," she called out to the passengers seated behind her, and they craned their necks to see.

John stood, and walked over to her, placing his hand on her shoulder as he asked, "What's our ETA?"

Jade glanced at the HUD, checking the gunship's velocity, and said, "Just under two minutes. You should get into position."

Dana stood up eagerly, and said, "Try and bring us over the north end of the compound. I'll drop the EMP device near the wall, then you can bring us down when that section goes dark."

Jade gave her a smile and a thumbs up sign, and the redhead walked out of the cockpit, with Rachel following close behind. John leaned down and planted an affectionate kiss on Jade's head and said, "Take care, my lovely little Nymph. Remember, I have big plans for you, so no getting hurt!"

She looked up and grinned at him happily, then waved goodbye before he turned and walked out of the cockpit to catch up with the others.

*We're nearly in position,* he thought to Alyssa as he dropped down in the grav-tube. *Everything going alright up there?*

*We're fine, just keeping an eye on things,* the psychic blonde replied to him confidently. *They did send out the destroyers in a couple of groups a few minutes ago, but it seems to just be a random patrol.*

John looked thoughtful and said, *It might be worth hitting the destroyers while they're away from the planet. If the cruisers join the battle, you'll have drawn them away from the beam lasers at the base.*

Alyssa paused for a moment, before coming back to him and saying, *Calara's been thinking the same thing; that we should hit them while their forces are divided. We'll get ready to strike as soon as you've escaped with the prisoners.*

He walked into the rear of the ship, and found Dana kneeling on the floor next to a device no larger than his armoured fist, which was attached to a small platform. He could see what looked like a couple of anti-grav cyclics, but they were the Maliri version, which Dana had appropriated while on Geniya Space Station. The redhead pressed a button on the back of the platform, and it lifted off the ground, floating silently in the air.

"Your EMP device?" John asked her curiously.

Dana nodded animatedly and replied, "Yep! It's all ready to go. As soon as Jade gives the word I'll pilot it in via remote."

John looked thoughtful for a moment, then glanced at Rachel and said, "As Alyssa isn't here, and you can't communicate back to her via telepathy, we'll have to rely on old fashioned comms. Are you comfortable using the communications suite in the phalanx armour?"

Dana laughed and said, "She's been in the Engineering Bay watching me work on the new armour the entire time. I think she must have got sick of hearing me talk about it by now!"

Rachel smiled at her fondly and said, "I love hearing you chatter away. Even if I can't understand half of it!"

John smiled at the pair of them, and lifted the helmet he was carrying under his arm, placing it back on his head. He then unslung the Punisher railgun he had over his left shoulder, and glanced up at his sword over his right shoulder to make sure it was still safely in position.

Alyssa's warm voice suddenly echoed through his mind. *Jade says she's hovering in position, two hundred metres directly above the northern wall,* she thought to him informatively.

*Thanks, beautiful,* he replied, then glanced at Dana.

The girls had obviously received the same message, because Rachel walked over to the panel that operated the rear loading ramp, while Dana produced a handheld remote. The remote looked a lot like the one she had used to demo the maintenance robot, and she carefully steered the EMP device over to the loading ramp.

There was a sudden whistle of air as the loading ramp began to swing open, the terraforming of the planet bringing strong winds as well as a breathable atmosphere. The EMP drone wavered slightly as it was buffeted by the wind, but under Dana's skilful piloting, it struggled on towards the now yawning rear of the gunship.

John could see the look of intense concentration on Dana's face as she fought valiantly to keep the drone upright and stable in the high winds. Through the clear crystal faceplate of her armoured helmet, he could see her sky blue eyes watching the view from a camera fixed to the drone. They stood and waited for a tense couple of minutes, and John walked over to the loading ramp to peer out below. He could see the walls and buildings bathed in light, and he began to picture names against each of the buildings, as they corresponded to the maintenance schematics.

Suddenly a small section of the wall directly below them flickered then seemed to short out, plunging that length of wall into pitch darkness. He turned and smiled at Dana, who grinned back at him. He felt a slight sinking feeling, and he faintly heard the retrothrusters dropping in pitch as Jade throttled back the power slightly, while drifting slightly to put them just outside the base. They descended silently at a measured pace, and the base below loomed larger then disappeared out of sight, as the Nymph brought them down in a basin to the north of the plateau. Rachel and Dana walked up to flank him, and they hopped off the rear landing ramp, twenty seconds after the EMP device had made its disruptive presence felt.

The moment they were clear, Jade was up and flying away, rising up and disappearing into the night's sky. John watched her leave for a second, before jogging stealthily towards the darkened section of wall in the mercenaries compound. The northern gate was normally magnetically sealed, but with the power knocked out, he was able to push the heavy titanium doors apart. The servos were well oiled, so they made a minimal amount of noise when he opened them, allowing the girls to slip inside. He pulled the huge doors closed after they were through, and they ran silently to the nearest building, then crouched in the pitch black by the Ferrocrete wall.

"This should be one of the storage buildings," he said into the audio pickups of his helmet, as he glanced at the base layout in his HUD.

He knew full well that his two companions would be able to hear him clearly, while the sealed helmet would prevent the sound of his voice from carrying. When he reached the reinforced Ferrocrete wall of the sturdy building, he turned to glance behind him to make sure that Rachel and Dana were still with him. The redhead and the brunette were right behind him, and they smiled bravely, their eyes flashing with excitement.

"We'll loop around behind the next two storage units, then the bigger building in the north-west corner of the base should be the Main Generator. Watch out for any patrols inside the compound, or anyone out for a stroll. If we stumble across someone, don't wait for my permission, just take them out," he said quickly and quietly.

The girls nodded soberly, and Dana nodded, raising her railgun, and said, "Make sure you're on low power mode!"

John and Rachel checked, and sure enough, the toggled switch had an indicator light with a muted green glow. John headed west, sticking close to the rear walls of the storage units, moving quickly through the darkness created by the EMP device. They passed a guard tower built into the wall, half way down the northern edge of the base, and John grinned as he heard the sound of confused voices drifting down from the gun nest at the top.

They reached the edge of the last of the storage units, and glanced across the twenty metre gap to the Main Generator. It was housed in a reinforced Ferrocrete building in the north-west corner of the base, with thick power cabling feeding out from the building to a junction box outside. From there the cables went underground, snaking out to provide power to the rest of the base. The clean, new-looking tarmac path led up to the door of the generator room. Along each side, the path was lit by illuminated strips, that clearly delineated the boundaries for anyone out on a late night errand to the building. Away from the path the comforting shroud of darkness reigned, offering them sanctuary in the murky gloom.

John glanced behind him to check the girls were still with him, and said, "We'll dash straight across this open section one at a time, but stay clear of the path. The other two cover the runner. When we reach the corner of the building, we can check for patrols, and then slip inside when it's clear."

His plan was met with eager nods, and he sprinted out across the gap between buildings, then hugged the northern wall of the Main Generator building. Rachel and Dana dashed across after him, then slid around to crouch in the shadows behind him. Rachel was covering the rear, while Dana was keeping a wary eye on the walls to their front, and he was impressed how seamlessly they had executed the drills he had taught them. He poked his head out to have a quick look around, but could see no one in the vicinity, and no alarm seemed to have been raised from their run across the open.

He slipped around the edge of the building, then moved swiftly and furtively up to the heavy titanium door. He was relieved to find it wasn't locked and was well oiled, so it swung open easily and silently. Heading inside, the layout of the building was simple, with the huge generator in the middle of the room, and a glass panelled wall surrounding it. In the southern corner was a control room, and a man in combat fatigues was sitting on a chair, with his feet up on the desk. He was drinking a cup of coffee, as he watched football on a viewscreen above the console.

John brought his rifle to bear, and trained it on the man, walking forward silently. The merc caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned saying, "Hey, Bob! You're earl..."

The Predator railgun answered his friendly greeting with a soft murmur. "Prrrkow," the railgun whispered, and three rounds blasted big holes though the man's chest, sending him sprawling backwards, and spraying the rear wall with blood.

John continued walking towards the dead merc, and said, "Rachel, do a circuit to the north, I'll check to the south. Dana, start rigging the explosives."

The brunette and redhead followed his orders immediately, with Rachel heading around the corridor in the opposite direction to him, and Dana opening a glass door into the inner generator room. Dana pulled the pack of explosives from her back, and glanced around the corner of the generator, just to make sure no one was inside the central room. She could see Rachel walking swiftly down the corridor to her right, the girl's railgun readied at her shoulder, as she looked for any more mercenaries.

The rest of the room was clear, so Dana moved behind the generator and placed the explosives on the ground. She activated the remote trigger that was linked to the detonator switch she carried on her belt, and with one last check to make sure everything was in place, she jogged around the generator to rejoin her friends.

"All set?" John asked her, as she ran over to join them.

Dana nodded eagerly, and replied, "Yep! It'll make one hell of an explosion when it goes off!"

He nodded at her appreciatively, then said, "Let's hit the Backup Generator next. Same as before, we'll move around the outskirts of the base, using the buildings as cover. The other generator is in the South East of the base, so we've got a little stroll ahead of us."

"A midnight walk! How enchanting," Rachel said with a smile.

He chuckled, then tentatively opened the door that led outside. There was no one around outside, so he waved the girls past him, and they snuck out and turned right, sneaking away silently. He was about to follow them out, but after glancing backwards at the new crimson decor of the control room, he knew the moment anyone stepped inside, the alarm would be raised. Looking up at the sturdy doorframe, he walked outside, then closed the doors securely. He reached up and sunk his fingers into the Ferrocrete in a cascade of dust and stone chips, then tugged down slightly, warping the doorframe and jamming the doors shut. He smiled with satisfaction, then jogged to catch up with the girls.

***

Jade had cleared the Landing Zone easily, drifting out and away from the mercenary base using the lightest of touches on the retro-thrusters. From their earlier estimations, John, Dana and Rachel would be at least thirty minutes, all going well, so she pivoted the Raptor and headed south. It didn't take long for the nimble gunship to catch up to the armoured column she had seen leaving earlier, and the heavy tanks were clearly illuminated in the wireframe view of the passive sensors.

She followed them, trailing a couple of kilometres behind as she watched the armoured vehicles fan out and move in-formation across the flat plain. They seemed to be mounting an assault against a group of hills in the distance, and she was curious to see what they had planned. The central four tanks came to a sudden halt, and she was surprised when there were several flashes from their main guns, as they began a barrage of the distant target. Bright explosions lit up the range as the shells exploded, sending geysers of dirt and rock high into the air.