Raid on Rigel Read online

  THE SQUAD

  (Novelette 7)

  Raid on Rigel

  By: Stephen Arseneault

  "True loyalty cannot be purchased or forced. It must be earned and never taken for granted."

  S.A.

  View the author's website at www.arsenex.com

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  Copyright 2018 Stephen Arseneault. All Rights Reserved

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law, or in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  THE SQUAD Raid on Rigel

  Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

  Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

  Chapter 7 What's Next? Books

  Chapter 1

  * * *

  I had just come from a meeting with the Admirals. Two were in support of allowing the mercs to arm their ships and two were opposed. The other eight remained indecisive.

  It was now well known that the Fracker had a pair of plasma cannons that were in violation of the law. But there were no interested parties in the admiralty who wanted to take those away. I suspected most also knew of the other mercs who had previously armed themselves, however, they were also not willing to publicly stick out their necks to support such. Instead, tacit approval came with a series of winks and nods.

  As I walked back toward the warehouse, Tumbe Bradley, the captain of the Malfy, walked up beside me. "What was their decision, Mr. Balls?"

  "Indecision. Only two would commit. Most are sitting the fence. Politics is getting in the way."

  "Please tell me they realize we are now fighting two wars. They have to recognize that."

  "They do. But this war with the Maxans has been going on for so long, and because we've had it relatively easy the last few decades, the politicians have more decision power than the admiralty. Some are calling for the CDF to pull fully back and to just defend our original borders."

  "They do realize that would mean fights would be taking place on those original colonies instead of out in Maxan space, right?"

  "According to the Admirals I just met with, the politicians know it, but don't want to accept it. I believe the reality of this situation calls for us to take our part of the fight into our own hands. We should arm our ships to the hilt, regardless of the law. If the politicians want to punish us for it later, so be it. A wise man once told me he'd rather be punished than dead."

  "Who was that?"

  I chuckled. "Probably me, mumbling to myself in the mirror after some screwed-up mission. More than one comes to mind."

  Tumbe Bradley was in agreement with my call to arms. As we parted ways, I made a turn toward the office of Faulk and Waldorp.

  Faulk was pacing around his desk as he argued with his partner. "Balls. Come in. We were just discussing what to do with those spare cannons and other resources from that Maxan Warstalker. We just this morning had a visit from a government official who was inquiring about the Fracker. We told him nothing, other than we had been contracted to do some repair work. What worries us is he did not look convinced."

  "This morning I asked the admiralty to get us approval for arming the merc fleet. They refused. They also know about our cannons and about how helpful they were at Deneb. But only two were willing to make their voices heard. Unfortunately, two others are vehemently opposed. So for now there is no official approval, but no disapproval either."

  Waldorp leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "That's it then. Those cannons are useless to us."

  "Not necessarily." I took a seat in front of Waldorp as Faulk stopped his pacing at the side of the desk. "What if I could get you a steady stream of mercs who wanted to add those cannons to their ships?"

  "After that visit this morning? I don't see why we would risk getting caught."

  "What if the work were to be done out at the rally point? That's outside Confederation space. From what I have read, precedent restricts the enforcement of those laws to the boundaries of our territories. And the penalty for being caught with armaments is limited to confiscation of those armaments and the cost of having them removed, no imprisonment or fine unless used to commit a crime.

  "Now I'm not one for skirting the law, but these are the lives of hundreds of patriotic citizens we're talking about. They may get in bar fights and there may be the occasional bout of smuggling going on, but in the end, if they are willing to risk their lives for the rest of us, they deserve to be armed."

  Faulk turned to his partner. "We do have that Warstalker hull still sitting out there. And the docking bay is big enough for a retrofit of these smaller ships."

  Waldorp said, "Isn't the merc fleet hundreds of ships?"

  "Fewer than a hundred now," I replied. "And after our losses at Deneb I don't expect that number will grow much. No one wants to volunteer their services when the odds are that much against you."

  "We only have eight of the cannons."

  "Then we'll have to get you more."

  "What are the chances of that?"

  "If we brought you four customers for those eight turrets, just like we have, how long would it take you to install them?"

  Faulk rubbed his chin in thought. "Well... we could outfit a ship like the Fracker with armor and weapons in a week, if given time to plan."

  Waldorp tilted his head to one side as he nodded. "Possible. And with the size of that docking bay on the Warstalker we could do two at the same time."

  "How much time do you need to prepare?"

  "If we're talking assault ships, the designs are set. We could have the support frames and plating turned out in about a week. Can I make a suggestion?"

  "Certainly."

  "We should have the armor installed here, which is not an unlawful act. And the cannons will be done at the rally point."

  "How much do you need, credit wise, to get started on this?"

  "Our cost for the armor-work alone will run about fifty thousand credits per ship. Installation of the cannons, another twenty. But we might be willing to front those costs if you can promise us another Warstalker for salvage."

  Faulk cut in. "That or three Warmongers. And I have to ask, where are you planning to get the old assault hulls from? Last I knew, the auction prices had rebounded and the military had cut way back on the number they were selling off. It seems with the loss of so many warships at Bellatrix they are hesitant to retire anything. And forgive me if I'm wrong, but the vast majority of mercs we've dealt with don't have cash laying around they could use for a new ship purchase."

  I stood and began to pace the room with my hands clasped behind my back. "Interesting. I hadn't heard they were withholding ship retirements. I guess that makes perfect sense given the condition of the fleet. I'll have to pay the Admirals another visit."

  Preparations for the ship updates were agreed upon. I made my way back to the warehouse where the others were gathering for lunch.

  As I walked in the door, Tanner was the first to ask, "How'd it go? I'm not detecting a grin."

  "The meeting about arming our ships went poorly. I don't think the approval will come because the politic
ians still control that body. Even given the sacrifice that was made by the merc community at Deneb, only two out of the dozen Admirals present were willing to risk the ire of our elected officials."

  "So what does that mean for the merc fleet? We can't fight another fight like we just did. There aren't enough of us left."

  I looked over at Xurpok. "It means we're heading out to Rigel. We now have two missions there. Gather intel on the Corbo and bring back a Warstalker— or several Warmongers. Keep this among yourselves, but Faulk and Waldorp want to build four more ships just like the Fracker. Those would be used by other merc crews. And if given the time after that... to build more. We'll try to outfit as many of those assault ships as possible."

  Collins replied, "Now that sounds like a plan."

  "A plan with problems. It seems the retirement of assault ships is being halted. The admiralty is in turmoil over the loss of two-thirds of the fleet. Until they get more ships produced, old hulls may be hard to come by."

  Mendez said, "What about salvage? Has to be enough parts from damaged ships to piece together a few good ones."

  "Excellent suggestion, Mendez. And I'm putting you, Tanner, and Collins in charge of finding out about that."

  Mendez scowled. "I had to open my mouth. Now I'm being punished."

  Tanner smirked. "Punished? Col and I are the ones being punished. We—"

  I pointed toward the door. "Go out and see what you three can find. Who knows how much time we have before another fleet of Herzek ships shows up at one of our colonies. And Xurpok, if you haven't already done so, start researching the Rigel system. We may be heading that way as soon as tomorrow."

  Chapter 2

  * * *

  Another half day had transpired. I was just returning from a meeting with several of the Admirals where I pled our case for the purchase of four or the retiring assault ships. My pleas were heard, but only to the tune of a single ship. It was in need of a drive overhaul and had been through so many repairs the hull was no longer considered sound. Given the extent of the updates we were planing for her, I made a winning bid, sight unseen.

  Upon return to the warehouse, Tanner and the others had just completed their initial search for damaged and abandoned hulls.

  Tanner was shaking his head. "We found enough parts to construct a single ship. We'll have to cut off the back half of one to mate with the front half of another. So that's a redo of the wiring, piping, and ducting. Any luck with the Admirals?"

  I returned an unenthusiastic frown. "One hull. It was being retired due to needing a new drive and poor hull integrity."

  Mendez said, "Any chance we could find a couple of the others that were auctioned off? Maybe appeal to the patriotism of the buyers? At least a dozen of those were sold."

  Collins laughed. "Nobody giving up a ship they just bought for patriotism. They'll want credits."

  Mendez scowled. "Credits was what I meant, moron. Patriotism only being the reason for their willingness to do so. Sarge, I know we aren't flush with credits, but maybe we could work out some kind of swap with one of the merc teams we want to upgrade? If somebody has a barge that would be suitable for whatever use one of those assault ships was purchased for, maybe we could work out a deal."

  I nodded. "Another excellent suggestion, Mendez. Take these two clowns with you and track down the new owners. I'll work this end with the mercs to see who might be interested."

  Mendez stood with an unhappy look on he face. "I thought that was another good suggestion, Sarge. Why am I being punished again? At least give me Diggs and Grimes."

  "Consider it a team-building exercise."

  Collins said, "Hear that, Tan? We get to be clowns."

  Mendez rolled her eyes as she turned for the door.

  I opened a comm to Tumbe Bradley. "Captain, are you familiar with the location of our warehouse?"

  "I am."

  "Would you be interested in coming over for a discussion? And bring as many of the other captains as you can contact in say... the next twenty minutes?"

  "I'll do my best."

  The comm closed.

  Xurpok said, "Twenty minutes? Not much time for him to reach anyone else."

  "If he brings at least two we'll get good feedback."

  "What of our trip to Rigel?"

  "As I said, we may go as soon as tomorrow. I'd like to get things started on these new ships before then."

  I grabbed a bite of lunch before Tumbe's arrival. As I had hoped, two other captains accompanied him. I invited them to take a seat in the lounge area we had set up in the warehouse.

  "Gentlemen. As I'm certain Captain Bradley has already told you, the Admirals turned down my suggestion to allow us to arm our ships. So I'm working on alternatives. We're attempting to put together four more ships like the Fracker. Her armor is tough and her weapons are equal to a full cannon on our heaviest of warships. What I would like for you to do is to set up a council so we can decide who will get these four ships."

  "Get?" Tumbe asked.

  "Tell me this, how many captains in the merc community have a few hundred thousand credits to spend?"

  "None, I would say."

  "Which is why we're looking for creative ways to finance these ships. One possibility is that a captain and crew must be willing to give up their ship so it might be sold or traded. We're working on other ways of financing this as well, such as through salvage of captured Maxan ships."

  "You have captured warships?"

  "No. We'll need to go out and capture them ourselves."

  "Those have to be turned over to OMS for bounties."

  "That law only applies to Confederation space. Outside that space we can do as we please with them. In fact, if we captured a dozen we could operate our own shadow fleet outside the Confederation. I'm not suggesting we do that because it serves no purpose at this time, but legally we could."

  "Interesting. I don't think I've ever considered that."

  I sat forward. "What I'm proposing is that we capture a Warstalker or three Warmongers. I have friends who will trade their manufacturing and repair services for those. What I need to know is, if I can get the hulls of four assault ships, can we get four captains who will trade up their ships for them?"

  "No cost?"

  "We would have to put restrictions on those four ships that they be at the call of my service for a period of let's say... three years?"

  "Three years? That may be a non-starter."

  "For a ship with triple armor and dual plasma cannons? I would think many of the captains would jump at that opportunity. And when I say that, please keep in mind, we are very likely to be called out to fight the Herzek again. And we don't have three hundred ships to throw at them anymore."

  Tumbe nodded. "Good points. And this three-year period, what exactly would be expected of them during that time?"

  "We both know countering any Herzek events at the request of our government is a given. From my perspective, we'll be making raids out to Maxan space for both ship and body bounties. The CDF was preparing to decommission several hundred of those assault ships. I'd like to be there and ready to absorb those for our own fleet. That of course will take credits which we plan on getting through bounty runs.

  "With a ship like the Fracker you can make breach on any single Maxan ship without threat of destruction. The armor will get you in for a breach and get you away if you need to leave. You'll take damage, but it shouldn't be critical damage. The more of these ships we have, the bigger a Maxan fleet we can handle. Within reason of course."

  One of the other captains raised a hand. "Mr. Balls. Doug Hatfield. I would be willing to sign up to such a deal. My ship is an old cargo hauler, but she's reliable."

  I nodded. "And that might be just the thing we could trade for. I heard several of the assault ship hulls bought at auction were planned to be gutted for that exact purpose. If someone was looking for a cheap cargo hauler your ship would be a perfect option."

  The discussion lasted an
hour before the captains departed.

  Mendez, Tanner, and Collins returned that evening.

  Mendez stood in front of me as I was sitting at a table. "Sarge, we found two owners who may be willing to deal. What exactly do we have to offer?"

  "At the moment, a supposedly reliable cargo hauler. What did they say they were willing to do?"

  "If we can match that hauler with a personal shuttle we might be able to strike a deal with one of them."

  "The captains are off discussing what they might do and who would be willing to trade what. I don't expect to hear from them for a few days."

  As he walked past, heading for the kitchen, Tanner said, "Just so long as you don't send us out with this savage again. Want to talk about un-fun."

  Mendez sighed as she stared at me. "How am I supposed to be fun when those two untrained monkeys are jumping about like a pair of eight-year-olds? Sarge, we passed a food outlet on the way to a salvage dealer and I turned around to see the two of them with straws sticking out of their noses. How am I supposed to conduct serious business with that mess following me around?"

  I shook my head. "If you haven't figured it out yet, they're doing that just to get your goat."

  "My what?"

  "Goat. Don't tell me you've never heard that expression?"

  "I don't even know what a goat is."

  "It's an Earth animal. All I was saying is they are purposefully acting like idiots, not that they need to act for that, but they are doing it just to get you riled up. If you can manage to ignore them, they will tire of it and return to acting like normal Humans."

  "Nothing normal about those two, Sarge."

  I chuckled. "I would have to agree."

  Chapter 3

  * * *

  The following morning, purchase contracts for the damaged hulls from the salvage dealer were signed and delivered to Faulk and Waldorp. In addition, a contract was drawn up for the exchange of a cargo hauler and small shuttle for a second hull. The third hull, purchased directly from the CDF, was already scheduled for delivery to our docking bay. Lieutenant Diggs was left behind to coordinate those efforts.