. 01

This is one of those stories that I've been working on in my mind for many years now and I finally feel it's ready to let it see the light of day and be shared among those that follow me. This is a work of fiction, and I alone am the originator of this story, any mistakes are of my own doing. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidence and unintended. This story may not be reproduced, retransmitted or rewritten in any way known or unknown without the permission of the author. If you enjoy reading my stories please vote, like, follow and comment at the end. Please be careful out there, I'd really prefer that you read my stories vs spend time in the clink. Have a happy fall.

Now on with the story.

'I hated these damn AN/QXT-124 antennas, they had a bad habit of failing at the connecters no matter which ones were used. I'd always said that the cable runs were to fucking short but what did I know, I was a stupid Marine and all I could do was "land on things and break shit." at least according to Former Vice Admiral Armstrong J. Cummerbund. I'd been placed on his staff due to severe injuries that I was still healing from, and he was doing his best to keep me pissed as fuck at his stupid ass.'

'Having 3 sucking chest wounds and severe head trauma, among other injuries, from a recent battle for Lambda 7D and the need to spend time in a regen tank 4 time a week excluded me from combat duty until I finished the medical treatments. I was still hot, 3 months later with his stupid ass when he sent Task Force 58.2 to meet with the Osties at a location known only to the Fleet Commanders of both sides.'

'5 days later several heavily garbled messages were received and then silence from all 45 ships. My unit 2/35 5th Space Marines SO, was among them on the assault carrier USS Belleau Woods AKA 02 had disappeared. More than 2000 special ops trained men and women, my people, were now among the missing and presumed dead. Old AJC simply shrugged and sent more men and women to their deaths, he was the god of operations after all.'

'I had to be restrained to keep from ripping his fucking head off and shitting down his windpipe. He was a cold, heartless fucker and most of the junior staff couldn't stand his ass either, so I wasn't the only one.'

'I started checking into the garbled messages and with the help of a few intel weenies I was able to narrow down the area the 2 fleets had clashed at, this took several months and when I finally tried to bring it to the asshole, he dismissed me out of hand telling me that "a lowly ground cruncher didn't have the brain cells to figure things like this out." Fortunately for me the CinC had chosen that exact moment to come into the operations center and had heard everything.'

'The next thing we knew old AJC he'd been relieved of his position and Vice Admiral Troy Hutchens arrived 2 days later, unfortunately AJ had swept almost all of the data into the into the classified materials destruction chute. What I didn't know at the time was that a data chip had bounced free and had been kicked under a desk several feet away. I spent the next few weeks in the Med Bay undergoing time in the regen tanks, it seems that in my anger I'd fucked up the repairs to date and the doctors had to put me in a medically induced coma in order to give my body the time to heal.'

'By the time I was released I'd been medially discharged at 100% disability, V.Adm. Hutchens personally came to see me and let me know 2 things, 1. that they would try to investigate and to find those that had been lost. 2. that he couldn't let my outburst in the Ops center go unpunished, hence the 100% Med Discharge

Fast forward 14 months and I was at NAS Alameda on McCray's world at the far end of the parking tarmac repairing the secondary comms antenna on top of my Type 8 Assault Shuttle, The Cat's Claws, while I waited for the load I'd been told to transport. I had just sealed the new mount and was tightening of the bolts when the ships AI called me.

'John, there's a vehicle approaching.' Kitty said. I stood looking back toward the tail of my ship.'

'A staff skimmer pulled up and I knew who it was that got out, I simply went back to what I was doing and piped more sealant around the antenna base.

'John?' He called out and then popped his head out the access hatch on the ships outer skin. He spotted me and came over to where I was standing and looked down at my handy work. 'The connector for the 124 again?' he asked already knowing the answer.

'Yeah, the runs are to fucking short.' I answered. 'Put 10 more feet in this time, maybe that'll fix it. What can I do for you Troy, you didn't come all this way to chew the fat with me. You either want or need me to do something, so spill.'

'He looked me over and narrowed his eyes, I'd been promoted to Lt.Col. the day I'd been discharged, I suspected that he'd had something to do with that, but I just couldn't prove it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a data chip I quickly recognized it as the one that held my calculations for the lost fleets.

'This was found a few weeks ago, I read the data and agree with what you found all those months ago John.' He told me as I took the data chip from him. 'Go bring out people home, you'll have full salvage rights. Oh, the special supplies you've been asking for are being brought right now and should be here in 5 minutes John, so I'd advise you to quit fucking around and to get ready to go black sky mister.'

'Troy turned and headed for the open hatch to head back inside. 'Someone shot AJ 3 days ago John, wasn't you, was it?' He asked halfway inside. I looked over at him.

'Nope, but if you find the person let me know so I can send a gift basket to them for taking out the trash.' I replied and checked everything one last time then headed in myself.'

Location: Epsilon Omega 25.14.06

Time: 0614.25 Ships time

'I stared out the forward view screen sipping my morning coffee as the remotes worked to clear a path through the Gravedic mine field that had been laid by the fleet behind itself when it had entered the Nosen Nebula. There were only a few clear lanes of travel through this treacherous nebula and if you wanted to have a meeting where few could bother you, this was a good place to do it at. But why in the fuck go in here? it didn't make any sense. There was literally no room for the BBs to maneuver or for the carriers to stand off and launch their major striking arms. Hell, even the Cruisers and Destroyers would have had a hard time doing anything in here.'

'My type 8 assault shuttle would have been able, it was 120 feet long, 52 feet wide and 47 feet tall with 2 Mk.4k fusion reactors. I could also pack in 2 snub fighters aboard along with 50 Marines. It normally had a crew of 20 but I was running mine by myself, along with the 4 maintenance droids that were controlled by Kitty, the ships AI. She also controlled the 10 salvage drones that were at this minute planting remote detonated 20 kilo charges against the outer casing of the mines.

I looked at the event clock and tracking screen and saw that the last packs were being places right now, 3 of the 10 were already headed back and would dock aboard in 8 minutes. The last drones were scheduled to be back in their cradles 14 minutes from now and then I would back up about 4000 miles. I'd detected 35 mines and knew there were more out there, but my theory was that I really didn't need to clear the ones on the edges of the travel lane and that the controlled explosions should move them further out of the way.'

'John, drones 3, 7 and 10 are back aboard, drones 2, 5, 6, and 9 are now returning. 1, 4 and 8 are having trouble placing their charges on their final mines.' Kitty told me, I looked at the screen and noticed that #8 was sending strange data, the dimensions of what I'd thought was a mine were now no longer matching. I had 8 get closer, I wanted a positive ID on whatever it was. I caught a glint of something on 8s cam the closer it got.'

'I soon recognized it as the cockpit assembly from one of our fighters, when 8 had moved to within 50 feet I could read the name on the canopy rail. Lt. Colleen 'Miner' Cole. I quickly punched her name into the data pad, and it popped up, along with a picture of her, I had 8 lasso her cockpit and ordered 1 & 4 move to intercept after their final placement and then return to the ship. If her cockpit remained in the blast area it would have been vaporized.'

'23 minutes later everyone was aboard, and Kitty backed us off while I went down to the Port cargo bay where Colleen's cockpit had finally landed. I put on thermal gloves and attached a power cable to it; I could hear alarms going off as I popped open the canopy and reached inside to silence them. Her helmet visor was still frosted over, and I closed the sun visor to prevent me from seeing her face when the clear one finally defrosted. I recovered the Flight data pod and had Kitty download it, I would look at it when I got a free moment then closed the canopy and went back to the flight deck.'

'We're moved back to the 4000-mile limit John, and all charges are set and have been checked. Awaiting the final command.' She said as I slipped back into my seat and dimmed the forward screens. I was wearing my own suit and strapped in then closed the visor.

'Kitty, shoot it.' I said and squinted my eyes as a sun was born when the 34 mines went off nearly together. 5 seconds later the EMP wave hit and then the concussion front hit and shook the ship. 'Kitty report.' I said scanning the control panel before me.'

'No damage John we are condition 1.' She said and I checked my wrist gauntlet, then opened my visor and sat back. To a small ship like mine one of those mines would have turned me into radioactive space dust and scattered me far and wide. It would have seriously damaged even a heavy Cruiser and destroyed a DD or FF. I sat back and waited for the radiation cloud disperse to a safe level.

'I'm going to go eat and rest Kitty can you keep an eye on things for me.' I said and got up.

'Of course, John, don't I always.' She replied.'

'I sat in the small kitchen area and looked over the data from the fight and tried to ID the major players in the fight. I don't know what caused the fight to start, especially considering this was supposed to peace mission. I'd learned that some of the deadliest fights had started out as peace missions and ended up with some of the highest body counts. She'd been hit as far as I could tell by friendly fire, in a battle there's no such thing, a flying missile, Pulsar beam or bullet doesn't know red from blue and is completely impartial.'

'I rewound the tape and watched yet again and noted the capital ship of both sides and where her lidar scans placed each one, I knew that short of the reactors going super critical most of the bigger ships would have easily identifiable. After about the 13th or 15th time of watching the battle I finally noticed a transport freighter pulling out and away on the Ostie side, now that was interesting, who or what was aboard a transport that required a full battle fleet to guard.'

'I got up to get myself another cup of coffee and heard the explosion and the static from her pod and figured that it was the end of the data, was I ever wrong.

'To whoever finds my pod and body, I'm Lieutenant Colleen Cole assigned to VF-12 and was last aboard the Carrier Memphis Bell. It's been 45 hours sense I last heard a voice transmission, and my power is nearly flat even using only the bare minimum of life support to keep me alive. About all I've heard are emergency beepers and only a few of them.' I had stepped before the computer screen and was watching intently now.'

'I ask that if I'm ever found that you, please take the necklace I'm wearing and send it to my mom.' She gave an address. 'Please let her know that I'm sorry and that I truly loved her, I'm sorry that I'll never get to give her grand kids or see her again, let her know that I'll wait for her at the gates of heaven, and I'll be there to give her a kiss when she finally arrives, just as she always did when I got home from each deployment.'

'Please tell her that I will think of her until my final breath and that I don't want her to grieve for me, I choose this profession and wouldn't change it for anything. I love you mom, and I miss you very much.'

'I sat down and stared at the now blank screen, well fuck me in the ear with a sandpaper dildo and no lubrication, if this wasn't a kick in the balls, I didn't know what was. I sat there for several minutes and finally stood up and headed for the Port Bay, a shipmate had made a final request, and I was determined to carry it out. Entering the Bay I opened the canopy and placed a maintenance stand against the cockpit and climbed up. I found it weird to see the lights and screens all lit up but nothing being displayed, I brushed the frost layer from her neck seal and tapped it a few times to get it to move then slowly removed her helmet.'

'Aside from the frost on her face and hair she looked asleep and if I disturbed her, she'd wake up, she had that girl next door look and if I'd meet her at the club I'd try to buy her a few drinks and then take her home. I quickly found the necklace and carefully removed it; I could feel the cold eating into the palm of my hand as I turned it over and opened it. I read the small inscription there in then put it in a plastic baggy and sealed it closed and wrote her name on it and the address it needed to get to.'

'Rest well shipmate we have the watch from here, I'll try to get this to your mom as soon as I can. Peace Colleen, fair winds and following seas.' I told her not caring if she could hear me or not, I did it for myself and what was left of my soul. I slowly put her helmet back on and resealed it. I silently said a prayer for her soul and then sealed the canopy and placed a tracker on the body of the cockpit after placing it in standby mode. I left the Bay and dimed the lights, soon I'd place her back where I'd found her, this way she could be recovered when I brought a larger recovery team back.'

'I quietly sat in the cockpit, staring out at the cleared path as I waited for the Rad levels to drop to safe levels.

'John, are you feeling okay?' Kitty asked me as I fingered the necklace yet again. I turned to look at the hologram of her sitting in the seat next me. I snorted and turned back to stare at the darkness.

'I just need a little time before I go and start striping the wrecks, most are dead before they know what hit them, she had days to watch death sit out there and simply wait for her.' I said. Ye Gods, I hate when I start waxing philosophical.'

'Kitty had taken the tactical data and made a composite chart based on the scant info that she'd obtained so far. I watched her extrapolations based upon the data and planed my lines of attack, I'd noticed several large asteroids and planned to give them a push in then follow behind them. This way if there were any mines that I hadn't seen on the scans they would find the rock before they found my ship. I also planned to give the rock an hour's head start, this way if something went boom again, I would be able to stop or move out of the way.'

'I fired up the mains and RCS thrusters and after a bit of fiddling around finally got my shield asteroid moving along the proper trajectory. I finally stopped and pulled back when I had it moving at 1000 meters a second, I watched it slowly grow smaller with each passing second. 3 hours later I started moving into the Nebula myself after dropping Colleen back where she'd been first located, keeping her aboard seemed wrong right now, a few days from now I'd feel different.'

'I pulled into the first of the open clear areas and saw several destroyed auxiliary ships along with their escorts. I launched several drones to scan the destruction, it took several hours to finally map the area and then be recovered. 2 of the ships were in good enough shape to be towed back for repairs, I made a note to come back and see what I could recover by way of supplies for my ship, specifically I needed fire control parts for my point defense systems and if my old ship was in one piece I could finally have a full combat load out and if the maintenance droids could be revived I might finally this beast of a ship brought back to combat status.'

Moving further into the combat zone I saw several cockpits floating around, I launched the drones again to plant trackers on them. Like Colleen I wanted to recover them and give them a proper burial, something many pilots rarely get to have. I launched the remaining drones and followed them in as Kitty let me know when a major ship was scanned.'

'It was nearly 0000 hours when the drones finally reported back that the Belleau Wood had been located and I adjusted course to intercept. 35 minutes later I finally set eyes on my old ship and took a lap around her to check out the damage. While it had taken several hits the main combat bays appeared to be undamaged as I had Kitty pull up next to the Starboard personnel hatch. I took a bit of time and readied for a little walk, one of the things I was hoping to find was my combat suit and weapons. The only weapons I had aboard were a few surplus weapons that I'd managed to pick up here and there.'

'Ready their Kitty?' I asked after making the final check and sealing the inner airlock hatch.

'All systems check their John, depressurizing the lock now, standby.' She replied and I felt my suit inflate. I opened the outer door and attached my tether to the anchor point and taped the controller on the escape pack I was wearing. I flew the 232 yards to the closed hatch and activated the magnetic soles in my boots as I stood on the hull and activated the emergency power supply and opened the hatch.'

'Once inside I closed the outer hatch and opened the inner just a minute later, I quickly found my way to an open bay and had Kitty move down as I rigged up an emergency power supply to the large exterior Bay door and then open it. Kitty quickly dropped the landing gear and set down on the X as I closed the door then attached a power/data cable up and then spent the next few hours looking around.'

'I headed for Marine land first and quickly found my armor and weapons which I placed on a grav sled that still worked, even in zero G I didn't want things bumping around. The armory was a treasure trove of small arms, mags, crew served weapons, ammo and spare parts that I knew I could get a good price for. I went to my stateroom and recovered a few things that I really wanted; I even recovered my frozen uniforms. I spent several hours walking around and found several bodies floating around and corralled them in the chow hall to keep them together.'

'One of the things I did do, that I'm not super proud of was break into Dispersing and crack open the safe and remove the available credits. Hey, they weren't going to need them anytime soon. I also raided the ships stores and moved several pallets of food to Kitty, she'd managed to find a few maintenance droids and power them up. At the present moment they were in the process of removing the empty Missile racks and ammo drums plus they were refueling my ship.'

'I noticed that the Blast door between bays 1&2 and 2&3 had been closed and that we had lights and atmosphere here, it was a little stale smelling, but I could get used to it.

'How are we doing Kitty?' I asked as I loaded the pallets of food aboard and stowed them away.

'Excellent their John, refueling and rearming is proceeding as planned, I have the droids replacing damaged modules with the ones from ships stores.' She said. 'Your stuff has been brought aboard and I'm recharging your combat suit, the weapons have been placed in the armory and the extras in storage bay 1. I've located a snub fighter in bay 11 that you may want to check out and the stores you brought aboard should last you for 8 to 10 months.'