It was first detected at eleven thousand parsecs from the outpost world of Vegan. Just one of several thousand anomalies recorded on the planetary sensors that day. Bored technicians and overworked scientists tracked its progress in a haphazard fashion, until it became apparent that it was moving in a direct path towards the planet. Still, it had been approaching for weeks before a young man noticed that it was making minute course corrections so that it wasn't just approaching the planet, it was adjusting to stay on a collision course.
Calls were made, people informed, debates were held and still it came on, a silent streak in the merciless void. No one knew quite what to do. Alarmists demanded that the Terran Authority be called in at once. The planetary governor, wary of crying wolf to the less than forgiving authority, hesitated. It wasn't until June 19th, when it entered the system, that he finally placed the call. The authority, already stretched thin covering the growing empire, dispatched the ageing Destroyer
Gavin
. She arrived a month later to find the planet deserted. Well, deserted wasn't quite right, scientific tests confirmed what sickened marines reported. Vegan hadn't been deserted; it had been sterilized. Not even microbes remained. And it? It was on the move, headed for the small colony on ProserpinaV.
***
The cruiser T.A.
Valiant
streaked through the emptiness of space on a collision course with something. Wild rumors had spread through the ship after the red alert had pulled them from blockade duty over the recalcitrant planet of New Thebes. The mess hall was an excited gaggle of conversations and fanciful tales. Marine Captain Jade Wilkinson listened with only half an ear. Scuttlebutt was rampant and always wrong, at least that was her experience. Her briefing hadn't mentioned grotesque monsters or rapacious aliens, although it had been noted that the bodies of none of the female staff at Vegan had been located. Still, in her opinion, that little tidbit of information was hardly reason for the now rampant rumors of rapacious aliens.
Jade was a tall woman with a slight build and piercing gray eyes. She had been born on Luna base, and thus hadn't had to earn her citizenship like most terrans. Her parents had both been permanently stationed on Luna and she grew up there. She had joined the space corps when she turned eighteen and had been with them ever since. The Corps was really her family and home now. She had fought in a dozen different pacification campaigns and had worked her way up to Captain of her own Marine detachment. A cool head and lightning fast reflexes had been her best assets along with a keen tactical mind.
She nibbled at a synthetic wafer and shook her head as she watched many of her men wolfing down steak and eggs. It was the traditional meal before combat, but in space you couldn't get out of your envirosuit and she had seen more than one lose his meal during a particularly violent drop and have to deal with it for days before they finally got relieved. She preached to her men not to risk it, but invariably they did. Most of the girls did too, although the one she had her eye on, Angelina seemed to listen to her.
She was a cute little thing from somewhere coreward of Mercer IV. Jade didn't know exactly because Angelina didn't either. An orphan like so many of Jade's charges, she had drifted into the Corps, and this would be her first drop. Jade had been hitting on her for the last two weeks and she seemed to be receptive to the idea. Jade was hoping that she wouldn't be sleeping alone on the long flight back.
The blaring alarm that signaled General Quarters caused a chaotic scramble that left the mess hall deserted in just a few moments. Jade waited until the rush had passed and then leisurely made her way to the drop bay. She had long ago learned that hurry up and wait was the real motto of the corps. In her small cubicle her armor waited.
Jade's suit was an old set of Mk XXVII ceramite combat armor. As an officer she had first refusal on new armor, but this set was customized to her frame and had been with her a long time. The overlapping, super dense ceramite plates were still the hardest substance in the known universe. The newer suits were less heavy, less bulky and more streamlined, but the new synthetic they used provided less ballistic protection. It just wasn't as tough as the old stuff and for Jade; she was willing to pay the price in reduced maneuverability for added stopping power. She often debated with her men who loved to rib her about her "old fashioned" armor. Her incredible reflexes allowed her to move as quickly as any of them on the confidence course, but they still kidded her whenever they sensed she was in a good mood.
Jade had another problem with the new suits, one she kept to herself. The new suits were too easy to take off. Her suit took over an hour to get on and the overlapping plates were such a bitch to remove because once they settled they often became jammed. Jade had fought in too many nasty suppressive little wars. Rape, castration, mutilation, even cannibalism; she had seen it all. She had been spared being raped to death by Tic'Chen separatists on New Madrid only because they had been unable to figure out how to remove the armor that covered her lower body before her squad mates arrived. Even their heavy cutting tools had failed to do much good when applied to the ceramite plates. It was a lesson she never forgot. The new armor was easy, just a couple of snaps and some buckles.
The new suits also lacked the nanoservos in the older, heavier armor. In the old suits, they were there to compensate for the additional weight. The new suits had no need for them. But they could give her bursts of superhuman strength if she really needed it. In an emergency, Jade could tear through a ship's bulkhead with just her suit. It was an ability she considered to be insurance in case all weapons failed.
Jade slowly put on her armor, checking each piece and each function. When she finally got the breastplate on and closed, she donned the heavy black battle helm and keyed the enviro-functions. Lines of code flashed across her HUD and rows of lights went from red to green. Rookies often took it for granted their suits were working and ignored the power up sequence, but Jade was too old a hand for making that mistake.
Oxygen, check. Water, Check. Painkiller, check. Stimdose, check. Through each of her suit's over one hundred functions she meticulously followed the check down procedure. From the radio check to the manual switch to her back up systems she tried everything before giving the suit the O.K. to go full active. From the charging stand she took her weapon and gave it the same careful, calculated once over.
Most of her troopers carried simple Mark V impact rifles. They were cheap, durable, put out a respectable volume of fire and could get decent penetration on most substances. The heavy weapons squad carried Mk XII plasma cannon and Dorntech Missile launchers. These weapons provided the heavy hitting power of the unit. Individual troopers also carried non-approved back up weapons. These ranged from single shot blast pistols to heavy combat shotguns. Theoretically she was supposed to make sure that no one was carrying anything other than standard issue before a drop. Theory stopped as soon as the unit was outside of the prying eyes of the security forces and Jade had never ordered anyone to leave a back up behind.
Jade's own weapon was non-standard and no one ever mentioned it on her annual evaluations. She carried a Tenbar Ltd. Mark II rail gun. The weapon had been designed for combat droids back before the authority realized there was no substitute for men in combat. The railguns were a masterfully designed weapon and much sought after, but each year there were fewer and fewer to be found. Tenbar had gone under when the droid experiment failed and now only a handful remained in service. Jade's had been with her since she was a raw second lieutenant. She had taken it off the body of her first sergeant after a mortar hit killed him.
The gun itself was basically a mass driver, using a series of electromagnets it accelerated the alloy shards it used as ammunition to almost incredible speeds. Jade had yet to encounter anything it wouldn't penetrate within reason. Certainly no personal armor could stop it and thus she favored it over all other weapons. She was a big believer in making each hit count.
"Now hear this, now hear this, all marines to boarding stations, I repeat all marines to boarding stations. Drop ship crews to your assembly areas, drop ship crews to your assembly areas, countdown is now t-minus fifteen minutes,"
Jade stood and marched off to her drop ship. The world was tinged an eerie shade of green in her helmet's vision field. She shouldered her weapon and stepped into her drop couch, feeling the bars move to cover her chest and thighs. The deep padding would absorb some of the forces and her suit would suppress more, but a drop was no picnic and she steeled herself for it. In the couches around the open bay her troopers all stood and waited. When the red drop lamps went to green there was a deep vibration as the dropship detached from the cruiser. Once free the tacnet became active.
"Here we go again," Sanchez said.
"Watch out for the bug eyed monsters Ria, I hear they have a taste for earth girls," Gulliver said with a laugh.
"Fuck you," Ria responded.
"Better me than little green men baby, I'll butter your muffin for you when we get back," Thornton responded.
"You'd fuck up a wet dream, numb nuts," she replied.
"Knock it off," Jade commanded.
"Aw hell, the bitch is back," an anonymous voice called.
"That's right, and you clowns know better than to be fucking around on the TAC net. If you wanna have radio sex do it on the private link," Jade said.
There was silence for a while, and then Angelina spoke over the private link.
"Captain, do you think there is any truth to the rumors about the aliens?"
"Nobody even knows if there are aliens. Much less what their sexual preferences are. Just stick close to Sanchez and do what he tells you, you'll be fine,"
"Thank you,"
"No problem, Kiddo,"
"Captain?"
"Yeah?"
"What does butter your muffin mean?"
Jade burst out laughing and couldn't stop, even when the tears began to roll down her cheeks.
"It means have sex, in a loose kind of way,"
"Oh..."
Jade was still laughing, she knew it wasn't just because it was funny, it was an outlet for the pent up emotions. As professional as she was she felt the nervous energy just as acutely as the rest of her men before a drop.
"Well, I don't know if this is the time, but since we might not make it back, you can butter my muffin anytime you want."
