“I have already authorized the paperwork, we were about to phase when your, ahem, engineers cut our central power and life support.” Scowling, the master engineer she balled her fists in frustration. “Why offer us a chance to surrender and then launch a full frontal assault after we agree on terms?”
“Your people fired first,” snarled Samuel as he flexed his grip on the rifle handle.
“Reports had just come up from the engine room,” spat the master engineer with equal rancor, “Hostile boarders with trap casters and combat armor.”
Samuel paused for a moment, letting her words sink in, while behind him the sounds of battle had come to a halt and he could hear his squad rounding up the survivors.
The hand held comm device on the belt of a journeyman engineer signaled green for an incoming transmission, which sounded in the earpiece of the engineer. Whatever he heard made him look swiftly back and forth between the master engineer and the marine before speaking, the fear apparent on his face.
“Ma’am, the engine crew,” the man said, his voice trailing off as he looked back at the blood-splattered salvage marine.
Samuel keyed his com-bead to the platoon channel, and took a deep breath as he looked the master engineer in the eye and moved fully into the room.
“Boss Marsters, Boss Hyst, come in, over,” he said.
“Boss Marsters, send it,” came the response.
“Hard services chamber and works observation control deck secured, rough count fifteen hostiles KIA and twenty odd non-coms in custody,” reported Samuel as he nodded at the engineers and began herding them into the corridor and out into the main chamber.
“Copy that, we are sealing the first hatch behind us now, be on your location in thirty seconds. We will need to secure the non-coms and use the torches to cut an insertion point for the wagon so we can get these people out of there without exposing them to hard vacuum,” said Boss Marsters, “Too bad half of them had to die for the rest to surrender, cuts the profit margin on the mission sheet.”
“They thought we were slavers, Boss,” answered Samuel grimly as he and his five prisoners emerged into the service chamber to see that the rest of the squad had rounded up the surviving engineers and herded them to the center of the room, though the chamber was still thick with floating debris and fluids. “Someone attacked their engine room two decks down, and the assailants were using trap casters.”
“Copy. We need to update the task force, it was your find so it’s your broadcast,” said Boss Marsters with a low growl. “We proceed as planned, but everyone needs to prepare, we have a fight coming.”
“Task Force Alpha, be advised,” came Samuel’s voice into the com-beads of the sixty Reapers who comprised the four platoon task force assigned to salvage the corpse of the gun frigate, “One or more slaver boarding parties are contesting the claim, probable location aft section, Tango Platoon set to engage.”
The members of Squad Hyst looked up from their prisoners as Samuel moved his captives to join the others and as if on cue the platoon channel crackled with activity.
“Hostiles engine section, hullside!” reported Boss Ulanti in their collective com-beads before suddenly screeching, “Contact! Contact!”
2. SLAVERS
By the time Squad Hyst had used their safety cables and zip-ties to create a makeshift series of bonds and applied them to the seventeen captives, Squad Marsters was pounding into the services chamber. Boss Marsters made a quick survey of the room as he walked up to Samuel.
“Good work, marines, looks like there was a much thicker naval security presence than I would have expected, seems like you managed to secure the assets without too much collateral damage,” said Boss Marsters as he observed the multiple bodies of naval security staff killed in the fighting and the few engineer corpses that still floated in the chamber, victims of crossfire and ricochet. “The hard part will be getting them out of here quickly without further shrinkage.”
“Let’s just kill the slavers and then take our time,” Jada suggested as she and Claudius Jaeger, a marine who had joined the squad after the conflict on UK1326, moved to secure the chamber exit that lead deeper into the aft section. “Sounds like Boss Ulanti could use the help.”
Boss Marsters silently nodded before he swept his gaze across the chamber one more time.
“Listen up, marines,” he announced. We’ve learned the hard way that anybody willing to fight us over salvage is either desperate enough not to care or a high enough threat class to think they can push us off the claim. We have the assets in hand, and if the slavers can’t have them they’ll do their best to make sure we can’t either, it’s part of their business model. Asset shrinkage is not an option, so some of us will have to engage the threat while the rest prepare for pickup.”
“Boss, they’re people not assets, maybe calling them that is part of the problem here,” snapped Virginia Tillman, her green eyes flashing angrily behind the tinted visor of her helmet.
“This is a hostile salvage not a factory floor Tillman, the lecture can wait till we’re shipside,” Boss Marsters retorted as he started pointing at marines and giving orders. “Takeda, pair up with Marr and you two run overwatch on the assets here. Marcus, I want you and Tillman to scout and cut a path from the external hatch to hullside that we can drop a suicide slide through. Once that’s in place we can have the wagon crew keep the slide’s bladder full and push the assets up the inside of the slide. We’ll lose our entire backup atmosphere on the wagon, but it will give us a few seconds to get everyone loaded. I’ll supervise the extraction.”
“And the rest of us?” asked Holland as he applied the final bandage to the ragged wound in one of the prisoner’s arms, caused by some of the scattergun ricochet.
“Boss Hyst will lead the rest of you to the engine section to bail out Squad Ulanti and engage the slaver,” Boss Marsters stated as everyone began to snap to his orders and move out.
“Excuse me, recovery engineer,” said the master engineer, getting everyone’s attention quite suddenly, as if they’d all forgotten she was present for their conversation, “The engine section is two levels down and behind at least four security doors, and without power to open the locks you’ll have to cut through all of them.”
“She’s got a point,” nodded Samuel, “What’s the fastest way hullside?”
“Um, well you could go out the exit hatch and then follow the mechanical repair chute all the way up and out, those shoots give our mech staff access to the whole ship, but you’d need a void suit, too,” answered the master engineer with a look of confusion on her face until understanding dawned as she took in the full sight of ten armored warriors equipped with void seals. “Ah, right.”
“Marines on me,” Samuel ordered and he moved quickly to the exit hatch and depressed the release button. Bianca, Holland, Claudius, and Jada fell in behind him and as the master engineer had said there was indeed a mechanics chute entrance on the far wall of the corridor.
Samuel went in first. As he looked up he could see that the chute went further up than his lights could illuminate. Grotto ships also had mechanic repair chutes; they were common in most large vessels. They were like the main arteries of space faring vessels, which allowed mech staff to move freely throughout the ship and repair the normally difficult to reach areas. The chutes were only large enough for one person to move through them at a time so chute usage schedules were important to keep the staff from having a traffic jam.
When the artificial gravity gyros were operational in the ship the climb through the chute was arduous, at least on Grotto ships, but it looked as if this Helion frigate was equipped with body sleds to allow for swift movement through the ship. In the zero gravity environment, the trip up the chute would be blindingly swift.