Several periods later Captain Traska stood and watched the holograph screen as Detachment T formed up. A certain satisfaction warmed him as the task force jockeyed across space and then settled down. This was a reinforced task force, with twelve ships under his command, normally a command for at least a Commodore or more often a Rear Admiral. Captain Traska felt pride that he had been given this command but also knew that all his actions, both in the past and especially the future, would be heavily scrutinized.

“All ships reported in and ready for the jump sir.”

“Very well, take them out, number one.”

The protective shields, called blast shields slid down over the forward view windows as the countdown continued to the jump. It was good for the commander to take control of the task force and gain valuable experience that he would never get otherwise. These operations were rare, even for the Legion. A man of medium height with a space tanned face, his regular features and grey eyes hid his concerns about the orders he had received, the full contents of which he had not revealed even to his second in command.

He watched as his second in command smoothly executed his orders, leaving Watchers Rock behind them. The heavy cruiser task force followed in the precise order that would ensure the safety of all the ships when they reached their destination and came out of hyper.

“On the way sir. All systems nominal.”

“Very good, acknowledged.” Captain Traska ran his eyes over the readouts at his command desk. Not really for confirmation but to give himself time to think. “Pilot!”

“Sir?”

“You have the watch, I will be in my office with Commander Trist.”

“Yes sir!” Came with gusto.

“Carry on.” He signaled to Commander Trist to follow him, as the pilot, basically the second officer on deck after the navigator, took the command chair. Captain Traska hid a smile as he left.

“I think that we are safe leaving the children in charge.”

“Not much trouble they can get into in hyperspace, sir.” The Commander replied.

*********

Once in his cabin, Captain Traska removed the data crystal containing his orders from his secure safe. Turning in his chair, he considered Commander Trist for a moment. This made the commander somewhat uneasy although he hid it well. He was puzzled, and recalled that the last set of orders given to the task force had not included orders for the disposition of the various ships after arrival. He had been surprised at the time, but wondered if now he was going to find out and if the orders were not going to be to his liking. He was also curious about their destination. If the rumors were true, then it could be an interesting trip.

When Traska touched the cube, it self-activated. Leaning forward, the commander read the orders on the holo screen his captain swiveled to face him. As he read, his face darkened. Finished, he lent back in his chair.

“I take it that is too late to protest these orders sir!’ came out with something of a snap.

“Much too late, I have already given Colonel Doslen my thoughts on the matter. In fact I have had these orders before the Watchers Rock attack, and even before the convoy ambush. Consider that for a fraction. Also, you should know that I circulated them to the rest of the detachment, captain’s eyes only, to be opened after we are in hyperspace.”

Commander Trist stared at his captain, “Before the attack!” Came out just as the significance of the last part awoke in his mind. How could such matters be so anticipated and by who?

“Indeed. I was also told that, first, no other sub unit commander was getting these orders and, second, that these orders had been cut personally by the Fleet Admiral.” He paused. “He told me as well that no one else was aware of the full import of these orders and that the base on Trillas moon was being evacuated even as we spoke.” Again he paused, “Now put all that together.” Somehow Captain Traska kept both his voice and his face expressionless.

Commander Jal Don Trist was no fool. Sitting silently for a fraction he ran over in his mind the orders he had just read and the additional information given. Captain Traska watched his second in command. He could almost see the agile mind at work. A degree of sympathy ran through him, after all he had had over fourteen day periods to work things over in his own mind and come to a few conclusions.

“One thing is obvious, there is a reason for allowing those pirates through. But we are not to let them off. The orders say nothing about what we ... we should do when … if they try to leave.” The commander was trying to find a way around there orders, just like any good officer would do in an unpleasant situation.

“I have verbal orders in that regard. As I have the temporary rank of commodore.” Commander Trist started at that. The captain had never said anything since his return from the battle star, “So I was presented to the Fleet Admiral.”

“In person?”-

“Indeed and a private audience to boot!” Captain Traska was clearly enjoying dribbling out information.

Swallowing a dozen different questions, none of which had anything to do with the matter at hand, “So you are now a Commodore sir.” Came out slowly.

“Temporary.”

“Yes sir. Congratulations.” The commander paused, “You have verbal orders?”

“Indeed, I do.” He stopped, “This is the hard one. The Fleet Admiral will be along after the pirates arrive but when precisely when we do not know. This means that I will be having to practice some initiative. Indeed the Fleet Admiral expects it”

“I see.” Thoughtfully.

“But I do have instructions regarding the pirate ship.” He smiled tightly. “We are to capture it.”

He noted the sudden smile. “Note I said capture, not destroy. The admiral was most insistent that there be as little damage to the ship as possible.” He reached into his secure file. “We do not know who the pirate is or which ship, but I took all the plans from intelligence regarding all the pirates’ ships. Here they are.” A rislian crystal was handed over, “Included is also a list of ships that were destroyed, or presumed missing. Also included is the shipping manifests from Watchers Rock which I extracted from the computer myself.”

Captain Traska laughed at the look of consternation on the commander’s face. “Yes I have been busy, but I have had more time to consider everything then you. I also had some help from one of the captives, an entity called Condor who has computer implants and our AI specialist.” Sitting straight up, Captain Traska nodded to his second in command, “Go and find our Legionaries Commander. Sit down with him and inform him of what he is going to have to do. It may end in a space assault or a ground assault. And now you know why we are so crowded with a reinforced company.” He smiled grimly.

“Yes sir”

“Tell him no more than necessary, we will arrive in about seventeen standard periods. But I want to speak to both of you in two hours.” The Captain sometimes used the archaic term for time periods. “You should have the most likely candidate’s by then.”

“Yes sir.” A pause, “Is there anything else that we should know sir?”

“There is, but not right now. I want plans firmed up for a ship assault by the time we arrive at the Dubea IV system. I will give you our proposed location when you and Major Amrk come back. Two hours.” As Commander Trist left, Captain Traska turned to his communicator. “Bridge, pilot.”

“Pilot here sir.”

“I will be there in a fraction pilot, I need both yourself and the navigator ready.”

“Yes sir.”

*********

On the bridge, the pilot glanced at the navigator, “Better review all the Dubea IV system data, that is where we are headed after all.”

“There before you, already got the system up in the holo, let’s see.” These two officers were somewhat competitive.

By the time Captain Traska arrived, the two officers were examining the system closely. Pleased, he first went to his console and noted that all was well.

“Gentlemen, let’s get started. Now what do we have here at Dubea IV?”

“Eleven planets, one inhabited, two asteroid belts, planets are four inner of the inhabited world and six outer. I presumed Trilla is the only planet we are interested in sir.” The navigator replied.

“Yes, now the jump zone is outside the planets orbit about here, correct?”

“Yes sir. The distance is about twelve light fractions in this system.” A band of light showed in the hologram. Most craft jumped as close as possible to limit the time needed to get to their destination in normal space.

“Excellent. And the outer belt of asteroids’ is further out again. Hmmm.”

The two officers waited expectantly. “Sir” the navigator said, “The moon base is empty right now, why don’t we hide there, in their shuttle bay?”

Captain Traska thoughtfully reviewed the question. “I had considered that, but some of the pirate’s ships are pretty heavily armed and equipped with good scanners, the best that they can afford. That could put our troops at a considerable disadvantage if they are detected.” He sighed. “Also, the regular shuttles have no screen to disguise them, so they would be detected making an approach unless the pirates are asleep, which we cannot count on. The stealth capable shuttles, I am going to keep onboard. They will be carrying out the actual assault.”

The navigator nodded as she glanced at the pilot. The words pirates and assault passed silently between them. A fission of excitement ran down both their backs in anticipation.

“No, what we are going to do is this. I will take Blue Quad under direct command and hide in the inner belt. It is closer to Trilla. In the meantime, Captain Quill will take Yellow and Red Quads and hide in the outer asteroid belt. We will lie with engines off and full screen on to be undetectable.”

Captain Traska considered the holo screen. “I want the outer quads, here and here,” indicating points on the projection. “Navigator, plot these points carefully and be ready to send them to the rest of the ships.” Nodding the navigator started to move away. “Wait, I want Blue Quad, to be as close to Trilla as possible. Here. Also I want twenty five thousand klicks between each ship. Understand?”

Again the nod, this time with a “Sir!”

“All the quad’s sir?” Came from the Navigator.

The answer was a nod followed by “Yellow and Red Quads should have a wider dispersal. Make it one hundred thousand klicks.”

Considering his decisions, Captain Traska was satisfied that it was a good plan. The pirates would have to have scanning equipment better than the best that the fleet had and deep space was a good place to hide. With engines shut down, the cruisers would not be detectable by passive scanners and even active scanners would have to scan the asteroids rock by rock at close range. Visually, it was almost impossible especially as all cruisers were coated a non-reflective, light adsorbing, matte black finish so the pirates would have to almost collide with a cruiser to see it. Finally, the second belt being further out, the pirates would already be inside part of the cruiser screen which would mean that the Legions ships had the advantage.

“Thoughts?” was addressed to both officers. Captain Traska had the excellent habit of soliciting ideas from his junior officers before giving his own.

“Earlier sir, you mentioned pirates, we are to ambush them?” The navigator asked.

“After a fashion young lady, after a fashion.” There was silence. The navigator left to carry out her orders while the pilot waited and could not completely contain himself.

“Do you have any other orders sir?” Came after a moment.

“Not at present, carry on. Let me know when the navigator has finished so I can review and confirm. I will be in my cabin.” The Captain left to his cabin which was about three steps off the bridge. The whole bridge was silent but the thought was on every person’s mind. ‘Pirates.’ All the personnel in the ship would know this in a nanosecond, or so it would seem to the baffled outsider.

The navigator glanced at the pilot. “All we need now is to find the Dark Lord.” She murmured.

“Yes,” the pilot laughed, “The perfect place for him to hide, the demon planet!” They set to work, each with their own responsibilities.

*********

Well under two periods, better then ordered by the captain, Commander Trist and Major Amrk were at Captains Traska’s door.

At “Enter.” The two stepped inside the combined office and personal cabin of the captain.

“Good, early.” He said. “The assault is possible?”

“Of course sir, the legion will see it through!” Major Amrk was a buff, tough full time soldier with scant respect for anyone who was not ready to jump into direct combat with the empires enemies. When originally ordered to the Aspen he bristled, then realized that he was to command a reinforced company as well as all the other troops in the detachment. Also, his new command was especially outfitted for ship to ship combat and now, with the prospect of actual combat he was quite content, even possibly, happy.

“Ok, what is the plan? Bare details for now.”

Major Amrk, at a sign from the commander turned on the holo display.

“Sir,” he began, “We have a reinforced company with a dedicated assault platoon, and two special assault sections. All equipped with personal jets. We will, using stealth cloaking sneak up from behind and drop our hanger doors for an all-in assault on their hanger. We will stay below and behind, out of their scanner view.” He paused. “From a review of the intelligence provided, we assess that the craft will be Master Moon Captained by one Thurgod Distra.” He paused and drew attention to the holo, which now showed a diagram of the ship in question.

Pointing to a set of doors, he continued, “The doors in question are here and here. In our Special Forces Support Section, we have a genius who I believe can crack the hanger doors open with an override command. The assault team will fly in using suit thrusters, followed by a shuttle with a heavy weapon section and one regular platoon.” He paused again. “The rest of the company will be waiting in back up shuttles.”

“It sounds good. Now contingences. If for example the door cannot be opened and are shut and locked? Or worse, shut after you get in?”

“We considered that sir,” The Commander spoke. “In the first case, there is a side door which we will open remotely and use. If locked, we believe that our expert can open it on our way in. The same for the third case you mentioned. We want it shut after our own shuttle is inside anyway.”

“Good, now a ground assault?”

“Actually sir, that is simpler. First we considered where they would land. Our assessment is that it would be close to the tunnel entrance and more than likely the ship will be wide open with reactors shut down. Our first preference will be to use a stealth shuttle and make a silent approach, use stun beams to take down all the guards then rush the ship which we expect will be wide open as I said. One problem is that stun beams are visible, so we need a simultaneous take down. We will have a section with jump jets ready to go straight for the doors with two other sections to go for the guards and two standing by ready to provide backup or security. The rest will be ready for follow up.” He paused to take a breath, then continued.

“The approach will also be simpler. We go in with the assault shuttles from the south, in stealth mode and under reduced thrust to eliminate the heat signature. In this case, we may have a good view of their defense plans. If they are what we expect, we will use the stealth assault with the possibility of taking the whole crew alive by knocking them out with stun beams. That last is our recommended option considering the requirement for prisoners and information.” Again Major Amrk stopped for breath, “If they are alert and the ship alive and secured, we will have to use a full assault with heavy weapons. We will have detailed plans for both contingencies sir.”

“And if they enter the tunnel?”

“We stay out, as per standing orders, sir”

“Ok, looks good, go to the next stage. Inform the men who probably know already.” Captain Traska said with a grimace. “Next I want to tell you what transpired while you were working.” He informed them both about his decisions of where the ships would be located. “You are going to have plenty of time to get ready after we arrive and while we sneak in, sorry but it is the best I can do. Any questions?”

Commander Trist and Major Amrk nodded, both keeping to themselves that they knew the soldiers were fully aware and they already had to dodge all sorts of questions and requests with the usual ‘Don’t leave me behind’ from the soldiers. The ships grapevine was in full working mode!

“One thing, why did the two of you decide on Distra’s ship?”

“Sir, the crew and passenger list on his ship contained the traitor Fastos also the absconder and thief Denner Venkriller. Together with what we already know about where we headed, along with the rumors regarding the planet, and the hints about pre knowledge, well, it just seemed to make sense.”

“Good, just before we departed, I received a coded signal telling me that the very ship you agreed on had left from the rim on a direct course for Trilla. It will arrive about a day-period after we do.” Both officers showed their surprise. “This is good information. It comes from the Black Guard.” The two officers started and exchanged glances, the Imperial Guard of the Dark Lord? How were they involved?

“Why did you not tell us?” Came from the Major with a growl. Captain Traska looked sharply at the Major at the absence of a ‘sir’ but decided not to make a point of it.

“I did not know until after I decoded it and that was after giving you your instructions.” He shrugged, “After that I just wanted to see what you came up with.” He looked at them, “I am impressed.” Dismissed, the two saluted and turned away, as they walked to the cabin door Traska spoke again, “Oh, one last thing, stress to all the troops that we are ordered to take prisoner’s, so only kill if necessary. I understand that the troops will not like it but weapons on stun.” Traska emphased.

“Sir they will follow orders!” Major Amrk, was in a growling mood it seemed.

“I am sure they will Major. Just point out who they will have to explain any unnecessary deaths to when he arrives!” This was followed by a laugh. All three officers had no desire to upset such a superior officer as the Fleet Admiral. Neither would any of the Legionnaires.

*********

Somewhat mollified the two left. The major to his officers and troops and the Commander to the shuttle bay to check on the readiness of the shuttles. Three regular shuttles were carried along with two stealth equipped assault shuttles. These last would be used in the opening assault. As it happened, one of each was down for routine maintenance.

Commander Trist looked around until he found the Maintenance Chief.

“Chief!” he called. The engineer/mechanic looked up, happy to see the commander. “I assume that you have heard the news?”

The chief nodded, “Here to check on the shuttles?”

“Our contribution to the fight, all of them.” The commander looked over the shuttles, two looked as if they were torn totally apart.

“Not to worry, routine. I will have them back up and running before they are needed.”

“Good, the Captain will want all five ready to go. Make sure that all are ready for a fight.” He smiled at the Chief’s offended look. Did all engineers have the same look at that question? He thought.

“Of course sir, all will be ready.” Came out with a huff.

“Then I leave it in your good hands.” He clapped the chief on the shoulder and left for the bridge.

On the way back, he looked in on the troops. Major Amrk was closeted with his officers and NCO’s. I will check back later. Commander Trist thought. He does not need to know about the shuttles yet. With a wave to the soldiers not involved with the conference, he left.

The commander made a meandering way back to the bridge. This took some time. Heavy cruisers are very large vessels, massing from one hundred thousand to one fifty thousand tons and more. Also they were several football fields in length. They had been described by a captain once as a light cruiser given growth hormones. Big, black and menacing, they were workhorses of the Empire. Checking at various stations on the several decks just as a good second in command should, everywhere he went he found the crew in high spirits and ready for a fight with the pirates. Finally reaching the bridge, he checked the time of arrival.

“Six point four standard period’s sir.”

*********

Commander Trist did not take the captain’s chair. “Thank you.” With a nod to the pilot who was the deck officer at the time, he left. Reaching the captain’s quarters, he reported to the captain about his travels through the ship. “Time for my talk to the crew.” Was Captains Traska response with a grimace, and they made their way to the bridge.

“Give me an open channel to the ship please.” Was directed to the Communications officer.

“Ready sir.”

Taking a deep breath, Traska began, “As you know we are headed to the planet ‘Trilla’. We are going to arrange an ambush for some pirates once we are there. So, what we are going to do is go into stealth mode after we have taken up ambush positions. I realize that stealth mode is difficult and I cannot say for certain how long we are going to have to hold our status. I am sorry for that, but it is necessary. We need stealth because we will be trying to capture both the pirate ship and to take as many prisoners as possible. There are at least two major traitors onboard the pirate ship that we believe is coming and we want them to face the justice of the Empire. I know that all will do their duty. Remember that we will be attacking to capture, not just kill, so the lives of the assault troops will be relying on everyone doing their duty.” He paused, “Thank you for your attention.” A nod to the communications officer and channel was closed.

Rumors became epidemic!