Skirmish Part 2: "Lt. Mengele?" Crow stood working over a console, his back to Sergeant Powers. "Make it fast, I'm due in the briefing room." "I know, sir. I was sent to retrieve you." Crow turned around to see her, a data disk in one hand. "Who are you?" "Gunnery Sergeant Jessie Powers, Sir." Crow seemed taken aback. "Something wrong, Lieutenant?" "No, I just thought that you were a..." "Man?" finished Powers. "That happens often." Crow slipped into an easygoing demeanor as he began the walk to the briefing room. "Sorry about that, so tell me about yourself." "Excuse me, sir?" "We're going to be working together, Powers. I want to know what kind of woman is guarding my back." "The dangerous kind." Crow cracked a smile. "Cryptic yet comforting, anything else?" "Like what size undergarments I wear?" Powers' face was as stoic as before, and she continued to walk facing forward. "Do you have a problem with me, Sergeant?" asked Crow. "I don't know yet, but I have heard rumors." replied Powers. Crow stopped in his tracks and planted his hands on his hips, prompting Powers to stop as well. "Have you been talking to Montgomery?" "I'll make a point of doing so." "Look, Powers, I may have a history of flirting a bit but that has always been with women outside my command. I don't hit on women in my platoon." "Perfect." replied Powers. She resumed her steady pace toward the briefing room. Crow quickly caught up with her. "Wait a minute, you just got here. There's no way you could have heard anything about me. You set me up, didn't you?" "I had to be sure your intentions were honorable." replied Powers. "You could have just asked." "Experience has taught me that an angry response is usually a truthful one." Powers glanced at Crow for emphasis then faced forward again. Crow, it seemed, wasn't quite sure what to make of her. "All I want to know is if a I can count on you when it matters." Powers stopped and snapped to attention, "Sir, yes sir." Crow nodded. "Good, then we have the beginning of a working relationship." * * * The door to the briefing room opened and in stepped Captain Tom Jose. In his hand he held half a cheeseburger. "He always has one before a mission." whispered Crow. Jessie made no reaction to the statement. She had seen many pre-mission rituals in her time, and this one wasn't really all that unusual. Jose had a seat at the main table with Captain Henry and Commander Xanatos. Crow, Preston, and Powers where seated against the rear wall. Captain Henry began the briefing. "Now that Captain Jose has arrived, we can begin. As of three hours ago we intercepted a coded distress signal emanating a few million miles from Jupiter. It seems a Neosapian warship ran afoul of an as yet unidentified assault ship." Crow raised a hand. "Sir, are we talking about a pirates?" "Quite possibly, Lieutenant. Whatever the threat, it appears to have departed the area leaving the ship more or less in tact. Given our limited knowledge of the true size of the Neosapian military, retrieving the ship's computer core is an opportunity we cannot pass up." Captain Henry sat down, turning the briefing over to Commander Xanatos. "We have modified one of our scout ships to dock with the disabled warship. Sierra Three Platoon - under the direction of Captain Jose - will take it, retrieve the computer core, and returned with it as soon as possible." Jose arched an eyebrow, "What about hostiles, sir?" "There is a distress beacon active, if there are not any hostiles already on board, they will most likely arrive within a few hours. That is why time is of the essence. You are to depart immediately." * * * As the Neo Warship drew closer, Jessie gripped her repeater rifle a bit tighter. The ship was riddled with minor damage, though nothing obviously severe. That meant the ship had somehow been taken out by a boarding party. She checked the rifle's power pack - a full charge. The underside grenade launcher was fully loaded. Over her left shoulder, peaked the top of her rocket launcher. It was retracted to one eighth its full length but ready to be used at a moment's notice. "Interesting design." commented Mengele. "Something R & D recently came up with." answered Jessie. "Rocket launcher?" asked Mengele. "Yes. It extends and pulls forward over my shoulder. It loads automatically from the base that sits on top of my jump pack." Jessie scanned the bay of the scout ship, trying to get a feel for the platoon's mood. "That's some serious firepower. You know, there's this guy in Gamma Squad I know, he's got a real firepower fetish himself. I think you two would really hit it off." "Doubtful." answered Jessie. "You haven't even met him, how do you know?" asked Crow. "I'm a lesbian." A short period of silence followed the comment. "Ooookay." said Crow cautiously. "Look, I'm..." "Sorry. No need to be, you didn't know and it's not an issue for me, though it tends to be for others." Crow nodded, hefted his rifle, and gave her a hearty clap on the shoulder. "So you ready to do this, Powers?" Jessie brought the barrel of her rifle up and clapped it against his. "Always." * * * The scout ship slowly settled onto the hull of the ship. The platoon gathered around the ventral hatch. Through a small window in the floor Jessie could see a cylindrical hatchway extend down to the hull. The rim of the hatchway sealed itself to the hull and the ventral hatch opened. "All right, cutting team, get in there and get to work. I want access in 4 minutes." ordered Captain Jose. Six men, carrying three heavy cutting torches between them, hurried through the hatch and set to work on the bit of exposed hull. Ten seconds before the 4 minute mark they reported success. "We're ready, Sir!" The hole was several times larger than a man. It would have to be to get the computer core out. "Mengele, take your team and disable the distress beacon, the rest of us will find the core." Mengele's team consisted of himself, Preston, Powers, and three other troopers that Jessie didn't know. They ran into the ship and followed Crow down one of the corridors. "I've got a lock on the signal source. Anyone want to volunteer for point?" "I'll do it." said Jessie. She boldly stepped in front, with her rifle at the ready. She lead them quickly, yet carefully through the ship. The corridors were a mess, with lights blinking on and off, panels torn free from their housings, and numerous blaster marks adorning the walls. "Must have been some lightfight in here." commented Preston. "And yet, there are no bodies." noted Jessie. Preston nodded. "Yeah, creepy isn't it?" "Possibly a scare tactic, a missing crew is potentially more frightening than a heap of dead bodies." "Very true." noted Crow. "We're coming up on a junction, take a left, Powers." Jessie peaked her head around the corner, then jerked it back. "Looks clear." She brought her full body around the corner and they continued onward towards the bridge. "Lieutenant, you'd better have a look at this." Crow pushed ahead of Preston and another trooper to get a better look at what Powers had found. "Pirates." On the floor lay a dead Neosapian, the hilt of a knife sticking out of his chest. The end of the hilt was adorned with a metal skull. "Makes sense, actually." commented Preston. "The damage we've seen wasn't from a fire fight, not all of it anyway. They stripped the ship for whatever they could use, maybe even the computer core." "Then why is there only one body?" asked Powers. "Maybe they took the rest prisoner?" suggested Preston. "Pirates take no prisoners," said Crow. "Come on, the bridge is just ahead." They positioned themselves outside the door to the bridge. Crow played with the door controls and it opened. The group cautiously made their way inside. Like the rest of the ship, it was empty. Crow headed for the appropriate console and began to work at shutting the distress beacon down. Suddenly, Powers became aware of something dripping on her helmet. She shifted her gaze upward. "I found the crew, Sir." From the ceiling hung a large number of Neosapians. Each hung upside down with his throat slit. "Dear God, there had to be over fifty of them up there." gasped Preston. Crow activated his comm unit. "Mengele to Captain Jose." "This is Jose, go ahead." "We found a good portion of the crew, Sir." "Any idea what happened?" "Sir, the crew was hung from the ceiling of the bridge, looks like the handiwork of Pirates." "Understood. We're prepping the core for removal now. Shut the beacon down and get back to the ship." ordered Jose. "Understood, we're - Everyone down!" Captain Jose twitched as the sound of weapons fire blasted through his comm unit. "Mengele? Mengele, respond! Crow?" Jose considered his options. Unfortunately, the mission came first and dividing his forces any further would be foolish. Thus Crow's team would have to take care of themselves for the time being. "Everyone listen up! We have company so let's get this 2 meter long monstrosity on the ship, collect our friends, and get the hell out of here!" Crow snapped his rifle up to a 45 degree angle and opened fire. Clinging to the hanging bodies were a number of individuals clad in space suits that marked them as members of the pirate clans. They dropped to the floor, drawing their own weapons in the process. Crow's shots felled two pirates before they hit the ground. Preston hit two of his own. Powers got one. There were, however, several more to take their place. "They're dropping in all over!" yelled Preston. "Pull back to the corridor!" ordered Crow. Suddenly, a pirate landed behind him, his right arm wrapped around his neck, the left holding a knife. Crow stopped the killing blow with his left hand on the pirate's wrist. Crow stood facing Powers. "Turn around!" she yelled. Crow leaned forward, lifting the pirate on his back from the floor, and turned his back side to Powers. She fired off two shots, both struck the pirate. His body went slack and Crow released his wrist to allow him to fall to the floor. "Watch it!" Preston tackled Powers, bringing her out of the way of several shots from behind. The three remaining jumptroopers took out the pirates that shot them. "Thanks." said Powers. Preston smiled under his helmet, "Just return the favor if the roles are ever reversed, and we can call it even." "Acceptable, now get off me." Preston rolled off her and got into the one knee position to continue firing. "Pull back!" repeated Crow. He and Preston laid down covering fire as the rest of the team backed out of the room. One of the Pirates tossed a grenade. "Scatter!" yelled Powers. She dove out the door to the bridge, followed by Crow and Preston. The grenade detonated and two of the remaining troopers stumbled through the bridge door. "Where's Turner?" asked Crow. "He went down, I couldn't get him!" replied one of the troopers. "I'll get him." said Powers. "You'll never make it!" yelled Preston. "If you cover me, I will." Powers bolted through the door before Preston or Crow could stop her. They pointed their rifles into the room and fired at anything that moved. For someone of her size, Powers moved with surprising agility. Turner was face down on the floor a few feet in front of the door. Powers had reached him and hoisted him onto her shoulders in a mere couple of seconds. She activated the jets of her armor and shot towards the exit. A blaster bolt struck the left side of her abdomen, causing her to tilt over onto her right side. She flew sideways through the door and crashed to the deckplates. "Powers, are you all right?" asked Preston. Jessie slowly got to her feet, her left arm holding her stomach. "I'll be okay." The other two troopers picked up Turner and started to carry him back to the scout ship, Powers followed with Crow and Preston bringing up the rear. To be concluded...