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*Rise of the Warspite*
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by HappyTarget: [QB] CHAPTER 15 [Bridge, GSN Warspite] Captain Armstrong settled into his acceleration couch heavily. Taz swarmed down from his person's shoulder to curl up in his lap. The treecat pressed up into the hand absently scratching behind his ears, his buzzing purr quite audible in the enclosed space of the bridge. The fact that the bad people had been caught and were being brought to justice was enough for the cat. Thad looked down at his companion, wishing his life was as black and white. Unfortunately his life was not as simple as that. He now had to worry about what possible repercussions his actions would have. It was a given that his past would come out for all to see, yet Thad wondered if Cerberus would go even farther in its quest for vengeance. He had no delusions that they would try nothing, they had invested to much into this operation to do that. Not liking the dark train of thought his person was going along, Taz sat up and placed a fine boned true hand on either side of Thad's face. As he stared up at Thad he poured reassurance and love into their link, but with it, a mild scolding for being so down. A smile starting on his face Thad silently apologized to his companion, yet didn't chance his thoughts. Chuffing in response, Taz settled back down in Thaddeus' lap and started purring again. Time slowly ticked by as the Warspite cruised back to Grayson orbit. The massive merchantman followed in her wake, it's prize crew doing an excellent job of handling the massive wall of metal. "Coming up on our assigned orbital slot skipper." The astrogator announced. Thad shook himself as his mind came back to the present. "Thank you Mr. Escobar." Turning towards the helmsman he said, "Chief O'Mally, please bring us into standard geostationary orbit at the assigned coordinates." "Sure thing sir." "Captain, I am receiving a hail from Grayson." "Put it up Mr. St. Laurence." The last face in the universe Thad had expected to see appeared on the com screen. Honor Harrington's almond eyes stared back at him from the display, her long dark brown hair disappearing behind her back. She had an exotic beauty about her. She was one of only 80 feudal lords known as steadholders that made up the governing body of Grayson. She was also worth something like three and a half billion credits, the vast majority of it coming from prize money from enemy ships captured in battle. Lady Harrington was also had one of the best combat records and was arguably the best tactician in the entire sector. She had demonstrated that twice in the Yeltsin star system alone, which explained some things. Honor held the rank of Admiral in the explosively expanding Grayson Navy, and was in fact its second-highest ranking officer. Due to political enemies in the Star Kingdom, she only held the rank of Commodore in the Navy of her birth. Thad felt himself stiffen to attention as his mind registered just who had called him. Taz also straightened out, staring intently at the treecat perched on Honor's chair back. The cream and gray treecat's grass green eyes appeared to be just as interested in Taz. Thad had seen the images of Honor and her cat, Nimitz, defending Grayson's head of state and his family. They had done so with precision and deadly effect. During the attack her left eye and cheek had been severely damaged, yet that hadn't stopped her from killing a ex-Peep, Havenite run battle cruiser with a mere cruiser. She had saved Grayson from certain destruction by that action, and Protector Benjamin Mayhew IX had made her one of Grayson's Steadholders because of it. She was the first female Steadholder in Grayson's nearly 1000-year history. It was largely due to her influence that both Grayson society and its young navy had changed so much for the better. Honor arched and eyebrow and her cool soprano sprang from the com. "Well, well Captain Armstrong, that was very impressive. Taking out two pirate cruisers, capturing a third, and exposing a major plot against our forces on Masada. And all before your space trials are complete." Thad forced himself not to squirm under her hawk like gaze as he formulated a reply. Shrugging, he said, "I guess that it was good old fashioned luck Ma'am." Honor waved away his modesty. "Nonsense, what I saw today was a combination of commendable skill and good instincts, plain and simple. I would appreciate it if you could come down to Harrington Steading so we can converse in person. How does two hours from now sound?" When the second ranking member of your military made a request, you didn't dare turn them down. "Two hours is just fine Ma'am." "Very good, I look forward to meeting you in person Captain." The com closed the channel as she finished speaking. Thad heard a voice beside him. "Way to go Skipper," his exec said, "only a week in Grayson uniform and already being praised by Lady Harrington herself! And she wants to meet you in person! Damn you're lucky Sir." "Luck had less to do with it than you might think." Julius gave Thad a odd look. Not wanting to explain his reasoning, Thad quickly went on. "Well, I suppose I should go and get ready. It wouldn't do for me to appear before Admiral Harrington for the first time looking anything less than my best would it? Mind the store till I get back XO." Rising from his chair, Thad transferred Taz to his shoulder. The cat sank ivory white claws into the reinforced fabric of his blue uniform tunic as he settled in to his perch. "You got it skipper. What I wouldn't give to be in your shoes!" Julius said mostly to himself as Thad had already disappeared into the lift. [Captain's quarters, GSN Warspite, 15 minutes later] Entering his quarters, Thad found his best uniform already laid out. Thad jumped into the shower for a quick rinse. Toweling dry, Thad proceeded to step into his pants. Next came the top part of the uniform, and Thad cursed the archaic buttons the Grayson's insisted on using. Stepping in front of the large mirror, he nearly swore out loud as he fumbled with what the Grayson's called a tie. The door chimed, and Thad forced his emotions back into check as he responded. "Come." "Ah Sir, I thought you might need some help." Leona Gibbons said from the doorway, eyes glowing with mirth. With a pleading look, he held out the annoying piece of cloth to her. She took it and with machine like precision proceeded to tie the cloth perfectly in a matter of seconds. Thad watched what she did in the mirror with keen interest. It was almost embarrassing how easy she made it look. After she was finished, she reached up and brushed imaginary lint off of his shoulder. Giving Thad's uniform one final straightening tug, she turned her face toward his. "There you are sir. Good enough to see even Lady Harrington now." "Thank you so much Leona. These anachronistic uniforms the Graysons insist on keeping are made by the Devil himself!" Clasping him on the shoulder, Leona merely smiled. "You better get going sir. Wouldn't do to keep the Admiral waiting on your first visit." Looking at the wall chrono, Thad realized that he had spent nearly a half hour struggling with the tie, a new record even for his inexperienced hands. "Oh shoot!" Gathering Taz up from his perch on the bed Thad darted for the door, shouting another thank you over his shoulder as he went. Reaching the door, he forced himself to a brisk walk. One had to keep up appearances. [Pinnace Zero Three, Enroute to Grayson] The black velvet of space gave way to deep purple, then finally blue as the small craft fell to earth. Dropping further still, the pinnace eventually leveled out at around 500 feet and fell into its assigned approach vector. Out the armourplast portal, Thad got his first look at Harrington Steading. The entire compound was totally encapsulated courtesy of the handiwork of Harrington Steading's own Sky Domes. The company had been set up by Honor to seal out the heavy metals present everywhere on Grayson. Pre Alliance Grayson didn't have the tech base or the finances to support doming entire cities, but thanks to Honor Harrington, it was now possible. The pinnace slowed as it approached the docking portal. Gliding through the lock, it approached its assigned landing pad. The pilot made a textbook perfect landing dead square in the middle of the pad. Once the systems had shut down, Thad set Taz back on his shoulder and made his way towards the hatch. Stepping out into the brilliant sunshine, he soon found someone motioning for him to come over. "If you would be so kind as to follow me Captain Armstrong, Lady Harrington is expecting you." Said the Harringtonite. Following him into a huge and ornate building, Thad couldn't help but be a tad overwhelmed. The ornamentation of the building reminded him just a bit too much of his past. Approaching his destination, he saw two men in Harrington Steading green on green uniforms. Both gave him a measuring look. They must be two of her armsmen Thad thought. Armsmen were a personal security force and body guards for their Steadholder. Grayson law swore them to protect their Steadholder, even with their very lives. Being a former guard dog himself, Thad knew that these were particularly good ones. Activating the com, one of the armsmen spoke into the pickup. "Captain Thaddeus Armstrong to see the Steadholder." "Alright, send him in." Entering into the large office of Steadholder Harrington with one of the armsmen in tow, Thad saw her nearly buried behind piles of data chips and old fashioned hardcopy. Upon hearing him come in she stood up and walked around her desk, her treecat jumping down from his perch behind her chair and scrambling up to her shoulder. The aura of command fairly dripped off of her. Thad braced to stiff attention, his arm nearly rising of its own volition to snap a salute. Although he showed no outward sign of it, Thad's stomach was doing summersaults. Honor returned his salute with equal precision, yet Thad could have sworn he saw a twinkle in her eyes, almost as if she could sense his emotional turmoil. Taz was staring intently at Honor, only the tip of his tail twitching. Thad was slightly concerned, as Taz had never given anyone such intense scruitny like this. Sending a mental image to cut it out, Thad dared to try his voice, silently praying he wouldn't make an as* of himself. "Captain Thaddeus Armstrong reporting as ordered ma'am!" Nary a squeak, which was a good sign. "Oh calm down Captain, I don't bite." Extending her hand she said, "Let me say again good job!" Shaking her hand in return Thad felt his cheeks reddening. He quickly thanked her in reply. "Allow me to make some introductions. The man beside you is my chief personal watchdog, Major Andrew LaFollet. And this little stinker", gesturing to the treecat on her shoulder, "is Nimitz." Shaking the pairs hands, Thad went into his own introduction. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. My furry companion here is Taz." The cat extended his hand to Honor, her armsman, then jumped to the ground. Nimitz followed him there almost immediately. The pair flowed up to the room's perch like old buddies. "Nimitz loves meeting other treecats. Unfortunately my duties have limited the contact he would normally have with others of his kind. Have a seat Captain." Honor's cool soprano requested as she sat back down in the large chair behind her desk. "Now, its my understanding that you have been given command of a pretty deadly warship. How is she shaping up?" "Quite well ma'am. I am sure you are up to speed on the Warspite's specs. Suffice it to say, she has more than lived up to what the numbers say." "I am glad to hear it. It is going to be up to you and your squadron to set up how best to employ the new systems. In typical fashion, the Graysons have embraced a unproven concept and run with it. While BuShips back in Manticore is still bickering as to weather a hollow core missile pod warship is a sound idea, Grayson has already built three prototype BC's. Add to that they already have the keels laid for four hollow core SD's. If that wasn't shocking enough, they incorporate an unproven weapons system into both." "Don't misread me though, I made the recommendations to the powers that be that these systems be pushed into production. I just didn't think that they would be turned into working prototypes so fast. And your recent outing proves the new missiles viability quite obviously." Not sure what to say, Thad merely nodded. "Now as to the Masadan plot you stymied." Honor's brown eyes went ice cold, causing Thad to shiver inside despite the fact that it was directed at somebody else. Nimitz hissed from his perch, his expression just as deadly as his persons. "It was very good that you stopped that before it got any farther. Things could have become very messy if those weapons had made it to those lunatics hands." Honor had good reason to hate the Masadan's. Not only had one of their attacks on Grayson killed her beloved mentor, Admiral Courvosier, the actions they took against captured Manticoran personnel, especially the women, after the engagement were horrifying to any civilized individual. Where Masadan's were concerned, Thad could not be in greater agreement. "I hope that Planetary Security gives those bast**ds what they have coming." Then Thad colored when he realized what he had said. Seeing his reaction, Honor let him off the hook. "Don't worry about offending me over Masadans zealots Captain. What ever they get is pure justice in my opinion." Giving herself a shake, Honor changed the subject to a different, yet more sensitive subject. "You may have already thought about it, but in stopping the shipment you have made some very powerful enemies. I can empathize more than most as to just how dangerous those sort can be." Thad couldn't help it, he stared open mouthed at Honor. "Don't be so surprised Captain. I have my sources, even in ONI. They didn't tell me the whole story, but the gave enough to cause concern. Watch your back, I would hate to loose such a evidently honorable and competent CO." Still slightly shocked, Thad began to realize you didn't become the second ranking officer in an entire navy and not become privy to information. "Thank you for your concern My Lady. I'll keep my guard up." That said, there is going to be a little party here tonight. Invitations have already gone out to your squadron, but I am going to take the opportunity to personally invite you and your command staff to attend." "On behalf of my officers, how could I do anything other than accept? We'll be there ma'am." "Good. I look forward to possibly conversing with you again Captain. Now, I must get back to the mountain of paperwork that has piled up in my absence. If I don't get to talk with you again before I leave the system, Good luck and good hunting!" "The same to you ma'am. And thank you again for your support. Coming from you it means a great deal to me." Thad swore that he saw a slight rise in the color of Honor's cheeks at that, but he couldn't be certain. Her Nimitz bleeked laughter from his perch, Taz soon joining in. "Laugh it up stinker, you'll get yours soon enough. You get kittensitting duty this afternoon, remember?" "I don't mean to pry, but kittensitting?' "Then I guess you haven't heard. Nimitz and Samantha decided to bring their four kittens to Grayson. They also brought along eight of Nimitz clanmates." Thad got a surprised expression stuck on his face despite himself. Then, after a few seconds the real implications of what Honor had just said hit home. The cats didn't just follow Nimitz here so he could be near his progeny. They had decided that it was time to set up the first treecat colony off of Sphinx. "My God! I have only had Taz here for a few months, and I thought I was beginning to figure out just how smart he really was. But this changes things quite drastically." "Yes it does, doesn’t it. I have a feeling that some accepted theories as to treecat intelligence are about to be turned on their ears." "It would seem so ma'am, it would indeed. Might I look at these kittens before I leave? I have never seen a treekitten before." "Certainly, my aid will show you to them. Now if you will excuse me, I unfortunately must get back to my paper work. It was good meeting you Captain." "If you'll pardon the pun, it was my honor to meet you My Lady." Saluting crisply, Thad waited for her to return it before he gathered Taz up to his shoulder, turned smartly and walked out of Steadholder Harrington's office. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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