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*Rise of the Warspite*
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by HappyTarget: [QB] Well here's the next chapter. I think its my best so far, but what do you all think? CHAPTER 19 [Harrington Steading, Grayson, Dusk] Everyone around the table had a surprised look on their faces. The bombshell Admiral Cole had dropped was shocking to say the least. Thad could hardly believe it, yet from what Adm. Cole had said it must be true. But the orders he had just explained were confusing. TF 55 was to leave orbit one month from now and make its way to Looking Glass Station. But Thad, like most military personnel, had thought Looking Glass was just a myth. Supposedly it was a top-secret military installation used to develop exotic and powerful weapons systems. Yet despite years of tabloid stories and rumors, no conclusive proof had ever been found for its existence. Till now that is. TF 55 was to proceed there to develop fleet tactics in relation to the new Ghost Rider systems. The Admiralty didn't want any spying eyes to see the capabilities of the new weapon systems before they were ready for deployment. Where better to test them than in a system that didn't exist. "By the time we are ready to pull out, almost all of the other ships assigned to TF 55 should be finished or available. Our order of battle will include five Warspite Class BC (M) and 6 Star Knight Refit BCs as well as the usual escort of cruisers and tin cans by then." Admiral Cole said. "That is a powerful force sir. One thing concerns me though. You said that there would be some special representatives from ONI coming along to provide the coordinates of Looking Glass. And that only they would know it and would wipe all reference to it from our computer banks after we leave. That worries me a bit. I fully understand that the base's location needs to remain secret, but this seems a little excessive. It's like they don't fully trust us." Thad replied with a mild frown playing at the corners of his mouth. "I share some of your reservations Thaddeus, but those are our orders, direct from High Admiral Wesley Matthews and First Space Lord Admiral Sir Thomas Caparelli. The value of keeping the location of Looking Glass secret is of vital importance. And you know how insidious the Peeps intelligence net is. One slip of the tongue and the entire operation could be blown wide open." "I agree sir, its just annoys me some that all. But I can clearly see the logic of it, so I'll live with my discomfort." "Glad to hear it. Now… since that business is taken care of, I believe that we are at a party. Enjoy your free time while you can," Bruce Cole said with a twinkle in his eye, "because after tonight we got a sh*t load of work to do before we are fully operational." A chorus of amused groans chorused from the assembled officers of what would become Task Force 55. [Manticore System, Manticore, Later that same week] The Director of Cerberus crushed the report with one hand, her knuckles turning white as her fist closed over the offending piece of paper. Part of her was trying desperately to abate the rage welling up inside her. The young aid that had brought it paled as he took in her anger. Knowing her temper, she might full well kill the messenger. "Get out." The words were spoke quietly, barely above a whisper, yet they dripped with lethal venom. The aid nearly tripped over his own feet as he rushed out of the palatial office. The best laid plans, laid to waste by a mere Lieutenant Commander. Oh there were fallback operations, but they lacked the simplicity and elegance of Renegade. They were all complex, with many more steps, many more people to buy off, many more chances for leaks. And the enemy would now be more vigilant because he knew what was possible. And she knew that it was all HER fault. Crystal Winter slammed her fist down onto her solidly built desk hard enough to cause everything on it to jump a full inch off the ebony surface. She had miscalculated that genetic monstrosity's ability to resist his programming. By all rights, he should have followed her directives just from the mere threat of being exposed for what he was. Somehow, he had been able to get around the nearly hardwired compulsion to keep his true self hidden from the universe. In order to keep their little operation as quiet and as out of the limelight as possible, Manpower programmed a safe guard into all their products. Any mention to them that their secret was going to be made public made them do anything to prevent it. And if it was exposed, they minds became like a blank slate. Lurking like a computer virus in their minds, the program was ever vigilant. Upon public discovery of the subject true nature, it was designed to wipe all of the individuals programmed memories. It was a safe guard just incase they escaped Manpower control. They were unable to go public with their stories themselves because the same thing would happen to them. Well if Mr. Thaddeus Armstrong had thought she was merely making idle chit chat when she said she could be his worst enemy, he was in for a rude awakening! Stabbing a finger down on the intercom stud, she spoke to her secretary. "I want the following information leaked to EVERY major news service in the system… Her secretary took the relevant information in silence, yet she was frowning. Miss Winter hadn't always been like this. When she was younger, and before she had inherited the seat on Cerberus' board of directors from her late father, she had actually been quite a pleasant individual. But the old adage had been proven horribly right in her case: Power corrupts, Absolute power corrupts absolutely. [Grayson Orbit, GSN Warspite's Boat Bay Three, six days later] Thad reached for the grab bar and swung himself into the tube connecting the pinnace to the rest of the ship. Taz dug his claws deeper into Thad's tunic so that he wouldn't become dislodged in the zero-g of the tube. He also purred, because he found the feeling of weightlessness wonderful. Thad smiled at his friend, then returned his eyes to the grab bar at the end of the tube. Even thought he had gotten used to swimming tubes with Taz's additional weight, it still required a lot of concentration to avoid any mishaps. Grabbing the bar, Thad swung gracefully into the gravity field of the pinnace. Admiral Cole had requested his presence on Grayson. Apparently he was having difficulty in getting the supplies he needed pried out of the supply officers fingers. He wanted to have another officer present for support, and the fact that Thad was slightly famous was bound to help. The fact that Thad's exploits had been a major news item for the past two weeks had seen to it that nearly everyone on Grayson knew his face. They had fought long and hard against Masada, and anyone who prevented them from becoming a threat again was a hero in their eyes. The Task Force had been coming together nicely. Though there were still a few rough edges to be sanded down, Thad was confident that they would be gone in a few days. Though all of the units were either new build ships or new to eachother, they had begun to execute maneuvers just as if they were a veteran squadron. Command had only been able to assign them lighter units for their escort screen in ones and twos. Only one squadron of destroyers had managed to be added virtually intact. They had been together since nearly the beginning of the war, and their familiarity with eachother had shown in the initial TF wargames. Yet nearly every other squadron had pulled together and were now nearly on par with them. The pinnace settled onto its assigned pad. The capital of Grayson, Austin City, looked marvelous in the night. It was 10:00 PM local time, yet by shipboard time it was only 6:00 PM. Exiting the pinnace Thad searched for a few seconds then strode to the only waiting person on the pad. Admiral Cole's flag lieutenant, Ensign Leifler, approached him. "If you'll follow me sir, I'll take you to where the Admiral is waiting." [Three Hours Later, Pinnace landing pad] Thad walked back to the waiting pinnace a happy man. Though he disliked using his newfound fame to get his way, Thad would do just that if it meant getting the spares and supplies out of unwilling supply officers. With only minor usage of Thad's accomplishments, Adm. Cole and Thad had managed to get nearly everything on Lt. Humphry's wish list. Thad had been amazed at the amount of things he had scrounged up on his own, yet he didn't have sufficient pull to get the other items. Although they weren't standardly carried as spares, it was good to have them along just in case. Thad continued walking, then noticed quite a few people with microphones and cameras spilling around the corner in front of him. His eye's narrowed as he tried to figure out just what they were doing here. Taz was curious as well. He reached out with his senses and recoiled at what he had felt. Far to many of those people had the same feeling that a hexapuma gets when it has its prey cornered. This wasn't good, wasn't good at all. Thad was still trying to figure out the reason the newsies were there when Taz crouched lower on his shoulder, laid his ears back, bared his teeth and let out a hiss. Then the news people were around him. "Mr. Armstrong, are the allegations true…" "Are you a genetic creation of Manpower Incorporated…" "Have you really killed people in cold blood…" "Can you make a statement as to why you falsified documents about your identity…" The demanding voices were emanating from all around him, the microphones and cameras a solid wall, crushing in on him. He felt like a caged animal. They knew. THEY KNEW! Taz was preparing to issue his snarling war cry when he sensed a change come over his person. It was like his mind tried to turn on itself. Thad was fighting it, but he was slowly being pushed towards the precipice. Taz immediately leant his support to Thad's, yet it merely held the force at bay. Taz curled his tail protectively around his persons neck, redoubling his efforts. Still the force was there, dark and menacing, threatening to drive them both into the abyss. Tapping reserves of strength he hadn't known he had possessed, Thad shoved his hands between the two reporters in the most direct path to the pinnace. Shoving them aside he bolted through the whole their departure made. The two reporters that had been shoved out of the way flew up into the air and landed over a meter away. The violence of their removal from Thad's path gave the remaining pack pause. It was just enough time for Thad to disappear into the pinnace. "Sir, what's wrong…" asked a member of the concerned flight crew. Thad cut her off with a panicked wail "GO, GO, GO!!!" Seeing no way to reason with distraught man, and the fact that he was a superior officer, the pinnace lifted off and climbed for the stars. Its turbines howled, giving extra power to the contra grav accent. The pilot glanced over his shoulder into the passenger cabin. What he saw would stay with him forever. A crumpled heap of a man sat in the aisle seat, his face a mask of nonexpression, his body unmoving except for the rapid rise and fall of his ribcage. The man's eyes were cast straight ahead, and were not their usual animated selves. They were devoid of any sign of life. What was worse was the keening cry of the treecat in his lap. It was franticly pressing his head into his person's chin, demanding a response, yet the man's expression never changed and he never so much as twitched. The pilot exchanged a look with his copilot, then activated the ship to ship com. "Warspite, this is Flight India Three. I request emergency clearance to land. Have medical personnel standing by. We have a serious problem." [/QB][/QUOTE]
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