5 comments/ 22192 views/ 7 favorites McLain's Misfits Ch. 01 By: kingkey McLain's Misfits Ch. 02 After I'd had lunch in my ready room, I heard a rap on my door and shouted, "Enter!" "Lt. Cliff Jackson reporting as ordered, Sir." "Come in, Lieutenant. Please have a seat. I have been going over your service record, and it is very colorful, indeed. Are you just a natural born fuck up, or do you have to work at it? Just what the hell is going on here?" "Actually, Commander McLain, what I have been trying to do is to get my ass kicked out of the service... but so far, nothing has worked!" "If you want out so bad. Why don't you just quit? This service is purely voluntary. You know that, don't you?" "I can't quit! My whole family is military! Hell, Admiral Jackson is my uncle. "Has it ever occurred to you that THAT is the reason why you haven't been kicked out, either? The Admiral wouldn't like it!" "I thought that was how it was. No matter what I've done it seems like a slight punishment." "You may have only received a slight punishment, but all your commanders have had their careers RUINED by you! As of right now, this shit is ceasing! I will not have my ship's record tarnished, nor my own, just because you are some sort of shit-bird! You had BETTER get your act cleaned up, or you WILL suffer!" "I swear, Commander, I was not out to hurt anybody but myself! I won't do anything to jeopardize our missions, or to make this ship or its crew look bad." At this time, the ship's AI announced, "Commander McLain, please report to the Admiral's office as soon as possible." "McLain I'm getting reports of mass thievery all over this station. I know it's your crew, so don't try to deny it!" the Admiral said as soon as I walked into his office. "How can it be us? You have us confined to Q-Deck?" "I don't know how you're doing it, but I will find out! Then, no matter what kind of pull you have, I will have you all court marshaled!" "Sir, I must be able to get my supplies, to keep my unit combat ready." "You are on the supply schedule, but I have to give priority to the ships that are going out. I told you your ship would be the last to get any missions that came in, so you have last priority." "Admiral, you can't do this! We are not in your chain of command!" "No, you're not. But this is MY station, and I say who gets what supplies, and when. I can't help it if you are unable to take a mission, because you're not ready. Now get back to Q-Deck, with those other foul-ups, and rot for all I care." "Admiral, I demand to speak with headquarters about this. I need those supplies." "That may be, but we are having trouble with the communications equipment, right now. I'll let you know as soon as it is back up. It shouldn't take more than a few weeks." "A few weeks? I need those supplies NOW!" "Don't you raise your voice to ME! Now get your ass back to Q-deck!" As I was walking onto Q-deck, I was surprised to find it so busy. There were people everywhere. Spotting Mike, I went up and asked her, "What's going on. Where did all these people come from?" "Since we can't leave Q-deck, we are having a kind of a party. "What kind of a party?" "Well, a gambling kind of party." "GAMBLING! With the Admiral watching our every move? Are you all nuts?" "Nope. We've got it all figured out. All the cameras are on a loop, and won't show a thing. Wiz has all the games rigged. If they pay out, it's going to be for a low amount, and not often." "But what's everyone doing for money? We can't take their credit chips! Every transaction is recorded?" "That's just it. We aren't taking money! We're taking parts and giving them tokens to use for more gambling. So, in a way, it's not really gambling." "No, it's a grand theft! The Admiral is already suspicious of all the missing parts on this station." "But how can it have been us? He confined us to Q-Deck, under guard." "Speaking of guards, where are they?" "Let's see... One is over there, playing craps. The other is talking to Cyndi." "What if they turn us in?" "They won't, we cut them in on it. If we burn, so do they." "Yeah, well, that's just great. But how will we pay off if anybody wins?" Mike started laughing, "Wins? That would really take a miracle. We had Cyndi and Wiz go over everything before we started. These suckers would have a better chance of learning to breathe vacuum." "Well let's get it closed down as soon as possible. I've already got the Admiral breathing down my neck. We don't need any more trouble." "Aye-aye, Skipper. We should be able to shut it down in a couple more hours. We passed the word that it would only run until 1900 hours, since we still had a lot of work to do on the Loony. That's why we decided to cut it short." "By the way, where is our new XO? Shouldn't he be here?" "He took Wiz over to the hospital." "Over to the hospital? Why? Was Wiz hurt? Was there an accident?" "Relax, Wiz is fine. He just went over there because they needed a couple more memory chips for the fembot's they were working on." "Just what part of 'be careful because the Admiral was watching our every move' don't you people understand?" Just about then Lieutenant Jackson and Wiz returned to Q-deck. Each man was pulling a large gravity pallet behind himself. Turning to the Lieutenant Jackson I said, "I thought I told you the Admiral was watching our every move! Now, you to go out and rob the hospital blind Just what do you think is going to happen, just as soon as the Admiral finds out the list of what is missing from the station hospital?" "Relax skipper, we got into the station computer, and saw to it that none of this stuff was ever listed on the inventory. So, presto, all of this stuff ceased to exist, as far as the station was concerned." "So nobody is going to come looking for this stuff? Just what is all this stuff for, anyway?" "Wiz seems to think that we need to make a new body for Sheila, and to have better bots than those small maintenance robots she controls now." "That's a great idea. Why does she need all this extra stuff? Can't she just control the fembot's the way she does her maintenance robots, now?" "Wiz's idea is that by adding so much computing power, Sheila can be much more part of the crew, instead of just a part of the ship. He says that he can program the fembot's to be able to do most crew functions, such as maintenance and repair, cooking, shuttle piloting, weapons maintenance, and other similar functions. Plus, with the medical training that is already programmed into the fembots, they will make excellent field medics. We were going to teach them to fight, but that would go against their basic programming and would probably turn their brains to mush." "That's fine, but how about all the other work that needs to be done to get the ship spaceworthy?" "The ship is ready, now. All the new upgrades and repairs are done. All that is left is to load fuel and air. Then we'd be ready to go." Suddenly there was a message from Sheila, the ships AI. "Commander McLain, I've intercepted a message from Ambassador Timmons requesting us for a mission. It seems that Pirates have attacked the ship on which his daughter was traveling. They have taken her hostage. The ambassador knows it's against Imperial policy to pay ransoms, so he is requesting that your team mount a rescue mission." I suddenly started rattling off orders to my crew. "Okay, get this gambling wrapped up, now! I'm heading over to talk to the Admiral, again, to get a better idea of this upcoming mission. As soon as I'm back I want us ready to get underway. Is that clear?" Coming up to the Admiral's receptionist, I said, "I need to see the Admiral, right away!" Going in, I said to the Admiral, "I just received information that we were requested for a mission." "I have your ass, now, McLain. Tapping into the station communications center is an act of espionage!" "And cutting us off from our command headquarters is an act of treason! Should we compare charges, now, Admiral?" "Besides I'm going to have to assign Commander Cunningham to this mission, since you are obviously not ready. I will also have to have it recorded into the record that when the mission came in, your ship was not available to answer this mission, and you had to be replaced. I don't think your headquarters is going to care too much for this, do you?" "Sir, my ship is ready to leave as soon as we take on fuel and air. So you see, we are ready to take on this mission." "I knew you was behind all the thievery! You can forget about going on a mission since you will be in my brig!" "Come off it, Admiral, you know you really screwed the pooch, on this one! By denying us the parts and supplies we need; you have basically contributed to an act of treason, by making sure that we were not ready when called upon. So we had to go back to our training, and improvise to accomplish the mission, even if it did mean that we had to get our supplies through alternate channels. I think you should also be warned that as soon as we leave the dock, our radios have enough range that we can contact headquarters and file a complete report. I would advise you to start planning your defense." I turned my back on him, and left him fuming. Edited By TeNderLoin McLain's Misfits Ch. 03 "Pilot, prepare to leave the dockage. Sheila, set course for sector seven... the last known position of the ship the ambassador's daughter was on. Set impulse engines to slingshot around the nearest gas giant, then ignite hyper engines to course. Communications, I need to file this report to headquarters, as soon as possible. As soon as we are underway, we need to call a crew meeting to go over all the charges that have been recently made against us, and our ship." "Skipper, an' beggin' a minute?" Wiz asked. "Sure, Wiz, what's on your mind?" I asked as he escorted what appeared to be two beautiful women into my cabin. "Skipper, I wanted to show you what I have been working on. These are Sheila's new robots. As you can see they are a lot more versatile than the two maintenance robots that she had, previously. These can actually do anything her old robots could. Plus they can do most anything a human could... except they can't fight. That's only because of the way their brains are set up to keep them from killing, due to the old human paranoia of robots running amok. "They have also had basic medical training, although now they have had supplemental training. They got the same training as a trauma surgeon. They can handle navigation, piloting, and can operate any system on this ship, except weapons. They can do all the targeting and computing telemetry. They just can't pull the trigger. We used fembots because these advanced models look so close to humans in the proper uniforms that they could mingle as part of the crew." "That's great, Wiz, but what about the law that all robots must be marked so as not to be confused as being human?" "That is a problem. However, I did some checking. The law states that the marks must be visible at all times so what I did was I placed the marks behind their right ears and on the inside of the right wrist. We might get a little static, but that I found that was where the first humanoid robots were marked." After I had examined both of them I said, "These markings look more like tattoos than anything else." "If you look at them closely you will see that they both read that they are fembots, their model number and the serial numbers. It's just that they are written in a fancy script." "There's just one more thing. We can't go calling both of them, and the ships AI, 'Sheila'. I think they each need separate names." Sheila spoke up and said, "Since both these robots are basically my daughters, I think we should name then Sally and Sandy. We can call the brunette Sally, and the blonde Sandy." "Sheila, is there going to be any trouble with you controlling these robots?" "No, Commander. Since Wiz did the upgrades on them, they are both very self-sufficient. Plus I have real-time telemetry capabilities on both of them, for up to five thousand kilometers. I am able to take full control of any of their systems, at any time. It is truly amazing, the improvements that were done on both of them. They are unlike any other fembot." Thinking I would just test them, I said, "Sally, how long until hyperspace breakout and we get a look at the last known position of the ship that was carrying ambassador's daughter?" "Since there are no large astronomical bodies in the known area I suggest we break out in exactly one hour and twelve minutes and coast ballistically while passively scanning for any ships or asteroids in the area." "Sheila, break out of hyperspace at the suggested time. As we approach the area, launch one ECM drone. Configure it to make us look like a small unarmed transport." Mike asked, "Yes, Sir. What about scanners? Do you want them to remain passive?" "No, let's try to make this look real. Have us go to active scanners, though not powerful enough to show us to be different than what we are appearing to be. At the first sign of contact, make it look like we're trying to make a run for it. Then just before they try to take a shot at us, we surrender. We will take them when they try to board." "What about the other ship? They will surely leave some crew aboard to keep us targeted." "They will launch a shuttle for boarding us. As soon as it is in our landing bay, I want you to go to full shields, and target any other ships with every weapons system we have. I want them so scared that they'll shit their pants." Just after lunch, I heard Sheila announce, "Hyperspace break out in five... four... three... two... one... Commander, we are in normal space and heading holistically into the last known area of the ship which was carrying the ambassador's daughter." "All stations report," I commanded. "Pilot and navigation ready, Sir," Mike announced. "Engineering ready, Sir," Announced Wiz. "Medical ready, Sir," Jim announced. "Weapons and shields ready, Sir," Cindy announced. "Sir, all stations manned and ready, Sir," said Lieutenant Jackson. "Okay, people, listen up! This system has been used repeatedly for pirate raids. The plan here is that we are going to bait the pirates into attacking us, thinking that we are just a lightly armed transport. I'd like to try to take these pirates intact. If we are fired upon we will return fire, but try to disable them, not destroy them. We need prisoners to find out where the ambassador's daughter was taken. So remember, dead pirates can't talk. Take them alive." "Commander we have a strange contact 400,000 km starboard," Sheila reported. "Sheila, what do you mean by a strange contact?" "Commander, I'm not sure what it is. I have a larger ship approximately destroyer size being attacked by a small ship it keeps popping in and out of sensor detection, almost as if it keeps disappearing, the ship's IFF transponder reads it as being an interceptor, although the speed and weapons correspond more to a larger class vessel. such as a destroyer. The really odd thing is the fact that we can't keep it on the sensors. It just keeps disappearing." "Commander, the smaller ship has just knocked out the engines and weapons systems of the larger ship!" "Mike, bring us into closer range. Sheila, open up a hailing frequency. "This is Commander Daniel McLain of the Imperial Strike Ship 73. You will promptly cease all actions and prepare to be boarded." "This is Tom O'Connor of the ship 'Luck of the Irish'. We are a licensed bounty hunter. The larger ship is a pirate vessel that attacked us in this system." "Unidentified ship power down all systems and identify yourself." After several minutes of no response I stated, "Under Imperial Law you either identify yourself, or I will be forced to destroy you." "Don't destroy it commander, we have rendered it harmless and need to board get information from the ship's computer and it and its crew!" Suddenly, we started getting a transmission from the larger ship. "Commander, we weren't doing anything except transporting goods when that smaller ship suddenly attacked us." "Nice of you to finally respond. Somehow I don't believe you. First I can see by the damage that all the weapon strikes were surgically placed to disable and disarm you. Second your IFF transponder is disabled, which is a typical tactic of a pirate. And lastly, when being hailed, you failed to respond promptly. If you were the victim, you would have been screaming for help. Now I order you to stand down, and prepare to be boarded. Any resistance will be met with lethal force." "Sheila, what information do you have on the ship 'Luck of the Irish', and its captain, Tom O'Connor?" "Sergeant Tom O'Connor was dishonorably discharged from the Galactic Marines five years ago. The charges were that while the he was the Platoon Sergeant of the second recon platoons first Marine division. He disobeyed a direct order, but completed his mission with zero casualties. Although the order would have resulted in the loss of most of his platoon, he was still found guilty of disobeying a direct order, and was discharged." "I wonder why he wasn't recruited into the Imperial Guard? From his record, he would have fit right in with us." "Records show that since his discharge, he was observed for recruitment. However, shortly after discharge, he took up bounty hunting. It was seen that he went out of his way to try and capture without killing the suspects. It was also observed that he assisted in clearing one suspect's name. It was decided that he did better work for the Empire, in his chosen profession." "What about the rest of his crew?" "The only other crew on record, is his wife Desirée. She serves as first mate and engineer." "Only the two of them? Unless I didn't miss my guess such an interceptor, they require a minimum crew of ten and a normal crew of twenty-five!" "The records show that the armed ship 'Luck of the Irish' is heavily automated, and can be run by a crew of two." Wiz started to look very excited and said, "Skipper, we need to really examine that ship, closely. Some of the automations and modifications seem so advanced, especially the way they kept cloaking themselves while fighting. The cloaking system itself needs to be brought to the emperor's attention as soon as possible. We need to understand how it works. You may be able to save a lot of lives, on a lot ships." Cyndi commented, "Look at Wiz, he just can't wait to his hands on some new toys." "That's enough. Mike, Cyndi, Doc, and I will board the larger ship and take the crew into custody. I want everyone on the boarding party in full battle armor. Wiz, you will stay aboard to keep an eye on things. Sheila, remain in contact with both ships, and keep weapons unlocked." As we entered the larger vessel, we were attacked by five pirates who were firing needle guns. The guns were set for 'lethal explosive darts'. One, with a plasma rifle, shot Mike in the right arm. That froze the servos in her battle armor. If she could have moved, you could tell from the language coming from her suit, that she would have torn all of these pirates apart with her bare hands. After securing and disarming the prisoners, we proceeded to secure the rest of the ship. We found most of the other pirates in engineering, trying to get the engines back online, so they could escape. Finally, after the ship was secure and the prisoners were in the Loony's Brig, it was time to go to the other ship. After docking to the 'Luck of the Irish's main hatch, we entered to find Tom O'Connor and his wife waiting to greet us. "Commander, I'm Tom O Connor. This is my wife Desirée. We are pleased to have you aboard. As you can see, we are unarmed, so for now. You won't need your armor or weapons." Desirée appeared to be about four months pregnant. "I can see that, where's the rest of your crew?" "You're looking at it. 'Luck of the Irish' is almost fully automated. We can run almost everything from the bridge with just the two of us, except while in combat. Then, Desirée mans the engineering station, in the engine room. I don't really know why, since you can operate all the controls there from the bridge. But as you know, regulations state that on a vessel of this size, while maneuvering or in combat, must have engineering manned. "I'm kind of curious... since there's just the two of you, how did you plan to board and take the vessel?" "I'd better let Desirée tell you, since it is her idea and her invention." "I developed a form of limpet mine that, when it is attached, bores through a bulkhead and injects Gilly gas into the area." (Gilly gas was developed for crowd control, and rioting. On contact, it causes humans to become violently sick to the stomach, promptly ejecting the contents therein.) "But why not use a knockout gas, instead." "If I used knockout gas, prisoners would drop right where they were. If they happen to be using machinery, or controlling something, this could cause the prisoners to be injured, or even killed. It could also cause a major accident. With Gilly gas, the prisoners become violently ill. They normally turn away from what they are doing, and look for somewhere to throw up." Edited By TeNderLoin &The Old Fart McLain's Misfits Ch. 04 Just then I remembered Wiz sitting anxiously over on the Loony. "Mrs. O'Connor, my ship's engineer is very anxious to talk to you, and to examine your ship... if it's okay with you? He feels that some of the innovations you have developed could be of great importance, and would like to speak with you as soon as is convenient." "Of course, have him come over, and I will be glad to show him our ship. I am very proud of the way it turned out." Later, after Wiz had rejoined us, Mike elbowed me and spoke through a laugh. "Look at Wiz! He looks like a kid in a candy store, not knowing where to start first." "He does look eager. If we gave him a chance, I think he would probably try to dismantle the ship just to learn all its secrets." "Either that or try to kidnap Mrs. O'Connor for himself. I've never seen him so fascinated with another person." At that, Tom spoke up and said, "Wait a minute, there! Desirée is my wife. Is she going to be safe with this Wiz character?" "Relax, Tom, she's perfectly safe. It's more just a case of admiration than anything else you see Wiz is one of those technology geniuses, and this is the first time he's ever met someone who's just as big a techie as he is." "As long as she is safe with him. Okay, while Desirée is showing Wiz the ship, where do we go from here? I need to know when I can interrogate the prisoners. They have information pertaining to the whereabouts of Ambassador Timmons' daughter. I need this information badly, since there is a twenty-five million Galactic credit bounty on her safe return. And I'm sure that there are also bounties outstanding on the pirates." "That's the problem. It seems we are both on the same mission, here. Our orders are also to effect a safe return of the ambassador's daughter. We will see to it that you get the bounty on the pirates. Furthermore, if you could think of a way to recover their ship you can also claim salvage rights on it. That should bring you much more than the twenty-five million credits." "Commander, you're not really offering anything more than what we had before you showed up. Their ship was already disabled, and we were perfectly able to secure it on our own. As far as recovering the ship that would've been no problem it either since the ship is equipped with all the equipment necessary to tow another ship, as it was salvaged from a space tug." Just as I was getting ready to reply Sheila commed, "Commander, we've just received orders from headquarters to escort the 'Luck of the Irish' to the nearest Imperial planet. And to await the arrival of representatives of headquarters and the Imperial Department of the Defense and Shipbuilding." "Sheila, where is the nearest Imperial planet?" "The nearest planet is Cyrus Three, which just happens to be the home planet of the O'Connor's." "That's just fine and dandy. Do they expect us to sit on our ass for weeks, waiting for some representative to get there? What about our main orders for the ambassador's daughter's rescue?" Then Tom spoke up, saying, "Just wait a damn minute! I'm a civilian, now. I don't have to take orders! I'm on track to collect a large bounty, and I'm not just gonna sit on my ass and let someone else collect it first." Sheila spoke up and said, "The representatives will be at Cyrus Three within two days. They are arriving on a 'fast courier', very much to their own discomfort. Headquarters said it was very important that they speak with you O'Connors, and examine your ship." "How the hell do they even know about us, or our ship?" "Sergeant Willard transmitted his basic findings to them while still on the Loony." "I still don't see what this has to do with us?" Sheila then said, "Anytime there's a new concept that can make our ships better, the standing orders are to report as soon as possible. That is what Sergeant Willard did when he reported the way that your ship could cloak itself from our sensors." "So we are supposed to sit on our asses, just because they are interested our systems?" I could see the O'Connor's were very upset about this turn of events, so I said, "This is very important to the Empire. They will make sure that you are amply rewarded, and are not losing anything." "Not losing anything? What about the ambassador's daughter? She's still being held hostage, and I still need to rescue her!" "Our primary orders are still the rescue of her. However, we've also received orders to hold you at Cyrus Three, until the representatives have arrived. As much as neither of us likes it, orders are orders. I think after reading your service record, you should realize this." "I know all about that. That's why I'm no longer in the Galactic Marines. Regardless of that, the Empire has no right to detain us or our ship." "I may agree with you. However, I still must follow orders. We can take up some of the time interrogating prisoners, after which you can turn them in for the bounties on them. Also, by the time you can tow their ship to Cyrus Three, the representatives should be there." As we approached Cyrus Three, we noticed a fast courier ship already in the local spaceport docks. Doc and Cyndi landed the pirate vessel next to the planetary authority's office after informing them that it was a seized pirate vessel, now owned by Tom and Desirée O'Connor. Tom was negotiating with the planetary authority on ownership of the vessel. The peacekeepers stated that they needed to thoroughly inspect the vessel, before they could release it. When I said, "That won't be necessary. The vessel was seized during an act of piracy in open space. It is not subject to your planet's rules, regulations, or laws." After identifying myself, and showing my ID with the Imperial Guard, they seemed satisfied. The representatives arrived. After greeting them and introducing them to Tom and Desirée O'Connor, they seem to get quite anxious to inspect the 'Luck of the Irish' and hear about all of her improvements. After a quick tour, we all gathered around. The representatives were truly amazed by all the improvements. Desirée said, "I don't see what the big deal is? Most of the things I've done are just common sense!" "Common sense? All the improvements to your ship are just amazing! How did you manage to achieve stealth characteristics by use of the ship's shields?" "I thought that because most ship's sensors read either a positive or negative signature of a ship's shield, that that would cause our shields to form two shields one inside the other. They start as one positive and one negative then alternate back and forth just trying to create a stronger shield. However, while it was doing this, I discovered that they create a field between them. It dampens most scanner effects, including ours, and has tended to render us invisible. The best solution I could find was to calibrate our sensors to read as the fields were cycling. This wasn't the greatest cure, although it did work somewhat better." "It's truly amazing along with the way you automated most of the systems on the ship. We never thought that anyone could operate in interceptor with just two people, especially with all your upgraded systems. Your engines would make this truly the fastest and best armed ship in this sector, except maybe for this Sling-ship. We are prepared to make you an offer for your ship." "I'm sorry but the 'Luck of the Irish' is not for sale. It is not just our ship, it's our home." "We can make you a fantastic offer. Just the upgrades and inventions alone, could help save a lot of lives." Tom spoke up, saying, "I'm sorry but our ship is not for sale, and I don't think you can seize it, since nothing in it is illegal. All the upgrades and inventions used in it are Desirée's own ideas." The representative of the Bureau of ships then said, "All of the designs and ideas are just amazing. Is there any way we can talk you into working for us?" "I'm sorry, but Tom and I are a team. We only work together, and the 'Luck of the Irish' is more than just a ship. It is our home and business. However, I do still have all my drawings and ideas, although I haven't had time to patent them all, yet." "Don't worry about that. We are prepared to buy almost all of your ideas at a very high price! We are also prepared to offer you a contract giving us first option on any new ideas, at similar, or better, prices." "I'm not sure how well that would work out. Most ideas I have, I think up for our own use." "You would still be able to use them for your own use. Just think of your use of them as a final test. Besides making a huge amount of credits for your ideas, we will also help supply you with anything you need... within reason." Desirée thought for a minute and said, "In that case... Sergeant Willard showed me the fembot's he modified to be used by the ship's AI as maintenance and support robots. I thought of a couple of ways that they may be used in combat, to help lessen the risk to human life." This seemed to really get their attention, and a representative of the Department of Weapons said, "How can you use a robot for combat, since their basic programming would fry their brains if they were to cause harm to an intelligent being?" "It's really quite simple. You don't arm them with lethal force. They are quite able to use something that would just stun or incapacitate the enemy. By being overseen by a ship's AI, they have a much broader range of computer power over their basic programming, therefore making them much more versatile." "That's so simple! Why hasn't anybody ever thought about that before?" "That's easy! Before Sergeant Willard showed me the way he upgraded some of the newest fembots, to have much larger programming capacity and to be able to interface with the ships AIs, nobody ever thought of it as feasible." "I can see that the Imperial Department of Defense and you are going to have a long and profitable relationship." "Just remember my first priorities are to my husband and family! All of this is just secondary." After all that, Commander McLain, Tom, and the Representative from the Imperial Guard Headquarters got together for a planning session on rescuing the ambassador's daughter. The headquarters representative started out by saying, "Mister O'Connor we have been observing you since your discharge on the possibility of recruiting you to the Imperial Guard. However, after seeing the way you have operated since you became a bounty hunter, it was recommended by Imperial Order that you not be recruited into the Guard. Rather you are to be recruited as one of the Emperor's Peacekeepers. You will remain undercover as a bounty hunter, as much as possible. You will, however, have the authority of a full Commander in the Imperial Guard. We are doing this because of the way you operate. You try to maintain the peace without undue bloodshed, and we appreciate that." "I was unaware that the Empire had peacekeepers of its own. I thought all peacekeepers were planetary?" "Most peacekeepers are planetary based. Imperial Peacekeepers are more the guardians of the Empire. They keep an eye on the many different planetary governments and organizations, always looking for corruption." "So I'll just be mostly keeping an eye open? And what if I see something? I'm just one man. I don't think I can take on a planetary government all on my own." "No, we want you to stay undercover as much as possible, unless you can see it's just a small case that you can handle on your own. If not, then you identify yourself to a higher authority, and let them handle it. If it is too big for you to handle by yourself, and you can't trust the planetary government, then you contact the Imperial Guard command. They will send troops to handle it." "And in the meantime, I stay a Licensed Bounty Hunter?" "Yes, that's about it. You will still be eligible to collect any and all bounties, plus you have the support of the Imperial Guard and the Galactic Marines. That includes supplying intelligence, support for you and your ship, and backup when needed." We found out where the ambassador's daughter was being held from the captured pirates. She was on Wolf Three. We're just getting started on planning the upcoming mission, when Tom O'Connor walked into the room. Tom said, "Good it looks like I'm just in time for the plan on how we're going to take the ambassador's daughter back." "We are going in on this mission. We are grateful for all your help but this is a job for the Imperial Guard that's why we were assigned this case in the first place." Tom said, "I don't care if you were assigned to the case! Desirée and I have a vested interest in this, too! I plan on carrying out the rescue, and collecting the twenty-five million credits, plus all the other bounties on the other pirates. I know that you're used to working alone. However, as soon as you land close enough to do any good, they will spot you as military. They will either harm, or kill the ambassador's daughter, or they will move her. With me using the 'Luck of the Irish', which is registered as a private yacht, I can land my ship right at the spaceport. That will give me a convenient base of operations." "If it's just a matter of your ship, we could commandeer it for use on this mission, or use a different ship." "What a short memory you have. Don't you remember that just a couple of hours ago, I was appointed to the Imperial Peacekeepers? In other words, this gives me the same authority to rescue the ambassador's daughter as you have!" "I guess you have the authority. It's just that we are all used to working together and we don't like having to babysit a newcomer who puts this mission in jeopardy." "Don't worry about me. I had enough experience while I was in the Galactic Marines. Just worry about your own newcomer, Lieutenant Jackson." Edited By TeNderLoin McLain's Misfits Ch. 05 Three days later we landed on Wolf Three, posing as bounty hunters. It caused quite a stir in the local population as we marched our captured pirates to the local Peacekeeper's station. After that, as we were sitting in a local café scanning the crowd and the new wanted posters we had downloaded, we noticed all the hostile looks we were receiving from the local population. It seemed as though piracy may just be a normal form of business, around here. That would explain how one of the local big shots would come to be holding the ambassador's daughter. We were just sitting there, finishing our coffee, when three large men came into the café. After scanning the customers, they opened up on us. Luckily, Cyndi was paying attention and flipped the table on the side in front of us just before they opened up with us diving behind it. It wasn't ten seconds later when all three of the large men were down. As we were marching our prisoners back to the Peacekeeper's station, Mike said, "It looks like someone is not happy with us being here." "It is starting to look that way, isn't it? At least it looks like Tom is going to make some money off this deal, and we'll get the info we need. What's really surprising is that the gang holding the ambassador's daughter is not led by a man, but instead by a woman named Esther Howard. She's the widow of Matt Howard, who was a local crime lord, until two years ago. He was killed by a rival gang. She operates off her large estate, which is well guarded and fortified." Mike then asked, "Okay, we know where the girl's being held. How do we go in and get her?" "Let's take this easy. We should go scout the estate, after dark, then return to the 'Luck of the Irish' to make our plans on the rescue." "Okay, people, here's the plan. From our earlier scouting of Ms. Howard's estate, we know that the eight foot high wall surrounding the estate it is wired for both motion sensors and closed-circuit video surveillance. There are six roving guards on the exterior grounds, and two guard posts on each end of the main building. We don't know how many are inside. I figure there is a surveillance monitoring room somewhere inside the main building. They usually set it up close to the main entrance. It probably will be manned by between one and three guards." "Wiz, I need you to tap their surveillance system, and put it into a continuous ten minute loop. That should make their surveillance system useless." "Mike, I need you and Cyndi set up a sniper post with the long range needle rifles to take out targets of opportunity, and to cover our asses. Just remember to try and keep it non-lethal, in case the ambassador's daughter is not there. If that is the case, we will need some prisoners." "Jackson, you and Tom are with me infiltrating the estate while the others cover us. We are going to tranquilize everyone in hopes of gaining access to the main house before they can set off any alarms." Tom spoke up and said, "Commander if I may make a suggestion? We have six more of the Gilly gas limpet mines in the number one cargo hold ready to go plus a case of Gilly gas grenades. It would make the house much easier to take if everyone inside was sick." "I forgot all about those mines your wife developed. It's a good idea and should make taking the house much easier. Although I don't think the ambassadors daughter is going to be too happy about it since it will make sure just as sick as the others." "I think if she has a choice between remaining a prisoner, or being a little sick; she'll choose sick, any day." We were just getting ready to kick off the rescue mission when my communicator chimed, and Mike said through my ear-bud, "Commander I have a vehicle approaching the house from the southwest." Watching to the southwest I saw a vehicle pull to the front of the house. Two important looking man exited the back of the limousine, along with two Peacekeepers from the front. Seeing this new development, we held off entering the grounds, and were watching through IR scanners. While watching the heat signatures of the men as they entered the home, we saw what was obviously a prisoner being brought to these men in the front room. Thinking that this might be the ambassador's daughter, we decided to hold off on our assault of the grounds. We would take the car, as soon as it left the estate, as quietly as possible." We're trying to think of how to disable the limousine as quietly as possible, since in all probability, the limousine would be armored. Then Tom spoke up while showing us a small box. "This is another of Desirée's inventions. It throws a directional electromagnetic pulse which should kill any electronics within fifty meters. That should cause the limo to simply shut down, for no apparent reason." "Jesus, Tom, your wife is a gold mine with all of these inventions! She's going to have all the Techs in weapons and shipbuilding drooling to get their hands on her inventions and ideas. They'll offer her anything she wants, to get her to come work for them." "That ain't going to happen! Desirée has her own ideas on how she is going to spend her time! That's with me and the raising of our family. I'm sure she won't mind sharing her ideas with the Empire, though. However, I don't think she would willingly leave me just to work for them." "I hope you're right. They can be very persuasive, and they think everyone has a price." "I doubt it will get very far trying to persuade Desirée. She pretty much has what she wants. Plus, she can be very bullheaded. Whose idea do you think it was for her joining me in bounty hunting?" From the distance we saw the men exit the house. The peacekeepers followed, dragging a young girl between them as they got into the back of the limo. After the limo had left the estate grounds, Tom activated the electromagnetic pulse, frying the limo's electrical systems. As the driver and both peacekeepers exited the limousine to try to determine what was wrong, we quickly darted each of them and captured the limousine. Upon opening the rear of the limousine one of the gentlemen said, "Do you have any idea who I am?" "Yes, Sir. You are the man who is under arrest for piracy and the kidnapping of Ambassador Timmons' daughter." "You're making a big mistake! Here, I am the head of the planetary peacekeepers, and my associate is the liaison to the Lieutenant Governor's office." "I think the mistake is yours. You are both under arrest for piracy, and kidnapping for ransom. I am Commander McLain of the Imperial Guard, and my associate is Imperial Peacekeeper Tom O'Connor. We are in touch with our ship, and have already sent for a company of Galactic Marines to maintain order on this planet. We will conduct a full investigation on what is going on with the sanctioned piracy here." After the prisoners were locked in their cells, on the 'Luck of the Irish', it was decided to go ahead and capture Ms. Howard and the rest of her people on the estate. This went off without a flaw. The exterior guards were quickly neutralized with the tranquilizer darts. The Gilly gas made everyone in the house too sick to put up any resistance, so everything went off smoothly. Within seventy-two hours, we had a full company of Galactic Marines holding the planet under martial law, until it was determined how deep the corruption was in the planetary government. Things were pretty well wrapped up when I held out my hand for Tom Connor to shake. I said, "It's a nice working with you, Tom. I hope you came out okay on the bounties. I know you're going to get a lot of attention from the weapons and shipbuilding departments. I hope you come out ahead on that, too." Shaking my hand Tom, said with a laugh, "Well I think we did okay. All told, the bounties ended up to just under one hundred million Galactic credits. However, the big thing is, while I didn't know it at the time, Desirée had patented all of her inventions! It looks like if the Imperial Government wants to use them, it is going to cost them dearly, since at the time of development not one of us worked for the government. Desirée, although she doesn't mind helping the government, refuses to work for it. So if they want to use her designs, they will have to hire her as a private contractor, and not as a government employee." "Damn, that's going to really cost them!" I said, laughing, "I thought they'd just try to hire her. That way they can get her ideas at a minimum cost to the government." "Nope! I think they're going to discover that my Desirée is no dummy! She knows exactly what she wants, and she goes after it!" "So what kind of plans do the two of you have for your newfound wealth?" I asked, as Desirée approached us. Desirée said, "We are going to build a new home. We'll have a large workshop for me built on the land next to where the family salvage yard once was. My brother has started a new business, there, converting military scout ships to yachts. This will give us a home for our family, when we are not living on the 'Luck at the Irish'. "The government representatives have pretty much given me carte blanche to develop any ideas I have. Although they reserve the right of first choice on any new developments, they are offering full support. The first thing I will be working on, is Wiz's idea of interfacing fembots and/or androids with a ship's AI. They are actually to be used as additional crew. The research representatives are shipping me ten of the new fembots, along with extra memory, processing modules, and AI interfaces. I'm going to see about using them for non-lethal combat situations, along with doing a lot of the ship's 'grunt' jobs, instead of automations. I'll be using our ship as a testing vessel. It should also make Tom's job as a bounty hunter and a peacekeeper much safer." "Like I was saying, Tom, it's been great meeting the two of you. I hope we can work together again, soon." The End Edited By TeNderLoin & The Old Fart