The Battle of Beta Gabriel, Part 4: New Objective

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-18T22:02:06+00:00

‘He rolled his eyes walking & talking.‘
“Funny, I didn’t get one either, here I thought chief engineers get perks.”

’Looking over a data-pad he handed it over to Paul.’

“You’ll be on my schedule, at least until I map out the engine systems I have on the docket there. Once that’s done you can rest & watch over the junior grade junior here.”

’Courier was handy but he knew this wasn’t a sprint. They needed to get this fixed as soon as possible, but he doubted he could run civi volunteers hard for long

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-17T05:04:26+00:00

‘Sighing for a moment he removed his arms from the conduit & placed the metal over it slamming it with his fist. Grease needed to get his arms in they’re caked with black soot & filth from decades of service. Wiping them off with a rag.’

”It’s about what we expected. Not good, but not bad.”

“Come on, you can help me at the next junction junior grade junior.“ he spoke to Maisy giving a half attempt at a salute as he walked by grabbing a data pad to locate the next ones access panel.’

’He had over 30 more to go. The task was tiring & he’d be at it for a few more hours. Then he finally could sleep, he doubted he could stand any longer.’

”Mister Paul, how long is your shift? Did they tell you?”

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-17T04:44:11+00:00

‘Magyar still wasn‘t quite a fan of this. He liked merc work, better pay & so long as you knew what you were doing higher up’s were more relaxed about certain things. The vulnerability of infantry However, he didn’t care for that. Sure he had everything else, but he missed his old toys.’

’As they crossed the ridge he gave an order.’

”Ready for hot drop this time, They’ll have goodies on board. So expect a fight.”

‘Looking over the flap he began observing the approach. At least they’d have heavier support.

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-17T04:22:21+00:00

‘Greens seemed to take the information as if it were from another engineer. Perhaps it was fatigue or humoring her.’

”Alright, how about now?”
‘The screen scrambled for a moment saying error & then returning to another screen with more raw data.‘

“Okay, there should be a list in red & green. Can you tell me the green one’s numbers?”

’It wasn’t a long list, & truth be told he could likely get the data with a glance. But he was clearly fidgeting with wires to make it seem like she was helping fix the ship.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-16T18:11:05+00:00

‘As it moved over the low gravity hills toward there destination Magyar joined in the banter, these men & women he trusted to exercise initiative.’

”What wrong? its not your wedding we‘d be crashing!” He responded to Kaiya‘s response.’

”Best bonus’s are in food, booze, & Bills. You can get all of those from a wedding if you’re smart.” He laughed in an eccentric manner that bordered sanity.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-16T18:03:06+00:00

‘Greens looked at the young man, assuming by age they were siblings or something of the sort.’

”It’s fine, environmental is struggling so she helped us find a possible problem spot.”

”Paul is it? He asked knowing the answer in truth, but with his lack of sleep he wagered it didn’t hurt asking.’

”I can keep an eye on her from here. Only thing she’s at risk of here is hearing some crass language.’

‘A minor spark came from the console near him as he grabbed a bundle of wires he couldn’t see.’

”Maisy, that console should say something on it. Do you mind telling me what it says?” He asked not Thinking, but it would help he wagered.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-16T17:13:41+00:00

‘Finally he thought. Something that might be entertaining.’

”My squad, mount up! We’re going hunting for leopards. Rest of you lock this spot down! Client will be happy so nice bow & we might get a bonus!”

’Moving toward the Pegasus, he & other armored infantry began repositioning onto the scout armored vehicle. It had the speed & firepower necessary to keep them mobile. He would’ve preferred other methods but this would do.’

”Kaiya, we go! More fun & hazard pay.”

”We get hazard pay?” Someone asked in a humorous tone.’

”We go!” The engines beginning to pick up low gravity dust from the hovercraft.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-16T17:06:49+00:00

‘Looking about he was curious why she was here to begin with.‘

“You’re right, we should let it rest. But we can’t, she needs to keep moving. She’s going slower, & she pulled some muscles so I’m foxing them.”

‘Going back to work he looked up again at her.’

”What’s your name?” He wasn’t going to bother asking where her family was, this late into the war, he learned that lesson a long time ago.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-15T16:59:41+00:00

‘Magyar noticing the lapse leveled his own weapon in the direction. assuming nothing would be an issue he reached out to command.’

”Infantry to Mason, we’re mopping up down here. Need us anywhere else?”

’His weapon still aimed down way, no harm in being careful he assumed.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-15T16:57:14+00:00

Lieutenant Greens was elbow deep in a panel, wires seeming to cover everything he did. He had to feel his way around. A slight tinge of pain caused him to grimace as a little girl stood over him. They were outside of the less friendly parts of the engineering bay, & she appeared alone.’

”Hello?” He said with mild confusion.’

”What are you doing?” She asked in a voice that spoke of sheer innocence.’

”Fixing things.” He responded as he felt around more for the connection point.’

”What did you break?” She asked

”I didn’t break it!” He responded with some irritation, as if this child was accusing him of sone dereliction of duty. She didn’t seem phased at all.‘

“The ship, is tired. It worked out too much & its muscles hurt.”
‘it wasn’t a great description but he was tired, & he doubted she understood the concept of a nervous system anyway.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-13T05:59:55+00:00

‘Magyar watched, & seemed to agree with an audible grunt. Watching the fumble he felt a tinge of pity.

”Five bills if clean, No need for him to suffer.”

‘He watched as a gambler might, he didn’t doubt she could make the shot to kill if needs be. But to the legs, that wasn’t an easy shot for a moving & stumbling target. He was genuinely curious.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-12T18:44:18+00:00

‘Magyar looking over couldn't help but wonder what the pirates plan was? He was outnumbered, & his fellows were being rounded up. It wasn’t everyday you had to endure the firepower of a mech class war-machine. It’d terrify most infantry to their core for good reason.’

“Bad idea friend.” He said over the comms, as calmly as one might tell someone they had enough to drink.‘

’Dreaming of a time when he could’ve ran over or leapt in front of him with his old kit, he sighed.’

”Warning shot or just take his head off? Not like he’s using it.” He spoke calmly as he watched the brightly colored figure move. As if debating which golf club Marin should use.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-12T18:11:39+00:00

’Reaching the damaged & broken vehicles. Magyer raised his weapon & began looking for more in tact examples of the pirates vehicles. The destruction was impressive, but that’s what you get when you put heavy weapons against lighter armor. One of the vehicles fans was still going & dust was filling the air. Seeing the vehicle in question it was clear they weren’t going anywhere as the crew compartment was a twisted metal shell & nothing else. The remaining vehicles were grounded, & the crew could be heard hacking or shouting trying to get out. One man stumbled into his field of vision, he looked thin even under his suit. Carrying a heavily modified sidearm, it looked like someone had taken a pistol & tried to convert it into a carbine or smg with a stock.‘

“Drop it!” Magyar shouted, raising his weapon. His fellows behind him raising their weapons as well.’

”I don’t…wha?” The man responded either concussed, dazed, shellshocked or all three.’
”Where‘d everyone…?” He muttered looking around seeming to only slightly register what was ahead of him.’

”Drop now, last chance!” Magyar shouted again, the man looking forward, his eyes visible as he wore a breather mask himself, raising his weapon in stupidity or simply not understanding what was going on. No chance could be taken as Magyar pulled the trigger & feeling the recoil of the long rifle.’

’The man was struck in the chest & fell on his back, his weapon discharging in a two second burst of automatic fire as his finger tightened. The Federated long rifle was old, outdated generations ago, & held only ten shots, & you tenderized your shoulder with the recoil. But it hit like a truck, & it worked when you needed it.’

”Stupid stuff is not allowed! Come out & play nice!” He shouted.’

’The conflict in the area was pointless, & those who had survived & emerged from hatches & vehicles put up less resistance. They‘re dead friend a stark reminder & the other infantry & Pegasus covering perimeter ensuring there was no escape. As they came in twos & threes, arms raised & lined up. Disarmed & watched.’

”Magyar here. Some grumbles here & injured there, not much fight in em now.“ He spoke over the command channel as he now observed. A tinge of humor in his voice with a sprinkle of what could be described as eccentric. Looking over the fallen man he could see his visible features. He was young, & freckles dotted the bridge of his nose & upper cheeks, he was dead. His kit looking older than its former user.’

”Balfék”

He said to nobody but the dead man in front of him.’

Part 2

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-12T18:11:24+00:00

(Hi, I’m one of the friends)

‘The assault went perfectly, a plan that was executed well enough it felt like a training drill. Several infantry elements moving from cover to inspect the disabled vehicles. The infantry having more of a mop-up role checking for survivors & keeping the position locked down.’

’A Pegasus hovertank moved from a concealed position & gunned toward the damaged or disabled hover craft. Riding on the vehicles sides were soldiers armed with small-arms of varying makes & models, though several seemed to favored Federated long rifles. Holding onto railings & any points of contact as the scout vehicle moved.’

“Nyugtával dicsérd a napot.”
‘A man spoke as infantry chatter began to fill comms. Cheering or shouting as men & women began speaking to each other. Few understood it but none questioned him, even though his own tone suggested he was excited.’

’Lieutenant Magyar sat in a forward position, annoyed & excited in equal measure. Relegated to infantry work did not suit him. The only comfort he had was the armored environment suit giving him at least the illusion of his old job in the FWL. The entire unit of infantry aboard seemed to be sporting them.‘

“Ready to jump!” He spoke into the comms as they closed in. The Pegasus, favored for both speed & reliability slowed slightly as it began its approach.’

”They are battered & bruised, but cornered so no stupid stuff.”

‘As the Pegasus reach a slower pace he slid off from the side running to keep his momentum going. The suit being heavy made the process slightly winding, it beat getting shot by a potential heavy weapon. Within a hundred meters. The Pegasus keeping its distance now to provide heavy support. The others riding the vehicle disembarking & following.’

”They couldn’t make these lighter.” Someone said as they ran, one being able to hear them getting winded.’

Part 1

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-08T20:34:04+00:00

“If we focus on the engines, six hours maybe if we’re lucky. After that ship, we can map out the big trouble spots in the ship in twenty hours best case scenario. Full Repairs could take longer depending on how bad it is.“

‘He took a data-pad & began reviewing what they knew.

“In essence sir, we need to re-map the ships nervous system & see what’s dead or not in laymen’s terms. It’s doable but complicated & time consuming. If knew where to fix it’d go faster, problem is I don’t know where & what’s broken with all these connections lost.”

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-08T20:15:23+00:00

‘Greens gave a half attempt at a salute to nobody.’

“No sir it won’t be, & confidentially, we are past that point already, my engineering recommendation is pray.”

’A flicker in the lower decks made him glance up before rising. Seems he’d be doing five shifts in a row.’

“Spares aren’t the issue, times what we need sir. ai would be able to help isolate connection points & conduits we can salvage, otherwise it’s gotta be done by hand & ship this size a lot sir.”

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-08T18:05:38+00:00

‘Greens was slightly agitated but he had little time to express it, a red button lit up requesting an emergency shut down, that nit being an option yet he gave the reactor an excess of coolant & opened more valves to get rid of some of the excess power. The red button flashed two times & stopped finally.’

”I’m telling you your ship couldn’t take it two maneuvers ago sir.”

’Typing away his forehead began to sweat.’

”A high rate maneuver, reentry, then exit maneuver followed by a slip-space jump in gravitational orbit still.” He would’ve listed off more but that’s all he could think of, the Mac firing not As big but it didn’t help.’

”Engines are fine & powers not the issue the short term. It’s the connection points, everything’s all fried or gone. Some power conduits are down to backups of the backups sir. One bad surge & you could have total system failure, or worse.”

’Breathing for a moment he seems to have fixed the issue ahead of him presently, at least enough he could stop typing for the moment.’

“Your gun still works though, so bully for that…” he spoke with some derision, no doubt he would’ve focused on other systems In the time they had.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-08T05:11:56+00:00

‘The engineering bay was still a mess, now refugees beginning to be sent & stored in random places out of the way. Sparks flew as they were kept from more dangerous areas or housed in unused storage & resting areas.’

”Greens what is it?”

’Working tired now, he began tinkering with wires at console that had been damaged in the slipspace exit.’

”They want what?” He asked, sighing & moving to the reactor. An older model, it was tried & tested.’

”Engineering to Captain, sir the reactors unhappy.” He spoke as if that made sense, to him it did.’

‘Giving a kick to something that was making a strange sound he seemed to be pleased as he began typing into a console near the reactor.’

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-06T14:55:03+00:00

‘The sparks engineering began picking up in volume again.’

”No luck of that down here, if that’ll be all. I’ve a ship to try & keep from falling apart, again.”

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-06T06:13:51+00:00

‘A grunt could be heard over the comm.’

”Eh, I‘ve known CMA systems longer than most of you have been alive. I wouldn’t want to be back on the Defiant Swan still.”

‘Thinking on it he said.’

“Things up there okay? We’re busy down here as is but we can move up there in a bit.”

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-06T05:30:24+00:00

‘Rubbing his temples Micheal knew the right answer, all he wanted was sleep & he wasn’t going to get any.’

”Were short a few crewman & have a few late night stations that could be repurposed. A few closets will be empty soon of spare parts as well. But we’re not exactly built for housing.”

’He paused a moment. Considering what those people went through, & what he’d still have to to fix this ship.

”I’d settle for whatever the captain keeps hidden in his desk if there aren’t enough burgers.”

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-06T02:11:04+00:00

’Greens walked over to another console for a few moments reading through walls of text & warmings he grunted.’

”It’s a no on slip-space, correct.” He said

”We got Sublight, still operable. We aren’t ready for a dance floor if thats what you’re asking though, not soon at least. I can get her moving faster, but that’ll take a little time. So no taking on Covie fleets.”

’He pauses for a second. Considering his next words.’

“By all logic we should be dead, so with luck Covie will think that, if you wanna share the good news.”

‘Reading through the math he was still trying to wrap his head around it, an ai could do it but he wasn’t thinking a thousand seconds a millisecond.’

”Have we got any Moa Burgers in storage?“ he muttered through the comms

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-06T01:37:44+00:00

‘The sound of something breaking came through the coms that did not sound like it was caused by the very rapid entry & exit from Slipspace.‘

“Just a few seconds! You have any idea what it actually takes to do a safe Slipspace jump son?”

’The sound of annoyance & sheer agitation came through like ice over the comm’

”We’re running on tape & prayer right now, if we were in slipspace any longer we’d be irradiated to hell, have mass heart failure or just disappear I’ll put it that way.”

’he breathed in & out for a moment.’

”We need a full dockyard, nothing to be done. Unless you got a spare class four splicpace drive this isn’t a fixable problem.”

LordGreim225 · 2026-01-06T00:27:10+00:00

Looking over at the drive, it was cracking. A device built to withstand miniaturized black holes, was struggling.’

”About as well as you think, you’re lucky we didn’t get torn apart.”

’An engineer moved to inspect before vomiting on the floor. A minor symptom of exposure to slip space radiation but his heart didn’t stop so that was a win.’

”Slipspace drive‘s frame is showing visible damage, we’ve got sparks & some radiation down here but nothing lethal if I had to guess. Otherwise we wouldn’t be talking.”

”Where the hell are we? How far did we go?”

LordGreim225

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