Setting Up The Defenses At The Alamo

Posted on Sat Dec 20th, 2014 @ 2:11pm by Major David Lorenz

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: COMMAND CENTER, SITE 6

The Site 6 planetoid was classified as a Class-P world, which meant it was colder than a well-digger's behind Dave Lorenz thought grimly as he road in the SnoCat tracked-vehicle. Anti-grav vehicles were finicky in cold weather, and Dave preferred the sure-footed SoCats in snowstorms. The yoke-and-hand-throttle controls made controlling the SnoCat easy. David grinned as the tracked vehicle leaped over a snowbank and landed softly.

The reason David Lorenz was out in the -50 degree weather was concern over the cadaver and the signal it had emitted, and the possible threats created by the same. Somebody somewhere was bound to get the message and David's Marine instincts had kicked into high gear. There were no defenses in place, save for a magnetic shield that kept pirates from besming anything in and out of Site 6 and the runabout that had brought both Lorenz and Quentin Harrison to the Site.

=/\=Harrison to Lorenz, how soon til ye're done, laddie?=/\= the voice of Quentin Harrison crashed into his headset.

"You know me, Q, I have to make sure this ice cube is safe!" Dave replied as he bulldozed his way through a snowbank.

=/\=I was just callin to let ye know that long-range scanners have picked up five unidentified craft moving towards this location at high warp.=/\=

The concern in Quentin's voice was enough to make Lorenz slow the SnoCat. "Acknowledged. See if we have any prior service personnel and then secure the topside. I'm on my way back. ETA is twenty-five minutes!"

=/\= Aye, lad. Q out! =/\=


SITE 6 SURFACE OPERATIONS CENTER

"Tell me something good!" Dave breezed into the ops center, stripping off his parka and gloves.

"Okay, first is good news," Quentin smiled. "We have plenty of thermite charges and drilling lasers. We also have a chief who can modify the lasers into particle beam cannons, but we won't get much use out of them once the coolant is gone. The bad news is we don't have anything in the way of shielding and this structure's integrity field will crack if there is any conflict."

"You're full of cheerful thoughts!" Lorenz grinned. "What's the ETA on a 900 response?"

"The runabout Rhine was dispatched with the boss, Captain Hawke, and Jackson Banning aboard, along with a couple others." the ops manager replied from his station. "ETA is five-point-three-seven-hours."

Lorenz came to a decision. "It's crunch time, folks. let's get this place ready for enemy engagement. I'm not looking for a fight but I'd hate to need defenses and not have 'em."

"Aye!" Quentin agreed.

_______________________

David K. Lorenz
EVPO, HMC
Nervous Nelly