6. Inauspicious Beginnings HMS Galactica, Low Planetary Orbit, Gunne's World, League Pact, Royalist Alliance, 05 September, 3081 "Commander on the deck!" The bridge staff of the HMS Galactica snapped to attention as Captain Wilson Adamov stepped into the spacious command centre, his mag-boots purring softly. "At ease, gentlemen". He said, addressing both men and women. "What's our ETA at the rendezvous?" His second in command, Commander Able Rockford, addressed Adamov and gestured to his command couch. "The pickup will commence in five minutes. The Volunteers picked up our new mercenary friends in orbit of the Craddock Station". "What's the dropship complement for this trip?" "One Mammoth class, one Overlord and one Union". "Hmm..." Adamov rubber rubbed his temples. "The Overlord and Union, sure, but I do believe that the Mammoth is over our max collar stress?" "Chief Engineer seems to think we can handle it. Did you read the briefing, sir?" "Aye, commander, I did". Adamov wheezed and regained his feet. "Marshal Crawley stated that speed was of the essence". He started pacing the bridge, randomly scanning monitors over the shoulders of the bridge crew. "Even so, I do not want to endanger this ship. How long would it take for the Volunteers to transfer to a couple of smaller dropships?" "Approximately 2 hours, sir". "Captain Adamov, sir". The communications officer flagged the Captain down, a piece of paper in her hand. "Yes, ensign?" "Hyperspace communiqué from the Degu system, just decoded. Its the Brigade, sir. You should read this". "Let's see". Adamov took the printout and read it. As he scanned the document his brow furrowed. "Enemy moving faster than expected. Reinforcements needed immediately. Best possible speed. He screwed up the piece of paper and closed his eyes. "Dammit. I am too old and too tired to deal with this bullshit. Okay, Commander, tell our new best friends to begin docking procedures". Commander Rockford smiled faintly. "Aye, sir". On the bridge of the Overlord C dropship Prairie Hunter, the comms tech glanced up at the pilot as the message came from the Royalist Alliance vessel HMS Galactica. "Captain, the Galactica has cleared us for docking". The woman in the command chair gave a faint smile at the traditional term for a ship's commander, "Thank you Ensign". Looking over at the man seated at the pilot's console she said, "Commander Welland, our hosts have invited us aboard". Welland, his eyes fixed on the viewscreen replied, "Aff, Captain. We are on final approach. Estimated time to docking, three minutes". With nothing left to do but wait, Captain Hanna settled back to admire the Alliance warship, as it loomed ever larger on the main viewscreen. The Galactica was quite breathtaking - nothing like any Clan or Lyran warship she'd seen. Though she wouldn't openly admit it, these Royalist freeborns certainly had a flair for naval design. Back in the ship's mess room, Colonel Nuyriev had called a meeting of the Cavaliers' command staff. Only the Command Star and Alpha Trinary were travelling to Degu IX with the Cottingham Irregulars, though the mechs of the Colonel's personal unit had been loaded onto the enormous Behemoth transport, since the Prairie Hunter could carry a maximum of forty-five battlemechs. This was just one more thing to rile Alexei. "Well this is just fantastic!" he fumed. "Barely have we touched down and our new...employers...expect us to jump headlong into battle against an enemy we know nothing about. We have not seen battle in over a month...Kerensky only knows how our combat performance has suffered as a result. And if that were not bad enough, we have not even had time to train with these Irregulars and have no idea how they perform on the battlefield or how they will react to a given situation. For all we know these freeborns could turn tail and flee if the battle goes against them!" His rant over, he sat back down heavily in his chair and took a large swig of iced water. "Well, we are in this situation now on the orders of Galaxy Commander Drewsivitch and must make the best of it. I want ideas on how we can best work with these Royalists and an assessment of their competence and reliability". The others had remained silent during this outburst. Everyone knew he was still seething at this unexpected reassignment. He was too professional to allow his feelings to show in front of their hosts and nobody was about to question his right to vent his anger in front of them. Risa was the first to speak up, "Star Colonel, we have no reason to doubt the integrity of Colonel Jenkinson or his men. I feel we should not judge them until they have proven themselves, one way or the other. It is true we are going into this situation blindfolded. I would suggest that since we are here simply to provide support for the Irregulars that we should adopt a defensive stance when we land on Degu, until we see how Colonel Jenkinson intends to fight this battle. In the absence of any solid evidence, my instincts tell me these Royalists can be trusted". Star Colonel Nuyriev glanced up at Risa with raised eyebrows. She returned his gaze steadily, her eyes locked with his. Finally he nodded and looked away, reaching for his water. Over the years he had learned to trust his second-in-command's un-Clanlike intuition. Just then one of the junior officers raised a hand, "If I may Star Colonel?" It was Star Commander Bret. "When we landed, I took the opportunity to allow some of my mechwarriors and techs to mix with those of the Irregulars. Everything they have reported back to me seems very favourable. The Royalist unit appears to be well organised and its personnel have formed close ties with each other. They also have nothing but praise for Colonel Jenkinson...it seems he is well respected by his men". Nuyriev gave a snort of dark amusement. "A popular commander is not necessarily a good commander. Still, if what your men have reported is true then perhaps we are not in as big a fix as I had first thought". He allowed himself a small smile, which was shared by the others. Just then the ship shuddered and a loud clang vibrated through the dropship's hull. "It appears we've docked with the Galactica", observed Star Captain Steele. Nuyriev glared at him and Clearwater shot him a warning glance. "Just because we have lived among freeborns for so long that does not give you licence to adopt their slovenly ways Star Captain", he growled. He got up and made his way to the bridge to watch the hyperspace jump and Risa got up to follow him. As she went past Marcus she bent down to and spoke in a low tone, "Do not test the Star Colonel's temper, in his current mood he is likely to challenge you to a Trial of Grievance". With that she was gone. Steele screwed his eyes shut and grimaced, thoroughly chastened. The others got up and made their way out. Marcus caught their looks of sympathy. Alanna actually smiled at him - a rare event indeed. But then, she would find his dressing down amusing. The last to leave the mess, he arrived on the bridge just in time to hear Captain Hanna confirm to the Galactica that they were ready to jump. "Okay everyone, I hope you are sitting down or have something to hold onto. The Galactica is beginning its jump sequence as we speak". On the Galactica's bridge, Commander Rockford was listening anxiously over a tech's shoulder to a conversation with the Chief Engineer. "I'm afraid my calculations may have been a little off - number 3 docking collar is reading dangerously high stress levels - we may have to abort the jump". Able cut in over the tech's reply, "This is Commander Rockford, there is no way we are aborting this jump. Those men on Degu IX need our help - and fast". Just then he heard an unsettling groan over the com link - the sound of a large metal structure under too much strain. "Did you hear that sir", the Chief asked pointedly. "The docking structure may not survive a hyperspace jump". "Is there anything you can do?" There was a protracted pause. Able could almost hear the Chief's mind working in overdrive as he thought the problem over. "Aye sir, with some steel plating and some welding we can probably strengthen the collar and insert some bars into the docking arm structure to make it more rigid - it'll only be a temporary fix though. It can all be done inside the ship - won't need an EVA". "Do it - and make it quick. We're jumping in 10 minutes". "Aye sir". The Chief cut the com link and turned to his crew and gave an exasperated sigh. "Okay lads, we've work to do". As the people gathered on the Prairie Hunter's now tightly packed bridge stared at the viewscreen at the black velvet curtain of space, speckled with countless stars like so many tiny diamonds, a long, thin horizontal shaft of brilliant white light appeared before them, growing wider and wider, as though the fabric of space itself was tearing. It continued to grow lengthways until it was over a kilometre long, then it began to widen, growing vertically until a roughly rectangular window had opened up in front of them. They felt the ship begin to vibrate as they got closer, the awesome forces creating this hyperspace vortex making their presence felt. The vibration became stronger until the whole vessel resonated with a low-pitched hum...then suddenly the stars vanished and time seemed to slow, then stop. The next thing anyone knew, they were clutching their seats or whatever they had been holding on to, fighting bouts of dizziness or nausea - often referred to as jump-sickness. A few moments later, as everyone was recovering, a message came in. "This is the Galactica to all dropships, we have entered the Degu system. We will enter orbit around Degu IX in approximately one hour. Please begin preparations for departure and stand by for further instructions". Unsurprisingly, the crew of the Mammoth were the first to find out something was wrong. They heard a horrendous screeching noise - the sound of metal rending and buckling. The dropship lurched and fell, then stopped. "What the hell was that?" wondered the captain. "Ensign, hail the Galactica and ask them what the hell happened!" They heard the godawful racket on the Galactica too. One of the Chief Engineer's crew was monitoring the instruments for docking arm 3, "Sir - stress levels have just gone through the roof...its gonna go sir!" he yelled. The Chief wasted no time, "Everybody out! Evacuate the compartment!" His engineering team scrambled for the nearest exits and sealed the pressure doors just in time as the docking arm tore partway off the Galactica's hull, taking with it several square metres of hull plating and venting the compartment to space. In the relative safety of an adjoining compartment, one of his young techs stared at the Chief "What now boss?" The Chief just shook his head, "Theres nothing we can do now lad - just hope and pray they're okay". He activated a com link and punched in the code for the bridge, "Commander Rockford...no - we got everyone out...yes, I can confirm we have a hull breach on deck 14, Engineering 4-15...okay sir - we'll stand by". A shuttle was scrambled from one of the Galactica's numerous vehicle bays to inspect the damage. its pilot had the unenviable task of reporting the findings to Commander Rockford. "Commander, this is shuttle Golf One-Niner. Docking arm 3 has collapsed, taking out several hull plates. It is still partially attached by two structural members and appears to have stabilised for the moment. The Mammoth is still attached to the collar but the docking mechanism is twisted to hell...looks like she'll have to be cut free". On the Galactica's bridge Captain Adamov maintained an impassive expression while inwardly he cursed the gods, fate and anything else he could think of.