BAXTER
03 October 3068Gienah Combat Vehicles Spaceport A
Gienah, Lyran Alliance
Miriam Baxter looked down the barrel of the gun pointed in her face, the sweat dripping ice cold down her back.
“For the last time, you will order your crew to fire on those damn Monkeys now!” Sorry Sam growled as she nudged the pistol closer to Miriam’s face. Miriam’s face was stone, as she stubbornly stared back at Sorry Sam. Inwardly, she was asking herself how it had come to this.
Sorry Sam was a member of the Shady Ladies mercenary group, one of the many small mercenary companies that had been hired to take out the Gienah Combat Vehicles on Gienah. The Flaming Devil Monkeys mercenary company who they were now skirmishing with were also one of those companies. Ostensibly, the two merc units should be on the same side. But since they had put down the resistance on Gienah the mercs had been squabbling over salvage rights instead of wrapping up operations and boosting out of system. Now word had gotten around that reinforcements had appeared at the zenith jump point and were burning in hard to make landfall. Problem was that there weren’t enough dropship transports left to get all the mercs off Gienah in one wave. Now the mercs were squabbling over who would get off planet.
Baxter and her crew manned one of those dropships. Seeing the writing on the wall, she had been tempted to boost out with an empty cage, but it wasn’t in her nature to abandon a contract no matter how distasteful. Baxter’s transport had carried the Flaming Devil Monkeys down to Gienah, but it was the Shady Ladies who arrived first. Rather than ask nicely, they had simply stormed the gangplanks and taken her crew captive. The Monkeys hadn’t been far behind and they were now approaching Baxter’s Union-class dropship, while the Shady Ladies maintained the perimeter.
Baxter knew that the pragmatic solution would be to follow Sorry Sam’s instructions, keep the Monkeys at bay, and then lift off when ready. She would still get paid regardless of which mercs were riding in her cage. But she really, really didn’t like bullies. She was also concerned that the Monkeys might damage her ship if they got desperate enough.
Through gritted teeth, she responded to Sorry Sam, enunciating each syllable slowly. “My ship and crew will not get involved in this dispute. You will have to deal with the Monkeys yourself. We are already busy enough fast-tracking up our launch procedures.”
Miriam glanced over at her pilot Pikyin Kim, hoping that the pilot caught her raised eyebrow and, more importantly, the meaning behind them: slow down.
As Sorry Sam tightened the grip on her pistol, a voice came through her comm. “Goddammit, Sorry Sam! We need that supporting fire! We are getting torn up out here!”
Sorry Sam gave Baxter a look and then moved her pistol to point at a another crew member, Ian Wilkins. Baxter stopped breathing for a second. Sorry Sam squeezed the trigger and the cabin briefly reverberated with the sound of the weapon discharge. Wilkins fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder and grimacing in pain. Blood spurted out from the wound and dribbled onto the ground.
Instantly, Baxter was at his side, helping to stem the flow of blood. Wilkins looked pale. Then she felt the gun at the base of her skull.
“The next time, I will aim for the head. Bring your weapons online now.” Sorry Sam intoned.
Baxter didn’t think. She just reacted on pure animal instinct and rage. Spinning around, she swung her legs out and sweeped Sorry Sam’s legs out from beneath her. Sorry Sam hadn’t been expecting the move and was sprawled onto the floor. Baxter started to climb onto her to bash her skull in with her hands. However, Sorry Sam’s military background clicked into gear and she reflexively brought her knee up into Baxter’s stomach, knocking the wind out of her hard. She then pushed Baxter off and reached for her pistol.
Sorry Sam swiveled the pistol toward Baxter, but she never made it all of the way. She was suddenly surrounded by several crew members who gang tackled her and wrestled her to the ground. Her pistol again fell to the floor.
As her crew beat Sorry Sam senseless, Baxter recovered her breath. She slowly got up and picked up the pistol and called off her crew. Sorry Sam lay on the ground, her face a mess of bruises and blood. Defiance shown in her eyes.
“When my sisters return you will pay for this, Captain. Your only hope is to –”
Baxter never found out what her hope was. She squeezed the trigger. The bullet entered through Sorry Sam’s forehead and exited out the back along with most of her brain. She slumped to the ground, a pool of blood rapidly spreading around her body. Baxter’s crewmembers stepped back, partly to avoid the blood and partially in response to the rapid escalation of the conflict.
Baxter knew exactly what she needed to do. She called up her comm. “Lt. Schuch seal off all bulkheads and get yourself and your crew somewhere safe. Consider all Shady Lady personnel hostile.”
She then turned to her display. “Someone get me a visual on the battle.”
There was some shuffling and then the screen lit up, showing the scene outside the dropship. Several mechs lay destroyed on the ground, most of them belonging to the Shady Ladies. Smoke filled the air. A cluster of Shady Lady mechs were slowly backing toward the dropship as the Monkey mechs advanced.
She turned to her chief gunner. “Mr. Ortega, please identify and target the Shady Lady commander.”
Ortega’s eyes narrowed and a smirk lit his lips. “Aye, aye captain. Target acquired.”
“Fire when ready.”
The Monkeys CO and XO arrived on the bridge shortly after they had patched up Wilkins and sent him off to the medbay. Commander Bane and Captain Mbeki looked curiously at the twin pools of blood on the floor, but made no inquiries.
It was Captain Mbeki who spoke first. “It seems like you had a hard time of it here. We surely do appreciate your assistance with the Shady Ladies.”
“Nothing we couldn’t handle, gentleman. A good reminder to always say please.”
Commander Bane laughed at that one. His laughter was deep and strangely comforting. “I like your style, Captain Baxter. I am wondering whether you might be interested in a business proposal. The Monkeys are looking for a long-term transport solution and we can offer added security to avoid problems like this.” He gestured toward the floor.
Baxter paused to consider what she had heard. “Interesting. I would like to hear more about the proposal. Once we are on our way out of system, why don’t you stop by my office fo a whiskey and a chat?”