Space Odyssey: Spectre

Jace walked onto the bridge of the Lance. "Change of plans. Arm the artillery bays, utilize high velocity and armor piercing rounds."

"What are we doing?" Shilla asked as she looked back from her seat.

"We are going to destroy the militia fleet that has taken up residence in the Lesen System. Turn on our camouflage and scan jammers." Jace ordered as he moved to one of the spare consoles. "Was anything damaged?"

"Minor damage but nothing too bad. As for compromised information, Hielo is still looking into it on her end. But they were not able to transmit easily enough from our ship. They were not able to pass on any information during the moments we dropped out of warp rider which is when they transmitted." Shilla began explaining as she handed him a datapad that detailed their communication method. "It was a fault we did not even pick up on."

"The Xenar are involved. So it was more likely an exploit they figured they could exploit." Jace explained as he looked over the pad. The precise fault is exactly as he expected. It was only something that could be located with precision and was likely picked up during testing. The Xenar are going to be a headache if they are going to constantly be doing stuff like this.

"Fucking xenar... So we are making an example of those politicians?" Shilla asked as she gave out a few orders to the bridge crew.

"Publicly and brutally. We will not make allies but the point is to make an example and deter our enemies." Jace explained as he began operating the console. "The moment we destroy the militia fleet, a political council will likely be called. We will move to the Ancestral System and Yati where politics are occurring."

"Teleportation or warp rider?" Shilla asked.

"Teleportation to outside the Lesen System. Then camo and use the warp rider to get to the militia inside and strike. Destroy all ships, make them inoperable." Jace ordered. "You can leave survivors but no operating ships capable of warp."

"Leaving them stranded in kitinol space. That is cruel," Shilla remarked and he looked over at her. "But understandable considering what they were trying to do."

"New navigation path accepted. Firing teleportation portals." The navigation officer announced.

Jace toned them out as he made a few calculations using the system. He also began to personally check over the data to make sure nothing was missed. He could feel as they entered and then exited the teleportation portal.

But he was more focused as he did find some lingering damage the mercenaries did. It was not something that needed to be addressed immediately but they would need to stop off in the Underworld System for repairs. The transfer tubes in the reactor room were damaged from the explosives they planted that set off early on them.

"We are coming up on the militia fleet. Are you sure about this?" Shilla asked.

"More than sure." Jace answered as he looked up on the view screen. They were not in a line or grouped up. They were spread out. "Do maneuvers so you utilize one artillery bay and then the other." Jace suggested.

"Doing so would provide our people time to reload the artillery cannons." Shilla mumbled. "It would cut down the time we would need. Communications, standby to jam any and all signals attempting to leave the system."

Jace watched as the Lance moved alongside the first of the ships, which was a cruiser. There were five ships in total in the militia fleet. The largest and likely the command ship was a cruiser. Then there were two Valkyrie class ships. A schooner class ship that seemed to be refitted for transport of goods and a cutter class ship that was off fighting kitinol pods that were floating toward the larger fleet. Those cutter ones were good for ship-to-ship combat but were easily destroyed when hit.

"Portside artillery, fire." Shilla announced and there was a ripple through the ship as they passed by the cruiser. One moment it lingered in space. Then in the next the Lance appeared out of nothingness and the militia cruiser was torn into shreds with portions of the ship exploding as the Lance disappeared again.

Maneuvering to a position so it could hit one of the Valkyrie ships that were moving on an intercept path with the remains of the cruiser. "Starboard side artillery, fire." Shilla ordered and this time most of the rounds continued past the Valkyrie ship after it tore the ship into pieces. They once again appeared and then disappeared.

The Lance maneuvered again as they moved towards the schooner that was moving on a course that would allow them to warp out of the system. The cutter and other valkyrie were more concerned with finding them rather than escaping. "Portside artillery is reloaded ma’am!" One of the bridge officers announced.

"The schooner’s warp drive is powering up!" A different bridge officer announced.

"We are alongside them!" Another bridge officer announced.

"Fire!" Shilla ordered and this time while the ship was destroyed and the warp core detonated, the bulkier area which had been modified was not and instead drifted off into space.

"The schooner is down!" One of the bridge officers informed her.

"It looks like you have this handled. I am going to go and prepare a transport for when we get to the Yati." Jace declared as he walked off the bridge. He could feel the ship shudder again when they fired another bout of artillery.

He walked through the Lance of Thanatos until he arrived at the hangar. Standing outside was a guard with a bag of round objects inside. He was holding it away from him. Jace walked up and accepted the bag. "Dispose of the bodies after collecting anything of use from them. Eject them into space or have them burned in the reactor process."

"What about the bodies of the rest of the mercenaries?" The guard asked. "They are still in the morgue and crowding it up."

"Remove anything of use from them as well before disposing of the bodies." Jace ordered as he opened the hangar and stepped inside. Locking the door behind him. He looked over to where Pilot Na was standing with a group of soldiers. On the opposite side of the hagar from where the modified transport, power armor, and containment units were situated. Over by him were a few crates of gear pulled from a cargo bay and a Wyvern transport.

Na stood up and saluted. The other soldiers all followed up with their own salute. Each of them doing a unique salute that essentially depicted their origins. "Commander, these are the specialists I could scrape together who are not busy with other tasks."

"Good. You all understand what we are about to do?" Jace asked.

"Break into a place. Hold up our weapons. Make enemies with a bunch of wimpy politicians." One of the soldiers responded with a chuckle. The Tacole laughed heartily. "I am filled with joy at the idea."

"Well, all of you will not be wearing anything that would reveal your identity. So modify your armor and gear. You will also need to hide your faces and any other depictive marking." Jace ordered, getting a look of confusion from not just the Tacole but the others as well. "You may not mind the idea of making eternal enemies of the new galactic order. But the same will not be true of your family or distant relatives. So yes, you will hide your identities."

"What about you?" Na asked.

Jace shrugged. "I do not think that is nearly as necessary. It is clear they already consider me and mine as their enemies. I am doing this specifically to make my stance and anger known. It would have less of an impact and be moot if I attempted to hide my identity." Jace explained to them as he tossed the bag onto the ramp.

"What is that?" One of them nodded at the nondescript bag. Jace was thankful that it was not leaking.

"Take a look." Jace told him.

The accer stood up and walked over. Opening the bag and then recoiling for a moment before focusing a bit more as he processed what he was seeing. "Hahahahaha!" He began laughing. "Something to make a point. How marvelous! I expect this day will be one recorded in history for years to come!" The accer stood proudly. "Just like the day the founders led the council by the ear lobes!"

"Oh?" The mar’talic in the group stood up and walked over. He smirked as well, showing his jagged and sharp teeth in a terrifying smile. "This will earn you respect among most Victorium species, some of the human groups, definitely earn you favor with the Centuria, and most importantly it will make them fear you."

"I know. It has been so long I figured they needed a reminder about the type of beast they are attempting to leash like the dog I once was." Jace smirked as well. He then pulled out and handed them a datapad. "Make copies, the targets are on it."