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There was a reassurance in looking at a quiet display. Quiet meant nothing and nothing meant peace. The paranoid man might feel inclined to question the quiet but for Ensign Clark; the silence bore no worry. The radar was his eyes', and his eyes told him there was nothing.

But now, now something had changed, a vague reading on the hyper scan, long - range.

Ships tended to give of a massive exhaust of energy when flying through jump space, an exhaust which one could easily be pick up. Though it was a vague reading, a big signal could mean a big ship incoming, it could also just mean a big ship passing by or a mass of ships moving around. It least told you something was happening and in what direction but nothing much else.

Training kicked in again; “lieutenant!"

An officer came over, firstly looking over the console before asking, “what is it?"

“We've got a reading on the long – range lieutenant" Clark responded, tapping his finger on the screen to point out the reading while his rat like whiskers twitched.

The lieutenant made no comment at first. This was not the first time this had come up… He couldn't even recall how many times the long – ranged had flared up on one thing or the other.

“Thank you, Ensign"

He walked away, the desire was to just return to his standard operation, but the reporting of this finding was always standard, he stopped by a console.

#################

Captain Gavin sat slumped in his chair; this had been the worst stage in his whole career. He should have been out after all the time patrolling behind 1st and 2nd fleet supporting their operations.

3rd had been a blessing, close enough to the front to garner the respect but not close enough to face the brutality of battle, it brushed off great at home and any day now Gavin would be home and the respected military work would help in kick starting some political work.

Though before he could get there with the nice desk and beautiful matching secretaries, he had to sit and wait for the end of this show…

His console beeped, an incoming internal communication. Gavin sighed as he rubbed at his temple… Why couldn't it have been a call from Alex… The call that they were swapping guard duty or maybe even leaving, ah what a blissful idea.

“What's the update?" Gavin asked after hitting the button, resting his head against his hand.

“We've got readings on the long – range Captain"

As we have had for most days, Gavin kept his thought to himself, “no problem, thank you" the vulpine quickly ended the call drawing his hand down his face…

Here we go again!, the joys of procedure, oh how Gavin loved it, “put me through to Captain Alex, let's let him know we've another useless blip"

#################

“We're going to hit them here" Ovex said, tabbing his finger down on the large building, closer to the right and off center.

“Towards the government building; it's not really a tactical capture general" an officer responded, the kind of thing he wanted to hear; though he had his reasons and thus expressed it.

“I know; but it looks very CSS and the Federals will buy it" Ovex pulled his hand back, pushing a couple of the small symbolic pieces forward; a couple platoons.

“We start fighting them there, commit a moderately large force, make them think we're ready to die for it… Then the Feds will send there's; they can't have the numbers we do".

On that Ovex pushed the blue-colored piece and pushed them to meet the CSS ones; the officers stayed quiet.

“Then we send the other troops forward, one half to encircle the enemy; kill them, capture them while the other secures the long – range coms station… That'll give us the coms power to go over their jammer if we don't find that and happily will finally get a clear call to space boys"

“You think this will really do them in General?" Another voice inquired but peering up from the desk he was hard pressed to put voice to face; everyone was here this time. Everyone was on the same page.

Ovex took a deep breath; he let his thoughts rattle for a bit. It did all play on the fact the Federals took the bait, that the Feds would assume the threat was real and commit to repel them. They weren't dumb, that bomb trick was smart... If only he could meet that strategist… If he wasn't dead… Hell, the CSS might have shot him for such a meeting.

FFP locals always pushed the hardest, a corporate PMC would be easier, but a local with his home and his family would give his life before anything else...

“If all goes to plan it should make a powerful blow; we could knock out a large portion of their fighting force, hopefully a loss like that will make them retreat or most likely, we'll have an easier staging ground for the next confrontation… But if we get that far, we'll practically be at the end of the race".

There was a silence, but the good silence, a reassured silence that for the first time in all the time they were here, they held the baton.

“Keep each other in the loop, remember your training and keep active lines of communication open consistent runners… Radio is good, but it won't be our be all and end all here gentlemen!"

“Here! Here!" the officers cheered; moral seemed to boost (at least amongst the officers) and Ovex could only hope it would make its way down and amongst the rest of the troops.

With that the general spent the rest of the night plotting out the specifics with each officer; their individual expectations; the people they would be working with and the lines points and lines for runners.

Everything seemed right, and it would only be by the worst of luck things could go wrong.

#################

Alex was awoken by the call of one of his officers; the hoped-for rest had been lost and it was only at this point he damned thinking he could get away from the bridge.

“Could you not send me a call on the console?" He had given his officer the right to enter his cabin if needed, but that did not mean he enjoyed having to greet staff in his night – time attire; a matter made more awkward by the lack of a shirt (he didn't let it bother him; though the vulpine attended seemed to give a quick up and down sweep).

“Apologies Commander; we did attempt to make contact but you did not seem to be picking up"

He did not push, now realizing the beeps in his dream where likely his console.

“Well, what is the issue?" He didn't want to mull; maybe even feeling that slight anxiety tickle at the back of his mind.

“Captain Gavin's long – range has gone off"

Well, not the worst news; it was least good to see Gavin still looking at his radar…

“What about ours?" Alex said back, stretching as he slowly made his way to grab his uniform; he was up now and there was no point in trying to go back to sleep, his mind wouldn't let him now.

“Well sir…" the fox seemed to mutter, a small thing that Alex always hated, though his ears pricked as he continued. “We had no readings at first, but ours has also started sparking"

…

Well, it wasn't always a bad thing, the radar would start and stop, come and go. Two ships picking up on the long – range was not to be unexpected; if anything, it gave Alex a small assurance the systems were working…

But a small though popped into the Commander's mind, that curling voice in his ear; he didn't express it out loud. Rather Alex just gave a reassuring order;

“Order our corvette out and see if it can pick up any extra traffic"

The Commander prayed nothing would come from this.

#################

“Wakey, wakey"

Maybe it was too good to think she could get some sleep out here. “I know you'd like to lie in, though I think the Major would have other things to say"

“Fine, fine" Cu complained as she slipped from the bivy. Plenty of kit had been left behind by the Feds and there was no point letting it go to waste.

“Did you get some nice beauty sleep?" Draud joked, though Cu only shook her head dismissively.

“If you're waking me up for nothing, I'll snap your ears off… So, what's this about?" Cu sneered, though as she looked at Draud she found his expression go flat.

“Major Crook wants available troops mustered for a meeting; command has a plan"

A plan? Why did that have to sound so foreboding?

…

Roland just sat down for a moment looking out to a small patch of open ground near a shell hole. A little rodent scurried along, unconcerned by all that was going on, likely focusing on the matters of its own little existence. Roland kept watching, a little innocent smile as the creature went down and quickly popped right back out of the crater before vanishing into a pile of scraps.

Like a whole world going on without concerns to the bigger world.

“Major wants us meeting up" Koppa made his way over, standing with a tired expression. He wasn't like the nervous boy he was when she met him, he seemed to have this cold look, like all the fear had gone or was pushed away and, in its place, there was now nothing, a vacantness.

“Are you okay?" It seemed like a reasonable question to ask, maybe not the best to ask but that was all she could think of.

The lupin just took a breath as he stood up from the small crouch, “don't worry yourself, I'm still going"

Roland just nodded her head with acceptance getting up and following behind.

…

Crook waited at the front of makeshift planning areas, not the most impressive set up an unassuming building to the side of one of the blocks. He stood to the front, pacing back and forth. A slow kind of pace, the type that likely left an observer debating if it was a good or bad sign but it was anyone's guess… Possibly even in Crooks own mind.

The major gave it a couple more minutes as troops filed in, a mix of army and CMC. It was good enough, those who weren't here would get the news from their fellow troopers.

He finally took a deep breath.

“Good morning troops; I know things did not start in the best manner… Command is trying to make the situation as certain as they can-"

The troops seemed to settle immediately as the major started to speak.

“This going to be the main push; and if we get this right, we should be able to take control of the city or at least get communication working again" he seemed to whisper “finally" …

He collected himself again and started to speak up; “We have two objectives, assigned army and marine sections are going to hit at the government building; once the Feds are wrapped - up our section is going to move and capture long – range coms… Command is under the belief that is where they're jamming us from… So, we get this all done and we'll make a massive crack, maybe take the city… the conflict might not be over but we'll be that little bit closer… You all understand"

He waited, and from the quiet a strong chorus replied back, “aye major!"

They were good troops; they'd do right by him…

#################

The briefing didn't take long, a simple affair with simple instructions; take the long – range coms building. A moderately sized building, though what it lacked in outward size it made up for high, likely the tallest building in the city with many radio poles and dishes for sending out and picking up signals.

It had its own impressive look against the gov building, though the gov building fell into an aesthetic no different from the other ones. A big concrete block, a much a center of local politics as it was a part of the defensive policy…

She didn't need to think about that, that wasn't her objective.

“Roland!" Cu shouted with a curt tone, loud and yet somehow quiet, like a hiss. Roland shuffled forward to come closer to her Lt though the vixen had no comments just lowering down as she waited.

“I hope they don't take long" Hassel commented, they just had to wait on the first strike. Once that started, they'd be set to advance, a tank wheeled along but paused a few yards back.

“Do you think they'll figure it out?" Draud question with the lull.

“Shut the fuck up" Cu growled out in a hushed tone.

“Well even if they do, they won't have the troops to deal with it" Hassel commented.

Cu didn't continue to conflict, just growling under her breath as Draud hopped on the Sargent's comment.

“So, what will they defend?" Draud continued, though Hassel just snickered to himself.

“It isn't about defense, it's all about the biggest hit now, I doubt they're going to win this"

The human and fox just ended their chatter there, Draud couldn't think of anything to come back with. He might have asked if that was good or bad, though he could sense the Sergeants feeling.

An explosion rumbled in the distance bringing everyone's attention back. This was going to be it, Roland gripped at her weapon and waited…

Another set of explosions followed as rifle fire entered the mix, the first section must have made contact with the enemy.

They still held, waiting…

“Come on! Move, Move!!"

Voices echoed down the street, as everyone tenses; weapons at the ready. A flurry of figures moved at the bottom of the road; the silhouettes clear.

“They took the bait" Draud whispered, while Cu's ears swept back, the coming order was predictable...

“Light them up!!" She screamed with a militant fury as rifle and MG fire cut down the street kicking up dust and grit as the rounds crashed through the center sending a few of the militia to the ground in that stiff drop of death.

Others kept running forward, while those to the back stumble fell and dragged themselves backwards or were pulled by comrades better on their feet.

Cu then rose up, waving an arm as the tank's engine roared to life. The armor then pushed forward while the vixen faced to the troops;

“You want off this dusty rock!? Then move forward and get it done!"

#################

“God fucking dammit! Can't you quiet these things down" Captain Reed couldn't help but yell, at this point the place was a blare with sounds made worse in the confines of the corvette bridge; warnings, sirens and klaxons… He would have thought he was near to death, yet nothing had happened yet, NOTHING WAS HERE!!

“Apologies Captain, it's a safety protocol, emergency electronics can't be silences" a Yersin tried to be rational, though the pained way their ears twitched signed even for them the sounds was becoming a bit much.

Reed only fired back, “then where is the danger!? Something must be wrong, have the repair team check the sensors"

A co – officer came closer clearly sensing the captain's frustration and how that was playing on his action. “Sir, we inspected the sensors two days ago, they were in acceptable condition; they couldn't have gone wrong now, not this quickly"

Reed finally shook his head, some small sense of reason coming back.

“Alf, what's the reading? Is it still bloody long – range?"

That thing was ticking even before they pulled away from the fleet, but honestly that was nothing, that could be sparked for a strong solar storm… It was the one thing you could un – officially turn off, though in the active war zone it was a must, all systems running and all to military standard…

Another officer checked the console, “long – range is off the scale captain" the officer replied. Well, that was not surprising, it had been that way since the start. Though as Reed loomed over, he gained a completely new context. The scanner had maxed out, so badly in fact that it had burned out. Taking that into consideration Reed finally clicked to it of all the warning calls, the long – range was not amongst them at this point.

“God damn, what is running?" Reed was quick to push on, he could feel that pressure in his mind, this might have been worse than he was thinking, maybe this was real.

The thought of calling Commander Alex had fell by the wayside, a need to understand his current situation began to take priority.

“Ken, what's running?"

“E – ELINT Captain!" the officer finally fired back, attention coming to that display. The distance one distance chevron lay blank while baring read as a stable 0 degrees, dead ahead based on the ships own baring.

It kept going… Till

Red warning lights activated, [WARNING – DANGER CLOSE, WARNING – DANGER CLOSE]

Reed held his breath, the purpose of why he even came this far had become lost in a total chaos of sound. Some instinctual training kicked in.

“Ken, I want radar on, active scan for target!"

It was going to put them on the grid, but at this point it didn't matter they needed eyes.

“Order crew to action stations, secure internal hatches and spin up the MDC" Reed fired off the orders in quick succession as officer splintered off to their task.

“R - Reed" Ken sputtered the name out as he stared into the radar display, the captain was quick on his step…

“Fucking hell" Nothing distinct showed up, just a large signature and unmistakable sign something was in bound, hell not even inbound it was practically here…

A thought rustled back to prominence as Reed recalled why he was even sent here, his eyes widened in momentary realization before he snapped, “get Commander Al -"

A loud electrical snapped sounded in the bridge, turning it to silence and then darkness… The chatter of officer fell quiet as the dark took over… Only greeted with a shrill squeak of fear.

Emergency lights quickly kicked in and Reed forced himself to take control.

“God dammit! Standard protocol for electrical black out get the systems restarted!"

Reed tried to hold a quiet reassurance, though he could not hide his fear, a blackout like this did not come from nowhere. There had to be a large electrical impulse… A very large impulse, any ship jumping in picked up a large collection of energy that would disburse just before arrival… But for something like this…

“SHIT BRACE BRACE!!"