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After the Beluga was salvaged, Friedrich and Brubacker responded to emergency calls. Stanton was on fire. The Slicers attacked everywhere and caused chaos. However, the two were unable to do much. The Advocacy was also unsuccessful, in fact inactive, not to mention the UEE. Once again, the fine gentlemen left the dangerous dirty work to the civilians. It was sickening. There was still no sign of the missing crew of the Beluga. I met with Friedrich and Brubacker to gather our information.

In the meantime, Bru had spoken to a guy called Dusty Kordes. He was the owner of the explorer company Uniexcorp. Dusty had found out that the Slicers had entered the Stanton system through a secret temporary jump point. However, the Advocacy had not been interested in his discovery. Once in Stanton, the Slicers used captured civilian ships for their attacks.

“That explains why so many different types of ships are used in the attacks,” Friedrich concluded.

“Do we have anything else?” asked Brubacker.

“I’ve played some contacts,” replied Friedrich. “I got the flight movements of ships in the Hurston area.”

“We can compare them with the data that I saved from the Beluga’s on-board computers,” I added.

The data comparison revealed a Constellation Phoenix that had been involved in the attack on the Beluga and had disappeared from the radar near Lorville. We decided to fly to the location of the last contact and see if we could find out more. Maybe we would find a lead on the missing crew.

It was pitch dark when Friedrich landed the Medical Piscis. The lights of Lorville shone faintly a few kilometers away. Apart from that, there was absolutely nothing to see, not even his own hand in front of his eyes.

“It’s over the hill,” said Friedrich.

We walked up the hill completely blind. We kept stumbling over roots, scrap metal and garbage. We didn’t dare switch on our helmet lights for fear of being spotted. When we reached the top of the hill, we realized how good our decision had been. There was a watchtower 250 meters to our left. I picked up my sniper rifle and took aim. Through the scope, I could count seven guards in the light of the tower. What should I do? Take them out? They were a danger as we were in their direct line of fire. On the other hand, they didn’t know we were here and that’s how it should stay.

We still had a job to do. We wanted information, not war. And the information was right in front of us. Down in the valley was the Constellation Phoenix. The brightly lit luxury ship looked like a foreign body in the darkness. However, there was an old settlement between us and the ship. It was dimly lit. Containers and barrels stood between the dilapidated walls.

First I pointed my rifle at the Phoenix. I could look directly into the ship through the side windows. I saw chairs, a table, a bar, but no people. Then I turned my gaze to the settlement. I said quietly to Brubacker and Friedrich.

“Directly ahead, I can see a person in the light of the lantern. Further to the right are more dilapidated buildings. I can’t see anyone there. It’s very dark, though. You go down and check the situation. I’ll give you fire cover from up here.”

Friedrich and Brubacker descended the hill. After only five meters, the darkness had swallowed them up. I desperately tried to maintain eye contact, but all I could see was blackness. Then I noticed movement near the buildings that lay in the dark. I strained to look through the scope. First I saw a person climbing over a wall. Then a second person stumbling after him.

It was Friedrich and Brubacker. They reported on the radio that they had found a shot Duster. Then they moved between the walls to the guy standing in the light. I watched through the scope as they threatened him from two sides with their weapons. He didn’t seem to be impressed. Then Friedrich fired into the air. No reaction. Friedrich fired a few shots right at his feet. Suddenly everything happened very quickly. The guy reached for his gun, but before he could put it down, Friedrich shot him.

Suddenly I remembered the guards to our left by the tower. I swiveled the rifle in one swift movement. Through the scope, everything seemed to wobble and sway from left to right. Only when I was able to hold the rifle steady again did I get a clear picture. The guards were standing around relaxed. They didn’t seem to be interested in what was happening down in the valley. Or they hadn’t noticed.

In any case, the situation seemed calm and under control. I followed the others down. When I reached the guy Friedrich had shot, I searched him. I found a data pad with a message in his armor. I had to show it to the others.

When I reached Brubacker and Friedrich, they tried to get into the Phoenix. But it was locked. I showed them the data pad with the message.

I know you’re getting nervous about having to hide with the Dusters, but remember what’s at stake. Everyone has to do their part to make it work. Your orders remain the same. Stand firm and be ready for action at all times. As for your question, some of the drop zones near you have already been cleared, others have not yet been found. I have taken this into account when planning the routes of the hunting parties. With a bit of luck, you will soon have the opportunity to intervene in the action again.

We also found the location data of a Slicer base on the moon Caliope on the data pad.

“So a Slicer has been hiding with the Dusters. But there’s no sign of the Beluga crew. We should go to the base on Caliope. Maybe we’ll find something there.”

On the way back to the Piscis, we suddenly hear Friedrich’s strangled cry.

“Fancis….”

He had stumbled over the body of the Beluga’s captain in the middle of the darkness.

“She must have tried to escape, then they shot her in cold blood.”

We took Francis’ dead body and laid her on the Piscis’ sickbed. We stood next to the bed in silence and looked at the corpse.

“She’s dead,” said Friedrich, visibly shaken. “She had just started flying cargo and wanted to put money aside for her first imprint.”

“I’m very sorry,” Brubacker said quietly.

Then it burst out of Friedrich.

“We have to stop this!”

None of us said a word during the flight to Caliope. And the mood didn’t get any better when we arrived. Caliope was an unreal moon with a deep and dense cloud cover. The only colors were variations of black and grey. Even during the day, visibility was extremely poor. It was night. Visibility was close to zero.

We landed the Piscis a little way from the base. A little too far away, as we soon found out. While Brubacker and I continued to walk to the base, Friedrich went back to the Piscis to bring it closer to the base. In order to remain undetected, however, we didn’t want to land them directly at the base.

The darkness was oppressive. But it was also an advantage. We moved through the black rocky landscape like ghosts. The crunching of our boots was immediately blown away by the wind. At some point, the bright lights of the base came into view.

I checked the terrain through the scope. The only movement I could make out was the gray dust carried by the wind between the containers and installations. No wonder, who would voluntarily stand guard in this environment? Besides, the base was so well hidden that no one could find it by chance.

We approached the building cautiously. There was a URSA rover right in front of the entrance.

“Hey, we can use the rover to get Friedrich. I’m not going into the base without him.”

“Zero don’t, we’ll startle someone else.”

Who would we scare? The dust? I ignored Brubacker’s warning and sat down in the driver’s seat. Brubacker took a seat next to me, shaking his head. We drove back to Friedrich in the minimal field of vision of the headlights. Navigating between black rocks through the black night was difficult. I could only see Friedrich when he was right in front of us. We came to a halt in a cloud of dust with our tires locking up.

Back at the base, we took the elevator down. Without the support of experienced fighters, our undertaking was madness. But what else could we do? With our weapons drawn, we ventured into the unknown underground facility one step at a time. My forehead was dripping with sweat.

We turned a corner and found a large room. The floor was open in the middle so that we could see the floor below us. A metal walkway led over it. To the left and right, a corridor led around the open floor to the back of the room. In the corridors to the left and right were red gas containers with a sign warning of the explosive contents.

“What’s that?”

“Don’t shoot it, Bru!”

We quickly realized that this was actually a base of operations for the Slicers. They were obviously preparing something here. It was proof that something big was going on, that the Slicers were not yet finished with their attacks. Before we could retreat, the first Slicer saw us.

My survival instincts took over, I raised my rifle and fired. The slicer fell to the ground. Brubacker and Friedrich advanced on the right. I held my ground for the moment. Then I saw several Slicers coming towards me on the left. Bru and Friedrich were already too far away to help me. I had no chance on my own, there were just too many of them.

I was about to run away in panic when I looked at the red gas containers. I thought about it for a split second, then I pulled the trigger. A terribly loud explosion shredded the air in the plant. Slowly, I looked up from my cover at the ground zero of the explosion.

“What was that?”

“The red gas things went off and with them the slicers,” I replied. “Oh look, some of them have S71 rifles. They sell well.”

After finding no more slicers and no sign of the crew from the Beluga, we blew up the other gas containers and flew back to Hurston.

We knew that we couldn’t do anything about the threat from the slicers on our own and without further information. We also had no information about the missing crew. We were empty-handed. I decided to fly to the Dusters I knew. Maybe I would find out more from them. After all, the Slicers were hiding with the Dusters.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Brubacker’s perspective (german only): https://sternenwanderer.org/jahr-2954#S26