Tales of a Renegade

[JonasHudson]

Part IX:
Raising the Stakes

Somewhere in the Tau-31 Ice Field
March 827 AS

Hudson had an impatient look on his face as he approached his carrier, the Maidstone. The ship was holding a regular position not far from Charost Depot. It was relieving to make it back to friendly territory, but he was more anxious than ever. The last few days had been very active, and he’d spent many hours recently in the cockpit, or aboard one of his transports overseeing efforts to reorganize his assets for more offensive operations.

He’d been hoping to take out the Maidstone soon to base for raids into Enclave space, and a good opportunity might be approaching. It was beginning to look like Brittany might be ripe for some action.

He pulled into the docking module of the Bustard and jumped out as soon as the standard docking procedure was complete. Bulldog, Boltcutter and Cyclone were at the mouth of the mod that also lead to the main bay, standing waiting for him. More crew came and went around them as they talked.

“Have Butterfly process the data from my scanners. It was a successful test run, I got a good shot lined up, next time it shouldn’t be too hard to go in quick and drop a bomb on them faster than they can blink” Hudson went right at the matter at hand, slightly out of breath as he spoke, “I got in and out no problem. Long range scans showed a high degree of Enclave activity in the nearby systems though, I didn’t stay long. I got my target lock and bugged out. As soon as patrols die down, I’ll be broadcasting to Vierzon Mining Facility a little demand for a ransom they won’t soon forget…I figure it’s a place they might consider worth paying big to save, and I can sneak up on it from Tau-23.” he explained.

“And what if they refuse cap?” Boltcutter asked with a smile on his face.

“I’ll come back and drop an NEMP volley on them, plain and simple. That should stick a good thorn in their side for a while. either way.” Hudson replied, “And not only that, but there’s another place in the ‘Hebrides’ I found in a sweep, something new. Not sure who runs it or what the deal is, but I plan to soon find out that too.“

“So I expect we’ll be…?” Bulldog raised his eyebrows as he asked, and purposely left his sentence end with a blank.

“We’ll be up to the usual. I’ll have us use either a small raider, or yes we’ll take the Maidstone itself in if there’s any places that don’t open up or pay up” Hudson replied dryly, “I think our last attack on that convoy rattled them a little, if its an Enclave base, they‘ll know we mean business” he then smirked and let himself chuckle a little.

“Roger that boss. We got the hyperspace coords for Aquintaine while you were out, and the Pelican you ordered is ready and docked on Charost.” Cyclone chimed in as he stood up straight and strengthened his voice a bit, sounding proud.

“Excellent, good work men. We’ll take this one step at a time. I’ve put out a call for volunteers to join us, but so far organized resistance to the Enclave is lacking. The Maquis are fractured sadly, and Bretonia is busy trying to keep other fires from flaring up, as usual. I’m not sure what this new government in Gallia plans to do, if anything, and the Crayterians have been rather quiet for months. If we’re lucky, hopefully news of a big attack in Enclave space will renew some hope with our old allies and sympathizers. At least people will know that there are some of us out here keeping the fight up as best we can, and maybe that will inspire some to join us. I‘m hoping to link up with any Maquis stragglers or still functioning units soon, we just have to make some noise” he spoke firmly as he faced the three men, all of them now noticing a few of the crew working behind them had slowed to listen, and then scurried back to work.

The guys acknowledged him, and broke off up the corridor, and Jonas followed up behind them slowly. He still had some gear to stow and then planned to head on up to the bridge for a while. The ship was a good place to monitor traffic before setting up attacks along the trade lanes with a smaller raider. Not only that but they could hold a couple of attack craft, and jump in and out of enemy territory now. All they needed was a few pilots crazy enough to go on those types of attacks.

In Sirius though, reputation was everything. Victories meant stories, and you had to make sure what people around Sirius heard was what you’d hope for. Well if they could pull off a few small victories, it might be enough to serve as a rallying cry for others.

For now, he’d fight his own war if he had to, as he knew the Royalists will continue to gain strength and rebuild during this lull. Well whatever it took is what he’d do, he thought to himself, and that it was time to raise the stakes. He made his way to his quarters, for his first real break in at least a day.

* * * *

Hours later, Hudson finally made it to the bridge, after a long shower and a good hot meal. It was nice to have the ship well established and drilled. He’d moved his main quarters over to the carrier and had spoiled himself with what had to be equal to an Admiral’s quarters. After the events of the last two years, he decided he wasn’t going to spare any expense on his bunk anymore. After having lived aboard a Pelican for years, it was as good as a luxury hotel.

He sat in the captain’s chair, which he rarely did. But the crew seemed energized when the captain was on the bridge so he figured he’d do some of his work from up there instead of locked away in his quarters.

He pulled out his pad and filed his recent gun cams, began sorting scans, and prepared to send a transmission…

File - Brittany Incursion for NEMP Target Run

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