Asteroid Blues

“Yes, I am quite certain I am retired, old friend.”
A lighthearted joy could be heard in the former Ambassador's voice.

The lights in the room came up automatically as Naghoon E'tarse stepped out of the holo-tank, and walked toward the door.

"Saif," he stopped and addressed one of the two bodyguards at the door, "Would you please arrange for transport to the Caliphate? I will need to depart this afternoon."

The guard looked quizzical, but said only "Yes, sir" and left the room.

E'tarse turned to the remaining guard and stated "I take it you have a message for me."

"Sir?"

"You're good for a novice, but I know my staff very well. Miss Adeli does not stand like that. What did the Old Man need to send one of the faithful to tell me?"

The guard's face melted and blurred and resolved into the helmet of a Fiday. The wearer's natural voice was slightly muffled with the voice emulation disabled. "This data pack will erase itself after viewing" the Fiday said, holding out a small device.

"Keep your eyes open, team, we have good reason to believe Shasvastii activity in the area has been under-reported."

Lieutenant Zahia Soltani triple checked her own combat gear.

Her detachment of the Ramah Task Force was finally stretching its legs after 6 weeks in a converted storage module aboard the SNF Iskanderun, a tiny vessel in service to the Qapu Khalqi Navy.

Soltani chinned her mic again "Spread out to my right. There are three likely sabotage targets here. Kalen will check the antenna here. Azim, you're on the far one. Fireteam Ahmar, there's a point on top of that tower where a lot of the hard lines for the antennae converge. Secure and search that spot. Go."

The familiar thunk-hiss of a smoke grenade caused Nimr Squad to all pause and brace for combat.

"RED3" lit up in the corner of Soltani's HUD as Corporal Selim, Khawarij rocketeer, spoke over the squad comms "I see the smoke, but no other movement. It's between two of the mission objectives."

The Squad waited tensely as more smoke grenades went off, but no contact was made, until a Rasail Boarding Team came out of nowhere, destroying a Fanous unit Soltani had stationed to watch the edges of the zone of operations, and charging into the flank of Fireteam Ahmar.

Fireteam Ahmar lost Sergeant Wasim Hashem to the assault, but otherwise held fast.

"Hameed!" Lt. Soltani shouted into the comms "Divert from main objective, Ahmar Team needs your support!"

The Nahab Hacker moved in behind the Rasail team and opened fire with his Submachine Gun. He maintained fire while closing distance, but the Tohaa mercenary eventually landed a shot, and with viral ammunition, one was all he needed to take down the super soldier.

Meanwhile, Ghulam Sergeant Nabil Farooqui and Khawarij Zaim Semaan moved in to form a pincer attack with the Nahab and took down the Rasail Boarding Team.

Ahmar Team had barely caught their breath when the next wave came in, with more Flamethrowers and a Viral Sniper Rifle. Farooqui was able to get off a well placed Grenade and kill both Chaksas, while Semaan took down the Taagma, but Semaan and PFC Dr. Gudelj were both lost to the inferno.

Lt. Soltani called the retreat, dragging what fallen comrades they could. Why the Spiral Corps had been hired for this job, she could not fathom, but she prayed never to encounter them again.

Zahia Soltani slumped against the wall outside the improvised medical ward of Pakngein NBIS, still in her sweat-drenched combat uniform. She barely noticed the doctor sit down on the bench next to her.

"Your people are stable and can expect a full recovery."

Zahia turned her head to the doctor. "What? Oh. Oh, that's good. I'm glad to hear that." She sat upright, but only stared at the floor. "Thank you."

"Are you sure I can't get you anything?"

"No, no, I'm alright. Thank you, Doctor... ?"

"Okonjo. Chriki Okonjo. Sorry, I'm already used to knowing all the soldiers names without asking, I forget mine's not right on my chest."

"You're a civilian?"

"Yes, although I thought about the Maghariba Guard when I hit a rough patch early on in medical school."

"What, really?"

"Sure. Seems like it'd be empowering."

"I wonder how those handle in zero-G..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Thank you for patching up my squad, Doctor. Will you let me know when they wake up?"

"I'll let the staff know. Get some rest, Lieutenant. Doctor's orders."

"Hah. Right."

Zahia strode away, back toward SNF Iskanderun's berth. "I'm not looking forward to this debrief," she thought to herself "this whole assignment has Hassassin Bahram written all over it... at least the op had the backing of Shasworth Industries. Insurance will cover the resurrections..."