Introduction
I sat there, for a time, in that abattoir of dead and dying kids, praying to the god of warriors and fools that my friends would survive assaulting the ops center.
I did what I could, with what I had and what little field medicine I knew. But most of them weren’t going to make it. The medics wouldn’t prioritize the perpetrators over the victims.But they were all victims.
Why do we always end up here? In this struggle between control and autonomy? We are mess of evolutionary baggage that we can not seem to part ways with. I was a soldier all my life, born into yet another war for someone’s independence from someone else. And I thought, I thought that I’d put an end to it, at least in my lifetime. But I was, of course, wrong.
Goddamn the people who rather kill than relinquish control.
Goddamn the people who whipped these young men into dying in vain.
And goddamn the man who doomed them to it…by destroying the only way they had to win.-The Memoirs of “Gentleman” Jack Cartwright
23 September - 15 October, WY602 – Sunrise Bay, Foxglove
After the firefight, the security personnel restrain the two separatists who surrendered while Tomoe and Aiden work to triage the wounded. In the conference room, Polly is in shock, holding Vivek’s body in her lap while Dirk helplessly looks on.
Director Chin pulls up the local map, showing that WDF Lancaster is still on station near the wreck of WDF Arnold Whistler, but WDF Intrepid is out of position, seemingly returning from a brief pursuit of WDF San Jacinto, which is burning at 8gs to dive range. After finding out Julian is a navigator, he orders him to take over orbital traffic control and try to make sense of the civilian traffic int he area. He then calls to WDF Intrepid to request Marine reinforcements.
Cara and Roland leave ops to meet up with Jack and check on Kevin, while the rest of the crew move the prisoners into one of the ops conference rooms to keep them secure. Governor Karthik, largely none the worse for wear from the decompression, thanks the crew profusely before retiring to his office to request aid.
A relief company of Marines from WDF Intrepid are dispatched, as well as the base at Skinner’s Point mobilized. Julian establishes contact with the Marines’ combat controller to ensure the wrong people don’t get shot.
Calliope sends an emergency message to Aiden, stating that “the attack isn’t over” and that all Navy ships need to shut down their computers and restore a version prior to “Sierra”. Julian immediately tries to contact the Navy ships in the area. WDF Lancaster emphatically tells him to take a hike and WDF Endeavor ignores him entirely. After a few moments, Captain Banks, now CO of WDF Intrepid comes on the line, recognizing Julian’s voice. Julian convinces him that time is of the essence and Banks agrees to the restart on Intrepid.
Intrepid’s Marines board Sunrise Bay and secure the shipyard, the docks, engineering, medical, and ops without incident. All indications are that the attacks, at least those inside the station, are over. Neither Jack nor Dirk are able to get word on whether Admiral Halsey survived the attack.
Shortly after Intrepid comes back online, WDF Endeavor goes to a full burn much like the other destroyers. Lancaster attempts a missile salvo but is unsuccessful. Both WDF San Jacinto and WDF Endeavor make it clear of Foxglove’s well and dive. Lancaster finally decides to restore her computers. Calliope informs the crew that the delay was likely due to the sophistication in computers between the older Murphy-class and the newer Munroe-class destroyers, as well as with the two Poseidon-Class Assault Cruisers.
Tomoe makes some progress snapping Polly out of her shock, and the crew escorts her down to the hospital. The remainder of the day is spent either receiving or giving medical attention. Hundred of people were hurt during the numerous small engagements around the station and the facilities are swamped. Kevin was seriously wounded but is expected to make a full recovery after surgery. During this time, Julian informs his combat controller acquaintance that part of the hijacking had to have come from within, and Dirk advises the Marines on mortuary duty that they need to take special care of Vivek.
In the next few hours, word from the other outposts in Foxglove come in. WDF San Eduardo and WDF San Stephan both went the same way as their sister ship, initiating unexpected high burns and then diving to parts unknown. There were no other ground-level attacks like on Sunrise Bay that anyone is aware of.
The next week is incredibly tense, as inquests are performed on Lancaster and Intrepid and all of Foxglove waits breathlessly for word from the other colonies. Divyash Shaw makes a statement from Kodiak denying any involvement of the FLP. The crew joins the Governor and the Sunrise Bay senior staff for Vivek’s funeral. There are rumors that Halsey survived the attack, but the Navy is being tight-lipped, and Jack and Dirk’s requests for information are ignored. Additional research reveals that the Sierra version of the SDF Naval Operating System containing the exploit finished rolling out in February of wy602.
When word starts trickling in over the Express Buoys, the scope of the attack is made clear. Nearly every destroyer-class ship in the WDF suffered in the attack, nearly fifty large ships in total - a full third of the entire Council fleet. WDF San Miguel was the only one to make a suicide run, and the rest have fled. September 23rd is becoming known as The Great Theft and the start of a whole new phase of the Unification War.
Things slowly go back to a new normal in the subsequent weeks. Work continues on Legitimate Salvage, though no one in the crew hears much from Polly. Jack, normally a pollical firebrand, seems strangely detached from the events, focusing on getting the ship and IBI’s new business venture off the ground, even in the face of this new state of affairs. Around October 10th, the ship is habitable and the crew move out of the hotel and into their permanent residences aboard.
The night before Legitimate Salvage’s maiden voyage, Aiden and Jack host a dinner thanking everyone from the shipyard and Praetorian Security who helped with the refit. Polly is in attendance but not very engaged.
After the dinner, Dirk goes to Polly’s quarters (followed by Aiden who had the same idea) and asks her to join the crew. She admonishes him for trying to get her to give up her career as the Chief Engineer of the third largest shipyard in human space weeks after her husband of 20 years was killed. She asks for time to consider it and the next time the crew is in Foxglove to giver her a call with a worthy job offer.
The crew prepares to ship out on Legitimate Salvage’s maiden voyage the next morning.
