SoZ: The Beachhead

Shadows of Zeon Omake: “The Beachhead”

“So this is Luyten b?” Carya muses, gazing at the holographic projection in front of her. “Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. What're the colonists calling it?”

“They've been calling it 'Thalia',” Audrey informs the team, reading from her notes.

“Verdant, huh?” Dominic nods in unspoken agreement. “Certainly is a big one, three times Earth mass.”

“And a little warmer,” Audrey observes. “Average surface temperature 292 degrees Kelvin, kept habitable by its spin-orbit resonance with Luyten's Star.”

“Not terribly similar to Earth, but workable for agriculture,” Carya concludes, “which is why Luna was so keen to back the project.”

In fact, the general understanding is that these efforts should more than return on the investment within the first fiscal year... assuming that Luyten b is uninhabited. If that assumption is violated, that's where things might get messy. Reconciling the natural flora and fauna, specifically the viruses and bacteria which may be present, with human needs necessarily means favoring the latter if one wants to colonize a new world. Luna and Mars were sterile, but to take a world where life already exists would be a conquest of unimaginable scale: and one which is [i]frighteningly[/i] possible with the technology aboard Nagato.

“Then I'll leave the personnel decisions to you, Captain O'Hara,” Admiral Joshua sighs. “The rest of you are dismissed.”

Once the other officers have all taken their leave, the Admiral speaks directly to Dominic. “So what are your thoughts?”

“Well...” Dominic muses thoughtfully, still seated behind his little desk in the ready room. “Carya could use a chance to spend some time with our kid and... well, you know. To actually [i]relax[/i] for once.”

“Her work habits [i]have[/i] gotten out of hand lately,” Karen admits thoughtfully. “So you gonna go?”

“No,” Dominic shakes his head. “I was actually thinking...”

“That the two of you should go,” Dominic informs his two companions some time later, having already repeated his conversation with Admiral Joshua to that point.

“Us?” Cynthia asks, seemingly confused. Marida on the other hand practically throws herself at the messenger, almost headbutting Dominic in the sternum in her excitement.

“YES!” she cheers happily, “we FINALLY get to go on a ground mission!”

“Yeah,” Dominic grunts under the force of his ribs being compressed... though he says it with a genuine smile. “Carya needs a break and Rossweisse's helping fit the new Sericea out, so I figure it's a good time for the two of you to get some field experience.”

Cythia, the only one of the triplets to have kept the short hairstyle they were created with, nods in understanding. “We [i]have[/i] been far more involved in navigating than in ground missions lately. It wouldn't do to overspecialize.”

“Oh, come [i]on[/i] Cyn!” Marida huffs, pushing off Dominic to stare indignantly at her near-mirror. “This is an [i]alien planet[/i] we're talking about here, I [i]know[/i] you've gotta be excited! Don't you try and hide it from me.”

“I'll... admit [i]some[/i] degree of excitement,” Cynthia replies, allowing herself a small grin.

“Just temper your expectations,” Dominic suggests, “and stick to protocol. We reach orbit in half an hour, drop will begin as soon as we 're geosynchronous. Your orders are to secure the LZ for the dropships and assist in initial site assessment, clear?”

“Crystal, sir!” Marida chirps as both the Puru clones salute.

“Good,” he nods, smiling. “I have every confidence in your skills, you've got this.”

Belowdecks, the #2 hangar is an experiment in controlling chaos as soldiers, scientists, and pilots scramble to prepare for orbital insertion. Trucks carrying fuel, munitions, and personnel all follow lines scribed deeply into the skid-proof deck, past a dizzying array of yellow and white markings and around the vehicles which have been clamped into their respective cradles. The total compliment of ground forces aboard the Nagato adds up to two complete mechanized infantry companies and two tank companies, a total of two dozen M353A5 hover transports, with an equal number of the venerable Type 61A6 MBT. Four of each type reside in each lateral launch hangar, while the Central hangar is dedicated to mobile suit use. Each of these smaller hangars also has clamps mounted into the ceiling meant to dock four dedicated dropships, each capable of carrying either a tank or a transport from ship to surface and back.

However #2, located along Nagato's port side, is unusual in that its space is being used for two mobile suits as well as its usual compliment. They stand against the aft and fore bulkheads, and their two pilots make use of the lack of gravity in this section to propel themselves through empty space to avoid the busy deck below.

Marida settles into her cockpit first, checking over her controls and major systems before raising her sister on the comms. “Ballute systems are in place. You ready, Cyn?”

“Lieutenant Cynthia Ple to dockmaster, requesting clearance ahead of Second Platoon, First Scouting Company,” she reports over the comms, giving Marida her answer.

“Dockmaster to Lieutenant Ple, Captain O'Hara's appraised us of your participation, you are cleared for departure. Please follow the red lines in front of your mobile suits and avoid crossing the white markings to your left and right hand sides.”

The two sisters are careful to follow directions, using their maneuvering thrusters as little as possible to position themselves in front of the bay doors as the interior of the hangar slowly depressurizes. The space is suddenly left silent and still, the men and materiel who were just minutes ago being moved across the deck having been ushered efficiently to their respective positions.

“Lieutenant Marida Ple, launching!” Marida declares as soon as the doors are open, carefully-controlled blasts from her thrusters pushing her clear of the Nagato's hull as her sister maneuvers after her. Then, once well outside the hangar, they throttle up in unison to dive towards the planet now called “Thalia”.

“Hey girls,” a voice addresses them over their comm systems, “this is Audrey. You hearing me okay?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Cynthia replies calmly.

“Of course,” Marida agrees. “What do you need?”

“I'll be serving as oversight today,” Audrey informs the duo. “Miyu will be your operator, and ALICE... well, she'll be a bit busy crunching the data to say too much.”

“Understood,” Cynthia acknowledges. “Is there anything we need to know about the planet?”

“Atmosphere is fairly thick,” Audrey informs them. “Miyu, you getting the figures from ALICE yet?”

“Composition is fairly similar to Earth,” Miyu reports, “though it's a bit thick, like Audrey said. Surface temperature is within the predicted margins, atmospheric pressure is... about 2.1 atmospheres.”

“So you might wanna leave the helmets on,” Audrey suggests thoughtfully as flames begin to flicker across the sisters' monitor screens from the heat of atmospheric entry. “Unless you want to waste time having to follow the pressure tables.”

That doesn't sound like fun to either of the clones, so they quickly agree to follow the measure as they plummet deeper into the alien atmosphere.

Finally, just a few hundred meters off the ground, the pair fire their retrothrusters and dramatically slow their descent, slamming into their seats from the rapid deceleration. Then, with two thuds, they make landfall on a new world.

“It... doesn't look how I imagined it,” Cynthia admits, a note of disappointment in her tone.

“Another one?” Marida groans. “That's no fun.”

“It's convenient for us though... if it's true,” Audrey observes. “Keep your eyes open, the science teams will be joining you in five minutes to make a determination.”

Half an hour later, Dominic stands aboard Nagato's bridge, watching over Audrey and Miyu's shoulders.

“And they're positive?” he asks grimly. Marida nods slowly on the screen in front of them.

“Biological compounds are present,” Cynthia repeats the science team's findings, “but no bacterial life. They're canvassing the region, but there's no evidence of flora or macrofauna either.”

“Every world we reach is dead,” Dominic mutters. “Audrey, prep the terraforming equipment. We'll begin as soon as we get the report.”

“Sir,” Audrey salutes before walking off the bridge.

“Miyu, get Marida and Cynthia back aboard,” he continues. “Normal decontamination procedures.”

“Of course, I'll have subflight systems launched for recovery as soon as they're ready,” Miyu nods.

“We'll be back,” Marida nods. “See you in a few.”

Dominic remains quiet, deep in thought long after the others have leapt to follow his orders... orders that have become disturbingly routine.

“What are you thinking?” Karen asks from her seat in the center of the bridge, having watched the proceedings in silence.

Dominic shakes his head. “One I could imagine. Two, maybe. But four in a row?”

“... I [i]don't[/i] like this.”