Eva pulled a pulse rifle off the armory rack and check weapon, shouldering it and testing its weight like she did with any new weapon she picked up, though this time she barely felt the weight at all. She looked at the weapon thoughtfully and put it back on the rack. It had always been her weapon of choice but somehow didn't feel right anymore. She looked around the armory as the rest of the boarding team prepared without any of the hesitation that she felt.

 

There were about twenty in total and they were, of course, all boarding party veterans. Since Eva had no ship to fly they had put her in with the boarding party to make use of the additional training she had received on Gen. Eva also had the feeling that someone far up in the command line who had knowledge of her recent body additions had put on some pressure to have her put on this mission.

 

Aiden stood on the far side of the room with his wing lead, a career war veteran who was known as Wartorn. His appearance suited the name. He had a strong build that he carried with a surprising grace. As he put on his body armor Eva caught sight of various large scars running along his arms. This man apparently had a great deal of up-close-and-personal combat experience as well as flight experience.

 

Eva looked to a side wall and noted a door with a security panel and an "Authorised Personnel Only" sign on it. She cocked her head in the direction of the door and spoke to the Master at Arms, "What's in there?"

 

He followed her gaze and responded with a gruff business like tone, "Special forces equipment, Ma'am."

 

Eva raised an eyebrow and walked over to the door, a faint memory of something Commander Stranger had said to her on her first day on Gen. 'You will be given additional training and access to restricted hardware.' She pressed her hand against the security panel and spoke, "Evangeline Hawkins".

 

A light flowed over her hand and the panel lit up green. With a silent hiss the door slid open granting access to the room beyond. It was smaller than the main armory with a much smaller selection of equipment. She stepped into the room and made her way to the racks of body armor, ignoring the comments of the people behind her. Choosing one set that seemed about her size she strapped the suit on. When she snapped the last fastening clip into place she heard mechanical noises from inside the suit as it adjusted to her body shape, forming up around her so that the inside layer of the gear fit her like a second skin. She grinned, flexing and testing the mobility of the suit.

 

Next she ran her eyes over the weapon selection. Two types of weapons immediately caught her eye. The first was a pair of pistols that sat in a dual belt holster. Pulling the weapons free of the holster she held them lightly in her hands, testing their weight. They would allow her to move completely unhindered while allowing her to still lay down deadly close-range fire. For this mission, that was all she needed. She strapped the holster firmly on her hips and moved onto the second type of weapon.

 

She drew a knife from a scabbard and held it thoughtfully in her hand. It was about the length of a training baton and had about the same weight and balance, with a sleek handle and a blade almost a foot long. She nodded to herself and grabbed two, strapping one to each of her thighs. She then turned on her heel and left the room, grabbing a helmet on the way out.

 

The plan was relatively straight forward, if not a bit risky. With the information Eva had dragged out of Saito they learnt that once the stolen carrier's shield systems have been restored it had been moved to Pyro, a system with a dying star. It was well known that any unshielded ship in that system would not last long, and so a large scale fleet battle was not something anyone would risk. Eva's Commanders had agreed that a full scale assault was not going to end well for anyone and so opted for a more covert infiltration.

 

The first objective was for the boarding parties to head out towards Pyro in a wing of assault gunship, avoiding the jump point where the recent major conflict happened. They were to track and capture a small group of Cutlass craft and return to the stolen carrier in Pyro. Once on board the second objective was to capture and seal the bridge of the carrier and pilot it out of Pyro where the fleet could safely rendezvous away from the radiation of the dying system.

 

The only thing they had going for them was that the pirates would have no idea that they were coming and, Eva guessed, would not think that the regulation following UEE Navy would ever attempt something so stupid.

 

NEXT ENTRY: Infiltration