A Critical Commission

[Bishop Morse]

Ares, 1st Moon of Boros 
Georgia System
Fort Vanwood – Independent Colonies Territory
March 9, 2507 
1336 hours

The sound of a large craft taking off echoed throughout the area. It was rectangular, measuring at least ninety feet long, and was lifting up heavily. Its underbelly thrusters caused much of what was on the ground to move and shake, or at least that which was in close proximity. It gave a higher shrill then many other space craft, but that was because it was smaller and its engines were more particular about the flow of energy that it expelled. After it was just off the ground at about forty feet it began to move forward and quickly picked up speed. As it moved off, the things on the ground were heard more clearly. Soldiers, wearing brown duster coats, as well as red vests ran all around. Most, if not all, were armed. A whole group of at least thirty were running in front of a row of air and spacecraft. Fort Vanwood was a town on a moon of Boros, Ares, and had been more or less taken over by the Independents and their war effort. It wasn’t a very large town, and it was isolated enough that it served as a good jumping point for raids. Most of the towns occupants were still there, though many had moved off so that when the war arrived they wouldn’t be caught in the cross fire. It had a number of watch and gun towers erected so that it could defend itself from an attack. Along with it, there were a number of fighters, and further out elements that covered Fort Vanwood in a tight defense grid. They’d come under attack before, and thwarted it. They weren’t the juiciest target on Ares, and were back enough that they didn’t see too much action. Along the outer area surrounding the town there were groups of aircraft as well as spacecraft. These craft were frequently loaded with soldiers who would then be taken off to fight, and then more soldiers would be brought in to replace them.

Bishop Morse walked along the dirt that surrounded and filled the town. The Independents set up in places like this somewhat regularly, or at least the aerial divisions. They liked the seclusion. When you set up in a city you were a big target, and if a building fell down on the air field you had a big problem. So places like the desert that Fort Vanwood sat in were perfect. Morse however had a discontent face. He was not very happy with his current situation. He was walking just beside a woman who had none soldier like garb. But this was a deception. Because they were at base, there wasn’t a lot of need for uniforms, though Morse still wore his, as did most. He did not have a helmet though, and had no need for one. His coat was a darker color, to signify his command in the Navy. ”You’re not following me Captain.” Morse said, his voice holding a serious expression. ”I’m not gonna fly that boat at anyone anymore. I can’t do it. It’s nuts, and it’s stupid. I can’t do it.” He was gesturing behind him with his index finger, though he was pointing at anything specific. He was looking at the woman to make sure she was understanding him, but was also checking the ground to ensure he didn’t trip.

[Ilana Logan]

Captain Gaston


Captain Gaston was a serious sort of person. Prior to the war she had been a farmstead land manager on Priam, the moon of Ithica. She was in charge of making sure that the town that she lived in had enough resources and its markets were kept even, in addition to ensuring that they had enough to eat during the harsh winter months. In spite of that she wasn’t all business all the time, she just did what she needed to do. Because of that, it was a natural switch into becoming an officer in the Independents military. She had been a part of the local militia, which helped keep criminals at bay, and when the militias were called up for service to the Independent Planets, she did her duty and signed up. Now she was running Fort Vanwood, and she orchestrated many of the raiding parties, as well as making sure the Fort was kept safe and strong. At that moment she was already working as part of the counter offense to keep a hold on the Boros Sector. 

When Morse had come up to her, she was on her way to check with some of the base munitions officer, and ensure that they still had the capacity to keep launching attacks. She knew that Morse had been trying to get a hold of her for a while, and now he managed to get his chance. She didn’t mind him doing it at that moment, since it was a sort of break for her. ”Bishop, you’re one of the only boarding commanders that have seen combat in the Sector. And it isn’t so horrible, the boats still in decent repair I believe.” Gaston made sure that all of the craft on base were well maintained. If they weren’t at 100% then they could imitate it fairly well. That was the way they had to do things since the number of resources in the area didn’t exactly place them on the number one priority for battle.

[Bishop Morse]

Morse had anticipated a response like that. He had absolutely no expectation that he was going to get exactly what he was looking for right off from asking. He hadn’t even quite mentioned what that something was that he was looking to get. He just wasn’t able to deal with sitting on a boarding boat anymore. ”Decent repair?” Morse said with a sort of disdain for the notion of what was said. ”Do you have any idea what that means on a Remora IV? Gǒupì!” Morse said, emphasizing his point in the way he usually did. ”We get hit by anything, and I mean a piece of debris, a missile that went off a few hundred yards away, anything, and the whole thing spins outa control or explodes!” Morse was very concerned about the comment, because what they were doing was probably one of the most dangerous things that could be done in the entire war. ”Do you have any idea what it’s like being on that thing. What it was like over Boros when the 83rd got smashed to bits?” Morse demanded. 

Almost a month prior, the Independent 83rd Naval division had set up over Boros to defend it from invading Federal forces, which they knew would inevitably come. They arrived on the sixteenth of Februrary, and they demolished the entire fleet. When the plan was to push forward into them, boarding craft at the front, Morse knew that command of a Remora IV wasn’t as good as they’d told him it was. ”This isn’t a won’t do it.” Morse stated. ”It’s a can’t do it. I cannot command a boarding craft.” He made his point clear. ”I don’t really care what it is, I just won’t do that. I don’t even give a damn if it’s in the Navy.” Morse had grown in the time since that terrible defeat a distaste for the Navy and the way it was run. Where as the forces else where tended to have a stronger grasp on using their strengths to their advantage, the Navy was going a route where it was risky experimentation or going with classic easily anticipated tactics. 

[Ilana Logan]

Captain Gaston


Gaston stopped because this wasn’t going to be a conversation that should could likely finish before she got where she was going. And at that point she’d have to move it to another time. Therefore she wanted to figure it out right there. ”Watch your language.” She said at Morse when he mentioned what keeping his vessel in repair was good for. She may not have kept to the uniform standard, but she made sure that her soldiers kept their words civil, and their minds focused. She didn’t quite understand the way Morse saw things, but that was because she wasn’t there for the defeat of the 83rd Naval detachment. She had heard about what happened, and she had met several who had been there. Many of them were dead, and Bishop was the only boarding party commander that she knew that had been there. She had trouble imagining what it would be like floating in a little metal box while you watched explosions and hundreds of people dying all in an instant, while knowing that if you were ticked a little bit, you would share that fate. Because of that, she felt a bit of sympathy for his situation. 

It was when Morse mentioned he didn’t care if his requested assignment was in the Navy or not that Gaston got a change in idea. She had been placed with a specific position there on the base and she could handle such a transfer, but it depended on whether Morse would do such a ting, since she didn’t really know herself what she’d be signing him up for. ”Hmm.” She said looking at the row of ships in front of her. She knew just about every vessel that was there. She had been studying classifications so that she could do her job well when she was given a command. But there were a few vessels there that she had placed in a certain area, that she could point out because of what they were for. ”If it doesn’t have to be in the Navy…”She said looking off at the vessels behind Morse. ”I could move you into a transfer to the Cavalry?” She said. ”You’d be under a new commander and transfer out. I don’t really know who or where, but I know what it will be with.” She said. She looked back at Morse, who was still in a state that he didn’t seem to like his position. ”I need to keep people where they’re good. And you don’t have any ground combat experience so I can’t throw you there with a platoon.” She pointed out. ”And there’s a lot of need for a lot of things, but there isn’t any point in putting you somewhere you don’t have any experience or training. But you’ve done ships, and the cavalry does ships.” That was about as plain of an explanation as she could put it. Even if Morse wasn’t sitting on her facility, or under her command, which he wasn’t, she could still make sure that he was in a place where he could help the war effort.

[Bishop Morse]

Morse’s eyebrows came together, showing his confusion when she mentioned the cavalry. As far as he knew the cavalry were just infantry support that were there to do raids and drop off soldiers in dangerous areas, and then run away. He didn’t know if they had the best reputation in the Independents Military. The thought in his mind wasn’t the most appealing. It sounded almost identical to what he was doing already, just in a different craft, with probably more people. He gave an airy laugh when he thought about the idea. It seemed that was all he was going to be used for in the war. He would be used to lead rickety pieces of metal with engines forward towards fire, until he inevitably got caught up in it, probably exploded into a ball of fire. Well that wasn’t going to be, if he was in space, since the fire wouldn’t exist. He got it in his mind that dying in a ball of flame on a planet with a lot of noise was better then doing it in space. At least his remains would be somewhere. But that wasn’t enough to give him a push.

”The cavalry?” Morse asked. ”And you can’t tell me what I’d be doing.” Morse wasn’t particularly pleased with that sort of answer. It was like leaving a bad situation to walk down a dark scary tunnel without a torch. It didn’t sound almost any better, and he’d probably have to lug the same ship, which just meant he’d have to worry about anti aircraft fire, and if the Alliance was anything like the Independents in that regard, there would be a lot of it. ”Oh good, I can crash, instead of just burn.” He said with his bitter sarcasm, which was very typical for him. Gaston’s words from earlier in her explanation went through his mind then. He hadn’t caught it a second earlier, but now he did. ”What would I be goin’ with?” Morse asked. He understood that she meant commission wise. ”The Michelle’s Way right?” Morse asked. It seemed like something the cavalry would use. A small boat that would move quickly, land, and then run. Of course it didn’t have the best take off or cargo capacity, but it seemed like their sort of thing.

[Ilana Logan]

Captain Gaston


Looking back over at the ships that were lined up as Morse spoke, Gaston thought about her decision to give him the option. It wasn’t bad, as she was supposed to make sure that things were kept optimum. And this seemed like a decent thing. Morse wasn’t a bad commander from what she gathered, though if he was discontent with his position, it would only be a matter of time before that affected performance and morale. ”No you wouldn’t be taking that Remora IV.” Gaston announced. ”That’s a navy boat, it stays with the Navy. You’d be taking a cavalry designated vessel.” She said then looking over at the row of ships. She pointed forward at a large red one. It had big powerful looking engines on its left and right. It was a very large craft compared to many that were at Fort Vanwood. ”It just came in with a shipment of supplies and soldiers a few days, and its commander just went AWOL when it landed.” She said. ”I guess that spooked the crew, because they all went AWOL right after he did.”Gaston explained.

 It was a strange sort of circumstance. But when a vessel volunteered for use in the military, it was owned by the military. This led to a few disputes between certain volunteers and their new commanding officers. However the commanding officer for that particular ship had made it clear that abandoning the cause would not be tolerated, especially not if it involved stealing a ship of the military. This scared the particular commander and he decided to abandon the ship, and save his skin, rather then risk taking it with him. He wouldn’t get far with it if he stole it, and if there were soldiers on board, he probably wouldn’t get anywhere. This was the way that he’d explained it to them. ”We caught him yesterday, so his commands forfeit.”Gaston mentioned. She wasn’t sure if this sort of deal was one that Morse wanted to make or not. But it was the only one that she was willing to offer, so he would have to decide. 

[Bishop Morse]

Morse looked at the ship in question. It was a large bulky sort of thing. A freighter without a doubt, probably used to ship large amounts of cargo here and there. That was confirmed when Gaston mentioned what it had done. It was red, like the ship he was already on. It made him wonder if that was a bad omen of some kind. But that sort of thing didn’t matter at that moment. ”Somethin’ must be wrong with it.” Morse said when he heard that the previous owner had decided to run from the post. This made Morse’s outlook on the vessel begin to shift downward. It was big and presented a very large target. It seemed somewhat sturdy, those it’s arms were very thin holding up the engines. From where he was standing it looked like they were too heavy and they would probably fall off. Looking at it he didn’t really like it.

He listened as the story that was explained about what happened. At least that made it sound better then the craft being a hunk of junk that was destined to explode. Though it didn’t lend much to the commanding officer. But then again if the man was the owner of the vessel, and it was newly commandeered, then that probably put him in a different set of circumstances. Morse wasn’t planning on going AWOL anytime soon, he still had a vested belief and determination towards the cause of the soldiers in brown. The Alliance was moving to take over everything, and while Beaumonde was far away, it still effected it. That’s was something many of them new, and why many of them volunteered. So looking at the craft, and then thinking on the tiny Remora IV. ”I guess I’ll do it.” Morse said, with a slight bit of enthusiasm, mixed with reluctance. He didn’t know quite what he was getting into. He could see a moniker on the side of the vessel, naming it. He looked at it, and then read it’s name aloud. ”Logan.”