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Starbase - 11; Main Commons

(1:27PM) {Four Months Ago}

She had just arrived on the station a few days ago. Her uncle; Fleet Admiral Keeton, had assigned her to be stationed here but about the time she arrived he had already sent her new orders. She was to wait for a civilian starship by the name Luxuria; but the way her uncle spoke and the tone in his voice made her wonder what she was getting put into.

She only had to wait a few days and was in the room assigned to her when the alarms started going off. Sylvia quickly learned that someone had destroyed all the sensor arrays on the station just before the station came under attack by enemy forces. Even on short notice the station was able to raise some defenses and attack the Outcasts who had mistaken the combat efficiency of the station. Even so, they still managed to get people on the station before the most of their ships were destroyed.

Once word had gotten out that the enemy had boarded the station, orders were issued to all stationed personnel to hunt the outcasts. Sylvia was aiding station security and fleet personnel when the gravity, lights, and even life support went out. The emergency power hadn't kicked on before a large force of Outcasts opened fire on her; and the few squads that were with her. The fire fight in zero gravity left a third of the people with her dead before the emergency power had been switched on. Once gravity was back, it was easier for her and the remainder of the squads to get behind cover.

She was now returning fire while thinking "Sure Sylvia, you won't have to worry about a god damn thing." Ducking behind cover again she grumbled "Fuckin Outcasts" when everyone heard the charge up of a beam weapon.

"Beam rifle! Where's it coming from!?" Someone yelled.

"Over there!" Someone else shouted and pointed towards the main entrance to the area.

Sylvia looked just as two mechs appeared. One had charged out into the open and opened fire on the Outcasts where they couldn't get to cover. Another mech aimed a beam rifle at the walkway that was directly above the Outcast and Federation forces. When the beam rifle fired, it destroyed a section of the walkway directly above her. When she turned to see where the beam hit, she heard the screams well before she saw the Outcasts falling to their deaths.

One of the other men grabbed her and yelled "Take Cover!" as small chunks of the walkway landed near them but thankfully not on them.

"Thanks, that was too close." Sylvia said as she and the others helped fire on the Outcasts on the ground level with them.

The mech that had fired the beam rifle switched back to a phase rifle and used its thrusters to jump over the enemy and fired on them from above before landing behind them, only to continue firing on them. The phase rifles that the mechs used were so powerful that each time a round hit the enemy they virtually exploded where hit; sending chunks of flesh and blood to coat the surrounding area.

It only took a few moments of being fired on from three sides for the Outcasts to be finished. Strangely enough none of them surrendered and the ones that had been injured simply killed themselves. Once the area was secure the two mechs stepped up together before they started to open up. Sylvia had stepped up to thank the pilots but let out a surprised gasp when James stood up from within the mech followed by Lliam in the other.

"Hey Sylvia, looking good as usual I see." James said with a smile.

Sylvia was wearing simple civilian clothing, a plain black T-shirt and blue jeans; which told she hadn't been there long enough for official duties, but she was wearing protective gloves, armored boots and a TE (Thermal Energy) battle armor to protect against energy and phase based weaponry. Her face was smooth and currently devoid of any makeup; which was hard to see, as her shoulder length red hair covered part of her face.

Her blue eyes looked from Lliam to James as she said in surprise. "Guys! What are you doing here?"

"Helping by the looks of it." James said.

"Okay smartass." She said to James and looked at Lliam and asked "Really what are you two doing all the way out here?"

"Let's just say we're on a special mission." Lliam said but with the look Sylvia gave him he gave a little more detail "We're chasing down an Outcast ship that attacked the colony on Falora. The Admiral said if we came close to this station to pick up two people that could come with us."

"Well by Admiral I'm guessing you mean my uncle?" She asked and with his nod she said "Well he gave me orders to wait for a civilian starship by the name Luxuria and help them in any way I can."

"Well, it looks like we'll all be traveling together. Oh joy of joys." James said and chuckled.

"I don't need any more jokes from you smartass." She said with a little temper.

"Rather be a smartass then a dumbass, and I'm not joking. We came here on the Luxuria." James said to which Sylvia looked at Lliam, who only nodded at her unasked question.

"Not only that but we've already sent a distress message to any Federation ships within range." Lliam added as an afterthought.

"Are you two going to help us clean up these Outcasts?" one of the other men asked.

"Might as well. Gives us more time to get some combat experience with these things." James said.

"Wait you don't have any combat experience?" This from several people at once.

James couldn't help but laugh at that question while Lliam clarified what James had said "We do, just not in these new mechs."

"Hey Sylvia, if you're one of the two people we're to pick up... do you know who the other one is?" James asked.

Sylvia sighed as she moved her red hair out of her eyes before saying "I'm not sure, but I know a way we could find out. Though we'd need to take control of the control room if it's in enemy hands as well as get the main power back on."

"Well, splitting up our forces may be quicker but... it'd be more dangerous; even if one of us went with each group." Lliam said.

"Then what do you propose we do?" Sylvia asked.

"I don't mean to barge into your conversation but I think I could speed things up a bit." A voice said.

They could tell that the voice they had just heard they did not hear with their ears. Looking around and noticed that they were the only ones who had heard this voice as well; the others around them were talking amongst themselves and seemed to not even notice. The only other option was that someone with Telepathic abilities had spoken to them.

Rather than talking Lliam decided to just think what he wanted to say "And who might you be?"

He didn't get an answer from who had spoken; instead both James and Sylvia were looking at him in confusion. James was the first to speak "Lliam... was that you just now?"

"What do you mean? You... heard that?" Lliam asked.

"Interesting." The voice said after a few moments. "I thought the tests you took when you joined the military said you had no mental abilities such as Telepathy. Yet; even without training, you managed to speak to not only me but others telepathically."

"How would you know about me?" Lliam sent as he did before.

"Oh sorry Lliam, though I must say I'm glad you, Sylvia and James are alive. It's been several years hasn't it. It's Nate. I'm the other person who is to join you on the Luxuria and for the moment the Control room is under our control." Nate sent to them.

"Nate! Really it's you?" Lliam sent with a surprised look and at the same time both James and Sylvia's face lit up with surprise as well. "Well that narrows down what we have to do_..._"

"Not quite, the Outcasts are at our door and trying to break through. We have around a dozen men; half of which are injured. I can sense that the force you all just took down was much larger than the one here. If you're going to split up into two teams then you can send about a third of the men here. Both you and James can take your mechs and the rest of the men to restore main power.

_ _ "The group that has taken over engineering is much larger than the one you just faced so you'll need both mechs. Once the Outcasts at our door are dealt with I'll send the most of the second team to back you up by flanking those in engineering." Nate explained to them.

"Alright then, sounds like a plan." Sylvia said then turned to face the others "Okay everyone, listen up..."

**********

Luxuria, Bridge

(1:36 PM)

"So... Albert? How are they progressing?" Kathy asked.

"They seem to have made contact with the largest group of survivors, including one of the people we were to pick up. They've come up with a plan and half of the group has gone to the control room where a small group of survivors and a group of Outcasts are. The other half as well as Lliam and James have gone to engineering to get the main power working again." Albert said.

"Good, maybe we can get out of here... soon. Oh shit!" Kathy said as something appeared on one of her screens.

Albert heard the change in her voice and looked over at her and asked "What's wrong?"

"We only have an hour before we have company." Kathy said.

"Outcasts?"

"Yeah, they just showed up the long range sensors. I know it's wrong to say this but... we need to leave before they get here." Kathy said in a solemn voice.

"What do you mean leave!?" Albert asked in a slightly raised voice; even though slightly raised it was still deep, loud and demanding.

"I don't have many weapons on this boat. This ship was designed with infiltration in mind, NOT combat!" Kathy said a little harshly.

"Do you see any Federation ships heading here yet?" Albert asked after sighing; doubt clearly in his voice.

"Not yet... you better let James and Lliam know." Kathy said.

Sighing again Albert connected to James and Lliams mechs "James, Lliam... we have incoming hostiles, ETA..." He said looking to Kathy as a countdown timer showed up on the screen "Fifty six minutes."

**************

Starbase - 11, Engineering

(1:40 PM)

With how large their group was, sneaking into engineering was a lost cause. Their only hope was in the element of surprise. The only problem they encountered was how well the Outcasts had dug in. The way the area was designed prevented them from flanking the Outcasts; who had set up defensive positions all the way to the main power generators. Even with the aid of the mechs, the Federation forces were barely gaining ground.

"Shit! These halls are too small for the mechs to move properly in." James said as he fired his weapons and as incoming fire kept them pinned down.

"Hey Sergeant! Do you know if there is any other way around?" Lliam asked one of the solders through his comms.

"SHIT!" The Sergeant Lliam spoke to yelled as a few of his men were killed; both he and those men were wearing fleet uniforms showing they were fleet personnel and not belonging to station security. "Not that we can access. The only way around from here is if you went for a spacewalk." The Sergeant yelled over the sound of all the weapons as he took a couple potshots from behind his cover.

"You saying there's an airlock around here?" Lliam asked.

"Yeah but there's no power, besides we have no spacesuits." The man answered before getting hit and dragged further behind cover so he wouldn't be killed.

After a few minutes of firing; and no progress being made, James asked "If I were to say... blow a hole through the airlock... do the emergency systems have their own source of power?"

"Yes, all those systems have their own power supply" A black footed ferret wearing station security armor and clothing said.

"Where's the airlock?" Lliam asked.

"That next passage up from here. On the left, are you really going to blow the airlock?"

James looked at Lliam through the vid-screen in his mech and said "You want to, or should I?"

"I'll do it but first..." Lliam said then asked one of the soldiers "Does anyone know if there are engineers still in the area and if they're being held prisoner?"

"The only crew that would've been down here would've been third shift crews. Chances are they evacuated engineering or were killed." A female serval with the rank of corporal wearing fleet style clothing said.

"Well guess that means this is a viable choice. Is there a way to shut off the emergency system for say... just that air lock?" James asked.

"Not from here but maybe the control room." The sergeant who Lliam had talked to answered after having his wound patched.

Switching back to just talk with James, Lliam said "I'm going to try to contact Nate and see if he can override the controls for the airlock, if you can get everyone out of engineering."

"Oh sure thing lad. You just go and zone out, I'll cover ya." James said in his Irish voice as he joked but switched positions with Lliam and started to fire.

"Even in battle you joke around... is there no end?" Lliam asked with humor in his voice before he started to concentrate. "I hope I know what I'm doing. Uh, Nate... can you hear me?"

"I can hear you loud and clear, which still amazes me. What's up?" Nate replied.

"We're having trouble advancing here. We have an idea of what to do but... I need to know if you can deactivate the emergency overrides for airlock... um..." Lliam stopped and as he traded places with James and quickly checked around the corner where the airlock was "Airlock 45C on the engineering deck"

"I might be able to... give me a few moments." Nate sent as he fell quiet.

"Okay James, Nate's seeing if he can override the emergency controls for the airlock." Lliam said when a fission grenade was thrown right before him "Oh FUCK!" Lliam said but wasn't the one to act. The ferret from earlier was quick to act and kicked the grenade back before it went off.

Someone had yelled "Grenade!" just as the Private went to kick it back. Everyone near where it landed had started to retreat but when it went off, it was in front of the airlock. Being that it was a fission grenade; the thermal energy created put off incredible amounts of heat. Once a fission grenade goes off everything around it melts; metal, glass and even organic material. Due to this it almost melted the airlock open.

"Fuckers!" someone yelled as everyone intensified their fire.

"Nate... any news? They're risking using fission grenades on us now." Lliam asked.

It was a few more minutes before Nate contacted him again "Okay Lliam, I think I found the override. If it doesn't work you'll just have to stop the emergency blast doors from closing with your mech."

"Got it" Lliam sent then said to everyone else "Everyone get out of engineering as fast as you can. I'm going to blow this airlock wide open."

After Lliam said this he took up a position to keep the Outcasts busy and not notice everyone else retreating. They quickly bugged out and ran as fast as they could to where they entered engineering. James quickly contacted Lliam the moment they were in the clear and engineering had been sealed off and said "Okay buddy, we're clear and engineering has been sealed up. Go and see if those Outcasts can breathe vacuum." He laughed in an evil manner after he said that which caused Lliam to chuckle as he prepared to blow the airlock.

Lliam switched to his beam weapon and started charging it. When it was close to full power he quickly charged into the corridor and aimed at the airlock. It was a second later that the weapon fired; blowing the airlock and the bulkheads behind it away. With the alarms going off and with the rapid decompression happening, it appeared that the emergency blast doors were not closing so Lliam quickly grabbed hold of something so he and his mech would not be sucked into space, but a few seconds later they started to close.

"SHIT!" Lliam yelled and let go of his anchor and stopped himself at the airlock and positioned himself to keep them from shutting.

He watched as Outcasts were quickly sucked through the hole; a few had managed to grab onto things along the way; including his mech. One managed to grab onto a power conduit which was destroyed when it couldn't hold his weight. The result was a loss of gravity in the area. Luckily the mech was unaffected as it was being pushed to the floor by the emergency bulkhead. With him pushing back into it, the mech didn't move at all.

Engineering was so large that it took a couple minutes for it to be completely drained of any kind of atmosphere. When the sound of rushing air and alarms died down due to nothing for the sound waves to travel through, Lliam quickly moved and let the blast door close. He sighed and waited for the room to repressurize but Nate contacted him and gave him some bad news.

"Lliam... I got some bad news. Engineering is not being repressurized; whatever caused the gravity to fail is also causing this as well. We still need main power up, can you get to the generator with your mech."

"No... the passageways are getting to small for it. I'll have to get out and do it manually." Lliam said to Nate then asked Albert; who was monitoring their progress "Albert... how far am I from the main generators?"

"If these scans are right... two hundred and fifty eight yards. Why do you ask?" He asked.

"I have to get out and walk. Can you send me the directions on how to restart the generator as well as send a map to my wrist pad so I can get to them?" Lliam asked when he saw a bright light beside him as an oxygen tank materialized. "Thank Kathy when she gets back." He added as he opened his mech; the air quickly rushing out.

Once he was out, Lliam checked his wrist pad and made sure the map and the directions to restart the generator were downloaded. After that he quickly grabbed the oxygen tank and noticed that Kathy had rigged together something so he could put it on his back like a backpack. After connecting the oxygen tank to his suits small air pack he closed and locked his mech before taking off.

Following the map he quickly made his way through the passageways. As he traveled he thought "I guess I could have brought the mech through here... but this is a lot faster at least."

After a few minutes Lliam finally made it to his destination. Looking about he thought "I have to start all of these by myself?"

The room held over forty generators for powering the station. Lliam chuckled nervously as he headed for the first one. Before he got to it though, he heard Nate ask "Lliam... are you there yet?"

"Yeah..."

"Good just find the main power control room and you can restart them all at once." Nate sent.

"That's all" Lliam sighed "I thought I had to restart all of these one by one. Oh god that's a relief." Lliam added as he looked around for what Nate had said to look for. A few moments went by and Lliam noticed a sign that said 'Power Control' over a doorway.

**************

Starbase - 11, Main Control Room

(2:02 PM)

Nate and everyone had already been saved from the Outcasts that tried to gain access to the control room. Nate had already sent most of the men that helped them to engineering where James and Sylvia were waiting. He was currently sitting in one of the chairs waiting for Lliam to get main power restored.

"This is taking too long..." Nate thought to himself and was about to try and contact Lliam again when he heard.

"Got it, main power should be restored momentarily." Lliam sent to him.

Just as Lliam said, emergency power switched off as main power came back online. All the control boards as well as monitors and screens came back online as well. At that moment Nate tried to hail the ship that Lliam and James had come in on. The communication arrays may have been destroyed but that would only cause a lot of static between the station and the ship that was so close to it.

Nate was surprised when his hail was answered by a female wolf he last saw about four years ago. He couldn't help but say in surprise "Lure!? What are you doing here?"

"Shh... just call me Kathy." She said then sighed and gave him a look "I never thought I'd see you again."

"Only twenty eight minutes until enemy forces arrive... Nate, is that you?" Albert said as he walked into view and noticed Nate.

"Albert!? So you're alive too. This day just keeps getting better uh... wait did you say twenty eight minutes until enemy forces arrive?"

"Afraid so... allied forces have responded and are en route, but they'll arrive about seven minutes after the enemy." Kathy informed him.

"Well we got main power back online which means what defenses are still intact and shields will be online shortly. First wave we didn't even have shields operational so this time we should be able to hold out until allied forces arrive.

"My ship isn't designed for combat, and with so many enemies I might be detected. I'd feel safer if I could dock my ship in the stations dry dock." Kathy said

"That should be fine; I got a couple people here who know how to properly work these controls. I'll let them get at it and open the dry dock." Nate said as he informed said people so they could get the Luxuria inside the station. It wouldn't be long till Humanitist forces would arrive with their Outcast allies.