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The adventures of Madame Cynthia Parker continues  now she is going off on her own leaving her close friends and partner behind to face the unknown and hostile stars.


Chapter 4: Foxy Lady: 2634

Fox Tale:  Alas finally the orders came and I had to depart Resort 14 and report to my new assignment, the AISS Foxglove.  The Foxglove was the number two ship in the squadron, the flagship, another Saturn, was the Firebat.  We also had three destroyers, the Hoopskirt; a Hermes class and the Lorington and Lapis-Lazuli both Tyche class destroyers.  Our only vessel was a single Oracle class corvette the Sunshine.  The mission of the 452nd was the screen and scout force for the ATG. 

 
We normally worked in two separate divisions, with the Hermes and Oracle as independent detachments.  At full muster we would have two frigates but they were long since cross leveled to another squadron.    Because of the need to disperse the squadron each ship mistress operated her own independent command, even our “close” companion the Lapis-Lazuli (Double L or 2L) was usually just a blip on the extreme range of the sensors.  Right now however all of the ships in the squadron were in orbit around Goldstone. 
 
            The shuttle to the Foxglove seemed longer than the trip down from the Pacificator, however I used the time to read up on my new home.  The Saturn class is about 2/3rds the size of the Neptune class like the Gremlin, and has about 200 fewer souls.  This makes for relatively tight quarters.  Because the Foxglove was not set up for a squadron command ship, we did not have a full battle staff, which left some space.  I reported aboard and was promptly shown to my quarters, a duplex shared by another senior officette named Rhonda Winters, she was not present so I could not see which department nor what rank she was.  The steward also informed me that Lady Janice wants to meet with all department heads for dinner, back on Goldstone, the dress is Formal.  I inquired where the skipper was, and was given the answer still down planet side, along with most of the senior staff.  I then found out that Miss Martin, is the OOD, which is curious because she was not the officette that piped me aboard.  I decided to change out of shore dress and take quick stroll to the BDC before getting ready for tonight’s dinner. 
 
            Miss Martin or more precisely Mademoiselle Lewtenette Mary Beth Martin, 2nd Watch MCO was located on the BDC, however besides two other enlisted the place was deserted.  I looked around, making some mental notes when someone bumped into me.  “Excuse me, coming through.” 
 
I moved out of the way for a Majourette wearing the overalls from Engineering she had a tray of food. 
 
“Hey Mary chow time…”  The Engineering officette said to Miss Martin.
 
“About time Gail, where did you go to get it?”  She said back
 
“Well shit you know the galley is nowhere near Engineer country, hey who’s the new girl?”   Gail replied not really paying attention.
 
“Huh?” 
 
“I passed by one of you command types, over by the hatch, not very friendly….” 
 
“Oh well probably a replacement still wet behind the ears, where is she?’ Mary asked.
 
 “Oh there she is standing over there, kinda old looking to be a kaydette…..oh shit on me….”   Gail said pointing and finally noticing the 4 pointed emblem on my collar
 
“What is it Gail, a friend of yours?”
 
“...no shit for brains  I think she is the new Exec…..stand up fool….”
 
 “Oh Soro’t hell, Executive on Deck!”  The one named Mary shouted as she leaped out of her chair, the two enlisted folks also responded along with the engineer.
 
  I gave a small smirk then said “As you were, Miss Martin a word please.”
 
  We went to a corner of the BDC and then I established myself within the pecking order.  “Ok I know I am new to the 45th and the light cruisers, but unless AIDOF regulations have changed in the last two days, what in Soro’s Name do you think you are doing!”
 
 “Uh….”
 
“Uh is not an answer young lady, now first off you are the OOD?” 
 
“Yes Ma’am..”
 
“Good, now why did you not meet me when I boarded?”
 
 “I was not aware that you arrived, all of the seniors are planet side with the skipper..”
 
“Well I did not get the memo, who is your friend in Orange?” 
 
“Uh Gail, er Miss Benton.” 
 
“Miss Benton, please come here….good are you on duty?”  I asked her.
 
 “No Ma’am just got off…” 
 
“Ok why were you bringing Miss Martin food to the BDC?”
 
 “Er we normally do, just a custom aboard the Foxy…”
 
 “Ok, who is senior presently aboard?” 
 
“That would be Majourette Daniels….”
 
“What division is she?”
 
“Launch Control, she is the Hanger Deck Officette.” 
 
“Right ok who is the senior present from Command, Engineering and Weapons?” 
 
“Uh Miss Travis, Miss Kingston and myself, Ma’am.” 
 
“Ok good, I have some time before I go back planet side, please summon Miss Daniels, and the others and meet me in the wardroom in ten minutes.  They are to come as they are, and don’ you dare tell them the reason, that is all Miss Benton.”
 
I waited for  her  to depart before turning back to Miss Marin, “As for you unless we are on alert  there will be no more chow on the BDC, especially hot liquids, It seems we have some changes  to make, but since I have yet to  meet the skipper we will consider the unfortunate affairs of today closed.” 
 
“Yes Ma’am thank you Ma’am…”
 
“Oh don’t thank me yet, where is the rest of the watch?” 
 
“Er off duty, I got the short straw Ma’am…..”
 
“Right another change, we have three full watches for a reason, carry on Miss Martin.” 
 
I then left the BDC and headed to the ward room where I could hear the grumblings of the few ladies. 
 
“This better be important Gail, dragging me out of bed like that.”
 
 “Oh it is, believe me Amy.” 
 
“I hope you are right, Trish and I were in the middle of a nice poker game with that sweet babe in Navigation.” 
 
“You mean Sophia, Debby, watch out she is a sharp one…..” She broke mid sentence then went rigid and shouted “Attention on Deck!”
 
 The other three looked at their friend for a moment, one was about to say something then glanced over and noticed me walking in. 
 
“Uh shit girls get up!”  At this point the other two likewise saw at first the four points of my insignia and then the sextant of command, on board any ship without a flag staff only one person has those two items, the right arm of the Skipper, the Executive. 
 
“At ease ladies, at my request Miss Benton summoned you all here as she informed me you are the senior representatives present for each of the three main divisions and in the case of Miss Daniels the senior present among the ship’s company.  I have not been on board for very long but what I have seen so far leaves me at a loss for words.  Ok now since none of you seem to be in proper uniform, besides Miss Benton I need to know who each of you are, but to be fair Miss Benton, please start, first and last name, rank, department, duty station and watch.” 
 
“Er Yes Ma’am, Gail Benton, Majourette, Stellar Drive Officette, uh 1st Watch.”
 
 “You are not sure which watch?”
 
“Er Ma’am I am the head of the Stellar Drive section, I am formally part of 1st Watch but really all watches whenever we are using the stellar drive.”
 
 “Ah right, ok next, hmm you,” I said while pointing to a dirty blonde wearing light pink, non regulation pajamas.
 
  “Amy Daniels, Majourette, Launch Control, Hanger Deck Officette, like Miss Benton I am also technically 1st Watch.”
 
 “Right ok now, your turn,” I said pointing to a dark skinned brunette wearing it seems her bra and part of her ship board dress. 
 
“Uh Trish er Patrisha Travis, Command, DBDCO…..”
 
“Say again?”  I said with not so feigned disbelief
 
“Er DBDCO, you know Ma’am Deputy Battle Direction Center…..”
 
“I know what a DBDCO is Miss Travis, but what I want to know is why the heck you are out of uniform and not on duty during your watch!”
 
 “Uh…”
 
“Uh is not an answer, the DBDCO is 2nd Watch, I should know having been both the DBDCO and the BDCO myself, and since it is the middle of 2nd Watch, why are you not on duty?” 
 
“Ma’am we are in port so we need minimal staff, Miss Martin is the OOD….”
 
“I already met her, and correction we are in orbit, not in port big difference, each watch needs to be manned at a minimum of three officettes, one of which needs to be experienced enough to run the entire ship, and have all command functions manned with at least one person both on the BDC and VNB, just in case something or someone decides to head for this ship.”  As for you I said turning my gaze to the last person, I take it you are Miss Kingston?” 
 
“Yes Ma’am,” she said and like Miss Travis was wearing only some clothing, however in her case she was just in her panties and bra, not even any socks.
 
“Deborah Kingston, Majourette, Weapons, Secondary Angel Turret Gun Captain, 2nd Watch.” 
 
“Right same thing, what kind of poker game, oh never mind, were you losing?” I asked with a mischievous grin
 
 “Uh no Ma’am Miss Everson, uh Lewtenette Everson was losing.”
 
“Right and what division and watch is she?” 
 
“2nd Watch Navigation, we were not sleeping…..” Miss Travis interjected
 
“But not in a state or position to react in an emergency either, have you seen much action?”  I asked the group
 
“Well we have been in the fight as long as everyone else…” Again Miss Travis, now sticking up for her shipmates and ship, a good sign really
 
“Yes but the 45th has been on the wings, well let me tell you girls, I have seen my share, and then some, only two years ago was I like you Miss Travis, by the way are you any relation to Mademoiselle Majourette Wendy Travis?”  I asked her
 
“Uh Yes ma’am she is my cousin, why do you know her?” a slight look of concern mixed with puzzlement was on her face.
 
“Yes I do, we went to the Salon together and served on the same ships until recently.” 
 
“Oh my,  uh so you are the one she wrote about….”  She turned pale a bit.
 
“I guess, what did she say, nothing scandalous I hope?”  I asked again smirking to show I found the situation at leas in part humerous.
 
“Er no Ma’am she says you saved her life, and that you have a gold cluster.” 
 
“Ah  that I did, and do have, anything else?”
 
 “That you take things very seriously but can party with the best of them…”
 
“That I do, work hard, play hard, but don’t get confused and play when you should be working.  I think that will do ladies, but word of advice I think we should see some changes in the state of affairs when I return with the Skipper later tonight.” 
 
“Yes Ma’am!” they shouted, as I left to change for the shindig down planet-side.
 
I changed into my formal dress uniform, sans shoes, as I will put on my heels in the shuttle, then went to the BDC and informed Miss Travis that I was on my way down and that she had the con.  I noticed that all of the primary stations were manned and everyone was in shipboard duty dress like they were supposed to be.  This meant that my black blouse and red skirt stuck out like a sore thumb.  After leaving the Foxglove’s BDC I headed down to the shuttle area and took a shuttle down and met with my new commander. 
 
Despite my first impression, I soon warmed to Lady Janice and my counterparts.  Ms. Wilson the Engineering Officette knew her trade, Ms. Duquesne, the Weapons Officette likewise ran a tight ship although her division was not nearly as impressive as the weapons on the Pacificator, I knew we could trust her girls to give the enemy a rough time.  Ms. Green, the BDCO was slightly jealous that she was not called to be the executive but she has even less time in her present grade than I do, she transferred as DBCO from a battle cruiser as a replacement for the BDCO who went to another ship.  It seems the light cruisers are prime targets for personnel raids to beef up the larger ships.  Ms. Kemple and Miss Rochester rounded out the other seniors of note, Ms. Kemple insured me that her birds were up and her girls will do their duty.  Miss Rochester likewise vouched for her Troop.  As for the dinner it was quite good if not wholly remarkable.  

Part 2 the Battle of Madrid

After dinner we were briefed on the mission of the Foxglove and that of the 452nd CRURON, we were to be the eyes of the 45th and other forces in fact we were going to proceed through the Gibraltar Wormhole tomorrow, even though we received no word from TF Stacy or from Princess Nicole and the rest of the EXFLEET. So therefore the plan was to make the jump as a hostile one, both light cruisers were to transit in sequence followed by the destroyers and frigates. Hopefully the Corporate bastards would be asleep or even better already subdued by TF Stacy. One could only hope and pray that Soro would watch over us. I had Ms. Green assemble her section leaders and gave them a full briefing in the wardroom as soon as we arrived back to the ship. I wanted everyone one to be on their toes. I also informed Ms. Green that during the fight she was to take her orders from Lady Janice especially if the VNB – BDC link was severed for any reason. I would of course be on the VNB which is the duty station of the Executive during a battle, but since Lady Janice was not playing commodore she would be free to fight her ship from the BDC.

We made the jump without any problems and in fact jumped into a peaceful scene, well uplifting anyway. All of the Corporate orbital bases were smoldering lumps of debris and the sight of the AISS Purveyor greeting us as we exited was very encouraging. The fight for the ground was still raging but it seemed TF Stacy had complete control of the stellar arena. The Hoopskirt went back to inform our own leaders the good news.

Soon Gibraltar was crowded with the ships from both TF Stacy and TF Catherine. Her Grace however, was busy playing ground pounder so when Arch Duchess Catherine arrived she took control of the stellar assets. We had little time to celebrate as the AISS Hermitage arrived with dire news. The main body of the EXFLEET was cut off from friendly space and was fighting a desperate action to punch through the Corporate forces. We were ordered (TF Catherine and most of TF Stacy, or quite simply the 141st Fleet) to move at best possible speed to reach the 39th SF and other elements of the 1st EXFLEET. The 45th was tasked as the Van force and therefore the 452nd became the eyes and ears of the entire force.

According to the reports from the Hermitage, the 39th SF was heading towards Gibraltar and we needed to secure the path. We had our choice of either Barcelona or Madrid systems. The question was which one. The 452nd was given the job of determining which one. More to the point the two cruisers went while the destroyers stayed back. The Hoopskirt was to relay the info we found to Her Grace who would then order both the Hermitage and the Hoopskirt to make for the 39th, this would mean we would lose our Hermes until further notice. We decided on leaving the destroyers behind as they were one more ship and actually in system a Saturn could outrun anything that it could not take on with ease. Firebat got Barcelona we got Madrid

“Ma’am all systems are ready” announced Ms. Green.

“Thank you Lydia, set ship to condition zebra and prepare for jump.” I replied.
“Roger that,…”
NOW HERE THIS NOW HERE THIS SET SHIP TO CONDITION ZEBRA PREPARE TO JUMP

“…. Ma’am all sections report ship is at condition Zebra.”

“Very good, Navigation do we have everything set?”

“Aye Ma’am coordinates are locked and we are green for jump.” Replied Miss Stewart my Navigation officette.”

“Very Good, Miss Goldenstein set Voyeur to maximum passive upon arrival we need to see what this system has.”

“Aye Ma’am maximum passive, no active Ma’am?” the senior sensors Officette replied.

“Not unless we are spotted first, no need to give us away…Attention on Deck!” I shouted as Lady Janice arrived on the BDC.

“As you were girls, Ms. Parker I have the Con.”

“Aye Ma’am you have the con.” I replied while moving away from the command station.

“Cynthia, remain on the BDC until after we jump, then you may go to your action station.”

“Aye aye Ma’am.” I moved over to one of the folding jump seats and buckled myself in for the jump and looked at how smoothly 1st Watch proceeded with the jump translation.

We jumped to Madrid without a hitch. After we stabilized I headed for the VNB.

“Executive on Deck!” shouted Watch Chief Miranda Richards.

Miss Jenkins, stood out of the command station chair and greeted me. “Welcome to the VNB Ma’am, I presume you want your chair?”

“Yes Julie that would be nice, Lady Janice has the con, hopefully we get a nice routine shift up here.” I sat down and began monitoring the BDC feed. Looking at the data from the passive scans I noticed about thirty blips, but only twelve appeared to be of any significant output.

“BDC this is VNB I we are receiving data from scan it appears to be a very light Ma’am”
VNB THIS IS BDC WE CONCUR, RECOMMENDATIONS?

“Ma’am recommend IRIS sweep of the system, we recover on other side.”

CONCUR MS. PARKER, PREP AND LAUNCH IRIS PROBE AND COMPUTE COURSE AND SPEED FOR RENDESVOUS ON OTHER SIDE OF SYSTEM.

“Roger that….”

“Uh Ma’am…” interrupted one of the detail

“Wait one BDC, yes Miss Duncan?” I inquired of the Navigation Officette that dared interrupt my conversation with the skipper.

“Uh Ma’am instead of sending the entire ship to the other side couldn’t we use a Shaman to recover the probe?”

“That is a good idea Lewtenette, let’s see what the Skipper says. BDC this is VNB again, sorry for the interruption but Miss Duncan, the Nav-Oh here suggests using one of our Shaman bombers to recover the probe what do you think?”

SOUNDS GOOD TO ME OK WE’LL DO THAT MS PARKER MEET WITH AEROPS TO ARANGE RECOVERY BDC OUT.

“Ok you heard the Skipper, Miss Duncan, come with me it was your idea so you can help me pitch it to the ladies in purple.”

“Aye Aye Ma’am”

“Miss Jenkins the VNB is all yours.” I said, even though the formality of transferring the con was not needed as the BDC was still running the show.

The trip down to the hanger and flygirl country took a little bit, by the time we arrived Ms. Kemple was waiting for us. “Ah Ms. Parker the old lady said you wanted to utilize one of my birds, how can we help our sisters in blue?”

“Misty, we are launching an IRIS to make a sweep of this system, and rather than moving away from our return jump point, we think one of your Shaman bombers can recover the probe and bring it back.”

“Ah yes we could bring her back, you know those IRIS systems can be very touchy about being called it’s, however I would feel more comfortable sending a two Tempests with the Shaman.”

“Ok, well you have your people work it out Miss Duncan here is tasked as the liaison with the ship, have her give me the details and I will forward it to the Skipper.”
“Sure thing Cynthia, do you need anything else?”

“Nope that’s it just get that IRIS, we need to know what is in this system.” I said before heading back to the VNB to finish up my watch, however after the launching of the IRIS, It turned out that I had the con and so needed to head back to the BDC. One thing about being the Executive I certainly was in shape with all of the moving about the ship.

The rest of the watch was as predicted, routine, so routine in fact I had to be nudged awake by the BDCO when we got word that the IRIS was recovered. Funny thing IRIS probes, they are a marvel of engineering and science, the Independent Reconnaissance Intelligent Scout is one of the smartest artificial intelligences mass produced in Known Space. The Empire uses them to conduct close reconnaissance where sending a ship or even a manned fighter craft would be too risky. IRIS probes being as smart as they are have developed personalities that reflect the nature of their missions, they are either happy go lucky or very morose, and it is hard to tell which type you have.

The Foxglove carries five IRIS units, all of them are stored with the torpedoes as they are deployed through the torpedo tubes. Shaman bombers can be rigged with a recovery system in lieu of their own torpedoes. It is always humorous to read the unfiltered transmissions from an IRIS probe, and this time was no exception.

“Oh goody goody me, I get a mission!”

“What’cha talk’n ‘bout 35?”

“Oh they chose me 34, I get to go and explore Madrid, see (IRIS 35-K24 sends data collected from passive scan to IRIS 34-K24)

“Better you ‘dan me kid, looks dangerous.”

“Oh come on 34, it looks fun, all of those blips need a name, you think any are Pascals?”

“Why 35. but if they is, you sho don’t wanna get too close, they Pascal be real mean.”

“Ah 34 you’re no fun, well hey, I got to go, see you real soon.”

“Maybe I will, be careful kid.”

The IRIS was then loaded into the tube and deployed. “Yippeee here I go to save the day!”

“Hmm there are twenty five blips, eleven really big ones, well that cluster of four seems closest, let’s go say hi!” “She” thought to herself flying through space.

“Oh dang corporate Newtons, they are no fun, boring, but let see four Newtons on patrol, oh how original, I have seen more Newtons than I want to, maybe that group looks better.”

“Oh joy a Trig and three more Newtons, gee what are we chopped liver, hell Foxy can take all of this stuff by herself. Hmm that group looks promising….Oh well now what have we here, two Thetas, a Hawking, what, they still use those, three Trigs and do my eyes deceive me, can it be true? Yes it is true, Virginia there really is a Santa Claus, well ok, not really but a Pascal and a Dolciani all lit up and moored to an Oasis, looks like they are replenishing the Dolci, and that Pascal seems to be all taken apart, hmm let me get closer.” The probe moves in for a closer look

“Yep the engineering nacelles are opened doing a major overhaul there, well that’s no fun. What else do we got?” “She” does a longer scan with her powerful passive sensors/

“Oh well now that is interesting two more Dolcis on patrol with two Thetas and two Trigs. Oh well they look too alert to play, darn, well now let’s look at these last clusters, oh more Newtons and Trigs, that makes 14 Newtons, 10 Trigs and the lone Hawking, only two of the big ones left, so let’s see what they are…”

“Yeah! A Theta and a Descartes how nice bet the nice ladies in purple want to know about that, so better remember it. Ah a new blip, oh it must be my ride back home.”
The IRIS then headed for the Shaman and was recovered without incident and all three AS craft returned to the roost. We then went over the data collected and made our own analysis.

“Ma’am I think this is a gift from Soro, come on three Dolci’s, a Descartes and a disabled Pascal, we could do some damage with just this one ship.”

“I know that Ms. Parker but we must get that information to the fleet.”

“Yes Ma’am so send a Shaman back, hell, rig up an Ocelot with a One Shot, but we should remain here and keep tabs on things, or even get in a good position to take out a few baddies ourselves.”

“Ok, that will work, Ms. Kemple have one of your birds jump back to the Hoopskirt, and send word for both the Double L and the Lorington to jump back.”

“Aye Ma’am, may I suggest an Ocelot, that way 2L can recover her, and we are not deprived a shaman.”

“Ok very good, oh and if the Firebat is around suggest that Lady Marie likewise follows, or she can wait for Lady Amanda and the rest of the 45th.”

With that we broke up and began planning our next moves. I met with Ms. Kemple and Ms. Duquesne to look at what we could do to ruin the Corp’s day.

“Well Christy what do you think?”

“Dunno Cynthia, but looks like that Pascal is not going anywhere nor is that Dolci. I think LRAMS, full magazine, coordinate with the 2L and Lori, on the other Dolci’s.”

“Sounds good ok when can we expect the bastards to detect the missiles?”

“Well if we do it right, not until it is too late to do anything, but we need to be 180 degrees from our present position on the system axis.”

“Right ok, we will wait for the two destroyers then move into position.”

“Misty what is your plan?”

“Well as much as my gals would love to play with that Descartes, or even the Dolcis, that is asking a lot for a light comp squadron.” Ms. Kemple replied.

“Agreed, so what do you want to do?”

“My Warriors should be left to protect the Foxy and destroyers from anything those bastards throw at us, but the Tempests and Shamans can play rough with that far group of Thetas and trigs.”

“Ok sounds good, now if we get the Firebat?” I asked her.

“Well they are senior, but again a 2 comp squadrons still not enough to take on the wing of a Dolci, let alone that fat cow of a Descartes.”

“Right ok so we give that tempting cluster our missiles and use the little birds to play with their scout cruisers, that leaves our guns and torps…”

“Ma’am stay out of Torp range those quasars are bigger and faster than our Angels.” Ms. Duquesne stated.

“Ok so guns then..”

“We can chew up the Trigs and that Hawking, best if we work with the destroyers on that, 45th has some big gals in 1st and 3rd Squadrons.”

“Right plus the carriers, and that’s not taking into account the rest of TF Stacy and our own command shit. Ok I will run these by Lady Janice and act accordingly, I will do everything I can to persuade her to let Foxy get in the fight fast and early. Christy I will send one of my girls with the nav coordinates so you can get the LRAMS programmed. Ok let’s get to work ladies.”

2L and Lori jumped in with our shuttle and a message from the TGR, she gave us the go ahead to position ourselves for a flank strike but we were to wait until the AS craft jumped in before doing anything rash. It seems the TGR doesn’t want to risk the big girls for this pathetic system, so besides the three ships already present it will be an AS show.

With that news we decided that once the LRAMS were launched we would charge the Descartes, our Strike birds will still only play with the Thetas, in fact we launched them early and had them orbit just out of sensor range of their selective targets, which was quite easy to determine as every once and awhile the morons did an active scan. As for the missiles they were targeted and all we were waiting for was the signal to launch.

The signal came, the jump signature of nearly 200 AS craft is quite noticeable even to the blind wonders that must be manning the sensors on the Corp jerks. As soon as the blooms from the first wave faded we launched our missiles and then did an all out run for the Descartes, the two destroyers struggled to keep up. However we had to close the distance, the strike craft likewise accelerated to attack speed and headed for their respective targets.

As predicted the Corp ships reacted to the obvious threat of the AS strike and the Dolci’s and Descartes began launching their own fighters, and strike craft, assuming that our capital ships were en route shortly. The Tempests zoomed ahead of the slower shaman bombers and blew huge paths in the onrushing quadratic and pi fighters. Everyone ignored the lumbering numeric bombers which were now orbiting in figure eight patterns wondering where the ships were. At this time the theta group that we designated for our own AS strike detected our fighters and warned the Dolcis but by this time it was too late, because our LRAMS filled their sensors just as they activated their terminal thrusters. Each Destroyer carries 40 of the big missiles while we carry 20, but our guns were bigger.

Any way you look at it 100 LRAMs is not a fun thing especially on a flank attack. Twenty of the weapons were destroyed by defensive fire but fifteen from our strike and 65 from the destroyers got through to their targets. Because the Oasis was still moored to both of the cap ships, all of our missiles were targeted to that cluster, five hit the Dolci, four hit the Pascal and six slammed into the poor Oasis. The Dolci’s shields absorbed all of the hits but the last one knocked out their shields (we saw it flare), as for the Pascal, it did not have its primary shields up and took a pounding with the four hits, but, all of that was moot, as the Oasis, nothing more than a converted civilian freighter took six direct hits, blowing the ship to smithereens, because it was still moored to the other ships the explosion tore into the two other ships, and gutted the Pascal and ravaged the Dolci. The Pascal was a twisted hunk of metal when the fireball dissipated. As for the Dolci she was an operational kill.

The other Dolcis and their escorts encountered 65 LRAMS, each Dolci had twenty apiece and the remaining twenty-five were divided up amongst the escorts, 10 to each of the Thetas and 5 for destroyers, two and three respectfully. Even with full shields twenty LRAMS is asking for a miracle, and well Soro did not favor the Corp bastards today. The first Dolci ate all twenty, and blew apart, lost with all hands. The 2nd one took 10 to the chin and 5 more near hits; it was rendered lifeless and Dead in Space.

The Thetas each were a bit more lucky only one was rendered DIS, the other was seriously damaged but he had a short reprieve as the strike from the carriers were on their way to deliver the angels of death. We never did find any sizeable wreckage of the destroyers, but both were engulfed in massive fireballs, so we chalked them up as kills.

All of that carnage was just from 100 missiles, next to suffer were the Thetas and Trigs that were hit by our own AS craft. Although smaller than the massive Arch Angel LRAM, the Angel of Death torpedo ignores shields. The Tempests fired two torps apiece (none of ours were rigged wholly as fighters) at the destroyers while the four shaman fired eight torps each into the Theta scout cruisers. This attack erased two more Thetas and two Trigs, the Hawking and the last Trig somehow managed to avoid the fighters.

Our losses were two Tempests, but both AC were recovered after the fight. Surprisingly none of the Shaman bombers were even damaged. The Carrier birds now got their chance to play, and they roughed up the Descartes and took out the crippled Dolci and all of the remaining Trigs and Thetas.

The Newtons wisely jumped out of the system, four heading to another Corp system and 10 to try to take on the carriers. As I found out later, all 10 jumped right in front of the Dragoon and were obliterated without any Imperial losses.

All that was left was the crippled Descartes, and the luckiest Hawking in the entire FMA. We exchanged fire with the Hawking, but only managed to wing him before he jumped out, as for the Descartes between the two destroyers and the Foxy we pounded her to submission.

Miss Rochester took her entire troop along with the two convents from the destroyer to take the Descartes as a prize. I Took 2nd Watch Command and Engineering for the prize crew.

Lori escorted us back once; we got the bucket’s engines on line. I ate dinner that night in the flag dining room aboard a flag ship, with as my guests Ms. Tracy Greer, the Engineering Officette for 2nd Watch, and Miss Travis, Miss Rochester and one Fleet Commodore Robert Donaldson, FMA and company. It was probably the best meal I ever had in space until gaining my own flag.

The Foxy and 2L remained until the 3rd Squadron (453rd BATCRURON) jumped in, in the mean time I took the FMS Connelly to Gibraltar. Her Grace, actually Their Graces were both astonished to see a Descartes being escorted by a lone destroyer. In fact the only reason I wanted the Lori with us so none of our own side would get nervous and lay into the enemy flagship.

Commodore Donaldson was cooperative enough, if a bit of a boor, but then again after losing not only his ship but the rest of his command one would expect him to be a bit melancholy.

Upon arrival to Gibraltar the prisoners and myself and my senior staff including Miss Rochester were summoned to meet with Their Graces, actually Her Highness as Stacy-Leigh received a communiqué from Goddard via Goldstone of her promotion to Wanaxxae, and first governess of Gibraltar.

We each gave an account of the action as we saw it, and I praised Lady Janice for her quick thinking and superb tactical sense, likewise praised Ladies Wendy and Gloria (the skippers of the destroyers) as well as the leaders of the aerospace especially Ms. Temple. As I found out from the AAR, the battle of Madrid was a resounding success; we lost twelve Craft, only three with all crew. All others had their AC recovered, although sixteen (shamans have a crew of 3 and Tempest a crew of 2) AC were wounded and not fit for duty for a while.

The Corps lost a Pascal, 3 Dolcis, 5 Thetas, 1 Oasis Tender, destroyed or rendered DIS and later scuttled by their crews prior to capture, plus the Connelly captured as a prize, and 10 Trigs and 10 Newtons also destroyed. Only the Hawking and 4 Newtons managed to evade capture or destruction. Even better Madrid system was now in our control, at least long enough for the 141st to make a link up with the 39th and friends.

For our part of the battle of Madrid, Lady Janice earned a Gold Cluster and the Department heads a Silver cluster. Ms. Kemple and three of her girls got Ruby Clusters, and five more of her girls got Gold or Silver clusters. Everyone else got decorated according to their position. Even better we got to add the silhouette of a Pascal, and Descartes to our Awards plaque plus the sale of the Descartes made everyone very wealthy. My share as ship’s Executive was 20,000 IGC. Lady Janice got nearly 100,000 IGC. Even Troopie Green, the newest girl on the Foxy got a 100 IGC bonus. As for Commodore Donaldson, well she retired two years ago as Lady Admiral Roberta Grenville.

End of Chapter 4, so will start Chapter 5 right afterward.

Fox Hunt: The Foxy returned to Gibraltar to refit as well as reunite 2nd Watch with the rest of the ship’s company. We had only a few days’ R&R, nothing like the extended liberty at Goldstone. In the meantime the 141st (the 45th and 78th ATG’s, the later being from TF Stacy) made sure Madrid was secure enough for transit to and from Gibraltar. When Foxy returned to the 452nd Lady Marie was happy to see her other cruiser return and take up the slack in the patrol schedule

We didn’t do much patrolling however as the Hoopskirt returned letting us know that Princess Nicole was just three systems away at CRW 341. We had the systems of Direrum and Mango in between us. Hoopskirt also reported that a large, (2 full starfleets worth of Corp ships were pursing and converging on the 39th, their skipper also informed us of the defeat of the 75th Lincoln at Al Jabel.

We were staggered at the losses but not surprised as none of us had much faith in the Lincoln house forces. For that matter since I was in an Imperial Attack Fleet, we had a low opinion of any of the house forces, including Volkberg and Huntsman, although the 4th Huntsman proved themselves and was hammered in that test. So even when the 141st arrives, or what was available we would be hard pressed to tangle with the Corp forces, however no one was willing to let the Corps tear up the 39th especially after being so callously used by the Lincolns.

“Ma’am Lady Janice wants all department heads in the wardroom ASAP.”

“Right, thank you Miss Travis,” I replied, while getting up from the desk in my office/quarters. I grabbed my blouse and hastily threw it on and headed for the wardroom.

I was not the first one there but nor was I the last one. Ms. Wilson arrived in her trademark orange jumpsuit, and was slathered in grease and other grime.

“Heh, well Tina I did say ASAP but you could have at least cleaned up a bit..”

“Sorry Ma’am I was down working on the condenser for number two, that bastard is still sputtering I have Ms. Valentine’s crew working on it now.”

“No problem, at least your blouse isn’t inside out like Ms Parker…”

I looked down and just then noticed that I indeed had my blouse on inside out. With a sheepish grin, I quickly fixed that problem.

“Ok now that minor wardrobe issue with the Exec is taken care of, we got our marching orders. The 452nd is going to jump as a full squadron to Mango and then without waiting for the rest of the TG we are going to proceed full speed to the jump point to Direrum, there we will set up a picket zone and hopefully wait for the rest of the TG or possibly even the 39th. The 78th and other assorted units (meaning the remnants of the other TG’s) have the responsibility of holding Mango, we must get to Direrum as fast as possible, that means any AC we need to launch in Mango will either fend for themselves or must jump on their own to Direrum. Yes Ms. Kemple?”

“Ma’am I am not comfortable transiting without a fighter cover, but the idea of leaving my girls out there is not one I enjoy.”

“Right, well then do a minimal screen with jump capable craft only. The situation is this, ladies the 39th and the Exfleet detachments are heading this way, but are being pursued by no less than 6 Corporate Battle Fleets, that is the equivalent to two of our Starfleets. Our job is to make the transit corridor free from Corporate interference.” Lady Janice pauses and activates the holo display showing the systems in question. She then continues. “Duchess Catherine has two Task Groups, plus several independent squadrons. Mango is the key but we must also secure Direrum long enough for the 39th to make it. Scouts believe that an entire Corporate Battle Fleet is stationed at Mango, the 45th and especially the 452nd has orders not to seek an engagement. In fact we are to press on to Direrum regardless of other considerations. Hoopskirt is already at Direrum while the Sunshine is already in Mango keeping tabs on things. Firebat will lead with Foxy following right behind her; the Lori and Double L will trail and cover our flanks. Do you have questions?” She pauses again seeing we don’t have any questions. “Right ok we jump in 20 minutes, so set the time line accordingly, oh and Ms Parker upon your arrival to the BDC have Miss Travis sound Action Stations.”

“Aye Aye!” I replied. Then along with others hurried to get the ship ready to jump and make a hostile transit in less than half an hour.

The jump was uneventful however the reception at Mango was not. Firebat was speeding to the far jump point and was being pursued by a Trig and two Newtons. Neither side had a real advantage; however we were in the perfect place to give the Corps something to think about. Lady Janice ordered Ms. Duquesne to take the heat off the Firebat, and so with four shots from our main batteries one Newton was vaporized and the Trig damaged. The Newton stayed on the Firebat but for some reason the Trig decided he wanted to play. A damaged destroyer versus a light cruiser, not even money odds. Another blast from the main batteries quickly drove that point home, and the Trig listed DIS. However the fight with the Trig did slow us down so that the Corp blocking force decided to do something about us. 2L was the first to see the four Thetas scream towards us. We used the warning and broke contact and headed away from the jump point. Lady Janice told Firebat the news and ordered both the Lori and 2L to remain with the Firebat, we were going to draw the Theta’s away.

“Fire LRAMS tubes 8 to 13, target lead Theta!” shouted Lady Janice.

“Aye Ma’am locking onto target and firing.” Replied the weapons officette. Six LRAMs was not an insurmountable obstacle but it would force the Thetas to separate and break their own weapons’ locks. As it turned out, three of the large missiles did detonate close enough to do damage.

“Ma’am we have impact, the lead Theta is reducing power and seems to be falling behind fast.” This came from Miss Goldenstein. “We have two more Trigs joining the fun though.”

“Roger that thank you Rebecca, Ms. Parker, you best get up to your action station.”

“Aye Aye.” And so I headed up to the VNB. For the next few hours we played cat and mouse dodging sporadic weapons fire, while returning limited fire of our own. We saw the three other ships make the safe jump to Direrum so now all we had to do was play coy until the Cavalry arrived. A few more minutes passed by when the near jump point flared with twelve large signals. Soon after the Voyeur identified the transponders of the Dragoon and Derby and their escorts, the Corps soon lost interest in the light cruiser they were chasing. And they had every right to be concerned between the two battle cruisers, the four other light cruises and six destroyers that jumped in. Nearly 200 LRAMS were launched at the Corporate ships. The contest was over before it really got started, so we gave our thanks to the Dragoon and high tailed it for Direrum.

Upon reaching Direrum we rejoined the rest of the squadron. Once there our aerospace forces were launched and began aggressive patrolling. We knew that both friendly and enemy forces were going to transit this system but it was a coin toss to see which one came first. The winner turned out to be Corporate forces from 821st CAF or Corporate Attack Fleet. Twelve Dolcianis, three Pascals about eighteen Thetas and two Descartes and another 20 smaller ships and vessels jumped in. Several were damaged and the Descartes had minimum aerospace wings. The reason why became obvious as the Sunshine jumped in and broadcasted the results of the fight in Mango.

The 141st hammered the 821st CAF, decimating the screen and aerospace forces. Imperial losses were relatively light as the ships fired only missiles and used long range aerospace. Because of the frustration of the fight in Mango the 821st was eager for revenge, and so 452nd CRURON became a method for the Corps to release some pent up frustration, however the Sunshine jumped out and the two fast cruisers and destroyers made things very difficult for the Corps. Only their Thetas and Newtons had any chance, and with our aerospace deployed we discouraged the bigger Thetas from getting within range. As for the pesky Newtons, the guns on the cruisers made short work of any that strayed too close.

We played with the escorts, while lobbing the occasional LRAM cluster at the big boys for about an hour when, all of a sudden over 50 jump signatures appeared. The 39th had arrived. Those were not fighter signatures either but rather the van of the massive Starfleet, eighteen dreadnoughts and twenty battle-cruisers. Those ships were accompanied by twelve carriers and close to thirty light and medium cruisers. Needless to say the half of dozen light ships were no longer a concern. However we did our best to make the Corps aware of us. Soon after another large group jumped in, and the cycle repeated until the whole Ex Fleet made Direrum their temporary home. We were ordered, along with five other CRURONS to form the rear guard while the rest of the force transited the system. By this time the twelve ships remaining from the 821st had jumped out.

The last of the main body jumped out when we detected 80 jump signatures. Our aerospace craft were quickly recalled and as one unit all of the cruisers and destroyers of the rearguard fired off their LRAMS, we only had eight left, but with the other ships nearly 300 missiles headed for the Corporate ships. We then headed for the jump point to Mango where we met the rest of the 141st and as a whole unit retired to Gibraltar. Upon our arrival to Gibraltar we were greeted by the sight of the ships of the 78th Lincoln and the 24th Huntsman starfleets Crown Princess Alexandria Metterich, the new regent for the Gibraltar Wormhole junction relived Crown Princess Nicole and the 1st EX Fleet of their duties. The undamaged ships of the Exfleet were reorganized into the 54th Starfleet. However the 452nd was to return to Goldstone and with the elements of the 45th ATG and 85th ATG headed back to Goddard and Avonia for refitting and reassignment.

Command School Daze: The Foxglove was laid up in dry dock for several months; the crew members were either given planetside postings or were transferred to other ships. As for one Madame Kommandette (Brevet) Cynthia Parker, well I went back to school. More specifically the Command and Finishing School followed by The Ship’ Mistress Command Course. The first school was for senior officettes and the occasional Lady from all of the branches of AIDOF, while the second school was for those in SAN that were being groomed for her own command.

The Imperial Finishing and Command Training School for Ladies, located on New Gretchlogos is the main training center for senior ranks. As a Kommandette I was in the middle of the pack, several well born junior officettes were also in attendance. My class had quite a few veterans from the Ex Fleet and supporting operations, so I was not lonely. In fact two of my friends from the 85th were present, Lady Tamara Francis (guess she got the promotion to higher level after all), and Madame Kommandette Nelson, the executive of the Gremlin during the first tour. Someone finally thinks she might make a good commanding officer; she was not upset at seeing two of her former subordinates either above or at her same grade. As I found out life on an escort cruiser is not very adventurous compared to a light cruiser or even the bigger cap ships.

The course work was very hard and demanding, but with sheer determination I managed to pass through with above average marks. The real challenge was the field problems, which put all of us SAN types at a disadvantage, although we smoked the ground pounders in the stellar simulations. I was able to get the second highest score on the fleet battle simulator, and got the highest score on the individual ship simulator. By the time the four month course was over my promotion to Kommandette was permanent which pretty much guaranteed me a future command.

The good news about the school was I was able to have visitors including Wendy, now a Madame Kaptain, and Barbara also a Kaptain, she had a slot as a senior instructor at the Aerospace Pilot School. Terry was assigned to a transition squadron that trained veteran pilots in the Raptor. After graduating from the Finishing School, I spent a couple of days with Barbara on Terri. The 1st Imperial Starfleet was based there, along with the big Aerospace Kommand school, so seeing a Madame Kommandette in the light blue of SAN was not unusual. When her squadron’s training rotation was complete, which happened to be about three weeks before I had to report to the Ship’s Mistress Command Course, we took a holiday to Amazonia.

Being on the capital world during the Festival of Eos was an experience that is hard to describe. Frankly I don’t remember much of it, as we were both living up the high life. On Valentine’s Day Wendy and Terry joined us. That adventure made the time at the liberty camp seem like staying home and watching old vids.
Alas my orders to report to SMCC came and I bided Barbara farewell, as she had to resume training young aerobabes. Upon departing Terri for Avonia I met up with Lady Tamara, she was assigned to the AISS Gopher a brand new Neptune complete with redesigned weapons and huge hanger bay for Raptors. The Gopher was the goal keeper for the AISS Intrepid an older refitted Juno class carrier. They were both in the 651st CARON as part of the 65th CTG. The 65th was part of the 12th Imperial Starfleet and was training up along the Imperial Confederation Border. The 65th was a new unit, even though several of its ships were not, but most of the crews and ship’s mistresses were also new or relatively new. So they were in a quiet area so the new crews could gain some valuable experience without being in too much risk.

I reported to SMCC and was with a class of forty other Kommandettes and even a couple of Ladies who received promotions but had not commanded a ship. This course made Finishing School seem easy. We had to know everything about starships, including the other divisions especially engineering and weapons. This course was very demanding and quite long; however I was able to finish up the first portion with above average grades. As for the second portion, well that was fun. I came in the top five on the ship simulator and impressed my instructors with the decisions made regarding fighting overwhelming odds. My experience with the Golgotha and the Foxglove helped immensely.

Many of my peers were impressed with my Gold Star Cluster, and even more impressed on how and when I received it. I received another MSM for the actions at Direrum and Mango, so my rows of ribbons were quite impressive even for a Madame Kommandette. While in the last phase of the course, I received a hyper comm. gram from Barbara saying that she and Terry were both transferring to the 65th CARON, Terry was posted to the 329th Interceptor Squadron as Squadron Mother, and she was posted to the 34th Interception Group light as its executive officette. The 329th would be based on the Intrepid, while the 34th IG(light) was the aerospace force on the Gopher. Hearing that message I placed a request to DIRPER that I be assigned to the 65th CARON if at all possible.

Upon graduation from SMCC we received our new orders, it seemed that the Gopher and the Intrepid were fully staffed, well at least for Command branch Kommandettes, but the screening squadron the 652nd had a few openings, including two ship Mistress Postings. One was an attack destroyer the other was a light cruiser. The problem with commanding the destroyer was I have never served in anything smaller than a light cruiser. And to be posted as a cruiser skipper I would be very junior.

However fate would go to my favor as the latest round with the Corporates caused a shortage of senior command personnel, and so even though I was still very junior, my actual combat and command experience convinced DIRPER to assign me as the Mistress of the AISS Feline. To go with the new assignment was a new set of uniforms and insignia, as I now was Lady Equetassa Cynthia Parker, Mistress of Her Imperial Majesty’s Starship Feline., FAC 232. The other thing going in my favor was the Feline was just out of the shipyard and had a totally new crew. I requested that Kaptain Travis be assigned to my weapon’s division to find out that she was now Kommandette Travis, so therefore I made her my Weapons Officette. My other seniors and department heads were Ms. Rita Watson, Engineering, Ms. Gloria Steinbaum, the Executive, Ms. Wanda Porter, BDCO, Ms. Harriet Watts, Environmental, Ms. Erica Schnieder, Damage Control Officette, Ms. Melanie Davis, Matriarch of the Aerogroup (as a new ship we carried two squadrons, one a dedicated fighter squadron of Warriors and a composite strike squadron of both Shaman and Tempest D’s. The D version had a jump drive so they could accompany the Shaman Bombers. The last was Miss Ursula Kimber, the matriarch of the NAIL Troop. I was to meet them and my new ship at Dock 52 at Lovely Shipyards, just a couple of jumps away from Avonia.

So much to read! I haven't even started the first part of the fourth chapter!

;-)) ready with post  #1 ;-))
... and again : good work ;-))

;-)) I  like the IRIS AI thinking ;-))

finished reading chapter 4 .
niice developing and climbing up the career ladder ;-))

and now .. up to new adventures ;-))

Chapter 5: Did not feel like making anew thread so soon. Rank hath its privileges

Lady Cynthia, Commanding 2634-2638
Cat-a Log: The shuttle arrived at Lovely Shipyards ten days after my receipt of orders, I met with the squadron regent Lady Baroness Janice Sheridan. She was glad to see someone with my combat experience on her team. The 652nd was a near carbon copy of the 452nd, two Saturn class light cruisers, three destroyers, two Tyche, one Hermes, and one Oracle scout corvette. However another light formation called a DESTRON was added to our formation.

The 6521st consisted of one Tyche, three Vulcan class Frigates and six of the Pheobe class light attack vessels. A Lady Knight named Jessica Steinberg commands the DESTRON. This gives our force a greater punch as well as the ability to screen further away from the main force.

Lady Janice commanded from the other cruiser the Fable, her flag skipper was Lady Nicole Winters. The three destroyers were skippered by Ladies Wynona Fowler, Roberta Shultz, and Joanne Peters. The corvette was under Ms. Lisa Santino. The frigate skippers were Ms. Peterson, Ms. Babcock, and Ms. Sylvester. I did not concern myself with the LAV crews. Her executive Ms. Ingersol commanded the LAV’s from one of the frigates. The LAV’s were almost a hindrance but they could dock with the frigates or even better yet, the Intrepid could hold four in lieu of two corvettes. However they were our answer to the Newton.

After meeting with the Squadron regent and other senior commanders I went to my ship. Turned out that I was not the only one arriving at the Feline for the first time, however I was in my shore dress uniform and well quite a few people missed the single Pie insignia on my turtle neck. One of which was a particularly unobservant weapons division officette.

“Hey Cynthia, long time no see!”

“Oh Hi Wendy what’s up?”
“Oh not much I got my new posting, seems someone in DIRPERS has a sense of humor, I’ve spent most of my career in Neptunes or Diannas and so they think I would be the ultimate weapons officette for a Saturn.”

“Well you are a Kommandette, and so that is one possible posting, and as a new four pointer even I know you just don’t have the seniority for a Neptune’s Weap O.”

“Yeah, so what did you get some staff position?”

“Hmm something like that, my boss is Lady Baroness Sheridan.”

“Oh wow the squadron regent cool, that explains the shore dress, heck girl most of the time you are in shipboard like the rest of us, even when something else would be more appropriate. I am on the Feline, perhaps I will see you around, care to take a look at her?”

“Well silly that is what I am doing..”

“Oh an inspection, way cool, of course since I’ve not reported in yet; please don’t hold it against me if the weaps div is a mess alright?”

“No problem so who is in charge?”

“Oh the right now the BDCO is, as the executive or skipper has reported yet, no one knows much about the skipper, but scuttlebutt from DIRPER says she has some time in cruisers and a bit of reputation, not unlike a certain staff officette I know…”

“Er right, well here is the dock.”

Ms. Stienbaum the Executive was waiting at the gang plank. She did not know about my arrival yet either. Being shorter than Wendy and standing behind her, my Executive did not see my insignia either.

“Ah you must be Kommandette Travis, I am Gloria the Executive, and who is that behind you?”

Before I could announce myself. “Oh that’s Ms. Parker she works for the Squadron Regent, on an inspection or something, also my friend.”

“Ah right, Ms. Parker glad to meet you, alas the Ship’s Mistress hasn’t reported yet, so I am an in command.”

“Ok sounds good Ms. Stienbaum permission to board?”

“Permission granted, where would you like to go?”

“Oh how about the BDC and then the primary briefing room, I am expecting a gram from Her Noble Ladyship.”

“Right this way, oh and Travis, come along as well, there will be a department head meeting in a few minutes.”

I followed behind, again laughing to myself that no one seems to have noticed my insignia, of course that is why Shore Dress is used in informal functions, as all of the ratings wear the same thing, just that the enlisted have their hearts on the sleeves.

Anyway we proceeded to the BDC where I left Gloria and Wendy to talk things over, before strolling into the commo shack. The duty Lewtenette was the first person to see my insignia and was about to call the deck to attention, I motioned her to be silent, and told her that none of the seniors have noticed, so just play along. She smiled and then handed over the parchment envelope that had my appointment orders and assumption of command orders, I signed them in Ink and then gave them back to the commo officer, Miss Rusticov.

I then went to back outside to the BDC and leaned over to Ms. Stienbaum, “If you would be so kind I would like to attend that department head meeting.”

“Sure thing might as well see the senior staff.”

I then followed behind and motioned for Miss Rusticov to follow with my copies of the orders.

We arrived at the briefing room Wendy came in first, to announce that the Executive was coming in, the whole group snapped to attention. I looked around and noticed that Ms. Watson had to be the one in grease stained orange coveralls, a good sign for an engineering officette. Ms. Davis was in the dark blue pressure suit that pegged her as ASK, while Miss Kimber’s dark blue and purple suit with the diamond of a Majourrette gave her away. As for the rest, Ms. Porter had to be the Kaptain with the Astrolabes, Ms. Watts the gears, and Ms. Schnieder the crossed axes. Stienbaum walked in and took the head seat and motioned for the others to sit down.

“Greetings Ladies, well the latest shuttle had our Weap Division Officette, so all of the major department heads are present. Oh, Miss Rusticov, why are you here?”

“Ma’am I have an important communiqué from the Squadron Command…”

“Oh good, let me see it.”

“Sorry Ma’am by regulations I have to read it out loud.”

“Really, ok, go ahead Miss Rusticov.”
“Yes Very well effective this date, Her Imperial Majesty’s Starship Fast Attack Cruiser 232, christened the Feline is under the command of its new Mistress, Lady Equetassa Cynthia Parker, signed by Her Noble Ladyship Baroness Janice Sheridan and Her Ladyship Cynthia Parker…”

Before she could finish, both Gloria and Wendy gasped audibly, the rest looked at them and finally turned my way, Ms. Schnieder was the first to see the pie rather than chevrons, and so called the room to attention.

“At ease, ladies, thank you Miss Rusticov, you may return to your station. Ah Ms. Stienbaum I believe you are in my chair?”

“Er uh yes your Ladyship…”

“Ma’am will do fine, sorry for the ruse, but since my dear friend Ms. Travis seems to be very myopic today I could not resist. Anyway since I am new to the Feline, please continue with your meeting, I’ll chime in if I have any questions or input.”

The briefing was detailed but actually quite short, with the exception for Wendy, who having just arrived; each department head discussed the status of their department. We were about 80% filled, a few Kaydettes and junior enlisted had to come in from training along with some other transfer personnel. All in all I was quite pleased with the state of the ship. After the briefing I dismissed everyone but Wendy, Gloria and Wanda. “Ok well some of you know me by reputation and others well a lot more intimately, this is my first command, but I was the Executive of the Foxglove during Mango and Direrum.”

“You were there Ma’am wow, how about you Ms. Travis?”

“Oh no I was babysitting Goldstone at the time, but trust me Cynthia, er Lady Parker…”

“No you had it right the first time..”

“right she definitely knows her stuff, by the way thanks for the assignment, now I don’t have to wonder about DIRPER’s sanity.”

“Well I still do, DIRPER works in mysterious ways, anyway we will put the ship through its paces, I know how fast these buckets are supposed to go, and where we can go even faster in an emergency, we will also work closely with our destroyer, as the Saturn-Tyche combo is about 80% more effective than just the Saturn by herself. Wanda I want you to brief me later on the status of Ship Ops and Info Ops. Wendy in two days I want a written report regarding the status of your division, to include magazine inventory and status of all weapons, also get familiar with the new improved particle weapons and point defenses we are packing. If my experience in the Ex Fleet means anything, we can expect being attacked by Thetas, Trigs as well as Newtons, we can out run Dolci’s and Pascals, and the Corp bastards like to concentrate their big guns on our cap ships, we can use that against them. Any questions? Good get back to your departments once we have a full complement we will depart the dock for trials and shakedown, dismissed.”

The rest of the time in dock went by quickly, Wendy gave me her report and I was not disappointed. I also found out from Wendy, that both Barbara and Terry were close by. So using the Mistress’s launch, basically a shuttle with a one shot drive, both Wendy and I went to take care of “personal business.”

Barbara was quite surprised at seeing me especially as Lady Cynthia, and was even more surprised but pleased when I handed her a request for permanent partnership. The TGR had to sign off on it, but since she was on the Intrepid that was easy enough to take care of. I asked Wendy if she and Terry were going to follow suit, but she told me that both of them liked the present arrangements. Once the request was approved Barbara and I went down to Avonia and picked up a pair of commitment rings, as well as spent some quality time together, the suites that the aristocracy have access to are quite lovely. We both agreed that unless circumstances prevent it, we would get married at the end of this tour, which of course means that by IDOF regulations we would have to share accommodations whenever possible. When we returned back to the ships, both the Gopher and the Feline had a party in our honor.

A few days after my return we were up to 100% and took the Feline out to conduct the shakedown cruise. Midway through the cruise however we received orders to that the entire task force was heading for Goddard. It seems that the corp bastards are up to something, yet again. However this time more and more of the forces they will encounter are Imperial rather than House administered.

The 12th Starfleet was moving to Goddard and the Regent’s flag was also being transferred to that system, which would our new base of operations. We used the transit time to practice and hone our skills, both as a ship and as a full squadron. The Fable and her Tyche the Larch took turns attacking and defending against the Feline and our consort the Lollygag. Both sections improved dramatically, we also went up against the DESTRON both as a section and as a full squadron. Obviously the four ships working together proved to be overwhelming against the light squadron but we held our own when as a two ship element.

The LAV’s are quite formidable as long as they can remain in at least three ship elements, alone they are easy targets. The most annoying tactic, from our perspective was a massed LAV attack supported by one frigate, while the other frigates and the destroyer went after the other section. The LAV’s suffered horribly but in one attack the Fable and both destroyers were “lost” and the poor kitty, was severely damaged. Had our relative positions with the Fable been reversed we would have also been destroyed. We hope that the exercises proved to be an omen when fighting against the corp shit.

The 65th was the right flank element of the 121st Fleet, which was the lead element of the 12th Imperial Star Fleet. So as the primary screen for the 65th we were the extreme right flank and so arrived at Goddard second behind the 792nd CRURON which was the screen for the 79th ATG or the van of the entire formation. Because the entire Starfleet was heading for Goddard, space would be a premium. The three fleets of the 12th would take turns being on active patrol, and the 121st had honor of first rotation. The 79th and 87th ATGS would patrol the area, while the 56th BTG, 24th CTG were held back around Goddard. The 65th CTG was forward deployed to Tau, while the 17th ATG was forward deployed near Gold. Our last Task group was the new 11th STG or Support Task Group and it was also back at Goddard. So the 65th paid its respects to the fleet command and we headed for Tau.

While Goddard is primarily an agricultural world, Tau is a total colonial territory. The Empire settled it around the time Orion was first occupied, but even so most of the planet is uninhabited. Tau Town is the Imperial Administration Center and its surrounding environs total 25% of the population at 14 million. So the addition of a full Carrier Task Force, with close to 40 000 beings, would be quite a shock to the local economy. The 651st CARON, 653rd BATCRURON and 654th SUPRON remained in the Tau system. The 652nd CRURON and 655th CRURON took turns rotating patrol duties. The 655th was our sister squadron although they were tasked not as the screen but as a scout force, so they had two more Hermes and two oracles at the expense of the DESTRON. For the most part we left the LAV’s to patrol the near and far jump points while we did our patrol.

Our first rotation out was routine and uneventful. We received news that although Tau wasn’t attacked the corps tried to take on forces at Kuwait and Gold-Stone, they were repulsed with heavy losses. Our job was to keep the Corporate forces away, not to go looking for them, besides someone neglected to provide the 12th Star Fleet with any NGAL troops, beyond the boarding and security teams. However we did need to bring in a cohort of ground troops to establish the garrison on Tau. The garrison also included a liberty camp so when we were not on rotation we could spend some time on the ground. Unfortunately for me it seemed that the CARON was always off when we were on and vice versa. I actually looked forward for going back on patrol.

The second rotation was mostly uneventful except at the end the 95th CTG arrived to relieve us. So we headed back for Goddard. By this time AIDOF had moved some orbital docks and stations to support the 12th Star Fleet, so when we returned off our five months of patrol, the 121st went to a maintenance and refurbishment rotation. The 122nd was on outer patrol and the 123rd on inner patrol and training.

Personnel rotated out, including Ms. Stienbaum, she was sent off to Finishing School. I was impressed with Ms. Porter that I made her acting Executive, with the recommendation that she be promoted and fill the slot. Miss Joyner, the DBDCO became acting BDCO and so on. Barbara became her group’s matriarch and she requested that Terry become the executive, but that request was denied, as Terry became the executive for the 651st Pursuit Group, one of the two groups carried by the Intrepid.

The Intrepid went into the maintenance dock about a cycle before the Gopher and two cycles before the Feline. However for a time of about four cycles all four of us did not have a ship available. Being in charge or the executive of formations consisting only of Raptors, the aerobabes were also grounded while their ships were laid up, as AIDOF did not provide an orbital aerospace platform.

They had their hands full with administrative tasks, but since the dirtside compound was for all of the elements of the 12th Star Fleet, they had an easy time. I permitted my Weaps Div chief as much time at the liberty camp as possible, while we were waiting our turn in the maintenance dock. Likewise Barbara and I spent as much time together on the Intrepid or Feline as possible. She and Terry had a small cottage at the liberty camp when both of their ships were off line, which meant Wendy and I double dated quite often. However I could not show too much favoritism so Wendy had to stay up on the ship when I went down sometimes, or vice versa.

But after the second cycle of being back was complete and the Feline went into the maintenance dock, we were without a home too. So I booked a resort estate, the perks of being a Lady and the four of us had an incredible time on Goddard. Midway through the fourth cycle I received word that the 12th Star Fleet was going to be permanently stationed on Goddard so that we might as well be looking for permanent quarters. As befitting my status, I met with the Governess of Von Braun, Countess Gloria Pitt, and put in my petition for my own estate. As the mistress of a light cruiser, I was promised a large townhouse at Roswell Urban Domain. I used my back pay to help finance the home and so moved in to the “Parker” Manor, Although Barbara called it the Parker house.

... niice to read ... ;-))

Crazy work schedule is over at least for a little bit.
So here is the next section
Garrison and Refit and then back out on Patrol

Parker House Rules: Parker Manor, or 1242 East Congreve Lane, was a four story eight bedroom mini-mansion. The top floor had two rooms, the third floor three, including the mistress suite, and the 2nd floor had three bedrooms. The last room was on the 1st floor and served as a guest room. The half acre lot also had a large pool and nice garden. The kitchen was very well stocked and we had a garage with roof mounted flyer port. Across the street Lady Tamara had a place, and Lady Janice had her estate at the end, next to another Baroness’s town house both with full acre lots. We nicknamed Congreve Lane, Regent Row, or someone with sense of humor called it Shrapnel Alley, since anyone not living or a guest would get it from several ladies of note, well at least on Goddard.

Wendy and Terry had the 4th floor, and Barbara and I had the 3rd floor all to ourselves. We hired a house keeper and cook, both married to each other from the residents and they had the room on the 2nd floor. I made one of the bedrooms on the 3rd floor into an office; the flygirls did the same with one of their rooms. Wendy and Terry could have gotten a cottage in town if they wanted one, but we enjoyed their company, besides the place would be quite empty with just the two of us. Goddard being an agricultural world also has a rustic feel, so to help blend in; Barbara bought some horses at the local stable. So quite often we went riding. Lady Tamara and Lady Janice also liked horseback riding so the eight of us, counting their partners, which for Lady Tamara changed quite frequently, but for Lady Janice, she was with Lady Winters, who was her companion beyond just being her flag skipper, a very cozy arrangement; would take frequent forays across the local terrain, which was mostly flat but had some nice hills. Von Braun has many similarities to what was called the Midwest on Terra.

We were firmly settled in when Terry received word that the Intrepid was out of the maintenance dock. That was her cue to return to the carrier and being training up her girls. Wendy spent quite a bit of her free time shopping in Roswell, however although the ship was still in dock, the crew of the Feline still had things to do. Barbara likewise spent her time at the aerospace base keeping proficient in flying if not flying a Raptor. Soon enough, or too soon, the Gopher was out of the dock and so Barbara was recalled to her ship.

I talked with Wendy about what her future plans were, because if she expected to progress any further, she would need to consider moving from weapons to command. However she told me she was happy where she was, and was honored to be under my command. I said that as long as it was in my power I would love to keep you on my team, meaning even when my rotation on the Feline is up, I will take her along if that is what she wants.

The next cycle although lonely at night, was very busy as I had much to do before the Feline was released from the dock, including breaking in a new Executive well Ms. Porter was promoted so was no longer acting. However Ms. Joyner was assigned as Executive of the Lionfish, one of the destroyers in the 655th. My new BDCO was Ms. Harriet Woods, fresh from a tour along the Confed Border. The Confederation was peaceful towards us but occasional flare-ups with the IUP occurred and those had the possibility of spilling over, however that border was nothing like the active warzone that is the Corporation-Imperial border. In fact we received word that the 122nd Fleet had several skirmishes during their patrol. They were just due for being relieved by the 123rd, so we were getting ready for our own system patrols and training routines.

Senoras Wanda and Marie took care of the manor while we were away. They were authorized to rent out the rooms on the 2nd and 1st floor to any AIDOF person to help defray their expenses. They also hired a groom to take care of the horses and other animals that were part of the property. In the meantime the 652nd played aggressor as well as target for the other elements of the 65th and then the 65th had exercises against the other task forces. The biggest thing that happened is that someone back home decided that a CTG needed more than one carrier, so we were given two more carriers, the Inclusive and Impudent. Trade off was the battle cruiser. The Inclusive joined up with the Intrepid while the Impudent became the flagship for the newly reclassified 653rd CARON. The other main change was that we had two of the new Venus class escort destroyers to replace the old Eros class as secondary escorts to the carriers; they reminded me of Neptunes without the hanger deck. The next few rotations out were very routine.

Desert Fury: During this time, unbeknownst to those of us way out in the Goddard area, the Xeniods were back. The Xeniods were a very weird and powerful race of aliens that destroyed or subjugated anything in their way. Their main thrust was away from the Empire, so we were not directly involved, however the Corporate systems that bordered the Confederation were attacked, so for the time being we were ignored. Someone on Amazonia used the inattentiveness of the Corps to conduct our own offensive operations, namely the systems of Faid and Daharan.

The 12th SF was tasked to clear the way for the 34th Assault Fleet, Besides the Persephone transports, the NGAL ladies now had the Athena light carrier and Artemis bombardment cruiser, the first ship carries the aerospace forces used to attack the planet, while the Artemis carries big emag cannon used to soften up the planet, we got the idea from the Huron, but improved on it.

The 121st was in the train-up patrol portion of the rotation scheme so we were “volunteered’ to be the lead element. The 65th had the task to secure the system of Dahran, a planet much like Mars in climate. And the 652nd had the task of being the escort and screen for the 342nd Assault Group. The 342nd carried two legions the 7423rd NGAL and the 234th Mechanized Infantry. A fringe benefit was that 2nd Cohort of the 234th was led by Ms. Angela Brooks, and the regent of the 7423rd was Lady Arlene.

Lady Janice and Lady Nicole were both away on personal business at Sappho (rumor has it they were getting married), so I was the senior rank in the squadron. The Fable was under the temporary command of Lady Gloria Waters, she was from the 123rd, or the off rotation fleet, however I was her senior by about six months. So as the escort squadron regent (acting), it was my duty to meet with the senior ground pounders. For simplicity sake we met at the main briefing room on the Intrepid. The skipper of the Gopher, Lady Tamara was present as well as her CAG, a certain Ms. Foster.

“Lady Tamara what a nice surprise, I did not expect to see you.”

“Oh, well Lady Cynthia, someone thought you needed a more, ah mature hand, the Gopher is tasked as the command ship for the 342nd.”

“Oh, are you by yourself?”

“Heck no, girl both the Ostrich and Only are accompanying the Gopher plus I have the Newt.”

“What’s a Newt?”

“Oh, that would be one of those Venus’s that joined up a while back.”

“So are you running the show?”

“No that would be Lady Baroness Wanda Du Prix, she is a pinky.”

“Oh right, so are senior amongst the blue legs?”

“Yeah by the way when are you and Barbara going to get hitched?”

“Err…”

“Tammy silly, Cyn doesn’t know but I think we are waiting until after this deployment, after all in two years I will be up for my own title.”

“Right, makes sense ah here is Lady Wanda now.”

Lady Wanda was followed by Ladies Arlene, and Laura Weiss, the regent of the 234th. Trailing behind were five kommandettes, two with the pink and navy berets of NGAL and Three with the purple of mechanized.

“Ah Lady Tamara, and you must be Lady Cynthia, let me introduce to you my senior regents and staff, this is Lady Arlene Saunders, and Lady Laura Weiss, and this is Ms. Watts, my matron of staff.”

“Welcome to the Intrepid, Ladies, madams, I am Lady Tamara Francis, skipper of the AISS Gopher and regent of the close escort force, this is Lady Cynthia Parker, she is the skipper of the cruiser Feline and will be commanding our screen. This is Ms. Foster she is my CAG or Commander of Aerospace Group and will coordinate all aerospace operations to include escorts for the assault shuttles, prior to atmospheric penetration. If you follow me your Noble Ladyship we can get the briefing started.”

The briefing was rather detailed, I gave my portion regarding how the Fable and Feline sections would probe the system while the Hula-hoop; our Hermes would scout ahead with the Shirttail, our oracle. The DESTRON would stay with the main body to provide a quick reaction force. The other parts of the briefing really did not concern the disposition of the 652nd but we had to pay attention.

After the briefing we were given a few days liberty, so I invited Arlene and Angela to join us at Parker Manor. Wendy and Barbara were both pleased at seeing a few more Sally Ride girls. Terry had permission to stay down with Wendy before we shipped out.

“So Cynthia, ooh nice place, what is there to do here?”

“Well Arlene, we usually go horseback riding, and Lady Tamara has her place just down the road, in fact all of these homes are owned by ladies of 12th Star fleet.”

“Lucky you, my estate is back on Aerial but being NGAL I don’t see much of it. I see you have your ship, and Wendy what do you do?”

“Oh, work for Cynthia, I am her Weapons Division Officette, my main fun duty is pushing the fire button, but mostly supervising, I see you have a legion of your own.”

“Yeah, however being a Century or even Cohort matriarch is more fun, I don’t even drop with the 2nd wave.”

“Well that makes sense, you can coordinate things from the ship much better silly..”

“Oh Angie be quiet, we have been over this before, dropping is the fun thing, slogging in the muck now that’s no fun.”

“Well I can’t help it if you don’t have Banshees….”

“What’s a Banshee?”

“Oh it’s a mobile coffin that the purple heads like driving about in…”

“It is not it is an armored VTH transport carries a full squad and has a pulse laser for its main weapon.”

“Oh I know about those thing, kinda weak don’t you think Ironhorse?”

“Tell me about it Pychobabe, a good particle cannon will blow that piece of junk away…”

“Good one Arlene you got the Airheads speaking gibberish…”

“Speak for yourself space cadet; at least we are smart enough to wear vac suits in space.”

“Hey now…hmm you do have a point Ms. Foster, it does seem kind of silly rushing to change into vac suits prior to combat. Wendy make a note that we will wear our vac suits at all times when on duty.”

“Ok, wow learning something from an aerobabe, next we will ask the pinkies for advice.”

“Ok enough before it gets ugly, let’s go get the horses.” I said cutting off what would be hours long debate on which branch was better.

Our brief liberty was spent in many relaxing and enjoyable activities, including a Sally Ride plus 1 reunion that reminded us of the old evaluation sessions with Miss Helen.

Alas we had to return to our respective ships, and although at first my crew grumbled a bit about wearing the vac suit all the time, it did speed up the time to reach action stations and condition Zebra by about three minutes. I mentioned the practice to Tamara and she thought about it, and tried it with the Gopher, and having both been on the Golgotha, we saw what happened to unsuited personnel. Soon afterward she issued a directive to the close escort group, and I did the same with the squadron, all personnel when not sleeping or otherwise unable to suit up will wear their vac suits at all times.

So we had our rank insignia and department devices permanently stamped on the vac suits. Likewise both Tamara and I added gold braid to our trim, like the gold braid on the shipboard dress sleeve cuffs. I had my executive put on silver braid and department heads yellow, all other officettes light blue. This way the crew could easily distinguish who someone was with just a glance. Little did I know that I just established the uniform pattern for the next several years.

The ships left Goddard for Dahran with my squadron in the lead. Hula Hoop entered the system and found that only a small squadron of corporate ships guarded it. My plan was to have the squadron jump in and take on the picket force. The DESTRON would jump from the far point, so I attached the Shirttail to them, and she would jump back to us once they were in position, and then jump to the Destroyer group once we have jumped. That way the smaller vessels could jump while we drew the attention of the enemy.

The plan was executed with flawless precision; we caught the corp picket group napping and made short work of them. The ground assault likewise had an easy time of things. However Dahran was not much of a fun planet to visit. Cool deserts and high plateaus dominated most of the landscape. However it had a huge mining industry which we could definitely use. Now the trick would be keeping it, and well one reinforced cruiser squadron was not much of a roadblock. We relayed our success to our respective higher headquarters, and Lady Wanda was named provincial governess of Dahran with both ground legions left to secure the planet. We were likewise ordered to remain on station until further reinforcement. We also learned that the attack on Faid was not a resounding success, but the ground troops did land and are now fighting for it. There was talk of using our NGAL to help with Faid but Lady Wanda did not want to cut her own ground troops in half without being reinforced first.

Therefore we waited and waited, until finally a Lincoln House garrison unit arrived. The tension between the Imperial and House troops was so thick you could cut it with the proverbial vibroblade. The Lincoln forces were also not happy being under a Countess who did not report to their own illustrious Queen. But that wasn’t our concern because once the garrison was established, including a stellar force of two CRURON’s we grabbed the NGAL girls, the poor Mech Infantry ladies were ordered to remain, under Lady Wanda’s direct control, another thing the Lincoln prigs did not care too much about, but hey we are supposed to be one Empire first, right? So without some of the ground forces we linked back up the rest of the 65th and continued with the resumption of the Goddard Patrol.

After Faid and Dahran, things settled back into the routine. Of note before my term on the light cruiser was finished, I recommended Wendy to attend the Command and Ship’s Mistress course, so she reluctantly traded her missiles for the astrolabe and attended the class. Her first posting was on the Negligee a Venus class destroyer, as the executive officette. The Negligee was part of the 651st CARON, and so was close to the Intrepid and Gopher. My replacement Weapons Officette, was Ms. Harriet Waterston, she was very good at her job, but not nearly as personable as Wendy.

Barbara was made Lady Foster and assigned as a Wing Matron for the 145th Aerospace Wing, The wing consisted of two Raptor groups, the one on the Gopher, and one on the Intrepid, besides two fighter groups, again one on the Intrepid the other spread out amongst the escorting cruisers, and one strike attack group. So she moved over to the Intrepid. Terri became the 1451st Interception Group matriarch, also based on the Intrepid. When Lady Tamara rotated out of her command slot, I did not get the position, but rather I was picked up by Her Grace, Countess Gloria Donitz, the new incoming regent for the 65th CTG. The Intrepid was her flagship, and I was DAVR or Deputy Assistant Vice Regent Operations- Scout and Screening Forces. Technically that meant the CRURON’s and DESTRONS were my responsibility. My immediate boss was Lady Baroness Kimberly Miller, the AVR Operations. The 65th CTG spent the first rotation doing more routine patrols.

... well done ...
.. its nice to follow the progress of your story ;-))