11 Oct 2359, 0530 Alpha, Alpha Centauri.
Henry arrived early to report to the UHCV New Hope. He took a second to marvel at the vessel. She wasn't the biggest in the fleet or the newest ship either, but Henry had always loved to marvel at how big the ships really were. The New Hope was classified as a frigate-class missile carrier. She was black with the traditional four wings that had propulsion on them, and the main thrusters on the rear of the ship. If one looked really closely at any missile carrier or ship that had missiles, one would see the hatches that the missiles launch out of. Henry saw a short woman walking down the ramp to board the ship and gave her a salute.
As he approached the UHCV New Hope a crew loading bay dock came down and out walked an Asian woman who looked to be in her early 40's. She was also short, standing at 4'11 and a half. However, she walked with the confidence that comes with being battle hardened.
"Vanguard 001 reporting for duty ma'am," Henry said as he held his salute.
"At ease soldier. I am told that you are now assigned to my ship, along with our mission to act as a shuttle to the missions the brass decides to send you on," Captain Youri said as she motioned for Henry to follow her.
"That is what I have been told to ma'am," Henry said as he secured the new weapons that someone from Admiral Williams's office gave to him when they modified his helmet slightly. They upgraded the HUD and changed out the visor to a green one. Henry was confused by this and asked why, but the man just said he was too busy to explain. After he finished, he rushed off not muttering anything to Henry.
As Henry followed Youri, he looked all around the ship. He wanted to capture every detail that he could manage.
"This here is your quarters. Get settled in and meet me on the bridge in 30 minutes," Youri said as she left Henry alone. Henry looked at the small room. It was a large metal room with a small round window. True to the UHCN standards the room was solid grey. He had a small bunk and a weapons locker. He put his weapons into the locker and looked out of the window with what time he could spare before going off to the bridge. Looking into space always does something for Henry, it's soothing in its own way.
Henry walked down the halls, having to squeeze through some spots that were designed for smaller humans. As he reached the bridge he stopped and saluted.
"Vanguard 001 requesting permission to enter the bridge," Henry said as he held the salute, waiting for Youri's reply.
"Permission granted. I'll debrief you on your mission." Youri said as she motioned for Henry to follow her to the halo-table. Henry followed her to the round table. As they approached the 3D image of a compound popped up in high detail. "Your mission will be to raid this Altherium planet-side shipyard," Youri said as she used her hands to expand the halo map of the complex. "The complex has two main reactors that are powering the whole shipyard," Youri said as two reactors popped up on the halo map. "You will go in through these doors and set off the two reactors. One reactor going critical will set off a big enough explosion will set off the second reactor if you disable its safety features before you escape. A bonus goal the brass hopes that you can take care of if it doesn't affect the main mission," Youri continues as she pulls up a 3d image of a forging facility. "This needs to go cold. If you can pull off both goals, we can deny the Altherium the ability to safely produce ships. We can show them the UHC has the ability to reach out and touch them anywhere at any time," Youri finished explaining.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"What support can I be expecting on this mission ma'am?" Henry asked staring at the halo map.
"The best we can do is a shuttle to pick you up, and that is a maybe," Youri said as she swiped the map and pulled up two massive AA guns. "These will track a shuttle or any air support we try to give. If you take these out I can guarantee that we will have a ride back for you," Youri finished.
"Understood ma'am," Henry said as he turned to Youri.
"We will be there in 72 standard hours. You are free to roam in the meantime," Youri said dismissing Henry.
"Roger," Henry replied as he gave Youri a salute. She dismissed Henry and he returned to his quarters. Hey stood towards the empty wall and used the helmet's projector that only the Vanguard using it could see. He went back over the plans again, moving everything around as he took a closer look at the reactors. The forge and AA guns are simple enough but causing a nuclear meltdown in the reactors and then doing the other two goals might work, but it would be way higher risk than necessary.
As he contemplated the problem a solution dawned on him. "Hey Albert, she didn't say what order I had to take care of the mission goals, did she?" Henry asked Albert while still looking manipulating the map to find any potential weaknesses.
"No, she didn't," came Albert's simple reply.
"Good, I think I have a plan. Let me run it by you to see what you think," Henry said closing out the halo map.
14 Oct 2359, Tak-Val, Valleri system
"Vanguard 001 we're approaching the drop vectors, are you ready?" Mark asked over Henry's radio. Youri assigned Mark as the handler for this mission. The plan is for Henry to jump and the ship to go to minimum power for 24 hours in the nearby asteroid belt, posing as an asteroid.
"We are ready," Albert replied for Henry as he was doing one last check on his loadout.
"You got the greenlight in 3.2.1. go," Mark said as the ships empty cargo bay door opened up.
Henry started to run forward and jumped out of the ship, rocketing towards the planet from the momentum of the ship.
"I still can't believe that is how you do things. I thought that you would use the drop pods like the Raiders," Mark said as his voice came crackling through the Templar armor's radio. Albert cleared it up for Henry.
"I would, but I just don't fit in them, also I think that I am above the weight limit anyway," Henry said with a shrug.
Albert helped guide Henry's trajectory down so he could bust through the first AA as a way to drain the momentum of his descent.
After an hour of free falling, Henry spotted the two AA's. They were large missile launchers. Albert showed Henry where the weak points of the bases were as Henry guided himself towards the base. Before any of the Altherium soldiers could react, Henry busted through the base of the First AA. The AA unable to support the weight of the missile pods collapsed tipping over and causing a massive explosion as one of the missiles in the pod detonated, forcing a chain reaction that caused the rest to rapidly go off.
