The Haqqislam light cruiser adh-Dhiʼb floated in the void next to a massive asteroid. The vessel was one of so many others, littering the space around the object, and not the only one bearing a military iff marking. Looking at a screen at the helmsman's station, it picked out several nationalities and dozens of trade ships, ice haulers, and mining vessels. Captain Aafah sighed. “Sister, is this beautiful rock on the edge of Humanity not to your liking?” The voice came from a tall, lanky man with a long trimmed beard in the traditional style from earth a couple of hundred years ago. A crisp white turban, with Captains pin, stood in stark contrast to his deep blue uniform petti-coat. He looked like he had jumped from the screen of a historical holovid. His playful smirk only partially hidden by his beard, her brother was a mischievous one, and how he came to captain a vessel in the Qapu Khalqi, she never could figure out. He had several distinctions though in fighting piracy out on the Human Edge, and luckily she thought, his orders kept him away from Paradiso. “I simply do not understand why High Command sent us all the way out here. This is a rock that's home to Ikari Company. I am sure those low lifes can handle whatever issues come up here.” Aafah said, crossing her arms, and leaning back against one of the consoles of the bridge. “And don’t call me sister, I am a Ra’id in the army, and your ‘aqid Fayaz. We are not children anymore.” Her brother chuckled and walked over to the navigators station, checking their screen. “Maybe there's more to it.” He said, ignoring her previous statement. “The intelligence briefing I got was the same you got. High Command has knowledge that this is a growing hotspot, and with the Hachibs new directions of hostile intervention of known operations, they probably wanted to send out a quick reaction unit.” Looking over to her, he continues, “That means Ramah and your new unit. It is probably a low intensity and easy way to break in your new command as well.” Shaking her head, Aafah straightens and heads for the door out of the bridge, “You are probably right. I still don’t like it. It has only been a year since Ghezira, and that...well what is left of the unit is still recovering. I hope for their sake, this is an easy, short assignment.” Leaving the bridge, Aafah calls up her geist, “Send my brother a message to call father, its been weeks since they last talked, and he is terrible at staying in touch.” Walking briskly through the narrow halls around technicians, and engineers, she arrives at the shuttle bay. In a small, light cruiser, the bay was tiny, barely large enough to hold the two troop shuttles they were assigned, and her unit stood crammed into the confined area. Fahim was leading a few of his new Khawarij brothers in a short morning prayer, their prayer rugs angled towards a corner of the bay. In ancient times, they would pray using a simple Qibla, a compass that points towards Mekkah, while on Earth. Now, on the edge of human space, it was a bit more difficult. Checking her Qibla app in the corner of her vision, she saw that Earth stood directly beneath them. Zyah came up to her, and gave a short, informal salute before reviewing a tablet, “Ra’id Aafah, I just did a quick check on the units health, and everyone appears to be in good shape. The Mukhtar Rashika, Kalim, and Badr, are complaining about nausea though, but from their profile it appears that their program may suffer more acute space sickness than others. I am keeping an eye-” Clang! Clang! Clang! “-and that would be the huntresses…” the doctor finished with an annoyed sigh. From the large motor pool door, two massive forms emerged. A monsterous combination of ancient tank, and scorpion, the Akreps walked towards the shuttles. Folding down onto their tracks, they rolled into their designated compartments, before the engineers following them began applying mag locks and harnesses. “I don't know why we need those…” Zyah said, voicing Aafahs opinion as well. Patting the doctor on the shoulder, Maih Aafah hopped up onto a box, and gave a short whistle as the Khawarij finished their prayers, and the pilots emerged from the shuttles. “Alright, listen up! A lot has happened over this last year. Ghezira was not easy, and we lost a lot. We barely made it out of that evacuation, only to be rolled into retraining and joining of the Ramah Special Task Forces. We have new members, and Fahim took to drugs.” With the last part, a chuckle ran through the veteran members, as Aafah gave a wink to the large Khawarij man, formerly their Ghulam Units heavy machine gunner. Even a super soldier can blush. “This is Novvy Bangkok. A nothing asteroid on the Human Edge. High Command believes it could be a hot spot soon, so we are here. Until that happens though, I want you all to take it easy. Some of you still have not had enough time to fully recover from injuries. Consider yourselves on leave until you are called into action. That is all. Grab your kit, and let’s load up!” Jumping down, the unit began filtering off to grab loose items and gear, and head for their assigned shuttle. Looking out of the open bay doors, through the atmospheric shield, the big, blue rock floated silently, and unassuming. She hoped that conflict stayed away long enough to be reassigned to Bourak.
The stale recycled air mixed with the smoke, the smell of sweat, and sweat perfumes on the Strip. Maih Aafah was making her way through the crowd in plain clothing, simple brown service trousers, and light blue tunic. Her duty weapon sat secure on her leg, her hand never straying far. The neon lights, and holoprojections cast a cavalcade of colors on the roof, walls and buildings of the bustling hub of Novvy Bangkok. The Captain had no real objective in mind besides dinner. She had been eating canteen food at the small asteroid port under Haqqislam domain, Pakngein Nbis. After several days of the same menu, she decided it was time to try her luck on the Strip. She had thought to follow her nose as she had done in some areas of Paradiso, but she quickly found that to be a lost cause as the condensed mass of humanity here created a fume of sweat, smoke, and ozone. Now and then she passed a food cart, but nothing seemed edible on them, and they were always bustling with mercenaries, mostly Ikari Company. “The Noodle Run”, the sign suddenly popped into her AR. Looking at a small, open air shop with a dozen tables spread out, she decided it was probably the only place she will find and pushed her way through the crowd. Coming out into the sitting area, the AR image of a busty, asian waitress greeted her in an unnaturally high pitched and cute voice. “Konichiwa! Welcome to The Noodle Run! Please take a seat wherever and we will be sure to serve you soon!” “Right...thank you.” Aafah said, automatically before realizing the image probably couldn’t hear her and was simply a recording. Taking a seat at the bar area, she watched a large Japanese man cooking over an electric stove top. The ancient coils glowing red, reflecting in the man's sweat. As she sat, a menu appeared in her vision, and she used her finger to flip through it before finding a simple beef and noodle bowl. Tapping the floating order button, the image disappeared, and a confirmation showed. Turning, she looked back out on the strip, and observed the people. Mercenaries, escorts, merchants, and workers passed by, all adding their own noise the cacophony of the street. Sometimes she will catch a glimpse of a large power armored soldier stomping by, their massive form standing in stark contrast to the smaller individuals around them. All nationalities were represented, the Strip a melting pot of cultures and nations, with dozens of languages being spoken. “Your soup.” the Japanese man grunted, pulling Aafahs focus back around as the cook put the bowl in front of her, and turned back to his work. “Shukran.” she muttered back, and taking the chipped spoon, she began eating as a priority message popped up in her feed. Selecting it, her brothers image appeared, “Maih, we got a message from High Command, I need you back on the adh-Dhiʼb as soon as possible. It is very important.” “Understood, I will be on my way in 10.” Aafah responded, her spoon speeding up as she tried to get as much food as possible in a short time. The hairs on her arm started standing up suddenly. Her hand dropped to the pistol, and depressed its retention button, as she turned. Looking into the bustle of the street, nothing drew her attention though. Something was off. She knew this though. Something was watching, or studying. Checking her wetware, there were active intrusion attempts stopped by the formidable military firewalls. All of a sudden the attempts stopped, and she felt alone again. Her hair still stood on her arm though. Quickly paying she headed out, moving briskly back to the Haqqislam port. This needed to be reported immediately, and by the tone of her brothers call, she wondered if it was related. In fifteen minutes she was on a shuttle speeding out to the Haqqislam light cruiser floating in the dark void. Fifteen more minutes as she was descending from the spacecraft, into the docking bay and moving quickly for her brothers office near the bridge. Knocking a couple of times on the door, she heard a quick, “Come in!” Entering his office, she gave a quick salute, “‘aqid Fayaz.” “Maih, glad you made it so quick.” Fayaz responded, not even returning the salute as he quickly gathered several items, and tapped a couple of buttons on the holographic desktop panel. The room immediately became isolated from everything. Maya traffic that was previously flowing to her ceased completely, and the area seemed uncomfortably quiet. “I apologize for the informality of this sister, but this news is far to important and dire to wait.” he said, handing over a paper folio. Aafah immediately understood as she opened the file and saw typed documents. The only time she had received documents in such a way was during her time with the Hassassin organization. “This document appeared on my desk as I returned from watch on the bridge. I validated its agent code with the Hachibs office. This is legitimate. Read it.” Sitting down, Aafah read the 5 pages of documents quickly, making sure not to record any of it in her AR. The report was hard to believe, especially all the way out here on the Human Edge, but it made sense. The attacks on the Daedalus Gate, and the Third Offensive, the Combined Army could easily have been trafficking supplies to Human Edge, and few would bat an eye. No nation cares about what happens out here, outside of the use of mined materials they can purchase. “This report has scant details or targets, but the intelligence gathered, points to EI forces amassing out here, and it is believed to be centralized or at least going through Novvy Bangkok. The Hachib is directing assets this way as we speak, but since we are already here, we have direct orders from High Command to begin investigating, and neutralizing enemy assets.” Fayaz says as he goes back behind his desk, and sits down, steepling his fingers as he thinks. “The adh-Dhiʼb has powerful survelience, and information gathering software. I will begin tasking our specialists on what to monitor and pass information down to you on the rock. Further we will begin doing patrols and sweeps around the local cluster. We will try to maintain as much stealth as possible, and keep our engines hot. If we find anything, we will be sure to pass the information.” Nodding, Aafah sits back, and closes the information docket, “The enemy is getting through our blockades more easily with each passing month. At this point in time it seems the Paradiso system is more of a tourism attraction for them. Be careful brother. They are a very aggressive foe. They are not like the pirates you have been hunting.” Nodding and smiling, Fayaz says, “I know, my dear sister. I have been briefed on their advanced ships and technology. We will be sure to run at the first sight.” Reviewing the docket one more time, Aafah stands up and folds the paper into quarters, slipping it into her back pocket. “I will brief my leadership core, and will do a quick biometric check of the unit. I already had an encounter on the Strip. An intrusion and scanning attempt. A normal mercenary would not have bothered.” Turning while her brother nodded at her, a stern look on his face, he said “Be careful sister.” “Allah maeana ya 'akhi.” Aafah says, before slipping out of the office.
