I did some work together with BlackAeronaut... the result is an improved chapter at the start of the story and a new on in the middle:
Quote:A phone rung.
“Space Patrol, Heimdal office, Office Tom speaking. What can I do for you?” a voice could be heard through Cortanas communication line.
“Here is Cortana, the AI of Jenga... we are somewhere between Mars and the spin-ward trojans of Jupiter. And I think we will be under attack very soon.”
“Tell me what happened Cortana.”
Always good to flag a ‘did once work with OGJ’ tag on the screen of Space Patrol Cortana thought.
“We are still two weeks away from our target. Approximately five minutes ago, we lost our Interwave link to Star Base 1. Whatever took down the Interwave also blocks our radar systems. Oh, we also see a small fleet of vehicles incoming on our optical systems.”
The line stayed silent for a moment.
“You lost your Interwave connection?” a skeptic voice said.
“Yes, went down just like that, without any warning. The transmitter is still drawing power, but nothing goes out. Same for the radar, maybe some kind of passive jamming. We are speaking over a backup link I have with Hedwig. Different tech, I like redundancy.”
“Okay Cortana, I will see what I can do. That’s damned far out in never never land where you are at the moment. I will send the Roughriders a message, please coordinate it directly with them. If they cannot help you, call back immediately.”
“Thank you” Cortana said and cut the line, already dialing a connection to 36 Atalante.
A girl’s deadpan voice was quick to answer. “This is 36 Atalante. Please state the nature of this call.”
“Hello, here is Cortana, Catgirl Industries. We are just in the middle of nowhere between the Jupiter Trojans and Mars... and I think we are under attack. Radar, radio and Interwave jammed... and a small group of ships coming!”
“Understood,” replied the girl’s voice, utterly unexcited. “We are dispatching a strike package now. Can you provide more information about the assailants?”
Cortana focused outwards for a moment. “A truck, two small vans and two planes... I can see some missiles on the planes on optical, but I am not sure about other weapon systems. They are coming in slowly. We will try to hit them with a communication laser.”
“I see,” came her voice again, implying curiosity without the inflection in tone. “Is it possible to keep this line of communication open?”
“I have an faster than light backup link to Hedwig, I can keep open it to stay in contact with you. Just the signal delay to your ships from your base will become a problem. I don’t think we can receive or send radio calls at the moment” Cortana replied.
“There will be no issues with our coms. ETA will be in four hours. Ganbate, Cortana. I will continue to monitor your situation as it develops.”
Cortana sounded relieved to hear that. “We will delay them as much as we can, but I don’t know what equipment these guys have. Sorry to call you that early, but everyone here is a bit scared at the moment.”
“Perhaps I may be of some assistance. What are your liabilities right now?”
“I can give you a short summary, there is not much to tell you.”
“Virtually anything can be of use in a situation like this. Even something as simple as a wheel barrel and a holocaust cloak.”
Cortana grinned. “I am living together with a bunch of crazy catgirl engineers and tinkerers... and a lot of small crazy construction addicted drones. We might not have many weapons, but I think there are some things we can do. I will tell you what we are planning at the moment, but it might change during the next hour...”
Quote:“It will take a few minutes to burn a hole into it” a man with a large plasma cutter floating in front of the closed hangar informed him as he left the shuttle. “As we heard they use Battlesteel both for the hull and for the doors.”
----
“Cortana, this is Ruri,” came the deapan voice once more. “By my estimates the enemy should have made contact with you by now. Requesting a report.”
“Here is Cortana... good news first, we are still here... bad news next, most of the bad boys are still here too. We nailed one of their planes, its out of the fight and the pilot will be injured... if he is lucky. But two of my three laser cannons have been killed and the third one is damaged. Oh, and I think I hit one of their boarding crafts, but its still coming towards the station.”
“Understood. First to arrive will be the Black Betty with a pair of VF-1S Valkyries. They will disable the enemy ships. From what you have told us this appears to be a slaver team. The worst they will do at that point is take you hostage. After that, the Tough Love with Team Atalante will arrive. They should be able to get you out of whatever situation you may find yourself in.”
“Just promise us one thing. It doesn’t matter whats the situation, do not let them get away with one of the catgirls. Most of them had pretty bad experience with the Boskones and they would take the risk.” Cortana said quietly. “The only good thing is that everyone here is a catgirl biomod, so any non-lethal wounds can be healed later.”
“Nothing outruns a Blackbird. The Magnificent Midnight is on hot standby. And she does not like to be kept waiting.”
Cortana chuckled. “I still remember her from Serenity con, she was the only ship not standing on the ground on a parking slot I think.”
“Confirmed. She can hardly even wait for maintenance to finish.” At this, she actually sounded a trifle annoyed.
“Our life would be boring without Fen like this... wish us luck, our visitors are cutting open the hangar door at the moment.”
----
They had finally taken the first hangar.