Chapter Seven: Making Plans for the Future
"Man, the SLDF really had way too much time on their hands." I muttered to myself as I signaled to the automatic docking systems of this hidden SLN depot to begin the docking procedures." According to the data stored in the navigation systems the Star League had left dark navy listening posts and hidden repair depots all over the Periphery to help maintain control after the Reunification wars. The main problem was, that no single ship had all of the locations. I had a list of half a dozen different depots that I was going to see if there were any supplies left in.
This particular repair station was partially a hollowed out asteroid and it also had a Potemkin that had what appeared to be thruster damage. It also had only twelve of the potential twenty-five hard points filled with Dropships and the majority of those those looked damaged as well.
The real prize was the Invader Jumpship that was further in. While according to scans, it looked a little bit damaged if the K-F drive were intact it would be the basis for a way to get around the periphery without setting off tons of alarm bells for the various intelligence agencies that were around. I could use it and if I any of the Unions attached to the Potemkin were both space and atmosphere worthy I could start a Mercenary company and begin the process of meeting some trustworthy people that could function as a crew.
I would have to leave most of the Lostech equipment behind though. While one Lostech 'Mech would raise questions, it wouldn't be extraordinary. A whole company filled with Lostech 'Mechs and armaments would mean a target on my back. From Comstar and any other House Lords that would want the things that I had access to.
After the docking procedures were completed, I made my way to the airlock while triple checking the pressure seals on my Nighthawk were intact and that there were no issues as far as air recycling went. I would have to pressurize the repair depot in order to start any repairs or modifications that would be needed to maintain a cover as a periphery mercenary for the period of several years I would have.
When I reached the airlock I waited through the depressurization process and when the outer doors opened, I used the Nighthawks Jump jets to boost my speed in the low gravity, while being careful not to accidentally blast myself out into space. "Yeehaw!" I shouted and cheered as I flew around for a little bit. And then as if in slow motion, let myself fall down onto the docking bay floor in what is colloquially termed a "superhero" landing. "Nailed it!" I laughed to myself as I began to explore the area around me.
There were no signs of fighting, no scoring from laser weapons or anything else so I had to assume that this place was abandoned either during the Amaris Civil War or when Kerensky was gathering people up for the Exodus. And, I had to get the bay doors closed so that I didn't have to work under hard time limits. After around thirty minutes of searching for a console or something that would have some semblance of power to it I found a laminated book attached to the wall via a long piece of wire.
The book had all of the emergency procedures written down on it and even had precise instructions on how to activated the emergency generators in the event of an attack or anything else that might be termed as an emergency. Turns out the generators were built into the interior walls and that you had to remove a small panel in order to turn them on. Apparently if the console's interior battery still worked I could have activated them there but none of the consoles had any sort of power after centuries of non use.
"Beep, beep, beep." Echoed through the helmet as the warning I had set into the systems let me know that I needed to return to the Manassas in order to replenish my oxygen supplies. Heading over to that area, I cycled back through the airlock and allowed my reserves to replenish.
Knowing that I had time before the Nighthawk's interior reserves were replenished, I made my way to the Manassas Fighter/Small craft bay and grabbed several containers of oxygen reserves and stored them into a SLDF rucksack. I wanted to extend the amount of time I could work out there as much as possible. I also stopped by the cargo bay and grabbed a roll of Duck Tape. Using the duck tape and the rucksack I taped the extra oxygen containers down into places where they wouldn't interfere with my range of motion and I could easily reach the hoses to tie them into my existing system as I needed to.
By the time I had cycled out of the airlock into the depot I had tied all of the extra oxygen containers into the Nighthawks own oxygen supply. And I was grateful that I had as it too several hours to get the generators online. After the generators had purred to life the consoles began to power on one by one with the console that controlled the bay doors being the last to power on. And while it seemed to take forever to boot up, once the OS had completed it's boot up cycle, I followed the prompts and watched as the giant bay doors closed