Guard Dogs

    Through space, a ship flew, or rather floated.  It was Frigate class space ship named the Mastiff and since the message had been received from Jotnar that two prisoners had escaped, this ship had been ordered to patrol the space around Earth in search for the fugitives.
    Earth and Mercury were presently the only two planets with people on, and since they had already visited Mercury, basic logic told the Council of the Polylith that they were on their way home.  Taking this into consideration, the Councillors ordered several ships of their fleet to wait for them in deep orbit around Earth.
    This was what the Mastiff had been doing for about a week, right up until the first day of June, when they found something.  They expanded their search, patrolling even further from Earth as their orders dictated and, on the afternoon of the 1st of June 2152, the ship’s sensors detected a water vapour trail from a ship’s hydrogen powered engine.  It was for a ship of a much smaller size than the Mastiff.
    The Mastiff had charts of the locations of all other Olympus vessels and there was meant to be no ship close enough for the Mastiff to detect in this vicinity.  They were compelled to investigate, and so they did, they slowly tracked the faint trail around the Moon and to an old abandoned space station.
    Now it just hung there as it waited to attack, it’s sleek dark green body shimmering in the strong sunlight along with the cream coloured markings that denoted its name to everyone.  On the military deck of the Mastiff, where the barracks were located, the ship’s Commander was readying his soldiers in the garrison hall as they prepared to launch their assault on the station.
    The Commander stood on a plinth at the head of the hall as he inspected the troops he had gathered.  The platoon, which he had hand-picked, was standing in formation in front of him while behind him, a huge transparent wall allowed his soldiers to see the levitating space station that they were about to board.
    The Commander wore his full dark green Olympus officer’s uniform, complete with official hat, which had the tiny image of the Olympus symbol just above the cap.  The combination of the thin translucent black brim of his hat, along with the brown artificial leather boots and gloves, made this Company officer appear extremely authoritative.  That was the uniform’s purpose.  The only weapon he wore was high quality pistol contained within a brown holster by his waist.
    The platoon that was assembled before him were garbed in thick ankle-length greenish grey trench coats and they all carried the same long silver machine guns.  The Commander looked over all their faces but only saw one, that of the standard issue dark grey respiration masks, which completely covered all their faces.  
    The masks only had one filter and two dark blue translucent eye windows.  The rest of the grey polymer surface was completely devoid of features.  The purpose of these masks was to intimidate equally as much as they were to protect.
    As the Commander stood there, ready to give out his orders against the backdrop of this colossal window, someone entered the hall, it was the First Officer of the Mastiff.  The Commander had left him in charge of the bridge and he didn’t appreciate the surprise of seeing someone where he didn’t expect to see them.
    The First Officer entered through a door by the side of the dais and approached his superior.
    “Sir,” he whispered.
    “What is it?” the Commander responded irritably.  “I’m about to begin the briefing.”
    “I’ve come to tell you that we’ve received the schematics of the station from Company Archives.  The station is listed as an astronomical research facility called Celestia.  It’s interior is not as spacious as it would seem from the outside.  I think you should reconsider the tactics, sending in such a large force may just get in each other’s way and cause more fatalities than necessary.  I think sending a single team could prove more effective.”
    “We have an entire battalion at our disposal here and you want to send just one squad?  But this is already the liberal approach,” he gestured to the soldiers.  “I wanted to just blow that station out of the sky from here, but the Polylith claimed that this structure contained valuable materials that they’re planning on retrieving in the future and don’t want anything damaged.”
    All modern Frigate class space ships were fully equipped with a variety of torpedoes, several series of automatic gun batteries and even some experimental low powered energy weapons, but they weren’t very practical at this present time.
    “I’m here to propose an alternative plan of attack,” he said.
    “Very well,” the Commander agreed.  “Proceed.”
    “There is no doubt that the fugitives are hiding out in that space station.  The recent water vapour trail ends at the main docking bay.  Seeing as there are only two of them, I recommend sending a smaller force to capture the escapees.”
    “What do you mean, ‘capture’?  The edict from the Polylith is to eliminate the criminals.”
    “We’re receiving a different message from Jotnar.  They want them brought back alive.”
    “We take our orders from the Council, not some computer on Mercury.”
    “The request is from Governor Riley herself.”
    “What?  You mean Icelus of the Nyx Squad?  She wants them brought back alive?”
    “That’s right.”
    The stern Commander looked at his feet, and then back at his First Officer.  “OK,” he said.  “Tell me your idea.”
    “I think we should send a four person strike team from the single Elite unit we have on board.”
    “Alright, send the order to prepare a landing craft for entry through the main docking bay.  Make sure their equipped with both fully defensive gear along with lethal weapons.  I want them protected so they can take the fugitives alive, but I also want them prepared to kill them if they have no alternative.”
    “Yes sir.  There is one more thing.  We’re having trouble getting the airlock to open for us.  The station’s computer is still operational, so we requested the override codes from the Polylith.  We should receive them soon and then we can begin the operation.”
    “Good work.  See to it,” the Commander ordered.
    As the First Officer scuttled away to make the preparations for the operation, the Commander remained in the garrison hall.  He looked all around at the greyish blue assembly hall and then down at his soldiers, who hadn’t budged at all during this time.
    The Commander folded his arms, looked back at the floating space station behind him with a thin band of light bordering its outline, and then turned back and dismissed his soldiers.