March 18th, 2023, 6:45 am local time.
Heislingberg Family Villa
Karl sighed, and leaned back in his desk chair. He’d finally managed to convince the freighter pilots to deviate from their course, and pick up four extra passengers and a car. Of course, they were not happy about it, but Karl promised them he’d pay well, and also promised the captain who had smuggling charges laid against him, acquitted.
He glanced at the clock, it was close to 7:00 AM now, and he’d heard some stirring from downstairs. That was the benefit of living so isolated from everyone, no one would disturb him. Regardless of what was going on outside of his room downstairs, Karl sat there, simply contemplating the sheer amount of planning work he had done.
His journal beckoned him to open it. To write something, to note down this experience. But, the last thing he wrote about was when his grandfather had passed away. It was something he wanted to bury, to forget about. Karl had been very close to him, bonding over archeological bedtime stories in his childhood and actually learning about archeology during his adolescent years. A sad sigh came from the caracal. Life didn’t last forever. Everyone, sooner or later would clock out.
Anyway, enough of the existential crisis. With the rally just a couple weeks away, time was of the essence. He really needed to start packing, and he hadn’t even chosen a car yet which was not good, especially since the freighter was departing tomorrow at 10:00. Desperately, Karl scanned his desk and looked about his room. A wood box sat on the shelf above.
Hang on a second.
Making sure to not fall off the chair, Karl carefully removed it from its spot, and set it on the desk. A name had been engraved into the lid, but it received no attention. Thoughts that it created were overwhelming. Beyond the lid, were several keepsakes, among them a set of car keys. They were silver, specifically nickel silver, the head stamped with a capital letter M with a strikethrough, while the keychain bore the word Ambassador.
Removing the keys, Karl placed them gently on his desk, before he replaced the lid and returned the box to its spot on the shelf. In that moment, something was visible in the reflection of the glass on a picture of him and his two brothers. It resembled a gift from his grandfather. He turned around to see what it was. There, above the bed, was a custom made Savannah Rifle Works Mark VI big game hunting rifle also known as the CZ-550, particularly the Safari Magnum variant. The Mark VI was a shameless clone of the CZ-550, the rifles had almost no discernible difference, except the fact that one of them had frame with hand carved engravings made from Bocote wood, and its barrel and other metal components, with the exception of the firing mechanism, milled from platinum. This one also had a picatinny rail for some reason.
Unconsciously, Karl reached for the rifle on the rack above his bed and removed it, testing its weight in his hands. The weight reminded him of something.
That’s right!
In the locking drawer of his desk, which was unlocked, was his Automag Raven and in the closet, was an Atchisson AA-12 shotgun, a closed-bolt semi auto variant with an extended barrel that was, but a shotgun nonetheless.
Well, that was the weapon loadout and car sorted. Now all that was left was to decide what to bring. Clothing, both for hot and cold environments, food, preferably MREs in case he couldn’t come by food.
He glanced at Ramius, who had been sleeping under the desk, and was now awake and bore what was probably a look of concern on his face.
March 29th 2023, 5:46 PM. Alkonov International Airport, South of Kiovograd, Velkaristan.
The freighter was officially a week late, but was finally in geostationary orbit above Deicarro, the planet that was home to Velkaristan. Earlier that morning, the crew aboard the freighter had contacted the government and requested clearance to send down a boarding shuttle. Alkonov International Airport, the single largest airport in the nation, had spent the day sectioning off an aircraft parking area as a landing pad for the shuttle, near Terminal One.
A mighty roar of jet engines came from overhead as a Royal Velkari Airlines Boeing 747 lifted off into the evening sky. Nearby, some distance away from the airport perimeter fence, directly next to the terminal, lay the Terminal One overflow parking, dotted with a few cars and trucks. Underneath the rumble of the receding jet exhaust, a silver Audi RS7 and the red IVERA pulled into the lot, parking one ahead of the other.
However, a familiar sight in the form of Karl von Heislingberg leaning against what could only be a 1971 Ambassador, awaited their arrival. The occupants of the car ahead of them, had already gotten out and begun introducing themselves, while Landon remained in the Audi seated next to his brother.
“Y’know Landon, I’m starting to think you should get out while you still can.” Andrew mused.
Landon gave a shrug. “Like hell I will.” he replied, mid chuckle. “The military is in my blood, I can feel it. Plus, I’ve still got a good 10 years before I can consider retirement.”
“It’s alright, I also have a few years left before I go and turn in my 30 day notice.”
Sighing, Landon rolled his eyes and got out of the car, leaving the door open. “Hey, let’s focus on the present. Life’s all about the journey, not the destination.”
Andrew looked out at the parking lot again. “That much is true.”
“You mind popping the trunk?”
“Oh, yeah sure.”
The tailgate slowly lifted open, revealing two suitcases one of them larger than the other, a backpack, a nondescript military weapon crate and a large green duffel bag. One suitcase was packed full of winter clothes and other gear, the larger second one contained clothing and other items that were important.
Landon proceeded to unload the luggage, extending the handle and affixing the backpack to one of them.
But when he shifted his attention to the olive drab coloured bag, opening one, he paused.
A sharp breath, then a glance at the group gathered next to the IVERA.
Inside the bag were guns, lots of them. Spare magazines too. There were three G36 variant rifles, one of them a heavy duty MG36, two Benelli M4 shotguns, four UZIs, two full size ones, and two of the micro variant. The extra ammo, on the other hand, was in the IVERA. Two large military grade storage bins, both of them full to the top, among other things. Plus, the nondescript weapon crate contained an experimental device, something that was technically a weapon, but was not designed to inflict harm. On living beings at least.
The General looked over the weapons again, then zipped up the bag, taking it out of the car before also removing the crate and setting the bag on top of it.
Almost immediately Karl spotted him, waved and approached, while Andrew parked up the Audi, properly
“What’s the deal with the service uniform?” He asked.
Landon shrugged. “I’m wearing it because of where we are going.”
“Showing off again, are you?”
A chuckle came from Sabourne. "I guess you could interpret it that way.” Then he turned to the three extra teammates. “Aryton, Amell. We’ll be wheels up in two and a half hours. In the meantime, I suggest you go and get something to eat.”
“Is there gonna be food on the ship?” Amell asked.
Karl shook his head. “Nothing except the freighter crew’s food rations. That we cannot touch.”
A nod from Aryton. “Okay then. We’ll meet you at the shuttle.”
The interlopers left toward the terminal, in search of a place to sit down and eat.
“So, Karl. Tell me, have you got room in that car of yours?” Sabourne asked, resuming the conversation.
“Oh, I’ve got miles of it, both in the cabin and trunk.” Karl replied a little proudly. “I guess the massive pile of luggage over there is why you ask.”
A nod. “Yeah that’s right. Though not all of it. One of those cases is full of winter clothes, jackets and coats and stuff. I’ll put that one in the IVERA.”
Karl scanned the luggage sitting next to the RS7. “I suppose the bigger one is where you’ve got all your regular clothes, then?” He said, pointing out the suitcase in question.
“Yes. I also brought guns…, lots of guns.” Sabourne remarked, as though he were quoting a movie. “And, I need you to help me load my things into your car.”
“I’m happy to help. Though I wanna ask, what made you take two cars.?”
Flashback to 9AM that morning.
“Okay then. Let’s go over the checklist one more time.” Sabourne began, looking at the clipboard again. “Tools?”
Amell nodded. “Check.”
“Weapons and Ammo?
“Locked and loaded, general.” Denali Replied.
“Cold weather gear? Coats and the like.”
Aryton poked his head out from the open door on the camper shell. “All here, sir.”
“MREs in case we aren’t able to come by food?”
Denali, who was helping Aryton with a suitcase, nodded. “Yeah, I triple checked before I even brought it out.”
“Alright then. We’ve got everything we need then right? Everything we should collectively know about?”
Everyone murmured in agreement.
Satisfied, Landon went over the list one last time. “Okay. To recap, we’ve got extra clothes and footwear, cold weather gear, sleeping bags, emergency food supply, extra jerry cans should we need them, 12 volt space heaters to keep warm in the cold, tire jack, tire irons, torque wrenches and other tools so we can fix our cars should they go wrong.” He paused to take a breath. “Also the weapons; two G36 assault rifles, an MG36 light machine gun, two shotguns, four UZIs, Micro and full size. Personal sidearms, two crates of ammunition and the… uh… What is it? Oh yes, the Directional EMP and other stuff anyone might care about.”
“I think that’s pretty much everything.” Aryton agreed.
“Good. Alright, we can finish packing up here and take five. We’ll be taking off this afternoon, at least that’s when the shuttle arrives at the airport.”
End of Flashback
“It doesn’t sound like you’ll be taking the RS7.” Karl quipped, smugly. The expression then faded quickly. “In all seriousness, I think we already established that you are with me in the Mayland.”
“Yeah.” Landon acknowledged, now dragging his two suitcases with him to the Mayland, before stopping short after seeing the trunk was a total mess. “Uhm… Karl? How am I supposed to fit my things in here?”
“Simple, you don’t.”
The general simply rolled his eyes.
“No, there is actually enough room here. If I just shift my two long guns over–.” Shuffling sounds came from the movement. “…There we go.”
Within minutes, Landon and Karl had loaded and unloaded the Ambassador’s trunk, but despite any efforts, they could not get the weapon box with the EMP gun to fit.
“Honestly, I’m tempted to just leave it here.”
“Hey, there’s a reason why I told you to bring it. We could be in real trouble if we don’t. Some people like to use drones to hunt for treasure.”
A groan came from the General. “Alright then. You’ve convinced me, for now.”
After more wrestling, the large box finally fit in the trunk amongst all the long guns at the cost of most of the luggage being moved up into the cabin, but it wasn’t that bad considering that the Ambassador had miles of rear legroom.
“Y’know, I was worried my stuff wouldn’t be able to fit in the back seat, but there’s a fuckton of space back there. I’ve never seen so much legroom in my life.”
Karl Chuckled. “Huh. Well, this setup should only require us to move the guns and put them in the front seat for when we have to sleep. If we have to, we could move the EMP gun as well.”
A shrug came in reply. “It’s good enough.”
Right then, a silver, six limbed wolf leapt from the rear driver passenger side window.
Karl moved to see the new arrival. “Oh, good. Ramius is here. I’m going to let him in the back so he can rest from his dimension jump.”
“So he can get exhausted from dimension jumping too much?” Landon queried.
“Yeah, of course. Especially long distance ones between planets.” Answered Karl, nodding. “Anyway, I guess we are fully packed up then and the boarding shuttle leaves in the next hour or so.”
The General then started over to the Audi RS7. “I agree. I’ll just say goodbye to Andrew really quickly and then we can head over and board, once the others return that is.”
Eventually, the hour had passed, and everyone had rendezvoused back at the two cars. Before they set off however, they went over the plan once again, which didn’t take long since everyone practically memorized it. After passing through the security gate onto the tarmac, an airport operations vehicle escorted their two car convoy to the boarding shuttle. The shuttle fit both cars, though it was a squeeze, and in time, the cars were fastened down and the shuttle was off.
The freighter that orbited was a large ship, big enough to have a hangar bay to accommodate the boarding craft, but only the boarding craft. After everything had been tied down, the hangar doors were shut and sealed and then the bay itself was pressurized. Following some maneuvering to not scorch any satellites, or disrupt the atmosphere. The freighter fired up its massive thrusters and in the blink of an eye, vanished into space as the warp drive engaged, with Earth as the final destination, leaving nothing behind but a trail of blue, rapidly dissipating energy.
To Be Continued
