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The Dragon Talon Mercenaries spread out into the war-ravaged system. Recon posted up that the battles here were between the Children of the Phoenix and some Diamond Swords. Ravoc was sent in as a Lonewolf to investigate the fifth planet in the system, codenamed Bloodclaw.

It was the DTM's guess that the Blood Eagle were going to make a push for this system sometime in the near future in order to form a staging area. BE operations deeper into Diamond Sword space in this sector could hamper the Merc's ability to work as a freelancer force.

Recon setup a dropzone with a remote inventory station outside of the militarized zones and gave Ravoc the beacon position for his orbiter.

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"Spectre, the orbiter is in geosync. Blacking out."
"Copy Ravoc, report in 48 hours."

Log: I got planetside and took a quick look around. Whatever living things used to be here, this place is now set to lose its atmosphere in a few hundred years. There is nothing left here but strategic advantages.

Loadout: Medium Armor, Shield Pack, ELF, Plasma, Grenade Launcher, and a Blaster.

Mission: UOD (unexploded ordinance detonation), Secure the location for larger operations, and setup a DTM defensive position against an incoming BloodEagle contingent. Diamond Sword support ships will reinforce the planet if the BE threat is realized.

I hit the ground walking. The sun was just rising over the horizon and in 49 hours it would set again, giving me ample daylight to work with. This place reminds me of the Desert of Death. Its no place for rookies.

The first thing to do was to locate the Recon Inven Station. It should be 23 clicks to the southeast of my position. Usually such a short distance would be quickly overcome by jumpjet. Not this time. The sky makes for easy targets, and who knows what renegades could be entrenched here.

The dropships are long since gone or destroyed, and depending on conditions, some tribal warriors could have been marooned. Even in these types of battles, logistics can be difficult to maintain. I go by foot.

As I walk around, I see signs of Archaeology. Some of these places were lived in long ago. It is too bad necessity restricts curiosity. I would have loved to have looked deeper into the history of this place.

Very little of it will survive the coming storms.

(more to come)

The inventory station was buried under a windblown pile of sand. Wind still whistled through the canyon nearby as I sighed a moment to catch my breath.

Using a blaster, I cut through most of the trouble and got in for a respec. The station only has enough energy for about 10,000 credits of gear swapping. I swap my shield pack for a sensor package, get a camera, and proceed to my first waypoint.

I jet near to the top of a dune, and peak my head up. Would this be a good observation point? After confirming distances, I swing around and drop the sensor down. "Watch my back." Breathed through the silence as I moved in closer.

The base is a typical Starwolf design. Lots of open space for defenses, and usually powered through solar panels and a spare parts generator. The shield grid is down. This is a good position to repair.

I can open up a communications link, have a defensive on-site location, and get a flight pad. This is an outpost, and most likely not where the main fighting occured. I dropped another sensor down at a highpoint, and put a camera at a dark spot near the entrance to the generator housing.

Searching around, I wondered if logistics managed to keep a repair pack somewhere near the base before they were destroyed, or at least, before they left.

What would cause someone to leave after they defeated their adversary? I wouldn't back off once I conquered a planet. Something must have happened. Perhaps I can get to a Command Station somewhere and decrypt a few files...

None, of course, would be found at this tiny scout-pad outpost.

There... a repair pack...