[NAM] NSS Cedar

Location: Near NAM Space Mining Operation, Area 5

Lieutenat Ershwin Stuart floated in a sea of stars. He could not see anything save the twinkling lights, feel anything but cold space and steel and hear anything but his own heartbeat. In his mind however he was in a different world, a gentle and soothing song played endlessly in his head, the hummed notes making him forget that he had not moved at all for the past hour.

Gradually the final verses of the song played out to mesh with the humming of his machine as Ershwin was slowly transported back to reality. He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, causing a small condensation upon his HUD screen. Reacting to the sound the computer brought itself out of hibernation, illuminating Ershwin's face in a dim light.

Now where is everybody...

From the darkness Ershwin could see three sparks at varying distances. The light was somewhat similar to that of a welding torch. Ershwin kept an eye on these lights as his computer calculated their rough distances and locations. Occasionally one of these lights would vanish, then appear somewhere else. Ershwin knew very well what these lights were.

Well, at least the Fireflies are still here.

A small buzzing to his right indicated that his passive sensors were powered up. Additional telemetry data was forwarded to Ershwin's screen. From the three yellow dots that represented the Fireflies, ten extra blue dots appeared. The newly detected signatures formed a rough circle around the yellow ones, as though caging them in.

Ershwin's eyebrow twiched as one of the blue dots moved a little. Not that it surprised him, but made him want to reaffirm his position. He waved his right had outward and touched rock. Using a bit of propellant he moved closer to the side of the asteroid.

A small beep sounded in his ear as a small timer begain to count down.

All right, now lets see if everyone is in position... 3... 2... 1...

The area was suddenly shrouded in light as the planet the asteroid belt was orbiting moved out of the sun's way. The first thing Ershwin could see was the space rocks that shone like golden nuggets under the sun's rays. The second thing was the Fireflies and their Mining Hold hard at work, as though prospectors seeking their fortune. The third thing was notthing at all, he could not see the objects the blue dots represented.

The blue dots were either behind an asteroid or within a shadow cast by the rocks. The NAM Workers evidently could not see them as well, as they were blissfully ignorant of the impending danger. Ershwin smiled, he had trained them well.

A slowly rotating asteroid showed its darker side to the sun. Reveiling the latest Power Armor series to roll off a Kennewes factory line . It was painted brown to easier camoflage it against the rock but it was a machine Ershwin knew all to well... A NRM Dark Demon.

The Dark Demon raised a thumbs up sign towards Ershwin. The Lieutenat nodded in approval. The DD Pilot chose his hiding place well, as the illuminated side of the asteroid looked away from the unsuspecting miners. Radio static played out as Ershwin's second in command contacted him.

"Sir, all raider team members are in position, shall we proceed with the plan?"

"Patience, we have waited for a hour. We can wait one more till I indicate that the time is ripe." Ershwin grinned.

.
"Very soon my men, very soon..."

Ershwin felt bored. The miners are taking their own sweet time in extracting ore. He swore that he saw one firefly being picky, throwing away a metal piece for a purer one. He can wait, these people are living the last moment in their lives anyway: Death should not be rushed. A few more minutes of silence and inactivity made the raider's mind drift off to somewhere. Leutanat Ershwin Stuart's soldiers may be one of the best hand-trained in their class. But face it, they were not great conversationalists, the only thing they knew what to do was to fight.

... They were only month old clones.

Ershwin sentimentally rubbed an old faded insignia on his left arm. There was a time he was in a squad that disallowed clones and was made up entirely of natural pilots. The 'Space Demons'. He remembered he was not officer Ershwin then, but lance corporal. Those were the times, after the fight everyone would head to the bars to get pasted again. The squad took down three times as much ships than their nearest competitor, they were given the honor of the name 'Space Demon', a name much feared and respected... Until that day.

They were also given the 'honor' of initiating the first raid against a heavily armed and armored NAM Transport. The Red fraction has not encountered targets like this before. The Green Nepleslian company was new and their transports and crew was pretty much made out of greenhorns, but it was rather obvious who had the technological advantage. There had to be a way to take down these ships, the Space Demons were to find out.

All the good men of Kennewes died that day. The NAM Force was not as overstretched as now thus they also had to contend with two more additional transports on site. It was a massacre, but for every member killed looking for a weakness, another Space Demon would transmit the combat data and then use said data to look further. Many important discoveries, from the 'Effective Point Defense Zone' and the combat capabilities of the WATER1 were all paid in Demon blood.

Ershwin's squad leader, Major Victor Krasz was a vocal critic against the use of clones in war. His argument was that clone squads would not be smart and flexible enough to pinpoint possible enemy weaknesses and tactics. It was unfortunate that to prove this point, Victor had to take up that suicide mission. It was even more tragic that High Command further encouraged the production of Clone Squads now that the chink in the armor has been found. Clones being able to systematically and repeatedly take advantage of the weakness in massive numbers.

... And he as one of the few survivors of the now forgotten 'Space Demons' would be put in charge of training one of such squads, in the Dark Demon armors that were made as a result of that dark day.

"Lets go for drink after this is over, eh Leutenat?." One of the clones asked.

... But the legacy and teachings of Sir Victor Krasz will continue under his hand.[/b]