Raptor Squadron

Prologue

Malek Th’Will read the expense reports in his hand with a deeply furrowed brow. He had been Chief Operations Office of the Conflict Resolution and Product Defense wing of the United Aramayan Shipping Conglomerate for a total of three months and he was certain he would have a nervous breakdown before he’d been there for three more.

When he had joined the upstart company it had seemed like the deal of a lifetime, but as he had quickly and painfully realized, working for the new kid on the block had definite disadvantages. The other major companies that ran the galaxy were definitely not happy about someone else trying to cut a piece out of their pie and let their displeasure be felt with stiff tariff prices and sometimes outright hostilities. He couldn’t prove it but he was certain some of the “pirate attacks” their convoys had been suffering were actually the competition finding creative ways around the Common Capital Good Treaty. They had a private army to protect their interests, just like every other company in the galaxy, but that was another disadvantage of being new. Their army was a joke, and not a funny one either.

He sighed and rubbed his temples, tossing the reports onto his desk.

Without an army capable of defending their interests, they were steadily bleeding out all the money they were saving on overhead by being smaller than the other major corporations.

Malek reached across his desk and pressed a button on his holotran. A hologram of his secretary coalesced in front of him and looked at him with a bright smile. “Yes, Mr. Th’Will, is there something I can do for you?”

“Yes Penny, please contact Captain Loranth and have him come to my office if you don’t mind.”

“Right away, sir.”

Malek hunched forward and began typing on his data terminal. Moments later the door to his office hissed open and a short, stocky many with dark, military style hair stepped inside and saluted smartly. “Captain Loranth reporting, sir.”

“Can the sir nonsense, Davin. No one is here but me,” Malek said with a wry smile.

Davin mirrored the expression, relaxing visibly. He walked over to Malek’s desk and settled into one of the plush chairs. “Hey, gotta keep up appearances, right? What did you need to see me about?”

Malek picked up a folder from in front of his data terminal and tossed it across the desk to Davin.

“I need them. It’s no secret our army has been getting the worst of it in the field from every other corporation. We need some new tricks and I think those pilots might be it.”

Davin had been flipping through the folder full of dossiers and glanced up at the COO with a raised eyebrow. Malek held up a hand to still the protests before they started. “Look, I know you’ve been doing the best you can with what you have to work with, and I know those pilots in that folder aren’t exactly perfect…”

“Not exactly perfect, Malek?! They’ve been drummed out of every unit they’ve ever been in! And look at some of these reports!” He flipped through the pages as he spoke, “multiple instances of insubordination, intoxication while on duty, tampering with company systems, something called lude and dishonorable conduct, and medical malpractice?! How the hell does medical malpractice even end up in here?!”

“That would be the team medic. Ensign Bevel Plax. Look, I know they’re unorthodox and a little rough around the edges, but they all have talent and we’re desperate for it. We can’t bleed out any more capital or the entire company might just go under. I’m not trying to sound fatalistic, but those are the facts. I’m counting on you to bring those misfits into line and save all of our asses. Now go out there and get me those pilots, Captain.”

Davin looked from the dossiers to Malek and shook his head slowly. “Alright Mal, but I just want you to remember I said this was a bad idea from the start. And if this load of dung farmers gets me killed, it’s on your head.” He smiled at Malek then stood up, striding out of the room with a precise military trained gait.

Malek watched him go then sighed and looked back down at the reports on his desk. He prayed he hadn’t just made a terrible mistake.