(Sigma Mercenaries, Story 0003: The Beautiful Nightmare Trains)
(Chapter 6: Beginning of the Twilight)

(31 March, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 0610 Hours Local Time)
(Train Car 974 (Showers, Gender-split), Female Side, Train 133628)
(Day 14 of Campaign)

Lieutenant Christenson found herself surprised that she wasn't the first person in the shower room.

"Morning, commander," Ikuno said from under one of the free-standing shower heads. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hammered on for a week straight," Megan admitted before she dropped her pack on a bench separate from Ikuno's gear.

"It is an abusive job, lead," Ikuno consoled her. "Clint-sama was quite clear about that during training."

"And it won't get any easier," Megan said slightly muffled by her shirt being over her head. The Team Lead threw her shirt into a laundry bin that was supposed to be part of the Star League's refuse and recycling program, but was now redirected into Sigma's ScrapNet network. The shirt would be held in storage until it could be processed and returned to surplus clothes for use by someone else in the military or civilian ranks.

"First time is the bell-weather," Ikuno said in something of a voice that sounded hopeful. "With our increasing veterancy, I hope it becomes easier from here on out."

"It should, unlike our clothing issues," Megan slung her bra into the laundry pile. "I have definitely sized up, and you have sized down," the Lieutenant pointed out the disparity between the designated markswoman and herself.

"Less uncomfortable in arcane shooting positions, commander," the Designated Marksman pointed out. "On the other hand, less attention-drawing when off duty, may be counterproductive to desires."

Megan flipped her socks and her panties in the laundry bin. "I always figured guys didn't look at that, well, didn't look too much, but…"

"Give it time, they will look," Ikuno assured her. "They will look more."

Megan took the shower pole adjacent to Ikuno's choice of shower pole, so they weren't using the same gang of shower heads (each pole fed four shower heads). The lieutenant was quick to douse herself in floral-scented soap and start scrubbing.

"Last round for the Train," Megan prompted the former Yakuza sharpshooter. "Going to be ready for it?"

"Already am, mentally," Ikuno pointed out. "Tough part is going to be the 322 cars in the day. We will be working late."

"Worth it, though," A third voice added to the conversation as two more entered the room.

"How you two feeling?" Megan asked.

"Lot of trips to the toilet last night," Camille said. "Otherwise, not too bad."

"Was eating MRE dessert pouches in the middle of the night," Scarlet noted as she began disrobing.

"Well, there's two kids who can claim they went along for the ride clearing out the Trains," Megan said with a smile.

"And I'm going to make damn sure my bun knows it! Get him or her started in school and on weapons training," Scarlet said with a sense of humor.

"I did some math last night while on the can," Camille said. "If we, as a team, clear two Trains a month, in ten years that's only 240 Trains. Assuming we go twenty years and stop, that's still only 480. That is a nasty far cry from the 150 thousand we have to deal with.

"Hell, the Star League could replace them faster than we can knock them out," Scarlet pointed out the big screaming logic fault of their effort.

"Problem is, they've already lost this fight," Ikuno said after she shut off her shower head. "You two are pregnant. I expect Quintin will be a father shortly, the way he and Erica are going around. I will go looking for a boyfriend, gives me a way out of Yakuza service. Lieutenant is unknown, but…" she waved a finger at the lieutenant, who was still soaping herself down.

"Yeah, looking like that, won't be long before guys are throwing themselves at her," Scarlet pointed out.

"Not actively looking, but not going to complain if Mister Right swings by," Megan said.

"We build another generation of Sigma," Ikuno pointed out. "More than just capturing and clearing, we are the future. Soon, they will not be able to replace losses faster than us, and there is no word against expanding the Teams, expanding the Railheads, expanding to new worlds."

"And then there's ladies like Chief Engineer Annoe," Camille said. "She's tried ten times, four survivors, and nothing says she can't try again." That much had caused a pang of worry for Camille, the not knowing what she would do, how she would cope, or even if she could cope, should one of her children not survive. It was a hell of a thought, all else being equal, but she reminded herself that Sigma was preparing to deal with daycare services and keeping the children well while the parents were out winning the war was on Sigma One's list of things to do right.

"Plus her two sons and two daughters," Megan pointed out. "One of the girls is on course for fighter pilot school, the other I don't know about."

"She'll be in academy right now, not old enough to go into the military trades," Scarlet said. "Ten! I don't think I'd be willing to go that far, that's a busy lifestyle."

"Effectively limitless space, unlimited economic opportunity, resources aplenty, there's not much stopping us from it in the here and now," Camille said. "Think about it. I know I am, even as I'm getting close with this one."

"Japan, my homeland, is losing population because of small families or going childless," Ikuno pointed out while towelling off. Of the four ladies in the room, she was the physically smallest by all measures, and liked it that way. Gave her less mass to absorb recoil from her rifles, but also made maneuvering and positioning with those rifles far easier. And, given the bent of the discussion, she was wondering now how well she would do in pregnancy, but...

"Keep that in mind going forward," Megan said as she began towelling off herself. "None of us want the Star League to win, so we can't give in to the usual thoughts. We fight hard, we sleep hard, we are the future. And the future is only ours if we show up and participate."

-x-x-x-

(31 March, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 0650 Hours Local Time)
(First floor cafeteria, Base Boarhound Administration Building)
(Day 14 of Campaign)

"Damn you chow down like crazy," Erica said to her boyfriend-leaning-something-more.

"Have to," Quintin said between bites. "Our calorie burn during a day's hard work is on the order of 4000, 4500 calories. If you short yourself, you risk getting weak at a bad time."

"And I'm adding to that burn," Erica poked him in the side with the handle of her fork.

"Oh, I'm not complaining," Quintin said between bites of breakfast sausage. "What about you?"

"I'm liking it," Erica said. "More I think about it, more I think I want to make it a semi-permanent arrangement, see if you're the right guy for me."

"I'm willing to give it a shot," Quintin said, and with that set himself on a course he never expected of his life, certainly not here in Sigma. It certainly didn't hurt that his new-found girlfriend was better looking than many, and street-smart even if she lacked a formal education.

"You always miss 100 percent of the shots you never take," a new voice said as she sat down not immediately adjacent to Erica but fairly close. Erica didn't recognize her offhand, but Quintin did. "The hard part is knowing when to take the shot, and what to aim at."

"G'morning, Toni," Quintin said. "Erica Coddie, this is Toni Arduno, the Secret Service chief."

"Oh wow," Erica said with some shock.

"Cheers," Toni said to diffuse any kind of situation. "Just because I'm SSO doesn't put me on a platform. Just means I have to try to keep the Boss safe. 'Try' being the operative word."

"How hard is that?" Quintin asked.

"Quite a bit," she said. "He's a designated marksman by preference, so he doesn't get all the way up in the fight. Unfortunately, there's no way to keep him out of the fight."

"That was damn good shooting yesterday, you both took some of the heat off us in the Train," Quintin said. With the two of them close to side-by-side, he noticed that Toni was a hint physically larger than Erica, but his girlfriend was a little more urban-hot compared to Toni's more exotic-hot. Quintin wasn't one for fishing exotic, and given the rumors of Toni's conduct vis-a-vis The Boss, he wasn't inclined to gamble on facing either Sigma One's wrath, or his girlfriend's wrath.

"That was a very stiff battle," Sigma One said after he sat down next to Quintin. "Damn good work on your team's part, just the same. That said, expect it will get worse before it becomes any manner of easier."

"What keeps you in the fight, sir?" Quintin asked. "From what I've heard around the way, you've got a perfectly normal life back on your homeworld."

"Boring life, not strictly normal," Hess corrected the pointman. "And, after swearing to myself and to the Will Transcendent to do my damndest to correct this problem, I am in this to do as I said I would."

"So, you're in it for an oath?" Erica asked.

"Part oath, part personal honor, part personal drive to solve problems. At a point in history long past on my home world, a man's word was their duty — and their honor. That has fallen well aside before I was born, society can't trust itself because the concept of honor is long gone except to a few persons here and there. More than just solving the problems here, more than just rescuing people and returning them home, there is a chance here to restore honor and civility to a world. Maybe even spread it. Build a society where people can be taken at their word, where people can reasonably trust in each other, where the expectation is not that every person is out to screw you in the name of personal profit."

"Damn, where do I sign up on that — urk," Pete stammered to a hard stop when he realized who was sitting next to Quintin — and who he was addressing.

"It always starts with oneself," Sigma One said as more of Rail Guard Team One took seats at the table. "You have to be willing to hold yourself to that level of conduct. You have to be willing to do the hard things because you said you would do them. You have to be willing to be civil when warranted, and be hard when necessary. More than that, though, you have to be able to expect the same from those around you, friends, comrades, complete strangers, society itself. There's no point in holding yourself to a better standard when society will screw you for it, so my goal is to build a society that does better, but everyone's goal must be to bring their honor or it will fall apart before long."

"So what about the Star League?" Megan asked the question that was ever-present in people's minds.

"What about them?" Sigma One asked in counter, then relented: "To Hell with them. They claim they know what honorable conduct is, but they conduct themselves like particularly moronic schoolyard bullies. They are the picture perfect bully boy, they have a cadre of flunkies, a few real friends and a long list of enemies. Sooner or later they will start a fight from which they will be unable to back out of, and with it so ends their delusions of grandeur. Doubt I will live long enough to see it, but it is a most amusing thought."

"Nothing like taking a bat away from a bully and beating them with it," Megan said with a smile. "Got to do that in middle school. Resulted in a three-day vacation, but hey, never had trouble again."

"And now we are doing it on a much grander scale," Carl said as he took a seat directly across the table from Sigma One. "Sir, way I figure it, this Train Disassembly job is the ultimate disarm-the-bully job. We pull the Trains out of service, no easy transport for the Slavers. Star League loses a clandestine revenue stream. We use the Jump Engines for our own purposes, we go places faster than any other Merc unit in Existence. Soon enough, we're unstoppable."

"I agree with everything you said except the last, trooper," Hess said. "Reminds me, after you are done with the Train, we need to set up a formalized rank system for the Rail Guards. And we need to discuss expanding the teams. Anyway, on your point about being unstoppable, perish the thought. The Star League is their own Star Empire, despite being incredibly incompetently managed, and they have both massive armies and nuclear capabilities. If they wanted us dead, as in truly wanted to flex their 'zack and powercrush us, they can do so. Even as we gain mass and veterancy, we can still be crushed under the right or wrong circumstances. Eventually, though, the calculus will change in our favor. It is only a matter of time."

"Adding thousands of people at a time to the nation, though, how does that affect our numbers?" Ikuno asked.

"Hard to say," Sigma One admitted. "The Trains are a finite number pool. They will run out, later rather than sooner, but in the interim they will magnify our expansion by a massive factor. Will it be enough? I hope so. The greater challenge is to ensure they have a proper nation to come into, and that loops back on our prior point about personal honor. And we need to try to avoid drawing the wrath of the Star League long enough to make it workable."

"The future belongs to those who show up," Megan echoed Ikuno's point from earlier in the day.

-x-x-x-

(31 March, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 0715 Hours Local Time)
(Basement METARgraphic field, Base Boarhound Admin Building)
(Day 14 of Campaign)

"This one is for the money," Pete said with a smile. He, like the rest of the team, had stowed their drop guns from previous days in favor of their standard armaments because the extra weight would become problematic with the planned hard march of the day. "One run, 322 cars, we're done with our first Train."

"What next?" Cedric asked after he fitted three new flashbangs to his vest's bang pouches. His was the team's single largest use of Bangs, with Quintin a distant second (one for him).

"We take a day mandated crew rest, maybe two depending on how sore or jittery we are, then we do some training. Word from on high is that we won't be trapping any more Trains for a few weeks, so we may just be sharpening ourselves, we may be breaking in some greenhorns for clearing the Trains," Megan said from her position at the gear table. She was loading her live mag for the ACR she now carried, she had not gone through a full mag with the amount of Slaver surrenders in the 'fortified zone' engagement. Other than that, she didn't need much else in the way of gear, just replacement munchies, water, and some extra acetaminophen pain reliever for when her legs started hurting from today's planned exertions.

"Where'd my two 40-millie grenades land at?" Scarlet asked.

"Here," Camille passed them to the team grenadier.

"Ah," Scarlet slipped them into the first of two 8-cell grenade pouches she was wearing specifically for 40mm rounds. For now she was carrying only the HE-DP grenades (High Explosive / Dual Purpose), but she figured if she moved away from the Milkor M-32 and carried a single-shot GL (maybe an ACR with an underslung grenade launcher?) she would diversify. Right now, her only function with the grenade launcher was to clear a swath through entrenched enemies, but the 40mm grenade had a LOT of possibilities with different munitions.

"Need some 40-cal?" Carl passed the grenadier a partial box of hollow point .40 S&W rounds.

"Went through half a magazine," Scarlet had her ready magazine staged for a reload, and did so after she was satisfied her grenade launcher was set and ready.

"Same. I'm surprised we haven't gotten into any real serious gunfights in a hot minute, not counting clearing six entrenched cars worth of Slavers, a'course." Carl considered that one of the scariest things he had ever done in his life, but not an altogether impossible one. Fighting the Slavers was becoming easier by the day, and he considered that a good thing in the long run.

"Need two rounds of 7.62, please," Ikuno said from directly behind Harold.

"Hit it," Harold held an open box out for the team DM, which he had just cracked to use on his rifle, a scout-configured SOCOM II battle rifle. The holographic sight he had quickly learned was a damn good sight once you got used to it, which went a way toward highlighting why Sigma One had an offset Holo sight on his DMR.

"Arigatou," Ikuno said after she received her two rounds and quickly loaded them into her ready magazine.

"Need two, myself," Quintin said after he clapped Harold on the shoulder. "Think I'm liking using the G3A3Z, can do full auto if needed, precision shots if not."

"Want to be careful with a rock 'n' roll seven-sixty-two in the Train, you can throw a lot of lead in short order, and create a lot of flying frag," Megan pointed out.

"Not to mention, .40s and 5.56 will stop in the air gap between back-to-back metroliner seats, 7.62 will blitz through both seat backs and have plenty of energy left over," Their Instructor's voice said from behind them.

"SIR!" The entire team snapped to attention after they realized who the speaker was.

"As you were, finish up your magazines and pull your gear harnesses and vests. I have new uniforms for everyone, and new unit patches." Clint held up four duffel bags, with a fifth slung over his shoulder, and his SSO was carrying four more.

"So we're an official troop now?" Megan asked.

"Damn straight you are," Clint said. "You may be our loudest success story to date. From refugees to inductees to assbeaters to victorious assbeaters in the space of two weeks. There's plenty of room for improvement, but success is its own justification."

The team took several minutes to pull their vests and gear harnesses, but once cleared they were down to their forest-camo BDUs. "So, what's the change?"

"Going to Urban Camo BDUs with new patches," Clint said. "Megan," he tossed the team lead her bag. "Camille, Scarlet," he handed theirs off a little more gently. "It was some serious work last night finding an outfit that could do urban camo BDU in maternity sizing."

"Won't last long, but we may end up needing them again," Camille said. "That's not going to be a problem, is it?"

"Hell no, more the merrier, just remember you don't get credit for Train Clears if you're on maternity leave, but you do get your base salary." Clint pointed out. "Pete," Clint flipped the element 2 pointman his bag. "And Ikuno." he dropped the last bag on the DM, then relieved his SSO of two of her bags. "Cedric and Harold." Clint tossed the two bags to the guys in question, leaving the last two to claim their bags directly from the SSO.

"How'd you get our sizes, sir?" Megan asked after she found three sets in the proper size along with new underwear and socks.

"Virtue went through the video footage from yesterday and did scaling determinations from various shots of the team before, during and after the action," Clint said. "She claims it will be close, but gives no guarantees."

"Close enough is plenty, thank you Virtue," Scarlet said, the latter half of her sentence toward one of the speakers in the room's ceiling.

"Do we boot the guys?" Ikuno asked.

"Don't care, actually," Megan admitted after thinking about it.

"I don't have any modesty left after the Train," Scarlet said. "Don't care."

"Same, I had to walk around buck naked for a week in the 523 Train, so this is no big deal," as she said so, she was already out of her forest camo and working her way into her new BDU pants.

Pete ratcheted his belt down tight and flipped the shirt on fast enough. "Hey! I like the arm patch!"

"Yeah, that is something," Cedric said after he had a look at it. "Railroad crossing sign, but rather than the usual R-R lettering, it is R and G with text."

"Guess we're in it for real now," Quintin said as he finished buttoning down his BDU shirt.

"10-4, you're in it for real now," Sigma Two said. "The test phase of this was the first day of clearing the Train. You've all passed with flying colors. It took us a couple days to sort out how we are going to do your ranks and status, but as of right now Megan is officially Lieutenant Christenson, as is Sir Launcelot. The remainder of teams are Private First Class, upgradeable as you prove yourselves. We'll work on salary and compensation in the coming days."

By now, the team was largely into their gear harnesses (belt, leg rigs, and shoulder harnesses), and Pete was working his way into his vest.

"This is swanky," Camille said with some satisfaction after she fitted her Dragon Scale Six armor over herself. "Thank you, sir!"

"Don't thank me, this is you guys and gals," Clint said heartily. "It's a hard thing to get back on one of these Trains and clear it. Thank you all for putting faith in us militiamen, and for working toward ending the Trains."

"All right, team, we ready to go?" Megan asked. Rail Guard Team 1 acknowledged ready to go. "Sir, team ready for deployment!"

Clint Came to attention and saluted in the naval fashion.

-x-x-x-

Car 0979 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0802) (Evacuated 1 civilian, 14 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 0980 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0804)
Car 0981 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0806) (Evacuated 2 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 0982 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0808) (Evacuated 7 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 0983 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0810)
Car 0984 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (0812) (Evacuated 8 civilians
Car 0985 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (0814) (Evacuated 4 recruits)
Car 0986 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (0816) (Evacuated 7 civilians, 1 recruit, and 14 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 0987 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (0818) (Evacuated 14 civilians)
Car 0988 (House Car, 1 Level) (0820) (Evacuated 10 civilians)
Car 0989 (Dining Car) (0822) (Evacuated 16 civilians)
Car 0990 (Seat Car, 1 level) (0824) (Evacuated 2 recruits)
Car 0991 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0826)
Car 0992 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0828)
Car 0993 (Seat Car, 1 level) (0830)
Car 0994 (Seat Car, 1 level) (0832) (Evacuated 3 civilians)
Car 0995 (Seat Car, 1 level) (0834) (Evacuated 1 Charlie Mafiosi as recruit)
Car 0996 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (0836) (Evacuated 1 civilian)
Car 0997 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (0838) (Evacuated 24 civilians, 5 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 0998 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (0840)
Car 0999 (House Car, 1 Level) (0842)
Car 1000 (Lounge Car) (0844)

-x-x-x-

In one of the house cars well forward of the Rail Guard, a young man finished up his own preparations for the day. He'd showered in the bath car, gotten dressed, made sure his weapons were stowed and visible - especially the katana sheathed to his back - and gotten breakfast from a nearby dining car.

This had been his routine for the past three months. Ever since he'd first charged onto this train in search of his sister.

Takeshi Yamato was a fairly average Japanese-American from his world, though his height of 5'11", athletic build, chocolate brown hair done in a buzz cut, moustache, and amethyst eyes made him unique in their own way. He had two parents and a sister, but no girlfriend yet (though he'd had the occasional fling since coming aboard the train, none of them had gone far). He was a two-time Kendo champion, and skilled in proper kenjutsu, and while he wasn't good with guns at all, he had other means of fighting at range.

Five years prior, a train just popped into existence right in front of his family as they were going for a meeting, and several women had run out of the train, armed men following. In the battle that had ensued, most of the women had fallen to the hostiles, but said hostiles had been driven off… but not before they'd kidnapped his sister Sayane. Before they could go after her, the train's horn had blown and one of the few surviving women had told them to back off…

The train vanished. With his sister.

They'd learned from that survivor about the nature of the trains, how they jumped from one universe to the next, allowing people to get on or off at their leisure - though they were mostly used by the Slaver's Guild as a means of transport and containment for their slaves. And Sayane was now on one of those trains, to either be sold off, or to escape and join one of the Mafiosi gangs that formed from the escapees.

Needless to say, Takeshi was not going to let his sister remain on the trains any longer than he had to, and had stepped up his training. He mastered a sword style based on something from a movie he once watched, meant for speed and agility rather than staying in one place or slow, heavy blows, and had perfected what knowledge of his other abilities he had. He'd also joined the local ROTC program and trained as a fighter pilot, showing great aptitude for the F/A-18E, but when a second train had appeared before him, he called his parents and said goodbye, saying that the next time he spoke to them, it would be with news of Sayane.

Takeshi boarded the train, and his skills had kept him alive as he searched for his sister. However, he had no sign of her, and no indication it was even the same train. There were still plenty of slavers, though, so he often did 'patrols' of the train, mostly centered around the house car he now called home, and did his best to question any slavers he encountered. He also booby-trapped the entrances to his house car, so that no one could invade and rob him blind (or kill him in his sleep).

What he had learned was that the Slavers were much more powerful and widespread than he could imagine, and even if he found Sayane, rescuing her and getting home was not something he could do himself. But after the major battle encounter yesterday and the day before, when the Slavers were mulched by the Sigma Rail Guard forces, he'd come to realize that maybe he didn't need to fight alone, after all.

-x-x-x-

Car 1001 (Seat Car, 1 level) (0846) (Evacuated 3 recruits)
Car 1002 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0848) (Evacuated 3 civilians)
Car 1003 (Seat Car, 1 level) (0850)
Car 1004 (Seat Car, 1 level) (0852)
Car 1005 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0854)
Car 1006 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (0856) (Evacuated 12 Civilians, 11 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1007 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (0858) (Evacuated 13 civilians, 1 recruit)
Car 1008 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (0900) (Evacuated 2 civilians)

After he cleared the last of the sleeper rooms, Carl checked his watch since it was beeping. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are 16 minutes ahead of schedule, with an estimated 584 minutes to go not including breaks," the team's blue dragon said with some gusto.

"That doesn't make it sound any better, man," Pete whined.

"It's gonna be a hell of a long road," Scarlet said bluntly. "Don't make it any worse in your head, or your body will take it harder."

"Agreed, don't think about the distance, think about the next car," Megan ordered. "Team 1, stack and make entry."

Car 1009 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (0902) (Evacuated 9 civilians)
Car 1010 (House Car, 2 level) (0904) (Evacuated 6 civilians)
Car 1011 (Dining Car) (0906)
Car 1012 (Dining Car) (0908) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1013 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0910)
Car 1014 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0912) (Evacuated 4 civilians)
Car 1015 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0914) (Evacuated 12 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits, 1 recruit)
Car 1016 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0916) (Evacuated 1 civilian)
Car 1017 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (0918)
Car 1018 (Bath Car, individual rooms (14)) (0920) (Evacuated 2 civilians)
Car 1019 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (0922) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1020 (Bath Car, individual rooms (14)) (0924)
Car 1021 (House Car, 1 level) (0926) (Evacuated 5 civilians, 2 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1022 (Lounge Car) (0928)
Car 1023 (Seat Car, 1 level) (0930) (Evacuated 4 civilians)
Car 1024 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0932)
Car 1025 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0934)
Car 1026 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0936) (Evacuated 1 civilian)
Car 1027 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0938)
Car 1028 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (0940) (Evacuated 20 civilians)
Car 1029 (Bath Car, individual rooms (14)) (0942) (Evacuated 10 civilians)
Car 1030 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (0944) (Evacuated 2 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1031 (Bath Car, individual rooms (14)) (0946) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1032 (Bath Car, individual rooms (14)) (0948) (Evacuated 2 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1033 (Storage Network Car) (0950)
Car 1034 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0952) (Evacuated 5 civilians, 2 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1035 (Seat Car, 1 level) (0954) (Evacuated 3 recruits)
Car 1036 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0956)
Car 1037 (Seat Car, 2 level) (0958)
Car 1038 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1000)
Car 1039 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1002) (Captured XXXXX)

"Virtue says this next car is set up with Slaver ambushes, first and last sleeper quarters, four per room," Megan reported of the situation they were about to walk into. "Quintin, I want you to bang the near-side room, Ikuno takes overwatch on the far-side room. Drop or suppress anything that comes out to respond to the blast of your flashbang while you, Quintin, Scarlet and Carl enter and capture. Play it smart, capture if possible but kill them if it becomes a problem. Clear?"

"Definitely," Quintin nodded twice.

"Make it happen," Megan ordered.

Quintin turned to the door and double-tapped the open control, which caused both doors to open and allow him through. A couple steps and he could see around the corner to an artificially clean hallway, with all nine doors closed and nary a sign of trouble to come. So, figuring this was a good chance to test something he had always wondered, Quintin pulled his flashbang, pulled the pin with his thumb still on the safety lever, and stripped off the safety clip that provided a final safety. Once released, he slid the door open a half-foot, heaved the flashbang in toward the back wall, and slammed the door closed immediately.

"FUCK!" someone shouted from inside before it detonated. Outside the room it sounded of a muted pop, but inside…

Quintin stepped past the door and stacked, then Scarlet reached across and yanked the handle. Quintin ducked in and clotheslined the first two persons he encountered, both of which were shouting in severe pain with bloodily-ruptured eardrums. Scarlet entered next and stocked the third person in the room to knock the large guy onto the floor, then grabbed the one teenager and threw him face-first out of the room and into the outer wall of the hallway.

"Hell's going on?" A guy asked from the far side of the car after he exited to see what he was hearing. "OHFUCK!" he shouted before Ikuno put sights on him. One shot to the face, the bullet entered his chin just above the crest and below his gumline, started yawing as it passed through his tongue, and slammed into the back of his throat almost sideways. The damage caused as it exited out the back of his neck caused his body to lose communication with his brain, and with it he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"SHIT!" a lady screeched from the far-side room. She ran for the far doors to advance into the 1040 car and away from the very lethal threat they just encountered, but found the door locked (by Virtue, when the AI realized they may try to escape) and could not escape. Realizing she was trapped, the Slaver ducked back into the ambush room while Cedric and Harold secured the teenager thrown outside by Scarlet.

Megan moved forward a room with Ikuno in support and took up a firing position. "Sigma Mercenaries Rail Guard! Slavers surrender your weapons!"

The response from the far room was vehement but not wise. One of the room's occupants came out with her pistol up and aimed toward Megan, but the team leader was faster on the trigger by a hair. Four rounds from her ACR were joined a second later by a single round from Ikuno's M25 DMR, and a second Slaver hit the ground clinically dead.

"Two down, two to go," Ikuno said coldly.

"All four of these fucks are secured, Lieutenant," Quintin reported.

"Just say the word and I'll frag the room," Scarlet said.

"I want them alive," Megan said. "SLAVERS IN THE LAST ROOM! FINAL WARNING, EXIT THE ROOM UNARMED OR YOU WILL BE FRAGGED!"

After a few seconds of tense waiting, four pistols exited the room and landed on the floor, followed by the two ladies in the room with their hands up.

"You, shirtless with the bad bra, step over the dead guy, face the front of the car, walk backwards towards my voice," Megan ordered in a more normal voice. She did as commanded, stepped over the body, turned, and walked backwards towards Megan. "Stop there, drop to your knees, keep your hands up."

"You know the Star League will have your ass for this, honey," the Slaver said coldly.

"My ass is not for sale or rent, babe," Megan said just as coldly as she was cinching down her handcuffs. "Second Slaver, same procedure, step over the dead body, turn to face the rear, start walking backwards towards me. No funny shit or my sniper will bury you."

"I understand your command," the lady said emotionlessly. She did as ordered and was secured with no hassle.

"Pit Crew, Rail Guard, reporting six Slavers captured in car 1039, need trailers for extraction. Nearest point of entry is car 1038," Megan reported by radio.

"Solid copy, Rail Guard. We're breaching now, stand by."

Megan looked up from the two handcuffed ladies. "Good show, team. Blowout for the first match of the day."

"Wish they were all this easy," Pete said.

"Police up the bodies and the gear, funeral rune the bodies as normal."

Car 1040 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1014)
Car 1041 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1016) (Evacuated 3 civilians, 5 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1042 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1018)
Car 1043 (House Car, 1 level) (1020) (Evacuated 8 civilians, 1 recruit)
Car 1044 (Dining Car) (1022) (Evacuated 30 civilians)
Car 1045 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1024)
Car 1046 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1026) (Evacuated 15 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1047 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1028) (Evacuated 1 civilian, 2 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1048 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1030) (Evacuated 1 civilian)
Car 1049 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1032)
Car 1050 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1034) (Evacuated 4 civilians, 1 recruit)

-x-x-x-

Takeshi had established his 'patrol zone' between two active Slaver Cell holdouts, making sure none of them entered his zone to prey on the inhabitants. Thus, he was welcomed as something of a protector, though he knew that if they hit him with large numbers, he wouldn't last.

And so, he decided making contact with these newcomers before they entered his territory was a good idea - maybe he could even get their help with the later cars.

He'd learned about AI from some of the residents, and from what he'd seen, these 'Sigma' people were supported by an AI. He figured that was the best place to start, and so he looked up at one of the cameras in the current car he was patrolling - a lounge car. "Hello," he called out graciously. "Sigma AI, if you can hear me, I would like to offer my help in clearing the train - or what is left of it for your forces to clear."

The speaker above his head popped. "This is the AI entity in control of the Train, callsign Virtue. I am listening.

"I'm basically the protector of the residents in this block of 19 cars," Takeshi replied. "We're 'bookended' by Slaver groups in the cars just outside this group. I can help make sure everyone in my block is ready to leave, and when your forces reach the first 'bookend', I can flank the Slavers for you."

"You will want to be careful trying to flank during an active gunfight inside a steel box, automatic gunfire going both ways can be very indiscriminate," the AI entity pointed out. "Still, very few offers of assistance has been forthcoming from the Trains. For certain, having the civilians ready to go when the Rail Guard team arrives would be helpful. Are you seeking anything in return?" Virtue asked in return.

"My sister."

Virtue was silent for a few seconds. "Was she captured by Slavers on this Train?"

"I don't think she was on this Train, I think she was on another Train," Takeshi said. "Sayane Yamato is her name, if you have any record of rescuing her."

"She is not on our list of rescues, though there is room for optimism on that note: this is only the second Train we have cleared."

"Do you know how many Trains there are? Some of the Slavers I have interrogated say there are thousands."

"Over a hundred fifty thousand," Virtue said. "Sigma is a startup mercenary unit, and we have expansion plans to clear the Trains, but it will take time."

Takeshi wasn't sure where there was room for optimism in that equation, but he held his tongue. "I will work toward finding her in your unit, if that is acceptable."

"When you have gone through induction and have a night's solid rest under you, I will put your name in for it," Virtue assured him.

-x-x-x-

Car 1051 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1036) (Evacuated 15 civilians, 1 recruit)
Car 1052 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1038) (Evacuated 8 civilians, 2 recruits, and 1 Charlie mafiosi as recruit)
Car 1053 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1040) (Evacuated 1 civilian)
Car 1054 (House Car, 2 level) (1042) (Evacuated 6 civilians, 1 recruit)
Car 1055 (Lounge Car) (1044) (Evacuated 3 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1056 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1046) (Evacuated 1 recruit, 1 Charlie Mafiosi as recruit)
Car 1057 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1048) (Evacuated 3 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1058 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1050)
Car 1059 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1052)
Car 1060 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1054) (Evacuated 10 Charlie Mafiosi)

"Oh hell yeah!" Pete said before he made it to the end door of the seat car. "We're a quarter done with the last cars on the Train!"

"Take fifteen, guys," Megan ordered. "Smooth sailing so far, but Virtue has signalled we have some Slaver nests up forward of us. Next one is in about 33 cars."

Scarlet sat down hard next to Pete. "Will be glad to be done with this Train. I mean, it can get a hell of a lot worse, I know, but doing this while pregnant is no manner of easy."

"One thing's for damn sure, that's going to be two kids with a hell of a lot of uncles and aunts," Cedric said as he mixed a packet of energy drink powder into a canteen. "The whole Rail Guard is probably going to count them as family."

"Seven aunts on Team 2," Camille said. "Almost makes me feel sorry for Sir Launcelot and Leander on Team 2, being caught with that many ladies in their team. At least with us, it is mostly balanced."

"It will be a trip any way you cut it," Scarlet said. "This is my first, so it will be an adventure."

"We're here for you," Carl said. "All of you. Family comes first, always. It has to come first, otherwise you end up just another asshole drone in an asshole company that is part of an asshole society, and that sounds too much like the Star League for comfort."

"Hear hear!" Quintin agreed with Carl's point.

"That, and you have to be a bit of a dick to not like kids or pregnant ladies," Cedric pointed out his opinion on the matter.

"Comments like that are not going to get you any time in bed, not in this company," Scarlet pointed out.

"Premise holds," Cedric brushed off the rejoinder.

"So, after this Train is up, probably both of you two will be on maternity leave," Megan pointed out. "I think the Boss is planning to hold off for a month or so for the next Train or two, give us time to absorb what we've taken in."

"We've taken in a huge amount," Harold pointed out. "This is some serious shit, and a lot more dense than I ever imagined. Won't take too many of these Trains to make it to a million refugees. We're averaging what, about 1200 to 1500 per 200 cars?"

"Neighborhood of 1000, I think," Carl said. "Still, that's 5000 per 1000 cars or so, which is insane. The Star League really wanted this buried not because it exists, but because of the sheer mass of it."

"The mass of this ass is proportional to the angle of the dangle, and this is definitely angling hard left into failure territory," Cedric half-joked on the matter. "The more I think about this, the less I am convinced the Star League had any kind of goal with this other than just being colossal dicks to the entirety of Existence under the guise of 'Monuments to Existence' or whatever that is supposed to mean."

"That may be all the justification they need," Megan Christenson noted. "Remember, great big dicks tend to want to use them whenever and wherever they can. That's probably what happened to us." Megan threw back a couple tylenol and chased them down with a long pull of water from her hydration bladder.

"Someday, we'll get a chance to ask. Some day," Pete grumped. "Well, for now, munchie time."

"Beef jerky?" Camille asked.

"Damn that smells good," Scarlet said.

"Lamb jerky, actually," Pete said, then realized that both the pregnant ladies were closing in on him. "I brought spares," he held up several more sealed mylar packages of the stuff.

"Thanks," Camille and Scarlet both lifted two of his spare packs.

"Expect more of that in the future, Pete, and plan accordingly," Harold said with a chuckle.

"10-4 on that," Pete acknowledged the wisdom between bites.

"Well, here in a few, we'll resume," Quintin said. "We'll win through the day. The night, though, that's gonna be a bit rough."

Car 1061 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1111) (Evacuated 19 civilians, 2 recruits)
Car 1062 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1113) (Evacuated 11 civilians)
Car 1063 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1115) (Evacuated 19 civilians, 2 recruits, 7 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1064 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1117) (Evacuated 9 civilians, 2 recruits)
Car 1065 (House Car, 1 level) (1119) (evacuated 2 civilians)
Car 1066 (Dining Car) (1121) (Evacuated 2 recruits)
Car 1067 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1123)
Car 1068 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1125)
Car 1069 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1127) (Evacuated 2 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1070 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1129) (Evacuated 2 recruits, 12 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1071 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1131) (Evacuated 4 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1072 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1133) (Evacuated 24 civilians)
Car 1073 (Bath Car, individual rooms (14)) (1135)
Car 1074 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1137) (Evacuated 8 civilians, 2 recruits)
Car 1075 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1139)
Car 1076 (House Car, 1 level) (1141)
Car 1077 (Lounge Car) (1143) (Evacuated 11 civilians, 12 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1078 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1145) (Evacuated 1 Recruit, 8 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1079 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1147)
Car 1080 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1149) (Evacuated 12 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1081 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1151)
Car 1082 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1153) (Evacuated 13 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1083 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1155) (Evacuated 12 Civilians) (+1 minute for discussion)

Given that 1 Element took the lead on this car (odd-numbered car), Harold's team brought up the rear for the car clearing and to make sure none of the evacuees doubled back into the sleeper berths. It was theoretically possible that some of them had done so over the course of the Train, but it was unwise of them — there was nothing to be had in the Trains that could not be more readily had in bunks in the base.

In this case, though, there was no desire in their group to remain behind, but plenty of desire to get off the Train in its entirety. And a bit of a desire to thank the Rail Guard for clearing a path to freedom for them.

In the twelfth sleeper berth, only one person remained of three that had been camped in close quarters, and Harold was the supervising Rail Guard member to make sure she cleared the room. She had not taken long to police up her gear, maybe thirty seconds tops, but hesitated and was looking around the room nervously. "Something wrong?" Harold asked.

She didn't answer for a second more, but nodded twice. "I need to tell you something but I don't want to be overheard," she waved him into the room.

"Pete, cover me," Harold said before he stepped into the room. "Okay, I'm listening."

The lady closed the sliding door to the room. What she did next rather surprised the pointman for Element 2, she grabbed one of his magazine pouches, pulled him close, and kissed him. It lasted ten seconds. "Before you say anything, I — we — owe you a bit more than that."

"Wait, what? Uh-uh, you don't owe us, we — " She silenced him with a finger.

"We do, even if most won't admit it. Still, I pulled you in here because I wanted to tell you in private that you're headed for a Slaver ambush. Twelve, thirteen cars ahead, sleeper car, shower car. Last I passed through, I counted around thirty total," she said.

That piece of intel was only slightly less shocking to Harold. "Hostages?" he asked.

"About two dozen," she said.

"Thanks, always nice to know where the next shitstorm is going to land," Harold said. "You really didn't have to do that. This is our job."

"Call it a down payment on a date, say, tomorrow night? Name's Cathy Coddie."

"Coddie?" Harold asked. "You wouldn't happen to have a sister named Erica?"

That caused the lady to blink. "You know my sister? Don't tell me she lured you into one of her pervert traps."

"Me? No. Our Team? Yes, with caveat that it was kinda-sorta a team thing. Long story," Harold said. "She's dating the 1 Element pointman, Quintin."

"Oh, that's not surprising," Cathy said. "Anyway, I'll look you up tomorrow after you're done for the day."

"Might give you a call tonight if I'm not working late," Harold said. "And thanks for the heads-up."

On the way down the corridor, Harold figured he wasn't entirely sure what he just landed himself in, but he figured it was worth a shot. Worst case, they do dinner and split, he guessed.

Car 1084 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1158)
Car 1085 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1200) (Evacuated 2 civilians, 1 recruit)
Car 1086 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1202) (Evacuated 14 civilians)
Car 1087 (House Car, 1 level) (1204) (Evacuated 3 civilians, 1 recruit)
Car 1088 (Storage System Car) (1206)
Car 1089 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1208)
Car 1090 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1210) (Evacuated 4 civilians, 1 recruit, and 9 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits) (+2 mins for planning)

Harold helped direct the Charlie mafiosi out of the car and into the railhead walkway, where the Pit Crew (Multimage Armored Infantry assigned as support to the Rail Guard) directed them up the platform toward the front of the railhead and thereafter up into the base proper for induction.

"Hey mister," One of the Charlies dropped his gear and gave Harold a hug. "Thanks, I want to go home and now I might."

"It will have to be earned, nothing comes for free," Harold admitted.

"Three cars ahead, Slavers. Lots of 'em. We just had a shootout with them last week," the same Charlie mafiosi said. "Good luck!" He dropped onto the platform and pulled his gear pack out of the car to take with him.

"It's a hallmark moment," Pit Crew Lead said.

"And I even have a picture of it," ComStar Field Reporter Lunete Ueda said from the far side of Pit Crew Element.

"How wide are these pics going?" Megan asked from the far side of Harold.

"I haven't released any of my pics or footage of the Trains, I'm going to dump all that after the Train is cleared tonight, make this an impact story with no forewarning."

"So the Star League gets a 'breaking news' injection in their programs of the team pissing on the Grand Council live and in full color?" Pete asked from the far side of the Team Commander.

"Exactly," Lunete said. "I know, I'm a Press Jock, or Presstitute in less civil terms, but I've had to hospitalize Star League personnel for trying to have their way with me. You can guaran-damn-tee I'm on your side."

"Not doubting you, but the press on my homeworld sucked ass so I started you on a curve, sorry 'bout that," Megan said.

"I'm used to it. So, what's the big plan for a few cars down?" Lunete pointed toward the front of the Train.

"Got an idea," Harold said. "I got some intel a little while back that there's about thirty slavers and maybe two dozen hostages. Pit Crew, how spicy you feeling today?"

The Pit Crew lead chuckled grimly. "I ate a habanero and farted a tongue of flame. Spicy enough?"

"Bene," Harold said. "These shitheads have to know how badly we boned their buddies in the fortified cars back a ways. What say we pop the doors, open them up, and just flat out tell them they can either surrender first, or they can surrender after we kill half of them or more."

"We have enough of a street reputation to make it stick," Cedric pointed out.

"Huh. Worth a shot, at the minimum. If they balk, we call you in for the push," Pit Crew Lead said. "We will do that. If you hear gunshots, you can consider that a failed negotiation session."

"Will do," Megan said.

Car 1091 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1214) (Evacuated 1 civilian, 2 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1092 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1216) (Evacuated 1 recruit, 5 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1093 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1218) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1094 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1220) (Evacuated 5 civilians, 8 Charlie Mafiosi being held as hostages) (Captured 21 Slavers)

"This is a problem," Pit Crew Lead said by radio. "Sleeper car, no doors."

"Can you simply cut a hole in the side of the car?" Megan asked also by radio.

"Aff, give me a minute to chop through the side of the car." The light level coming in the window changed with a violet hue for a moment, then the Rail Guard team was treated to a rather unique sound. The beam sabers used by Mobile Suits and miniaturized for use by Armored infantry had their own very distinctive sound when cutting through plain metals, a sound of static discharge, folding and warping metal, and some high-pitch buzzing.

All else being equal, the sound only lasted some 20 or 30 seconds, then the obligatory impact sound from the outside plate of the car's wall striking the ground on the train platform.

"HOLY SHIT!" Someone shouted in the car ahead of them.

-x-

Pit Crew Lead looked in the artificially-opened car and past the corridor into the sleeper room. "LISTEN UP!" He shouted. "Slavers, you got two choices. You can surrender now, or you can surrender after the Rail Guard has killed half your ranks and the rest of you suddenly start fearing for your lives."

"And if we don't want to surrender?" A rather haughty and buxom Slaver asked bluntly.

"Then I inform Rail Guard Lead to simply kill you all and be done with it. All the same to me at the end of the day," Pit Crew Lead shrugged famously. "Your lives on the gambling table, not mine."

"This is bullshit," a younger male Slaver grumped.

"Aff, it is, the existence of these Trains is in complete defiance of the orders of the Master Executor. This should never have happened, but it is our sworn duty to un-fuck this situation and lay it to rest. Question is, do you want to be slain by the Rail Guards, do you want to be slain by we Mages, or are you going to surrender and survive this encounter mostly intact?"

The expressions on their faces make it clear that they knew there was no fourth option, they would pay by blood in one fashion or another or they could escape intact and hopefully plead their case to the Star League for clemency.

"We will surrender," The buxom Slaver acknowledged.

"Go to the next car forward and bring those occupants rearward to surrender and evacuate as well. And be prompt about it, the cameras in that room are still functional and I have clear sight of all happenings in that car. Are we clear?"

"It will be done," she said brusquely.

Car 1095 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1224) (Evacuated 10 civilians, 3 Charlie Mafiosi and 2 recruits as hostages) (Captured 9 Slavers)
(NOTE: This scene is still at the impromptu door in the side of the 1094 car. Rooms have been cleared.)

"That was a coup," Quintin said. "And not a shot fired."

"The great lesson of the Art of War is to force an enemy to surrender without having to resort to combat," Pit Crew Lead pointed out the overarching thinking of the matter. "With your reputation on this Train, it is no shit that anyone tangling with your team is going to bleed. Hence, we can force a surrender using just your name and a reference to your penchant for killing anything that crosses in front of your gunsights."

"That is a hellish reputation," Ikuno said. "We will need more."

"And there will be more need of it," Pit Crew Lead acknowledged the point.

"Well, daylight's wasting, and I don't want to halt yet for lunch, so…" Megan urged them forward to the next cars.

Car 1096 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1228) (Evacuated 16 civilians)
Car 1097 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1230) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1098 (House Car, 1 level) (1232) (Evacuated 9 civilians, 6 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1099 (Dining Car) (1234) (Evacuated 11 civilians)
Car 1100 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1236) (Evacuated 1 recruit)

-x-x-x-

It was a bit of a circus in Takeshi's 'block', as he moved from car to car, making sure everyone was ready to leave. A cordon of 19 cars, 'bookended' by two groups of Slavers who were not particularly intent on moving anywhere, with a large count of civilians in between under his defense.

"Personal belongings only!" Takeshi barked as he went through one of the Sleeper cars, where everyone was packing. "No more than what you can carry in your pockets or in a suitcase! From what I've been told, toiletries will be provided in the housing facilities. If you have something you need that's too big to carry, put your name on it! Sigma will find it as they disassemble the train, and bring it to you!"

Affirmatives were called out from the civilians as Takeshi passed through. Packing to leave the train was somewhat chaotic, but it was an organized chaos and that was alright for him. He'd gotten used to that. The residents were not unaware of the necessities of moving around, the Trains were a haven for migration even within their own walls as people joined and left, were captured or sold off by Slavers, leaving a very fluid situation for the passengers.

He passed into the area Dining Car. "Chef Wahn! When the Sigma troops get here, they'll probably be hungry! I want one of your best meals ready for them! Show them what you can do with Chicken and Steak!"

"Got it!" Annalise Wahn replied from behind the counter, already headed to get what she would need from the storage network unit. Takeshi did not wait to see what she would do, he moved into the next car to continue trying to organize the chaos around him.

-x-

"Rail Guard 1 Lead, Virtue, we have a developing situation," the AI prompted Megan as the team was halfway through clearing the almost-empty 1100 car.

"Go ahead," the team lead said.

"A civilian in one of the cars ahead, in the region of Cars 1153 to 1171, is organizing the civilians to evacuate the Train when your team arrives."

"That's pretty damn good," Quintin said. "Nice to have a little on-side help for once, besides the random and spartan tips we get."

"We could always use more," Pete grumbled.

"The major variable is that he is also volunteering to assist in dealing with the Slavers in Car 1152, total 8 marks with no hostages per the security system footage," Virtue continued steadily.

"Do we have any information on this guy's combat aptitude or armaments?"

"Unknown aptitude, I have no security system footage of him having to engage a serious threat. He is adept at intimidating the Slavers by way of sword, though, and the general call-up of Slavers a couple days ago resulted in him escorting them through his 'protected area' at bladepoint to avoid an all-out battle. Apparently he has a reputation on the Train as well."

"Kindred spirit," Ikuno said with a smile.

"Well, if he has the skills to assist, we'll find out when we get ready to do the 1152 Car," the Team Lead said. "Conditional 'go' on this plan, and pass him our thanks for staging the civilians in his area."

"Also, be advised he has commissioned a cooking specialist in his area to prepare a meal for you. I will update on details when I have them," Virtue said.

"That sounds helluva damn good," Cedric said. "Guess we'll have to munch on jerky and sports drink until we get a proper meal out of it."

"So, 50 cars will put us north of 2PM, not too bad a delay for lunch," Scarlet said. "I'm game. Have any more of that lamb jerky, Pete?"

Pete grudgingly unzipped his general purpose pouch and extracted some more of his stash of Lamb Jerky. "Next food storage we pass, I'll show you the code for it."

-x-x-x-

Car 1101 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1238) (Evacuated 1 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1102 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1240) (Evacuated 3 civilians)
Car 1103 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1242) (Evacuated 3 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1104 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1244) (Evacuated 13 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1105 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1246) (Evacuated 19 civilians, 2 recruits)
Car 1106 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1248) (Evacuated 12 civilians)
Car 1107 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1250) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1108 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1252)
Car 1109 (House Car, 1 level) (1254) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1110 (Lounge Car) (1256) (Evacuated 1 recruit)

"Huh?" the one occupant in the lounge car grunted as the 2 Element made entry. "Whoa, been a while since I've seen an entry like that. Who're you with?"

"Sigma Mercenaries Rail Guard," Cedric said after it became obvious the guy in behind the bar was not an enemy. "We're clearing the Train for scrapping. You haven't heard?"

"No, the speakers and terminal in this room have been dead for years," the barkeep said. "Wait — I heard some of the Charlies talking about a unit that has been ripping up the Slavers? You guys?"

"Yeah, that's us," Megan said. "Megan Christenson, team lead."

"Mortimer Panloc, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer for this lounge car. Not that I cook much, mind you, just usually serve drinks and bar foods."

"Panloc? As in Panloc Phoenix Eyrie?" Carl asked.

"Yes, why?" Mortimer asked. "Oh, wait, you're from one of the Big Six?" The barkeep sounded a bit wary about it, but wasn't doing anything major, so…

"Mages, but yeah," Carl said. "Figured you were a flyer. How long have you been on board?" Megan looked at the team Dragon's hair, then back to the guy behind the bar and his white hair with some golden streaks.

"No bloody clue," Mortimer admitted. "Was taking a nap under a tree on an uninhabited planet when I woke up to a shotgun in the face. I played along, killed my captors when I had a chance, and have been hanging around for a while now. If it helps, the last major event I remember was the signing of a trade deal between my home nation, the Illyaris, and the Mages, I think it was industrial fusion reactors coming out of Illyaris for Dropships coming into my homeland." He fell silent, looking at the bar surface for a few moments. "Yeah, I remember hearing the deal would be worth 7 quadrillion C-bills at completion."

Megan's radio popped. "The deal referenced by mister Penloc was signed in June of year 7212 by Melane Atrebas and Rini Atrebas. By those numbers, assuming you were taken hostage the same year, your residency on this Train should be on the order of one thousand, six hundred and twenty-six years."

"That's quite possible," Mortimer acknowledged the numbers. "I know I've been in here long enough to re-hatch around nine times, I just make sure to put a rune up to guard my egg and prevent it from burning off the room I'm in. And I don't get into gunfights with the locals."

"Not bad advice," Scarlet said. "Wish we had the opportunity to play that way."

"And, if I'm doing the math right, I should be approaching four thousand years old," Mortimer continued, then noticed the present shape of the speaker. "Oh my, you're fairly close to being ready to become a mother," he prompted Scarlet.

"Yeah, this bun's already had a run through a Train," Scarlet pointed to her body. "I take it you see a lot of that around here?"

"Some years more than others," Mortimer pointed out. "Density of the Slavers tends to determine, but I'll bet you've pulled more than a few pregnant ladies from the Train."

"True," Megan acknowledged the point.

"So, if I may ask, who's backstopping your unit, or are you a free-roaming troupe? I could stand to get out and relearn how to live in a normal society." Mortimer took a moment to wash and wipe down a drinking glass.

"Multimage Protectorate of Sigma," Carl answered. "We're a new start-up, been around two weeks officially so far. Head honcho's an American with a serious plan, and his backstop is the Executors."

"I was wondering where the authority to strip down the Trains could come from, and that says it," Mortimer said. "Star League pissed off at you for it?"

"Oh Hell yes," Pete said from a couple stools down. "They want our asses for barbecue."

"Damn good. After the Merienne Accords, I would not dishonor my human-form butthole by shitting on their faces," Mortimer said. "Do you accept random sign-ups? Have been out of service for many centuries, but I think I still remember quite a bit of my prior mercenary exploits."

"Definitely," Megan said, then lit up her radio. "Pit Crew, need the exterior door opened on 1110, one evacuee," Megan declared.

"Stand by," Pit Crew Lead answered.

"Head up top and sign in at the induction center," Megan explained. "We've still got another 190 or so cars to clear."

The conversation forcibly halted with the sound of the doors being pried open. "Good luck, troops, there are still quite a few Slaver groups between here and the engines," Mortimer said after the door was fully opened.

Car 1111 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1303)
Car 1112 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1305) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1113 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1307)
Car 1114 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1309) (Evacuated 5 civilians)
Car 1115 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1311) (Evacuated 8 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1116 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1313) (Evacuated 23 civilians)
Car 1117 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1315) (Evacuated 11 civilians)
Car 1118 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1317)
Car 1119 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1319)
Car 1120 (House Car, 1 level) (1321)
Car 1121 (Dining Car) (1323) (Evacuated 13 civilians)
Car 1122 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1325)
Car 1123 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1327) (Evacuated 1 civilian)
Car 1124 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1329) (Evacuated 4 civilians, 15 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1125 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1331) (Evacuated 13 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1126 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1333) (Evacuated 4 civilians)
Car 1127 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1335) (Evacuated 13 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1128 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1337) (Evacuated 4 civilians, 5 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1129 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1339) (Evacuated 22 civilians, 12 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1130 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1341) (Evacuated 7 civilians, 2 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1131 (House Car, 1 level) (1343)
Car 1132 (Lounge Car) (1345)
Car 1133 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1347) (Evacuated 11 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1134 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1349)
Car 1135 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1351)
Car 1136 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1353) (Evacuated 2 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1137 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1355) (Evacuated 10 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1138 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1357) (Evacuated 18 civilians)
Car 1139 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1359) (Evacuated 3 civilians, 2 recruits)
Car 1140 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1401)

Pete cleared the last of the individual bathrooms and gave a holler. "Halfway there! And it's only barely past 1400 hours," he said after a quick check of his watch.

"We'll take fifteen in the next appropriate car for it, I don't want to sit on a commode for my break," Megan ordered. "Onward to the next car!"

Car 1141 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1403)
Car 1142 (House Car, 1 level) (1405) (Evacuated 8 civilians, 2 recruits)
Car 1143 (Storage Car) (1407) (Evacuated 5 civilians)
Car 1144 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1409) (Evacuated 1 recruit)

"All right, break here," Megan ordered after the teams formed up toward the door of the next car. "We've done half, have a lot to go but the last of them will be very fast."

"The engines," Scarlet said. "Each engine cab is small, barely five meters by three, so there won't be much clearing there."

"Party time after we're done," Harold said. "Who's springing for the whiskey?"

"Not allowed," Scarlet said. "No drinks while pregnant, not taking the chance."

"Same," Camille answered.

"I'll hoist an extra shot in your honor," Cedric said.

"Ditto," Ikuno nodded.

Megan flopped down on one of the benches and again broke open her medkit. The two tylenol were expected, as had Carl and Pete done so already, and as a couple others were planning for themselves.

"I think I'm just going to rest up for a few days after we're done here, then we need to talk training and forming up more teams." Megan chased her tylenol down with a long swig of water from her water bladder and attached drinking hose. "If we have a month to train up for the next Trains, that's plenty of time for us to hammer on some recruits to get them ready for at least a third Train, maybe a fourth depending on how many volunteers we get."

"And a Month of time gives Mosley's teams plenty of time to finish the 523 Train and disassemble the 133628 Train as well," Pete guessed based on their extant work pace.

"If he doubles his work crew numbers, he can do the Trains in two weeks," Ikuno guessed based on the math of one disassembly team would do ten cars in a day, and Mosley had two teams on the 523 Train.

"And, of course, we have two major outstanding personnel in the team right now, Carl, who definitely needs to stretch his wings when the Transformation Runes come active," Camille pointed to the Blue Dragon first.

"Would love to," Carl said with a wistful smile.

"And second, Quintin, who if he keeps this pace up, will likely be married before the next Train," Camille continued with a wave at the team 1 pointman.

"That might be a bit fast, but I can't say it is impossible," Quintin stretched out on the bench he was sitting on alone. "Damn, though, that was a fortuitous room clearing on my part, landed me a possible long-term girlfriend."

"And I think I will learn the great secret of the McHess Burger from the master himself, if he is willing to teach me some time in the coming days. Actually," Cedric tripped his radio switch. "Virtue, Rail Guard, oddball request for the command section on low priority for the coming days if it can be scheduled," he prompted the AI entity.

"Go ahead, Rail Guard," Virtue said, given the audio sensors in the room were inoperable.

"If possible and schedules permitting, is Sigma One willing to teach a semi-skilled cook on the art of cooking up those monster burgers he is renown for?" Cedric asked.

"Standby one," Virtue said, then paused as she relayed the question to Sigma One. "Rail Guard, you are scheduled for prep and cooking lesson tomorrow at 1130 in the Admin mess hall, how copy?"

"Understood, we will be there," Megan answered for the team. "And this is a good solid meal for you two," she waved a finger at Scarlet and Camille.

"I'm not going to pass it up, for sure," Camille answered.

"For now, though, we've got a lunch waiting for us on the far side of some Slavers," Harold said.

Car 1145 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1426) (Evacuated 4 civilians, 9 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1146 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1428)
Car 1147 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1430)
Car 1148 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1432) (Evacuated 11 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1149 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1434) (Evacuated 14 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1150 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1436)

-x-x-x-

Everyone was packed, Chef Wahn was whipping up one last meal in the train, and they were all as ready as they could be when Sigma got there.

All that remained was the Slaver 'bookend' Sigma had to go through. And Takeshi was going to help them as best he could.

To that end, he'd cleared the civilians out of the car next to the 'bookend', and was currently holed up there, himself. He'd double-checked his katana, made sure it was still sharp and ready to cut, and he went through his repertoire of special abilities so that he had decent ranged options. He settled on something low-yield - would still be effective, but he wasn't going to utterly incinerate the contents of the car. More powerful spells would more assuredly slay the Slavers, but also ran the risk of causing area damage or even outright destruction of the car itself.

Virtue had been fairly friendly on the consideration of seeing what the Rail Guard was up to and who he would be assisting. Their movements and techniques — not to mention their shooting accuracy and capture policies — reminded Takeshi of his brief exposure to SWAT officers. The subtlety of it was almost missed by the former ROTC cadet, as there was some interface in his schooling between the law enforcement cadets and the ROTC cadets, but after he put the techniques together it made sense. It was also something that didn't completely make sense to Yamato, as these weren't criminals who deserved time in front of a judge, these were interdimensional kidnappers with no state, no ruling authority, and no morality.

Still, the team was only three cars away from where he stood, and two cars away from the Slavers, so it was time to make sure he had the matter coordinated and was not on the receiving end of friendly fire.

"Virtue, is it possible to patch me through to the Rail Guard Team?" Takeshi asked.

"Standby," Virtue answered calmly.

-x-

"Rail Guard, Virtue, I have Takeshi Yamato on radio, who is waiting at the door to Cat 1153 to assist in dealing with the Slaver Team in car 1152."

"Put him on," Megan said. After a second, the radio popped and an extra audio feed could be heard on their comms. "This is Rail Guard Lead, can you hear me Takeshi?"

"I hear you," a new voice answered. "I am ready to assist with the Slavers in the coming cars, and the civilians in my area are ready for evacuation."

"Understood. What is your intention?" Megan asked after she halted the team for a moment.

"I have prepared spellcraft to assist in eliminating the Slavers. I will need about two seconds after I have clear line of sight to use it," he said.

"Very well, if you need two seconds, we can distract them easily enough with a flashbang. Keep in mind, though, the Slavers have little value to us deceased, they have intelligence value if we capture them alive," Megan explained.

"I will keep that in mind," Takeshi said. "Will be waiting for your stun grenade (1)," he said.

"Keep your eyes up and your arse out of the line of fire, trooper," Ikuno said. "We're equipped to take fire, if it gets too hazardous leave the engagement to us. If you can hit them from behind, though, much thanks for it," the team 1 sharpshooter said.

-x-x-x-

Car 1151 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1438)
Car 1152 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1440) (Captured XXXXXX)

The geometry of the car dictated the method by which the action had to happen, and with all of the individual room-style cars, Harold had to enter and immediately cut right to stay in the corridor versus walking into the car's miniature toilet-only bathroom. The door was closed, which signalled the bathroom was in use, so Harold simply braced against the door frame and prepared his flashbangs for action.

Two flashbangs went down the hallway toward a group of Slavers (their tattoos were visible), three in total, then Pete bounced back a half-step to prevent any easy shot through the corner by the suddenly-disoriented Slavers. Both bangs detonated within a second of each other, though at two different distances down the car to provide maximum disruption. Even with hearing protection and comms, the detonations rattled the Pointman a bit, which bit of delay changed the circumstances at their end of the hallway.

Pete was second in the stack as normal, and first to visually recognize the door opening. The sight of a guy not on the toilet and holding a shotgun raised in a position to fall into place to shoot someone caused an immediate reaction in the Elven Rail Guard. He immediately hauled Harold back and slipped to the side, his right hand off the UMP40 and on his pistol. The race of speed came close, the shotgun was levelled where Harold's head had been, but Harold was not there — and Pete had his pistol on the Slaver's chest first. One shot, two shot, at a distance of less than a meter even the uneven pistol marksmanship of the Rail Guard trooper did not fail to slay. The third shot was reflexive, the shotgun discharged into the light fixture as the enemy Slaver dropped to the tile floor of the bathroom.

Despite the gunfire, the next sound from the far end of the car was that of a gout of flame — and the instant screech of persons lit on fire.

"Everyone alive?" Scarlet asked.

"Yeah, thanks to Pete," Harold said.

"Recover, bang and move!" Megan ordered. Pete handled the Flashbang this time, he chucked it pretty far down the hallway and ducked back for Harold to take the lead.

"HANDS UP!" Harold shouted after he came around the corner to the sight of three Slavers trying to beat the flames out on two of their comrades. The nearest of the Slavers dropped the towel and put her hands up, the second lady ducked back in the bathroom, but the one surviving male Slaver tried to bolt into forward cars. He made it two paces before he came face-to-face with a sword; rather than be impaled by his own inertia, he dropped to the ground under the sword-wielder and skidded to a stop. The sword came down to his throat, which quickly terminated an attempted grab for a pistol.

"Good catch, Yamato," Pete said from behind Harold. The guy with the sword gave a quick thumbs-up before he returned his hand to the sword handle.

"Lady Slaver, stand up, face the front of the Train, walk backwards towards my voice," Harold ordered. She continued looking at him dumbfounded, which told Harold enough. "Carl, need a heal on them, they've been deafened by the bangs."

"Cura," Carl completed the chant on one of his more powerful healing spells. "Try it now."

"Lady Slaver on your knees, can you hear me now?" Harold asked.

"I hear you, what did you do?" She asked.

"Healing wizardry," Harold said. "Now, let's try this again. Stand up, face the front of the car, walk backwards towards my voice. I will tell you when to stop."

"No way, you're going to kill me!" She said in a panic.

"If you refuse my orders, I will kill you, if you surrender you will be jailed pending transfer. Your call on his this ends."

She hesitated for a few more seconds, then stood up and faced the front of the car. With her hands up, she walked backwards a step a second until Harold halted her. "Now what?" she asked about a pace forward of his rifle muzzle.

"Down to your knees, keep your hands up," Harold ordered. After she was situated, the pointman closed up, put his pistol to the base of her neck, and used his free left hand to disarm her of two separate pistols and an M-14 rifle. Handcuffing her was a simple task with zip-tie cuffs.

Pete moved forward of Harold and ducked into the next bathroom down from the pointman — three bathrooms separate of the Slaver that had ducked back into the bathroom. "Male Slaver! Up slow, hands on the walls! Lower your arms and you shall be shot and stabbed!"

"Right, right," the guy grumbled. He clamored to his feet, slowly, and shuffled backwards to where Pete called him to stop. "I'm going to enjoy testifying at your Trial for interfering with a Guild of the Star League."

"And I can't but pity not seeing your run in front of a Multimage Tribunal presided over by the Executors," Pete said savagely. "Cedric, you're on," the Elven trooper said.

"On it," Cedric closed up, put his pistol to the base of the Slaver's neck, and proceeded to disarm him of a pair of 1911 pistols. Handcuffs followed quickly.

"One left," Harold said. "Takeshi, clear back to the doors in case we have to deploy a frag grenade." The sword-mage ducked back readily, he knew that grenades were not something to be trifled with.

"I've got this one," Pete ducked a room forward and took cover again. "SLAVER IN THE BATHROOM! You have ten seconds to come out or I will throw a grenade in there to flush you out!"

"Screw you!" Was the only response from the occupied bathroom.

"You're not my type, honey! Five seconds! Four! Three!" Pete pulled the pin on a grenade, which was quite audible to everyone in the car. "Two seconds! One!"

"I SURRENDER!" She shouted in fright and held her hands out the door with no weapons.

"Step out into the hallway slowly, keep your hands up and away from your body!" Cedric ordered.

"Pit Crew, Rail Guard Lead, need a breach on car 1152, 3 Slavers to evacuate," Megan ordered by radio.

"Slaver, face the front of the car, walk backwards towards my voice," Cedric ordered. Pete finished reinserting the pin on the grenade and folded the tines out to prevent them working loose. "Slaver, halt there, down to your knees." The Slaver had self-disarmed so the only thing that was required was a pat-down and handcuffs.

"Well, that's that," Harold said before a beam saber punched through the side of the car and began burning a makeshift doorway into the train hull for the evacuation of the Slavers. "Three bodies to police up, three headed out to the Mages."

"More the merrier," Camille said. "I'll play the long game on this one."

"Whoa, shit," Harold said after he dislodged one of the dead bodies and revealed a serious piece of hardware under the body. "I know what this is, but I can't name it," he said before the exterior access was opened.

"Huh?" The pointman for the Pit Crew Team grunted. "M134 Minigun, one of those Slavers must have thought himself Jesse Ventura reincarnated."

"I think Takeshi needs to get a cut of these kill proceeds," Megan said. "That could have ended very badly for us."

Car 1153 (House Car, 2 level) (1450)

Quintin still entered a theoretically unsecured room in the usual fashion, but the empty state except for their unexpected assistant put a rest to needing to clear it.

"This is the first time we've had any material assistance in dealing with the Slavers," Scarlet said to the Train resident. "Thank you."

"Agreed, you have the thanks of the Rail Guards and Sigma," Megan said from behind the grenadier. "You put your arse on the line against some heavily-armed threats, and we thank you for it."

"Might as well start here," Takeshi said.

"Out to clear the Trains?" Pete asked as he filed past the 1 Team.

"Trying to find any information on my sister. She was captured and pulled onto a different Train." Takeshi produced a picture of her and showed it to Megan. "Have you seen her?"

"Don't remember her from the 523 Train, I used to live on it. Not recognizing her from the past few days, either."

"Here, hold that pic up," Scarlet used her tablet to take a picture of the picture. "Virtue, can you run recognition against that picture?"

"Affirmative, no match to any persons brought through Induction, even assuming several years advanced age," the AI entity answered. "As we clear more Trains and gather more evidence, we may narrow down where and when she was captured, and if she is still alive and/or has been sold off."

"I will support Sigma as much as needed to rescue my sister," Takeshi said stoically.

"You've done plenty for today, now you need to think about the future. Get yourself signed in and bedded down for the day, we'll handle the rest of this Train," Quintin said.

Takeshi nodded his acceptance of the point. He didn't like it, particularly, he felt he should do more, but bowed to the orders of the entry team. They were the professionals, after all, and all else being equal they had just proved they knew what they were doing.

"Thank you." Takeshi headed to the car's exterior door, entered his unlock code that he reprogrammed it with, and was out onto the platform a second thereafter. What little gear he had was in a duffel bag waiting for him at the door, which went with him.

Car 1154 (Lounge Car) (1452) (Evacuated 14 civilians, 4 recruits)
Car 1155 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1454) (Evacuated 1 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1156 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1456)
Car 1157 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1458)
Car 1158 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1500) (Evacuated 4 civilians)
Car 1159 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1502) (Evacuated 12 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1160 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1504) (Evacuated 14 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1161 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1506)
Car 1162 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1508)
Car 1163 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1510) (Evacuated 2 civilians)
Car 1164 (House Car) (1512) (Takeshi Yamato's House Car) (Evacuated 8 civilians from prior 3 cars)
Car 1165 (Dining Car) (1514) (Evacuated 17 civilians, 2 recruits)

It did not take more than a pace into the room for the scent of very good cooking to hit the team and set stomachs to growling. "Agh! Wounds my heart with the smell of awesome cooking," Carl said.

Chef Annalise Wahn looked up from her dish preparation as Megan entered the car, more to the queueing of cheers from the civilians in the car who were waiting for evacuation. "Ah! Rail Guards! Come, Takeshi had me prepare meal for you specially for today."

"Now that is outstanding," Cedric said.

"All right, guys, let's take a break and dig into some fresh chow," Megan said, but held back a minute. On her radio: "Pit Crew, Rail Guard Lead, need door unsealed at 1165, roughly twenty to evacuate," she ordered so as to allow the waiting civilians to depart.

"Takeshi hooked this up? That's two we owe the guy," Scarlet said as she took her seat at a table adjacent to the counter.

"Takeshi good guy, but out of depth trying to single-handedly rescue Train, so he settled here and guarded us," the chef said. "Tortured by losing his sister, then tried to find her the hard way."

"Yeah, with 150 thousand of these Trains, the odds of him finding her on round one is near zero," Pete explained. "What's your story?"

"Was Iron Chef Dragon, title given to Iron Chef of the Draconis March in my home dimension. Negaverse citizen," she explained. "Boarded what I thought was a Train to the starport town on my homeworld, turned out to be this Train. Slavers wanted to sell me off, but their leader decided to keep me around for cooking for their team."

"Let me guess, you gave them food poisoning and used their weakness to kill them with a cleaver," Pete said in half-jest.

"Worse," Chef Wahn said. "Deliberately mis-prepared toxic blowfish and poisoned a team of them, then fled when they started dropping dead. Takeshi took me in and has been guarding me since."

"Now that's smart thinking," Megan said. "Not enough resistance on these Trains against the Slavers, any work against them is appreciated."

"Still, was horrible way to kill someone," Annalise said. "Will never prepare blowfish again."

"Escape, Relocate, Extract, Rescue," Ikuno said, echoing the department motto for the Rescue Rangers. "Never apologize for doing what you must to survive, especially against interdimensional scum like the Slavers."

"True," Annalise said.

"All else being equal, on ways to bushwack the Slavers, that one's definitely for the record books," Carl acknowledged the point. "And this is excellent cooking."

"Lot better than MREs," Cedric said.

"MREs good for travel, but disgusting when put against real cooking," Chef Wahn said. "Would like to do better for your team."

"We normally eat with the Administrative crew," Harold said. "If you want to join that galley, you'd definitely be welcomed."

Chef Wahn considered that would be a good way to earn her keep for a ticket home. For certain, getting off the Train in good order and good health was worth a debt of honor, so…

Car 1166 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1546)
Car 1167 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1548)
Car 1168 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1550)
Car 1169 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1552) (Evacuated 2 recruits, 2 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1170 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1554)
Car 1171 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1556) (Evacuated 9 civilians, 2 recruits, 4 Charlie mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1172 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1558) (Evacuated 5 civilians) (Captured XXXXXX)

"Recon shows four of the individual bathrooms are occupied by a total of nine Slavers," Virtue showed a diagram of the car on the terminal in the 1171 car. "The most significant weapon carried by any of the Slavers is a MAC-11 machine pistol, and even that is tenuous at best — if I was gauging the cartridge size right, it has been rechambered for 9mm short, making it utterly unable to penetrate the armor you are wearing."

"Except the obvious exposed areas like head, face, legs, feet," Ikuno pointed out.

"Still, this might be a good opportunity to play for our reputation," Megan said. "If we do the usual forced entry, whichever group we don't bang is going to be on us faster than stink on shit. Not worth the gamble, I say we ask Pit Crew for an assist."

"Ten-four," Harold agreed.

Megan tripped her radio switch. "Pit Crew, Rail Guard 1, we have a situation in the next car."

"Go ahead, Rail Guard," Pit Crew Lead said.

"We have two widely separated Slaver teams waiting to ambush us. Would it be possible for you to do a double-breach on the side of the car, facing both teams, and attempt to fast-talk a surrender?"

"We can make it happen," he said with a chuckle. "Standby, you may still need to enter and clear with supreme violence if they refuse."

"Standing by," Megan acknowledged.

-x-

Pit Crew Lead directed his two fireteams to take position and prepare beam sabers for the forcible entry. When they were positioned, he signalled both to begin cutting into the side of the Train car.

The forcible entry was speedy, if a bit risky. The Trains were filled with quite a bit of flammable material, but normal Beam Saber exposure was too fast to set a fire without prolonged contact. In this case, the construction of the Train Car hulls was thick enough to withstand rapid pressure changes from 4 atmosphere to zero atmosphere, and airtight (provided they were not otherwise damaged) but not enough to withstand a beam saber. The Armored infantrymen could breach a meter of the hull plate in five seconds, meaning they could make a two meter by two meter entryway in twenty seconds using two troopers to do the cutting.

After the plate was cut away, it was a simple feat of augmented strength of the fireteams to pull down the severed hull plate and get a glimpse inside the car. Pit Crew 2, which was handling the rearward cut, had the first straight interaction.

"Oh shit," the Slaver in the first of two occupied rooms said.

"Oh yes," Pit Crew 2 said with an evil chuckle. "Nobody expects a lateral entry in a situation like this."

"Yeah, yeah, just like nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition," the Slaver raised a short-barrel pump shotgun and unloaded all five shells into the Armored Infantryman from a distance of three meters. Expectedly, the buckshot was utterly ineffective against infantry armor designed to withstand the abuse delivered by main battle tanks and Battlemechs, and didn't even draw a notable reaction from the trooper.

"Well, I did expect that would accomplish nothing, and guess what? You accomplished nothing. So, let's try this again Slavers," Pit Crew 2 unlatched a M240 Light Machine Gun from behind her shield, played out a belt of rounds from the munition storage container behind the shield, and ganged it onto the existing belt in her weapon. "Way I look at it, you have three choices. You can fight we Mages, and we just straight-up hose you. I would consider it an honor to put five of you fucks in the ground."

"I'll pass," the Slaver with the Benelli Nova shotgun said coldly.

"Second, you can go head to head against the Rail Guards, and we Mages get to stand back and watch as they shred your asses and cart off the deceased to be disposed of by Funeral Rune."

"Isn't that illegal if we do not want to be disposed of in that fashion?"

"Dezgra (2) do not get such protections," Pit Crew 3 said coldly. "And a Slaver is Dezgra by default."

"Okay then, what's door number three?" the eldest of the Slavers in the rooms asked.

"You surrender unconditionally, march out of the Train and into the brig to await possibly taking a crack at pleading your case," Pit Crew 2 said.

"Unh," one of the Slavers grumped. "All these options suck. Aren't you required to honor Star League Guild protections?"

"Not when the Will Transcendent says you are not protected," Pit Crew 3 said.

"Make the call, kids, because your buddies down the way just surrendered," Pit Crew 2 said after it became obvious the Slavers had disarmed and surrendered.

"Fuck! Fine, we're out," they disarmed slowly and exited the room in an orderly fashion.

"Rail Guard 1, Pit Crew 2, be advised Slavers have surrendered in totality. You are clear to enter and sweep the car."

"Executing now," Lieutenant Christenson said.

Car 1173 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1605) (Evacuated 7 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1174 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1607)
Car 1175 (House Car, 1 level) (1609) (Evacuated 9 civilians)
Car 1176 (Dining Car) (1611) (Evacuated 10 civilians)
Car 1177 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1613)
Car 1178 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1615) (Evacuated 8 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1179 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1617) (Evacuated 3 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1180 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1619)
Car 1181 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1621)
Car 1182 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1623) (Evacuated 15 civilians)
Car 1183 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1625)
Car 1184 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1627) (Evacuated 8 civilians, 14 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1185 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1629) (Evacuated 3 civilians)
Car 1186 (House Car, 2 level) (1631) (Evacuated 5 civilians)
Car 1187 (Lounge Car) (1633) (Evacuated 5 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1188 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1635)
Car 1189 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1637)
Car 1190 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1639)
Car 1191 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1641) (Evacuated 1 civilian, 5 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits) (Captured XXXXXX)

When Team 1 entered the 1191 car, they were not surprised to see a gaggle of persons in the center area seats. Nothing particularly special, given Virtue was expecting them in this car and area.

The fact that one of the persons shouted "SHIT!" after Scarlet made her entrance changed the dynamic immediately, and only darkened it after a Mauser rifle with bayonet came up to respond to the approaching Sigma troops. A round was fired, but it passed over Quintin's shoulder and punched into the wall paneling at the end of the car. Scarlet answered the immediate shooter with two bursts of 40-caliber from her SMG, one burst clipped him low in the gut, the second burst took him high in the chest and put him down, hard, the bolt on his rifle open before he could chamber a second round.

Other persons started moving after the first person went down, and one of the first was a fairly large (and fat) guy with a large revolver. Ikuno hammered him once in the face before he could level his Colt Anaconda on the team, a single reflexive shot from the downed tango knocked out one of the fluorescent lights above him but accomplished not much else. The lady next to him (under arms as well) gasped when he dropped, and she ducked down below the level of the seats to prevent an easy shot.

The entry of the second team stifled the combat. The younger and smaller of the two ladies in the group of four remaining persons ran for the far door toward the front of the Train, but Virtue had locked it down to prevent enemy escape. With no way out, and now nine very pissed soldiers aiming guns at them, they surrendered.

"Well, that ended strangely," Camille said after the four persons involved started disarming.

"Younger lady, face the front of the car, walk backwards towards my voice," Carl ordered. "Keep walking, keep waking, stop. Down to your knees."

"Why are you doing this?" She asked in a half-wail that sounded faked to the Rail Guards.

"Because taking shots at an entry team is not a smart idea," Carl pulled her arms down and zip-cuffed her, then lifted her up and dropped her on one of the benches.

"Guy with the sword, face forward, walk backwards towards us until I tell you to stop," Quintin ordered. "Come back, come back, stop. Down to your knees, keep your hands away from your body."

"Right," he grumped. Quintin removed his sword belt, checked him for other weapons, and removed his flak vest. Zip-cuffs were easy to apply and he was deposited on the bench for disposition shortly.

"Next up, the other guy, come backwards to my voice, step back, step back, stop," Megan ordered. He also had a flak vest, but the collection of Colt Delta and a Taurus revolver in .44 magnum was rather surprising for the guy that probably only weighed 110 pounds with the Flak vest. He did not resist for the zip-cuffs and took a seat next to the younger lady.

"Last lady, you know the drill. Face the front, walk backwards towards my voice. Step back, step back, step back, stop, down to your knees." Carl had no problem removing her hold-out .22 revolver and the laser pistol she was carrying but never fired, but the body armor confounded him briefly until he cut the strap loose and hauled it over her right arm.

What the loss of the vest revealed was a severe shock to the team, as well as a bit if a mystery.

"Well, you've been a bit busy. Two hearts with three chains each, so that's 1600 plus Slaves," Megan said.

"Been around the block a few times," the lady said.

There was a third tattoo on her back, but it wasn't the normal Slaver 'sell count' tattoo. "What's this third one between your shoulder blades?" Pete asked.

"Campaign tattoo, the Guild does some campaigning not just on the Trains. Each rider is another campaign I've been on," she said.

"And your buddies?" Ikuno asked coldly.

"All six of them, including the ones that you shot. So yeah, you just committed an execution offense, the Guild will have your asses for lunch."

"Whoa now, honey, I don't think you're quite understanding the shifting rulebook here," Quintin braced up against one of the Metro benches in front of her. He had to pause while the Pit Crew troops prized open the door to allow eventual evacuation. "See, the Executors have ordered us to disassemble the Slaver's Guild. Ordered us to do so, by way of a Contract, so no, you aren't protected by the Guild and you will not be getting any vengeance against us."

Megan pulled the Slaver's hands down behind her back and zip-cuffed them. "Be sure to play nice with the Commandos, they're a bit rough when provoked." She looked up from the four Slavers to her team. "Police the bodies and funeral rune them. And hand these four shits off to the Pit Crew."

Car 1192 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1649) (Evacuated 13 Charlie mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1193 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1651) (Evacuated 21 civilians, 4 recruits)
Car 1194 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1653)
Car 1195 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1655) (Evacuated 2 recruits)
Car 1196 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1657)
Car 1197 (House Car, 1 level) (1659) (Evacuated 1 civilian)
Car 1198 (Storage System Car) (1701) (Evacuated 1 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1199 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1703)
Car 1200 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1705) (Evacuated 1 recruit)

-x-x-x-

Takeshi made it up the stairs, smiling as he finally made it up top. Climbing up through the Fusion Engine Room (!) wasn't very difficult, climbing up into the second basement level of the facility was even less so, but the smile was more for the principle of the matter than anything else. Finally, he was out of the train, and while he wasn't any closer to finding his sister, he knew he now had help in that matter. And he would do his damndest to support Sigma in trying to find his sister.

After departing the undercroft, he located the induction center where he'd been directed. It wasn't difficult to get lost in these environs, but thankfully there were Armored Infantry Military Police (!) directing incoming refugees up into the proper room. As he made his way into the line for the induction center, his attention was drawn to a monitor, which seemed to be showing some kind of pilot-training simulation. Two monitors were running side-by-side with related views, simulating a ground engagement between inductees (what was labelled as the 'ZAFT contingent' and facing off against 'Earth Federal Forces' in fairly evenly-matched terms. Apparently, it was a teamwork drill for the pilot, how well she functioned as part of a squad or such?

The pilot in question, shown in a small inset PIP window, especially drew his attention. A woman, purple-red hair, blue-purple eyes, and a slender figure, she was certainly attractive, and something about her seemed to draw Takeshi's attention readily, as much for the exotic appearance as it was for her apparent skill.

"That's one of the Slaves freed yesterday, Lunamaria Hawke, and her sister was freed the day before," another one of the refugees said. "Heard from some guys who were loosed back behind us, they were crew of a Warship that was pirated by the Slavers for take. Guess the Slavers didn't count on their Train being captured by us, so colossal loser for them."

"Certainly interesting," Takeshi said. "What is so special about their machines, though?"

"Mobile Suits? Don't know, heard the name before but don't really know what about," the refugee shrugged.

"High-mobility, multiple environment capability, lower cost, mission flexibility depending on gearset," a Multimage officer said from the far side of the refugee. "Downside for Mobile Suits is they can't take a lot of beating and they by-and-large aren't fast enough to outrun the hazards. For better ground survivability you have battlemechs, for better air and space survivability you have aerofighters, but those platforms have their own limitations and steep price tags."

"So a way to try to fight an armor war on the cheap," Takeshi didn't sound impressed, and for good reason. His time in the F/A-18E fighter for his home country had taught him that the side with the equipment made by the lowest bidder was almost always fighting on the wrong side of the 8-ball. For that reason, he had been thinking about training into the F-35B until his sister was kidnapped and he redoubled his study in sword and magic to take the fight to the Slavers.

"Mobile Suits are one of the lower-cost options, but don't underestimate the type," the Mage officer cautioned. "It is real easy to think there are superior platforms out there, and there always shall be, but an enemy only has to be good or lucky once to ruin your day."

Takeshi did recognize the wisdom in the point, given the ever-present threat of older Eastern-bloc fighters during his training. Even an outdated weapon platform was a threat, and he figured it would probably serve him well to learn the local threatscape before he dismissed an entire class of machines.

"Thank you, sir," Takeshi said.

"Carry on," the Multimage Officer headed down the hallway and turned toward the fusion reactor spaces.

Takeshi decided he'd offer his experience on all fronts — infantry, magic, and piloting — as a way to take the measure of the area and see where he could best make headway toward finding his sister.

-x-x-x-

Car 1201 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1707)
Car 1202 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1709)
Car 1203 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1711) (Evacuated 5 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1204 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1713) (Evacuated 10 civilians
Car 1205 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1715)
Car 1206 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1717) (Evacuated 2 civilians)
Car 1207 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1719) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1208 (House Car, 1 Level) (1721) (Evacuated 5 civilians)
Car 1209 (Dining Car) (1723) (Evacuated 8 civilians, 3 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1210 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1725) (Evacuated 2 recruits)
Car 1211 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1727) (Evacuated 1 recruit, 12 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1212 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1729)
Car 1213 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1731) (Evacuated 13 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1214 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1733)
Car 1215 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1735) (Evacuated 15 civilians, 15 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1216 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1737) (Evacuated 12 civilians)
Car 1217 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1739) (Evacuated 21 civilians, 13 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1218 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1741) (Evacuated 10 civilians)
Car 1219 (House Car, 1 Level) (1743) (Evacuated 1 civilian)
Car 1220 (Lounge Car) (1745) (Evacuated 18 civilians)

"That's 240 cars," Pete said after the last of the civilians evacuated the lounge car. "Damn, already sore and starting to get tired."

"80 still to go," Cedric slapped the smaller Elven trooper on the back. "I think I'mma bum on one of the couches for a few."

"Way ahead of you," Scarlet passed behind Cedric and took up seating on the better of the two couches. Camille was quick to take seat next to her.

"How you two holding up?" Megan asked the two already seated on the couch.

"Sore, getting exhausted, but very happy we're almost done with round one," Camille gave their Lieutenant a thumbs-up. "How are you doing, boss?"

"Same, sore and exhausted but looking forward to stepping off the lead engine and reporting to Sigma One that it is done," Megan took a seat on the pool table since nobody was making noise about using it.

"Need a round of tylenol?" Pete asked after Megan settled in.

"More interested in some of that jerky you had earlier, I'm going to finish up with an Excedrin dose for the last cars, and hang it up for a few days."

"Out of the jerky, sorry," Pete said. "And after that awesome dinner we just had, I'm good."

"I kinda hope Chef Wahn takes up cooking for the Admin building, but if she goes private, I know where will be spending more than a few bills each month," Ikuno noted from the far side of the pool table that Megan was sitting on.

"Too true, that's cooking worth pursuing," Curt said.

"It's always good to get a morale boost while out in the field," Harold from next to the jukebox. "Huh, I don't recognize any of these names. Guess I'll just pick some at random."

As Quintin settled into a recliner with a bottle of old-style Dr. Pepper, the jukebox began playing a selection of pop-dance songs that nobody in the room recognized, but would give them a moment of peace before the team returned to action after their 15-minute break. The lead song, Set My Soul On (by Sunstroke Project) would become something of a happy-go-lucky touchstone for the Team in years to come, when times were hard and the duties harder still.

Car 1221 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1802)
Car 1222 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1804) (Evacuated 2 recruits, 10 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1223 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1806) (Evacuated 2 recruits)
Car 1224 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1808) (Evacuated 6 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1225 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1810)
Car 1226 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1812) (Evacuated 3 civilians, 2 recruits)
Car 1227 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1814) (Evacuated 11 civilians, 1 recruit)
Car 1228 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1816) (Evacuated 2 civilians)
Car 1229 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1818) (Evacuated 15 civilians, 1 Charlie Mafiosi as recruit)
Car 1230 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1820) (Evacuated 2 civilians, 10 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1231 (Dining Car) (1822) (Evacuated 26 civilians)
Car 1232 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1824) (Evacuated 4 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1233 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1826) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1234 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1828) (Evacuated 5 civilians)
Car 1235 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1830)
Car 1236 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1832) (Evacuated 14 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1237 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1834) (Evacuated 3 civilians)
Car 1238 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1836)
Car 1239 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1838) (Evacuated 10 Charlie mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1240 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1840)
Car 1241 (House Car, 1 level) (1842) (Evacuated 9 civilians, 10 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1242 (Lounge Car) (1844)
Car 1243 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1846)
Car 1244 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1848) (Evacuated 3 civilians, 6 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1245 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1850)
Car 1246 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1852)
Car 1247 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1854) (Evacuated 15 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1248 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1856) (Evacuated 20 civilians)
Car 1249 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1858) (Evacuated 4 civilians)
Car 1250 (Sleeper Car, Single Beds (15)) (1900) (Evacuated 14 civilians)

-x-x-x-

(Same Time)
(Senator Mandy Glivenne's Quarters, Palace of the Star League Grand Council)

Mandy usually listened to the ComStar News Network while doing her evening paperwork and position paper reading, mainly because it was a solid source of political and operational information. While she detested ComStar and the Multimages that had made the ComStar service near-universal throughout known Existence, she could not but admit that ComStar was honest, fair, and usually unbiased in their reporting. Which was a singularly saintly thing to say about the Press in any era, much less the hyper-political era of the Star Empires.

So, the breaking news blast was enough to get her attention from her proposal on levying a trade embargo against Sigma, and draw it up to the television. She missed the lead-in, but a timely adjustment on the volume allowed her to hear the first line of the on-scene reporter that she utterly failed to recognize.

"This is ComStar Field Reporter Lunete Ueda, on scene at Base Boarhound in the Protectorate of Sigma. I have just been informed by the command section of the Protectorate that a major announcement and presentation will be issued here in the Administration building within the next two hours, and likely to be in an hour or less. The exact nature of this announcement is at this time classified, but will mesh with announcements from earlier in the day. We will go live again when the announcement is ready, until then, this is Lunete Ueda standing down."

Mandy muted the television. "Wonderful. Probably going to demonstrate some of the contents of the Trains," Mandy said in dejection. The one major thing that had kept any outrage from becoming explosive was the fact that the Star League had thus far been able to hush up any stories about the Trains, kill witnesses, and otherwise harass or beggar parties that would let information slip. Now that Master Executor Atrebas had made his announcement about permanently decommissioning the Trains, there was no hiding the fact that they existed and were being used as mobile collection points and larders for the Slavers, a lucrative income source for the Star League. If Sigma started demonstrating the insides of the Trains to the world, things could go to Hell in a big hurry.

She started making phone calls to the other persons in her 'conspiracy' against Sigma. They all would need to see this announcement. Mandy, however, would not be disappointed by the contents of the announcement.

-x-x-x-

Car 1251 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1902)
Car 1252 (House Car, 1 level) (1904) (Evacuated 3 civilians, 1 recruit, 2 Charlie Mafiosi as recruits)
Car 1253 (Storage Car) (1906)
Car 1254 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1908) (Evacuated 14 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1255 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1910) (Evacuated 10 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1256 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1912) (Evacuated 3 civilians)
Car 1257 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1914) (Evacuated 8 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1258 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1916) (Evacuated 2 civilians, 1 recruit)
Car 1259 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1918) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1260 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1920)
Car 1261 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1922) (Evacuated 9 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1262 (Bath Car, Stalls (20)) (1924) (Evacuated 14 civilians)
Car 1263 (House Car, 1 level) (1926) (Evacuated 3 civilians)
Car 1264 (Dining Car) (1928) (Evacuated 1 civilian, 4 recruits) (Captured XXXXX)

Virtue had warned the team that the situation in this car was fluid, but the likely happenstance was that one of the captives of the last group of Slavers on the Train had paralyzed everyone in the car except himself, then disarmed and was working on tying up the Slavers.

So, when Harold entered the car and saw the only movement was a fairly large guy with green hair working on tying up someone who could not move but was looking around by just their eyes in a panic, he knew it was worth laughing at the change of circumstance.

"Hey! Rail Guards! I could use a hand tying the fucks up!" the guy waved them over.

"Coming, coming," Pete said stoically. Given the Slavers were paralyzed to a man, the team simply rucked up to them, flipped them face down, cut loose their ropes, and zip-cuffed the lot of them. Total expenditure of time: 40 seconds.

"Thanks, I wasn't sure if I would get them roped before it wore off," the guy said. "Name's Mark, I'm a Dragon from Illyaris territory. Heard you guys were coming, so I figured now was my best bet to put these guys on hold."

"Thank you," Pete shook the guy's hand. "We thought this would be the last battle of the Train, but you just preempted it."

"Can one of you undo paralysis?" Mark asked.

"I have it," Curt said. He began working his way into a restorative spell to clear the paralysis on all persons in the car, friend and foe.

"Pit Crew, we have five stooges to brig for handoff to the Commandos," Megan said by way of her radio, then released the switch. "I'll put in a commendation for you if you're interested in joining up. That was some ballsy shit, paralyzing the Slavers like that, but it worked and worked well."

"If it didn't work, my next was to kill them all with attack spellcraft," Mark pointed out. "Why the interest in capturing them, though?" he asked. "And which one of you is a Dragon?"

"I am," Curt said after he finished his restorative spell. "We want them alive so we can hammer the dogshit out of them for intelligence purposes. They're of some value to us dead, if we Funeral Rune them, but more value alive and talking."

"I'll never talk," the one lady Slaver said.

"Oh yes she will," Megan said to Mark with a tone of savage intent to voice. "They always talk. The Commandos have been extracting some serious shit out of them already."

"That's fucking slick," Mark said with a smile. The other hostages gathered around him as he headed toward the door. "Thank you, Rail Guards, for saving us!"

"Thank you for making this job that much easier!" Ikuno waved at the group as they hopped off the car and down to the platform.

"Fuck you, honey. The Guild will have its vengeance," the Slaver Lead said.

"Yeah, yeah, been there, heard that, got the armpatch," Megan hoisted the enemy lead to his feet. "Now get your asses off my Train!"

Car 1265 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1932)
Car 1266 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1934) (Evacuated 2 civilians, 1 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1267 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1936) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1268 (Seat Car, 2 level) (1938)
Car 1269 (Seat Car, 1 level) (1940) (Evacuated 7 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1270 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1942)
Car 1271 (Bath Car, Gender-Split Rooms) (1944) (Evacuated 2 Charlie Mafiosi)
Car 1272 (Sleeper Car, Double Beds (9)) (1946) (Evacuated 4 civilians)
Car 1273 (Bath Car, Individual Rooms (14)) (1948)
Car 1274 (Engine) (1950)

"Bingo! Engine cars!" Pete said after he realized the object outside the door was not another car.

"All right, troops, let's move it up, one team up each side, alternating between Starboard and Port sides with each car, move it like you have a purpose!" Megan ordered.

"The end is in sight!" Cedric said with cheer.

"And so is the Boss," Ikuno could easily see Sigma One and a gaggle of other persons at distance down the platform.

"Then move it like we have a purpose and do it like we know how," Megan revised her orders.

"I will open the door to the control cab on each Engine as you arrive at it," Virtue announced by radio.

Car 1275 (Engine) (1951) (Evacuated 4 civilians)
Car 1276 (Engine) (1952) (Evacuated 5 civilians)
Car 1277 (Engine) (1953)
Car 1278 (Engine) (1954)
Car 1279 (Engine) (1955) (Evacuated 5 civilians)
Car 1280 (Engine) (1956)
Car 1281 (Engine) (1957)
Car 1282 (Engine) (1958)
Car 1283 (Engine) (1959) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1284 (Engine) (2000)
Car 1285 (Engine) (2001) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1286 (Engine) (2002)
Car 1287 (Engine) (2003) (Evacuated 4 recruits)
Car 1288 (Engine) (2004) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1289 (Engine) (2005) (Evacuated 3 recruits)
Car 1290 (Engine) (2006)
Car 1291 (Engine) (2007) (Evacuated 1 recruit)
Car 1292 (Engine) (2008) (Evacuated 4 civilians)
Car 1293 (Engine) (2009)
Car 1294 (Engine) (2010)
Car 1295 (Engine) (2011) (Evacuated 2 recruits)
Car 1296 (Engine) (2012)
Car 1297 (Engine) (2013)
Car 1298 (Engine) (2014)
Car 1299 (Engine) (2015) (Evacuated 4 recruits)
Car 1300 (Engine) (2016)

-x-x-x-

(Same Time)
(Senator Mandy Glivenne's Quarters, Palace of the Star League Grand Council)

Mandy watched the entry team cross down the outside catwalk surrounding the engine access hatches and the control cab, they stopped and bunched up at the door, then made entry. It was all stylistic and Mandy had seen it more than a few times when observing the Star League military, but this was altogether sinister to her. They were not under Star League authority, they were clearing one of the Star League Trains, and something about them struck her as altogether more menacing to Mandy. The shout of 'Clear' was quite audible on the audio feed coming from the ComStar reporter, then the radio message declaring the Train cleared.

Mandy watched and fumed as the action developed on live interdimensional television. There was nothing she could do at this point, so she figured she would have her vengeance in a couple weeks' time.

-x-

"Clear!" The pointman for Element 2 of Rail Guard Team 1 shouted.

Hess watched Lieutenant Christenson key her radio. "Virtue, Rail Guard 1 Lead, reporting Train 133628 cleared at 2016 hours on 31 March, Year 14408 of the Magi calendar, how copy?"

"Acknowledge all," Virtue answered by radio.

"Team 1, fall in for debrief!" Megan ordered next. The nine-member team of Rail Guard 1 took the three ladder rungs to the platform and lined up in front of Sigma One. Once the team was arrayed, Megan stepped one step forward and snapped to attention, then saluted. Her subordinates followed suit immediately thereafter. "Sir! Team 1 reporting Train is cleared, ready for hand-off to clearing and scrapping teams, sir!"

Hess, Jamieson, and Goodwin came to attention and saluted in the naval fashion. "Damn good work, Lieutenant Christenson. At ease, all of you." The groups dropped to parade rest. "This was the first serious test of professionally clearing the Train for rescue, resettlement, and returning home the persons captured by these hellwagons on rails. All told, we've extracted over 6000 persons from this Train, captured over a hundred Slavers for intelligence purposes, killed several score of the Slavers in the process, and cemented the process going forward. You have accomplished the first step in what promises to be a hard but honorable duty."

"Thank you sir!" The green-haired operator in the first element said.

"Stand down your gear and arms in your barracks, then report to the mess hall for post-mission drink. I will be along shortly to serve."

"Sir, will do sir!" Megan said.

"Dismissed!" Hess said briskly. The team fell out immediately and headed up the vehicle ramp toward their barracks.

"Hot damn, it's just two Trains out of hundreds of thousands, but we're headed in the right direction," Clint Jamieson said.

"Fucking works as advertised," Mosley Goodwin said. "You clear the Trains, I'll make sure they're scrapped down, sir,"

"And that's where you come in, Director Goodwin," Hess said. "She's yours, how fast can you assemble some teams?" Hess jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the lead engine of the Train.

"I'll put a call out tonight for personnel, we'll see what we get," Mosley said. "For sure, I want my Engine Techs to begin pulling and storing the Engines so we can array them." Mosley didn't know that by saying so on live television, he would start an exodus of former Train Engineer personnel from the Star League to the other Star Empires, and from there to the Multimage Empire, and lastly to Sigma to join the effort. Within a week, Mosley would have a for-real department under him, all willing to do what it takes to reverse the horror show created by the Trains.

"More is the better. Need anything from me?" Hess asked.

"Just time, sir. We'll make it happen," Mosley promised. "If there's nothing else, I need to get the word out."

"See to it, Mosley. Good hunting," Hess stepped aside for Mosley to head out. "And that leaves you, Lunete," Hess said.

"What are your thoughts on this, sir?" Lunete asked.

"Damn glad it works as planned, so far," Sigma One said to her and indirectly to the camera. "Downside is, I was hoping for some stealth for at least the first few Trains, get the process built up and some experience under our belt before the powers that screw pooch found out, but as with all things Murphy, the first casualty is the plan. So, here we are, first Train cleared under the Rail Guard process, thousands of refugees off the Train and ready to do returns or resettlement, now we start expanding the effort."

"How hard will that be, sir?" Lunete asked.

"Now that we have the recipe built up, it is only a matter of time and space," Clint handled the answer for the Command Section. "We're going to hold off on trapping any Trains for the time being, want to digest what we just cleared before we do another."

Hess picked up the next: "This is going to be a process, a big, long, nasty process that will probably last decades, but the Executors have asked us to do it, so we do it."

"And the contract terms, Ten million C-bills per Train plus a million per 500 cars or fraction? When does that payday hit your account?" Lunete asked.

"Not until the last car is scrapped and Director Goodwin hammers the lead engine placard onto the wall of the railhead," Hess pointed to an area of wall that was blank. "After that, the Train in question officially does not exist, and we can claim a scrap."

"Oh, so this is just the beginning phase? Wow," Lunete gasped.

"While it is on my mind, Lunete, if you are holding any video or stills from the Train, now would be a good time to release them. For now, we have a mini-celebration to see to."

"Thank you, sir," Lunete said, then turned toward the camera while Sigma One and Sigma Two headed for the stairs up to the basement levels. "Back to the News Center for the next part of tonight's breaking presentation. This is Lunete Ueda, signing off."

-x-x-x-

The first Train scrapped by the team, 133628, would prove to be the bellwether that Ikuno declared it. A sign of harder and nastier things to come, but also a sign of the fruits of their labors. A sign of the value of the Trains as much as their horror, and mostly a promise to Existence to the persons trapped within would not live and die in vain. It was a sign and a blessing to the Team their relationship built amongst themselves, and relationships built on the side by members. And, in months hence, two children would be born in the Protectorate, both claimed by uncles and aunts aplenty.

The Teams, Christenson's Team 1 and Du Lac's Team 2, would do more clears in coming years but their value increased exponentially as trainers for the next Rail Guard Teams to be assembled. The team's overall Train proceeds would exceed 5 million C-bills split between them just for this first Train, meaning that any of them could have retired just after the first Train. It would come that Rail Guard detail was not a permanent posting, except for some of the Trainers; the teams would form and dissolve after a few clears, but the experience would be valuable and the service to Existence would be priceless.

Still they soldiered on. Always at extreme hazard of life and limb, they continued because it was the right thing to do.

They would be condemned by the Senate in no certain terms, even declared wanted men and women by name by the Senate for their actions. The Press Corps outside of ComStar would not allow themselves to understand the magnitude of the project, and thus downplayed it as theater and wastrel use of Executor funds. Still, none of the major Star Empires condemned the group, and people flocked to the Protectorate in coming weeks to join the effort for personal reasons.

And Sigma, the Protectorate itself and the Mercenary command within, would grow on the tidal wave of expansion and funds generated by the Trains. That much, the Senate would try to stymie but never succeed in.

Author's Chapter Afterword:

WHOOOOO! First Train is completed!

In my days of doing Sigma as a purely roleplaying game and not as the engine of a story series, the completion of the first Train was always a landmark achievement. Herein, this is both the end of one of the first Sigma stories and a serious achievement for the Protectorate. It validates that the task can be completed as requested by the Executors, it validates the practicality of the task in terms of persons extracted from the Train, and once the scrapping process is completed it will be one hell of a payday for Sigma. Not to mention the massive amounts of scrap to be garnered from the Train itself, in both abandoned personal effects and material harvested from breaking down each individual car.

The major take-away from this story segment is the close-quarters nature and sheer impact of combat in the Trains. This will be a serious task for any team that takes the challenge, and trust me: I haven't even begun to demonstrate nasty Trains yet. This 1300 cars with a couple fortified sections is a fart in a tornado compared to the upperbound of Train insanity that is coded into my generator. It will be far worse going forward, but inasfar as these things are counted, you may not even see it in the story. When I said that this was likely going to be the first and last end-to-end Train clearing you would see from me for a while, I was not joking. Now, that said, if a Train is generated that is sufficiently weird or notable that it will make a massive difference in clearing and outcomes, I will have to do another round but I don't expect anything of that nature for some time.

And then there is the crew. For now the outcomes between the personnel are up in the air, but I can tell you right now the dice have already made noise in favor of Quintin and Erica, though the outcome between Harold and Cathy has not come up for check yet. Nobody else has come up for a relationship check yet, but that can change depending on who does what in the next game day (the crew is on stand-down, so there is no telling yet who will do what). And they still have training to come, along with breaking in new teams for the Rail Guard (there will be plenty of new team volunteers in the coming chapters), so you haven't seen the last of them even if I'm not going to show a full clearing for some time.

On the writing front, you have my apologies for the extended silence. I have some four chapters in backlog, awaiting beta check completion and one in production right now, so expect some meat in March and going forward. I've had to shift processes a bit due to external obligations, but nothing impossible to work around. And, with the coming of Spring, I expect I will start being more active in the evenings, so my writing phases will be a bit different.

In the matters of programming, I am slowly trudging forward on learning how to do Visual Basic dot-net, which isn't completely dissimilar from VB6 but is definitely off enough to throw me a bit. And the compiler is a lot less forgiving. I think for now my intention is to do a full-feature inventory management suite similar to what I have right now, though with some revised and expanded features from the version I have already made, and then start adding in functionality from there. It will take a while to prepare, mainly because I am even more hit-and-miss on my coding than I am on my writing, but I intend to get it done this year (2019).

And that's it for this chapter and this story. Thank you one and all for reading, and feel free to leave me a review if you deem worthy. I normally reply to reviews in the next chapter, but since this story is completed I will be answering all reviews directly and include them in the next mainline Sigma review reply section.

Put 'em on safe and holster 'em, this one is done.

Beta Reader Afterword (Takeshi Yamato): I said last chapter I had a personal OC inbound, didn't I? :)

Takeshi Yamato is one of those characters that goes everywhere - every time I enter a new game, RP, or story setting, one of my first characters is a 'local' version of him. Given that he's something of an idealized representation of me, it does kinda make sense.

This particular version of him comes from an instance of Earth where magic is very much real, and the US has a large mage population. That's all the detail I'm going into now - potential spoilers abound.

Well, I will say one more thing: With an idealized representation of me (Takeshi) and my #1 Waifu (Luna) in the same place, you can probably guess as to the pairing there. We'll see just how fast the dice say that relationship moves, but no matter what, that ship is gonna set sail.

Review Replies: I had NINE reviews for the last chapter. NINE! That is a flavor of awesome I never expected to see on one of my Sigma stories. Thank you all!

NHO (Round 1): You did get a glimpse of paralysis spellcraft as a way to incapacitate Slavers, and it was hellishly effective. So, that may be considered going forward as a method.

There is going to be a small segment of Slavers who have no captures or kills to their record who can effectively plead out their punishment, but they will be the rarity — and given the nature of the Mages, you are perfectly correct in that hammering them for intel and then executing them by the numbers will be counterproductive. As is demonstrated in the Jokers Wild series, the Magi aren't the most flexible persons in Existence, and occasionally that attitude bites them in the arse.

Psyraptor: Oh, Captain Gladys did survive, now getting to her and collecting her from her present forcible employment is going to be another story entirely.

NHO (Round 2): PA(L) and Light BA are options, as would be Medium BA in the Trains. Beyond that, maneuverability is sunk. Still, as you pointed out, this is more of a Police / SWAT function than it is a combat detail, so until an operational need for super-heavy offense / defense is needed (as in the fortified zone), I'll probably hold the infantry armor or battle armor in reserve.

Sajuuk: I have been quite remiss on keeping up with the latest Gundam offerings, so this year I might start binge-buying the series. As to the others, well, hard to say. I have never made an official declaration on the Marvel or DC comics universes in my storylines, so that is entirely up in the air for the time being. B5 is a strong possible, Stargate is also possible, Pac Rim I have not seen, and I have other options in mind, so…

Knives 91: It's not like you to miss the easy target :)

Yes, the length of the detail has occurred to both the ops troops and to Sigma One. On the other hand, this is a long-term operation for everyone involved, and more of the reasoning will be shown why in coming chapters of the main line story. I won't say more than that, but the first major move in that direction is the chapter end section for the next mainline chapter.

NHO (Round 3): I did the Magitek Gear Rex thing as something of a gag in Archangel's Amazing Adventures, but your idea has some serious merit on the matter of MGS and Sigma. They would make a VERY interesting clandestine merc unit to stack against Sigma — and occasionally work with? Nothing demands that a single contract be executed by one team, it can be split between multiple merc units if needed.

Hellhound D. O. W.: The critical disconnect Between Sigma, the MMC, and the Jokers Wild is in the backstory of the Mjolnr. The Mages, institutionally, would know of the Cosmic Era to a degree from their interactions with Sigma and the ZAFT crew. The degree to which that knowledge would be widespread, however, is extremely minimal. The ship and Mobile Suit designs would be considered redundant to need for the Empire, hence no drive for production would occur outside of interested parties (private oddball collectors or Sigma themselves). Information garnered from the ZAFT personnel would be folded into relevant sections of the Empire, but as was demonstrated in the early chapters of the JW, the Mjolnr was wildly behind the times in terms of maintenance, upgrades, and staffing — and that would include data cores with expanded reference information. Third, the scale of the entities is the major factor in the two halves not interacting. The Mjolnr never served alongside Sigma, and the Multimage Star Empire in the year 16623MC exceeds 1 times 10 to the 11th power in dimensions — not just planets. Conversely, Sigma in the same timeframe consists of only about 1,230 full planets and fractional possessions on several thousand more, meaning that the Mjolnr could very easily go about its business and never cross territory or paths with Sigma. So, while some segments of the Empire would be aware of CE tech and personnel, it isn't even classified as uncommon knowledge. Hell, half of the new races that Sigma will find won't be known outside their little sphere, so...

On the matter of female imbalance, so far it is random chance but there is also a bit of loaded dice involved. Given the advances of the Star Empires taking out a lot of the evolutionary challenges in the many worlds, and given the societal constraint of living space being shattered by effectively infinite expansion room, the population balance swings more in the favor of females. It's not a huge imbalance, but numerically significant. More to the point, in the Sigma cosmos, females are grabbed by Slavers more frequently because resistance is reduced overall and demand is higher on the client side.

Hope that answers your questions!

KPheonix: Not mine, Takeshi's aim. The direction that Sigma One and Sigma Two would go has not yet been determined.

On the matter of Atrebas and his expectations from Sigma, well, I have to be cautious to avoid spoilers, but you can rest assured that circumstances will be better explained in coming chapters.

As to the Gods, oh Hell yes will more show up. And that number includes some of the Greek Gods and Goddesses, as not all of their rank were involved in the suppressing actions against the Magi in eons past. There are quite a few of the Gods from that pantheon that simply do not exist, mind you, as Atrebas annihilated them outright during the Divine Wars, but the survivors may try to redeem themselves to a degree by way of Sigma's open-ended offer.

Don't worry about the detail, there's always room for further questions in another review or another time and day.

NHO (Round 4): On the programming ideas, I'm working on version controls in my new version, but I'm holding my code close. As to name lists, I have several sources I may pull from going forward for the new versions of my character generator programs. That said, keep in mind that a goodly portion of these are also Star Empires, so the rules are a bit different from just the normal seen around Terra.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REVIEWS! Feedback is always welcome for my writing, helps keep me motivated and prevent plotholes. Keep your eyes out for the next stories!

The Gripe Sheet:

No complaints coming in from the prior chapter. As always, major thanks to Necroblade, Takeshi Yamato, and Sieben Nightwing for keeping this clean and inline with expectations.

Footnotes:

(1): Stun Grenade is an alternate term for Flashbang,both of which are shorthand terms for Noise-Flash Device, which is the proper name for a Flashbang.

(2): Dezgra is a term brought to the Multimages by way of the Clans of Kerensky (Battletech). In strict interpretation, it means 'dishonored' or 'disgraced', but in practical use it is used only to signify the most dishonored and dishonorable of persons. In official Multimage court and government proceedings, a person or group who is officially declared Dezgra has only two options, exile or execution. In personal conduct, calling someone Dezgra is a grave insult and is almost always considered grounds for Trial by Combat.

As is applied to the Slavers, the Multimages have officially (if in secret) declared the Guild of Slavers a Dezgra organization, meaning that any members, active or retired, are subject to execution when found. That said, the arrangement between the Commandos, the Executors, and Sigma is an aberration against standing orders from the Empress, though it is clandestinely approved and welcomed by the Empress as a method for gaining intelligence against a corrupt and dishonored organization. The value of such intelligence will come into play quickly, as will the fallout of their actions against the Slavers.

Included Works:

Included works are unchanged from prior chapters. That said, I expect I will be making some arsenal additions to my random generation tables to reflect some new series to be seen in coming segments of Sigma, so keep an eye out for new results...