            _____
           /__  /\  ________      T.H.E  ____________
          //   __\_____  \/\________  \_______    _________
   ___ __/    /    /\\    \   .\_____  \/\  /.  /   /\     ____ ____ ___
      Y  \______  /  \    \   \\ _  \    \//  /     \___   _ _\    Y
      .   \_____/ / \ \________/\\   \    \____  / /\        \\   .
                 \/   \_______/\ \____________/ / \ \  ______/[Sk!n]
                                 \_______/       \/   \ \_____/
                                                        \/
-+------------------------------------------------------------------------+-
 | The LoOnS: Python   Wizz  The Guardian  PoB  Action Man  Chuck  T-Leaf |
-+------------------------------------------------------------------------+-
                                                          02/10/93
                              PROUDLY PRESENT                                 
                                 HIRED GUNS 

                         COUNTDOWN TO GRAVEYARD MANUAL
                   TYPED BY : CHUCK    SUPPLIED BY : PYTHON
                                  CONTENTS:
                                  ---------
                       TWO STAR SYSTEMS, ONE BLOODY WAR
                         HOW TO WAGE INTERSTELLAR WAR
                           HIRED GUNS - THE STORY   
                             MERCENARY DATAFILE:
                               RORIAN DEEVERGH
                                  DESVERGER
                                   JENILEE
                                 MC 128-7 CIM
                                CHEULE SIYGESS
                                   CLAVIUS
                                KATRINA HOMEZ
                                ADELE REANNON
                                MIYRIEL TORRE
                                 BONDEN SPEY
                                   KIURCHER
                          CIM - LITE (PIRATE COPY ) 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------	
                        ESCAPE FROM A DOOMED PLANET
----------------------------------------------------------------------------        
  
                      TWO STAR SYSTEMS,ONE BLOODY WAR...
                      ----------------------------------

 The seeds of the war can be found in one of the first exploratory missions
to the Lacaille star system. Luyten had supplied the starship, D1aedalus, and
its associated system ships. A tentative colony had already been established
on the planet Jeuvo Cassandra. The crew of the system ship Canberra comprised
both Luyten personnel and a science team from Cassandra.

 History, unfortunately , did not record who was manning the high sensitivity
infra red lines when the planet that was to be called Tharagrene was revealed.
Had it been a barren rock - much as Cassandra was - then it would simply have
been logged and forgotten about, save for the obligatory surface mining teams
many years later.

 Tharagrene proved to be both earthlike and habitable, but without indigenous
life.  It was a valuable find.  the laws of extra - system exploration
inherited from earth meant that the young colony had a legitimate claim on the
entire system. Inevitably, both sides claimed the discovery as their own.

 Luyten couldn't  act immediately with no faster-than-light travel even
possible, the most rapid response possible would take a minimum of ten years.
Daedalus remained in the system and was eventually converted to a space
station in orbit around Tharagrene.  In the time that followed, Lacaille
expanded to settle on Tharagrene itself. The surface conditions made it ideal
to develop and grow.

 And so, 20 years after the discovery of Tharagrene, another starship arrived
in the system.

 It was called the Nubian.

 It was state of the art technology.

 It was a warship.


            HOW TO WAGE INTERSTELLAR WAR:
            -----------------------------  

 Earth would certainly have gone to war with luyten in the past, had it not
been for the dozen light years that separated the two sides. It is however
possible for a spacecraft to take on entire planets merely because gravity is
on their sides.  Lasers and particle weapons aside, an attacking craft will
find the most potent force for destruction is the redirection of asteroids so
that they collide with the target planet; a simple an inexpensive tactic.

 War was imminent and so reinforcements began to arrive from Luyten in a rota
system.  A tour of duty for a spacecraft was typically ten years real time.
Upon return to Luyten, the warships were upgraded with the results of a
further decade of research and development.

 It was  the Maxellemar ring of Luyten that declared a state of war.
Predictably,  there was hardly any audible reaction from the civilian
population - the policy of forcible draft for the war effort saw to that.

 Two  draftees were Rorian Deevergh & Desverger. The warship that took them 
to Tharagrene was part of a stellar booster - a drive system that took the
craft to near light speed. Smaller craft detached from the command vessel At
the journey's end where other craft were then attached for the return trip.
The forces of which Rorian & Desverger were a part were therefore effectively
stranded until the arrival of the next stellar booster which, at that stage in
the war, happened around every six months.  By 2697, the war had gained
momentum.

 Rorian & Desverger were ground troops for the federal forces of Maxellemar.
they had served for a number of years in Five Division as punishment for past
offences and had, after a while, developed a grudging respect for each other.
When it was decided that more forces should be mobilised, Five Division was
designated to begin the five year journey to Lacaille. Very few people would
have been willing to face the prospect but troops, of course, had no choice,
especially if they were members of Five Division.

 Time  dilation from speeds close to light made the trip seem shorter for the
passengers on this trip and thus more bearable and once the tortuous journey
had been made, the decision came to push Five Division into the heart of enemy
held territory - the capital city of Sahvoar.

 Midway  into the mission and suddenly caught in savage crossfire from
opposing troops, Rorian & Desverger made for the nearest cover. they found an
unmarked truck, supposedly civilian that was cut off from the rest of the
ground forces.  The crew were dead, but were wearing the military uniform of
their own side.  The truck proved to be a disguised missile carrier - such
things were unusual but not unheard of. What made this particular situation
disturbing was the nature of the weapon in the cargo hold. It was a planetary
denial weapon, a biological/chemical hybrid warhead of the sort banned for the
past 200 years. It was obvious that it was on a timed delay. Desverger, who
had considerable missile experience, believed it could not be stopped.


                 CHOICE:
                 -------

 They faced a difficult choice. should they inform their superiors? Rorian
believed that some general had his own covert plans for the weapon and that to
report the current status of the warhead was no less than a duty. Desverger
argued that this was a naive approach and that their own side meant to kill
everybody, friendly and enemy forces alike.

 The  alternative was simply to flee. This proved the more viable option.
Beating their own miniature retreat, they enlisted the help of a medic,
Jenillee Freymon and a combat robot, Cim. with this additional assistance
they stole a shuttle and headed for high orbit. The escape was just in
time....

 The  biological component of the weapon - spread widely by the initial blast
- became effective after a day. Tharagrene was condemned as a plague planet.
Any craft climbing up from the surface was ruthlessly destroyed by an orbiting
particle cannon that, coincidentally, just happened to be in range for such a
purpose. There were few survivors.


                           HIRED GUNS
                          -----------

 Foolishly, when investigating the weapon truck, they had taken no account of
built - in surveillance systems. Only they know the truth about the massacre.
The authorities, in turn, now know of their existence. That knowledge made
the team led by Rorian and Desverger possibly the most wanted people in the
system.

 The first difficulty they faced after witnessing the massacre, was to
return to Luyten. This took many different turns and, in the course of that
journey, they were joined by a further eight people- some they can even call
friends - some don't even live up to that. Nevertheless, all of them have
useful skills.  The war effectively ended with detonation of the warhead
though pockets of resistance continued to fight well into the next decade.
But the October 14th incident, as it became known, was accepted as the
official end of the war.  Lacaille was very much the loser, and as news
filtered its slow way across the light years, the war became little more than
a collection of facts in history books, even before Rorian arrived home.

                               NOW IT IS 2712
                         
    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          COUNTDOWN TO GRAVEYARD:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         
                             
 Six  hundred and thirty thousand million kilograms of metal, plastic and
ceramics hung like a baleful star in the greying skies over new europe. There
were several of these objects in orbit around the capital planet, but Freewill
was the first, built in an age when the frontier meant something. Now the
scant resources went elsewhere and the orbital stagnated as living on
planetary surfaces became fasionable once again. As with every property left
to itself for a time, settlers moved in. Freewill became self-governing in
all but name.

 
 Cheule  stared for a long time through a viewport down at the planet and saw
the same land mass that she had seen yesterday and the day before and the day
before that. It was a single star hotel sort of view; all that starscape and
there was a planet in the way. The Anysije might not have been the greatest
place in the system, she thought, but at least wasn't a synchronous orbit.
You could watch the planet spin beneath you. The drink was cheaper too.
perhaps she could persuade Rorian to buy her one.


 He  was sitting with his terminal working, as ever, across in the lounge,
with Clavius watching the screen and nodding from time to time. He obviously
wished he was somewhere else. She knew how he felt Freewill was a strange
choice for R & R, but given their wanted status, it was a sensible one.

 The  lounge was nearly deserted apart from themselves. Desverger provided
the main source of noise with an arcade machine and neglected airscrubbers
gave the room a characteristic dank smell. It was late in the artificial
night and the lounge had been switched to automatic. Above the entrance hung
a large, jaunty sign which flickered:" YOUR FUN IS ABOUT TO GO NOVA!" not for
her. She waved her hand in a certain way and a few seconds later a dispensing
robot wheeled across. She slotted in a coin and was handed a cola.

 Rorian...she said softly

 Come on then, he replied without looking up. He pulled out a chair and she
accepted it.

 What's the situation?

 See for yourself, he sighed, Dark Matter's going to be in dock for a month.
She groaned.  Dark Matter was the current fake identity of their spacecraft
and the illicit modifications could only be done here on Freewill without
attracting too much of the wrong sort of attention. Here! why here? she
knew it was probably inevitable.

 This was Kiurcher's idea wasn't it? she said levelly.

 I  will be several moments said Clavius in his gravelly voice and left
diplomatically.  Rorian shifted uncomfortably, but didn't answer. Cheule
returned her attention to the screen, aware of his gaze. Shifting lines of
green and blue formed a schematic of the ageing vector class cruiser called
Dark Matter.  Statistics scrolled by at the touch of a screen. She watched
this for a minute until she couldn't feign interest any longer. He looked at
her seriously then a thought seemed to brighten his face.
 Any suggestions for the new name?

 Something  fitting...  she took a long swig of cola and sighed. O.k,
originally it was Gravitational Constant which then became Summer Storm and
then Serendip Eclipse. right? she said. did you choose all these??

 Rorian  shook his head. Then my favourite, Midnight Sun he continued, and
finally Dark Matter.

 Cheule  thought for a while. Seems to be a prediliction for profile names.
She paused. Rorian I know why we're here. The other reason I mean, there's a
mission coming isn't there?

 I'd  make you my second in command if there was such a thing. He was no
longer smiling. I need to work. just go and relax.

  Knowing we'll probably be fighting for our lives in a weeks time?

  The  Flumpey cannon costs more than we can afford. This mission will pay
 for it. I hope so.

  Typical useless growled Desverger, easy to find a space station but easier
 to let a computer guide you.


  So they've been delayed. we can manage without them, countered Rorian. He
 tried to follow the game that Desverger was playing and pretended not to
 notice the games coinbox which had been split open.

  No excuse. They gave word. Be here. Be here now. 

  Crashing noises erupted from the machine. A voice clearly said Game Over,
 he picked a coin from the box and pressed it into the slot, the game started
 again. Rorian stared. Desverger glanced momentarily and caught the look.

  Credit card trouble to fake.

  We'll just have to catch them at the second rendezvous point in the inner
belt.

  Unlikely to be the case, said Desverger not looking up from his game. One:
 Pilot, Morton, his own ship. No loyalty to group. No kindred sense.

  What do you mean? asked Rorian.

  First better prospect, takes it. Not see him again.

  He  got a few long standing things to sort out, that's all, Desverger
 ignored the comment.

  Two : Wife. Ah curse it! The arcade ship exploded in a fireball. He used
 another coin.

  Surprised , Rorian? he continued. Jenelle, Morton very close. Intent was
 marriage. She'll support any decision he make.

  This is pointless Rorian said and made to return to the bar area.

  Three :  Desverger said raising his rasping voice. The twins. Emotionally
 bonded like all twins.  One dead.  Other emotionally crippled as result.
 neither any more use.

  Despite himself , Rorian continued to listen thoughhe didn't face Desverger
 directly.

  In effect, lost quarter of team. Good thing.

  Good?! Rorian shouted,they're valuable members!

  Team too large. Too unweildy. Graveyard mission: real reason to get new
 hardware. They're gone, taking ship with them. That's so.

  No .  That's not it at all.  Something delayed them and this is just a
 normal mission.

  You  speak from knowledge? No. Voice betrays you. Always your trouble.
 Can't read the signs. Graveyard bad news.

  Money  is never bad news - you see signs where there aren't any. If we
 live I'll look you in the eye. See who really is correct. You'll avert
 first.  But you'll stick with me because really, you need all pf us. Am I
 right in trhat at least? he said sarcastically.

  Desverger didn't care to answer.

  Cheule  felt a tap on the shoulder and spun around violently, grasping for
 the pistol that wasn't there. Habit.

  Sorry , she said relaxing when she saw Rorian. That led up to something
 nasty once. He handed her a glass of something.

  Thanks. Two down. Aren't you having one?

  No. I've got to keep my head clear.

  Freewill  spirits aren't that dangerous she said, I know they have a
 reputation but...  she tailed off, realising.  He saw the change in her
 expression.

  Yes, It's a meeting.

  Why here? she said simply.

  Because right now we can't be anywhere else.

  It's too much of a risk.

  I'm  not as foolhardy as you sometimes make out. The camera will provide a
 measure of insurance.

  I don't care if you do have an embedded micro-camera or whatever you call
 it.  If we get footage of you being blown away. It doesn't help us a bit!
 shouted Cheule.

  She span around and  strode away from him. Rorian looked as if he was
 considering what to say to her when an insistent bleeper sounded on his belt.
 He detached a square device and noted a red indicator.

 Kiurcher's signal he yelled.

  Right on!  whooped  Desverger from across the lounge. He drove his fist
 into his palm then pulled out a pistol and flicked at the safety.
 
  Cheule  noticed with regret that the regular crowd had slowly ebbed away.
 There was only her and the rest of the Hired Guns. She tried to fit distaste,
 incredulity and displeasure into her voice. She was good at it.

  You were deliberately looking for a job here? she said.

  The fact was worse than the suspicion. Rorian was just standing there as
 if everything he did was either so obvious it was beyond questioning or didn't
 need explaining at all. He obviously hadn't planned on justifying himself.

  So who's the patron? she continued.

  He shrugged.

  Where's the meeing then. Where do we go?
  
  Sorry Cheule, it's a one on one meeting.

  I can't, we can't just let you go by yourself.

  She tried to pretend that it was only a legitimate concern for the leader.
 Even pretending that it was simply because only he had clearance for the ship
 and they would be stuck otherwise seemed false. A terrible image of holding
 his severed eye up to the retinal scanner to gain access to the ship sprang
 into her mind.

  Just a single person, Cheule.

  If anything happens... She remained emphatic.

  Stay  here.  That's the plan.  That's always been the plan. Anything
 happens and I walk straight ioto it. Only me. Get it?

  Boss  man's a right lover chipped in Desverger, twirling his pistol. She
 ignored him as best she could,

  Freewill's dangerous. we've never been hired from-

  Stay  here!  he shouted. She held eye contact for as many seconds as she
 could before he finally snorted in disbelief and stormed through the door.
 
  The  quality of the image from Rorian's subcutaneously implanted camera was
 shaky and monochrome but it worked fairly well. The pictures were relayed to
 the terminal that he left with them. In the left of the screen, Desverger
 could be seen clambering into a ventilation duct. A large door occupied the
 middle of the screen with Cheule's concerned face reflected on it. Adele and
 Bonden entered from outside the lounge. Bonden bounded over to watch with
 them. Adele looked serious and flicked back her wet hair.

  Good swim I trust said Clavius with a trace of a smile.

  Good enough. Never realised a zero-g swim could be so hazardous said Adele
 deadpan.

  Yeah , nearly had every medidroid on the level called out! added Bonden.
 Clavius laughed.  In the empty room it echoed. Cheule frowned at them both
 but never said anything.

  I believe it's a local sport Adele continued. Attrition rate would seem to
 be high.

  So what's happening Clavie? said Bonden.

  We  bumped into the big cheese and he never even stopped to say high - he
 off someplace? Hey that's Dessie on the screen.

  Desverger had popped his head out of the duct and was indicating something.
 He paused and then nodded a few times before disappearing again. The doors on
 the screen began to slide open.

  The  room beyond was dark.  The small audience around the screen kept
 silent. It resembled a photorealistic arcade game.

  Cheule  imagined any umber of surprises contained in there and was indeed
 surprised when the lights sensing Rorian's body heat flickered into life to
 reveal a perfectly bare room.  Bare, except for a single videophone. The
 image of the phone in the screen got larger and a hand extended semingly from
 behind the screen and tapped a few buttons on the phone's keypad. A message,
 too small to read from the screen, appeared and tyhe screen shook vertically a
 few times.  She wondered what had happened. Then she realised that Rorian
 must be nodding in response to something. It was irritating that there was no
 sound.

  Where's Dessie? asked Bonden.

  Desverger is acting as a form of insurance said Clavius.

  There is only supposed to be one person in this meeting, if it turns out to
 be a set up then Desverger is his best chance of getting out alive.

  Ah.

  Cheule  couldn't stand to watch anymore and sought out a chair. She closed
 her eyes and was lost with her thoughts. Eventually Rorian returned. His
 entire stance, solid, aware and alert indicated to Cheule that the relaxation
 was over. She put down her unfinished drink.

  Get  the rest up here, now, he said, then it's Bay Twelve in fifteen
 minutes.

  He went as abruptly as he entered.

  The  Bay Twelve door opened to reveal what at first appeared to be a thin
 corridor, circular in cross section.  As they entered, it revealed a vast
 cavern seen through the transparent walls of the corridor which formed a tube
 connecting to a shape that was partially concealed. Only half a dozen or so
 spotlights highlighted a warning symbol, a giant exhaust, a registry number
 and finally a name. The Platinum Heart. To either side was what appeared to
 be a metal valley, the basis of docking and construction bay in which floated
 the massive spacecraft.  Desverger barged his way past everybody in the
 confines of the boarding tube, got to the top first and bowed mockingly,
 swirling his cloak simultaneously. He entered the craft and was swallowed up
 by the darkness.

  The  interior was a dull grey; a characteristic of all ex-military vessels.
 A stocky man waited inside the entrance way and greeted them each by name,
 which Cheule found disconcerting. He in turn introduced himself as Moeller.
 Once for each of them.

  Friends , said Moeller when they were all gathered. Though I regret I
 cannot tell you the nature of this - er - job I wish performed, you will be
 given full details closer to the time. Naturally the payment will not be
 processed through any banking system and will be delivered in Rare Earth
 Elements, or should you wish, Platinum. A poetic touch, no? A percentage
 will be distributed in a moment, more upon leaving for Graveyard and, of
 course, the bulk of it upon your return. We will be leaving orbit in a little
 over six hours.  Please feel free to make yourselves comfortable. He bowed
 rather unconvincingly and left.

  The  assembled team began to talk amongst themselves but Cheule decided to
 follow Moellers example and leave to find more of the ship. Rorian caught her
 before she made it to the door.

  What's bothering you? he asked.

  You  promised!  she said bitterly. It seemed to take a while for him to
 realise what she was referring to. Just this one more job, Cheule. This'll
 net enough to head for any system you like. You will get your share. Cheule?
 he hesitated. I'll be sorry to lose you.

  She  turned from the same, constant view of New Europe. Her eyes reflected
 in the glass. She felt like Jennilee with all this wistful gazing.

  I have to go back.

  He  frowned, unable to read her expression. Catching this, a forced smile
 broke across Cheule's face.

  And  I have to get that other drink you owe me. She said. With those
 words, a lurching and faint trembling was felt. A muted roar became apparent,
 then silence, followed by another burst of noise then silence once more.

  We're  leaving Freewill, said Rorian. I would've at least thought there'd
 be some warning.  C'mon.  We've a few minutes before the main drive is
 activated. Let's find an acceleration couch.

  So this was it, Cheule thought.

  They were underway.

  Bonden , alert though he was, sat up with a start and stared in awe at the
 shape that Moeller was holding. He began to raise his hand to attract his
 attention, but faltered as if he really couldn't believe what he was seeing.
 The patron stopped.

  You're familiar with these? he asked.

  Bonden looked round him. Yes I, I think so.

  Good. You can give the briefing. Save some time.

  Moeller  nodded to Rorian, tossed the device to Bonden who caught it
 awkwardly, and left to occupy himself with the drop ship preparation.


  I , uh, this is a psionic amplifier. It's used to create a variety of
 effects - it's very rare. Effector I mean, I saw one on Graveyard. It uses
 force fields to manipulate matter and lasers. Uses lasers I mean. As well as
 force fields. These are controlled by a computer, here, to create the effect
 you desire.  Oh, yes.  The type of effects are very complex and the
 information needed to create one is stored on a datacard - have we got one?
 yes.  Here. Only one can be used at a time and... I'll show you. Farsight.
 Yes.


  He  pulled out the card that was already installed to show everybody and
 then placed it back. Activating the amp started a glow of light in front of
 him. There were a few gasps from those who were less familiar with holograms.
 A pattern began to form in the centre of the glow.

  As  you can see, a picture is being created of the location about - 100?
 150?  - about 100 metres in front of me even with walls in the way. Is that
 the storage bay?  Yes. I believe it is. Different cards produce different
 effects.

  The group were looking at him in amazement. No one spoke. Cheule smiled
 warmly at him. So encouraged, he continued.

  Radioisotope  power source so it won't run out.  Some effects give
 information, some cause destruction. And so on. I have no idea how they get
 hold of so many.  Oh yes.  No user serviceable parts inside so don't try
 opening them. He grinned.

  The  forward observation lounge was in darkness, save for a smattering of
 glowing green indicators, the red of a scrolling message screen and of course
 the faint light from the stars themselves. The soft glow of the edge of the
 Galaxy was visible as a band of diffuse light across the view. One of the
 points of light was brighter than the rest. Schematics unfolded and folded
 across the window, superimposed on the scene. Cheule sat quietly in one of
 the lounge seats, contemplating the view.  She knew she would have been
 pleased to discover - through deduction - that the bright star was in fact
 Yalhoth and the smaller point of light just next to it was Graveyard - their
 destination. The schematics robbed her even of this pleasure. Letters on the
 window flashed and indicated Yalhoth with a green box, a catalogue number and
 the name itself. She hated it for that.

  Behind  her the lounge doors opened with the soft hiss of pneumatics.
 Yellow light streamed in, taking on a red hue through her night vision. The
 metal-on-plastic clump of a robot echoed a few times and then stopped. The
 whine of motors was too pronounced and deep for it to be Miyriel. The crew
 was too scared of Cim-Lite for it to be allowed to wander the ship unchecked.
 There was only one droid one it could be.

  Miss  Siygess it said.  Hello Cim she said in return. Why could no-one
 pronounce her name correctly? Why else? they were Luytanians.

  Mr. Desvergh wants to see you.

  I'm  staying here.  She turned around. Cim was silhouetted against the
 doorway, a mobile mountain of metal. Red and green points of light from the
 panels reflected off its polished surface. It waited patiently.

  Tell Rorian I am not available she said.

  Mr.  Desvergh was most insistent.  Shall I replay the message? Cheule
 shrugged.  Of course. Cim had a large audio buffer. It only had to play the
 appropriate section.

  ....especially get Cheule.  I want her to be here when we discuss
 contingencies.  If anything went wrong I want her to be the first out of
 here.....

  She  considered the fragment of conversation, aware that her response would
 be recorded just as unobtrusively..

  Rorian , that's very kind of you. I'll be there later. Cim, you can play
 that back to him. now go.

  As you wish. The robot backed away and the doors slid closed once more.

  It  was a further two days before the Platinum Heart performed a slingshot
 manoevre around Yalhoth, gaining speed from the planet's gravitational field.
 It was common enough practice. At a key point in the trajectory mhowever, a
 small shape detached itself and carried on - undetected - towards Graveyard
 and into the atmosphere itself. The Dropship began its flight profile.

  Cheule grinned inwardly, inspired by the noise.

  Rorian!  she yelled over the roar of the ramjets. The antinoise systems
 were overwhelmed by the rush of air.

  What!

  The new name: how about Slipstream?

  I'll think about it. I prefer Solar Maximum. The reply was cut off by the
 sound of the drop ship shifting to conventional turbojet cruise.

  The  automatic pilot indicated its willingness to be taken over. Clavius
 now took control and the noise subsided slightly.

  Timed  message release active, intoned Cim. The robot waited patiently for
 instructions.

  Scan and give us the highlights. Said Rorian.

  Accepted .  Target elimination. Details follow. 10 Megs of off line data.
 Editing.  Illegal government weapons research. Bio-engineering sites. Key
 installations.  Retrieve backpack nukes from marked sites.  Detonate at
 designated points.  Digital terrain mao suspplied - Guild VII compatible.
 Estimated  mission time 13 days plus 4 hours.  Secondary objective -
 reconnaissance.  Rendezvous Platinum Heart, co-ordinates given. Compositing
 mission profile from drop zone onwards.

  Is that it? shouted Bonden sarcastically. Merely waste half the planet?

  Too intense for you, youngster? said Desverger.

  What the hell have you got us into this time?

  Enough  of that.  Take the cash and don't ask questions. That's how it's
 done. Replied Rorian.

  Yeah,  easy...  said Cheule quietly, her mood becoming sombre.  the
 vibration of the flight making her armour plate rub uncomfortably against her
 neck. What made the flight worse was the absence of any form of window in the
 hold.  She couldn't see anything unless she turned her head to the extreme
 left where a small patch of the windshield was visible between Clavius and
 Rorian. And that held only the grey of the sky.

  Five minutes to zone.

  Nothing on passives. We're in the radar shadow of the mountain. We'll
 emerge into the main beam in half a minute.

  O.k. Clavius. Contour following within the next thirty seconds.

  Confirmed .  The ship fell to within twenty metres of the ground and kept
 that distance.  Speed was still greater than Mach 1. What's local speed of
 sound?

  Low. 550 metres per second.

  We're making too much noise then. Drop to 350. the audio sensors over the
 next ridge can detect our supersonic track easily.

  Revised time to zone, 4 minutes 20 seconds.

  Reckon we can risk the active sensors?

  Make it a quick one.

  Two second burst on the Doppler radar. 360 degrees. Full spectrum.
 Anything?

  Radar has a 10 degree blind spot at 180.

  That doesn't matter.

  Nothing on screen. Wait, several ground targets.

  Type?

  Nothing important.

  Airborne targets?

  None.

  We're in!

  A  smoothly-shaped object sailed over the ridge to the sound of muted
 thunder, keeping a precise height from thr ground and slowing down constantly.
 Its appearance frightened creatures hiding in the undergrowth and startled
 birds who took to the air, offended at the objects intrusion. A blast of air
 swept the ground underneath the object which wobbled uncertainly at the top of
 this column of fast moving air and, slowly, its height above the bushes and
 trees diminished in a flurry of vegetation and dust stirred up by the
 unnatural squall.  With a final rush of sound, the drop ship placed itself
 deep within the covering layers of forest.

  Broken  branches spilled onto the ground. The residual whine of motors
 slowed to be replaced by the higher pitched note of the landing ramp servos.
 Rorian emerged first, then Desverger then Cim.

  Camouflage details, go, ordered Rorian.

  Within  ten minutes, the dropship had been covered in camouflage netting,
 surprisingly crude considering the levels of technology they had at their
 disposal.  The most effective anti-radar coating was at the same time the
 least smooth and of course the least effective for aerodynamics.

  At last they were ready.

  Eleven of them stood in front of Rorian. Four to go for the nukes, four to
 stand by in case of trouble and the remainder to stay with the dropship. They
 formed a loose line and looked at him expectantly. The two robots stood
 motionless, as always.  Bonden next to them, restless, not willing to wait
 even this much. Kiurcher hung at the back not wanting to be seen. Desverger
 daring anyone not to pick him for the worst of the fighting. Clavius ready to
 do whatever was asked.  Jennilee shying away behinf him. Adele looking
 slightly bemused by the whole situation. Miyriel was just, well, Miyriel.
 Katrina was expressionless, having slipped back into her cold ruthlessness and
 of course Cheule, who was looking at him intently as if she should be in
 charge and leading them to another planet entirely.

  Just  four should be necessary, said Rorian. He rubbed his hands together
 and unshouldered his rifle.

  So, he continued, who's it gonna be?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

               MERCENARY DATAFILE:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



 RORIAN DEEVERGH.
 Born:2670, New Europe.

  There is a saying in the poorer areas of New Europe that can be paraphrased
 as One only needs a plastic spoon to eat and live; one needs a silver spoon in
 the south for the same reason. To be born on Luyten's capital world is to
 automatically gain a lofty superiority over the other inhabitants of the
 system and to know that one is better in every way.

  Rorian  was born in the Southern Sectors of New Europe to parents who were
 particularly wealthy, even among their contemporaries. Because he was an only
 child, as was the custom, he found little time of his own, owing to social
 pressures that were entirely an invention of the rich. Like many of his
 generation, he rebelled and turned to a life bordering on the petty criminal,
 seeking thrills that everyday life seemed unable to provide. By age 16, he
 was organising elaborate stunts and commanded a small gang of disaffected
 teenagers.  One of those stunts went badly wrong and and three people were
 killed as a result. Not being old enough to execute he was drafted into the
 Maxellamar Ring of Luyten Army where he became part of Five Division.

  Despite  his profound dislike of authority, Rorian has made a name for
 himself as a skilled combatant. It is unwise to insult him as he is short on
 temper and has an almost superhuman dislike of fools.He places nobody above
 himself but will honour any promises he makes - but only to those he deems
 worthy.  Faults in others are tolerated, but only if they make an effort to
 put them right, even if that effort never quite succeeds. To those outside he
 seems utterly ruthless when a situation like a firefight occurs, then he will
 apparently ignore the fact that it ever happened. In reality it bothers him
 greatly; he will brood about it for days afterward but never giving a hint of
 this to others. They need to be able to see only his strong side.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 DESVERGER.
 Born 2670, New Europe.
 

  Desverger is similar  to Rorian in many ways. He was also born on New
 Europe and rebelled against authority until being drafted into the army.
 Desverger was a product of the seedier, more disturbing elements of New Europe
 that no-one wished to speak of. He slept rough and got involved in serious
 crime, not caring how it reflected on the gang, not caring about anything.
 Eventually the crimes were serious enough to make front page news. He hated
 having to be second in command for everything, but tolerrated it simply for
 what he could gain. Ironically, when he was eventually caught by the police,
 the result of his short trial put him in the same army division as Rorian.

  He suffers from rapid mood swings. Usually he is very cold and doesn't get
 on with anybody else. Officially he is a member of the team for his skill as
 a marksman and weaponsmith. In actual fact, despite the rivalry, Rorian is
 probably the closest thing to a friend he has and the bond goes deeper than
 they both realise.  He has, during his life, probably killed more than
 everybody else in the team combined. A fact which, to their disgust, he often
 boasts of.  After the escape from Tharagrene, Desverger seperated from the
 rest in order to pursue his own life free from the interference of anybody
 else.  He embarked on an ill-prepared career as a professional assassin, but
 his style was anything but professional. The result of his endeavours is that
 a number of real assassins have him as a permanent target should he ever be
 encountered. Once again (to his displeasure) he found that he had to make his
 way back to Rorian to seek protection.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 JENILEE
 Born 2685. Tesseract.

  
  Jenilee  had a love affair early on in her life. Jase was the classic
 example of a childhood sweetheart that lasted into teenage years. Perhaps it
 was too early in her life. Never having known anything other then happiness
 with Jase, nothing could have prepared her for his disappearance. He was
 suspected of being abducted for forcible drafting into the military; a process
 on Tesseract that was by no means unheard of. It left a gaping hole in her
 life and, naively, she joined the army herself in a hope of finding him.
 Somehow.

  Needless  to say, there were no quick results. Her job in the medical team
 in Five Division seemed easy enough. She enjoyed caring for the few injured
 and working with people. Since she cami into contact with people from all the
 divisions and all ranks and she was able to befriend some who could help her.
 Computer serarches and lookouts took place. There were still no results but
 she never gave up on her dream.

  Never  gave up, that is, until the start of hostilities on Tharagrene where
 Five Division were relocated. The horrors she saw there aged her more than
 any space travel and she became bitterly cynical. But the worst was yet to
 happen.  Jase was brought in with a batch of wounded under a different name.
 She was unable to do anything for him, his wounds were so severe. He died by
 her side without ever saying a word and seemingly unaware of who he was; still
 less who she was.  The escape from Tharagrene happened that night with her
 among them, helping to steal a shuttle. Before this, she would never have
 contemplated what amounted to treachery. Now it seemed there was no other
 choice.

  These  days Jenillee can often be found staring out of a viewport or
 watching the horizon.  On duty, she reverts to the dedicated professional
 person she used to be. But when her task is done she returns to stare out of
 her viewport - alone. What she thinks about, no one can say.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 MC 128-7 CIM
 Built 2706, Tesseract.

  MC 128-7 CIM is a robot designed to fight. The number stands for Military
 Construct type 128 revision 7 Combat Infantry Model. He is simply known as
 CIM, pronouned Sim.  The original team's escape from Tharagrene was largely
 due to Cim, not so much by his own initiative, but stemming from a quick
 reprogramming which enabled them to overcome enough security to escape in a
 shuttle. Nothing subtle, he ripped the doors off their supports.

  Cim is a highly complex piece of battlefield machinery but is posessed of
 what might be called a very limited intelligenge by human standards. He has
 almost no reasoning capacity and is undoubtedly not self-aware, at least by
 any conventional test. The military has no need of such esoteric functions.
 What they do need however, is as little maintenance as possible. Cim - like
 most military robots can take human food and chemically extract from it. The
 type  128  robots  are  the  bipedal equivalent of tanks, sacrificing
 manoevrability for armour, autonomy for firepower.  Because a robot is
 essentially a highly mobile computer, Cim comes in handy for calculating
 orbits and storing data for which he has been unkindly called the world's
 greatest filofax, an insult which he is incapable of registering.

  Although  he will accept reasonable orders from any member of the team, it
 is not generally realised that everybody's instructions carry a certain
 weight.  Rorian, of course, has top priority in this regard and can override
 anyone else.  The MC series are modular in construction, enabling limbs and
 major components to be replaced without fuss. Thus was how the reprogramming
 was accomplished initially. The mission parameter datacard was swapped with a
 new one. This, of course, directed loyalties to Rorian.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 CHEULE SIYGESS
 Born 2685, Earth.

  Cheule  is unique amongst the team members in that she comes from Earth in
 the home system.  She often claims that she really means Little Earth, an
 asteroidal colony in the Inner Belt, but her argument is unconvincing. She
 doesn't talk about her past much and any mention of Earth causes her to change
 the subject, often forcibly. Her real life story is shrouded in mystery. All
 that is known is that when she was 18 when she left Earth for reasons that are
 unknown to anyone within a dozen light years - literally. She arrived in the
 Luyten sytem after an entire ten years, Having boarded a Stellar Shuttle, the
 Dragonwick, by adopting the identity of her twin sister. The effects of time
 dilation at speeds close to, but not exceeding light, mean that only 4 years
 passed for her. Physically she is now aged 22 but in real time she is 28. In
 all that time she was not discovered a fact that testifies to her talents.

  The  Dragonwick was one of the last Stellar Shuttles to leave the Solar
 System before all communication with Earth abruptly ceased in 2708. The
 Dragonwick was itself destroyed in mysterios circumstances shortly after
 entering the Luyten System. Cheule was long gone before that. The team, such
 as it was back then, found her on the Fuysije Orbital where she tried to con
 Rorian out of his shuttlecraft and nearly succeeded. He admired the gall of
 someone who had heard of him and still wasn't afraid.

  Yet , it wasn't so much the team adopting her as the other way aroud.
 Rorian accepts that she is with them only because they will further her cause,
 whatever that might be. He knows also that her smile conceals a lot of hurt -
 of what, he is at a loss to say. The team mostly regards her with awe. Earth
 to them is an almost mythical place. Strange tales, often contradictory, get
 told about Earth, often about terrifying things, and someone from there could
 clear up a lot of fables. Anybody could claim to be from Earth of course, but
 no -one doubts that in her case it's true - if only for that terrible haunted
 look in her eyes when the subject arises.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 CLAVIUS
 Created 2536, Monyluth

 Clavius  is a product of technology, being a primitive gene-engineereed
 creature in the days before such things were illegal. He is basically human
 but with a resistance to radiation that in theory would enable him to command
 unshielded spacecraft for long periods. The performance improvement of the
 craft  resulting from the reduced mass of the shields would increase
 dramatically.  To further reduce spacecraft mass, living space was reduced to
 a minimum and Clavius was given a psychological profile to deal with this. As
 a result he is a borderline agoraphobic.  The project to create such a
 creature began during the period before colonisation when the need for
 efficiency was at its height. In a patriotic fervour, his incept date was on
 the hundredth anniversary of the discovery of New Europe.

  Clavius is not proud of his heritage and has no family to speak of save for
 the overseers at the lab where he was born. Although they are now long dead,
 he still hates them and all they stood for.

  With his creators now a memory, he found no purpose in life. Being in sole
 command of a craft made it absurdly easy to steal and the lighter weight
 enabled him to outrun anything in the system. He went everywhere he possibly
 could in search of a new purpose which he has never found.

  Those  days are long in the past now and he has had many adventures in his
 time. With his incorporation into the team, he has at least gained a pretence
 of purpose. From some difficult conversations with Cheule, he now harbours a
 wish to learn more about Earth and intends visiting there someday. This will
 take many years of his life but he suspects that his creators did not set a
 limit to cell replication; in effect he will not age. He often relates some
 tales of his own to the rest of the group when there is time to be spent and
 has proved to be an enthralling and captivating narrator.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 KATRINA HOMEZ
 Born 2685, Tesseract

  Katrina  was unlucky enough to be intelligent, shrew, attractive and
 physically very strong. Unlucky? It made her a perfect target for recruiting
 by the Secret Services (UPBI). When first approached, she naturally refused.
 She already had a worthwhile job as field reporter for a news network. The
 UPBI staged her death and abducted her. She underwent intensive brainwashing
 and reprogramming and emerged with most of her mind intact but with a
 fanatical devotion to the UPBI.  Katrina subsequently went on undercover
 missions and had an excellent track record - from the services point of view -
 until she was ordered to investigate a mercenary team by infiltration. This
 she did by an elaboratly set up scenario where she pretended to be rescued by
 them and subsequently joined them. Her deception was uncovered when a head
 wound from a combat mission left her delirious. She talked about the UPBI.
 Desverger wanted to kill her outright. However, the UPBI had underestimated
 her underlying willpower.  Given a focus and with support, katrina overcame
 her conditioning and now she is a valued member of the team. She views her
 service in the UPBI with horror and deliberately goes out of her way to prove
 that she's changed.  This can lead to her being overzealous at times. When
 under stress, or in combat, some of the programmed ruthlessness can still show
 through.  Rorian is perfectly satisfied that she is loyal and is willing to
 take her at face value. Desverger, however, still has doubts and airs them
 openly.  She despises him as he reminds her so much of what she used to be.
 Her memory of life before the service is almost non-existent and she isn't
 even sure whether Katrina is her real name. No documents can be found which
 can tell her for sure and of course all computer records show a blank.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 ADELE REANNON
 Born 2681, Jeuvo Cassandra

  Adele is from the Lacaille system. This alone makes her a target for UPBI
 interest.  What's more she was one of the foremost security experts in that
 system until the Lacaillian sponsors went back on the deal they had with
 her.The new security equipment she had designed was simply taken, along with
 all the blueprint disks. She had enough presence of mind to suspect that she
 would also be the subject of an assassination attempt, in order to prevent her
 knowledge being of use to anyone else.  In this, she proved right. She
 narrowly escaped and was then audacious enough to actually advertise her
 sevices to any mercenary team willing to take her on board. Rorian, fleeing
 from Tharagrene at that time, was only too happy to make her a full member.

  Her  home was Jeuvo Cassandra, a small rocky planet, halfway between a real
 planet and an asteroid. It had no atmosphere and all life there was contained
 in vast complexes - the only viable solution, Jeuvo cassandra did not have
 enough surface gravity to sustain a useful atmosphere even if one was
 introduced.  Because of the cost of maintaining the complexes, they mainly
 housed professional people engaged on research in various forms. Thus Adele
 has no real family, only a lot of friends who now think she is dead.

  She  is realistic enough to realise that revenge is a futile pursuit. She
 has no idea who could have ordered her assassination and the assassin himself
 is dead by her own hand. The security equipment was the culmination of her
 life's work so she has resigned herself to seeking out all the pleasures that
 life has to offer - anything else would be a waste of time and effort and
 would only bring hurt.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 MIYRIEL TORRE
 Born 2612, New Europe.

  Miyriel  led a very sheltered and otherwise uninteresting life for a long
 time.  When she was informed that she was wasting slowly away from a rare
 disease for which there was no cure, she immediately squandered the entire
 family fortune on getting a complete body replacement. Essentially she is now
 a cyborg.  Her brain is all that's left of the original but it remains as
 sharp as ever. Of course it was impossible to undergo such a change and keep
 a normal lifestyle.  Miyriel ran off with what remained of the money and
 invested it until she simply outlived everyone else she knew - a fact that
 pleased her greatly.  They never showed any support during her illness and
 seemed resigned to the fact that she was going to die.

  She  has an interest in interfacing with any new equipment she can find.
 Some would say she was a bit unstable. She is decidedly eccentric and often
 given to playing childish practical jokes. Now that Miyriel is agile and
 active once more she pretends to be a teenager. The new life she has been
 given her by the mechanical body is too precious to waste. She feels she has
 to be on the move and gets increasingly quirky when forced to remain still or
 when bored.  The robot chassis that comprises her body is designed for
 aesthetics rather than mechanical efficiency.  Even so it is considerably
 stronger than the human body. It has several smartgun adaptors so that in
 theory Miyriel could interface with any weapon that Cim could. In reality she
 would not touch anything so crude. To her mind a weapon should be stylish and
 compact - as should all machinery.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 BONDEN SPEY
 Born 2690, Starscape.

  Bonden  was born and brought up on one of the asteroidal colonies in the
 Inner Belt called, rather whimsically, Starscape.  Because it was such a
 closed society, mystical and religious thinking formed a large part of his
 childhood and shaped his attitude.  He takes things less than seriously,
 searching for adventure and high times without reckoning on the gritty nature
 of reality. He is often unable to appreciate the consequences of his actions
 and has the old fashioned belief that there is glory to be had in a noble
 cause. Noble causes are difficult to find.

  Bonden  is the only person in the team to have actually been on Graveyard
 before.  He essentially did this as a bet. His friends said he couldn't
 manage  without  equipment  or  resources  in addition to his natural
 resourcefulness.  He tried it because it was great fun to outwit the
 authorities.  It was an interesting experience and not at all what he
 expected.  He got caught up in the subtleties of the Duone religion. He
 retains sympathy for the Duone's willingness to pursue their own beliefs in
 the face of technology and is fascinated bythe fact that technology is an
 almost integral part of their religion. Out of all the group, he retains the
 most hope and optimism for the future.

 His home colony is preparing to turn the asteroid into an arkship to go in
 search of new systems. It is not quite ready and he is torn between returning
 for the journey or staying in the system. Either decision is irreversible. The
 colony will nwver be returning. The trip was made possible because the
 asteroid was granted independant status - chiefly because it was seen to be of
 no material value. Desverger has often unkindly suggested that Bonden be the
 front man because he is A). Naive and B).Expendable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 KIURCHER
 Born 2663, Tesseract

 Kiurcher  was born in a miltary base on Tesseract where such a thing was
 frowned upon.  Since shipping him and his parents out of the bas would cost
 money and compromised security it was determined that he be raised to be
 uniquely skilled in a particular military trade. He wasn't much good at those
 trades but was gifted in mathematics and coupled with a business sense he was
 placed in charge of funding at the age of 16. By 18 he had embezzled huge
 amounts of cash and began his flight from job to job until his past caught up
 with him. Eventually he turned to full time crime.

  Kiurcher doesn't display any emotions and any that he does have are limited
 in intensity and restricted to the entire negative range. He does this
 intentionally in order to play his cards as close to his chest as he can
 manage.  Little is known of his past and he gives nothing away. This is
 perhaps fortunate, because if he told everything he knew, then a lot of people
 would find themselves in serious trouble of the kind that usually ends in a
 verdict of death by misadventure.

  He  has no regrets about his life and tries to indulge in excesses whenever
 possible. Since joining the team he has become more pensive and paranoid. He
 tries to find out as much about the next job as possible in order to assure
 himself that he won't be in any danger. Kiurcher is egocentric and wishes to
 follow up any possibility of extending his natural lifespan.

  The group are tolerant of him because he has an extensive working knowledge
 of business practices and an unrivalled number of contacts within numerous
 industries. He is financing some of the modifications of Dark Matter. No one
 has cared to ask where the funds are coming from.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 CIM-LITE (PIRATE COPY)
 Built 2710, Freewill

  CIM-Lite  comes under the designation Enhanced Survivability Unit. The
 CIM-Lite robots are more intelligent than the usual combat oriented military
 types.  This design is dictated by the primary and to the lesser extent,
 secondary mission profiles. The primary mission type is essentially the same
 as all other combat robots which is troop support. The main difference is
 that a CIM-Lite model may take command of up to 16 other robot types. This is
 not merely giving orders to the other robots which are then carried out. It
 connects to them via radio link so closely that they become extensions of the
 CIM-Lite; effectively they become extra limbs. 16 robots acting in unison are
 vastly more effective than 16 independent units. To exercise this direct
 control, it needs greater than normal intelligence. CIM-Lite posesses a
 personality as a consequence of the needs of a greater intelligence. Even so,
 it is a cold and calculating one with distinctly polarised morality.
 CIM-Lite's world has no shades of grey but only the black and white of the bad
 guys and the good guys.  Problems used to occur with this model where
 civilians were concerned.  The chassis is a lightweight one designed for
 agility and speed, sacrificing armour and firepower. Aesthetically, the model
 is designed on psychological principles to induce a degree of fear in the
 enemy.  Tactical ability is far higher and CIM-Lites have a high degree of
 autonomy in the absence of superior officers or orders.

  CIM-Lite  is the newest member of the team and is often called Newboy as a
 sort of a joke. Battle robots tend to be male because the brain is programmed
 to act male, ie with violence and aggression. He does not have an illustrious
 history with regard to the team. They simply saved up the money and bought
 him. The chassis is a copy, but the behavioural Roms are from an original.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

