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On the Rim, Ch 64: Leo's Sabbatical

2020 copyright comidacomida

Leo hated getting up early, and hated it even more when he was awakened rudely. The worst by-far awakening he'd ever received however was the morning when the wiring in his room exploded. It wasn't a simple short or even a spontaneous arc fire; it was a full on kaboom that spread fire immediately and blew him out of bed. All-in-all, there were far better ways to be awakened, and, as he regained his senses, the Lion realized that his first order of business would be to get to safety. Getting to his feet, however, turned out to be difficult, as one of them was facing the wrong way... and on fire.

His cries of warning drew in others, thankfully, and it was only a matter of minutes before the raging inferno that had once been his bed and dresser was brought under control; by then he was already on his way down the hall on a stretcher and brought to the med bay where Doc saw to his wounds and patched him up as well as possible. Leo was therefore completely awake and aware when he heard Sandra talking to Duct-Tape. "I thought we had all of the wiring insulated against this happening. What's going on?"

The Fox got straight to the point. "The new power generation added to the system caused one of the junctions to overload."

Leo was too angry at that point to not speak up. "Great! So I'm down one foot because you guys didn't do your jobs right?"

The Fox bristled slightly but kept his tone even; the Lion noticed that the nutless engineer didn't even bother looking his way. "Leo had a heater and a cooling unit hooked up to his junction box. Residential circuits were cleared for lighting and basic amenities-- one personal electronic each, such as recharging a PCD."

Rolling his eyes, Leo let out a huff. "Well thanks for telling us. Nobody said we had a limit on our connections. Seems like that's a major safety oversight to me."

Although he didn't mind the idea of riling up the Fox, the Lion was surprised when it was the Overseer who got agitated at his comment. "Mr. Calico, all items are assigned to personnel. It shouldn't have been an issue since the only room approved for a heating unit is the med bay, and the only cooling systems we have here are for the food storage."

Leo shrugged calmly in response. "But how I use my spare time is up to me, right? I gathered up some spare scrap from one of the debris fields, smelted it down into usable material and had the fabricator whip up the heater and cooler for personal comfort. If I'd've known it woulda cost me an arm and a leg I woulda thought twice."

A lengthy discussion proceeded as the Overseer explained that she appreciated his self-starting attitude and how she wished she'd see it more often when it came to helping people other than himself. He had to listen to another lecture before she summoned up Ben to see if he and Doc could patch together a suitable replacement for Leo's lost foot. They did, of course, and by the following morning the Lion was walking around on his improved limb, better than new!

While he was testing his new limb a call came in from the comm station that brought everyone running, the Lion included. According to the Overseer, an orbital trader was dropping some advanced components and, based on the list of what was available, Ben was confident that he could piece together enough of a plan on the drafting table that they could make an orbital rocket. It wouldn't be able to break orbit or travel for any great length, but it would solve the problem of traders being unable to pick up people from Planet A's surface; if they could get into orbit then their promised ride would be able to swoop in and collect them without ever bothering with atmospheric reentry!

The plan was quickly approved, but the Overseer made sure that at least three sets of eyes would be on the blueprints at all times and that it would have to go through rigorous testing and safety planning before it would even be started up. The mood change in the base was immediate; true, there would still be hurdles to overcome, but there was definitely hope and the obstacles that stood between them and their rescue were being overcome one after another. The laborers spent all day leveling a spot outside the cave system and that night the group celebrated starting the next stage of their plan.

The following day started with an incoming transmission from the Cytkus outpost. Since they had intercepted the message between the group and the orbital trader, the researchers had a proposal to offer: in exchange for handling an uppity group of bandits who had made an attack base too close to the research site, the Relegra team would receive some advanced materials pivotal in the construction of their jump ship. Although Ben had been otherwise distracted, he suddenly looked up and over his shoulder. "We really need an orbital horizon sensor-- if they can calibrate it for us using their system it would be worth it!" and, without even waiting for an answer, he went right back to talking with the Cap'n.

It struck Leo as odd in the moment, but he thought nothing of it. A day later when the attack squad returned (successful, and with only minor wounds), the research station made good on their promise. The Lion took special note when Ben seemed surprised to find the requested item in the collection of supplies that the Cytkus had sent over. The Lion wasn't sure what to make of the Wolf's momentary lapse of memory, but he merely filed that information away for later; geniuses, he knew, were an eclectic bunch.

The rest of the day passed quickly and Leo was able to spend most of it tending to his private production operation; he'd be ready to bottle some more alcohol in a few day's time and, so long as he was a little more tactful about transporting and storing it he wouldn't have to contend with surrendering the vast majority for future group parties. He went to bed with positive thoughts and optimism... but he awoke to the settlement being under attack.

The bandits who had set up the raiding outpost had apparently tracked the attack squad back to the Group Under the Mountain and had launched a counter-attack. Everyone managed to get into position just in time as the opposing forces reached the choke point. Leo was a short distance behind so he was still getting into cover as Grizz and Wolf started their defensive fire; together, they took down one pirate and injured another enough to force the man into cover, halting the advance.

Lizzy was charging the position from the side and one of the pirates there pulled a grenade free from his bandoleer. Grizz drilled him in the head, which caused the armed grenade to fall from his hand; the resulting explosion killed the other two guards in position with him, but Lizzy was close enough that she was knocked back as well. After that the first wave of attackers retreated, pursued by Claw, Kid, and Myra; the Badger even managed to catch up to a straggler and knocked him out before they had to fall back as a second wave came in.

Duct-Tape, Missy, and Cap'n all had solid firing positions at that point and their combined arms devastated the pirates in short order: three were dead in a matter of seconds and one lay unconscious. The second wave was defeated just like that and the group's outrunners were already in a prime position to give chase. Between Claw, Kid, and Myra, they chased down the attackers, killing them to a man. It was exactly what Leo liked to see: the pirates couldn't attack again if nobody was left alive.

All in all it was a victory. In addition to the injuries Lizzy had sustained, Myra had been smacked in the face by a rifle butt, Claw had been wounded by a punch to the shoulder (Gorumn fists were particularly nasty, and Leo knew it from experience). Grizz had been burned by a fire that had somehow started during the fight but it wasn't severe. The battlefield also held its share of prisoners which, to Leo's dismay, were rounded up and brought into the base for care and imprisonment.

It was a busy couple of days, but Leo managed to pull through. He managed to keep his spirits up with the knowledge that his time on Planet A was drawing closer to a close and knowing that rescue would soon be at hand, he was able to look forward to a warm bed, a warm shower, and maybe a warm body (or two or three) to join him in one or both. He fell asleep with a smile on his muzzle.