Ghost Soldiers by Michael G. Thomas Page A

Division. Then came the last and most obvious difference, the lab-grown outer skin, something developed in conjunction with On'Sarax; Thegn outer skin giving similar protection to normal armour, yet could repair itself over a matter of hours.
    "Where are we?"
    Captain Delatorre moved the map to the side of the mainscreen. On one side it had a marker showing Admiral Jarvis Naval Station. It was impossible to see at a distance of more than seven billion kilometres away. The thing that put a cold lump in Spartan's chest was that the station was the nearest object this far out.
    Space really is a cold, murderous place.
    Green shapes flashed as the computer outlined them in the darkness. This far out it was impossible to see a nearby object unless it was lit in some way. There were scores of items in the vicinity of the ship, but the single massive structure instantly mapped to the data received from ANS Orion.
    "Good work, you brought us right onto the objective marker. Perfect."
    He had no doubt they would have made it, especially with Euryale, but with such a long trip and so far from friendly vessels, there was always a moment of doubt at the back of his mind. They could survive for over three months on their own, perhaps longer if part of the crew was put into sleep hibernation.
    Khan moved onto the deck, Lieutenant Armstrong at his side.
    "Well? What happened?"
    While the young officer wore similar armour to Spartan, Khan was something else entirely. He was a monster compared to the other crew, but his JAS armour made him even bulkier. It fitted closely to his skin, yet still pushed him up to the size of the Maverick armour system. Retractable blades rested on the arms, and the weapon systems sat impotently on the outer mounts. It was a bizarre mixture of high-tech and primitive combined into a fighting suit. Captain Delatorre looked at him in surprise. He might have respected the combat potential of Khan and his kin, but he had little respect for them as a race.
    "You're planning on going somewhere? I thought this was specifically a drone operation?"
    Khan hissed back through his teeth.
    "Drones are good, but nothing beats eyes on the target. In any case, we'll be ready, just in case. You don't want to be in your civvies in the middle of a crisis."
    He looked at Spartan and struck him on the shoulder.
    "Right, Major?"
    Khan then glanced over to the other crew.
    "At least we made it. I told you she was the ship for us."
    Spartan sighed. IAS Euryale had earned something of a reputation in the fledgling IAB, based primarily upon her perceived performance when compared to the other two ships in her class. New Carlos was still incomplete, and Titan had suffered three breakdowns in as many months, much of which attributed to the substantial damage sustained over Karnak. Worse than any issue or breakdowns was the fact Titan had collided with a Liberty class destroyer just two months earlier. This incident occurred when her manoeuvring thrusters had malfunctioned. It didn't take much to earn a ship the unlucky moniker, and her reputation had now managed to reach some parts of the public press.
    Five-Seven altered the mainscreen to show the view of the derelict. Captain Delatorre shook his head and pointed. The scanners had already located signs of recent damage where multiple projectiles had torn apart some of the outer layers of the hull.
      “It would appear we have arrived late. There was definitely a battle out here. The derelict is in a worse state than the imagery we received."
    He turned away from the display and towards Spartan, whose helmet was open, and his face visible as he looked at the imagery.
    "Something happened out here, and the Alliance ship was destroyed. We need to be careful."
    Spartan nodded in agreement. “Yes."
    Five-Seven moved his hands and adjusted the view to show a group of objects moving closer to the vessel. He glanced at Spartan.
    "Reconnaissance drones are now in the area. Activating