by Jan Domagala
“Is the ATV loaded onto the shuttle?” asked Hawk.
“Everything is ready for you, sirs, just be careful with it please. If you break it I don’t want Col Sec taking it out of my next pay cheque,” Jefferson replied, the smile still in place.
Turning to leave, Hawk said, “Okay Dad, I’m taking the car out for a spin, I promise to be back before nightfall, and I promise not to scratch her.” He and De Boer were gone leaving Jefferson holding back a laugh.
“Kids!” he said, then returned to watching the forward view- screen.
This time Hawk had chosen not to wear the combat suit he had worn the last time he was there, even though the marines were. Instead he chose to wear something more casual; cargo pants and a shirt, over which he wore a soft leather jacket. On his feet he wore walking shoes rather than combat boots. He preferred the walking shoes as they were more flexible, lighter and allowed his feet to breathe even though they still retained extensive durability and were waterproof. Not expecting trouble he left most of his armament on board the Valkyrie and chose to take the Sig P996 only. He kept it in a soft leather holster beneath his left armpit, hidden by the jacket.
The shuttle was piloted by Lieutenant Hall, an expert pilot of five years, the last three of which he’d served aboard the Valkyrie under the command of Captain Jefferson. He dropped the small craft out of the shuttle bay of the Valkyrie and aimed her straight at the planet below. Before long they were entering the atmosphere and gliding down the controlled descent towards the Quad in the northern hemisphere.
Hall said, “There is no way I can put this baby down any closer than the base of the Quad, you’ll have to take the ATV as far as you can from there. I’ll remain on standby ’til I hear you’re on your way back and then I’ll get the shuttle prepped for immediate take off. That’s the best I can do, sirs.”
“Don’t worry about it Lieutenant, we’ll be fine. A nice drive in the country will be most relaxing, just what the doctor ordered,” Hawk said smiling.
“You seem quite upbeat about this mission. What’s changed?” asked De Boer, a little concerned about Hawk’s altered mood.
“Nothing has changed Colonel, I just have a good feeling about this mission that’s all. I think we’ll find something of value down there that will help us to fight this terrorist threat,” Hawk replied, allowing the smile to slip as a sudden thought struck him, one that he chose to keep to himself. What if they found more than they bargained for down there?
Yes, that was definitely a thought to keep to himself. He got behind the wheel of the ATV and drove it out of the rear exit of the shuttle. Colonel De Boer sat next to him whilst the marines were seated behind.
The road ahead was nothing more than a dirt track that ran around the base of the mountains and up to the summit. The chamber was at the base of Q3 but to get to it they had to drive part way up the path before they could even see it.
There was shrubbery dotted here and there, sprouting out of the hard ground and between the boulders that were strewn around and up the mountainsides.
Hawk steered the rugged vehicle towards the path leading up the mountain.
“Here we go,” he said and boosted the power just enough to send the ATV along at a steady pace. There was no need to rush, especially along these treacherous paths.
* * * * *
After their jump through hyperspace, Rygar and his team re-entered normal space on their way to Canto. They were in a modified freighter and with a crew of twelve and his team of ten mercenaries the small ship felt a little cramped.
“Scan the area for any signs that the chamber has been tampered with since the last time it was used,” Rygar said as he came onto the bridge to marshal his men before going down to the planet’s surface.
“Sir, there is a vehicle approaching the chamber by road. It looks like a Col Sec All Terrain Vehicle,” said the crewman operating the sensor array.
Like a bird of prey swooping in Rygar came to stand by the man’s shoulder as he said, “What!”
“See for yourself, sir,” the crewman said, indicating the sensor screen.
After viewing the screen Rygar said, “Get us down there as fast as you can.” By the tone of his voice the Captain of the freighter knew not to argue or throw up any obstacles. “Aye sir,” was all he said and he urged the pilot to comply.
“Right men, tool up, I want us to be ready to move the second we touch down. Whoever is down there we can’t let them leave with anything from that chamber, even if it means killing them all. No one leaves that chamber alive, is that clear?” to which his men all answered in the affirmative.
* * * * *
“Here we are, just where we left it,” joked Hawk as they arrived at the entrance to the chamber. “I suggest you leave one of your men at the ATV just as a precaution and the rest can follow me. The quicker we complete this search the quicker we’re on our way home,” he added.
“Can’t argue with that,” De Boer said.
Hawk stopped the powerful vehicle at the entrance to the chamber and secured it. The doors opened and he left the craft followed by De Boer and four of his men.
“Wilson, you stay with the ATV, we’ll keep in touch with regular updates via battle com. We’re not expecting trouble, but just in case be ready, okay?” De Boer said to the last man exiting the vehicle.
Wilson shouldered his Mk II Remm assault rifle and stood by the front of the ATV.
* * * * *
“Sir, a freighter has just dropped out of hyperspace and is heading for the planet’s surface,” said the ops officer on board the Valkyrie.
“What’s so special about that?” asked Jefferson, already guessing the answer.
“Sir, they’re heading straight for our boys,” replied the officer.
“Scan it, I want to know who’s on board and what their intentions are and whether it is armed,” Jefferson ordered.
“I’m reading more life signs than should be on board, sir, and there are an awful lot of weapons for a simple freighter,” the ops officer replied, having started scanning the moment his suspicions were aroused.
“Hawk, we have a freighter heading your way. It has more than the usual compliment of crew on board so we have to assume they’re coming after you,” Jefferson said through the battle com.
“Thanks Captain, we’ll keep an eye out for them,” replied Hawk and turning to De Boer he asked, “Did you get that too?”
“Yes,” said the Colonel with a concerned expression. He turned to the men following him and signalled that they keep alert.
“Lieutenant Hall, we may be having visitors quite soon. If they make advances in your direction take off and return to the Valkyrie, I don’t want our only method of transport off this planet compromised, is that understood?” said Hawk through the battle com.
“Understood sir,” Hall replied.
“If you have to leave us here we’ll keep you apprised of our status so we can reschedule the pick up,” Hawk said as he continued walking towards the chamber.
“Also understood, sir.”
“Wilson we may have hostiles coming your way real soon, I want you to secure the ATV. Under no circumstances must that vehicle fall into their hands is that clear?” said De Boer.
“Absolutely, sir,” Wilson replied.
“If your position is compromised relocate the ATV but, if that is impossible and only as a last resort, destroy the ATV, get yourself to safety and rendezvous with us later, understood?” added De Boer.
“Understood, sir.”
“Everyone, stay frosty, we may be outnumbered but we are Recon Delta,” De Boer said to all his men. That was all he needed to say really because they all knew they were the best that Col Sec had and they would perform the job they had been ordered to do.
“Right Hawk, let’s get this done before we have company,” De Boer said to the man leading them.
“I’m on it, Colonel,” Hawk said as they arrived at the chamber entrance.
* * * * *
The freighter came through the atmosphere and slowed down using its thrusters, but even so the speed of their arrival was greater than any normal freighter. The pilot said to Rygar, “I won’t be able to put her down on the ground where you want to go, you’ll have to rappel down as I try to keep her steady.”
“Do it,” Rygar replied turning to his team, “Get ready, we’re going in hot and fast. Kill anything that moves.” He fastened his rappelling line to the interior bulkhead adjacent to the nearest hatch and then connected it to his webbing belt. His team followed suit and soon they were all ready for the drop down to the planet’s surface.
* * * * *
The chamber was just how Hawk remembered it, a tall archway over two and a half metres high with solid granite walls. It was just a tunnel entrance to a larger chamber that opened out as they reached the end. This was as far as he’d gone initially. Having secured the clone here he had left not really seeing the need to explore any further.
Now though, with the possibility of others coming to prevent them from seeing what was here, he found it imperative to go further and find out just what was so important to OMEGA and to Col Sec.
* * * * *
The freighter came in hot, swooping in, firing her thrusters at the very last moment to bring her to a deliberate hover over the ATV.
Ropes were thrown out of the side hatch of the vehicle and within seconds Rygar and his men began to rappel down towards Wilson. Rygar had a Remm Mk II assault rifle in his right hand as he descended and he fired a quick three shot burst at the ATV.
From inside the ATV Private Wilson had his Remm Mk II assault rifle primed and ready to fire.
“Colonel, I have several bogeys rappelling towards my position. They are hostile and I am taking fire. At the soonest opportunity I will relocate but before that I must defend this vehicle,” he said through the battle com.
Colonel De Boer continued walking as the call came through to him. “You have your orders soldier, we’re relying on you to carry them out. Keep me informed of your status, carry on.”
Hawk also heard the call and he turned to look at the Colonel. “Looks like this is going to get real interesting, real fast,” he said and his eyes showed he was concerned even if his voice didn’t.
“Let’s just hope this little trip turns out to be worth all the trouble that someone is taking to prevent it,” De Boer said as he walked on behind Hawk.
Hawk said nothing as he had exactly the same thought.
* * * * *
Inside the ATV Wilson watched as the ten mercenaries rappelled down towards his position, all of them armed with Remm assault rifles, a few of them already firing at him. He was safe from small arms’ fire inside the ATV as it was a Col Sec vehicle and therefore shielded from anything up to plasma pulse cannon fire, but stationed there he was of little use to the men inside the chamber. He decided on the only course of action open to him and that was to move.
The engine of the ATV came to life at his touch and he steered it away from the mouth of the chamber as quickly as he could. Plasma bolts from the Remm assault rifles followed him as he made his way along the twisting pathway with little hindrance to his retreat.
* * * * *
Rygar pumped a round into the chamber of the grenade launcher attached beneath the barrel of his assault rifle and fired at the retreating vehicle. The MX4 grenade left the barrel of the launcher with a soft ‘whoosh’ and soon closed the distance between Rygar and the ATV. It struck the rear of the vehicle and exploded with a force that destroyed the rear doors to the ATV and actually lifted the rear axle off the ground by half a metre, slamming back down onto the uneven ground making it slew across the track. Rygar quickly followed up with two more grenades, which exploded close together destroying what was left of the damaged ATV in a huge fireball.
Wilson died instantly, before he could call the others to warn them of the vicious attack.
Rygar landed on the ground and released the rappelling rope, as did the other men in his team.
“You two stay here and guard the entrance. No one gets in and no one gets out apart from us, is that clear?” he said as he pointed to two of the men in his team. They saluted affirmation of their orders and took up positions on either side of the entrance.
Rygar turned to the rest of his team and said, “The rest of you, with me,” and he headed into the chamber entrance after the Col Sec men.
5
Hawk was searching the chamber frantically looking for something, anything that could be considered important, but was continually coming up short.
Colonel De Boer stood in the centre of the room watching what was happening and keeping an eye on the narrow entrance waiting for the moment when the mercenaries would come charging down it to invade the chamber.
“How long before you’ve completed your search Hawk?” he asked.
“Hard to tell Colonel, I’ll know when I find whatever it is that’s so damn important that a bunch of mercs want to stop us finding it. But I tell you this, from what I’ve seen so far I can’t see anything that would warrant the attention.”
“Sir!” shouted Johansen, one of the three remaining marines facing the mouth of the chamber, as three loud explosions rocked the walls from the outside.
De Boer turned to his men and said, “I know.” They all knew that the explosions meant they had lost a comrade and that the situation had just become serious.
“This is getting beyond interesting Matt, just what the hell is going on here?” the Colonel demanded.
“This place is linked to the prisoner we captured here and he belongs to a terrorist group we’ve yet to learn anything about. I was ordered here to find out what the captive was doing here. That’s as much as I can say. I’m sorry, but this is classified and the fact that they’ve sent someone to prevent us from learning the importance of this place indicates that there is something vital to learn here, but I’m damned if I know what it is,” Hawk replied, the frustration evident in his voice.
“Well, keep looking. My men and I will try and hold them off as long as we can; you make sure that you find something. I’d suggest you also try and find us an alternative exit ’cause it looks like we may be blocked in here and I don’t think we’ve the hardware to enable us to fight our way clear of this place. By the sound of what happened outside it seems they’ve brought more to this party than we did,” De Boer said as he divided his attention between what Hawk was telling him and what was happening at the mouth of the chamber.
“Sir, I think we’re about to have company,” Johansen said without taking his eyes from the tunnel entrance.
“Kill anything that comes in here,” De Boer said with grit in his voice. He’d lost a man and he would make whoever was responsible pay tenfold. They wanted to get serious; he excelled at serious.
“Time to rock and roll,” Johansen said as he stole a glance at his two teammates. They all knew what had happened and what was about to happen next, they were about to get bloody. It was what they signed on for and they would not shirk their duty, they were Recon Delta.
Hawk renewed his efforts with an increased intensity. There must be a reason for the clone being here, something of value to OMEGA, something vital, vital enough for them to want it destroyed; he just had to find it.
Then a thought struck him, if whatever was here was so vital, why didn’t the clone try to destroy it? Why did he come so easily with them? It was almost as if he had wanted to be captured, but why? What had they gained from that action apart from gaining access to Col Sec HQ?
Their attempt to destroy part of it was thwarted by Hawk, the explosive device they had hidden inside the clone wasn’t powerful enough to do any serious damage to the building and General Sinclair was spirited to safety just in time. What if that was the purpose of the capture all along, just to kill Sinclair?
If that was the case then perhaps there was no significance to this chamber, but then why send a team of mercs to stop them? Had they been orde
red to prevent Hawk from finding out that there was nothing of value here? If so how did OMEGA know he would be returning here? Or were they sent to destroy this place on the assumption that if Col Sec found out it had been destroyed they would think there was something of value here and would then waste precious time trying to find out what, which would divert their attention from what was really going on? Perhaps Hawk and the team being here was an unexpected aspect of this riddle. Perhaps they weren’t expected to be here, or at least not until the mercs had done their job.
If this was a diversionary tactic, what was the real objective of OMEGA and what was it they were so desperate to hide from Col Sec? Whatever it was, Hawk was certain that it wouldn’t be found in this chamber, but to find it he had to get out of there with his skin intact. With that in mind he switched his attention to locating a possible exit other than the obvious one. They had to get out of there and getting past the mercs was probably not going to happen because, as De Boer had said, they had brought more to this party than his team.
“We have to get out of here,” Hawk said to De Boer who was surprised by the sudden turn around.
“You found what we came for?” asked the Colonel.
“No, and I don’t think I will either. I’m not even sure there’s anything to find. I hate to admit this Colonel but I think you were right in your assumption that this is a wild goose chase.”
