by Jan Domagala
“I saved your asses is what just happened and before you all get on the moral high ground saying things like ‘why didn’t you help out earlier’, my abilities were supposed to have been kept secret. I couldn’t let any more people die though and I don’t care who knows anymore either. If I’ve been granted these abilities then it would be wrong not to use them, no more than that, irresponsible.”
Trent looked at her and simply said, “I was just going to say thanks.”
Zara looked down at her feet, ashamed at her outburst and as she looked up they were all smiling at her, relief on their faces.
One of the marines said to his buddy, “Sure glad she’s on our side.”
“I’d like to get on---,” the other started to say which received an elbow in the ribs from the first to stop him finishing his remark.
Matt walked over to her and said, “We have to go.”
“Where is the bomb?” she asked which threw him completely. He looked at her, his brows knitting together. “Why, what’re you thinking?” he asked.
33
General Sinclair reached the end of the evac tunnel and was greeted by the rest of the personnel who had travelled the same route.
“General, glad you could make it sir, where are the others?” said Lieutenant Franks. He had been put in charge of looking after the evacuees.
“They should be right behind me, I hope,” Sinclair replied as he glanced behind him to look down the tunnel.
The evac point was at the end of the tunnels, a mile away from the edge of the underground base. The five tunnels each had an evac point of their own seeing as how each tunnel radiated out from the base in different directions.
“Sir when are the evac transports going to arrive so we can get everyone to safety?” Franks asked which brought the general’s head around to look at him. Sinclair’s eyes momentarily showed the anguish he must have been feeling at not knowing how his people were faring deep in the bowels of the base. Regaining his composure once more he said, “They should arrive within the next few minutes. An automatic signal went out to the nearest bases the moment the evacuation was signalled.”
“Let’s hope they get here in time to board the transports sir,” Franks said.
“We will not be leaving without them Lieutenant, of that you can be sure,” Sinclair said and he turned back to look down the tunnel willing them to appear.
*****
Kurt was pacing the forward section of the Pulsar. He was anxious to reach the HQ and see Zara again. The rest of the Wildfire Team were also anxious but for other reasons. Jake wanted to see Natasha once more but he also wanted to get back into the fray. They were desperate to get back into action, to deal OMEGA a telling blow instead of riding the punches all the time.
“Has anyone any suggestions on how to take this fight to them?” Kurt asked as he turned to face the rest of them. He had his hands on hips as he spoke, not sure what to do with them. What he really wanted to do with them was wrap them around the neck of whoever was responsible for all this mayhem and the frustration at not being able to do that was ripping him apart.
They all looked at him with blank stares, clearly they too had not come up with anything either. Just then a voice cut through the deadlock of silence.
“If I may sir’s, I do not think this is over yet,” the AI said.
“What do you mean Artie?” Jake asked as concern was etched across his face.
“I have been running further extrapolations to our enemies attack strategies and I think I may have come up with another attack they may try.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me, they’re gonna attack somewhere else?” Vance shouted in anger voicing everyone’s rage at being battered by the forces of OMEGA. They wanted to fight back but were constantly held on the defensive.
“I do believe sir’s, that whilst the forces of Col Sec are busy fending off the attack at our Headquarters and the RandCorp building the Capitol Building would be a prime target. I do believe that the entire government of the Confederation would be in attendance pending such attacks as we are facing at the moment, to form the Defence Committee.”
“I hate to say it but he’s right,” Jake said as it dawned on him what could be about to happen.
“It’s too late to get any help over there. They’ll be sitting ducks,” Cooper said slamming a fist down on the armrest of the seat he was in.
“Let’s not go off half cocked. Artie can you scan the area over the Capitol Building to see if there’s any unusual activity and in the meantime turn us around to head over there, just in case?” Kurt said.
Artie came back straight away with, “I have several craft heading toward the Capitol Building, three attack helijets and a troop carrier sir. I have changed our trajectory sir; our new heading is the Capitol Building.”
“Artie, what’s the eta of those craft and how far behind will we be?” Jake asked, he held his breath while he waited for the answer.
“They should arrive at their destination in seventeen minutes sir. We will arrive six minutes after that sir,” the AI said. Jake was perturbed by the cold tone the times were delivered in and he had to remind himself that Artie was actually an unfeeling machine even though by now they all thought of it as part of the crew.
“You can cause an awful lot of chaos and mayhem in six minutes,” Jake said.
“Let’s just hope they can hold on until we can get there,” Torres said echoing the hope they all held close to their hearts.
“I have attempted to contact them sir but it seems there is a communication blackout in place,” Artie said.
“Standard operating procedure, cut off the comm. channels before any attack so they can’t call for reinforcements,” Kurt said which they were all too well aware of.
“I just hope they realise before it’s too late,” Jake said.
The rest of the journey they took in quiet contemplation whilst they all lost themselves in private thoughts.
*****
Zara turned to Matt and said, “They’re coming here. We have to get to the evac point.”
Completely bewildered by her turnaround Matt just nodded his head and said, “C’mon, it’s this way,” as he indicated the direction they must take.
“We wouldn’t have gotten there in time, not with the troops guarding it. Best we get the hell out of here and regroup with the others,” she said as she picked up her pace.
“That’s about the most sensible thing you’ve said in a long time,” Matt said.
“Hey, I have feelings you know,” Zara retorted with a hurt smile. She said, “I may have given us some time anyway.”
“What are you talking about Zara?” Matt asked, his brows scrunched together as he tried to figure out what was going on with her.
“I accessed the main computer and initiated a complete lock down of the facility. The blast doors will secure each section and give us a bit more time to get clear when the bomb goes off.”
“How the hell did you do that, it takes top level clearance and if what you say is true, you may just have killed us all, you certainly will have trapped us.”
“Don’t be such a twonk Matt, don’t you think I already thought of that. I can get us through the blast doors by inserting the access code via my NI when we reach each door. It’ll open up just long enough to allow us to get through. As for the top level clearance, it wasn’t too hard to hack into the computer.”
“Well it should’ve been, I helped oversee the installation of the new security measures when we moved into the base after the attack in New York.”
“Chalk it up to the upgrades then,” she said with a smile, she was clearly enjoying her new capabilities. Matt was concerned about how she was handling this situation but knew it was a conversation for another time.
“Yep, those are some mighty awesome upgrades,” he finally admitted allowing a little smile cross his lips. It had felt good to smile. He couldn’t remember the last time he had, probably sometime before Tanya was killed. That memory still
burned deep inside him but no matter how much it hurt, he was not ready to let it go just yet. He would nurture it, allow it to fuel his rage and then expel that rage against the enemy he knew he would face one day. That day would not come soon enough though.
She winked at him then turned to the others and said, “C’mon, we’ve got to get our asses in gear and get the hell outta here.”
“You’ll get no argument from us on that score Ma’am,” one of the marines said.
“Don’t call me Ma’am soldier, I’m Recon Delta, just like you,” she said with a wicked grin.
“I think you’re far from like us Ma’am,” Trent said. When she turned to look at him, her brows furrowed, he smiled and said, “I mean it in the nicest possible way.”
“Let’s get moving guys, we’ve no time to waste,” Matt said putting off any further chatter as they ran for the nearest exit.
*****
Sinclair was pacing up and down away from the staff that had made the journey through the escape tunnels. He was becoming worried about how long it was taking Matt, Zara and the rest to reach them but he would never allow anyone to see or even suspect the anguish he was going through.
In the distance he heard something that made him take notice. It was the sound of helijets approaching at speed.
A sudden wave of unease washed over him as he realised what it was.
“Everyone, take cover, we have incoming,” he shouted and they all rushed back toward the entrance of the tunnel.
*****
Hermes ordered the clones guarding the device up to the surface in preparation of the arrival of Colonel De Boer and the re-enforcements. There were thirty five of the clones all armed with Remm pulse rifles, a Sig P996 each and an assortment of grenades.
They used whatever cover was available and set up behind it.
“Get ready, the device is set to detonate in less than five minutes. They should arrive around that time so let’s get ready,” said the clone commander.
Before they had set up to greet the incoming reinforcements they had secured the entrance to the underground Headquarters so that when the device detonated the blast would not resonate above ground. All the destructive force would be channelled downwards into the lower levels.
In the distance the sound of approaching aircraft could be heard. The sound steadily got louder as they came closer and the clone commander said, “Get ready, here they come.”
*****
Sinclair and some of the rest of the survivors huddled in the darkness of the tunnels once more. The sound of the approaching helijets was almost ear splitting in its intensity. Two helijets armed with missile pods slung beneath the stubby wings and pulse cannons front and rear, each able to rotate through a small yet effective arc which made them able to target most airborne enemy aircraft.
They hovered twenty or so feet off the ground by which time Sinclair calmly walked out from the entrance. He waved to the rest of them and said, “It’s okay, they are ours.”
At that moment Zara, Matt, Trent and the other marines caught up with them.
“Sir is everyone alright?” Matt asked as he emerged from the darkness of the tunnel. Sinclair’s normally stoic expression flashed a smile for a brief moment. He was clearly pleased to see they had escaped safe and sound.
“Yes, we are all fine. It seems the automatic signal was delivered to the nearest base which sent out these to help us home,” Sinclair said as he gestured the hovering helijets which were by this time accompanied by a larger craft that was coming in to land, a Sikorsky CH-555 Super Stallion.
“Gentlemen, our ride has arrived,” Sinclair said and this time he allowed himself a tiny smile.
As they all filed out from the seclusion of the tunnels Matt asked, “Will a Super Stallion be sent to every evac point sir?”
“Yes they would be automatically deployed with two attack helijets as wingmen to ensure the evacuated parties would return to safety unharmed.”
“Well sir we need to get back to the HQ to help the Colonel retake it,” Matt argued.
“I don’t think that would be wise,” Sinclair said putting up a hand to disusage any further argument.
“Wise or not Zara and I are going back to help out.”
“Count us in too sir,” Trent added as he came forward much to the chagrin of Sinclair.
“I can see that arguing would do neither of us any good and what you plan on doing has some merit so I suggest you all hop aboard one of the helijets and ask them to give you a lift back to base,” Sinclair said not bothering to argue with them anymore. Clearly they had made their minds up and he admired their loyalty to their comrades. He added, “I will go with the others to set up a forward base of operations where we can co-ordinate with Kurt and the Wildfire Team.”
“Sounds like a plan sir. Keep us updated soon as you can,” Matt said then waved the others to follow him. He was out of the tunnel and waving to the pilot of the nearest helijet for him to land and give them a ride.
34
President Takagi was sitting at the head of the Confederation table. He was chairing a meeting of the Security Council at the Capitol Building.
To his right was seated General George Wallace, he represented the military arm of Col Sec just as Sinclair did the Intelligence Division. Across from him; on Takagi’s left was Alvin Moore, the Chief of Staff. On Wallace’s right sat Colonel Abraham Gemmell, he was Sinclair’s right hand man in the Intelligence Division and the one person he relied on to handle things when he was unavailable. The rest of the table was taken up by other members of the Council, representatives of the Diplomatic Corp, the Med Division, the Science Corp, the Constabulary and Transport. Those who represented other sectors in the Confederation were noticeably absent. This was an emergency meeting of the Defence Committee and therefore did not require a full Council meeting.
The meeting had been in order for the past half hour after everyone had assembled in the large, secure room in the Capitol building. All Confederation business had been relocated to this location after the catastrophic attack in New York recently on the Col Sec Headquarters building there.
Takagi looked at Gemmell and asked, “What’s the latest Intel on the situation?”
Abraham Gemmell was a career officer who had dedicated his life to the service of the Confederation. He was the man Sinclair relied on the most in the running of the Intelligence Division. Standing at six feet five he was slim and lean and for many years had set the example for the officers beneath him by regularly going on training exercises with them to keep abreast of the latest training regimens. Sharp grey eyes focussed his keen intelligence on any task given him which he faced with a fierce tenacity that bordered upon obsession. The dark lustre of his black hair, cut to a military length had lost none of its colour even though he was in his late forties. When he spoke his voice, like everything else about him was even and measured. He said, “I’ve not heard from General Sinclair since the attack began sir but I’ll try to contact him as we speak.” He turned his head away as he accessed the comm. channels via his NI in an attempt to call Sinclair. When he turned to look at the President once more his expression had darkened.
“Sir I cannot call him, or anyone. There seems to be a blackout on all communications either entering or leaving this building,” he said.
General Wallace caught on immediately to the implications and said, “That could only mean one thing.”
Gemmell looked at him and said, “Exactly.”
Wallace and Gemmell were on their feet in a flash, “Sir we have to get everyone to the bunker, immediately.”
Takagi looked from one of them to the other, his gaze uncomprehending. Gemmell said, “Sir we are about to be attacked.”
*****
Colonel De Boer had received the update on their eta from the pilot of their transport. He knew they would arrive within a few minutes and he ordered his men to complete their final checks of equipment and armoury.
The Hurricane C230 they w
ere aboard was on final approach to Area 15. The huge engines went into reverse thrust as it came in to land.
On the ground the countdown on the thermabaric bomb had reached zero. It exploded beneath the surface and the force of the blast actually lifted the top of the ground, like a huge bubble expanding underground. The buildings sitting atop this ground shook as the ground lifted beneath them. Pieces were shaken loose and masonry and sheeting fell as the shockwave hit.
All this was visible from the air as the C230 came in to land.
De Boer watched as the shockwave lifted the ground from the detonation and uttered one word expletive, “Damn!”
On the ground Hermes gave the command as they rode out the ground wave, “Open fire.”
Pulsed plasma bolts from the clones rifles struck the engines of the incoming C230 blowing them to bits. The resulting explosions threw the huge plane off its trajectory and without the power from the engines to control its decent it came in too fast.
“Brace for impact,” shouted the pilot as he vainly struggled with the controls to regain some kind of control.
The nose of the plane slammed into the ground at an alarming speed crushing the entire forward section killing everyone inside. As it concertinaed back into the rest of the plane the soldiers in the passenger section were thrown around like rag dolls. Explosions erupted inside the plane as vital systems shut down or overloaded causing further danger to those left alive inside. The planes momentum carried it forward as it ran parallel with the buildings that were Area 15. By the time it had slowed down to a halt there were a few small fires in and around what was left of the fusillade. It had cracked open in several places and broken apart into three sections.
The second it stopped the clones opened fire once more.
Colonel De Boer got to his feet, blood dripping from a gash on his forehead. His vision was blurred from the impact but he knew he had to rally the troops into some semblance of order. Luckily for him these were Recon Delta marines and were the best Col Sec had to offer.
