"Nor will I. Hard lessons have been learned from past mistakes, Colonel. I have learned to compartmentalize my operations to a degree that even the cogs in the same wheel have no idea what the others are doing," Arx said. "While I could use Imperial assets, even covert assets, it would be far better if it looks like the overreach of some foolish crime lord should something go awry. What I won't do, however, is needlessly divulge my end goal to you."
"I was just attempting to make conversation," Mok said. In truth, he'd been watching on the security monitors that Arx and his people were ignoring. The monitor had reverted back to the tiled, composite view of all the cameras so it was hard to make out detail of what was on one particular screen unless you knew what you were looking at. It was only the aged, basic system that had been on the property when he'd taken ownership; his more advanced systems were all bypassed and shut down by Syodo.
He'd been trying to engage Arx out of a genuine desire to know what the bastard was up to, but he'd also been trying to keep his attention focused between the slip-com terminal and his own questioning. Right beside where Arx had been working the security monitor clearly showed what could only be the Phoenix settling into a low hover in the courtyard and then lifting off to fly east. Once Arx’s men had made entry into Mok's bunker, they'd not bothered reactivating the compound's security systems. Instead, they'd relied on Arx's shuttles and the troops they'd left topside. Now, with all the shuttles taken out, Mok was hoping they wouldn’t use the building's original internal surveillance to find out what was happening to their people.
"You're certain?" Arx said into his personal com unit, breaking Mok out of his reverie. "And there's no sign of them now? Fine … have Syodo take his team and do another sweep of the buildings and then post troops at all the approaches. The rest of our forces are less than two hours out, so you won't have to hold long."
"Trouble?" Mok asked as Arx tossed the com unit onto the table.
"Whoever you have running around shooting up my troops won't live long enough to help you," the Minister sneered. "My detachment is made up of the finest advanced infantry in the Empire. Who do you have? Another group of underpaid mercenaries?"
"Payment is the last thing on their minds," Mok said with a smile.
"SO HOW MUCH ARE WE getting paid for this?"
"That's a good question," Jason said. "We were originally contracted to snoop around Khepri. I'm sure as hell not doing this for free."
"Excuse me?" Lucky asked.
"I mean having to free Mok from being held captive in his own panic room. We're still on your mission," Jason assured his friend.
"But if we wrangle some more money out of him while running down Lucky's leads, all the better," Crusher insisted.
They had made it all the way down through what looked like a security checkpoint and a large, empty chamber whose purpose was unclear before having to duck off into a side alcove. The troops that had sprinted by them on the way to the stairs they'd just descended were most certainly not Syodo's merc crew. They looked like Eshquarian regulars.
"I don't think we're going to be able to sneak all the way down to where we assume Mok is," Jason said. "Depending on how those shuttles were loaded, we could be looking at a sizable force waiting for us. Ideas?"
"Have Doc use those tiny missiles you guys made and hit the east wall," Crusher said. "Keep the Phoenix back out of sight so it looks like a breach attempt by ground forces."
"That's … actually not bad." Jason struggled to get the compliment out. Crusher's plans normally were all just slightly different variations of a suicidal charge. He rebranded them occasionally to make them seem reasonable, but they were never more subtle than “let's run at them and shoot them.”
"That's like three actual workable ideas in a row. Are you feeling okay?"
"Funny."
"Hell, I can't see any reason it won't work," Jason said. "Call it in."
While Crusher was still on the com with Doc, Jason heard a voice accompanied by careless footsteps coming at them from a passage to the right. He motioned for the others to move back out of sight.
"Keep an eye on those jerks Arx brought with him," the voice was saying as it approached. "I don't trust him … if they look at any of you sideways, eliminate them. Just keep them under watch until I can collect the rest of the credits and get us another ship."
The three of them watched from what was likely a disused security station alcove as Syodo walked out and across the open chamber like he didn't have a care in the universe. Crusher nudged Jason and waved one of his sidearms questioningly. Jason shrugged noncommittally and made a grandiose gesture that meant Crusher could do whatever he wanted to Syodo. If he was so stupid as to walk around utterly oblivious while the compound was under assault, he deserved what he got.
Crusher aimed and squeezed off two stunner bolts, both hitting the merc right in the small of the back. He let out a gurgling wheeze and his limbs contorted unnaturally as he slammed into the stone floor, writing in agony. Jason ran up and rolled him over with his foot before kicking his weapons aside and retracting his own helmet. Syodo's eyes widened at the sight of him.
"You!" he managed to get out around the drool and spasmodic lips.
"I see you haven't gotten appreciably smarter since the last time we met," Jason said pleasantly. "Oh are we going to have some fun with you!"
20
"How do you operate your surveillance system?" Arx asked.
"I actually don't know," Mok said. "I have people for that."
"Then point one of them out!" Arx snapped. Before Mok could try and figure a way out of his mistake, his trusted assistant, Similan, stood.
"I can operate the system," he said. At first Mok thought he was being betrayed by yet another employee, but then he realized Similan was sacrificing himself against the chance Arx would begin killing prisoners to get what he wanted. Arx impatiently waved him over and pointed at the multi-pane monitors, showing him which areas he wanted enlarged.
When a new attack was launched against the entry point of the east wall, Arx began to realize that there had to be something else at work other than Mok's own security forces. It was then that he became more frantic and saw the monitors that controlled the original onsite cameras.
"This is really the best system you could afford?"
"It came with the house," Mok said, not giving him the satisfaction of telling him whatever Syodo had done to affect the door locks also took out his more advanced sensors. "I was trying to play the part of the retired shipping magnate. Robotic aircraft and surface-to-orbit cannons might have raised some questions as to my legitimacy."
"Seems shortsighted," Arx remarked.
"It, along with my reputation, was more than sufficient against any of my competitors," Mok argued. "Had I known that the Empire was going to assault my home with a team of commandos I might have braced up the defenses in some areas."
"Actually, if it hadn't been your misplaced trust in your tactical team commander we'd have never gotten to you before your ships arrived," Arx said. "What do you see?"
"There are multiple explosions near the east wall portico, but there are no aircraft on sensors nor are the cameras detecting movement," Similan said.
"Someone planted charges there beforehand," Arx said and turned to one of his troops standing near. "This is a diversion. Lieutenant Daza, pull your forces back inside—what the hell is going on here?"
Saditava Mok blinked in surprise at the sight of Syodo entering the room. It wasn't so much that he was there, but that he appeared to have flown in as if launched from a cannon. The merc hit the floor hard and skidded across the stone until he slammed into the console. As he spun, Mok could see that his arms and legs were bound and there was a gag in his mouth.
"Check him!" Arx said, peering down the now-empty passageway from where Syodo had come. "Send someone down there to check—"
"Sir! He's covered with grenades!" one of the troops shouted. "They're all wired together."<
br />
"Get—!" That was all that Arx got out before the world exploded. All the grenades strapped to Syodo detonated simultaneously, and the pressure wave within the enclosed space sent people flying like ragdolls.
The first thing Mok thought as his vision began to clear and he could only hear a high-pitched ringing was that there was no way he should have survived that blast. He saw movement in the room and realized there were people milling about and talking, but he was having difficulty identifying who it was.
"I'll be damned! He survived."
"You owe me two hundred and fifty credits."
"I think this is a technicality. Double or nothing that he doesn't wake up without some sort of permanent brain damage."
"How would you even tell? He was dumber than shit to begin with. No deal … you owe what you owe."
"I'll pay, but it's under protest."
"Noted."
JASON CONCEDED that they may have overdone it. They'd strapped six stun grenades to Syodo when one or two would have easily incapacitated everyone within an enclosed airspace. Many people were laying still and bleeding from ears, eyes, noses, and mouths. Others were writhing around in pain and moaning, but nobody was getting up and moving about.
"Cover the door," he told Lucky and Crusher. "I'll tie up the bad guys and then go see if Mok is at all functional."
"I'm fine," Mok's tortured voice came out followed by a string of wracking coughs.
"Just lay there," Jason instructed. "I'll check you over. You took a hell of a wallop and might be in shock still."
He quickly secured all of the Eshquarians, double-binding the soldiers. He knew very well that someone could be enhanced any number of ways and look completely normal and then tear through their restraints—and you—without warning. He'd done it himself on more than one occasion.
Mok's injuries were mostly superficial and his breathing was strong and steady. Jason helped him into a padded chair and then went about checking vitals among the staff, or at least on the beings he knew how to.
"Did Similan survive?" Mok asked. He had his head back and his eyes closed. Jason could sympathize; a stun grenade could play hell with your balance. Half a dozen meant he'd be crawling around for a bit before things got back to normal.
"I am alive, sir," a shaky voice said. "The blast shoved me up under the console."
"Sorry about that," Crusher said from the doorway and pointed at Jason. "It was his idea to use so many."
"Seemed reasonable at the time." Jason shrugged and turned back to Mok. "Do you know how many troops this guy had with him?"
"No, only that he landed with four shuttles full," Mok said. "How many did you dispatch?"
"Only a few," Jason said. "We avoided direct confrontations with the larger patrols outside. We planned on either extracting you or holing up here until the cavalry arrives."
"Roll me over to that console," Mok said. Once he was situated and looked to successfully have fought down a wave of vertigo he manipulated the controls and pulled a microphone closer to his mouth.
"This is Saditava Mok. I have Minister Sorlotta Arx in custody as well as your Lieutenant Daza. Your invasion of my home is over. You will lay down your arms, rally in the center courtyard, and wait to be collected whereupon you will be returned to the Empire. No harm will come to you and you gain nothing by continuing to fight. If I have to send people to dig you out one by one I will not be so magnanimous."
"You think they'll do it?" Crusher asked.
"Likely," Mok said. "These guys are elite, but they're not known to throw their lives away meaninglessly. A few might try to retake this room so be ready." As if to punctuate his point, a single plasma bolt screamed through the doorway and blew out a few monitors. Crusher pulled a grenade, this one not a stunner, and tossed it back.
"Can we please stop with the explosives," Mok said, breathing rapidly as the concussion jolted them.
"Your sensors and imagers are really down?" Jason asked as he fiddled with the camera controller. "These things suck."
"Yes, the computers that control all internal security shut down and never came back up," Mok said. "Without those, all the multi-spectrum imagers and sensors are down."
"Are the computers tied into the door lock systems of the outer doors?" Jason asked.
"At least a few are, why?"
"Kage, you think you can work your way in and reboot the computers for the compound's security systems?" Jason asked into his com unit. He paused. "How the hell would I know? Just bring up everything you can."
"Did you bring your code slicer with you?" Mok asked.
"He's tied in remotely," Jason said.
There were a few more pot shots taken down the passageway as Arx's men tried to test Mok's claim, but no sustained effort to retake the bunker ensued. On the low-quality video system they could see a dozen or so troops milling about in the courtyard; all of them looked to have obeyed the request to disarm.
"Here we are," Jason said, pointing. Screens all around the bunker began flickering and displaying diagnostic screens or were booting up.
"That should do it, Captain," Kage said over the still-open channel. "The program that shut it down was basic, but since it was installed at the physical location it was highly effective if you didn't know what to look for."
"Good job, Kage," Jason said. "Tell Doc to maintain his position for now and keep alert."
"I recognize you," Arx croaked from the floor where he was tied up.
"Third General Maasch, allow me to introduce Captain Jason Burke," Mok said, obviously enjoying the moment. "I'm not surprised you recognize him … he was the one that disrupted your plan to drop an orbital platform onto a city on Shorret-3. You remember that operation, don't you?"
Arx just sat there making unintelligible growling sounds and glaring at Jason with hate-filled eyes.
"I take it he's not a fan?" Crusher asked.
Mok didn't answer, just started laughing. It began with a snort, then a chuckle, and soon he had his head thrown back, laughing uproariously at a moment he must have been looking forward to for some time.
21
The next fifteen hours were a whirlwind of activity. Once Mok's security systems were back online they were able to quickly ferret out any lurkers on the property and neutralize them. After that, it was a matter of restraining all twenty-seven remaining members of Arx's personal detachment and waiting for Mok's ships to show up so they could begin ferrying them off-world. Mok had someplace he wanted to “store” them, as he put it, until he could return them to Imperial custody. Jason decided he'd rather not know the details. He was getting a strong hint that Mok wasn't all that he claimed to be, but he still had the deserved reputation as utterly ruthless when crossed.
"We'll be keeping the good Minister here for the time being," Mok said, looking around at his estate. "This seems to be an excessive amount of destruction for the few troops that were milling about on the surface."
"We just updated all our fire-control avionics," Jason said. "Damnedest thing … every time I'd try to hit one of those shuttles with the main cannons—"
"You just happened to destroy a building on my property?"
"So you understand," Jason finished as the rest of his crew walked up. Ignoring all protocol and decorum, Doc had set the Phoenix down right in the courtyard, her landing gear crushing the paving stones.
"Let's get inside," Mok said, sighing heavily. "We have a lot to do and little time before the Twelve Points begin arriving. I'd rather you were gone when they get here."
Jason motioned for the others and followed Mok back into the main house and into a beautifully appointed room dominated by a massive, dark wood table. They all took their seats except Lucky and Jason, who was still wearing his powered armor. It wasn't that he cared about damaging Mok's furniture but rather he didn't feel like being dumped onto the ground when it inevitably gave. In addition to Omega Force and their host, the party included Similan and Tauless, the latter looking none the worse
for wear after his ordeal.
"I don't think we're going to get anything from Arx." Mok dove into the matter once introductions were out of the way and Similan had served drinks. Jason sipped on a strong, fruity tea despite really wanting a cold beer and a sandwich.
"In his previous life he was a highly placed intelligence officer, actually the head of the service, and has the ability to withstand even the most vigorous interrogations."
"Do you have his personal effects?" Kage asked.
"Of course," Mok nodded.
"May I see his com unit?"
"It's a local Nexus unit only, Master Kage," Similan said. "It will likely not contain anything we do not already know."
"Humor me," Kage said, making a “gimme” gesture with his two smaller hands. Mok made a dismissive gesture and Similan left to retrieve the com unit that Arx had been carrying.
"I think we can conclude something serious is happening since a full-blown Imperial Minister led an attack on your home," Jason said. "Given the small-scale of the assault, I think it's also safe to say this was not sanctioned by the Eshquarian government. At least not officially."
"That's a bit of a relief," Doc said. "Not that I don't relish the idea of pitting our little company against the might of the quadrant's most powerful military but, for the sake of variety, I thought we might try something a bit more … strategic."
"What did you find on Khepri?" Mok asked, grimacing as he watched Kage begin infiltrating Arx's com unit with thin tendrils of nanobots that seemed to flow from his palms.
"Next to nothing," Jason admitted. "We found no direct proof there that they're building up a military presence, but in tracking down some leads regarding the team that … created … Lucky and his lot, we found out that they've recalled all the battlesynths. That alone has to mean there's some credence to the rumors. Either they have a credible threat or they're about to go on the offensive themselves."
"The pru are a tick shy of being full pacifists," Mok said. "I can't believe they'd be the aggressors, even if using their battlesynths to avoid the fighting themselves. I think we've all gone far afield in this; the original threat was that someone was trying to destabilize the ConFed. Does anything we've learned fit into the puzzle using that as context?"
Omega Force 09: Revolution Page 17
