by Martin Perry
It was Maur that he really wanted to meet, of course, but Vith had been told to wait by Kerra and Charles. They had been gracious enough to offer the Jump Cannon and her resources, so it seemed coarse for him to push for access to Maur. He had even cursed himself for risking the whole relationship when he asked for 'access', using that exact word. It did not seem that Kerra appreciated Maur being referred to as a case for scientific study. That's what he was though, undeniably as Vith saw it. Regardless, he had backed off, sure that his and Maur's paths would meet soon enough. He needed the information contained within the Emperor's Archive to confirm his theory on the origin of the Legacy. That was the problem at hand, and the one he would deal with first.
Charles, along with the rest of the mission crew, had now moved from their position on top of one slightly raised piece of ground to another. They were lying prone on the ground, their armour edges cutting into the soft earth. Each was carrying their own rifle, although much like Maur's mission for Plasterio, the intent was not to make trouble. The intent was to get in, locate the panel they were sent for, and then get back out. Charles hoped that they would be more successful than their fellow crewman.
“They are following a simple circular patrol pattern,” Charles said, still muffled. “Each of the four doors is covered by pairs of guards, and they intersect during the rotation.”
Vith's intel had said that the south entrance wasn't covered by a pair on this particular day of the week. Apparently one of the guards had fallen ill. Neither Vith or Charles had expected the Archive to find a replacement so quickly - somebody must be getting paid overtime. Charles was now having to rethink the plan, and only a slight observation had given him the basis of a strategy.
“Two of the guards seem to be over familiar. When the west guard passes the north, he walks with her for a while. It means they are both late back to their posts, but the west guard is back latest. The gap in door coverage wouldn't be long enough without it, but I think we can move in.”
They waited for time to pass before the circular perimeter search occurred. Elrik’s breath became heavy, drawing in the excitement in the air. He relished a challenge like this one. It was why he joined the Jump Cannon. Even without Champion, this particular crew had an incredible ability to attract just the right kind of trouble. He shifted his body weight on the mound, staring down his rifle, the safety still turned on, scoping out the targets. The puran had waited long enough to be sent out on an operation, and he felt joyous that this was to be both a peaceful engagement, and his first in a long time. He regretted many of the actions he had committed in the name of warfare, but sitting stationary on the Jump Cannon was boring beyond belief.
Thom, on the other hand, felt differently. In the months since the events at Maur’s mother’s farm, he had rediscovered the reasons he became a cook. With a bigger crew aboard Annie, he felt less relevant as a reserve member of the assault teams. Still, he had the necessary experience now, and Charles was showing a strong interest in keeping any able bodied man prepared to fight, ready to fight. He didn’t object, but some of the mystery of being a soldier had certainly passed.
“You sure this new recruit isn’t going to get trigger happy?” he mumbled to Charles, who lay next to him, together they were just far away enough from Elrik not to raise his suspicions. “I have no interest in being shot tonight.”
“I am confident. He is one of the best soldiers Pura has ever produced, I truly believe that. He is too good to be trigger happy,” Charles replied.
“Hmm…” mused Thom, before returning to his observation.
Charles was right. Elrik had achieved the highest honours within the puran military. A veteran, and a frequent participant in special operations, he was talented. That was something Charles had seen in very few people, a genuine talent for soldiering. You can train any man, so Charles believed, but to find somebody who was born for it was a rare occurrence. Being created in a laboratory for the specific purpose of war definitely helped, but there was something else.
He doubted Elrik remembered the engagement, but they had fought together before. The Earthbound Colonisation Force had been drafted in, four units in total, to quell a korakian uprising on the dark side of Seeon. This was in the early days of peace on the planet, and the korakian’s were a small paramilitary force looking to reap the rewards of a fragile government. Despite their diminutive size and limited capability, the forces of Seeon were still in tatters, and help had been needed.
Charles had watched as Elrik mounted an enemy position, single-handedly, and eliminated three korakians before they could even manage to pull a trigger. He might not have the inherited abilities of the Legacy, but Elrik was lethally effective on the battlefield. Charles was keen to employ him, and held faith in the fact that Elrik was always modest and reserved when discussing his achievements. Although born for war, and restlessly driven to participate in it, he most definitely did not live for it.
“Get ready to move, they are starting the perimeter search. Our opening will be small, move fast. On your feet!”
Thom, Yazram and Elrik all followed Charles’ orders, leaping up but remaining crouched around their raised piece of ground. With a hand held in the air, Charles motioned for them to move up.
Passing into the shadow of the Archive, the four men sprinted forward. Their feet crunched the wet grass beneath them. Drawing closer towards the west entrance, Thom stretched an arm around his back, searching for the equipment they would use to open the door.
They were in front of it now, their last quick steps slowing to a halt. Not one of them was panting. They were too fit and aware of the importance of silence.
Yazram’s ears picked up noise coming in from around the circumference of the Archive. He spun on his feet, and spotted the west guard coming around the corner. With all the force of his mind, tuning his telepathic abilities within fractions of a second, he invaded the guard’s thoughts. A look of shock spread across the man’s face, as it did the members of Yazram’s crew, becoming aware of their discovery.
The guard crumpled onto his knees. Then he toppled forward, and his head collided with the ground. Yazram stumbled backward under the strain, but heavy breathing from both himself and the guard showed that they were still alive.
“You said we would have an opening,” Yazram muttered to Charles.
“Perhaps the other guard grew tired of his affections,” Charles replied.
“Fickle women,” said Yazram. “This is not the first time they have almost cost me the success of a mission.”
“You and me both friend,” Charles replied.
Thom’s apparatus made quick work of the locks of the Archive. Although reliant on genetic information to unlock, the black market available to mercenaries meant that such methods of security were elementary, provided you had the money. At the cost of New Future University, the doors swung open and the Jump Cannon team moved in.
The entrance hall of the Emperor’s Archive was grand, extending up through the first three storeys of the building. It housed ancient, extinct animals, a wide array of priceless pottery and other relics of times past. The China-Korea Union had a rich heritage, and even the sample on display in front of them would warrant a lifetime of study. Through the glass exterior of the spire, light cut the dusty air in bright shafts. It caught the eyes of the stuffed animals, which glinted in the moonlight.
“Our target should be on the twentieth floor, one of the academic sections,” Charles said, still hushed. “You are looking for a panel, but it will be old and most likely contained in a protective atmosphere. You are not to touch it, you are not to breathe on it, without my say-so.”
Nodding in sequence, Yazram, Thom and Elrik held their guns lightly against their chest. They all knew that they were committing a crime, there was no debate, and they all understood the importance of remaining undetected.
“Good, prepare your gear,” Charles said, satisfied that they understood his orders.
Another orde
r followed, the men unpacked piston-fired grappling guns, quickly hooking them to the grips on their armour. In perfect harmony, they raised their hands and fired the grapples into the sky. A quiet hiss from the gun's gas canisters later and they were sailing up into the air.
The gear lifted them up to the twentieth floor at a breathtaking rate. Floors filled with history and mysterious relics flashed past them on the way up, but each man remained focused on the task ahead. They stared up at the moon, which could be seen through the glass ceiling so high up above them.
Arriving at the twentieth floor, they swung themselves in and unhooked the equipment. It was to be used again later, but for now they began to move through the depths of the Archive, following signs and intelligence information towards the location of the panel they were looking for.
“Keep an eye out for further guards, take them down. Non-lethal attacks only. We do not want murder charges on top of theft,” Charles said.
They crept through the corridors, working their way through a labyrinth filled with vacant rooms. Each housed analytical equipment trained on unique items. Nearby screens gave output on the overnight tests being run on the items. The four soldiers ignored them, and continued to move forward.
A flashlight scanned across the walls of a corridor ahead. With a single hand signal, Charles sent Elrik down an adjacent passage. The rest of them halted, and waited patiently. The gurgles of a choking man corresponded with the flashlight’s beams waving wildly around over the walls. Eventually, the scrabbling, gagging noises stopped, and the thud of an armoured guard hitting the floor punctuated their end. Elrik appeared again, without blood on his hands, but with a tinge in his face that showed the effort of the struggle that just occurred.
“Move forward,” Charles said, pulling his team back in line.
They reached a door located on the far wall of a dead end. Charles rested his hand on the door handle, slowly pushing it down. The team crowded around the door with their rifles ready to fire should unexpected force meet them on the other side, somehow covered from detection by Charles’ scanning gear. In one quick movement, Charles pushed the door open and the four men rushed into the room. Rifles pointed into every corner, lights on their barrels turned on. There was nobody there, but the rush of adrenaline made each of their hearts pound into their chest.
A steel desk sat in the middle of the room, bare except for a clear, lit box. A buzz emanated from it, and the now familiar, busy screens scattered around the room fed back information that Charles could not decipher. Slow steps took him to the desk, his hands coming forward with open palms ready to grip the box.
“Charles! Alarms!” Yazram uttered. It was too late, the box had already been picked up.
No alarms came, much to Yazram and the other men’s relief. Charles grinned as he lifted the transparent lid and dropped it onto the floor.
“Yazram, do you really think I would make such a basic mistake? This is scientific equipment, not security gear,” Charles said, smirking.
“You can never be sure, and your hunch about the guard didn’t turn out well,” he replied. “Haste isn't something you usually indulge in.”
Charles responded with silence, showing that he knew his colleague to be at least partly correct. Still, he had checked the box carefully and didn’t appreciate the doubt cast his way. Perhaps he was more enthusiastic about this mission than others. Anything that might give him a better understanding of the Legacy, a weapon that had infected his friend, was something to be excited about. He had pursued this lead successfully, and the target was in hand without any alarms, regardless of Yazram's concern.
Made of brushed metal, grey and nondescript, the panel on the desk showed a screen filled with language that he didn’t understand. It didn’t look like any panel that he had used – it was bulky and thick, not wafer thin as he was used to. Charles picked it up, judging it physically stable.
“No gloves?” Thom asked, darting his head around on the lookout.
Charles packed the panel away, exhaling a deep breath upon completion of his task. His cautious approach was distracting, and for a moment they all looked towards him, before cracking grins at the satisfactory acquisition of the item.
They left the room, closing the door behind them. Aware positions were assumed again, but a sense of panic soon replaced the confident swagger they first exhibited. A blur of light sources cast against the wall ahead of them, and the men assumed themselves discovered.
“Move quick, disable them even faster,” Charles said, talking at a normal volume, eschewing further caution. “Get to the gear, and I'll call in Hypatia.”
Each of the men broke into a sprint, their rifles swinging at their sides. Still unwilling to use lethal force, the men ran forward ready to throw fists at whatever waited.
A group of five guards met them at the end of the corridor, including the two that they had already disabled. The lead guard, wearing insignia that represented his seniority, charged forward first, but was met with Elrik's fist, connecting with his face. It knocked him out, and the puran moved to this guard's lieutenant, while Charles, Thom and Yazram each took on another man.
Thom was the first to sustain injury, the heavy butt of a gun being brought into contact with his ribs. He coughed, spluttering forward. It was exaggerated though, his armour protecting him well enough to sustain the hit. From hunched over to upright, Thom charged his forehead into the man's chin, before he threw an angry fist into the guards temple, finishing him off.
Multiple sets of footsteps could be heard approaching, and the team returned to their former pace. Retracing their steps, two further guards, lone wolves, were disabled before they reached their hanging climbing equipment.
“Up! Now!” Charles boomed, while the next squad of guards came upon them.
They complied, and each man hooked himself in. The equipment ran them up, floor after floor once again, while the screams of the assembling security teams could be heard below. Several rubber bullets connected with Elrik's chest, but were deflected with low thudding noises. The bullets spun off into the moonlit darkness as their ascent continued.
That was until Hypatia moved over the apex of the spire, blocking out the moon. Charles and his team met their ship at the top of the tower, unhooking themselves onto the small walkway that followed the edge of this narrow point. Rubber bullets continued to deflect off them, and the environment around them, while Thom let off a torrent of rounds into the reinforced glass pane nearest to him. The team exited out of the opening this created, and stepped onto the waiting platform of Hypatia.
“Cut that close!” shouted Jewlia Ghan Xi, the pilot for the mission. “You should have brought me along!”
“Just get us out of here,” barked Yazram, irritated that they had not completed their mission with absolute success.
She complied. Charles took a seat in the familiar scout, and gave himself a moment to catch his breath. Hypatia's engines kicked in at full force, and they were soon jetting into the upper atmosphere of Earth, far away from the Emperor’s Archive. He hooked a hand into the satchel which held the spoils of their mission.
Flicking his fingers across the screen, he cleared off dust and smears. Charles had to pick out a rubber bullet; it had punctured the solid back of the device. He located a switch on the side of the panel, and pushed it only to try and ensure that their was still life within the machine, save their operation be all for nought. Rewarded with a brightly lit screen, which illuminated his face, the panel replayed the last media it had been commanded to show.
A slide show started to play. Images of scrawled, mad drawings cycled through. Each of them showed a man, glowing red, standing in the shadow of grand, curved ships. Each of them showed that man wreaking havoc and unimaginable damage upon the universe.
You have been reading Legacy Universe: Lessons Learned (Book Two in The Rosewell Sequence)
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