Edge of the Vortex

by Donald B McFarlane

  The moment the Blue team breached the base, it would start to fill in the missing pieces of what the base actually looked like. The more exploration that each member of the TSG made, the more complete the picture would become.

  Looking at the map overlay on his heads-up-display, Mike had just a simple image of the landing field and primary access point, with the ship superimposed on top of it with 61 green dots flashing that represented the TSG plus the two instructors.

  “Down in ten. Twenty-two sentries on the landing zone. Single Coalition shuttle parked twenty metres to starboard.”

  The pilot opened the side hatch, and the warm air of the watery planet blew into the holding chamber. Mike looked out at the landing pad that they were almost on and spotted the unsuspecting defenders, then looked at Lee, the Support team commander, and ushered him to the edge.

  Captain Lee took two steps forward, looked down, checking the distance, then leapt from the still descending ship. The rest of his team followed suit in quick succession, firing at the startled Coalition forces. By the time the ship finally touched down, the Blue team was already racing off the ship towards the entrance to the base firing off shots at any of the security personnel that were still active. Once Blue was off, Gold followed, then Red brought up the rear.

  When the last Red operator had cleared the ship, Mike jumped down to the ground and took a knee while his Command group formed a ring around him. The pause gave Mike a chance to check how the Support Team was doing. The entire twenty-two personnel security detachment had been neutralised quickly, and the Support Team had already set up a perimeter and were setting up the light-weight air defence batteries that they had brought from Jax. Looking back to the ship, Mike saw Kol Fine standing at the edge of the cargo compartment, surveying the landing zone.

  Not more than fifty yards away Mike could see the ocean that stretched as far as the horizon. Standing up, Mike opened a channel to the Support Team leader. “Lee. I’m going in. Hold this position at all costs.”

  Once he got the affirmative, Mike looked at his second-in-command, Alex Jefferson, and cleared him to start moving towards the hatch that had been left open after the three assault teams had moved through. Walking through the opening, Mike flipped the safety on his weapon off. Once inside he found a member of Blue team propped up against the way with a blaster hit to his armour.

  “Alex.” Mike pointed at the downed operator.

  The ground level of the compound was a single large room with three elevator banks facing the entrance and a staircase off to the right side. Other than the Blue team member, there were three dead bodies dress in Coalition uniforms.

  Jefferson got to his feet after inspecting the wounded member. “It’s Brian Kingston. He’s okay.”

  Mike brought up Kingston’s private comm channel. “Brian, once you’re able, make it back to the ship.”

  “Yeah.” Came a less than enthusiastic reply.

  Directing his attention to matters at hand, Mike checked his map and saw that part of Blue team had taken the stairs down, while the rest of the team had proceeded to the lowest level while the Gold team had taken a lift down to a different level, and Red descended to a third different level. From the map that was growing in size and complexity every minute, Mike could tell that the lifts led to passageways that eventually led to the main complex which was under the ocean’s surface. What the map failed to show yet was a clear indication of the where the command centre was.

  Walking to the elevator bank, he punched what he suspected was the call button and stood back, but after a moment, he changed his mind. “Stairs.” He said and watched as two of the members of the Command cell quickly moved over to the entrance to the stairs, scanned downwards, then proceeded to move down from the surface level.

  “How many levels down do you want to go, boss?” Jefferson asked.

  Mike checked the map. It appeared that there were six sub-levels. His teams were currently sweeping three of them. Picking at random, he picked the second from the bottom. When the point man reached the first sub-level hatch, he quickly got on the comm-net. “Someone wired this.” He said as he passed.

  When Mike reached the door, he confirmed the observation. One of the Blue team members that had taken the stairs had clearly booby-trapped the doors on levels that they decided to by-pass but hadn’t linked the information into the mapping system. Mike quickly sent out a message instruction all TSG members to activate any planted explosives on their mapping systems. Five seconds later, eight flashing dots appeared on the map.

  When the team finally reached sub-level five, Mike used his command override to disarm the explosive charge that had been placed on the hatch to that level. Once it was secured, he gave the go-ahead for his four-man team to enter to the floor.

  Corporal Ocean, an ex-SAS man, was first through the hatch when it slid to the left and out of the way, and the moment the hatch had even opened a few centimetres, he was pouring fire onto the adjoining hallway. As soon as there was room, Sergeant Aniston, an ex-SBS operator, was next to him, dropping down into the prone, and laying down fire.

  Once Ocean’s and Aniston’s suits had seen what was ahead of them Mike’s map quickly updated itself. There was a single long corridor leading away from the lift and stairwell shaft, but what lay beyond that was still a mystery. His two leading operators had already killed four hostiles inside the corridor.

  “Shield up.” Mike ordered.

  Jefferson moved into a position just next to the hatch, and pulled out a grey tube from his suits thigh pocket and expanded it until it was half a metre long. “Ready.”

  Ocean and Aniston didn’t need to be told to cease fire, but they did for just a fraction of a second, long enough for Jefferson to move into the hallway just in front of them and activate the energy shield. The device kicked out an energy charge that looked like lightning two metres high, and one metre wide in light blue supercharged energy.

  “Set.” Jefferson said.

  “Stack.” Mike ordered and watched the two operators that had been firing at an unseen enemy walk up behind Jefferson. Ocean put his left hand on Jefferson’s right shoulder, while Aniston did the same to Ocean. Mike took up the rear position and grabbed Aniston’s shoulder. “Advance.” Mike toggled through his heads-up-display options until he came to the video feed from Jefferson’s helmet, giving him a clear view of what lay ahead.

  The corridor was fifty metres long, and he could see at least three enemy fighters pouring fire at the party of four as they continued to advance. Checking his map, he noted that Red team had already swept their level and not found the base commander, but the closer Mike and his team were getting to the end of the hallway, he could feel a slight burning sensation in the back of his head. He tried to dismiss the feeling, but the closer he got, the more intense it got.

  Scrolling to his suits medical settings, he quickly selected a neural tranquiliser that he knew would numb any pain in his brain. He didn’t have time to have a headache, but when they reached the last ten metres of the corridor, the three other team members screamed out in pain and dropped to their knees simultaneously.

  “Status!” Mike demanded.

  Aniston looked over his should at Mike. “My head.”

  Mike didn’t know what was causing it, but he quickly used his command suite to activate the same neural suppressors inside the other members of his team's suits. It took almost a full minute of the energy shield getting pounded and without them advancing forward until the entire team was on their feet, and moving forward again.

  But the closer they moved towards the end of the corridor, the worse the pain in the back of Mike’s head got. His vision was even being affected. This was something that Kol Fine had never prepared them for, and Mike needed to get them out of this fast.

  “Shield down!” He yelled inside his helmet.

  The energy shield dropped for just long enough for Mike to bring his left arm up, and launch two micro-missiles from his suits forearm weap
ons suite.

  “Up!” The shield energised, just as quickly as it had gone down.

  Mike tracked the missiles as they raced down the rest of the corridor, and waited for them to detonate in the middle of the chamber they were approaching, which he was able to do with his armours neural uplink.

  “Rush!” Mike ordered.

  The shield came down, and all four members of the group used their suits mini-thrusters to rapidly accelerate from zero to almost one hundred kilometres per hour in just over two seconds. The Command team burst into the huge circular shaped room that still had the dust settling from the explosion and stopped and quickly swept the room for threats.

  There were bodies everywhere. Some had been killed by laser fire, others killed by the explosion, but the sensation in the back of Mike’s head was still there, albeit much fainter. Not wanting to move without talking to Kol Fine, he opened a communications channel with the surface.

  “Master Grade. We’ve been experiencing some headaches down here.”

  “That’s your target. Intelligence says the base commander is a psychic. Find him and kill him then retrieve all available intelligence.” The line went dead.

  Mike shook his head and looked around the room. It was obviously the base’s command centre. There were numerous stations spread throughout the chamber, and a large planning area off to one side. The entire room felt like being on the inside of a fishbowl. The entire far wall was made of some clear material and on the other side was nothing but water.

  “Fan out. Kill everyone. Use the data-grabs on all the operational terminals.” Mike ordered. Taking a knee, Mike checked what the status was of his three primary strike teams.

  “Santini, how’s Blue?”

  Santini came back over the channel quickly. “Good. Lowest level secure. Instructions?”

  “Gather anything of value, set charges, and bug-out.”

  The chats to the Gold and Red team leaders went the same way. They had all experienced some resistance, but they had been able to clear each floor without suffering any fatalities. Mike ordered all of the teams to the surface.

  Rising to his feet, Mike realised that his headache was gone. Looking around the room, he watched as the three other members of the command team swept through the large chamber, checking terminals for power, and then slapping a data-grab device on them that almost instantly drained all the information off the instrument.

  Walking towards the area that looked like a planning area, he found a single individual laying on his back dressed in a full-length black coat with a very high collar. Mike wasn’t going to be able to confirm that this was the primary target, but he was the only one in the complex that Mike had seen without a much more basic uniform on. Not wanting to take any chances, Mike fired a single blast from his weapon into the chest of the alien.

  The blast hit the torso and burned a clean hole through down to the floor, but the charge from the blast must have triggered some form of psychic backlash, and a sudden and sharp pain raced through Mike’s head for five seconds, then dissipated. When the pain stopped, Mike felt like he was suddenly drunk, and he was suddenly wondering where he was and what he was doing there.

  The only thing he was certain of was that there was a fracture in the fish-bowl, and it was growing larger every second. Shaking his head to get his bearings, Mike ordered the three other members of the team to head to the lifts, and just as he was about to enter the corridor, the fracture splintered, opening a massive gash in the glass, and allowed thousands of gallons of water to rush into the space.

  “Run!” He yelled, turning away from the on-rushing water, triggering his rocket jets he shot down the corridor along with the rest of the team. Reaching the lift banks, Corporal Aniston was already pounding on the call buttons when the water burst down the corridor and slammed everyone into the closed elevator doors. After the initial rush of water, Mike got his focus back. “Stairs!”

  Major Jefferson was closest and immediately started racing upwards, away from the water. He was followed by Ocean then Aniston, with Mike taking up the rear position. The suits enabled them to climb the flights of stairs faster than they’d be able to on their own, and they climbed the five levels to the surface in under thirty seconds.

  When they finally got to the top, they were greeted by a ring of TSG who had been securing the landing site. Still feeling a little woozy, Mike ordered everyone onto the freighter before collapsing face down on the landing strip. The last thing he remembered before passing out was Z7 taking off his helmet and telling someone who was kneeling over him that he had suffered a psychic attack of some kind. After that, Mike drifted into a coma-like state.

  The freighter lifted off the surface and made a clear break to orbit before jumping out. It would take some time for the team to discover how successful their mission had been, but at that moment, the only thing on anyone’s mind was getting their team leader to medical assistance.

  49

  Mechcharga

  22 April

  Rhea had felt a real increase in her sense of purpose and enthusiasm over the last few days. She and Roper Daz and Wey, along with the Epsilon had been travelling the course of the Etelainen in the mighty Five, gathering information, tracking down suspects and preparing for their triumphant return to Mechcharga to complete their investigation. After finding Admiral Lex dead, they had a single name for his contact on Mechcharga, Master Nune. An extremely wealthy and powerful tycoon with interests on Mechcharga. They had discovered his connection to Lex, now they just needed to confront him.

  When news broke that the Grand Marshall had put a freeze on all offensive combat operations, Rhea saw it as a good sign, that the war might have a chance of finding a conclusion, but Joe wasn’t inclined to agree with her. In a communication on the morning they were supposed to jump back to Mechcharga, he contacted her from Traxis to inform her that if there was any chance of getting Earth back, they had to take it now before any peace talks started.

  While she didn’t agree with him, she was curious about the mystery female that was standing behind him when they had a video link from the bridge of the ship Joe was on. Rhea wasn’t the type to get jealous, but she also knew that being apart for so long wasn’t a good thing. After hearing Joe’s suggestion to return to Traxis, she discussed the state of affairs with the Estiva Controller and the Royal Inspector.

  “Doctor Stokes, you have a different priority from us, but I am willing to support you and your cause, for a short while. Then we can return to Mechcharga and clean up the mess there.” Royal Inspector Wey said.

  Roper Daz agreed. “If we have the chance to free your planet from the clutches of the Coalition, we need to take the risk now, before it gets too late. But, at some point, we must return to the capital and press those that we suspect of foul deeds.”

  Rhea nodded, then looked around the empty, enormous bridge of the Five. “What about this ship?” She asked.

  Wey smiled. “If your associate Colonel Hunt wants to retake Terra, then this ship will be needed for such a mission.” He looked at Daz. “We both know that the Grand Marshall would never approve the use of an asset like this for such a trivial matter, but possession is often what matters most.”

  Daz nodded.

  “Then it’s decided: we head to Traxis.” Rhea said.

  Both men nodded in agreement.

  50

  Qera

  23 April

  The palace that had been constructed on Qera to serve as the seat of power for the Pohjois had been built over three-thousand years ago but never had seemed regal to Prince Salrugina who had been sent to Qera at the age of five by his father, the Emperor. Even when he was a young boy and unable to actually wield power over the hundreds of star-systems that made up the Pohjois, he yearned for more. He looked at images of the cities and worlds that made up the Core and knew that his parcel of the Empire was lacking.

  His older brother as heir to the Empire was given control of the Core, as was his right,
but Salrugina was not going to let something as silly as royal succession laws prevent him from getting his grasp on what he had always yearned for. His older sister was off in the Etelainen and happy on her forest planet of Mechcharga. She posed no threat or had any real interest.

  Seventy years ago, when Salrugina sent his forces into the Core to seise the throne for himself, he had never expected a full-scale war to unfold. His military planners and strategists had promised him that Pohjois forces were more than capable of launching a concentrated attack on Jarosis and seising the planet without excessive loss of life, and that both Core and Imperial units would not put up much of a fight. And he had also been assured that his sister's forces would never enter the fray.

  How wrong they had been. Not only had the Imperial forces stood their ground and fought, but the Core units also joined them, along with forces loyal to his sister. The loss of life in the opening hours of the attack exceeded what his planners had promised for the entire campaign losses. It had never been his intention to see his brother dead, but fate had conspired against him, and so began the War of Succession that had dragged on ever since.

  There had been attempts at peace, but something had always conspired to prevent anything coming from it, and year after year. Decade after decade, the war dragged on. After so long Salrugina could hardly remember why they had even started fighting as he watched his own corner of the cosmos start to collapse around him. After seven decades of war, not much was as it had been. Arts, education, science, technology had all fell to ruin as every credit was spent on the never-ending war that sucked up every ounce of resource it could.

  Now in the twilight of his life, the Prince was so disillusioned with the war that he spent almost every day in a stupor induced by some liquid or pill surrounded by a harem of women from all over the Pohjois who lounged around scantily dressed. His generals and admirals promised him victory one day but were so busy governing their small sectors and fiefdoms that no real progress with the war was ever made, but perhaps it couldn’t be done. Then came this discovery of a system beyond the Reach. Rich in minerals and resources. A miracle that would finally seal victory for the Pohjois and the Coalition.