There was a collective intake of breath from the Adepts. The officers wore grim looks, and the cadets stared at their fellow Adepts in confusion. Janus studied the officers, ignoring the excitement of the Adepts.
Celes whispered to Janus, “That’s a huge sum. That’s more Immutium than a Corporation produces in a year. I don’t know how much Adepts usually receive for their services, but that’s unbelievable.”
Lyn popped her head in and interjected, “How do you know that? I didn’t even know what Immutium was until we came to ODIN.”
Celes blushed and looked as though she had said too much. She was saved by the Praetor.
“Yes, this is a large payment,” the Praetor acknowledged, “but this is also a special job. There hasn’t been an open assault like this in years. Our employer no doubt feels such a large sum is necessary.”
Col. Hawkes snorted loudly and Col. Keats shot him an angry look, but Jennings acted as if he hadn’t heard. “Major Northcott will now outline the assault and its objectives,” the Praetor concluded.
“All right, listen up. Our intelligence shows that the target is a small, isolated Titan colony to the north. We understand it is the primary processing outpost for raw materials mined in the Northern Reaches.”
The MuDi lit up and displayed a large map with a flashing dot giving the current position of Valhalla. The map moved a thousand kilometers north to display the position of the colony.
“The colony is based on a small promontory with the Siren Sea bordering on two sides.” The MuDi zoomed in to show a three dimensional model of the outpost, with two beaches on the south and east of the colony.
The Major clasped his hands behind his back. “We have been contracted for two main objectives: First, disable the primary processing center at the center of the colony, including the six Hades launchers protecting it.”
The MuDi zoomed in to highlight a large factory occupying the middle of the outpost.
“Second, we are to destroy a research and communications facility at the northernmost tip of the colony. We can only presume our attack is a precursor to another invasion.”
The MuDi moved its focus to a tall, tri-cornered armored facility at the north end of the colony. Three huge legs supported the wide base of the structure, its concave walls rising upward to a flat top covered with dishes and antennas.
“One full detachment of Adepts will be deployed to disable the mining facility, and another will sweep the outpost and disable the six Hades’ Missile systems that are scattered throughout.”
The MuDi zoomed out to highlight the six smaller Hades sites on the map.
An Adept raised his hand, “But why so many of us, Major?”
The Major nodded to Keats, who stepped forward to explain, “Our intelligence indicates that most of the personnel at the facility are non-military, making it seem unnecessary to deploy so many Adepts. Due to the nature of this mission and the limited timeframe provided by our employer, however, we decided it would be prudent to eliminate the largest threats from the outpost as quickly as possible. When we make our assault, two squadrons of Valkyrie fighters will strike the East and South beaches right before our Longboat Personnel Carriers land. Until the six Hades’ launchers are eliminated, we will be limited in the amount of air support we can offer. The Valks will only be safe due to their speed and the element of surprise. After the initial attack, most of our air force will be vulnerable and largely useless.”
The MuDi zoomed out further, highlighting two squadrons of Valkyries, one from the South, another from the East, sweeping across the beaches. Right behind them, a squadron of longboats appeared, taking the same route as the Eastern squad of Valks.
She raised a hand, pointing at the beach, “After the Longboats land on the East beach, our forces will sweep North and West, eliminating the targets along the way, and then circle to meet the Longboats again on the South Beach. If things get out of hand, we can offer air support and emergency evac to the West after we take out the missile systems.”
The Major stepped forward, again. “Thank you, Colonel.” He paused, “Most of you will consider this unnecessary, as always. If, God forbid, the mission goes totally awry, our final evac point will be due North of the outpost.”
The MuDi zoomed out again and showed the evacuation point many kilometers to the North.
“Don’t worry, Major, we’re not going to need an evac point,” an Adept spoke confidently.
The Major smiled.
“What’s that area between the outpost and the evac point?” Celes asked, looking at the strange grey and black mass that was just a few kilometers north of edge of the outpost.
Many veteran Adepts looked at her, surprised, while others muttered to each other. Celes blushed slightly at the attention. A mustached Adept behind her leaned in, “No one asks about the evac point, they research it on their own time. Bad luck, you see.”
The Major, however, just nodded his head, “Actually, the outpost is close to the ruins of Phoenix Corporation. You will have 36 hours from the start of the mission to get there should anything happen.”
More muttering sounded around the hall.
“Who is responsible for the comm. center?” another Sergeant asked.
Northcott turned to Wouris, “The comm. center is less heavily guarded than the mining facility, so the cadets, under Sergeant Wouris, will be responsible for its destruction. A sweeper team of Adepts will follow behind and make sure the job gets done properly. All other Adepts not directly involved in the mission will remain here on high alert.”
Janus searched around the room. Many of the Adepts around him were older veterans, and all were unsurprised by the move to keep a large complement of ODIN’s forces at Valhalla. Janus was disturbed.
Do they fear an attack here?
Praetor Jennings stepped forward again, “Any questions?” He waited a beat before saying, “Good. You will receive further briefing from your respective officers. The cadets will be briefed by Sergeant Wouris. Be ready to deploy at 0400 tomorrow morning. Dismissed.”
The Cadets walked back together as a group. Janus was lost in thought as they made their way back to Sigma 3, his mind wandering from the furtive looks between the officers to the strange nature of the mission, and its huge reward. But eventually it settled on thoughts of Clara, and what she would say about the situation.
Watch your back…
Celes cleared her throat, and Janus nearly jumped.
“Is anyone else bothered as much as I am about this mission?” Celes asked.
“Prob’bly just nerves,” Ramirez grunted.
Lyn smiled at him, “Of course, if you were bothered by anything, we’d never know, would we?”
“Prob’bly not,” Ramirez said simply.
The cadets chuckled, and Janus couldn’t help but grin. Celes laughed, “Thanks, Ramirez.”
“No problem.”
“Hey Ramirez,” Marcus chuckled, “How’d you get to be so insightful?”
“Well, he certainly didn’t get it from us,” Celes said.
“Speak for yourself,” Janus said with a smirk.
Celes gave him a grin, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “Of course, mighty Janus. I would never, ever think of insulting you.” She stopped in front of him and gave a mock bow. “I hope you won’t take offense at my discourtesy. Whatever was I thinking?”
Janus stopped and put on a hurt look.
Celes winked at him, “Just because you’re a shoo-in to be one of the squad leaders in this mission doesn’t mean that people will be foolish enough to follow you. But you do have potential,” she smiled and turned away. Lyn and Ramirez followed after her.
Janus shook his head and watched her walk to the front of the group. He exchanged a doubtful glance with Marcus and the pair hurried to catch up.
Wouris met them back in Sigma 3. She looked them over as they filed in silently, and they gathered in a semi-circle around her.
“You all understand the basics of th
e mission, so now we’ll get into how you’ll execute it. There will be three teams. Janus, Lyn, and Marcus are strike leaders. Celes, Valers, Bynes, Alexis, Hastings and Young, you’re with Janus.”
Wouris pointed to Ramirez, Jones, Holloway, Byron, Kirsten, and Roderick. “You six, you’re on Lyn.
Marcus, you’ll be leading the rest.” She motioned to Thomas, Baker, Browning, Conor, Freeham, and Nathans. “An Adept squad will follow behind you in case you can’t get the job done.”
Janus looked around at his fellow cadets; the grim looks he saw made it clear they all understood what she meant.
She brought out a map of the Titan outpost, “Tomorrow morning, you will load up into three longboats. Two Valkyrie squadrons will assault the East and South Beaches.” She traced the path of the two squadrons with her finger, “This will be the extent of the air coverage until our veteran Adept squads can take out the Hades launchers. Your longboats will be hard on the heels of the Valks. You’ll drop in,” she pointed to the East beach, “hit the remaining beach defenses, and sweep into the outpost. Move quickly, but don’t be afraid to do some scouting as you move through. Most of the buildings are civilian mining structures so there shouldn’t be too much resistance.”
Byron raised a hand, “And how much is ‘not too much’?”
Wouris shrugged, “We’ll get an update from our scout teams as we make our final approach, but our last tally was a total of about 100 S.T.s, and no Inferni at the facility. There isn’t much personnel present in the first place, and miners and scientists don’t get paid to stand in harm’s way. They will likely start hiding once they realize the outpost is under attack. No guarantees, though.”
“The only real military presence is the barracks, located here,” she pointed to a building on the Western side of the city, “Be prepared for enemy reinforcements coming from this direction. Marcus, you’ll plant your charges on the structural supports on the near side of the Comm. Center.” She again pointed to the map and motioned to another corner of the Communications tower. “Lyn, your team will hit the Southwest corner. Janus, your team will have the toughest job; you’ll have to move quickly to get here,” she pointed to the farthest corner of the communications facility, “the Northernmost tip. After you plant your charges, get moving to rendezvous with the Longboats on the South beach. The Hades launchers as well as most of the colony’s defenses should have been swept out of the way by our veteran Adept squads by then, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble. I will be dropping in with the Adept squad behind you, so if you do run into any trouble, sit tight and we’ll come a-runnin’. And don’t worry about detonating the charges, either. I will hit it after all squads are reported to be clear. Any questions?”
No one spoke up, so she said, “Good. You all should have memorized the colony’s layout and map by now, but you’ll get your own hard copy tomorrow morning, in case you’ve got any jitters about forgetting something.”
Kirsten spoke up, “Sergeant, why do we carry the plastic maps anyway? We’ve got our comm. links.”
Wouris looked serious. “The same reason you memorize it. A plastic map doesn’t run on batteries, clog up with dirt, or get crushed during a hectic battle. Never rely on something that is more complicated than it needs to be. It just adds another component for failure. Besides, these aren’t completely ordinary maps. Someone toss me a flashlight; Freeham, hit the lights.”
The room went dark, Wouris turned on the light that Hastings tossed her. The small pool of light reflecting off the surface of the map dimly illuminated the group. “Here is something else a brightly lit screen doesn’t do well.” She brought up the flashlight so everyone could see the bottom of the handle and turned it, “One, two clicks.” The flashlight went black, plunging the room back into darkness. But after a moment, glowing lines illuminated the map. Faint, purplish traces formed a grid, distinguishing the colony perfectly.
“Bio-luminescence. Reacts to UV light that is produced from the flashlight’s diodes when you turn it twice. Glows perfectly well for you, but is almost impossible to see from any distance and doesn’t give your position away with any extra light. Only lasts for about a week, but still a handy feature if you are ever in a combat zone at night and need an impromptu war meeting. Freeham, lights.” Freeham hit the lights again as Wouris turned the flashlight off and tossed it back to Hastings.
Wouris shook her head, “I understand that you have had your training cut short and you all still have much to learn. Most of you are probably worried by the nature of this mission, but I want you to know that I have the utmost confidence all of you will do your jobs, and do them well. Your group is one of the most talented we have had in years, and, all other things aside, that’s why we feel we can let you participate in this mission.”
Janus folded his arms across his chest, and saw Celes smiling at him. Marcus gave a wink to her, as Lyn gave Ramirez thumbs up.
Wouris started to pace, “Don’t forget your emergency comm. signal if you get into trouble. All you have to do is hit the button. And even though there isn’t supposed any Infernus presence, don’t forget that you armor helps mask and dissipate your heat signature. So don’t panic if—”
Ramirez chuckled, causing everyone to turn and look at him in surprise. “Don’t worry, Wouris. We’ll handle it,” he said.
Wouris grim look was finally broken, and she smiled, “I know you will. Now, go loosen up for a few hours, eat a good meal, and get some shuteye. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Chapter 23: Preparation
Janus awoke at midnight, the excitement and anxiety of the mission pressing down upon his chest. Clara was counting on him.
He sat up in his bed, staring at the wall; no matter what happened in today’s mission, he and the other cadets would dress like the veterans they would fight beside. His new Adept armor was stronger and lighter than cadet armor, with more space to place equipment. Armored plates woven into the suit protected his body, while a tough mesh formed the covering. The armor was normally a dull black, but dark brown splotches appeared all over it as he pulled it from its rack. He could feel the tingle of electricity racing through the outer mesh as it finished its color change. His new suit could change anywhere from a light brown to a solid green. Swapping in a new entropic battery, he checked it over once more. He would get three more camo shifts, if he needed them.
He wore no helmet. His suit was more for camouflage, gear, and protection from the elements than anything else. It might provide light explosive protection, but a direct hit from a Zeus would be catastrophic; even though one could survive the loss of an arm, one always needed a head. He could unfurl a hood from his suit if needed, but an unfortunate reality was that for Adepts, a helmet was an impediment to vision, hearing, movement in tight spaces or dense brush, and a useless deadweight.
Out of the wall closet popped another compartment, containing his new Loki pistol. It too was a dull black with splotches of brown. A stamp of the horse-riding Odin was embossed in the handle. He checked it once over and rammed it in its holster.
The common room was quiet, lit only by the light of the moon. Janus had just stepped inside when Celes’ door slid open, and she appeared in her own armor. The suit enhanced the curves of her slim figure, while the pale moonlight gave her an ethereal glow. Janus felt his breath catch.
She smiled, “Looking good.”
Janus relaxed and grinned, “Not so bad yourself.”
As they made their way towards the mess hall, Janus stopped at a window and stared into the darkness. Valhalla was over the open ocean, away from the coast, and stars filled the blackness in every direction.
Celes stood at his side, watching him closely. “What’s on your mind?”
Janus took a moment before answering, his gaze not leaving the window, “I was just wondering how Clara is doing right now.”
“Clara? Who’s that?” Celes asked quickly.
“My mother.”
Celes mouth formed a little ‘o’, b
ut she remained silent.
“I was just thinking about how she would feel about me putting my life in such danger, about doing the things we do – even if it was for her.”
“And?” Celes asked expectantly. Janus smiled at her directness, “I wasn’t sure at first, but then I saw the stars out there…” Celes followed his gaze, “and realized she would be happy, although maybe a little frightened.”
Celes prompted him again, “Why?”
“I came from Cerberus. It isn’t a pleasant place. There is so much fog and darkness that you can’t see the sky, let alone the stars. Before I came here, I had never experienced the open air, and I had seen the sky only once. And although she has never lived outside the city, Clara used to read my books with me, and imagine what the world outside was like. Clara would be happy that I can finally experience those things, beyond the world she’s trapped in, despite whatever dangers there may be.” He was silent for a moment, “She’s sacrificed so much for me.” He became quiet, watching the twinkling lights as they hovered over the horizon.
“See now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Celes said, smirking.
“What?” Janus glanced at her, confused.
“You don’t always have to hold everything in.”
Janus returned his stare out the window, folding his arms across his chest, unwilling to admit the vulnerability.
Celes laughed, “Oh come on, let’s get breakfast.”
The mess hall was dark and empty when they entered. However, the kitchen food dispensers never slept, and one of the machines was able to provide two bowls of steaming oatmeal. It wasn’t anything fancy, but at least it was good and filling.
About half an hour later, Marcus strode into the hall, looking cheerful.
“Ready to take on our first mission Janus? We’ll show the officers how to do their jobs right, won’t we?”
Janus smiled, “Looking forward to it.”
Marcus smirked, “Bet I plant my charges first.”
The Phoenix Fallacy Book I: Janus Page 14
