He pretended not to notice Mok's slip up during his explanation, but it was just another clue as to where the enigmatic boss had come from. Saditava Mok had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He crept in and took over the operation of a petty crime boss Jason had taken out in the pre-Omega Force days when he and the crew had just escaped captivity. Mok had then worked to quickly swallow many of the smaller, satellite operations until he stood supreme as the kingpin in a twelve-sector swath of space. The fact he had likely been a high-level Eshquarian intelligence officer explained a lot of how he was able to grasp power so quickly.
"Unfortunately, no," Mok continued his explanation. "The ConFed has never been much of a threat. Their fleet, while vast, never seemed to operate under a unified doctrine. Instead, it was parsed out to handle small policing actions and to work at the behest of whichever powerful politicians wanted to flaunt their influence. Until very recently, they'd never had any inclination to do anything other than skim off the profits of their members and live in vulgar luxury on the Pillar Worlds.
"Most of our wargaming and preparations focused on the Saabror Protectorate on our other border. They have always been overly aggressive and antagonistic since they became strong enough to begin challenging the Imperial Fleet along the Concordian Cluster. It's been a cold war that was expected to go hot at any time, and the reason the Machine was able to secure victory so quickly. While the Empire was focused on the Protectorate, the ConFed hit them hard and fast from the other side."
"This is fascinating, but it doesn't tell me—"
"Qazvi Ba is the codename given to an operative in charge securing logistical support for Zeta Fleet units in the event primary supply chains are cut off or destroyed," Mok said. “So, your instincts of trying to run down off-book fuel and expendables was a good one but, as usual, you went about it in an amazingly clumsy way. I'd say it's even odds that your actions alerted the ConFed as to her location."
"She seemed to be well aware we were coming," Jason said, ignoring the barb. "Not many people get the jump on Kage like that."
"I think she was probably setting up to ambush the ConFed agents that were already on the planet when you landed and began making inquiries over the local Nexus," Mok said. "Imperial Intelligence has extensive files on your crew given the fact you've contracted for them and the Empire rebuilt your ship once. She'd have had access to those files still, although I will give her credit for being able to put it all together so quickly."
"Yeah," Jason said slowly. "Let's just say I'm still skeptical about that."
"Let's worry about that later. I'm taking her off your hands for now, anyway," Mok said. "What were you thinking taking out three capital ships like that? We're not ready for an open confrontation."
"And we never will be." Jason shrugged. "Let's be honest about all this…we'll always be a small insurrection, bordering on insignificant. The entire point of this is to get others to either join or even passively resist to the point that action is taken on the Pillar Worlds. We would never be able to amass the resources, hardware, or personnel to stand toe-to-toe with the ConFed fleet. They'd wipe us out in an hour."
"I'm well aware of how insurrections and asymmetrical warfare works, Captain, so please don't preach the basics at me. What I'm telling you is that we're not even ready for that. My operation is vast, but it's also not suited for this type of thing, at least not if you want me to stay alive to help sponsor your activities. If the Twelve Points even suspect I'm using the syndicate for anything other than profit-driven ventures, they'll make a move on me and, even if I escape alive, I'll no longer have the intel and resources you need." Mok seemed genuinely frustrated not only at Jason's rash action, but the fact that all his power and influence was useless in this case. It drove home just how precarious his position sat at the top of such a large criminal enterprise.
"We can't just sit and talk about this for years, Mok," Jason said, throwing his hands up. "Even just meeting and talking about it is a huge risk. We need to think of a way to move this into the operational phase and fast. So far, the Machine is calling the shots because nobody knows that the ConFed has effectively been taken over by a—"
"Now there's a thought." Mok held up his hand to stop Jason. "The Machine is powerful because people don't know what it is and the risk it poses. It's able to move the pieces anonymously and with impunity. What if it wasn't?"
"You mean try and run an underground information campaign to expose the truth?" Jason scoffed. "Good luck with that. The public broadcast system is too decentralized, and anything you put out would be too easily debunked as a conspiracy theory."
"Nothing so overt as that," Mok said, staring off thoughtfully. "Let me think about this for a bit and we'll talk more. In the meantime, could you please promise me you won't launch anymore attacks against the ConFed military until we come up with something solid?"
"Sure." Jason stood and stretched. "I've got a few days to hang around. I need to go check on Lucky anyway."
"How has he been?"
"Some days great, others…not so much. He'll go months without incident, and then it seems when we could use his help the most, he locks up again."
"That must be frustrating."
"For him," Jason said firmly. "If he could never go on another op again, that wouldn't change things. He's still family and has a place with us, but it's killing him inside not being able to help out."
"I've assembled the best pru engineers I could coax off the planet with methods just short of abduction," Mok said, also standing up. "They'll figure this out." Jason stopped by the door way and turned back to a person who normally he'd be sworn to try and thwart, but now looked at as a…friend? Maybe that wasn't right. Complicated ally would be more apt.
"I know I give you a ration of shit, Mok," he said, "but I owe you a debt for everything you've done to help Lucky."
"It was the least I could do," Mok said, seemingly taken aback by Jason's sudden earnestness. "We'll get him sorted out."
"Captain Burke!"
"Tauless," Jason nodded to the lanky pru. He'd been an adolescent when Omega Force had rescued him from an exile that he'd been forced into by his father, one of the architects of the battlesynth program. The planet Khepri had a complicated history with the sentient machines they had created, and the skeletons in the closet when it came to the battlesynths were still causing political aftershocks years after they'd come to light.
"Any progress?"
"Yes," Tauless said hesitantly.
"But…" Jason prompted.
"But there is no practical way to correct the problem, at least not yet. I know you prefer brevity first, details second, so I'll get right to the point. Lucky suffers intermittent system failures whenever he tries to power up his onboard weapons," Tauless explained. "It has to do with the prototype power distribution system integrated into the powerplant of the Mk.2 body. Even though it is significantly smaller than his old body, it has tremendous power draws. The first stage routing system is unable to accommodate this, and the resulting errors cause a cascading effect in the logic of the subprocessors that manage body functions."
"I've seen him fire his weapons," Jason argued.
"It's not an absolute that it will happen each and every time," Tauless said. "What's likely causing it is that Lucky's new body has a lot of additional systems in it that are related to what we assume its normal job would be: infiltration and covert operations. There are powerful holographic projectors, sustained flight mode capability, enhanced secondary actuators for increased strength…when you have those running in the background in an autonomous mode, and then plasma cannons on top of that, it's just too much."
"What's our best solution?"
"In time, Lucky will probably learn to more precisely control the different systems he now carries and be able to manage the power loading better," Tauless said. "In the meantime, we're suggesting disabling the onboard weaponry. He'll have all other functions, but he'll need to carry a weapon with him
as you and Crusher do."
"That's actually not as bad as I was expecting," Jason said thoughtfully. "He's so damn strong he could carry anything from a concealed small-bore laser pistol to a crew served antiaircraft weapon. What does he think about all of this?"
"You should probably ask him that yourself," Tauless said. "He's in the lab and awake."
Jason clapped his friend on the shoulder and walked into the lab area that Mok had set aside on his sprawling estate grounds. When he walked in, a pair of engineers that Mok had found—and Kage vetted—put their instruments down and walked out of the cavernous room without a word. Lucky was lying prone on an inclined table, an access panel in his side open and diagnostic cables running out to different interfaces.
When the Mk.2 body had first been acquired, they'd had to disable the interlocks that prevented unauthorized tampering so they could perform the integration with Lucky's primary matrix. Since there were so many growing pains when it came to Lucky controlling the new body, they'd temporarily left the panels accessible, with Jason being the only person, besides Lucky himself, who knew how to open them. Once they were absolutely certain Lucky was fully in control, and all the supporting systems were stabilized, access to the body's internals would be completely under his control.
"Captain," Lucky greeted him.
"I heard you've been trying to do too many things at the same time," Jason said. "Tauless said you'll probably have to carry a gun now like the rest of us."
"An unfortunate, and hopefully temporary, setback," Lucky said. "Once I master control of the other integrated systems, I am confident I can resume using my onboard weaponry."
"Have the eggheads figured out how they're going to lessen the load on your powerplant?"
"For now, we will install an inhibitor module that blocks signals to power up my plasma cannons and the couplings behind my shoulders for the hard-point weapons," Lucky said. "Once that is installed, I will be back to FMC, but will need to outfit myself from our armory."
"Let's raid Mok's armory first and see if he has something that's a little more suited to your superior strength and coordination," Jason said. "Either way, it'll be good to have you full mission capable again and out in the field."
"I agree. Perhaps I can visit his engineering labs and design a weapon more suited to my tastes."
"That should be interesting," Jason said. "Take Twingo with you. He'll get his feelings hurt if you box him out of a design project, and I'm not listening to his whining for the next two months."
"I will make certain that I—" Lucky's head snapped over towards the closed door. "Mok's aide, Similan, is approaching."
"How the hell can you know that through a closed security door?" Jason asked. The heavy armored door swung open with a whine of actuators before the battlesynth could answer and, sure enough, Similan walked in. Jason was never sure what to make of the stiff, formal consigliere. He had the bearing and discipline that screamed military, but he seemed to be little more than a glorified butler most of the time. But Similan enjoyed Mok's complete trust, and that wasn't something that came easily, so Jason was accordingly careful around him.
"What's up, Similan?"
"Up?" Similan looked up in confusion, then scowled. "My master has asked if you would be present when he interviews our…guest…that you've brought. Lord Felex is on his way, as well." Jason winced at the mention of Crusher's real name and title.
"Please tell me that you didn't actually call him that."
"I'm sorry, Captain, but I simply cannot call the Lord Archon of Galvetor Crusher, Similan said indignantly.
"Fair enough," Jason said before turning to Lucky. "You able to walk?"
The battlesynth had already pulled the diagnostic cabled out, and the access panel in his torso was sealing, obviously intending on leaving with them. Similan looked concerned and opened his mouth to protest.
"I'm sure Mok will be fine with Lucky being there." Jason headed off the argument. "Lucky has a skillset we might find useful when questioning a…guest."
"Very well," Similan said, sounding resigned to the fact that Jason likely wouldn't listen if he was told 'no' and, with Lucky there, he had no chance of physically stopping him, although it could be interesting if he tried. Jason had wondered for some time how he'd fare if pitted against Mok's stoutly built servant if his suspicions about him were on target.
Similan led them out of the lab and waved them into one of the open-air ground vehicles that were always scurrying about the compound. They rode a short distance to an unassuming building that looked like it could have been a maintenance shed if not for the pair of armed guards flanking the door. One of the pair opened the door for them without a word and stood aside while Similan led his charges inside.
"Not bad new digs," Jason said as they entered a lift and were whisked down from the surface level. "Decent house, engineering spaces, and even a high-tech dungeon." Similan just looked at him but said nothing. When they reached their target level, Lucky led the way out and seemed to know exactly where he was going. Jason stole a look at their guide and recognized genuine surprise on his face as the battlesynth negotiated the halls to bring them to another of the ubiquitous alloy security doors.
"Been here before?"
"Of course not," Lucky answered, not offering anything further. Similan walked up and let the biometric scanner take a DNA sample from his skin and waited for half a second as certain markers were matched to the database and the door swung open with a clank.
"Captain, thank you for joining us," Mok said. Jason wasn't sure what he expected, perhaps a single metal table with a prisoner chained to it with a single bulb dangling overhead, but the scene before him was a bit of a shock. The room was outfitted as a comfortable lounge, complete with a holographic display, a stocked bar, and even a screen in the wall that gave the illusion of a window with an outdoor view.
"Thanks for asking," Jason said, nodding to Crusher and taking a seat. He saw that Qazvi Ba was already sitting in an overstuffed chair with a drink in her hand, appearing relaxed, and decided to just wait and see how everything played out.
"This is Qazvi Ba, but her real name is Fendra Eos," Mok began. "Fendra, this is—"
"Jason Burke, of Earth," she finished. "I already know of the good captain and his band of degenerate misfits, thank you. I suppose I should thank you for saving my life, Captain, even if I suspect it was your bumbling that blew my cover and brought the ConFed down on me in the first place."
"Can't rule it out." Jason shrugged. "So…is she a prisoner, a guest, or what? This is a pretty fancy cell, but it's still a cell."
"A precaution due to the unique tracking module Fendra has implanted in her," Mok said. "Doc was able to pull out the passive trackers, but she has a miniaturized slip-com beacon grafted to her spinal column we're nullifying in this specialized room. It's tricky to remove due to the explosive charge that allows Imperial Intelligence to…silence…an operative in the event they're compromised."
"Diabolical," Jason said, accepting a drink from Similan. "I assume you'll be able to remove it eventually?"
"Mok is running down the deactivation codes through his network," Fendra said. "Once the device is switched off, it's easy to remove." Jason caught the inflection when she said Mok's name and knew there had to be some personal history between the pair.
“So, what're we doing here?" Crusher asked, slurring his words slightly and shaking his glass at Similan.
"You tracked her down with the idea she might be able to lead you to the missing Eshquarian fleet units that fled the ConFed's surprise attack," Mok said. "I figured it'd be best if you heard it directly from her why that's no longer a viable option."
"The missing ships, at least Zeta Fleet's mainline hulls, are already in the ConFed's possession," Fendra began. "You had the right idea, trying to track them through the more mundane logistical trail they left, but by the time you found the gray market fuel load buy, the ships had already been located."
&n
bsp; "And the Eshquarian Fleet Masters?"
"Who do you think told the ConFed where to find the ships?" Fendra smiled humorlessly. "Zeta ships were stashed in the Cluster with minimum maintenance crews and no security to speak of, certainly nothing to repel ConFed boarders. I was still in the process of hiding the crew among various lower-tier worlds when I got word that the ships had been captured."
“So, the ConFed fleet didn't simply destroy the ships from a distance?" Lucky asked.
"No." Fendra frowned. "And to be honest, that has me confused. Those ships are a threat to the new ConFed regime simply by existing. It makes no sense to leave them intact, but all the intel I've been able to get from the Cluster's underworld is they're still sitting in the same spot, just with new ownership."
"Are there any ConFed ships still in the area?" Jason asked.
"Unknown," Fendra said. "There aren't any capital ships, but I find it unlikely they didn't leave at least a few tender ships in the area to chase off pirates and scavengers."
"What's on your mind?" Mok asked.
"Since we have something completely unexpected here, I think we need to put eyes on these ships ourselves and find out what the hell is going on," Jason said. "I don't trust the— How much does she know?"
"She's been read-in on the entire situation with the Machine and where it came from," Mok said.
"Really?" Jason asked.
"I have a prior working relationship with Fendra," Mok said. "I trust her at least as much as I trust you."
"Still not saying much," Jason muttered. "Okay, as I was saying…the Machine is up to something with these ships, but we really have no way of knowing what. I think it'd be prudent to head out to the Cluster and take a peek."
"Just fly your gunship up to a massive enemy formation, and then what?" Fendra asked. "Ask them what their secret nefarious plan is?"
"We're a little more subtle than that," Jason said, glaring at Crusher as the warrior spit out some of his drink with a short, barking laugh.
Omega Force: Rebellion (OF11) Page 6
