The Sixth Line of Defense

by Shiva Winters

  * * *

  Shiva stayed in her cell only long enough for the guards to move away to other things before the sound of a lock echoed through the quiet. Shuffling sleepily she wandered out of her cell and entered his only to strip off her light weight armor and slid down against his side with an exhausted murmur. Chuckling as he covered her with the blankets he couldn't honestly wait to see General Owen's face when he reported all of this to him some time in the near future. Even though he had seemed to trust Devin's opinions enough to go along with Shiva's 'first stage' of her plans, he had later seemed to doubt that Shiva had known what she was doing requesting that things be left in the dark until she was publicly known to be a fugitive from justice. It had been easy to guess that she had wanted that knowledge to be public so that she could use 'anonymous' tipsters to report the situation most likely to draw out the conspirators into another attack. Still he was very much surprised to find her there, Lt. Konas had stopped by just after her return planet-side long enough to let him know Shiva was on the move. Having been a part of the same analysis team as he had back during the war, he had trusted her more than enough to whisper about General Owen's involvement and get her involved in aiding in their efforts. Lt. Konas was smiling when she stopped by a second time to deliver him a lunch not produced by the prison cooks. She informed him that she had been told to report by Lt. Col. Ishmere that Rei and Vala were both very much alive and safe at Anslaw, if and when Shiva arrived at Digel base. And then laughingly told him that the last time she had seen Shiva, she was jumping out of a shuttle craft at 52,000 feet without a parachute. With sandwiches that weren't cruel and usual, and Shiva peacefully sleeping by his side, he was able to relax knowing that his time in a cell would probably be over very soon.

  "I see what you meant by her humoring me." The General whispered as she arrived at the bars.

  "I imagine this is preventative, to keep her from wandering into trouble, ma'am. I can only imagine she's not used to sleeping alone by this point." She nodded and smiled at the sleeping figure next to him.

  "Seeing her like this, it's almost hard to imagine that she tortured a Sergeant quite viciously." She commented to him with just a touch of a frown to darken her expression. Having been involved in no few 'interviews' with her during the past five days, he knew she mentioned this because she wanted his opinion. "Or that she recorded herself doing it by whatever she means for observation she used to during her activities at Tinner base."

  "If you will allow me to say so.." She nodded back to him quick. "It was perhaps the result of some very understandable stress coming out. Off the record, she took the General's death pretty hard, Vala told me when I last saw her that Shiva had started to see him like the father figure she never really had." The General's eyes got a little misty as she turned away for a moment.

  "He was my friend, one of the few truly honorable men I could name." She admitted to him in return as she turned back towards him. "What you told me about him reconsidering his position about Series 6 was perhaps the only part that I was ready to believe before she showed up."

  "And now?" Devin asked deciding this conversation couldn't become much more unofficial.

  "She didn't record what she did or said to Admiral Shriver, thankfully since it might have made his testimony unusable, but whatever it was and however his hand got smashed, he is practically screaming with the effort to name names, and expel all his little secrets." She told him with a dark chuckle and a very blood thirsty expression, and as much as they were both supposed to disapprove of such things Devin did not doubt there was anyone who could or would blame her for not investigating what had motivated the Admiral into cooperating. "She cleaned out Lt. Ashen's computer files, and Admiral Shriver's home computer and that's giving us even more clues. Some of the files she took aren't related, but most of them are.. and their certainly is enough dirty money in that bag to make us question some personal finances."

  "I would have guessed as much, it wouldn't be at all like her to turn herself in so quickly unless she was carrying more than enough evidence to at least cast doubt over her guilt." He told her softly as he rubbed Shiva's shoulders as she seemed to stir just a little against his side.

  "Well, General Owen called about a half hour ago.. he transmitted a neural imaging file.." Devin's expression became dark as he thought about that and nodded back to her. "Lt. Col Ishmere agreed to let me speak with the two 'hostages'.."

  "I did not know where they ended up, General, only that it would be safe from anyone who might be involved." Devin murmured to her, just in case she thought he had really had been withholding information from her.

  "Understandable, and I would like to say about your part in this whole affair is that I would have preferred it had been you who told me about that neural imaging file." She commented to him with a hint of a disapproving scowl.

  "Someone might have implied that it had been tampered with, ma'am." She gave him a thoughtful nod as if she could respect that kind of thinking. "The problem with this whole situation was, Shiva did have a motive to hate General Winters at one point.. and there was no hard evidence that she wasn't responsible."

  "You're right about that." She agreed with a sigh. "I don't suppose you've got a dozen like her stashed away somewhere.." Devin could see an intense worry behind her eyes as he shook his head in return. "If... Admiral Shriver is telling the truth.. he and those he got involved with have been in control of Series 5 for about 15 years and have been selling them off piece by piece.. out on the black market."

  "Oh god.." Devin whispered as that struck him in the face, that was perhaps the one thing he hadn't let himself consider. He had really only wanted to believe that maybe at the worse cast scenario that troops were being used as someone's private army. But these facts laid bare were perhaps the very worst case kind of scenario he could have imagined.

  "Admiral Shriver has been one of the gophers, helping them move the 'merchandise' so he could share some of the profits." She added with the same half terrified expression he could feel on his own face. "Perhaps the only good news is that Series 6 is safe.. because of her intervention. But I don't even know how we are going to move on the people behind this without serious casualties.."

  "Put me in front of a secure com-line and tell me when and where.." Shiva's sleepy murmur was nevertheless with a bone-chilling echo of the horrible things she could call up. She shifted against his side and moved to look up across the space at the General. Devin was struggling to understand her meaning, and when he meet the General's gaze he knew she was doing the same. ".. assuming of course, I am not under arrest."

  "Lt. Hornton here has convinced me that your actions though.. extremely violent, were perhaps the result of emotional stress." The General told her softly as her mind seemed to work through the previous statement. "Since I was going to get you out of here and give you a debriefing over lunch, I brought you something a little less frightening than that body armor." She added gesturing to Shiva's discarded clothing even as she offered a paper bag through the bars. Shiva nodded, rubbing at her still tired eyes as she crossed the distance to accept it, as she moved off Devin moved closer to the bars. "A secure com-line? When and where?" She asked him in a whisper that hopefully Shiva wouldn't hear.

  "I honestly don't know, General. But she's playing this close to her chest so it honestly means that she's got some secret, somewhere." Devin murmured back to her as his mind worked furiously towards some sort of answer.

  "She couldn't possibly mean she would knowingly throw her life away.. as long as she could make one last call." She whispered to him with a bone deep worry that Shiva might be suicidal.

  "Not a chance.. she loves Vala too much to ever think about that." A moment later the comment about a phone call struck him all at once and he found himself snapping around to glare at Shiva's back as she took her time about dressing in the unfamiliar clothing. The General's hand grabb
ed his before he could even think about confronting her.

  "What?" She demanded in an urgent whisper.

  "Lt. Col. Ishmere.. of Anslaw.." He murmured to her half as a question and half as a confirmation, she nodded and gave him a still confused look. "When was Anslaw last inspected?" He asked not quite ready to brandy about anything like an accusation. Her mind rolled that question around for a moment before she gasped and seemed to strike on the very same idea that he had. Shiva who seemed to be making a conscious effort to ignore them gathered up her hastily discarded things and folded them back into the empty bag before walking to the cell door with a yawn. The lock clicked open even as she reached for it and stepped past it as if she merely had been stepping out of room in someone's house.

  "I'm ready to go to interrogation now." She murmured folding her arms in front of her as she moved to stand in front of the General. Much to her credit the General laughed down at her as Devin followed her out past the partially open cage door. Keeping her movements slow and nonthreatening as if she had dealt with Shiva a thousand times, the General ducked down in front of her and rubbed her arms.

  "No interrogation rooms for you, I'd rather stay on your good side.. as I said earlier just a quiet discussion over a well deserved meal." Shiva actually relaxed enough to smile as she nodded in return. "That is after I make one more phone call." She looked up at Devin silently ordering him to keep an eye on Shiva. He smiled in return as he moved to scoop Shiva off her feet and settled against his shoulder.

  "Devin." She whined clearly thinking about her dignity.

  "Oh hush, you're still tired and don't go trying to lie because we both know you are bad at it." She made a frustrated noise at him even as her arms circled his neck and she settled calmly against him. The General smiled at her back and then at him before she leading the way out of the holding area. They passed through the tunnels that crisscrossed the underside of Digel base and connected most of the buildings together, allowing prisoners to be moved with less chance of them being seen or in some cases killed outright. While there current use was as such it also had the advantage of allowing one to travel between different points of the surface facilities without having to brave the weather whatever that might be. Their first stop quickly proved to be General Vandemere's office where she activated the encrypted communications lines most ranking officers had access to, Shiva really didn't pay attention to who she was calling, but Devin certainly did. The call connected after a few minutes and Lt. Col. Ishmere answered it with a smile on his face.

  "Something else you needed, ma'am." Shiva's head whipped around as Devin stood in the General's background.

  "Off the record.. how many of the Series 6 children are awake inside of Anslaw right now?" The General asked him, without feeling the need for banter or deception as she aimed right for the heart of the matter. The Lt. Colonel's eyes instantly shot to Shiva and she was quick to shake her head just a tiny bit, but all three of them saw it. "She didn't say anything about it, Lt. Colonel, save to say that there would be some means to minimize the casualties."

  "196, General." He told her with an expression that made it clear he thought he was about to suffer some very sharp words and possibly a court-martial.

  "This is still off the record of course, but that board decision never did sit well with me, Lt. Colonel." The General assured him sounding down right pleased to hear this small bit of good news. "I did not tell you, but what Shiva uncovered is snowballing into disaster on par with Series 4, if not bigger.. we have got serious trouble brewing on our horizon.. so.."

  "I believe I can understand your meaning, General. Whatever assistance I can provide you with will be offered freely, if.. you will give me your word that my command isn't in danger of being taken away." He murmured to her somewhat pointedly offering a deal.

  "Anslaw has been quiet since you took command, I am certain I already have enough evidence that any.. unauthorized actions you have taken have only remained quiet because of your skilled leadership. Should any information about such actions get out, I feel confident I will be able to convince the brass that perhaps it is for the best that no one disturb the way of things inside your command." She told him choosing her words carefully to insure that they both understood what was being said.

  "Yes, ma'am." The Lt. Colonel agreed chuckling in return. "The brass might very well see things your way giving the proper insights."

  "Good, now that we have an understanding, and now that your.. liaison.." She was filled with barely contained laughter as she glanced back at Shiva. ".. has been cleared of all charges she will be contacting you soon enough with the information you may need."

  "Aye, aye, ma'am." He agreed giving her a sharp salute, which she returned before ending the call.

  "Feel better?" The General asked softly as she stepped away from the screen to rub Shiva's back. Shiva gave her a happy nod and they were soon leaving her office for a quiet lunch and a calm discussion that would lead to the next potential disaster they would soon face head on.

  That first afternoon Lt. Ashen was arrested trying to get off-world using a commercial transport, his three pieces of luggage were filled with nothing but stacks of credit bills withdrawn from six different banks. Col. Freedmont was arrested two hours after that in transit between a base on Jupiter's moon Titan and six hours out from Earth. By the evening they were both naming names and spilling secrets, filling the far branching limbs of the rapid growing tree of conspiracy. It quickly became clear that it would require far more than the forces of the Advocate General's offices could handle even if they pulled in every single one of the Series 6 children who were awake at Anslaw, and despite the fact that Shiva was quick to tell them that not all of those awake would be suited for a combat situation of any kind. Military Investigations were soon involved, but only after the Gen. Vandemere had thoroughly investigated the departments command staff for even slightest hint that there might be something foul in the mix. General Owen was soon included providing a dozen platoons of troops, but would probably be investigated later despite the fact that Devin assured the two Generals already involved that his commanding officer's honor was above reproach.

  While Gen. Killian might have much liked to bring Lt. Col. Ishmere up on charges after learning that far more than 21 Series 6 children were awake and active, Gen. Vandemere was good to her word and quickly convinced him that the decision that had confined Series 6 to an unknown future had been part of the long laid plans by the very same people that they would soon be putting under arrest. The fact that they were all but guaranteed to find at the very least some violent resistance during the planned attacks that were in the works was perhaps the second and more compelling argument to look the other way just that once. In the end they still had to take nearly every one of the children who Shiva and the Lt. Colonel felt were ready for the kinds of things they would face. One hundred and twenty-two of them in all, not including Shiva, and they had to borrow two oversized shuttles to move all of them at one time.

  It had been three days since Shiva had shown up on Gen. Vandemere's proverbial doorstep and began all the chaos, but in that time Devin could not doubt that she had not failed to impress either two Generals now in charge or surprised the hell out both of their command staffs. In truth those three days had been perhaps the most amusing experience in his lifetime to watch the faces and to hear the comments of those around him as Shiva talked tactics like a General, discussed combat like a hardened front line soldier, and spent a large portion of time simply scaring the hell out of so many people. And as if only to add sprinkles to an already overloaded ice-cream cone she had fallen asleep in his lap during overlong and boring meetings no less than three times. As he regarded the huge mass of happy excited children now gathered in a massive tiered briefing room, he wondered how he was going to avoid breaking down into hysterical laughter at one point or another sometime in the near future.

  "They.. are so young.." Gen.
Killian whispered to Devin and Gen. Vandemere as they entered into the space in Shiva's wake.

  "Shiva assured me that all the truly young ones stayed at Anslaw." Gen. Vandemere murmured though she sounded as if she really didn't believe that to be true.

  "And she's probably right about that, the older ones like Shiva were created first, Lt. Col. Ishmere would know that the younger ones were far less likely to have serious issues with violence and therefore more likely able adapt to a redefined Anslaw." Devin commented to them softly. "If you will pardon me for saying this, Generals, we are just going to have to trust Shiva in this, because with this lot we are simply out of our league." The both gave him a thoughtful look.

  "Okay everyone settle down!" Shiva called out, her presence commanded a respect that impressed even Devin as within 5 seconds the room was quiet and the entire room of children were seated and watching raptly as she moved to the center of the space and hopped up to sit on top of the podium. "I know everyone is excited to get their first taste of being out under a proper sky, and see something other than the walls of Anslaw.. but we are here for a reason." Even Gen. Killian seemed to be just a little moved to be reminded of the fact that most of these children had never know anything but the inside of a laboratory. "Now that all of you are here, that probably means we aren't going to get much of a chance to really enjoy it until after.. so let's stay focused and keep in mind this isn't a vacation."

  "Gotcha, Mom." One of the two girls that looked very much like Shiva teased, Shiva glared at her as giggles raced around the room.

  "From right to left those are Lt. Devin Hornton, the Advocate General Julia Vandemere, and the head of Military Investigations General Martin Killian. The big hitters are in charge of the whole show, while Devin is in charge of keeping us in line and out of trouble.. if he is up to the job." Shiva was clearly teasing him, but all of the others seemed to see the affection she had for him. Devin was hard pressed not to smile back at her as her gentle teasing really only served to make no few of the children relax where he was concerned and therefore made his job easier by default.

  "You just be minding your own business, young lady." Devin growled back at her much to the deep widespread amusement of those gathered there.

  "Most of you know why I left Anslaw, but just to be sure we are all clear here's the short version. Rei's husband, Vala's father, decided that he could no longer sit idly by and leave us to be forgotten.. he was killed because of it. I was framed for his murder and attacked by multiple units of Series 5 troops. When I left Anslaw a second time I carried out my mission to prove that someone or someones were using Series 5 as their own private army, and that Gen. Winters death was part of a plot to put us right into the hands of those very same people. And that belief was right on the money.." It was not lost on the three of them that those child-like expressions became angry and dangerous, nor that the air around them took a decided twinge of imminent doom and gloom. "Now it falls to us to clean up the mess and bring all of this out into the light. I know some of you aren't trained for combat, I know some of you are terrified at the thought of what the next few days could bring.. but this is our chance. The chance that all of us were waiting for all those years ago, to prove to everyone that we deserve something better than being just lab rats." Devin found himself scanning the faces in the crowd and was impressed by the effects of Shiva's carefully chosen words as she continued her speech.

  "I've been in on the planning of this no more than 6 hours after I got here with the first pieces of proof, and I have been in one every meeting since then. This first strike is massive.. nearly 15,000 regular troops from two different bases, 4,500 people from the Advocate General's command, more than 8,000 people from Military Investigations, and us. We are here because Series 5 troops are beyond dangerous, some of them are nearly as strong as us and do not doubt for a second that they are true killers. They have had their humanity stripped away piece by bleeding piece and they will not hesitate to kill woman, children, or infants if so ordered without hesitation or conscious. I want every one of us to come back, so if you encounter them, make damn sure you strike first because you won't get a second chance. Unfortunately because there are so few of us, all of us are going into this with at least of 50% chance we will see at least some of our would be predecessors. Whether or not they will be in stasis, inactive, or unarmed is not clear at the moment, as such Alex and I have put a great deal of effort into making balanced teams putting those of us with combat training into positions to watch over those of us with little to none." Shiva flicked the controls for the screen at a distance displaying the full lists of names, grouped into teams of no less than three and diagrammed out to the far spread targets where they were needed most.

  "About 60% of our number are going to be spread across the board into positions where the chances for combat are lower, you will also be reinforcements for ground troops and those who are there to arrest people. Those teams will be lead by officers Devin has selected and whom have his complete and total trust. Most of those who have the ability to incapacitate rather decapitate.." There were a few tension relieving giggles at those words. ".. will be going towards those situations, and because most of those who fit that category are the ones with the least amount of training. I've made sure anyone who has even a glimmer telekinesis was brought down, if you are and you are heading towards the less hazardous areas, your primary goal is protect your team while the others drop people with their superior range."

  "And the rest of us?" The other girl who looked like Shiva asked as if she knew exactly what category she fit into.

  "Right into the heart of darkness.. the Series 5 storage facility." Shiva murmured back to her. "That being said, I have just one more thing to say before we break up into our teams.. this whole mission is about putting butts in the jail cells, not about putting bodies on the floor. If you are being attacked, defend yourself.. if you can avoid casualties do so, if you encounter Series 5 troops, do the humane thing and kill them. If you capture them, they'll go right back in the freezers were they are supposed to be. They have no families, no lovers, no joy, nothing save the pleasure programmed into them that makes them savor the kill. It is far better that the pain they can no longer feel simply end.."

  "She's right about that.." General Vandemere surprised him by calling out. "Once long ago.. I tried to help some of those who are part of Series 5. It was something I will never again consider.. he would have killed me with a smile just to see the blood on his hands if I hadn't been an officer. Shiva.. and all of you, have already shown me you aren't like that, I want all of you.. all of you to come back.. not because you are Series 6, not because you are still part of some.. cruel military project, but because you are still human and can prove that to all the idiots that have kept you locked up in Anslaw all this time." All of them looked just a little hopeful and seeing the determination in the General's eyes.

  "That goes double for me." General Killian surprised him even more when he whispered that to Devin thoughtfully.

  "If everyone will short of shuffle around and gather into these teams, if there is some reason you feel like we got you placed wrong come up here and we'll try to work it out. All of you have a generic briefing with the Generals before you get more detailed information on your individual team assignments. Everyone who is listed with me and Ayla come up and bug her for a bit, we've got a room where we will be planning the big job." Shiva called out calmly before the room filled with the sounds of shifting feet and soft calls.

  "My only question now is if they are all as impressive as her." Gen. Killian commented with a chuckle.

  "Shiva told me once, she might have been considered one of the most dangerous, but she never considered herself one of the most impressive, sir." Devin commented back to him honestly and was deeply amused by his shocked surprise. "After all she was one of the first.. I would have to think they got better with time."

  "Why do I find that so
ominous?" He chuckled back in the next moment.

  "Because Shiva's scary." The tiny sweet voice that murmured up to him came from a little girl no older than ten years old who smiled as she clutched a stuffed animal under one arm. Giggling she took the General's hand and pulled the surprise man away from the door. Another girl with a quiet smile and a dark kind of gothic presence smiled just a little as she moved into take his arm to pull him towards the large group gathered at the far end of the room.

  "Hey there, Poe." Shiva whispered as Devin arrived escorted by the confusing figure.

  "Hey." Many of the kids in that group were surprised that she spoke, and Devin wondered if he could ever truly understand any of them let alone the one he knew the best.

  "Come along Devin, you need to keep an eye one all us kids to make sure we don't ruin our dinners or watch the naughty movies you hide in the bottom of your sock drawer." Shiva teased before leading all of her giggling siblings out of the room and into the small briefing room where every piece of information about the Series 5 storage facility had been laid out and readied for them.