Chapter 7: Infiltration
Mobius June 3rd 2193 2134h
AH-67 Cheyenne transport helicopter.
The landscape flew underneath them in a blur. The Cheyenne was a very fast air vehicle despite her weight and dual rotors that spun at the same time. Filmore tossed a cigarette out of the open troop bay. The tiny tobacco stick was swept away by the rushing air. "Hey, Sarge. Have you ever seen MegaCentral?" he asked. "Nah. Just in the briefing photos. We're too scared to try and shell it from orbit since Morgan may spot us and launch on command."
They cleared a small range of mountains and MegaCentral stood before them. It was a big city. In three years the population had expanded to a huge number. There were now over three hundred thousand exiles all with the same symptoms of their parents. Donny shook his head. "Jesus. Look at that place!" He called to the pilot. "Hold here for a second."
The helicopter stopped in midair and swung its troop bay to the city. Donny took out a pair of binoculars and found them a landing site safe from cameras and point defenses. The craft obliged and dived for the landing space. It was a disused landing pad for a garbage disposal craft. Postal held his nose. "DAMN! This place smells like it hasn't been cleaned for a thousand years!" Donny passed out the rifles. The men lowered night vision goggles onto their faces. Donny placed a bandana over his mouth with a skull on it. "OK, move out."
There was no briefing on the streets of MegaCentral so they just had to make their way to the center of the city. That's where the missiles may be. However, they hit many dead ends. Some of which led to close calls with civilians.
Donny led his troops into a clearing and a video screen turned on. They raised their M5s instinctively but lowered them when they realized it was just a video. On the screen, a beautiful woman appeared with brown hair and deep blue eyes. She pulsed with mathematical symbols. She had to be an AI.
"Greetings citizens. It is I Morgana, Overseer of MegaCentral, and humble servant of the mighty Morgan! I have come today to tell you that the Empire expects young citizens of the city to serve their people and fight alongside us. Glory is to be won, enemies are to be destroyed, take the opportunity and join the conquest. That is all."
"Well, the entire city is being controlled by the AI?" Filmore asked. "That's interesting." Donny looked at his men. "I don't think Morgan actually makes public announcements. Maybe he thinks that he may be assassinated at one of them." "I see." Filmore answered. "How far away are we from the center?" Donny checked his mission tracker. "Only one klick. Keep up. I got a bad feeling about this.
They snuck into a transport that was bound for the missile launch building. It was simple enough since the entire thing was automated and it wasn't programmed to fight. The sat down as the craft started to rise. It would be five minutes before they touched down again. "OK, lets get our weapons into SpecOps mode." Donny said. He passed out suppressors and scopes. Within 30 seconds each M5A1 was ready for a stealth fight.
"There should be a central computer in the facility. Just input the codes and leave. When they launch the missiles, they won't be heading for Knothole anymore. The ground thumped. They landed. Outside, somebody was unlocking the hatch. When it was opened, the marines unloaded into him. The enemy soldier fell back bleeding.
They quickly exited the ship and aimed their weapons. Postal nailed a guard just before he could call for reinforcements. Donny scoped his gun and delivered a deadly shot to a guard's cranium. Once all the opposition was dead in the bay, the sergeant ordered the squad to get rid of the bodies. Filmore and Postal dragged the bodies into the transport before pools of blood could form showing their existence.
"Ok, the missile control center should be a few hundred meters down this hall." Donny said consulting his PDA. "'Bout damn time." Postal murmured loud enough for the other marines to hear. The door in front of them slid open and they saw the missiles.
There was no question about it. The missiles weren't large. They were HUGE. Each was the size of a small skyscraper. "God damn. This guy is totally serious ain't he?" Filmore noted. Donny looked for the computer station. He saw it in a box above them with a man at the console. "Filmore. Take him down." Filmore nodded. "Yes, sir!"
He scoped the rifle and fired a shot. They saw a splash of blood: A confirmed hit. "Get up to that terminal! Move, move, MOVE!" Donny yelled. His voice echoed in the room. The ladder was rubber-gripped and was easy to hold on to. They didn't dare look down as they made the climb. In the room, one large computer dominated the wall. The blood splash on the window showed where they had hit the solider. He lay on the floor with a bit of his head missing, leaking blood and fluid all over the floor. "Jesus." Postal coughed. Donny averted his gaze. "Alright. Focus people. Who has the override codes?" Postal said, "Me."
He dug into his backpack and retrieved a spoofer. It contained a few terabytes of information on it. Donny was handed the device and he loaded the USB port on it. The screen glowed and a message appeared on screen:
UKN/USR.INFO/K6TBYLL/CNFRM.UPLOAD.DATA (y/n)
Donny quickly located the 'Y' key and pressed it. The screen glowed again and a new message appeared:
DATA UPLOAD COMPLETE.
Donny exhaled. This created a rippling effect on the skull face on his bandana. "Well, that was easy. Come on, let's go." The marines climbed down and set off for the helicopter. No sooner than they exited the firing room, a group of soldiers emerged and started firing. Fimore killed one and wounded another. Postal then saw to it that the limper was killed. Donny also got his share, but exhaled painfully as a lead bullet grazed his arm at an alarming distance. It shredded his sleeve and blood leaked out through the shallow gash. "GOD DAMN!" He yelled. "Shit, the Sarge is hit, Greg!" Filmore told Postal. "Damn you, you bastards!" Greg said proceeding to kill a soldier. Filmore picked up Donny. "Sarge you OK?"
"Yeah, Filmore. I'm OK." He turned his head looking at the dead exiles. "Nice work." Filmore laughed. "Just trying to do my job, sir." Donny laughed too.
They ran for it. Through the streets they encountered resistance. They were no match for the Marines though. They were almost glad to smell the rotting garbage. The helicopter was still there waiting for them. The pilot ran to meet them. "You boys done?" He asked.
"Yeah, just get us out of here man." Donny commanded. The pilot nodded. "You got it, sweetheart!" The Marines laughed with relief. It was over. They were going home.
The team strapped in. They heard rotors whirr and soon, the troop bay door was closed. They felt their stomachs heave as they got airborne. A few soldiers tried shooting at them but it was no use. The helicopter was simply too high. The pilot laughed. "Score one for the good guys. We are outta here gentlemen."
The chopper picked up speed and flew above the mountains. They were too far out of range. Donny could only imagine Morgan's expression when he found out his city had been infiltrated.
Morgan was absolutely furious. Steam was almost blowing out of his ears. "What the hell do you mean they got inside?" He screamed at Ivan, who hastily replied, "They snuck under our radar. We don't even know what they were after. Perhaps it was just a raid. Morgan just wanted to kill Ivan there. He wanted to rip his brain out by the stem and beat him to death with it. He miraculously steadied himself. "Calm yourself, Nate. Remember your blood pressure." He faced his Chief-of-State. "Raids lead to more raids, Ivan. Raids lead to skirmishes. Skirmishes lead to all-out war. I warned them about this and now they'll pay the price."
He opened a line to the missile command. "Make ready to fire the ICBMs." He ordered. The man on the other side said, "How many, my liege?" Morgan's smile took on an insane curl. "All of them."
Donny relaxed. His head hit the bulkhead of the helicopter and he breathed again. He patched up his wound now. Admiral Fredrikson was so happy with his mission. 'You saved a whole lot of lives today, Vennettilli. More than I can count. That's something you can't receive a medal for." Donny smiled a hero's smile. 'That's OK, sir. I did what was expected of me.
Donny heard rumbling behind them. All men looked out the window and saw long streaks of fire emerge from the ground. "The missiles?" Filmore suggested. Donny nodded. They continued into the sky. "Boy he isn't going to be happy when he finds out they won't be killing us today. They laughed some more. Postal pulled out a few beers and they had a celebratory drink.
The missiles shot into space, not tilting back towards the planet like they were programmed. Instead, they arched toward the sun and made the journey there instead. All was well on Mobius.
As soon as the helicopter landed, the one person Donny hoped would be there was. Mindy was waiting for him. She wore a bright yellow shirt with jeans. She gasped when she saw the bullet wound. "It's just a graze." He told her. "I'm so happy you came back." She said. "I'm happy too. You're safe now." She smiled widely and grabbed him in a tight hug. "Donny, thank you." She kissed him on the cheek and rested her head on his shoulder. The embraced pair was outlined by the setting sun, truly in love.
Morgan was furious. He had killed over ten scientists and personally threw his head of security out the window with new bionic upgrades in his arms and legs. "Those sons of bitches sabotaged my missiles! They ruined my plans!" He screamed and shot at random people, hitting them and destroying equipment at once. "That's it. I will build a missile and launch it myself. I will personally destroy what's left of the doctor's people."
