Chapter 29 - Trap

Coming out of the commander's office, Megan sighs tiredly. "How'd it go?" Billy asks, getting up from his chair by the secretary's desk. "As well as can be expected." Megan sighs. "The review board was not happy with the fact that I let Spectre get away, but commander Batten managed to smooth things over with them. Still, an official reprimand has been added to my record." Billy nods. "Guess it ends well all around."

"Not really." Megan replies. "What do you mean?" Billy asks. Megan opens her mouth to reply, but stops when the secretary's comm. unit chimes. "Commander Batten wants to see you both." She tells them after answering the call. "Go right in." Nodding, Billy takes the lead, Megan frowning briefly as she follows. What now, she wonders. Entering the office, they see the Damion still sitting on his desk, a troubled look on his face. "I am glad I caught you before you left." He tells them. "It seems that we may have found a lead on Spectre's location."

"So soon?" Billy asks, surprised. "Yesterday evening, there was an explosion in garage 13-A. Apparently, the garage's internal reactor overloaded, resulting in an explosion that killed the garage's operator, and over a dozen others. It would appear that the reactor was sabotaged. Data reconstruction on several terminals in the garage have resulted in several transmissions confirming that it was the source of the query into Kain's raven profile four days before." Damion leans back in his chair. "What really happened in the water treatment plant?" He asks Megan. "I know you had words with Spectre."

Megan winces, then slowly nods here head. "I did." She admits. "I did not want to mention it to the review board until I had a chance to speak with you privately sir." Damion nods. "Very well. Speak." Megan nods. "After Spectre subdued me, he asked me several questions regarding my, relationship, with Kain. I answered them as I saw fit, and in return, he told me that Kain had managed to escape from the group who had captured him. According to what Spectre told me, this group is in the middle of some sort of internal power struggle, and Kain may be key to one the factions."

"Interesting." Damion says. "What else did he say?"

"He claimed that Kain would eventually re-surface and make his way towards Outer Heaven's base to rejoin the warband he had been working with." Megan continues. "And, he also said that this group, the ones who control Stinger, also have heavy influence within the Alliance." Beside her, Billy gasps in surprise. "I see." Damion says slowly. "So, Spectre claims that some shadowy organization is controlling the Alliance?" Megan slowly nods. "Yes sir." Damion nods. "Well, he may be right." Both Megan and Billy look at their commanding officer in shock. "W-What?" Billy exclaims. "What I am about to tell you, does not leave this room." Damion tells them sternly.

"For the last several years, a small group of officers has begun to notice changes in the Alliance's operations. At first, they were small and insignificant, but as time went on, the changes continued to take place, until it became clear to these officers that someone other then the Alliance heads were involved in making policy. However, they have been unable to do anything about this, as these shadowy masters we have fallen under, have no compulsions about killing anyone they deem, high risk." Reaching forward, Damion taps several commands into the console on his desk, and the screen lights up, displaying a map.

"We have determined the flight path Spectre is taking. It appears he is returning to Baylore city, perhaps to rejoin Kain. It is imperative that we find Spectre before anyone else does. If the others find him, they will kill him in order to ensure his silence."

"With all do respect sir." Megan speaks up. "If you and other officers knew about this, why have you not you done anything?"

"Oh, they haven't been idle." Damion assures him. "In fact, for the last three years, they have been trying to determine just who these puppeteers are. Unfortunately, the investigations have not yielded much information. Spectre could very well be their first lead on the subject. So, it falls to us to find him first."

"Where should we deploy to sir?" Billy asks. "You both, are going to remain here to process any further information that comes to us." Damion tells them. "Sir?" Megan asks, surprised. "That will be all." The two stare at the commander in surprise for several seconds, before saluting, and leaving the office. "What was that?" Billy asks once they are out of the secretary's office. "I am not sure." Megan admits, frowning. "Strange. Did you notice how he referred to the officers as them, as if he was not a part of the group?"

"Maybe they just contacted him recently?" Billy suggests. "No." Megan replies shaking his head. "Something is not right. How did they manage to find Spectre? None of our people was able to trace the STORK's flight path after it left the city." Billy shrugs. "One way to find out." He tells her. Together, the two head down to the TIP room they have been using for their investigation. Going to the nearest terminal, Billy activates it, and starts entering commands. "Let's see." He says absently. "Nothing so far. It looks like, no, that's not it." Frowning, Billy enters several more commands. "That's weird." He says. "Several of these files have been recently accessed. From outside of this room."

"Why?" Megan asks. "I don't know." Billy replies. "Wait a second, I found the trail." Billy works for almost half a minute before speaking again. "It looks like someone copied most of our data to a separate network. Wait a second, this is the Internal affairs network! We were being watched!" Coming to his side, Megan looks at the screen, and sure enough, she sees the symbol for the AT Internal Affairs department. "When did this start?" Megan asks. "Yesterday." Billy replies. "Before we received the message from Spectre." Billy looks up at Megan. "What didn't you tell the commander?" He asks her seriously. "I can't tell you Billy." Megan tells him.

"We're already in up to our hips." Billy tells her. "These files say we're going to be brought in later today for questioning."

"Do they say why?" Megan asks. "Let me see." Billy says, turning his attention back to the terminal. "These files are locked. I'll need some kind of administrative password. I think, there." Billy nods to himself in satisfaction as the files open. "It looks like . . ." Billy's eyes widen in shock. "What?" Megan asks. Shaking his head, Billy quickly cuts the connection and shuts down the terminal. "We have to get out of here." He tells her, grabbing her hand. "The terminal had a trace on it." Nodding, Megan follows Billy out of the room. "I didn't get a good look at those files." Billy tells her quietly as they keep walking. "But they said we were being accused of letting a wanted man escape. Kain. They're saying we helped Kain escape!"

"We did." Megan replies quietly. "Spectre is Kain." Billy stumbles, and does a double take in shock. "He's what?" He exclaims, then quickly claps a hand over his mouth. "I cannot explain it." Megan tells him. "Kain did not have the time to explain to me what is going on. He just told me that I should try to make my way to Mars base as quickly as possible."

"When did you find this out?" Billy asks. "Last night, when he captured me." Megan replies. "That doesn't make sense." Billy mutters. "Those files were dated the day after we started the investigation, before the match with Zaltehook." Megan shakes her head. "How could they, they knew all along. They knew Spectre was Kain all along, or at least they suspected."

"But why us?" Billy asks. "Not us, me." Megan corrects him. "Kain was right, I was being watched. We have to get out of here. Can you get us a STORK transport?"

"That's a big if." Billy says. "We have to get out of here." Megan tells him. "If we stay, we might end up dead, or worse."

"What about the commander?" Billy asks. "Maybe he can . . ." Billy stops, a realization coming to him that makes the blood drain from his face. "He's one of them, the bad guys!" He whispers. "That is my thoughts as well." Megan agrees. "I got the co-ordinates of Kain's projected flight path. We have to get to him before the Alliance, or whoever else, gets to him."

"If we do this, we're dead meat!" Billy objects. "And that is any different from our current situation how?" Megan asks. "We have been marked as scapegoats, and I have no intention of remaining here to find out what we are being blamed for."

"Good point." Billy says. "I'll make some calls. You better go get Choirriot out of the garage before they lock it down. I'll contact you in twenty." Megan nods, and the two part ways. All this time, she curses mentally. We've been leading Kain into a trap.

Standing behind the pilot's seat, Kain looks out the window at the clear blue sky. "I've always wondered what I'd be like to fly a fighter jet or something." Kain says. "I hear it's a rush."

"Oh yeah." The pilot, Dan, agrees. "But it's just as good as piloting an AC I hear."

"Cept you don't have to worry about your boosters running out of juice." Kain counters. "There been any word on that message to Mars base?" Dan nods. "Yeah, we managed to get through to them, but some guy named Edward shut us out, said that it wasn't official UEG protocol."

"UEG protocol?" Kain asks, surprised. "Mars base is supposed to be neutral. Did they get taken over?" Dan shrugs. "Haven't heard anything that says it is. According to what we know, Backlash is still supposed to be in charge." Kain frowns. "That was an Outer Heaven ID. I don't like this. Can you get them to try contacting them again? This time, try asking for Midas."

"I'll pass the message along." Dan assures him. "Speaking of messages." He says when he notices a light flashing. "We're getting one now." Nodding, Kain backs away from the seat. Two days into the flight east, Kain has already gotten used to the routine aboard the STORK transport. Fortunately, the crew is a good bunch, and are taking the long trip in stride. "Damn." Dan mutters, taking off his headset. "Problem?" Kain asks. "One of our scheduled stopovers just shut down." Dan explains. "It's a small airstrip we use regularly as a way point for long trips. Their runway's shutdown."

"Did they say why?" Kain asks. "Alliance goons just dropped in." Kain grimaces at the turn of events. "How's this going to affect our schedule?"

"Well." Dan says, checking several gauges. "Cutting through the northern regions like we are is going to make this a problem. We don't have enough fuel to make it to the next checkpoint. We're going to have to turn south and hit one of the smaller cities to refuel. Shouldn't change the schedule too much, but odds are good someone's going to notice we were there." Kain nods. "Alright, do what you can. Worst comes to worst, I'll cover you in Dark Knight." Dan nods as he calls up a map of the area. "Looks like the nearest city is here." He says, pointing out a position on the map. "Should take us about half an hour to get there."

"Greenback." Kain reads the name out loud. "There an Alliance base there?"

"Nothing on record." Dan replies. "Greenback is mostly farming country. They grow a lot of the food in this area, and the surrounding ones. But since it's all farmland, there isn't much else here, so most people don't come looking around too much. Last I heard, Alliance has a civil office here, but nothing from Tactical." Kain nods. "Alright, but just to make sure, I'll be suited up and ready to deploy when we land. Just in case."

"Works for me." Dan replies. Nodding, Kain turns and starts to walk towards the cargo hold. "Anything coming up on your end?" Kain asks DK quietly. "Negative." She replies. "However, my systems are currently out of range of any large scale network traffic." Reaching the cargo bay, Kain looks out at DK's form. "Better be ready for trouble by the time we land then." He mutters, hoping that the sudden change of plans is not a herald to disaster.

Half an hour later, the STORK transport touches down safely on the tarmac of Greenbank's airfield. "We got about five minutes on the ground." Dan radios to Kain. "We're the only ones scheduled to take off right now."

"That's not necessarily a good thing." Kain mutters from inside DK's cockpit. "Well, according to the tower, there's going to be a large air convoy coming in an hour or so from now." Dan explains. "Air traffic is usually at a low so that no one gets stuck waiting for the convoy to load up." Kain nods. "Makes more sense I guess." He admits. "But I'll feel better once we're back in the air. Keep me posted."

"Will do." Dan says before signing off. "Radar picking anything up?" He then asks DK. "Negative." DK replies. "Attempting to access local network. I am detecting high levels of communication traffic emanating from the control tower. However, analysis indicates that the traffic is not originating from the tower, or any other system within the limit of the air field."

"Can you narrow it down?" Kain asks. "Attempting to track the source." DK tells him. "However, it appears- Detecting MT activation within the area. Range, 1200 meters." Cursing, Kain reaches for the comm. unit to alert Dan, when Dan calls him. "Raven, we got trouble! MTs just popped up on our radar!"

"I saw them too." Kain replies. "What's our status?"

"We're docked at the fuelling station! We can't disengage until it's done. We're trapped!"

"This is Sergeant Chris Vorden of the Alliance Tactical's 8th regiment." A new male voice comes on through the general frequency. "STORK transport, you will power down your engines and prepare to be boarded."

"The 8th regiment is comprised of forty percent ACs, thirty percent MTs, and thirty percent ground and air vehicles." DK tells him. "Those are the MTs, but where's the ACs?"

"This is Wild Goose Three." Dan calls out. "What the hell is going on? You got no grounds to board us!" After a few seconds, Chris replies coldly. "Shut down your engines now Wild Goose, or we'll shoot them off."

"MTs closing in." Dan tells Kain. "Alright, open the hatch. I'll keep them busy while you refuel. If things go bad, take off without me."

"Good luck." Dan tells him, the hatch starting to open. "Wild Goose Three!" Chris shouts. "This is your last warning! Power down your engines now!" Walking the AC out of the hatch, both laser rifles in hand, Kain takes a look around and spots the first of the MTs approaching, an OSTRICH. "You girls looking for me?" Kain asks, firing the KAWASARA. The powerful shot from the laser rifle blows the OSTRICH apart. "He's here!" The sergeant yells. Hitting his boosters, Kain quickly puts some distance between himself and the transport, moving out towards the middle of the airfield. Seeing another OSTRICH, Kain quickly takes it out, the single shot it fires at him going wide.

"Three minutes!" Dan shouts at him. "Keep them off us as long as you can."

"I'm on it." Kain replies, taking out another OSTRICH. Boosting down to the other end of the runway, Kain quick boosts left to avoid a rocket. Turning to find its source, he sees three ZEKUH helicopters coming at him. Taking aim with the ZWC, Kain starts firing at the incoming enemies, taking out the first ZEKUH with ease. Seeing this, the other two break away, one of them firing more rockets at him. Boosting backwards to avoid the rockets, Kain fires again as something hits him in the back. "What was that?" Kain shouts. "HEP Shield at 63." DK reports. "Attack was a powerful plasma-based projectile." Spinning around, Kain sees an AC coming from the west, an ORC plasma rifle in the left hand, a CR-WR81G grenade launcher on the right. What catches Kain's eye though, are the ECHIDNA pursuit missile on the back.

"Alliance AC WildAce detected." DK informs him. "Yeah, I can see him!" Kain shouts, boosting to avoid a grenade. "Negative." DK replies. "We are currently engaged with Alliance AC Frontline." Cursing, Kain checks his radar, and sees the other AC is coming up fast on the other side of the terminal. "Wonderful." He mutters. Dodging fire from one of the ZEKUHs, Kain takes it out with a shot from the KAWASARA, and deploys the GREYON3. Seeing this, Frontline deploys his ECHIDNAS. "Shit." Kain growls, firing the GREYON3. Aiming for the core, Kain misses as Frontline moves, blowing off the left arm at the elbow.

Spinning to the right, Kain punches the OB as Frontline fires the ECHIDNA. "Analysis complete." DK reports as they quickly shout out of range of the missile swarm. "AC WildAce is equipped with SYURA blade arms, a KARURA missile launcher system, and a CR-WB87GLL Grenade launcher. Pilot will attempt to advance to close range while firing back units. Proceed with caution." Cutting the OB, Kain spins the AC around and sees both ACs coming towards him. "Definitely alliance." He mutters, seeing the while and blue paint. "Pilot of AC Dark Knight." Sergeant Chris Vorden calls out on the general frequency. "Power down your AC or prepare to be destroyed!"

"Yeah right." Kain replies, switching on his mic. "Don't start something I'm going to have to finish buddy." Cutting the mic, Kain switches to his HYDRA. "How long we got left?" He asks. "One minute, fifty-seven seconds." DK replies. Nodding, Kain quick boosts right to avoid another grenade from Frontline, firing his HYDRA as soon as it locks on to WildAce. "Any idea which one the sergeant is in?" Kain asks. Though Wild Ace doesn't manage to avoid all the missiles, his core's Anti-missile system takes out several of them. "The sergeants transmissions are originating from an unknown location." DK replies. "Attempting to pin-point location."

"Odds are good he's in another AC if he isn't here." Kain mutters. Boosting as he moves, Kain starts firing both rifles at the two. Though they manage to avoid some of the shots, the other ACs are quickly forced to start moving without boosters in order to conserve their condensers. "Did I mention how much I love infinite boosting?" Kain asks, watching WildAce get nailed by another shot of the KAWASARA. Seeing they are outmatched, the two AC's change tactics, splitting up as they try circle around him. Changing tactics to match, Kain shifts focus to WildAce, holstering both rifles as he goes boosting towards him.

Seeing this, WildAce fires his KARUKA, but several quick boosts around the missiles easily defeats most of them, his own anti-missile system taking out the rest. WildAce meanwhile, fires an energy wave from his laser blades, but Kain dodges again, and slashes with his own, the blades extending out of the units in his arms. Caught by surprise, WildAce only manages to avoid one of the slashes, the other one scoring a hit down the core and across the left leg. His attack made, Kain quick boosts to the right, and WildAce takes a grenade from FrontLine's 81G that had originally been meant from him.

"You guys need to practice your teamwork skills." Kain says over the general frequency. Boosting after him, WildAce tries to slash at him with his laser blades, but Kain quick boosts away, the fire from the two front boosters apparently surprising the other AC. Drawing his KAWASARA, Kain fires a round into the other AC, then Quick boosts around WildAce to avoid another grenade. "That guy's starting to annoy." He mutters. Slashing with his left arm blade, Kain aims low, and hits WildAce's legs. Seeing that they are not down yet, Kain fires a shot from the KAWASARA as he boosts by the AC towards Frontline.

Deploying the GREYON3, Kain curses when he sees Frontline getting ready to fire another barrage from the ECHIDNA. Firing his own weapon, Kain hits the OB, continuing to boost forward as it charges. Frontline meanwhile, takes the hit in the core as he fires, but as the missiles are ripping out of the launcher, Kain's OB sends him shooting towards Frontline. The other AC tries to back frantically away from him, but Kain quick boosts to the left at the last second, barely avoiding hitting him. Sensing this, the pursuit missiles try to react, but are too slow, and detonate in an attempt to catch Kain in the explosion. "That had to hurt." Kain says, checking behind him to see that Frontline got caught in the explosion of his own missiles.

"I didn't think ECHIDNA missiles were supposed to do that."

"Analysis indicates that AC Frontline has removed all safety features from his weapons." DK tells him. "Ballsy move." Kain says, cutting the OB. Spinning around to face the two ACs again, he sees that WildAce is limping towards him, Frontline also turning, his AC smoking and sparking. "Up to you boys if you want to keep going." Kain calls out. "Really don't want to have to kill you."

Frontline responds with a shot from his grenade rifle. Dodging it, Kain fires the GREYON3, aiming low. The shot takes out Frontline's right leg complete, sending it crashing to the ground. Turning his attention to WildAce, Kain curses when he sees a swarm of micro missiles coming at him. Boosting and quick boosting to the left, he tries to avoid the missiles, but has seen them too late to avoid the three that make it past his anti-missile. "Some people just don't know when to quit!" Kain shouts, firing the GREYON3 again.

Taking the shot to the core, WildAce staggers, but manages to keep his feet as he fires the KARURA again. Hitting his OB, Kain boosts so that WildAce is to his left before it kicks in. Shooting forward, Kain flies past the micro missiles before they have a chance to correct their trajectories, and as he passes WildAce, he slashes with his laser blade, hitting the other AC in the core again. It's damage threshold exceeded, WildAce powers down, the AC starting to smoke. "AC WildAce disabled." DK reports. Turning, Kain catches sight of the AC in time to see the core blow. "Stupid bastard." He spits in disgust. "How you doing out there Wild Goose?"

"We're just about to take off." Dan replies. "Those were some fancy moves you got. Hatch is open, get in here before we lift off." Checking his radar, Kain sees that the STORK is taxing up to the runway as they are speaking. "Gotcha Wild Goose." Kain says. "Coming in for-"

"Incoming missiles!" Dan suddenly shouts. Checking his own radar, Kain sees them coming from the south. "What the hell?" he exclaims. "Detecting long range ballistic missiles. Immediate evacuation required!" DK reports. "Take off now!" Kain shouts. "Go, go, go!" Turning, Kain quickly starts boosting away from the airfield. "We're not going to make it!" Dan shouts frantically. Cursing, Kain hits his OB. "Impact in five seconds." DK warns him. "Come on." Kain says under his breath. "Get your fat ass in the air Wild Goose!"

Seconds later, the missiles hit the airfield, and a massive blast erupts outwards from the impact point. Feeling the shockwave hit Dark Knight, Kain tries to ride it out, keeping the OB on until the condenser runs dry. "We have cleared the explosion." DK reports just as he is about to activate the boosters again. "What the hell was that?" Kain asks in shock. Turning, he looks towards the airfield, but sees nothing but a massive dust cloud in the air. "Analysis indicates high-yield ballistic missiles were fired from an unknown location." DK tells him. "They took out the entire field?" Kain shouts. "What kind of fucking maniacs they got running Alliance Tactical?"

"Unknown." DK replies. "Detecting additional AC and MT signatures on long-range radar." Cursing, Kain checks the radar himself when Chris' voice comes over the comm. unit. "You bastard!" He shouts angrily. "You're one to talk!" Kain shoots back. "What the hell's the big idea using that kind of firepower on a civilian airfield?"

"We didn't fire those missiles." Chris says angrily. "But I'll find out who did after I bring you in. AC BladeEdge to all forces: Move in."

"Oh shit." Kain curses, recognizing the name. "I know him." Checking the area map, Kain finds some hills in the distance. Turning the AC, he starts boosting towards them. "Four AC units detected." DK tells him. "Are any of them rankers?" He asks. "Unknown." DK replies. "AC Swordfish, AC WhiteLight, AC Reborn, AC BladeEdge detected."

"Don't recognize any of those names." Kain says after some thought. "But I know BladeEdge. He used to be a mid-level ranker in the southern regions. Lightweight reverse joint with PEGASUS back boosters, a NIOH on the right, and a MOONLIGHT on the left, some kind of inside and extensions, can't remember. Either way, he's fast, and he's real good at close range combat. Saw him take down a heavy once with those things. We got to be real careful. Any sign of Wild Goose?"

"Negative. Wild Goose Three did not escape the blast radius."

"Who the hell fired those things?" Kain growls, slamming his fist against the console. "Never mind. Try and find out how many units they got in the area, ACs, MTs, and armor. Is the stealth on?"

"Affirmative. Stealth system active." Kain nods. "Good. Hope your ready, cause this is going to be a long run home."