OSaBC : The Bird of Hermes
Chapter Eleven: Unyielding Resolve
A/N: It's amazing how fast I can do things when work is not detonating.
"And why was High Command not informed of this group, again?"
"Because our operations are beyond your purview, and because we are beyond the chain of command".
"The High Command - "
"Is a military group rife with politics, personal rivalries, and red tape. Omega doesn't have time for that, Admiral, and frankly, the fact you're wasting my time here further reinforces you should just take a hint and leave Omega out of this entirely."
-Admiral Branson and Colonel Jaime Herrero, Redacted Subsections, Reports on the Magog Incident
As with every morning, the first thing Jaime Herrero did was say a prayer. His parents had been strict Neo-Catholics, but even beyond that, surviving the horror of the assault of the turians on Shanxi was nothing less than a miracle to him.
He never blamed General Williams, and never understood why the High Lords would. Was not the reason Sainted Victor put them above the masses, and to elevate only the brave and valorous in the years to follow, was so they could protect the weak?
As he finished his prayers, Jaime admitted he never would have a good answer to what Victor intended. There was the reality of the here, and the now.
And above that, the defense of humanity. It sounded trite...but it never was. Just because something could be summed up in a pithy phrase didn't make it shallow, after all.
He showered and did his morning stretches, snorting in amusement as he heard the fumbling crash of Rey Oso, the battlesuit pilot across the hall, smashing his alarm clock back into silence. His corner food unit produced the Carajillo coffee he favored, which he drank slowly as he checked the morning data-lines on SA-6 – more of the same, riots on some turian colony, a Windsor running for vice president of the SA, stock drops due to piracy – and then pulled open his closet.
Like all officers in Omega Response, his quarters were very large – a bedroom with attached bath, a small kitchenette, and a living space, as opposed to the small single room most junior captains would get. As he pulled out his best set of undress blues, he wondered if the Alliance - or Omega Command - really thought fancy barracks rooms would make up for the horrors his unit had seen.
He was about to change when his TTL repeater on the wall chimed, before the VI spoke. "Incoming priority one message. Sender: Paul Herrero."
Jaime frowned. His grand-uncle was the commanding officer of the Omega Response Rectification, the half of Omega that dealt with cleaning what the scouting unit – Omega Force Recon – found in the way of the anomalous, the disturbing, and the shit that made no blessed sense.
While they were close, Jaime always wondered how much truth there was to their relationship. He had no idea of Paul was his real great-uncle or not, but he'd raised him since the death of his parents, and the loss of his home on Shanxi. He'd put him through school, got him into the SA Officer Corps, obtained Jaime a recommendation to N-series training, then tapped him for Omega.
But he always told Jaime one thing : "We are all but tools in the service of humanity."
For Uncle Paul to call him this early in the morning probably was bad news. He tapped the wall panel, laying his blues aside and inhaling deeply before speaking. "Si, Uncle, I'm here."
The voice that answered had a more refined Spanish accent, rich with the years his grand-uncle had lived. A deep tenorous voice that was both hard and calming. "No hay tiempo para buenos días, I'm afraid. We've had an... incident. Most of Force Recon is still scouting that potential site in Dalaxa, so I'm scrubbing your unit's deployments and issuing a hot recall to anyone out on leave. Go put on your dress whites and meet me at the Tower's unit office block in the next half hour. Third floor."
Jaime noted with no little alarm that his uncle's voice, usually so level and calm, had a trace of fear for the first time he could remember. A second later explained why. "We have just received an Alert..a bad one."
Jaime exhaled carefully, as was his habit before speaking, then nodded to himself as he responded.
"Understood. Estaré en camino rápidamente."
Paul's voice dropped in volume. "Jaime. One more thing. This isn't a Pizzaro callout. This is Alverado Sequence, Alverez Protocol. So ven rápido. Paul out."
Jaime stared dumbly at the comms panel, which chirped a moment later. "Message ends. Alert. All active Reaction Force Units are to report to barracks for full biohazardous condition inspection by no later than 1400 today."
A second later, the rally alarm went off, the triple rising whoop sounds echoing through the base. Across the hall Jaime heard Oso cursing the sound, but he only shrugged and turned to the closet again, this time pulling down a sealed anti-static bag.
He slipped it open, revealing his dress whites, and smothered a grin at the missing dress blues. Those were an unfortunate... casualty of the stripper party a few weeks back, and the laundry was still working on the whipped cream stains.
A moment later, as he slid the pants off the rack, his grin faded. Omega Response had several tiers of call-out, depending on the severity of the issue. Cortez was the lowest level of threat, an anomalous item that could cause significant harm and the deaths of millions of humans. Then there was Pizzaro, which would be the doom of humanity, and Cordoba, which was a threat that could take out an entire galaxy.
The highest level of threat, Alverez Protocol, indicated a threat capable of causing the extinction of the human race. It had a special modifier known as an Alverado Sequence, when the Oracle Device had predicted not only its own destruction but that of the galaxy... or more.
Jaime did not know the history of Omega well – he knew it had gone under other names before – but he knew the only other time Alverado had been called was in the Laughing Mask Incident. Nearly the entire force of whatever Omega was called back then had been killed stopping that thing.
He hurriedly dressed, pausing once done to open his door and yell at Oso. "Oso! Get your ass going, vago!"
He ignored the vague and anatomically impossible response as he attached his haptic ribbon block then ran the omni-shaper over his marine high-and-tight haircut to touch it up. He checked his reflection for flaws, then he was on the move.
Leaving the officer barracks, he saw the inner compound was in chaos. Already the various squads were being hustled up by scowling master chiefs, while the huge warehouse doors leading to the armor depot were open, the first of Omega's monster tanks rolling out for prep. He bypassed knots of milling soldiers prepping gear, sidestepped a group of black-armored Commissars checking weapons and flame units, and walked briskly towards central command.
The command tower lay ahead, tucked into the knee of Jungfrau, surrounded by siege walls and ringed with more defenses, dark against the snowy backdrop of the Alps. Cold wind buffeted Jaime as he approached, the heavy metal doors sliding open to reveal the base of the tower.
A hexagonal portal of laser steel nearly three meters high marked the entrance to Omega Command, flanked by a pair of bulky looking soldiers. Jaime knew these were bio-augmented agents, crammed with bionetics and nanonics and chipped up with nerve enhancers – they could kill a normal man in the time it took one to draw breath.
The guards glanced at Jaime, one holding up a hand. "Retinal scan and blood sampling ID, then your ID card, sir."
Jaime only nodded, stepping up to the foam-lined eye-slots of the retinal scanner, placing his left hand on the sampler plate. He knew full well there was a gigawatt level maser behind the scanner that would vaporize anyone who failed three attempts, but he'd done this hundreds of times and it was old hat to him. He didn't bother wincing at the brief sting of the blood probe, and a moment later the VI chimed and spoke. "Welcome, Lieutenant Colonel. Access Granted."
Jaime arched an eyebrow as he stood up and handed the left guard his ID card, frowning. He was a Captain, not a Lieutenant Colonel, unless...
His train of thought was broken by the guard handing him back the ID. "Sounds like you're moving up in the world, sir. You're cleared for level three."
Jaime nodded, stepping inside Command Tower. He'd always been on level one, where his own office was. Level one was general command, comms and C3I Level two was where his uncle's office was, and the XO, as well as the restricted armory where Anomalous Objects could be issued for … various reasons.
Level four was supposedly just comms equipment...but level three extended slightly outside the smooth walls of the tower, and was the floor with a passage that connected the base to the inside of the mountain, and whatever lay within.
Jaime sighed as he moved forward, taking in the 'military foyer' that was more 'fallback strong-point' than a lounge. Turrets swiveled to track him, while of fellow cyber-assassins leaned against walls near omni-barricade cover, powerful rifles in easy reach. Offices and planning rooms surrounded the open center section, while Omega Response planning units were on comm consoles along the walls, barking orders.
His feet made booming noises across the grated metal floor, a floor Jaime knew could be electrified to over 500 amps and a million volts. He passed his own office and entered the elevator, as a laser beam scanned him. "Level Three." Jaime spoke as calmly as he could as the doors shut, seeking to not betray any sense of uncertainty.
After all, he thought sourly, the further you went, the more you knew - even if you find out later that you preferred ignorance.
The elevator was silent as it ascended, and the doors slid open barely twenty seconds later. The corridor beyond was opulent – the floor was real wood paneling, which was ridiculously expensive, the walls were half oak paneling and half damask blue wall paper that looked to Jaime's somewhat untrained eye like hyper-silk.
Six heavy laser steel doors breached the sides of the hallway, which continued past them to terminate in what looked like a goddamned vault door made out of Silaris.
Jaime just stared at this for a long moment before chuckling and tapping his omni, which displayed a haptic guide line to the door he was supposed to go into. He approached it, and the door slid down rather than apart or up. Taking a deep breath, he stepped through.
Even by Omega's standard, the office was very spacious. It had a transparisteel window that covered the length of one wall, giving a magnificent view of the Alpine mountains, while two other walls were covered by a set of haptic screens on one and a combination of a wet bar and a comms panel on the other one. On the narrow sections of wall next to the screen were a collection of items – a shattered ceramic mask, with black stains around the eye-holes, what looked like a burned book, and some kind of golden metallic bracer, pitted with age.
Jaime's feet sank into deep pile black carpeting as he moved forward, closer to a pair of leather arm chairs in front of a heavy wooden desk framed in steel, topped by a slab of black marble smoothed to a mirror finish.
Uncle Paul sat in one chair, a distinctly stiff look on his features, dressed in his dress whites with his ribbon for the Star of Sol darkly around his neck. The other man behind the desk was not bulky, but not slender. Tall, but not exceedingly so. His dark hair and eyes were the same as Paul and Jaime, his classical latin features were the chiseled looks of a model under the decades of stress and battle he no doubt had experienced. Jaime knew, in theory, that the overall Omega Response CO was always called 'the Commander', but the rank boards on his shoulders indicate he was technically a full general.
Jaime came to a neat stop, and saluted. "Captain Jaime Herrero, reporting as ordered, sir."
Uncle Paul smiled thinly. "Lieutenant Colonel now, son. Have a seat."
The man behind the desk reached for a rosewood box bound in asari moon-silver, withdrawing a dark gray cigar, which he lit using an ancient gold Zippo lighter. A moment later he sets the lighter down, even as fans tucked into the ceiling draw the smoke away. The cool, pitiless gray eyes meet Jaime's own he examined him, then he gave a single nod.
Jaime sat carefully, as the man spoke. His voice was coolly intellectual, but also hard with a tone of instinctive command. It was also alarmingly tired sounding, the voice of a man who has seen far too much and done too many things to sleep well at night.
"Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel. The promotion is unexpected, I am sure, but necessary. Major Herrero has been nothing but complementary of your leadership of Dagger Squad, and your unit competition against Phoenix Squad and Angel Squad was... more than acceptable. And with the situation we are now facing, your promotion was both overdue...and prudent."
Jaime said nothing, merely listening, and the Commander continued. "My name is General Reyes Escudero Villanueva Cortés Vidal, a cadet of House Espinoza. I am the Commander of all of Omega Response... and another unit you will learn about shortly."
Reyes dumped his ashes, drawing on the cigar before continuing. "You are here for a command-level briefing and indoc as executive officer, Hyperion Company. You are no doubt aware that 'Hyperion' does not exist in our order of battle. It does now. Phoenix, Dagger, Night, Angel, Scythe, and Gallant Squads are being combined into this company, along with two lances of battlesuits from Mountain and Viper Squads."
Reyes gestured with his free hand at Paul. "Company Commander will be Major Herrero, now Major of Marines Herrero. You are the XO. The Command NCO will be Warrant Officer Mac Caverty. Unit commissar is Black Rendition Amelia Sloane."
Jaime nodded warily. And he knew these names – WO Caverty was the senior warrant officer of all of Omega, a man with a block of medals that won't even all fit on his massive chest. Sloane was the unit commissar and known the Black Ice Princess for her demeanor and anger issues, as well as her beauty.
The squads named made up at least 50% or more of the striking power of Omega Response.
Left unsaid was the fact that Jaime had never lead more than a squad. Rather than responding, Jaime merely nodded.
Reyes smiled, glancing at Paul, then back at Jaime. "You almost certainly have questions, I am sure. But they'll have to wait a bit, because you'll have even more after the briefing. Major Herrero?"
Uncle Paul sighed, pulling up something on his omni-tool. "The situation is bad. We received an alert from ... Command. One of several. This one took a lot of tracking down. What little we know is alarming. The Short Version; we have a situation involving what looks like civilian and military assets of the SA - specifically HERMES R&D teams - deployed to what we now believe is either a Ythrongi colony... or possibly their home world. We are unsure."
Jaime blanched at that alien word, eyes widening. He glanced from his uncle to Reyes, who gave him a single grim nod, before looking back. "Why aren't we –"
Paul held up a hand. "Let me finish. Trust me, no one is happy about this." He gave a gusty exhale. "The sitrep is grim. An Ashland-Eldfell team was on the world - lured by something we can't backtrace, but given the weird shit in the system, probably exploratory mining - and then vanished with no trace found. Eleven hundred workers, four hundred support staff. Two HE3 mining stations and four ships."
Paul's voice dropped. "They sent in a recon team, poof. Ido. Desapareció. At the time, there was no clear understanding of what the threat was. HERMES was sent in based on fragmented telemetry and dropped a research team...that reported in for a week and then also went ... missing."
Reyes interjected here. "There's some evidence that the first HERMES team knew exactly what the hell they were dealing with. But instead of contacting us for assistance, the team leader made a more questionable choice."
Paul snorted. "That ignorant..."
Reyes smiled. "Concéntrese en el informe, no en lo estúpida que ha sido la gente, Paul."
Paul nodded sourly. "Si. Well...Admiral Vandefar – that's the head of R&D, Jaime – sent in another team and a combat team - this one with her own niece on it - and they are now showing as missing as well. She finally got around to notifying us... but not until she sent in another troubleshooter."
Reyes piped up. "From that point things become more confusing. Admiral Vandefar's agent investigator is a decorated N5 full conversion cyborg who is well known to the Manswells – background in forensics. As I'll cover in a bit, his reports are alarming, but the problem is that the Manswells owe this man a life debt and he carries the Iron Valor – we can't just kill him out of hand if he becomes problematic."
Reyes' sour expression twisted into a wry smile. "Additionally, the captain of the first HERMES team is the son of Lord General Kinnix, and there are several other minor sons or daughters of Lords on the teams. As a result, keeping this quiet – or at least, out of the influence of the Lords of Sol – is impossible. Worst still, we believe an STG team has obtained some of the comm information and is routing towards the system - Jeremiah - to investigate."
He gave Jaime a thin, humorless smile. "Per our... agreement... with the Celestial Council, all pre-Insuannon digsites and ruins are supposed to be announced prior to investigation. While we can maybe explain to them what is happening, if the STG – who is not fully aware of the situation – gets involved, then we have a problem. Questions thus far?"
Uncle Paul shifted in his seat. "\Do we know the person Vandefar sent in as a troubleshooter, sir?"
Reyes checked his omni. "One...Jeff Bright, I believe. To say that Vandefar was not cooperative is an understatement, and I'm afraid I don't have details at this time."
Uncle Paul arched an eyebrow in surprise. "...if we are talking about the same person, he's an N5, yeah, but he is also a full conversion cyborg. Good man, I didn't think he would, ah... mingle in the sort of circles that would land him in Vandefar's claws. She prefers people who have fucked up their own lives, yes?"
Reyes leaned back. "Perhaps. Don't forget that more than a few marines - Carnegie, Adams Jr, Ryder, and Mellan - work for her too. Could be she has connections. And some of our own, like Paig, work for her out of... misplaced beliefs. Synthia Vandefar has been playing the game since you and I were kids in the barrio, Paul. Don't forget that."
Jaime frowned, thinking. He knew a little about the Ythrongi – they were the mysterious, yet absolute terror of the elder races, and only rule of thumb was that you stayed the hell away from their sites. He spoke in respectful tones. "Sir, did Vandefar know she was sending an expedition to Ythrongi turf? Or at what point did it become apparent?"
Reyes chuckled. "He is sharp, Paul." He redirected his gaze to Jaime. "I would like to believe she did not know the site was Ythrongi beforehand. We have... evidence that seems to point at outside sources feeding HERMES bad data. However, we gave extremely detailed materials analysis and profile data to Aloxius Manswell to pass on to R&D and his AIS scouts. That she did not call us might indicate an error on her part...or that the data was never passed on."
Paul swore hotly in Spanish, while Reyes only grinned sourly. He continued in a softer tone. "However, as you will hear in a moment, recent events make this a questionable point. I would instead say that regardless of whether she did or not, the information that was made available to her about the true threat is probably ... very much full of redactions. Aloxius is of the belief that the less is known about some things, the better."
Jaime frowned. "What recent events have occurred, General?"
Vidal exhaled, gently tapping ashes from his cigar into a wide ashtray of ceramic and gold by his side.
"First, the cruiser Decca was sent to the system to established high overwatch. From what we've been told, this was done by direct order of Aloxius, not Vandefar. We're not sure why, or if Vandefar requested it or it was due to transmissions from the HERMES team, but it was sent out with a full payload of Kyle torpedoes and orders to isolate the system. That, in and of itself, sounds like the correct approach."
Reyes tapped his omni, displaying grainy video on the haptic wall screen. "Unfortunately, something happened to change that. Upon reaching the Jeremiah system, the cruiser was reported destroyed by Bright, and he sent back this video. It is ... extremely unpleasant."
Jaime observed the video feed, feeling his stomach drop at the gruesome sights on the ship. "That...sir, I'm not a Ythrongi expert, but that doesn't look like the Choir to me."
Reyes nodded slowly. "No, it certainly does not. We've gone over every document the Department of Abnormalities has, even the apocryphal stuff from the pre-spaceflight eras, and nothing we've encountered is even remotely similar to this. Graviton manipulation on this scale makes modern mass effect technology look like knapping flint spearheads. It is my belief that Synthia didn't immediately call for Omega since this is clearly not something in the... guidelines."
He clicked the video off. "Unfortunately, her headstrong nature is working against us. The second problem is that Vandefar leaked the HERMES mission information to General Jason Kinnix, who then used his contacts among the Lords of Sol to dig for more. It looks like the General talked Admiral Ahern into giving him a pinnace and border transition clearance - and that the general and at least some of his Knights slipped into the Jeremiah system."
Paul interrupted. "Why in the name the Holy Virgin...oh Merde, don't tell me this is more shit about Kinnix not marrying Synthia..."
Reyes gave a sharp bark of amused laughter, briefly taking the stress out of his expression. "Conoces a Jason. Pero... esto es más que una discusión entre viejos amantes, creo." He turned back to Jaime.
"Regardless of the reasons behind her actions, I do not need to explain how... unnecessarily complicating that makes our job. I know Jason Kinnix, have for years. He isn't the sort of man who will compromise on anything, and his discovery of a threat to humanity is to kill it."
Paul snorted. "I never met him personally, but I've heard all the stories. I actually ran into him on the Citadel when I went to interview Ahern about... another thing. That guy looks like the factory that makes brick shithouses, Rey."
Reyes merely shrugged. "I have a... deeper connection with the man, but I digress." He got a troubled look in his eyes. "The mere presence of someone onsite with no background in this sort of thing could lead to all kinds of complications. And he will – the relay in the nearest system is now locked down, but it was not under our positive control. It looks like Kinnix's ship got past the border guards and has probably already landed."
He puffed on the cigar. "The third development is that we're...well, being constrained. We had an initial strike force aboard the Spear of Longinus – Force Recon only, given we had limited information – ready to go twenty hours ago and the High Lords instructed me to hold off. They instead plan to have R&D send a team from Ache Lamao to ... investigate and scrub the site so that no human presences will be detected should the STG show up."
Jaime looked at Reyes in confusion. "...but that violates the Isolation Protocols!"
Reyes smiled. "I know, son. Trust me, I – and the Task Committee, and the Administrator – have discussed this...in detail." He shook his head. "More recent developments indicate the situation has already breached IsoProt anyway. After Bright reported the Decca destroyed, the High Lords sent in additional forces – the battle cruiser Serapis and the destroyers Arc Royal and Marathon were sent into the system with a support vessel to attempt to prevent any additional FTL traffic from reaching it."
He paused, looking at something on his omni that bleeped, before continuing. "...two hours ago we received emergency flash traffic from the Serapis - 'abandon ship, loss of ship control, loss of mass core containment' - and then nothing. Probes sent in showed all ships reduced to wreckage. The Serapis and the other two ships were Isolation Protocol scouts – they had Omega crews and were more heavily armed than stock."
He glanced Paul. "Finally, as of eighty seven minutes ago we have also lost contact with the R&D support ship Impious Delight. We believe the ship's pilot - one Sara Ryder - may have gone into the system - either she was convinced by General Kinnix to do so or she has some reason to go in."
He leaned back in his chair. "As we have our hands tied by the High Lords the ... prudent thing to do would be await further orders." He took a puff of the cigar, then smirked. "I wasn't ever known for prudence, was I, Paul?"
Paul gave a strained laugh, then shook his head. "I always thought you'd end up a smuggler or ladies man, honestly, sir."
The mirth in Reyes' eyes faded after a second. "I only wish. I'd have made a damn good smuggler." He squared his shoulders. "Questions, so far, Lieutenant Colonel?"
For a second Jaime was thrown, then tried to organize his thoughts. "With respect, sir, wouldn't the prudent thing be for Omega to have gone in the first place? We're far better suited for handling and cleaning up these situations than Ache Lameo."
Reyes smiled warmly. "I assure you, Lt. Colonel, that I made that argument loudly and ... repeatedly. So did Commissar-Colonel Willamark from Black Rendition. So did, for that matter, the Ahaltocob XO and security chief, Colonel Sahu. That being said..."
The general stood, turning away from the two other men to stare out the window.
"...way up here, far from the ruined coasts and the fucked up oceans, the fouled atmosphere that won't block UV and the corpses of the cities that ring our arcologies...you couldn't tell the Earth was almost dead. I've spent the last thirty five years of my life stopping threats. Securing. Containing. Protecting."
He half turned back, his expression tight. "Arrogant fools too drunk on their own goddamned power may think they are in charge but they are not. The Administrator has already instructed me on how to proceed. The Task Committee has signed off on it and, I assure you, we shall not wait on this foolish game to play out."
He glanced to the window again, his voice musing, tired. "When I was your age, I was on the Dianata Dig Response."
Jaime nodded. He knew that name, the very first time an OP force ran across a Ythrongi site, which involved almost total casualties.
Reyes continued in the same soft tone. "I remember the way our weapons did nothing, how physics and even common sense turned on us, how everything was... chaos, and uncontrollable. I remember the grace of those fell creatures, and their...amusement at us trying to stop them."
He placed a hand on the window, voice dropping even lower. "But above all else...even after all these years, I have never forgot that melody. Those notes, burning into my mind, sapping my very ability to think, to resist. There are times at night I hear it still. Calling me. Pulling me."
He turned back to face the two officers. "We will not survive if this comes unmeshed, gentlemen. The Ythrongi make any threat from mere aliens as dangerous by comparison as Styrofoam bullets."
Paul and Jaime traded glances, and then Jaime spoke. "So we go with the best of a bad hand. Won't be the first time, sir. Are we still getting intel from the probes?"
Reyes nodded, sitting back down. "So far we are receiving telemetry from the mass relay and the system boundary of the system before Jeremiah. The probes attempted to scan the planet - Rho - itself. Something was able to bypass all security lockouts and air-gaped disconnects and take control of them within ninety seconds of the first use of ground-mapping LADAR".
He smiles thinly. "As such, I have instructed the guard units in the system to destroy anything coming out of Jeremiah for now. The High Lords have said they're sending in the Repensum in, with two battalions of Penal Legionaries and a reinforced investigative team – Hostile Response – to the Jeremiah system. It should be arriving in the next two to three hours. We expect updated telemetry then. The Repensum has some... augmentations that should allow it to stand off even Ythrongi weapons systems for some time."
Jaime nodded. "How long before we move, then?"
Paul chuckled. "That's the big question I have too, Rey."
Reyes gave them both a long look. "Ostensibly, after the Ache Lamao team runs into difficulties. Or the Repensum is turned into a giant pile of wreckage. Hiding three thousand missing people, two entire HE3 stations, two capital ships and two escorts will be child's play compared to trying to hide the destruction of the High Lords own personal dreadnought".
He puffed on the cigar. "However, the belief of the Task Committee – and the Administrator – is that these delays are not only unprudent but are evidence of... possible lack of cooperation. As such, we are not waiting for authorization. The Administrator feels the chances of losing containment on this are... too high."
Paul straightened in his chair. "Oh, fuck. We're declaring Coronado?!"
Jaime swallowed. Just as with situations that involved danger, Omega had a number of protocols called 'escalations', usually predefined responses to possible issues that required everyone to know the response called for. The most extreme of them was the Coronado Escalation, which was triggered in the event that the High Lords themselves threatened the mission of the Foundation Order of Salvation.
In short, it was to use several anomalous objects to mind-control and 'convince' the High Lords to let Omega do its job. It had never been actually used, and the thought of doing so was nerve-wracking, since the devices had been tested to work but no long-term experiments had been done.
Reyes merely nodded. "Not immediately. However, we will be deploying today. In direct countervention of the High Lords request, since they did not back it with a Red Note, only... informal orders. If they were to issue a formal Red Note, then we would proceed directly to Coronado, of course. The ring and the typewriter are already pulled from storage and ready to go in that case."
Reyes took another puff on the cigar, smiling sardonically. "The ... political reality, of course, is obviously going to be ugly. I will almost certainly be forced to resign - or worse - as this is resolved. My own mental stability is questionable at this point, my health is failing, and so forth. The Task Committee themselves expects to be... replaced as well, as a result."
He looked up. "Thus, I have tapped Major Herrero to take my position as Commander...and he has tapped you to take his role as commander of the rectification squads. That is half of why you got promoted and are here, Lt. Colonel. The other half is that before I am comfortable with that choice, I need to see you in action. And thus, you will accompany Major Herrero as XO of Hyperion."
Jaime nodded firmly. "Yes, sir. Orders?"
Reyes dumped his ashes. "Your orders are simple. Not easy, but simple. I'm basically repeating exactly what the Task Committee told me in this regard."
"First, arrest or execute General Kinnix and anyone with him. It's now certain that the Ache Lameo team will be on the site before we can get there. At least one of the members on the team was ex-Omega. Kinnix is many things, but he's mainly very protective of his children - if he seeks information, he WILL overpower the team and could interrogate him. We cannot let the existence of Omega Response get into the open."
Reyes paused. "If he is not there and the Ache Lameo team is not cooperative, report that to us immediately. If he is there, I'd appreciate it if you tried to get him to stand down and isolate...but if you must kill him, don't hesitate."
"Second, identify anything Kinnix or the Ache Lamao teams uncover. If you can, contain it for retrieval. If it is too dangerous, destroy it - kill anyone trying to resist. Third, regardless of what you find out, destroy any active archaeotech and any signs of human presence remaining. Plant motion-activated M/AM eezo-enhanced detpacks - manual geared timers, use the 500 megaton range. That's going to require a trooper for each one, so plan accordingly. Use the Heimdall Protocol and AO-592 to reduce anything alien or … worse to a state where it cannot be found. AO-592 is already loaded on the Spear of Longinus."
He leaned back. "Last but not least, you're authorized to undertake any action to prevent the Ythrongi from getting out. That means anything at all, so don't bother asking permission."
He paused. "Stopping the Choir won't be easy. They are functionally immune to most of our arsenal, and we have scattered reports that there are things down there that are hostile to VI, AI, and some nanoforms. We already have the armorers pulling the stock VIs and using copies of AO-922 to compensate, but keep it in mind when it comes to options you have. If required, the Spear of Longinus is to bombard the planet with fouled eezo and antimatter until it is a cinder, then fire terminator black nano dispensers - manually overridden to use all energy sources and set to the highest priority for destructive replication."
Paul swore again. "Madre de Dios... this is going to be a clusterfuck. How will you handle it back here? How do we handle reporting in once this mess is done?"
Reyes snorted. "It is a given, considering the outcome, that I will be at least arrested by Commissars, and either forced to retire, mind-wiped or executed. In returning, your reports and your personal interviews are to indicate that you were given direct orders by me and that you were told that if you did not comply that you would be imprisoned and executed and that you were not aware the High Lords had told us not to act without their approval and clearance."
Jaime frowned. "...you want us to lie to Commissars, sir?"
Reyes smirked. "I...well. Let's just say I am sure for reasons I can't go into that they will not bother using truth-tell drugs". He leaned forward, cigar in his mouth, and smiled. "Additional questions?"
"Which types of nanoforms, should we use on the Choir, sir? And with this new unit, are we taking all of Hyperion, or just a detachment?"
Reyes shrugged. "That is one of the things you'll need to test - preferably, with launched remote probes that crash to the surface and trigger a wide nanoresponse set. As for your second question, this isn't time to fuck around. You'll take the entire force. One half will be under your command, as Force Recon. The other half - mostly the battlesuits and heavy weapons troopers - will be under Major Herrero, as rectification and purification."
Reyes gestured with his free hand. "Given that I expect Vandefar will issue immediate fallback and retreat orders to her people once she figures out we're moving, as long as we can confirm they did not bring anything physical off that damned nightmare planet, the order to execute them can be ignored. Any data they find might be put to good use – but I will not allow them to leave with any anomalous objects."
Jaime nodded warily, while Paul shook his head. "Y si la perra es demasiado estúpida para decirle a su gente que se vaya? I mean, this is Synthia, she's as stubborn as six mules, you know."
Reyes gave Paul a tired smile. "I find that a Kyle torpedo is very jaunty at saying 'Hello' and 'Goodbye!' in one single effort."
Jaime spoke up. "And the Lord General, sir? I mean, I get we can't let him out of the system...but he didn't know better. Shouldn't we go for arrest and subdual, not... just shooting him if he doesn't understand why he needs to stand down?"
Reyes looked troubled. "I hate saying this, but General Kinnix is a liability. If you can arrest him do so, please. I'd much rather he'd be arrested than killed. But...if he won't cooperated, the last thing we need is his gung-ho moron ass running his mouth – or sticking his dick where it shouldn't go."
Reyes put the cigar in the ashtray, lacing his fingers together a moment later. "In any event you'll need the full force to ... succeed. Every operation we've conducted against the Ythrongi has had upwards of 80% casualties, and this looks to be even worse than the rest."
Jaime winced. "And if the situation is FUBARed enough that the STG gets into Jeremiah?"
Reyes gave Jaime a long look. "The existence of Omega Protocol cannot be divulged to alien nationals. We work closely with the Celestial Council, but their mandate is basically the same as ours, and they've been covering for us for decades now."
He grimaced. "The STG, on the other hand, is just the tool of the SIX. Who are looking for any angle to stir up shit between us and the Council. We just got on the blasted Council, running an unsanctioned dig on pre-Insuannon ruins without telling anyone would draw down holy hell on us, but worse than that the existence of Omega would get out to uncleared parties. I am not sure which is worse, the Council finding out that we have been running containment efforts since long before we achieved industrialization, much less spaceflight, or learning that their own anomalous objects group has been lying to them for twenty five years."
Reyes gave a shrug. "Either way, we can't let it happen. If you can maneuver events to prevent from being discovered without combat, excellent. If you can't try to get them to go after Ache Lameo. Failing that, if you can be 100% sure of clean kills - do it. Throw the bodies and any wreckage into the star. If you can't, you will need to execute Protocol Zoratama."
Jaime's face hardened at that – Zoratama was a suicide protocol – and Paul spoke up quickly, his voice heated. "...with all due respect, if you're that concerned, sir, I can lead the mission fine by myself. Jaime can stay here and go through the ... documents and meet with the Administrator."
Reyes' return smile was wintry. "I am aware of the ... cost. Given that I am likely to be set on fire and tossed into the Grand Canyon in a week or so, trust me, I would prefer us not to have to resort to that. But the stakes are high, Major. And your XO is not mentally sound enough, based on her last evaluation, to command Hyperion."
Paul's frown deepened, and Reyes's voice gentled. "And truth be told, Paul... neither are you. But you're the only man for the job. That means your nephew rides into hell with you. We don't have any one else. Sana is one bad day from cracking like an egg, and the two Force Recon officers are just too fucking timid."
Reyes leaned back in his chair, his features hardening. "Tactical deployments, requisitions, and intel plotting-recon will be handled by Major Vista. Prayers and final inspection will be done by Commissar Sloane. Do either of you have further questions at this time?"
Jaime shook his head. "No, sir. And..." He turned to his grand-uncle. "This... is what you trained me for, Uncle Paul. Hominem Permaneo. Besides, from what you've told me, Omega Command promotion might be a worse fate."
Paul looked troubled, and Reyes spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. "'Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day'".
He stood. "This is what we do. It is our God-given task, gentlemen. Death, horror, insanity - all in sacrifice to avoid the shape of the nightmares shown to us by the Oracle Device. We die in the dark, so that others can live in the light...and cursing that is not our place. With luck and the will of God and Victor, this will go smoothly. You will arrest Kinnix and his men, the Ache Lamao meddlers will flee back under Vandefar's skirts, you'll clean up the site and the STG can drop into that fucking hellhole and get horribly killed."
His voice hardened. "This is not the first time we have faced the Choir, and it will not be, almost certainly, the last. But we will prevail. Despite their unnatural power, they bleed. I have seen it with my own eyes. And if it bleeds it can be killed."
Reyes tapped his desk, where an inset haptic panel glowed sullenly. "Squad and platoon leaders will muster at 1300 for general briefing. Major, you and the light colonel will brief with Commissar Sloane at 1430 hours. We'll have enhanced chow at 1800 and I want liberty curtailed so that everyone gets a full eight hours of sleep. The captain of the Spear of Longinus has agreed to load the troops and battlesuits, as well as our supplies, without High Lord authorization. I will use AO-20-beta to ... fabricate an authorization for him. At that point he falls under the Ahura Mazda protocol and will follow all orders as given. The ship will launch at 0945 and I expect all hands fed and ready by 0830."
He met Jaime's gaze. "After that, it is in your hands, son."
Jaime squared his shoulders. "We'll make sure everyone is ready to go, sir. Madre de Dios be with us all."
Reyes smiled, then nodded to Paul. "Paul, go ahead and liaison with the Administrator. You've been given access now, and... there are things he needs to discuss with you...and I need to speak with Lt. Colonel Herrero in private as well."
Paul stood, wincing a bit as his back gave a snapping sound, and saluted. "So, I finally get to see the santo de los santos, eh, jefe? Very well. Vaya con dios, old friend."
He walked out without giving Jaime a glance, but the younger man noticed the two small hand signs he made that signified 'extreme danger' and 'be polite' in their personal code.
Jaime turned his attention back to Reyes, who had returned to his seat, after the door shut behind his uncle, waiting. The Commander looked at him thoughtfully.
"I am sure you must have a lot of questions you are not comfortable asking, Mr. Herrero. I can appreciate your discretion. Much like your uncle, you know when not to ask. But I will either be incarcerated or dead soon, and for the moment I am inclined to indulge you in some respects. I just need to say a few things first."
He frowned at his cigar, which had gone out, then relit it. "Do you smoke?"
Jaime shook his head. "Not to my tastes, sir. But thank you."
Reyes chuckled. "Polite, like your uncle. No problem." He leaned back in his chair again. "Your grand-uncle, Mr. Herrero, is under a lot of strain. He's been through a lot of ugly ops and... well. You know what kind of shit we've run into. Putting him into the field is frankly a liability. Putting him and XO Welancia out in this clusterfuck of an op at the same is...not advisable. I try to retain a loose grip on things for the most part. I don't freak out when the XO of my main team has a goddamned cupcake party with strippers, or get upset when the battlesuit pilots try WWF moves in the suits."
Jaime blushed a little, then had to smother a line at Reyes' following muttered comment. "I draw the line at them painting the damned battlesuits like Battlemechs, but that's a different story." He exhaled. "That being said there are things I cannot afford to overlook. Continuity of command is one of those things. An Alverado Sequence is the end of everything. We cannot afford a fuck up. We cannot afford looseness, or decency."
Reyes looked away. "And yet...God help me. I know Jason Kinnix. Two of my brothers were on Terra Nova at the final charge. I've ate in the man's estate, gone drinking with him. My goddamned niece was married to his youngest boy for a few years before she died. I know his sons, too. I don't like issuing a fucking kill order for a bonafide hero, and I doubt you'll enjoy carrying it out."
He turned sorrowful eyes to Jaime. "I am not doing it out of some kind of stupid shit like 'pragmatism'. I'm doing it because Jason is not the kind of person who will learn about whatever is down there and be willing to just let it go. Like I said, he's going to want to kill it as a threat. That's what he does. It's why he got made a noble, because he stops threats. But you can't put a goddamned axe into a Ythrongi. Killing him in this instance is mercy more than anything."
"Likewise, I don't really care if you wipe another pile of those sick Ache Lamao clowns one way or the other, but I don't ask you to kill other human beings out of security reasons. Those people are bent and I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to make the SA version of Unit 734 but they are the kind of people who will want to study the Ythrongi. That...is not allowable. Failure is not an option. 'Near-success' is just a fancy ass-covering way of saying failure, son."
Reyes' voice hardened. "I say all of this to put it out there. If you feel you cannot do this mission - if you feel that, if worse comes to worse and your uncle loses it you can't put him down and take command - say the word. I'll pull you and send in Colonel Tana, and she'll take the CO slot with him as XO."
Jaime frowned. "Sir. If you think he's unfit for command, why are you sending him out when the stakes are this high?"
Reyes smiled. "Because he's the best goddamned suit pilot I've seen, and because like me he's survived a fight with the Choir. Because he's...well, I can't go into it, but he's been...altered for this very purpose. And above all because we both know Tana is a risk averse coward. That's what we want in Force Recon. That's not what we want or need in Rectification. But also because this..."
He shrugged. "Call it penance. I should be personally leading this clusterfuck, but someone has to face the music. There is a great deal you do not yet know about Omega Protocol. You'll learn, and you'll understand why I say this: our fates are nothing compared to the core of our mission."
Jaime was silent for several seconds, then crossed himself and nodded firmly. "Then if it comes to it, I will take command. You have my word."
Reyes smiled, a softer smile than before. "Good. Then there is one final set of orders I need to give you - ones you are not to share with the Major. In the event that the worst comes to pass - things go straight to hell, the Spear gets blown out of the sky, the Citadel team finds our presence there and ID's Omega - we'll need both plausible deniability and cover. Omega Protocol is not the first ... incarnation of this organization. We've had many, and when one gets exposed we shut down and reopen ... new name, new people, same mission."
He gestured for some reason to the shattered mask on the wall. "It's been done before. To provide that deniability and cover, however, we cannot let any outside party grasp what is going on down there. The XO is given the code words and authority for the Deus Otiosus Protocol. You aren't familiar with it, I assure you. It's something above your paygrade."
Reyes spread his hands. "Bluntly, it manually releases all black nano and antimatter charges the team has. It will almost certainly obliterate your entire team as well as any... observers. You've served with these people for years now. I know some are friends."
He gave a tired, shallow smile. "But those are the stakes of the game. Black and white are meaningless against the choice of survival or extinction. You will need authorization either from Paul or Commissar Sloane...normally. And Sloane and Paul are not to know about this, so..."
He reached into the desk and pulled out a disckey - a Commandant's override pendant. "If needed...this will let you bypass that restriction if necessary to avoid... catastrophic compromise. The killphrase is 'Lunar Jupiter Transorbital Five'. That will be encoded in an isolinear read only chip in your omni once you ship out. It may be useful in other capacities as well, but I would strongly advise you not letting the Commissar know you have it, as this one is an AO-20 beta forgery copy. If you have questions on this or ... other unwise things, now's the time to ask."
Jaime exhaled. "I think I'll save the questions for another time. I'm not sure I want to know the answers right now... or what questions to even ask. Hopefully I'll have some when I get back...if I get back and am around to ask them."
Reyes nodded. "Probably for the best...and I hope I'm alive to answer. For now, report to Chief Bagley for a uniform reissue for light colonel - remember, pull any VIs you have - and then report to Commissar Sloane." He stood up. "That will be all, Lieutenant Commander Herrero. Ordo Salutis Fundamenta."
Jaime stood up as well, and saluted. "Ordo Salutis Fundamenta."