Chapter 8: Down Mexico Way, Part 7

"About damn time, Whiskey-035!" Ben said into his commlink as Gauntlet Team's Pelican swooped down from the sky. "Seriously– what kept you, Ash?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry if Jorge and I were keeping your ungrateful ass safe from more incoming Red Shadows!" came the retort. "Now unless you want to walk home, you better have a damn good apology by the time I come back! Whiskey-035, out!"

And with that, Jorge leapt out of the low-flying aircraft, which then proceeded to fly off once its pilot was certain that Gauntlet's heavy weapons specialist was on the ground.

"She's right, you know." said specialist coldly said to the younger Carmine, his glare somehow palpable even through the visor of his helmet.

"B–"

"Save it for after we're done." Clay butted in.


As far as Herc was concerned, the push from the armored truck to what he presumed to be the main building of the MECH compound was easily one of– if not the– most hellish experiences in his entire life. What he presumed to be two or three hundred yards felt like miles as gunfire from snipers, machine gun emplacements, and regular infantry rang out all around him and his mercenary "friends". About the only consolation he could find was the fact that the one called "Sarge" had insisted upon leading the assault, meaning that there was at least one body between him and an untimely demise for the time being.

Thank God for small favors. he thought as he clutched his gun tighter, eyes constantly darting back and forth as he continued advancing towards the building and whatever threats lurked within its walls. Because right now, I'll take as many as I can get.


The jeep's wheels had barely stopped turning when Cole, Rosenda, and Thom got out and made a beeline for the nearest entrance– in this case, a large steel door. Giving each other a series of silent nods, the three snapped into a well-honed routine, with Cole and Rosenda going into overwatch while Thom went to work on rewiring the door's exterior access panel in an effort to disable the magnetic locks.

"Wish I'd brought a laser cutter or something." Gauntlet Team's engineer muttered to himself as he fiddled with the panel's innards. "Make my life a whole lot easier right now…"

"Save the talk until after we've unlocked the door." Rosenda bluntly said.

"Took the words right out of my m–" Cole began, the words suddenly dying on his lips as he felt his commlink go off. "Hello?"

"Gauntlet Leader, this is Gauntlet 5. Gauntlet 4 and I have rendezvoused with 3 and are awaiting your position, over."

"Copy that, 4– sending now. Gauntlet Leader, out."


"Okay, how'd you know how to jimmy a maglock that quickly?" Herc asked as he and his cohorts made their way into the main building through a side door.

"Needed to back in my old job." Tucker replied.

"Jewel thief?"

"On-site security technician."

"Sorry for breaking up this…riveting conversation," Church half-whispered, "but right now, we've got bigger fish to fry. Simmons?"

"Yes?"

"Try and find an access point for the building's computer network. Maybe they'll have a floor plan or something in the archives that we can use to make getting around less of a crapshoot. Tucker, you're with him."

"On it." Simmons replied.


Gauntlet's entry into the building was textbook– the Carmines taking point on either flank, Thom, Cole and Rosenda in the center, and Jorge hanging behind to provide cover fire in the event of an ambush. From there, the plan was roughly the same as the one drawn up by their mercenary allies: access the computer network and find something– anything– that might be able to help them better navigate the place.

Que sera, sera– whatever will be, will be… Rosenda thought as the team continued their advance.


"Way too quiet for my liking." Tucker whispered as he and Simmons rounded a corner. "Seriously– where're all the guards?"

"Engaging the Red Shadows outside?" came the reply.

"Still, you'd think there'd still be at least a patrol or two in here anyways."

Simmons rubbed his chin in contemplation. "Maybe they've all been assigned to protect something else in here. You know, like we were for both Metamorphosis and the MECHicons."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Tucker said after a tense silence. "Either way, let's see what we can get out of the computers around here so we can get some idea as to what just the hell's going on here."

And with that, the two continued their advance through the dim corridors, their eyes darting around in their sockets in search of any potential threat lurking nearby.


"Coast is clear." Ben whispered as he pressed up against a corner, his brother doing the same on the opposite side of the hall. "Funny– you'd think there'd be more guards around here, even with the Shadows attack."

"Maybe they've got enough automated security in here that they thought they didn't need any." Rosenda replied as she adjusted her visor display. "Or did you forget about that one time in Chomo Lungma?"

Ben sighed. "Never gonna let me live that one down, are you?"

"As a matter of fact, I was going to make sure it got put on your tombstone."

"Cut the chatter, both of you." Cole ordered. "You see anything, Rose?"

"Not much. Just your regular, everyday air-pressure detector hooked up to a silent alarm system– one that's already been tripped, I may add."

Gauntlet Team's leader groaned. "Thom's mercenary pals?"

"Probably. Though seeing as how we already kicked the hornet's nest on the way in, there's a pretty good chance nobody's going to be paying too much attention to this one."

"Then why do I have a contact on my motion tracker?" Jorge piped up.

"Where from?" Cole asked.

"About six, seven yards ahead."

Guess that'll teach me to open my big trap. Rosenda thought as she and the others pushed onward down the corridor.


"Well, what've we got here?" Tucker said as he and Simmons suddenly came to a halt outside a sliding steel door with the word "INTELLIGENCE" plastered along the top of the doorway.

"A potential trap, for one." Simmons replied. "For all we know, that thing could be hooked up to some automated defense syst–"

"Systems that'll only activate if we trigger the alarm." came the retort. "And considering we got in without doing that, I don't see any reason to believe we can't do it again."

Before Simmons could get another word in edgewise, Tucker had removed the protective panel surrounding the maglock's wiring and had begun work on the bypass.

I swear, it's that attitude that'll get us all killed some day. the maroon-armored soldier thought as he heard the door open, followed by the sound of another door opening and a shout of "Freeze!" from…wait, was that one of the Gauntlet soldiers?


"Don't move a muscle." Cole said, his finger tensed against his rifle's trigger as he aimed it directly at Tucker and Simmons.

"Dude, I'm on your side!" the former exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Well, excuse us for not being psychic." Rosenda snarked. "Now, mind telling us how you got in here?"

"Same way I presume you did– through one of the side doors. Now, if it's all the same to you, could you please stop pointing those things at us?"

Cole sharply exhaled. "Gauntlet Team, stand down."


"What in tarnation's keeping those two?!" Sarge thundered.

"Probably just taking longer than expected for them to get into the network." Grif replied. "I mean, it's not like MECH's just going to leave their computer systems undefended like that."

"If I wanted your opinion, soldier, I'd ask for it!"

"Sorry to break this up," a nearby Church piped up, "but I just got a call from Simmons."

"And?"

"He and Tucker just found the intel room, plus those Gauntlet guys. Says he should have access the network shortly."


"Either of you find anything?" Cole asked as Simmons and Rosenda pored through the base's network.

"Full blueprints for this building," the latter replied, "plus some internal communications and some files on some sort of power armor project. Damnedest thing, though– it doesn't seem like the armor's being designed with combat in mind."

"…come again?"

Rosenda sharply exhaled. "Thom'll probably be able to make more sense out of this stuff than me, but the short version is that if they're designing these things for use on the battlefield, then why do things like replace one of the hands with something like, say, a grappling hook launcher or a mining drill?"

Cole cocked an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

"Yeah– something about me and my friends' contract." Simmons said as he pulled something up.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Considering I'm reading an after-action report that has a section labeled 'Prisoners– Ellingson Survey Team Alpha and Gabor Survey Team Bravo'? I don't think so."

Tucker sighed in relief. "Okay, so now we've got our paycheck back. Any details on where they're being held?"

"According to this, they're in the main research building next door." Simmons replied. "Fortunately, it looks like there's some kind of utility tunnel between here and there, so I think we might be able to sneak our way inside."

Assuming that MECH hasn't already thought of that angle and set things up accordingly. Rosenda thought.


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

If anyone's wondering as to what the bit about the power armor project is, all I'm going to say is that it's a reference to another Hasbro property– more specifically, one that was adjacent to the original '80s incarnation of Transformers.