Warning! This fic contains language and material that may not be suitable for younger readers so if you go off and kill a bunch of people you can't blame that impulse on this fic! You've had fair warning.
Battlezone II: Lost Legacy pt4- by Admiral Kelley
Legal crap: Please observe that I don't own anything that originated from the Activision game Battlezone II and anything else is completely mine and is subject to my own unique brand of copyright law. I also do not own any of the Authors Mya, Kaeli, Draganta, Zap_Rowsdower, ShadowDragon, SilverKnight, RainbowKat, QC, Trent Roman, or The RedBaron. They belong to themselves unless they have sold their souls to the Devil in which case they belong to him. Those who try to rip off my story or steal any of my ideas without at least mentioning where you got them in your story monologue will result in me sending a crack team of highly paid lawyers addicted to human flesh to come rip you apart piece by piece in the most painful way possible. Now with the legal crap out of the way I encourage you to sit back, relax, and enjoy reading Battlezone II: Lost legacy pt4 by Admiral Kelley and you are still encouraged to send me honest reviews or creative lies depending upon the content of your opinion so I can make part five better.
Many Thanks: Go out to all of you who have been reading the series and to the Authors who volunteered to defend their planet by signing up for this fic we all salute you. Be a responsible recruit and leave a review. Now lets get this fic movin!
*******************
"In space, all warriors are cold warriors"-Chang
Core was a decidedly harsh planet to human life. Even when it had simply been the Dark Planet before the Scions terraformed it Core still maintained some of the deadly traits from the past. The air was a toxic combination that would melt your lungs if breathed it for even a second. The lack of a substantial atmosphere made explosive decompression a fact of life and its temperatures were wild and varied. Though researchers from the newly formed Scion/ISDF Science Corps had confirmed the planet was far from finished with its transformation and that in five or six generations Core would be habitable without the use of pressurized installations. But until that time Core was still a hostile place and the addition of the enemy horde bearing down on them didn't help much either.
"Delta two check your six!"
"I can't evade I need assis-!"
"Watch yourselves enemy Warriors at your-"
"I'm hit! My se- jammed it won-aaaaaaaahhhhhh!"
Such were the sounds that rang in Lieutenant Johnathan "Draganta" Nemo's headset as he and his wingman Private Trent "Puck" Roman sped off to assist Delta squad in defending the southern defense array that had been ravaged from the recent assault and was now under fire from some late arrivers.
"Trent take my 9'Oclock." Came the cool crisp voice of Draganta over the ship-to-ship frequency. The pair were piloting Sabres through some particularly tricky canyon terrain and coming upon a ramp like hill that would lead them to Delta squads approximate position in an open field dotted with treez the name given to the weird towers located everywhere on Core it seemed.
"Target destination 28.6 meters. Lets jump this ramp and hit them with an aerial raid for starters." Suggested Puck as he made a few calculations to figure his landing spot.
"Agreed. Form up and lets get it done," commanded Draganta. He then changed to the squadron wide channel, "Commence operations!"
The engines on their Sabres flared to full power accelerating the craft forward. In less time than it took to evaporate someone with a nuke they had reached the ramp and sailed up activating VTOL boosters to shoot them vertical a few more meters. The scene from above was quite gruesome. Four Thunderbolts and one or two Avenger missile fighters were single handedly trying to fend off a slew of Scion units ranging from Warriors to Titans. Well, they could soon even those odds. Puck took aim and loosed four SP-stabber rounds each one hitting a warrior and eradicating it from the battlefield in a brilliant haze of debris and fire. Draganta managed to fire off seven before he hit the ground but only two found their mark. Puck was a better shot than he in a Sabre.
The enemy now alert to the new presence wasted no time in addressing the threats. Even as Draganta and Puck lined up their next shots five Lancers disengaged from their dogfights with the Thunderbolts and disgorged TAG cannon homing beacons. Draganta abruptly threw his ship in reverse and used his VTOL boosters to clear the field of fire with Trent milliseconds behind him. Unfortunately Puck had not reacted in time and three of the beacons embedded themselves within his hull. Upon hearing the muted thumps Trent turned tail and hauled ass as a firestorm of TAG missiles chased after him homing in on the beacons while he ducked behind treez and hills to try an outmaneuver the rockets.
Draganta was busy with a trio of Titans and their Warrior escorts and unable to assist. The XO of Hellfire squadron skillfully dodged every shot that came his way sometimes getting the enemy to fire on their own units by mistake. Draganta executed a hard turn to port just in time to dodge a lethal shot from one of the Titans Arc Cannon. He was in the process of turning around to make another pass when his computer screeched at the confirmation for a target lock. A Shadower missile appeared out of nowhere most likely fired from one of the Lancers that wasn't in pursuit of the fleeing Puck. There was an enormous BANG as the rocket made contact with the forward portion of his Sabre. Fortunately for Draganta the missile had been a dud and only left a large dent but the force of the impact sent him spinning into one of Cores treez, which in turn bounced him off to another tower like a pinball. Draganta managed to gain control of his ship just in time to watch a Warrior no less than five meters away charge its plasma cannon. But today was not Draganta's day to die. The Warrior flew apart as five SP-Stabber rounds connected with its cockpit.
Sailing out of the sky in the same way Puck and Draganta had when they arrived two more Sabres floated down on their VTOL boosters. Judging by the paint scheme the craft belonged to none other than Sergeant Felicia "Mya" Thevendra Hellfires quartermaster and her current wingman Sergeant Ash "ShadowDragon" Rickover. Mya landed first and immediately went about hunting down the Lancers eradicating them with quick accurate shots. ShadowDragon who possessed seriously distorted common sense started to launch mortar rounds at the Titans hoping to bring at least one of the trio down but only succeeding in calling down a rain of Arc Cannon rounds in her general direction.
"Nice of you to show up. What the hell kept you?" Draganta asked ShadowDragon and Mya as he went to rejoin Puck whose ship now possessed a number of deep craters from the missiles he hadn't been able to evade. Mya not being the one to talk during the heat of battle decided to ignore Draganta as she twisted her craft through insane maneuvers to get into firing position on a crafty Lancer pilot. ShadowDragon, however, with a little more experience under her belt and a lot less sanity was fully capable of holding a conversation while flying for her life against some very agitated Titans.
"Road construction! Better late than never sir!"
"Yeah whatever. Where's-"Draganta started before he was blinded by a flash and the abrupt disappearance of one of the Titans.
"Feel my thermonuclear wrath!" From behind one of the treez an Attila walker bounded into view loosing more Blast cannon beams and vaporizing another one of the Titans. A single name was painted onto the hull declaring it the "Kaiju" Sergeant Amp "Wrath~of~Gojira" Paladin's favorite walker. A second walker appeared shortly thereafter surprising a small group of Warriors that had vectored to engage WoG as he continued his rampage and ripped them to shreds with a cold fusion laser. One Lancer managed to sneak by. The walker swiveled its head to line up for the shot and disgorged twin beams of white death dead center on the Lancers engines igniting the fuels pods and providing quite a light show. The pilot had only one thing to say.
"Zap!" there was no mistaking who the pilot of THAT particular ship was. Private Tristan "Zap Rowsdower" Canfield joined WoG on his frolic through the enemy rich environment. Strangely the remaining Titan was nowhere to be seen.
"Here Titan, Titan, Titan!" clucked WoG on open unencrypted channels. Beside him Zap_Rowsdower scanned the terrain adding in his own taunts taking pot shots at any Warriors or Lancers who ventured too close.
"Come out come out wherever you are!" Then Zap saw it. The bulbous comical shaped snout of a Titan turret peeking out from behind a tower.......aimed right for WoG. There was no time to react. The Titan charged its Arc Cannon and fired a deadly beam of lighting. The bolt slammed into WoG leg dead center ripping off a good chunk of the armor. The force of the blow shoved WoG around into his pilot couch prompting him to utter a few curses.
"Damnit you scratched the paint!" Shouted WoG over the radio anger very clear in his voice. Four simultaneous blasts connected with the hull of the Titan as WoG and Zap_Rowsdower took aim and erased the offending unit from existence. With the Titans now gone the remaining units had lost their big guns. One by one Hellfire squadron and the survivors of Delta squad chased down the Warriors and Lancers pushing them back at least half a klick. Draganta made a quick check of his sensors to ensure there were no enemies behind him and made a call.
"Zap the coast is clear. Tell our birds to land! Mya is now your wing!" The Attila walker to Dragantas' immediate left slowed its pace.
"Copy Draganta Mya is taking Zaps 12'Oclock." The Sabre to Zap's immediate left pulled up in front of the walker stopping at the same time. Zap_Rowsdower did an about face and angled the Attilas head so it pointed just above the horizon for a line of sight transmission to a satellite there.
"Seagulls one and two Hellfire reports area is secure I repeat area is secure drop your cargo." The usual few second of static and then the reply.
"Copy that Hellfire Seagulls one and two are off loading. Good luck down there." Mya's gaze immediately drifted away from her sensor board and to the sky above. Two blobs could be seen through the cloud cover making a rapid descent. The two transports clearly came into view less than a second later angling up after their speed dive and screeched above her position barely twenty meters off the ground. They went on for about another hundred meters or so before they angled their engines for a rapid drop onto the ground the aft of the ships facing Zap's walker. The huge door on the cargo bay swung open and stayed that way for a full minute the bulk of the dropships preventing anyone from seeing the activity on the other side. The dropships engines flared again and the huge ships shot straight up before vectoring away from the combat zone. Left behind on the ground were two humanoid shaped mechs known as Constructors and a large treaded vehicle that was the undeployed Recycler.
Mya just sat there for a moment watching the vehicles as they went about their work. No matter how many times she witnessed it she still could not believe it really happened. The Recycler moved about on its treads until it found a nice flat spot and then disappeared in a haze of blue light as it deployed. The two Constructors went about building things of their own with one constructing power plants and the other setting up relay bunkers and gun towers for defense spiting out blue laser beams of light which she knew to be bio-metal particles into a skeletal pattern. Then the structures just appeared their mass growing like bacteria. The whole process took less than a minute and when it was finished there was now a full workable base. Upon getting conformation from the Constructors Mya activated her quickflash transmitter.
"Mya to Hellfire the Seagulls eggs have hatched. Request permission to move behind the defense line." Off in the distance Mya could barely make out the forms of the assault craft as they maneuvered wildly. According to her radar a new batch of enemies had appeared wiping out what was left of Delta squad and giving the Hellfires who were carrying out the offensive a run for their money. Draganta wasn't long in replying.
"Hellfires move it to that defense line!" all of ships started to move backwards as fast as they could laying down suppressive fire to check the progress of the newly advancing units. Zap_Rowsdower in his Attila and Mya in her Sabre both continued to face the direction of their comrades while slowly backing up towards the gun towers. It didn't take long before Zap could finally see the opposition and at observing it his blood chilled just a little bit. An armada of Warriors was holding their distance in front of the retreating Hellfires taking the occasional pot shot but rarely hitting anything. But these were not what worried Zap it was the squadron of Maulers behind the Warriors that gave him pause. Maulers were possibly the only unit in the Scion army inventory that would give an Attila pilot pause. Quick and well armed they were a nightmare both to fight and look at.
"Uhhh Boss…"
"I see them Zap. Hellfires lets hot foot it outa here!" All of Hellfire squadron Mya and Zap included turned tail and bolted as fast as their ships would allow to the base. One by one each Sabre shot past the four gun towers and then took up position behind them for cover and setting up their HUD's to receive sensor data from the defensive structures. WoG and Zap however had other ideas and parked their two legged war machines in front of a gun tower.
"Bring it on!" declared WoG as he turned to face the onslaught of enemy units. Not very far off the Warriors all began to morph their hulls turning the color of sliver and their form shifting until it finally settled into a bigger badder and thankfully much slower unit. Behind them the much faster Maulers jumped over the assault mode Warriors and continued their mad dash eager for blood. As the Maulers entered range of the gun towers they were peppered with hot plasma that melted through their advanced armor like a hot knife through butter shearing off the legs of the Maulers whose pilots were not skilled enough to dodge the incoming fire. But the pilots with skill dodged with the ease of veterans easily outsmarting the automated towers. The Mauler advanced through the mist of green death like it wasn't even there closing the distance to where Hellfire squadron was bellied up. They would soon regret it.
From out of the sky mortar rounds launched from the Sabres blanked out what little sky was visible with their smoke trails. One round hit a Mauler directly in the cockpit killing the pilot and sending the ship head long into the ground. Another round blew a crater in the surface that tripped the Mauler who attempted to jump over its wingman turned scrap pile. Despite heavy mortar fire the Maulers continued to advance, now it was the Attila's turn.
"On three Zap!" commanded WoG as he charged his Blast cannon. From out of the smoke and dust kicked up by the gun towers and mortars the nightmarish forms of the charging Maulers sprang forth immediately coming into range.
"Three!" Four blazing white trails leapt from the combined Attila Blast cannons all hitting their mark all vaporizing a Mauler. When the Cannons entered their short charge cycle Zap and WoG opened up with the cold fusion lasers aiming for the legs and sawing them off. The limp that resulted from some this was something the Hellfires could take advantage of. ShadowDragon locked onto one Mauler with a missing driver leg using the sensor data from the gun tower and launched a single mortar round that left a huge pothole to act as a pit trap. Without the other driver leg the Mauler tripped and fell to the ground tripping another Mauler directly behind it. The pilot inside flinched and discharged his FANG cannon into the head of the other Mauler slicing its pilot through the middle and igniting its ammo reserves. The two ships disappeared in a beautiful blaze of color with one of the legs flung out of the fireball to stab into the ground like a javelin next to ShadowDragon's ship. The sergeant smiled to herself and continued to launch mortars having more or less the same effect every time. Death.
In their hasty act to smash through the Hellfires the Maulers had consigned themselves to destruction and now the Warriors entered the fray. In assault mode the ships were much slower and unable to doge the shots from the gun towers. However there were a great deal of them and while the gun towers could deal out a huge amount of punishment they couldn't get them all. But fortunately the Hellfires were there with cannons and mortars ready to meet the ones that made it through.
Because Warriors were fairly easy game in a Sabre everyone came out of hiding and started a charge spitting out all manor of weapons striking down the Warriors as fast as they could. Draganta took the lead and brought up his targeting computer locking onto the nearest Warrior. Up ahead the Warrior pilots own computer screeched at him because of it and he unleashed his Plasma stream trying to coat the oncoming Sabre in fire. Draganta easily vectored around the Plasma stream and centered his target reticule on the Warrior. Draganta was just about to depress the trigger when suddenly there was a massive jerk and the world around him went black.
"Simulation canceled. Have a nice day!" Came a feminine computer voice in Draganta's helmet headset. Light burst into Draganta's cockpit as the canopy retracted and above he could see a face staring down where on a real Sabre the turret passed over the cockpit. That face belonged to Lieutenant Maxine "SilverKnight" Gallahan Hellfires unofficial intelligence officer.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but I've just gotten something from the Commander." Draganta frowned at that. He hated being interrupted in the middle of a good tactical simulation and only the fact that it was Kaeli kept him in a good mood. Draganta pulled himself out of the simulator and walked over to the computer console. The other pods in the room shuddered with the simulated g-forces as the rest of the Hellfires continued the game without him. Over by the computer another Hellfire who couldn't participate in the game was sleeping soundly. Known mostly by the name RedBaron, Lieutenant Manfred Von Richtofen who prided himself as a piloting ace especially adept at flying the smaller ships like Thunderbolts or Avengers. The RedBaron was taking the opportunity to catch up on some of the sleep he had lost when Hellfire squadron was transferred in a real hurry to this rock or, if the reports weren't outright lies, hunk of bio-metal.
Add that to the recent attack and all of the Hellfires looked like they had lost a few years. But that would change with sleep. Draganta wheeled The RedBaron out of the way and sat down in another chair to read the screen. After passing through the usual passwords and identity checks a text message was displayed. It read simply:
____________________________
TO: Lieutenant Johnathan Nemo
FROM: Commander Sahra O'Harra
First off Draganta sorry for interrupting your game (you wonder how I know this? I'm the Commander I know everything :) second I just found Slayer. He's filling me in on some of the details but that doesn't concern you right now. Get your collective asses out of that TACSIM and go get acquainted with your new roommates in Barracks 34-A. Slayer and I will join you shortly.
Peace out!
MESSEGE ENDS
____________________________
Draganta smiled a bit a moved his left hand to the delete key but stopped when it started to twitch uncontrollably. Annoyed he swatted it against the screen and it stopped. "Stupid bionics," he muttered to himself as he pressed the delete command. He would have to see Dr. Emrid about this it would not do for him to be twitchy in a profession where every shot counts. Behind him the simulation stopped and the simulator hatches popped open and the Hellfires all climbed out. The RedBaron awoke from his slumber as if on some predetermined signal and grabbed a data pad before walking over with SilverKnight.
"Finally…." They both breathed. SilverKnight and especially The RedBaron hated analysis duty during these simulations.
"How did we fair?" Asked Puck as he jumped out of the cockpit.
"Yeah spill it. Did we beat Blue squads record or what?" inquired WoG. The RedBaron consulted his data pad for a moment and then looked up.
"An efficiency rating of 89.99% my friends we have beaten their score by a margin of at least 5%." he said with his usual heavy German accent.
"Guys we just won a shit load of supplies!" laughed ShadowDragon as she recalled the bet made to them by Blue squads cocky pilots. Served them right thinking they were the best just because Major Manson was leading them. Mya stood beside her dreaming of the supplies she could finally get without having to steal. Then her attention wandered back to Draganta who was standing by the computer console as if waiting for…
"Hey Draganta why did you leave in the middle of the SIM? We could've bumped up out rating a little bit with you there." Asked Mya. Draganta sighed and walked over to the group.
"I would love to have stayed but I'm afraid Kaeli had other ideas." SilverKnight turned her head and cocked an eyebrow at that.
'Well don't hold us all in suspense what hell does the good commander want?" she asked a little sarcastically.
"Yes what's so important that it couldn't wait until the TACSIM was finished?" Puck crossed his arms waiting for the reply.
"The Wraiths have finally arrived. Kaeli wants us to go off and get reacquainted with out new roommates. Anybody got a map?" WoG dug around in his suit pockets and pulled out a data pad, which he tossed to Draganta. The XO studied it for a second, "Okay Barracks 34-A is one level down and two corridors across from where we are now." The Hellfires all moved out of the room to meet up with the Wraiths. For some like Privates Trent Roman and Zap it would be for the first time but for the others it would be like visiting family…
*******************
The room Kaeli had picked out in fact turned out to be an empty mini-armory. Not the roomiest of secret briefing spaces to be sure but it would work nonetheless. Slayer recounted to Kaeli of Wraith squadrons recent activities and when he finished he looked up to his fellow commander to see a glint of humor in her eyes.
"That's funny Slayer but now come on what's the real reason you guys weren't out there shooting the shit with us?" Slayer just shook his head.
"Its some story yes but every word I've spoken is what happened." Kaeli just smiled.
"C'mon Slayer you've got to be shitting me. The Furies were driven away a long time ago hell if I remember correctly it was General Alistar himself who pushed the assholes out when he was a littl'ol commander like us."
"Yes I know. The old mans told me that story dozens of times over a pint but that's beside the point. All I'm telling you is what we saw and what we saw was some spooky shit. Add that to the fact that we had a fuckin field army chasing us on the way out and it leads me to the conclusion that this information is relatively true." Kaeli just shook her head in disbelief.
"You guys have seen and done things that nobody else has seen or done right?" Slayer nodded, "Then have you ever…"
"Gone head to head with the Furies? No all I know about them is what was said in the military history classes and of course from Alistar's stories when I can get enough liquor into him."
"How bad were they?" asked Kaeli. Slayer grimaced as he recalled those sessions with Alistar.
"Bad enough to give Alistar nightmares and he was on the front lines when the Soviet CCA was bad news." Kaeli remembered quite vividly a film showed during a class from her long ago basic training that contained among all things a short film designed for NSDF recruits. In it was some violent footage of an interrogation session with an NSDF commander and his Soviet guards. Well not so much and interrogation, the guards were just bored and needed somebody to disembowel to pass the time. Yeah the CCA was pretty scary back then but if what Slayer had been telling her was true than compared to the Furies the CCA was a fuckin walk in a Disney World park.
"Is there anything you know about that I cant get from the history database." Slayer smiled at Kaeli's question letting her know in advance that he knew something she didn't. Kaeli hated that.
"Oh sure for starters the Furies are not human/bio-metal hybrids like the Scions. They were pure Bio-metal. The Soviets just awakened the supposed consciousness that exists inside bio-metal and introduced it to communism. What they had after that was a perfect communist warrior. They were ships with minds of their own capable of mass destruction. When they saw how corrupt their leaders were they defected because they believed themselves to be true communists attacking both the NSDF and the CCA. That's when General Braddock's little experimental Black Dog squadron went AWOL and tried to run but got caught in the cross fire," Upon hearing the name Braddock Kaeli eyes narrowed and she acquired the look of a vengeful god from the times of old.
"Don't ever mention that bastards name in my presence Slayer!" Kaeli practically spat. "That son of a bitch left me and my squadron to die on that God forsaken rock Bane. I lost some good people from that little escapade. If you guys hadn't fished us outa there there'd be nothing left of us but Goddamn craters!"
"Yes well anyway it was then that General B- I mean he who is to remain unmentioned in your presence tried to kill two birds with one stone and wipe out both the Black Dogs and the Furies by having the NSDF and CCA join forces to create the ISDF but by the time he had gotten his act together the Black Dogs had already escaped by means of the Dark Planet wormhole that we didn't know about until recently and all that was left were the Furies and they weren't going without a fight. Hell the only reason they were defeated is cause Alistar blew up the planet where their base of operations was located. After that they sorta just disappeared." Kaeli loosed a grim smile.
"Never to be seen again?" mused Kaeli. Slayer scoffed.
"Not if our information is even halfway true. Hell I hope somebody's playing a trick on us. Those horror stories Alistar tells don't exactly encourage you to go head to head with them. Anyhow you know the story from there. The Black Dogs went off and became the Scions then they returned so they could make themselves a new home world out of the Dark Planet but General he whose name is not to be mentioned in your presence screwed things up and started a war." Kaeli gave an unhumorus laugh.
"Now theres the understatement of the century. Oh well what's the plan for our upcoming operations?" Slayer opened his mouth to reply but suddenly one of the lockers burst open spilling out none other than General Alistar himself onto the floor in a fit of curses causing Kaeli to jump practically ten feet in the air. Slayer who had grown accustomed to surprise comings and goings lately wasn't as startled but the last person he had expected to see bursting out of an abandoned weapons locker was General Alistar. The old British man pulled himself up while dusting off his dress uniform. Never know where the old mans going to pop up, thought Slayer
"I'm getting a bit too old for this." Kaeli was still in mute shock leaving Slayer to handle the general.
"James what the hell are you doing here? You trying to play hide and seek with the Padisha?" Alistar smiled and offered them both a handshake. Over to Slayers side Kaeli was at rigid attention seeing as how this mans reputation for chewing out was long and well known.
"At ease commanders," Kaeli resumed a comfortable stance., "I've got some good news and some bad news for you Tim and.....Sahra isn't it?" Kaeli gave a stiff nod. Alistar returned it with a frown. "No need to worry commander I don't bite. You're not some slack ass leftenant you're the commander of my newest Black-Ops squadron so I shouldn't have to chew you out unless you screw up big time. Do you intend to screw up big time?" Kaeli released a small grin and a chuckle.
"No General!" Alistar's frown grew deeper and his voice dropped a degree or two as he spoke.
"What was that......" Kaeli stammered for a moment as she though up a correct response.
"No.....James?" Alistar cracked a smile.
"Better. I prefer to be on a first name basis with my elite personnel. Now back to business. Tim your ships and the rest of your equipment has just arrived and are awaiting you to make use of it." Slayer felt a moment of relief wash over him before his mind started to grasp on the situation.
"Umm James why are you letting me know personally. Couldn't the alert have been sent through normal lines?" Alistar lost his smile and leaned in close to the two commanders his voice in hush conspiratorial tones.
"That my boy is the bad news. It seems the AAN has caught wind of the recent attack and are sending their war inspectors to oversee our operations." Slayer groaned.
"Oh shit!" Kaeli gave him a quizzical stare.
"Why is that bad news isn't the AAN on our side?" Alistar had a good laugh at that one.
"They are if you're conventional forces. The AAN doesn't like the idea of a Black ops unit and they've been trying to wipe out the Wraiths for some time. You know not allowing them access to the proper equipment and generally hassling us people in the world that doesn't exist." Kaeli was now a bit confused. She knew Slayer and the AAN weren't exactly on good terms but.......
"Why would they do that? Haven't Black Ops units proven time and again to be valuable assets?" It was all Kaeli could ask and Slayer had the answer.
"Because were black Kaeli. We're blacker than black we take the rules they try to dictate to us and shove them right back up their own asses so we can keep mankind alive. Those politicians don't know the first thing about war or what we need to fight one. What they think of as a proper military is one that looks good on a recruitment poster, people with high morals who are honorable to the enemy. We do things Kaeli that to them are not honorable. The AAN only knows of about 2% of our operations and they dislike us. Were they to know everything we did during the Scion war they would probobly try to have us shot on the spot. And if they learn that theres a new black ops squadron in town then..." Alistar chose that moment to cut in.
"They would raise pure bloody hell about it and I would be stuck in paper work for years. Now the AAN intelligence people aren't half-bad and are now watching the ISDF so they can report any secrets we may be trying to hide. Seeing as how Cloud-9 is the center of activity for Core right now they'll be watching us the closest. I need to quietly move your squadrons to a location where you won't be hassled and can carry out your operations in secrecy from the AAN," Alistar handed Kaeli and Slayer each a hardcopy map, "Here's a map and a list of instructions for your departure do not deviate in the slightest from them. In the coming days do not try to contact me unless I call for you," Alistar turned to leave but turned around, "Oh Sahra by any chance have you met the Padisha Burns?"
"Greeting commander," a voice called out from right next to Kaeli's ear. On instinct Kaeli reached to grab whomever it was behind her and toss them. She succeeded in getting the Padisha in a headlock but Burns was a heavy Scion and her human strength wasn't up to it. Slayer sighed and got Kaeli to release her headlock.
"Well come on Burns let's go." Alistar opened the hatch to the room and the still cloaked Padisha could be heard running out. When the hatched had closed behind Alistar Kaeli looked over to Slayer who now wore a broad grin. Kaeli gave him a look that seemed to ask What the hell have I gotten myself into? Slayer slung his arm around her shoulder and led her off to the barracks chuckling.
"Welcome to my world Kaeli."
*******************
Everyone had been asleep when they came. The doors were practically kicked in and rushing bodies flowed to fill in the room. The Wraiths were jerked out of their peaceful slumber only to be greeted by an all too familiar sight. Hugs and handshakes were exchanged as the Wraiths and Hellfires met again. The only people who couldn't participate in the flowing of old memories were Zap and Puck who had no old memories to share. Zap was a recent addition to Hellfire squadron as was Trent and all they knew of the Wraiths was what their squadmates occasionally talked about but that didn't mean they couldn't get to know them little better. Zap walked next to his usual wingman WoG over to a large black man and an Irish looking fellow about a head shorter than the former. When WoG and Zap got there were handshakes all around.
"Its good to see you again Paddy, Pyro."
"Aye that it is. Whose your friend there."
"Private Tristan Canfield" The big black man whom Zap had guessed was Pyro tilted his head and frowned.
"…your real name." That was another odd quirk about the ISDF. Soldiers and pilots referred to their call signs as their real names except in the presence of a high-ranking officer.
"The names Rowsdower, Zap_Rowsdower. My wingman Wrath~of~Gojira here tells me that you're the craziest son if a bitch to ever wield a satchel charge." Pyro looked from WoG and back to Zap before laughing again his deep voice shaking Zap slightly. Zap still couldn't believe how big Pyro was. His own 6'3 San Diego body was just tall enough to look him straight in the neck and that Paddy person had the look of a dirty rotten scoundrel about him. He was going to have an interesting time working with these two. Zap spared a look over to his right where he could see his fellow Private, Puck, engaged in a conversation with The RedBaron and another German looking fellow.
"Your German is excellent Trent." Commented Steel.
"Danke." Trent had started off nicely managing to guess the mans primary language fairly quick. The man before him was supposedly a genius with electronics or so his wingman The RedBaron had informed him. Puck being an avid techie himself and always on the look out for new technological magic tricks was eager to learn what the black world had to offer. "Have you seen the new Dx-22 encryption system?" Puck had decided to start out with shoptalk. The Dx-22 was the latest in ISDF encryption technology using a spin on quantum physics to create a random set of signals each time and therefore theoretically the code was unbreakable. Steel mulled over the question for a moment his mind seeming to be somewhere else at the moment.
"Hmmm? Ja I have seen the Dx-22 and it is a real piece of fine work. It took me nearly a week to figure out how to crack it." Puck tried hard to hide his surprise not succeeding in the least. Steel halfway grinned as he noticed Puck's expression. "How did I do it you ask? It really is a simple matter I nearly shot myself out of disgust when I realized how easy it was. RedBaron if you would be so kind as to hand me a notepad?" The RedBaron reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a notepad tossing it to Steel who motioned Puck in closer so he could show him how he did it. This was going to be an educational experience he would not want to forget. Not much farther off Puck could see Mya and her wingm- wingwoman actually ShadowDragon talking to the Irish man Paddy who had moved away from his conversation with Zap and WoG.
"You seem a might low on supplies there lass. Not much here I can trade you for." Proclaimed Paddy as he examined the manifest of Hellfires squadron's current supplies. Mya nodded thoughtfully.
"Yes but a recent......situation has given us quite a good windfall on supplies. Give me another day or two and I'll have a nice plump manifest full of all sorts of goodies we can squabble over." Paddy chuckled as a thought entered his mind.
"By "situation" you mean a bet don't you. So who were the arrogant bastards this time?"
"Blue squad. The damn fools wagered half their supply manifest plus a whole months worth of pay over the Seagull scenario simulation and because they're Blue squad you know we've hit the jackpot where supplies are concerned."
"Enjoy it while you can lass. Now that the AAN is moving into the ISDF ever since Braddock's little escapade life will be hard for the jolly folk like us." Mya was well aware of what Paddy was telling her. The AAN had been advancing steadily closer to ISDF responsibilities moving to gain control of the organization. Though it was extremely unlikely that an event like that would occur the AAN had already taken over supply distribution and now it was exceedingly difficult to requisition gear due to the added paperwork. ShadowDragon who had been hanging off to the side of the conversation decided to change the subject since it seemed to depress the two quartermasters.
"Sooo Paddy, is it true that you and Pyro once massacred a whole bar of Marines while half drunk?" Paddy and Mya both recognized the attempt to change the subject and decided to go with it. They need the distraction from worrying about the AAN.
"Actually lass it seemed more like the same Marine over and over again. Liquor does that too you. Anywho yeah we did and only because they were slightly more stoned then we were at the time. Slayer damn near laughed his head off when he came to get us away from the MP's."
"But you two really did kick the ass of every single Marine in that bar?"
"Yes but we paid for it the next morning. Forgot to take our sober pills before we passed out and woke up with a bloody headache compliments of hell." ShadowDragon actually laughed happy to have found another person who was at least half as crazy as she was. Movement appeared on ShadowDragon's peripheral vision and she glanced over to see SilverKnight and Draganta conversing with and woman of Asian descent towards the corner of the room.
"Not that I'm complaining but when the hell did this get finalized?" Phoenix was glad to see the reappearance of some of her old friends but this partnership of their two squadrons was very short noticed. The way Alistar had explained it at the briefing made it seem like weeks would pass before he gave them support.
"We're just as surprised as you are." Draganta took the pad he had given to Phoenix back.
"Still it just seems like another one of Slayers practical jokes." Phoenix glanced back to the other pilots talking. Phoenix gestured in their general direction, "Do they know anything about this?" SilverKnight shook her head.
"No all we told them was that we're going to bunking with you guys for space reasons. I wanted to confirm this report before we went off making proclamations and such. It sounds just like some sort of joke our commanders would play on us." Their conversation was cut short as the hatch sprang open on the other side of the barracks room but strangely nobody entered into the room. Every pair of eyes in the room was now focused on the phantom hatch so it came as a great surprise when two voices bellowed from the opposite side of the room where there was no door.
"Wraiths!" Went one.
"Hellfires!" Sounded another.
"ATTENTION!" said the two voices in union. All the pilots instinctively snapped to attention and did an about face to the source of that sound. In front of them stood Commanders Kaeli and Slayer with their hands clasped behind their backs. Phoenix reminded herself to ask Slayer how he managed that little trick. Kaeli stepped forward.
"We have just received new operational orders. From here on in Hellfire squadron is now a Black Ops unit working in conjunction with the Wraiths. That means your unit patches come off and you are not to frequent this bases fine drinking establishments or travel anywhere outside without my say so." Slayer stepped forward.
"That goes for you too Wraiths. General Alistar has handed me our new orders. We'll be moving out soon so get some rest. I would advise Hellfire to do the same."
"Agreed," said Kaeli, "I want at least six hours of ZZZZ's drilled into your asses. That is all." Kaeli threw a salute, "Hellfires!" Slayer threw a salute himself.
"Wraiths!"
"Dismissed!" They both shouted in unison. Kaeli made a bee line for the commanders office while Slayer quietly pulled the XO of each squadron into the commanders office with Kaeli and himself. Once the door was closed Draganta and Phoenix lost their serious look and laughed.
"That was quite a show there CO!" Phoenix congratulated Slayer with a handshake. Draganta did much the same to Kaeli.
"But seriously you two suck when you try to be serious." Chimed Draganta. Being the XO's of a squadron meant they could be a little more direct in their opinions.
"It wasn't all a shitact," commented Kaeli handing each of the XO's a hardcopy of their orders, "take a look at the disappearing trick we're going to pull." Draganta stopped his smiling when he was halfway through it. Phoenix's grin just grew even wider.
"JesuChristo!" exclaimed Draganta, "Kaeli is this shit for real?" When Kaeli and Slayer nodded a yes Phoenix leaned back in her chair.
"Bout goddamn time too. Anything else bosses?" Slayer and Kaeli both said no and dismissed them. Before Phoenix could make it out of the room to retire to her bunk, however, Slayer's helmet commlink beep. Annoyed Slayer plopped the helmet on his head and appeared to have a conversation. Phoenix hung around at the door in morbid curiosity. When Slayer was finished he took off his helmet and sighed.
"Who was that?" inquired Kaeli.
"Dr. Emrid," Slayer grimaced, "It seems Angel finally woke up and is raising hell in the Med. bay. The good doctor respectfully requests that we reclaim her." Kaeli snorted.
"Nice way of saying get her the fuck outa here." Phoenix checked the bunks for a second.
"I'll send Steel to go pick her up," Phoenix was about to leave the room when Kaeli raised a halting finger.
"...could you also tell Steel to escort one of our people out of the Med. bay?"
"Who exactly?" Phoenix's mind raced as she tried to remember who was not in attendance. Of course! How could she have forgotten about...
"RainbowKat, just tell'm to holler her name and she'll come a runnin." Phoenix saluted and left the two commanders alone in the room. Kaeli stared at the wall for a moment then tilted her head.
"You know Slayer I just realized that there's only one commanders bunk and that I sure as hell ain't sleeping on the floor." Slayer grimaced and turned to face Kaeli ready to engage in whatever strange form of competition she would propose to see who got the bunk and who got the floor mattress. It was going to be a looong night for Slayer..........
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
END PART4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors note: It.....is......finished. I apologize for taking so long to get this part out but its been quite a busy month around my base and I have been somewhat detained and besides this seems like a nice place to cut you off. QC, fear not I haven't forgotten about you. You'll be showing up in the next part guaranteed along with RainbowKat if she'll answer me directly with the information I require instead of sending one of her clones to give me a guessed report on her looks, names, and everything else I need. Hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'll see you all again in pt5.
Admiral Kelley out!