The office was on the top floor of the high rise, and it was a penthouse. It had an excellent view of the city that unfolded before it. The city was a little older than the tower.
Night was descending on the area, and the lights were beginning to turn on throughout the city. The city would stay lit for many hours to come and then the city would slowly wink out; only the entertainment district would stay lit throughout the night and into the next morning. One other building was lit well into the night, and all of the lights were never off at one time. The high rise was the only building were almost all of the lights stayed on throughout the night, for this tower was of much importance. The sky rise was where Starfleet command was based. All of the Terran Starfleet's actions were directed form here.
One man over saw all of the fleet's actions. His name was High Commander Lawrence. He was of medium build, with black hair, clean-shaven, and eyes that were like stone. The High Commander and his secretary were staying late today; it was more of the High Commander staying late and his secretary had to stay because he had requested it.
Commander Lawrence was pacing in front of the windows. The inside of his office was ornately decorated. The two couches and three chairs within the room were of fine black leather the two couches were around a wooden table. The space rug on which the table and couches were on was hand woven of the finest thread. His office had the best view of the city, it was also the biggest in the building. On his desk was a computer screen and a keyboard. Behind his desk were three large computer screens and a keyboard and mouse; the screens were flashing a series of pictures. Everything looked brand new and was the best money could buy. In the corner was another computer with a keyboard in front of the screen and a headset hanging off of the screen.
Every once in a while he would stop and look at the time, only to go back to pacing a few seconds later. He was waiting for some people to arrive; they were already a little late. Finally he stopped pacing and went over to his small bar. It was stocked with many fine drinks. He chose his glass and drink of choice, and poured it into the glass. It was a green liquid with a sweet taste. Just as he put the glass to his lips the door to his office slid open. The commander looked over and put the glass down, a relieved look on his face. He walked towards the door.
"Finally. You're late." The commander said, his eyes straining to see who was in the shadows.
"Sorry, I had business to take care of." Came a gruff voice. From the shadows emerged a high-ranking Marine. His armor was red and battle scared, he had to leave his weapon outside of the office. The marking of a lone figure against the sun was on his shoulder pad, identifying him as one of the lone survivor member of a squad. He now a one-man squad, and was allowed to do what he wanted on the battlefield. Etchings of medals he had received were on the breastplate of his armor. His hair was brown and his facial stubble was black. He had blue eyes that were cold to the look. "Lets get this over with."
"We have to wait until the others arrive." The Commander said as he walked back to the bar and took a sip of his drink. The door slid open again and in walked a man dressed in a Ghost suit. "Ahh Dachium, glad you could make it."
"Sorry I'm late. I had some trouble at the parking garage." Dachium said as he walked to one of the chairs and took a seat. He had blue eyes and blonde hair. His attire was that of the standard Ghost suit; as with the Marine his weapon was left outside of the office. It was obviously more superior than the average warrior simply because he was a Ghost. He was a freelancer that worked for anyone with money, but was supplied by the Terran military because he did a majority of his work for them. For the most part he is allowed to do what he pleases. The door slid shut just as he sat down. "So what's the mission?"
"I will explain it when the rest arrive." Commander Lawrence said after he had taken another sip of his green drink. "Meanwhile, would either of you like a drink?"
The Marine grunted and pulled out a silver case with the Terran's insignia etched onto the front. He opened it and pulled out a cigarette and stuck it into his mouth. He held the cigarette in his mouth while he put away the silver case and pulled out a lighter. Putting the lighter up to the cigarette he lit it and inhaled. The Marine put the lighter away and puffed out the smoke, he continued to smoke his cigarette.
Dachium coughed and waved his hand in the air in an attempt to dissipate the smoke. "I'm all set too, thanks." He coughed again and got up out of his seat and went over to stand in a part of the room that wasn't smoky.
Fans in the ceiling kicked in to remove the smoke and replace it with clean air. As they came on the door opened and metal moving could be heard. They all looked over as a Zealot walked into the room. It's armor clinked against the floor.
"Hello, I am Aang." The Zealot said with a slight bow. His armor was shiny and had a small amount of dents in it. The psionic amplifier crystals on his forearm armor were glowing with power, they would activate when he channeled his psychic power through them. There were a few etchings on his armor, but nothing the group could decipher.
"Welcome Aang. I'm glad to see the Protoss gave you up for a while." The High Commander smiled for the first time tonight. The door had not shut and light footsteps could be heard.
"This is my brother, Nacdle. I believe you are familiar with him Commander Lawrence." The Zealot stepped aside to reveal a High Templar walking into the room. Nacdle's body eminated with psionic power. There was a large amplifier crystal in the middle of his golden armor that was also brimming with power. He had flowing black hair and glowing blue eyes. The Commander was in awe, along with the rest of them, that they were in the presence of a High Templar.
"Wow." The commander whispered to himself. "It is unbelievable. I did not think the Council would allow you to come Nacdle."
"My brother and I travel together, they did not have much of a choice." The spidery voice of the High Templar spoke.
"The kid here doesn't look like much of a warrior, and don't High Templars float off the ground?" The Marine said as he put out the cigarette.
"We have both seen many battles. My brother has saved me many times and is a valiant warrior. Yes we of the Templar caste do float off the ground, I chose to walk as you do." Nacdle said.
"Wait, wait I'm here. Don't start without me!" Came a woman's voice from down the hall. Everyone except the Templar turned to look. Her long brown hair was in a ponytail and swinging this way and that. She was wearing a flight suit and waving her arm in the air.
The Templar and Zealot moved out of the way as the woman ran into the room. She caught her breath before talking.
"Sergeant Katrina Pancost reporting for duty." She saluted he commanding officer.
"At ease Sergeant." Commander Lawrence saluted her back and walked behind his desk with his drink. "Please make yourselves comfortable."
Dachium went back to the chair he was previously sitting in, which was next to the Marine on the couch. Katrina sat down in the other chair and swiveled it around to face the commander. The two brothers stood behind the couch.
"I have called you all here to perform a special mission for me. As you all know there has been a recent increase in pirate activity. For the past 15 years the pirates have been steadily gaining power. They grow bolder by the day. Pretty soon there will be no one traversing the stars." High Commander Lawrence looked them all over. "These pirates are not your run of the hill pirates. They are well organized. Someone is the directing them, and that someone knows what they are doing. Both the Protoss and the Terran has lost ships to them. Even our ranks were thinned from defectors going to join the pirates. This must come to an end. We are trying to combat them, but to no avail. The pirates have staging areas and only attack certain targets. Our fleets have been able to hinder them, but not by much. We are conducting searches to try and find these bases." The High Commander finished by taking a sip of his drink and putting the glass down on his desk.
"Why does this concern us?" The Marine asked.
"I am getting to that. As I said we are conducting searches to find their bases. We believe that we have found one in a backwater galaxy, but this galaxy is strategically located near a major trade route. Not many people stop there and it is virtually uninhabited." The commander moved to the left of his desk so that he wasn't obstructing the view of the computer screens. "These are pictures of where we believe the base is. There are also some pictures of our evidence. We have very strong evidence to tell us there is a base here, but we are still unsure. Your jobs are to travel here, undetected, and investigate this location. If it is indeed a base then you are to destroy it. I am giving you my direct allowance to use any force that you see fit. Are you all up to this?"
Dachium turned and looked at the rest of them, they were all looking at each other. Then they turned and nodded.
"Good. Now let me give you the rest of the briefing." Commander Lawrence walked to his desk and pressed a button. A large screen came down from the ceiling in front of the windows. He typed something on the keyboard and a few pictures came up on the screen. The pictures were rotating and had labels on a few of the parts.
"This is what you will be getting as standard use." The commander pressed a button and the first picture enlarged. "This will be your communicator. It is totally secure, so no one will be able to hack the signal. My private comm. signal is already loaded into there so you are in direct contact with me. It has a signal randomizer so after each transmission they switch to another secure channel. They have wireless communication capabilities with a wide range of devices, including this next one." The picture of the comm. link minimizes and the next one on the line magnified.
"Here are your hand held computers. There size shouldn't be too much of a burden, and they are very light. It can switch the signal that you will use on your comm. link and global coordinates, except when under the ground. Of course you can just use the comm. link as a stand-alone device and not connect it to this computer, they are connected via a wireless connection. These little beauties have many different functions and I am pretty sure you can figure them out on the way." The hand held computer minimized itself and the other picture magnified.
"This here is your transportation. It's a specialized drop ship. It can cloak and silent run, the invisible trails left behind by the engines are also virtually gone. This is used to shuttle in and out special ops team so I trust this will serve your purposes. It is large enough to fit two vehicles into. Any of your equipment will fit. This should get you in and out very fast and stealthily. Only problem is it won't be armed. The only defensive measure is a holographic projection system that will allow you to project images outside of the ship, in hopes of confusing the enemy. I had this one specially outfitted to carry your fighter Sergeant Pancost, it took a few days but it is done." Commander Lawrence admired the ship for a second and then turned towards the group.
"As I said before you have clearance to use any force necessary. With this you can also retrieve anything you need from the extensive armory, I think you will find everything you need." The High Commander said to the group.
"Sounds good. How long do we have until launch?" Dachium asked.
"Once I let you go I am giving you two hours to get ready and depart." Everyone gathered himself or herself up and got ready to walk out. "Before you go I just want to do some introductions. Dachium Skorkovish is your computer and stealth person; he is also the marksman. Katrina Pancost was brought on board for her piloting skills. The Marine's name is Brac Cadell, he is here for his demolitions and weapon expertise. The brothers are here because they are both strategists and valiant warriors in battle, not only that but Nacdle's abilities will come in handy. Now you all may leave." The commander finished and they left the room. Katrina and Brac both left with a salute to their commander.