Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread. It belongs to Gonzo.
Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Infiltration
Location: Mountain Range. Five hundred fifty meters from Testing Facility. Two hours before start of space battle.
Keiji Akida lie prone, scanning the facility from a safe, hidden location. His objective was to locate a suitable entrance into the facility, with the least chance of being detected. So far, he was finding no such way in, and it was starting to wear on his patience. The facility was well protected against any such infiltration. Still, his orders were to find a way in, and that's what he was going to do.
Encased in the Falke light armor, which was painted in a camouflage pattern that matched the color of the terrain, he had very little chance of being spotted by all but the keenest of eyesight. He was just about to get up to report that he had yet to find a location, until he heard a distant, guttural sound. Bringing his weapon up, he slowly turned to face where the noise was coming from. Zooming in to a closer range, he spotted what looked like a supply truck, and it was also heading straight for the facility. A faint smile stole over his lips. He had just found their way in…
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"So, you're suggesting we should hijack this truck and use it to get into the facility?" Aidan asked, repeating what Akida had told him.
"I have found no other good way to enter the facility undetected," Akida said. "This seems to be the best way in."
"Okay," he replied. "How much time do we have to intercept the truck before it reaches the facility?"
"The truck will arrive near this area in about an hour," Akida replied.
"Alright, but how exactly do we capture the truck?" Meia asked.
He had noticed that she always had the faceplate of her armor up whenever they weren't doing anything. Given the fact that she was uncomfortable on the shuttle, and the armor, he assumed that she was a little claustrophobic. He just hoped that wouldn't interfere with her performance in the operation.
"Well, we need to acquire it without inflicting any damage to it," he said after a second of thought.
"So I guess taking it by force is out of the question?" Hawkins chimed in.
"It would be easy to take it that way," Damon replied. "But we risk damaging it, and therefore blowing our cover before we're even inside."
"So," Ria put in. "Which one of us is going to take the truck?"
"Now that you ask…" Aidan trailed off, getting an idea.
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"Jura, to your left!" Barnette called out as she noticed an enemy fighter bear in on her.
This battlefield was utter chaos, that was for sure. Hundreds of fighters, mecha, ships, and various kinds of weapon fire were all crisscrossing over this area of space that had become a literal battlefield. It was hard enough to keep track of her team. Add on to that fact that they had to take down a ship that was almost twice the size of the Nirvana, one created for the entire purpose of war. Not to mention the fact that that very ship mounted an anti-Paksis weapon.
Dodging enemy fire, she pulled her Dread into a tight turn that brought her up behind her intended target, the fighter who had fired upon her. It took her a few seconds to get a lock, and then she thumbed the trigger, sending out a score of missiles that spiraled in on the opposing craft. The pilot managed to pull away and avoid a few of the missiles, but the rest slammed into the tail and body of the fighter. The resulting explosions tore the fighter apart. Suddenly, several spears of light entered her field of vision, all apparently aimed at her.
"Damn!" she cursed as she just narrowly managed to avoid the hellish laser fire. That attack on the enemy fighter had brought her into the range of the Indomitable's weapons, and she was in trouble unless she managed to get farther away from it. Just then, another enemy craft cut her off. It was something she had never seen before. Bigger than a fighter, but much smaller than the smallest combat vessel. It looked menacing and armed to the teeth for a ship of it's size.
Then the gunboat opened fire on her. Kicking her fighter to the right, she managed to avoid most of the incoming fire, with only a few shots grazing her. Muttering another curse, she turned her fighter to come in the rear section of the craft. Centering her targeting reticule on the engines of the ship, she fired the three laser cannons that were mounted in each of her Dread's wings. The six combined laser blasts tore into the aft of the vessel, coring through the engines and into the fusion drive core that powered it. There was a bright, blue-white light that engulfed the back of the ship, then quickly overwhelming the rest of the gunboat.
She could feel the shockwaves of the explosion pound her Dread. Shaking them off, she moved quickly out of the way to avoid more fire that she knew was going to come her way.
"Seychelle," she said, naming one of the Dread pilots that were on her team. "Gather the rest of the team and prepare to make a sweeping pass on the Indomitable. And watch out for it's guns."
"Roger," came the pilot's response.
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Gunter Argust was pissed, really pissed. He had noticed the Mejalean pirate ship was in the middle of combat, but yet he couldn't currently engage it. Why was he being held in reserve? Especially when his ship had over twice the firepower of just about any ship currently out here, exempting the ships of the same class. He had been given specific orders to hold the reserve, just in case they break through the frontline.
He really wanted the pirate ship to close, so he'd have a chance to destroy them once and for all, using the PN Device. Another fact that pissed him off was that PN Device was malfunctioning, failing to work correctly. He knew that might be a possibility, but it still made him angry. He had given them the order to get it working as soon as possible. In the meantime, he'd just rely on the heavy firepower of his ship's weapons.
There was a slight rumbling throughout the ship, indicating that it had taken some hits, most likely from that destroyer off it's port bow. If that ship went ignored, it could some serious damage. He wouldn't let that happen.
"All portside batteries, target that damn destroyer, and FIRE!" he commanded.
The several portside cannons and lasers unleashed their hellish fury upon the smaller ship. The combined barrage broke the spine of the destroyer, causing it collapse in on itself, then explode a few seconds later. He grinned in satisfaction as he watched the ship's death. He took joy in knowing that he had just rid the universe of another group of feeble heretics.
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"Admiral! We've just lost the Sabre!" the combat controller fairly shouted.
Admiral Graff merely nodded and mentally noted the destruction of yet another ship, this time a destroyer. His primary focus was on the large warship that was several hundred kilometers in front of them. It was an Invincible Class, the same class as the Dauntless. It's original name was intended to be the Resolute, but was instead renamed the Divine Will by the E.D.A. forces who captured it.
It was the fourth ship of it's class. The first was named the Invincible, and was destroyed near the end of the war against Earth. Two others were developed soon thereafter, named the Indomitable and the Dauntless. The former was taken control of sympathizers and traitors already onboard it. The Dauntless, his ship, avoided capture because it was out on maneuvers during the seizure of the ship. The Resolute was taken over before it could officially embark on it's first mission. Now, he realized he was going to have to possible destroy one of the Dauntless' sister ships.
"All forward batteries, lock onto the Divine Will and prepare to fire when given the order," he commanded.
"Aye sir," the ship's chief weapons officer responded. A few seconds later, he spoke up again. "Locked on, sir. Awaiting your order."
"FIRE!" he bellowed.
At that very same moment, the Divine Will unleashed a barrage with equal intensity. The Dauntless shook violently under the assault, taking the brunt of the damage along it's nose. One of the shots got dangerously close to the bridge, causing a ceiling panel to fall, as well as overload a few computer terminals, showering the bridge with sparks. Small fires blossomed on the bridge, but were quickly put out by the fire suppression systems built into the ship. The Dauntless had just been hurt, but she was far from out of the fight. Graff knew that the effects had to be as equally devastating to the Divine Will. This was going to be a tough battle, but Graff had every intention on surviving through it, and coming out on top.
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Damon eyed the pair of guards at the gate as he pulled the truck up to the gate. The guard standing outside approached the truck as he pulled to a stop.
"You're late," the guard said. "You were due here an hour ago."
"Yeah, I know," Damon replied as he handed him the stolen identification card. "The damn truck broke down, and it took us the better part of an hour just to get it to run again."
Sitting next to Damon was Nick Hawkins. They were posing as the drivers because they were the ones that were close to even resembling them. They had captured the truck by having Ria pose as a hitchhiker. After the truck stopped, they took it quickly, killing the driver and his passenger bloodlessly within seconds. The uniforms Damon and Hawkins now wore were taken from those two men.
"Well, next time let us know, and we'll send someone to repair it properly," the guard said as he handed Damon back the stolen ID card, then motioned them forward.
"Will do," Damon replied as he waved a casual salute to the guard.
He started up the truck again, and drove into the compound. A few seconds later he heard the massive door shut again. He came to a stop inside one of storage buildings. He glanced at the rearview mirror and noticed someone approaching.
"Hey!" the person called. "You're supposed to head to Storage Bunker Six."
"Oops," he replied as he drew a handgun, pointed it at the man, and fired. "My bad."
That sent a signal for the rest of them, and the spec-ops soldiers bolted out of the back of the supply truck, quickly gunning down anyone inside the building. Once it was all clear, Aidan waved a signal to Damon and Hawkins. He opened the door and got out of the truck, and Hawkins did the same. Then they both climbed into the back of the truck, and with a little help, donned their armor. Once Damon had locked his helmet into place, he heard Aidan's voice through the comm.
"Alright, let's go over this one more time. Ghost One, you'll take Ghost Team and accomplish objective A: the downloading of all data files from their systems. My team will split into two groups. Spectre Two, you take Spectre's Three, Six, and Eight, and plant the explosives in the ammunition and supply bunkers. The rest of you are with me. Understood? Move out."
"Alright, let's go," Damon said as he gestured for, Steiner, Hawkins, and Deveroux to follow him.
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Another explosion rocked the ship, but BC rode it out as if it were nothing. Currently viewing the battle, he/she had noticed one thing. The Indomitable had yet to activate the P.N. Device, despite having a few good opportunities to do so. Apparently the Captain noticed as well.
"Why have they not activated the device?" Magno asked.
"I am not sure Captain," BC replied. "They certainly have had a few good chance to do so."
"Perhaps they're having a problem with it?" Magno suggested.
"That could be it, as it is the prototype," BC answered. "Dread Teams, you're orders are to destroy the Indomitable before it can activate the PN Device."
That set off a chorus of 'Rogers!' from the pilots as they confirmed the order.
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Just three more to go.