Sublieutenant Sor waited at the docks on Destructia, constantly checking the time on his wrist device. What in the blazes was taking this delivery?
"Of course Spec Ops can't even handle a simple task." The frustrated officer removed his hat and wiped his brow before placing it on his head. "Idiots."
Then his radio lit up.
"Lieutenant, the ship is coming in for a landing."
"About time," another check of his clock…just five minutes shy of the delivery window closing. They're fortunate they still made it. He quickly adjusted the chin strap of his visor cap before they came in to land, ensuring it wouldn't fly away on him. A ramp extended to the main airlock, the Lieutenant signaling his trio of escorts nearest him to stand ready as the door opened.
No sooner than the vessel settled in for a landing on the tarmac and the cargo ramp came to rest from the hangar, the airlock whisked open to reveal Vult and Corr, the familiar case in the Commander's hand as they disembarked, destined for the waiting Internal Affairs officers.
"About blasted time, Commander," Sor started, the Sublieutenant clearly irritated that he's been left standing on the dock for the past two hours. "What's your excuse, did you run into a traffic jam?"
"Technical difficulties with our primary powerplant," Vult half-admitted, conveniently leaving out a great deal of the story. "We felt it prudent not to announce a distress call while holding onto this." He gestured with the case, yet to hand it over.
"Really?" Sor took the case, quickly examining the electronic lock on it. Satisfied he didn't see anything out of place, he took out a pair of handcuffs, attaching one end to his wrist and waiting for the case. "You know if that case isn't in my hand within a few minutes I have all of you dead to rights, yes?"
"I'm aware. You are not Marshal Turu. I have explicit orders to deliver this to him per High Marshal Xilch. Find him."
"That's…odd. One moment." Sor turned around, taking some steps away from Vult to make a call to headquarters about this odd change of events he wasn't alerted to.
Vult watched the IIA officer as he departed to make a call in private, glancing to Corr as he leaned in to keep his voice low between them.
"Doubt they suspect anything…but be ready, just in case."
Corr nodded in reply, keeping a keen antenna out on the call.
"Yes, Marshal, the genome arrived. Those spekkie couriers said-" he was paused with an interruption. "Yes, sir." Another pause. "I understand, sir, I'll bring them to you. Right away, sir." Sor uncuffed his wrist and walked back over to the duo. "So it checks out. However the Marshal is currently occupied and can't come here. I've been instructed to bring you both to him."
Once more, that pit of dread plummeted in his spooch behind a veneer of inaction. Interacting with Internal Affairs at any level was never pleasant, especially their upper echelons. That went doubly-so with their own ongoing illicit activities. Rather than risk suspicious questioning, the Commander gave a solidary nod.
"Of course, one moment." Vult obliged, lifting his arm to type out a rapid message to Aero, notifying her of their departure and to standby…engines warm and ready. "Lead on, Lieutenant."
Sor led them over to an APC, taking a seat in the passenger compartment in the rear with the two higher officers. One of the troopers with him closed the rear door and the vehicle lurched forward. Sor remained silent, watching the two. They looked different than most. Sturdier? Something bugged him but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. How curious. All the same, he also never let the case containing the genome out of his sight. It was his responsibility.
When the vehicle came to a stop, it was in front of Destructia's main cloning facility. Sor led them inside and to the control room, where the Marshal was waiting for them, overseeing the setup of the computer systems. He wanted to make sure everything was started properly.
"Marshal, reporting as ordered with the genome." Sor gestured to the Captain and Commander as the Marshal turned to face them.
"Very good, Lieutenant," Turu walked over to Vult, holding his hand out for the case.
Both Vult and Corr snapped a crisp salute, respectively, before extending the sealed case to the Marshal.
"Delivery of the package, as ordered by High Marshal Xilch, Sir."
"Yes, of course," he took the case before gesturing for Sor to come over. The both of them examined the electronic lock to check for any tampering. Tense moments passed before Turu looked to Sor, "Satisfactory, Lieutenant?"
"Indeed, sir, the package is clean."
"Very good," Turu opened the case with his own passcode and withdrew the copy of the genome and inserted it into the main computer. "Commander, Captain, you've fulfilled your duties. You're free to go. But, a piece of advice: Try not to thread the needle on your timeline like that again. We have a saying in my command: If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. If you're late, you're unacceptable."
"Circumstances beyond our control, Marshal, but I concur." Vult cordially summarized with a respectful nod and a salute to follow before about-facing.
The sooner they were off-world, the better.
Sor watched the two head out the door. "Something seems odd about those two."
"I agree. But we have nothing actionable. They did their duty. You know I'm very keen on having the clearest cut of cases."
"Indeed, sir, your success record attests as much."
"You're free to return to your duties, Lieutenant."
A typical light utility vehicle returned Vult and Corr to their waiting vessel. The IIA guards that were there when they arrived had long since left, a pair of Troopers guarded the ramp, fresh faced recruits that looked like they never saw combat before. The two performed a perfectly drilled salute with their rifles as the two officers passed them by. They were greeted in the ship by Gers.
"Oh, good, I was about to leave you two a note."
"Something wrong, Sergeant?" Corr asked him.
"Nothing wrong. The General simply wants either you or the Commander to call him back whenever you two return from being delivery boys. His words, not mine."
Vult kept his composure at Vaukt's verbiage. He was technically correct and the Commander despised that fact. Nevertheless, the ordeal served its purpose. Their allies had vital information to take one more step closer toward ending the madness plaguing the universe abound.
"Thank you, Sergeant." He settled for, stepping aboard with Corr in tow.
No sooner than the rest of them were back on the ship and free of the ramp, the Commander personally approached the controls to raise it and seal them up once again.
"Corr, notify Vara to get us as far away from this planet as quickly as possible. Rather not push our luck more than we must." He summarized, locking the panel out once they were sealed tight and spaceworthy once more.
"Right away, Commander." Corr made his way to the bridge to notify Vara as he watched Vult make his way to the conference room before entering the lift. A weary Vortian waited at the helm and going strong after being on constant shift for their ordeal. He really admired the determination.
"Commander, get us out of here."
"Will do. Any particular course?"
"Anywhere but here."
"Fine by me." As Vara started the takeoff procedure, Corr went back down the lift and to the conference room, in case Vult needed him.
Even with the aid of inertia dampening, the sheer volume of thrust the vessel was capable of nearly overcame it. As quickly as they arrived, they were free of Destructia's gravity well and spacebound once more. The drag of atmosphere and gravity relented, the ride smoothing out to the uninterrupted floating nothingness of the void. A deep sigh of relief left the Commander's weary body. They pulled it off.
"That was close," Corr took a seat in the room and took a deep breath. "That Lieutenant seemed pretty suspicious of us. I don't think he liked us breaking typical regulations like we did."
"Internal Affairs' natural state is suspicious." Vult countered, less than serious as he sat up with a rub of his tired eyes. "Glad to be rid of the case and their attention."
As he spoke, his digits typed away at his terminal interface, bringing up General Vaukt's contact frequency to follow up on Gers' missive delivered on his behalf.
"You and me both."
Corr leaned back in his seat as Vult worked. A hologram of the General, in his typical field uniform, soon appeared before them.
"Ah, the two delivery boys!" Vaukt didn't dive into details with whatever they were up to. But he was certain something related to their 'after hours activities.' Surely it was a success. "So, I take it by accepting this job as a courier, your team is ready for new assignments?"
"On-time and under-budget, General," Vult facetiously responded to his superior's own banter. "After replenishing our stores and appropriating additions to the team, we are ready for tasking. Same to assume such a task awaits us, Sir?"
"Yes indeed," the General took a sip of a Vortian lager, something running dry on the planet. "Remember what I sent you about a particular Invader?"
"Skrem, sir?" Corr asked.
"Yes, exactly. I highly suggest you two go grab him."
"So you've recommended before, Sir," Vult concurred, arching a single brow with mild curiosity. "You seem adamant about it, even…playing favorites?"
"Maybe I am, but it goes beyond that." Vaukt began, "Occupation forces are arriving in sufficient numbers where Zha and I will be leaving Vort shortly. We're bound for Orenkian space to take them on. Command wants our best assets on it. In fact, they've even sent the new squad out to the Vylatian Confederation to work with Invader Nossa. After Vort, it seems like High Command doesn't want to take any risks."
Both Corr and his superior officer shared a look of equal measures of curiosity and concern at this revelation before the Commander returned his attention fully to Vaukt's projected image.
"This is…news to us, General. New team…and did you say Invader Nossa?"
"Yes, a new team, built along your lines. Captain Amka that you met on Vort? He's been promoted to Major and heading that up. New team's called Mirage. And, yes, I did say Nossa, they're working with her on the Vylatian homeworld."
"So, you want us to go after Skrem for Orenk?" Corr asked.
"No, nothing like that. Invader Bog is already present on the planet, and considering the brass wants our best assets, the Tallest want to assign you to Zha and I for this. However, if I have you tied up on Hel…"
"Conveniently keeps us far and away from Armada incompetence and out of the line-of-fire, literally." Vult summarized Vaukt's line of thought. "...I am not eager to return to an active theater of war. I will take asset retrieval any day of the week over that. Curious, but if the High Marshal and yourself are being reassigned, what is to become of Vort?"
"General Cagir of the Elites is being assigned to assign occupation forces because of the current insurgency threat."
Corr blinked as he recognized the name. "He was commander of my division back during the first attack on Praxxus. He was promoted?"
"He was. Competent enough and he had a slight growth spurt lately. The Vortian militia have been giving him some trouble lately. Few villages have reportedly fallen under their control, farming villages."
"But you and the High Marshal haven't acted?"
"She believes that wasting a bunch of lives for some barns and grain fields isn't currently worth the blood spilled. Let them think they won."
"...And Cagir changes that."
"Yes. So, Commander, I take it you'll be headed to Hel? Otherwise we'll see you on Orenk."
"While I would love for nothing more than the opportunity to shower in the praise of the Tallest for another job well done in spearheading another conquest…Invader Skrem is a valuable asset." Vult cheekily responded with a pursed smile to match. "Also gives us the opportunity to see how our new recruits handle themselves in the field. Recovery is as low-risk as it comes in this line of work."
"The intel is old from the start of ID2 so take it with a heft of caution, but the facilities on Hel were reported to be vacant ever since our botched operation the first time around. I have no clue if he's even alive on that planet or his status. If he's there, and I do hope he is, he'd certainly appreciate the rescue."
"Why is he not deactivated, if you don't mind me probing, General." Corr asked, "Is it not standard procedure to deactivate our MIAs anymore?"
"I fought hard to keep that at bay for Skrem. You know how I am, not one to waste lives and assets. Why do you think Tak yet lives?"
"That was you?"
"She's talented, Zim screwed her over, I wanted to bring her in via back channels but the Control Brains got the better of it. Let me know how Hel goes. I hear it's extremely frigid no matter the time of year."
Vult blinked.
"...you knew about Tak prior to our assignment to retrieve her, General?" He sought pointedly, holding his bubbling fury in reserve.
"I knew about her fate at the Invader school and then her subsequent reassignment to Dirt. Your mission to retrieve her I wasn't made aware of…nor was I aware at the time that your squad even existed."
The Commander sighed, allowing his disdain to subside. What was done was done, even if Vaukt was aware. Thankfully, he hadn't been in the same camp as the Tallest to withhold critical information.
"Then it is safe to assume you are aware that we cut her loose on-return to Dirt to continue…whatever it was that she was doing in the first place. Where she went after that is a mystery to us. Something about Zim, I know that much."
"I managed to make radio contact with her craft using a Vortian transmitter of all things. We talked a bit," Vaukt began his recollection, "she told me she's going to do in that usurper. I told her that if she finds him and succeeds, I'll do whatever it takes to transfer her into the Invaders for her to take her rightful spot. She seemed…appreciative to say the least. As to where? She wouldn't say. Woman knows her OPSEC."
"First assumption would be whatever fake mission he was given at the Great Assigning." Vult concluded, mentally filing it away for the time being. "Nevertheless, we'll set course for Hel and locate Invader Skrem."
A pause.
"...how secure is this connection, General?"
"Need it to be?" He typed away at the console of the hologram, a brief flicker of static as he changed them over from standard communication frequencies to secure frequencies he had access to as a General and knew would be silent with no operations active. "Go ahead."
Vult waited to speak once he was certain the connection established by Vaukt was engaged fully.
"Your man Skrem…is he to be tapped for the movement? Everyone I have recruited so far has been. Everyone on this team is now unhooked proper. I am not in the business of inviting another mess into my antenna if I can avoid it."
"He called the Tallest imbeciles to their faces. Contact me as soon as your team retrieves him. I'll speak with him. He was one of the best soldiers I had in Spec Ops before he became an Invader. I know he trusts me implicitly…he actually wanted to stay in Spec Ops and not become in Invader, you know that? Had to subtly convince him to take the transfer."
"We'll cross that bridge whenever we arrive to it," The Commander concluded with a sigh. "As Vard spoke to me, it is my turn to start trusting others. I place my trust in you and now in him if and when he is recovered."
Vult's azure gaze turned to Corr.
"Anything to add, Captain?"
"You said the facilities were abandoned?" Corr asked, mulling over the intelligence in his head.
"Correct, but it's old."
"And Skrem's last known?"
"The squad I sent with him was found dead, but no sign of him."
"Assumptions on Hel?"
"I'd advise caution. You know how it is going in blind."
"We weren't going to break in the door if that was what you were thinking."
"I know, you're not stupid."
"Plenty of other doors to be kicked in in the future," Vult commented, looking back to Vaukt. "Anything else, General?"
"Nothing else. Looking forward to hearing from Skrem again. Been a while since he and I talked."
"Hopefully he is capable of conversation and not a corpse then," the Commander morbidly summarized. "We'll make for Hel and keep you posted, General. Vult out."
The connection severed, Vaukt's projected form fizzled out from view, leaving the two officers in the conference room alone. Vult's remaining normal hand rose, thumb and forefinger tiredly rubbing at his fatigued eyes.
"...the anticipation is killing me." He admitted, looking to Corr. "All of this activity in its infancy…feels like pointless busy-work at this point."
"One must lay the foundations of a building before you proceed to build the structure." Corr leaned back in his seat with a sigh, "I know how painful this is, having to work piecemeal right now. I can actually understand the frustration jerkface must be going through and wanting to do something now…but he is brash."
"Is that what you call it?" Vult scoffed with a shake of his head. "Personally think he needs a sound beating to sort him out but I do owe the man my life."
"I'm probably being overly charitable again."
"You are. It's in your nature." Vult semi-seriously spoke, manipulating his terminal to begin gathering as much information at their disposal on the world of Hel concurrent with Skrem and his last assignment for review. "I want to send in Green Team. Red and Purple are both capable but if we are going to be able to field three teams and rotate accordingly, they need to be competent and reliable. I realize they are still fresh but if they can't handle picking up assets on a backwater, remote world with negligible risk, we have larger problems to address."
"Time isn't entirely of the essence for a change." Corr nodded, "They are going to be a man short. Not to mention they have no support gunner or sniper."
"Pick someone to accompany them and fill the empty spot on the roster. They'll need an experienced guide on the ground anyway."
"I would say send Radec, but his record speaks for itself on his capabilities in the field."
"I wouldn't." Vult countered, noting Corr's confused expression. "He and Orkos came from the same unit. Bias and conflict of interest this early on. Radec has made it a point to be smug about his assignment to Purple as well. They don't need the distractions on the ground."
"Haxx or Gers in a dual capacity of acting as a field evaluator?" Corr spoke once more after a few moments of thought.
"It would certainly give me peace-of-mind knowing someone down there knows what they're doing and keep the rest of them from getting themselves killed should they come across any threats or dangers." The Commander reasoned, mulling Corr's recommendations over briefly. "...Send Gers with them. More appropriate to do so with Haxx being your second."
"Gers it is."
"Speaking of, how has Green Team been faring as far as training is concerned?" Vult queried, genuinely curious. "I realize the past few weeks have been hectic onboarding them and dealing with our…detour, for lack of a better term. Are they settling in and adjusting?"
"They seemed to appreciate the first leg of the trip when the simulators were shut down…up until I ran them around the ship until they puked and then some." Corr cracked a smirk.
"Classic." Vult smirked. "...so PT goes well then?"
"They're coming along well there. The former Elites have been faring well as expected. Deris…his endurance is terrible but I watched the man fix some broken gym equipment like it was nothing; his skills are still worth keeping him. Chavsa is oddly the top of the team. For a pilot she seems like she could run twenty kliks before she passes out. I'm oddly impressed."
"She likes to go fast." Vult summarized, remembering her own "audition" with frightening clarity. "Extremely competitive too. Between her and Sergeant Aren, they should have zero morale issues."
"Yet wrong her even slightly and she seems to have the fury of a star behind her." Corr paused, "What exactly did you see in such a feisty one who seems to not want to respect the chain of command?"
"Considering that path we're all but destined to at this conjecture, she fits right in." Vult reasoned. "...and beggars cannot be choosers. Ideal candidate? Far from it, but she is good at what she does and with enough tempering and discipline, it can be harnessed. I experienced her capabilities first-hand. I will not get in another fighter with her. You can and see for yourself."
Corr chuckled, "I think I'll take your word for it. Do you think we should give Gers the authority to take temporary command over Orkos if they run into any serious problems?"
"The sensible thing to do. Gers is capable of making that judgment call if Orkos or the others are going to get themselves in over their heads. Make it clear to Orkos once Gers does so, that's it. He will be in command of Green Team."
"Understood." Corr took a glance through Skrem's records as they came up and blinked. "Commander, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all Invaders have a SiR unit?" He looked at a note in Skrem's operational catalog that he dispensed with a deactivated SiR unit after only a single infiltration mission. "Something seems…odd. Whatever it is, I guess we'll find out."