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Harrigan personally flew General Franklin and his wife back to the Cape before First Meal the following day.
"Yeah, I thought you'd want to get back to it quick" Harrigan said as he powered up the Reaper "We could have fitted you in for First Meal no trouble, but with you being the big man for the US military these days there's probably a backlog of work waiting for you".
"I expect so, Harrigan" General Franklin replied, nodding as he helped his wife strap in "There's a RED FLAG going on in a week or two, might have to at least look at the paperwork for that... all the usual crap for funding and training and new gear and everything else, though all the tiny details thankfully get sorted out before it hits my email".
"I knew about the RED FLAG" Harrigan replied "Might try and make an appearance there if we're not too busy, UN wants us to come an' address a full assembly soonish. Can't take General L, you know what he's like around Middle Easterners after laying out that Saudi officer at the Cape some time ago...".
General Franklin grinned a little, and the two of them talked about the issues of their respective commands for most of the flight back Earthside.
"You should be good medically" Harrigan told him "but if you start feeling a bit weird just give us a call, I'll get a doc come to look at you".
"I can walk around without assistance, mister" General Franklin replied "and I should even keep my flight certification. Anything else is just happening because I'm over 50".
"Hah!" Harrigan laughed "Technically so am I! Well, almost. That's all our weird travelling methods and time dilation and all that kind of stuff. I might be older, I hope I'm wiser - but I know I'm just as much fun to be with in spite of all that".
He shared a laugh with General Franklin and his wife about that, after which he headed back to the Havoc in time for First Meal.
Karl Torvald grumbled and muttered a bit when he eventually woke up, still not entirely used to his changed body - he tested himself by walking around, picking up small objects, and in a few other ways.
"Good, good" Nrakal said when Karl finally noticed he was there "Testing for control, for hand-eye coordination, is always one of the most important things for a newly-changed subject... specially when their new size is so much larger than their original size".
"You were watching?" Karl asked.
"Through the monitor cameras" Nrakal replied, nodding "On my PDA. Right now it is time for the first meal of the day, and for now you will be eating in the main galley with the War Commander until you are assigned to a unit, after which you will eat where they eat. Before the meal starts, you will be introduced to people of all species and genders present, partly for protocol but also so you can test your changed sense of smell and memorise their scent. You will be tested on more advanced matters relating to this later, this will just be basic species and gender recognition - since the species and gender of any person affects their scent" before smiling a little and adding "The change does as well, of course... we will test you on that too, though only with Scarrans. There are no non-Scarran species with both male and female changed subjects among them at this stage".
Nrakal started testing Karl's hearing as soon as they arrived at the galley transit platform.
"Barely" Karl replied, when Nrakal asked if he could hear voices from inside the galley "I can only recognise Scarrans and humans among the people inside. From what you tell me others are there as well".
"There are" Nrakal confirmed "Watch your head when entering... the doors here are designed for Scarrans of slightly above average height... and you are at the uppermost end of the height range for my people. You may need to turn slightly to one side if others enter the galley at the same time as you... we can test that now, walk in beside me".
Karl did just that, nodding when he realised he did need to turn slightly so as not to crush Nrakal against the wall.
"Yeah, real good!" Troll called, clapping "You're up an' about! We'll sort you out with food first, give you the basic tour of the sights on board ship... then we'll see about taking you somewhere out of sight for weapons testing, I think...".
"One thing at a time, Troll..." Harrigan reminded him "Juroch's gonna run him through a few things before the food's ready... we can sort the rest out after that".
"What about a chair I can sit on without breaking it?" Karl asked.
"Yeah, we took care of that" Troll told him "Had to do that with General Tareg, so we made a few extras. Give me a microt, I'll go get one".
"Greetings and salutations, Karl Torvald" Juroch called in greeting "I am Command Specialist Juroch, callsign Stalker, and I will be leading you through basic training concerning your changed senses. This will not be hard but will require much practice. We will start with the most basic things now and introduce you to males and females of every species aboard where we have both, and any others where only one is present".
Karl nodded, asking each person who came forward their name and rank and responsibilities aboard the ship - some of them were surprised he would ask about that, but all of them were pleased he did so.
"There is a male Kalish coming closer, I think" Karl said "The soldier on duty when I came out of my tank was a male of that species".
The Kalish approaching turned to Nrakal and asked about this, and when Nrakal nodded he did the same to Karl and said "This is true, although the Chief Surgeon says the man who was there then was a military officer and I am a technician. Many of the Kalish people have excellent technical skills".
"I am Keyah Kamara, Karl Torvald" Keyah explained, taking her seat "Usually I do not eat in this galley, but the War Commander requested my presence here to help you in this matter. I am told you have not seen Kalish people before coming to our ship - there are none among the Scarrans who live on this world?"
"None" Karl confirmed "The members of the Kingdom who are from my family and others like ours are not full-bloodline Scarrans, whom we know as people of the strong ones, but we do have Scarran traits which we inherited from our ancestors. Our family history does not record the presence of people like yourself being present on the ship that brought our Scarran ancestors here - nor of those people with greenish-white wrinkled skin I can see".
"Those are Charrid people" Keyah explained "We have comparatively few of them. Usually the skin of Charrid people is green... those whose skin is greenish-white have a natural adaption to the coldest livable climates".
"This is true" an arctic-world Charrid confirmed "We are naturally adapted to the coldest words. Our War Commander has permitted us to keep a number of galleys climate-controlled to the levels we are more used to elsewhere in the ship... you should visit these at least a few times, the climate there is much colder that even the mild human-level climate it is here".
"I am from one of the colder parts of this world" Karl said proudly "If we wish to swim or catch fish in the colder times of the year, we may have to break the ice over the water first".
The Charrid grinned when he heard that, encouraging Karl to visit his own galley later.
"I can't pick out specific voices, there are so many people here" Karl said after that "But I hear people like Keyah Kamara, at least I think so - they are talking about me, about who I might be and why I am here".
Keyah nodded and turned to face them before telling them "A small group only... this man has barely been out of his tank for a few arns. That group can come and see, then tell others what they learned. Perhaps two adults should come with you".
"You are not like my friend, Commander Altur" Caelen decided "He is a low-caste Scarran. That means he has thicker scaling all over his face and body. You do not have this. You have more hair of a different colour as well" before she came closer and poked Karl a bit before adding "His skin is a bit like yours... but not quite so thick, I think".
"My family and those like us" Karl told her "do not have low-caste Scarrans with us. As far as we know it... the ship bringing my ancestors was damaged, only a comparatively small number of those we now know to be high-caste Scarrans survived the landing".
Caelen hugged him after that, though she also poked and tested his carapace and hair before telling Nrakal every tiny detail of both which she had noticed, then returned to her parents.
Aden was in another galley further down the ship, with Molsey and the other human recruits.
No one's figured out what I got up to last night Aden realised thankfully at least not just yet. That stuff we got jabbed with seems to be telling me Molsey told a couple of people I was in her quarters recovering from the cold - which was true, just not the whole truth. She's smacked a couple of people across the face for guessing correctly in spite of that, though one of the older women looks to be calming her down about that.
"We'll keep you humans on basic training for a monen or so, I think" a Charrid man, wearing the insignia of a Specialist Trooper Third Class, decided aloud "From what I've been told, you're not totally incompetent, which is always good to see... and most of you act like you've had some good training before, even though I can tell you haven't needed to use most of it in a while".
After one of the other Charrids whispered to him, he looked at the former SEAL and one of the others before adding "...except you, it seems. Specialist Trooper Molsey thinks you two kept up what you've learned more than the others".
"Yeah, been doing some serious shit before we got picked up here" the former SEAL replied "That's what SEALs do. SEAL means Sleep, Eat, And Live it up" before explaining more clearly and laughing.
"Fuckin' squids..." the former Delta man beside him muttered, before adding "Don't you worry none, whatever we all were when you lot found us we all served with Harrigan an' Lazarus an' the others before that, and got our shit down cold. Might take a while for some of us to remember the best bits, but we'll do it".
The Specialist Trooper Third Class turned to face that man before nodding and adding "Good, good... the fewer of you humans needing remedial training, the better. The one who says he is a SEAL says he can climb cargo nets in unstable water while still carrying a combat load... we can't test the truth of that here, so you all get to train for it until we get back to our usual basing world again".
"I'm gonna need shitloads more training before my body's that good..." Aden moaned to Molsey while the others discussed that "No way I'm that good now, I'd fall off the cargo net and drown".
"One thing at a time" Molsey replied "Once we get you past basic training levels, officers will test your abilities in tactics and strategy both in the air and on the ground. Skills you should be able to succeed in sooner than you can in physical areas".
"Gonna be more fun, anyway" Aden replied "Can't fly helicopters, but I do know fighters and could likely fly bombers - if not take off and land in one right now".
"We do not build our small craft as you do here" Molsey replied, before she listed each small craft the Irregulars had and what roles they filled.
"Those Strykers sound like a lot of fun" Aden replied, grinning a bit "I'll try with the other ones too, but that's what I want".
Molsey smiled and nodded.
"Good, grandson!" Karl's grandfather said happily when Karl called in "You are out of the sick bay on that Scarran ship... are you well? Are you certified fit for combat? Our legal battles to secure the First Landing site are not going as well as any of us would like - I think our enemies have been talking to the more corruptible national politicians once our local representatives did not do what they asked them to".
"I still have a short period of rehabilitation, grandfather" Karl explained "Not long, from what I am told. As long as our enemies don't try and seize the site before rehabilitation is over I will come and fight, and if all goes well I will bring Scarran troops with me".
"Glad to be out of there, to be honest..." Westmore told Anton, after the contractors had been securely deposited inside Leavenworth "Wasn't ever sure if any of us had ever been sent there, but a few of us certainly got close".
"You saw our maximum security cells" Anton replied, nodding his head once "We have a number of methods for discouraging escaping... from what father tells me, most human maximum security prison cells are not secured that heavily".
Juroch turned his head from side to side, watching the perimeter guards he could see as well as trying to find others.
It'll do he decided Humans do not, at this time, have the ability to build isolated penal colonies in space. The odds of these human mercenaries staying where we put them are as good as they can be.
"Clock's ticking for getting my wife an' kids" Westmore reminded him "Won't take long for my disappearance to work its way up the chain... once the XO hears, he'll put my house under lockdown and either keep my family inside or take 'em to one of our own hidden spots".
"We will do this now" Juroch said when Anton looked in his direction as well "You should climb aboard the assault lander again, Mister Westmore... Anton, you will sit beside him as before, since you are his official point of contact with us until he is certified fit to be a trooper in his own right".
Once Westmore and Anton were sitting and strapped in, Juroch nodded and signalled for the small number of skulkers to board again, after which he called "All OK!" up to the lander's small bridge.
Dunno if we have enough space for the kids to bring some of their stuff Westmore thought to himself My wife and I will make sure they got their best clothes - they'll have to get used to other stuff like the kids wear aboard that enormous ship, but they'll settle faster with at least something familiar.
"Where should we go?" the copilot called "Does the human named Westmore have a course?"
Westmore grumbled a bit but unstrapped and climbed up to the small bridge, where the copilot had a map displayed on his HUD.
"Where are we now?" Westmore asked, nodding when the copilot pointed to an illuminated marker.
"Zoom out..." Westmore asked carefully, since he wasn't sure how he placed in respect to anyone else in regards to rank "OK... that'll do... bit further south... a bit more, thanks... now west..." before giving an address.
It took the lander's computer a little while to find it, but Westmore nodded and said "Yeah, that's my garden an' my pool. Not the biggest place in the neighbourhood, but it's closer to everything important".
"If that grassed area was only slightly bigger..." the pilot added, turning slightly so he could see "I'd land right in your property... as it is now, we'd destroy those ornamental landscape features".
Once the pilot and copilot conferred over a course for a few momens, the pilot told Westmore "Return to your seat, Mister Westmore. Tell Command Specialist Juroch we should reach the target location in approximately three arns".
"We're gonna be hauling to make it that quick" Westmore said , his translator microbes keeping up well "On it...".
"OK..." Westmore announced, just loudly enough for everyone to hear "ETA at my place is maybe three hour-sorry, arns. Hopefully we won't be on the ground for long, but it'd be helpful if maybe four of you could post up outside and keep an eye out for unwelcome guests or even just local cops while Anton an' I head inside...".
"We will finalise deployments when we are within half an arn of our objective" Juroch told Westmore "But broadly... it will be done as you have guessed it will. Some of our force will stay outside, this vessel's flight crew will stay aboard, and Anton and yourself will enter your home. I will command, but only enter your home if an emergency occurs" before telling everyone "Now would be a good time to eat, since none of you are Kalish and thus may be at least a little hungry - if you are not, clean your weapons, check your gear, and rest. You will be alerted shortly before we deploy".
"This rifle you got me's nice" Westmore told Juroch once everyone was busy "Not used to the mag being behind the trigger like that, I only every used M4s and AR15s - but I think I got how it all works".
"It is the design the Force use for covert missions where projectile weapons are needed" Juroch explained "As you could already tell when I gave you the basic orientation, it is a suppressed weapon. The grenade launcher is not unlike those on your own rifles, Anton tells me, although ours fire slightly larger shells".
"You got a muzzle brake on yours, though" Westmore replied "Gonna make some noise with that, but if I have to let fly with that noise'll be the least of our problems".
"It will" Juroch agreed, nodding again "Rest, Mister Westmore... we need you alert when we reach our target, only you know the terrain and the people".
"Good, Stalker" Trannak said, once Juroch commed in and briefed him "I don't yet know if this Westmore can be admitted directly into the Force detatchment in the Irregulars... but the prospects are as good as they are for anyone and better than most".
"That human who claims to be a seal may pass the admission tests" Juroch guessed aloud "Perhaps one or two of the others. Even if they do not pass admisssion for the Force, they should reach special ops proficiency ratings required for those like Captains Rulok and Lirak".
"The War Commander is discussing tactics and strategy for this political meeting he has been invited to speak at" Trannak told Juroch "We are finalising what humans might safely be told about Scarran politics and people and culture... and about Kalish and Charrid people as well".
"I recommend proceeding with caution, General" Juroch replied warily "If they ask, it might safely be revealed that other species live and work with us along with a few general things about them... but I suggest we reveal as little as possible to political representatives generally. We do not know them, we do not know what agendas they may have in regards to other species... besides, should any nations prove particularly friendly to us and our peoples and our cause, we can then reveal some additional information to reward them".
"Good idea, mister" Harrigan added "Way way back, Tal thought we might want to grab a few special recruits from one or two places, so I'll have a bit of a pow-wow with a couple of people if they're there in private".
Harrigan dropped offline for a few momens - when he came back on, he said "Looks like it's on for tomorrow - a lot of the big movers and shakers are either there already or well on their way".
"Not looking good, Mr Olak" a young man whispered, sitting in the main bar of the Kingdom Hotel "Can't say I got any hard evidence... but cave patrols have reported more people being turned away, and people going out and about say there's more police coming in in ones and twos... and my gut says they're gonna make a move soon. Want me out there with a Kord just in case?"
"We'd better not escalate the situation by bringing portable support weapons just yet" Olak whispered back, his half-Scarran accent making his voice sound a little odd "But you will be heading out to the surface of First Landing to scout... take an AK and anything else you might need to find out what's going on".
"On it..." the young man whispered, after which he scratched his head and asked "Where's the nearest hidey-hole for that stuff these days?"
"Basement, mister..." Olak replied, grumbling a little - after which he moved off to serve another customer.
Karl Torvald was feeling a lot more relaxed after Troll took him back down to Earth to practice gunnery.
"Yeah, not a huge fan of the desert myself" Troll told Karl "But this is Arizona, desert's what you get here - DEA's probably been told Irregulars are dirtside here by now, so we might be on call for heavy support if they need to do a drug bust".
Karl grinned, after which he promptly incinerated the first plant he saw with his flaming breath.
"Yeah, real good" Troll replied, nodding "You been getting used to that little party trick a lot more quickly than the big stuff... but you're doin' good with that too. Can't get admittance to a military firing range right now, even if it was safe to do that and there's one around here... so we make do with cacti and rocks and the occasional abandoned car".
Karl took off, climbing barely two hundred feet before circling.
"Those huge American big rigs..." Karl reported over his comm "Two... heading north...".
"Phoenix is that way, mister" Troll told Karl "Probably heading there. Don't worry about it".
"He's doing better than expected with flying" Sturk told Troll, smiling as he felt the Arizona heat on his Scarran skin "I was wondering if we'd ever find a place with a decent Scarran climate here, Troll... this is close enough, I think. We're only missing some good fellip in order to make this place a nice holiday spot".
"Even here it's starting to get to the cooler time of year" Troll replied "It gets like the bottom of a frypan out here in summer".
"I hope we come back again so I can find out" Sturk replied happily "This sector has potential".
"We got the right freq?...oh well, let's try..." a new human voice called on Karl's frequency "Dunno if you lot are listening... one of our CI's said there might be something coming over the border today... if you guys see anything where you are, just holler - we'll get a chopper heading out to take care of it...".
"Only two big rigs heading north to Phoenix so far" Troll told them, cutting in "We got an asset in the air, but so far that's all we saw apart from cacti an' rocks".
"One up on us, then" came the reply "If our CI is right... I doubt they'll move this early in the day. Their kinda people got lots of money to throw around, they might be able to find out we don't have NVG".
"They know already if someone gave them your encryption codes or some of your communication equipment..." Sturk growled "For now... no need to worry, our assets hunt as well at night as they do during the day".
Westmore muttered and grumbled when a Scarran shook him awake.
"Crap..." he called "Didn't think I was that tired... probably right on top of the target now, too...".
"Thirty five momens" the Scarran who'd woken him said "The Command Specialist will require you to brief him on the target location in five momens. Once he knows what he needs to know, the rest of us will be told our places in the plan".
"Coffee's too much to hope for..." Westmore muttered, rubbing his eyes briefly "Please tell me there's something close, though...".
"It'll do" he said in relief as he slugged down half a mugful of stimjuice at once "Yeah, should be good now".
Juroch watched Westmore as he woke up and drank, then nodded before walking across the lander's deck and telling him "Here... this is the location of your dwelling. While you slept, I called our leader for additional reconnaisance and he directed one of our personnel in taking brief control of one of your home sector's satellites for long enough to get this image".
"It'll do" Westmore replied, putting his concern over how easily an American satellite had been hacked into, even temporarily "Right there, we can land in the street... make a run that way for the front door. Might even get there before the school bus takes my youngest to school. My daughter leaves a bit later, her friends come get her since one of them has a car".
Juroch nodded before calling everyone else over.
"Might not look like it..." Westmore said, disputing one deployment "but that tree blocks line of sight if you stick someone next to it on that side. Put 'em on the sidewalk and they see that way and that way - for about forty yards, anyway".
"I'll stay there" one of the only two Charrids present said "I only have a plasrifle, not a cannon... but I doubt that'll matter here".
"Hopefully we won't be here long enough, true" Westmore told him "If we get bad company, you get to see the easier approach routes - we'll come in over the back, get my wife an' kids, then burn hard for orbit. My kids don't get airsick, we can do that". My wife's a different story Westmore knew She'll hate a fast trip in the air like that and so will her stomach.
"Looks like Westmore made new arrangements" another contractor told perhaps seven others "XO told us to use the contingency plan till we talk to him a bit - I doubt we'll have to kill 'em, but we'll likely have to shift him to one of our overseas ops sites for a while".
"Thank fuck we gotta ditch them huge Suburbans" one of the contractors growled, lounging against a crate of grenades "Fuckin' stupid things, make us a bunch of big fat fuckin' targe-"
"That will be all!" their team leader screamed "We know how you feel about our transport situation, we've all heard it before! Far too many times!"
"I can get us in an' outta anywhere in a WRX, anyway" he added more happily "Fuckin' Suburbans move like a lead turd".
"That's why you got lead" their leader replied "Put your car right in front of the target location, mine comes up on whichever flank seems good when I see the site with my own eyes... we go in, get who we came to get, then Westmore comes to us".
"Ten till drop!" shouted the copilot.
"Just hoping she's not moved the spare door key" Westmore told Anton "Going to slow us down going 'round back".
Anton happily reminded him about his demolition rating, then added "I have some of uncle Devin's cutting paste as well... or I can just kick down the door if we're really short of time".
"You're almost as big as an Olympic powerlifter, true" Westmore replied "but let's save that option for emergencies, OK? If the key's where it should be, we'll be just fine unless you get stuck in the door frame".
"Uncle Sturk or uncle Rekketh would" Anton replied, nodding "But not me. Uncle Sturk or uncle Rekketh would just walk right through the door and wall and leave a huge hole for the rest of us to enter by".
"Five momens till drop!" the copilot called.
"Stand up!" Westmore called immediately without thinking "Get ready! Pilot - we'll be making a fast and hard landing, but keep the engines running! Everyone else - as soon as the drop ramp hits the ground, we move! I'm on point, Anton's behind me... the Command Specialist can sort the rest out in case things go south".
Westmore has potential Juroch decided I don't know if he's got command potential, but he may well make a good member of the Force if he survives the training and testing - perhaps even as a Senior Infiltrator like myself once he gets a little more experience.
"Didn't mean to undermine your authority, sir" Westmore admitted to Juroch "I'm going to be needed helping my family to settle in and adjust... so if you can avoid putting me in the brig till then...".
"I have been authorised to report on your level of training and test your skills, Mister Westmore..." Juroch replied, turning to face him "If you have the skills to lead this rescue mission and not just scout for it, then this will be noted and added to your record" before pointing to a grab rail.
The contractors made good time, but even as good as they were their lead driver saw the assault lander come in low and fast - so he pulled in just as fast, driving up onto the sidewalk but making sure to stay behind cover as much as he could.
"Shit, they came in by air" he hissed over comm "I don't dare go any further around, they''ll see us if they posted anyone to guard the site".
"Ewing, get out there" the team leader ordered "Don't shoot anything, just watch 'em for now".
As soon as the drop ramp hit the road, Westmore ran up the long footpath to his front door - once he saw Anton had kept up, he started lifting up various plant pots and garden ornaments until he found something.
"Key, mister" Westmore grinned, holding it up "Tell the green one in command".
"I hear you..." Juroch whispered "Good, you can make an easy entry. Proceed".
Westmore's wife was very surprised to see her husband in the house, more so that he was in combat gear, and started asking a lot of questions as she got breakfast ready for the children and herself.
"No time, Ellen..." Westmore grumbled "My old friends... you know the ones I mean... think I've become something of a loose end. You know how they deal with loose ends... I wouldn't be surprised if a few of them are on their way here, though they must be getting their collective brains in gear since my new friends haven't had to shoot any of them yet".
"That ...man... with you is one of these new friends you made?" Westmore's wife asked sceptically, still not sure what was happening.
Westmore waved Anton forward - his wife flinched a little when she saw his unusual appearance more clearly and heard his subvocal rumbling.
"You are safe with our soldiers, Mrs Westmore" Anton told her in clear if accented English "We have come to extract you from this dwelling and return with you and your children and your mate to our home. This will now be your home and that of your children as well. All of you will be safe there".
"Exit plan?" she eventually asked, after calling for their children.
Good Westmore decided with relief She remembered what I taught her... at least that much of it.
"Fast an' loose, you two!" Westmore told his two children "Gotta get moving! You know what you need to do, grab your go-bags and get back here in ten!"
"Going to a new place, Dad?" his young son asked, looking up "We're all going? Who is this man, Dad? He looks weird".
Anton wondered how he should deal with that, then bent down to look the boy in the eye and told him "You have the colour of your hair and other things from your father... I have the unusual things you see, like my thick skin, from my father and my mother. When we all get to our home you will see them".
"You have scaly skin" the boy said next "It looks strange and scary".
"Do not be scared or fearful" Anton told him "I am your new friend, the other soldiers with us are your new friends, and when you have brought what you have been told to bring here then we will all go to where I live in the vehicle outside together".
"I do it" the boy decided when Westmore smiled at him and nodded.
"Wasn't sure how that'd go, to be honest" Westmore told Anton "My daughter won't start asking questions till we're topside, but she'll ask and keep asking and won't stop till I yell at her, sometimes - that's what happened the only other time we had to do this".
"We have at least one enemy soldier in sight" Juroch called, walking inside the house "Probably just keeping watch on us... which means there are more close by".
"Kill 'em" Westmore said immediately "We only got a short run to our ride, let's make it as problem-free as possible, yeah?"
His wife screamed when she saw Juroch, both because of his size and his green skin, until Anton told her "He is our commander for this mission. He will see to it we return safely to our home with you all. That he is green is not usual... but the reason he is green is classified. Only our leader can reveal that information".
"Here!" his daughter called, dropping two duffel bags on the floor about fifteen minutes later "Got yours since you're busy, Dad".
"That's my girl..." Westmore said with a smile.
"Here, Dad!" his son called, running in with a smaller bag - and a rifle case.
"You brought the .22?" Westmore asked him.
"Yes, Dad!" he replied, pulling the zip down briefly to show him "I brought ammo, Dad, but the rifle isn't loaded".
Westmore thought for a momen or two before making a judgement call and telling him "Show your new friends here you can load it and carry it right, son - just the ten-round mag should do for now, though..." before turning to his daughter and asking "The AK or the Glock?"
"AK, Dad" she replied "Only got three loaded mags, Dad - all I had in the safe at the time, an' there's no time to load more" before she asked "Should I get it out, Dad? Am I gonna need to shoot people?"
"I know you don't get into all this like I do, Kristie..." Westmore told his daughter, looking her in the eye "But your mom and I need you right now. New guys with us are on perimeter and in our ride... we gotta do our own security".
Not entirely true Westmore knew but we gotta get moving and I can't afford half an hour to get Kris thinking straight.
"Well done, young man..." Juroch told the boy "I will lead the way, I have the point position... Anton there has rear guard... you and your sibling must guard us and your parents for the short distance to our vehicle. You will support us and we will support you. Be calm, do not worry".
"We good?" Westmore called to his family.
"Good!" his son called, trying to look as serious as he could as he held his rifle.
"Me an' the AK are good, Dad" Kristina replied "Couple of AK mags were bent, too - that's another reason I only got three".
"I have your spare Glock" Westmore's wife told him "I never could handle rifles well".
"Stay behind the kids, watch their backs" he replied "Anton's gonna be behind you, you'll be just fine... move out, everyone! Front door!"
"Movement out front" the contractors' scout hissed "Looks like they're moving! Orders?"
"Record it all" came the reply "Considering how lucky we've been so far against these guys, we'd better leave it at that. Make sure you note which direction they head off in, we can see about plotting possible places of refuge they got later".
The scout decided to chance moving a little further out for a better view...
"Contact..." Westmore's son called
"What have you seen, young man? Tell us all" Anton whispered.
The young boy stood beside a small bush, raised his rifle, and looked through the scope.
"Man with camcorder" he decided "At the corner. Not easy to see".
Just a bit more the scout decided Don't think anyone's seen me yet.
He did move a bit further around the corner - but that meant he had to come out of the cover given by the ornamental shrubbery, and that brought the loud crack of a gunshot. It didn't kill him, but creased the side of his head and put a big hole in his ear.
"You idiot" one of his comrades hissed once they dragged him out of sight and started patching him up...
"Missed, Dad!" Westmore's son groused, a little sad.
"You hit him..." Juroch replied "but you didn't kill him. One of those with him pulled him back where we can't see, they will try and give him basic medical attention while their leader decides if they should commit their full force".
"We run, big green man?" he asked next.
"You guard your mother" Juroch told him "Her weapon cannot reach as far as yours. Both of you will run to the ramp at the back of our vehicle. Soldiers are waiting for you there".
"Run for it, little brother!" Kristina called "I got Dad's AK, you're covered! Move!"
The young boy slung his rifle, then grabbed his mother's hand and told her "We run, mom! Big green man said so!"
Once Kristina saw her mother and brother run, she brought up her AK and had a look through its scope - just in time to miss three contractors bolt across the road.
"They're trying to set up a crossfire, Kris!" Westmore told his daughter "Since our guy with the big gun moved, they can head over there and try to trap us and pin us down!"
"Are they bringing reinforcements?!" Anton growled.
"Doubt it" Westmore replied, scanning the street "Most of the unit's overseas right now... XO might have a few with him, but that'd be it".
"We just have to move fast, then" Anton decided "We can't lose time starting a firefight here".
"I hear that!" Westmore called back "Even if none of the unit can get here, we might get local PD or even FBI come out!"
Kristina shrieked and dropped to the ground - Westmore was relieved that all that happened was his daughter letting out a long stream of swear-words in both English and Spanish before screaming "That's one of my grandma's earrings you just shot off my ear, asshole! Someone's gonna get it for that!"
Anton grumbled as he roughly bandaged Kristina's ear and the side of her head, after which he returned the AK and told her "Now shoot that soldier! We can't stay here forever!"
"You got shot by one of Westmore's brats with a boy scout rifle, you sorry sack of monkey shit..." the contractors' team leader said with a laugh.
"It might be a .22..." the injured contractor replied "but it still fuckin' HURTS!"
"One out there with an AK!" another contractor said "They been sending short bursts our way a bit now... not hit us or the cars yet...".
"Carson, get 'em" came the order "and be careful about it. Don't think any of us knew Westmore trained his family... shoulda been the first thing we'd have thought of".
When Kristina stopped to reload, Carson made his move. His first few shots went wild, but Kristina took a couple of minor hits to her left arm and chest - but just screamed and swore at length one more time before sending a long burst back at him as accurately as she could manage.
"FUCK IT!" Carson screamed "I'm down! For fuck's sake get me to a doc before I fuckin' die!"
"Go, go, go!" Anton urged Kristina immediately "Inside the lander! You and I are the last to board!"
Kristina was feeling the pain already, but managed to reach the ramp before falling over - her mother helped Anton get her inside the lander, after which Anton raised the hatch and called "ALL OK! BACK TO THE HAVOC!
"Pass me the AK, son!" Westmore told his son "Be careful with it too, I doubt the safety's on and I haven't taught you about AK's yet".
The young boy first made sure to secure his own small rifle first (which Westmore definitely approved of) - once the flight steadied a little, he picked up the AK carefully and carried it to his father.
Westmore promptly removed the magazine and emptied the chamber, then stuffed it back in Kristina's bag - then barked at someone for a medkit.
"You never learned a gentle way of fixing someone up, did you Dad?!" Kristina hissed at her father, who just snorted and said "You're alive to notice, Kris - that's what counts! You won't get out of seeing a doc once we get topside, either!"
"Inbound medevac!" a Kalish doctor called, in the main sick bay, after discomming from the bridge "Our personnel are returning with a number of humans, and it is some of them who are injured. Gunshots, I am told".
"Take medical assistants and take stretchers and take anything else you might need" Sherenka told him, nodding once "Conduct any emergency care needed on the flight deck, but if none is needed bring them here".
The Kalish doctor bowed briefly, paused for thought - then pointed to three others and added "The hammond side flight deck is where we should go. We should go there now".
It took a few momens to get their equipment, but once they had done so they were in the transit car and on their way in less than two momens.
"We hear you" Talannah called from the command chair "Your request for medical personnel has been passed on to the main sick bay, since most of our personnel qualified to treat humans are there - you will be met by medical staff on the hammond side flight deck".
The medical staff started moving the microt they saw the assault lander fly onto the flight deck and head to its usual landing spot.
"Here!" Westmore called as soon as he saw someone heading for the ramp "My daughter took a couple of hits - nothing life threatening, but the sooner we get them seen to the better she feels. The better her Dad feels too".
Kristina smiled briefly, after which she hissed a bit in pain as the Kalish woman poked and prodded her a bit around her gunshot wounds before scanning them.
"A hand-held medical scanner, you are correct" the Kalish doctor confirmed "It uses a number of methods, not just the X-rays you asked about - but not in as much detail as the devices in the sick bay. It appears you were shot with slugweapons a number of times - but one slug is still inside your body. We will carry you to the main sick bay now and remove it. Your family may accompany us should they wish to".
"Ellen, I gotta leave that to you" Westmore told his wife "The CO here still hasn't talked to me, and one of us has to see to us and our gear getting properly squared away wherever we're living up here, too".
She passed her go-bag and her Glock back to her husband, and Juroch watched while he ejected the magazine and emptied the chamber before putting it in the bag.
"Son, I'm going to need you with me" he told his son, smiling a little bit to help him settle down in new and unfamiliar surroundings "Someone's going to show us to where we're all going to live... and with your mother and sister being with the doc I need you to help me carry stuff".
The young boy nodded, then thought a few microts before asking "Will the green man help us, Dad?"
"I will" Anton told him "I am the first of our members your father saw and I am the one who asked him to come here... so unless our Commander orders otherwise, I will help you".
Harrigan ran over as soon as his transit car arrived.
"Report, mister" he ordered Juroch, who gave a detailed report of the extraction mission over the next few momens.
"Looks like you got some skills, Westmore" Harrigan told him "That's good, we're always on the lookout for people like that".
Westmore briefly showed him a small tattoo, then nodded and said "A few terms in Force Recon... sir. Before I did the kinda stuff I did when your guy here found me".
"Sounds like you stayed active, then" Harrigan said "Good. We got a few extras this round - for the most part they're doing well, but it's nice to find we got at least one who can get started right away without help".
"I was wondering if there were any other... well, humans" Westmore admitted "I doubt we're the majority species here... but there's more than just me and mine?"
"Apart from me, you mean?" Harrigan laughed "Yeah, a few - coupla families too. Most of them are still in training - we'll sort you out with that as well, but with Stalker's report on you being as positive as it was, we can probably get away with just running you through the protocol stuff everyone has to do".
"Where are we going to live?" Westmore's son asked, not quite sure how to address Harrigan.
Harrigan grinned at him briefly, then told him "Gonna check for vacant quarters now, mister...?"
"James, sir" he replied after prompting from his father.
"That's my middle name" Harrigan told him, grinning again - which made him smile briefly as well "See that big door way over there? That's the transit platform - we have to get about the ship on small trains, it's way to far to walk to get anywhere useful. Grab your rifle an' take point - if your Dad taught you signals, direct the rest of us. I'll grab the other bags".
Harrigan nodded when James put one hand on the zipper of his rifle bag.
"Your first basic test, mister" Harrigan told him "Everyone here gotta know basic weapon safety, so you're getting tested right now".
"Dad taught all of us, sir" James told him, after Westmore whispered to him briefly "Kris knows, mom knows, I know. I'm better than mom, sir".
"Then she's going to be relying on you to teach her later, mister" Harrigan told him "Can you do that? You won't need to do it all on your own, but if your Dad's busy I'll need you to help whoever gets that job".
"I do it, sir" he replied, managing a credible salute - that made Harrigan smile, and he grinned at Westmore too.
James, once Harrigan assured him he had permission, picked up his rifle and held it at low-ready position but didn't take the safety off. Once he'd found the door again, he called "This way, Dad".
"Wake me up when it's done..." Kristina told the doctors once they all reached the sick bay "I'm not one of those people who like to watch that stuff while it happens".
The doctor on duty at the time was the same Scarran who'd gone to collect her, and as soon as she'd stopped talking he anaesthetised her.
He muttered occasionally in his own language every so often as he did his work, which an orderly translated for her when it concerned Kristina's health.
"We're done" he called in badly-accented wobbly English - the Kalish doctor whispered to him, after which he nodded and spoke to her in his own language much more clearly before the pair of them walked back to Ellen again.
"Your daughter's surgery proceeded without incident" the Kalish woman translated "She will remain here for observation, after the anaesthetic wears off and she wakes up, for a short while-"
"An hour or two?" Ellen interrupted "Or for a few days?"
"I do not know how long a human doctor would keep your daughter under observation after surgery" the Kalish doctor replied "Once she is awake, we will monitor her condition long enough to check there are no complications, then she will be released from this sick bay - you may stay beside her should you wish to, or you may join your mate and examine your new living quarters".
"I should stay here" Ellen decided "Not just because she is my daughter... but if she wakes up and doesn't see a single human she can recognise...".
"Ah yes..." the Kalish doctor replied, nodding "Humans generally do not have experience with people of other species - the vast majority of those that do live here, did you know that?"
Ellen smiled briefly before saying "I suspected they might do. One of the soldiers who brought us here told us he was half-human... I don't remember his name. Been a bit busy".
The doctor listened to her brief description, then nodded and said "He is Anton Lazarus Junior. He is the son of General Anton Lazarus, who is human, and Senior Command Specialist Koronna, who is low-caste Scarran".
When the doctor saw the look of mystified incomprehension on Ellen's face, she gave a detailed description of each species and its notable subtypes on board, adding "This information is in the general archives accessible to all... and will be among the information taught to every new human or other species who have not seen people who are not like themselves before".
"What do you think, son?" Westmore asked his son once he and Harrigan had selected family quarters for them.
He watched as James wandered around the room looking at things, then come back before saying "It's nice, Dad. Where will mom make breakfast? Where can I put my toys? Will I need to go to school here?"
"First things first" Harrigan told him "Food. Your mom won't have to make breakfast at all unless she wants that to be her work in one of the galleys. Galleys are the place in a ship where people eat, mister".
James thought about that for a momen or two before asking "How do we know when it's dinner time?"
He was relieved to hear that once their family was assigned to a work shift, they would be able to hear meal announcements over the ship's PA or receive them on PDAs - and looked closely when Harrigan showed him his own PDA, asking if he would get one.
"A basic one, yeah" Harrigan replied "The simpler ones we teach all the kids to use first. Even my son had to learn with those, mister".
"Is Kris well?" he asked next "How do we find out? I can't see a phone".
"PDAs got comm in them, James" Harrigan told him "But you can talk to a few general places, or anyone whose comm code you have, with the wall screens here as well - if I tell you how to do that, do you want to do that for us?"
James looked, thought a little, then nodded.
Ellen was pleased to see her son on the sick bay comm screen and asked him a lot of questions about where they would be living.
"When your father was still in the Marine Corps, James..." Ellen told her son "he said that quarters only ever had your bed and the most basic facilities in them... ask your father if we can at least wash our own clothes, or if we have to use communal facilities".
"Nah, each quarters has a washer and dryer" Westmore told his wife "We'll have to wait until a tech comes around and fiddles with ours so the controls are in English... but these quarters are nice, especially for a warship" before telling her about everything else in the quarters.
"Not quite like our house..." she decided "But nice enough. I think Kris will take longer to adjust to the fact the whole ship is now her house, really... from what I can hear in the background, James seems to like it".
"He likes that he'll be close to where I work" Westmore replied, smiling at his son "Well... where I'll work till all our training intake finish assessment drills. The War Commander's been telling me that once we pass basic, we'll be expected to do arbitration patrols on the world we base out of - and when we pass special assessment, we get to put in for offworld missions further away if we got the skills for them".
"That's right" Harrigan confirmed when Ellen asked about that "Your CO will tell you if you're in the running for anything like that once you get that far - they handle contract negotiation as well. 50% of the fee comes off in unit taxes, we gotta pay for food an' parts somehow, and the rest goes into a ship account for you. You can do banking for that from your PDA or home wallscreen".
The conversation was cut off by Kris waking up and promptly vomiting over the side of her sick bay bed.
"That stuff they gave me works real good, Dad..." she explained, still a bit muddled, when Westmore asked her about it "but it sure as hell wasn't designed for pe-well... human people".
"Yeah, I think we all took it like that the first time it got used on us" Harrigan added "Well... except me of course, but even the best won't work on me".
"Why?" Kris asked, curious - but Harrigan shook his head and told her "Classified, miss. What we call the change here is one of the few off-limits topics of conversation... well, how it's all done is. You might find out about it later, once we see how well you're settled in - bit sooner if you get into medical training, maybe - but not till then".
"Little brother?" Kris called.
"My name is James" James replied, a little annoyed.
"How's our new home?" Kris asked, brushing that aside "You got to see it before I did. Can you see steel walls all around or does it at least look like a two-star hotel?"
"Quarters are good" James decided "Nice carpet. Big TV. Not a lot of room, especially once you start putting stuff in it - but the big nice man says that quarters are just where we sleep, we go other places for eating and fun and school. My first name is the same as his middle name, Kris".
Kris grumbled when her brother decided she'd fill their family quarters with her things, but Westmore told Harrigan "Those two are always like that - most of the time that's where it stays. Not too many all-out screamfests".
"Once Kris is discharged" Harrigan told them all "We'll see you all meet up with the other recent recruits... there's a few other children, though they're aged closer to James rather that Kris".
"Are there children from... the other species?" Ellen asked.
"Quite a few, yep" Harrigan replied, grinning "We teach them English - just don't expect most of them to be fluent in it. Official language of the ship is Old Scarran... you'll all be getting classes in language and history, enough so you know the basics at any rate. You should all of had the translator thingies given to you... so you can understand people, you just can't speak to us in our own languages yet".
"Kris and I have" Ellen replied "I don't know if James and my husband have. I expect a doctor here can take a minute to do that when they come to see Kris next time".
Aden and the others were interested to hear Westmore had come aboard, more so when the SEAL heard he'd brought his family with him.
"He just a regular grunt?" he asked "No disrespect to the L-T here, but the less time we need to get people up to our levels, the better I like it".
"I doubt I'll be doing the same stuff you do, mister" Aden said with a sigh "even once our green friends here make sure I won't die trying to pass training assessment".
Molsey nodded when they looked at her for answers.
"Quite likely so" she explained "Be assured there will be work to do for all of you - and it will be hard work. If it's not, it might as well be playing".
"Glad the SEALs grabbed me when one-SO got disbanded, I know that" the SEAL replied, nodding "Good skills need to be kept sharp, kept at the front of my mind. Enough so that they're second nature, minimum of thinking required".
"Starting to get back in the groove" one of the others replied "Starting to remember all the little tricks Baron screamed into our heads".
"Yeah..." the former Delta man addded, grinning - then turning as he heard footsteps "Looks like we got guests, people...".
Molsey went forward to meet them - Aden wanted to go with her, but she whispered "Not this time, mister - it's Captain Rulok. I'm sure he'll come and talk to you, I expect he'll be in charge of your officer's assessment - but just wait for him".
As it happened, it was Lirak rather than Rulok, and Jane was with him.
"I don't have to kick their sorry asses into line for not showing proper respect to a senior NCO, do I?" Jane asked Molsey "Baron had to do that a few times once I made corporal, even though that's basically just Trooper Second Class. Human soldiers are still mostly men, and not all of them like taking orders from a woman".
"They learned to respect my boot, miss" Molsey told Jane, growling a bit "Once I kicked an eema or two publicly, they soon learned to keep their attitude well out of sight and do what they were told".
Jane walked over, Lirak keeping step beside her, and looked at the humans lounging on the grass.
"Higgins..." she said, looking at the former SEAL "You I remember. The training staff say you've kept your talent for showing off that I remember from one-SO... did you bring your family with you?"
"Yeah, Jane" he replied, grinning a bit once he recognised her "My wife, my girls, and my son are likely in quarters by now. Don't mean to be rude... but you're lookin' a bit older than I expected".
"Hah!" Jane replied, laughing just a little bit "Blame that on some of our less conventional long-distance travel arrangements, mister! Let's just say point A didn't connect to point B on an entirely straight line - I don't know the details of why, only Harrigan an' one or two others know for sure. It's classified even more than the ... other stuff... you might have heard one or two people talk about".
"Big man beside you looks like he got that, Jane" the former Delta man added - when Lirak turned to face him and started rumbling more than a little suspiciously, he held both hands up and added "No one told us the details! Coupla guys lookin' a bit like you were on the flight deck when we came in is all!"
Lirak looked at each of them in turn, then nodded and said "I am Captain Second Rank Lirak, recruits... you will call me Captain or sir. For your information... the ranking system we use here is not much different than the system used by your American Navy. Above my rank is Captain First Rank, and above that are the Generals, the Sub-Commander, and the War Commander. Those of you who get through training without being disqualified or crippled will do your introductory service term in Tactical Command... and Captain First Rank Rulok, in addition to myself, are the most senior Captains in that service branch"
"What if we got special skills?" Westmore asked "...Captain?"
"In the event any of you attract the attention of an officer from one of the other two service branches..." Lirak replied "then after you pass your training assessment, that officer will see to it you are tested in more specialised areas needed by their commands".
Lirak let that sink in for a few momens, and once a little subvocal muttering started to reach his changed ears he growled briefly and added "Whatever you might think, recruits... serving in Tactical Command of the Irregulars is not a punishment assignment, or one where the least skilled are placed. Ours is certainly the largest service branch... and we expect the very best from our troopers and especially our officers and senior NCOs" before turning to face Aden and adding "Yes, Mr Aden Powell... I'm talking particularly to you. I hear you came here as an officer...I will be overseeing your officer's assessment as you may have been told, and while I am 165 cycles in age I have served for about 150 of those cycles and will not tolerate plokking around from anyone, human or not".
"Sounds like you're a bit of a walking encyclopedia in military history, Captain" the former Delta man said with a grin, identifying himself as Mooney - Jane growled at his tone, and drew breath to scream at him until Lirak rested a hand on her shoulder softly and rumbled quietly.
"Undoubtedly it will seem so to you humans" Lirak said "If that means you listen and learn and do so more easily then all will be well".
There's more to those two than it seems Aden decided Don't think anyone else picked up on it, but those two are close.
"Who's the newbie?" Mooney asked "He don't look like he's former one-SO".
"This..." Lirak explained "is Mister Westmore. Mister Westmore is the only one among you who is even slightly familiar with contract soldiering as we practice it. Before mister Westmore became familiar with that, he was a member of the special force named Force Recon among your American Marine Corps. Mister Westmore was also assessed in combat by Command Specialist Juroch of skulker command... I have been told he has shown skills sufficient to bypass training assessment. He has attracted the interest of the commanding General of skulker command... what he did not know until now is that he has been given the rank of Infiltrator Second Class and put on full active duty in skulker command".
There was more than a bit of grumbling about that, but Westmore held up a hand and added "Less of that... I had to work to get where I am, I didn't jump the queue. Show the officers here you got what it takes, maybe you'll advance a bit quicker too. Apart from all that shit, I'm also the only human among the recent intake with even an unofficial medical rating - docs here know that now too, so I ended up volunteering myself for more training once that got around. Oh how lucky I am...".
That got laughter from every other human recruit, as Westmore intended it to.
"Good" Lirak told him quietly while the others laughed and speculated on what condition Westmore would be in even after a monen due to his extended training regimen "You diverted their jealousy at your advancement in a way they find amusing... but also, I think, with you humans being as you are it may encourage their own ambition to succeed as well".
"We'll see, Captain" Westmore whispered back "Let's hope so... to be honest I'm glad I don't have to supervise their training, or we'd not hear the end of this shit over my rank".
Lirak explained a little about the recruits' history as Harrigan had told it to him.
"OK, not bad" Westmore told Lirak as they walked a little further off with Jane and the other humans got back to training "That dude who used to be a SEAL... Higgins?... he's gonna be one worth watching. Not sure if he'll be where I got to go, but he's definitely going to be useful - that Delta guy Mooney as well, despite his mouth".
"They're also all former members of one-SO, like me" Jane added "and their attitude doesn't look to have moderated since then, either. Only one who isn't is the officer, Aden Powell - but despite him being a bit behind the curve physically, he looks to have more promising skills with personnel management and flying, although we'll only find out in more detail once he gets to flight sim training".
"I can do choppers" Westmore replied "Never did get to try FA-18s, and my terms were done by the time the Marine Corps started getting their first F-35s - so I'll be behind the curve on flying even though I might be going good now".
Shit the scout groused once he'd had time to look around on the surface Mr Olak isn't going to like this at all. Construction crews putting fence up around the edge of the site already... so it looks like they bypassed local government altogether and got someone really senior to sign all the approvals.
"I hear you" Olak replied once the scout phoned in "What's the state of things right now? Has fencing been put in place around the entire perimeter? Have construction vehicles arrived?"
"Loads of guys in hard hats" the scout replied "A few vehicles and a buncha stuff lying around. Some guy out front flapping his lips at 'em... too far away for me to hear, before you ask".
"Any lawyers or company authority?" Olak asked.
"Not yet" the scout replied, but got no further before Olak had to answer another call.
"Firefight in the caves" Olak told the scout when he got back on his line "Once news of that gets as far as the site supervisor, national police will get called in. I'll have to call and see if Karl Torvald is ready for combat and recall anyone else we can get hold of".
"Wait one!" the scout called "Dude in a suit just stepped up to talk!"
The suited man spoke to the initial working group - no one really cared about the potential opposition since they all thought it meant union protests and picket lines (the possibility of armed oppsition had carefully been avoided during the speech), at least not until the scout raised his AK and shot the speaker right through his nose, after which he started attacking anyone he could find among the workers that stood out from the others.
Everyone ran for cars or just for the main gate. Once most of them had left, generally at some speed as well, the scout reported back to Olak.
"That will hold them for a while, maybe even a few days" Olak thought aloud "Enough time for them to get more workers if not site security. I have reached senior officials where Karl Torvald is... they are passing this news to him".
It didn't get to Harrigan right away, because he was talking to TR Holt at length about the authorisation code Anton had found.
"I can't go myself" Harrigan told him "UN wants me addressing a full assembly - but don't worry about that, I got others who can do this".
"I'd appreciate it if you at least tried not to paint the walls with blood..." TR Holt sighed "At least in Iraq the result didn't affect anyone we can't afford to do without - if you do the same here it may cause more problems than can be easily solved".
"I'll talk to my guy about that" Harrigan assured TR Holt "Hey, just thought of something... if you got secure video calling at your place, gimme numbers so I can get you live feed".
"That will be useful" TR Holt replied, surprised but pleased "Target location isn't easy for navigate for a newcomer, I can guide your man through the corridors".
"I've been there maybe... twice" Lazarus replied "But yeah, you're right - it's a total rabbit warren there. Pretty sure where the target does their stuff, at least if it's the same place his Dad was before, but not for certain".
Ah yes TR Holt remembered When Air Force First Special-ops was still active, a number of their officers went to Langley for intelligence briefings or to collect material for mission planning. Since that voice sounds familiar and they'd have to be a former member of that unit, and that Harrigan has them with him, I'd say Lazarus will take part in this mission. He has a history with that family, and not a good one either... but at least Harrigan himself will be too busy to go and cause trouble there.
"OK, big man L can sort you out" Harrigan said "I got another call incoming, gotta go" before diverting TR Holt to General Lazarus.
"What, Mr Olak?!" Harrigan asked with surprise "Situation really went south where you are, that's for sure! You need a few reinforcements?"
"We would appreciate it if Karl Torvald could assist with the defence of First Landing, as he promised" Olak replied "Other soldiers would be helpful but not required".
"It'll take a few hours for Karl to get to you, mister" Harrigan said, thinking fast "He's in Arizona right now - but I can send a ship for him, add a few extras, then get 'em on their way to where you are. ETA... hmm... maybe six to seven hours. Don't need to refuel or anything, just a long trip".
"For morale purposes, if nothing else..." Olak asked carefully "It would be good to see Scarran soldiers, especially if some are similar to us. Other species are welcome, of course - but the ancestors of our people here are of high-caste bloodlines, and we would appreciate seeing others like them".
"We can do that" Harrigan replied "Got a few we can send already in the crew for one of our ships. You'll hear from them once they're close".
"Looks like the situation's heating up in Norway as well as the US, people" Harrigan told his Generals "For now the skulkers can stay on standby, might need you to do a couple of things while I'm down at the UN - Tactical command get Langley and the Bloodstars are going to Norway. They'll need arctic-weather Scarrans for ground combat, or others who can handle it without medical assistance".
General Tareg smiled, rumbled, then nodded.
"I know a small-scale mission like this does not require a General to be present..." he said "but if they asked for high-caste troopers for morale purposes, then seeing a stonewalker may also prove useful as well...".
"Yeah, nice" Harrigan replied "Red Hand's had some time off-ship... if Firewalker's got enough personnel assigned to it ready to go right now that fit mission profile, get 'em moving. Sturk and Troll need to stay where they are, but you can grab Karl from Arizona and leave them there - Red Hand can always head down to provide support if they need it".
"We get combat time here on Erp!" one high-caste Scarran shouted to his squad "Arctic-world troopers have been specifically requested due to local climate - and we have Scarrans of both castes as well as a number of Charrids and Kalish who can provide support skills off-ship as well".
Barely five microts later, General Tareg's voice came over the ship's PA and called "Attention, Bloodstar Command... scramble the Firewalker. White crew, prepare for drop!"
Karl bellowed angrily when the news reached him, but immediately added "I'm ready, General Tareg! Collect me at any time! If necessary I can fly well enough to meet you in the air - as long as you don't fly too high, anyway".
"Good, Trooper" Tareg replied "You will do exactly that. One of our smaller ships, named Firewalker, is launching now - you will be commed once we hit atmo, and once you are commed, we expect you to take off as we will be approaching your location and time is short".
Tareg waited in the CIC and watched the screens as people arrived and signed in.
"Good" he told the ship's captain "Everyone who needs to be aboard is aboard" before connecting to short range comm and calling "Sturk, did you hear the news as well?"
"Troll and I heard, General" Sturk replied, nodding "We'd both love to go with you... but we're primarily here to assist law enforcement in this subsector. Troll's just going to have to get used to being on the side of the law on his home planet for once in his life".
Everyone heard Troll laugh at that, though he added "Yeah, it's a bit weird... but you know what I did before, I know the good spots to hide stuff in cars. Never smuggled people or product over the Mexican border before though, I had all my fun dealing with Canadians. Might be good to send something down in case I gotta move quick, though - unlike Sturky here, I can't fly. Tab might like to fly a bit, she's not bad at that".
"Anton..." Lazarus told his son, looking him right in the eye "We're going in primarily to capture, not to kill. Are you going to be be good with that?"
"Yes, father..." Anton replied, only grumbling a little bit.
"Capture" Lazarus emphasised again, since he'd heard his son grumble "It'll be your uncle Rulok's teams going with us, mister - and we'll be using sneaksuits. The floor where we're going can't handle PA, and heavy plate doesn't have the sensor coverage sneaksuits have".
"Not even close, father" Anton agreed "If we can't kill, we need stench bombs and flashbangs and sleepgas, maybe VX3 if we really can't avoi-".
"Not the VX3, son" Lazarus interrupted "We're not here to conduct mass slaughter! Stench bombs will be good, sleepgas too - suits have the rest built-in, that should be it".
"We hear you" Olak replied in Old Scarran, since he was still serving customers "I'll get people out there in case armed police or Army arrive, I'm sure it's well known now people got shot on the surface" - after which he pulled his smartphone from his pocket and tapped out a short and fast message before sending it.
~On it!~ came the text message from the scout ~Had to borrow your car. Don't worry, it'll get back without anything happening to it. D S-C out~
"Just hit atmo" Firewalker's copilot called to the CIC.
"Trooper Karl Torvald!" Tareg called over short range comm "Get yourself airborne! We're heading for your location, and the Firewalker's crew being who they are we're coming in at fastest safe speed - they'll only slow down for a few momens once we're close and I can find you with mentalism!"
Karl immediately took off and climbed fast. Tareg smiled and started scanning nearby airspace by hypersense - though he didn't find Karl until he was right on top of Troll's position on the ground.
"Hah!" Karl laughed "I'm surprised the cloaking shield worked that well against one of the small ships you told me about, General! I'm barely getting a heat trace from my thermal vision... maybe a couple of thousand above me and to the west... is that you?"
"Positive confirmation, that's the Firewalker" Tareg replied "Flight deck's on top of the hull, we're not going to open a drop ramp for you since we're short on time".
Karl grinned, but made sure his changed senses and his body generally wasn't telling him anything bad before putting on more speed and climbing.
Air is a little thin he decided Must be a little over 10,000 feet already, didn't think I could climb that fast before looking around with thermal vision again and calling "I see you, General... I slightly overshot, you're a little below and to the west. If the pilot can keep a steady and slightly slower speed, I should be able to catch up and board".
"Subsonic this time" General Tareg told the pilot and copilot "As it is, this is the first time Trooper Karl Torvald has flown above the local thin air threshold - we can try high speed retrievals with him later".
"Slowing to 0.5 atmo speed" the pilot called, while the copilot added "I got him... he's coming in faster than I expected. Get the crash field up, we don't need him going in one end of the flight deck and out the other".
Looks like landing lights Karl decided as he approached the Firewalker's rear flight deck entry I haven't done this before, so I'd better be really careful. The Specialist Trooper named Sturk told me that once I feel the internal gravity start to grip my body, I can slow down fast and rotate my body so I can land on my feet.
Of course, Karl didn't land on his feet, even though he slowed down and matched speed well - he was still going too fast, if not by much, and fell to the floor before rolling a few times and hitting the crash field.
He grumbled in Old Scarran as he heaved himself to his feet, standing well enough to wave medical staff away and tell them "Yes, it did hurt - but I didn't break anything or even twist my ankle".
"We should like to scan you and test you in any case" a Kalish medical orderly replied "You are the first to be as you are, your abilities should be tested and new achievements recorded. We do not have food ready, but since you are not Kalish you might appreciate hot rations".
"After I call my family and friends on the ground" Karl replied "They will like to hear my voice and will be relieved to hear I am heading in their direction with additional soldiers".
"Mister Torvald" Olak called once he found a phone again "Good, you are coming to us, you are ready for combat... I hear sounds close by, are you on an aircraft of the strong ones, a Scarran aircraft? Are their additional soldiers on board?"
"I am on a small warship, Olak - a destroyer" Karl explained, before telling him what he had been told about how Scarran warships were classified "We are picking up speed and flying in your direction even now - I don't know how fast we can safely fly in atmosphere, but we'll be at First Landing in a few hours or so".
Shit! the scout thought when he saw the updated situation on the First Landing site Never seen that many police - and those aren't normal police, they're SWAT or whatever it is Dad calls them! We can get our guys into defensive positions - if they get here quick!
Olak certainly did not like hearing that, but since at least some of their people working further away had started reporting in he went back to the storage shed behind the hotel and took stock of how many soldiers he had to work with for now.
"Situation just got worse, if you've not figured it out already" he told them "D's out at First Landing and he reports armed police in position outside the site but preparing to move in".
"We can hold for a while" one of the women replied "but we're going to have problems if they bring in Army as well unless leadership authorises RPGs".
"We have reinforcements coming in by air" Olak told them - he waited until the others started guessing where from before he smiled and added "Soldiers of the strong ones are coming, everyone - one of their warships is flying here as we speak, and Karl Torvald is aboard it. He tells us the proper name for their species is Scarrans".
"ETA?" Karl's grandfather asked, cleaning an AK-47.
"A few hours" Olak replied "I don't know what speed their warship can manage in atmosphere here, but despite the fact thy appear to be coming in from the US they still think a few hours is all it will take".
"I can't get any of our own soldiers in the Army to respond" Olak added "but I will continue to try and contact them. I expect these Scarran soldiers will appreciate we only need assistance from them, and do not require them to defend First Landing for us. Get food, get weapons and ammunition, and dig in".
"Stormcrow just entered atmosphere" the duty navigation officer announced, on the Cry Havoc's bridge.
"Copy that" Harrigan replied from the command chair "Captain Lezhik, you're next in command while your general's dirtside with Captains Rulok and Lirak - what you got on standby?"
"Medical staff and two hundred Strykers, War Commander" Captain Lezhik replied "No one's on cockpit alert, but everyone's staying beside their Strykers. Chief Engineer's getting his people checking the Strykers and bringing food".
"I hope we won't need air support, mister..." Harrigan replied "But I tend to think like General Tareg on this - better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it".
"General Lazarus continually tells us the same thing, War Commander" Captain Lezhik replied "and since I was managing our defences before the evacuation I know it to be true".
"Give it enough to blow the safety systems..." the Stormcrow's pilot told the gunners controlling the two immobiliser cannons "but not enough to cause permanent damage. We want this base's response time cut to non-existent or close to it - so we shut down external power and the backup generators".
There was one small electrical explosion, but soon enough every part of Langley AFB went dark.
"We're good to go, General" the pilot told Lazarus once that happened "We don't have special support with us... so I'll send your teams down in two of my Reapers".
"Get aboard" Lazarus told Rulok and Lirak "Langley AFB is lights-out, so we got the window we need. I'm sure they'll try and send something this way from an airbase further away eventually, but we'll see power company trucks before we see that".
"OK, you lot..." Lazarus told everyone "We're primarily going non-lethal here, we shouldn't be here for long - you all know who we're here to get, and where he should be, so whoever sees him first put him out and call it in. That'll be the signal for everyone to get back up to the roof. Captain here's dropping two squads to cover our drop site, so we shouldn't have a hostile exfil to contend with".
Two Reapers took off cloaked from the flight deck. The Stormcrow was cloaked as well, so no one on the ground had a clue they were there at all.
TR Holt did, though it took him a few minutes to figure it out once he heard Lamgley AFB was blacked out.
Harrigan's really laying it on for this he thought No one else but him can get this kind of operation together on such short notice, especially considering the specialist equipment and personnel I'd need to get hold of if I commanded such a thing myself. I'll need to alert POTUS, but hopefully not while Beasely or his friends are there.
Since he was well known to the Secret Service, TR Holt managed to get the the Oval Office without being interrupted beyond normal levels.
"Further developements relating to what you told me about at breakfast?" President Diesel asked.
"Yes, Mr President" TR Holt replied "Once I had verified ...what I told you about at breakfast... I couldn't really avoid telling him. Thankfully it looks like he's trying to avoid making a mess - which after recent events in Iraq is very good news indeed".
President Diesel shook his head in resigned acceptance of the situation, then told TR Holt "I want to know the second this situation ...resolves itself. I am going to have to talk to ...the individual concerned... and find out just how much damage they caused. Whatever I think about these odd visitors, we have to consider their interests as well, both to keep potential trade options open as well as making sure - as much as we can, anyway - that they don't start blowing holes in things stateside".
"Crap, I barely have a few minutes!" Beasely Junior hissed when his father called.
"The only reason I know is I was passing the White House signals office at the time" Beasely Senior replied "I honestly don't know how long you have to try and clean house - you might just have to set fire to your office and leave".
I can't put even this section on lockdown, there's too many time-sensitive operations in progress Beasely knew What I will do is raise readiness a couple of levels, so we'll get security inside major facilities but not out on the corridors.
"Antisurveillance on" Lazarus told Rulok and Lirak "Electronic security in here's quite tight, not sure if they got armed security on hand yet" before he lifted a roof hatch and everyone headed inside.
Lazarus decided to act like internal security and remain uncloaked - for the most part this worked, though it did get people talking, with Lazarus only needing to call "Classified" twice.
"Should be on the right floor now" Judduk called softly over comm, his shoulder-mounted miniplas coming up to active position "Target's office is in what we'd call moderate-security - we know how to deal with that".
"Security feels a bit tighter but not a lot..." Lazarus thought aloud "Shit, he probably got word from someone and only locked down the essentials so we'd get right inside before we noticed! I want everyone ready in case we gotta fight our way out... but please at least try to use non-lethal force".
"Stench bombs in every room, copy that" Krynak replied, and everyone heard his muffled laughter "Filters down, everyone".
Lazarus sent the two teams in to cover both major exit routes he knew about - while they did throw stench bombs in almost every room big enough to hold an office or break room, they had to move past larger rooms while cloaked.
"Bulkhead door" Shellek whispered, his own miniplas up and armed "I can get us through, sir... do you want to do this quiet or just fast?"
"We're pushing our luck too far already" Lazarus replied "Forced entry and pick up the speed, people".
Armed security couldn't ignore the sounds of the security doors being breached, so both teams drew stasis pistols and put the guards they found to sleep as they moved on.
"Address of the UN building in Vienna is on public record" Harrigan told Talannah "Once you find it, figure out the coordinates and and send it to me, love".
"In progress" Talannah replied, smiling a little - once the duty comm officer found what they needed, Harrigan got it a few microts later.
UN Security was surprised to see Harrigan, Trannak, and Juroch, along with two other skulkers - but while one did hold up a hand to bar their way at the door, another one got on his radio and called it in.
"War Commander, you're expected" he said in accented English "No one's going to like the fact you're armed, so you'll have security with you as far as the assembly main chamber - we'll have to see what the Secretary-General says from there".
"They don't look too different from Scarran diplomatic services" Trannak whispered in his own language.
"Expensive suits but not uniform, General" Harrigan replied in the same language "You might see regional or tribal dress for diplomats of some countries in the middle east, otherwise it's all as you've seen so far".
"These guards are tratting me off" Skroloth said "We didn't even rate proper soldiers! That's really embarassing".
"Sign up ahead says we gotta make a turn" Harrigan replied "Just knock 'em out and hide 'em somewhere. Should be a janitor's cupboard even in here".
Juroch nodded before proceeding to knock out all four security staff in a small office out within a few microts - Skroloth then used every striptape dispenser he could find to stop the guards from alerting anyone, after which they proceeded the rest of the way to the chamber doors.
"We're just trying to finalise where to put you, sir" a UN diplomatic staff member told Harrigan "You're being admitted with observer rights... you may be asked to speak, but you will not have any rights to vote on matters put before the assembly. Should diplomatic representatives of any nation wish to ask you questions, then you may answer or not as suits your interests".
"Put us near the US or Israel, either one's good" Harrigan replied "I'll need at least one of my guys with me in there if all of them won't fit".
"One could be arranged, I think" the staff member replied "I'll ask the secretary-general".
"General T's coming in with me" Harrigan told the others once the man headed inside "Find somewhere to sit, maybe even eat all the food you can find - but be ready if I call you, they might want to see low and high-caste Scarrans for all I know".
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