Well here it is CHAPTER 5, they just keeping getting longer and longer. This is by far my longest one yet. Thanks go out to Appleduck for keeping up with my story, I appreciate the encouragement and I may just take your idea to heart. Well here is Chapter 5!
"Strategy, what strategy? We just threw bodies at them until they broke!"- Numbah 1918, commenting on the Beach War
KND Moonbase: Hanger Bay (1 hour into X-Day)
Rachel and Nigel ran down the corridors of the Moonbase in hot pursuit of the admiral and the rest of the bridge staff. The rest of the Moonbase operatives must have either heard what was going on outside or had been warned by the bridge staff, because Nigel and Rachel saw no one in the hallways. When they reached the hanger bay the admiral and all the other operatives in the Moonbase were already there, boarding ships and loading supplies. In the corner of the hanger bay, a small group of survivors from the fleet, no doubt having arrived in escape pods a few minutes earlier, were milling about in confusion. One of the officers from the fleet was in the middle of a heated discussion with the admiral when Rachel and Nigel walked up.
"...we aren't prepared for THIS," exclaimed the officer, "you trained us to fight Federation forces, not the Confederates! We need more time to rework strategies and rearm the remaining ships!" "Time is something we don't have right now Fritz", responded the admiral, "and now is not the time to focus on what ifs, we need to get out of here and warn the rest of the KND before Confederates starts hitting the planet."
"Ahem", Rachel coughed loudly to get their attention and both operatives looked over at her, Nigel realized when he saw the other officer's face that he didn't recognize him either. He was in the process of bring up his S.P.I.C.E.R., when Schmitt motioned for him to stop. "It's okay he's with us", the admiral looked over at the other officer, "right Fritz?"
"Yeah, all the way", replied the officer bitterly. Nigel took a second to take in the new operative. He had on the same uniform as Schmitt, only in grey colors and lacked some of the more decorative touches like the epaulets. His cap was similar to the admiral's, but also lacked the finery. He had on black boots and there was what looked to be a modified KND M.U.S.K.E.T. on his belt as well as a sword similar in design to the one Jack had used minutes earlier. He had shaggy light brown hair, deep blue eyes and his face was haggard and worn, no doubt from combat.
Fritz, noticing Nigel's scrutiny, extended his hand, trying to manage a smile, "I'm Fritz Washington, Numbah twenty five fifty two, second in command of the fleet", he frowned sadly, "or I was" he added. Nigel decided that he could trust this one, for now at least, and shook his hand, "I'm sorry for your loss", he said, trying to make it sound sincere. Fritz nodded sadly, though he couldn't manage any words. Jack put a hand on Fritz's shoulder then motioned for him to go join the other fleet operatives, turning back to Rachel, he spoke in an undertone, "what is it Rachel, we're kinda of busy at the moment."
"KINDA BUSY!", Rachel erupted, "YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO TELL ME YOU'RE BUSY AFTER THAT FIASCO ON THE BRIDGE!" Schmitt grimaced, "yeah, that, look there will plenty of time for explanations later, but right now we need to get out of here and hook up with the rest of the KND." "What I need is to understand what the heck going on here, and you are going to tell me everything right here right NOW", Rachel practically screamed at him.
Schmitt grimaced, "look Rachel, this really isn't the time.." "It's Numbah 362 to you traitor," she cut him off, "and I think now is the perfect time, so spill!" Schmitt groaned, "listen, we really don't have time for this, I understand what your going through right now but..." "Don't patronize me!", yelled Rachel, "the entire fleet was just vaporized before my eyes, you levitated Numbah 86's M.U.S.K.E.T. right out of her hand and then we all almost died! I demand to know what the hell is going on!"
Nigel winced, he had never heard Rachel use curse words before, it was a habit that operatives tried to avoid, curse words were the domain of teenagers and adults after all. Then he remembered something else from the earlier and stepped forward, "I want to know something too, what did that kid in the green outfit mean when he said I was his top agent? You said earlier that you knew about the GKND, so what do you know about me?"
"The GKND is a lie", replied the admiral, "and I will tell you when I see fit, right now you need to do exactly as I say if we are going to survive this." Rachel gritted her teeth furiously, "I'm the Supreme Commander of the KND, I don't take orders from you! Now I order you tell me what I want to know!" "Well seeing as how I'm a traitor now, I guess that means I don't have to take orders from you anymore", shot back Schmitt heatedly.
"Fine", snapped Rachel grabbing Nigel's S.P.I.C.E.R., "if you're a traitor then that means your the enemy, so again, tell what I want to know or I'll shoot you." The admiral stared at her, "okay, one, I don't find being shot in the face with chili rays to be that threatening, two, why are we even fighting over this, I'm on your side dammit!" Finally he gave a frustrated sigh and relented, "look Rac.. Numbah 362, I promise I'll explain everything later, but now is really not the time, we have to get out of here before more soldiers show up which is probably gonna happen any second now."
"Rachel, please, let it go, for now at least" said Nigel, laying a hand on her shoulder, eyeing the admiral at the same time, "and you better come clean 141, or I'll make you regret it." "I promise, everything will be revealed in due time, but right now we need to get off this base", the admiral turned to go, "wait", ordered Rachel, he turned around, "we can't just abandon the Moonbase!" "We don't have a choice", shot back Schmitt irritably, "honestly, I thought that you would have grasped that by now."
He gestured around the hanger, "there is nothing here that can stop the fleet outside, staying here would be suicide", "but all of our records are here, all of our files, tactics and the Codemodule are here", countered Rachel, "we can't just leave them for those... whatever you called them to come and take them." "The records will be worthless to the Confederates, they know enough about you already without them, as for the Codemodule..." Schmitt drew it out of his pack, grinning "I've already got you covered there."
He tucked it back into the pack on his back and sealed the lid, "now, lets go." "Where though", demanded Nigel, "the Moonbase is our most heavily defended treehouse, the only other base with the defenses to rival it is the Arctic Training Base." "And that", replied Schmitt, turning around, "is where we are going." Rachel and Nigel glanced at each other and then followed him across the hanger to a waiting S.C.A.M.P.E.R., where Numbah 2552 was deep in discussion with another fleet operative who was still working on it. Another pair of fleet operatives were busy loading the still unconscious forms of Numbah's 92 and 93 into the ship. Rachel noticed Schmitt glance guiltily over at the twin operatives, I wonder what happened to those two, she thought.
When Schmitt approached, Fritz saluted and started to report, "this is the last of the new fleet S.C.A.M.P.E.R.s, all the other ones either went down with the ships they were on or are at the rendezvous point in the arctic." He grimaced, "damn Arthurs, you warned us this day would come, but not like this. Not like this." Washington seemed to lose his strength from the effort of talking, he leaned against the side of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. before continuing, "I hope you realize that we'll never get out of this base with that fleet camped right outside, you know what has to be done, right Schmitt?"
Rachel and Nigel caught the end of that and Rachel glanced over at him, "what? What has to be done?" Schmitt grimaced and his expression turned somber, "I was hoping you wouldn't ask that." He walked over to a nearby crate, hopped on top of it and began yelling for attention, he waited till everyone's eyes were on him before continuing, "alright, listen up, you're not going to like what I have to say next, but it has to be done." It seemed to take quite and effort for him to say his next words, "I need a group of volunteers to stay and defend the Moonbase while we escape."
Immediately every operative started chattering away, many of them yelled their disapproval at the admiral, Rachel's voice carried above them all, "ARE YOU CRAZY, YOU JUST SAID THAT TO STAY WOULD BE SUCIDE!" She forced herself to the head of the small crowd, "I WON'T ALLOW IT, WE'RE ALL GETTING OFF THIS BASE TOGETHER, NO ONE IS GETTING LEFT BEHIND." Several of the older operatives shouted their support for Rachel, the others began to intensify their verbal assault, some of the more irate operatives began to brandish weapons at the admiral. Schmitt ripped the sidearm off his belt and fired a flurry of shots into the air, "QUIET", he roared, and instantly every noise in the hanger ceased, except for the sound of the fleet operatives, who were still tinkering with their ships.
"I realize how difficult a decision this is for you, but I am going to lay this out for you as plainly as possible." He gestured towards the space outside the hanger, "right now a fleet of warships, much more powerful and better protected than anything we have here is camped outside this base. Any ship that leaves this hanger will be immediately destroyed by those warships, even if we leave all at once there are too many of them for us to evade."
The admiral stared down at the gathered operatives and continued, "the only way any ship will escape this base is if someone mans the defenses long enough to draw the fleet's fire and open up a hole in the blockade." Schmitt sighed deeply and his expression grew serious, "I will not ask any one of you to make this sacrifice and if there are no volunteers, then I will man the defenses on my own." "NO", a voice spoke out over the crowd, the operatives and Schmitt turned to see a still wobbly Numbah 35 being supported by Numbah 23.
"I don't know what I saw up on that bridge", called out Numbah 35, "and I can't say that I really trust you after seeing what you did, but I know one thing, you saved us back there and you definitely seem to know a heck of a lot more about what's going on than any of us." Numbah 35 pushed away from Numbah 23 to stand on his own before continuing, "and I have a feeling that we're going to need all the help we can get before this thing is over", Numbah 35 took a deep breath, "therefore, I will volunteer to stay."
A multitude of voices sprang from the crowd of operatives, shocked, curious and disbelieving voices, but the admiral's cut through them all, "I'm not worth more than any other operative or soldier on this base 35, my life is no more important than any of yours." He jumped down from his crate and walked over to Numbah 35, "you don't have to do this." "It's my choice", replied Numbah 35 stubbornly, he tried to take a step forward but lost his balance. Schmitt caught him by the arm and steadied him.
He smiled, "you remind me of someone I used to know, he was just as stubborn and brave", his smile fell, "are you sure?" 35 grinned, "it'd be one heck of way to go out and besides, I think after what happened on the bridge, I'm due for some redemption." The admiral smiled again and grasped Numbah 35's arm, "well best of luck to you then, I don't think I ever caught your name though."
Numbah 35 grasped the admiral's hand and shook it saying, "it's Bartie, Bartie Stork, and do me a favor, if I don't make it, tell my parents what happened here." "I will Bartie, I will", promised the admiral and Nigel thought he say tears forming in the admiral's eyes, he looked away before he could tell. "I'm staying too", piped up Numbah 23, Bartie looked at her with shock, "no way Virginia, your getting out of here." "Dream on Bartie", snapped Virginia, just as stubbornly, "if your staying I'm staying, period." Bartie looked like he wanted to object further, but instead just gave her a small smile, "thanks", he managed and grasped her hand.
A few other operatives agreed to stay behind and support Bartie. As the other operatives boarded the last ships out of the base, Rachel turned back to Numbah 35 and tried to say something, but all she could get out was, "good luck soldier", "likewise sir", replied Bartie, snapping off a salute. Rachel returned it, and Nigel could tell she definitely was crying. The pair watched as the ships sped out of the hanger bay and out towards the menacing line of warships. Bartie and Virginia looked at each other and nodded, then turning back to the other operatives Bartie said, "alright boys and girls, we've got a job to do, so lets give these guys the fight of their lives!"
Confederate Flagship C.W.S. Harbinger: Bridge
Arthurs stared out through the viewport in the Harbinger's bridge. As he watched a few KND ships rocketed out of the hanger bays, towards his fleet. "Sir", called out a nearby officer, "scanners have picked up 30 KND ships headed straight for our center line, shall we engage?" Arthurs leaned back in his command chair, smiling wickedly, the exchange with Schmitt had gone over perfectly, now he would go down in history as the boy to get the last word in over the Federation's most infamous military commander.
As soon as the Confederacy starts writing the history books, he grumbled to himself, still there was nothing that could go wrong now and he was confident that the token force of ships headed towards his fleet was nothing more than the KND's attempt at a final, glorious charge. A doomed charge to say the least, honestly, he thought. But Schmitt wasn't stupid and he certainly wasn't some kind of death seeker. "Fire control", called out Arthurs, "what is the trajectory of those KND vessels?" "Calculating sir", came the response, "looks like their tracking AROUND our ships sir!" Arthurs groaned, they're trying to make a break for it, he realized. "Redirect two squadrons of fighters to deal with their incoming formation. Order all ships in range to spin up their point-defense guns and put up a barrage!" It was at that moment that volley's of high-yield laser fire began pouring out of the Moonbase into his fleet..
"Sir, the Moonbase is opening fire", reported his weapons officer, a tad redundantly. Pointless, thought the general, their defense guns can't even scratch us. On the outside he gave swift orders, "return fire, all batteries." A bit excessive, but there's no harm in a little shock and awe, he thought. He looked over at the tactical display, the KND ships were beginning to penetrate his formation and the outer ships were too busy dealing with the defense fire from the Moonbase to stop them, clever Schmitt, leave some hapless fools behind as a distraction while you make your escape.
"Order the escort ships to peel off and pursue those KND craft" ordered Arthurs, "all remaining ships focus fire on the Moonbase, surgical shots only, we need it intact." Once again confident in his victory, Arthurs again relaxed in his chair, content to watch his fleet slaughter the last of the KND space forces.
KND Fleet S.C.A.M.P.E.R: Lunar Orbit
Schmitt grappled with the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.s controls as he attempted to evade the Confederate fleet's latest barrage. Around him the thirty or so KND ships attempted similar maneuvers as cannon fire flashed around them. Each ship was loaded with at least two dozen KND operatives and that only made flying all the more difficult.
As Schmitt struggled to control the already overburdened ship, a bit of movement caught his eye. A squadron of fighters was barreling towards the raggedy KND formation. "Crap", he cursed under his breath, he grabbed the mike from the control panel and keyed in the frequency for the other ships, "heads up people, we've got fighters inbound." Behind him, the rest of the ship's passengers heard the message and started to get nervous, Numbah 2 especially.
He started thinking back to his dogfight's with the Kid, there's no way this rust bucket can outrun fighters, not in this condition, he thought, he kept it to himself though, there were new recruits on the ship and it wouldn't do to frighten them in the middle of a battle. Besides the assortment of recruits, the rest of sector V along with Numbah 86 and 362 were also crammed into the back of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. Despite the fact that they were in space, a lot of them looked like they were starting to get queazy. Huh, wait till we reach the atmosphere, thought Numbah 2, grinning. Then he remembered that he was in the room as well and he groaned, aww crud!
Outside the KND ships broke formation as the fighter squadrons roared straight towards them, rapid bursts of laser fire tore through the space around them and the operatives heard more than a few bangs from direct hits. "Will we be okay", yelped one of the younger operatives.
Schmitt grunted, "this is a fleet S.C.A.M.P.E.R., not some old sector model, I helped design these things, we'll be fine." Just then a large explosion on the right smacked into the ship's hull, sending it whirling into a forward spin. The younger operatives onboard screamed and the veterans wisely tightened their seat belts. "Ok maybe we won't be fine", corrected Schmitt as he righted the ship. "Can't this bucket move any faster", yelled Numbah 86.
Schmitt gritted his teeth, "I'm trying my best, but there's no way I can evade all of them with this much weight", he grinned over his shoulder, "anyone care to lighten the load?" Numbah 86 slapped him on the back, "NOT FUNNY" she yelled, "right, sorry", apologized Schmitt, "just a bit of spur of the moment gallows humor", returning his attention to the controls. "Maybe you should let me drive", offered Numbah 2, "I am the best pilot in the Kids Next Door." Everyone in the room scoffed at him, except the admiral who just grunted again, "you are pretty good for your age kid I'll give you that. But I've been flying ships since before you were born, hell no!"
"Wait, whaaa..", stammered Numbah 2, but he was cut off as an especially loud bang reverberated through the hull and caused the ship to tilt to the side. "SHIT, that one was too close" swore the admiral, "armors not gonna be able to take much more of this, you guys better put on some space gear, just in case we get a hull breach." "We don't have enough suits", protested Rachel, "THEN PRIORITIZE", yelled the admiral as he swung the ship into a barrel roll.
The operatives, the ones that weren't strapped down that is, were thrown off their feet and fell bodily onto the floor. As Schmitt righted the ship again a harsh beeping could be heard from the console. "Ahh crud, they have missile lock, hang on I'm gonna have to do something dangerous", he yelled, as he threw the ship into a clockwise downward spin. The operatives screamed as the image of a Confederate warship filled the screen. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING YA STUPID BOY", yelled Fanny, her voice equal parts fear and anger, "saving our skins", retorted the admiral.
Just as the ship was about to crash, Schmitt pulled up at an almost perfect ninety degree angle, flying the ship right above the deck of the warship and straight towards the bridge. All the operatives crowded around the viewport screamed as the view of the bridge quickly filled the whole screen. They got so close that the operatives could see inside the bridge and watched as the wide eyed Confederate officers inside began to turn and race towards the exit. "HOLD ON", yelled Schmitt and at the last second he flung the ship upwards, the operatives didn't see the missile hit, but they felt the explosion from it as the shock wave smashed into the back of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.
The force of the blast propelled the ship forward at even greater speed as they cleared the top of the warship and were once again flying straight and true towards the Earth. Everyone on the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. breathed a collective sigh of relief, "we made it", exclaimed a surprised Numbah 2, "we're not done yet, look", yelled Nigel, pointing towards the screen. Another Confederate warship was blocking their way, main batteries aimed directly at them. "Aww you have got to be kidding me", snarled the admiral.
Then the broadside of the warship lit up as a barrage of laser fire washed over it's shields. "Whose firing", demanded Rachel, "is it one of ours?!" "Look", exclaimed Nigel, pointing towards the planet. From the Earths surface, long beams of laser fire were streaming up and slamming straight into the Confederate fleet, which was too busy engaging the Moonbase to return fire. "Haha, good ole Jonathan, he managed to get the guns online", exclaimed Schmitt. "Who's Jonathan", demanded Nigel, confused as ever.
"Numbah 1918, he was Schmitt's second in command during the Beach War and now he's the chief officer for the KND fleet marines", replied Rachel a smile working it's way across her face, "he works with Numbah 60 down at the arctic base", she turned to the admiral, "he was in on this too wasn't he? And what guns? I never gave you permission to build something like that down there!" "Rachel, every officer in the fleet was in on this from the beginning", replied Schmitt as he brought the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. down into the Earth's atmosphere. "WHAT", exclaimed Rachel furiously, "oh heads are gonna roll when I get down there!"
Confederate Flagship C.W.S. Harbinger: Bridge
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THEY GOT THROUGH", Arthurs screamed at the extremely uncomfortable looking squadron leader, who's face was currently plastered across the main screen, "it's like I said sir, whoever was flying that ship pulled off some really fancy moves, he even managed to take out one of our frigates with just one missile!" "I'm aware of that lieutenant", seethed Arthurs, "no thanks to you, we are now down one ship and no doubt most of the KND personnel on that base just escaped down to the planet, all because of your INCOMPETENCE!"
The lieutenant adopted a defiant expression, "we did manage to destroy three of their ships and my patrols are still combing the wreckage but the body count is at an estimated 72." "72 dead KND soldiers is of no use to me if their commanders didn't die with them" yelled back Arthurs, "and especially that bastard Schmitt. I'm assuming his body was not among the wreckage." "Uhh, umm... no sir", replied the pilot, dejectedly, "but the other squadron might have gotten him."
"I have already spoken with the commander of the second squadron, they were apparently too busy avoiding the sudden volley of cannon fire from the planet's surface to do anything about the escaping ships. The body count remains at 72 lieutenant, I expect better from you next time", finished Arthurs, he cut the connection before the officer could reply. Arthurs seethed in silent rage for a few minutes while he analyzed the situation. Everything had been going perfectly until Schmitt had seen fit to throw a wrench into his plans.
Arthurs stared out the view screen at his assembled fleet and grimaced, the attack from the Moonbase had been easily repelled and every one of the base's defense guns had been turned to molten slag, even now a battalion of Confederate soldiers was storming the base, but the attack had caught them off guard and several of his support ships were damaged. Then one of the KND pilots had pulled off some fancy flying and managed to cripple one of his frigates and to top it all off, volleys of anti-orbital laser fire were now poring into his fleet.
Arthur's turned to his com officer, "damage report" he ordered. The officer looked extremely apprehensive as he made his reply, "we're still getting in reports from most of our ships, but it looks like those anti-orbital guns are using Federation military grade particle lasers, they're doing a number on our escort class ships, but our capital ships shields are holding so far" Damn Schmitt, he's probably been leaking Federate tech to these kids for years , thought Arthurs, "order the capital ships to form a screen around the planet and for the escort ships to assume mop up operations until needed." "Yes sir", the com officer saluted and returned his attention to his station.
Arthurs sat back in his chair, calculating, if Schmitt made it back to the planet then this war is going to get a lot more complicated. Now, if I was Schmitt where would I go first, Arthurs thought to himself, then he snapped his fingers. Turning to his navigation officer he ordered, "move the Harbinger into orbit over Antarctica and order the troops to prepare for immediate ground assault!"
"Yes sir!", replied the officer, Arthurs turned back to the com officer, "get the rest of the ship commanders on station, order them to move their ships into position and set up the orbital screen." "Yes sir", replied the com officer, Arthurs got up out of his chair and moved to the window, staring out into the blackness of space as his ships leapt to preform their maneuvers.
Now then Schmitt, lets see if that pitiful ice block you call a base can stand up to an orbital bombardment, Arthurs returned to his console and checked the holo-interface, there was a message from the commander of the infantry force that had taken the Moonbase, requesting orders on what to do with the operatives they had captured. Arthurs had to ponder that for a moment, they would need the moonbase in the coming days, prisoners would just complicate the operation. Well they expected to die anyway, he thought to himself.
Arthurs readied a reply message, "execute all the operatives except their commander, then put him in the base's brig." Arthurs sent the message then turned back to the com officer, "order all ships to prep their forces for ground assault, all commander are to report readiness status ASAP, the invasion begins now!" "YES SIR", shouted the bridge staff. Arthurs was grinning smugly ear to ear as he turned back to the view screen, it's time to show this world what we are truly capable of.
KND Fleet S.C.A.M.P.E.R: On Approach to KND Arctic Base
Schmitt skillfully piloted the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. through the ever present banks of snowing clouds that lay like a blanket over the Arctic Base. A voice piped through one of the ships speaker, "attention S.C.A.M.P.E.R C324, this is Arctic Base, please identify, over." Schmitt grabbed the mike, "this Numbah 141 aboard S.C.A.M.P.E.R. C324, I have operatives from Moonbase on board and am requesting permission to land, over."
"Roger that Numbah 141", the unmistakable voice of one of the 44 twins piped through the speaker, "we read you loud and clear, proceed to landing bay 3, welcome back to Earth." "Thanks", replied Schmitt dryly, "tell Numbah 60 and 1918 that I have the Supreme Commander on board and that she requests both of their presences immediately in the landing bay, over", "roger that Numbah 141, over and out." Schmitt clicked the mike off while Rachel stared at him, "okay, so what happens now", she demanded in a tone as cold as ice around them.
Schmitt put the ship on auto pilot and turned back to her, "simple, you tell them what went down on the Moonbase, you tell them what we're facing and you get everyone ready for war. But leave out the parts about me, the general and that extra stuff you heard, they don't need to know about that for now." Rachel stared disbelievingly at him, "you just expect me to lie to all the other operatives, to tell them only part of the truth when theres an enemy force about to invade the planet!" "It's for their own good", snapped Schmitt, "the standard KND operative is trained to fight adults and deal with the daily hardships of basic combat, none of them are prepared for something like this and things are only going to get tougher for them in the coming days. I don't need you starting witch hunts by putting the wrong ideas in their heads."
Nigel walked up beside Rachel and crossed his arms, "well that aside, how are we supposed to beat these guys? We seem to know an awful lot about them, what are their weaknesses and how do we fight them?" "Right now, I'm not even sure if we can fight them", replied the admiral, he seemed to collapse in on himself and sank into the pilot's chair, "there was supposed to be more time, if we had had more time then maybe we could have prevented this from happening."
"Who is we and what are you talking about", burst out Nigel, "how are we supposed to understand anything you say when you're being so vague and mysterious!" Schmitt opened his mouth speak but then seemed to think better of it and simply eyed Nigel. Finally he said, "you're right about that at least, I need to explain some of this to you or else we may never have a chance of fighting back, but there are some things I cannot tell." "Can't or won't", demanded Rachel, "both", replied Schmitt, he was about to continue, but then a bump reverberated through the hull, "we've landed", he remarked.
He touched a button on a small device mounted on his wrist and instantly his uniform disappeared, replaced by the one he had worn before the debacle on the Moonbase bridge. Rachel and Nigel simply stared at him, having already seen enough today to fill their astonishment quotas, there was little more that could surprise them.
"How did you do that", demanded Nigel, with a hint of curiosity. "Holographic camouflage", replied Schmitt, as he adjusted his uniform in a randomly mounted mirror, "it projects a solidified hologram over your existing clothes, allowing them to change into any thing you can imagine, basic Federation infiltration equipment."
He turned back to other operatives, "look, I'll try to find some time soon to explain everything, but until then you must behave like I'm still just the admiral of the fleet." He went to open the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.s door, but it was suddenly thrust open and a very angry looking operative holding a M.U.S.K.E.T jumped inside. "FREEZE TRAITOR!" yelled Numbah 60, thrusting his gun into the admiral's face. "GODDAMIT", yelled Schmitt.
And there you have it, my first cliff hanger. I will try to keep releasing these on a weekly basis, but it's getting tough to do this and keep up with my school work. Don't worry I won't stop, but it may take longer for me to get these out in the future. Chapter 6 will be next week and expect to get a few answers regarding Schmitt's past and the Confederacy. As alway please review!