Disclaimer Update: Ghostbusters are/were owned by Sony, Dan Aykroyd, Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis and Bill Murray. I'm just borrowing a small brick building.
Updated: 4/20/2015
Word Count: 7,060
"What is going on?" Rachel asked, preparing to address her second audience of the day. "Not liking this radio silence lockdown," she added, waving at her bodyguards in the wings. "No one can tap into our comms anyway."
"Lady Shadow's orders," Lady Black said. "And only a fool disobeys her orders."
"I've known her since I was ten," Rachel said, pouting. "A little slack would be welcome."
"But I'm not a fool," Lady Black said, "so we're following her orders."
"And doing what?" Rachel asked, waving at the muttering audience.
"What you came here to do. Build bridges and make friends," Lady Black said, without hesitation.
Sighing, Rachel stepped out onto the stage and headed towards the podium, currently occupied by their host, a well known celebrity historian.
"Lady Memory, may I present the faculty of the United Nations University School of History and Cultural Affairs. They are here to hear about your efforts to preserve the cultural artifacts of the Mayan peoples of the Yucatan."
"I'll need a stool, I think," she said, the podium barely reaching the top of her head, to laughter from the audience. She turned towards her bodyguards and waved the nearest over. Jazz bounded over, and stopped next to the podium. Reaching over, she held a hand up level with Rachel's head and the podium.
"Definitely, boss," she said over the local comm. She waved off the host and placed a small disc behind the podium, which grew large enough for a person to stand on. "Step here so we can adjust it."
Rachel nodded, and stepping on the disc waited until she was at a comfortable height. "Good, now we can see each other," she said to the audience, to more laughter. "It is okay if I begin? If you will excuse the occasional language difficulty. Our translators occasionally have difficulty with your language."
"Your words are being translated in real time?" the host said. "That's amazing!"
Rachel shrugged. She did not like using the translators but Brittany had insisted that it would be too easy for people to pinpoint her origin if they heard her speak English, and they weren't ready for that revelation yet. "It works better with some languages than others."
"Perhaps a little background to start? Yes?" she said, after waiting for the audience to settle down. "You must understand, that for us, the Mayan peoples are not an exotic ancient civilization. They are stranded members of our people who were in need of rescue. They also had an important job to do. So, we have come to restore them to their family, our clan, and to finish the job they set out to do. As such, our treatment of their 'cultural heritage' may seem a bit strange to you."
Sending a silent command to the small 3D project they'd brought with them, she displayed the first slide. "This is what the central part of the city of Chichen Itza looked like when we arrived. As you can see, it looked like a well preserved ruin with more recent structures surrounding it, though we were later informed by the locals that they still used it for their ceremonies." She gestured at the image, causing it to rotate, giving them several different views.
"Will you be making this available for study?" a short woman asked, speaking from the back. "We have been unable to convince the Mexican Antiquities office to let us create such detailed views of the city."
"Unfortunately, we will not be allowing such things either," Rachel said. She changed to the next slide, showing a view of the current site, white stones gleaming in the morning sun. "We have renovated Chichen Itza for our use." The audience gasped, and there were angry mutterings. "I did not think you would appreciate our efforts at, urban renewal I believe you call it."
"You have erased hundreds of years of Mayan history," an angry voice shouted.
"No, we have restored an abandoned city to its original purpose, with a few modern conveniences," Rachel said, correcting them.
"What gave you the right to destroy it?"
"It is our land, that gave us the right," Rachel said. "Our people built it. We have merely made it livable again."
"What did the Mayans say about this destruction?"
"Cleaning up their temples and chasing away the tourists so they can pray to their gods and goddesses in peace? Opening up our infirmaries to them and improving their living conditions? They are very happy with us."
"And the loss of their history?"
"Nothing was lost except moss on old rocks," Rachel said. "Before we renovated any of the old Mayan cities, and no, this wasn't the only one," she added, "We recorded them in archival detail for future study."
"What does that mean?" the angry voice asked. Rachel changed the projector to another view, the main temple from below, showing detailed reproductions of the carvings on the base of the temple.
"This," she said, "can be recreated using our virtual reality technology. Features of the city hidden by centuries of growth can be seen as if new. From all angles."
"Will this be made available for study?" the host asked. "Though you've probably put thousands of Mayan archeologists out of work so I'm not sure who will want to use them."
"Yes, all of our archival recordings of these cities will be made available," Rachel said. "Once you have the technology to use them. We may have renovated a few structures but there is a large amount of unknown history of the area that we are interested in uncovering."
"Why did you not wait before beginning your 'renovations'," another audience member asked. "We have procedures for handling world cultural sites."
"And we should wait for your governments and committees to tell us what we can do with our own lands?" Rachel shook her head. "I can understand your concern," she said. "I am the historian of the Dragon Clan, its Memory. It is my responsibility to preserve our history for future generations and to provide a framework for understanding it. Such actions as this are not taken lightly. But it was our decision to make."
"Will you make this recording technology available for other projects," a grizzled haired old man said, standing to address her.
"Yes, we hope to," Rachel said. "We are currently in the early stages of a pilot project to apply our recording techniques to several historical sites outside of our enclave. If it is successful we will make the equipment and tech available to appropriate parties."
"Q, you have got to see this," Santana said, breaking into Gold Team's comm channel during a post training exercise debrief.
"What, S," Quinn said, keeping her tone even, knowing that Santana wouldn't interrupt them unless is was important.
"Our friendly Black Hats have decided to go for the big leagues," she said. "Switch to Fleet channel Alpha Zed."
"Excuse me ladies, something's come up," Quinn said, "we'll continue this later." A chorus of 'yes ma'am's' briefly echoed in her ears before she switched her suit comm to Alpha Zed, which was showing CNN.
"What are they doing?" Quinn asked, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
"They've taken over the old Ghostbusters firehouse in New York and have taken everyone inside hostage," Santana said.
"Have they said what they want?"
"They want us to surrender all of our tech to them and leave," Brittany said, her voice coming through on a different channel. "Or they'll kill all of the hostages."
"Not happening," Quinn said.
"Nope," Santana said. "Not thrilled with losing so many hostages to those bastards if it comes to that but the planet comes first."
"Where's Rachel?" Quinn asked, suddenly aware of her absence from the discussion.
"She's actually speaking to a UN group at a conference near there," Brittany said. "They've miscalculated if they think that'll force our hand."
"With a little help, I assume," Quinn said, not having to guess to know that Brittany was more than a few steps ahead of their local nemesis.
"Of course," Brittany said, giggling. "They aren't getting near Rach again if I can help it."
"Where's she now?" Quinn asked.
"In a meeting," Brittany said. "I'm on my way to get her now."
"That firehouse is an old tourist trap," Santana said. "Are there any important hostages there that we know of?"
"They're all important, San, you know that," Brittany said. "It was a celebrity party of some sort. Somebody's birthday or something. Rachel was invited but couldn't go. I haven't gotten the names of the attendees yet."
"Celebrities? Crap," Santana muttered. "We don't need that kind of publicity if we let them get killed."
"What's the plan?" Quinn asked. "We didn't just buy another building, did we?"
"Not that one," Brittany said.
"What one?"
"We needed to clear the area around the firehouse," Brittany said. "So we're negotiating with the insurance companies for all the structures on that block. We'll cover their losses for anything we destroy."
"Okay, and what happens to them afterward," Santana said. "Just curious."
"A small park with underground offices and shops," Brittany said. "It's a brilliant idea. We'll have the firehouse in the middle for our NY embassy and that park surrounding it."
"I thought we didn't just buy it," Quinn said in a neutral voice.
"We've owned it for a while," Brittany said innocently. "I didn't tell you guys?"
"Um, no?" Santana said. "I thought we weren't buying any unnecessary property?"
"A well placed location for our embassy in NY is necessary," Brittany said. "But this one wasn't intentional. It was part of that holding company we bought out. They owned those building in Cancun, a couple hotels, one in San Francisco, that one in London, and that old firehouse. No one knows we actual own all that property."
"If you can't beat them, buy them?" Quinn said.
"Exactly," Brittany said.
"And this plan? That sounds like a bit of urban renewal?" Santana said. "What are our plans, exactly."
"The buildings have to go," Brittany said. "Everyone should be out of them in two hours. Then we bubble them and use some of your heavy lifters to move them somewhere else."
"So, the people using these building can come back later and get their possessions?"
"Well, they'll have to go down to the docks were we'll put the bubbled buildings, and we'll need to have several safety crews to help them, since the buildings won't be in the greatest shape afterward, but essentially, yes."
"So, once the area is clear, then what?" Quinn asked, already signaling two of her teams to prepare for an emergency urban environment mission.
"The old firehouse is too fragile to move like that with people in it," Brittany said. "So, we surround it once the area is cleared, and negotiate."
"I thought we weren't negotiating with them?" Santana said.
"Not their way," Brittany said. "We need to find their main base. This should help, assuming they contact it during the raid. We have the whole place wired already. Nothing comes in or out of that building without us knowing it."
"You've actually been planning this for a while, haven't you," Quinn said.
"Not this exact location, no," Brittany said. "But I've been expecting them to pull some grand gesture out of their pointy hats for a while. As soon as I heard about this my rapid response team was in the air headed their way."
"And that's why we love you, babe," Santana said. "Keep up the good work."
"What's my role in this?" Quinn asked. "Do you even need any troopers?"
"Definitely," Brittany said. "You're our presence on the ground, like always, except this time you need to be very visible. The Black Hats and everyone else needs to know we're through playing games."
"We never play games," Quinn said, protesting. "The job's too dangerous to play around."
"They don't know that," Brittany said. "They see our people, all those sexy, wonderful women, and can't take us seriously. It's time to start changing that. They need to see us as powerful, sexy, wonderful women."
"You're the boss," Santana said. "I've passed on your orders to the heavy lifter crews."
"Great!" Brittany said. "They need to make it look effortless, like they do that kind of work every day."
"You already know where their main base is, don't you," Quinn said. "You haven't requested any troops for taking that out."
"Nope, it's going to be all stealthy. While you are dealing with the New York situation, my teams are going to sneak up behind them and slit their throats. Figuratively speaking. And I need to go," she said. "Later ladies!"
"She's even more dangerous that she seems," Quinn said. "We're luck she's on our side."
"She makes dangerous sexy," Santana said, amusement clear in her voice. "And you need to get your pretty white ass and your teams in the air."
"Yes, bossy Lady," Quinn said. "Some of us can multi-task. They're all ready, waiting for pick-up. I'm joining them now."
"Don't get yourself killed, Q, those Black Hats might still have some Tiger clan tech."
"Not planning to, just make sure your gang does their job."
"They're pros," Santana said. "They'll be there."
—
"Rachel," Brittany whispered over their private comm, "you are doing a great job but we need to clear everyone out. The Black Hats are up to something. Santana and Quinn are inbound and your little party is right on the edge of the action zone." As she finished saying that, she stepped onto the stage, followed by Rachel's body guards.
"Ladies, and gentlemen, Lady M needs to cut this short," Brittany said. "A terrorist situation is in progress two blocks away and we need to evacuate this building."
"Two blocks? How dangerous is it?" the host asked.
"A terrorist group has taken a number of people hostage at the old firehouse two blocks over and are threatening to release a nerve gas if their demands are not met," she said. "Any more than that is classified by your government."
"Oh. Where can we go?" the host said.
"Your city is evacuating everyone in a ten block radius of there," Brittany said. "Once the situation is taken care of you can return, but you need to go now," she said. "Lady M is our responsibility. There are buses waiting for the rest of you out front. Those nice gentlemen in the uniforms will help you." She waved at the policemen standing at the back.
"What's really going on?" Rachel asked once they were off the stage and back with Lady Black and the others. "Nerve gas? Really?"
"A Black Hat terrorist op? It's a possibility," Brittany said, smirking. "It is definitely going to be too dangerous for sight seers around here in a few minutes. So we need to get you to safety."
"What's the plan?" Rachel asked.
"A bit of urban renewal," Brittany said, leading the way out the back door.
"Is that thing licensed for urban driving?" Lady Black asked, seeing the small shuttled parked in the street.
The shields usually hide it so it doesn't matter," Brittany said, "but we don't have time to deal with the mess if the crazy drivers around here keep running into it."
As they approached the shuttle, the doors slid open. "We'll take you to Santana on Fleet," she said, "and you can catch a ride home from there."
"Where are you going?" Rachel asked, taking a seat in the shuttle.
"While Quinn is distracting our little friends, I have something to take care of," Brittany said.
"I never get to do anything fun," Rachel said, pouting.
"Looked like you were having fun a few minutes ago," Lady Black said. "I thought they'd all die from heart attacks when you showed them the new Chichen Itza."
"Useless busybodies," Rachel said, making a face. "Think they can tell us what to do with our own historical relics. Thousands of irreplaceable artifacts are destroyed every day while they talk about it. At least we preserved everything in our archives before making changes."
"They seemed impressed by that," Lady Black said. "Especially the 3D view."
"Smoke and mirrors," Brittany said. "The real thing wasn't as impressive. And remember your first experience in the learning pods? Most of them won't be able to use them for a while. The tech isn't there yet."
"So, what are you doing?" Rachel asked.
"We've finally tracked down where the Black Hats come from," Brittany said. "Time to squash them into unrecognizable bits."
"All of them?"
"Just the ones in charge," Brittany said. "We'll let the minions go for now. They aren't totally harmless but without their organization they're just speed bumps we'll smooth over later."
"Details for the records later?"
"Of course," Brittany said. "Don't I always?"
"Impressive," Quinn said, watching the heavy lifters as they removed the bubbled buildings.
"Always," Santana said over her comm. "Am I ever not?"
"Your surprise party skills could use some work," Quinn said.
"One time! One time she wasn't surprised!" Santana said. "I think that's allowed."
"Maybe," Quinn said, snorting.
"And when are you going to get your act together and do something about Shorty?" Santana asked.
"We did the friends commitment thing," Quinn said.
"I can't believe you fell for that," Santana said, laughing. "I bet she made that up just for you, right Artie?"
"Bonded friendship has a long history in the Clans, usually in cases where other options aren't available," Artie said. "Lady Rachel's desire for such a bond is puzzling in this case. The profiles of Lady Q and Lady Rachel clearly show a high level of compatibility at a number of different levels."
"It's the Q who's the problem here, Artie," Santana said.
"I'm not a problem," Quinn said, grumbling. "I'm doing it the only way I can."
"Well, you're doing it wrong," Santana said. "If Brit and I followed your plan, we'd be shaking hands, not kissing."
"You've got that whole soul bond thing going on also," Quinn said.
"And if you asked nicely, Brittany would do a 'reading' for the two of you and you'd know for sure."
"No," Quinn said. "If it's supposed to happen it will, and not because of some mystical sign."
"It works for me," Santana said. She paused for a minute before continuing. "And it looks like the field is cleared. It's all yours."
"Good. This is being recorded, right?"
"Ours, theirs, and half a dozen newsies have cameras pointed this way. Better make it look good."
"We always make it look good," Quinn said, switching over to her combat channels. "Gold and Green Teams, this is Gold Team Leader. The plan is a go."
"Aye, Gold Leader," echoed back from the Green Team leader. "Plan is a go."
All around the firehouse, several dozen brightly colored armored figures suddenly appeared standing in the rubble fields of the just removed buildings. Just as suddenly, a large silver dome appeared around the old brick building, shrinking until it covered the firehouse, almost like a second skin.
"Area contained," Green Team Leader announced. "Flooding with suppressant now."
"Could have used that a few times when we first took over," Santana said over their private channel. "Why the Confederation doesn't allow using gas unless it was developed locally makes no sense."
"Definitely one of those confusing AI decisions," Quinn said. "It's based on the Hats' favorite knockout gas but we had to get a sample first."
"Preparing to enter the structure," Green Team Leader announced. "Entrance cleared," she announced a minute later as armored figures disappeared from and reappeared at the main doors of the firehouse. "Going in."
A brief flash of light followed, as members of Green and Gold teams entered the building. Watching the action streaming from Green and Gold suit cams, Quinn was relieved that there appeared to be very little damage to the building. "Status of the hostages"? she asked.
"Unknown," Green Team Leader reported. "Correction, Green Four is reporting a number of unconscious hostages in a basement storage area. They appear to have been dosed with the nerve toxin."
"Acknowledged. And Black Hats?"
"No resistance," Green Team Leader said. "We appear to have caught them by surprise."
"That doesn't seem likely," Santana said over the private channel.
"No, it doesn't," Quinn said. "They know what our tech is like, even if they can't duplicate it. Pin, you and Gold have the hostages," she told her XO. "Green, check for boobytraps. And Lady Air, we need those special scanners your techs like to brag about."
"On their way," Santana said. "You need to clear the building."
"Pin, what is the status of the hostages?"
"They've all been evacuated and accounted for," her XO said.
"No ringers?" Quinn asked.
"All there, and all have been id'ed Boss, though they are all still out." Pin said. "The med team is checking them now."
"And the Hats?"
"In custody," Green Team Leader said.
"Excellent," Quinn said. "Everyone out of the building so Lady Air's techs can do their thing."
"Yes, ma'am," the others all responded.
"Looks like there's a secret escape tunnel in the basement," Santana said, when her scanner techs finished. "Just watch out for the booby trap. It's got enough plastique attached to it to blow down the block."
"I think we can handle a trap," Quinn said. "And the only thing left is the firehouse."
"Brit has big plans for that," Santana said. "Don't put too many holes in it."
"We'll be gentle," Quinn said. "I won't be surprised if she ends up owning the whole planet before we're done."
"As long as she keeps us supplied with good coffee, I'm all for it," Santana said.
"Lady Shadow, we're approaching the drop zone now," the shuttle pilot said.
"Great, May. Once we're on the ground go to the landing zone, we'll meet you there."
"Yes, Lady Shadow."
"Ready?" Brittany asked her team, all nine of them wearing their special covert ops battle suits.
"Ready," they all responded, before pulling down their helmets.
"We want them alive, if possible," she told them, "so no unnecessary shooting unless it's unavoidable." She grinned as they signaled agreement. The jump lights came on and the hatch opened. Stepping to the hatch, Brittany stepped out into the still air above their target, hovering for several seconds before dropping silently to the ground below.
It wasn't a true drop, as Quinn's troopers saw it. In stealth mode her teams rarely dropped from higher than one hundred meters, below the targeting range of most anti-personnel systems they encountered. With the Black Hats potentially using Tiger Clan tech, they had even less room for maneuvering than normal, the tech pushing them below twenty meters intercept range.
"Lady S, we're not detecting any anti-personnel systems in the area."
"Keep scanning," Brittany said. "They wouldn't be dumb enough to leave themselves wide open. And we know they were using standard evasion codes when we found them last week."
"Ah, there they are," Jena said. "They're using an old oscillating technique the Tiger Clans perfected during the Mountain Planet wars."
"I see," Brittany murmured. "But how did they figure that out? Be careful, if they're using that they might have some other surprises waiting for us."
"Yes, ma'am," Jena said. "Detecting signs of Tiger ground suppression tech to the west."
"Black Team, investigate," Brittany said. "Purple Team with me." Approaching the only entrance they'd detected, Brittany and Purple Team silently surrounded the low building. Following well established procedures, two members of Purple Team, their booby trap specialists Toni and Finn, scanned the door, placing deep sensors around it.
"Anything?" Brittany said.
"The entrance is mined," Toni said. "Sonics and explosives out to one kilometer. Our suits are suppressing the mine triggers but anyone else approaching would have been shredded before they reached the door."
"They're relying too much on the Tiger Tech," Brittany said. "They must not know we sold it to the Tigers."
"They know enough about it to use it," Finn said. "This is a standard Tiger outpost configuration."
"Ah," Brittany said. "Either they found some Tigers in deep freeze or they found a Tiger training manual."
"Bets?" Finn said.
"On a sure thing?" Toni said. "They must have defrosted some lower caste Tiger tech."
"Black Team? What did you find?" Brittany asked over the combat channel.
"A couple low grade Tiger mechs and tac guns," Black Team Leader reported. "They didn't see us coming."
"More Tiger tech," Brittany said. "They must have found a cache at some point."
"Through Boss," Toni said.
"All outside communication blocked," Jena reported. "We now have complete control over their systems."
"That was fast," Brittany said. "More Tiger tech?"
"A very primitive Tiger AI built to our specs," Jena said. "I asked nicely, and it turned everything it had over to us. It's reporting thirty armed guards, and ten others who may be armed. Now entering all known id's and facility maps into our tac systems."
"Helpful," Brittany said. "Shall we? Ladies?" she said, calling up her assault team. "The guards are expendable. If they shoot, shoot back. I want everyone else alive. Standard takedown. Don't let anyone near anything that looks like a self destruct button."
The assault team blew out the door, throwing smoke and stun grenades into the entrance before going in themselves. Brittany and the rest of Purple Team followed.
"They aren't surrendering," Purple Leader reported. "Stunning non-combatants."
"Right behind you," Brittany said. "Secure the communications room, we'll take the boardroom."
"Boss, we have incoming," Jana said. "Seven Black Hat fire teams sixteen kilometers out."
"White Leader, you have your orders," Brittany said. "Proceed with caution."
"They're all ours Boss," White Team Leader said. "Executing Operation Coverup."
"Let's get to the bottom of this," Brittany said. "Time to de-hat them."
She stopped in front of a large wooden door. "I think we'll skip the knocking," she said, kicking it open with relish and stepping through.
"Well, this is a surprise," Brittany said, seeing the room's occupants. "Hey guys," she said over the private Council comm channel. "Guess what I have."
"Snakes on a plane?" Santana asked. "You know you can't hide from me when you're using my equipment."
"Not hiding," Brittany said, "just avoiding distractions. Now, do you want to know what I've found?"
"Don't keep us in suspense," Rachel said.
"We appear to have the Black Hat leadership council in our hands," Brittany said, "and even I'm surprised at who some of them are."
"Spit it out," Santana said. "Rach is about to pee her pants in excitement."
"I am not!" Rachel protested.
"Rachel! Santana! Let her finish so we can get back to other things," Quinn said.
"It's like a Who's Who of Evil Masterminds who failed the Evil Overlords list."
"Names, babe," Santana said. "Or turn your video on so we can see them."
"From left to right," Brittany said, shaking her head, "we have Will Schuester, Jesse St. James, three guys I do't recognize, Sandy Ryerson, some woman who looks vaguely familiar from You Tube, and some others."
"Schyster is one of them?" Santana said. "Why am I not surprised?"
"There's no way he's a good enough actor to fool me," Rachel said. "You're bringing them back here for interrogation, right?"
"In my favorite little time warp," Brittany said. "But I think we'll keep them on ice until they get there," she said.
"Good," Quinn said. "Any more surprises or can I go back to clearing out the firehouse?"
"You're free," Brittany said. "Go finish. Have fun."
"Not a lot to have fun with," Quinn grumbled. "There was no real fight. The Black Hats escaped into the sewers and we're chasing them down now."
"Eww... " Rachel said. "Make sure you clean up when you get back."
"The transports have decon units," Santana said. "You don't think I'd let them in any of my ships covered in post combat crap, do you?"
"It washes off," Quinn said.
"It doesn't need to wash off if your suits aren't coved in it when you get in my transports," Santana said.
"Ladies! Save it for later!" Brittany said, interrupting them in mid argument. "Kill them or bring them back. I don't care, just don't let them get away."
"Yes, Boss. Yes Brit," they said to giggles from Rachel, before disconnecting from the channel
"Let's save the reveal for when we're all there," she said. "I want to see their faces when they realize who they've been fighting."
"I need to check their comm records," Brittany said. "This might not be all of them. It was really too easy."
"So they might not be the ones in charge of the Black Hats?"
"Possibly," Brittany said. "They might have dumped their duds and gone deeper under. We'll know soon. And Rachel?"
"Yes?"
"Don't try to mediate between San and Q this time. They really need to work it out themselves."
"I learned my lesson the last time," Rachel said. "UST needs to be dealt with, pronto, by the parties involved."
"You aren't upset about that?" Brittany said.
"Quinn's a friend," Rachel said, not sounding too convincing. "How she deals with Santana isn't my business, as long as it doesn't hurt her. But you must not be too happy with them."
"They'll do it once or twice and get it out of their systems," Brittany said. "It's not personal. It's just part of their whole Alpha female thing. Sex is just another thing between them. No worries. And I'll get chocolates and flowers out of San each time because she'll feel uber guilty. So I don't mind."
"Quinn gets sulky when she feels guilty about something," Rachel said. "No guilt treats."
"She'll figure it out eventually," Brittany said. "How'd dinner with Fran and your mom go last month? Did them getting engaged inspire Quinn?"
"Not the kind of inspiring I was hoping for," Rachel said, "but we can talk later. I'm sure this is distracting you. Santana will kill me if she finds out."
"No distraction, Rach. We're just loading them up and bubbling the whole base so we can take it apart later."
"I'll leave you to it," Rachel said. "Need to get back to my office."
"Gotcha," Brittany said. "Go!"
"Everyone out?" Brittany asked, watching as Black Team rejoined them outside of the bubble perimeter.
"All accounted for," Jena said. "All the Hats are on their way to Fleet holding, everything else to be bubbled and sent to the High-Sec evidence labs out past the asteroid belts."
"Good! Bubble when ready," Brittany said.
"There must be an ambush down here," Quinn told her XO, as they slipped past the disabled explosives at the tunnel entrance. "No other reason for them to come down here."
"It's their natural habitat," Santana whispered in her ear. "With the rats and other vermin."
"Not helping," Quinn said, when her team burst into giggles, making it clear that Santana hadn't used their private channel for her comment.
"I call them as I see them, Q," Santana said. "You know, this whole sewer thing doesn't show up on my ship scanners, and that takes some doing."
"Is that even possible?" Quinn asked, leading her team deeper into the tunnel. "Your scanners could find a flea on a coconut in the Pacific, from Pluto."
"Special shielding," Santana said. "We've run into it with these people before."
"So, do whatever you did last time to get around it," Quinn said, coming to a halt at a large circular hatch in the side of the tunnel. It was covered with writing in an unrecognizable language. "We have some kind of artifact. Doesn't look like it's Clan."
"You think I haven't already tried that?" Santana grumped. "Brit's wiz kids are stumped too."
"And Brit?" Quinn asked.
"She's busy with our guests."
"Sorry," Quinn muttered. "Artie do you recognize this?" She brightened her external lights and aimed them at the hatch. "Might be a clue."
"Apologies, Lady Q, but my records do not contain anything resembling the writing on that object."
"Quinn?" Rachel said, joining them on the comm channel.
"Yes, Rachel?" Quinn said.
"I have an idea, but you aren't going to like it."
"I'm already not liking this," Quinn said.
"I think we need to wake up Mother," Rachel said. "That looks like some of the writing on that stasis pod we found her in."
"Pirates? They've gotten their hands on Red Pirate tech? Shouldn't ours be better?" Quinn asked. "They're going to escape!"
"Not better, different," Rachel said. "There must have been a reason the Red Pirates kept getting away from the Clans."
"Good idea, Berry Fine," Santana said. "Cool your jets, Q. Give the wiz kids a minute or two to adjust the sensors. No need to wake Mother, Dear Mother just yet."
"This is a standard crypto-lock," Pin said. "We just need a key."
"Or we can cut through it," Quinn said. "Where's Janey?"
"Up top," Pin said. "She'll be here in five."
"Pin, make sure you get a good recording of that hatch," Quinn said. "I'm sure Rachel will want to show it to Mother eventually."
"If you don't mind, Quinn," Rachel said. "Pin, a full spectrum scan, please, and not just the hatch. Get at least two meters around it."
"Yes ma'am," Pin said. "Scan complete," she said several minutes later.
"Got it yet, Santana?" Quinn asked.
"Just about," Santana said. "Shorty was right this time. The tunnel is lined with the same material that stasis pod was lined with. It absorbs our default scanner beams."
"As soon as Lady Air tells us what's on the other side, we're going through," Quinn said to her troopers. "Expect them to fight this time."
"Got it," Santana announced. "They've got some interesting tech on the other side of that wall. Sending scans now."
"How are they using that?" Quinn said. "Or is it just for show?"
"Just be careful, Quinn," Rachel said over their private channel. "I don't want to be the one to explain to your sister and your mother that you got yourself killed by obsolete pirate tech."
"If it was modern tech, you wouldn't mind?" Quinn asked, amused.
"Stop the flirting and take care of them, Q," Santana said.
"Hey! This is a private channel," Rachel said.
"It's the middle of a combat situation," Santana said. "Quinn doesn't have any private comm channels from me right now."
"Well, that's not fair," Rachel said.
"It's war!" Santana shouted. "Nothing about war is ever fair."
"Chill out Sue Patton," Quinn said. "She gets your point."
"Patton was a wuss," Santana said. "Now get your anime covered ass moving. The natives are getting restless. Any minute now you're going to be invaded by cameras and badges."
"On it," Quinn said. "Ladies, standard formation. They've got real tech so be careful, but they're probably more dangerous to themselves than to us."
"Aye, Lady Q," her team said.
"Janey, open that hatch," Quinn said.
Following her orders, Janey, her red lined hard suit gleaming in the lights from the other suits, began placing small spheres along the edges of the hatch. As soon as she was done, she waved everyone back down the tunnel. "Ready to blast," she broadcast over the combat channels. "All clear?"
"All clear," replied Quinn's XO. Followed by a large thump that shook the entire tunnel.
"Think you used enough?" Quinn asked.
"Just enough," Janey said, pointing at the remains of the hatch and the large mech on the other side with half the hatch embedded in its front armor.
"That had to hurt," Santana said.
"Get off my video," Quinn said, before jumping through the hatch, weapons ready. The rest of her team quickly followed behind.
"Gee, thanks Santana," Rachel complained. "Now she's turned it off."
"Nah," Santana said. "She just locked us out of her helmet cam. Besides, that wouldn't stop Brit anyway."
"That's good for you but I can't do my job if you all start blocking your comms," Rachel said.
"Nobody blocks Brit from their comms," Santana said. "She can get you whatever you want, whenever you want."
"I shouldn't have to sneak around to get that kind of thing," Rachel said.
"You aren't missing much right now," Santana said. "Just the usual mess Q and her gang make when they go against lame ass pirates and drug dealers."
The sounds reaching Rachel seemed to bear Santana out. There was the whine of high powered weapons discharging, and swearing from Quinn when a shot got too close, and the sounds of things falling over. In the background, she could hear Quinn's troopers following her example.
"I'd like to see what's happening," Rachel said.
"Won't that ruin your stories and heroic songs, if you see the real thing?" Santana asked. "Fantasy and reality don't mix together very well."
"Not at all," Rachel said. "I do get to see them eventually. It's just the flavor is gone. Instead of getting that 'right there' tang to them. If you know what I mean?"
"Like the difference between real life and life in the pods," Santana said. "Things are brighter out here in the real world."
"Exactly," Rachel said. "Though it's hard to explain to someone who's never been in the pods, there is a difference."
"We'll have to get Brit to work on her," Santana said. "She's the only one who can convince Quinn to give anyone live access to her video."
Quinn could hear Rachel and Santana talking in the background but she was too busy dealing with the Black Hats and their mashup of Red Pirate and Tiger Clan tech to respond to them. It wasn't that the Black Hats were very tough, compared to her troopers they were like little kids playing cowboys and Indians. But the tech they were using could still damage the armor she and her troopers were wearing. One lucky shot could still seriously wound or kill them.
So, in a messy battlefield like this, especially like this, there wasn't any real time to deal with people who were just watching.
And, it was really the only time her troopers were able to use their tools in real combat. A simulation was still a simulation, not matter how realistic.
Looking around at the sudden silence, her suit scanners showed all of the Hats down, some in multiple pieces. A couple of her troopers had damaged armor but nothing life threatening or crippling. "Good job ladies," she said. "Any survivors?"
"Three," said Pin. "The rest are KIA's."
"Wrap them up for the Shadows," Quinn said. "And someone escort the Fleet scanner techs down here to record everything."
"On it, Boss," Janey said, skipping out of the hatch.
"My techs don't need babysitters, Q," Santana said. "Their enviro suits can handle anything you've got down there."
"It's not the environment I'm concerned about, Santana," Quinn said. "This is still a hot site. Your scanners are good but the ones your techs use work better in close quarters."
"I know how the equipment works, Q. I designed some of it myself, just for you," Santana said.
"You did?" Rachel said. "You never said anything about that."
"Does it matter?" Santana said. "We all do that kind of thing. Q designed the hard suits her troopers wear, and Brit designed her team's stealth suits based on those."
"But that's amazing," Rachel said. 'This isn't a video game. It takes real knowledge to apply our Clan tech to new situations. You deserve some recognition for that."
"Watch it Q. She'll write some epic poem about how the Hand of the Clan outfitted all of her fingers in armor she built herself. Or some nonsense like that," Santana said.
"Where are your scanners?" Quinn asked, ignoring Santana's jibe.
"Their EV suits aren't overpowered jock straps like those things your troopers wear," Santana said. "Give them time to get there. It's not like anything is still alive down there. It's hot enough to fry Arcturian blue spider eggs."
"Ew," Rachel said. "Why would you do that?"
"The Tigers consider them a delicacy," Santana said.
"Well, we aren't going to find any here," Rachel said.
"You never know," Santana said. "My scanners are showing all sorts of possible Tiger tech down there. Could be some stasis pods full of all sorts of things."
"Quinn! Don't go opening any stasis pods!" Rachel said.
"Why would I do that?" Quinn asked. "It's standing orders to leave that kind of thing in the hands of Brit's teams. They know all the tricks to opening things that don't want to be opened."
"And she's told you that your troopers aren't allowed to blow things up once the fighting stops," Santana said.
"Well, yes, that too," Quinn said. "But that only happened once. And it wasn't something important anyway."
"How do you know?" Rachel asked.
"She laughed when she saw it," Quinn said. "Okay, everybody on the other side of the hatch. Unless you want to get scanned."
"No way Boss," Pin said. "My tech would never let me hear the end of it if I let my suit get fried by a scan."
"What a bunch of superstitious hot shots," one of the techs muttered, passing them just inside the hatch.
"Jeffers, easy on the arrogance," Santana said over the general channel.
"Yes, Lady Air, no bruising the feelings of the poor little troopers," Jeffers said.
"You've got a live one there," Quinn said, laughing.
"I'm sure you can always use another suit tech," Santana said. "She's earned a transfer to a less exciting post."
"Pass," Quinn said.
"I'll take her," Rachel said.
"What are you going to do with a grumpy tech?" Quinn asked.
"I'll think of something," Rachel said. "As soon as she's done here, send her to my office."
"Your headache," Santana said. "You heard her, Jeffers. Report to the Memory's office when you're done here. And clean up first!"
"Yes, ma'am," Jeffers said, turning to glare at Lady Q before following her fellow tech out into the cavern.
"Ma'am, need us to soften her up a bit before she leaves?" Janey asked.
"No," Quinn said. "I'm sure Lady M can handle a cranky Fleet tech."
"Yes, ma'am," Janey said, clearly disappointed.