Chapter Two: Bunker Busted

The smugglers were left unprepared as the door was blown open. Before they could overcome their shock, Daniel led the charge into their bunker. In the fraction of a second he had a visual on the hostiles, he scanned them over to determine which one proved the highest threat. One of them pulled a machine pistol from underneath the table–Daniel fired, nailing him in the chest with a (rubber) bullet. The smuggler was thrown back, his gun firing into the ceiling as he fell.

"DCPD! Everybody on the ground!" The SWAT team filed in behind him, aiming their weapons at the rest of the smugglers. Realizing they were outnumbered, the other four promptly surrendered.

Hester, Ichigo, and James entered as well. "Quickly, secure the room," ordered Daniel. They went to do so, checking for any hidden weapons or openings the smugglers could take advantage of. Hester found one almost immediately.

"This place opens out into another room," she said, scanning the opposite wall with her tablet. Not long after she found this, there was movement on the other side–others had heard the commotion. "More hostiles incoming!"

A series of bullets ripped through the wall, with everyone taking cover thanks to Hester's warning. However many others there were, they had prepared for a raid like this, and weren't about to go quietly. Daniel looked up at Hester, who held up four fingers.

Once the barrage ended, Daniel silently motioned for James to approach the door. He did so, his back pressed against the wall. The moment the door opened, he kicked it hard, slamming it back against the first hostile out. With that one dazed, he threw him aside and jabbed the next in the neck with a taser. The other two were reluctant to shoot with their companion blocking their line of fire.

Throwing the second aside, James drew his pistol, taking aim at their legs and firing. The rubber bullets knocked them down, allowing him to finish them off easily–the first with a pistol whip, the second with a solid punch to the face. However, the first one out had gotten back to his feet, and James heard the sound of a rifle being reloaded.

A gun was fired, but it wasn't the smuggler's. The hostile was knocked to the ground thanks to a shot from Hester. James nodded to her in thanks, before making sure that the rest were unconscious.

"Is that all of 'em?" asked Ichigo, as the SWAT team arrested the remaining hostiles. "Does that mean we can go?"

"Not a chance," Daniel replied, cocking his shotgun. "If I know one thing about Gem tech smugglers, it's that there's always more–they're like cockroaches that way. Everyone, on me, and be ready to take cover."

The rest of Fireteam Victor made their way further into the bunker along with a handful of SWAT personnel. They moved slowly and quietly, listening for any sounds that could indicate an ambush up ahead. These criminals were clearly prepared for a raid, so there was no telling what could be waiting for them.

A sharp turn in the hallway up ahead meant there was no way to see what lay ahead without being seen in turn. Daniel sidled up against the wall, peering briefly around the corner. No sooner had he stuck his head out that a red light fixed itself on him, and more bullets came hurtling in his direction.

"There's a turret!" he shouted, causing everyone to step back. Sure enough, even when it was not firing, they could hear the telltale sound of its targeting system searching for something to shoot. Daniel didn't risk looking out again.

"How's a couple of two-bit smugglers get their hands on equipment like that?" asked Ichigo, baffled. "I know Gem tech sells for a lot, but not that much!"

James gradually made his way to the front of the pack. "Once we secure this area, we'll ask them. Hester, can you see it?"

She looked at the screen, but nothing came up. "No good–it's a heartbeat monitor, and last I checked, sentry turrets didn't have those." She tried adjusting the settings to find other options, but Ichigo had another idea.

"Okay, here's the plan," he said: he had produced a disc-shaped device from his vest. "One localized EMP should have that thing out of commission for about…eh, five seconds, give or take. Danny, you've got the best gun for the job, so once it's fried, you take it down. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," he replied. "When you're ready."

Ichigo took a position just next to the corner, preparing to throw the charge. "Okay, wait, wait…" Once it was primed, he slid it down the hallway towards the turret. The turret caught the brief glimpse of movement from his arm, with him pulling back just before it could shoot him. This caused it to ignore the EMP, which slid underneath it, going off and scrambling its circuits. "Now!"

Leaping out from cover, Daniel took aim and fired. Of course, while rubber bullets were fine at taking down human opponents, they did not have the same effect on metal machinery. "Oh, for–" Knowing he only had moments before the turret targeted him once again, he did something he knew was probably ill-advised: he sprinted towards it.

"What is he doing?" Hester asked. "He does know by now he can't outrun bullets, right?"

"I don't think he's trying to," answered James. The moment the turret came back online, Daniel dropped to his back, sliding the rest of the way as bullets traveled over his head. He grabbed hold of the machine once he reached it, throwing it onto its side before repeatedly stomping it into the ground. Sparks flew from the damaged turret until finally, it shut down for good.

With the coast clear, the rest of the troops followed him to the end of the hall. "You know you could have just turned it off," said Hester. Daniel shrugged before moving on.

Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any other hostiles down this way. The hall opened up into a locker room of sorts, which was full of yet more Gem technology and the like. "No wonder they were so intent on guarding this place," said Ichigo. "It's a gold mine!"

"That it is," Daniel agreed, turning to the SWAT team. "Alright, looks like it's time to start making arrests. You all take care of that, we'll handle all this."

One of them nodded. "Whatever you say, Captain Bridge." He and the others headed back to where the rest of the smugglers were, leaving Fireteam Victor to secure the Gem tech.

James looked at the enormous variety of trinkets stacked before them. "Oh, good," he said dryly. "Now onto the fun part."

After everything was said and done, Daniel looked on as numerous trucks arrived, both to cart off the smugglers and carry the Gem tech to BAINE headquarters. All in all, it had been a successful mission, but something about it was still bothering him.

"This wasn't a big operation by any means," he said, with one of the SWAT higher-ups standing beside him. "There were less than ten guys overall, but there was more contraband here than we usually bring in for an entire ring. Did any of them say where they got it all?"

"They keep insisting they found it," she replied. "Usually, when all the members of an op like this tell the same story, it's not a lie, but they could've just gotten their story straight before we arrived on the scene. So either they really did just stumble onto a whole cache of alien tech, or…nah, that's probably it."

Daniel glanced over at her. "Something on your mind?"

She was quiet for a moment. "So, obviously all this stuff belonged to somebody before they got their paws on it. I'm no expert, but I doubt all of this came out of a single crashed spaceship. Think they got it from some warehouse somewhere?"

"If it was a BAINE storehouse, we'd have known about it," he said. "Polaris Industries is our next best bet, that sort of thing happens all the time. If they say anything about this being connected to a bigger operation, let us know ASAP."

"You'll be the first ones to know," she said. "Good luck out there." She then left to take care of things on the mundane end–which meant it was time to deal with what for most people would seem like science fiction. Daniel regrouped with the rest of his team, who were preparing to leave.

"Well, that took forever," said James, as Daniel got into the car where the rest of them were waiting. "We could probably build an entire ship out of all that crap. Did either of you have any idea where they got it from?"

"I told her I'd look into Polaris, but something about this feels different somehow," he replied. "I mean, you don't think…"

Hester started the car, following after the convoy of BAINE vehicles, and Daniel still hadn't finished his thought. "We don't think what?" she asked.

Another brief pause. "You don't think it's possible someone gave them all that tech?" Daniel said eventually. "What are the odds they found so much of it all in one place, ripe for the taking? If you ask me, someone wanted them to find it."

"But who'd have access to all that Gem tech?" Ichigo asked. "I mean, Polaris, sure, but they don't exactly seem keen on sharing. Who else do we know who has a surplus of the stuff?"

"Could be the Children," James suggested. "We haven't heard much from them in the last few years. This could finally be their idea of making a move."

"Yeah, but what could they have to gain from this?" asked Hester. "Actually, what could anyone gain? I fail to see how giving away your spare Gem tech to hoodlums would accomplish anything."

Daniel lay back in his seat. "It's entirely likely we don't know enough to put the pieces together. Let's just carry on as usual for now, and we'll look into this further if anything comes up."

"'Course, it's entirely possible they just found some old stash of the stuff, and there's no evil plot involved," said Ichigo. "...Not very likely, of course, but a guy can dream, can't he?"

"He certainly can," replied Daniel. "And I, for one, am more than ready to get back to base to handle something simple. Hopefully there hasn't been some crisis requiring our immediate attention in the last few hours…"

Later…

"What do you mean 'Greg's been abducted!?'"