Omega Force 3: The Enemy Within (21 page)

Years of living on the
Phoenix
made Jason attuned to even the most miniscule change in her flight profile. He sat upright in his bunk and tried to pinpoint what had awoken him. There were no alerts on his display, no alarms going off, the engines—

That was it. The engines were running harder than they were when he’d gone to bed. They’d been in slip-space on a leisurely pace to a planet Kellea thought would
made a good pickup point. He slipped out of bed and padded up to the bridge to see Kage in the pilot’s seat.

“Speed change?” he asked.

“Yes,” Kage answered. “I didn’t want to bother you with the trivial details, but I went over your chart and I think there’s an imminent attack on Gryr-4. We’re actually relatively close, so I drifted our course a bit and bumped our speed slightly. We’ll pass by close enough to take a peek. If nothing is happening we can press on.” Jason could find nothing wrong with his reasoning, so he let it pass that Kage had commanded a course change without asking him. It was a minor thing and he had no desire to stifle ingenuity and initiative.

“What made you single out Gryr-4?”

“They’re already on the verge of civil war as it is,” Kage explained. “The primary species, iots they’re called, are governed by a totalitarian system. A large and increasingly vocal faction are sick of it and there have already been some small skirmishes between armed civilians and government forces. It’s an anti-matter warhead about ready to pop off.”

“Sound thinking.
ETA until we’re near the planet?”

“Eleven hours.”

“Excellent,” Jason said. “I’ve got a few more hours of sleep coming. Have Lucky relieve you at some time and get some food and sleep yourself. I don’t want you falling out if we’re flying into a hot zone.”

“Don’t worry about me, Captain.”

*****

“
Captain to the bridge!
”

Jason had no sooner fallen back asleep when Kage’s call came over the ship’s intercom.
Why the hell didn’t he just call my quarters ...

“On my way,” he said and ran out the door. When he got up to the bridge, Kage had already vacated the pilot’s seat and was sending data to his displays. He slid into his seat and began looking over his displays. “Give it to me.”

“We were right about the planet, wrong about the timetable,” Kage said. “Gryr-4 is erupting into widespread violence NOW!”

“How far out are we?”

“Nine hours at current velocity,” Kage reported.

“Well let’s see what we can do about that,” Jason said as he commanded the slip-drive to eighty percent power. He watched his ETA timer count all the way down to one and a half hours. “Lock in the planet as our destination and start giving me all the information you can on it.”

“It’s already queued up at your station,” Kage said.

“Doc, report to the bridge,” Jason said over the intercom. “All other crew report to your stations and prepare for combat operations.” Kellea was the first on the bridge.

“What is going on? Combat operations?”

“On a hunch we started drifting closer to a planet we thought was a prime biodrone target. Turns out we were right, Gryr-4 is exploding as we speak and we’re hours away from meshing in,” Jason told her.

“To do what, exactly?”

“Hopefully to shut down the biodrones if Doc found me an answer,” Jason replied.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you, Captain,” Doc said as he walked onto the bridge. “I’m no closer than last time we talked.”

“Shit,” Jason muttered. “Well, we’re going in anyway. We’ll play it by ear and see if there’s any way we can offer assistance.”

“From what I’ve read about the government of Gryr-4, this may be the best thing for them,” Kage said.

“If they want to overthrow their oppressive government that’s their business,” Jason replied. “But I’m not allowing the ConFed to manipulate them into throwing off one shitty government for another one that’s equally bad.”

“No arguments here,” Kage said, “but the fighting appears to be spreading across the largest continent. At least if the news service reports are to be believed.”

“Doc, take the seat,” Jason said, getting up. “If you haven’t found an answer by now, I don’t think a couple more hours will make a difference. You two,” he said to Lucky and Crusher, who had just arrived, “with me. We may be involved in ground operations.”

“About damn time something fun happened,” Crusher said as he followed Jason off the bridge.

“So are we to engage the biodrones on the ground, Captain?” Lucky asked once they were in the armory.

“I’d prefer not to,” Jason said, “but the idea of just cruising by while the ConFed gets its hooks into another planet doesn’t sit well with me. We won’t take any unnecessary risks ... in the end Kellea is still one of the more important pieces of this and I still have some hope Doc will come up with a way to neutralize these things on a planetary scale. Help me out with this, will you?” Lucky walked over and helped Jason brace enough to get his legs into his armor while it was still in the maintenance rack. “Thanks,” he said as the armor closed itself around him.

“While I’m all for a little action,” Crusher said, “You know we’re not actually going to make a difference one way or another, right?”

“That depends,” Jason said. “Mass casualties alone don’t guarantee the desired outcome. First the biodrones attack, then the ConFed swoops in to save the day if needed. If the violence is getting as out of hand as Kage indicates, they’ll have no choice but to step in this time and get the planet back under control.”

“So we are going to attack the ConFed?” Lucky asked.

“Not exactly.”

“I must admit,” Lucky pressed, “I am confused as to what our objectives actually are.”

“If I’m honest, I’m not exactly certain myself,” Jason said as he began picking armament off the wall.

“Can we ever run an operation that isn’t a complete and utter cluster fuck?” Crusher asked plaintively, using one of his favorite expressions he’d picked up from Jason.

“I don’t want to mess with success,” Jason answered. “Careful planning may actually throw us off our game.”

“Let’s just try it once.
For variety’s sake.”

“Crusher, I really don’t even know what the situation on the ground actually is,” Jason explained, “but I want to be ready for anything. I’m hopeful we won’t even need to disembark.”

*****

“
Unidentified craft, this planet is under ConFed quarantine. Halt your approach
.”

“I guess that answers our question about whether the ConFed was going to have to exert control or not,” Jason mused. “Keep com silence, they’re going to be too busy to worry about us.”

He was pacing across the front of the bridge, leaving Doc in the pilot’s seat for the time being. While he could do it, he preferred not to fly the ship in his new armor until the adaptive calibration function had more time to hone his fine motor skills. He’d rather not rip the control stick out of the console if he got overly excited. “What sort of Fleet presence are we looking at?” he asked Kage.

“Negligible,” the Veran reported. “One standard cruiser and its associated support craft are trying to cover the entire planet.”

“I wonder why they don’t pull the trigger and shut down the biodrones?” Jason directed his question to Doc.

“The fact the drones are so mixed in with the general population could be problematic,” Doc said. “If they all drop dead suddenly it would look suspicious, not to mention the recovery of the bodies with so many other combatants would be difficult. That’s all just a guess, of course. Tactics aren’t my specialty.”

“Could have fooled us,” Twingo said sarcastically, earning himself an unfriendly glare.

“Kage, what appears to be the main objective? It can’t just be a high body count,” Jason said.

“It seems like there’s a heavy convergence on the capital, specifically the Ministry of Defense headquarters,” Kage said. “It’s where the Exalted Leader retreats to at times of war.”

“Exalted Leader?
That’s his title?” Crusher asked incredulously.

“I’m just reading what’s here,” Kage said defensively. “I’m sure there’s a subtlety to the title that’s lost in translation.”

“Oh I’m sure,” Crusher snorted.

“Doc, swing us around to the opposite side of the planet from the cruiser and make atmospheric entry,” Jason ordered. “Go dark.
Full countermeasures. I want to overfly the capital and get eyes on the ground. Hard to do from orbit with Fleet parked right overhead.”

Flying off of the nav data Kage provided, Doc angled them in for a darkside entry that would keep them hidden from the limited ConFed Fleet presence over the planet. The gentle entry vector made for a nice smooth ride until the
Phoenix
broke into the upper atmosphere and sped east to overfly the capital at speed and get an idea of how bad things actually were. The Ministry of Defense, as well as the ConFed, had quickly put a clamp on slip-space transmissions leaving the planet, each for their own reasons.

The flight was uneventful as the outbreak of riots and violence had grounded most commercial air traffic and the planet’s limited military air power was centered near the capital to provide what defense it could for the government. At twelve times the speed of sound in the dense Gryr-4 atmosphere, the flight took less than two hours from their entry point near the daylight terminator to the capital city itself.

The city was densely populated and had all the hallmarks of uncontrolled urban sprawl and poor planning. As they descended below the cloud layer they could make out the slums on the outskirts, the haphazardly-placed pockets of industry, and the gleaming towers of the city center. The Ministry of Defense headquarters building was an enormous, black monolith that jutted up from the middle of the tightly-packed buildings, obviously meant to throw a big shadow, both literally and figuratively.

“Subtle,” Crusher rumbled from the back of the bridge.

The
Phoenix
shot over the city, her sensors recording every detail of the ground situation before the few small ConFed support craft in the area could even react to their presence. Given how busy they were, it was no surprise they offered no pursuit.

“How does it look?” Jason asked.

“The largest mob appears to be smashing itself against the blocks of the MoD building,” Kage said, and he quickly analyzed the imagery from the flyover. “No real heavy weaponry being employed by either side yet, but a lot of small arms fire. The building looks to be safe from being breached.”

“So what do we do?” Crusher asked.

“I hate to even say it, but we need to make sure the Exalted Leader is protected,” Jason said, feeling more than a little foolish uttering the absurd title. “If the iots want to toss him out on his ass afterwards, that’s their business, but the ConFed can’t be allowed to win here today.”

“There is a way to serve both goals,” Lucky spoke up. “Kage, are there ConFed soldiers on the ground?”

“Um ... yes,” Kage verified after scanning the sensor reports again. “There is a company-size unit of regular infantry that looks like it’s attempting to gain access to the MoD building through a heavily-defended access point of a tunnel two blocks away.”

“If we defeat the ConFed presence there, and the
Phoenix
dispatches the light support craft if needed, we can let this riot run its course,” Lucky said. “Then, no matter the outcome of the internal politics, the ConFed will be unable to declare victory or attempt to assume control of the planet.”

“Damn, Lucky,” Crusher said admiringly. “I’m impressed. We get to have some fun, and kicking the shit out of ConFed regulars at that, while still not needing to defend a two-bit dictator. I like it.”

“I do too,” Jason said. “Well done, Lucky. Doc, bring us about and find us an insertion point near that tunnel entrance.”

“I’m highlighting a spot on a shorter support building,” Kage said.
“Sending it to your nav display.”

“We’re heading to the cargo bay,” Jason said. “Give us a five second heads up before opening the hatch.”

“Good luck, Captain,” Kellea said from the sensor station Doc normally occupied. Jason nodded and winked at her before walking off after the rest of his team.

After another six minutes the belly hatch in the cargo bay irised open and the familiar blue wavering of the transit beam filled the cavity. Without a word, Lucky stepped into the beam and descended gently to the roof of the building the
Phoenix
was hovering twenty-five meters above. Jason deployed his helmet and also stepped off the ledge, with Crusher following a few seconds later.

“We’re all down, Doc,” Jason said. “Go find someplace to loiter and keep an eye on those ConFed shuttles. Don’t forget to keep tabs on that cruiser either.”

“
Copy, ground assault
,” Doc replied. “
We’ll be near if you need us
.” The trio looked up as the
Phoenix
throttled up and flew off to the south, gaining altitude until she was just a speck in the sky.