Armageddon, page 13
part #9 of Col Sec Series
The door slowly began to slide open to the side and Jake said, “Right follow me.”
Opening up the thrusters on his Switchblade he moved forward through the opening into the airlock beyond. The airlock itself was gargantuan, large enough to accommodate a submarine and Jake felt dwarfed by the size of it as he looked around waiting for the others to follow him inside. The door closed behind them and the water was soon pumped out to leave it the same level as that in the submarine pen on the other side. The inner door opened and they motored their small craft inside the huge pen beneath the facility above.
The area they had entered was the size of a landing strip. Sheer rock walls climbed up towards a ceiling hundreds of feet above them. A loading dock was to their right with landing stages for the personnel to load cargo onto a waiting submarine.
Jake led the team over to the loading dock where they left their Switchblades tied up to the dock.
A staircase from the dock led up the side of this wall to a door set in the rock wall at the top.
“That must lead to the interior of the base,” Jake observed.
Unslinging their pulse rifles he led them up the stairs.
PENTONVILLE OUTPOST
Private Oates followed his two teammates towards where the bomb was located.
He knew time was limited and the signal to detonate could be triggered at any time so they had little time to waste.
They were all armed with the standard armament any Recon Delta marine was issued with.
Pentonville Outpost was a small yet important colony near the border of Alliance, Confederation space. If this was attacked the results could be catastrophic.
The location of the bomb had been found to be close to the edge of the largest community near the energy distribution network control. This supplied the community with all its power requirements. If the bomb detonated here it would not only destroy their ability to supply this community but the others on this land mass too. The ensuing blast would take out most of the community leaving the survivors to a bleak future without power until a new facility could be built. With it being so close to the border it would seriously compromise the community’s ability to keep a watch on activity across the border.
“I have eyes on the target,” Private Johnson said as they approached the bomb.
They had made their approach under the cover of darkness and using a stealth shield. It had been deemed unwise to alert anyone in the locations where the bombs had been placed in case panic had taken hold.
The three marines had arrived in a small ATV, which they had parked away from prying eyes.
Oates kept back covering them with his Remm M25 whilst Johnson and Billings tentatively approached the small, yet incredibly powerful device.
“About to diffuse the device,” Johnson stated as he set to work.
Oates watched the surrounding area for any sign they’d been spotted. The last thing they wanted or needed was a wandering guard or civilian to cross their path. He had his back to the two marines as they worked feverishly.
“Device neutralised,” Johnson announced.
“About time,” Oates said as he turned levelling his rifle at them. He saw them look at him, confusion in their eyes the moment before he shot them both.
As he walked over to check the bodies he accessed a secure channel via his NI which he knew would be monitored.
“Device has been acquired, extraction is advised immediate,” he said.
29
Sub Nautica.
Jake was wary, this had been too easy.
The door before them was the only thing between them and the rest of the island facility. He couldn’t help but feel something was wrong.
The New Order had been one step ahead of them in everything they had done so far. Guardian had informed them of the security precautions this island facility had in play, so why had they been able to access this underwater entrance unchallenged?
The staircase was narrow leading from the pens to the door and Vance led the way.
He had it open in a moment bypassing any security protocols. They went through, Vance leading the way with Cooper right behind him. Jake went next with Torres bringing up the rear.
A corridor stretched out beyond the door leading to a bank of elevators. On this floor there were several rooms they could see through the transparent walls.
“What do you think those are for?” Torres asked as she came to Jake’s shoulder.
“I have no idea, let’s find that transmitter so we can disable it then get the hell outta here,” he replied looking around him for any indication where their objective might be.
“What’s up Jake, you look a little...”
“Found it,” Vance said cutting through Torres’ question.
Jake turned to where Vance was standing.
“Where?”
“In there,” Vance told him indicating one of the rooms.
“Right get in there and disable the signal, we’ll cover you,” he said. “Coop, you take that end of the corridor, Gina you cover the opposite end. Nothing gets through, ok? I’ll cover the door in case someone tries to sneak up behind us.”
The team set off and Jake stood by the door to the room where Vance was working, keeping watch on the door they had entered through seconds earlier. He couldn’t shake the feeling that all was not what it seemed.
“Stay frosty guys, I don’t like this,” he instructed.
He glanced over his shoulder to see how Vance was faring and spotted a movement from beyond the room. Another door at the far side of the room had opened. Other doors in other rooms suddenly started sliding open.
“Guys, we’ve got company,” he said as he saw armed guards rush at them. They all had pulse rifles and fired as they ran.
The room Vance was in suddenly had plasma bolts flying around him forcing him down behind cover.
“Did you disable it?” Jake asked when he saw Vance drop behind cover.
“Not yet, just need a little bit longer. Can you get these guys off my back?” he replied.
Jake looked across at Cooper and Torres for confirmation. Nods told him all he needed to know.
“We’ll do what we can. On my mark get back to work,” Jake said. He looked at the others and counted down on his fingers, three... two... one...
“Go!” he shouted and stood up firing his M25 at the approaching guards.
His first salvo dropped two of the guards followed by another. Torres dropped another couple and Cooper two more.
Jake saw a huge specimen force his way through the guards firing an M25 from the hip. In his peripheral Jake saw Vance attach a couple of grenades to a console he’d been working on.
“Time to go, boss,” Vance said as he turned running for the door.
A blast from the giant’s rifle struck Vance on the shoulder knocking him off his feet sending him sprawling.
Cooper was through the door in a flash running to the aid of his friend and teammate. Picking him up, he supported Vance with an arm under his shoulder.
A glance towards the giant showed him slowly advancing on their position, a smug, confident grin on his face.
Jake let loose with a salvo of plasma fire covering them as they tried to get out of the room.
He saw the blood running from Vance’s shoulder wound and knew it was bad.
Cooper used his free hand to fire behind them at the giant and what was left of his team. He was pleased to see a couple of his wildly aimed shots strike home on the huge man’s chest. Staggering back a few steps the giant didn’t go down though, he simply shrugged off the shock and brought up his rifle again and fired.
Vance took another hit and Cooper too was knocked into the door.
The two wounded soldiers looked at each other and knew they would slow the team down if they left with them.
Jake said, “Come on guys open the door, we’ll cover you.”
“We’ll slow you down so get outta here before this place blows,” Vance said grimacing through the pain from his multiple wounds.
Cooper reached up and locked the door panel sealing the room shut. A plasma bolt hit him high on his chest knocking him back into the door and as he slid to the floor beside Vance he left a bloody trail.
“No!” Jake shouted as he saw his friends cut down with no way to get to them and help.
Powerless, he stared at the giant who smiled as he raised his rifle to take careful aim.
Jake fired his M25 on fully auto at the transparent wall. Torres joined him firing her rifle at the same target. Jake hoped to shatter the wall and stop the giant from killing his men.
“Jake get outta here, I set the charge to go off in less than ten seconds,” Vance said before facing the giant and firing his rifle at him. Cooper managed to add his fire to that of his friend forcing their attacker to step back behind cover.
Jake’s frustration mounted to intolerable levels as the wall remained in place. Obviously the builders had been instructed to erect it to withstand quite a lot.
The giant appeared from behind cover and fired at the two downed men.
Jake stood helpless in horror as plasma bolts tore into his two friends.
The firing stopped and Torres came to Jake’s side and they both watched as the giant stood there, a huge grin plastered across his smug features. The grin disappeared in a flash as something they couldn’t hear alerted him to something happening over by the console.
Jake and Torres both looked where his eyes had darted to and moments later the grenades Vance had planted detonated.
The ensuing explosions tore the room to shreds. The walls were blown out knocking Jake and Torres off their feet. A wall of flame blew out passing over their prone bodies as they lay covering their heads with their hands that quickly became blistered from the intense heat.
It was obvious to both of them nothing could have survived the blast, the only consolation being that the console was completely destroyed and with it the ability to transmit the signal to the bombs.
Dragging himself to his feet he picked Torres up, she was distraught with grief, tears flowing freely down her olive skin.
“Come on Gina, we’ve gotta go, we can grieve later,” he said dragging her reluctant form to the exit and their way out.
MAREK HAD JUST KILLED two of the soldiers. He was feeling confident he would get the rest when a sound grabbed his attention.
He knew that sound, he had heard it plenty of times before in his career in the military.
He had seconds to act to save himself.
Turning he dashed for the door, diving through it slapping his hand on the locking mechanism behind him. The explosion tore the door off sending it flying over him as he hit the floor, safe.
A laugh bubbled up from deep within his chest bursting out and filling the outer chamber he was in. Another death he’d escaped, he was beginning to think he had the nine lives of a cat.
He got to his feet and brushed himself down. The others had escaped again but he couldn’t bring himself to feel anger, so total was his relief at being alive. Besides, he knew their paths would cross again and when that happened things would end differently.
He couldn’t think of that now though, he had a President to kill.
30
Area 15
Jake and Torres entered Boerkamp’s office and were met with stony silence.
“We got the job done,” Jake reported, his face grim.
“Then your mission was a success, Captain. I’ll make sure Vance and Cooper are commended for their act of bravery,” Boerkamp replied solemnly.
“That won’t bring them back though, sir,” Torres snapped as she allowed her emotions to run free. Tears ran freely down her face and Jake placed a reassuring hand on her arm.
“That’s okay Gina, I feel the same way.”
“It’s not okay, Jake, they knew we were coming, they were waiting for us, you felt it too,” Torres said snatching her arm free in anger.
“Is that true, they were waiting?” Boerkamp asked.
“Yes, it’s true; they set a trap for us. They knew exactly where we were going and when we got to the transmitter they pounced. My thought was that they wanted to catch all four of us but it didn’t go as planned. Vance and Cooper gave their lives so we could escape.”
Jake watched the Colonel as he took in this bit of news. He could almost see his mind working through the problem.
When he spoke he looked Jake straight in the eye. “I sent Matt to act as backup for Kurt and Zara,” he said.
“If they went dark, how do you know where they are?” Torres asked.
“Kurt and Zara are untraceable, somehow they have managed to turn off their trackers in their NIs. They’ve also managed to do the same for the President, even though the codes for his have to be available for just such an occasion as this,” Boerkamp explained.
“How did you know where to send Matt?”
“I didn’t,” Boerkamp replied with the hint of a smile.
Jake understood then. “You knew Matt would have some idea though so you tracked his chip.”
“So where did he go?” Torres asked.
CELERON
It’s been a while since I was last here.
Marek looked around the Spaceport as he exited his private shuttle followed by his new team. Nothing seemed to have changed since the last time he was there.
“Go get the vehicle,” he ordered the closest person to him as he stood at the base of the ramp. The afternoon sun shone bright in the sky warming his face as he lifted it up. He allowed the warmth to seep through his entire body helping to relax him.
He’d been on the go since he’d received the order to terminate President Takagi. The only meal he’d been able to get was on this shuttle ride and that was just a snack. It would have to do until this was over and if things went according to plan, it wouldn’t be long.
He climbed aboard the SUV, a Challenger, and sat back as the driver pulled the vehicle away from the shuttle-landing pad and into the lane to leave the Spaceport.
Closing his eyes, he relaxed and thought about where he would go on vacation when all this was done.
MATT SAT IN HIS SUV on the top of the incline overlooking the safe house.
He’d arrived earlier at the Spaceport under an alias then rented a vehicle before driving out here. He’d checked the area around the safe house for possible points where an attack could be planned.
He decided not to contact them and act as a guardian angel should the need arise, which he was certain would be necessary considering how things had gone so far.
Sitting back, but remaining alert, he waited hoping that his friends were as well prepared as him.
31
Kurt was staring out of the large bay window on the ground floor lounge when Zara entered carrying a tray of drinks.
President Takagi was sitting in one of the armchairs in front of the log fire facing the window watching him. Zara placed the tray down on the small coffee table in between the three armchairs.
“Coffee, Mister President?” she said. “Help yourself to cream and sugar.”
“Is he alright, he’s been like that since you left the room?” Takagi asked softly, still staring at Kurt’s stiff back.
“I’m fine, sir, just seeing if I can spot anything,” Kurt replied having heard everything.
“And have you?” Zara asked turning to look at him.
“No, but I have sensed something. I can’t put a handle on it but something’s coming and it ain’t good.”
He turned to look at them both.
“Don’t worry, sir, we’ve got this,” he said when he saw the worried frown the President was wearing.
Something in Zara’s eyes alerted him.
“What?”
“They’re here,” she replied.
He looked over her shoulder as a group of armed men led by a hulking brute appeared in the corridor through the doorway.
“Get down,” he shouted to Takagi as he raced to close the door before the raised pulse rifles opened fire.
MATT WAS GETTING RESTLESS. Nothing had happened for a while, which was not a bad thing but he suspected things were not fully as they seemed.
He was within range of the house to access their computer, which he did to check on the security. The moment he connected a chill went through him.
The access codes had been operated allowing someone to enter. There was only one reason for this, the safe house’s security had been breached.
How this had happened was something to be pondered later, now he had to help his friends.
Switching the engine on, he powered the vehicle forward heading for the gates to the premises.
Hold on guys, I’m on my way.
KURT SAW ZARA AND TAKAGI look at him as the door was hit by several plasma bolts from the other side. Their expressions were asking the same question that was on his mind.
How could this happen again?
“I thought you said we would be safe here?” Takagi said through gritted teeth.
Kurt could see the fear in his eyes but to his credit he was keeping it in check, so far.
“The New Order, sir, we have no idea how far they have infiltrated us but clearly it’s deep,” Kurt said as he quickly looked around.
“Maybe coming here with no backup wasn’t such a good idea,” Zara suggested.
“Not helping,” Kurt said.
The door began to splinter as more plasma bolts were blasted at it.
“How long will the door hold?” she asked staring at it. The door glowed bright red before exploding inwards.
“That answers your question?” Kurt replied as he fired at the first figure he saw in the opening.
The first person through the doorway dropped to the floor from Kurt’s blast followed by the next two. Soon the floor was littered with dead bodies as they attempted to get inside at them.
