Enforcer

by Kevin Ikenberry

  Ven had already suited up and was reclining on an acceleration couch at the back of the compartment, while Vresh was just pulling on her Peacemaker armor. Tyrn had risen early, suited up, and then said he was going back to the cargo hold to check on the rest of their equipment.

  “Are you two about ready?” Rsach asked confidently. His antennae quivered slightly with anticipation.

  “Affirmative,” they replied.

  “When we’re about an hour out,” he said, “I’ll have the pilot radio the GenSha and let them know we’re inbound. Once we have the lay of the land, we can look into negotiations.” Their mission briefing, delivered to them personally by Selector Grektch just prior to their departure, had been clear. Their orders were to contact the GenSha representative who initiated the request, using a specific frequency when they were about an hour away from atmosphere. At that time, they would receive coordinates on where to make landfall so they could begin assessing the situation and, as needed, facilitate the negotiations between the GenSha and ISMC.

  “Negotiations,” Ven said a bit enthusiastically. “I’ve reviewed the contracts involved, and ISMC is still, technically within their rights. However, the data Grektch supplied regarding worker populace, quotas, and the cost of goods suggests ISMC has crossed the line in a few places from an ethics perspective. I think I can break it down into language they’ll understand without the outrage the GenSha must surely have felt during that initial meeting. Taken individually, the complaints of the GenSha are almost trivial. Taken as a whole, it seems clear ISMC is squeezing them.”

  “Remain objective,” Rsach ordered. “We need to gather all the facts before we can take any actions. While I agree with your assessment, any number of things could have happened since the last update.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Vresh said, waiving several dismissive limbs. “We’re Peacemakers, and our word is law.”

  Just then, Rsach’s slate pinged. He pulled it out of a hardcase at the back of his belt and pulled up the message that had arrived via GalNet the moment the Blue Flight emerged into the Godannii system. When he saw who it was from, he held up his hand. Addressed to himself and Tyrn, the subject line was “MISSION PARAMETERS CHANGE,” and it was from Guild Master Breka.

  “Hold on a minute,” Rsach said, glancing at his team. He looked at the closed hatch that led back to the cargo hold and wondered what was keeping Tyrn. Looking back at the slate, he opened the message and began reading, noting there was a video attached.

  “Peacemakers, I regret to inform you that what is contained in the attached video has changed the nature of your mission. GenSha rebels have duplicitously drawn first blood in a heinous act of terrorism. In the midst of their negotiations with ISMC representatives, members of their rebellion snuck into an ISMC security compound and slaughtered nearly 100 Jivool security troopers while they slept. This happened in the Green Sector of Moppicut City, where it is believed the rebel leaders have based their operations.

  “Your previous orders are revoked—effective immediately. You are to work with ISMC directly. Make your landing at the primary ISMC compound in Moppicut City; coordinates will be sent to your slates. Begin working with them immediately to put down the rebellion. Any support we might have given the GenSha was compromised the moment they killed unarmed Jivool in their sleep. They are not striking workers, they are a terrorist organization bent on suspending all ISMC operations. To what end, we do not know. Perhaps they hope to create a permanent colony and expel ISMC completely. I can’t see how this would be possible, but terrorism rarely has a reasonable objective behind it.

  “Regardless, you are ordered to work with ISMC to resolve this conflict by any means necessary.”

  Rsach clicked the attached video and gasped at a horrific scene. A long barracks, with single bunks on each side, filled the screen, and virtually every bed or the floor beside it held a dead Jivool body. Bright, pink-tinted sunshine poured in at a shallow angle, highlighting the bunks on one side of the room. Every single one of the Jivool appeared to have been shot, riddled with gunfire from slug-throwers. Blood covered the walls in a number of places, and most of the troopers were in the Jivool version of skivvies. It had been a massacre. Shell casings were scattered across the floor, hundreds of them, and many of the bodies looked as if someone had stood over the corpses and held the trigger down.

  “Great gods,” he whispered. His antennae twitched aggressively. “The bastards slaughtered them.”

  “What happened?” Ven asked, worry filling his voice.

  Rsach raised angry eyes and obediently closed the communique from Guild Master Breka. Flash priority messages were something of a misnomer within the guild. Because the transfer of data across space was limited, messages were typically carried between systems on outgoing vessels and relayed through a gate’s system for dispersal or continued transmission. A message from Breka meant something had happened almost immediately after the team’s departure from Ocono or there was something else in play. As curious as he might have been about the message’s origin, the security marking of “READ ONCE” was even more troubling. The message self-erased once it was closed, and it had been meant for his and Tyrn’s eyes only. That presented additional problems, because he knew their teammates would have questions—questions he couldn’t answer. Yet, his reaction centered on the shock of the video, and that was where his mind went for the time being.

  “Those cursed GenSha….They made a surprise attack at one of the ISMC barracks and slaughtered nearly 100 sleeping troopers in the dead of night.”

  “Oh, gods,” Ven said.

  “Let me see it,” Vresh said, holding out a pair of arms.

  “It’s gone.” Rsach replied, turning the slate around. “The message self-deleted after viewing.”

  Ven got a curious expression on his face. “I must have missed that one in training,” he said.

  “Security protocol,” Rsach assured him. “You don’t have a need to know.”

  Ven tilted his head to the side. “I don’t have the need to know? What kind of Izlian shit is that, Rsach? Just because you’re the mission commander, you think you alone should have access to such messages?”

  “It wasn’t my call, and Tyrn received it, too.”

  Vresh rippled forward. “Why do you two have the need to know and we don’t?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Rsach said dismissively. “What matters is that our orders have changed.”

  Just then, the hatch at the back of the compartment burst open.

  “Did you see it!” Tyrn asked, storming in. His eyes were fixed on Rsach.

  “Yes. The video, too.”

  “It’s a real shit-show down there,” Tyrn growled. “After what I saw, I’m inclined to shoot first and ask questions later.”

  “I hear you,” Rsach said in a cautionary voice, “but we still need to play by the rules. Remember…we’re Peacemakers.”

  “We’re supposed to be equal in that rank, too,” Ven grumbled. Vresh did not respond, instead she folded several sets of arms across her thorax and frowned at Rsach.

  “I won’t forget,” Tyrn growled, “but we have a good deal of leeway in the protocols when confronted by extenuating circumstances. And this is starting to look pretty extenuating.”

  “True,” Rsach said as he quickly hit a few commands on his slate. He nodded when he found what he was after, moved over to a comm panel on the wall, and thumbed the pad.

  “Lieutenant,” he called into the comm.

  There was a momentary pause.

  “Go ahead, Peacemaker Rsach,” Shild replied.

  “I’m sending you some coordinates. I’d like you to drop us off at that location,” Rsach said.

  A few moments later, Shild’s confused voice came back over the comms. “Are you sure?” He hesitated again. “That’s a landing pad just outside the ISMC compound in Moppicut City. I thought we were supposed to land somewhere outside the city.”

  “You have your orders,” Rsach sai
d officiously.

  “Roger that,” Shild said, but he didn’t try to hide the concern in his voice.

  “So, what’s going on?” Vresh asked.

  “Our orders have changed. While we’re preparing to debark the ship, I’ll brief you on the specifics. The short version is that we are no longer here to intervene on behalf of the GenSha. They’ve killed innocents, and the Guild Master has revoked our original mission and ordered us to work with the Iron Sky team on the ground to end this situation.”

  “Gods,” Vresh whispered.

  “Tyrn,” Rsach said, turning to him. “I want you to break out the heavy rifles and any explosive ordnance we brought with us. We’re going in prepared for any eventuality.”

  “On it,” Tyrn said with a smile.

  “I’ll contact ISMC and let them know we’re on our way.”

  * * *

  Deceleration Cycle - Approaching Godannii 2

  Peacemaker Blue Flight

  “Sir,” Shild said into the comm. “They directed us to a landing near the ISMC compound in Black Sector instead of the landing pad from the initial briefing.”

  “Understood,” Deputy Selector Hak-Chet replied. His own shuttle had been attached to the opposite side of the Thrustcore well before the Blue Flight had attached. They were the only crewed vehicles on the Thrustcore, itself, but Rsach and his team of Peacemakers were not aware of that. Of course, they’d hardly been aware of anything during the transit outside of their quarters, seeing as they’d mostly screwed around during the trip. The Deputy Selector, though, had been extremely vigilant from his secured position on the hull. He’d remained silent throughout the flight, only making his presence known when they entered the system. He’d asked Shild for an update, which the pilot was only too happy to give him.

  “Begging your pardon, sir, but shouldn’t they have gone to the GenSha first?” Shild asked. “Does this have anything to do with the eyes-only communication from the Guild Master that Rsach received?”

  There was a momentary pause.

  “It’s a fluid situation down there, Lieutenant,” Hak-Chet replied flatly. “Follow any orders given by the Peacemaker team until you drop them off, and then get back up here so we can make our way to Uuwato with all possible haste. And be sure to put everything in your log, except your knowledge of my presence here. All you need to know is that I am aware of the situation and you have a more important mission to perform immediately after debarking your team. Is that clear?”

  “Understood,” the pilot replied, then cut the comm. He looked at his co-pilot and shrugged.

  Di-po merely shook her head, a look of disbelief on her face.

  “Sir, yes, sir,” she said under her breath.

  Shild nodded slowly. “Ready the combat operations checklists.”

  “You really think this drop mission is going to fail?” Di-po asked.

  “No idea, but this isn’t the mission I’m worried about,” Shild replied. “I’m thinking of the one after. The one the Deputy Selector hasn’t told us about yet.”

  Di-po grinned. “He said we don’t have a need to know what it is.”

  “That doesn’t mean we can’t think ahead,” Shild replied. “Combat action checklists at the ready. Once we dock with the Core and head to Uuwato, we’re going to check all the gear and be ready for whatever mission he sends us on. I might not need to know what it is, but I’m sure going to be prepared for it. That’s what Blue Flight does.”

  * * *

  3,000 km above Godannii 2

  ISMC Corporate Ship Rumiar

  Dolamiir watched the viewscreen intently. It showed the feed from a security commander’s helmet cam as a dozen ISMC troopers stormed into an apartment building identified by the intelligence department as a rebel forward ops post. When the last trooper disappeared through the front entrance, the commander’s camera panned left and right, showing several burning vehicles in the street and a handful of male GenSha bodies lying 30 meters away that had been gunned down, presumably during a sweep and clear of the area.

  ISMC had designated Orange Sector of Moppicut City a non-habitat zone, and all residents were herded into an external camp at the edge of the forest just outside the city. Hundreds of GenSha, mostly females and young, had been rounded up shortly after the rebels aired the video of Bith Sundo carrying the wounded child to the medical center. Once ISMC posted the doctored video of the “murdered” ISMC troopers in the barracks, evidence that the GenSha had fired the first shot, Dolamiir ordered full combat operations and the creation of repatriation camps.

  Excited comm chatter came in over the audio feed as the troopers searched the building by squad.

  “Alpha Team, this is Bravo Team. We have movement on the second floor, southeast corner of the building,” a steady voice said over the comms.

  “Copy that, Bravo. You know the orders. Sweep and clear. No prisoners,” the Alpha Team lead replied. The clarity of his voice told Dolamiir it was that commander’s camera feed on the main screen.

  “Copy th—”

  A burst of automatic gunfire came in over the feed.

  “Incoming fire! I repeat, incoming fire!” the Bravo Team Lead shouted. “Suppressing fire—suppressing fire!”

  “They’re behind that barricade!” one of the troopers screamed.

  “Ordnance hot!” Bravo Leader shouted. “Clear the building! Clear the—!”

  The platoon commander’s helmet cam panned up and to the right, focusing on several windows at the front corner of the building.

  Suddenly, a stun grenade shattered the windows in a second story office.

  As the commander watched, two big GenSha in mining coveralls and ISMC combat vests jumped out of the window. A volley of laser fire from at least two ISMC rifles caught one airborne GenSha in the back. He tumbled forward mid-air and slapped into the muddy street, lifeless. The second GenSha hit the mud feet first and sank in up to his ankles. He shook his head, apparently dazed from the stun grenade, and then looked straight into the camera.

  The Alpha Team Leader raised his rifle and sent a controlled, three-shot burst of laser fire straight into the GenSha’s chest, burning through his armor and boring great pits of charred flesh into his body. The GenSha toppled backward, a stunned expression frozen on his now lifeless face.

  “I got him,” the Alpha Team Leader said evenly. “Bravo Team, is the room secure?”

  “Stand by.” A few moments later, the Bravo Team Leader appeared in the shattered window frame. “Affirmative,” he said, raising a thumb. “The room is secured.”

  “Second Platoon, finish your sweep and move to the next building,” the commander ordered from his position well behind his troop on the forward lines. “I am ordering Third Platoon to take up the sweep on the opposite side of the street. Good work.”

  “Copy that,” Alpha Team Lead said. “Slow and steady, gentlemen,” he added. “Keep this up, and there’ll be combat bonuses for all of you.”

  A general cheer from a dozen Jivool voices filled the comms.

  Dolamiir turned the volume down on the feed but left the video running.

  “This feed is only coming to us, correct?”

  “Yes, Director,” a firm voice said from the end of the table that used to be Venna’s. His name was Suulamiir. The middle-aged Jivool, with sandy-brown fur and a gray streak of hair running over his head and down his back, leaned forward. “All broadcasts have been shut down on the GalNet and the Aethernet. All transmissions from the gate to passing traffic have been suppressed with a bribe to the gate master. The only signals getting past our blockades are those being transmitted on older RF bands. No one cares about High Frequency and Very High Frequency traffic these days. We have set up broadband, multi-spectrum jammers in about a dozen of the major mining cities, but the equipment is not something we normally keep on hand. I have already submitted a requisition—marked emergency courier only—for 30 more of them. I’ve also submitted a request to operations at corporate that they be add
ed to the standard payloads for all corporate vessels moving forward. They are relatively small units but generally require the larger power sources normally available at primary mining encampments.”

  “Excellent,” Dolamiir said. He was pleased—even impressed—with Suulamiir’s execution and capacity for planning ahead. He intended to keep an eye on him as well as Zuryyl, should Korvan ever need replacing. “And it can’t be tapped into, correct?”

  “That is my understanding, sir,” Suulamiir said. “The intelligence division has assured me the encrypted signals are as secure as we can make them. I feel obliged to say that nothing is 100 percent secure, but I have a high confidence that we shouldn’t be worried about this.”

  “Very well.” Dolamiir knew that the newly appointed board member was covering his ass, but he actually respected the warning rather than resenting it. He scanned the faces turned toward him. Korvan sat to his immediate right, the other seven were in their assigned seats, and Satuur was, naturally, standing against the wall as motionless as a statue. Dolamiir rose from his seat and walked over to the viewports that still held a magnificent view of the planet “As I feared, circumstances on Godannii 2 have escalated into open rebellion. ISMC is now forced to put it down with all the force at our disposal,” he said slowly. With a subdued sigh, he turned away from the viewports and fixed his attention on his assistant. “Korvan, when are the merc reinforcements supposed to arrive?” He pondered the circumstances for a few moments.

  “Assume between seven and eight days,” Korvan said. “It might be sooner. I tend not to trust mercenaries, sir. However, the transport carrying 500 contract laborers from IGS Unlimited should arrive in the next day or two, so we’ll be able to get back to our mining operations and at least meet our quotas. They’re more expensive per unit than the GenSha, as you would expect, but we should be able to turn our bottom line from red to black. Although, just barely.”