by Francis, Ron
Chapter Thirteen:
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……….Back on Polisia, Captain Ariel Marcos moved cautiously through the streets of Salankaz, Polisia’s capital city. She had to make sure she was not spotted. No one knew she was on Polisia except her two most trusted bodyguards, and she had brought them with her. It was imperative no one knew she was on her way to speak to Nina. Ever since her conversation with the president about the Enclave’s assassination plot, she had been extremely cautious. She had always been cautious, but now she had picked it up a notch. The plot against President Sandoval wasn’t the only plot she had uncovered, and Nina would be in even more danger if the Enclave suspected she knew about the plot forming against her. She had landed outside Polisia’s capital in an unregistered assault shuttle with cloaking capabilities. There were only a handful of people that even knew about that shuttle’s existence, none of which knew she had brought it on her vacation. She was supposedly at a beach resort on Telos, unwinding after the long talks on Polisia. Captain Snyder was in charge of Vee Fleet for the week. Ariel would be back on Telos before morning, and even if anyone knew she had left, there would be no way to tell where she had gone, unless she was spotted on Polisia. She desperately needed to warn Nina, but she could not take the chance that anyone else would know they were talking. Conversations on the ship were recorded, and even though she had the best security known to man, there was always the chance personal communiqués could be intercepted and decrypted. She had altered her appearance as much as possible to keep anyone observing her from realizing who she was. She wore a religious veil over her face and a body suit that added an extra fifty pounds. She even changed the way she walked in case any store security systems captured her image. Polisia’s capital was located in one of its mountain regions. It was always cold and usually snowing. It had a feel to it very much like the Swiss Alps. There were only a handful of building over ten stories and they were all clustered in the city center. The rest of the city was comprised of smaller buildings, and as you reached the outskirts, picturesque mountain homes. As she approached Nina’s house, she pulled out her key card and inserted it into the lock. Her key card was actually a clone of Nina’s key. Anyone checking logs would think Nina had used her key.
Ariel entered the dark house to the low rumbling growl of Frost. Nina’s snow wolf was the one being beside Nina or Serge that she didn’t mind running into. She lifted her veil and smiled as Frost’s tail began to wag. “Good girl, Frost, where’s Nina?” She pet the beautiful snow wolf for a moment and then checked to make sure she had turned on her personal jamming field. She saw a light on in the study and opened the door to see Nina holding a blaster to her face.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Nina asked cool as ice.
“It’s me, Cousin,” Ariel replied still not moving.
“Ariel, what are you doing here, why are you dressed like that? She was really confused. "I could have killed you.” She anxiously added
Ariel closed the door to the study and removed her veil. “No one can know I’ve been here, Nina, your life may depend on it.”
“What’s this all about, Ariel?” Nina asked confusion still evident in her voice. She had put her blaster down and motioned to a chair, which Ariel took as she prepared to have the difficult conversation with her cousin.
“A secret organization called the Enclave is planning to kill you,” she began as a look of shock crossed Nina’s face.
“The Enclave? Ariel, what are you talking about? What plot?” Nina was trying to understand what her cousin was talking about.
“Listen, Cousin, I will explain everything.” She pulled out a paper file and handed it to Nina. As her cousin began to read it, she added, “Burn this when you are done reading it. There can be no trace, no ashes, nothing. Do you understand?” Nina nodded and she continued. “Admiral Natora is a part of a secret organization that believes it is their right to rule humanity to save us from both ourselves and now, alien invasion. They believe humanity is not capable of looking after themselves and see it as their job to step in to save them.”
“How do you know this Ariel, where did this information come from?”
“I hired Ladyhawk to spy on Natora after his clumsy assassination attempt on us.” Nina knew of her brother’s spy friend and nodded for her cousin to continue. “She not only uncovered an assassination plot against the president and you, she also uncovered the identities of nine of the twelve members of the Enclave. These are high level people we are talking about. The president filled me in when I went to warn him. After my meeting with him, I felt like I was being followed. I took some vacation time so I could sneak away to see you undetected. If the Enclave knows you know they are after you, they may move up their time table. They believe our family wields too much power and because we won’t be controlled, they need to remove us. The easiest way to do that is to kill you. They will then step in and take control of SSE and likely fire or kill me. Apparently, they still need Serge to build them their weapons so he is not at risk.”
"Yet," Nina added. “Of course this plan is predicated on the assumption that Jesse is not coming back, right?” Nina asked, guessing she already knew the answer.
“Yes, if Jesse returns, it kills their plans. So far, the president had recalled Admiral Bliney and sent Admiral Thomas, one of the Enclave’s members, to the outer colonies to take Bliney’s place. He plans to give the top spot to Bliney, making Natora subject to his authority. This is an important opening move because it should weaken the Enclave’s position considerably, while not alerting them to the fact that the president is on to them. He doesn’t want to make any more moves yet because he does not want them to get paranoid.”
Nina and Ariel continued talking and coming up with defensive strategies to thwart the Enclave’s plans. Ariel suggested Nina write Admiral Bliney into her will as a partner with Serge and herself. Should the Enclave successfully complete their plan, Natora would be unable to seize control of anything with Bliney as a partner. That would keep the company safe as well as the rest of the executives.
"Maybe we should bring Jason in on this, Nina. Jesse has been friends with him since secondary school. Jesse has always trusted him and he's a great tactical thinker."
"But then Manny would have to find a new second in command for the Olympians." Nina replied as she continued to read the file Ariel had given her.
"I know he's already grooming Sanjay and Liam, maybe now would be a good time to make Jason a partner, at least until Jesse gets back."
"What about Irina?"
"She's Serge's sister, putting her on the radar might put her in danger or give Natora a chip he could use to control Serge. I think keeping her anonymous is a much safer bet."
"You're probably right, Ariel. We should schedule a meeting with Manny and Jason quickly."
They spoke for another hour before Ariel prepared to leave.
“Remember, Cousin, no one can know, and you can only speak to Serge about it when you are within a jamming field. Watch your back and keep safe. Do not take any unnecessary chances. We don’t want to make it easy on them. We will be doubling your detail as well. Keep your house defenses on full alert at all times.”
Nina broke into her cousins warnings, “I will take all of the necessary precautions, Ariel, and you do the same.” She moved to embrace her cousin and smiled. “When did my little cousin become the one that takes care of me?”
“When I became old enough to repay you for always taking care of me. I love you, Cousin.” With that, Ariel was gone and Nina activated her home security’s full defenses for the first time.
Ariel made it back to the shuttle without incident and she took off with her two trusted bodyguards. They landed back on Telos with enough time for her to sleep almost six hours. That would bring her to ten the next morning, but anyone observing would just think she was enjoying a well deserved rest during her vacation. She was sure no one saw her sneak back into her hotel room, including the two bod
y guards she had stationed outside her door. She had chosen this hotel because she knew it had secret smuggling passages built in to many of the rooms. Few knew where to look and how to access the tunnels, but she had figured it out and it had worked out well for her. As she finished getting ready for some much needed sleep, she quickly got into bed. She pulled the blanket up close to her face and closed her eyes when suddenly a deep voice almost made her jump out of her skin.
“Where have you been this evening, Captain Marcos?”
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Admiral Dyson didn’t like being pulled off an assignment she had spent a lot of time researching and preparing for to be sent off in another direction with no preparation at the last moment. She knew Chief of State Enosal wouldn’t have asked if it weren’t important, so she wasn’t too upset. She recognized the benefit of having the most powerful man in the galaxy owe you a favor, so that made the decision to accept a little easier. She was also quite interested in meeting this Colonel Marcos she had heard so much about, so off she went to Pandara. It had taken a little bit longer than promised, and she knew time was of the essence, but she had decided on a two pronged attack. She had intel saying there were twenty ships in orbit around Pandara and she was arriving with twenty-four, but she knew that more ships could have arrived in the interim, so she planned an attack as if going against greater numbers. She would arrive with twelve Battle Hammers from one direction while the other twelve ships would jump one system past Pandara and then double back and arrive from the opposite direction, creating an immediate crossfire. Coordinating a simultaneous arrival was a good tactical maneuver, but it had cost them almost twenty minutes. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem, but apparently this was an every-second-counts type of situation. Still, it would do Marcos no good at all if her forces were destroyed before they could attempt a rescue.
As reality came back into focus around the Reclaimer, Admiral Dyson watched as the rest of her ships appeared to see a group of not twenty, but twenty-nine ships waiting for them. Her Battle Hammers opened fire without warning, and their sudden appearance should have caught the sloppy Conglomerate and pirate forces off guard. Twenty-nine ships began to return fire simultaneously at Admiral Dyson and her twelve ships. It appeared as if they had been expected. The Conglomerate had known they were coming. Her best guess was that Colonel Marcos’ desperate transmission was intercepted by the enemy. She smiled as the rest of her forces arrived on the other side of the battle and began pounding the rear of the Conglomerate fleet. The enemy had not expected this move, and their reaction was sloppy. Her fleet was outnumbered but not outgunned. Her twenty-four Battle Hammers were easily a match for what lie before her.
The battle was less than a minute old and there were already hundreds of Conglomerate fighters locked in dogfights with her Spykes. The Spykes held a significant numerical advantage over the Conglomerate fighters and pirate Razzers. This had enabled Dyson to send three full squadrons led by her own daughter, Sergeant Rivada, to cover Endeavor as it abandoned its position near the ionosphere and quickly got into position to make the jump to light space. The Admiral didn’t think the enemy would detect the location of the ship they were sent to protect in time to get any fighters after them, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Marcos needed the cover if he was to survive long enough to get out of the system.
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Endeavor prepared to leave the Pandaran system and it was going to need to move quickly towards the Battle Hammers. Ginderbar had really come through for them. With the energy readings on Pandara negating Endeavor's cloak and greatly reducing its shield strength, they were going to need all of the help they could get. The space around the planet was thick with combat. The Battle Hammers were dishing out some serious punishment. All of the Conglomerate and pirate gunships and half of the frigates had been destroyed. The mercenaries had only lost four ships. Spykes seemed to be everywhere, dominating the Conglomerate fighters and pirate Razzers. On Endeavor's bridge with Collin were Kimi at weapons, Reece at Sensors and Bessa at communications. Sergeant Rivada and her three squadrons were escorting them to their jump point when suddenly four pirate gunships and ten squadrons of Razzers emerged from light space in their path. The Spykes fought well, but they were just too outnumbered. As the dogfight continued around them, the gunships opened up on them. Shields held, but they had to turn around and get to the cover of the mercenary fleet. The unexpected arrival of reinforcements had ruined their escape and now, all of the remaining enemies knew where they were.
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"There they are, don't let them get away," Admiral Greyside called out as Endeavor was making a break at full sublight speed towards the safety of the Battle Hammers. He watched as the Battle Hammers destroyed two of the pursuing gunships and sent another squadron of fighters to cover Colonel Marcos. They were almost to safety when the Dominator opened up on them. Endeavor took several hits and her sublight engines had been knocked offline. It would now be a race to see which side could get to them first. It appeared as if a Conglomerate heavy frigate would be the ones to recapture the Princess. They were taking a big chance venturing so close to the mercenary forces, but if they brought the prize aboard quickly enough, there was no way the Battle Hammers would fire on them. However, they were not quick enough as three Battle Hammers converged on them and destroyed them. They proceeded to surround Endeavor in an effort to protect the ship until her engines came back online. Once they were mobile, one of the Hammers would then escort Endeavor into light space. They had been tasked with protecting the Princess and they needed to make sure she got away clean.
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Jesse felt the ship rock and he knew they had been hit. When Collin announced that the sublight engines had been knocked offline, and that it would take almost seven minutes to get them back, he knew it was bad. They were now dead in space and anything could happen. He supposed that whoever docked with them first would be the winner of this deadly game. The bridge crew watched as a Conglomerate heavy frigate made the approach.
"That's not good," Reece said as they were all thinking the same thing.
"We have about forty-five men, I don't know if we will be able to fight our way off of that," Wassan added in frustration.
"If that ship docks with us, we're dead. Everyone except the Colonel and the Princess anyway." Xanu added to a round of somber expressions.
"Well, I guess that means I'll stand by the hatch and open up our offensive. If they can't shoot me, that should at least give us the opportunity to give a good accounting of ourselves before we go down." As Jesse stood to make his way towards the hatch, they all winced and then cheered as hard light from three directions destroyed the Conglomerate ship.
Jesse picked up the transmitter and called Admiral Dyson. "Admiral, we are repairing our engine now, we have less than seven minutes remaining before we are back online."
"Copy that, Colonel Marcos. We have three Hammers surrounding you. You will be following the Fate's Choice as soon as you are operational. They will clear a path to your jump sight. All of our cover fire is on you, this whole party is for the Princess, and we’re not going to let her fall into enemy hands."
"Thank you, Admiral, and thank you for coming. We'd already be in enemy hands if not for you and your fleet."
"Happy to do it for the man that united our planet, Colonel. Dyson out,"
"I had no idea they felt that strongly about what you gave them," Reece commented.
"Neither did I, Reece. I knew Enosal was excited about it, I just had no idea the excitement had spread to the rank and file."
"I guess there's something to be said for this whole helping people thing," Wassan added with a wink, still amazed at how Colonel Marcos had not hesitated to save his life.
Just then Collin called up from engineering letting them know they had less than two minutes before they could get back in the fight. As they waited for the engines, Kimi slipped into the pilot seat so they could leave immediately. All of the Conglomerate fire
was now on the ships protecting them and they knew they had to move quickly.
"This is going to be close," Kord yelled as Kimi prepared to take off on Collin’s mark.
"Fate's Choice has let us know they are ready to cover our exit." Bessa called into the chaos.
“Colonel, we are good to go," Collin yelled over the ships speaker.
"Kimi, let's get out of here. Bessa, comm Fate's Choice to start her run to the coordinates. People, let's go home." Jesse smiled as the ship began to move.
"Fate's Choice, we are ready to go," Bessa relayed over the comm.
"Copy that," came the crisp reply, followed by a bright explosion as one of the ships guarding their position had been destroyed. "Colonel Marcos, if you would follow us out, we would be honored to clear a path for you."
"On our way," Jesse happily replied.
As they began to move towards the exit point with Fate's Choice leading the way and four other ships providing cover, an emergency hail was broadcast on all channels. A moment later, Admiral Dyson was calling to see if there were any ships available to pick up a damaged fighter. Jesse was listening to the conversation intently.