“Maybe later, Sven. I want a tour of this base first. Why don’t you guys give us the grand tour, show me where you’ve been hiding out all summer.”
Ben and Jacque, Ariel’s father, were off to the side talking. Jacque was more interested in the ramifications of having a military base nearby, he wanted to know who really owned it and whether the military were going to come in and take it over. Ben explained that technically it was owned by his boss, Helmut Langer, as a part of his land grant. There was a clause in the settler’s contract that everything on the property including the mineral rights were the property of the respective land holder. Jacque was pointing out that he didn’t think the mechs should be in the hands of a bunch of teenagers. He felt it would be better if the military took them over.
Jake was listening in and he didn’t agree at all. “The Local Guard would march these mechs right out of here and we’d never see them again. The mechs wouldn’t be here to protect us if any of the pirates decide to go for revenge. They’ve been know to do that, yah know.”
Jacque pursed his lips and scowled. “I don’t think the pirates will ever come back, and I really don’t like the idea of the mechs being in the hands of teenagers. Maybe we need to get some military personnel in here to look things over.”
“Jacque” Helmut interrupted, “These are MY mechs and MY base. No military personnel will ever step one foot in here, not unless I invite them. If you don’t like it you can leave right now. These boys just took out the nastiest group of pirates on the entire planet. You owe them your gratitude, they may have just saved your life. Besides, Ben is ex-military. He was supervising the op the entire time.”
“Well, I still don’t like this.” Jacque scowled again, but held his tongue.
Helmut could see it hadn’t been a good idea to bring this man along. He thought the fact that Jacque’s daughter had been a part of the operation would be a source of pride, but apparently his own opinions meant more to him than his own daughter’s. He’d have to keep an eye on this man from now on. The politics surrounding the hidden mech base were just beginning, and Helmut could tell he’d have to tread lightly in the public eye.
Bjorn pulled Sven closer and whispered, “I think we’ll leave Officer’s territory off the tour for now. We can show Dad the skull and the maps later, after Mr. Touchard’s gone. And don’t mention the Ancient’s Cavern either.”
“Right. Or the Geode Cave.” Sven nodded in agreement. Hai and Zane nodded too, they were listening in as well. The word was passed on to Dan and Jake, and later that evening Bjorn intended on having a long conversation with Ariel on the zipPhone. He knew he could trust Ariel, but she had to know what her father’s opinion was or it could mean trouble.
Bjorn lead the way up the main stairs to the mezzanine level and started the tour in the cafeteria. He merely pointed down the hallway and indicated that the crew’s bunkrooms and some equipment rooms were down that way, then took everyone into the CO’s office, then the pilot’s briefing room, then into the Command Center to watch some video of the battles.
Closing the tour with the battle scenes was Bjorn’s best decision of the day. After seeing the professionalism of the team and the way they handled themselves in battle all of the adults were quite impressed. Even Mr. Touchard complimented Bjorn on his leadership, and complimented the team for how well they had performed. He was especially pleased after seeing how professional Ariel had handled the communications with Wayfarer Central Command. He was proud of his daughter, and even though he didn’t like how much she gushed about Bjorn at home, he could see why she liked him. He’d never seen this side of Bjorn before.
Bjorn pulled his father aside during the videos. “Dad, there are some things we want to show you we don’t want any outsiders to see.” He said while glancing at Mr. Touchard. “Have Ben take him home and spend the night here with us.”
Mr. Langer nodded and talked it over for a minute with his wife. She wanted to head home too, she wasn’t interested in spending the night in a dusty old military base. She was getting tired of seeing pirates shooting at her boys anyway, and winced every time any of them took a hit. She stepped out half way through the battle and walked down to the cafeteria to get the guys something to drink.
Overall the base looks pretty clean, she had to admit. Somehow they managed to clean the place up. It must have been the girls, she realized as she walked down the wide hallway. She smiled noticing they had a pitcher of her lemonade in the frig as she walked deeper into the cafeteria than she had before. Taking the crystal pitcher out of the cooler, she located a rather expensive looking antique silver service tray and some clean leaded crystal glasses drying on a towel next to the sink. “My, my. Would you look at this. Now, just where did these come from?” She decided against using the antique silver tray and crystal glasses in front of Touchard and found some plain clear plastic ones instead, and walked back out of the cafeteria towards the Command Center.
Just as she passed the CO’s office she got the oddest feeling, she felt as if something very ancient was watching her. The feeling was full of curiosity more than anything else, but it had such a profound sense of age to it. For a moment she felt as if she was standing on the top of a mountain in a cool breeze, watching Ceasar drift across the sky in the bright sunlight. Then the feeling passed. She’d have to talk to Bjorn about that later. Several rooms away, the pinpoints of metal embedded in the skull on the wall in the wardroom sparkled momentarily, then dimmed as the sparkling dots of light went out. Puzzled, Mrs. Langer walked on down the hallway and back into the din of battle into the Command Center.
Chapter 22 “Aftermath” –––––––––––––––––––
Two days after the pirate mechs were taken out, the Local Guard were live on the news. Field reporters were following the Local Guard troops as they moved into the logging compound where the pirate’s base was located. The Langers were together in the great room of the house, watching the broadcast on the monitor over the large fireplace. The guys had flopped down in the big brown leather chairs and couch, Mr. Langer was in his favorite reclining chair with his feet up, turning up the volume.
“This is Jerry Bradley with the KTPC News team, interrupting your regularly scheduled program with another special news broadcast. I’m here with our ace field reporter Lynn Jefferds, who has been tracking the Wayfarer Mech Pirates story the last year. Lynn, can you give us a summary of what has led up to today’s Local Guard raid on the pirate home base while we watch the action?”
“Sure thing, Jerry. As those of you know who have followed my stories the last year, we’ve had a bloody year coping with the vicious actions of the pirates here on this side of Wayfarer. This specific group has been particularly damaging to the settlers in and around Port Canaveral. The latest incursion occurred two days ago when the pirates raided a cattle ranch north of the city. They first had a team of saboteurs take out all communications in Port Canaveral, then with troops and mechs they proceeded to round up the settlers and steal all of the cattle. It was a bold move on their part, but somewhat predictable. They hit virtually the same area they hit a few months ago, making it easier for the Local Guard to respond.”
“Virtually out of nowhere a lance of Special Forces mechs appeared who proceeded to pound the pirate mechs into oblivion. Reports from personnel on the ground stated the special forces troops took out two of the pirate mechs in a quick series of heated exchanges while a second lance went after the pirate dropship. Once the dropship was taken down, the remaining two pirate mechs made a break for it to defend the downed transport. The smaller of the two pirates was taken out by special force’s aircraft, then the last pirate mech made a run for it. Special Forces chased down the remaining pirate mech and took him out about fifty kilometers south of there.”
“Wow, that’s quite a story Lynn. What happened next?”
“Well Jerry, once the pirate mechs were out of the way, Local Guard troops moved in from Port C
anaveral and fought a series of pitched battles on the ground. It took the Guard two days to pound the remaining pirates into submission and force them out of their crashed dropship. They were dug in pretty good, and had plenty of armored troops to defend their position. The Local Guard Commander, Colonel Rakes, fired barrage after barrage of riot gas canisters into the dropship through the open side bay door. With no food, no water, and no clean air to breath, the pirates finally surrendered. Colonel Rakes stated they took into custody thirty four pirates and counted twice that many casualties from the pirate ranks. Local Guard troops suffered a number of critical injuries storming the dropship, but only three casualties on their side.”
“How did the Special Forces troops fair?”
“As far as we can tell, the Special Forces mechs took all of the damage, none of their personnel were even injured in the fighting. All of their mechs were still walking when the battle was over.”
“Dang Rights!” Sven yelled over the broadcast. He did a fist pump to emphasize his point.
“The mechs did sustain a considerable amount of damage, though. I also saw Joel Wolffe’s interview with Colonel Rakes on the late show yesterday evening.” the reporter continued. “He gave us a lot of details about the siege and eventual surrender of the pirate troops. Did we get any interviews with the Special Forces officers, or were they as elusive as they have been in the past?”
“No we didn’t. Special Forces disappeared to the north in their mechs and vanished before anyone even had a chance to talk to them. We’re not even sure where they went, but they must have had a dropship staged somewhere in the area. All we have is the video clip we’ve been showing while you’ve been talking, of the mechs duking it out with the pirate mechs. One of the ranch hands caught a part of the fire fight using the camera on his zipPhone. I apologize for the low quality of the video, but it’s all we’ve been able to get so far. There should be some excellent footage from the aerospace fighter’s vantage point, but the military hasn’t shared it with us.”
“Hmmm, we need to work on that. I’ll bet our viewers would really like to see some of that action, wouldn’t you guys. Colonel Rakes, if you’re listening? Please consider this as a formal request.” he stated while looking straight into the camera lens.
Sven jumped in again, “Well, we’ve got some fantastic footage, but you can’t have it. Sorry, dudes!” Jake and Bjorn smiled, but were paying more attention to the news broadcast than they were to Sven’s big mouth.
The video switched back to a field shot, finally something was happening. “This is Joel Wolffe at the pirate base, the first thrust of Local Guard troops are entering the compound. The pirates have set up home base in an abandoned logging facility which they apparently purchased legally several years ago. You can see there are stacks and stacks of lumber off to the side of the tarmac opposite the warehouses and buildings. There is no one in sight. From my vantage point, all I can see are empty buildings.”
“The troops are entering each building one at a time, searching for any remaining personnel and looking for records the legal boys can use in indicting the pirates that are in custody in Port Canaveral. There they go, into what looks like the main administration building. I can see a few of the men checking each room in the building looking for personnel. You can see the troops are very professional, clearing each room systematically with guns drawn. And… here they are coming back out again.”
“That was anticlimactic. No one’s home.”
“A second squad have been screening the next warehouse over, and here they come back out empty handed too. Lynn, Jerry, I think all of the pirates are gone. They must have evacuated when the raid failed after the dropship was shot down. We’ll follow the action here at the base, but I don’t think there will be any more excitement, not like the fighting we observed over the last two days at the dropship. Back to you, Jerry.”
“Well, there you have it, folks. The remaining pirates have evacuated, leaving an empty base behind. As we mentioned before, there are still pirates out there on the loose. They’re armed and dangerous, so all of you settlers need to keep watch and keep your guns close at hand. Call in anything you see or hear so the Local Guard can investigate.”
“Well, I guess that’s that.” Sven retorted, hopping up from his chair. “We did our part, now the world is safer again. When is that Local Guard officer supposed to drop by, Dad?”
“Oh, he should be here in an hour or so. He wants to talk to us, something about meeting the Special Forces troops. He wants to see their base, but I told him no. He doesn’t know you’re all under age kids, except for Ben. Go get your chores done and we’ll see how it goes when he gets here.”
“No way! He wants to talk to us? That’s insane!” Jake exclaimed.
“No, I don’t want you guys talking to him, he doesn’t need to know anything about the base. Get moving guys, you’ve got work to do.”
All three of the guys got up, grabbed another of Petunia’s sweet rolls off the center table and headed towards the mud room. Jake had to feed the chickens and the fish, which really didn’t take that long to accomplish. While he was working, he kept an eye on the front gate into the ranch compound. He was just about done with his work when he saw a dust cloud rising up in the distance. The dirt road leading up to the ranch had dried out after the last rain two days before, on the surface anyway. The Langers didn’t have any dogs, so they had to improvise. Sven had rigged up a horn off of one of the older vehicles, it blared a long note whenever the sensor down the road was triggered by a large metal object passing by. “Braaaaaaaaaaaaaapp!”
Jake could see a tan camouflage military vehicle coming down the road, a six wheeled command vehicle with radio antennas sticking up and lots of space inside for command personnel. The front gate was already open, so the vehicle simply drove in towards the center of the ranch. Jake noticed the ranch missile launcher turned in that direction and aimed downwards. “The launcher must still be on. We need to turn that off.” Jake knew it wouldn’t fire, the controller that enabled the launcher was in Ben’s pocket. Ben would know the launcher had a target, but it had to be enabled before it would actually fire. Jake finished up feeding the fish by slinging all of the remaining fish meal into the pond in one shot and headed back towards the house. The water boiled as the fish snapped up the food.
The Local Guard vehicle stopped in the driveway next to the house. Ben emerged from the vehicle garage with his dirty coveralls on, wiping his hands off on a clean towel. Mr. Langer walked next to him as they discussed what he wanted to limit the conversation to. Mr. Langer stuck his hand out to the Guard Commander as he exited the side of the military vehicle. It was Colonel Rakes himself.
“Greetings, Colonel.”
Colonel Rakes held out his hand and shook Mr. Langer’s hand, then Ben’s in turn. “Gentlemen. I hear the Special Forces team that took out the pirates is in touch with your ranch, I’m guessing they’re camped out on your land.”
Picture Pack: Colonel Rakes, Local Guard Commander
“That’s right. They’re using the river tunnels on my ranch to house their equipment temporarily.” Ben replied, glancing at Mr. Langer for support.
“Ben, I recognize your voice from the radio conversations we had during the battle. Are you the leader of the Special Forces mechs?”
Ben narrowed his eyes, but proceeded to answer the question anyway. “Yes sir, I am.”
“I’d like to thank you and your men for the great service you’ve provided Wayfarer. We’d like to honor your team with a banquet and awards ceremony in Port Canaveral.”
Just then the guys arrived on the scene, Jake stopped running and walked the last few yards up to the men catching his breath and listening. Sven and Bjorn were right behind him, along with a few of the ranch hands.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea, Colonel. We’re supposed to keep a low profile while we’re here on Wayfarer.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear
that. Isn’t there any way we can talk to your superiors and convince them otherwise? It would mean a lot to the local community.”
Ben shook his head no in reply and rubbed his chin.
Colonel Rakes turned to address Mr. Langer more directly. “Mr. Langer, I had my staff do a background check on your ranch and I know Ben Jones is a member of your staff. He’s been a part of your ranch since the beginning over twenty years ago. He’s ex-military and could be attached to the Special Forces, but I really doubt it. Would you mind leveling with me?” he said while folding his arms in a guarded manner.
“Well, when you put it that way… Let’s walk around the house and talk for a bit.” Mr. Langer led the way to the opposite side of the house where the barbeque pit was located. It was a nice sunny day, and the wood benches around back in the shade were inviting. The guys followed along behind. The extra ranch hands were waved off by Ben and headed back to work.
“Colonel, we recently located a stash of Special Forces mechs on my ranch property, which according to Wayfarer law, belong to us. The mechs were stashed there over fifty years ago before colonization began and were abandoned. It took a considerable amount of work and expense to get them operational again. When the pirates struck close to the ranch we were able to intervene and take them out.”
“Who were your mech pilots, your ranch hands?”
“Yes and no. Ben was in charge, but the boys here were the ones piloting the other mechs.” Bjorn, Sven and Jake all nodded and sat down on the log benches across from the three men.
Colonel Rakes squinted and took a closer look at the three boys. “You’re kidding. These boys took down the pirate mechs?”
The guys sat up straighter and grinned. “Yes sir, we did.” Bjorn answered frankly. “You’re lookin’ at the best mech pilots in the galaxy!”
“Dang straight!” Sven added.
The Styx Strikers Page 27