"Here we are," Jer-An said after another kilometer and half. "This is as close as this tunnel gets to your objective. The drawings for the surrounding area are up here near the tool carts."
"How far away are we?" Jason asked Lucky.
"We should be approximately five hundred meters from the epicenter of the estimated location Kage gave for the netjere's transponder," Lucky replied, choosing to talk over coms directly into Jason's helmet instead of vocalizing out loud.
"Here are the plans for the tunnel network, and here are the prints for the buildings and utilities above," Jer-An said, handing Jason three large, rolled prints.
"Thank God they were still using hard copies back then," Jason said as he released and removed his gauntlets so he could manipulate the pages. After a few moments he realized that engineering prints weren't exactly his strong suit, so he rolled them up and handed them to Lucky without a word. The battlesynth quickly spread each one out, committed them each to memory, and handed them back to Jer-An in turn.
"Do you know which building these unknown mercenaries are using?" he asked Jer-An.
"Not exactly," the Veran said apologetically. "They've secured the entire block and have a tight perimeter. It only took a few probes by the locals to learn they meant business. There aren't a lot of them, but they're well-equipped."
"Species?" Jason asked.
"Multiple," Jer-An said. "Saw a couple of Korkarans and even a pair of synths. Not like your friend here, just normal synths."
"That's a relief," Crusher said. "A pair of battlesynths would be a real problem."
"You can say that again," Jason said. "Normal synths aren't exactly slouches though. We'll have to figure out our approach carefully."
"What's the access topside like?" Crusher asked.
"There's a shallow ramp over there," Jer-An said, pointing to an area behind the jumble of tools and building materials. "It leads up to the basement of the building marked D7-1 on the grid drawing. It looks like they were building a reception area for direct access from this transit line."
"Is it open to the building?" Jason asked.
"No," Jer-An said. "There's a large, heavy security door that was in place to keep people out of the tunnel while it was under construction. It can't be opened from the outside."
"We're only a three-man team," Jason said, frowning. "I need both of you with me."
"I'll stay and wait for you," Jer-An volunteered. "I have a vested interest in your escaping alive and I would also like to keep tabs on you. Once you've accomplished your goal it would be easy to just leave without paying up."
"True enough," Jason said. "We've both got something to lose so that should keep everyone honest. Show us this ramp."
Jer-An climbed up the ramp and slid open a plastic barrier that looked like it was designed to keep the dirt from the tunnel construction out of the reception area they walked into. The space was done beautifully in onyx woodwork and brushed alloys, all the lines curving gracefully away from the ramp entrance. Jason felt a momentary pang for the species that had been so quickly wiped out, their unfinished work a sort of vulgar memorial to their passing.
"There's the door," Jer-An said. "The two times I've been here there hasn't been anybody in this basement, but we should be careful anyway."
"Extinguish your light," Lucky said. "I will go in first."
"No," Jason said. "I will. You can't switch to combat mode quick enough if there are multiple targets in there. My armor's sensors are at least good enough to clear the room. No arguments about this."
"Of course, Captain," Lucky said, his posture indicating he wasn't happy with the order.
Before an argument could break out Jason nodded to Jer-An, who switched off his light and unlatched the door as quietly as he could. "I'll knock twice if it's clear," Jason said quietly as he slipped by and heard the door close behind him. He froze and let his armor scan the area while he looked in every direction with mid-wave infrared optics. There were no hotspots and nothing was moving, so he walked out and made a closer inspection of the area. The dust on the floor had some small footprints in it that looked months old and obviously from the same being: Jer-An.
So far everything the Veran said and did supported his story and Jason was beginning to relax a bit. If he had any nefarious designs he'd had ample opportunity to take them out or disable them. The fact there wasn't an armed party waiting for them reinforced that. He walked back over and knocked rapped softly on the door with his gauntlet; two knocks. The door immediately opened and Lucky and Crusher walked through, the former's eyes blazing red. Apparently he'd switched to combat mode in anticipation of trouble.
"How far did you scout?" he asked, switching back to normal operation mode.
"Just the immediate area," Jason said. "There's a set of doors along the east wall and no sign anybody other than our little friend has been in there for years."
"Do we know the condition of the building above?" Crusher asked, apparently still worried about being buried alive.
"This entire block looked to be fully intact," Lucky said. "Our initial reconnaissance scans from high altitude even indicated repairs had been done to the roofs of three."
"I wonder if this merc crew evicted the previous tenants, keeping the best block for themselves," Jason mused.
"It's what I would do," Crusher said, pulling his plasma rifle around. "Let's get going."
"Whoa, cowboy," Jason said, raising his hand. "We're almost out of darkness. We'll recon up to the ground floor, then we're going to report in with the Phoenix and sleep the day off back in that reception area behind the security door. We'll update our plans depending on what we find, then begin the operation tomorrow night."
"Great ... we get to spend the night underground," Crusher grumbled, but moved to the far wall and began approaching the doors from the opposite direction as Jason and Lucky.
They quickly found the door that led out of the basement room by following Jer-An's barely visible footprints. After fifteen minutes of silently stalking through the building they confirmed the building was empty at least up to the ground level. They were hesitant to go any further, not wanting to risk being prematurely spotted by an alert enemy patrol or remote sensor.
Once they retraced their steps and carefully closed the door from the stairs they signaled for Jer-An to let them back in through the security door. The Veran quickly opened it and let Crusher and Lucky in as Jason used a long-handled brush he'd found to disrupt all the dust on the floor so that a casual observer wouldn't be able to tell they'd gone in through the heavy alloy door.
"We're all buttoned up," Jason said. "How do we want to divide watches?"
"You and Crusher may eat and then sleep the entire night," Lucky said. "I find it ... odd ... that you still insist on asking this question when you know that I do not require sleep."
"It's just good manners," Jason said. "If I expected you to do the shit work like overnight watches all the time you'd begin to feel unappreciated. Besides, how do I know you don't want some down time?"
"I see," Lucky said in a tone that indicated he in fact did not see Jason's point.
"Jer-An, you can split dinner with me if you'd like," Jason said. "It's field rations, so I can't make any guarantee about the taste."
"I ate garbage yesterday," Jer-An said in a flat voice.
"This will at least be a lateral move then," Jason said and tossed him one of the field kits he'd brought from the Phoenix.
"Jer-An, when we complete our mission and you get your com equipment, I'm going to give you a node address that will be very important to remember," Crusher said after he watched the Veran tear into the tasteless field rations like he was starving, which he probably actually was. "Since we can make no guarantees about when, or if, we will be back through here to pick you up I am going to arrange for transportation as soon as I am back on our ship."
"What sort of transportation do you have access to?" Jer-An said cautiously. "While I want to leave mo
re than anything, I don't know that I could bear the thought of another ship being captured and destroyed trying to pull me out."
"I will be calling for an extraction team from the Galvetic Legions," Crusher said. "Trust me, they will have no problem getting you off this hellish world."
"No," Jer-An said, awestruck. "No, I don't suppose they would."
"You have the authority for that?" Jason asked.
"Technically," Crusher shrugged. "I don't know precisely where I'll end up when this mission is over, but I do know I'm not returning to the Capital. This will likely be my last official order given."
"At least it's a good one," Jason said.
"Indeed," Crusher agreed.
****
Jason had forced himself to sleep through most of the daylight hours so he'd be ready for the night's festivities. Even though the tunnel was pitch black the planet's night/day cycle matched up pretty closely with ship's time on the Phoenix so he still was trying to sleep while he felt like he should be up. It didn't help that the tunnel was quite cool, bordering on cold, and he'd taken his armor off and powered it down to save the power cells for any fighting he would be involved in that night.
He heard Crusher scraping around in the dark too and figured he may as well get up and start his preps. "Lights coming up, watch your eyes," he warned before flicking on the weak lantern Jer-An had brought with him.
"Anything exciting?" he asked Lucky.
"No," Lucky said. "I stayed near the security door all night so I would be able to detect if anyone came down into the basement, but Crusher's snoring may have covered up any footsteps."
"I don't snore!" Crusher said indignantly as he pulled his own kit together.
"If that wasn't you then this planet has the biggest damn rats I've ever seen," Jason said. "And they were up to some freaky shit in the dark judging by the noises they were making."
"I forgot how funny you both are," Crusher said as he savagely bit into a ration bar.
After eating and doing another systems check, Jason had Lucky help him back into his armor. For the fifteenth time since deploying to Vyrt he wished he'd replaced the unit he lost when he'd crossed paths with the Phoenix's previous owner. But the older unit passed all its self-checks and the power levels were still good, so he should be fine for the current mission.
"If we are back to this line of work, you will need to replace this unit soon," Lucky said, giving voice to his own thoughts.
"I thought you were done wearing those things," Crusher said.
"Normally, yes," Jason said. "But this is an especially hostile environment and we're horrifically outnumbered and out of practice and out of shape. This is just one more layer of protection. I can eject this one the same way I did the last one if it takes a critical hit."
"Then you'll be rescuing a princess in your underwear?" Crusher asked.
"Not the strangest thing I've done," Jason shrugged.
"You are all exceedingly calm considering what it is you're about to attempt," Jer-An said as he watched them.
"Just another day at the office," Jason said with a smile, feeling the excitement and adrenaline begin to build the closer they got to kicking off the operation.
In another three hours it was just before midnight and Jason gave the signal for Jer-An to kill the lights and open the security door. If they weren't back in five hours he had instructions to retreat back to his basement hideout and try to make contact with the Phoenix via the handheld short-range com unit Jason had provided him.
The strike team moved quickly and silently through the basement and up to the street level floor. Lucky was on point as he had the building schematics memorized and had sensors far more capable than the ones installed in Jason's armor. After a moment of observing Lucky motioned them forward, leading them decisively to a stairwell and sprinting up two floors before exiting into what appeared to be an office, though it was difficult to tell.
"We are now fifteen meters above the street level," Lucky said. "The device Twingo and Kage provided should be able to get a more accurate reading."
Jason walked up behind Lucky and pulled a small box out of his pack and handed the trailing lead to Crusher, who then moved around and plugged it into an interface jack on the back panel of the armor.
"Here goes nothing," Jason whispered, pushing the button. At first nothing happened, so he pushed it again and instantly there was a blue dot that appeared in the upper left of his HUD. He turned his head to center the dot and pressed the button one more time. This time the dot was accompanied by range and directional data as well as a set of coordinates that allowed them to specify a location in three dimensions. He fed those coordinates to Lucky.
"Standby," Lucky said as he applied the coordinates to the model of the city block he'd constructed in his head based on the drawings. "The coordinates fit. If they are correct, the netjere is one building over, fifteen levels up, and in a room located at the center of the floor."
"The device seems to have given a legitimate return on the netjere's implant beacon," Jason said. "Can we access that building from this one via the basement?"
"No," Lucky said. "But the building is only seventeen levels tall. We can cross over to the roof from this building and descend from there."
"They're likely going to have heavy security on the roof," Crusher said.
"Possibly," Jason said. "But there will be more on the street level plus fifteen stories to fight our way up. How do we get her out of there though? We can't very well just walk out the front."
"Call the Phoenix in?" Crusher asked.
"I am detecting the presence of weaponry of sufficient power to be a significant threat to the Phoenix," Lucky said.
"So that's out," Jason said. "Let's think about this for a moment ... I don't want to actually make it all the way to where she's being held and have everything fall apart there."
They debated different extraction methods for the next ten minutes before reluctantly coming to a consensus. Once they'd decided, they wasted no time ascending to the eighteenth floor, the two biological members of the crew panting from the exertion as they tried to quietly follow Lucky out of the stairwell.
As with the rest of the building, the floor was deserted although it showed signs of recent habitation. They cleared the immediate area and then moved to the north wall and looked at the building that they hoped the netjere was actually in. At first it just looked like another abandoned building, but as they watched they could see signs of movement. Soon it became clear there was a significant presence there trying very hard to remain unseen.
"I see one rooftop sentry, and he's trying so hard to look like a local that he's not doing a very good job observing," Jason said as he zoomed in on the alien huddled under a dirty blanket by the rooftop entrance.
"Unfortunately most of the glass on that building is intact," Lucky said. "Thermal optics are useless. Low-light is showing some movement on the fifteenth floor and a stronger presence at street level."
"I'm seeing the same thing," Jason said. "It looks like with such a small force they've had to prioritize and they've elected to secure the block rather than keep a watch on the surrounding buildings. I haven't seen either of the synths Jer-An was talking about."
"Are we worried about normal synths?" Crusher asked. "They don't have onboard sensors or weaponry."
"They're still strong and fast as well as extremely intelligent," Jason said. "They're likely the most dangerous beings over there, so let's assume they're near the netjere."
"Shall we proceed?" Lucky asked.
"Let's do that," Jason said, getting up on all fours and crawling through the broken window and out onto the wide ledge that was the main reason they'd chosen the eighteenth floor. "Range me," he said as he pulled his railgun off the back of his armor and began adjusting the velocity settings.
"Target is seven-one meters," Lucky said. "Set velocity for two-nine-two-point-six-zero-eight meters per second for current atmospheric conditions."
Jason made the adjustments to his weapon and then flipped his facemask up. The railgun's optics wouldn't sync up to his HUD for some reason and he had no time to mess with it.
"Spot me," he said as he lay down and lined up his shot, putting the muzzle just over the lip of the ledge.
"Target is talking into coms," Lucky said. "Standby." Jason sighted down the scope and watched the target holding something to his mouth as he looked around in a bored, comfortable manner. Such a short shot would normally be a cakewalk, but Jason had to dial the velocity of his rounds down to subsonic as well as take a sharply descending shot without the aid of his armor's targeting computer. Not the hardest shot he'd ever taken, but still challenging in its own right.
"You are clear for the shot," Lucky said as the guard put the com unit back on his lap. "Send it."
Jason exhaled his breath slowly and began his trigger squeeze. The railgun barely made a pfff as the magnetic rails accelerated the round to subsonic speeds. The shot was low and Jason saw the guard double over from the gut shot, writhing in pain.
"Shit," he swore, sending three more rounds in quick succession. All three impacted the neck and face area, creating a hell of a mess on the roof. "Glad that asshole wasn't wearing armor. You're up, Lucky."
Lucky pulled a spool of monofilament line from his back, secured one end to a structural support near the window, and walked back to the ledge. He and Jason both did another scan of the adjacent building and the street below before Lucky fired his repulsors, arcing up and away from the ledge and firing them again to soften his landing against the roof near the body of the dead mercenary.
The battlesynth quickly secured the line on the opposite side and gave the hand signal to them to proceed. Jason and Crusher both reached up with armored gauntlets and grabbed the near-invisible line, pushing off the ledge and sliding quickly down to the rooftop where Lucky was there to catch them both and keep from making too much noise. Jason hit first and rolled to his right as fast as he could to make way for the heavier warrior behind him. While Crusher secured the doorway, Lucky and Jason completed a perimeter sweep using their enhanced sensors to detect any sign they'd been spotted by the ground teams.
Omega Force 7: Redemption Page 16