A wry smile slid across the commanders face as he leant back in his chair. While the loss of his ships was a disappointment, he knew that the benefits of capturing this world would far outweigh the losses he had already suffered, but next time he would not make the same mistakes.
Tapping a communications unit on his forearm, he started to initiate the second wave of his plan against Earth. “How many Infiltrator units do we have stationed here?”
The reply came swiftly from the base command centre. “None. There is a team on Ravulo, under the leadership of Sinus Fu, Sir.”
“Excellent.” There was a pause while the commander considered his options. He couldn’t just summon Sinus Fu and his unit without providing an explanation to the commander of forces on Ravulo. “Tell the base commander that I wish to use them in a series of training exercise here on Rancor.”
“Very well, Sir.”
The line went dead.
A full frontal assault with the forces he allotted obviously had failed, and he wasn’t about to go to his superiors with news of a failure without knowing more about the planet that now appeared to be under the protection of the Alliance. If things went according to plan, the infiltrator team would arrive before the planets next cycle, and then he would send them to this mysterious world and discover what the Alliance was really up to, and perhaps they could stir up some mischief while they were there.
By the time the commander had concluded his morning meal, the infiltrator teams had arrived and were waiting outside his office. The six individuals that made up the teams were all wearing form-fitting grey uniforms without markings and carried with them only a blade and an energy pistol on their utility belts. They were some of the best organic troops that the Coalition had, and this task was suited perfectly for them.
Stepping out from the group was their leader, Sinus Fu, distinguished by his bald head, and long green beard. “Commander.” He offered a slight bow.
“Come with me, Fu.” The commander entered his office and took his seat behind his desk. “I have a mission for you and your team.”
“Good news, Sir. I heard something about a training mission. Be good to get at the Alliance.”
“You’re not going up against the Alliance,” the commander rubbed his chin, “or I should say, this is a complicated operation.” The commander signalled for Fu to sit.
“There is a world beyond The Reach that the Alliance is protecting. I sent a small task force to seise the planet, but they were repulsed. I want you to take your team and discover what is so important about this world.”
“Do you have any more intelligence on the planet, Sir?”
“No. This will be a reconnaissance only mission. Do not engage the Alliance unless you have no choice, and do not engage the inhabitants unless you must.”
Fu gently ran his fingers over his beard. “We’ve conducted missions like this in the past, but usually in advance of an invasion.” He looked at the commander. “I suppose this mission is designed to determine the possible value of an invasion.” A smile crept across his face.
“You are correct, Fu. I need to know what that planet is worth, and I need you to get that information for me. Now, the planet is 270 light years away, can your stealth ship make that jump?”
“Of course. Our mother-ship can make that jump, then we can descend to the planet in the infiltration pods. The Alliance still can’t detect them. Do you have astrometric data for the system?”
“I do.” The commander tapped a few keys on his desk and brought up a holographic image of the Sol System. “Here, the third planet from the star. I also have all the data sent back during the attack.”
Fu quickly examined the image. “Simple. We can jump in behind their moon, position the mothership there, and then conduct our reconnaissance of the planet.”
“How long do you need?”
Fu leaned back and crossed his arms. “That all depends on how detailed a report you want, Sir.”
“A good enough report to allow me to decide whether or not that planet is worth invading.” He shot back sternly.
“Very well, Sir.” Fu leaned in and examined the information that was being displayed. “Given a planet of this size, and only having three teams available to deploy, it will take some time.”
“Will you be able to send updates?”
“Yes, if we use a subspace transmitter and relay the messages through the mothership, but if we do that, there is a chance that any Alliance ship in the system could detect the messages, but not intercept them.”
The commander nodded slowly. “It is a risk worth taking.”
“As you wish.” Fu stood up and bowed again. “If you’ll excuse me, Sir, I need to start prepping my team for this operation.” He moved towards the desk. “I trust this operation is classified.”
“It is.”
Fu nodded and put out his right hand. “The astrometrics on the system, please.”
The commander nodded, tapped a few keys on his desk, seconds later a small cube rose from the right-hand side of the bureau. The chief picked up the cube and handed it over to Fu.
Before the commander placed the cube into Fu’s hand, he looked up at the team leader, “When will you depart?”
“When I am ready.” Came the positive reply.
The commander smiled. “If this mission is a success, then we shall all benefit. Remember that, Fu.”
Fu took the cube and placed it in his breast pocket. “I haven’t failed yet, Sir, and my record won’t be blemished on some backwater beyond The Reach.” Fu executed a quick turn and moved out of the office quickly.
In the hallway, his team were waiting anxiously for news of their new mission. “What’s the plan, boss?” asked Fu’s second in command.
“Reconnaissance mission.” Fu continued down the hallway with his team trailing him. “On a world beyond The Reach.”
That got the groups attention, and the second in command went right into action. “Varo and Mako, prep the ship for launch. There will be a drop-pod and shimmer-suit inspection in fifty, weapons inspection in eighty.” Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the data cube that Fu was holding up and plucked it out of his master's hand. “Testa and Twiv, I want you to examine the data on this cube and be ready for a brief on the ship in twenty.” He handed the cube off, “Now go!”
The four other members of the team gingerly moved past their two leaders and sprinted down the hallway towards the hangar bay where their ship was located.
Fu looked at his comrade. “Well Kio, this mission should be exciting. Beyond The Reach, unsupported, many factors to consider. Our primary objective is determining the value of this world to the Coalition. There has already been a raid which failed, our recon is to decide if it is worth another attempt to take the planet.”
Kio nodded. “Not a worry, boss. If I didn’t want an adventure, I’d have joined the home defence units!”
The pair laughed as they continued on their way to the hangar bay. The duo had been on many missions over the years together, and while the rest of the team was made up of new members, they were all expertly trained and ready for the task ahead of them.
When they reached the hanger, it was unusually quiet. A hum typically accompanied a hanger bay anywhere in the galaxy, let alone one on a planet with an active military unit stationed on it. Fu shook his head. The lack of activity was a result of the botched raid on this unknown world, and Fu and Kio both knew that an outpost like the one they were on was on the fringes of the Pohjois Periphery, and when its ships don’t return from raids, the soul of the base is completely vaporised.
The insertion team’s primary means of transportation was an old stealth ship that was built on Ares V in the days before the end of the Empire in a time when many forms of technology outstripped much of what the Coalition could produce in modern times.
Capable of avoiding detection from all kinds of sensors other than a visual inspection, the ship was quite narrow in design, and
purely built for its mission needs, the ship had a bridge at the front of the ship, a fully automated engine compartment at the rear of the ship that was connected by a single corridor that ran the length of the ship. Below the corridor were the three drop pods that carried the two-member reconnaissance teams to their destinations. The pods had the capability of returning to the ship but were not capable of relocating themselves once they had landed on a celestial body.
When Fu and Kio reached the ship, they entered through the rear ramp of the dark navy coloured ship and made their way to the team room that was located just behind the bridge where all the tactical equipment that was needed for various missions was stored. The four junior team members were giving their weapons and suits final checks and snapped to attention when their superiors entered.
“Carry on.” Kio instructed walking over to his own suit as Fu did the same.
As the six professionals went about their tasks, there was a calm buzz of energy in the room, a meticulous sense of purpose that drove them to their duties. The checking of the weapons had an almost calming effect on many, the mundane routine allowed them to relax the brain while going through the drills that had been taught to them, and which they continued to practice with precision.
While Fu went through his checks, he also was giving serious consideration to the pairings for the mission. He knew that he and Kio were by far the strongest members of the team, but his concern was trying to get the best balance on the team, and on the last mission, it was quite clear who the weakest member of the team was, and Fu was giving serious consideration to pairing that member up with either himself or Kio. A thought that did not sit well with him since he had achieved an excellent rapport with the sole female member of the team on the last operation.
“Testa.” Fu turned and looked at the weakest member of the team. “You’re pairing up with me on this operation.”
Testa nodded and said nothing. She knew that his performance on the last mission to Ruylor 3 had almost compromised the entire team, and given the Alliance warning of the impending Coalition invasion. Once the mission had concluded, she was surprised to find himself still on the team, but she knew that was because Shimmer suit operators were in short supply, and in a time of peace, she would probably have lost her position on the team.
Fu looked at Kio. “I want to bring forward the planning briefing, set up the command table, I want to have a better look at the data now.”
Kio moved away from his suit and went to the centre of the room and tapped a silver spot on the floor with the toe of his boot, quickly giving off a short chirp, the deck began to rise up to waist height on a central support before the top of the table rolled back to display an interactive suite with touch screens and holographic workstations on two ends.
“Who has the data cube?” Kio asked, and was quickly handed the cube. Placing the small cube in the centre of the table activated the information stored on the device, and the image of the Sol System was immediately displayed floating over the table. “Ready to go, boss.”
Fu moved over to the table and looked at the map. “Third planet from the star.” He pointed at Terra. “Varo, what do you think?”
The ship's pilot moved closer to the table and examined the hologram. “Jump in behind the planet's satellite.” He ran his hands over the hologram to manipulate it, allowing the image of the moon to be enlarged. “This moon has a dark side. I can jump us in just off the surface of the moon and set us down in one of these craters.”
“Is it safe to drop that close in?” Asked Twiv, another of the junior members of the team.
Varo smiled and looked at his teammate. “If this intelligence is accurate, I can jump us within ten metres of the surface.”
Fu patted his pilot on the back. “Excellent.” Fu minimised the image of the moon and brought up the picture of Terra that had been provided. The image itself was very detailed, showing all seven continents and all the topographical information they could hope for along with images of cities and other major population sources along with large constructed structures. Weather data was also provided, as well as the location of the Planetary Command Ship that the Alliance had landed on the planet's surface.
“Right.” Fu stood erect and put his hands on his hips. “We need as much data as possible from this world, and with just three teams available for this operation, our mission will be a challenge. I will take section one to an area near the Alliance PCS to gain intelligence there. Part three under Varo will go to this area here.” Fu pointed to a point on the globe where there were very limited population zones, and vast swathes of deserts, but an area that the intelligence suggested offered large amounts of natural resources for the planet.
“Section two under Kio will go to this area here.” Fu directed the team to an area that was in the northern hemisphere and just to the east of a massive sub-continent that appeared to have a tropical, jungle environment.
The information that had been recorded and then transmitted back to Coalition forces by the raiding party was very impressive for a unit that was not even tasked with the gathering of such data. It was just a result of the ships that were closest to the planet automatically scanning the globe's surface and gathering as much information as possible and transmitting it back to its base before they had been destroyed that offered the team this much to work with.
“Everyone needs to upload this data to their suits.” Fu stepped back from the table. “Continue with mission prep,” he quickly glanced at the time. “I want us skids up in 90.”
The team members quickly went back to their tasks of preparing their individual and team kit for the mission that lay ahead. They all knew that this one would be monumental.
When the ship broke orbit, it found almost no activity surrounding the planet. Rancor 7 was defenceless, and any Alliance ship lucky to jump into the system would be able to bombard the planet with impunity. A complete check of all ship systems had been performed before take-off, along with a rigorous inspection of all the team suits and weapon systems. They were ready to jump.
Floating slowly away from the planet, Varo ran his final checks on the jump drives and checked for a fourth time the jump coordinates that he had plugged into the ship's systems. While he was confident that he could jump the ship within ten metres of the surface of the moon, he opted for a more conservative twenty metres. He didn’t dare allow for any more room. Varo knew that the system was held by Alliance forces, and it was very probable that they would be on edge after the raid, and patrols could be lurking anywhere in the nine planet system, and the dark side of the moon was an obvious location to jump into the system in an attempt to spring a surprise on the populated world, but perhaps it was just so obvious that the Alliance would have neglected to deploy a permanent unit to guard this vulnerable back-door.
“Ship is ready to jump.” Varo reported from his pilot's chair at the front of the tiny bridge. Behind him and on a raised platform, Fu was sitting in the commander's chair, with Kio standing to his rear leaning on the chair hunched over due to the low ceiling on the cramped bridge.
“Jump.” Fu ordered.
Without replying, Varo pulled a long silver lever to the right of the control panel and initiated the jump, which instantly dropped the ship into subspace, hurtled it 270 light years in a matter of milliseconds. One set of stars was quickly replaced by a giant grey moon that suddenly appeared just a fraction over the twenty metres Varo had planned off the bow of the ship.
“We have arrived.” Varo checked the star plot. “On target.” He looked to his left, “Multiple enemy warships in the system.” He paused and checked the data. “Closest ship is 200 metres above us.”
Fu shook his head. Close. Very close. “Set us down as planned.” He ordered, undoing his belt he got up and followed Kio off the bridge. “Good to know our stealth is working.”
“They must have detected the jump.”
Fu nodded as he reached his Shimmer Suit. “True, but if they can’t detect us
on their systems, it’ll do them no good.” He hit a large green button in the centre of the control panel that ran along the side of the suit locker. “Let’s gear up, and get ready to deploy. They’ll probably run a visual search of the system now to run down that jump they detected. Let’s use this as an opportunity to get on world before they go back to their regular patrol assignments.”
The doors of the locker opened out, then slid back along the sides of the locker revealing the Shimmer Suit that Fu would be wearing on the mission. Standing just a fraction taller than the wearer, the suit had a skin comprised of Valunis Fibres from a wild lotus found only on the old Imperial capital world Jarosis, which were now only obtainable during high-risk excursions to the ancient centre of the known universe.
Offline, the suit looked burgundy in colour, a tribute to the Coalition and the Pohjois Periphery, but when the suit was activated, it could defeat all known detection techniques and appeared invisible to the naked eye. Only physically touching of the suit would announce its presence to those nearby.
In addition to allowing the user to be virtually invisible, it provided a life-support system that would provide fresh air to breathe for an infinite period of time, clean water and jelly rations were also given to keep the operator nourished for up to 168 hours. The Valunis fibres that covered the suit was also resistant to flame and could be submerged up to a depth of 100 atmospheres.
The suit was also able to take fire from a variety of energy and ballistic weapons systems, and was considered by many as one of the greatest pieces of hardware ever built, but since the war had started, the total number of suits had steadily decreased, making all of the six suits on the ship over seventy years old, and having all undergone multiple refits over their lifetimes.
Fu pulled the suit's helmet off its rack and turned it upside down and hit the power button, activating the suits mini-micro fusion reactor, which emitted a low hum as it warmed up.
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