Special Police DekaOps

3

It was a pretty quiet day as Dan walked the streets. There wasn’t much he could do at the moment. Michelle and D.E. were going over both rifles they brought back with a fine tooth comb. Ace was in the hanger running diagnostics on the Shepard. Boomer was, in his words, tweaking the communication gear while Rev was doing whatever. Lucky for him Pierce gave him a tip about a pretty decent book store in the small town next to OpsBase. He was just glad to get out of that uniform they gave him into a pair of black jeans, a red t-shirt and a leather bomber jacket. Besides he felt the need to stretch his legs a bit.

He walked past a shop selling a mirror on the sidewalk and got a good look at what was behind him. Or should that be who? Dan stopped saying, “What is it?”, and turned around. Rev stood there wearing a green hoodie over his uniform, the hood being pulled over his head.

“Nothing Captain,” Rev answered. “The Major let me have some time to explore. Seeing how you were allowed to leave as well I thought I might join you.”

“Uh-huh,” Dan muttered. “And why would you want to hang out with me?”

“It accord to me that you would have a unique view on things. Seeing how you felt a rifle volunteered you.”

“You heard that huh?”, Dan turned around and started walking again. Rev caught up with him and walked by his side.

“I have exceptional hearing for my species.” he said matter of factly. “A gift from the Great Spirit when I was born.”

“Good for you.” They were both quiet for a few yards. “You do realize that one of the others could give you a more interesting tour.”

“Perhaps,” he agreed. “But you and I are teammates because of the negotiations between your military and SPD command. That gives us a unique bond.”

“You probably have more of a bond with the others than you do with me.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You guys are cops, I’m a soldier. There’s not a whole lot we have in common.”

“I didn’t realize that there was a difference.”

“To me there is,” Dan said plainly. “Cops are on call twenty four hours a day. Soldiers only go out when there’s an attack or when the politicians get tired of talking. It’s worlds apart.”

“An interesting outlook Captain,” Rev told him. “Is that why you try to keep your distance from myself and the others?”

“No… I… ,” he tried to find the right words, “it’s hard to explain. I’ve always tried to keep my personal and professional lives separate. It makes it a little easier when I have to make the hard call.”

“The hard call?”, Rev asked with some confusion.

Dan hesitated before answering, “A call were I knew I was sending somebody to their death.”

“You made these ‘hard call’ before I take it.”

“Once or twice,” he stopped remembering those times. “And I’m always lying to myself because it’s never easy.” He found the bookstore he was Pierce was talking about. A crowd was formed in front of it. Some guy was standing above the crowd on the bed of a pickup truck was speaking. It was a speech he heard before.

“And there are more coming every single day!”, he shouted. “We have a hard time finding decent work as it is. Now we have to worry about E.T taking it because it’ll work cheap. Next thing you know it’ll want to live next door. Do you really want one of those freaks living next to you? I sure as hell don’t.” Some in the crowd nodded in agreement. A woman broke away from the crowd and threw a piece of paper in a trash can. Dan took it out and looked it over. At the top of the page was a drawing of the planet Earth with a 1st right in the middle.

Dan read a few words below the picture out loud, “Earth First? Why does that sound familiar? Now I remember,” he snapped his fingers, “these guys were just starting up before I left for Nagaus 7. They were small time back then.”

“They appear to have gained a larger following since then,” Rev said as he looked over the crowd.

“Let’s get out of here before they see you.” They turned around as his License beeped. He pulled it out and switched it to Phone mode, “This is Stevens go.”

“Cap,” Michelle said, “we were able to locate were one of the components came from. The Major wants you back at base pronto.”

“Understood, I have Rev with me and we’re headed back to base now.” He closed it and put back in its holster.

“Ah Captain,” Rev said as he looked over the crowd. “Do you agree with them? Do you believe aliens should not be here?” Before he could answer Dan realized he still had the piece of paper in his hand, and he was looking at the time and place of the next meeting. He crumbled it up and tossed it back into the trash.

“A few months ago I probably would have.”

***

Dan and Rev came out of the elevator to find the others already in place. Pierce nodded at them as they got in line. “I can wait a couple of moments if you want to change into uniform.”

“No need sir, I can do it after the briefing.”

“Very well, Michelle,” he walked over to the screen. An image of an apple orchard appeared. “As hard as it is to believe part of the rifle is being assembled here in upstate Washington.”

“Must have had a lot of bad crops,” Boomer said.

“Not exactly,” Michelle said. “It took me a bit but I was able to get something out of that computer you brought back. I was surprised as you when this popped up when I did a search. So I did a little checking and wasn’t able to find anything, that is until D.E. came to me the results of the rifle breakdown.”

“So what did D.E. find that SPD couldn’t?”, Dan asked.

“The idiot took apart the power core for the rifle,” Pierce said looking at Dead-Eye.

“I’m guessing that’s a bad thing.”

“In a way Cap,” Michelle said. “One of the reasons why this rifle is illegal is because the core is highly unstable. One some planets it’s been known to take out an area of about ten feet when breached or becomes over heated. Its location right under the barrel of the weapon means its chances of taking a hit during combat are rather high.” They all paled a little as they thought of all the crates in the warehouse.

“I think my life just passed before my eyes,” Boomer said.

“You’re not the only one,” Ace told him.

“That would have been nice to know beforehand,” Dan told Pierce.

“Orders from Commander Scorp,” Pierce told them, “He didn’t want anything to hamper your performance in the field.” He looked apologetic, “I didn’t like it either but I had to follow orders.”

“Wait a sec, why wasn’t the explosion bigger then when Boomer blew them up?”, D.E. asked

“Fortunately the Earth version of the model breach only has a range of four feet,” Michelle answered. “Not as bad, but still way below standard galactic regulations. Bedsides I did say the range was ten on some planets.”

“That explains why the crates were spaced like they were,” D.E. said.

“So what did the power source tell us?”

“The whole power core told us nothing,” she reached into a pocket and pulled out a small coil like device. “This, however, was another story. This regulates the power core so it doesn’t explode unexpectedly in the user hands. After a little checking I discovered that only one company in the entire world makes this particular component. And every few months they ship a few boxes to that orchard farm.”

“We sent word to the proper authorities to have the company checked out and find out why they were shipping these to a place that grows apples for a living,” Pierce said. “We can’t touch that company but these guys,” he pointed at the screen, “are a different story. Your job is to go in and take them out.”

“One word of warning,” Michelle added. “One of the chemicals used to make the core is toxic to organic life. So whoever’s in there might be using Anaroids to build them.”

“So expect heavy resistance, anything else?”

“One thing, any information I could find about the place only goes as far as 2000. I’ll keep checking but you may have a lot of blanks to fill in.”

“One of Caps favorite things is filling in blanks,” Pierce told her, “right?” Dan nodded once. “Alright them, go get them.”

“Rodger!”, they saluted and went off.

***

The Shepard landed in a clear patch in the orchard that was a couple of miles from the target building. Dan had them keep to the trees and off the roads as much as possible. When the processing building came into view he pulled out a pair of binoculars and surveyed the area. “Nothing on the outside of the building… wait,” he adjusted the binoculars slightly. “I got an Anaroid.”

“Where?”, D.E. pulled out a pair.

“Ground floor, third window from the left.”

“Got it.” He checked out a few spots, “I got a couple on the roof too.”

“I see them.” He put the binoculars back into his pack. This might be a little tough.

“I can take out the ones on the roof from here,” D.E. reached for his pack, Dan stopped him.

“Not unless you can take them all out with one shot. Rev, can you get any life sign reading from here?”

“No Captain,” he said while doing something with the scanner in his hand. “Whatever they are using to jam our sensors is still effective at this range.” Dan looked up and saw an owl sitting a tree. That building had a half mile dead zone around it. Somebody was hiding something there alright.

“Cap,” Boomer called out, “our radios are being jammed too.” Dan pulled out his License, he was just barely getting a signal from the others though the static.

“That’s a damn good field,” Ace said. “I didn’t see anything thing on the roof when we did the fly by on the way in. More than likely it’s inside there.”

“I think you’re right.” He studied the whole situation in his head. “I’m changing the mission profile. Boomer you’re going to find whatever is doing the jamming. Find a way to counteract it so we don’t have to go through this again down the line. Ace, back him up.”

“Rodger,” Ace replied.

“You got it,” Boomer added.

“Like I told you before I want gun fire kept to a minimum. If you have to fire aim high. I’m not in the mood to get blown up.” They nodded, they weren’t much in the mood for it either. “All right just like we discussed on the Shepard, we’re going in full gear.”

They pulled out their Ops License, “Emergency! DekaOps!”

With Rev backing him up Dan went first. He ducked under a window as an Anaroid passed by and waited a moment before making sure the area was clear. Rev motioned that the roof was clear so he gave the signal for the others to come in. Boomer checked a device from his pack and looked up. He was getting a reading from the second floor. D.E. pointed out a staircase and they went up. Dan made the others get in the staircase when he heard something coming around the corner. He reached behind his back and pulled out his D-Knife. An Anaroid passed the stairwell that he quickly grabbed and stabbed in the power core. “One down,” he whispered.

***

Much to his surprise Boomer and Ace found the jammer pretty quickly. Now if only it wasn’t in a rather open room. Ace pulled out her D-Shooter as Boomer made his way to the device. She kept her eyes on the hallway they came from and the one on the other side of the room. “Exactly how much time are you going to need?”

“Depends on what kind of encryption their using,” he went to work on the keyboard.

“Just use that hacking device Michelle came up with.”

“If you can find Cap and get him or it up here before they find me I’ll use it.”

“Cap had Michelle make it standard equipment in our backs remember,” she reached into hers and pulled it out.

“When did he tell you about that?”

“Same time he told all of us, this morning in the rec room.”

“Was I even there?”

“I just got done kicking your butt in that wrestling game you made me play. He asked if you heard him and you said yes.” Boomer grunted and took the device from her hand. “You still owe me twenty bucks from that game.” Boomer shot her a nasty look behind the helmet.

***

Resistance was kind of sparse as Dan and the others made their way into the building. Fortunately they were able to take care of things rather quickly and quietly. D.E. was having a hard time of it at first but he was holding his own. Rev grabbed one and turned it’s had completely around. As they were hiding the bodies Dan scouted ahead. He peered around a corner and saw a large room. Reaching into his pack he pulled out the sky probe and tossed it into the air. It hovered in mid air for a second before silently flying about the room. Rev and D.E. walked up as an image came to life on the pad in his hand.

The room looked like some kind of processing plant, maybe some of the machines were used to turn the apples into cider or something. Several robots, not just Anaroids, were working at tables spread across the room. He saw a couple that were inserting the regulator coil into the power core. He also spotted several barrels of one of the chemicals Michelle said was needed for the power core. Then he noticed two people in an enclosed area. Obviously to protect them from the chemicals. For once he was glad the Dekasuit had a helmet to filter it out. The two in the glass cage were leopard-seijin, just like the one at the warehouse. He adjusted the controls until he could hear what they were saying through the glass, and that damn static.

“… don’t like this,” the one with a more reddish tint to his fur said. “We should have heard from Jeter by know.”

“Maybe SPD got him,” the other one said.

“Don’t be an idiot! There’s no SPD unit here or in California. Hell little brother, there’s no unit in this entire country.”

“There’s supposed to be one starting in the mid-west.”

“That’s the mid-west this is here. Now relax, that new Agent is suppose to be here at any time.”

“Yes brother,” the other said as he sat in chair and tried to do as he was told.

Dan called back the probe as his License beeped, he got a clear signal. “Good job Boomer,” he whispered into it.”

“Thanks Cap,” he said at a normal tone before Dan shushed him. A robot looked their way before but it went back to work. A little more quietly he said, “What’s your position?”

“We found the lab and who’s in charge. Can you get to it from the second floor?”

“I don’t think so, but Ace found a second set of stairs. She said it looks like it leads to a large room with machines.”

“That’s the room. Can you see two leopards in a glass cage from where you’re at?”

“Cap, this is Ace,” she cut in. “There about twenty feet in front of my position.”

“Ok I want the two of you to hold back for a moment. Me, Rev and D.E. are going to make ourselves known. While we’re distracting them you two try to capture the ones in the cage.”

“Rodger,” they answered.

Dan motioned for the others to follow him. They went about five feet into the room before hiding behind whatever cover they could find. Getting D.E. attention he motioned at one of the lamps hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. He nodded and took out his D-Shooter. Taking careful aim he fired a single shot. A lamp crashed to the floor catching the leopard’s attention. Dan and Rev pulled out their D-Rods as they came out of hiding, “SPD, Freeze!”

“You said there wasn’t any units here!”

“Shut up Mort, Anaroids get them.” The robots stopped their tasks and picked up a blade.

“You know what to do,” Dan said before they charged. Rev pushed one into a robot that was still working, both fell into a vat of chemicals. D.E. slide between the legs of one Anaroid and fired into the chest of the one behind it. The first one spun around and kicked the D-Shooter out of his hand. It grabbed him by the neck and hauled him up. D.E. struggled for a bit before reaching for a wielder and jammed it into the Anaroids head. It sputtered for a bit before letting him go and fell to the floor in a heap. Dan blocked a blade that was coming at him and stabbed an Anaroid in the chest. One kicked him from behind knocking him to the ground. Five jumped on top of him at once. Rev rushed over and threw them off. He helped Dan to his feet and they stood side by side, “I owe you one.”

“We are team mates,” he said, “we are supposed to protect each other.”

“All right you two,” Ace’s rang out. “Call off the Anaroids.” She and Boomer had their D-Shooters out and pointed at the cage.

“Don’t take you sweet time or nothing,” Dan mumbled as he eyed a couple of Anaroids in front of him.

“One last time, call off the Anaroids. If you don’t me and my partner will shot out the glass.”

“Go ahead, the glass is bulletproof.”

“Is it bomb proof too?”, Boomer asked. He had some explosives in his hand. In moments the other one hit a button on the control panel and all the robots stopped moving.

“Mort!”, the red one screamed.

“I don’t know if it’s bomb proof or not,” he cried. The red one grabbed Mort by the collar and pulled him through a door behind him.

“Outside now!”, Dan ordered. It took a few moments to find a door that lead to the outside. A delivery truck raced out of a garage and nearly ran them over. “Ace!’

“I got the Shepard on its way,” she told him. After several long moments the Shepard came into view. They quickly boarded the jet and went after the truck. They were able to catch up in no time.

“D.E. fire a couple of rounds.”

“Right,” he pressed a button on his counsel. On the wings panel slide away revealing four machine gun type weapons. He fired a short round that bounced off a field that sprung up around the truck. “Ok I didn’t see that coming.”

“The laser might get through it,” Ace offered.

“Captain,” Rev said, “I’m getting a strange reading from the truck.”

“What kind of reading?”

“Let me see it,” D.E. called out. “I was afraid of that. They’re carrying power cores on that truck.

“That counts out the laser,” Ace said.

“I hope you got a plan B,” Boomer told him.

Dan got out of his chair saying, “D.E. you’re with me, we’re doing a hot drop with the Hounds.” He nodded and followed him into the cargo area. The each jumped into a hole that was on either side of the hold. “We’re ready to drop.”

“The Shepard’s at hot drop height and speed,” Ace called back. Dan and D.E. braced themselves as she said, “Hot dropping in three… two… one now!” The floor under them slid away and two modified black and white SV650S dropped to the ground below engines running. They gunned it until they caught up with the truck. Mort opened the passenger side door and leaned out firing away with a rifle. Dan switched his D-Colt over to mutishot and fired back. He wasn’t aiming at Mort, but close enough that he had to go back inside.

“Go!”, he shouted as he fired out a few more rounds. D.E. raced ahead and got in front of the truck. Dan made sure neither of the Leopards took a pot shot at him. He was just glad the red one wasn’t swerving the truck, guessing he didn’t want the cores to explode either. D.E. slowed down just enough to make sure the truck engine was in range. He pressed a button on the Hound’s weapon panel and a metal spike shot out toward the grill. It bounced off the field. D.E. cursed as the truck speed up. He had to turn off the road to avoid getting run over. Dan stopped his Hound to check on him, “You all right?”

“Yeah,” D.E. sounded disgusted, “the disruptor spike didn’t get through the field. I don’t suppose you have a plan C?”

“I’ll make one up, come on.” They both went after the truck. He honestly had no idea on how they were going to stop that truck.

“Cap!”, D.E. shouted and pointed at something. The Shepard was flying low and fast and the nose cone was splitting open into four parts. “What are they doing?”

“Boomer now!”, Ace yelled. Boomer was sitting at D.E.’s station and pulled a trigger. The four ends started glowing. A yellow energy beam came from each point and met in the middle. A stronger beam shot out of it and blew a chunk out of the road ahead of them. Boomer kept firing until a huge hole was left forcing the truck to stop.

“Get out and run Mort,” his brother said. But as soon as they got out Dan and D.E. grabbed them and jumped the hole. They brought the bikes to a stop and threw the leopards forewords. “Damn it!”

“Now what do we do Brother?”

They got of the Hounds as Dan switched his License to Judge mode, “Target orders”, he pressed the button on top and the white plate opened up. The area around the turned black as a red X and a blue circle started flashing. After the Leopards were scanned a red X shined brightly, “Eliminate targets.” They unlatched their D-Shots from their pack and hooked their license into them, “Ready.” They pulled back the grip, inside energy traveled through the D-Shot until it came to the Barrel. They leveled their weapons at the Leopards. “Strikeout!”, Dan called out as they pulled the triggers. Two blue energy stream hit the Leopards-seijin, deleting them, “Got you.”

***

They found the Shepard nearby, the others were waiting outside. All of them had already deactivated their Dekasuits. Dan jumped off his Hound, “Exactly who’s crazy ass idea was that?!”

“It was her,” Boomer pointed at Ace, “it was all her idea.” Ace shot him a look that could kill. He hid behind Rev, “She threatened to tear my… thing off and stick it were the sun didn’t shine.”

Dan walked up to her, “Is that true?”

“Yes it is,” she looked him right in the eye. “I saw the opening to stop that truck and made the call. If I was in this situation again I’d do it the same way.” Dan crossed his arms and stared her down. She didn’t back away from it.

Finally he said, “I always said my second in command needed to be a little crazy, congratulations. D.E. let’s get the Hounds back on board.”

Ace was stunned, “You’re making me second in command?”

“What!”, Boomer yelled. “Didn’t you hear what she said to me?”

“Yes and that was pretty tame compared to some the threats I’ve come out with over the years.”

“But D.E. and Rev outrank her.”

“You two got a problem with that?”, Dan asked them.

“My rank is honorary because of my status as a doctor,” Rev said.

D.E. added, “Being in charge gives me a rash.”

“Works for me,” Dan said.

“You got a problem taking orders from a girl?”, Ace asked Boomer.

“No,” he answered a little too defensively. Dan was about to break it up when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. There was a distorted shape in front of the tree to his right. It like almost like an arm. Dan and Rev aimed their SP-Shooters at the same tree.

“What is it?”, Ace asked, her hand on her weapon.

“I heard something,” Rev told her.

“That’s good,” Dan said, “because I’m pretty sure I saw something. Give me a scan.” Rev took out his scanner.

“We are the only life forms in the immediate area,” he answered after taking several scans.

Dan holstered his weapon, “We’re probably still a little jumpy. Boomer contact OpsBase and have them send a crew out here to take care of the lab and this truck. Let’s go home folks.” They loaded the Hounds back onto the Shepard and Dan took one last look around before closing the ramp. He was sure he saw something. In minutes the Shepard was air borne and headed back to base.

By that tree the air shimmered revealing a chameleon-seijin wearing a cloak. His eyes narrowed as he watched the Shepard fly off in the distance. “Stevens,” he growled before turning invisible again.