Special Police DekaOps – episode 13, Observer

Special Police DekaOps

13

Dan sat behind his desk going over the morning reports the Major thought he should check over. Usually the routine things or if he wanted a second opinion on something. He opened one file and gave a quick glance at the first page. Dan grunted as he took the page out of the file, he snuck in one of Ace’s request forms again. Either he was going to have to talk to the Major about this or he was going to have to tell Ace to cool it with the requests. God he was wanting a novel in his hands right about now. The call button in his door went off. “It’s open,” he told the person as he read the file.

The door opened and somebody, he wasn’t really paying attention who, walked in. Before he knew it Michelle was jumping in his lap. “So, Dan, what are you doing for lunch?”, she asked like nothing was out of place.

“You had to do this to ask me?”

“Just making sure I had your attention.”

“You always have my full attention,” he told her as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Then something on his desk started beeping, “Now what?”

Michelle checked the comm. display on his desk. “You have an interstellar call coming in,” she said feeling a little confused. “It’s marked private.”

“You sure it’s for me?”, he had no idea what was going on. Who would be calling him?

“Ops1, DekaOps Earth,” she informed him, She got off his lap so he could get up. He went over to his office wall comm. and activated it.

“ID verification,” he said to the monitor, “Stevens, Daniel. Voice code ‘Puss ‘n’ Boots’.”

“Puss ‘n’ Boots?”, Michelle asked with a smirk.

“Would you have guessed it?” The screen came to life. A tiger-sejin in a similar black uniform stared back at him. Dan grinned at seeing his old training buddy, “Tony the Tiger.”

The tiger raised an eyebrow, “How long are you going to keep calling me that furless?”

“For as long as you keep calling me furless.” The tiger chuckled and Dan joined in. “I’m pretty sure you’re not using SPD equipment to make a personal call so what’s up?”

“Correct, I’m breaking a couple of regulations here, but I thought I should give you a heads up.” He looked around him before continuing, “You have a sheriff heading your way.”

“A sheriff? You talking about that bull guy?”

“Think a little further back furless. I’m talking about a Space Sheriff.”

“Those were the guys before SPD. I didn’t think they were still around.”

“There are a few still out there patrolling the space lanes, but most of them went into the command chain when things got reorganized into SPD.”

Dan furrowed his brow, “So why is one coming here?”

“Tony” grunted, “This one a personal acquaintance of Commander Scorp and wanted to inspect the black badge units personally. I believe he is what you would call a real hard ass. He really put my unit through the wringer while he was here.”

“Great,” Dan muttered. Just what he needed, a pencil pusher breathing down his neck. “So when can I expect him to show up?”

A warning claxon went off and a voice over the base intercom said, “We have an incoming craft requesting clearance to land. All hands on standby.”

“I’d say in about a few moments,” the tiger chuckled.

“Thanks for the advanced warning,” Dan said sarcastically.

“Any time furless,” and the screen went blank.

***

Dan and Michelle made it to the hanger right when the ceiling doors were closing. The Major looked caught off guard as well as they fell in. The black and white craft hissed as a ramp on it’s side lowered. An individual with pointed ears and a bluish tint to his skin came walking out. He was wearing the uniform of SPD high Command. They all stood at attention when they say him. He looked them over, “Please relax, it looks like something is going to burst.”

Despite their best effort to hide it, that took them by surprise. The Major stepped forward, “I like to welcome you to OpsBase Commander…?”

“Trytan,” he informed him.

“Commander Trytan. I apologize for the look of the place, we weren’t expecting anybody and my chief engineer and her crew just got done with the Machine Shepard’s routine maintenance.”

“That’s the way I like it Maj. Pierce. May I call you Henry?”

“If you wish,” he said.

“Good, I hate the pomp and circumstance of the official visits. Everything seems so artificial and fake. No I prefer to catch you guys in your natural environment as it were.”

Once again the Major tried not to look like he was caught off guard. “Let me introduce you to my senior staff.” He turned to the others, “This is my second in command and team field leader Capt. Daniel Stevens.”

“Commander,” Dan saluted.

“Captain,” Trytan saluted back. “You stand like a warrior, I like that.”

“And this is our information officer, Lt. Michelle Chavez.”

“Commander,” she smiled warmly.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said.

“My previously mentioned chief engineer and second in command of the field unit Sgt. Trish Fieldman.” They traded pleasantries. “And the rest of the field unit: Sgt. Terry Kennedy, weapons, Sgt. Ranzack, our medic, and Sgt. Robert Parker, communications and explosives.” They all saluted and Trytan acknowledged them. “If you want we can arrange for you and your pilot to freshen up for a bit before we continue.”

“That would just be me Henry,” Trytan informed him. “Blame it on my Space Sheriff days but I have never been comfortable with somebody flying the ship for me. But I will take you up on that offer to rest a bit before I inspect your unit. Maybe put them through their paces while I’m here.”

“Right, if you would follow me please,” Pierce gestured to the door. Ace had her crew start in on Trytan’s ship while the others watched them leave.

Michelle leaned over and whispered, “That’s supposed to be a hard ass?”

Dan just stared at the door, “Unless he turns into a drill sergeant I’m going to skin that cat.”

***

A couple of hours later Commander Trytan wanted to see them in action before they did anything else. Starting with how fast they could get field ready and launch the Machine Shepard. Which they did in near record time. Trytan stood in the center of the cabin as they were doing what they were suppose to do during the test flight. “I’m sorry about the accommodations Commander“, Dan said again. “You’re more than welcome to my chair.”

“And that would disrupt things more than I already have Captain. Although if I could I would like to take the controls for a few moments before we head back.”

“Do you want to lose an arm?”, Boomer muttered.

“Boomer,” D.E. warned him softly.

The Commander laughed, “I totally understand, I was the same way back in the day. I’d rather die than let someone else pilot my vessel.”

“Pardon my interruption Commander,” Rev spoke up, “but you had two vessels during your career, is that correct?”

“Yes I did,” Trytan said while looking impressed, “I’m surprised you knew that Ranzack. I’m not one of the legendary Space Sheriffs.”

“The history of the Space Sheriffs has always fascinated me Commander. When my studies would allow I as usually buried in any data text I could find.”

Trytan nodded, “Then you already know how I lost my first ship, the Waverider.”

“Yes sir, but I was hoping to get your perspective on the event.”

“My perspective is in the report Ranzack. I was after a scientist who was trying to decode our weaponry and armor technology. I located him but he was heavily guarded. They were able to force me away from the base. Next thing I knew there was a large flash of light and the base and my ship disappeared.”

“So what happened,” Dan asked, “did this guy trip a self destruct?”

“Nobody’s sure,” Trytan said. “That was the best guess anybody came up with. But there’s no actual evidence to support that theory. And that case has never been closed because of it.”

Boomer spoke up, “My Grandfather was a cop too. He told me there were a couple he had a couple of cases he could never solve while he was on the force, even after he retired. Those cases still bug him to this day.”

“I understand your Grandfather’s feeling. I still go over the data collected on that day.”

The comm. board went off, “Cap, we got an incoming from OpsBase.”

Out of habit Dan said, “Put it on screen.” The Major appeared on the monitor over the cockpit window.

“I hate to interrupt, but satellites have picked up a strange signal in Brazil. And it wasn’t there before.”

“Right, we’ll return to base and drop off the…”

“If it’s all the same to you Captain,” Trytan interrupted, “but I think I’ll accompany you on this one. My mission is to observe how you operate, what better way than on an actual mission.”

His gut told Dan to reject this idea, but unfortunately the Commander outranked him if he decided to push it. The Major thought the same thing, “I’m not sure that’s wise Commander. There’s no way to guarantee your safety if anything happens.

“I’m fully aware of that Henry. I’ll take full reasonability for myself, besides I am part of SPD.”

Well, there was no way out of this one. He did not need somebody out there trying to give orders over him. “Send us the location of the signal. We’ll go silent ops as soon as the transmission ended.”

“Michelle sending it now Cap, OpBase out,” His image faded as the lost the signal.

“Pardon me Capt. Stevens,” Trytan said right after, “but silent ops?”

“I can’t speak for the other Ops units but it’s a factor in our operation here,” Dan explained.” Essentially it means we’re on our own until we get back to base.”

“I got the signal location Cap,” Boomer said. “I’m sending Ace the co-ordinates.”

“Got ‘em, I’m plotting the course now.”

“Can I see the signal wavelength?”, Trytan asked. “I may recognize it.”

Dan’s common sense overrode his gut reaction. The Commander might recognize it and he was trained to use any resource available. “D.E. pull it up and show the Commander.”

“Right here Commander,” D.E. slid over a bit. As Trytan looked at he looked surprised for a brief moment. “Do you recognize it?

“What…?”, he was startled. “No, it’s vaguely familiar, but I don’t want to say anything until I’m completely sure.”

“Right.” Dan pulled up a map, “No offence Commander but…”

“Don’t worry Captain I will stay away from the battlefield. I know my presence would interfere with your team dynamics.” Dan nodded, at least they understood each other.

***

The trip to Brazil was uneventful. Then they got in range of the signal and a volley from the ground was launched in their direction. “Incoming!”, D.E. yelled out.

“Hang on!”, Ace commanded as she tried to maneuver the Shepard between the blast, “How in the hell are they seeing us? The cloak is still on.” Trytan remained stone faced during the whole ordeal.

“Get this bird on the ground now,” Dan told her.

“Right,” Ace replied. Waiting for a blast to go off near them D.E. hit a control and something on the hull exploded leaving a smoke trail. Ace put the ship into a near vertical dive.

“Is this a wise maneuver?”, Trytan asked while hanging on for dear life. “They’ll know where we are.”

“They can see us anyway,” Ace told him. “And hopefully it should give us some breathing room on the way down.” As the ground quickly approached she pulled the stick back to pull the jet out of the dive and hit the landing thrusters. The ship landed with a thud as they were tossed around. “I am not looking forward to seeing what that damaged when we get back.”

“Worry about it later,” Dan said as he got out of his seat and headed for the ramp. “Whoever behind this is going to send out a search party so we don’t have much time.” He turned to the Commander, “Now what the hell is going on?”

“Do you think I had something to do with this?”

“We go out on a test flight in full gear on your order. We suddenly get a mission where the supposed enemy can see us. You tell me what I’m supposed to think.”

“Captain I couldn’t plan something like this if I wanted to, especially on a planet as divided as this one.”

“Then what was that signal? And don’t give that bullshit about you’re not being sure.” The others stared at him like he grew a second head.

“I appreciate your concern…”

“My team safety is my only concern right now Commander,” he cut him off.

Trytan nodded and conceded, “It was from my ship.”

“The one that disappeared?”, Rev asked.

“The very one. It… took me by surprise.”

“This scientist you mentioned,” Dan said, “his name wasn’t Gremlin was it?”

“No, it was Drago. But I think he had an assistant by that name. Did you run into him?”

“In Hawaii awhile back, he was copying SPD tech. Kind of like the guy you mentioned.”

“I guess he survived too if my ship did.” Trytan looked apologetic, “I’m sorry Captain, I should have said something sooner.”

“Worry about it later,” Dan said as he hit the ramp control. “If we’re going to get out of here we’re going to have to take out those guns. Since they’re looking for us they’re going to find us. Commander, can you take out the guns while we had off the main force?”

Trytan was surprised, “What about the safety of your unit?”

“We don’t know what kind of defenses they have. A single man has a better chance of sneaking in.”

“Especially if they’re distracted. So why me?”

“As far as I’m concerned,” Dan said as he went down the ramp, “this is still you case.” He looked him in the eyes, “Time to put this one to rest Commander.”

Tryatn looked moved, “Thank you Captain.” He looked at the others before heading off into the jungle.

Dan pulled out his knife and SP-Shooter, “Buy him as much time as you can.”

“Strike hard and strike fast,” Ace added. Dan nodded. A group of Anaroids came into view. They shot them as soon as they saw them.

“That’s going to attract attention, move,” Dan ordered.

***

Batsuroids and an Igadroid were studying monitors and sensors under a canopy. One of the search groups had failed to check in. Another reported that they found a craft of some sort right before contact was lost. Sitting on a rock in the sun was an old lizard, it’s green scales brittle and on the verge of falling off. It injected itself with something and started moving with a new a new energy. “Status report,” he said to the Igadroid.

“We have lost two,” a Batsuroid in the back said something, “correction, three of the search parties. The fourth heard something by one of the generators and are investigating now.”

“Show me where they are.” The lizard walked to a table that had a map of the surrounding area.

“We lost the three in this area,” the Igadroid pointed in the area were the craft went down. “The fourth is here in this area,” it’s hand moved a few inches to the left.”

“They apparently split up. Fortify the defenses around the base. I don’t want them sneaking in.”

“Yes Prof. Drago.”

Drago looked at the ship in the background, he knew that’s why they come. He spent fifteen years using that ship to get himself back to this dimension. He was not about to let whoever it was take it from him.

On the other side of the camp Trytan was sneaking around. He recognized the tech those generators and sensors were based on and was able to bypass it quickly and send a group of them in the wrong direction. Stevens and his team may have been acting as a decoy for him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make their job a little easier. Finding one of the turrets he tried to find out how it worked. The turret itself was automated, but was controlled by an outside source. He knew what that source was and headed for the ship. Avoiding several patrols made his way to his old ship and closed in on an entry hatch. Much to his surprise his access code still worked. A wave of nostalgia came over him as he looked at the inside. He shook his head, he would have time for this later.

Trytan headed for the main computer and started searching programs. Finding the turret program he deactivated them and sent out a false signal to the read outs. That done, he dove into the records and discovered what happened twenty years ago. Drago had accidentally opened a huge dimensional gate that had swallowed the base and his ship. He escaped about five years ago. Well that was one mystery solved now they had to take care of Drago. “Tryatn to Stevens,” he spoke into his Command License. “The turrets are deactivated, but there are guards everywhere.”

“Understood Commander, we’re on our way. Stevens out.

Tryatn looked at the License in his hand. This was how he did things now. But this was an old case. He searched the computer again to see if a certain set of programs was still active.

***

Dan hid behind the foliage that surrounded the ship and the base. Rows of Anaroids and Batsuroids surrounded the vessel. He wasn’t kidding when he said they were everywhere. “Light it up!”, Dan shouted. Seeing the odds Boomer threw two flash grenades, they use the moment they had to charge in. “Change standby,” as one they pulled out their OpLicense. “Emergency! DekaOps!”

Each of them was surrounded by a digital field. Dekametal covered their bodies and turned into a black bodysuit. A colored striped ran down their bodies and formed their number on the left side of their chest. A backpack and the D-Shot appeared on their backs. “Face on!”, they shouted and a helmet formed around their heads. “Special Police,” the light on the side of their helmets flashed, “DekaOps!”

“And I thought those fools in the Space Sheriffs only had the audacity to attack in the open,” Drago said from the rear. “I guess such stupidity traveled to the next generation.”

“Give it up Drago,” Dan said. “This isn’t your fight anymore.”

“Those so called Alienizers thought the same thing, until I met one who believed I could reverse SPD technology by using the Space Sheriff’s. And I have had success. Shot me,” he ordered the Igadroid who complied. The shot deflect off of him as something flashed around him. “This force field may not be as flashy as your Dekasuits or the Sheriffs armor but it does the job. Did you know your weaponry is very similar to theirs? That disappointed me a little, it made my job a little too easy. Kill them, but try to salvage one of their Licenses. They intrigue me.”

“Not so fast Drago!” Everybody looked up, Trytan stood on top of his ship.

“Slag Trytan, I’m surprised you’re still around. Still protecting the space ways as one of these Deka fools?”

“Yes, but with trash as old as you I’m not even going to use my License.” He held out left hand, palm open. Quickly he swung the arm behind him and knelt down. He stood up pumping his right hand into the air. In less than a second he was covered in a green colored plasma energy. It quickly faded away and he was covered head to toe in body armor with a greenish tint, eyes glowing yellow. Holding his left arm up again he announced, “Defender of the space ways!” He swung his left arm back and crossed his right in front of his chest, “Space Sheriff Trytan!”

“Now that’s old school,” Boomer said. Trytan jumped off the ship and landed by them ready to fight.

“You sure you didn’t plan this?”, Dan asked with a bit of humor in his voice.

“Not even in my wildest dreams Captain.” The force in front of them looked like they were getting ready to attack.

Dan glanced at his team then over to Trytan, “Give the word Commander.”

“The word is given Captain.” Both sides charged the other as Drago watched from the back. Ace used her D-Rod to smash any Anaroid that came near her. Rev used his D-Knife to stab a Batsuroid as he shot at what was coming up behind him with his other hand. D.E and Boomer ran side by side firing way with their D-Shooters. Dan was unloading with his D-Shot at point blank range. Trytan jumped up and shot several Anaroids with his blaster, as he landed he holstered that one and drew his sword and cut down several more.

Dan and Trytan ended up back to back as a group surrounded them. He watched the bots as he held up his D-Shot and told him, “Not bad for an old timer.”

“Old?”, he said. “You’re only as young as you feel junior.”

“If you say so. Now!”, following Dan lead they jumped away from each other and fired at whatever bot was closest.

“Tri Cutter!” Trytan held up two fingers and a triangle shape laser blasted a Batsuroid that was coming up behind Dan.

“Nice trick,” Dan said.

“Surprises them every time.” Trytan told him right before he headed for another group.

“Squash them,” Drago said and the Igadroid ran off. Moments later the ground started shaking.

“Whoa,” D.E. exclaimed while trying to keep his footing, “is this an earthquake?” A Dragon shaped monster mech came out of the ground. They had to jumped out of the way as a foot came at them.

“Now what?”, Ace asked. Dan had absolutely no idea what to do now. Maybe if they got back to the ship and aimed the laser at that thing’s cockpit.

Trytan stepped forward, “Leave this to me. The Waverider might be old but she still has some life in her.” Almost on cue the old ship lifted off the ground. It flew circles around the dragon mech firing it’s weapons at it. “Fire mode,” Tyrtan said standing with his right side facing the mech. A giant green outline of his armor formed in the air above him. The Waverider hovered between the image and the mech.

“I heard about this but I didn’t believe it,” Dan muttered as he watched. The ship started changing. The wing folded down and connected under the hull. The nose section split open and folded under as well. Following Trytan’s movements the image reached out and held the ship like a gun.

“Maximum wave cannon”, Trytan called out, “Fire!” A massive stream of energy shot out and destroyed the mech.

“Captain,” Rev said as he saw Drago run.

“Stop him,” Dan ordered. They didn’t have to chase after Drago for long. He was already at the controls of a device hidden in a column.

“If Trytan thinks he has total control of that ship resources, he is mistaken.” A portal opened that swallowed Drago and DekaOps up.”

“No,” Trytan whispered. He hurried to the controls. Drago was using his ship to power a gateway into that dimension he was caught in. And from the looks of things he fixed it so that if the panel was messed with the portal would be sealed off forever. “I hope you guys area as good as Scorp claims you are Captain.”

***

They were flung through a dimensional rift and were dumped in what looked like a rock quarry. But the sky was purple with various objects hanging in mid air. Dan and the others could feel the heat through their Dekasuits. “What the fuck just happened?!”, he demanded.

“This is not good,” Rev said as he looked around.

“Spill it Rev,” Dan ordered.

“Some of the organizations the Sheriffs went up against had access to a unique dimension. It increased their warriors’ strength and abilities as a side effect.”

“That is correct insect,” Drago came out of nowhere and fast. He slashed Dan, D.E. and Rev before any of them knew it. “I spent fifteen years of my life in this bastard place.” He came in again and nailed Ace and Boomer. “It may have increased my strength but the prolonged exposure took years off my life.” Rev pulled out something but Drago destroyed it the moment it appeared.

Dan grunted in pain as he got up, “How did the Sheriffs deal with this situation?”

“They had special sensors to detect the creature. And Drago just destroyed my scanner.”

Dan looked at him as the idea for a plan B hit him, “Then we use the next best thing. Surround and cover Rev.” The four of them stood and circled around Rev, their backs to him. Not taking his eyes off the area in front of him Dan said, “Rev…”.

“I understand Captain,” Rev calmed himself and said a quick prayer to the Great Spirit. First he concentrated on his own heartbeat to focus himself. Then he listened to the hearts of his friends. The increased beatings of their hearts the only thing betraying the anxiety they were feeling. Then he listened past them into the quarry itself. A moving heartbeat caught his attention. He looked at Dan’s back, “Eight o’ clock.”

“Fire!,” he ordered as D-Colt and D-Shooter were pointed in that direction. The first few shots hit nothing. Then two hit Drago’s shield. “Concentrate your fire their!”

“Slag it,” Drago cursed as the barrage forced him backwards. He hit another control on his belt and a portal opened. “Enjoy your stay here.”

“Move it!”, he ordered but they were already running. They jumped through the portal right before it closed. Drago was leaning against a rock trying to inject himself with something. He dropped the injector when he saw them come through. “Target orders!”, Dan held out his License. The area went dark as a red X and a blue circle flashed in front of Drago. After a minute the Red X shined in front of him, “Eliminate Target.” Locking their OpsLicence into the D-Shots, D.E. and Boomer went to a knee as the other stood behind them. “Strikeout!,” five energy streams hit Drago.

“Ha!”, Drago barked as his energy shield flickered on and off before disappearing completely, the control on his belt smoking. They couldn’t believe he was still standing after that. “You Space Police think you’re so invincible! You can’t eliminate me, not even those so called legendary Space Sheriffs could do it.”

“You sure about that,” Dan said as he hooked his D-Shot to his pack. Drago felt a presence behind him and turned to see Trytan standing there.

“This ends now Drago,” he stated. He held his sword up chest high as lightning struck around him. Holding his left hand in front of the blade he slowly went down the length of the sword, green energy forming around the blade. He swung it around a few times before holding it above his head.

“No!” Drago cried as he tried to back away.

“Dynamic slash!”, he swung the sword down at him, the energy slicing through him like nothing. Drago spun around before falling to the ground and exploding.

Dan threw the thumbs down, “Got you.”

Trytan turned his back to the explosion, “Mission complete.” Then he added softly, “Finally.”

***

Trytan powered down the armor and just stared at his old ship. Memory flowed through him as he laid a hand on it. Dan walked up behind him, removing his hat. He waited a few moments before speaking, “We finally secured he area Commander.” Trytan nodded but kept looking at his ship. Dan slowly walked up and stood beside him, “It must be built pretty solid to survive this long.”

“Yes it is, she got me through a few close calls. It broke my hearts when I thought I lost her.” Finally he looked at Dan, “Thank you once again Captain.”

“Like I said it was still your case, we were just the backup squad.” They were quiet for a few moments, “I also wanted to apologize for accusing you for planning this whole thing.”

“Don’t apologize Captain,” he told him. “In my day we were on our own, some of us may have had a partner but we were alone. Now a days things are different, and you have a unit to worry about. In fact, I would have been disappointed in you if your unit’s safety wasn’t your primary concern.”

Dan nodded in understanding, “So I imagine you’ll be taking the Waverider back to SPD HQ. Maybe take on a few mission here and there.”

“Oh no,” Trytan laughed, surprising Dan, “I’ll let SPD take her back. Besides she belongs in a museum and my space patrolling days are long behind me. No, I’ll leave that to you and this current generation. And the ones like Gavan, some of us think he going to die on his feet during one of them.” Trytan smiled at him, “But I do have to say I had a blast doing this one more time.”

Dan laughed, “At least one of us did.”

“Oh my, the other inspections are going to be quite boring compared to this one. Say, how well to you know this Zzyrax?”

“Not that well, just that he’s a telepath.”

“Slag,” Trytan said looking disappointed. “Then I guess he’ll know I’d asked you to call him right before I landed then.”

Dan looked at him in disbelief, “You put ‘Tony’ up to that?”

“Well he was rather reluctant until I told him it was you,” Trytan grinned. Dan shook his head and laughed. “Let’s head back to that base of yours. I’m sure Henry will want to know that despite the rather unusual circumstances, your unit passed my inspection with flying colors.” He put an arm around his shoulder, “Tell me Captain, how did you survive that dimension?”

“My medic has really good hearing.”

“Alright,” Trytan said pointing a finger at him, “now I’m going to need details on that one.”