Special Police DekaOps

16

It was a quiet couple of days and most of the OpsBase personnel were trying to find something to do to keep themselves busy. Ace kept her crew busy by upgrading the Machine Shepard and Hounds systems. D.E. was in the practice range keeping his skills sharp. Rev sat in the rec room reading a medical text while Boomer, who got all his work done early, played a game on the television screen. Rev watched his friend play and felt his finger twitch slightly.

After signing his name to the last piece of paperwork on his desk Dan was called to the Command Room. Michelle gave him a slight smile as he entered that he returned before going all business again. “What’s the emergency?”, he asked.

“We’re not sure yet,” the Major answered. “SPD satellites have been getting a strange energy reading inside the Andes Mountains inside Peru.”

“I’m linking up to the next satellite that’s scheduled to pass over the area in a few moments,” Michelle announced. A few keystrokes on the keyboard later and the big screen came to life. A mountain range appeared and the image froze a second later. Various readouts flashed over the image as Michelle’s fingers danced over the keyboard.

“Any luck Michelle?”, the Major asked.

“I’m running the energy signature through every database we have now,” she told him. “Nothing,” she said after a few minutes sounding disappointed in herself, “the reading too faint to make out clearly. I think some sort of damper be involved here.”

“That’s what Command thinks as well,” Pierce informed her. “That’s why we’ve been asked been asked to investigate.”

“Get in, check it out and if we have to take it out,” Dan said knowing the drill all too well. “I’ll get the team ready to launch.”

“Just remember,” Pierce said, “Peru is neutral about SPD right now. They’re not against us but they’re not exactly for us either. So watch out for the local authorities.”

“Right,” Dan replied and saluted before leaving the room.

“I don’t know how you keep all that straight,” Michelle commented. “I need a score card half the time to remember which countries are Pro SPD and which aren’t.”

“The trick is remembering which countries are against us,” He told her. “Everybody else you got a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right.”

Looking at him in disbelief she asked, “How did you make Major again?”

“Funny, Helen keeps asking me that same question.”

***

The Machine Shepard was in the air and disappeared from sight as the ground beneath them closed. Inside the cockpit Ace brought the rear engines to life as she swung them around toward their destination. As usual Michelle feed them information until the reach they reached the boarder. “We are now in silent ops mode,” Boomer announced. “When was the last time I said I hated this part?”

“We all find this a little unnerving Robert,” Rev told him.

“I think it’s the fact that something could happen to us and nobody would know about it,” Ace added, then shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“Let’s keep those thoughts to a minimum,” Dan told them. “We done this before, there’s no point on dwelling about this now.”

“You’re right,” Ace agreed. She changed the subject, “So what’s the plan?”

“We stay together until we find out target. Once we find out what it is we’ll devise a plan to deal with it.”

“Hmm,” D.E. grunted, “that’s a little looser than what we usually do.”

“Unfortunately there’s this gapping hole in the intel Michelle couldn’t fill in. Like it or not we’re going in a little blind for this one.”

“I really want to vote no,” Boomer said.

“So do I,” Dan thought out loud.

***

That hole didn’t get any smaller when they reached Peru and Ace did a fly by of the area. She Landed the Shepard as close as she could and they headed out on foot. As a precaution Dan told Boomer to key into the local frequencies. After about a half hour of climbing they reached a small area where they could survey the area easily. Checking a scanner that was linked to the Shepard’s senor reading they could see the signal was getting a little stronger, but not by much. Dan figured Michelle’s guess about that dampening field was right on the money. “Do you think it might be a cloaking device?”, Ace asked after  she saw the reading. “That would explain why we didn’t see anything as we passed by.”

“Possibly,” Dan was thinking along the same lines, “But what could it be hiding.” Putting the scanner into pocket on his chest he waved them foreword. Going higher on the ridge Dan took a moment and reached into another pocket and opened up a small set of binoculars. They had to be getting close to whatever the hell it was.

“What’s that over there?”, D.E. asked as he pointed at something. Dan looked over in that direction and focused as Ace and D.E. pulled out their own binoculars.

One thing was for sure, it wasn’t cloaking device. But it was camouflaged to look like part of the mountain side. Feeling a cold spot form in his stomach Dan went, “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

“Oh shit,” Ace muttered as she got a good look.

“Boomer,” he jumped a little as Dan said his name, “Get ready to send a message back to base. I’m breaking silent op.”

***

The Major hurried back to he Command Room when Michelle called him, “They couldn’t be done already,” he said.

“Dan sent a video message,” she informed. “We won’t be able to reply.”

Knowing something was wrong Pierce steadied himself for the moment, “Play the message.”

Dan’s image appeared on screen. He had a worried look on his face as he kept looking at something off camera. “Stevens to OpsBase. We have a situation here.” He looked lost for words for a moment as he pointed the camera toward something. In the mountainside somebody built a huge construction frame that was structured with several levels. Inside was something huge, the bottom part was fully covered but the upper part a skeletal like frame was showing the machinery inside. “A monster mech is being built on site, I repeat a monster mech is being built on site. We’re going to try to determine the status of the power and weapon systems.” There was a pause before he continued, “We’ll do what we can to slow them down, but if that thing is fully functional we might need a little help on this one. Stevens out.”

“Oh my god,” Michelle said as the message ended.

“Get me Meng Yeow and Row,” the Major ordered. “I don’t care who you have to wake up get them on the line ASAP. I’ll advise Numa-O and SPD command of the situation.”

***

Tensions were high as the Ops team studied the camera feed and sensor readings on the build site. The one question going through their minds was how did something like this go unnoticed for so long? Dan wasn’t positive but he estimated that even with robot labor working around the clock it would take a few months to build one of those things. Of course he’s been wrong before. “Looks like a Devil type to me,” D.E. said out loud. Dan just grunted as he studied the images.

“Why don’t we just blast the thing,” Ace said suddenly. “That thing not even fully armored yet. I know the Shepard laser can do some damage.”

“But what do we aim at?”, Dan countered. “And more importantly how do we know it can’t shoot back if we miss?”

“No offence Cap, but sitting on our asses isn’t getting anything done,” she told him.

“I’m aware of that Ace. Unfortunately we’re not equipped to take that thing head on.”

“I keep telling you we need a robot,” Boomer muttered. Dan and Ace found themselves agreeing with him.

“We still need to discover it’s current capabilities,” Rev reminded them.

“And to do that we need to get in there and find out,” Ace said. “Not to mention slow down construction some how.”

“I knew there was a plan in here somewhere,” D.E. said out of the blue. They looked at him wondering what he was talking about. He happily explained, “While no team in the galaxy has been able to capture a complete mech, there been enough of them around that SPD been able to put together a rough blue print of what’s inside it.”

“Please tell me you can find a weak spot,” Ace pleaded.

“Not from plans this rough,” he informed her.

Boomer looked like he got an idea, “Can you show where the power core is?”

“Give me a second,” D.E. hit a couple of controls and the schematics he pulled up appeared on screen. A part of the inside was flashing red, “Right about there.”

“Can you tell if it’s active?”

“Let me check.”

“What do you got in mind Boomer?”, Dan asked.

“I’m thinking if the core’s active we could cause a meltdown or something.”

“That’s nut,” D.E. exclaimed

“Not to mention dangerous,” Rev added.

“And it might be our only option,” Ace told them.

“There has to be another option,” Rev argued.

“Unless this bird can transform into an eighty foot mech I’m not seeing another one,” Dan said plainly.

After a minute or so D.E. finally spoke back up, “Well what ever is blocking the reading is still in effect, but I think I’m getting two readings that look like active energy cores.”

“One for the frame and one for the mech,” Dan said. “Alright we’re going with Boomer’s plan.” He cut Rev off with a wave of his hand before he could protest. “We still have to gather intel on that thing. We might as well cause as much damage as we can while we’re at it. Boomer, try to find out what type of core that might be using. Rev, you and me will be accompanying Boomer carrying extra explosives just in case he needs more. Ace, you and D.E. stay on board the Shepard. You guys are officially Plan B if this doesn’t work.”

“Rodger,” Ace replied.

“Give us two hours. If you don’t hear from us by then assume we failed and do whatever damage you can. We only got one shot at this so we better make it count. And Rev one more thing.”

“Yes Captain.”

“If you haven’t already, start saying some prayers to the Great Spirit. We’re going to need any favors we can get.”

***

Figuring resistance was going to be thick on this one they activated the Dekasuits as soon as they started, Dan and Rev carrying bags containing extra explosives. Dan threw the sky probe ahead of them to cut down on any surprises. And there were plenty, every few yards they had to stop and find cover to avoid the patrols of Anaroids and Batsuroids.  Dan held the D-Colt tightly in his hands but didn’t dare take a shot, not without getting swamped. Hiding behind some boulders as they got close he checked the image sent by the probe. At what looked like an entrance Two Batsuroids stood guard. Not that they were planning in going in the front door anyway. Then Rev pointed out that the Frame looked like it was built into the mountain itself. Dan redirected the probe to a level that looked like a potential entry point and didn’t see any guards in the immediate vicinity.

Waiting until the patrols passed they hurried across and started climbing to a higher level before making there way across to the frame. It took awhile but slowly they made it to the frame, jumped over the rail and quickly checked for any patrols. After checking the readings one more time they headed for the core. After a few yards Rev saw something and whispered, “Captain.”

“What is it Rev?”

“I recognize that device,” he pointed to a square panel on the wall with a glowing orb in the middle, various wires were going in and out of it. “It distributes and regulates power. Perhaps destroying some of these will slow them down.”

“Good idea Rev,” Boomer said as he reached into his pack and pulled out a small explosive pack. “You guys might want to pay attention you in particular Rev,” he said as he fixed the pack under the panel then inserted a small metal cylinder into it. He pressed a button and the top started flashing red. “If you see another one of these things do it just like that. In fact if you see anything that looks important put a charge on it. And make sure you put a receiver into it, I’m going to set it so they all go off at once, and we get time to high tail it out of here.”

“Just try to be picky on where you set the charges,” Dan told them.  “I’m not sure how many Boomer’s going to need.” He peered around the corner before waving them on. The target was a few stories above them and they needed to get going.

Much like they figured they were forced to take the long way around. Occasionally they stop just long enough to set a charge on something Rev pointed out. Dan spotted a computer and slapped a D-Hack that was hooked to the Shepard on it and a bomb right next to the Hack just in case. After an hour they found the core. They also found what looked like a monitoring station and a couple of Batsuroids and an Igadroid. “Oh great,” Dan mumbled.

“Is there another way to the core?”, Rev asked.

“Not according to the plans D.E. pulled up,” Boomer answered. They didn’t have a choice now.

Dan only said one thing, “Make every shot count,” Than ran in. Catching the bots as unaware as they could they fired first. Dan and Rev had to dodge a couple of return shots but all of them were taken out. “Do it Boomer.”

“On it,” he said as he took the bags from them and headed into the guts on the mech.

“Monitoring station 8-C report,” a voice from no where said. A quick search saw that it was coming from a comm panel on the station. “8-C report.”

Dan hit the comm button, “Monitoring station 8-C reporting,” and prayed to God that was the right was to answer.

“A commotion was detected coming from you area, report.”

“There was no commotion… we had a minor leak in the core.”

“I am not registering a leak in the core,” Dan cursed under his breath. “I’m sending a repair team to investigate.”

“Negative, the leak is already repaired. It was a small leak and easily repairable. It’s good, we’re fine… how are you?” Dan winced at his mistake while Rev looked at him in confusion.

“How am…? Who is this? What is your designation?”

“Ah…,” Dan stepped back and shot the comm panel. “That conversation wasn’t going any were any way,” he muttered as he headed for the opening Boomer used. “Boomer we got incoming!”, he shouted.

“Give me a few more minutes!”, he shouted back.

“I don’t think we have a few more minutes!”

“No offence Cap, but make them!”

“What do we do Captain?” Rev asked.

Shaking his head Dan switched the D-Colt to multi-shot, “We buy him some time.” They started positioning things so they have some cover and waited. Rev unhooked his D-Shot. Dan kept looking down the corridor to the core expecting to hear shot being fired from inside there. Finally an Anaroid came through the door in front of them and Rev blasted it. Another one took it’s place and Dan nailed it between the eyes. Both of them knew it wasn’t going to be long before they realize this particular line of attack was useless.

In the core Boomer was busy setting charges. Fortunately the core being used was in the database and he had a good idea where to set the charges. Destroying the core would be good enough but he wanted to cause the maximum amount of internal damage possible. If he was lucky there would be some feedback that would fry other systems. Setting the last charge he had one more thing to do, place the remote detonator. And he had to set it high to make sure the signal reached all of the charges. Using a nearby ladder he made his way up and found a pallet he could set the detonator and hide it a bit. Running a quick check to make sure the damping field wouldn’t interfere with the signal he got a lock on all of the charges they set. Boomer set the time for twenty minutes, it would be cutting it close but they didn’t need to get to the ground floor. Knowing the core would be the first thing the check he left a little surprise before running down the corridor. When he exited Rev pulled him down so he wouldn’t get shot. “I’m guessing they called in the Calvary,” he said.

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Dan said. “Let me guess there’s only one way out of here right?”, Dan said as he took a shot at an Igadroid that came into view.

“I’m afraid so Cap.”

“Then it’s time to thin out the heard kid.”

“Right,” Boomer nodded. Reaching into his back he jumped up and side armed a frag grenade through the door opening. After a few second an explosion went off and they rushed to the door. Rev and Dan both looked out for any moving droids on the floor as Boomer covered the hallway.

“I got point, Boomer watch our backs,” Dan ordered. The scanner in his pack started to beep, “Now what?”

Rev checked his, “The damping field is now down. Captain I’m getting a humanoid reading now.”

“We’ll worry about it later,” Dan told him.

“It is heading in our direction.”

“Guess whoever in charge wants to lead the troops,” Boomer quipped.

“Let’s not be here when they arrive,” Dan said. “I saw a ladder this way.”

“You’re not going to hear me argue,” Boome told him

***

They were able to go a couple of floors before running into any resistance. Unfortunately this was making them retreat further into the frame. Finding cover they retreated as far as they could into a corridor without exposing themselves. “How much time to we got?”

Boomer clanked at the readout, “Exactly twelve minutes Cap.”

“Took us longer than that to get to the core.” An explosion could be heard above them, “What the hell?”

“Looks like they just discovered the motion detector mine I set on the ceiling,” Boomer answered. “With any luck there should be a nice pile of debris blocking the way.”

“Might be the only piece of luck we have at the moment,” Dan told him.

“Whoever you are,” somebody yelled out, “come out now.” Dan recognized him as the one from the comm. “There is no where you can go to escape.” They chanced a look and saw a white humanoid standing behind the first row of bots. “We will make it quick as soon as you tell me what you did to sabotage this site. I will give you three minutes to decide.”

“That’s generous of him,” Boomer said dryly.

“Does he truly believe anybody would take that offer?”, a bewildered Rev wondered out loud.

Dan watched him move from where he was hiding. “This has to be his first time trying to capture anybody.”

“How can you be sure Captain?”

“He’s acting nervous, like he unsure of what to do.”

“We’re outnumbered out the wazoo and he’s the one that’s nervous?”, Boomer asked.

“We don’t have time and I’m trusting my gut on this one,” he told them. Dan unhooked his D-Shot and got into position to spring out. “As soon as we get close to the door light it up,” he ordered. Boomer and Rev nodded and got into position. He ran at the entry and started firing at the first bot he saw. On cue Boomer tossed two flash grenades that temporary disrupted the bots circuits. Using the few moments they had before the reboot they fired point blank. At close range the D-Shots were causing damage to a couple of them at once. They stood close together as the Anaroids and Batsuroids started showing signs of life again. Dan swung the butt of the D-Shot into a Igadroid that got too close, then shot it in the chest for good measures. “Scatter!”, he ordered as the circle around them started to tighten. Rev jumped over them and pumped and fired his D-Shot as fast as it would let him, Boomer and Dan ran through a group of Anaroids, turned and fired.

During the whole thing Dan tried to keep an eye on the white alien. He was trying to run but his path kept getting blocked. Knowing they were running out of time he had to chance it. Dan broke away from the fight and stood in front of him. He took his OpsLicense and switched to Judgment mode, “Target orders.” The area went dark as the alien was scanned and a red X and a blue circle flashed in front of him. It wasn’t long before the circle shined brightly between them, “Apprehend target.”

“So you think you’re just going to take me in?”, he asked. “Do you think you’ll be able to get me to talk? Do you think I’ll just spill everything I know? You might as well kill me now.”

“Just shut up and come quietly,” Dan told him.

“Do you think the bosses are going to let anybody who knows about the Kaijuki operation stay alive?”

“I think your overestimating them,” Dan told him plainly as he took the D-Whoppers off his belt as he approached.

“You don’t get it do you,” he started laughing. “I’m already dead.” He turned around and ran before Dan could stop him. He jumped over a railing that over looked a shaft of some kind.

“No!”, Dan shouted. He ran over and looked down. The alien was laying, with his neck bent at a funny angle several stories below. “Damn it,” Dan pounded the pillar next to him.

“Captain,” Rev called out, “Robert say the clock is ticking.”

“Right,” he said as he took his eyes away.

“I saw the entire thing Captain, he was more afraid of his bosses than he was of anything else. Do not blame yourself.”He knew Rev was right, but damn it he wanted this one alive.

They ran down a couple of flights of stairs before Boomer called out, “Six minutes.”

Dan looked around, “This way, I see daylight.” They ran and found themselves on the outside of the frame. And no where near the mountainside.

“Please tell me you got a plan,” Boomer begged.

“We take the express,” Answered Dan as he reached into his pack and pulled out the rope. While he quickly tied one end to the railing they took theirs out and did the same and tossed the rope over. Climbing over the railing they held the rope so it was behind them and rappelled down the frame as fast as they could. The rope wasn’t long enough to reach the bottom, but it was high enough off the ground the drop wouldn’t hurt them.

“Four minutes,” Boomer shouted as the hit the ground and started running, pushing themselves to their limit. Before long Boomer started counting down, “Ten seconds, five, four, three, two…”. They dove for the ground and covered their heads. A second past, then three, four. As they got to their feet Dan and Rev looked at the mech, then at each other and then slowly at Boomer whose eyes never left the mech. “No way, that should have worked,” he said as he stormed past them toward the mech. “The equipment was green, all green, that should have worked.”

Dan patted him on the shoulder, “Sorry kid, they must have found the detonator. It was a great plan.” He turned away and pulled out his License. “Stevens to Shepard, prepare for Plan B.”

“Acknowledged Ops1, Shepard…”, Ace as cut off by a massive explosion sounded and knocked them to the ground. They looked and saw that it came from the Mech and the frame. Then several more went off as the Mech smoked. “Ops 1 come in! Cap answer me!”

Boomer stared at the sight as other sections went off. Suddenly he jumped up amid the falling debris, “WOOOO! Who’s the man?! Who! Is! The! Man!”

Dan shook his head, “Shepard, cancel Plan B and prepare for a pickup.”

He looked over at Boomer who was still celebrating. “The timer was off but I don’t care!” He jumped on Rev’s back, “WOOOO!”

Sighing he added, “And get ready for a long trip home.”

Ace chuckled, “Understood Cap, D.E said he’ll have the aspirin and the restraints ready when you get aboard.”

***

The Major paced around the Command Room waiting for an answer from anybody at this point. Dan, Numa-O, Scorp, an Alienizer who wanted to know what the hell his team was doing. He knew informing the Peruvian government was going to be a headache, but even they had to see that this was dangerous to them and everybody else. He and Michelle nearly jumped when her console went off signaling an incoming transmission. He stood in front of the wall screen as the image split three ways showing a human, a lion-seijin and a bird like alien, DekaRanger’s Meng Yeow, DekaRescue’s Gyoc Row and Supreme Commander Numa-O. “Were we given the green light by the Peruvian Government?”

Numa-O did not look pleased, “They want more proof before they’ll let us inside their boarder.”

“The Alineizers has a base inside their country,” Row said in disbelief. “How much more proof do they need?”

“More than a weak sensor reading I’m afraid.”

“This is insane,” Pierce said out loud.

“I’m sure your team’s fine Henry,” Meng Yeow said, reading his features. “If half the stories you told us were true than they have the right man leading them.”

“I know,” he said grateful somebody else said that. “So what do we do now?”

“We tread carefully,” Numa-O said. “Earth is one of the few planets in the galaxy with more than one government, so we know how to deal with the situation. But if we have too I will contact Commander Scorp and see if we can use one of the other Ops units.”

“We might have another option,” Meng Yeow said looking thoughtful. “Row, do you think your Fire Squad program can work here?”

“We’re still finalizing things on our end,” the Lion answered. “Outside of Ops1 there’s not that many red Deka on the planet. The only ones available at the moment are Yeo, Harris and Van Der Gun. Ideally I would want the standard five person unit for this type of thing.” He thought it over, “But it could work with a smaller number, and working in concert with Ops it might work out as well.”

Before the discussion could continue Michelle spoke up, “Major, I don’t want to interrupt, but we just recorded an explosion in Peru.” She checked the coordinates to make sure, “Exactly were we originally recorded the energy blip.”

“I knew Dan said they try and slow them down, but I didn’t think they go that far,” said a stunned Pierce.

“I’m guessing those stories are more than half true,” Meng Yeow smirked, but looking relieved as well.

“Perhaps now the Peruvian government will have enough proof,” Row said. “If we tread carefully,”

Numa-O said, “I believe we will.” He chuckled a bit, “Although you’re going to have to tell me one of those stories Major Pierce. I get the feeling Trytan’s report didn’t quite capture him.”

“Captain Stevens can surprise you when he wants to,” the Major informed him. And to think Dan originally didn’t want to be part of this when Pierce recruited him for the job.

They talked for a bit when Michelle spoke up again, “Major we have an incoming transmission from the Shepard.”

“Put him on.” The screen configuration changed to add an image of a tired looking Dan. Like a professional he hid it when he noticed they wouldn’t be talking alone. “Dan, it’s good to see you and the team still in one piece.”

“And I might add,” Numa-O spoke, “an excellent job as well.”

“Thank you Commander,” he responded. Looking back he added, “My team did a good job on this one.”

“Can I ask how you can up with this particular plan Captain?”, Meng Yeow asked.

“It was Sgt. Parker’s, Ops4, idea sir. We’re just lucky we were able to pull it off.”

“Dan,” the Major said, “what the situation now?”

“The upper portion of the Monster Mech was rendered inoperable as far as we could tell. We were going to do a more thorough investigation but Ops4 said the local military and police channels lit up after the explosion went off. I ordered the Shepard cloaked and air born before they arrived. We’re currently circling the area just incase that thing still has some life in it.”

“A smart decision Dan, keep us informed if there are any changes.”

“Rodger,” he replied.

“One more thing Captain,” Numa-O said “Do you think you put a dent in the construction of Kaijuki on Earth?” Pierce saw the answer in his face before he even spoke.

“Honestly sir, I doubt it. Only one mech was being built and the construction frame didn’t look like it went further into the mountain than what it did. But we were able to hack into their computer system while we were there. We should have some type of info for Michelle and the SPD techs to go through once we get back.”

“Just some wishful thinking on my part Captain,” Numa-O informed him. “Major Pierce I want a copy of this mission report sent to me.”

“Will do sir,” the Major saluted.

“Good, SPD Command out.” His image blinked out leaving the rest of them.

“Word about this is going to spread quickly,” Meng Yeow said. “My people are going to wonder what happened.”

“As are mine,” Row added.

“I don’t want to ask this of you two,” the Major said, “but I have to ask that you keep some of the details out when you explain it to them.”

“You don’t want us to tell them about a faulty core Henry?”, Meng Yeow said innocently.

“You can’t get good parts these days I guess,” Row commented.

“I owe you two one,” Pierce told them and they ended the conference call on their end.

“I can’t say I like that idea Major,” Dan said after they were alone. “A couple of people in Squad know about us already, and so far there been no harm done.”

“Meng Yeow and Row both know Peru going to be a sticky situation Dan,” He told him. “And frankly the less said about us at this point the better.”

Dan nodded, “I understand sir. Shepard out.”

The screen went blank and pierce tapped the railing, proudly saying, “That’s my boy.”

Michelle coughed,” Actually Major, that may be your team but that my boy.” Pierce smiled and left the Command Room still feeling glad that all of them were coming back alive after this one.