Special Police DekaOps

38

The one thing every member of the field team looked forward to was sleep. It was the only part of the day they could relax and not worry about an alarm going off. They knew in the back of their minds there was a chance but it hadn’t happened. In the middle of this particular night the alarm sounded like a roar as it went off. Dan sat up quickly in his cot, taking a second to remember where he was. “The world better be coming to an end.” Getting dressed as quickly as he could he ran out of his room, the rest of his team right after him. Grabbing a tech he demanded, “What’s going on?”

“We have an incoming craft,” she answered. “It’s an alpha code signal, immediate clearance to land.”

“This is a hell of a time for a surprise inspection,” Target yawned.

“Get to the hanger,” Dan ordered. More or less to himself he mumbled, “This had better be important.” When they arrived the hanger doors had already started to open. “Attention,” at his order they snapped in place. They stood there until the craft landed and the door began to close. After it closed they still stood at attention waiting for the shuttle craft to open. Several minutes later they started glancing at Dan when nobody came out. Finally it opened around the time Dan was contemplating opening the shuttle himself.

A grey, bald alien with pointed ears walked out and eyed everyone in view. Dan fought hard to keep his face neutral as he noticed the gold badge on his chest. A Tokukyou, great. “I am Commander Solen,” he said. “Who is in charge?”

“That would be me,” Dan stepped forward, “Captain Daniel Stevens…”

“I am aware of who you are Captain,” Solen commented as he walked around the others, “and who these people are. Where is Major Pierce?”

“He’s at home with his wife,” Dan answered, “sleeping sir.”

“That will not do,” Solen said. “There is a fifth member of your unit. Where is he?”

“Also at home with his wife sleeping sir.”

“Is that all you humans do Captain?”

“It is three in the morning…. sir.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Solen snapped. “An SPD officer should be ready at a moment’s notice. I don’t need all of you anyway. Take me to your command center. I’ll let you know what is going on there.”

Dan glanced over at Ace who nodded, “if you would follow me Commander.”

Solen did so muttering something about subordinates. As soon as he was out of the room Dan immediately turned toward Michelle, “Get the Major up here now.”

“He’s not going to like this,” she told him.

“He can take it up with Goldy,” Dan said as he exited the hanger.

***

“A group of criminals got past your human gaze,” Solen ranted as he paced in front of them. “With as many units on this planet this is unacceptable. Common thugs are getting by you…”

“And me and my team can’t be everywhere at once,” Dan spoke up getting fed up with this.

“Did I say you could speak Captain?”, Solen snapped.

“I will not stand by as my team gets blasted foe something beyond our control,” Dan said holding his ground. “So unless you plan on giving this same speech to the other units…”

Solen cut him off, “I am not visiting the other units Captain. Nor am I blaming your unit so do not assume you know what I am saying.”

“Then what is the point of this Commander?”

Solen seemed to study him for a moment, “Very well then. In the northeast of this… country… we have reports of a gang of smugglers that have set up operations.”

“I haven’t heard anything about that,” Michelle said as she ran her fingers over her keyboard.

“And a superior is talking,” Solen snapped.

“And she is part of the senior staff,” Dan stepped forward, resisting the urge to get in his face, “her input, my entire team’s input is invaluable before a mission.”

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem since your team is not going.” The others couldn’t hide their surprise as Dan just eyed him. “You alone will be accompanying me on this mission Captain. From my understanding you have a particular set of skill that should prove useful. In fact the rest of you unit isn’t needed now.”

Holding up a hand to keep them in place when it looked like the Commander just dismissed them Dan informed him, “As I said, my team’s input is valuable. Sometimes they see something I’ve overlooked or come up with another option I didn’t consider.”

“Do you have no pride in your own abilities Captain?” Why did that sound like a challenge to him?

“I’m not so prideful that I’m blinded to my own weaknesses.” Michelle flinched a little, add in his tone of voice and that was close to crossing a line.

“Very well Captain,” Solen eventual conceded, “your unit may look at the data. But they will not speak out of turn.”

An hour later the Commander was finished briefing Dan when the Major finally showed. To say he had a few choice words for the Commander was an understatement. He started at coming there unannounced and went from there. While Solen was in the hanger waiting he was still going at it. Solen tried to brush him off saying, “You can take it up with Command, Major.”

“Oh you better believe I will be talking to Command,” Pierce informed him. “Commander Scorp set things up that no member of a black badge unit can be used without the Commander’s consent.”

“That does not apply to the Tokukyou.”

“Funny, he told me that exactly who he had in mind when he authorized that.”

“It does not matter Major. Captain Stevens, who was the officer in charge at the time, already agreed to be part of this operation.”  The Major had a few more choice words for that when Dan walked out of the ready room in full gear. “Excellent time Captain, that was faster than I expected you to be capable of.”

Cap in hand Dan just looked at him, realizing it would be better to keep his mouth shut. Instead he looked over at Pierce and said, “Don’t send out that complaint just yet. I want to cosign on it when I get back.”

“Come on Captain,” Solen said getting into his shuttle. “There is no need to delay at this point in time.” Again Dan thought it was best to remain quiet. Instead he looked back at the doors to Ace who looked sympathetic. Putting his hat on he followed the Commander inside.

***

The trip there was as quiet as a tomb outside of the gentle beeps of the controls panels. The Commander hadn’t engaged in any small talk and Dan didn’t volunteer to start any. So while Solen piloted the ship Dan studied the map of the area Michelle had acquired for him. “You rely on your team too much,” Solen said out of the blue. “As the leader you should be able to assess any situation at a moment’s notice.”

“I trust my team to do the job they were trained for,” he said not taking his eyes off the map. “I know what my strengths are and I know theirs. It’s why we lasted this long.”

“And yet there is a death under your command.” Holding his tongue was getting harder and harder with each passing second.

“No plan is one hundred percent fool proof, and nobody can see everything at once.”

“SPD officers are supposed to be the best of the best. That sort of mistake is inexcusable.”

“I’m not sure what sort of opponents the Commander has faced,” Dan choose his words very carefully, “but the ones I’ve faced have a tendency to think on their own.”

“There’s no need to be insulted Captain. I was just making an observation. We’ve arrived,” Solen said before Dan could say anything else. He quickly landed the ship and exited before Dan could undo his seat straps. “Come Captain, you relaxed on the way here.” Dan slowly counted to ten before following him out.

A few miles from the ship Solen finally let Dan take the lead. He found a path off the regular trail in moments and waved for Solen to follow him for a change. The entire time he could feel the alien stare at him. He commented to ten for the third time and tried to pay attention to his surroundings, looking for anything that seemed off. The occasional broken twig and a stepped on plant pointed out a direction, “This way.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’m not seeing any tracks,” he answered. “Somebody is trying to cover up their tracks as best they can. Or something else’s tracks.”

“And what could that be Captain?”

“Well the first three things that came to mind all rhyme with droid.” Really keeping his senses on their surrounding more he cautiously moved forward. After a bit Solen started to notice the apparent trail and started taking the lead a little. After a few minutes he reached out and grabbed the Tokukyou by the shoulder, “Hold it.”

“Why?”, he demanded. “It’s obvious they headed this way.”

“Yeah,” Dan agreed as he picked up a small stone. Without a word he threw it in front of them. It disintegrated in an instant when it hit an energy field. Solen stared at the spot, “A little too obvious.”

“How did you know about that? There was no indication of anything here.”

“I didn’t hear any wildlife in front of us,” he said. “It’s a tracking trick my Grandfather picked up from an old Indian, the wild will let you know when something shouldn’t be there by their silence.” Pulling out his OpsLicense he did a quick scan, “The field goes a ways in both directions. Looks like it goes underground for a few meters too.”

“So digging out way under it is out of the question,” Solen said. “So know what do we do Captain?”

“We decided to either go left or right. There has to be a flaw in this thing somewhere that we can use.” Solen decided for them to go left. Meanwhile Dan heard something in the distance behind them and tapped the back of his right hand once.

***

That hole turned out to be a small waterfall. According to Dan’s reading the field didn’t go past the water. “This is going to be tight,” he muttered to himself as he started through. Keeping his back to the stone wall and ignoring the water pouring down on him he slowly made his way through the field. While Solen followed Dan surveyed the area for any sensors or guards. “I should have brought some soap,” he said lightly. “I could have had my morning shower done already.”

“Now is not the time for levity Captain,” Solen scolded.

“It’s either that or punch you in the face,” Dan said under his breath.

“What was that Captain?”

“You’re slowing down the pace, pick it up.” Solen didn’t get a chance to respond as Dan headed toward a mountain range in the distance. According to the data Michelle gave him there were several larger caves in that direction.

***

A glowstick in hand Dan studied the ground beneath them for any signs of who they were after. He had picked up a couple of signs leading them in this direction, nothing so obvious that warning bells went off in his head. But still he kept an eye open for just that. On the other hand Solen was noticing something on his own, “Why do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what Commander?”

“Tap the back of your hand. I’ve seen you do it once outside the field, past the opening of the field and on the way here. You tapped it at least twice since we entered this cavern. What possible purpose could it serve?”

“Force of habit,” Dan told him. “When my unit has to split up we signal our location to each other so we know where everyone is. It cuts down on the friendly fire before the enemy fires on us.”

“And a proper Deka officer would be able to capture the enemy before they were noticed,” Solen said. “Out of my way I see something.” As he barged past Dan gave in to the urge to point at the back of his head and make a shooting motion. It didn’t make him feel any better. This was going to be a long night if this turned out to be the wrong cave.

“You see anything?” Dan called out.

“Nothing,” at least he was smart enough to not shout it out. “The light reflected off of something on the wall.”

“Really?”, Dan hurried over to where he was and took a closer look at the wall. There was something there alright.

“Is that diamond?”, Solen asked now that he got a better look at it too.

“That what it looks like to me,” Dan told him. “You starting to think this smuggling operation is a mining one too?” The Tokukyou grunted in agreement. Waving the light around he found what looked like a passageway and indicated that Solen should follow him.

Coming to a crossroad of sorts Dan dropped the glowstick in the passage way they were in and activated another one. “You can use your License to map the way we came,” Solen said sounding annoyed. “There’s no need to for anything so archaic.”

“I’m not going to have time to study a map in case we have to retreat in a middle of a firefight.” He was getting real sick of this jackass questioning or challenging everything he did. Dan was getting close to telling him off once and for all. Solen started to say something but Dan held up a hand to keep him quiet. Partially because if he didn’t Dan would have gone off on him and he didn’t want to listen to a lecture from the Major later. But mainly he did it because he thought he heard something. A few seconds later he heard it again. Solen did too and both of them headed for it.

Following the sound they discovered a larger interior cavern. Anaroids were all over the place, a select few equip with a laser drilling rig. Those around them went in when the rig stopped and cleared the debris, searching for the same stone Dan and Solen saw earlier. In the center of it all was a tiger-seijin with a scar over his left eye, a dull white orb in the socket. “Get a move on ya bucket of bolts!”, he bellowed. “That Zalenite isn’t going to mine itself.”

“Zalenite?”, Dan murmured. “That’s a new one on me.”

“It’s not surprising you haven’t heard of it Captain,” Solen said. “The stone is used as a focal point in a process I believe your scientists refer to as ‘cold fusion’.”

“As in nuclear?”

Solen nodded, “Strange though, the stone used in the process is several times larger than the ones they are they are mining.”

“Maybe they’re going for something smaller,” Dan mused, “something man sized maybe.”

“That wouldn’t be feasible,” Solen told him. “Even if they planning arming one of the robots with one it would still be too large and cumbersome to be used efficiently. However,” he said after thinking it over, “it might be possible to build a new generation of robots powered by the process.”

“And you’re not making that sound like a good thing.”

“Imagine an Anaroid several times stronger and more resilient than they are now,” he informed him. “We have to stop this now. Do you see any guards?”

Something pressing against his back made Dan say, “I think I know where a couple of them are.” They carefully looked back to see five Anaroids. The guns on their backs kept them in place as the others took his OpsLicense and SP-Shooter out of their holsters while taking the BlayThrottle off of Solen’s wrist. Finding Dan’s handcuffs during a quick search they bound their wrists behind their backs.

“Well ain’t this rich,” the tiger said as the Anaroids brought them down. Forcing them to their knees the fifth Anaroid gave him the License, Throttle and SP-Shooter. “So you Deka think you could get the jump on us huh? Just who do you think I am?”

“A guy without honor,” Dan said.

“What do you know about me?!”, he roared. Yeah that was a bullseye on a nerve.

“I knew a tiger,” Dan told him, “he quickly became one of my closest friends. He told me enough about your culture to know you’re just a total dick.” His head snapped to the side as the tiger backhanded him.

“And I know enough about you Deka to know he’s the dangerous one,” the tiger pointed at Solen. Putting the Throttle on the ground he used the SP-Shooter to blast it several times. As it laid on the ground sparking he said, “I’ll deal with this later,” and tossed the License to the side. Dan tracked it to where it landed. Although he did realize Solen was watching him the entire time. “To prove you wrong and show you I do have some honor I will let you say one last thing before I kill you.”

“All right, always have a plan B.” Dan told him as he twisted his wrists around so he could tap the back of his hand twice. Solen and the tiger both stared at him for a few seconds before the SP-Shooter was shot out of his hands. The tiger tried to locate the shooter when the Anaroids behind Dan and Solen were taken out with two shots.

“What the slag?!”, the tiger shouted as five people in Dekasuits jumped down and ran toward them. Taking care of a small unit of resistance Ace, Target and Rev covered them while Boomer and Michelle started uncuffing them.

“Took you long enough,” Dan said as his wrists were freed. “My License was thrown over there.”

“I already grabbed it,” Michelle said as she put it in his hand. “You can find a way to thank me later.”

“How..?”, Solen started a loss for words.

“Cap gave me the signal to follow when he put on his hat before you guys left,” Ace explained. “He let us know where you were as soon as we arrived.”

“By tapping the back of his hand,” the Tokukyou said in understanding.

“The benefits of being part of a team,” Dan said. “Michelle, cover the Commander, he’s a little naked right now,” and he motioned to the damaged Throttle on the ground.

“You got it,” Michelle said as she grabbed Solen and took him to cover.

To the rest of them he said, “Let’s show Goldy how it’s done. Emergency! DekaOps!” In a quick red digital flash he was suited up in his Dekasuit. “Special Police.”

The lights on the side of their helmets flashed to life as they shouted, “DekaOps!”

“Get these slaggin’ bastards,” the tiger ordered.

“Take them down,” Dan said as they moved. A few of the Anaroids decided Solen would be the easier target and went after him. Michelle was trying hard to keep them from him. She was so determined to protect him she almost didn’t see the ones with the guns trying to flank them from the left.

Quickly running a finger down the keypad on her arm she quickly spread them wide, “Barrier shield.” The energy field formed the same time they fired. It was a standstill until Rev and Boomer took them out. “Thanks guys,” she told him.

“It is not a problem Michelle,” Rev said. “We are a team after all.”

Boomer added, “Besides do you have any idea what Cap would do to us if we let anything happen to you?”

“And you better remember it,” she said with a smile behind her helmet.

In the ruckus they lost track of the tiger. “You slaggin’ bastards are in for it now,” he bellowed from a ledge above them. Standing by a control the Anaroids stopped fighting and backed away from them. “Here’s a little trick I picked up from the Iczians.” He hit the control and several hidden lights flashed to life. They realized what was happening the moment they started to lift off the ground. “An anti-gravity field, you’re helpless now.”

“You don’t get out much do you?” Boomer asked.

Taking out their License they held them over their heads as Dan shouted, “EXO mode!” Bringing the License down they were covered in a grid that was quickly filled with Dekametal form black armor. Rockets formed on various places as a breathing apparatus formed on the lower half of their helmets. A colored number formed on the left side of their chest as they slotted the OpsLicense into the right.

“Ops5 locked in!”

“Ops4 locked in!”

“Ops3 Locked in!”

“Ops2 locked in!”

“Ops1 locked in!”

“I finally get to see this live,” Michelle said as she and Solen held on to whatever was bolted down.

“Nice trick but it’s not going to matter,” the tiger said. “Slag them now!”

“Target the bots with the drilling rigs,” Dan ordered. Those Anaroids were positioned outside the field and tried and tried to take aim at them. They were able easily avoid the beams and were able to pick them off inside the field. Not programmed to operate in zero gravity the remaining Anaroids were quickly disabled. Turning his attention to the tiger Dan said, “There’s nowhere to run.”

He grabbed some Zalenite and tried to do just that. Michelle was able to get out of the field and cut him off. “You’re not going anywhere furball.”

“Target orders,” Dan said as the area went dark as the tiger was scanned. A red x and blue circle flashed between hem before setting on the X,” Eliminate target. D-Cannons!” Reaching back they appeared from the left rocket pod on their back. “Sight up,” a targeting reticule appeared in their visors, in moments it turned green. “Strikeout!” Five beams penetrated the field and deleted the tiger in moments.

***

Michelle was able to use the computer system in her suit to hack the tigers computer and deactivate the antigrav field and lower the energy field around the area. Marking the location to send to Command Dan led them back to the Shepard as Solen had already left. They found him by his shuttle craft as a third vessel started to land a few yards away. “Captain can I speak with you for a moment?”, Solen asked.

“Now what?”, he muttered as he walked forward, hat in hand. Solen directed him to the other ship. The hatch opened revealing a familiar face. “Drilian? What are you doing here?” He also wondered why she wouldn’t look at him, almost ashamed for some reason. Then he noticed the person exiting behind her, “Commander Trytan?”

“Hello again Captain Steven, it’s good to see you again.”

Looking at all three of them he demanded, “What is going on?”

“Apparently I painted too good a picture of you in my report from a while back Captain,” Trytan told him a little chagrinned.

“It was more than that Trytan,” Solen said standing in front of Dan. “I have seen the reports submitted by Major Pierce as well as the training reports of Commander Mynx. They all paint a stellar picture of you Captain. The observations of my subordinate here,” Drilian looked even more ashamed than before, “combined with my experience with this little test…”

“This was a test?”, Dan asked in disbelief. God he was sick of these things.

“This wasn’t a trick Captain,” Solen quickly said. “This was an actual assignment. I wanted to see you in the field personally. In my opinion you are an excellent candidate for the Tokukyou.” Dan dropped the hat in his hands on hearing that. Rev overheard it from where he was and told the rest of them. They started to look worried as they watched what was happening. “You’re a little rough around the edges of course, and a little too dependent on others in my estimations. But we can work on that.”

“You dropped your hat Captain,” Trytan said picking it off the ground.

“No need to be concerned with something so frivolous,” Solen said. Holding out a hand he continued, “Allow me to officially welcome you as our newest member.” Dan stared at the hand in front of him. Slowly his hand started up.

Taking the hat from Trytan he turned around and put it on his head as he walked away. Solen stood there with his hand still out looking totally confused about what just happened. Trytan smirked a little as he leaned in closer, “I told you he wouldn’t go for it, but did you listen?”

“Captain”, Drilian ran after him. “I acted dishonorably in using our newly forged friendship in such a manner. Even though I was ordered not to say anything I still should have found a way. I will do whatever I have to do to make this up to you.

Standing there thinking it over he eventually said, “I know a little something about following orders you don’t agree with and go against what you stand for. I’ll get over it, don’t worry about it. As far as I’m concerned you’re welcome in our part of the galaxy anytime.”

“Thank you Captain, I will find a way to make amends and restore my honor.” He patted her on the shoulder and went back to the Shepard. Dan wasn’t sure what to make of the looks they were giving him at the moment.

“You turned down a Tokukyou position?”, Ace finally asked for them.

“I can’t be the only one who’s done that.”

“I believe you are,” Rev told him.

“Then I’m the first at something.”

“Why?”, Ace asked. “Most SPD guys I’ve talked to would give their right arm to get in.”

Again Dan had to think it over. “Honestly, I’m more of a team player than what I’ve seen of those guys. And if most of the people I’d have to deal with were like him I’d be forced to kick their teeth in.” Walking up the ramp he added, “Besides I wouldn’t force you pain in the necks off on my worst enemy.”

Smiling a bit Ace said, “We love you too Cap.”

“Get on the jet,” he told them.

Michelle stood next to him, “Am I sitting on your lap on the way back?” Dan shook his head and went deeper in the jet. “You are no fun on a mission.”

“You,” Ace walked up to her, “are the only person who can get away with that.”

“I know, isn’t it great?” Looking back at Solen Michelle said, “But I am extremely glad he turned them down.” Ace nodded in agreement as they entered the Shepard. In moments it was air born and headed home.