deployment of the West Watcher army on the planet below.
He brought up the holographic display of the First Battle Group and it filled his field of view. Tank divisions, ground command vessels and hundreds of dropships, fighters and picket ships were preparing to launch from every carrier in the fleet, all bound for the green and blue planet below.
The Little Things
Jake Valance's arm unit finished downloading the maps and medium priority security command codes to his control unit nearly instantaneously. “Thanks, now get to a safe place, I don't suggest trying to get away in an escape pod, they'll cut you to pieces,” he said to the officer through his comm unit. Without his guidance Jake wouldn't have been able to avoid most of the teams searching for him.
“I'm going to the planet with the West Keeper army. They won't notice me if I head to the dropship loading area. That's the surest way off.”
Jake stopped and looked at the smaller fellow. “How far off is that?”
“Nine decks down and three sections over, but not too hard to get to,” he replied, half smiling.
“It's an invasion army?”
“Yes.”
Jake thought for a moment, looking down the long berth hall. There were three directions; the nearest exit as instructed by his collaborator who had done far more than he had to to help him. There was the bridge, where he might get a chance at taking his revenge on Lister Hampon for everything he'd put Jonas and himself through. The last direction off the ship made the most sense to him; the main launch bay, where he might be able to slip through the service crawl ways and maintenance rooms to a ship or escape shuttle.
“You're him, aren't you? The Captain Valance, the one who frees slaves and captures Regent Galactic ships.”
“That's me,” Jake said after a moment's pause. “Though I'm pretty sure my reputation is just a bit inflated.”
“Your chances of sneaking off this ship aren't good as long as you're wearing that armour. You should drop it and find a spare uniform in one of those crew quarters you're passing. The dropships are loading so fast they probably wouldn't notice you.”
He's right. If I try to blend in like one of the crowd I'd have a chance as long as someone doesn't recognize me and point me out. We're not actually that far from the Enreega system, not far enough to be away from all the Newsnet affiliates, anyway. Even if I don't get pointed out, I'm definitely in the facial recognition database as Jonas. “I'll get off ship somehow, don't worry. Thanks for your help. Don't get caught. Oh, and why are you helping me anyway?”
“Let's just say a lot of Regent Galactic Officers think this Order of Eden cult is a great big steaming pile. Good luck out there.” The soldier said before cutting communications.
Jake didn't waste any more time, but ran for the open door facing the stern and straight on to the nearest lift. Using the authorization code he had been given he was able to unlock it. He activated his cloaking systems and waited for the car to arrive. He was well past the vapour barrier and the gravity plating. The deck layout information he had made it clear that the only areas guarded by those security measures were command and security hubs.
He stepped to the side as the lift doors began to open. Several canisters were thrown into the hallway intersection and Jake immediately turned and ran for a side passage. It was too late. The canisters exploded with loud successive pops and his sensor suite told him that his headpiece, long coat, boots and gloves had been coated with acid. The coating on his vacsuit quickly neutralized it, but not before half of his cloaking systems were either too badly damaged to be useful or destroyed altogether.
The elevator doors finished opening and eight soldiers moved into the hallway with quick, easy efficiency. These weren't normal security guards, they were heavily armoured and carried rifles that fired explosive rounds.
He spun around and dropped a shield puck on the deck, it affixed itself and started projecting a blue green barrier of energy two meters high and one and a half meters across. It was a piece of technology Laura and Ayan had pressed into service through the Special Projects Division after it was captured from a Vindyne soldier.
The first shots were stopped completely by the energy shield, and the enemy soldiers took cover around the corner. Jake pulled a belt of four stolen grenades from his inside coat pocket, armed them, tossed the bunch and dove around the corner. The three second fuse counted down and nothing happened.
How the hell did they deactivate the whole belt of grenades? He managed to ask himself as he watched the whole belt sail over the top of the energy barrier. Jake scurried to his feet and made a mad dash for the side corridor.
He barely made the next corner before they exploded. The concussive force knocked him off his feet, but he managed to avoid the brunt of the blast. Jake was on his feet and running again, and as he took the next corner his thermal and movement detection sensors picked up four soldiers ahead. They were the same grade of plated combat armour, carrying the same heavy assault rifles, and they were flanking the next hallway.
“God dammit!” he cursed to himself. He made sure his sidearm was set to full intensity and full automatic as he drew it out of its holster and pulled one of his own grenades from its secure pocket. He activated his personal energy shield, noting that it was down to seventy three percent and stopped dead in his tracks. Instead of rolling his fragmentation grenade along the floor he set the fuse to detonate on impact and tossed it hard towards the wall up ahead.
Jake crouched down to the ground, turned and covered himself with his long coat. The hot air and debris from the blast washed over his energy shield and long coat without harming him. His visor display informed him that the shield he had erected around the corner had depleted and was destroyed. The soldiers he had left behind were coming.
He rose and ran towards the hall that had just been filled with shrapnel and fire. The life signs of the soldiers there were fading fast.
Stepping around them gingerly, he headed down the hall in a dead run, straight back to the lift doors. They were jammed open with a wedge, he could see it, and the soldiers who had come up were still coming after him the long way. Part of my cloaking systems must be working, otherwise they'd see me coming around on thermal or motion sensors. Jake thought to himself.
The group had left one soldier inside the elevator car, a smart gambit he almost didn't see in time. His motion detection systems weren't as keen as they should have been, most likely because of either the acid or explosions he'd been almost too close to, and the outline a soldier waiting at the rear of the express car appeared on his visor at the last instant.
Jake panicked and let loose with his handgun on full automatic, peppering the soldier and the walls around him with rounds. The trooper slumped to the ground. Jake cursed under his breath at emptying half a clip into the man, the job could have been done with four or five shots. He kicked the wedge out of the doors and requested a level far beneath. With some satisfaction Jake watched the squad double back at speed towards the lift he'd stolen, they almost reached the doors in time to get a clear shot and he could hear their heavy rounds pierce the doors above as the lift car accelerated down to the hangar deck.
Without a second to spare he picked up the body of the fallen trooper and held it up in front of him, it was heavy, the man and armour together must have weighed over a hundred fifty kilos. He pushed through the strain on his arm and focused, levelling his sidearm at the doors where he could see thermal traces of more lightly armoured soldiers outside waiting.
He took aim at the guard with the clearest shot and fired before the lift car finished coming to a slow stop. The round made it through, and the thermal image burst in colours of yellow, red and blue telling him that the soldier leading that charge was dead or dying.
The group of five soldiers arranged in a semicircle around the lift doors opened fire and Jake managed to kill two before he took a round straight on in the shin. His armoured vacsuit took most of the impact but the bone behind his armour shattered and he fell in a howling heap on the floor of the lift car.
