VENDETTA - Chapter 3: The Lead
03 Dec 2024Aurora Adair-Levine
NOTE: This story contains mature themes.Previous Chapter
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DATE: 3rd of December, 3310 [13:22 UGT]
LOCATION: T.O.C. Solaris Q4V-40N, TionislaAurora Adair-Levine
With a hiss, the door to the Solaris operations center parted as Aurora stepped through, tucking the helmet to her suit under her arm as her wife followed through behind her. The holographic table was more crowded than usual, figures turning heads as the duo entered the room. Their entry earned a few salutes - predominantly from the figures in black and red armor as they approached the table.
"... Back at it again, I guess..."
Aurora felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, glancing over at her wife who offered a soft smile.
"It's okay, babe. We'll make sure this goes quick. One step at a time, remember?"
"Yeah..."
"Commanders, it's good to see you."
Looking up at the source of the greeting as they arrived at the table, Aurora offered a weak smile towards Jaiden - TITAN's legal liaison and peacekeeping officer. His green eyes seemed to study her expression before getting the jist, straightening up as he folded his arms. It'd been a while since she'd been in this room for something like this... and the circumstances didn't exactly help the mood. Jaiden, Faust, Kyle and some Captain she didn't recognize all stood around the table, seemingly waiting for some kind of response. Aurora stammered out, scratching her neck as she shrugged.
"Yeah. I... uh... it's good to see everyone... too. Just... wish it was under different conditions."
"How are you two holding up?"
Aurora looked at Jaiden, before trading a gaze with Isabella. She could go without the interrogation... but since the EMBER conflict, she'd hardly interacted with much of the operations crew. Guess she could indulge them a little.
"... Good, I guess. Missing our comfy bed back at home, ha... and... dealing with an immensely pissed off teenager... who I'm sure you know about. But she's... safe and... we're ready to get to work. You said you had a lead?"
"Right... straight to the point. I've had the Peacekeepers pull whatever threads they can regarding the info you shared, and we've uncovered some interesting stuff. If you think it's worth pursuing... we'd be ready to act on it today."
"Okay. Let's hear it."
Jaiden nodded, turning to the console of the holotable as he tapped it. The projected screen flickered a bit before coming to life with an image of a black male with a scar across his lower chin and buzzcut hair. Feeling the grip on her hand tighten, Aurora looked over at her wife. Her expression said it all as she stared right back at those cold eyes, frowning. Squeezing back, their attention was brought back to the other details at hand as Jaiden began to speak.
"This... is Tyrese Waters. 41 years old, ex-Federal special forces. Grew up in an abusive household with no mother in the picture... seems to have been pushed to military service by his father, who we can't find much about. He was dishonorably discharged from the navy following assault of his commanding officer, and gross violation of orders. Following his discharge, he went on to form a small mercenary group called Viper Squad... mostly comprised of people he served alongside in the military, but also criminals... anyone who showed potential."
"From what we can tell, he became obsessed with chasing justice for his discharge, claiming corruption and red-tape blocked him from doing his job. Well... at least that's what statements from interrogating officers said on his file. For several years, he flew under the radar until the Styx incident, where his 'Viper Squad' massacred a settlement of innocent workers. A man by the name of Emmett Watkins found out about a politican attempting a power grab, and tried to expose her before she hired Tyrese's group to clean up the mess."
"Viper Squad killed Emmett and his colleagues, but his daughter Violet - who lived at the settlement at the time - was able to escape and hide. Luck didn't seem to be on their side though. Commander Isabella here was in the right place at the right time, leading to her rescuing Violet and exposing Tyrese's outfit. Almost all of his old associates were killed during the confrontation, but Tyrese survived and was taken to a Federal supermax prison on the edge of inhabited space."
"However... it looks like he's escaped after three years. The supermax prison he was imprisoned at reported suffering a total loss of power on the 12th of August, and lost all camera feeds, especially ones near the cell block Tyrese was kept in. Apparently nobody saw him escape, but by the time the prison came back online, Tyrese was gone without a trace."
Aurora frowned, shaking her head.
"How... how does a notorious criminal get out of a supermax prison that easily?"
"Well, by the looks of it, he had help. And lots of it. They covered their traces well... our own investigations lead us to believe that at least a dozen personnel were involved in his escape. Some were implanted as facility workers, others were bribed prison staff. After the prison break, those people vanished, and those who remained didn't know anything."
"However, we have a decent idea of who may have played a major part in Tyrese's escape - or at least in helping him."
Swiping to the next image on the table, Jaiden brought up the mugshot of a white male with tied back brown hair and a scar across the right side of his face. Aurora rolled her eyes.
"Ugh... what's with these fucking edgy criminals and scars?"
"This is 38-years-old Gage Pacheco. He's an outlaw, though there's not a whole bunch about him. The limited data we can scrape confirms he's worked with Tyrese in the past, though their collaboration has been spotty. What led us to him was Tyrese's ties to the takedown of a small cartel, which seems to have been not long after he formed Viper Squad. It looked like this cartel had personal qualms with Pacheco... so our best guess is that Tyrese was returning a favor, or was asked for one."
"Pacheco runs a criminal gang of his own, though we're not exactly sure about their size. They don't seem to be a particularly violent gang, and there's not much in terms of their history. We don't believe Pacheco himself is an actual threat... but he seems charismatic enough to gather people to a cause. This suggests some kind of loyal following... it could be where Tyrese got the resources and skilled manpower for the prison break."
"Fortunately... Pacheco seems to be somewhat of an idiot savant. For what he makes up with his charisma, he lacks in the skillset and... 'intelligence' of someone like Tyrese. He's been sloppy with covering up his tracks, unlike Tyrese, and as a result there's a small detail that's gone unnoticed. The location of an abandoned listening outpost used to bounce communications throughout his gang."
"This listening outpost looks like an abandoned military installation, hidden deep within an icy ring. Gage and his gang are fairly notorious in a cluster of systems, so they use a network of old military relays to communicate right under the nose of system authorities. We're not sure how they got ahold of these relays, but chances are it was through a contact of theirs. Whatever the case, it seems to have gone unnoticed by system authority."
"It took a day and a bit, but CSF scouts were able to locate one of these relays, and that led them back to this listening post. We believe it's been used within the last few months based off connection logs from the relays, but we didn't have the scout teams get any closer to confirm if anyone was present at the central listening post itself."
Leaning forward onto the table, Faust looked between Aurora and Isabella before he took his turn to break the silence.
"It's... a spotty lead, but it's a lead nonetheless. Commanders, if you believe it's worth pursuing, we can send a team and scrape whatever data we can find, and bring it back for analysis."
"No. Isabella and I will go with the Elite Guard. Tyrese might expect us to get our hands dirty... or he might not. Doesn't really matter. This is personal."
"Right. I... figured you would say that. I would tell you how unwise that is, but... I know you wouldn't be dissuaded by that."
"I told you I wouldn't have a repeat of EMBER. I'm not letting Tyrese dig his claws in... not letting him bide his time. He fucked with the wrong women, and now he'll pay the price."
Faust sighed, straightening up as he folded his arms.
"Aurora... remember, haste makes waste. We can't afford-..."
"I know what needs to be done, Faust. Tyrese needs to be hunted down and killed. We can't give him any opportunities to act, or escape."
"Right... but Commander... this is personal to you. To both of you. Tyrese is a calculated murderer who is already several steps ahead. You can't make any... emotional mis-steps."
"I won't."
"You don't know that."
"Can you STOP trying to lecture me for ONE FUCKING SECOND?!"
The briefing room fell into silence as Aurora yelled, glaring at Faust. Isabella squeezed her hand, speaking in a far more calm tone as she leant in to enter Aurora's peripheral vision.
"Honey... calm down. Faust is... right. We have to be careful."
Looking over at her wife, Aurora's expression softened as her eyes started to glimmer, shaking her head.
"I... I a-already almost lost you once. And Violet. I almost lost t-this entire... squadron... everything I care about... because of people like Tyrese. Do any of you in this room think it's fair... to give yet another ASSHOLE even a slither of opportunity to do that again? Does ANYONE think that's okay?"
The only responses seemed to be stern faces and the quiet hiss of the briefing room's ventilation.
"... That's what I thought. Isa and I will lead a team to this... outpost and see what we can find."
Faust rubbed his face, shaking his head subtly before he accepted reality and nodded.
"Fine... then let me introduce you to the two Captains of the Elite Guard."
A man by Faust's side stepped forward, extending a gloved hand towards Aurora. Despite his gaunt face and short hair, he smiled as Aurora hesitantly accepted the handshake.
"Commanders, I'm Captain Alnair. Hunter Alnair. I'm not sure if you remember us meeting?"
"Uh... yeah... only vaguely. Sorry."
"No worries at all. This is the first time the Elite Guard has been properly activated after all."
"Really? I... thought you guys were around during the... EMBER conflict."
"Yes and no. There has always been a small group of CSF soldiers dedicated to protecting the Squadron Commander, but the element was only reformed and expanded after the EMBER conflict."
"Right. Uh... and there's a second Captain?"
A woman with smoothed-back dark hair stepped forward, offering another set of handshakes towards the two Commanders. She spoke with an accent so thick that it was hard to place a finger on it... possibly from some Alliance backwater system.
"Captain Sasha Landon, at your service."
"Okay... uh... pleasure to meet... both of you."
"Likewise. We have a dropship prepared for the operation, just say the word and we'll be on our way."
"Yeah. Uhm... Isa... Isa and I are going to get ready and we'll meet the rest of the team at the ship. If that's all... just... send the details, system info, maps... whatever... to me and I'll... have a look."
The two elite Captains nodded, before promptly turning and heading to the exit of the briefing room. With a concerned look, Faust just sighed and looked at Aurora. Was it in disappointment, or pity?
"That's all, Commander. Both of you... look after yourself."
"... Thanks, Faust..."
The guilt of her outburst hit her as Aurora turned away and began to head towards the door, her helmet still held tightly under her right arm. Isabella followed swiftly, their fingers still entwined as they exited into the main hallway, making their way through the occasional groups of crew. Her mind rang with that same deep anger she felt years ago... this felt like a repeat of everything to her. Her family - her wife - once again threatened by some insane group.
She traced her steps back towards the lifts they came from, trying to keep down the familiar lump growing in her throat as her vision blurred. Sniffling a bit as they turned the corner leading towards the lifts, Aurora started to cry as streaks ran down her cheeks, sobbing a bit.
"Oh, honey..."
Stopped by her wife, Aurora had no choice but to face her as she rapidly turned into a sniffling mess, her back resting against the hallway wall as she hid behind a support pillar. Isabella stepped in front of her, gently taking her hands as she squeezed.
"Aurora... what's wrong...?"
Shaking her head as she struggled to speak, Aurora just wiped her cheeks profusely with gloved hands as she eventually managed to croak out some words between sobs.
"... s-... sc... ared. I d-... don't..."
"I know, my love. I know. But... I'm here with you, okay? We'll be okay. I told you... Tyrese is nothing. Just... a small obstacle. We'll... get through this together... and then we'll go back home... soak up the sun... go on our dates again. Okay?"
She only managed a shaky whine as a response, gazing at her wife through teary eyes as Isabella leant in close, bringing her hands up to gently cup Aurora's cheeks, her fingers brushing beneath her frizzled curls. Her hands came up to rest on Isa's forearms, holding her as she sobbed quietly.
"Y-you said... that to me and... s-said things would be d... dif... different b-but so far it's a... all f... feeling the sa-... same, Isaaa~..."
"I know, I know... and it won't be like that again, love. I promise. Things will get better once this is over."
"... y-yeah... heard t... that one b-before..."
Isabella sighed.
"Hun, I don't know what to really say. I... this is the last thing I'd expect. Him coming back. We just... we just have to take care of it, and then it's done."
Aurora held onto Isa's forearms tightly as the sting of snipping back at her wife - even a little bit - made her cry even more. She closed her eyes as her lips quivered, taking in shaky breaths as tears slowly ran down her cheeks.
"I j-just d... don't wa... want to s-see you hurt. I don't w-want to be h... hu... rt an... anymore~..."
"You won't. We'll be okay. We have... well, we sort of have the squadron on our backs. I have you. You have me... and an entire CSF death squad behind your back. Mine too. So, I say you'll be okay, and so will I."
Hearing the 'death squad' comment did make Aurora chuckle a little bit as she sniffled, opening her eyes to look up into her wife's hazels again. She saw Isa's soft smile, feeling her gentle thumbs wipe the streaks away on her cheeks as her face was held.
"... Hh... I g-guess s... so. But I... I just want... you. I... I love you so much a-and... I love the l-life we've built to... together. You m-mean everything to m... me... Isa. I just... w-wish it was without p-people like him trying to... t-tear us down..."
"That's why we have our own little paradise away from anyone. With a warm sun and a nice lake. But... unfortunately... I left a loose end from my past, so... I... we have to deal with it real quick. Then nothing will stop us. I mean.... nothing has stopped us, has it?"
Aurora let out a soft, stuffy sigh as she shrugged a bit. She was going to protest more... but thinking of the times they cut it close made her heart ache. Isa was right in some sense... they were here today because they overcame the past. Married and in a home of their own like Aurora dreamed for them.
Sniffling as she let out a whimper, Aurora pulled herself close to her partner as she looked up into eyes she adored, slowly closing the rest of the gap as she kissed her on her lips. The two stood there in a quiet embrace, out of sight of the main hallway as they just took this moment to be together. Eventually, Aurora was the first to slowly break away as she sniffled and buried her face into Isa's shoulder.
"... I love y-you~..."
"And I love you too, hun."
Remaining in the hug for a bit more, Aurora eventually leant back once she had calmed down enough. Wiping her face, she slowly released Isabella and looked up at her, before glancing down the hallway towards the lifts.
"I g-guess we should... go get ready and... I should get my shit t-together, haha..."
"Hun, take all the time you need. It's okay."
Taking Isa's hand, Aurora nodded a bit and leant in to place one more gentle peck on her lips, before she began to walk towards the lifts.
"I'm... okay. Better with you by my side~..."
"Hmmm, good... glad I can help, my love~..."
Aurora giggled and rolled her eyes a bit as she looked over at Isa, releasing a soft, more relaxed sigh as they arrived at the lift. Tapping the console to open the doors and stepping inside with her wife, Aurora typed in her hangar code and watched as the lift closed, taking them back to their ship.
"You do so much more than help, honey. So... let's go get today over with."
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DATE: 3rd of December, 3310 [14:52 UGT]
LOCATION: Abandoned Listening Post, Unknown LocationAurora Adair-Levine
IDENT: {Phoenix 1-1} "[Touchdown! Good luck, entry-team!]"
The ship lurched as its gear made contact, the drives of the dropship spooling down as Aurora let out a sigh, her eyes sweeping through the bay of soldiers wearing heavy-duty, dark red armor. As the ramp to the ship began to open, the soldiers in the drop bay lifted their harnesses and rose to their feet, checking gear and grabbing their weapons.
Being right at the seats closest to the ramp with her wife right next to her, Aurora rose up as well as she grabbed her rifle from her suit pack, bringing it forward into her hands as she turned to face the ramp. The motors of the ramp hummed as it was extended, light flooding into the bay as it revealed the outside of the ship. With a quiet inhale to herself, Aurora took the first step and began to move out the Crusader's drop bay, keeping her weapon close.
The pad they had landed on was mostly shrouded in shadow as they stepped out into the exterior, the sky littered with asteroids and particles of ice that filtered out the light of the star, the world slowly rotating around them as the asteroid spun slightly. Just as the intel said, the listening post was hidden deep in the icy ring of some nondescript gas giant and buried into an excavated asteroid, a fairly good hiding spot for such an old military installation that wasn't very big to begin with.
'Old' was an apt descriptor, to say the least. The place was extremely dilapidated and practically falling apart, sections of whatever hull was visible dented by meteoroid impacts, with ice freezing over the hidden remainder. Thankfully, most of the post seemed to be embedded in the asteroid it was built into, shielding it from physical damage. At least hull breaches were unlikely...
Large hangar doors impeded their entry, thin sheets of ice forming over the worn exterior. It seemed this installation barely supported a medium ship on the pad... but the hangar itself looked like it'd be way too small for a ship that size. Aurora sighed a bit, her breath echoing in her sealed helmet as she took in her surroundings. There was no exterior lighting or any hint of power... they'd have to figure out a way to get this hangar open.
"Well... this is one place to hide a comms installation."
With no contact, the rest of the squad assumed a relaxed formation as they exited the ship, spreading out across the pad and approaching the hangar bulkhead. Isabella joined her wife's side after she spoke, looking out at what awaited them. With the lack of atmosphere, the two stuck to radio.
IDENT: {CMDR Isabella Adair-Levine} "[Yeah. Who builds a station in a ice ring? Look at the damage. You think he's actually here? I... feel like it's... you know. A trap.]"
"Doubt it. It would make things a lot easier though..."
Slowly dawdling out onto the pad, Aurora kept her rifle close as she turned her suit light on. Her flashlight cut through the shadows, highlighting the large entry door in more detail as she looked around for a possible way to open it... one that didn't include hacking a console. It didn't take long for her to sweep the door and spot a worn maintenance panel off to the right. The paint was almost completely eroded, but the lettering that remained gave Aurora an idea of what the panel was for.
"There. That's an emergency release for the door. Captain, can you get this door open?"
IDENT: {Scythe 1-1} "[On it.]"
One section of the squad split off right as they began to approach the panel. The other squad split off left, taking cover near whatever structural elements they could find - as well as stray crates that were still magnetically locked to the pad. Aurora continued to look around, but soon began to move out of the funnel of the hangar door, joining the squad on the right as she moved behind a structural pillar. The team cut open the access panel, revealing the hydraulic controls within as one of team's technician discarded the panel aside, and grabbed a handle within.
IDENT: {Scythe 1-1} "[Pulling the emergency release now, Commander.]"
IDENT: {CMDR Isabella Adair-Levine} "[Shouldn't we be worried about atmospheric decompression?]"
The technician glanced back as he piped up, looking over at the two Commanders while his gloved hand still held the handle, not engaging it yet.
IDENT: {Scythe 1-4} "[Should be all good, Commander. A door this big... air'll rush out but probably not cause much damage. That's if the station isn't already breached elsewhere... or if it can even maintain life support.]"
"Okay. Open it up."
At Aurora's command, he turned back to the handle and began to pull, struggling a bit as the mechanism jammed up. With a bit of force as he yanked the hydraulic release, the sudden intense hiss of the hydraulics were loud enough to make out through vibrations alone, the suit sound synthesis doing the rest of the work.
The door let out a long, mechanical groan as it began to part, pieces of ice breaking off and being scattered into space as frosted air visibly vented out, howling as the section ahead was depressurized. It didn't take long for the air to vent out completely into the abyss of space, leaving the door to slowly continue as its mechanism screeched and grinded.
Eventually, the soldier released the handle, leaving the door half-open but enough to step through as he rose to his feet and grabbed his weapon once more. The squads quickly approached the gap, stacking up before the second half of the team on the left side took initiative as Captain Landon called out.
IDENT: {Scythe 2-1} "[Breaching!]"
Scythe 2's squad leader went first as she flowed through the threshold of the door, her team following through like a smooth stream as they quickly entered the gap. Scythe 1 followed moments after, armored figures disappearing through the door beyond as Aurora quickly jogged over to keep up, entering with her wife close behind.
Moving through the hangar door, Aurora turned her suit light off as she let the leading CSF soldiers light up the area, their torches sweeping a large hangar. Despite the larger pad outside, the most this hangar was accommodating was probably a Sidewinder due to the tight confines of the walls. It was a mess, littered with crates, debris and particles of ice floating in the interior and broken vents lining the back of the hangar, but it seemed clear. The teams kept moving slowly, starting to venture deeper into the hangar as they split up.
Aurora stuck with the team that went right, watching the second half of Scythe take the left side of the hangar as their silhouettes were broken up by stacked, locked crates and structural pillars supporting the hangar's damaged ceiling. There was no lighting, confirming that theory of the power being completely out. This place was a mess... Aurora was starting to think that the intel was off. Who would use a ruined post like this? On the flipside... it made sense. It didn't look valuable, nor was it easy to find. The perfect hiding place.
IDENT: {CMDR Isabella Adair-Levine} "[I... definitely don't miss this anymore. But... to state the obvious, this place looks... very abandoned. Like... this isn't the place or... I don't know.]"
"You and me both, hun. It doesn't look like they scuttled the place, but it also doesn't look like they've used this place at all for years. But... maybe the more sensitive equipment is still intact deeper in."
As Aurora continued to follow the team as they cleared the hangar, they eventually reached the back of the large space and arrived at a smaller access door that seemed to grant access to the rest of the outpost. It was closed and sealed, however.
IDENT: {Scythe 1-1} "[What's the play, Commander?]"
"Well... let's stay split into two teams. Scythe 2 can take the door their side and see what they can find. We search the facility... find whatever they were using and see if there's any info we can pull. Keep an eye out for traps or ambushes."
IDENT: {Scythe 1-1} "[You got it.]"
IDENT: {Scythe 2-1} "[Scythe 2 copies.]"
With Scythe 1's technician stepping up, they pulled out their Arc Cutter and deployed the tool, before a bright blue beam shot out from its nozzle, sparking away at the edges of the access panel to the door. Exposing the circuitry and door port beneath in no time at all, they applied their Energylink to the port and overloaded the door, giving it just enough juice to open it before it shorted with a flash of sparks.
No air rushed through as the door opened. There must've been a life support field covering the hangar door to prevent this, but without power, the broken vents Aurora saw upon entry must've equalized the pressure when they originally opened up the hangar - intentionally or not.
Quietly stepping forward, the Captain swept the door for a moment before slowly advancing forward, stepping through into a hallway that quietly creaked and groaned under the weight of the ice outside the station. The element entered the hallway, splitting off from Scythe 2 who went their own way as Aurora followed in. The flashlights of the soldiers lit up the damaged corridor, but at least this hallway didn't seem to be nearly as damaged as the hangar and exterior.
IDENT: {CMDR Isabella Adair-Levine} "[This place really creeps me out.]"
The hallway turned right and then took another left corner as the team began to slowly move through. Aurora didn't respond, focused on keeping her ear out for any strange sounds among the creaking of the station. Passing the corner, she looked ahead past the soldiers, seeing their torches illuminating a longer corridor with two doors up ahead, one on the left and the other on the right. They already seemed open, the team's pace slowing before they abruptly stopped, the pointman near the front raising a closed fist.
IDENT: {Scythe 1-2} "[Hold up. Physical tripwire.]"
Being at the back of the formation, Aurora stopped and shouldered her rifle at a low-ready, peering up ahead to see what she could see... but she couldn't see any laser highlighted by her suit's advanced AR imager. It took her a moment for her to actually notice the thin wire strung low between two pillars, blocking off the hallway. Captain Alnair got onto the radio as the pointman examined the trap.
IDENT: {Scythe 1-1} "[Looks like a grenade stuck to a pillar, with a wire tied to the pin. Scythe 2, be on the look out for makeshift grenade traps.]"
IDENT: {Scythe 2-1} "[Copy that.]"
Hearing a bit of local chatter up ahead that wasn't over the squad radio, Aurora watched as the squad's technician slowly advanced, bringing out a multitool to cut the wire while the rest of the squad covered the hallway ahead. With a quick snip, the wire was severed and the technician carefully removed the frag from its holding spot, checking that the pin was set firmly before retreating back into formation, stowing the grenade.
"Guess Tyrese and whoever he's working with are a fan of old tricks..."
IDENT: {CMDR Isabella Adair-Levine} "[Yeah. Pretty primitive. Makes more sense to have infrared laser tripwires and lace the place with claymores that blow in all directions... anyway...]"
"Let's just slow things down. Scythe, split into two and clear the rooms ahead."
The eight operatives split in half as one team stacked near the left door, the other near the right. Aurora stuck with the team led by the Captain, shouldering her rifle as she watched both teams carefully check the doors for traps, before they readied themselves and went for it.
Moving smoothly, the soldiers entered the rooms as they flowed through at a decent pace, enough to get them through the fatal funnel while still having time to react to any traps. Aurora followed, stepping through into the room as they entered what looked like the station's operations center. Several consoles lined the walls of the room, with a large circular server right in the center of the room spanning from floor to ceiling. Slowly walking around as the soldiers swept the room, eventually the call that it was clear sounding out.
"Ugh... all this shit is useless without power. We need to find the reactor and get this place up and running."
Aurora felt like she was getting progressively more on edge the longer this went on with nothing happening. She turned back to look at her wife, checking on her fairly often as she just couldn't help it. Isa's safety was her priority... the creepy, dark outpost didn't alleviate her worries as it was.
Exiting into the hallway again, Aurora looked across to see the other half of the team clearing what looked like a storeroom. Turning her flashlight on and facing the part of the hallway they hadn't gone yet, Aurora called out as she began to continue advancing slowly into the unknown.
"Captain, regroup on me and Isa in the hallway. Let's find the reactor."
IDENT: {CMDR Isabella Adair-Levine} "[Reactor? Hope the place doesn't fall apart or something when we turn on the power switch.]"
"Same... but not like we can use any of this stuff without power."
Pausing as she glanced back to see the rest of their team exit the room behind and join up, Aurora continued to take the lead as two of the soldiers split to the left side of the hallway, covering her cross as they slowly moved up, occasionally checking for traps. Their lights cut through the darkness and revealed a junction up ahead, with several worn signs that were barely holding onto their ceiling mounts.
That was at least some guidance... it seemed like the previous owners of this station had scratched over the existing lettering to make it more prominent again. Heading left took them towards the reactor, while right seemed to go towards life support. For Aurora, the choice was obvious as she paused at the junction, lowering her profile a bit and leaning out to check around the corner, her rifle leading the way.
It seemed clear, with no traps... but this was so far too easy. Maybe they didn't expect them to find this listening post? Taking the corner, Aurora slowly began to advance down yet another dark hallway, her light highlighting another junction ahead that turned right, which seemed to have the reactor sign just outside of it.
Approaching the junction as she slowly began to cross and sweep the angles, Aurora moved to the other side, the rest of the team stacking on the corner closest to them.
"I don't like this. No portable turrets... nothing much protecting... anything here. What's the catch?"
IDENT: {Scythe 1-1} "[Are we sure turning the reactor on is a good idea, Commander? Safest bet would be to pull whatever drives and hardware we can find.]"
"We could... but the drives could have failsafes if we plug them into anything else. We need to avoid tampering too much or we risk destroying data."
IDENT: {Scythe 1-1} "[Right... copy that. Scythe 2, be advised, we're moving to start up the reactor. Be on the look out for additional traps or defence systems when the station comes online.]"
IDENT: {Scythe 2-1} "[Acknowledged.]"
Advancing down the hallway slowly after sweeping for traps and coming up blank, Aurora approached the reactor bulkhead as she gestured to the access panel of the door. Scythe 1's technician took point again as they drew their cutting tool. A flash of blue light filled the hallway as they began to slice away the access panel to expose the circuitry beneath.
Watching as the technician removed the access panel and exposed the port beneath, he performed the same technique as with the previous door they entered through, the Energylink flashing with a spark before the door creaked and groaned, the mechanism opening slower than normal with an irritating grinding noise. The team's lights shone on the fusion reactor inside, which looked to be intact - if a bit worn like everything else in this station.
Checking for traps, the team entered and split off, clearing the whole room first. Aurora approached the reactor, sighing as she lowered her gun and began to walk over to the console and the regulator housing, taking a look.
"Looks like whoever used this last took the regulator. Captain?"
IDENT: {Scythe 1-1} "[Sergeant Barron, bring over the power regulator.]"
Aurora looked over as she saw the technician approach, reaching back to a cylinder mounted to their pack that they brought around, carefully slotting into the open housing and securing it in place.
IDENT: {Scythe 1-4} "[Good to go, Commander.]"
Turning to the panel of the reactor that ran on its own internal battery, Aurora grabbed an e-breach from her pouch as she slotted it into the side of the panel, before switching it on as she watched it start to override the panel's authorization. Waiting for it to complete, she tapped the ignition button once it was done, the regulator housing starting to close with a soft whirr.
The moment the housing closed, the reactor flooded the room with blue light, starting to spool up as the room filled with sounds of the reactor starting up. Watching the magnetic coils start to pull through plasma as the reactor came to life, eventually the lights suddenly flashed on and flooded the room with proper light, allowing them to see properly.
The team turned off their lights as Aurora heard the hiss of the vents, looking up to see cool air filling the room. For a moment, she felt a tinge of panic as she wondered how Tyrese's gang might've sabotaged various station systems... but nothing else seemed to happen as the reactor ran fine, and the suit confirmed the exterior air was breathable. They were keeping their helmets on though... it was safer that way if they got into a fight.
IDENT: {CMDR Isabella Adair-Levine} "[Okay. Back to that control room?]"
"Yeah. Let's head back."
Approaching the open door, Aurora stepped through as the rest of the team joined up, entering the hallway once more. She was about to continue before she heard a sudden alarm beep. Instinctively checking the floor for a tripwire, a panel on the ceiling popped open as a turret shot out, pivoting around on a robotic arm as a ballistic shield unfolded around its barrel, covering sensitive electronics in an instant.
She looked up to see the barrel pointed straight at her, her adrenaline instantly spiking as the light near the turret's camera flashed red. Clamping her palm, her suit shields flashed to life as she rapidly backtracked, almost stumbling back into her wife as the rest of the team started to shout. The pointman was first to pull the trigger, several rounds smashing into the metal shield and narrowly missing the optics. The team was starting to retreat back into the room, before Aurora suddenly shouted out, her voice wavering a bit.
"DON'T SHOOT!"
Stopping her own retreat as she paused halfway through the door, Aurora stared at the turret as she watched it still focus on her... before everything became quiet enough to hear the constant clicking coming from the turret as it dry-fired. She let out a heavy sigh as her suspicion was confirmed, lowering her weapon as her heart pounded in her chest. She shakily turned her shield off as she squeezed her left hand, her shields dissipating from the tiny emitters scattered around her suit.
"It's o-out of ammo... don't waste your rounds. Fuck..."
IDENT: {Scythe 2-1} "[Scythe 1, we heard shots. SITREP.]"
IDENT: {Scythe 1-1} "[Had an automated turret scare us, but... looks like it's out of ammo. Keep an eye out for any security turrets deploying from the ceiling.]"
IDENT: {Scythe 2-1} "[Copy that.]"
The talk over the radio was almost imperceptible to Aurora as her head spun, the adrenaline dump taking its toll as she just stared at the turret. She hadn't felt a shock like that in... months. Years, even. The EMBER conflict ended almost two years ago... but those scars were still here today. She managed to suppress her trembling hands as best as she could, taking in a breath to try calm herself as she kept on going, keeping her rifle close as the hallway guided the way back.
With the team following her, she retraced her footsteps and headed back to the operations room they had originally found. Passing through the junctions, the team eventually circled back to the two rooms, with Aurora entering the ops center again. Contrary to before, the dark room was now bathed in a constant bright light, despite one or two lights flickering slightly. Consoles lit up and the operations server hummed. Glancing back at the team, Aurora called out without using radio, now that the environment was pressurized.
"Alright... let's have a look around and see what we can access without tampering too much. Be careful."
Nodding, several CSF soldiers began to split up and search the room, prompting Aurora to look over to her wife as she approached her to check up on Isa.
"Hey... all good?"
Isabella relaxed, lowering her rifle completely as she sighed heavily, shaking her head a bit.
"I don't know. That turret... if it was armed..."
"We would've been fine, honey~..."
Aurora gently reached over as she took Isabella's off-hand, gently squeezing it through her glove as she rubbed her thumb over the back of her hand. She retracted her hand after a moment, offering a smile even though she knew her visor blocked her face. She tried to reassure her wife... but was it just reassurance for herself?
"I'm glad it wasn't armed, but... I managed to get my shields on in time. And I had you covered... as always~..."
Turning to look into the room as she watched the CSF soldiers work while the two guarded the door, Aurora swayed a bit on the spot as she rested her hand on top of her rifle.
"Always there to protect me, huh? Glad it was unarmed though. Just scared the shit out of me. And... uhh... ha... you look really good in that armour. Suits you. Literally."
Seeing that the soldiers were still searching the room, Aurora glanced back at Isa as she just giggled softly to her comment, trying to stay somewhat focused as they guarded the door.
"Harr harr... suit of armor suits me. But... thanks, love. And yes... I'll always be there to protect you. Still feeling my heart beat though... that turret was certainly a jumpscare."
Aurora sighed as she glanced around the room again.
"Just... hope we find something here. Clearly... this place still works... can't have been that long ago since they used it."
"Hmm... but yeah. Let's hope. Though... if they abandoned it... we should be careful with any traps. Like with the computers too. They know that, right?"
"Yeah... that's what's weird. They didn't prepare many traps... so it seems. So many places they could've put more tripwires... they could've sabotaged the reactor or even loaded that turret. But... it's almost like they didn't expect us to find this place. Maybe they didn't... Tyrese seems to be the more thorough type, but this Gage guy... even the briefing said he was a charismatic idiot."
Aurora heard approaching footsteps behind her as she looked over, seeing one of the soldiers approach. It looked like the team's technician as he extended a tablet towards Aurora once he arrived, speaking from behind the visor that muffled him.
"Commander, have a look at this. Their data here is hardly encrypted... wasn't too much of a hassle to scrape it out without triggering any kind of security system. Looks like communication logs and plans."
Taking the tablet, Aurora slung her rifle onto her suit pack, and began to look at the info on the tablet's screen. Her eyes scanned what popped out the most. Hydrus Supermax... schematics... schedule times... inter-team comms logs...
"... Huh. This is a... a schematic of the prison Tyrese was in. They... even have shift rotations... communications. I guess we have an idea of how he escaped. Idiot or not... this must've taken a while to put together."
"I can see what else I can pull, Commander. Might be able to even get communication recordings, if they kept any."
"Yeah... do that, please."
Handing the tech back his tablet, he walked away again as Aurora looked around the room for the Captain, remaining by the door with her wife. Isabella hummed to herself, thinking for a second before she spoke.
"Huh... wow. I was expecting a big ambush or something but... that Gage character. If he's this sloppy... wonder how long until we see his body floating in space or something. You know. Killed."
"True... that'd be a problem for us. No chance we'd have found this place if it wasn't for his sloppiness... but I doubt Tyrese would allow another slip-up. On the other side, you... took out most of his original team, so... he probably needs someone who doesn't ask too many questions and can... get him whatever manpower he needs, even if that means a few slip-ups."
It wasn't long after she finished her sentence that the technician returned with his tablet in hand, which was shortly passed over to Aurora.
"Here we go, Commander. Two audio logs, sitting right in the open."
"Okay... let's have a listen."
Tapping on the first audio log and playing it on the tablet's speakers, Aurora listened as the Captain of the team began to approach as well, arriving at the group as he too began to listen.
//::START_RECORDING :: 33100812
PLAY TRANSCRIPT >>> 00:00 |---------- 02:17
========================================
Everything's in place... today's the day. Figured I'd record this one for posterity... it's been three years after all. In case anything goes wrong... Amaya and Josiah can pick up the pieces. Hopefully. This... might be my gang's biggest heist yet... and it's all to get Tyrese out of prison. Tyrese Waters... oh, how time flies.
Wasn't too long ago he pulled me out of deep cartel business... now we're pulling him out of a supermax prison. Looks like some 'incident' in a system called Styx landed him in cuffs. Some run in with a woman... some Commander. I forget her name. Doesn't matter. After I learnt his shenangians landed him in Federal supermax, I figured I could return the favor now that I'm in a much better position.
So... with the help of my right hands, we've put together a pretty huge plan. Tyrese has gotta find it impressive.
Sadly, we did have to move slow with this... try avoid the authorities catching on. But over three years... I've managed to embed some of my own trusted people... pay off others who don't really know what's about to go down. Hell, I even found one or two people loyal to Tyrese... it's a small galaxy. They're the pawns on the chessboard, ready for shit to go down.
Over these three years, we've tried to fake convincing prison break attempts... each one resulting in the Federal Marine detachment for the prison responding. They've grown complacent... it's almost routine for them. They won't expect the whole power grid of the prison being shut down, and sneaking Tyrese out of a life support exhaust. Nobody can survive outside the prison for more than a few minutes, certainly not any prisoners wearing those prison suits. So they won't even think to search outside. Coupled with the power outage... and it should be easy peasy getting Tyrese out."
All the pieces are in place today. So... this is it. Once we've got Tyrese out of prison... we've got a new base lined up for... well, whatever he wants to do next. I guess he'll want to go after that Commander. Tyrese has always been obsessed with revenge and justice. Me? I'm just hoping he'll see reason and join my gang in doing some high-profile heists. We could use someone of his skillset.
Right. Time to go. We'll be seeing ya soon, Tyrese.
========================================
//:STOP_RECORDING
END TRANSCRIPT >>> 02:17 ----------| 02:17Aurora sighed as she let those words sink in, letting out a quiet sigh as she looked over at her wife, who spoke.
"Is this guy trying to use him? Help him first, then use his expertise for heists or whatever? And... that prison break... I'll give him that. If he even came up with it, of course. What's next then?"
Aurora tapped on the next audio log, which seemed to be a communications archive. It looked like this listening post still followed its old protocols of recording any active communications... and this log was far more recent than the others. She figured they didn't bother trying to override the listening post's auto-record feature... but was that incompetence or just complacency?
//::START_RECORDING :: 33101125
PLAY COMMUNICATIONS TRANSCRIPT >>> 00:00 |---------- 01:35
========================================
:: LP-33 :: "[Tyrese, this is Gage. We've done as you asked. Amaya and Josiah surveyed this squadron you wanted, got all sorts of routine times for that 'Violet' you were asking about. Looks like she works aboard the carrier.]"
:: UNKNOWN ID :: "[Perfect. I'll be in the area. What's the schedule for Violet?]"
:: LP-33 :: "[Well... throughout the whole week, she's working on the Solaris. But every weekend, she takes a shuttle to some system.]"
:: UNKNOWN ID :: "[What system?]"
:: LP-33 :: "[I don't know, you told us to watch the squadron and her, not follow her.]"
:: UNKNOWN ID :: "[Goddamn idiot! Fine... I'll follow her myself and find out where she's heading. Probably visiting her new 'parents'... that'll get me closer to catching Commander Levine.]"
:: LP-33 :: "[Listen, Tyrese... this really is not a good idea. This squadron looks serious. What makes you think you'll get a shot at those two Commanders?]"
:: UNKNOWN ID :: "[Commander Levine is the priority... though her Federal hotshot is a nice bonus. All I need is to draw them out once. The squadron doesn't matter... they won't know what hit them.]"
:: LP-33 :: "[This is a stupid idea. You should have just-...]"
:: UNKNOWN ID :: "[I told you to shut the fuck up and not ask questions. Where are you? Are you still using that goddamn listening post?]"
:: LP-33 :: "[Yeah, why?]"
:: UNKNOWN ID :: "[You idiot, I told you to leave that place be. Scuttle it and forget about it!]"
:: LP-33 :: "[Oh, come on. There's good hardware here! We can use it!]"
:: UNKNOWN ID :: "[It's a goddamn liability! God knows the only reason you're not behind bars yet is because the local authorities don't give a shit about you and your pathetic gang. But if you compromise me, I'll...]"
:: LP-33 :: "[Relax, relax. We'll... get rid of the data and hardware. I'll be back at base soon.]"
:: UNKNOWN ID :: "[Good. I'll keep an eye on Violet and see where she goes this weekend. Don't fuck anything more up.]"
========================================
//:STOP_RECORDING
END COMMUNICATIONS TRANSCRIPT >>> 01:35 ----------| 01:35Aurora looked over at her wife, just sensing her rage looking at her as she saw her fists clench. She shook her head a bit and passed the tablet over to the technician again, looking among the group.
"Well... looks like they both fucked up. Tyrese went overt and attacked Violet... and Gage didn't scuttle this place much at all. But... nothing linking to their new base... so it doesn't help much. Though... it sounds like Gage gave away the names of his right hands."
"We need to smoke this piece of shit as soon as possible. Thanks to his dumbass partner, we can make that happen. Is there anything else for leads? We have names, I guess."
"Yeah... we need to bring this back to the Solaris. Captain, assuming there's no failsafes found, I want your team to pull as many drives as possible. We'll take them back to the Solaris while Scythe 2 plants explosives on the reactor. They're not using this listening post again anytime soon."
"Got it."
The Captain walked off, as did the technician, barking out orders throughout the room as Aurora looked at her wife.
"We'll find him, honey. He won't get away this time."
"He won't. I'll make sure of that."
"You and me both~..."
Aurora reached over to gently take Isa's hand, squeezing a bit before she slowly retracted her hand. Seeing the rest of the team pulling drives and hardware from the various computers, Aurora got on the radio as she tapped the side of her helmet.
"Scythe 2, Aurora here. I need you to set manually triggered charges on the station's reactor. We're extracting data and then moving to exfil."
IDENT: {Scythe 2-1} "[Copy that, Commander. Moving to set charges and then will exfil.]"
Lowering her hand, Aurora looked over at the Captain as she watched the team pack up whatever they had recovered.
"Okay Captain, if that's all, let's move to extract."
Stepping past her wife, Aurora began to make her way down the hallway they entered from, tracing their steps back to the hangar as the team gathered their equipment, and moved to the extraction point. With her section of Scythe linking up with her as her wife stayed by her side, the group traversed the now well-lit hallway, minding the occasional protruding plate and scattered junk in corners of the floor.
Thankfully, no random turret surprises or renewed security systems impeded their return this time as they entered the hangar once more. Large floodlights shone on the crates and elevated catwalks around the hangar, a large blue life support shield covering the still-open hangar door. Their ship was still outside, ready for extraction. Slowing their roll, it didn't take long for Scythe 2 to catch up as the whole squad regrouped by the hangar, exiting and approaching the Crusader.
Aurora boarded via the ramp and found her seat as she let out a sigh, her wife joining her side while the rest of the troops prepared for flight. She took Isabella's hand and squeezed it gently, looking out of the ship before the ramp began to close, the drives humming to life. Not only had they extracted some decent data... but they'd taken an asset out of Tyrese's hands. She was relieved to already be striking back... and not in a small way.
IDENT: {Phoenix 1-1} "[Phoenix 1 is RTB. Hang tight, everybody.]"
The pilot's sentence was punctuated as the ship suddenly lurched, the gear audibly disengaging as the thrusters began to roar, pulling them to the rear of the ship. Aurora winced as she held Isabella's hand a bit more tightly... but thankfully, the flight soon eased as she relaxed. Aurora was careful to not get ahead of herself, but maybe this would be different after all. Tyrese was no EMBER, only a cheap half-imitation.
But even an imitation could get close to the real thing.
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Credit: Written together by CMDRs Radiumio and Maple, imagery created by CMDR Radiumio and story provided by CMDR Maple. Thank you so much for reading!
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