Operation nomad operator.., p.25
Operation Nomad (Operator Chronicles Book 3), page 25
"Bossman, PCIs are complete!" Top called out.
"Very well, Top. Thank you," Bossman said curtly. "Listen up, everyone. We've reviewed this plan from start to finish, so stay focused and follow the script. We go in force and secure the docks before penetrating the interior of the rig and scanning for IDENTs. If Ramus and Milton did their jobs, then we should be able to clearly identify our people and get them back to the docks before security knows what's going on."
"Meanwhile, Raptor, Nomad, and Yeti will search for Ramus and Milton, to cover their egress," Mama added.
"Yes, thanks, Mama," Bossman nodded. "Does anyone have any questions?"
"How heavily armed are the security personnel, and how many of them are we expecting to encounter?" Wraith asked.
"We expect no more than two dozen lightly armed security guards. They're hired thugs with guns, not soldiers, so we shouldn't have any issues neutralizing them," Bossman explained.
"Is Nemesis on Overwatch?" Wraith asked.
Bossman winked. "She's somewhere close by. But even we can’t see her."
Then the overhead speakers crackled to life. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're on final approach with our hunk of rubbish. Depending on whether this vessel can come to a complete stop, we should be docked momentarily."
Jimmy felt the anticipation in the air. No matter how many missions he'd been on already, he still felt the butterflies in his stomach. Gripping his weapon tightly, he drew a long soothing breath before securing it on his hardpoint.
"You heard the man, people!" Top sounded off. "Let's move out to the umbilical."
The team began to migrate to the exit. Jimmy, ever mindful of his bulky armor, side-stepped to let Raptor pass him by.
"Such a gentleman," Raptor said as she passed.
"I just didn't want you to scratch my paint," Jimmy said playfully.
"Uh huh. Sure."
Together, they made their way to the umbilical and gathered around the hatch, covering it with their bodies. There was a viewport on the bulkhead next to the hatch. Jimmy shimmied his way through the crowd and looked out of the viewport, and saw the rig with his own eyes.
The complex was a multi-level platform affixed to the asteroid, and it was much larger than Jimmy had imagined. The top level of the rig must have been covered by a magnetic shield to keep the atmosphere contained, as dock workers were milling about on the rig's surface without any EV suits.
"How does this thing maintain its gravity? My suit is reading close to one G," Jimmy asked.
"My guess would be a graviton emitter coil generator mounted in the center of the asteroid mine shafts," Mama said.
"Why not keep it on the rig for safekeeping?"
"Because there's another mining rig complex on the far side of the asteroid from here," Ghost answered. "Keeping the graviton emitter in the center of the asteroid, it can service both rigs."
"Two rigs?" Jimmy gasped. "How do we know we're going to the right one?"
"Because this is where our intel says we need to go, man," Boomer explained.
Then the ship abruptly stopped, causing everyone to steady their balance. The PA system came to life once again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not sure if we came to a complete stop or if the ship just decided to die, but either way, you are clear to extend the umbilical." Dagger's voice resonated through the corridor.
Top stepped in front of the control panel and tapped in the command to extend the umbilical. In seconds, the umbilical extended to the rig's surface. The adjacent interior hatches closed automatically to create a seal, much like an air lock. Jimmy watched his atmospheric pressure gauge on his HUD as the ship's air pressure adjusted to match the rig's before the main hatch opened.
The light above the main hatch flashed green, and Boomer grabbed the release lever, pulling the hatch open. Jimmy released a long breath as time seemed to slow down. He willed his legs to move as he was first into the breach, with Raptor and Yeti in tow.
His mission was to seek out Ramus and Milton, and he let his overarching objective burn into his mind as his chief goal to achieve. Every movement and thought going forward would be dedicated to serving his mission, and he was determined not to lose focus.
As soon as Jimmy stepped off the umbilical, he snatched his rifle from the hardpoint and began scanning for threats. Taking a knee, he waited until he saw Raptor and Yeti in his periphery before standing, keeping his eyes focused down his gunsights.
With his off hand, he pulled out his nano module and thumbed the switch to deploy a discreet cloud of surveillance bots. Seconds later, his HUD began to populate with mapping data, and an overlay appeared on top of his natural vision. He shared his HUD with Raptor and Yeti so they would all have access to the same data.
"There's a stairway just up ahead of that shipping container on the right," Jimmy called out.
"I see it," Yeti confirmed. "Cover me."
Raptor and Jimmy stayed put, scanning the area with their rifles as Yeti surged forward and made it to the top of the staircase. Jimmy watched as Yeti cleared the top of the stairs and motioned for them to follow.
Raptor moved first. Her more diminutive stature became visible as she approached the much taller operator. Together, they headed down the stairs as Jimmy moved forward to catch up with them.
And just like that, the hunt was on.
38
"Sir, the Charteans are rioting! It's a volatile situation," Sergeant Delacruz said urgently.
"Are there any ships or shuttles docked on that rig?" Captain Reginald asked calmly, his composure a source of reassurance for the team.
"No, sir."
"Then lock it down remotely and we'll sort it out later."
"But, sir. The staff and security personnel are all trapped on it, along with over one hundred Charteans. We have to do something about it."
Reginald turned his head toward the sergeant. "Our mission is to secure this rig by order of the prefect. If the other rig is locked down, we can take it back when our mission here is done."
"Understood, sir. But how do we know this side of the rig is under any meaningful threat?"
"Because the SNA is already here," Reginald said, gesturing towards the camera feed. The display showed three mottled shadows entering the staircase.
"What the hell is that, sir?" the sergeant asked incredulously.
"Power armor with stealth capabilities would be my guess," Reginald said shrugging. "Who else would it be?"
"What are your orders, sir?" the sergeant asked intently.
"Send second platoon to intercept them on the C-deck. Meanwhile, keep first and third platoons in place, and tell the mechs to advance on that ship."
"Yes, sir." The sergeant nodded. "Relaying the order now."
Ramus stood by the elevator control panel as it dangled from the connector cables within. He turned the hand tool until the wire terminal finally came loose.
Ramus huffed a sigh and shook his head as he returned his tool to the kit at his feet. Then he became aware of the sound of footfalls. Turning toward the source of the sound, Ramus’s heart dropped as a horde of troops in powered armor rushed past him.
Ramus froze in place as he mulled over the AI’s words. Milton had a point. In the very least, he reckoned, if he could get close to the team, he could call out the troop locations and provide intel. It was risky, he knew, but then again, posing as a slave in a mining rig wasn’t exactly a safe activity to begin with.
“All right, Milton. No more silent speaking for me. I’m done sneaking around. Let’s do what you said and try to link up with the team.”
Ramus looked to see a small group of security guards approaching at a run. Most had pistols drawn, while a few had small carbines; they all wore armored vests. Ramus stepped aside to give them a wide berth and tucked his chin as a sign of compliance. They all passed him by without a second glance.
“Where they go, we go,” Ramus declared.
39
"Time to see if Ramus and Milton did their job," Jimmy said, as he took a knee at the base of the stairs. He keyed the radio and selected all channels before selecting the pre-set message he prepared.
[ALCON: All SNA personnel in captivity. Rescue is imminent. If you are reading this, then your compliance collar is disabled. Remove your collar and move to the main dock if able. If unable, set a waypoint and we will find you. Acknowledge.]
The green transmit icon flashed, acknowledging the message was sent successfully. Now it was just a matter of waiting for a response.
Nothing happened for several seconds.
"I guess Ramus and Milton didn't get it done," Yeti said.
"I suppose not." Jimmy shook his head. "Let's keep moving forward. According to the nano cloud, there's a large interior space right below us. I'll bet it's some kind of berthing or a large chow hall."
Inwardly, Jimmy felt deflated. He was positive Ramus and Milton would have come through, but the silence on the net spoke volumes. The only other explanation would be that the slaves were out of broadcast range.
"Do you think the space below is where they would be?" Raptor asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Jimmy said. "We only have a basic layout for this rig, so we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way and go looking."
Then, as if on cue, a flood of acknowledgment pings hit Jimmy's message buffer. There were too many blue blips to count.
"Wait! We got 'em!" Jimmy said excitedly. "Quickly, scan with your IFFs."
Jimmy slowly turned in a circle as he scanned with his IFF transmitter. Then a flood of IDENTs came flooding back to him, and they were all concentrated in one general direction.
"Holy sheep-shit! There's more of them than we originally thought," Yeti said.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Raptor demanded. "Let's get moving."
But as she stood from her crouched position, her head snapped back as a bullet struck a glancing blow on the side of her helmet.
"Contact front!" Yeti called out, unleashing a burst of pulse rifle fire. Jimmy leveled his rifle, looked down the sights, and scanned the general direction the Yeti was shooting at. That's when he saw a massive blob of heat on his thermal overlay. Rounds began to impact all around him, and his first thought was how they were out in the open.
"Hug the deck!" Jimmy called out. All three operators hit the deck as a hail of ballistic projectiles sailed through the air over their heads. "Get to cover!"
Jimmy saw Raptor shimmy herself behind a steel support beam while Yeti rolled behind the back of the staircase nearby. Jimmy's world slowed down as the adrenaline began to flow. In reality, it only took a second for him to slip behind a shipping container, but under fire, it felt like an eternity.
Pulling out his nano module, Jimmy deployed a new batch of bots. The enemy fire continued as the nano bots rapidly spread through the air with billions of tiny sensors scanning the immediate area and sending the data back to the shared HUD.
Jimmy's heart dropped when he saw the enemy was wearing powered armor, and in platoon strength.
"All stations, be advised, we're pinned down by a superior force. I say again, we're pinned down by a superior force!" Jimmy called out over the TACNET.
"Affirmative, Nomad," Bossman replied. "The cavalry is en route."
"Bossman, be advised, the enemy has powered armor!"
Jimmy's panic was compounded by the fact that the team had expected lightly armed opponents and had opted to use the smaller-caliber pulse rifles instead of the M-7 Commando rifles.
"Freeze!" a voice called out. Jimmy froze on instinct as a red-painted metal boot stepped in front of him. Instantly, he realized they'd been flanked by the enemy. He looked up to see a rifle muzzle pointing straight at his visor. He craned his neck and saw another armored soldier standing over Raptor. "Slide your weapon to me!"
Jimmy complied, knowing he was out of options. He slid his pulse rifle toward the soldier's feet and rocked back on his knees. He put his hands up, having no choice but to surrender. Fear and feelings of helplessness swamped him. His initiative had been taken from him.
Until Yeti showed up.
The massive operator slammed into the soldier standing over Jimmy like a freight train, knocking him to the deck and sending his rifle skidding away. Jimmy didn't hesitate. He dove for his rifle and rolled to his right, lining up his sights on the soldier standing over Raptor.
Jimmy squeezed the trigger and held it down, pelting the armored soldier with a prolonged burst of fire, knocking the soldier back. Then Yeti changed directions, launched his leg outward, and plunged his foot into the soldier's chest, knocking him back into a support beam. Raptor rolled to her feet, grabbed her nano module, and jabbed the probe needle into the gap between the fallen soldier's helmet and neck plate.
"Night-night, fucker!" Raptor said triumphantly, as the soldier went limp.
By then, the first soldier was clambering to his feet, drawing his sidearm as he stood. Jimmy rushed forward, slapping the pistol aside, and plowed his shoulder into the soldier's chest piece, sending him crashing to the deck once more. The tables had turned, and it was Jimmy who towered over the fallen soldier, pointing the rifle at his head.
"Hold still," Jimmy said, as Raptor rushed up to the soldier and injected her module into his neck.
The enemy fire subsided, and Jimmy reckoned they knew their own people were in the line of fire.
"Nomad, Yeti, Raptor, friendlies inbound," Bossman said over the TACNET. "Shift fire, right!"
"Give 'em hell!" Yeti called out, as all three operators opened fire on the enemy position, keeping their heads down.
"Shift fire, right!" Jimmy called out, shifting his gunsights to the right flank of the enemy to prevent friendly fire from the left approach.
That was when the rest of the team converged on the enemy flank. Although outnumbered, the team had the element of surprise and assaulted them from within as the fighting became hand-to-hand.
"We need to push up!" Jimmy called out, gesturing for the others to follow. Now in a full sprint, Jimmy slapped his rifle on his back and drew his combat knife as he charged the embattled enemy ranks. With his off-hand, he reached into his grenade pouch and secured a stun grenade, pulled the pin with his right thumb, and then underhandedly tossed it into the enemy's midst.
Boom.
The grenade did its job, disorienting the defenders as Jimmy surged forward, kicking a rifle out of a soldier's arms before bringing his knife to bear on the soldier's throat. He felt the resistance as steel sliced through subarmor and flesh alike. Another soldier brought his rifle to bear on Jimmy, but was immediately tackled by Yeti. Raptor dispatched another soldier by plunging her knife into his throat.
It was pandemonium as red suits of armor were intermingled with the darker-coated operators. The rest of the team came through, cutting, kicking, and punching their way through the enemy platoon with relentlessness.
Some soldiers fled into the darkness, while others were killed where they stood. This was where the operators shone. Their close-quarters combat style sent the remaining enemy soldiers fleeing in disarray.
It quickly shifted back to a firefight as the retreating force unleashed suppressive fire to cover their withdrawal, and the team responded in kind. Jimmy lined up his sights on an enemy who’d turned to take a stand near a vertical support beam, and sent his head snapping backward with a well-aimed single shot.
Rattled, but otherwise unharmed, the enemy soldier turned and ran further into the facility.
"Hold here and reload your weapons!" Top called out.
Everyone but Raptor obliged, as she was busy knocking the wounded out with her medical-grade nano module. Limp bodies littered the deck. Some dead. Some wounded. None moved.
"Dagger, this is Bossman," the commander said over the TACNET. "You might want to suit up and grab an M-7. We've got armored troops all over the place."
"I'm a step ahead of you, Boss," Dagger said. "The customs inspectors here are really dedicated to their work; I can tell you that."
"Do I even want to know?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle. Focus on the mission, Boss."
"Affirmative, Dagger. Bossman, out."
"Boss, with armored troops running about, we might need to adjust our next objective," Mama said. "These troops must have an HQ of some sort. I'm betting they're using the station's ops center to call the shots."
"Good instincts, Mama. Nomad, take Yeti and Raptor and continue your hunt for Ramus and Milton. Take Boomer with you, since the stakes have just gotten higher. Ghost, do what you can to locate our new objective."
Jimmy sent an acknowledgement ping to Bossman as he turned to Boomer and waved him over. Boomer crept over, maintaining a crouch and keeping his weapon trained outward.
