A great robbery occurred
at the First Orion Bank,
but as usual no one
reported on it, why?
It was bad for business.
Thornton School - Outpost A-IX - Amsus Territory
~~*~~
Duncan rested on his cane, the school tie hanging loose under his blazer, watching the frenzied packing that was going on in the communications node. The decision to leave had been mutual, Strega and her cronies deciding that the best way to fight Riley lay in splitting up and commanding from the field where they could do the most direct good.
Of course it wasn't her sole reason. The fact that Duncan had succeeded in destroying the Lex Talionis, where she had failed to stop Riley had put him in a direct challenge to her leadership of the GN-02's. A fact that she sought to control by dividing them all up and sending them to the far reaches. Less of a chance of collusion against her.
Aleš was sitting nearby, already changed from his school uniform into an Orion business suit, a new briefcase within arms reach. He'd made his choice to link up with an Orion Tradeliner and make best possible speed for the Directorate, to deal with the Denver Corporation personally. At least that was what he had told Strega, Duncan knew, however, that Aleš had an ulterior motive behind his actions.
Strega was standing at the head of the situations table giving her last minute instructions to her most trusted Lieutenant Iago and Lucius. Pretending to be unaware of the hard look that Duncan was fixing upon her. It was a farce, she knew he was there, and she knew what he was waiting for. She just chose, in one last way of demonstrating her dominance, to make him wait.
Eventually she dismissed them, turning to look across at him, "I suppose you are waiting for me to give you your instructions."
"It would seem futile to attempt to guess them," Duncan responded. "As much as you hate me, I am far too valuable to you to simply leave behind or execute."
Strega's smile was chilling, her soft face curling up into a visage of evil as her eyes flared. "nothing would please me more than to see you die Duncan. You're arrogance has made this experience… hellish for me. You have forced me into this act of…"
"Desperation?" Duncan supplied.
"I can see that trying to talk to you is a mistake…" She turned, looking at Aleš, and then back at Duncan. "He said that we are all somebody else, I am the reincarnation of a German General, that he was the reincarnation of the founder of the Denver Corporation… what does that make you, Duncan? I have studied history and I don't recognize your face."
"You could say I am a part of living history," Duncan responded.
"Wait," she said, staring closer at his eyes. Her eyes narrowing as if at a half formed memory. "Who are you?"
Duncan remained silent, standing, resting on his cane, a half smile curling the corner of his lip.
Strega frowned, her eyes searching his face for some clue, some hint as to who he could be. "I will figure it out, Duncan, and when I do…"
Duncan shrugged his shoulders, "you will still be ten steps behind. You should give up on this little game of yours now, before I have to stop you."
His voice sounded old, ancient. And she drew back a step, "I have no use for some one I don't trust. You will remain here, on A-IX until I decide you are ready to help us."
Duncan shook his head, "I don't take orders from you, Strega. I was waiting out of courtesy to see if I could assist you. But since you are reluctant to do so, I will make my own way." He turned from her, walking back towards the doors and the ramp that led down towards the entrance of the facility.
Aleš shook his head at Strega, gathering up his briefcase he set off after Duncan, rushing a few steps to catch up.
"You shouldn't provoke her like that, she will have you killed." Aleš sighed.
Duncan kept walking, his shoulders set as he pulled the school tie loose, looking at his friend. "She can't and won't have me killed. No, she is far too predictable. She doesn't know who I am, what I am. And that will stay her hand. She has no idea of how important I am to her and her plans, and so she can't risk killing me, not yet."
"You are far too arrogant," Aleš muttered. "You know I don't think you are Prince Edward, you're too different from him…"
"We're both constructs," Duncan responded. "Which means we have a template we were based off of…" he lifted the cane and spun it through his fingers, setting it back down with a sharp ring.
"Strega is far from toothless," Aleš warned. "You know that, you are too intelligent not to know it, what are you doing?" He eyed Duncan as the pair moved through the facility, entering the carved passage that connected the school to the Amsus communications centre. Golf carts served to speed the GN-2's too and fro between the school that was their home and their work for the Amsus Hegemony.
Duncan gestured for Aleš to drive, as he painfully slid into the passenger's seat, stowing his cane as he rubbed his sore knee.
"You should get a doctor to…" Aleš suggested.
"I have already," Duncan responded woodenly. "There is nothing wrong with it, it is all in my over active imagination." He tapped his temple, "it doesn't stop the fact that it hurts."
Aleš drove in silence for awhile, looking at his friend a moment, "do you think Strega is serious about leaving you behind here with the other outcasts?"
Duncan nodded, "I am counting on it actually. She will think this a victory, turning her attention to other, greater problems. And allowing me an opportunity to slip away unnoticed."
The cart rounded a bend, its lights illuminating a thin figure standing in the middle of the passage, holding up his hand and covering his eyes.
Aleš's GN enhanced reactions slammed on the brakes, as the electric engine of the cart whined and cut out as the cart squeaked to a stop just short of the youth in their path.
"Who the?" Aleš demanded, as he got out of the cart angrily staring and wondering who was stupid enough to try to walk the underground highway to the communications node. He didn't recognize the waify thin frame, nor the oversized brown eyes that peeked out from around a slightly grubby hand.
"He isn't one of ours," Duncan stated getting out of the cart a little painfully, pulling his cane out and walking closer, resting on it to survey the young boy before them.
He was in a Thornton school uniform, but Duncan didn't recognize him. Far too thin that he literally swam in his oversized school blazer, his tie tucked into his shirt so that it didn't get in the way. He had Mediterranean complexion and his oversized eyes flashed a little nervously as he broke out into a small smile that was disarming.
"I've come a long way to find you, Admiral," the boy said as he straightened up, his arms wrapping the blazer tighter around his far too thin frame.
"Admiral?" Aleš asked, looking across at Duncan, who was obviously the target of the strange boy's attention.
Duncan frowned, "who are you?" he asked, his voice deepening suspiciously.
"I don't have much time to explain," the strange boy said, tilting his head to look down the corridor, at the sound of approaching carts. "But if my brothers and sisters find me, you will probably loose the only recourse you have to answers. And that would be a real shame, because you really are an interesting person to talk to, and I have missed you…" he looked a little forlorn.
Duncan sighed, "he's probably one of the mundane students, just got lost…"
Aleš wasn't buying it, he set his hands on his hips as he stared at Duncan, "yeah and I am a purple Taïrian in a tutu."
Duncan gestured to the cart, "get in," he offered to the boy, struggling back into his own seat as he took a closer look at the deep brown eyes that held a haunted edge too them, like they had seen far more than a fourteen-fifteen year old child ever should have.
Aleš muttered a curse as he got into the cart and started it up, as a convoy of carts swept around them, one of the GN-2's, a geneticist named Pavel pointedly ignored them, the vats from the Amsus upgrade project loaded onto transport carts behind him, as they hurried to make their Raptor.
Their cart joined the tail end of the convoy, as Duncan turned his attention back to the youth again, looking at the naturally tanned features, dark spiky hair and deep eyes. "Who are you?" he asked, a memory of something faintly familiar tugging at him.
The youth smiled, "Ben," he offered his hand, "and we're going to be really good friends… just you wait and see, Admiral."
Kiov - Geldan Jump Nexus - Republican Territory
~~*~~
The Kiov was unlike his Imperial predecessors, he wasn't a work of art. He was the epitome of House VonGrippen's design theory, a ship built for the express purpose of war. He was reinforced with heavy armour plating over top of a spearhead hull, atmospheric stabilizers flayed out protectively above the twinned flight decks that hugged the hull. A modern Command Carrier, unfettered by three hundred years of Amsus occupation.
His primary weapon systems were Maser based, backed up by conventional kinetic weaponry and missiles. A sophisticated shielding system backed up the vessel, giving it the kind of durability only dreamed about during the height of Imperial glory.
He was a beast in the service of his motherland.
"VI-223 is on deck," Commander Radoslav reported from across the CIC. The ship was running pre-emptive tactical operations, coordinating an advanced battle group designated "osobogo naznacheniya Vympel."
Two Crusader Z-7 missile cruisers were flanking the Command Carrier, escorted by Osterberg-III Hunter-Killer Destroyers and a BARCAP of Zvezda MiG-179 fighters armed with anti-capital-ship missiles. It was a hard display of force, deemed necessary by fleet command, an assessment seconded by fleet command's tactical seal of approval.
Admiral Hipper sat in his chair, tapping his grizzled chin. No one would ever declare the man pretty, his skin was pock-marked, scarred and worn. His eyes shone with a deeply keen intelligence, as long fingers touched the white wingtips at his temples, an inner struggle that was hidden from the eyes of his men as he wrestled with his orders.
"Is the Jump Nexus ready?" he asked, continuing in English for the benefit of the observers on his crew that didn't speak Russian or German. His voice was heavily accented with his German heritage.
"Affirmative," Radoslav reported his fingers resting on the earpiece of his headset. "The Jump Nexus has a single port, as per Politburo orders, and the control device is set to lock onto the Haligonian Jump Nexus. We can activate it at your command."
"Launch the VI-223," Admiral Hipper commanded. "Instruct Lieutenant Hawkins that he and his crew are to observe and transmit data back to the Kiov only, I don't want them to engage anyone on the far end." He looked towards the political officer standing ominously at his shoulder. "I don't intend to start a war today, contrary to what you and your cronies seem to think, comrade."
"We shall see," The political officer responded folding his arms. "The GRU desires direct intelligence as much as you do. This is why we are taking the risk of activating the Nexus and revealing our existence to the Galaxy at large. However we will not tolerate any attempt by them…" he nodded to the Nexus. "To gain similar Intel. You will destroy anything that comes back through the Nexus, and order Lieutenant Hawkins to activate his self-destruct if there is a danger that he or his crew could be captured."
"We are all aware of the dangers involved," Admiral Hipper commented dryly.
"VI-223 is away and moving to NAV-point Alpha," Radoslav interrupted.
The VI-223 was a VTOL capable recon craft configured with outrigger ion drives, AEWACs package and packed fully of the most sophisticated sensor equipment that the Republic had to offer. Beneath the Ion drives were a pair of self-recharging Trip-Pods, capable of boosting the recon craft through a triple hyper jump, giving it a near un-precedented speed and range.
Admiral Hipper knew the Politburo's orders, but he had been specific when he had briefed Lieutenant Hawkins, the chance for real Intelligence was too good to pass over. Hawkins had orders to use the SRTPs and make a run for it, remaining in contact using a modified FTL-Comm. configured to penetrate the Republican FTL blockade and report home.
"Activate the Jump Nexus, and order all ships to open fire on any target that emerges," Admiral Hipper sat back in his seat and steepled his fingers. "And so we are resurrected."
VI-223- Haligonian Jump Nexus - SOL System - Amsus Occupied Territory
~~*~~
Lieutenant Hawkins was a young man, mid-twenties, and already far too experienced for his mission. Behind him, his three-man crew worked on their tasks, as he manoeuvred the Intruder into its final approach to the Jump Nexus.
They were about to make history, the first people to transit the new Geldan Jump Nexus, the first people to re-establish contact with Earth. He settled his hands on the controls while he checked his instruments, looking up just as the Zero-point generator on the Jump Nexus went active.
It was a flood of blue-white light, cascading into a waterfall to rapidly fill the dimensional tear that linked Hyperspace to the real universe. The shield system spilled golden light over the field, sealing the tear, a bandage on the universe that held back the ravenous beast from flooding into the galaxy.
Hawkins knew the implications; once a Jump Nexus was activated it could only be sealed by a Zero-Point explosion. Like Admiral VonGrippen had done to seal the original Nexus, blowing the entire array sky-high with a stolen Type-Nine Zero-point bomb. The problem was, the Republic had no such weapons, it was opening a Pandora's Box that they couldn't re-seal, and the only weapon they had was hope.
Lieutenant Rei pulled herself into the co-pilot's chair beside him as he fired up the ion drives. His Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) settled in with a stern look as she tilted her head to look at the pair of MiGs that were flying escort till they reached the Nexus.
"I get the feeling you'd rather be in one of those," she said with a nod.
"If you mean would I rather be in an armed Space Superiority Fighter, packing a half dozen Anti-Cap missiles, rather than stuck in a lightly armed Intruder? You'd probably be right. But the Admiral himself asked me to fly this mission." Hawkins flexed his gloved hand again. "Are we all set? We transit in thirty seconds."
"We're ready," Rei flashed him a smile.
"Then we go," Hawkins said as they tensed as the Intruder entered the Jump Nexus, transiting through the Grant-O'Conner effect, a pseudo-time dilation that slowed reaction times and accelerated thought. No one was exactly certain of its cause, but Professors Grant and O'Conner postulated that it was something to do with the bending of space time that occurred by prolonged exposure to bending Hyperspace.
In a flash they re-entered normal space.
Immediate realization that something was critically wrong caused Hawkins to bank sharply.
Rei gasped in shock as she stared out of the canopy window, at the blue-green globe that floated before them.
Earth.
"We're not in the Haligonian System!" she declared into her TAC-link headset. "They've moved the Jump Nexus to Earth…"
"We have incoming," one of the EWO's in the back leaned over his console. "Five wings of fighters… computer lists them as Amsus Predators… Except they are moving way too fast."
"Polian drives," Rei commented as she checked her instruments. "Why the hell would the Polians be outfitting Predators?"
"Hold on," Hawkins cursed as he threw the VI-223 over, accelerating the recon craft to its fullest acceleration, gasping at the sheer volume of Amsus warships arrayed around the Jump Nexus sitting at the Earth L-5 point.
"I am reading thousands of Battle Cruisers," Rei commented. "Raptors… and a Fleet Carrier… We've walked right into a trap."
"They can't have known we were coming," Hawkins said as the Predators descended in a cloud of hungry metal.
"I am dispatching an emergency transmission back to the Kiov…" Rei hammered her controls.
"Prepare to Trip," Hawkins stated. "I am brining the jump pods online."
"They are launching missiles…" the EWO in the back warned. "Vampires…"
"Tripping," Hawkins said as he triggered the Jump pods.
Kiov - Geldan Jump Nexus - Republican Territory
~~*~~
"Amsus," Admiral Hipper stated looking at the data that updated the holographic situations table before him. The data resolved into a 3-d map of the Earth, projecting the location of the Amsus fleet arrayed around the Jump Nexus in a fortifying position.
"Defensive," Radoslav commented. "They are preparing for an invasion."
"This doesn't make sense," the Political officer stated.
"Shut up, comrade," Admiral Hipper dismissed with a sharply raised hand. "I am thinking."
He stared over the map, it didn't make sense. Even if the Excalibur's incursion into Republic space had been a precursor to an invasion, then it would have been by Imperial warships, not by Amsus vessels… unless, somehow, the Amsus had returned to the Imperial fold… There were too many unanswered questions, too many variables that made everything he was staring at speculation.
"They aren't arrayed to cover our Jump Node," Radoslav pointed. "They had to redeploy the moment VI-223 exited the Nexus. Lucky for VI-223 I might add, it gave them time to jump away. Judging by this, they are deployed to cover the Apilon Rift Jump Node."
"Von Karin," Admiral Hipper replied, resting an arm on the railing that surrounded the situations table. "There are just too many questions for us to proceed. We need to report to the Politburo and Fleet Command, activate the defensive fleet and fortify our end of the Jump Nexus…"
"What of VI-223?" the Political Officer demanded. "They were supposed to…"
"Right now," Admiral Hipper turned, "VI-223 and Lieutenant Hawkins are our only eyes and ears in the home systems. If we have any hope of figuring out what is happening back home, then we need VI-223 right where it is. Go, contact your masters and show them what we just saw. I want a GRU report in four hours."
Communications Node - A-IX - Amsus Territory
~~*~~
Strega seethed as she sat back in the uncomfortable chair, looking at the holographic display of her mistress.
"I've been reviewing the reports," Strega answered, "the Geldan VII Jump Nexus activated and a single ship exited. Any attempt to send recon ships through has resulted in nothing."
Sephradon stood regally, wrapped in a white ermine stole, a white-furred hat sitting upon her imperious brow as she stared at her protégé. "It had House of Chow markings."
"There were House of Chow assets in House VonGrippen Territory," Strega responded. "They traded a colony world for the city of Hong Kong so that VonGrippens had assets on Earth. It caused considerable problems at the…"
"I know the history, I was there." Sephradon replied icily. "Explain to me why a House of Chow reconnaissance vessel is now loose inside Hegemony territory?"
"I can't tell you what I do not know," Strega replied. "I can get Iago working on tracking down the Recon vessel. Sensors at the Cairo system recorded that the intruder jumped into and out of the system quite rapidly. They seem to be employing an advanced jump-pod technology."
"Where are the others?" Sephradon demanded as she stared around the empty communications node.
"We decided that it was impossible for us to be effective confined to this remote planet," Strega responded. "We decided to separate and disperse ourselves across Hegemony assets. I am leaving Duncan at the node and…"
"You have done what?" Sephradon's voice dipped dangerously low.
"You taught me to think for myself, and you set me a task." Strega stood and faced her mistress. "What did you expect of me? In order to win this war, I must be free to do what I must do…"
"They are going to betray you," Sephradon said calmly. "Once free of you, they will slide into the shadows, tying strings to everything, manipulating and corrupting their way into power and control… You think the Empire is dangerous? They gave birth to it…"
Strega stared at her Mistress, the twisted rage on her face. "I have control of them, all of them."
Sephradon shook her head, "you control nothing, Strega. Come to Earth, take personal control of my security and find Riley. We will deal with your renegade brother and sisters soon enough."
HMS Anger of Hades - Beneath the Arctic Circle - Earth - Amsus Occupied Territory
~~*~~
Riley stood in the stateroom, suddenly having an appreciation for General Iver's Spartan tastes that he had inherited with Sentinel Station. Captain Zoran's tastes were anything but Spartan in nature. The room was over done in luxurious trappings, carpets and soft cushions. Rich wood furniture with gold gilding, silver fixtures and lavish silks.
The Field Marshal stood with his back to the room, staring out of the great stern windows as a pod of Orca that were investigating the strange submerged vessels that had suddenly appeared in their realm. A massive, advanced war fleet that was forced to hide beneath the sea while on the surface, the Amsus mercilessly hunted them.
"The operation was a success," Lieutenant Bertram reported from the doorway to the stateroom. Quite and nervous despite the fact that he had been on the Field Marshal's staff awhile and had survived the Sentinel Station disaster with the great man.
"Good, I want them to feel it," Riley said turning. "And resetting the Imperial Atomic Clock gives them a reliable countdown until D-day."
"It is all over the News Networks, despite the Inquisition trying to suppress the information," Bertram shuffled his feet. "President Hayes went live denouncing the acts of terrorism, and speaking about civil order…"
"Hayes is a collaborator," Riley dismissed, turning back to his window. "He will say exactly what the Ice Bitch tells him to say. We need to press the matter home, hit something that will truly terrify them. I want a symbol… something… big."
Bertram remained quiet, knowing that the Fifth Column Leader was thinking.
"I want something that will make them wet their knickers," Riley murmured as he tapped a wizened hand against his clean shaven cheek. "Something that will make them sit up and take notice… hell make the world sit up and pay attention." He walked a few steps down the windows looking out at the Orcas. "We have a nuclear arsenal that can level the entire planet, cruise missiles capable of precisely striking anything anywhere… but this needs to be personal. The kind of thing that says I don't need technology to beat you… I can take you out behind the wood shed and spank you at any time I want…"
Bertram opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated.
Riley smiled, "I love it when someone else has an idea for a change, lets hear it kid, before I die of anticipation."
"Well, if you want to send a message, why not go after President Hayes?" Bertram asked. "He's in charge of the American Administrative Region, and one of the most powerful humans in the civil government."
"He's Human though," Riley responded. "I'm not fond of targeting Humans no matter how corrupted. Though causing that bastard pain would make up for the fact that he still hasn't delivered on the health care system he promised during his last election… I voted for him because of that."
"How about Amsus HQ?" Bertram offered, "Or GCHQ?"
"Hitting Global Communications Headquarters would sever communications, and do the Amsus a favour in suppressing information. Amsus HQ is so heavily fortified it would take nukes to bust it." Riley sank his hands into his pockets. "No, Hayes is the most readily available target… just how to hurt him without really hurting him?"
"Maybe a secondary target? Something important to him?" Bertram offered crossing to the desk. "I mean, there's gotta be something that he values most."
"You have a good mind for this," Riley answered. "Devious, and a touch logical. Me, I like seat of my pants operations, but your approach might be a good one." He turned back to the young man. "If you were to set up an operation like this, what would you hit?"
"You want to send a message, and Hayes has to be the one to be directly affected. Then you need to hit something that is so important to him that to loose it will cause him to rant, scream and roar…"
"Most terrorists have it easy," Riley observed. "Hit something that will cause the most damage to the most amount of people. Send a missile into a nuclear power plant, dirty bombs in civic centres. Sabotage factories and government offices… embassies and military sites… this is… more refined."
"Is it?" Bertram asked, his young brow furrowing as he looked past the Field Marshal and out at the icy water. "The Presidency has benefits, right?"
"Yes, you could say that," Riley responded. "All the trappings of the pre-Global Civil War American Presidency. Nice protection detail, sunny vacation spot in Camp David… everything except, of course, any real power."
"How about a house?" Bertram asked.
"Oh he has a big old house right down Pennsylvania Avenue…" Riley smirked. "Nice office too."
"You need Hayes screaming about the Fifth Column," Bertram offered.
"Perhaps remodelling his house," Riley smiled, "Do you know why the White House is white?"
Bertram shrugged, "Karin education system, sir, sorry."
"Naturally," Riley replied. "It was Pink, before the war of 1812, then a group of Newfoundlanders raided Washington burnt the house down, when it was rebuilt, it was painted white to hide the scorch marks. Perhaps reminding President Hayes of a little American History is in order. I have a Fifth Column Cell in Washington, with a little luck, we can pull something off."
Zoran interrupted their musings, as the robust former Pirate Baron marched into the Stateroom, a tablet computer in his hands, that he wiled away on with a stylus.
"You will never be guessing what just happened," Zoran said, looking up in delight.
"The Red Socks won the world series?" Riley offered.
"I don't care about your socks," Zoran dismissed, waving the tablet. "it is seeming that the Amsus are having a new problem. The Jump Nexus we so kindly left behind for them in Earth Orbit has given them a new gift. The Geldan Jump Node just went online and spat out a ship."
"What?" Riley asked walking over to take the tablet and looking over the data fed to it by a video feed stolen by one of their Intelligence contacts. It was a shaky image, but confirmed what the Captain had said.
Riley chewed on his lip, "House Chow, see the yellow dragon markings? That is going to get the Sino-Russian Administrative Region into a whole heap of trouble. But that ship, it isn't a conventional Imperial design."
"Too advanced, Major Mattocks of MI seems to think it is actually from Geldan." Zoran shrugged, "I think the Amsus have a whole new problem to worry about, and we have an opportunity."
"We need to find that ship," Riley remarked. "The Empire had emergency communications protocols… and VonGrippens were close allies to the House of Chow…"
Zoran nodded, "when this ship was re-commissioned we discovered a large number of code books…" he crossed to his desk, inputting a code into the desk computer, overriding the combination to the desk safe. Producing a code book marked with the identical Yellow Dragon of the House of Chow.
"Let's see about placing a long distance call shall we?" Riley bobbed on the balls of his feet. "Reverse charges, naturally."
"It will take some time to route an FTL communication around Amsus monitoring stations," Zoran responded.
"Do it," Riley said. "As for you, Lieutenant Bertram, I want you to become an expert arsonist."