Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Bubblegum Avatar #2 – "Born to be Killed" ❯ Chapter 11 - “Changes in Vectors” ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

**************

Chapter 11 - “Changes in Vectors”

**************

Major Amanda Rowley looked around the table at the officers under her command. There were eight of them, consisting of four platoon leaders, the heads of the transportation, Intelligence support, supply section, and her new executive officer. The only enlisted man in the room was Schildt, who was at the far end of the table.

The talk in the room was muted, as they waited for Rowley to call the meeting to order. Instead of doing so, she took a look around the room at the people she would have to command. They were a mix of old USSD – South Asia hands and people from outside the command. All were outside the command structure headed by General Schwarz, with the exception of herself, Schildt, and Sanchez.

Her executive officer was a Captain Dyachenko from USSD’s Eastern Europe command. Slightly shorter and thinner then the Major, his face had the harsh angles of an outdoorsman. He sat to Rowley’s right, observing the others in the room like a cat watching a mouse.

The four security platoon leaders were on the same side of the table, to Rowley’s left. She had four names – Iwata, Chow, Rabaud, and Blackburn – to go with the four seated there, but she hadn’t quite connected faces with names yet.

She know the officer in charge of the Transportation department, as she had worked with him before. Captain Yamada was all right, as long as you ignored the slightly disheveled appearance she was famous for. She sat next to Dyachenko, leafing through a folder in her lap.

Intelligence Support for the unit was headed up by a small man with pinched features and pale enough to be mistaken for a vampire’s victim. Looks could be deceiving, for Captain Van Pelt was USSD’s top computer expert, and rumored to be one of the best security crackers in the world.

Van Pelt was talking to the supply officer, Lieutenant Shima. Shima was nondescript to the point of nearly blending into the background. But he had come highly recommended from General Cantrick himself, so Rowley was willing to cut him some slack.

Taking a deep breath, Rowley stood. As she did so, the conversation died. Starting with Dyachenko, she looked at each of them for a second before she moved on to the next one. When she finished, she said in English. “All right, we all know why we’re here.” There were nods from round the table. Schwartz’s actions were spreading throughout USSD like a wildfire.

“You have all read the briefing,” Rowley continued, and you know how serious the situation is. “We have to find and retrieve the stolen plans ASAP.”
“And how do we do that?” one of the platoon leaders asked. He was short, broad-shouldered, with a sharp narrow face and short spiky hair.

The Major looked at him. “And you are?”

“Chow, ma’am. Lieutenant Cho Chow.”

Rowley nodded slowly. She had expected someone to challenge her authority, but not this early. “You want to know how we are going to find this needle in a haystack, correct?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“We all know who has it,” said Dyachenko. “GENOM.”

“Which means we’re in deep shit,” said another of the platoon leaders. “I didn’t sign up to get killed in a storming of GENOM Tower.”

“Neither did I,” Rowley replied easily. “So I don’t see any chance of us doing that anytime soon. GENOM is the number one suspect, but let’s not get fixated on them. I’m open to any suggestions about how we go about this. Any ideas?”

Van Pelt leaned forward. “The necessary parts for the black box are very sophisticated, are they not?”

“They are.”

The pale man nodded. “In that case, they can not be too many business in this city that can produce that level of electronic complexity.”

“So we have to only investigate those companies with the resources to make these components,” said Chow. “How do we do that?”

Van Pelt took a deep breath and looked at the platoon leader. “We’ll have to crack their systems,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“Isn’t that illegal?” one of the other Platoon leaders asked. From his accent, Rowley guessed this was Rabaud, from the Western Europe branch.

“So’s using a particle beam satellite against civilian targets,” replied the cracker calmly, “but I don’t think that’s going to stop our opponents from using it in that manner if they wanted to.”

“But we don’t have any police powers!” Chow said. “We’re soldiers, not police officers!”

“And we’re going to handle it like a military mission,” said Rowley sharply. “Our job is to stop these people before thousands of people die. But we can’t do anything until we are absolutely sure of who our target is.” she looked at Van Pelt. “The Sargent Major has the list of parts we used in the black box, with a list of the suppliers we used. How long will it take to get a list of companies together?”

“A day, maybe two. We’re going to have to dig deep.”

“Do it. As quick as you can.” The major looked at the four platoon leaders. “You are going to be our eyes and ears on the street. One of you is going to be posing as a dealer in black market weapons and electronics, and several others will be posing as their bodyguard. There will have a list of things they’ll asking around for, including several of the products we used in the black box. The Sargent Major has the list and several people to contact who will point you in the right way.”

“That sounds dangerous,” said Dyachenko. “We’re going to attract attention.”

“That’s exactly what I want to do,” Rowley replied. “That’s why they’ll be a platoon in full combat gear waiting nearby, with another platoon on stand-by, just in case. If our people get into trouble, I want to be able to rescue them.”

“What about boomers?” asked Chow sharply.

Rowley looked at Shima. “What is out weapons status?”

Shima blinked. “We have enough firearms to fully equipt five platoons. M-22s with forty millimeter grenade launchers, M-14 pistols, and type 17 SAWs.”

Chow snorted. “That’s going to be a lot of help against boomers!”

Shima shot him a cold look. “I wasn’t finished,” he said in a chilly tone. “In addition to personal arms, we have twelve MG-442 machinecannons we can mount on vehicles, five of the Gerlich mark Twos just coming onto the market, and four M-456 forty-five millimeter belt-fed grenade launchers. For transportation, we have eight MH-45U Nighthawk transport helicopters and eight M-47 Armored Personnel Carriers. We also have nine K-12B armored battle suits, with enough weapons systems for the suits to handle almost any problem.”

“And how high up the chain of command are we going to have to go in order to get permission to use all that fancy hardware?” Chow asked. “The ADP can’t use any of their heavy stuff without the Diet’s permission!”

“As far as me,” said Rowley firmly. “General Cantrick has given me full field command authority. That means that if I think you need the firepower, you will get the firepower as fast as I can get it to you. As long as I can justify it to his satisfaction, I have complete freedom in the actions I take. Is that understood?”

The officers around the table nodded slowly. Rowley continued. “But the General prefers that we keep the level of destruction and mayhem below what the boomers and the ADP usually cause. So, we will not be assaulting GENOM Tower anytime soon.” That brought a few half-nervous, half sarcastic chuckles from the others.

The Major smiled, but it was rather bleak. “Listen up,” she said sharply. “We’re playing a new game here. It’s going to be cloak and dagger shit from here on out, and we’re going to be playing against the big boys – GENOM, Gulf and Bradley, and the Chang Group to name just a few. The only people you will be able to trust are the ones in this unit. Our job is to protect USSD from all major threats. Don’t forget that.

“Most of our time is going to be spent in intelligence gathering, locating and analyzing any and all possible menaces. We are going to study a selection of incidents that have occurred in the city the last two years and learn from the mistakes made.”

She looked at the four platoon leaders. “Your troops are going to be training hard in every single combat situation you four and I can think of. We are all going to learn how to destroy boomers off all models and configurations.” Her smile warmed up slightly. “In short, we’re going to show the ADP how to do their job.”

“What about the Knight Sabers?” Chow asked. “They don’t need us to show them how to kill boomers.”

“No,” Rowley replied, “they need to be shown that they aren’t the only game in town.”

There were a couple of smiles, but most of the others looked sober as the realization of what they were going to be doing sunk in. Rowley took a deep breath and glanced at the clock. “It is nine forty-five. I want a status report from all units by fifteen hundred hours. I also want the list of suppliers by seventeen hundred hours, and the arms merchant operation ready to go by eighteen hundred hours. Any questions? Dismissed.”

They filed slowly out of the room, all except Schildt, Rowley and Dyachenko. The Captain looked ill at ease, an expression he had managed to hide during the meeting. “Can I speak to you alone?” he asked Rowley.

Before the Major could reply, Schildt said, “I’d better go check on some things, ma’am, sir. If you’ll excuse me?” Rowley nodded and the Sargent Major left the room, closing the door behind him.

“What is it, Sergei?” Rowley asked.

“I don’t like this entire situation,” he said slowly. He held up a hand. “Let me make this clear from the beginning. I have no problem with you or any other member of this unit. I have no problem with our mission.”

“What do you have a problem with?” Rowley asked. She motioned him to sit. He did so. “I want to know your thoughts,” she continued, leaning forward, “and don’t sugar coat them.”

“Are you sure?”

“Look, I want my people to speak their minds freely, as long as they remember one thing – When I decided on a course of action, we follow it until we succeed or new information changes my orders. Clear enough?”

“Very well.” The Russian took a deep breath. “We are going to be facing people who are as good as we are, or even better. In addition, they are better equipt, better paid and better motivated. GENOM wastes more on paperclips then USSD has in their entire budget. I am not afraid of combat, but I am afraid that we may be over our heads if we end up going against GENOM or their ilk.”

Rowley nodded. “I’m also worried about that. I have no intention of throwing away lives needlessly, especially against an opponent like GENOM. That’s why we’re going to avoid facing off against them unless there is no other option.”

“How long are we going to be able to do that?”

“For as long as we can. In the meantime, we are going to build a database of all the Megacorps in the city – their subsidiaries, key personnel, building blueprints and the like. If we have to go after them, I want to go in with eyes open.”

Dyachenko sighed. “I hope you can do what you say,” he said. “I do not want to emulate my forefathers in the Great Patriotic War and lead a hopeless attack.”

“Neither do I. So we better make sure we avoid those, right?”

*****

As a matter of security, the briefing was held at Craig’s apartment. Night had fallen, but it was early enough for there to be a lot of traffic out and about.

Sylia had made the arrangements with Craig that afternoon, after he had waken up from his nap. With the Lady633 building under surveillance, it was safer to hold the meeting here. Using a couple of trucks, Sylia and Mackie had managed to smuggle out all five hardsuits out of Sylia’s building. Now they were stored in the secret basement of Craig’s building, ready to go. Zhukov and Patton were in the basement on guard duty.

The entire team were now assembled in Craig’s apartment. Craig had managed to get some light snacks, coffee and tea, and they were sharing the dining room table with a large map of the complex where the BU-99CX1 was being worked on and surrounding area. At Sylia’s command, they all gathered around the table. Sylia was at the head of the table, with Craig and Linna on one side, Mackie and Nene on the other, and Priss at the other end. Montgomery and Rommel were lying under the table.

“As you can see,” Sylia said, pointing the factory’s features as she spoke, “this is one of the smaller GENOM subsidiaries, used to develop and test new household appliances.”

Craig snorted. A piece of celery was clenched in his mouth like a cigar. “How does a superboomer get mistaken for a toaster?”

“Don’t complain,” Sylia said dryly. “In order not to make anyone suspicious, the security is being kept at the same level.”

“And how paranoid is GENOM that someone is going to steal their design for a new can opener?”

“GENOM is always paranoid,” Priss replied. She was nibbling on a cracker.

“Priss is right,” Sylia said. “There is a three meter tall wall surrounding the complex, with guard towers at each corner. There are TV cameras every ten meters along the walls and at each entrance door. There are four gates, each with a heavy steel gate and reinforced bunkers covering the gates. There will be between eighteen to twenty four boomers on guard duty, mostly BU-55C’s with a small number of BU-12B’s as backup. Human security is another ten or so scattered through the buildings.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” Linna said, looking down at the map.

“But it can be done,” said Mackie.

Craig open his mouth to say something, but Linna shot him a look and stepped on his foot. His statement was replaced by a grunt of pain and a glare at Linna, who tried to look apologetic. Sylia ignored the exchange.

“This is a large complex,” said Priss. “How are going to find them?”

“We know where they are,” Sylia answered. “Nene hacked into their network yesterday afternoon and pinpointed both the location of the lab and the computer network storing the data.”

“Why didn’t she hack the data then and there?” Linna asked.

“Because the data is on a stand-alone network,” Nene replied. “It’s separate from every other network in the complex..”

Craig nodded. “No remote access.”

“Which means I have to physically access one of the nodes on the network to get the data,” Nene continued.

“”Here’s how we’re going to do this,” Sylia said. “We’ll divide into three teams. Team One, myself and Linna, will go after the boomer itself, our job will be to destroy the prototype and as much of the laboratory as we can. Team Two, Nene and Priss, will recover the data. Team Three will be Craig, who will be located here.” She pointed to a building across the street from the target.

Craig again opened his mouth to say something, but both Linna’s foot on his own and Sylia’s stare stopped him. His jaw clicked shut, and settled for giving Linna another glare. This time, she ignored him.

Sylia continued. “Craig, your job will be twofold. First, you will cover us as we infiltrate and withdrawal. From your position, you’ll be able to see most of the complex, so you’ll be able to see any reenforcements coming from outside.”

That don’t sound too hard,” Craig muttered.

“Second and more important, you are to stop any vehicle leaving the complex by these two gates.” She pointed to the map. “Your location was chosen to cover these two gates. Not only are they both secondary gates, they are the two closest to the highway to the abandoned factory from the anime.”

“Assuming they stick to that story,” Priss said in a low voice.

“We have no reason to think otherwise,” Sylia replied.

“Any vehicle coming out?” Craig asked. “I could be killing some poor innocent smuck on the way home!”

The leader of the Knight Sabers nodded. “These gates are only used for trucks. Employees are required to leave by one of the main gates. As for any deliveries, there’s none scheduled for the next twenty-four hours.”

“Probably to keep the loss of life to only those who they intend to kill,” said Linna darkly.

“Mackie will be in the truck two blocks away,” Sylia continued. “That will be the first rally point. Second rally point will be four blacks north of the first.” She looked at each of her team in turn.
“If we do this right, we can end this here and now. Any questions?”
Craig started to open his mouth, thought about it, then closed it again. He shook his head.

“Good. Let’s get ready.”

They started to file out, but Craig said, “Mackie?”

The younger Stingray turned. “Yes?”

“Can you help me for a moment? I want to clean up a bit before we leave.”

“But –“

”It’ll be safer up here then down there.”

“Help him Mackie,” said Sylia. “We’ll be done in about ten minutes.”

Mackie slumped his shoulders. “Okay, sis,” he said dejectedly.

“Cheer up,” said Craig as the four women left.

“Why are you so hard on me?” Mackie asked suddenly. “Why aren’t you helping me?”

Craig started putting snacks on a tray “You mean why am I not helping you peek in on your sister and the others?”

“Yes! I mean, you find them attractive, right?”

“Oh, very much so.”

“Then why?”

“Because I like breathing more.”

Mackie’s expression became one of puzzlement. “Huh?”

“Hand me that glass, please.” Mackie handed him the glass off the table. “Mackie, what I’m about to tell you is between you and me only. You breathe this to anyone, including Sylia, and I will tell the others where you keep your stash of nude photos. Is that clear?”

“Er....yes.”

“Good.” ; Craig took the tray to the kitchen, Mackie following. After placing the tray down, Craig turned to the younger Stingray. “First, the more honorable reason. For the record, I have never met anyone more beautiful then those four women. If the circumstances were different, I probably would be a drooling idiot in their presence, as opposed to being just an idiot most of the time.”

“Even Nene?”

“You don’t find Nene cute?”

“Yes, but –“

”Later. While the four of them are drop-dead, to die for, women, I am not here to admire their beauty, or to have fantasies about them, however pleasant they may be. I have a job to do here, and I can’t do it alone. I need Sylia and the others’ help, just as they need mine. That means that we have to trust each other out there. They have to know that I’m more concerned with watching their backs on a mission then mentally undressing them every time we’re in the same room. On the other hand, I have to trust them to watch my back, and that means that I cannot do anything that might make them hesitate at the wrong minute. The last thing I need is to have one or two of them mad at me because I peeked in on them while they were dressing.”

“But Priss is always pissed off at you!”

“No, I irritate Priss. I don’t make her angry....” Craig remembered Priss’ punch from the week before. “....most of the time. I maybe a pain in the neck sometimes, but they know I will do what the mission requires.”

Mackie nodded. “I suppose –“

”I’m not finished,” Craig said. “Second, and the more fundamental reason, I do not have your immunity.”

“Immunity?”

“As Sylia’s brother and a teenager, you can get away with some things. If I tried half the stuff you do, I would be in the hospital, in traction, an eunuch, with no money, and wanted for every unsolved crime that’s occurred in the last five years. No short peek is worth that much pain.”

“That I can understand.”

“Good.” Craig clapped Mackie on the back and gave him a grin. “Come on, if we hurry, we’ll make it to the basement just as they’re suiting up....”

*****

“I don’t like this,” Mason growled.

Largo smiled. “The problem is that you are too negative.”

The loading dock was fifty meters wide and three hundred meters long with enough loading bays for well over one hundred tractor trailers. However, at the current time, there were only three trucks backed up to loading bays. Officially, the dock was closed for ‘structural inspection’, and would be closed for the next twenty hours, but the dock was sound. The real reason lay in the contents of the three trucks.

Mason was the only human on the dock. Besides himself, Largo, and a quartet of female boomers, there were half a dozen 55C boomers serving as laborers, moving items into one of the three trucks parked there. The crates were not marked, but from the need for two boomers to each lift several of the crates indicated that the contents were heavy. The other two trucks sat silent, ready to go when the signal was given.

“Is everything set?” Mason snapped.

Largo suppressed a sigh, knowing that it would only make Mason angry. This is not the same Mason I knew, he thought. Van Vliet and his pranks has made him brittle. Still, I can use that to my advantage....

“Yes. The bombs will go off in five hours. But just in case the Sabers show up early.” he removed a small device from his coat pocket and handed it to Mason. “Manual detonator. It has a range of six hundred meters.”

Mason plucked the small device from Largo’s hand. “How certain are you the Sabers will strike tonight?”

“I am not certain, but I know Sylia well enough to make shrewd guesses. If she does not strike tonight, it will be tomorrow.”

“Is that why we’re moving the equipment now?”

“Of course. I want this well away from the laboratory before we destroy it.”

There was silence for a moment. “If I do have a complaint about this plan,” Largo continued, “it is that I do not like using that location for the final construction,”

“I chose the location myself,” Mason replied. “With the factory’s record, no one is going to think of looking there.”

“No one except the Knight Sabers.”

“Then they will be the perfect test for the BU-99CX1.”

Was I really this blind? Largo thought to himself. I guess dying does give you a new perspective on life.

“I’ve seen enough,” Mason said, turning to leave the loading dock. He had taken two steps, when he turned sharply and stared at the three trucks being loaded. “Why do we need three trucks?” he asked.

“One is needed for the equipment,” Largo replied. “The other two are a little surprise for the Knight Sabers....”