“For every failed assignment, we’re forced to wear a red square on our chest. As you can see, I have none.”
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-Captain Lee Zhao, 3rd Crow Brigade
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137, 2432
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Fort Corvus, Ixion-4
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"Afternoon, gentlemen." the Colonel said as he turned on the hologram display.
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"How can you tell, sir?" the Lieutenant jokingly asked.
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"Easily. Davis woke up ten minutes ago."
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The Lieutenant chuckled, "She does need her beauty sleep."
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"You want the good news or bad news first?"
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"Good news. Always have to stay positive."
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The hologram sizzled and displayed a system of five planets, four of which were blue with the fifth being red with blue lines.
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"The Hubion campaign is almost done. Marshal Evans says the system has nearly fallen."
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"Nearly?"
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"There's still Hubion Prime where the ambassadorial massacre happened."
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A grimace formed on the Lieutenant's face, "Don't remind me."
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"In any case, an assault on the planetary capital has been formulated. The rest of the planet had been pacified for the most part so Command is sending the 7th and 12th Tiberian Marine Corps along with the 14th Terran Troopers. Not to mention the 6th and 9th Praetorian legions, courtesy of Supreme Legate Duncan.”
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A whistle escaped the Lieutenant's mouth, "The Raiders? They must want this place badly. So what's the bad news?"
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The hologram flickered and showed a void ship. About the size of a corvette, it displayed Hubion markings but wasn't a military ship. Stranger still, its trajectory pointed it toward the Hubion capital.
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"I thought Admiral Hiyatama took care of them. What are we looking at?" the Lieutenant asked.
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"It's new. Usually, we wouldn't bother with this but four days ago we received a distress call from one of our specialists. She said that the Hubions have an Arcadium-based
thermonuclear warhead.”
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A grim expression formed on the Lieutenant’s face, “How?”
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“That we don’t know. What we do know is that she’s on the ship. Your orders are to get to it, board it, rescue her, and find whatever you can about the warhead. I’ve already sent all the information we have to Marshal Evans.”
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“So was that the bad news?”
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“No.”
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Once again, the image on the hologram changed, this time showing two images of two very different people. One was a young man named Jack Niels with the emblem of the Crows. The other was a masked individual with few remarks and one very interesting piece of information.
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“A Phantom?” the Lieutenant asked.
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“Both were transferred here earlier today. Specialist Niels is fresh, straight from the Nest. The other was sent by Supreme Legate Orion with a black seal.”
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The Lieutenant rubbed his forehead and sighed, “So you’re not only giving me a grayhorn but also a Praetorian we know nothing about.”
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The Colonel smiled, “Stay positive, Morisson.”
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— — — — — —
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“Fockin’ ‘ell”, Jack shouted as he jumped out of his bed, suddenly woken up by the drill sirens “Couldn’t ‘ave picked a better time?!”
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Putting on his clothes, he looked out the window to see Ravens preparing for flight and soldiers readying themselves. Dozens were firing their weapons on the shooting range and even more were crossing the obstacle course. The base was in full motion and it was enough to make an ordinary person sick. Confusion ran through Jack’s mind as he washed his face.
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“What the ‘ell?”
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A loud knock on the door interrupted his train of thought. When he opened, a smiling narrow-eyed man greeted him and threw a duffle bag into his hands.
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“Rise and shine, numbnuts. You’re up.”
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“What?” Jack asked.
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“You’re up!”
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“Up whe’r?”
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“Up there!” the man pointed upward.
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Jack looked up at the ceiling only to be slapped in the face.
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“What-”
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“B-3. Be there.” the man said and walked off.
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Jack stood in the hallway with a dumbfounded expression and the duffle bag still in his hands, “What?!”
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Before he could do or say anything else, something large pushed him from behind. Turning around, he saw a tall, bulky, dark-skinned man with an agitated face.
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“Move it.” he said in a low and menacing voice.
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Jack got out of the way and went back into his room.
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“Christ all mighty, what the ‘ell’s happenin’?”
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He found a black uniform with carapace coating and the Crow insignia inside the duffle bag. Smiling to himself, he put it on, the fabric fitting snuggly around his body. Everything apart from his head was covered and he made his way outside.
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“B-3. B-3.” he mumbled to himself as he tried to find what that annoying little jackass was talking about.
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Noise filled the air all around him as vehicles and men moved in all directions seemingly in a hurry. Jack overheard a conversation between two specialists about a mission that could change the course of the entire campaign. Although his ambition was to become one of the Crows, Jack knew that the training he did was just scratching the surface of what he was expected to do. Soon enough, after walking past several marching platoons and parked transports, he found a large black hangar with the sign B-3 written in white. Inside he found a massive obstacle course that stretched to the ceiling and even went below ground. On the right, he saw men running between two scanners and red numbers flashing on a screen.
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“There he is!” a man shouted behind him, “Took ya long enough.”
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Jack got pissed, “What the hell was that shite ea’lier?”
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“An introduction. The name’s Han, a.k.a. the demolitions expert a.k.a the guy that blows shit up. Have you ever blown shit up?”
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Before Jack could answer, another voice boomed, “Listen up! We got two hours left to prepare so if you still didn’t get clean socks I suggest you do so now! Looking at you, Thompson! Throw those things into the sun!”
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The soldiers gathered laughed for the most part. Jack could see the big, black man still holding his scowl from earlier.
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“You, graybeak! On the ramp, on the double!”
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Without much hesitation or thought, Jack ran up the ramp and in front of a ledge. Someone behind him strapped something on his back. Jack recognized it as a standard Mark VIII Propulsion Pack. He didn’t like the idea of having one on him.
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“Ever used one of these?” he asked him.
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“Once.” Jack replied.
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“Good enough.” he patted him on the shoulder and walked off, “The record is fifty-three seconds.”
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Jack wanted to ask more questions but before he could, the lights flashed and a timer appeared. Pushing all other thoughts aside, he jumped and activated his propulsion pack, the small jets letting him glide down. Steel disks were launched from automated turrets and he was forced to dodge and shoot them simultaneously. He landed on the ground without being hit and hurried forward, the timer already on the ten-second mark. Holograms flickered all around him and started firing. Taking cover behind a pillar, Jack aimed his rail gun and shot two of them before throwing a homing grenade, which eliminated two more. As he moved into the next room, he hit a hologram with the stock of his gun and shot another one in the head. But as soon as he did, five more appeared and filled the air with shimmering bullets. Jack pressed a button on his rifle and took out a small camera tube. Marking the holograms, he fired his gun upward and the bullets homed in on the targets, eliminating them.
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“Thirty seconds!” a man above him shouted.
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Jack moved to a tight hallway and pulled out his pistol. Doors opened sporadically and more dimly lit enemies appeared. Shooting two in the head, he took cover behind a door and threw a flashbang. He made short work of the disoriented enemies and ran through the door at the end of the hallway.
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“Foutry-five seconds!” the man shouted again.
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He was close. All that was left was the obstacle course. At first, it seemed simple but then the obstacles started moving and changing shape. It was impossible to predict anything and Jack had to rely on his wits to get through it. Using his propulsion pack, he cleared most of the obstacles with ease. However, the final hurdle popped up higher than he expected and nudged his leg midair, causing him to tumble to the ground. Deciding not to give up, Jack pushed himself off the floor and kept running. When he crossed the finish line, he sat down and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
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“Fifty-eight seconds. Not bad, Nails.” the man said as he walked toward him.
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Jack noticed the officer's markings on his chest, “Thanks, sir. But it’s Niels.”
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“Come with me.” the officer said as he led him to the other operatives that were standing around a holographic display of a void ship.
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“So what’s the situation, LT?” Han asked.
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“An infiltrator of ours by the name of Natalia Pavlov had been captured by the Hubions. She has reason to believe they have an Arcadium-based thermonuclear bomb in their possession.”
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“Didn’t the navy take care of their warships?” the large man asked.
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“This isn’t a military vessel. Chances are it was just waiting in space for God knows how long. In any case, that’s not important. Our mission is to get on board, find the agent and secure the payload. The ship has two entrances, one on each side.”
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“It has three, actually.” Jack said, turning everyone’s attention to himself.
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“Explain.”
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Jack spun the hologram and highlighted a small point on the top of the ship, “Vessels like this tend to have a quick-access hatch in case a malfunction happens on some part of it. This one’s got one up top near the engine.”
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The Lieutenant nodded, “Good to know. In that case, you’re with me, Han, and Bruiser. We’ll go down that hatch. Teams Beta and Gamma will take the other two. Whoever finds the payload or the agent first, gets them to the Ravens and waits for the others. Any questions?”
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Han raised his hand, “What do we do with the ship?”
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“You’ll set charges in the engine room. Once we’re done, you blow it.”
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This put a smile on Han’s face.
“And the crew?” Bruiser asked.
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“Hostile and expendable. Now let’s get going.”
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End of Part 1
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Thank you very much for reading.
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