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Patel nudged his wife, Nathoo, and pointed out of the darkened window of the command squad rover as they swept through the suburbs of Arcadia Regional Command.
“That’s new,” he commented, pointing out the fortifications of the Perimeter Defense. “More troops around, too”
Nathoo nodded. She’d only been to UN Headquarters once before, shortly after she and Patel had been married, but even now her recollections were vivid.
“Much more order – less chaotic” was her terse comment. “I don’t know if I like it, though. All that black – on uniforms, and so many weapons in evidence”
They rolled up to an imposing looking building, whose portico was embellished by a banner reading “Arcadia Regional Command Center”
Patel snorted. “That’s the old headquarters itself. Even that has changed. And look, across the square, where the old Recreation Commons was” - he pointed to an ugly, squat functional building that looked totally out of place among the sweeping spires and rounded domes of the former Peacekeeper office and administrative sector of the base. It had a more permanent façade, with the inscription “Naval Command – Southern Fleet”
Patel shrugged his shoulders – “I guess to the conqueror the spoils,” he muttered. “They can do anything they want to us – we were pretty defenseless against their military might”
The rover rolled up to the steps leading to the Command Center, and the driver hopped out and opened the rear hatchway for them to exit. A guard detail was waiting to escort them into the building.
“This way, please,” the guard commander said, leading the way up the stairs. “The Colonel is expecting you”
*************************************************
The Colonel was tall and graying, and rose to meet them as they entered the briefing room.
“Would you like refreshments?” he asked. “It’s been a long drive for you from Aid Station”
“Some fungal tea would be nice” said Nathoo.
“Done” said the Colonel, gesturing to one of his aides. “With ginger?” Both Patel and Nathoo nodded.
“I never did develop the taste for that”, opined the Colonel. “Personally, I prefer the kelpjuice with peppermint. I always though the fungal extract was better distilled.”
Patel nodded. He had tasted it, but it was a luxury on a farmer’s income.
After the refreshments arrived they got down to business.
“So, tell me in your own words what you saw,” the Colonel said, unrolling a map on the conference table for them to look at.
Patel began:
“Well, it was getting towards dusk, and we were in the fields harvesting the crop, and we first of all heard the noises – at first we thought it was thunder crackling, but looking up we saw some contrails – about 3 dozen or so, and they seemed to be arcing towards us. We then thought that it must just be aircraft on maneuvers – we’d seen the old PK airforce once or twice - but as they got closer we saw that they were smaller than that. In fact, as far as we could tell, they were individual sled like craft each with one person aboard.
“The bottom of the sleds seemed to be glowing, almost like the old Earth vidflicks we say of space re-entry vehicles, but that effect lessened as they descended. They landed pretty much within a square click of each other, in the forest just to the southeast of our farm.
Our son, who was driving out to pick us up, saw them too, and managed to get a somewhat grainy picture of them - we brought it with us. We can’t afford holo equipment, and as I said, it was getting dusk, so the quality’s not that great. But at least you can make out what’s what”
The Colonel’s ears pricked up. That hadn’t been in the report he’d received after his agents first interrogated the couple and their son.
He tapped a key sequence on his control pad, and a small recess appeared in front of the couple, showing several insert bays.
“Let’s have a look, then,” the Colonel said, “third one from the left”
Obligingly Patel reached into his pocket and inserted the filmtape in the receptacle, and sat back to watch again.
“He started filming right after the noises – which of course we now know were sonic booms”
The Colonel nodded, and looked intently at the screen.
They resembled a small meteor shower, as the glowing specks ahead of the contrails grew larger, heading across the southeastern sky towards land, across Drogue Narrows.
As the ablative heat skids cooled, the glow lessened and the figures got larger, coming into focus at what seemed a couple of thousand meters or so, in a graceful parabola across the evening sky. They descended finally out of sight of the camera into the forest in a tangle of skids, broken branches, scattered equipment and the occasional short fireflare as the dry timber caught remnants of the re-entry heat
“Interesting”, the Colonel said, then thanked the couple who were then taken to their accommodation for the night.
*************************************************
After they left, the Colonel turned to his team of staff and adjutants.
“What do you make of this?,” he asked
One tapped some keys, and a spreadsheet replaced the grainy film on the screen.
“Here’s what we know, Sir,” she said. “From our intelligence files on probe teams. They are similar to ours”.
“As well as what we know about drop technology – available to the Data Angels since the discovery of Mind-Machine Interface”
The Colonel looked across the table at his staff.
“Threat report?”
One staffer replied:
“Angels, no doubt of it. Interesting what they have done. If it were just one team, then we’d have the capability of interrogating them and sending them scuttling home, but by stacking the teams like that it’s not an option we have.
“Thus, definitely hostile. Arrowed towards either Aid Station or Arcadia Regional Command. The former would be my guess as they are adjacent to our road network. Took some damage on landing – around 10%, but definitely elite units.”
“Recommendation?” asked the Colonel. “As I read it it’s essentially a let them be or a destroy them choice, is that not so.”
The staffers nodded in agreement.
“Sir, I say we take them out,” replied his senior aide. “We can’t just let them roam around our territory like that. Their action is tantamount to declaring vendetta on us.”
Another added “and if the shoe were on the other foot – if we’d dropped and stacked probes on their territory, they would destroy them first and apologize afterwards. So I concur – remove the threat to our territory, then apologize for having just the two choices - after all, it’s them who denied us that third choice”
The Colonel nodded. “That’s a fair assessment – and as acting Diplomatic affairs officer I can make that point quite strongly to them. Are we all agreed then – destroy those probe agents?”
One by one the Crypteia executive nodded.
“OK, then, I’ll put it to the Junta. Meeting adjourned”
*************************************************
Major Burns gunned the engines as the Skanky Sileni Division rovers swept out of Aid Station on the road south towards the forest.
They too had seen the contrails and heard the sonic booms, but hadn’t been close enough to see what had transpired,, but the early morning briefing had unraveled everything.
The division rode south in silence – preparing for battle. They understood that it wasn’t the same as dealing with mindworms – the Angels probe teams didn’t use psi warfare, so essentially they were unarmed against the might of the rovers, but Burns was taking no chances, and had deployed his division in battle formation.
As they climbed the hill to the south they could see the top of the monolith poking out above the trees.
“We’re getting close now,” he said into his throatmike. “Increase vigilance”
“Objective in sight – engage individually, but report your targets”
The Angels probe team members could be seen in the forest, having set up camp as they waited for further instructions and healed their minor injuries sustained upon landing.
Burns' commanders sang out their intended targets.
“Engage” said the Major
As one, their muzzles roared and the probe team operatives were scythed down.
“Threat removed,” Major Burns reported to the Base Governor. We are returning to base”
At Arcadia Regional Command Colonel Googlie got the news, almost simultaneously with the threat alert warning on his console.
He turned to view it, and with a half curse, half chuckle, activated his commlink to Colonel Maniac.
“Pedro – Scott here. You’ll never guess what happened. Some artificial intelligence program residing on Gaian software has responded to our surgical operation against the Angels by automatically declaring vendetta on us. This whole mess that the Data Angels started looks like having Chiron-wide repercussions.
“Ah well, we’ll talk to them – I don’t know if that’ll be their official position, or just a programmer’s error. We would like to Treaty with them but this might complicate matters somewhat. We needs be vigilant.’
“As always,” came the laconic reply. “That’s the Spartan way.”
“That’s new,” he commented, pointing out the fortifications of the Perimeter Defense. “More troops around, too”
Nathoo nodded. She’d only been to UN Headquarters once before, shortly after she and Patel had been married, but even now her recollections were vivid.
“Much more order – less chaotic” was her terse comment. “I don’t know if I like it, though. All that black – on uniforms, and so many weapons in evidence”
They rolled up to an imposing looking building, whose portico was embellished by a banner reading “Arcadia Regional Command Center”
Patel snorted. “That’s the old headquarters itself. Even that has changed. And look, across the square, where the old Recreation Commons was” - he pointed to an ugly, squat functional building that looked totally out of place among the sweeping spires and rounded domes of the former Peacekeeper office and administrative sector of the base. It had a more permanent façade, with the inscription “Naval Command – Southern Fleet”
Patel shrugged his shoulders – “I guess to the conqueror the spoils,” he muttered. “They can do anything they want to us – we were pretty defenseless against their military might”
The rover rolled up to the steps leading to the Command Center, and the driver hopped out and opened the rear hatchway for them to exit. A guard detail was waiting to escort them into the building.
“This way, please,” the guard commander said, leading the way up the stairs. “The Colonel is expecting you”
*************************************************
The Colonel was tall and graying, and rose to meet them as they entered the briefing room.
“Would you like refreshments?” he asked. “It’s been a long drive for you from Aid Station”
“Some fungal tea would be nice” said Nathoo.
“Done” said the Colonel, gesturing to one of his aides. “With ginger?” Both Patel and Nathoo nodded.
“I never did develop the taste for that”, opined the Colonel. “Personally, I prefer the kelpjuice with peppermint. I always though the fungal extract was better distilled.”
Patel nodded. He had tasted it, but it was a luxury on a farmer’s income.
After the refreshments arrived they got down to business.
“So, tell me in your own words what you saw,” the Colonel said, unrolling a map on the conference table for them to look at.
Patel began:
“Well, it was getting towards dusk, and we were in the fields harvesting the crop, and we first of all heard the noises – at first we thought it was thunder crackling, but looking up we saw some contrails – about 3 dozen or so, and they seemed to be arcing towards us. We then thought that it must just be aircraft on maneuvers – we’d seen the old PK airforce once or twice - but as they got closer we saw that they were smaller than that. In fact, as far as we could tell, they were individual sled like craft each with one person aboard.
“The bottom of the sleds seemed to be glowing, almost like the old Earth vidflicks we say of space re-entry vehicles, but that effect lessened as they descended. They landed pretty much within a square click of each other, in the forest just to the southeast of our farm.
Our son, who was driving out to pick us up, saw them too, and managed to get a somewhat grainy picture of them - we brought it with us. We can’t afford holo equipment, and as I said, it was getting dusk, so the quality’s not that great. But at least you can make out what’s what”
The Colonel’s ears pricked up. That hadn’t been in the report he’d received after his agents first interrogated the couple and their son.
He tapped a key sequence on his control pad, and a small recess appeared in front of the couple, showing several insert bays.
“Let’s have a look, then,” the Colonel said, “third one from the left”
Obligingly Patel reached into his pocket and inserted the filmtape in the receptacle, and sat back to watch again.
“He started filming right after the noises – which of course we now know were sonic booms”
The Colonel nodded, and looked intently at the screen.
They resembled a small meteor shower, as the glowing specks ahead of the contrails grew larger, heading across the southeastern sky towards land, across Drogue Narrows.
As the ablative heat skids cooled, the glow lessened and the figures got larger, coming into focus at what seemed a couple of thousand meters or so, in a graceful parabola across the evening sky. They descended finally out of sight of the camera into the forest in a tangle of skids, broken branches, scattered equipment and the occasional short fireflare as the dry timber caught remnants of the re-entry heat
“Interesting”, the Colonel said, then thanked the couple who were then taken to their accommodation for the night.
*************************************************
After they left, the Colonel turned to his team of staff and adjutants.
“What do you make of this?,” he asked
One tapped some keys, and a spreadsheet replaced the grainy film on the screen.
“Here’s what we know, Sir,” she said. “From our intelligence files on probe teams. They are similar to ours”.
#PROBE TEAM
Complement: 16
Counterintel suite: ShieldSafe V 6.0
Armament: Cyberlinks\mind control
Armor: Passive (Applique)
Complement: 16
Counterintel suite: ShieldSafe V 6.0
Armament: Cyberlinks\mind control
Armor: Passive (Applique)
#DROP PODS
Desc.: Aircushion LCs
Effect: Can make airdrops
Limits: None
Domain: Land
Desc.: Aircushion LCs
Effect: Can make airdrops
Limits: None
Domain: Land
“Threat report?”
One staffer replied:
“Angels, no doubt of it. Interesting what they have done. If it were just one team, then we’d have the capability of interrogating them and sending them scuttling home, but by stacking the teams like that it’s not an option we have.
“Thus, definitely hostile. Arrowed towards either Aid Station or Arcadia Regional Command. The former would be my guess as they are adjacent to our road network. Took some damage on landing – around 10%, but definitely elite units.”
“Recommendation?” asked the Colonel. “As I read it it’s essentially a let them be or a destroy them choice, is that not so.”
The staffers nodded in agreement.
“Sir, I say we take them out,” replied his senior aide. “We can’t just let them roam around our territory like that. Their action is tantamount to declaring vendetta on us.”
Another added “and if the shoe were on the other foot – if we’d dropped and stacked probes on their territory, they would destroy them first and apologize afterwards. So I concur – remove the threat to our territory, then apologize for having just the two choices - after all, it’s them who denied us that third choice”
The Colonel nodded. “That’s a fair assessment – and as acting Diplomatic affairs officer I can make that point quite strongly to them. Are we all agreed then – destroy those probe agents?”
One by one the Crypteia executive nodded.
“OK, then, I’ll put it to the Junta. Meeting adjourned”
*************************************************
Major Burns gunned the engines as the Skanky Sileni Division rovers swept out of Aid Station on the road south towards the forest.
They too had seen the contrails and heard the sonic booms, but hadn’t been close enough to see what had transpired,, but the early morning briefing had unraveled everything.
The division rode south in silence – preparing for battle. They understood that it wasn’t the same as dealing with mindworms – the Angels probe teams didn’t use psi warfare, so essentially they were unarmed against the might of the rovers, but Burns was taking no chances, and had deployed his division in battle formation.
As they climbed the hill to the south they could see the top of the monolith poking out above the trees.
“We’re getting close now,” he said into his throatmike. “Increase vigilance”
“Objective in sight – engage individually, but report your targets”
The Angels probe team members could be seen in the forest, having set up camp as they waited for further instructions and healed their minor injuries sustained upon landing.
Burns' commanders sang out their intended targets.
“Engage” said the Major
As one, their muzzles roared and the probe team operatives were scythed down.
“Threat removed,” Major Burns reported to the Base Governor. We are returning to base”
At Arcadia Regional Command Colonel Googlie got the news, almost simultaneously with the threat alert warning on his console.
He turned to view it, and with a half curse, half chuckle, activated his commlink to Colonel Maniac.
“Pedro – Scott here. You’ll never guess what happened. Some artificial intelligence program residing on Gaian software has responded to our surgical operation against the Angels by automatically declaring vendetta on us. This whole mess that the Data Angels started looks like having Chiron-wide repercussions.
“Ah well, we’ll talk to them – I don’t know if that’ll be their official position, or just a programmer’s error. We would like to Treaty with them but this might complicate matters somewhat. We needs be vigilant.’
“As always,” came the laconic reply. “That’s the Spartan way.”
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