Lieutenant Colonel Lucas Moody was renowned for his reactions to treacherous enemy activity. He and his fellow officers had graduated from Skywatch Academy with stellar marks precisely because they all shared a set of important values. One of those was recognizing the fundamental difference between an enemy and an adversary.
The Sarn landing party that had just gained easy access to the Triton base was most assuredly not classified in the latter category. Moo and the Proximan Lord-Captain Gael Oakshotte had taken up observation positions only a couple dozen yards behind and 20 feet above the southwest entrance to the heavy manufacturing facility. The Sarn entered the place like they had raised families there. Moo fumed. He knew there was more going on in and around Mycenae Ceti Eight than met the eye, but he wasn’t prepared for the fact a Core Alliance facility had been so casually invaded by a potentially dangerous enemy.
The two Alliance officers had instructed their respective crews to remain behind so they could get an idea what was happening first. Then Moo had equipped himself with the necessary equipment to destroy the Triton Base if necessary, including four satchel charges.
Both human and feline knew they needed a plan, and a rather good one if they were going to prevail against a squad of heavily armed regular Sarn soldiers. While Oakshotte was at least a physical match for the much taller reptilian enemies, Moo was at somewhat of a disadvantage, at least when it came to hand to hand combat. Although the colonel was fairly muscular and heavier than an average marine, against a seven-foot bipedal reptile born to withstand the fury of an active volcano he faced some profound limitations. Neither Moo nor Oakshotte had rifles. The feline was armed with his sword, of course, which Moo had recently learned was somewhat more than a simple metal blade in the hands of a Proximan warrior.
“We’ve got to stop them,” Moo growled. “There’s no telling what they are going to do if they get their hands on the equipment in there.”
“Can they operate the communications array?” Oakshotte asked in a rumbling basso whisper.
“It’s possible. If they can just walk through the perimeter security like that, I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole place is compromised. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the so-called refugees we discovered weren’t some kind of advance team left here to make sure the humans don’t get control of this place again.”
“That is a very interesting theory, Lookah Moo. I have been wondering about the story we’ve been told about why they were still here after all this time.”
“The captain would caution me not to jump to conclusions,” Moo replied, “but the circumstantial evidence is starting to pile up. We’ve got to find a way to get in there.”
“Come, let us see if there is a second entrance we can make use of.” Oakshotte moved quickly for a large humanoid cat, but he managed to make little noise as he descended the uneven grade to the canyon floor. The southwest wing of the Triton facility was surrounded on three sides by formidable gray rock walls that reached as much as 100 feet above the exterior metal decks. The central structure was less occluded by barriers, which was likely the reason it supported most of the base antennas and sensor equipment. Moo had noted the presence of a directional beacon assembly on the roof when they first landed. That meant at some point there had been some kind of orbital communications facility. If those birds were still in orbit, it would give the colonel a number of options, not the least of which was the possibility of establishing contact with the Descartes gate and getting a message either to the captain or Skywatch Command. Somehow, he had to alert his superiors to the fact a Sarn landing party was loose in a sensitive facility.
“What about the Bree Saw Yenn?”
“She is nearby on station. If we need support, I can always call in reinforcements,” Oakshotte replied.
“Good, because we’re probably going to need them.” Moo drew and activated his TK12 heavy pistol. “I’d rather not get a firefight started in here. The lizard in charge left at least four of those walking snakes back at the ship.”
“They can call in reinforcements too,” Oakshotte replied. “We must be cautious.”
Moo wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from the towering humanoid cat. He had seen how Oakshotte’s lieutenant carved up what must have been a Kraken scouting party with nothing but a piece of sharpened metal. He also considered himself fortunate to have been one of the first to see a Proximan turn aside energy weapon fire with the same sword. Moo was going to be telling stories about that little incident in every bar from Magellan to Antares the moment he got liberty. There was no telling what the Lord-Captain had up his furry sleeve.
By now the entire Sarn landing party had moved inside the facility. Moo was hesitant, as it would be unusual for an experienced officer to lead an entire squad into a structure without posting at least one guard to make sure they weren’t about to be ambushed. At the same time, the colonel wasn’t about to wait around for his enemy to remedy his mistake. He moved quickly to the pressure hatch and peered through the transparent composite window. None of the Sarn soldiers were visible. The lights were still operating in all three of the chambers that were visible from the outer hatch. Moo slipped to the other side and Oakshotte moved up to the hatch controls. He deftly deactivated the seal and nodded to the colonel before opening the hatch. The portal slid aside soundlessly and the two allies slipped inside.
The air inside the base was considerably cleaner and warmer than the planet’s natural atmosphere. Moo glanced at the ceiling corners to verify the personnel systems were operating.
“Life support is still on-line. I would expect they will try to deactivate it at some point to make things tougher for anyone trying to re-take the facility.”
“Agreed. Are those the surveillance consoles?”
“That they are.” Moo and Oakshotte crossed the outer chamber and activated the bank of monitors just inside the airlock control chamber. In moments they were able to locate and evaluate the enemy squad. They had moved to one of the storage facilities not far from the central computer control facility.
“Why would they be snooping around in storage?” Moo asked rhetorically. Oakshotte ducked as a metallic sound echoed in a nearby passageway. By the time Moo reacted, a Sarn face was already visible in the door’s port. The pressure mechanism activated and the huge reptilian alien stepped through. Oakshotte’s full weight slammed the creature into the nearest metal wall. A mighty struggle ensued. As the Sarn’s hands ripped free, its weapon flew across the room. Oakshotte planted and twisted his weight using his hip as a fulcrum. The Sarn stumbled back. A single shot from Moo’s pistol struck it square in the back and the heavy creature landed hard on the deck. Another sound echoed in the passage and Oakshotte drew his sword.
Moo scarcely had time to react before the big feline confronted another Sarn fighter in the passage. A weapon fired and blasted sparks, smoke and ozone into the airlock control. Oakshotte’s blade flashed as he sliced the air with it. A wedge of bright energy rocketed down the passageway and punched into the creature’s chest. Its weapon slipped in its clawed hands as the scaled alien slumped into the corner.
“How can I learn to fire energy blasts from the edge of my sword?”
Oakshotte chuckled and patted the colonel’s shoulder. “I will train you, Lookah Moo. Perhaps you will learn better than your captain!”
Moo moved quickly to one Sarn body while Oakshotte searched the other. The two officers discovered standard landing party equipment and at least one commlink.
“Perhaps we can use this to track them without the surveillance banks?” Oakshotte offered.
“That’s an excellent idea, Lord-Captain, but first we need to get to computer control. I want to know if they’ve gotten a message off this base.”
“You’re concerned about fresh troops?”
“That and the fact they could be monitoring fleet operations here and beyond the Descartes Gate. Remember, that World Burner of theirs is in this system. The very last thing we want is for this place to end up being a spotter for that thing.”
“If they have full control of the orbiting communications satellites, they could target any ship coming through the gate,” Oakshotte said.
“They’d be sitting ducks,” Moo replied. The look on his face said it all. The two officers moved swiftly towards the nearest cephalon console.