July 8th, 2448
Command and Control Center
Talon Military Base, Tulipalo (planet), Ignis Star System
“Sir, we are detecting a subspace emergency beacon!”
“Sir, the dimensional rift is closing!”
“Acknowledged. Lieutenant Samson, track and identify the subspace emergency beacon. Lieutenant Vistoliy, I want a preliminary casualty and damage report the moment that rift is closed. Sensors, I want a full sweep of the system. I want to know what’s out there, where it's at, regardless of who it is. Someone is targeting this base and I want them found.”
A man with greying hair stood as an island of calm in the turbulent sea of blue uniforms that swirled around the command center. A young woman with flame red hair that contrasted sharply with her blue uniform approached him.
“Admiral, the lock down is complete, defensive shields are at full power, anti-air and anti-ground emplacements are ready and fighters are scrambling now. Once they get the launch order they will be airborne.”
“Thank you Captain. What’s the status of the Chameleons?”
“They are ready to go. Captain Kopfjäger will brief them enroute and give out the final assignments. She said she had a few contacts in the area that might be helpful.”
“Sir! The dimensional rift has closed. Preliminary reports indicate zero damage to equipment or structures. Two casualties have been reported, both minor injuries.”
“Good news. Security, have teams sweep the base, make sure nothing got onto the base.” The man turned to the red hair captain, “As soon as the all clear is given make sure the Chameleons launch, have the fighters escort them till they make the jump.”
The captain nodded and moved over towards a cluster of consoles and officers to coordinate the fighter escort.
“Admiral? I have identified the subspace emergency beacon but I haven’t been able to locate its current location but I do know where it was.”
“Oh?” The admiral moved over to Lieutenant Samson’s station. “Why haven’t you been able to locate it?”
“Sir, the signal seems to be getting scrambled so I can’t lock on to it. It's almost like something is interfering with it but its subspace, what's there to interfere with it?”
“That doesn’t make sense, contact the engineers and have them check the equipment. Perhaps the dimensional rift caused a glitch in the sensors. Who’s beacon is it?”
“It’s... sir, it belongs to Captain Heidi Kopfjäger. I backtracked the signal to landing pad 4, exactly at the center of the dimensional rift.”
The admiral just stood there and stared at the lieutenant for a brief moment in shock before he spun around and yelled, “CAPTAIN O’MALLEY!”
At the admiral’s yell all talking ceased and the only sound that could be heard was the red headed captain’s response of, “Aye Sir!”
“Captain, contact both Admiral Serance and General Grear, tell them that I need to speak to both of them immediately on a secure line. Lieutenant Samson, contact Engineering and tell them that I need a repair team on the subspace receiver right now. Sensors, I need the results of that sweep ASAP. Launch Control, launch transport Sierra-2-7 and tell them to go to Rendezvous Point Bravo-5 and await further instructions. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is no longer being treated as a mysterious incident but as enemy action, pass the word and proceed accordingly.”
Everyone in the control room began to move with a new sense of urgency. As the admiral had said, they treated this as it was enemy action. Orders went out and the entire base went from being on standby waiting to find out what was happening, to an angry hornets nest that someone had just poked with a stick. The roar of engines began to fill the air as an assault transport and 5 squadrons of fighters took off, climbing through the atmosphere and heading for space.
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Admiral Williams sat at his desk waiting for the last of the security protocols to authenticate. With a DING the display screen went live, showing General Grear who looked like he just stepped out of a weight room and Admiral Serance who looked like she had just woken up and was ready to murder who ever had dared to wake her up without damned good reason. Not entirely surprising for either of them as it was morning on Mars where General Grear was and the middle of the night at Tao Setti.
“What’s gone wrong?” Admiral Serance asked with a growl.
“Approximately 20 minutes ago a dimensional distortion was detected on base, this distortion then escalated and a rift opened, sucking Captain Heidi Kopfjäger into it. This occurred as she was crossing the landing pad heading for the transport containing the Chameleon strike force that she was to lead to hunt down a remnant of the Cetaria Empire that had managed to locate and open a Builder’s Vault. At that time, the only ones on base that knew of the details of the Chameleon’s mission were Captain Kopfjäger and myself. The fact that she was the only one caught in the rift and that the rift opened at her exact position leads me to believe that she was targeted.”
“... Admiral Williams, are you telling me that Captain Kopfjäger has been captured?” General Grear asked as he leaned forward.
“That, might indeed be a possibility. However given the Captain’s reputation, I doubt they could actually capture her or hold her.”
Admiral Serance grumbled, “The Komodo has more than earned her reputation and that rep is based on the things that people know she has done, it doesn’t even touch on the classified ops that she has done. Many of which even I don’t know about despite having been in charge of Military Intelligence for the last 15 years.”
She then straightened up and in a more serious tone asked, “Where is the Chameleon strike force now?”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Already launched ma’am, I had fighters escort them till they made the jump. As for their destination, its RV Point Bravo-5. Someone will need to meet them there and brief them.”
“Bravo-5? Alright, I’ll get someone out there”
“It’s going to be a bloodbath…”
“What do you mean General Grear?” Admiral Serance asked as her eyes narrowed.
“Once the Captain’s leave was over, she was to be promoted and take command of the Chameleons. Many of the younger Chameleon’s learned their trade from her. Additionally she has ties to nearly every section in the Special Operation branch, including some sections that don’t exist. Many of these sections consider her one of theirs. They will act as if one of their own was taken. Additionally she has been involved in countless classified ops, so she has encryption codes, access codes, communication channels, weapon and equipment cache coordinates for the majority of Terran space as well as for Imperial space.”
Admiral William’s eyes widened in realization. ‘No one gets left behind’ is a rule not only the Special Operations but the military as a whole lives by. Special Operations are particularly dogmatic about it as capture generally results in torture. So if one of theirs went missing or was captured, they would send multiple teams to get them out. If she was that well connected that she was considered part of other sections then each of those sections would each send groups.
Admiral Serance rubbed her temples, “That is also not the only problem. The other issue is that if the remnants of the Empire did manage to target The Komodo then they not only have the ability but the means to locate her and use whatever device it was that caused that dimensional rift. We need her found, the device secured and the threat eliminated. General Grear, get your people on the move, it's time to clean out what's left of the Empire. I’ll contact the Navy and the Army, since the Empire wants to bear it’s broken fangs at us, it is time to permanently remove all traces of this threat.”
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Hours later on board Transport Sierra-2-7, enroute to RV Point Bravo-5.
“Lieutenant, any idea on why they had us launch without the Captain?”
“Not a clue, all I know is that something happened on base and we were told to launch immediately. The moment we got airborne we had a fighter escort up until we jumped. Outside of that, I haven’t been told what’s going on. Whether it's why ALL of us were pulled for what appears to be a single op or why we launched without the Captain. I suspect that we will be briefed once we get to Bravo-5.
The comm line to the cockpit buzzed to life, “Wyvern, this is Sierra-2-7-Alpha. Ten minutes till down jump.”
“This is Wyvern, solid copy.”
Wyvern then stood up and yelled at what was probably the largest single deployment of Chameleons to date. “LISTEN UP! Ten minutes to down jump! Grab your gear, seal your armor, and get ready. If someone did hit the base just before we launched then we have no idea what could be happening since we have been running silent. I want everyone ready for whatever we encounter.”
With that statement everyone that had been sleeping, lounging, or killing time, all got up and started grabbing weapons and packs. Everyone checked everyone else's gear, making sure straps were tight and seals were intact. A loose strap could result in you getting tangled in your own equipment or something coming loose and falling off. A bad seal could kill you though, especially when dealing with hard vacuum.
Just as the last of the checks were completed and ready indicators flashed over heads up displays, everyone felt the transport shudder and heard the pitch of the engines change. They were down jumping back to real space.
Silence hung heavy in the troop bay as they waited. Finally the intercom buzzed to life; “Chameleons, this is Sierra-2-7-Alpha. Down jump complete. No Hostiles detected. One friendly courier detected and closing. Stand by… Incoming transmission from courier… Transmission is encrypted with an unknown algorithm. Forwarding it to you now.”
People started pulling out datapads or checking their arm mounted displays to figure out the strange encryption. However it didn’t take more than 30 seconds before someone had it.
“Wyvern, this is Spike. I know this encryption, it’s a highly classified one that’s only used by one Special Operations group and few outside that group. Requesting permission to contact the courier directly.”
Wyvern made his way down the troop bay towards Spike and said, “Permission granted Spike, see if you can find out both what the plan is and what’s been happening”
He watched Spike nod and begin typing furiously on his datapad. No real surprise that Spike recognized the encryption, he was the best hacker in the unit. He watched as Spike opened a secure line to the courier, spoke to someone briefly and seemed to be mostly listening while typing. Wyvern couldn’t hear any of it because it was all through Spike’s helmet comms but he knew it was bad when Spike froze and went wide eyed in shock. However when Spike’s eyes narrowed in anger, he knew they had a target. Someone had done something dumb and they were going after them.
Wyvern activated the unit wide comm channel, “I see that look Spike, let the rest of us know what’s up so we know who to kill.”
That caused heads to snap around and a slight shuffling as a few people reached for weapons.
“Six days ago, Imperial General Ict’ferin’telin opened a Builder Vault that he had found using the civilians from a nearby town that he had seized control of. All the civilians were executed after the vault was opened. Total body count is unknown but it’s over 2,000. No intel on what was removed from the vault.”
“Five days ago, recall orders were issued for all Chameleon units not already deployed on crucial missions for the express purpose of tracking and locating General Ict’ferin’telin and whatever he removed from the Builder Vault.”
“Ten hours ago, Command received intel from a Snake with General Ict’ferin’telin’s location and possible location on the Vault assets. Captain Kopfjäger was briefed the moment she arrived on base, which was six hours ago. However, four hours ago when she was enroute to the transport so we could launch, a dimensional rift was opened at her exact position. She was pulled into the rift and is currently listed as Missing. Command has ordered us to find and secure General Ict’ferin’telin, the Vault assets, and Captain Kopfjäger using any and all the means at our disposal. General Ict’ferin’telin is no longer a member of the Imperial Military as the Imperial Military disbanded his unit and he was forcibly retired, so he is now officially classified as a Terrorist and our Rules of Engagement are to reflect that.”
“General Grear also stated the following: ‘A Hunt has been called. A Grand Hunt the likes of which few have ever seen and fewer survived. General Ict’ferin’telin is your prey. Hunt this foul creature and all that are his to the end of the galaxy. Let no trace remain of their foul selves, they are all to be laid low, their souls torn from their mortal coils and sent to the deepest depths of hell. Find that which has been unsealed and used to harm us. Find that which has been taken from us. The Hunt is on, let your hunting cries shake the worlds. Let the enemies and the prey shudder in fear of the Hunters who prowl the night and the day. Go forth Hunters, your leashes and fetters hath been released, your claws and fangs unsheathed. The Hunt is on.’ ”
Wyvern looked around at the assembled Chameleons, all of whom looked determined and ready to go. He turned back to Spike and asked, “What’s our first target?”