Ark One did have her IFF, and Alpha needed only to give it a once over to tell if she was genuine. However, she wasn’t telling them ‘everything’, only ever leaving enough room for speculation as Alpha noticed something more.
“I believe we found another ‘Catherine’?”
Alpha dryly humored, as for why the name Catherine meant anything, she was naturally someone who she suspected to be a ‘Curator’.
Catherine for one was an platonic acquaintance, companion, and confidant, some time before he met Alpha or officially became Specter One. Their relationship was unique in the sense that she was the only other person on the transport, and his eventual roommate.
She was not only sociable, but something about her felt far older than the young girl she ‘successfully’ pretended to be and she’d even go so far as to slip up only to use the excuse of watching old ‘films’. Some would call her a ‘Historian’ but that was too on the nose.
Alpha’s earlier comments pointed to her creating her own classification for potential Curators hiding in plain sight? An inside joke, but not one without merit.
Specter One suspected Ark One no doubt had a connection to The Curators, but evidently it was likely only to a single Curator who at this point was not at all related to this particular situation nor did it decide to reveal its identity as one, making Alpha’s words ever so comedic.
It was also evident that her suit and her side arm in particular were.. ever so modified, Specter One could note several modifications made to appear ordinary while the most noteworthy of which was a small badge made to fit in which was in actuality a Curator’s Personal Insignia.
Said insignia was to serve as an identifiable marker, mark of association, and ultimately a warning & reminder that she held some value to a Curator who owned such an insignia, to prevent her from being unnecessarily killed if Ark One was to ever encounter their forces.
Making it ever so bothersome to deal with as Ark One too had an implant and a fairly advanced A.I also judging the situation, and the most obvious solution was to take her out of the equation lest her unknown benefactor decide to check up on what she was up and decide to pay her a visit.
Much of which speculated to Ark One being unaware of this fact, and had it been the latter, Alpha doubted Ark One would still be present.
“This operation, its participants, and all records pertaining to them are to be summarily expunged. Including of which, Specter Team. The Board of Governors’ orders are clear, mine are not. In response to such drastic measures, The Specter Act had been declared. You are hereby ordered to remain on standby in preparation of covert evacuations until ordered otherwise”
Specter One emotionlessly ordered, before immediately brushing past her with such indifference, Ark One felt a chill in her spine, only to be further ignored after Alpha had updated her mission hud, not only showing her subtle consideration, but clarifying Specter One’s intent in doing so.
Ark One’s orders as listed by Alpha are to remain on standby and await evacuation.
Naturally Specter One’s motives, clear & utter disregard of the board, and the revelation of the fate of everyone involved in the operation signaled to the others that Specter One while still adhering to standard protocol relating to final dispensation, instead chose to defy the board outright and did so with The Planetary Govenor’s Blessing.
In actuality, The Board of Governors, and anyone not directly involved would never discover his actions especially where it pertained to him reporting such matters to Ernest who in turn would only share a small fraction of it due to his own personal interest in the matter.
Such was the protocol that The Board had no reason to believe he had not fulfilled his mission where it pertained to the ‘expungement’ of everyone involved.
Leaving Ark One with little alternative then to wait..
From everything she knew of Specter One, his mere presence meant this situation had already passed the point of no return. He alone was Ernest’s Personal Executor, Enforcer, Butcher..
The Board at the height of their power once tried to suppress him, and at worst ‘dispose’ of him. They had soon learned that beyond his namesake, he was for all intents and purposes a Specter in every aspect.
Their intent and further attempts had initially drawn Ernest’s notice, only for their assets and those responsible for them to fall silent. What’s more, it all occurred simultaneously as if purposely throwing off their theatrics and giving one of his own.
After the loss of three worlds, thirteen fleets, before ultimately being misdirected directly into the path of a Curator Super Carrier, and in turn forcing them to reevaluate their stance. What concerned them the most was undoubtedly Ernest’s lack of thoughts on the matter.
In turn it resulted in Specter, now Specter One having an entire treaty created in his honor, known only as a Treaty of ‘Restraint’.
Allowing Specter One ‘vacation’ days and forcing him into a squad-based setting to dampen his status as a lone wolf and making it ‘appear’ that he was never alone in that regard and contributing many of his achievements to the ‘squad’ that had seemingly always existed.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Despite this, Ernest agreed, and in turn allowed The Board of Governors a small but ultimately ‘pyrrhic’ victory which in actuality was merely a participation trophy. Many condemned The Board for allowing him to ‘handpick’ a team and giving him more power, however in the greater scheme of things The Board chose that particular double-edged sword.
As a result, Specter One appreciated the reprieve, having previously had no vacation days to speak of?
Evidently, for that reason alone, his relationship with The Board had greatly improved and ultimately deemed quite pleasant, which in turn had unknowingly allowed him to revert to his identity as a standard security officer with several weeks of vacation, and additional freedoms.
In the end Specter One became both a myth and legend within The Special Operations Theatre and contributed greatly to many being rightfully concerned if he were to ever show up.
The Board had also evidently classified him as Hyper Lethal Threat, something they had initially refused to acknowledge until the incidents in question.
They simply didn’t have a choice in the matter but accommodated him nonetheless and viewed him as far ‘tamer’ as time passed, as he had neither directly targeted them and only ever ‘reacted’ proportionally.
Presently, their demeanor had drastically changed which was evident through the use of their scorched earth tactics in favor of burying what they had learned and anyone who may reveal what they encountered within The Installation.
The sole exception was Specter One, and that was solely because it couldn’t even be considered without the possibility that he’d target them in kind. And had Ernest gotten involved directly, the chain reaction created from that alone would leave them with nothing.
With that put aside, Specter One did have his admirers. Some of whom, no matter their losses, found him entertaining enough to appreciate his achievements. To many of them, it had been merely a game, or more specifically a test.
Much like many of the shadowy figures of the upper echelons of human society, be it corporate titans, age old families of nobility, science, industry, and military service. It could even be said, with the exception of The Arcadians, those among The Board were among the very few who could say they played some part in obtaining the most power in human history.
Of course, they weren’t the only ones but the fact alone that New Harvest had a dozen of them revealed far too much for anyone’s likings, and no one with some obvious exceptions could openly say they’ve ever seen their faces or knew who was truly behind New Harvest.
With everyone present, including Ark One and a better part of The Special Operations Community being aware of that fact.
…
Information saturation aside, as they soon approached the mountain installation; they were suddenly stopped after Roy had unironically walked into another cloaked figure.
“Specter Team? It’s Reaper Two.. The Board sent the three of us to be your scouts, unfortunately by the time we arrived it was a ghost town until Ark One came back around-”
A young man whispered, shortly after revealing his IFF, only to then be interrupted by Roy as he signaled to Reaper One to pick up her Scouts or alternatively her security attachment. Which would then explain why they weren’t initially onboard the nighthawk as the young man slipped Specter One his recovery chip.
“Be careful, we’ve been here for a while. We knew something was off when The Board sent a hell of a lot more teams than we’ve been told, several dozen of squads in total, and at random intervals and unit designations. While our drones went silent after the first mile into its interior, as did the radio chatter and everything else so far. We’ve also been hearing echoes of.. something but scans proved inconclusive”
Reaper Two disturbingly reported, his voice was rushed and leaked a greater concern with every word. And as Specter One knew them, and had even trained them, that fear wasn’t unwarranted. The training was minimal but ‘enough’ to know what to report and what not to..
The fact alone that they remained here and reported more than initially provided to him was enough for him to take notice, and just enough to know that they’ve been here in the cold for hours watching teams go in, hearing their footsteps and radio chatter, only for them to disappear.
And as expected they did as they were told. They hadn’t interfered or revealed themselves until Specter Team’s Arrival as per their orders.
Something that would no doubt not sit right with them, however they didn’t blame Specter Team or Reaper One, rather only The Board for sending nearly a hundred men and women into the unknown.
“Specter Four, there are a dozen or so cargo-bots over there, alongside that fancy autonomous cargo mech. That fake mine is filled with them, and they haven’t been activated in years from the looks of it. If you can, y'all should get them working, and send them in first. And.. I’d also appreciate it if you find my drone..”
Reaper Three unceremoniously suggested, his calm southern charm especially evident and his familiarity with Specter Four obvious from his words alone.
If anything else, Reaper Three was after all Reaper One’s Technician and all around Combat Engineer responsible for defending her Nighthawk with Sentry Guns and the like, so much so that he was actively carrying one on his back before pressing it into Specter Four’s chest.
“My spare.. it looks like you’re going to need it more than me”
The chuckles of two southern gentleman aside, Reaper Three caught up and boarded The Nighthawk while Specter One examined what they had left for him.
It would appear the three had arrived via the ocean through a.. submersible stealth frigate? Which was no doubt puzzling as the vast majority of New Harvest’s Fleet had cloaking and the ability to land on the seafloor?
Repetitive designations aside, they were then accompanied by an armored convoy.
Naturally they were equally puzzled by the weather as they were soon dropped off during the end of the hurricane, and waited until The Convoy made its way to repair the first of The Weather Conduits before they too fell silent?
The last known reports revealed nothing of note, only their arrival and the successful calibration of four out of the twelve only for the earlier cascade to unceremoniously cut them off as they headed to the fifth.
Considering they had gone silent at the same moment Beta had, it was likely they lost their comms and made their way to the fifth or tried to piggyback their way back to the compound to see how Reaper Team fared?
However, with the blizzards present, it would likely take them another two hours to arrive. And if that is not the case, Reaper One would investigate before rerouting the survivors back here to occupy the compound and await for further orders as per The Specter Act.
For now, Specter One continued to review what ‘they’ may have seen and heard while cloaked outside of the entrance. Which consisted of the several dozen squads they ‘knew’ about and six others made up of technicians, medical personnel, and cleanup crews?