The group returned to where their weapons and gear were stored, gathering everything before heading further out to their base camp. Boo grumbled as she collapsed into an old rocking chair in the attic. "I miss Avi and other cars."
"Yeah, we have it easy," Kally added as she rubbed her calves. "I envy those two," she said as she waved at the twins.
"We're tired too," Tyson added. "Long distance walking wasn't required of us where we lived." He stretched his leg out on a box. "Maybe it's best to move our base camp closer to the city proper?"
Zoe nodded. "I was thinking that. There's enough places we passed that were not occupied and far enough away from others. We just have to be careful about picking where we store our stuff." She stretched her arms up, stretching up onto her toes. "Do we move up tonight or tomorrow?"
"What's the weather forecast?" Kally asked.
Zoe focused on the data from the weather satellites. "Snow tonight and tomorrow."
"Morning it is," Boo grumbled as she began setting up a small camp stove. "No point being in even colder temperatures during the night."
"Agreed. Let's move in the morning." Taking her drone off her back, Zoe moved to the stairs down. "I'm going to do a quick surveillance of the house. Get the fire going, I want to see if we have any light leaking through the windows."
Igniting the small stove, Boo put a small kettle on it, watching as Zoe left the building.
Tapping into Nix's drone control, Zoe instructed the drone to do a lap around the house, a few houses back. Relying on Tyson's Talent, she knew well enough it was safe to send the drone out.
Video came back to her, showing dark housing. She sighed in relief as the drone started to return to her.
As she waited, she let her mind drift inside her mindscape, checking over all systems and activity logs. She froze as she came across the most recent communications between Nix and Avi.
~ Nix, explain yourself. ~
~ You are busy on an important mission for the Community. You rely on Avi and Nix to handle small details. ~
~ A fucking military satellite is not a small detail Nix! Fuck! ~ Zoe darted back inside, startling Kally as she ran past her, climbing into the attic and rummaging through the comms gear.
"What's wrong?" Boo asked.
"Avi found a military sat and hacked it under Nix's command. I only found out just now." Finding what she was looking for, she went back outside and, using the strength of the suit, leapt onto the roof. Unfolding the small satellite dish, she attached it to the side of the chimney, plugged a cable into it and then into the control panel.
Data flowed and Zoe sat down, leaning against the chimney as she closed her eyes. The network welcomed her as her mind sought the information she needed.
Avi had indeed hacked into a military satellite, one of twenty one. She bolstered the defences, giving aid to the defensive programming. Seeking the source of the counter attack, she discovered that the entire military network was responsible. Wonder at the nearly perfect code filled her as she worked to counter the counter defences.
Kally gently shook Zoe, bringing her back to reality. Snow gently fell in the dark air around them, the only light coming from the control panel. Zoe yawned as her physical exhaustion made itself known to her. "How long have I been up here?"
"About three hours. You need to rest."
Zoe nodded, slowly standing, letting Kally help her. "I need to do something about Nix. The program is too free willed."
"Can you shut it down easily?" Kally asked before dropping from the roof and rolling to her feet.
Landing heavily, Zoe straightened herself and nodded. "Yes, but they are doing what they've been programmed to do and I don't know if I should stop them."
Holding the door open for Zoe, Kally lead the way to the attic where the other three were already sleeping.
"Let your mother know?" Kally asked as she passed Zoe a cup of hot chocolate.
Zoe nodded sleepily as she dug out her mobile phone and dialed home.
"You've got Sam. How's it going Zoe?"
"Mission proceeding as planned. Did Boo send you the report for today?"
"Yes, received. Anything else to report?”
“Yes. Nix and Avi have been working on tasks not given to them, working without my direct order. They encountered a military weapons satellite and have taken it over. Counter programming is actively trying to retake the satellite from inside the military satellite network.”
Sam whistled. “I’ll let Elaine know. Any idea if the countermeasures are automatic or controlled?”
“Likely automatic. I spent three hours reinforcing the defences and programming. I’ve remotely told Avi to go back to base and shut itself down while I shut down Nix here.”
“Will that affect your suit?”
Zoe sighed. “Yes, and my connection. I’ll need to put that drive into something else.”
“Use the phone you’re calling from?”
“I will. Hopefully it will suffice.”
“Anything else to report?”
“It’s snowing and cold, but otherwise no. Good night Sam.”
“Night Zoe.”
As the call disconnected, she looked over to Kally, who had taken a seat next to her. “Do only what you need to now, then rest,” the younger woman said.
Nodding, Zoe steeled herself and removed the hard drive with her data. Moving on auto-pilot, she plugged the drive into the phone and waited for it to connect as she turned off Nix. Her mind felt numb for a few moments before the phone connected to the drive. Taking a deep breath as her mind felt connected again, she shuddered, really wishing she hadn’t had that accident.
“You okay?” Kally asked.
“Yeah, I just hate moving the hard drive. It makes my thoughts sluggish.”
“Like having a head cold?”
Zoe chuckled. “Yeah, like having a bad head cold.” She shifted, starting to take off the suit. “Can you help me please?”
Kally assisted with the suit before Zoe collapsed into her bedroll, falling into a fitful sleep.
~
"Tyson?" Boo asked as she approached him from behind, the snow fall starting to brighten with the morning light from behind the clouds.
"Yeah, I let her hypnotize me. I could feel her intentions and I figured I could probably stop her, so I let her try."
She swatted his shoulder. "I told you not to read me. Anyway, and?"
"I'm pretty sure it worked. I didn't feel sick at all in whatever that aircraft was."
"Good. I like to travel and if you're going to come with me, long distance, it'll be by plane or aircraft. I don't want you getting sick on me."
"Oh, I'm coming with you now?"
"Yeah, I'd like that." She said as she leant into Tyson, his arm wrapping around her shoulders as they watched the morning snow fall.
~
Holding her throbbing head, Zoe, slowly and jerkily, sat up. A migraine like none she'd ever had wracked her frame, nausea clutching her stomach. She dry retched, glad that her stomach was empty.
Boo dropped by her side, dropping her med kit against Zoe’s leg. “Talk to me,” she said as she rummaged, pulling a syringe and a vial out.
“My head,” Zoe gasped. “It hurts so much.”
Boo gently took Zoe’s arm. “Try and focus, tell me what’s wrong.”
Breathing out, Zoe closed her eyes. The pain was intense. She instinctively pulled away from it, whimpering. “Something is wrong, my tech is pain.”
Tyson snatched up the phone, ripping the harddrive off it. As he did, Zoe collapsed gasping as the pain vanished and her mind fogged over. “The pain is gone,” she muttered.
Boo paused in preparing the injection, checking Zoe’s pupils. “Zoe, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she replied in a drained tone.
“The phone is really hot,” Tyson said, picking it up gingerly from the edges.
Zoe automatically took it from him, switching the device off. Digging into the backpack, she pulled out the control unit for Nix and, taking the harddrive from Tyson, plugged it in, booting it up. A few moments later, she sucked her breath in and closed her eyes, feeling her mind expand as Nix turned on.
~ You are not functioning at one hundred percent. ~
“No shit Nix. Something went wrong, we need to figure it out.”
“Was Nix talking to you?” Kally asked. “You responded out loud.”
Opening her eyes, Zoe nodded. “Yes. I don’t know what’s wrong. Give me a few moments to troubleshoot.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
As she started delving into what went wrong, the others in her group settled down, Boo not leaving Zoe’s side, needle and vial in hand. “How’s your head?”
“Better. I think the phone overheating was my problem, which is frustrating. I think the phone wasn’t robust enough to deal with the hard drive, where the suit control is.”
“Is that going to be an issue with Nix?” Kally asked. “We don’t need him making more decisions.”
"I have already placed restrictions on Nix," Zoe stated, glaring at the control unit. "I'll need to figure out what to do with the satellite they took over."
"Take over more?" Tyson asked. "It would make taking out dangerous targets easier."
Zoe paused, letting Tyson's simple logic sink in. She breathed out heavily, feeling the weight of controlling other lives settle on her shoulders. "You're right. I really don't want to be the one holding all the big guns, but it seems like I'm not being given an option there."
"Better you with your morals than someone without them," Boo said, giving Zoe a quick hug before packing the med kit away. "You got this."
Catching the trusting eyes of her teammates gave her strength. "Okay, let's move our base camp up. I'll talk to base and see what we want to do with the satellites. Same scouting pattern, let's go."
~
"Avi was taking over satellites and instead of leaving the one with extra security alone, was backed up by Nix? Que Dieu nous aide." Elaine rapidly tapped the keyboard as she scanned the data while sitting in her quarters. "Rene, coffee please."
As Elaine tapped away, Rene brought out breakfast for his wife, placing it near enough that she would see it. "Don't let your coffee go cold," he said before kissing Elaine's forehead before leaving her to work.
The decision on what to do with the satellite came quickly and without surprise to most. The Community would study the military satellite while trying to find the others in orbit. Having the ability to strike distant targets without risking the lives of their people was perfect for them.
Putting her headset on, Elaine heard the chatter of the other techs working on the problem. "...idea what the destructive potential of the satellite is yet. We will need to test it out." Elain identified the voice of Hayden.
"Matin," Elaine said, announcing herself to the group. "What do we know?"
"The sat that Avi got was twelve of twenty one," Hayden replied. "It uses other gps sats for targeting, but we can input coordinates too. Payload is still unknown."
"D'accord, let us work this out. Start with downloading schematics, we need to know what we have."
~
The journey to the office building was quick and easy enough, which Zoe was thankful for as she was distracted by Nix and its programming. She had left the satellite problem to others, knowing well that everyone back home would be able to work on it without her.
Taking off the suit, she left the control panel on before pulling a baggy, long sleeved top on. The shape of the panel was still visible, but it was at least hidden and a glance wouldn't reveal it.
Kally placed a few small cameras discreetly around the building entrances, linking them into Zoe's control unit, giving them extra security on their new base.
They swapped their very visible weaponry too, the twins opting for some metal piping, slung across their backs with a makeshift rope harness, and a concealed pistol in the small of their backs. Kally gave Zoe her shocking brass knuckles, swapping for a length of chain, which she wrapped around her waist, looping over itself. Boo tucked one of Zoe's stun pistols under her clothing, between a backpack and her clothing.
Zoe approved of their downsizing. Sure, they looked more armed than the average person in the area, but only barely. It didn't really help that the twins, and even Kally, exuded danger. They had discussed potentially masquerading as a military patrol, but the smallest they'd seen had been six people, other than personal escorts, which they'd only seen two with the lithe, dangerous looking woman.
Making their way back into the city, they made their way up one of the office towers with a view of part of the Bloodless Pact's base, the entrance they'd seen and a southern area. Using binoculars, they could make out a car garage, a barracks and an office building which were all in use.
After an hour of watching through the light snowfall, Zoe made the decision to split the team, sending Maddison and Kally to scout the perimeter of the enemy base while the other three waited and watched.
~
The fence that had been erected stretched between buildings, using the solid backs of buildings for some stretches. Maddison chuckled as one part of the wall intersected another building which the Bloodless had just boarded up the ground floor windows and doors. At Kally's query, Maddison pushed against one panel, making it pop inside, clattering off dusty furniture before landing on the floor.
"They mustn't be terribly worried about security," Maddison remarked as Kally quickly marked the spot on her tablet. "Infiltration will be easy."
"I'd want to get a go ahead from someone like Gregori first," Kally send as Maddison jumped onto the window ledge, looking inside.
"You worry too much," Maddison replied, dropping to the floor inside. "I'm just going to look around inside, see if I see anything, then I'll be right back out."
Kally scrambled after Madison, propping the board up behind them, cutting off most of their light. Pulling a pair of thin glasses from her small pack, Kally slipped them on, activating their low light feature. Looking around, it became clear to her that this floor had been looted of nearly everything. The broken desk and chair the board had clattered off were the only things left.
"Kally," Maddison called from ahead, drawing the younger woman to her side. Maddison nodded to an open door where what little light there was trickled through. Beyond was an open area that had once been a park. Tents and temporary buildings now taking up much of the space, the ground covered with muddy planks of wood and carpets, barely doing a better job at keeping the mud off shoes than if they'd left the ground clear.
The two women immediately spotted several potential targets and, making sure to hide the glow of the tablet, marked them down.
As they finished, Maddison swore, ducking behind the doorway, dragging Kally with her. "We've been spotted."
"How did that happen?" Kally replied as she unlooped her chain, wrapping it around one gloved hand.
"I don't know, but we need to take them out quickly. Go for their stomach, make them breathless."
They waited a few terse moments as the person who spotted them approached. As they stepped through the doorway, Kally lashed out with her chain wrapped fist as Maddison swung with her pipe. As the person doubled over from Kally's blow, Maddison's pipe connected with the base of their skull, cracking bone and dropping them to the ground.
"Quick, let's take them to the stairs, make it look like they'd fallen," Kally said hurriedly as she scooped up the body. Moving quickly back through the building, they threw the body onto the stairs, leaving their victim behind.
"Okay, now we go," Maddison said to Kally as they left through the window, trying their best to prop the board against it from the outside. Taking some snow from nearby, they quickly obscured their prints on the window frame and nearby before moving on, leaving the area quickly.
~
Scanning through the data, Gregori pondered. "How confident are we that they have nothing else hidden from our view?"
"Relatively," replied his aide. "The scouts haven't pinned down any significant mobile assets, other than a few potentially high ranking individuals."
"How is the tech team going?"
A nearby tech, who had been tapping away at a keyboard, headset sitting over one ear, paused and turned around. "We have full control of the military sat. From what we've learnt, its payload is little more than steel rods with stabilizing fins. Estimates show the damage would be not likely more than a twenty meter radius."
"Likely meant as an alpha strike to disable leadership or high value locations," the aide added.
"Have we found a test location?" Gregori asked.
"Yes," the aide replied, showing a tablet screen. The images showed a long abandoned town from the view of a drone.
"Current footage?"
"Yes."
"Pick a building and launch one."
The footage shifted to a large screen in the room as extra cameras came up from more drones. "Who sent the drones?"
"Elaine," the tech said. "She figured you'd want to test it."
Gregori chuckled. "She was right."
"Launch confirmed," the tech said.
The room fell silent as everyone watched the screens. One drone, its camera facing up, shifted as the computer controlling it detected the rod. A few moments later, the rod slammed into the target building, blowing debris high into the air.
A low whistle of astonishment came from the tech as one of the drones moved closer. The rod had blown the building, a small supermarket, completely apart, leaving a pile of rubble. The surrounding buildings were barely touched, the rubble making dents in walls and breaking windows, but causing no major damage.
Watching the footage from her terminal, Elaine sent a pair of drones into the impact zone with orders to scan everything. She had already scanned the building earlier, and as the new data came in, she compared it to the old.
"Elaine says the damage is comparable to a few small blocks of C4," the tech relayed. "The rod is about ten meters underground, through the foundation slab." The tech rapidly typed, putting the comparison on the main screen. "Estimates show that a single rod could take down several stories of a building if it hits the top, more if it hits partway down."
"It's not a bunker buster then," Gregori rumbled thoughtfully as he read over the data. "Have we found other satellites in this network?"
"Yes, confirmed locations for three more," the tech answered. "Elaine believes we will be able to find others easily enough."
"Excellent. Acquire them." Looking at the aide, Gregori passed them a tablet. "Make sure those get sent."
~
~ Message received, ~ Nix stated as Zoe watched the city.
Opening the message, she closed her eyes, watching the footage before reading the new orders.
----------------------------------------
Alpha team, change to mission parameters:
Begin preparation for initial strike.
Retrieve gps beacons from stealth drone, coordinates to follow.
Additional team members will arrive at 2000 local time.
Orbital strike will begin at 0600.
Team to strike remaining priority targets at 0605.
Main forces to secure area at 0700.
----------------------------------------
Breathing out heavily, she recorded the stealth drone drop location before opening her eyes to the querying gaze of Boo.
"They tested the satellite that Avi took over and they plan to use it tomorrow morning. We have till just before sun up to tag as many priority locations as possible."
"Bloody hell," Tyson grumbled. "You want us to go get the gps tags. How far away?"
Zoe quickly sent the coordinates to a phone and passed it over to Boo. "Not far, just far enough out that a drone shouldn't be heard."
"On it," Boo said, nodding to Zoe as they left quickly.
~
All four of Zoe's team returned within a few minutes of each other, each with good news. Entry points closest to points of interest were noted and assignments given out. Zoe, Kally and Boo to head around the north side, Maddison and Tyson the south side.
"Try to hide our passage as much as possible. Boo, Maddison, you two will be the ones to head in as deep as possible, but be careful. We have about three hours before our backup arrives. I've requested they get dropped where they can gather our equipment and weapons on the way in, so we can use that time to tag locations."
"We need to find Sofie and anyone else being held," Boo said. "Did you see anything that resembled a holding area?" she asked Maddison and Kally.
"Maybe?" Maddison replied. "There were a couple of larger buildings that looked fortified. Boo would have the best chance to get into them. We don't want to blast the people we're supposed to rescue."
"Agreed." Boo took a few button sized tags from Zoe, tucking them into a pocket.
"Maddison," Zoe said, waving her over. "To activate them, just hold down the button in the middle for three seconds. Make sure to put them out of sight."
"Gotcha." Maddison looked over one of the tags before pocketing a few. "Shall we?"
~
Boo breathed out, relaxing her control. The sun had just dipped below the horizon as the snowfall increased a little, all ideal for Boo, regardless of how much more difficult things were to do.
She dropped a beacon at the guard outpost, which was one of the few brightly lit areas, before moving on with Zoe and Kally.
Kally, having already done the lap around the base once, quickly guided them to the next gap, a barracks looking building nearby, telling Boo where probable entrance points were.
Crouching under a window, Boo glanced in. The lit room had beds and lockers, but currently no people in it. Estimating that the blast would take out the entire building, she activated a beacon and buried it in snow. A momentary thought that it would be better to have planted it inside crossed her mind moments before she heard people entering from a door she couldn't see. Moving on, she was thankful that she was sensible.
~
Maddison lay on the pipes running along the roof after having squeezed herself into the gap. This is fucking uncomfortable.
Your own fault for going inside. I did warn you.
Maddison mentally glared at Tyson as she watched a pair of workers walk slowly by underneath her, neither seeming to notice the dust she had dislodged.
Once the service corridor was clear again, Maddison wriggled out and quietly dropped to the floor. As she entered into the room at the end of the corridor, she activated a beacon, sliding it underneath a large and important looking tank. Satisfied with her choice for this beacon, she slunk back out of the compound, ready to plant more seeds of destruction.