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New banner by Dami-Chan

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Special Police DekaOps
21

“You guys took on an Agent?”, Boomer said still a little stunned. D.E. had come over to his and Lisa’s new place to visit after they got back from their honeymoon. As they watched the game the subject about their last assignment came up. “Without me?”, he added sounding a little hurt.

“You were a little busy getting personal with your new wife,” D.E. told him. Lisa came in giving him a look. “Sorry, it was the nicest way I could think of saying it.”

“I’ll let it slide this time but think harder next time, or don’t say it at all for that matter,” Lisa said. “I’ve taken karate since I was five. I have a few moves so watch out in the future.”

“Trust me, they taught her a little too well,” Boomer said flexing his shoulder a little. “Never ask her to show you those moves.”

“You better not let Cap find out about that, he’ll triple your workout load,” D.E. joked.

“Was he upset that the Agent got away?”, Lisa asked. “Bobby said they’re nastier than the ones you usually get sent out after.”

“You could say that,” D.E. debated on telling him or letting Cap and the Major tell him. “Cap knew this guy, they were in the same program.” Lisa looked shocked while Boomer pushed for details. “The guy worked for SPD and the Alienizers at the same time. They caught him trying to hijack the computer database while Cap was in his training exercise. Cap took it a more than a little personal before we calmed him down.”

“I’m not sure I want to go back to base tomorrow now,” Boomer told him. “I remember what he was like after Mexico.”

“He didn’t look as ticked off as he was after we got fooled in Mexico. Everybody still gave him a pretty wide berth after we got back, even the Major. Michelle was the only one brave enough to get close enough to talk to him.”

“Well they’re a couple duh,” Boomer told him. “Speaking of which when are you going to get with somebody? I got Lisa, the Major married and Cap and Michelle are together. You’re like the only single guy on base. Well maybe Rev, did he ever say he could get married?”

D.E. laughed, “Ace was right, you couples do try to get single people together.”

“I did see you two dancing at our wedding,” Lisa said. “I thought you made a cute couple.”

“And he’s already jumping every time she says something,” Boomer joked.

“Lisa,” D.E. said. She smacked her husband in the back of the head. “I can see why she kept doing this, it’s kinda fun.”

*** Read the rest of this entry »

DekaOps

18

Michelle walked the halls to the Major’s office with the morning reports in her hands. She would have had them on his desk sooner but she had to make sure Ace didn’t sneak in any more request forms in. She found two, and the Major wasn’t even in yet. She turned the corner and stopped for a second. Outside the Major office Dan was leaning against the door talking to somebody inside, “You see that cup of pens? Turn it a quarter twist to the left.” She walked up to see a confused looking Rev inside the office. “Hi Michelle,” he greeted her with a quick kiss on the check. “Now move the picture of his wife.”

“What are you…”

“Too much,” he said suddenly, “just move it enough to make it look like it got touched.”

“What,” she repeated, “are you doing? And why is Rev in there?”

“Because the Major would suspect D.E. and Boomer and go to them immediately,” he answered her second question. She repeated the first one again. “The other day when he almost walked in on us, he told me that you and I were not to have any,” he made quote marks in the air, “‘relations’ in his office.”

Michelle snorted, “Does he think we’re a couple of hormone crazed teenagers who’ll do it at the drop of a hat?”

“I know, ain’t it ridiculous. Twist the box of tissues a bit, it’d be a nice touch.”

“Still doesn’t tell me what you’re doing.”

“Going to try and make him think we did.” Michelle let out a tired sigh. “Don’t act like that. As many pranks he’s pulled on me over the years I have to try and even the score.”

“And you say Boomer acts like a four year… wait,” her forehead creased a little as she thought it over. Giving him a suspicious look she said, “You were going to tell me about this, right?”

Dan glanced between her and the office a couple of times before saying, “Of course I was.”

She looked at him before slapping him in the arm hard, “No you weren’t.”

“Yes I was,” he started rubbing his arm, “eventually.”

“If he fell for this he’d be giving me the strangest looks and I wouldn’t know what the hell was going on.”

“You have to admit, it be funny.” He took a look at her expression then mumbled, “Oh yeah that was the wrong thing to say.”

“Very perceptive Mr. fill in the blanks.” She walked into the office, slapped the reports on the desk and left without saying another word.

Dan stood there for a few moments then said, “I’m going to have some lonely nights for the immediate future.”

“Captain,” Rev started, “if it I companionship you seek, I would…”

“Rev,” Dan quickly cut him off while pointing a finger at him, “I know you mean well, but before you even finish that thought I’m telling you right know. It will not be the same.”

“Oh,” he said. Then his antenna perked up a little when he understood what Dan was talking about, “Oh.”

***

“Alright team listen up,” The Major said after called them all together in the Command Room. “Word through the grapevine is a new slavery ring is in effect. A couple of humans have been located off planet in places they’re not suppose to be.”

“Sanders at it again?”, Dan asked.

“No, the Colonel is still safely locked away in his cell,” Pierce informed them. “After Command rescued them they gave a description of their capturer. They found a match in the database, a Rigillien named Vosk. Michelle,” she nodded and an image of a green skinned humanoid with pointed ears appeared on screen. “Vosk has a record a mile long, but it’s small time stuff, vandalism, disturbing the peace. Up till know his biggest crime was pick pocketing. Apparently he’s gotten bored with that and starting something a little more ambitious.”

“Don’t you just hate it when that happens?”, Boomer quipped.

“More than likely Sander capture left a huge hole in this particular operation,” Pierce continued. “From various reports Vosk is a two bit of a con man and probably talked his way into the assignment. Either the Alienizer bosses were desperate or they wanted to see how fast he would crash and burn.”

Michelle took over, “The sensor net registered an unauthorized entry over Africa. From the entry angle we think it landed here in the rainforest.” A map appeared and a small section was highlighted. From what I can tell this area is sparsely populated, but a few scientific studies are being done right now, some without any immediate way to contact the outside. Plenty of opportunities to nab somebody who’s not going to be missed for a few days. “

“I’d personally say time is of the essence here so launch now,” the Major told them.

“Rodger,” they saluted.

As they were leaving Ace said, “The guy better hope he doesn’t try anything,” she looked at Dan and stressed, “funny.”

He stopped and looked at Michelle before saying, “Best friends, or course they talked.” As he exited the room the Major thought he heard him mumble, “This is why I had that rule to begin with.”

Major Pierce glanced over to Michelle, “You guys hit a bump in the road?”

“Just caught him doing something stupid,” she told him. “Basically he was being a guy.”

“Ah, the all purpose reason,” he said. “You can look at me all you want, but I’ve been married long enough to know that much.”

*** Read the rest of this entry »

Special Police DekaOps

16

It was a quiet couple of days and most of the OpsBase personnel were trying to find something to do to keep themselves busy. Ace kept her crew busy by upgrading the Machine Shepard and Hounds systems. D.E. was in the practice range keeping his skills sharp. Rev sat in the rec room reading a medical text while Boomer, who got all his work done early, played a game on the television screen. Rev watched his friend play and felt his finger twitch slightly.

After signing his name to the last piece of paperwork on his desk Dan was called to the Command Room. Michelle gave him a slight smile as he entered that he returned before going all business again. “What’s the emergency?”, he asked.

“We’re not sure yet,” the Major answered. “SPD satellites have been getting a strange energy reading inside the Andes Mountains inside Peru.”

“I’m linking up to the next satellite that’s scheduled to pass over the area in a few moments,” Michelle announced. A few keystrokes on the keyboard later and the big screen came to life. A mountain range appeared and the image froze a second later. Various readouts flashed over the image as Michelle’s fingers danced over the keyboard.

“Any luck Michelle?”, the Major asked.

“I’m running the energy signature through every database we have now,” she told him. “Nothing,” she said after a few minutes sounding disappointed in herself, “the reading too faint to make out clearly. I think some sort of damper be involved here.”

“That’s what Command thinks as well,” Pierce informed her. “That’s why we’ve been asked been asked to investigate.”

“Get in, check it out and if we have to take it out,” Dan said knowing the drill all too well. “I’ll get the team ready to launch.”

“Just remember,” Pierce said, “Peru is neutral about SPD right now. They’re not against us but they’re not exactly for us either. So watch out for the local authorities.”

“Right,” Dan replied and saluted before leaving the room.

“I don’t know how you keep all that straight,” Michelle commented. “I need a score card half the time to remember which countries are Pro SPD and which aren’t.”

“The trick is remembering which countries are against us,” He told her. “Everybody else you got a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right.”

Looking at him in disbelief she asked, “How did you make Major again?”

“Funny, Helen keeps asking me that same question.”

***

The Machine Shepard was in the air and disappeared from sight as the ground beneath them closed. Inside the cockpit Ace brought the rear engines to life as she swung them around toward their destination. As usual Michelle feed them information until the reach they reached the boarder. “We are now in silent ops mode,” Boomer announced. “When was the last time I said I hated this part?”

“We all find this a little unnerving Robert,” Rev told him.

“I think it’s the fact that something could happen to us and nobody would know about it,” Ace added, then shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“Let’s keep those thoughts to a minimum,” Dan told them. “We done this before, there’s no point on dwelling about this now.”

“You’re right,” Ace agreed. She changed the subject, “So what’s the plan?”

“We stay together until we find out target. Once we find out what it is we’ll devise a plan to deal with it.”

“Hmm,” D.E. grunted, “that’s a little looser than what we usually do.”

“Unfortunately there’s this gapping hole in the intel Michelle couldn’t fill in. Like it or not we’re going in a little blind for this one.”

“I really want to vote no,” Boomer said.

“So do I,” Dan thought out loud.

***

That hole didn’t get any smaller when they reached Peru and Ace did a fly by of the area. She Landed the Shepard as close as she could and they headed out on foot. As a precaution Dan told Boomer to key into the local frequencies. After about a half hour of climbing they reached a small area where they could survey the area easily. Checking a scanner that was linked to the Shepard’s senor reading they could see the signal was getting a little stronger, but not by much. Dan figured Michelle’s guess about that dampening field was right on the money. “Do you think it might be a cloaking device?”, Ace asked after  she saw the reading. “That would explain why we didn’t see anything as we passed by.”

“Possibly,” Dan was thinking along the same lines, “But what could it be hiding.” Putting the scanner into pocket on his chest he waved them foreword. Going higher on the ridge Dan took a moment and reached into another pocket and opened up a small set of binoculars. They had to be getting close to whatever the hell it was.

“What’s that over there?”, D.E. asked as he pointed at something. Dan looked over in that direction and focused as Ace and D.E. pulled out their own binoculars.

One thing was for sure, it wasn’t cloaking device. But it was camouflaged to look like part of the mountain side. Feeling a cold spot form in his stomach Dan went, “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

“Oh shit,” Ace muttered as she got a good look.

“Boomer,” he jumped a little as Dan said his name, “Get ready to send a message back to base. I’m breaking silent op.”

***

The Major hurried back to he Command Room when Michelle called him, “They couldn’t be done already,” he said.

“Dan sent a video message,” she informed. “We won’t be able to reply.”

Knowing something was wrong Pierce steadied himself for the moment, “Play the message.”

Dan’s image appeared on screen. He had a worried look on his face as he kept looking at something off camera. “Stevens to OpsBase. We have a situation here.” He looked lost for words for a moment as he pointed the camera toward something. In the mountainside somebody built a huge construction frame that was structured with several levels. Inside was something huge, the bottom part was fully covered but the upper part a skeletal like frame was showing the machinery inside. “A monster mech is being built on site, I repeat a monster mech is being built on site. We’re going to try to determine the status of the power and weapon systems.” There was a pause before he continued, “We’ll do what we can to slow them down, but if that thing is fully functional we might need a little help on this one. Stevens out.”

“Oh my god,” Michelle said as the message ended.

“Get me Meng Yeow and Row,” the Major ordered. “I don’t care who you have to wake up get them on the line ASAP. I’ll advise Numa-O and SPD command of the situation.”

***

Tensions were high as the Ops team studied the camera feed and sensor readings on the build site. The one question going through their minds was how did something like this go unnoticed for so long? Dan wasn’t positive but he estimated that even with robot labor working around the clock it would take a few months to build one of those things. Of course he’s been wrong before. “Looks like a Devil type to me,” D.E. said out loud. Dan just grunted as he studied the images.

“Why don’t we just blast the thing,” Ace said suddenly. “That thing not even fully armored yet. I know the Shepard laser can do some damage.”

“But what do we aim at?”, Dan countered. “And more importantly how do we know it can’t shoot back if we miss?”

“No offence Cap, but sitting on our asses isn’t getting anything done,” she told him.

“I’m aware of that Ace. Unfortunately we’re not equipped to take that thing head on.”

“I keep telling you we need a robot,” Boomer muttered. Dan and Ace found themselves agreeing with him.

“We still need to discover it’s current capabilities,” Rev reminded them.

“And to do that we need to get in there and find out,” Ace said. “Not to mention slow down construction some how.”

“I knew there was a plan in here somewhere,” D.E. said out of the blue. They looked at him wondering what he was talking about. He happily explained, “While no team in the galaxy has been able to capture a complete mech, there been enough of them around that SPD been able to put together a rough blue print of what’s inside it.”

“Please tell me you can find a weak spot,” Ace pleaded.

“Not from plans this rough,” he informed her.

Boomer looked like he got an idea, “Can you show where the power core is?”

“Give me a second,” D.E. hit a couple of controls and the schematics he pulled up appeared on screen. A part of the inside was flashing red, “Right about there.”

“Can you tell if it’s active?”

“Let me check.”

“What do you got in mind Boomer?”, Dan asked.

“I’m thinking if the core’s active we could cause a meltdown or something.”

“That’s nut,” D.E. exclaimed

“Not to mention dangerous,” Rev added.

“And it might be our only option,” Ace told them.

“There has to be another option,” Rev argued.

“Unless this bird can transform into an eighty foot mech I’m not seeing another one,” Dan said plainly.

After a minute or so D.E. finally spoke back up, “Well what ever is blocking the reading is still in effect, but I think I’m getting two readings that look like active energy cores.”

“One for the frame and one for the mech,” Dan said. “Alright we’re going with Boomer’s plan.” He cut Rev off with a wave of his hand before he could protest. “We still have to gather intel on that thing. We might as well cause as much damage as we can while we’re at it. Boomer, try to find out what type of core that might be using. Rev, you and me will be accompanying Boomer carrying extra explosives just in case he needs more. Ace, you and D.E. stay on board the Shepard. You guys are officially Plan B if this doesn’t work.”

“Rodger,” Ace replied.

“Give us two hours. If you don’t hear from us by then assume we failed and do whatever damage you can. We only got one shot at this so we better make it count. And Rev one more thing.”

“Yes Captain.”

“If you haven’t already, start saying some prayers to the Great Spirit. We’re going to need any favors we can get.”

*** Read the rest of this entry »

Special Police DekaOps

15

A balding heavyset man was changing the papers of the birdcages in his pet shop when he looked out the glass door. From the look of things a young woman was trying to convince her blond male friend to enter. Based on the brief discussion it looked like she won, but she still had to drag him into the shop. He quickly hurried behind the counter as the bell over the door signaled their entry. “Hello,” he greeted them, “and how are you today?”

The young man put a hand over his nose, “You have got to be kidding me.”

“You promised,” the woman scolded him. The shopkeeper gave them a quick once over. Seeing how the guy was dressed he was definitely from money. The woman was obviously using him for that money if he had to guess.

“Alright chica, damn you’re pushy,” the man still sounded a bit annoyed.

“Are we looking for anything in particular?”, he asked trying to get the sale before they blew up.

“You’re going to have to ask her,” the man said. Then he was dragged over to the birdcages.

“It’s a very good time to buy a bird. The weather is still nice and you don’t have to hurry and get it home.” They ignored him as they went through the entire store.

“Same old, same old,” she sounded disappointed and walked toward the door.

“Sorry for wasting your time dude,” the man said following.

“Perhaps the lady is looking for something a little more exotic?” , he blurted out before they reached the door. Why did he say that? That could come back and bite him in the ass before he knew it, but he couldn’t let a sale get passed him that easy.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the guy said.

“Hush,” the woman said. “How exotic, because I’m not looking for a monkey.”

“How about… shall we say,” he spoke in a quieter tone, “out of this world.”

“How out of this world?”

“I shouldn’t do this but I like how the two of you look together.” Quickly going to the door he looked outside before flipping the sign to close. Nervously he went back to the couple and led them to the store room at the back of the store.

“Holy shit,” the guy said as it looked like his eyes were about to come out of their sockets. Various alien creatures were being held in cages. They looked on in wonder as they studied each one. “Wait,” the guy said suddenly, “are we safe? I mean I keep hearing about space germs and shit.”

“Perfectly safe I assure you,” he said. “Their immunized before they arrive.”

“How come you don’t keep them out front?”, the woman asked.

“Some pesky laws,” he answered honestly. “You know how it is.”

“You think they have something better to do,” the young man agreed.

“Baby look at this one,” the woman called him over. The cage she was in front of had a lizard type creature with blue fur and tiger like stripes. It looked at them, its eyes almost pleading with them. “It’s so adorable,” the woman looked liked she fell in love with the thing. If he read the couple right the sale had already been made.

“What,” the man waved a hand in front of his face, “is it?”

“Something called a Trillian tree hugger, it’s very hard to get one of these let me tell you.”

“And that sounds expensive,” the guy commented.

“Oh please baby, it’s so cute,” the woman pleaded. “I’ll let you do that thing you like to do in bed tonight.”

The guy rolled his eyes, but looked like he was giving in. “I have got to learn to say no to you,” he mumbled as he reached inside his jacket.

“Ah,” he stopped him, “I hope you understand, but for something like this you don’t want to leave a paper trail. If you get my drift.”

“Gotcha,” he said sounding like he understood. When he pulled his hand out he still had his wallet in it. The shopkeeper gawked as he flipped it open revealing a Springfield Police badge. “But I got another type of trail in mind.

“What… who…,” he sputtered.

“Let’s start with the trafficking of illegal animals,” he said sternly. “And top it off with trying to sell a highly intelligent species as a pet.”

“I am not…”

He cut him off, “You just tried to sell us one of them.”

“It can’t even talk,” the shopkeeper argued.

“It communicates with hand gestures.” Before he knew it the shopkeeper pushed him to the ground and ran out the back door.

The woman ran after him pulling a black SPD License out of her purse. “Ace, he’s running, heading… uh,” she took a quick look at the License read out, “west.”

“I see him,” she replied, “I’ll have Boomer head him off and pick him up, Ops5 out.”

She turned around and saw her partner get up, “An old fat man pushed me down, I am never going to live that one down.”

“They’re not going to hear about it from me Dan,” she assured him.

“Thanks Michelle,” Dan told her.

“Actually I’m saving that one for myself,” she teased.

Dan ignored her and pulled out his OpsLicense, “Rev, get in here.” He closed it and opened it again to show the caged being his SPD badge, “We’re here to get you out of here.” The creature stood on it’s hind legs and started gesturing wildly with his arms. “Sorry, I don’t read the language, but my friend a Zalmanian who studied on your planet.” The alien nodded in understanding. “Michelle, see if you can find the key to get this cage open.”

“I already found them.” As she tried each one she said, “My first undercover assignment, it was kinda exciting.”

“At least your pride’s still intact.”

“So, am I going to get a private performance review later?”, she said with a wicked grin.

Dan sighed, “We’re still on the clock.”

***

The Major watched Rev communicate with their visitor on the monitor. OpsBase interrogation room wasn’t definitely being put to a different use then he expected. If it wasn’t for the idea this ring was selling sentient beings they wouldn’t have gotten the report. “How is Rev keeping up with that?”, he heard Boomer ask. Seeing how fast their guest was communicating with his hands he had to agree.

“As long as he understands him, that’s all that counts Boomer.”

Dan put his OpsLicense back into it’s holder as he walked toward them. “D.E. just reported in,” he informed him. “He was able to listen in on the shopkeeper interrogation.”

“Guess it’s a good thing he still has friends in the department,” the Major commented.

Dan nodded, “The guy talked alright but he didn’t know much. We have a dock number and a very vague description of the seller. The person he deals with is human but I told D.E. to give the description to Michelle.”

“Have her check out the dock too,” The Major added. “See what type of vessels have been dropping off cargo there and where they came from.”

“You’re assuming she wasn’t going to do that anyway,” Dan said with a smirk. Major Pierce grunted in agreement. They watched as Rev read the little alien movements for a few more minutes. Before long he spoke to somebody off screen. A few minutes later Ace walked into the Command Room from the holding area looking a little stunned.

“So what’s the word Ace?”, Pierce asked.

“Well,” she started slowly, “If Rev understood him right one of his own put him in that cage.”

“Wait,” Dan interrupted her trying to understand, “somebody from his own race put him in that position?” She nodded.

“He must have pissed somebody off,” Boomer commented.
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Dan wasn’t sure what was worse, the fact he wasn’t alone anymore or that none of them were awake to talk to him. Waven had strung them up with the same orbs as him, with their License in front of them. That bastard of an E.T. had to be loving thing. Hanging beside him, Ace finally started to stir. “God, what hit me?”

“Pretty much the same thing as me,” he told her. He watched her try to shake the cobwebs from her head. When it looked like she was going to put her hand to her forehead he warned her, “You might want to think twice about that.” With his head he gestured at the guns in front of them.

“Can my first time in command get any worse,” she said, almost whispering.

“Everybody’s alive, that what counts.”

“Everybody captured too if you haven’t noticed.” She looked around the room, “Well, almost everybody. You could not have done this bad your first time in command.”

“Nearly got half my unit killed,” he told her. “So far you’re doing better than I did.”

“You call this better?”, she asked in disbelief. “We got our butts kicked.”

“I saw,” Dan informed her. “Our decided to filter in an image in here to let me see what happened. Your plan was good Ace, you put the hurt on them. More than we did the first time we faced them.”

“It wasn’t good enough,” she said darkly.

“I didn’t see the coil upgrade coming either. And I’ve been here for the past couple of days. Just like I didn’t know you could fly the Shepard with the remote pad like that.”

Ace smiled slightly, “I didn’t either until just then. It seemed like a good idea at the time.” She went quiet for a few more moments. Dan saw the uncertainty in her eyes as she studied the gun in front of her.

“You know,” he said after a bit, “there are times I forget you’re the youngest person on the team. You have your stuff together way more than I did when I was 20. I couldn’t even imagine being in charge of anything. Hell, I was more like Boomer back then, which isn’t a good thing”

“I heard that,” Boomer said weakly.

“Just making sure you’re awake kid. Rev what about you?”

“I am present Captain,” he answered, “although not knowing exactly where is a bit bothersome at the moment.”

“Join the club,” Boomer said. “What about you Cap, how you holding up?”

“Outside of waiting for you goldbricks to show up, terrible. And could you not use the words ‘holding up’ while we’re like this?”

“Ah,” Waven said as he entered, “I wonder how you acted around your subordinates.” He walked in front of each one, starting with Ace. “I took you for the means to an end type of commander. That they were just tools to you and not people with their own wants and needs.”

“All you had to say was that I reminded you of yourself, that would be insult enough,” Dan said not taking his eyes off of him. He notice the way he would glance over to him briefly as he studied the others. What was he looking for?

“And what are these people but tools to be used?”, he said almost casually. “Surely you must see that at times out there in the field. The right tool for the job as it were.”

“You didn’t go mad after all this time listening to this guy Cap?”, Ace asked. “I’m impressed.”

Waven gripped her face, “Adults are speaking child.”

“And that’s my second in command you’re talking to,” Dan informed him. For the first time Waven looked caught off guard as he let her go and took a moment to get back control.

“Well after tonight’s performance I assume you are reconsidering that position.”

“Not for a second. She hasn’t disappointed me for a second since I picked her for the job. Hell, after seeing what she came up with I’m glad she’s on my side.”

Their “host” snorted, “If being captured so easily impresses you then I am wasting my here.”

“Were you watching the same battle I was or is your head that far up your own ass?”, Dan taunted. Waven snorted again and left. It felt damn good to get into his head for a change, even if it was only a little.

Rev was the first one to speak, “He has been doing this to you the entire time?”

“I got to go with Ace,” Boomer added, “I’m impressed.”

“I’m sure being around us helped,” Ace tried to joke.

“Remind me to tell you about some of the jokers I used to hang around with back in the day when we get out of this.”

It wasn’t long before Waven returned, looking more like his usual smug self. “We appear to have company coming.” He tapped a few keys on a panel beside the door. Dan knew what was going to happen before a holo image from the ship’s scanner appeared in the air. A black and white shuttle type craft landed within sensor range. “So how many SPD operatives to you have on standby?” Dan said nothing but two popped into his heard right away.

***
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Chatrox studied the unconscious Stevens for a few moments. He was being held in the air, hands and feet attached to four silver orbs. He grabbed the human by the hair, lifted his head up and studied it. Stevens looked just as self righteous knocked out as he did when he was awake. He had plans for this human, but when the bosses “suggested” he tell what he knew about the black badges he altered his plans. He didn’t junk it entirely, there where still Deka on this miserable planet and the plan can still be altered to affect them a little more directly.

But despite all of that, this part of the plan he did not mind altering one bit. He slowly pulled a knife out from under his cloak. Chatrox scaly lips formed a sick grin as he brought the edge of the knife up to his neck. “That would be a mistake Agent Chatrox,” Waven said coming up behind him. “I need this one alive, for the moment.”

“He won’t talk, if that’s what you’re expecting,” Chatrox told him. “I know him enough to realize he is as stubborn as the universe makes them

“I don’t want him to talk. I want him to watch before we kill him.” Waven turned toward the human then said, “I suggest you leave Agent, if you don’t want him to see you when he wakes up that is. If I am in a generous mode I may call you back to finish him off. Just to see how you do it of course.”

“I left your order with the other two, as arranged.” As he turned invisible he added, “And I better be called back to deliver the finishing blow.” Waven smiled to himself as he heard the footsteps leave the room.

Zyra walked in a moment later. “So why did you want this one alive? You made sure we keep the other leader alive till last.”

“Because an artist doesn’t do anything the same way twice,” he informed her. “I could feel the frustration of the other one as he realized his teammates were dead. I want to see that build in this one, as his are killed right before his eyes. I want to savor his insanity as it happens.”

Zyra studied the orbs, “And didn’t you say that you shouldn’t give these Deka an opening?”

“Yes I did,” he said as he turned to walk out. He pressed a button by the door and four sentry guns popped out of the wall. Zyra gasp in shock and quickly got out of the range of fire. “Each of these guns are connected to one of the orbs. If he some how manages to release a limb they activate and fire. If you want I can arrange a, let say, a personal demonstration.” Zyra shot him a look that could kill. He walked out saying, “An artist never leaves anything to chance.”

***

The Major let them rest for as long as he dared. He knew the faster he found out what happened the faster the can locate them and Dan. If Dan was… no he was still alive. Ace and the other walked in, none of the looked rested and each of them had some paper in their hands. “What we could remember,” she told him as they handed him and Michelle the papers.

“Good,” he said. They scanned the papers, searching for anything they would pop out at them. Rev, of course, had the most information. “Waven, Zrya and Matox. Well, at least we got some names now.”

“I’m running them through the SPD database now,” Michelle told him with out hesitation. As the search ran she looked over Rev’s report. “The head guy called himself an artist?”

“I read that,” Ace said while sitting against the railing and looked at the floor.

“Man, is Cap even alive?”, D.E. wondered out loud.

“We can’t start thinking like that,” Boomer said. “We got to believe Cap’s still breathing.”

“He’s still alive,” Ace told him. “If they wanted Cap dead they would have killed him right there and then.”

“I heard them say he was alive,” Rev added. “But that does not mean that mean they just didn’t take him else where to finish him off.” He looked over to Michelle who put down his report and closed her eyes. “I am sorry Michelle, but it is an option we must consider.”

“Cap’s alive,” Ace repeated. “I know it. When I joined the force, this old pilot took me under his wing. He knew a lot of detectives, ones who would talk about some of their cases. There was this particularly nasty one, he called himself an artist too. He never killed his victims the same way. But they were able to tie him to each murder because he did one thing the same with each one. A signature I guess you would call it.” She looked up, “Whoever this guy is, I praying that I know what his signature is.”

“He kept Mynx alive,” the Major said following her train of thought.

“It ain’t much, but it’s all we got to go on,” Ace got off the railing.

“So they’re using him for bait, like they did on Nagaus 7,” D.E. said. “So how do we not do a repeat of the other Ops unit then?”

“You said they had a teleporter right,” Michelle said as her console beeped, the search was done. “Those are pretty rare to get your hands on. But they’re still traceable. Maybe we can catch them by surprise if I can locate their ship”

“Allow me Michelle,” Rev said. She nodded and started on what she was doing. Rev read over the report, “Not much is known about Zyra and Matox, except that they are mercenaries for hire. Waven has been wanted for mass destruction on several worlds. He also appears to be a weapons designer, developing his own weapons. And selling them to the highest bidder as well.”

“Explains why I didn’t recognized what they were using,” D.E. said. “Could this guy have developed his own teleporter too?”

“He appears to have the intellect to do so,” Rev said. “Hmm.”

“What is it Rev?”, the Major asked.

“According to reports, all three of them disappeared a few months ago. Only recently reappearing on Nagaus 7.”

“They been in training for this,” Pierce said. “I think that pretty much confirms that the Alienizers know about us.”

“They were training a little too well,” Boomer said darkly while crossing his arms. Then he had a thought, one that scared him, “How well do they know us.”

“They haven’t attacked the base,” Ace said, “so I don’t think they know us all that well.” He didn’t look all that relieved and she knew why. “But you might want to call Lisa, just in case. You too D.E.”

“I don’t think they should be the only ones calling their families,” the Major told her. “Just to ease everybody concern.”

“Got it,” Michelle said suddenly.

“Got what?”, Ace wondered.

“The Shepard does a continuous scan of the area when it’s out in the field,” she started. “So I linked up with the computers and ran through the data she collected during that time period. I was able to pinpoint the exact energy signature for his transporter beam.”

“So you know where they’re at?”, D.E. sounded hopeful.

She looked a little defeated, bringing down the mood even further, “No. But if we catch them teleporting again I should be able to lock down the source.”

“To or from there location?”, Ace asked.

“Either one, but I rather be it from their location. In order to increase or chances I’m going to have to link up with the SPD satellites in orbit to get a better coverage area. It’ll take me a few minutes to get that set up though.”

“Do it,” Pierce told her. “I’ll authorize anything you’ll need to get it done.” Michelle would have replied but she was already busy establishing the link.

*** Read the rest of this entry »

Twin suns blazed in the sky over a jungle type of planet. A military style compound was burning to the ground while several black and white Licenses lay on the ground, broken. On top of a mountain an individual in a black and red Dekasuit battled a bald, gray Alienizer wearing what look like silver knights armor, the shoulder plates curled up in points. He wasn’t wearing a helmet so he could see his opponent. Solid green eyes flashed at the Deka. He pulled his weapon, the Alienizer believed the intelligence report called it a D-Colt. The Deka fired twice and six shots came at him. He pulled his broadsword in front of him and deflected each bullet back at the Deka with the glowing blade.

“Argh!” the Deka cried as the shots struck him. He rolled down the mountain trying to use his D-Knife and D-Rod to slow or stop his decent. He crashed on the ground and slowly got to his knees. He looked up and saw the smoking, charred remains of one of his teammates. “Damn you!!”, he cried at the top of his lungs. The knight slowly made his way down the mountain holding his sword at the ready. The Deka grabbed his partner’s charred D-Shot and started firing away. Each shot was causally flung away infuriating the Deka even more.

“Begin phase 2,” he spoke into his wrist communicator. Behind the Deka a woman with blue skin wearing as similar style armor appeared from the bush. She opened her right palm and a whip like coil shot out and wrapped itself around his neck. He dropped his weapon and tried to remove the coil from his neck. Then another blue skin male wearing a helmet and twice as wide as the others lumbered out of hiding. Two racks on his back flipped up and a laser barrage exploded around the Deka.

“Ha-ha-ha” the big one laughed, “that never stops being fun.” The woman released the coil and the Deka fell to the ground. The Dekasuit disappeared and a tiger-seijin in a black uniform with a red star on his right shoulder laid there on the ground writhing in pain. “He lasted longer than the others Zyra.”

“Of course he did Matox,” the woman said crossing her arms. “The leader is usually the toughest of the bunch.”

“Or the luckiest”, the knight said as he reached them. With his boot he flipped the tiger to his back. He reached down and tore the black badge from his uniform and placed it in his pouch.

“Which are you Waven?” she asked, a dangerous undertone in her voice.

“Try and find out witch.” He stabbed the sword into the tiger’s chest between the ribs.

“Ragh!,” the tiger cried as blood sputtered out of his mouth. Waven grinned with cruel glee as he used the sword to force the tiger to his feet. He felt the weight on the blade, then pushed it in a little further.

“You failed your team,” Waven taunted him. “Do you think they are cursing your existence in the after life?” Zyra took the OpsLicense from his back and tossed it in the air. One quick crack of her whip coil broke it. “As of now you are defenseless against us.”

“Can I smash him like I did the pink one?”, Matox begged. “It was fun hearing her bone break over her screams.”

“No,” Waven said with an evil grin. “This one is mine.” He used the sword to lead the tiger to a better view of the burning training facility. “Do you think anybody survived? It is possible one or two may have escape out little visit, so your honor may still be intact. Tell me Deka, did you expect to win this little encounter? Did you think you were invincible? Did you think nobody would be around to tell the others about the black badges? Did you think there wouldn’t be any action taken against you?”

The tiger spat blood in his face. “If it’s not me who will send you to the pits then somebody else will.”

“Well I guess we’ll find out,” he twisted the blade slightly, just enough for the pain to race through his body. “We have been ordered to hunt down and eliminate all of the black badge units SPD has.” Matox started snickering in anticipation at what was coming up. “Say hello to your fallen team mates in the pits below,” Waven snarled. He pulled the sword out, spun and aimed the edge of the blade at the tiger’s neck. His head flew from his shoulder as his body fell to the ground.

“You should have savored the kill for a few moments longer,” Zyra told not looking impressed.

“Patience wench,” he said, “These Dekas, no matter the color of their badge, have an annoying habit of coming back from almost any situation. It’s best not to let them have too big of an opening. Besides an artist always knows the right time to end it.” She snorted and turned away from them. Waven pulled out a galactic communicator. A small image of a chameleon-sejin wearing a cloak appeared above the device. “There was a training center on Nagaus 7, just like you said Agent Chatrox.”

“I’m surprised the fools didn’t move it,” Chatrox told him. “Was there much resistance?”

“Some, the commander here was particularly ferocious. But we left him alive as bait.” He sneered, “And a DekaOps unit took the bait.”

“And the status of this unit?”, Chatrox asked. Waven crossed a finger across his throat. “Good, who was it?”

“Their leader was a tiger-sejin.”

“Ah, him,” he grinned. “I was hoping he would answer the call.”

“The bosses said you wanted a rather unusual payment for this information.” Waven remained cautious, every Agent he dealt with usually had a very high price tag for information.

“Nothing too outlandish,” the Agent informed him, “I get to chose which Ops unit you go after next.”

“The universe is a rather large place to hunt down one particular unit.” Zyra snorted and Matox looked disappointed. “We would have to allocate a great deal of resources to pinpoint one particular unit.”

Chatrox grinned, “Than fear not, I know exactly where they are. Are you familiar with the planet Earth?”

“That Deka infested mud ball?!”, Zyra exclaimed.

“More to smash”, Matox said.

“Why would a planet that heavily protected need a Ops unit?”, Waven wondered.

“Even I couldn’t figure out how the SPD command thinks.” He started looking very serious, “Are you going to accept?”

“Of course,” Waven sneered.

=======

Special Police DekaOps- Covert Killers

=======
Read the rest of this entry »

Special Police DekaOps

13

Dan sat behind his desk going over the morning reports the Major thought he should check over. Usually the routine things or if he wanted a second opinion on something. He opened one file and gave a quick glance at the first page. Dan grunted as he took the page out of the file, he snuck in one of Ace’s request forms again. Either he was going to have to talk to the Major about this or he was going to have to tell Ace to cool it with the requests. God he was wanting a novel in his hands right about now. The call button in his door went off. “It’s open,” he told the person as he read the file.

The door opened and somebody, he wasn’t really paying attention who, walked in. Before he knew it Michelle was jumping in his lap. “So, Dan, what are you doing for lunch?”, she asked like nothing was out of place.

“You had to do this to ask me?”

“Just making sure I had your attention.”

“You always have my full attention,” he told her as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Then something on his desk started beeping, “Now what?”

Michelle checked the comm. display on his desk. “You have an interstellar call coming in,” she said feeling a little confused. “It’s marked private.”

“You sure it’s for me?”, he had no idea what was going on. Who would be calling him?

“Ops1, DekaOps Earth,” she informed him, She got off his lap so he could get up. He went over to his office wall comm. and activated it.

“ID verification,” he said to the monitor, “Stevens, Daniel. Voice code ‘Puss ‘n’ Boots’.”

“Puss ‘n’ Boots?”, Michelle asked with a smirk.

“Would you have guessed it?” The screen came to life. A tiger-sejin in a similar black uniform stared back at him. Dan grinned at seeing his old training buddy, “Tony the Tiger.”

The tiger raised an eyebrow, “How long are you going to keep calling me that furless?”

“For as long as you keep calling me furless.” The tiger chuckled and Dan joined in. “I’m pretty sure you’re not using SPD equipment to make a personal call so what’s up?”

“Correct, I’m breaking a couple of regulations here, but I thought I should give you a heads up.” He looked around him before continuing, “You have a sheriff heading your way.”

“A sheriff? You talking about that bull guy?”

“Think a little further back furless. I’m talking about a Space Sheriff.”

“Those were the guys before SPD. I didn’t think they were still around.”

“There are a few still out there patrolling the space lanes, but most of them went into the command chain when things got reorganized into SPD.”

Dan furrowed his brow, “So why is one coming here?”

“Tony” grunted, “This one a personal acquaintance of Commander Scorp and wanted to inspect the black badge units personally. I believe he is what you would call a real hard ass. He really put my unit through the wringer while he was here.”

“Great,” Dan muttered. Just what he needed, a pencil pusher breathing down his neck. “So when can I expect him to show up?”

A warning claxon went off and a voice over the base intercom said, “We have an incoming craft requesting clearance to land. All hands on standby.”

“I’d say in about a few moments,” the tiger chuckled.

“Thanks for the advanced warning,” Dan said sarcastically.

“Any time furless,” and the screen went blank.

***

Dan and Michelle made it to the hanger right when the ceiling doors were closing. The Major looked caught off guard as well as they fell in. The black and white craft hissed as a ramp on it’s side lowered. An individual with pointed ears and a bluish tint to his skin came walking out. He was wearing the uniform of SPD high Command. They all stood at attention when they say him. He looked them over, “Please relax, it looks like something is going to burst.”

Despite their best effort to hide it, that took them by surprise. The Major stepped forward, “I like to welcome you to OpsBase Commander…?”

“Trytan,” he informed him.

“Commander Trytan. I apologize for the look of the place, we weren’t expecting anybody and my chief engineer and her crew just got done with the Machine Shepard’s routine maintenance.”

“That’s the way I like it Maj. Pierce. May I call you Henry?”

“If you wish,” he said.

“Good, I hate the pomp and circumstance of the official visits. Everything seems so artificial and fake. No I prefer to catch you guys in your natural environment as it were.”

Once again the Major tried not to look like he was caught off guard. “Let me introduce you to my senior staff.” He turned to the others, “This is my second in command and team field leader Capt. Daniel Stevens.”

“Commander,” Dan saluted.

“Captain,” Trytan saluted back. “You stand like a warrior, I like that.”

“And this is our information officer, Lt. Michelle Chavez.”

“Commander,” she smiled warmly.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said.

“My previously mentioned chief engineer and second in command of the field unit Sgt. Trish Fieldman.” They traded pleasantries. “And the rest of the field unit: Sgt. Terry Kennedy, weapons, Sgt. Ranzack, our medic, and Sgt. Robert Parker, communications and explosives.” They all saluted and Trytan acknowledged them. “If you want we can arrange for you and your pilot to freshen up for a bit before we continue.”

“That would just be me Henry,” Trytan informed him. “Blame it on my Space Sheriff days but I have never been comfortable with somebody flying the ship for me. But I will take you up on that offer to rest a bit before I inspect your unit. Maybe put them through their paces while I’m here.”

“Right, if you would follow me please,” Pierce gestured to the door. Ace had her crew start in on Trytan’s ship while the others watched them leave.

Michelle leaned over and whispered, “That’s supposed to be a hard ass?”

Dan just stared at the door, “Unless he turns into a drill sergeant I’m going to skin that cat.”

*** Read the rest of this entry »

Special Police DekaOps
12

D.E. stood in front of a church, admittedly a little nervous. He had to pull a few strings to get this arranged. And he was starting to hope things on this end didn’t change without him knowing. Relaxing a little bit when the doors opened he gave the two people coming out one of his trademarked smiles. A woman in a suit and a preacher greeted him in return. “Howdy guys, I was starting to think I got the wrong day.”

“It’s my fault Terry,” the preacher told him. “I was a little more nervous than I thought I was going to be, Carol had to calm me down believe it or not. This is a first for me as well as the children.”

“It’s cool padre,” D.E. assured him. “Where are the rugrats?”

“Missy’s bringing them out in a minute,” Carol told him. “We could hardly get anything done because this was all they could talk about.”

“Sorry about that Carol.”

“Don’t be Terry,” she laughed. “If Jeff can be a bit distracted then we can let the children get a little excited.” The preacher didn’t dignify that with a response. Some more footsteps could be heard, soon a bunch of kids under twelve came out onto the parking lot. “Children,” Carol started as she and Missy tried to get the kids into some type of order. “Now you all know Terry, Billy’s older brother.”

“Hi guys,” he grinned and waved.

“Hi,” they all said back.

“Do I take over now?”, he whispered. “I’m not sure how this works.”

“Be my guest,” Carol walked back behind the children to keep an eye on them.

“Aright, your Sunday school teacher says y’all really excited to meet the guy I brought with me today. So instead of boring you guys by talking I’ll just bring him out.” He shouted behind him at a van. “Ranzack you can come out now.”

Rev came out from behind the van and walked toward them. As usual he was wearing the green hoodie over his uniform. He pulled the hood back revealing his huge insect eyes and antenna. “Hello children,” he greeted them warmly.

“Whoa,” a couple of them muttered as they stared at him. Rev started to look a little uncomfortable so D.E. stepped in.

“No need to be shy kids,” he told them. “Ranzack just as nervous being around you as you guys are of him. Besides,” he put an arm around his shoulder, “he’s one of the nicest guys I ever met.” Rev gave him a grateful look. “Now before the questions start flying he’s got no special powers like the aliens on TV or in the movies. So don’t go asking if you can see them.”

“Then how do we know he’s really an alien,” one of the older boys in the back said under his breath.

Rev looked right at him, “What type of proof to you require?”

“Ah…,” the boy stammered as his face went beet red.

D.E. had to grin at his reaction, “Did I mention he’s got better hearing than a dog?”

“So,” Carol said trying to get everything back on track, “perhaps you can explain what you do here on Earth. And how you know Terry.”

“Ah,” he looked over to D.E. who urged him on, “I work with Terry. I help mediate things when the police is called and a extra terrestrial is involved.” Rev said a quick prayer to the Great Spirit for forgiveness for spinning a half truth, but it was the cover story he and the others had came up with in case this question was asked.

“Isn’t that what SPD is for?”, asked a girl who was in the front.

“Well yeah,” D.E. stepped in, “but SPD main concern are the Alienizers. We try to handle the minor disputes with the help of some friends. Like my good buddy here.”

“Aren’t all aliens Alienizers?”, another boy in the back asked.

“Of course not,” D.E. told him.

“But the only aliens you hear about on the news are Alienizers,” he argued.

“That may be true,” Rev agreed. “The Alienizers are a very large group, made up of several different species. But percentage wise a very small number of those species have actually joined the Alienizers.” Some of the children looked confused.

D.E. stepped in again, “What I think my buddy is trying to say is there are good and bad people in all the groups you see. And you shouldn’t judge all of them by a few bad apples.” The kids seemed to understand that. A few more questions were asked. The kids wanted to know about Rev home planet, what he did there and if he missed it. Then a little girl got a little closer. D.E. knelt down and looked at her, “What is it darling?”

In a small voice she said, “Is it alright if he can play ball?”

“Lilly,” Carol admonished her.

“Play ball?”, Rev asked D.E. “That is a children game is it not?”

“Yup,” D.E. replied. He looked at his watch, “You know we still got some time before we got to head back.” He looked at the kids again, “I got an idea. Y’all learned a little something from Ranzack today, how about you guys teach him how to play ball and a couple of other games.” That got them excited again.

“I don’t believe the Major or Captain Stevens said we could do something like that,” Rev whispered.

“They didn’t say we couldn’t either,” D.E. grinned. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“Well alright.” The little girl grabbed Rev by his three fingered hand and lead him to the playground. Actually it was more like she was pulling and he was trying hard to keep up. But after things got going it looked like he was starting to enjoy himself when he got the hang of things. D.E. chatted with the preacher for a few more moments before deciding to get in on the fun himself.

***
Chatrox hated the rain, especially on this planet. In fact he hated everything about this planet. He still couldn’t see why the other Agents actually wanted to come here. The human stench was unbearable at best. And he had been getting up close and personal with them lately, so he was quite familiar with it.

“I see you,” a voice said. A purple looking alien walked out from a cave. He wore some kind of equipment on his back. Two cables from the pack trailed down his arms and connected to these emitters on his hands. “I’m not kidding, I know where you’re at.” To anybody passing by it would look like he was talking to the air.

Chatrox looked down, he was still invisible but he walked into a puddle and two holes, the exact size of his feet, were visible. He absolutely hated the rain. Dropping his invisibility he said, “What do you want Shockblast?”

“I need a reflector crystal,” he said matter of factly.

The Agent raised a scaly eyebrow, “That is a very rare item now a days, especially on this backwater planet.”

“I know, but I need to upgrade my weapon system. The one I’m using is almost spent and the backup I have ain’t exactly good quality.”

“Even a poor quality gem is going to fetch a pretty hefty price.”

“Don’t I know it, but everybody I talked to says you’re the one I need to talk too.”

Chatrox thought it over, “I do believe I might have a connection to a supplier with a reflector crystal. A very excellent quality one at that.”

“Great I’ll take it no matter the cost.” Shockblast handed him a money chip. Chatrox, as a precaution, ran it through a reader.

With a slightly disgusted look he said, “This is nowhere near the asking price.”

“But that’s all I got.”

“Too bad.”

“I need that crystal”

“Then I suggest you find a way to raise the remaining funds.” Chatrox turned to walk away. Shockblast raised his hand and pointed it to his left. The air in front of his hand started to distort slightly then shot out crashing into a car. It bent around the near invisible shockwave. Then he pointed his other right at the Agent.

“I said I need it.”

“Perhaps I can pull a couple of favors and get him to lower the price. But it won’t be by much, you’ll still have to raise the rest.

“That’s not good enough.” Shockblast was going to fire but he felt the cross blade of an Igadroid at his head.

“I use to arrest people like you for a living remember,” he said smugly. “So I know exactly who I am dealing with. Get the rest and I will get you that crystal.” Shockblast roared at him and stormed away. “Make sure he doesn’t double back,” he told the Igadroid.

“Right,” it replied. The one thing he missed about working for SPD? He could usually convince his superiors that any unauthorized kill he made was an accident if he played it right.

***
Michelle watched as the door opened and the Major and Dan hurried in. The Major gave her a quick nod as Dan stood beside her behind the rail. Pierce planted his cane in front of him as he told her, “Put him through.” Dan stood a little straighter as the image of Meng Yeow Gan appeared on screen. “Meng Yeow,” the Major greeted him warmly, “Sorry about the wait. I was caught a bit by surprise.”

Meng Yeow nodded, “I wish this was a social call Henry.” He looked over to Dan, “I assume this is Ops1.”

“Sir,” Dan said while giving him a quick salute.

“It’s good to finally put a face to the stories I’ve heard about the rather infamous Captain Stevens.”

Dan eyes shifted over to the Major who quickly changed the subject, “What’s the emergency Meng Yeow?”

“Basically we have a jumper,” he nodded to somebody off screen. At the bottom right corner an image a purple alien appeared. He was wearing a device of some sort on his back. “We only know him by the alias Shockblast. He’s been wanted on several planets for massive destruction and the death of millions.”

“I’d wager command is just waiting for the chance to take him out,” the Major commented.

“I wouldn’t bet against you Henry. He was spotted in Japan a few days ago. Unfortunately by the time my team got there and picked up a trail he had already boarded his craft and hit international waters.”

“And he made his way over here,” the Major said.

“For a brief stop. Then the SpaceBase tracked his vessel to Mexico.”

Michelle gave Dan a sympathetic look as he winced slightly. Mexico was still a bit of a sore spot. “Do we have any idea what he was after?”

“We did some checking on our side and discovered he was after a reflector crystal.”

“That’s weapon system component isn’t it?”, Dan asked.

Meng Yeow nodded,” Shockblast wears one on his back. He specialized his gear to emit a sound wave of devastating power, with the aid of one of these crystals.”

“Is he still in Mexico?” the Major asked.

“Our latest information says he is.”

“We’ll take him out,” Pierce told him, “you don’t have to worry about that.”

“I’m not worried at all, DekaBase out,” he said right before the screen went blank.

“Get the team scrambled and I’ll get them up to date on route,” Dan said. “If this guy is as dangerous as he says we don’t have a moment to waste.”

“Good idea. Meng Yeow wouldn’t call unless it was major. I’m lifting silent operation for this one, I want to be kept up to date.”

“I’m hooking up with the SpaceBase now,” Michelle said. “I’ll try to track him from here.”

“I want real time if possible,” Dan said as he exited the command room.

“Field team to the launch bay,” the Major commanded over the intercom. “Prep to launch in fifteen minutes.”

“That’s my job,” Michelle smirked as she kept her eyes on the keyboard.

“Dan’s right, time is of the essence. I’ll be in my office.”

***
Shockblast wasn’t that hard to find. In fact he wasn’t even trying to be stealthy at all. He stood in front of a jewelry store or a bank and blew whatever door that was in front of him open. Any human that got in his way, well that was just too bad for them. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Police DekaOps
11

The Machine Shepard’s engines roared as Ace and her team stood by. After several moments she looked through the cockpit window at the guy sitting in her seat and gave the signal to power down. Soon the engines died down and everyone removed their ear protection. Ace looked at the readings from the monitors as everyone else looked on. After a bit she looked at the others and said, “You guys just earned you’re lunch hour.”

“You’re all heart boss,” one of them said.

“We’re not done yet,” she informed them. “Get that diagnostic equipment unhooked from the Shepard and you can take that lunch. Don’t just stand there, get on it,” she ordered and they jumped to the task. She turned around to see Michelle hanging around near the back. She walked up to her, “Hey Michelle, what’s up?”

“I thought you could use a coffee break or something.”

“After we’re done here.” She turned her head slightly to look at the group behind her. “Somebody has to be here to make sure they don’t slack off first,” she said loud enough for the others to hear.

“And Cap was worried that you were going to turn into him. Obviously he’s never seen you run things down here.”

Ace raised an eyebrow, “And what is that suppose to mean?”

“Nothing o second in command,” Michelle smirked at her.

“This from the woman sleeping with the field leader.”

Michelle quickly lost the smirk, “We are not sleeping together. Me and Cap are just having some fun.”

“So you are sleeping together then,” she teased. “Besides, I hear Cap wants you to call him Dan.”

Michelle put a hand on a nearby workbench and leaned against it, “You’re starting to sound like Boomer.”

“OK, I’ll stop now. And that was hitting below the belt,” she tried to look hurt but both of them started chuckling.

“So what minor imperfection are you trying repair now?”, she gestured toward the Shepard.

“The starboard engine started losing power on the last test flight. It took us a couple of days to narrow down the problem, but we got it fixed.” Ace leaned back on the bench and looked at the black and white jet. “That engine been giving us trouble ever since we got back from Germany. Now if the Major would get the ball rolling on those parts I wanted I can upgrade the engines and we wouldn’t have to worry about this.”

Her best friend started smirking again, “You might want to talk to him about those request forms before he starts sneaking them into the daily reports Cap goes over.”

“You’re kidding. I was wondering why he was giving me that strange look a couple of weeks ago when I passed him in the corridors.”

“Sounds about right, that’s when he started doing it. I think he’s getting Cap back for some of those stories he told me.”

Right then Cap’s voice came over the base’s intercom, “Field team to the command room, we got a incoming transmission from the Major.”

Ace looked Michelle, “I thought he was at that monthly meeting between the unit commanders.”

“He is,” Michelle answered as they headed for the door. “It must be important if he’s calling in.”

Ace started smiling, “Maybe you and Cap can get some ‘fun’ in before we got to leave.” Michelle slapped her on the arm.

***
The team assembled in the Command Room in practically no time, Michelle and Ace being the last ones to arrive. Michelle took her spot at the center table and the lined up in their usual spots. The main screen came to life as the Major’s image looked at them, “Good, you’re all here. As you probably gathered there’s a mission involved in this call.”

“What are we looking at Major?”, Dan asked.

“Something a little different this time around,” he told them. “There been several cases across the globe of a variation of the Alienizer drug mega-gestrine being trafficked. Normally we wouldn’t get involved in something like this, but I made a exception in this case. According to police reports the human dealers that would talk after they were arrested revealed that they received their shipments from this person,” A green gorilla looking alien in a business suit appeared on one of the screen next to him. “This is Sparky McGillia, and he has a drug trafficking record as long as my arm. He specializes in altering a drug’s chemical makeup just enough to get it pasts any sensors sweeps. Then he changes it again to get the maximum effect in whatever species he happens to be dealing with at the time.”

“I’m assuming his safety standards are relatively low?”, Rev asked.

“Rumor has it he manufactures his variants on board his own ship, and with whatever local substances he can get his hands one. From what I hear, McGillia’s not the tidiest of individuals. Several hundred deaths galaxy wide has been marked down to his variants.”

“I don’t think any of us is going to object to taking this small fish down,” Dan said. The other nodded in agreement.

The Major smiled proudly, “I thought you guys would feel that way.”

“So where are we headed?”

“Arizona, much like with Gremlin and Hawaii he’s been spotted in several spots of the state. DekaRail was going to take this one, but considering the size of the state I volunteered or services. Sort of a good will gesture toward the other units if you will.”

“Fine, just tell Kodiak to make sure his unit stays out of our way,” Dan said. Again, the other agreed, more or less. Pierce sighed before making sure nobody was listening in on his end.

“I realize we’re a covert unit, but eventually you guys are going to have to work with the other units. Nicely I might add.”

“We’ll worry about it when it happens,” Ace said. The Major looked like he was ready to give up.

“I’m the one who has to deal with this,” he muttered.”You got a mission to do, so get on it.” The connection cut out quickly.

“I think you guys are pushing things a bit,” Michelle told them.

“We weren’t even close to the pushing it point,” Dan informed her. “Trust me I should know. But l like he said, we got a job to do. Civvies and basic equipment if we’re going to be looking for this guy out in the open.”

“You heard the man,” Ace said, “let’s get moving.”

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