Interesting Times - Chapter 46

October 27th, 2173

03:34 

Illium, Tesale-System

Nos Astra

Operations Chief Lukas Pirot

The shudder going through the shuttle broke Lukas out of his light slumber and back to the present. 

An annoyed grunt escaped his lips before he could stop it, causing the person next to him to bark out amusedly: "Hah, finally back in the world of the living? And here I thought I would have to shake you awake when we arrive, Leader-man." 

"We have worked together for almost two years by now, Torsten. After all this time, you should know that I always manage to wake up by myself before we arrive. I just hate the time it takes to travel to our destination, so why shouldn't I conserve energy by resting my eyes whenever possible? Or are you jealous that you haven't mastered the ability to doze off whenever you want?" Lukas finished with a teasing tone, glancing to his side toward his teammate Torsten Bauer. 

Torsten barked out a loud laugh that echoed through the interior of the shuttle, managing to draw the attention of the rest of the team toward them. A big smile appeared on his face, a face many would call cute or the face of a "pretty boy." Lukas wouldn't be ashamed to admit out loud that he found Torsten attractive with his soft yet distinctive facial features, light blonde hair, and warm hazel-brown eyes. A face that wouldn't be out of place on one of these supermodels that appeared in and on every fashion magazine in Alliance territory. 

The only difference between one of them and Torsten was that his teammate had a body like a tree trunk. 

It created a strange contrast, making Torsten stand out in any crowd without really trying.

"Perhaps a bit," Torsten admitted. "Every time we fly out for a mission, even if it's just training, I feel restless. Like I can't wait for the action to begin. To relax, no matter the situation, is something to admire, in my opinion." 

"Oh, look, Ellie. Leader-man and Teddy-bear are having another of their bro-moments!" cooed the woman sitting on the other side of the suttle in front of Lukas and Torsten.

 "Shez," answered the blonde woman with a rose tattoo covering the right side of her face with a chiding tone, "you shouldn't make fun of them. I think it's nice that they can talk this way with each other without rank getting in the way." Ellie put a hand on her left cheek, tilted her head, and sent Torsten and Lukas a beautiful, indulgent smile. 

"Do you also have the feeling like we're just two small kids to her?" whispered Torsten so that only Lukas could understand him. 

"I have that feeling every time I talk with Elizabeth. At least, it's better than being constantly teased by Shez over every little thing," Lukas answered while raising his volume so that the last sentence carried over to the purple-haired woman, who responded with a grin. 

"What can I say? Whenever we're together, I am overcome with the desire to tease you. It's just my style. Just like my hair color." She went through her hair with her hand, throwing the end of it into the air in an attempt to look cool.

"Your roots are starting to show," said Ellie, freezing Shez in her position. 

"Damn, it's because we've been on duty for so long without any breaks or time for me to reapply the color. I can't stand the brown. We need time off, asap!" 

"Can't you shut up? We're close," the voice of their last teammate interrupted. "We're not here to play around like during our training mission. This is serious. Mr. Denebren is counting on us." 

"There it is!" cooed Shez. "Antiono Baguella's intervention! The straight arrow of our team! What would we do without you, Tonio?" 

Antonio just scoffed in response and turned his head to the side, a frown clearly plastered over his face. 

"And, of course, he's fangirling about the Big Boss!" Shez continued. 

"And that's enough," Lukas said and clapped before she could continue further. "Shez, you shouldn't tease him so much. You know he doesn't tolerate it as much as Torsten or I. And Tonio, don't believe we don't know how serious this is. We all saw the faces of the retrieval team when they returned. They chose us to do this mission, and I believe I can speak for everyone here that we don't intend to do anything less than our best. This mission isn't just important for our superiors but the whole of Ad Astra, down to its janitors." 

Lukas turned his head around, looking every member of his team in the eyes, and got determined nods back from them all. 

"Eclipse started something they didn't realize would come back to haunt them, and we are just the opening act. I didn't hear much about the counterattack, but from what I heard, it's clear that at the end of it, there won't even be a single piece of equipment with an Eclipse logo left inside the Alliance territory." 

"Complete eradication, huh?" said Torsten. "Can't say I'm a fan of this course, but I also can't fault it. And there is no better target than Eclipse if it has to happen. You don't fuck with Ad Astra and expect to get away with it, especially not if they're targeting those without any stake in this conflict." 

"Couldn't have said it better myself," agreed Shez with a bloodthirsty smile that sent light shudders down Lukas' back. He knew that the promise in her smile would come true and that she would cut a bloody and gory path through Eclipse's ranks until she got close to their commanders, close enough to put a new smile on their faces with her trusty blade that she kept close since before he got to meet her. 

It was obvious to Lukas that the woman who introduced herself as "Shez" had some problems, and after he got access to her file, thanks to his position as her team leader, he understood why she hid behind a facade of cheerfulness that hid a desire for violence. He never talked to her about it, nor did he ever call her by her true name. Lukas accepted her as she was and only intervened when she was about to go overboard, putting her back on the right path. In return, Shez never disobeyed an order from him, thankful not to be judged or pitied by him. 

And Shez wasn't the only one with a troublesome past in Lukas's squad. Even he himself had things that he didn't want to talk about. 

Yet, that didn't matter to him or his superiors as long as none of those pasts interfered with a mission. 

Their spotless mission record and the good results they got during training exercises spoke for themselves, and no matter how often or how loud the other squads whispered behind their backs, his team had enough self-confidence to ignore them easily. 

Lukas could feel how the shuttle decelerated beneath his feet. He looked toward the pilot's cabin and at the holographic display placed there and saw they were closing in on their designated drop zone. 

A simple nod and "Look" were enough to direct his team's attention toward the display, and everyone understood what he meant. 

Torsten was the first one to put his helmet on. The security seals hissed as the combat suit cut itself off from the outside world to prevent any dangerous substances from reaching Torsten. Intelligence didn't know what gear Eclipse was packing but guessed that different chemicals, especially those boosting biotic powers, would be present. Because of that, they were given special combat suits that were almost completely sealed off, and only air could come inside through heavy-duty filters that would catch anything that wasn't part of a normal atmosphere. 

The rest of the team, Lukas included, picked up their equipment, too. It took less than three minutes until everyone got combat-ready, checked their weapons, and assembled at the side door they would use to exit the shuttle. A small smirk appeared on Lukas' face, hidden by his helmet, at the effectiveness his team displayed. 

A small shift in direction announced the shuttle's descent, and a few moments later, the door slid to the side, showing them a dark and dirty alley. 

Without much fanfare, they jumped out, dropping a few meters to the ground and immediately scanning their surroundings for potential hostiles. 

Finding nothing, Lukas gave the order to slowly move toward the end of the alley. Taking point, he was the first one, closely followed by Shez. In the middle of their formation were Ellie and Tonio, their medic and engineer respectively. Torsten took the position of rearguard, keeping an eye on their backs until his heavy guns were needed at the front. 

They would move silently, trying their best to avoid detection until they arrived at the building that HQ had identified as an Eclipse base. Once there, they would look for an opportunity to cause maximum damage. And this time, maximum damage didn't mean a surgical strike that would throw the enemy into chaos but to kill and destroy as many Eclipse assets as possible in one heavy strike. 

It wasn't Lukas' favorite tactic, but it also wasn't something they had never trained. In fact, they were pretty good at it. Probably the reason why they had been chosen for the mission in the first place. 

When they arrived at the end of the alley, Lukas held up a fist to signal his team to stop and slid along the wall to get a look around the corner without being in the open. 

"Cameras, one on three, the other on nine. Antonio, you're up," Lukas said over the team channel after he peeked out into the crossing alley and pulled slightly back to make room for Antonio. 

His teammate slinked to Lukas' previous position and took another look before firing up his Omni-tool. Instead of the usual bright orange, it was a dark blue, which didn't light up the alley like the standard edition would have done. It wasn't a revolutionary development, but the function of changing the color of the Omni-tool became a godsend for everyone who relied on stealth to accomplish their mission. And right now, Lukas was thankful for the added function. 

It didn't take long before Tonio's Omni-tool shut down, and he said: "Cameras are on a loop right now for five minutes. I checked if they were connected to a larger network or if somebody else hacked into them. They're not. It's just for the buildings here, completely uninteresting. Unless some Eclipse goons are sitting at the monitors there, it won't be a problem. And even then, we still have four minutes and thirty-six seconds."

"Then let's not waste them," replied Lukas, moving back to the front and leading out into the next alley. 

The team moved across the alley quickly yet silently. The echoes of their footsteps were muffled, and with the existing noise from the city, they were practically unhearable. 

Now and then, they had to stop to let Tonio hack another camera and put its video into a loop to prevent any evidence of their presence from existing, but in the end, they made good time toward the Eclipse base. 

They arrived at the last checkpoint five minutes before their estimated time, and Lukas used the additional time to repeat the information about the area in front of them to push it back to the forefront of his team's minds. 

"The last information we got about this place counts 23 Eclipse guards and one captain. At least a dozen security mechs, if not more. The latter ones shouldn't be too much of a problem. If our scouts didn't screw up royally, they should be older models that will go down in two or three glancing blows, so one good shot to the chest should be enough too." 

"I looked over the info, too," added Ellie. "If what I saw is correct, then it's the Varkes Mk.3 they're using. Tonio should be able to change their FFI in a flash." 

"Not a bad idea," admitted Lukas and turned to the team's engineer. "Think you can do it?" 

"Perhaps," said Tonio after hesitating for a moment. "Friend-foe-identification is a bit tricky. Furthermore, even if the hardware is older, I can't say anything about the software they're running on. Could be standard, with some tweaks to it, or an Eclipse engineer put his own software on them. I'll try it and let some of my puppet-master programs do their best, but don't expect any miracles, especially when we're under fire." 

"We won't expect any miracles," assured Lukas, the kind smile on his face unseen, "we're going in with less information than I would like, but then, the level of information I would call satisfying would be when I know what each Eclipse member had for breakfast and how many bolts are in each mech." 

The small joke got his team to chuckle a bit before Lukas cut it off with another detail about the raid. 

"Anyway, the guard mechs aren't what I'm worried about. It's the biotic enhancers and the mobile combat platform. The heavy mech is a known quantity but dangerous nonetheless. It's gonna be your job, Torsten, to bring it down, and as fast as possible at that." 

"Don't worry Leader-man," answered their biggest member, patting the three rods fastened to his right thigh, "those babies should make kindling out of the heavy mech in no time." 

"Then the only thing remaining is the biotic enhancers," Shez put the conversation back on track. "Think I should try some of those?" Her biotic powers pulsed slightly around her hand, the blue wisps raising into the air harmlessly. 

"Absolutely not," denied Lukas with a firm tone, shooting the idea down before it could even get any traction, and Shez knew that whenever Lukas used this tone of voice, there would be no negotiation. 

"We don't know how a human would react to the chemicals. What I know is that it's hard even on the Asari among Eclipse's numbers. It amplifies their power, and the damn thing is, I don't know how much, so keep your eyes peeled for any biotic glow, but what I know is that the Asari that have taken it are acting far more unstable than one would expect for a band of mercenaries." 

"Alright, so keep away from anything looking bad. I'm screwed up enough as it is, don't need chemical-induced madness on top of that," agreed Shez, holding up her hand in surrender to show that she had completely dismissed the idea. 

"Nice that you finally acknowledge that you're mad," joked Torsten, earning an offended "Hey!" from the purple-haired woman.

"All joking about unsafe mental states of certain members aside," commented Lukas, which got another and louder "HEY!" that thankfully was toned down by the automatic acoustic adapter in his helmet, "whenever you see somebody firing up their biotics, make them a priority target, I don't wanna see anyone of you thrown around like a ragdoll if we can help it." 

"Understood," came the replies of his teammate. 

"The rest of the plan should still be on your mind. If not, I'll be very cross with you when we get back. For now, let's get going. I want this mission finished fast. The cantina is bringing out my favorite dish today, and I want a second helping before it's gone." 

It would be the last bit of humor they allowed themselves besides mid-battle quips until all the mission objectives were completed. 

It was like an unspoken command got ordered as everyone put their game faces on almost simultaneously. Due to their helmets, nobody could see each other's faces, but the sudden tension in their postures told everyone that now was the time to get going. 

Lukas held up his left hand, his right tightening around the handle of his rifle, and waved his pointer and middle finger in the direction of the Eclipse base to signal his team that they were moving out. 

Step by step, they got closer to the warehouse Eclipse had repurposed as a base, and the closer they got, the more careful they moved. 

It wouldn't do to be discovered right on the front porch with no possibility of a quick retreat. If that happened, they would have to fight on the same ground as Eclipse, and Lukas wanted to prevent that. It would be far better to stack the deck in their favor with a successful devastating strike from the darkness than fighting it out with two distinctive lines drawn. 

Due to his momentary attention lapse, he didn't notice Shez activating her camouflage configuration, disappearing from sight. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but he knew she would have a good reason to split from the group without telling them her reason. 

That reason became quite clear a few seconds later when they heard a grunt, followed by the muted sound of a body dropping to the ground a few meters to their right. 

A few moments later, Shez reappeared among the group. 

"Guard was coming our way," she reported. "Took him out and hid the body." Her report was broken down to the important bits, and unlike her demeanor outside of battle, but Lukas had trained with her to keep it short and simple until the lesson soaked in. 

Lukas gave a nod in response and scolded himself silently for not noticing the guard's approach. Thankfully, his team was there to make up for his deficiencies, just like he covered for them when they missed something. Every member understood they could count on their teammates to have their back. While there would be the usual teasing and taking jabs at each other for embarrassing situations during downtime, none of that was malicious, like Lukas had seen among other less cohesive teams. 

The infiltration went well, and they only had to kill three more guards on their way. A single guardpost wandering around got eliminated by Shez while invisible, and the two Eclipse soldiers standing close to their entry point got taken out by the silenced rifles of Tonio and Lukas. 

From then on, it was pretty easy to sneak onto the second floor of the building, where they could overlook the main area and plan their approach more in-depth. 

"I see three containers, and if I interpret the energy readings correctly, then the mechs are stored in them," said Tonio after activating the scan function of his helmet. 

"The one with the heavy mech among them?" asked Lukas. 

"Isn't here. Just security bots, they must keep the heavy mech somewhere else, outside, or have shipped it off already." 

"Anticipate that it is one of the first two options," Lukas said, "the third one would be the best, but don't count on it. Is the jammer ready yet?" 

"It's powered up and ready at your command," answered Ellie, who had put the small machine on the ground and tipped a few buttons on the side of it. 

"Wait another minute before you activate," he ordered and got a nod in return. Lukas pointed toward one of the containers with the mechs. "Fire one of the rockets at that container when we start our assault. It should thrown Eclipse into chaos, enough to make use of the confusion and take the majority out before they realize what's going on." 

"Lukas," interrupted Shez, "check out the Asari at the right end of the hall. Doesn't she seem familiar?" 

Following Shez's direction, Lukas turned his head and activated the zoom function. He got a good look at her face and understood what Shez meant. A simple voice command was enough to take a picture and send it through their facial recognition databank to hopefully get a positive reading back quickly. 

And he got one back, almost fast enough to call it instantaneous. 

"Holy shit," Lukas cursed, "it's Iyara Nesta, the former leader of Eclipse here on Illium. I think we hit the jackpot with this mission." 

A plan quickly formulated inside his mind, taking the new variable into consideration. 

"Ok. change of plans," announced Lukas and signaled Ellie to wait with the activation of the jammer for a moment longer. "We have a Person of Interest on the ground. Intel would never forgive us if we let her escape or just shoot her, as much as I would like to do it. So, we will still start with the bang," he nodded toward Torsten, "but instead of just killing and destroying everything in sight, Ellie and Shez will hit Nesta with enough electrically charged bullets to cause a starship to short-circuit. Of course, not literally. That would kill her," he added as a precaution, knowing that at least Shez was likely to take him by word. 

"Do you have to take the fun out of it?" asked Shez with a pout.

"Yes," came the answer shortly, as Lukas wasn't in the mood to play around right now. 

"After she is down, Shez will extract her to a hidden location while she's invisible before she rejoins us and takes the closest group of enemies from behind. In the meantime, Ellie, Tonio, and I will take the fight to the ground, distracting everyone from the fact that their commander is down so that they won't notice her disappearance. Torsten will stay here and give us covering fire with his Gatling gun. When you see the heavy mech, don't hesitate to fire your second rocket. Ellie will then target it and quickly disable its shields before you fire your last rocket. Understood?" 

"Understood!" came the reply from four different mouths at once, and Lukas could only nod in satisfaction at the determination he could hear in that single word. 

"Good, then let's get ready to show Eclipse the meaning of hell." 

He checked his rifle for any abnormalities before training its sight on the nearest Eclipse mercenary's body. Taking a deep breath, Lukas steadied himself to take the shot when the explosion sounded. It wouldn't do to know of the coming explosion and still miss his target, after all, he wasn't a rookie anymore. 

Putting his index finger on the trigger, his last thought put a slight smile on his face. 

In less than an hour, it would be over, and the guys back at HQ would owe them a few drinks for a successful mission.