Mission: Evacuation, Episode 1

Three minutes after coming through the gate and I was under attack. Not much of an attack, but an attack nonetheless. Three AK's and two Storms don't give me any concern (I barely noticed them), but now the Core was alerted to my position. They knew an Arm Commander was on the scene. After a few seconds of self debate about the ramifications of this revelation I decided I liked the idea that they knew I was around.

As I worked my nanolathe building my support structures, I reviewed my orders and my priorities. My orders were simple. There was a Genesis Station on this unnamed planet; don't let the Core forces breach it. The situation itself was far more complex.



Commander Syrnak looked down the small hill at his defenses as they fought off Core forces. It was the third attack from this flank of his base. He had no reason to actually be present other than to satisfy his curiosity. Why was the Core attacking here? And with light forces only? It made no sense to him.

Commander Syrnak shifted his gaze to the distant horizon; spoke through the comlink, "Well? I assume this is about the Wolverine unit design."

"You are certain this line is secured? From both the Core and ... our side?"

"Yes." How many times do I have to tell you? The bureaucrat from Strategic Planning And Review was being overly cautious! "You know damn well it is," he said, exasperation leaking through. "Now, tell me what is so important to justify a Priority Alpha-One call?"

A moment of silence, then, "You're being reassigned. The current situation will be handled by your second-in-command, and -"

"Wait a minute. Why am I not getting this from Central Command?"

"Well, things are a little delicate. CC did not like the decision the SPAR Council came to. CC has full knowledge of what we're doing here."

Full knowledge! Yeah, right! "My obedience is to -"

"Yourself. Your obedience ... is to yourself, first. Hear me out, Commander Syrnak. Trust me, you want to hear me out. You're needed for a Genesis Station evacuation."

Genesis Station evac? Didn't Reflin just complete training for that?

As if reading his mind, the other voice continued, "Commander Reflin is being side-stepped. You've done six full evacs, making you the most experienced. We need you." Then, as if for further emphasis, he added, "The zone is red-tagged. Level three."

There was no hesitation from Syrnak; he was, after all, a professional. "Profile population?"

"Twenty three."

"You'd better be talking about twenty three hundred, and not thousand, or more. Why didn't you contact me when you blue-tagged the zone?"

"It was never blue-tagged."

Better start counting the surprises. That's number one.

"And I'm talking about a much smaller number than twenty three thousand."

Number two?

"I mean twenty three. Exactly."

No!

"They're all Commanders, Third Generation."

NO!

"Commander Syrnak, your Originator profile is one of them."

Syrnak's surroundings melted away from his consciousness, isolating him in his own thoughts, leaving nothing of the outside world but the voice on the other end of the comlink.

"Zone coordinates and other details have been transmitted to the Gate. The Wolverine unit has been approved for operational status. Commander Syrnak? Good luck."

Silence.

The comlink hissed static, then his end of the comlink shut down. His suit automatically erased all memory of the Priority Alpha-One transmission. His mind did not.

One element of the outside world entered his consciousness. The Galactic Gate.

Yes. I have a mission... THEY ARE NOT GOING TO KILL ME!



"Peeper Flight 4, this is GS Command. We need a visual sweep of Sector 12-3."

Human hands rested lightly on the armrests of a command chair. Three of the four screens the chair faced came to life as the info feed from three Peepers was directed to the station. Station Commander Degault glanced to his right as the Terrain Display Unit came to life, tracing a three-dimensional holographic projection of Sector 12-3 from its memory banks.

An artificial voice inquired, "Specify data projection protocols."

Degault answered, "Recon-1."

"Recalling Recon-1 protocols. Dark-paint visual areas. Mark all radar contacts. Iconize confirmed units and track. Warn on possible security leaks. Recon-1 protocol now in effect."

Degault forced himself to watch the TDU, even though he wanted to watch the forward sensor feeds from the Peepers. As if he knew he couldn't rely on his self-discipline alone, Degault pressed down on a switch and the command chair rotated slowly to the right. As the chair came to a halt, three triangles appeared on the near edge of the TDU projection. The triangles were moving at a rapid rate towards one of the far corners. Degault threw an occasional sideways glance at the three screens, as if he could see something on them first.

His attention was soon fully on the TDU as three red dots appeared on the display. The Peepers changed course to intercept the radar contacts. Degault knew they would fly by at too high a speed for him to make out any details on the view-screens, so he kept his eye on the TDU, waiting for it to transform the data into a form he could more easily recognize. More red dots appeared in two other clusters as the Peepers came closer to the original contacts. As the Peepers came into visual range of the contacts the TDU interpreted the information and the red dots coalesced into identifiable icons. They were Arm units; two solar collectors and a metal extractor where there wasn't supposed to be anything. The Peepers changed course again to sweep over the other two clusters. The second cluster was another two solar collectors and a light laser tower hidden behind some trees. As they neared the third cluster they picked up another lone contact deep in some nearby forest. The third cluster was a solar collector, a level one Arm k-bot lab, a Construction K-bot, and a missile tower which did not turn to fire at the Peepers.

Degault was almost sure now of what the Peepers would find, but it was best to be certain. After all, the Core had managed to get their hands on Arm units before. As the Peepers raced towards the last unconfirmed contact, Degault reined in his hope.

The red dot coalesced into a form which was very familiar to Degault. He leaned forward in his chair, opened a channel to the Peepers, and barely whispered, "Identity-check that last contact."

A moment passed before the reply came back, "GS Command, this is Peeper Flight 4. We have a confirmed identity-check on last unit contact. I repeat, we have a confirmed identity-check on last unit contact."

An Arm Commander!

Degault leaned back and let hope recharge his tired body.



A flight of Peepers came to greet me to this new world. No doubt they were responding to the power surge in the Gate. They requested an identity-check from me in the second fly-by; a prudent move.

It didn't take much longer before I was hooked into the energy and metal distribution system. Then I began my work in earnest. First, I would need to be briefed by the commander-in-charge. Then I would have to verify all the latest intel, personally. Finally, I could begin evac preparations. My initial impression of the mission was that it could take a while.