Special Police DekaOps
 

Special Police DekaOps
Prologue

He sat in a plain waiting room going over things in his head. Two days ago he received a letter. It looked official, he thought it was his acceptance into Ranger school. Instead it told him to report to the Fort Detrick in Maryland to meet with a special committee. He couldn’t think of anything that he did wrong that would call for such a need. Nothing that would have him head to another state for at least. "Lieutenant?", someone by the now open door said. "They'll see you know."

He stood, adjusted his dress jacket and placed his hat under his arm and marched in. Three men were sitting behind a table, the African American man he recognized immediately, Major Henry Pierce. He was slightly surprised to see him there, he heard a leg injury knocked him out of the Army. The other two, a balding colonel and a general who looked really strict, he didn't know. He walked in front of them and stood at attention, "Lt. Daniel Stevens reporting as ordered Sirs."

"At ease," the colonel said. He set his feet apart and tried not to hyperventilate. "You're not in any kind of trouble so relax." Then why the hell was he called up here then, but he kept that thought to himself. The general reached under the desk and pulled out some kind of futuristic looking rifle and placed it on the table.

"Do you know what this is Lieutenant?"

He picked it up and examined it a little closer. "It looks like one of these weapons those Alienizers are supposed to carry."

"Your close," Pierce told him. "It's an Alienizer design alright, but the parts used to make come from here."

"Were we able to copy there technology sir?"

"No. This, and several like it, was confiscated in a raid in the Middle East. We're not sure who made it or how it was distributed. Or how many are out there already."

"Then shouldn't this go to one of those SPD units sir?"

"We were brought in soon enough," a tinny voice said. A walking scorpion came through a side door. It made several clicking noises with its’ claw and mouth, a few moments later a device attached to his long black coat replied in that tinny voice. "Pardon me for my rudeness, but I felt it was time to introduce myself."

"Of course," The General replied, somewhat restrained. "Lieutenant, this is Commander Scorp of SPD High Command."

"A nickname, my actual name cannot be spoken by mammal tongue."

"Sir," he nodded sharply. He kept his face neutral. There were a lot of people in the Armed Services who didn't care for this whole SPD mess, he was one of them.

"Outside of discovering a few warehouses and sellers," Scorp continued," our investigation turned up very little."

"I thought SPD was supposed to be the best at this sort of thing", Stevens said.

"They are," the General said. "But each unit is assigned a limited area to cover. There are a ton of places not covered these aliens can use to hide from them."

"And we could not search those areas without causing problem," the commander added. "Do to the unique nature of the political set up on this planet, we do not go where we are not asked."

"I should add," the Colonel spoke up, "that most of the parts in this thing come from the good ol' USA. Plus there some parts from Russia, Iran and God knows where else. Can you imagine the uproar in the Middle East if they're spotted there unannounced."

"We have run into similar problem elsewhere," Scorp said. "Fortunately SPD command has approved a plan to help in these matters. Seeing how most of the parts of this weapon came from this country I approached this government for help in setting things in motion."

"Is this that rumored SPD unit that’s supposed to be setting up in Texas?"

"Not exactly," Pierce stood up and walked around the table. For the first time he saw the cane he was using. "That unit is being set up as we speak as is another one. What we're discussing here is a covert ops type of unit."

"This unit will go were the others cannot", Scorp said.

"With all due respect sirs, but what does this have to do with me?" Dan had an idea, he just needed to hear it.

Scorp supplied the answer, "I am told that you will be a perfect fit for this unit.

"Again with all due respect sirs, I don't do spandex."

"The armor is made of a highly flexible metal that enhances you natural abilities," Scorp informed him.

"General," Pierce leaned in, "I know this is unusual but may I speak with the Lieutenant alone?"

"Yes Major," Pierce lead him into the side room Scorp came from.

"Are all your soldier that disrespectful", he heard him asking before the door was closed.

"Still know how to make friends don't you Danny?", Pierce chuckled.

"Is this a joke Major?"

"This is totally serious Dan." Pierce looked him right in the eyes, "This is very bad. It's bad enough these Alienizers find this planet so fascinating, now they're selling low grade version of their own weapons to the highest bidder."

"But why me? There has to be somebody else out there more qualified than I am."

"Now I doubt that. I trained you in basic and I been keeping tabs on you over the past couple of years. You are the quickest study I’ve ever meet. You're one of the tops in the field in recon and a shoe in to become one of the best Army Rangers in history. You also don't take any crap from anyone under you. That's why you were chosen, we need someone like you in this."

"So the units being composed of people in the military?" That he could live with, probably.

"Not exactly. You will be placed with a unit of trained SPD operatives who specialize in field needed for this."

"If they have guys trained in this sort of thing why ask for me?"

"It's a covert unit. SPD authorized it with no problem and we agreed that this was needed. The unit will answer directly to SPD but the government wanted a say in the unit personal if it was going to be headquartered here in the States. You were part of a compromise."

"What was the other part?"

"There will be an alien in the unit as well."

"Perfect," Dan looked out the turned and looked out the window. "So I'd be taking order from that thing in there for now on?"

"Not directly, Commander Scorp is the divisional Commander of the covert unit. From what I understand there are going to be at least four other unit like this on somewhere out there in the Galaxy." He twirled his cane in his hand," I'll be in control of things planet side."

He looked at the Major in surprise," You'll be in control?"

"I like to feel useful, can't do that behind the desk."

"More like you love barking out orders, which you can do behind a desk Major," he smirked.

"I'll keep that off the record. Dan, I was the one who recommended you for this position, I'm asking you to take it."

He looked out the window. People on the other side of that wall were going on with their business, no clue on what was going on in this room. God he really wanted to be one of those people right now. An SPD unit, who in the hell did he piss off. But an assignment was an assignment, no matter how you felt about it. "So where do I report for this thing?"

Pierce smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, "I knew you’d take it, but you’re not in yet. Scorp is worried about you, he's not sure you can keep up with trained SPD officers. So you're being sent to the planet Nagaus 7 for additional training. You make it past that, you’re in like Flynn."

"Additional training? Off planet???"

"Think of it as really intense ranger training, with a whole lot of cool toys at your disposal."

"If it doesn't kill me first."

"I hear the mortality rate is pretty low," Pierce joked. He didn't find it funny. "You leave in three days."

"Not a whole lot of time to prepare."

"We don't have much time to mess around. The unit should be up and running by the time you get back. I'll update you on things here then."

"I'm going to get you back for this, you know that?"

"I'll be waiting for it." Pierce saluted him, he returned it. They went back to the other room were Pierce told him he accepted. The colonel and general nodded in approval, the alien he couldn't read. They dismissed him and he left the room. He would have felt better if they brought him in to charge with something.


*note* this takes place six month prior to the first episode

Special Police DekaOps
1

He spent several long moments trying to decide if the insect in front of him had dots or dashes covering it's body. Dashes meant he could eat it, he could eat the ones with the dots too, but he’d be throwing it up a few minutes later. What the hell, he as hungry and he couldn't risk staying in the same spot for much longer. Dan snatched the bug off the tree quickly. Taking out his knife he cut the head off, he learned he couldn't make a dent in its shell with his teeth the hard way. "Just like before," he told himself, "do it just like a crawdad." Dan put the shell to his lips and sucked the meat out. His face twisted at the taste, it did not improve over time but it was edible, that's what counted. He rationed out the food stuff he was given at the start of the final exam as best he could. He ran out five days ago, even with mixing in whatever he could find out here in the jungle. And the final exam started three weeks ago by his estimation. He should have told Pierce no.

Dan looked at the sky, the first sun was just starting to set. It was going to be a couple of hours before the other one did the same. When they told him they were sending him here for additional training he was expecting some kind of police school, not one mixed in with the survival boot camp from hell. And what a final exam they were given, each "student" was given a backpack of supplies and the bare minimum of gear and told to out into this jungle. The objective was to survive and try to not get caught by the search parties for as long as possible. He could have done that back on Earth, at least there he didn't have to worry about being eaten by the local plant life.

Time to move on. Digging a small hole he buried the shell and blended the dirt in as best he could. Keeping some loose dirt in his hands he rubbed it onto his face, his used to be blond hair and beard and his arms using the sweat to help it stick. Dan set off for what he guessed was south keeping careful attention to his surroundings. A sound made him duck down and he saw the source soon enough, a group of men in helmets and jungle uniforms. Another search party was sweeping the area. There were more and more of them these past couple of days. Slowly he moved away from where they were looking. What he wasn't expecting was the group right behind him. He must be tired, he didn't even see them. "There!", one of the shouted as he pointed in his direction.

Dan ran into a dense patch of bushes. There was an open field not far from this location. He spent some time planting some foot trails there going in different direction. Hopefully it would confuse them long enough to buy him some time, but it was a gamble. One he lost because there was another party there waiting for him. "Damn it!"

"Attention!", a voice barked out. Years of military training made him snap straight. A cat like creature named Mynx walked foreword smartly and stared him down. "What is this filthy slug my men have fished out of the jungle? Could this slug possibly be Daniel Stevens?"

"Sir, yes sir!", Dan answered

"Did you think you were being clever human?"

"Sir, no sir!"

"You're lying to me boy."

"Sir, no sir!"

"If there is one thing I can't stand it's a liar." He turned away from him and started walking the area looking at the ground. Every so often he would rub out one of the footsteps. "Did you honestly think this little trick would work?"

"Yes sir!"

"Finally we hear the truth. It apparently never crossed that tiny human mind of yours that this was the oldest trick in the book." Dan couldn't answer but he resisted the urge to look down. “Did I not say that the only way to pass this last test was to be one of the last five caught?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

Then the cat started eying his men, "Then can someone please explain to me how this lowly slug from Earth was the third to last one caught?" Dan looked at him in surprise after his head was finally able to process what was just said. He quickly went back to attention as Mynx turned around. "That's right son, out of a class of twenty we set loose you are officially number eighteen." He softened his tone, “Congratulation Stevens, you have passed the exam and passed the course." His head started swimming as he took that in. He made it.

"Permission to fall on my ass sir!"

Mynx made this deep guttural type of sound that he learned to recognize as a chuckle, "Permission granted." He fell on his butt and sat there breathing hard. "Help Stevens off with his pack." A couple of Mynx's men came up and took the pack from him. The cat continued, "This course was specifically designed by Commander Scorp to test the limits of the candidates both physically and mentally. He felt only those who could meet his standards were capable to lead. I must admit a lot of the beings here didn't think you make it to the final exam. I am proud to say that I wasn't one of them. Major Pierce helped design this program. If he thought you were up to the task than I had no reason to doubt you either."

"Pierce had a hand in this hell hole? I thought some of it felt familiar."

Mynx looked down at him for a long time. "For someone who was told they passed you don't look all pleased Stevens."

"I was hoping to outlast that damn lizard sir." That damn lizard was a chameleon-sejin named Chatrox. Everyone had him pegged to pass this course with flying colors. And he let everyone know it every chance he got. He was also very displeased Dan was there, making snide remarks about the "lowly human". A sentiment shared by several others as they gave Dan a wide berth whenever they could. He would have gave anything to show up the apparent ring leader.

"You did Stevens. Chatrox was the first one caught." Dan looked up at him in disbelief. "We caught him sneaking back in a day after the exam started. He was trying to access SPD information from our computers. He was taken off planet to discover who he was doing it for and where he obtained his illegal genetic enhancements."

"Now I'm confused."

“He was able to turn invisible Stevens. That's not natural, at most he should have changed his skin color to blend in with his surroundings. There is going to be hell to pay when Command figures out how he got this far."

"Kicked out of SPD?" Mynx nodded. "Couldn't happen to a nicer piece of filth."

"Agreed." Mynx extended a hand and helped him up. "A car will take you back to camp. You can clean up and rest for as long as you like. When you are ready a special meal from Earth will be prepared for you." He made that chuckling sound again, "Commander Scorp may tell me how to treat you during the course but he said nothing about afterwards. I run my troops into the ground but I reward those who can meet or exceed my expectations." He headed for a truck but stopped and looked at him, "Before I forget, Stevens welcome to SPD. Do us proud son." Dan saluted him and followed one of the others to that car.

***
Two days later he was on the DekaSpaceBase, minus his electric razor. So he still had the beard because somebody was curious at how it worked and couldn’t put it back together. Right now Dan was still seeing spots after his retinal scan and was being directed to a hallway. Not the one that lead to the shuttle to Earth. No this one lead to another part of the DekaSpaceBase. "Now what?", he muttered as he grabbed his duffel bag. A woman in a gray uniform with gold trim led him through the halls until she stopped in front of a door.

"He's waiting for you in here sir."

"Thank you." She smiled, saluted him and walked off. The door slide open as he stepped forward to reveal a conference room of some sort. There was a long table with a briefcase on top of it, Pierce was standing in front of a window with Earth silently and slowly spinning in the background. The Major was wearing a black uniform with red trim. The SPD Earth symbol was visible on his right shoulder. Dan dropped his bag by the door as he walked over to him. "Captain Daniel Stevens reporting for duty sir."

"At ease Dan." After a moment he looked at him smiling, "Looks like the promotion suits you."

"It was a bit of a surprise."

"After going through that I thought you deserved it. So... did you have fun?"

"Did I have fun?", Dan kept his voice level but the disbelief was still evident. "I was the only human out of a bunch of alien with abilities I didn't think an organic being could have. I spent my days busting my ass to make sure I wasn't left in the dust. Most of my nights were spent studying SPD procedure for any pop quizzes Mynx decided to drop on you. And I had to study what was what on that God forsaken planet to make sure I didn't accidentally poison myself. And how in the hell did you sneak a turkey off planet?"

Pierce laughed, "Sounds like you had a blast."

Dan grunted, "So says the man who helped design the damn program."

"Found out about that huh?" He tapped his cane on the ground a few times before speaking, "This has been in the planning stages for awhile Dan. Scorp wanted something similar to what we do during basic. I was called in to supervise. I tried showing them how some things were done."

"Is that what happened to your leg?"

Pierce smile saddened just a bit. "Let's say I should have spent a little more time studying what was what on that planet." He looked back out the window, slowly twirling his cane. "I'm glad we got this room," he said softly. "This view reminds you what you’re fighting for."

Dan stood next to him, "How bad are we talking here?"

"A lot has changed since you been gone Dan. There are nine Deka units now, from in the planning stages to fully active. That's including ours."

He whistled, "That's a lot of teams. Any other planets have that many units?"

"To my knowledge most planets only have one. Hell if I know why these Alienizers find Earth so fascinating. Hopefully we'll find out sooner or later." Pierce walked away from the window and sat at the table, Dan followed suit.

"Has the alien arrived yet?" Dan assignment to the team was half of a compromise between SPD command and the US military. The other half was that an SPD officer from another planet would be part of the team. After six month of being the only human that was going to be interesting.

"From my understanding he's still going through immigration at the moment. I have to say Dan, I'm really glad you passed. I'm afraid that if you didn't Scorp would have tried to make a case to have a SPD officer lead the unit in the field. I'll work with anybody but I rather have somebody I trust."

"And trained personally," they both laughed. "So I'm in command in the field? What kind of rejects am I in charge of?"

"There are no rejects in SPD Dan, outside of you of course."

"Ha-ha."

"Your designation on the team is Ops1." Pierce opened the briefcase and handed him three files. "These are the other three fifth of the team."

"Let's see what I'm dealing with." He opened the first folder. "Terry Kennedy, Ops2," he read out loud. "Team's weapons expert." Mumbling a few things a line of info caught his attention, "The guy choose SPD over SWAT?"

---
There is a dark haired man in a shooting gallery. He's wearing a uniform consisting of boots, black khakis and a black shirt. A blue star is on his right arm. He's holding a D-shooter in one hand and his eyes are closed. Slowly he opens them and raised the D-shooter into firing position with both hands. Firing six times he hits a button that makes the target come to him. All six shots hit near the heart of the target. He smiles as he blows into the barrel of the gun.

---
"Bobby Parker, Ops4," Dan continued. "Explosives and communications? You couldn't afford two separate officers?" Pierce waved the comment off. "Bomb Squad experience, that makes sense. Spent time behind the radio telling officers of various reports that needed police. Either the guy talented or he's split personality."

---
A redheaded man in a black uniform with a yellow star is seen playing a video game. He's wearing a head set talking to someone. Suddenly the character he was playing as dies in a hail of bullets. He takes the jabs from his opponent with good humor as he resets the game.

---
Dan opened the last file, "Trish Fieldman, Ops5. Pilot slash mechanic. Been flying since she was ten. Doing aerial work for the police for about a year."

---
A young Korean woman who had her dark hair in a ponytail and a pink star on her arm is working on a black and white motorcycle. She scratched her cheek accidentally smudging her face with grease. Reaching for a wrench, she was surprised that it wasn't there. Searching the nearby area she finds it on a table behind her.

---
Dan gives the files back to Pierce. "They look qualified, I'm hoping they been working as a team."

"No official assignments as of yet. I wanted the full team ready first. But they're gelling nicely in the drills I've been putting them through."

"Ugh," Dan groaned, "I don't even want to think of the about the tortures you thought up with this at your disposal," he motioned to the room. "It's giving me nightmares and I'm still awake. How do you think they're going to handle two new elements in the mix?"

"We're all professionals Dan, they'll adjust to it. Of course some of us might avoid adjusting for as long as possible." He looked right at Dan as he said that. Before Dan could respond the door beeped. "That should be Ops3." A few seconds later the door slide open again. A humanoid walked in, he looked a little like a brown cricket with a mouth to Dan. Both of them stood up for the new arrival. "Ranzack?", Pierce asked.

"Yes Major Pierce," he said. Pierce and this Ranzack shook hands. Then they turned toward him. "Hello," the alien said as he held out his three fingered hand. There was a calmness to this one that the others on Nagaus 7 didn't have. Dan took his hand readily. "And you are, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Dan Stevens."

"It is a pleasure to meat you Dan Stevens. I'm sure it will be a pleasure to work beside you as well."

"I'm... sure."

"Ranzack is going to be the team medic," the Major told him.

Dan tried to keep the surprise from his face. "Yes, I am a trained Shalimon on my home planet. I believe the closest word in your tongue is healer priest. I've been finishing my studies on human medical treatments while undergoing my SPD training."

"Your training had to be easier than mine. So when do we get back planet side?"

"Our shuttle to Earth is ready to go at anytime. Think of it as one of the perks to the job."

***
A jeep took them from the shuttle landing pad to an old one story building a few miles away. Very few people were around as they entered the building. Pierce kept going until they reached a section of wall near the back of the place. He stood in front of it and a section slide to the side revealing an elevator a moment later. "That's where the money for the comm officer went," Dan mumbled. Ranzack looked at him funny. The three of them entered the elevator and the doors closed automatically. A few seconds later they open back up into an octagonal room. A rail in the center of the room separated the floor with a table that was on a lower section. A woman in a white coat with the SPD badge on her front pocket rose from that table to greet them.

"Major, welcome back," she said as she walked to them. "Ranzack," she nodded and took his hand. He lowered his head slightly in return. "Capt. Stevens," she said to him.

"Ma'am," he replied.

Pierce introduced her, "This is Michelle Chavez. She's our information officer. There's nothing she can't find."

"Major Pierce has told me a lot about you Captain," Michelle told him. "I'm looking forward to working with you."

"Lying about me already huh?", he shot a look at Pierce.

"Give a stack of bible and the almighty as a witness and I will swear that everything I've said was the truth. Besides," he added, "any lie would only make you look better than what you are."

"Why would the Major lie about you?", Ranzack asked.

"We've known each other a long time," Dan replied. "Too long sometimes."

"Michelle would you call for the others."

"Sure thing Major," she returned to the table and pressed a button. Her voice could be heard over the PA system. "Will the field team come to the Command Room please." After a few moments the three other members came in through one of the doors on the far side. They surprised Dan by falling in rank.

"Men," Pierce started, "these two are the ones we've been waiting for. Try not to break them before the first assignment," he grinned.

"Sir," the one he recognized as Terry spoke up, "It's an honor to meet you."

Dan looked them over, "I'm assuming the Major told you about me as well?"

"He told us a couple of stories," Bobby told him. "A couple of real embarrassing ones too."

"Boomer", Terry said out of the side of his mouth.

"Boomer?", Dan said looking at them.

"I thought his name was Robert," Ranzack wondered out loud.

"A nickname," Pierce informed him. "All of these guys have one. They usually answer to that instead of their own name."

"They call me Dead-Eye," Terry said, "or D.E. for short."

"Ace," Trish added.

"We're going to have to come up with some for these two," Pierce said while patting Ranzack on the shoulder.

"We can always call the Captain 'Cap'," Michelle said with a smile.

"I've been called worse." Dan readjusted the duffel on his shoulder. "Is there anywhere I can store this?"

"I'll show you," Trish volunteered. “Follow me please." She gestured toward the door she and the others came from. "This hallway leads to one of the living areas of the base. Coming to an intersection she pointed down one hall. "The rec room is down that way along with the door leading to the gym. The living quarters are over here. Each room has a shower unit installed. The restrooms are those doors at the end of the hall," she pointed to a series of doors. One had a male figure on it and a second had a female. The door that grabbed his attention was the one with an alien on it.

"I don't even want to know," he ended up saying out loud.

"Know what?", Ranzack asked

"Nothing." He noticed that the doors lining the side had names on them. Well four of them did at the moment. Two had had spots for one but they were currently vacant.

"We got a small support crew here," Trish continued. "About twenty people tops."

"Do they have their own quarters as well?" Ranzack inquired.

"In a separate part of the base. But all the outer section are connected. Major Pierce wanted it that way. Something about keeping traffic in the Command Room to a minimum."

"Makes sense." Dan looked at the two doors then over to Ranzack, "You want first pick?"

"It does not matter to me Captain Stevens."

"Alright," Dan took the door at the far end of the hall. The room was pretty plain. Grey walls with a couple of selves, a closet and a bed. All he needed really.

"I'll let you two rest up," Trish told them. "If you want I'll give you the nickel tour later."

"I look forward to it," Ranzack told her.

"Cool," she said with a grin. "Oh and somebody will be by in a bit with your uniforms. See you guys later."

"Definitely not Army," Dan mumbled after the door closed. He dropped his duffel onto the bed and stood there. Noticing one of the closet doors had a mirror he took a long look at himself. "Then again this isn't the Army is it?" His reflection didn't answer back. After a couple of more moments he started to unpack. He was assigned to do a job and he intended to do it.

***
Ranzack was given a uniform with a green star. The four of them stood around the Command Room. Major Pierce was shooting a look at the field team quarters door every so often. Michelle wasn't paying them any attention, but she was keeping an eye on a news feed that was on her monitor. "How much training did you need to do to get this position Ranzack?", D.E. asked to break the silence.

"I've been studying the medical practices of several planets for several years now. Most Shalimon on my planets look down on such a practice. Other, like myself, feel we are not so wise that we cannot learn something new."

"So how did you end up in this then," Ace asked. "If I was interested in medicine a police unit would be the last place I'd be."

"True," he agreed, "I was finishing up my studies on your medicine when I joined SPD." He lowered his head before continuing, "I am a bit of an anomaly among my cast because I see the Alienizers as an illness on this universe."

"So you’re going to try to cut it out," Boomer chimed in.

"In a manner of speaking. I asked for some of the Great Spirit wisdom to guide me in my decision. It lead me to join SPD and ultimately this unit."

"Great Spirit?", D.E. leaned against the railing. "Oh, I can see you and me are going to have some interesting discussions." Ranzack nodded.

"Would you stop worrying", Michelle said low enough that only Pierce heard her.

"I'm not worrying," he said, "just wondering."

"If he's anything like you said he was he won't disappoint you."

"And a person can change in six months."

"Did he seem different when you picked him up?"

"Not that I noticed." The door to the field team quarters opened up and Dan walked out. He was wearing the same black uniform as the others, his right arm carrying a red star. He also shaved that beard off his face. They all noticed the determined look in his eyes that wasn't there before. Now that was the soldier he remembered. The other four snapped into attention.

"You know Captain," Boomer said, "not a whole lot of guys can pull that look off. But you do it beautifully."

Dan gave him a dead serious look, "Do you think you're funny?"

Boomer stammered," I... I used too."

"Damn, we're probably gonna need a good laugh after some of these missions." Boomer wasn't sure how to respond.

"I hate it when you do that," Pierce told him. Dan let a small smirk escape before covering up. "Fall in troops," he ordered. The five of them got in line. "Before we get started we still need to equip our newest members. Michelle, would you do the honors?"

"Of course." She pulled two devices off the table. They were black with a white front and SPD in black letters. There was a lever on the side with Change, Phone and Judgment also written in black. "These are your Opslicenses," she handed one to Dan and Ranzack. "You are to carry these at all times, in uniform or not. Just so you know the Judgment mode on these is an altered version than the ones the other units have."

"Altered how?", Dan asked.

"On the other units circle means innocent and x means guilty," she told him. "On these circle me apprehend the target. You bring them in no matter what they’ve done. They might have information we need. X means eliminate the target. That one speaks for itself."

"Thank you Michelle." Pierce stood before them and looked each one in the eye. "You are now part of a special unit. You are the DekaRanger Covert Operation Team, or DekaOps. You are to do the jobs the other units can't.” He pointed his cane at screen with a map on it. The map was color coded to show which unit covered which area. There was a whole lot of white on that map. "As of now the only ones who know we exist are SPD command and the commanders in each region. We'll do what we can here in the states. But if ordered we will go into an unprotected area on a moment’s notice. If needed we will go into an area already protected by an SPD unit, but only, and I repeat ONLY, at the request of the area's commander. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!", they responded in unison.

Dan stepped forward, "What is it Cap?". Dan flinched slightly at being called that, but only he saw it.

"What if a case requires us to change regions?"

"Good question. If a lead goes to a region that is protected by an SPD unit then we are suppose to hand over all information relating to the case and let them handle. I don't like it either but that is the mandate. If a lead from here points to an unprotected region than we ask permission from SPD command to follow up. And from what I understand, with our military ties, we're going to need a damn good lead.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are not your standard police unit. There are going to be situation where we are going to have to get a little dirty. Command may not like it, but that is our reality. May God have mercy on our souls. Dismissed."

They kind of broke up. D.E. and Boomer were making some small talk. Ace was pointing out the door that lead to the medical section for Ranzack. Dan looked at the license in his hand. He opened it up and stared at the black SPD badge on the inside. Closing it up he placed in it holster behind his back. Time to figure out what was what in this place

Special Police DekaOps
2

Dan was able to get the feel of the OpsBase, as the others called it, pretty quickly. Actually he was surprised how quickly this place felt like home. Then again after being where he was for the last six month anyplace would feel like home. Walking into the Command Room he noticed Michelle was talking to D.E., who was excited about something. "What's going on?", he asked as he walked up to them.

"We finally got the Mark Two D-shots in," he said.

"Cool, now what in the hell is a Mark Two D-Shot?"

D.E. looked at Michelle then back at him, "You don't know what it is?"

"It wasn't in any manual I was given."

"Well, it's still rather new," Michelle told him. "It's one of your primary weapons. Why don't we show him what it can do D.E."

"Yes ma'am." They lead him to the door that lead to the training section of the OpsBase. Then they entered the shooting range. Michelle walked over to a bay and picked up a long white gun with a black handle and grip under the barrel. It looked kind of like a shotgun in a way, that alone helped him wrap his head around it.

"This,” she started, “Captain Stevens, is the Mark Two D-Shot. It fires a high density energized projectile. It works better at close range but you can still do some damage if you target is a little further away. The effective range is estimated at fifteen meters. Give it ago," she handed him the weapon.

Dan faced a target and held the D-shot about waist high. With his left hand he pulled the grip back until he heard a click, slid it back and pulled the trigger. A blue energy shot flew out of the barrel and left a nice size hole in the target. "Now that I understand."

"Thing of beauty ain't it," D.E. grinned.

Dan started examining the latch at the back of the weapon, "What's this for?"

"The Opslicense hook in there," Michelle said. "When you get an elimination order it'll boost the power level."

"Basically we're deleting our target," D.E. added. Dan still had a hard time wrapping his head around that idea. Still he was trained to follow orders.

He put the gun down, "Anything else I should know about?"

"Actually there was one more thing," Michelle said. She went to a nearby table and picked up a red and black gun he didn't recognize from before before. He spent the last few days practicing with the D-Shooter, the unit's standard firearm. He wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of a new handgun being sprung on him. "Maj. Pierce had me request this for you."

"I don't need a special weapon."

"It's kind of a SPD tradition Cap," D.E. said. "The team leader always gets a unique firearm." He shot him a look, "Really, look it up."

"This is the D-Colt," Michelle told him." It's the single unit version of the D-Magnum." He took the gun in his hand, it had a nice heft to it. Felt pretty natural in his hand too. "Unlike the D-Magnum it can't do a Strikeout, but you can switch it between single and multishot. I'm assuming you can be happy with that."

"Only one way to find out." Dan aimed it at the target. He fired off a couple of shots, all of them landed close to where he was aiming. The accuracy was pretty good on this thing. Flicking a switch by his thumb he fired again. This time three shots fired at once. He let a small smile show on his face. "I can live with it."

"You're going to have to let me play with that one of these days," D.E. told him while eyeing the gun.

"As soon as you explain to me why you’re the weapon expert when she's the one telling me about these things."

"He's got you there D.E.," she teased.

Well... , "he thought it over," she's the information officer and she informing you about them."

Dan handed the D-Colt back to Michelle, "Nice try."

***
Pierce was walking the hallways of the OpsBase when he ran into Ace. He was afraid he knew why it looked like she was looking for him. He kept his attention on the file in his hand while he hoped she would just keep going in the other direction. Too bad she kept saying, "Major Pierce," over and over.

"What is it Ace", he said tiredly.

"I was wondering if you got that request form I filled out."

"Which one Ace?", he unintentionally said out loud. She wasn't fazed.

"The one for the new power regulator for the laser on the Shepard."

"There's nothing wrong with the regulator we have now. Even you said it worked well above operating specs."

"Yeah but Michelle was telling me about a newer model that would increase the efficiency rating for the laser." He made a mental note to talk to Michelle later. "The Shepard deserves the best. Actually there were these new style spark plugs I wanted to get for the Hounds too."

An SPD officer in a black uniform with blue trim walked up and handed him a sheet of paper. Saved by the red tape. His mood changed when he read the paper." Ace..."

"Find the others and get them into the Command Room?", she read his mind.

"Right," he affirmed." It's officially go time."

***
It only took a few moments to locate the others. Ranzack and Boomer were in the rec room while Dan, D.E. and Michelle were still in the shooting range. They all hustled to the Command Room and got in line while Michelle took her spot at the table. Pierce hand her pull up an image of a Alienizer style rifle on the screen. Dan rolled his shoulder as he recognized the picture on the screen. "I'm sure," Pierce began, “you know what this is."

"It was the reason why I was volunteered," Dan said under his breath. Ranzack looked at him briefly before returning his attention to the screen.

"One of the reasons why this unit was formed was because the Alienizers were using Earth technology to make weapons like this one. Seeing how the original model of the weapon is illegal in most galaxies they think they found a loophole by making copies of it. We are going to show them otherwise."

"Did we find out where they're coming from?" Boomer asked.

“Unfortunately no, but we have something almost as good." He handed a disk to Michelle who put it in a drive on her desk. An image of a warehouse replaced that of the rifle. "I'm not sure if Cap knows this yet but we have a network of informants. Through them we were able to discover that this building is being used as storage space before the weapons are shipped out to God knows were. You're job is to go in there and destroy the shipment and deal with any resistance you might encounter."

Michelle rose from the table, "If you can try to find out where they came from and where they were being shipped to. Any information you can gather can help us." She handed a rectangular device to Dan. "This is the D-Hack, it will let you get into any computer you may find on site. If need be I can use it to set up a remote link to our systems here."

"So if it says 'you got mail' don't blow it up," Boomer joked.

"Then you better hope none of the rifle are programmed to say that," D.E. told him. Dan cleared his throat. "Sorry Cap."

“I told you, laughs after the mission."

"Lady and gentlemen, this is our first job," Pierce said before pausing to look them in the eyes. "Try not to mess this up too badly."

"Wait," Boomer said suddenly, “are we getting a robot for this one?" D.E. and Ace both groaned.

"There is no robot," Pierce said, sounding like he had this conversation before, "never was one and we'll never have one."

"Other units have a robot," he whined.

"A robot going to be a little flashy for what we're going to be doing."

"Boomer zip it," Dan ordered. "Suit up people, we launch in twenty." They saluted and headed for a door.

"I'll send you all the information on the building I can find before you land," Michelle told them.

"What you don't find I'll fill in," Dan said as he followed the others.

***
In the launch hanger a crew of eight were busy getting a black jet with white highlights ready to launch. In a room down the hall of the hanger the team was putting on their field gear. A "bulletproof" vest, fingerless gloves, a small supply pack on their back and various electronic devices in the lockers. Ranzack was studying one of the SP-Shooters, one designed for his three fingered hand, rather closely. Dan tested the sharpness of the black knife in his hand before putting it back in the sheath on his right leg before he asked, "You sure you can do this Ranzack?"

Ranzack holstered the weapon saying, "I will do my duty Captain. I will not hesitate if that is what you are worried about."

"Not what I was asking," he said as he put a black ball cap on his head. Ranzack remained silent. "We're launching in five people." Dan led them out of the room, any doubt he had earlier now gone from his mind. Pierce and Michelle were standing in the hanger waiting for them. Somebody said the Machine Shepard was green for launch. Dan had to silently admit these guys were good.

"You ready?", Pierce asked as they past. While D.E. and the others all said they were, Dan made a shooting motion with his right hand. Pierce had to smile, "Like there was ever any doubt."

"You're resorting to secret hand signal now?", Michelle asked him.

"Something him and his buddies came up with while they were under me," he explained. He showed her the gesture, first he stuck up his thumb, "Cocked," then he extended his index finger to form a gun, "locked," he finished with the shooting motion, "ready to rock. If he did anything else I'd be worried right about now." With that he exited the hanger.

A voice over the loud speaker announced for everyone to leave the hanger as the team boarded the jet from the ramp in the back. A cargo bay with a cell and a small medical bay were passed as they entered the cockpit. Ace took a seat behind the control as Dan sat in a chair that was slightly behind her and to the right. D.E. took a console that was in the back of the room while Boomer and Ranzack took the ones on the sides. Ace checked a few reading before announcing, “This is the Shepard, we are ready for launch."

"The sky and surrounding area is clear of civilians. Shepard, you are clear for lift off." The ceiling above them opened up and the jets under the ship came to life. Slowly the Shepard lifted off the ground and the landing gear folded into the craft.

"Nice and easy Ace," Dan told her.

"No offense Cap," she said, never taking her eyes off the controls," but I don't tell you how to command."

"Is it wise to talk that way to a commanding officer?", Ranzack asked them.

"Never argue with the person piloting the ship," Dan told him. In moments they were above the tree line of the forest behind the building that disguised their HQ.

"Cap, we're getting a transmission from Michelle," Boomer called out.

"Let's hear it." A small screen above the windshield came to life.

"I'm sending you an update on the information I've found on the warehouse."

"Is there a brick we don't know about yet?", he asked her. Dan was still amazed at the amount of info she pulled up while they were getting ready.

She smiled at him, "Just making sure you don't have that many blanks to fill in. I'm sending the file now."

"We're getting the information with no problem Cap," Boomer said.

"Thanks Michelle, Shepard out." He motioned for Boomer to cut the connection. Dan looked over the update as it came in. He had a feeling that Michelle could find the proverbial needle in a haystack with no problems. "ETA?"

"Thirty minutes to middle of nowhere California," Ace said. She glanced over at him, Dan pointed foreword with two fingers, "Rodger." She brought the rear engines online and the ship shot foreword. After a minute she said, "The no smoking and seat belt signs are now off. You're free to walk around the cabin."

"Cute," he told her. "Alright guys I think we..."

"Ah Captain," Ranzack said somewhat tentatively.

"Yeah Ranzack?"

"I was wondering if it would be alright if I offered a small prayer to the Great Spirit for our well being and mission?"

"If nobody has any objections then go for it."

"Thank you Captain." Ranzack lowered his head. Dan took off his hat as the other did the same. "Great Spirit, creator of all, guidance of the universe. May your wisdom engulf your humble follower and my companions. Let our action help ease this universe of the malady that now sickens it and those who live in it. Protect us and let us know always the path of that which is right." Ranzack lifted his head as he finished.

"Amen," Boomer said.

"Sounds like something my Reverend would say," D.E. told them.

"Reverend huh?", Boomer looked over at Ranzack. Ace, D.E. and Dan looked at each other, Ranzack might have just gotten his nick name. Dan went over the plan in flight. Ace landed the Shepard about mile away from the target building. She wasn't kidding when she said it was in the middle of nowhere. There was desert as far as the eye could see.

"Any signs of life?" Dan looked over to Ranzack, he checked a sensor at his post

"I am detecting one life form in the building."

"Just one for that entire building?", Ace looked at them.

"Seems strange to me too," he told her. "How about the surrounding area?" Ranzack went back to his sensor but shook his head. One thing they drilled into him during those six month that he made sure he took to heart was pretty simple. Just because there was just one doesn't me it was alone. "Alright, let's do this by the numbers people." They all nodded and exited the ship. Before he could say anything Ace pulled out a controller and pointed it at the ship. It shimmered and disappeared from view.

"Somebody remember where we'd parked." Boomer joked.

***
They covered the distance to the warehouse pretty quickly. The weapons were being stored at the taller section on the east end of the building. So they were going in at the west part. At his command Boomer put a small explosive device on the door and blew the lock. D.E. and Ace went in first SP-Shooter in hand and gave the all clear. They walked through the building to the storage area with no incident. Dan was starting to get a little jumpy, there should have been some kind of security system in place somewhere. But he examined every hallway before he let them entered, nothing. Approaching the door the storage area Dan reached into a pocket and pulled out two devices. One was a cylinder shape device with a knob and an optic fiber on the other end that he slid under the door. He attached the other one to his head, a small rectangle with a wire that stretched over his eyebrow. Dan pressed a button on the rectangle and an image of the other side of the door, supplied by the optic, appeared in front of his eye. Manipulating the knob on the cylinder he was able to get a good idea on what was on the other side. He found the life form Ranzack detected, it was some kind of leopard type alien wearing armor.

Keeping an eye on the alien he carefully tried the doorknob, it was unlocked. Dan held up two fingers then three and made a half circle motion in the air. D.E. and Ranzack nodded and went down the hallway. Dan stowed his equipment and opened the door and waved Ace and Boomer in quickly. He closed the door as he entered and hid behind a crate. One of several that filed the room. Dan looked over the box at the alien. He was holding a device and seemed to be talking into it. Looking over to Boomer he gestured to the crate behind him. He took out his license and scanned it. Ace did the same to the one behind them. Both of the nodded, the rifles were in there. Dan pulled out his license and pulled up a map of the area. Two dots representing D,E, and Ranzack flashed once, they were in position. He tapped a sensor on his right glove once. They put their License back made their way to the leopard.

He screamed suddenly and threw the device, "I can't stand new Agents! Always trying to impress the bosses." Dan relaxed a bit, they weren't spotted. Time to change that.

Dan tapped the sensor twice, go time. Almost as one they came out of hiding, their weapons aimed at the leopard, "SPD freeze!" The alien grabbed a rifle that was on top of the crates and started firing making them duck back into hiding.

"There wasn't supposed to be any of you freaks here!" the leopard said. He pulled two grenades off his armor and tossed them in the air. Twenty Anaroids formed, some of them smashed into a crate to pull out the rifles and started firing. "Get them freaks."
"Not good!", Boomer yelled as he and the other returned fire

"Tell me something I don't know!", Dan barked.

"Cap," Ace said, "time to up the game." He knew what she was talking about, he just didn't want to use it. Dan looked up and saw a couple of Anaroids trying to flank their position.

Damn it, he made a fist and pounded his leg. He didn't have a choice, "Change standby! Boomer light it up!" Boomer pulled out a grenade and threw it straight up as they covered their eyes. It exploded in a bright flash of light, one designed to temporally disrupt the Anaroids motor function. The Leopard covered his eyes and screamed but the Anaroids started moving soon enough but it gave them enough time. All of them stood up and held their license across their chest, "Emergency!", then they thrust them foreword, "DekaOps!" A press of the button in the middle opened the white plate revealing a black SPD badge that started shining.

Dan was surrounded by a red digital field as the Deka metal formed around his body in a flash of white light. It changed into black body suit in a burst. A dark red stripe went down the middle of his body from his shoulders to the top of his boots, on the left side of his chest the red and black formed the outline for a number one. A backpack solidified on his back and the D-Shot appeared in a flash. "Face on!", Deka metal flashed over his head and formed a dark red helmet.

Dead-Eye was surrounded by a blue digital field as the Deka metal formed around his body in a flash of white light. It changed into black body suit in a burst. A dark blue stripe went down the middle of his body from his shoulders to the top of his boots, on the left side of his chest the blue and black formed the outline for a number two. A backpack solidified on his back and the D-Shot appeared in a flash. "Face on!", Deka meatal flashed over his head and formed a dark blue helmet.

Ranzack was surrounded by a green digital field as the Deka metal formed around his body in a flash of white light. It changed into black body suit in a burst. A dark green stripe went down the middle of his body from his shoulders to the top of his boots, on the left side of his chest the green and black formed the outline for a number three. A backpack solidified on his back and the D-Shot appeared in a flash. "Face on!", Deka metal flashed over his head and formed a dark green helmet.

Boomer was surrounded by a yellow digital field as the Deka metal formed around his body in a flash of white light. It changed into black body suit in a burst. A dark yellow stripe went down the middle of his body from his shoulders to the top of his boots, on the left side of his chest the yellow and black formed the outline for a number four. A backpack solidified on his back and the D-Shot appeared in a flash. "Face on!", Deka metal flashed over his head and formed a dark yellow helmet.

Ace was surrounded by a pink digital field as the Deka metal formed around her body in a flash of white light. It changed into black body suit in a burst. A dark pink stripe went down the middle of her body from her shoulders to the top of her boots, on the left side of her chest the pink and black formed the outline for a number five. A backpack solidified on her back and the D-Shot appeared in a flash. "Face on!", Deka metal flashed over her head and formed a dark pink helmet.

Dan reached behind his right shoulder and unlatched the D-shot from his pack and held it in both hands, "Ops1."

D.E. pulled out his D-Shooter and twirled it around his finger before bringing it across his chest, "Ops2."

Ranzack slide his left foot back and but his arms up in a fight position, "Ops3."

Boomer reached behind him and pulled out a knife, "Ops4."

Ace brought out a D-Rod and held it back about head high, "Ops5."

"Special Police," Dan started. The light on their helmet flashed and they all said, "DekaOps!"

"How many of you Deka freaks are there?!" the leopard said blinking its eyes. "Don't just stand there, get them!"

"Take the bots down," Dan said plainly. All of them rushed the Anaroids. D.E. jumped into a group of five and started firing, three of them went down no problem. A forth grabbed him from behind and a fifth took aim. Then it stopped and fell to the ground, a knife stuck in the back of its head. D.E. flipped the other one to the ground and they both blasted it with their D-Shooter.

"Thanks," D.E. said.

"No problem buddy," Boomer told him. He unlatched the D-Shot and brought it forward. "Time to upgrade."

"Guess you’re right," he agreed and did the same.

Ace and Razack had each other’s back as they unloaded on the Anaroids. One came from the side and they split up. Ace brought the D-Rod back out and cocked it behind the knees as Ranzack kicked it in the chest. He shot it point blank leaving a fist size hole in its chest. They looked at each other and nodded and went back to work.

Dan walked foreword taking out any Anaroid that he saw. He switched the D-Shot to his left hand and pulled out the D-Colt. He shot four of them before switching to multishot. He turned the gun sideways and swept his arm as he fired. Two slugs planted an Anaroid while the third hit a second one. Another one tried to catch him by surprise and Dan placed the barrel of the D-Shot in it's hand. He pushed it foreword until he heard the click and pulled the trigger. It flew back as he holstered the D-Colt and brought the D-Shot back around. Looking around he saw Boomer take out the last one. "Now that was a rush," he had to admit. "Alright Spot... ," he told the Leopard before it started firing the rifle again.

"Die!" They ducked behind any cover they could find. Before they knew it D.E. jumped up and fired a single shot. The Leopard dropped the rifle and held it's hand, "Argh!"

"Nice shooting Tex," Boomer said.

"Actually the family originally from Oklahoma," D.E. told him.

Ranzack, D.E., Dan, Boomer and Ace all stood in front of the alien. "Holding illegal weapons," Dan said, "firing on officers of the law. It's not looking good. Let's see if he knows anything." He pulled out his license, switched it to Judgment and pressed the button. The area went dark as a blue circle and a red X flashed in front of the Leopard. After a minute the X on the license flashed brightly, "Eliminate target." The other took out their license and the all attached them to the D-Shot. "Ready," D.E. and Boomer went to a knee and they aimed their weapon at the alien. As one they pulled back the grip, inside the D-Shot energy built up and traveled through the gun to the front part of the barrel. "Strikeout!", and they pulled the trigger. Five energy streams shot out and in moments the leopard was disintegrated.

"Got 'im!", Boomer shouted out.

"We still got a mission to finish people," Dan told them. "Get that done and we can go home." They deactivated the suits and went to work.

D.E. went over to the rifle the Leopard had and checked it out, "Hey Cap."

"What is it?"

"This one isn't home grown, so to speak."

"Great, an off planet version," Dan said. "Anybody see anything that looks like a computer?"

"Kinda," Ace called out.

"Kinda? Do I want to know?"

"I think it took a hit during the fire fight."

Dan groaned, "Take it with us, maybe Michelle can salvage the hard drive." He grabbed a couple of crowbars and handed one to D.E. "Help me open one of these crates."

"Alright, but why?", He asked.

"Plan B, we take one of these back and break it down. We'll try to figure out what came from where the hard way. I've seen one of these before but I don't know if the military still has it or if Scorp took it with him. So our access to it might be limited. Take the other one with us too. Maybe the differences in the rifles will tell us something. Boomer, do you have enough explosives to take this shipment out?"

"Do chicken have beaks?" he replied.

"I'll take that for a yes."

***
The team was back at the OpsBase hours later, already debriefed and trying to relax. Ranzack was sitting in a corner reading an earth history book. Ace was siting on top of the couch watching D.E. and boomer playing a video game. She had winner, depending on who won that is. Pretty soon the level was over, D.E. was the winner, "Oh come on," Boomer cried.

Ace told him, "You challenged him to a game that needed a light gun, duh."

D.E. looked at her, "Your turn."

"You kidding, I was holding out for a miracle that Boomer would win." She jumped off the couch and sat next to Ranzack.

The Major walked in looking rather pleased, "Good news guys, Commander Scorp was slightly impressed with your performance. From what I understand that's a small miracle in and of itself." He looked around the room, "Hey, where's Cap? I'd figured he be in here."

"He said something about working on his form," D.E. answered.

"I don't think he likes us," Boomer said.

"The Captain is still trying to adjust to his new post," Ranzack said.

"Ranzack right, or should I say Rev?" That name stuck to him pretty fast, even Dan called him that once or twice so far.

"Whatever you wish Major," was his response.

"Like he said, Cap just needs some time to get to know you better. Then he really going to hate you guys," he said with a grin.

Ace said, "Boomer I can understand, but me?" Boomer threw a pillow at her. They got in a few good natured jabs at each other before Pierce left. He walked until he got to the gym. On the far side he saw a guy pounding away at the heavy bag. The eagle tattoo on his shoulder told him that it was Dan. He tapped his cane a few times on the floor before turning around and walking away. He wasn't shadow boxing so it wasn't too much of a concern at the moment. Sometimes a man just needed sometime alone and they can talk later. Besides his wife was expecting home for dinner in an hour.

Special Police DekaOps
3

-----
OP theme-Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger-metal instrumental version
-----

It was a pretty quiet day as Dan walked the streets. There wasn't much he could do at the moment. Michelle and D.E. were going over both rifles they brought back with a fine tooth comb. Ace was in the hanger running diagnostics on the Shepard. Boomer was, in his words, tweaking the communication gear while Rev was doing whatever. Lucky for him Pierce gave him a tip about a pretty decent book store in the small town next to OpsBase. He was just glad to get out of that uniform they gave him into a pair of black jeans, a red t-shirt and a leather bomber jacket. Besides he felt the need to stretch his legs a bit.

He walked past a shop selling a mirror on the sidewalk and got a good look at what was behind him. Or should that be who? Dan stopped saying, "What is it?", and turned around. Rev stood there wearing a green hoodie over his uniform, the hood being pulled over his head.

"Nothing Captain," Rev answered. "The Major let me have some time to explore. Seeing how you were allowed to leave as well I thought I might join you."

"Uh-huh," Dan muttered. "And why would you want to hang out with me?"

"It accord to me that you would have a unique view on things. Seeing how you felt a rifle volunteered you."

"You heard that huh?", Dan turned around and started walking again. Rev caught up with him and walked by his side.

"I have exceptional hearing for my species." he said matter of factly. "A gift from the Great Spirit when I was born."

"Good for you." They were both quiet for a few yards. "You do realize that one of the others could give you a more interesting tour."

"Perhaps," he agreed. "But you and I are teammates because of the negotiations between your military and SPD command. That gives us a unique bond."

"You probably have more of a bond with the others than you do with me."

"Why do you say that?"

"You guys are cops, I'm a soldier. There's not a whole lot we have in common."

"I didn't realize that there was a difference."

"To me there is," Dan said plainly. "Cops are on call twenty four hours a day. Soldiers only go out when there's an attack or when the politicians get tired of talking. It's worlds apart."

“An interesting outlook Captain," Rev told him. "Is that why you try to keep your distance from myself and the others?"

"No... I... ," he tried to find the right words, “it's hard to explain. I've always tried to keep my personal and professional lives separate. It makes it a little easier when I have to make the hard call."

“The hard call?”, Rev asked with some confusion.

Dan hesitated before answering, “A call were I knew I was sending somebody to their death.”

"You made these 'hard call' before I take it."

"Once or twice," he stopped remembering those times. "And I'm always lying to myself because it's never easy.” He found the bookstore he was Pierce was talking about. A crowd was formed in front of it. Some guy was standing above the crowd on the bed of a pickup truck was speaking. It was a speech he heard before.

"And there are more coming every single day!", he shouted. "We have a hard time finding decent work as it is. Now we have to worry about E.T taking it because it'll work cheap. Next thing you know it'll want to live next door. Do you really want one of those freaks living next to you? I sure as hell don't." Some in the crowd nodded in agreement. A woman broke away from the crowd and threw a piece of paper in a trash can. Dan took it out and looked it over. At the top of the page was a drawing of the planet Earth with a 1st right in the middle.

Dan read a few words below the picture out loud, "Earth First? Why does that sound familiar? Now I remember," he snapped his fingers, "these guys were just starting up before I left for Nagaus 7. They were small time back then."

"They appear to have gained a larger following since then," Rev said as he looked over the crowd.

"Let's get out of here before they see you." They turned around as his License beeped. He pulled it out and switched it to Phone mode, "This is Stevens go."

"Cap," Michelle said, "we were able to locate were one of the components came from. The Major wants you back at base pronto."

"Understood, I have Rev with me and we're headed back to base now." He closed it and put back in its holster.

"Ah Captain," Rev said as he looked over the crowd. "Do you agree with them? Do you believe aliens should not be here?" Before he could answer Dan realized he still had the piece of paper in his hand, and he was looking at the time and place of the next meeting. He crumbled it up and tossed it back into the trash.

"A few months ago I probably would have."

***
Dan and Rev came out of the elevator to find the others already in place. Pierce nodded at them as they got in line. "I can wait a couple of moments if you want to change into uniform."

"No need sir, I can do it after the briefing."

"Very well, Michelle," he walked over to the screen. An image of an apple orchard appeared. "As hard as it is to believe part of the rifle is being assembled here in upstate Washington."

"Must have had a lot of bad crops," Boomer said.

"Not exactly," Michelle said. "It took me a bit but I was able to get something out of that computer you brought back. I was surprised as you when this popped up when I did a search. So I did a little checking and wasn't able to find anything, that is until D.E. came to me the results of the rifle breakdown."

"So what did D.E. find that SPD couldn't?", Dan asked.

"The idiot took apart the power core for the rifle," Pierce said looking at Dead-Eye.

"I'm guessing that's a bad thing."

"In a way Cap," Michelle said. "One of the reasons why this rifle is illegal is because the core is highly unstable. One some planets it's been known to take out an area of about ten feet when breached or becomes over heated. Its location right under the barrel of the weapon means its chances of taking a hit during combat are rather high." They all paled a little as they thought of all the crates in the warehouse.

"I think my life just passed before my eyes," Boomer said.

"You're not the only one," Ace told him.

"That would have been nice to know beforehand," Dan told Pierce.

"Orders from Commander Scorp," Pierce told them, "He didn't want anything to hamper your performance in the field." He looked apologetic, "I didn't like it either but I had to follow orders."

"Wait a sec, why wasn't the explosion bigger then when Boomer blew them up?", D.E. asked

"Fortunately the Earth version of the model breach only has a range of four feet," Michelle answered. "Not as bad, but still way below standard galactic regulations. Bedsides I did say the range was ten on some planets."

"That explains why the crates were spaced like they were," D.E. said.

"So what did the power source tell us?"

"The whole power core told us nothing," she reached into a pocket and pulled out a small coil like device. "This, however, was another story. This regulates the power core so it doesn't explode unexpectedly in the user hands. After a little checking I discovered that only one company in the entire world makes this particular component. And every few months they ship a few boxes to that orchard farm."

"We sent word to the proper authorities to have the company checked out and find out why they were shipping these to a place that grows apples for a living," Pierce said. "We can't touch that company but these guys," he pointed at the screen, "are a different story. Your job is to go in and take them out."

"One word of warning," Michelle added. "One of the chemicals used to make the core is toxic to organic life. So whoever's in there might be using Anaroids to build them."

"So expect heavy resistance, anything else?"

"One thing, any information I could find about the place only goes as far as 2000. I'll keep checking but you may have a lot of blanks to fill in."

"One of Caps favorite things is filling in blanks," Pierce told her, "right?" Dan nodded once. "Alright them, go get them."

"Rodger!", they saluted and went off.

***
The Shepard landed in a clear patch in the orchard that was a couple of miles from the target building. Dan had them keep to the trees and off the roads as much as possible. When the processing building came into view he pulled out a pair of binoculars and surveyed the area. "Nothing on the outside of the building... wait," he adjusted the binoculars slightly. "I got an Anaroid."

"Where?", D.E. pulled out a pair.

"Ground floor, third window from the left."

"Got it." He checked out a few spots, "I got a couple on the roof too."

"I see them." He put the binoculars back into his pack. This might be a little tough.

"I can take out the ones on the roof from here," D.E. reached for his pack, Dan stopped him.

"Not unless you can take them all out with one shot. Rev, can you get any life sign reading from here?"

"No Captain," he said while doing something with the scanner in his hand. "Whatever they are using to jam our sensors is still effective at this range." Dan looked up and saw an owl sitting a tree. That building had a half mile dead zone around it. Somebody was hiding something there alright.

"Cap," Boomer called out, "our radios are being jammed too." Dan pulled out his License, he was just barely getting a signal from the others though the static.

"That's a damn good field," Ace said. "I didn't see anything thing on the roof when we did the fly by on the way in. More than likely it's inside there."

"I think you're right." He studied the whole situation in his head. "I'm changing the mission profile. Boomer you're going to find whatever is doing the jamming. Find a way to counteract it so we don't have to go through this again down the line. Ace, back him up."

"Rodger," Ace replied.

"You got it," Boomer added.

"Like I told you before I want gun fire kept to a minimum. If you have to fire aim high. I'm not in the mood to get blown up." They nodded, they weren't much in the mood for it either. "All right just like we discussed on the Shepard, we're going in full gear."

They pulled out their Ops License, "Emergency! DekaOps!"

With Rev backing him up Dan went first. He ducked under a window as an Anaroid passed by and waited a moment before making sure the area was clear. Rev motioned that the roof was clear so he gave the signal for the others to come in. Boomer checked a device from his pack and looked up. He was getting a reading from the second floor. D.E. pointed out a staircase and they went up. Dan made the others get in the staircase when he heard something coming around the corner. He reached behind his back and pulled out his D-Knife. An Anaroid passed the stairwell that he quickly grabbed and stabbed in the power core. "One down," he whispered.

***
Much to his surprise Boomer and Ace found the jammer pretty quickly. Now if only it wasn't in a rather open room. Ace pulled out her D-Shooter as Boomer made his way to the device. She kept her eyes on the hallway they came from and the one on the other side of the room. "Exactly how much time are you going to need?"

"Depends on what kind of encryption their using," he went to work on the keyboard.

"Just use that hacking device Michelle came up with."

"If you can find Cap and get him or it up here before they find me I'll use it."

"Cap had Michelle make it standard equipment in our backs remember," she reached into hers and pulled it out.

"When did he tell you about that?"

"Same time he told all of us, this morning in the rec room."

"Was I even there?"

"I just got done kicking your butt in that wrestling game you made me play. He asked if you heard him and you said yes." Boomer grunted and took the device from her hand. "You still owe me twenty bucks from that game." Boomer shot her a nasty look behind the helmet.

***
Resistance was kind of sparse as Dan and the others made their way into the building. Fortunately they were able to take care of things rather quickly and quietly. D.E. was having a hard time of it at first but he was holding his own. Rev grabbed one and turned it's had completely around. As they were hiding the bodies Dan scouted ahead. He peered around a corner and saw a large room. Reaching into his pack he pulled out the sky probe and tossed it into the air. It hovered in mid air for a second before silently flying about the room. Rev and D.E. walked up as an image came to life on the pad in his hand.

The room looked like some kind of processing plant, maybe some of the machines were used to turn the apples into cider or something. Several robots, not just Anaroids, were working at tables spread across the room. He saw a couple that were inserting the regulator coil into the power core. He also spotted several barrels of one of the chemicals Michelle said was needed for the power core. Then he noticed two people in an enclosed area. Obviously to protect them from the chemicals. For once he was glad the Dekasuit had a helmet to filter it out. The two in the glass cage were leopard-seijin, just like the one at the warehouse. He adjusted the controls until he could hear what they were saying through the glass, and that damn static.

"... don't like this," the one with a more reddish tint to his fur said. "We should have heard from Jeter by know."

"Maybe SPD got him," the other one said.

"Don't be an idiot! There's no SPD unit here or in California. Hell little brother, there's no unit in this entire country."

"There's supposed to be one starting in the mid-west."

"That's the mid-west this is here. Now relax, that new Agent is suppose to be here at any time."

"Yes brother," the other said as he sat in chair and tried to do as he was told.

Dan called back the probe as his License beeped, he got a clear signal. "Good job Boomer," he whispered into it."

"Thanks Cap," he said at a normal tone before Dan shushed him. A robot looked their way before but it went back to work. A little more quietly he said, "What's your position?"

"We found the lab and who's in charge. Can you get to it from the second floor?"

"I don't think so, but Ace found a second set of stairs. She said it looks like it leads to a large room with machines."

"That's the room. Can you see two leopards in a glass cage from where you're at?"

"Cap, this is Ace," she cut in. "There about twenty feet in front of my position."

"Ok I want the two of you to hold back for a moment. Me, Rev and D.E. are going to make ourselves known. While we're distracting them you two try to capture the ones in the cage."

"Rodger," they answered.

Dan motioned for the others to follow him. They went about five feet into the room before hiding behind whatever cover they could find. Getting D.E. attention he motioned at one of the lamps hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. He nodded and took out his D-Shooter. Taking careful aim he fired a single shot. A lamp crashed to the floor catching the leopard’s attention. Dan and Rev pulled out their D-Rods as they came out of hiding, "SPD, Freeze!"

"You said there wasn't any units here!"

"Shut up Mort, Anaroids get them." The robots stopped their tasks and picked up a blade.

"You know what to do," Dan said before they charged. Rev pushed one into a robot that was still working, both fell into a vat of chemicals. D.E. slide between the legs of one Anaroid and fired into the chest of the one behind it. The first one spun around and kicked the D-Shooter out of his hand. It grabbed him by the neck and hauled him up. D.E. struggled for a bit before reaching for a wielder and jammed it into the Anaroids head. It sputtered for a bit before letting him go and fell to the floor in a heap. Dan blocked a blade that was coming at him and stabbed an Anaroid in the chest. One kicked him from behind knocking him to the ground. Five jumped on top of him at once. Rev rushed over and threw them off. He helped Dan to his feet and they stood side by side, "I owe you one."

"We are team mates," he said, "we are supposed to protect each other."

"All right you two," Ace's rang out. "Call off the Anaroids." She and Boomer had their D-Shooters out and pointed at the cage.

"Don't take you sweet time or nothing," Dan mumbled as he eyed a couple of Anaroids in front of him.

"One last time, call off the Anaroids. If you don't me and my partner will shot out the glass."

"Go ahead, the glass is bulletproof."

"Is it bomb proof too?", Boomer asked. He had some explosives in his hand. In moments the other one hit a button on the control panel and all the robots stopped moving.

"Mort!", the red one screamed.

"I don't know if it's bomb proof or not," he cried. The red one grabbed Mort by the collar and pulled him through a door behind him.

"Outside now!", Dan ordered. It took a few moments to find a door that lead to the outside. A delivery truck raced out of a garage and nearly ran them over. "Ace!'

"I got the Shepard on its way," she told him. After several long moments the Shepard came into view. They quickly boarded the jet and went after the truck. They were able to catch up in no time.

"D.E. fire a couple of rounds."

"Right," he pressed a button on his counsel. On the wings panel slide away revealing four machine gun type weapons. He fired a short round that bounced off a field that sprung up around the truck. "Ok I didn't see that coming."

"The laser might get through it," Ace offered.

"Captain," Rev said, "I'm getting a strange reading from the truck."

"What kind of reading?"

"Let me see it," D.E. called out. "I was afraid of that. They're carrying power cores on that truck.

"That counts out the laser," Ace said.

"I hope you got a plan B," Boomer told him.

Dan got out of his chair saying, "D.E. you’re with me, we're doing a hot drop with the Hounds." He nodded and followed him into the cargo area. The each jumped into a hole that was on either side of the hold. "We're ready to drop."

"The Shepard's at hot drop height and speed," Ace called back. Dan and D.E. braced themselves as she said, "Hot dropping in three... two... one now!" The floor under them slid away and two modified black and white SV650S dropped to the ground below engines running. They gunned it until they caught up with the truck. Mort opened the passenger side door and leaned out firing away with a rifle. Dan switched his D-Colt over to mutishot and fired back. He wasn't aiming at Mort, but close enough that he had to go back inside.

"Go!", he shouted as he fired out a few more rounds. D.E. raced ahead and got in front of the truck. Dan made sure neither of the Leopards took a pot shot at him. He was just glad the red one wasn’t swerving the truck, guessing he didn't want the cores to explode either. D.E. slowed down just enough to make sure the truck engine was in range. He pressed a button on the Hound's weapon panel and a metal spike shot out toward the grill. It bounced off the field. D.E. cursed as the truck speed up. He had to turn off the road to avoid getting run over. Dan stopped his Hound to check on him, "You all right?"

"Yeah," D.E. sounded disgusted, "the disruptor spike didn't get through the field. I don't suppose you have a plan C?"

"I'll make one up, come on." They both went after the truck. He honestly had no idea on how they were going to stop that truck.

"Cap!", D.E. shouted and pointed at something. The Shepard was flying low and fast and the nose cone was splitting open into four parts. "What are they doing?"

"Boomer now!", Ace yelled. Boomer was sitting at D.E.'s station and pulled a trigger. The four ends started glowing. A yellow energy beam came from each point and met in the middle. A stronger beam shot out of it and blew a chunk out of the road ahead of them. Boomer kept firing until a huge hole was left forcing the truck to stop.

"Get out and run Mort," his brother said. But as soon as they got out Dan and D.E. grabbed them and jumped the hole. They brought the bikes to a stop and threw the leopards forewords. "Damn it!"

"Now what do we do Brother?"

They got of the Hounds as Dan switched his License to Judge mode, "Target orders", he pressed the button on top and the white plate opened up. The area around the turned black as a red X and a blue circle started flashing. After the Leopards were scanned a red X shined brightly, "Eliminate targets." They unlatched their D-Shots from their pack and hooked their license into them, "Ready." They pulled back the grip, inside energy traveled through the D-Shot until it came to the Barrel. They leveled their weapons at the Leopards. "Strikeout!", Dan called out as they pulled the triggers. Two blue energy stream hit the Leopards-seijin, deleting them, "Got you."

***
They found the Shepard nearby, the others were waiting outside. All of them had already deactivated their Dekasuits. Dan jumped off his Hound, "Exactly who's crazy ass idea was that?!"

"It was her," Boomer pointed at Ace, "it was all her idea." Ace shot him a look that could kill. He hid behind Rev, "She threatened to tear my... thing off and stick it were the sun didn't shine."

Dan walked up to her, "Is that true?"

"Yes it is," she looked him right in the eye. "I saw the opening to stop that truck and made the call. If I was in this situation again I'd do it the same way." Dan crossed his arms and stared her down. She didn't back away from it.

Finally he said, "I always said my second in command needed to be a little crazy, congratulations. D.E. let's get the Hounds back on board."

Ace was stunned, "You’re making me second in command?"

"What!", Boomer yelled. "Didn't you hear what she said to me?"

"Yes and that was pretty tame compared to some the threats I've come out with over the years."

"But D.E. and Rev outrank her."

"You two got a problem with that?", Dan asked them.

"My rank is honorary because of my status as a doctor," Rev said.

D.E. added, "Being in charge gives me a rash."

"Works for me," Dan said.

"You got a problem taking orders from a girl?", Ace asked Boomer.

"No," he answered a little too defensively. Dan was about to break it up when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. There was a distorted shape in front of the tree to his right. It like almost like an arm. Dan and Rev aimed their SP-Shooters at the same tree.

"What is it?", Ace asked, her hand on her weapon.

"I heard something," Rev told her.

"That's good," Dan said, "because I'm pretty sure I saw something. Give me a scan." Rev took out his scanner.

"We are the only life forms in the immediate area," he answered after taking several scans.

Dan holstered his weapon, "We're probably still a little jumpy. Boomer contact OpsBase and have them send a crew out here to take care of the lab and this truck. Let's go home folks." They loaded the Hounds back onto the Shepard and Dan took one last look around before closing the ramp. He was sure he saw something. In minutes the Shepard was air borne and headed back to base.

By that tree the air shimmered revealing a chameleon-seijin wearing a cloak. His eyes narrowed as he watched the Shepard fly off in the distance. "Stevens," he growled before turning invisible again.

Special Police DekaOps
4

-----
OP theme-Tokusou Sentai DekaRanger- metal instrumental version
-----

The ceiling above them closed as the hanger crew checked over the transport shuttle after it landed. A side door opened and Pierce walked out, returning from one of those monthly meetings the team commanders had to go to. Dan was glad it wasn't him, he hated those types of meetings. With his briefcase in his hand he returned a salute from a crewman and walked over to him. Dan gave him an army style salute for old time’s sakes, "Welcome back Major."

"At ease Dan," Pierce said with a chuckle. "You still have all your hair and nobody looks like they're in a cast, so I'm assuming you did all right in charge of the place."

"Things went pretty smooth." Dan smirked, "Actually everyone seemed relieved to have you off their backs for a few hours. Can't say I blame them."

"You're lucky I like you," he snorted before laughing with him for a bit.

"So how did the meeting go? Boring a Hell I'd imagine."

"More or less. The team that was supposed to be based in Texas has been put in hold indefinitely. There was a rumor a couple of the others were going over of one starting up in Australia. Oh, and SPD as a whole avoided a rather large bullet."

"What do you mean?"

"There was this old woman over in England who came this close," he held his thumb and index finger on his cane hand about an inch apart, "to getting SPD kicked off the planet completely."

"Oh that," Dan shook his head sadly. "Michelle should me a news feed about that yesterday. Personally I'm glad she got shown up for what she was. Would that have affected us? I mean we are covert unit, only a handful of people know we're here."

"I'm not sure, thankfully we won't have to find out." Dan walked him to his office and chatted for a little bit. Pierce put the briefcase down on his desk. "I might add some of the commanders were surprised to find out who your second in command was."

Dan didn't look fazed, "Do you think I care? The team needed a command structure in case I'm taken out for some reason. Besides she was already calling the shots while we're airborne, so the choice seemed obvious."

"You don't have to explain your choice to me, I know how you work remember." Pierce sat down, glad to be in his own chair. "So how has Ace been handling it?"

"Pretty well," Dan sat in the chair on the other side of the desk. "She's been rubbing it in to Boomer every so often though." Pierce was sure she only doing it because of his reaction to her new status. "It was just some good natured ribbing, but I told her to ease up on it. Anything else I should know about, or not know about?" Dan was still a bit steamed about being kept in the dark about the dangerous side of the rifle, not that Pierce could blame him.

"Well our friends up in the DekaSpacebase might have something for us. They have to double check a couple of things first so nothing official as of yet. But in a few hours SPD Earth command might insert us into an unprotected area."

Dan rose from his seat, "Right, I'll put the team on stand by then." He saluted and left him alone in the room. Pierce cracked his neck and looked over the six messages on his desk, two of them were from his wife Helen. He told her he had some really early meetings and would be gone for most of the day, he just didn't add where those meetings were being held at. Lord, was he going to have to come up with a good one this time.

***
When he got to the gym he found Ace putting the others through the paces. As he watched them for a bit Dan wasn't sure if he should be amused or worried that she reminded him of a drill instructor he knew back in basic. "Come on ladies!" she shouted as the others were doing foot drills, "My grandmother can do better than this. D.E. get those knees up like you life depended on it!" Boomer looked like he was going to start a mutiny. Too bad for him she saw it, "You want to try something Boomer?"

"Listen up," he decided to cut it off there. "The Major says we're on standby. Shower up and get changed, we might have to leave at a moment notice." The nodded and started to walk off. "Ace hold up, I got to talk to you."

"Ooooh," D.E. said looking at Ace, "you're in trouble."

"Get out of here," she beaned him with her towel.

"About time she started picking on somebody else," Boomer said.

"She just likes you man," D.E. pushed his friend's head to the side lightly. Rev looked confused at the exchanged but followed the others.

"What's up Cap?", she asked.

"Interesting motivating skill you have there." She started to answer but he held up a finger. Then he shouted, catching her off guard, "Boomer, unless you want to run twenty laps around the gym buck naked in front of everybody I suggest you close the door and take that shower!" She looked behind him and saw the door shut quickly. "He's worse than a four year old I swear. Now where were we? Oh yeah, your motivating skills."

"I'm just trying to do things like you would," she told him. "You’ve done the same thing when you’re running the drills."

"I know, that how I do things," he empathized the "I' when he said that. “I didn't make you my second so you could turn into mini-me."

"I was wondering, why did you make me second in command any way? Boomer was, and if you repeat this I'll deny it, right. I was talking to Major Pierce about it and he said that's the way you think and said nothing else." Dan sat on the bench behind him, she sat next to him. "If it's a big secret you don't have to tell me."

"No secrets, he's probably tired of taken the blame for the way I do things. Look, there are two things I've picked up from Pierce over the years. One, always have a plan B, no matter how good you think your original plan is. And two, your second should be a little different from you. Because when the commanders have the same opinion in everything the unit is in trouble."

"Because they're missing the same blind spots," he nodded. "So I should find my own command style. I should probably rein it in a little too."

"Now I didn't say that. You're enthusiastic, I like that in my seconds. Trust me I've had ones that were duller than dirt."

She smiled, "I'll take your word for it. I better take that shower too." She got up, then she groaned, "Damn it I threw my last clean towel at D.E." About the Michelle's voice came over the loud speakers.

"Field team to the hanger bay, repeat field team to the hanger bay. Prepare to launch in twenty minutes."

"I can air dry," she said as he ran off.

***
In no time they were aboard the Machine Shepard, headed for the east coast and out to sea. They were told they would be briefed on the mission in flight instead of the Command Room, but so far nothing. All of them were wondering what was so important this time around. Dan was tapping his fingers on top of his leg before Boomer finally spoke up, "Cap, we're getting a signal from OpsBase."

"Put it through." Michelle and Pierce appeared on the screen in a split view. "So what's the reason for the rush Major?"

"We got a big one this time Cap," Pierce said before his image was replaced with another one. This one featured a fat person in a white suit and hat. He would have reminded most of them of the stereotypical southern gentleman if it wasn't for the fact his head looked like a pig. "This is Sanders. According to SPD files he's one of the biggest slave traders in the known galaxies. According to orbital and ground sensors his ship is currently in Turkey."

"I'm getting the coordinates now, "Ace said.

"Michelle's sending us some info on the terrain," Boomer called out.

"I've heard stories of this person on my home planet,” Rev spoke up. “I believe some call him the Colonel." Boomer snorted as he put the name together. Ace and D.E. started snickering as well. Dan lowered his head to hide the smile he was fighting. "What was humorous about what I said?"

"It might have been a little more obvious if...," Boomer started before D.E. interrupted him.

"Please don't finish that thought."

Dan shot a look back there to quiet them down, "Sorry Major," he said over the connection.

"Right, as I was going to say it's doubtful he's delivering anything out here."

"I’ve been able to find," Michelle cut in, "a couple of missing person report for the area he's in. But the numbers I've found doesn't indicate the number he usually handles. So I'm expanding the search parameters but I doubt I'll be able to get the info to you before you enter silent operations."

"Needless to say Earth command wants him stopped before he takes off. Also be on the lookout for this individual." Sanders image was replaced by a gray rocky type of alien. "This is Sander's bodyguard Grimm."

"He suspected to be involved in at least twenty known disappearances," Michelle told them. "This one is particularly nasty. A couple of the missing bodies that have been found were beaten to a bloody pulp and had their limbs broken."

"We're approaching international waters," Ace called out.

"Remember the Turkish government doesn't know you're coming," Pierce told them. "The government isn't SPD friendly at the moment, and what happen in England didn't help matters. If you're caught by the local authorities I don't know how much we can help you."

"Understood sir," Dan said, “Shepard out. Boomer silent op countdown."

"Silent operation in," he watched the controls for a moment, "five... four... three... two... one and we are silent." he deactivated the comm. panel. "So we're officially on our own out here?"

"Part of the job Boomer," D.E. told him, "we don't contact OpsBase and vice a versa once we hit international waters. We all know that."

"Listen up guys," Dan said, "about what the Major said about getting caught. I have never left a team mate behind alive in my life and I don't plan on starting now. So I'm telling you guys now, we all go home or nobody goes home. No one gets left behind. Is that clear?"

"The Major said," D.E. told him, "that was your personal motto."

"No one gets left behind," Ace repeated looking serious. "Sounds like a plan to me." Rev nodded while Boomer gave him the heads up. After several quiet moments Ace started running some simulations on her flight computer. After a while she adjusted the Shepard's heading slightly. Dan tapped her on the shoulder and asked what was that for. "Shaving some time off our arrival time. The faster we get there..."

"The faster we get him," he finished for her. "And hopefully the faster we get out of there."

***
They discovered one thing about Sanders when they found him, he apparently thought he was untouchable. He didn't even try to hide his ship. In fact he and his bodyguard were standing right in the open like they didn't have a care in the world. Dan was glad he had Ace activate the cloaking system before they hit the mainland. Sanders stood there fanning himself with his hat as Grimm paced the area. "Would you relax," Sanders barked, "you're making me sweat. Do you know how much this suit cost me? I can't afford to sweat in it."

"I'm telling you I heard a jet," Grimm rumbled.

Dan and the others took cover behind some boulder and shrubs while he pulled out a listening device, a gun like device with a disk surrounding it, and pointed it at them. "All of our scanner say you’re hearing things. Now would you relax."

"I'd be able to relax better if you didn't pick a planet that was swarming with SPD. I've never seen a planet with so many."

Sanders laughed as he took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. "The greater the risk the greater the reward, ain't nobody tell you that? But I'll admit things were easier back in the day. When I was a young 'un just starting out in the business all we had to worry about was a single Space Sheriff per sector. Now a days you can't swing a dead Mynock without hitting an SPD officer. Too bad there's not a whole lot of us left who remember those days."

His bodyguard grunted, having heard this one before, "When did they say they were coming?"

"Half hour tops from that so called town in the west. They keep saying human are pretty adaptable. I've got plenty of clients willing to pay to find out."

Dan folded up his listening device and pocketed it. That bit of information gave him some hope, maybe they haven't gotten anybody yet. "Rev, any life signs on that ship?"," he asked in a hushed tone.

"None that I can detect Captain."

"Alright we might have caught a break here, let's not waste it. Ace, take D.E. and Rev and try to intercept that truck he mentioned. He said thirty minutes but that doesn't mean it won't get here sooner. Me and Boomer are going to try to take them."

"Right,” she acknowledged. “Which direction?"

"He said from the west," Rev answered. Ace and the other looked at him in surprise.

"He's got good hearing," Dan told them. "Now stop wasting time and go."

"I'll ask later," Ace said as she waved D.E. and Rev to follow her.

"So when do we go in and bust them?", Boomer asked after they were gone.

"We'll wait five minutes and scope out the situation first. With just the two of us I want to make sure we're not in it too deep."

"This might be a stupid question, but why did you split us up then?"

"Because if we can't take these guys down then there is at least one group of people he won't get his hands on."

Boomer acted like he didn't think of that, "That's thinking pretty far ahead."

"That's why they pay me the leader money."

"Now I'm glad you made Ace second in command, I'm too pretty to get worry wrinkles thinking about stuff like that," he said with a grin. Dan still looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Cap I'm joking."

Sanders put the handkerchief back and caught a look at a small monitor inside his coat that was connected to the ship scanners. The automatic sweep picked up a couple of stray life signs that weren't there before. "Oh my, we apparently have some unexpected visitors Grimm. Why don't you give them a warm welcome."

"Of course," he walked toward the boulder grabbing a grenade. He threw it to the ground, ten Anaroids formed and came toward them.

"We’ve been made," Dan cursed as they pulled out their OpsLicnese, "Change standby."

"Emergency!", they held their License across their chest then thrust them foreword, "DekaOps!" The Dekametal formed around them in less than a moment and they charged the Anaroids and Grimm.

***
"I'm getting an abnormal reading from that vehicle over there," Rev pointed to an old truck coming down the road. Ace pulled out her binoculars and checked it out. There were two guys in the cab, the one in the passenger seat looked like he was holding a gun of some sort. D.E. wasn't sure but he said it looked like an assault rifle from here. Something told her she shouldn't jump the gun just yet.

"What kind of readings?"

"Human, several of them in the back of the vehicle if these readings are correct."

"I'm not seeing any other truck in the area," D.E. said after a quick sweep. "This has to be them." She thought so too, but this was her first job as the number two person in the unit. Making a huge blunder was not the way to start the job.

"They could be a military operation as well," Rev said, echoing the part of her thoughts. "And it hasn't been thirty minutes."

"They could be early. Well what would Cap do if he was here?", D.E. asked them.

"Cap isn't here," he did say she wasn't supposed to act like him. "There's only one way to find out. D.E. get to the other side of the road, Rev you stay on this side. Don't go in until I give the word."

"Rodger," Rev said.

"You got it," D.E. said before heading across the road.

She stood in the middle of the road. After a few moment the Ace could see the truck coming on the road. "Emergency!" she pulled out her License and thrust it forward, "DekaOps!" and pressed the button on top.

Ace was surrounded by a pink digital field as the Deka metal formed around her body in a flash of white light. It changed into black body suit in a burst. A dark pink stripe went down the middle of her body from her shoulders to the top of her boots, on the left side of her chest the pink and black formed the outline for a number five. A backpack solidified on her back and the D-Shot appeared in a flash. "Face on!", Deka metal flashed over her head and formed a dark pink helmet.

"What are you doing?!", D.E cried out as he pulled out his License. She put her hand up for him to stop. Ace took out her D-Shot and waited for it to get a little closer. The truck wasn't slowing down. "Damn that girl is nuts." She aimed her D-Shot and fired a round above the cab. The passenger flinched but the driver did nothing. She fired another shot, this time though the windshield between them. Ace changed her aim slightly, now the D-Shot was aimed right at the driver. Ace primed another shot and the driver moved this time as the brakes started squealing. The truck came to a stop a yard in front of her.

Ace let out the breath she was holding, glad the helmet hid how shocked she was that actually worked. "Now!", D.E. and Rev came out of hiding, their SP-Shooters aimed at the cabs occupants. She kept her aim on the driver, "You two out of the truck now! Out of the truck!" D.E. opened the passenger side door and took the weapon from them as they complied. "Get on the ground! Rev check out the back of the truck."

"Understood," he went back there and open the door. "They were transporting people in shackles." Behind the helmet she relaxed a little bit more. Looks like she didn't blow it. D.E was putting one in a set D-Whoppers so she took out hers and tossed them to him. "Lock up the driver quickly and help out Rev."

"Right," after a moment he went back there and whistled. "It looks like a poor man's UN back here. They have guys from just about everywhere from the looks of it."

"You're rescuing us?", one of them said, it was man who looked like he was in his fifties.

"You speak English?"

"I was born in Canada," he said. "I was visiting some family I have out here and then those men kidnapped me."

"Don't worry sir," D.E told him, "we'll make sure you'll get back to that family of yours in no time."

"Thank you," he said gratefully, "but who are you?"

D.E. and Rev looked at each other, "Ah... we're the good guys. You're gonna have to take my word on that one."

***
The Anaroids weren't much of a problem for Dan and Boomer. It took them longer than before but they were able to turn the robots into piles of scrap metal. They didn't get a moment of rest as Grimm ran in to grab Dan by the back of the neck and threw him. "Cap!" Boomer called out. Then he turned to see Grimm right behind him. The rock creature raised his hand and slammed it to the ground. Boomer just rolled out of the way and fired with his D-Shot. Its rocky hide protected it from the shot but it still growled in pain. Dan got to his feet and started firing away with his. Grimm turned around, grabbed an boulder and threw it at him.

"Shit!", he jumped out of the way.

"That's why I pay him the big money," Sanders crowed proudly. He saw a pair of headlight coming in their direction. "Looks like the Calvary has arrived," he said evilly. Grimm caught Dan in the ribs with a back swing and held Boomer by the throat over his head. Suddenly he was shot in the back several times making him drop the black and yellow clad human. Sanders and Grimm both turned to the truck. D.E. was on top of the cab firing away with his D-Sniper. Ace stopped the truck and she and Rev got out while D.E. jumped off. "What the devil," Sanders started backing up.

"Cap," Ace ran up to him, "tag!" She held out her hand and slapped his as she raced by. "Let's do it guys!"

Dan checked on Boomer, "You alright kid?"

"I'm still moving," he said while holding his throat.

"Good, cause boss hog is getting away." He grabbed Boomer by the arm and dragged him to his feet to chase after Sanders.

D.E and Rev both jumped up and kicked Grimm in the chest making him back up. Ace rolled forward between them and came up firing with her D-Shooter. She back flipped out of the way as the rock creature's hands smashed into the ground where she was. The boys rushed up and started firing at the alien themselves as she pulled out her D-Rod. Ace hit a button with her finger and jumped up. The rod had a pink glow to it as she screamed and slashed it down at Grimm, who was finally knocked off his feet. Ace put the D-Rod back into her pack and pulled out her OpsLicense. D.E. and Rev stood at her side as she switched modes and pressed the button on top of it, "Target order!"

The area went black as a red X and a blue circle flashed in front of Grimm. It took a minute for the device to scan him and the X shined brightly. "Eliminate target," Ace called out as she closed the License and hooked it into the D-Shot. The other two did the same as they went to a knee. Leveling their weapons at Grimm she said, "Ready." They pulled back the grip under the D-Shot's barrel, energy built up and traveled through the weapon and into the barrel. "Strikeout!", they pulled the triggers and three blue energy beams hit Grimm. He resisted for a moment but he was soon deleted. "Got you."

"Piggy faster than he looks," Boomer said as they ran after him.

"Let's give him a warning then." Dan and Boomer drew their side arms and both fired a shot over his head. Sanders stopped immediately and put both hands over his head. Dan walked in front of him and held up his License, "Target orders." The area went dark and after a minute the blue circle shined, "Apprehend target," and he reached for his belt and pulled out his D-Whopper.

"Looks like this little piggy going wee wee wee all the way to jail," Boomer said.

Dan groaned and lowered his head, "I should have teamed with D.E."

***
Ace had the Shepard land next to Sander's ship and he was now in the on board cell in the cargo hold. Dan was sitting on some crates outside the ship holding his side as she walked up to him, "Rev said you were hurt."

"Nothing broken, Rev said I'd be fine in a couple of days. Nice timing with the truck by the way."

"I figured it was my turn to come up with a plan B," she told him. Dan had to grin. "So what's going on now?"

"Well D.E. on that hill over there keeping a look out for any other trucks for the moment. And Boomer keeping an ear on the local police radio, to see if anyone is coming this way and we have to jet."

"I asked Rev to take Boomer and check out the ship," she informed Dan. "In case there were other already in there we couldn't detect from out here. Rev also said he was familiar with this design so I told him to help Boomer find the ship's computer after they were done with the search. Maybe they can get into the system and find out where they were going and where they been."

Dan nodded with approval, "Good call. I'm sure SPD command would love to get their hands on that info." Ace started to walk off when he said, "D.E. told me about that little stunt you pulled." She stopped and faced him, not sure what to expect. "That’s not something I would do."

"You wouldn't, but I would," she told him truthfully. Dan smirked.

"I wish all my second got that through their heads that quick. But don't get yourself killed in the process all right. Pierce would never let me hear the end of it."

"Not to mention Boomer would be your only choice for the job, seeing how D.E. and Rev don't want it."

"Don't remind me," Dan said as he got up. "Come on let's give Rev and Boomer a hand with that search."

"Yes sir," she gave him an army style salute. Dan shook his head as he patted her on the shoulder and entered the ship.

Special Police DekaOps
5

-----
OP- Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger- metal instrumental version
-----

He found the place he was looking for, a rundown hotel in a seedy part of the city. No one saw him as he walked up to the front desk and looked over the registration book. Flipping through a few pages he found the alias he was looking for. Now if the room number he was told was correct he should get this over with rather quickly. The clerk behind the desk looked away from the TV show he was watching when he thought he saw the book move but returned to his program, lousy humans. He walked the stairs and hallways quietly as he headed for his destination. Knocking twice on the door marked 5D he had to wait a moment before hearing, "Alpha."

"Centauras," he replied. The door opened and a gray reptilian alien walked out into the hallway seeing no one there. He returned to his room and closed the door and was surprised to see a being wearing a hooded cloak standing by his bed, "Hello Radon," the hooded creature said.

"Chatrox," the reptile hissed.

"Agent Chatrox to you," he removed the hood revealing a chameleon-sejin underneath.

"Agent," he grunted, "still the luckiest bastard in the universe I see."

The chameleon looked smug, "You weren't saying that when I conveniently forgot I saw you in Sigma Alpha four."

Radon's features darkened, "I'm surprised SPD didn't delete you on sight when they found out you were working for the bosses."

"I'd rather be deleted than be assigned to this planet with these," he spit out the word, "humans." Chatrox put the case he was carrying on top of the bed. "Here is what you asked for." He opened the case revealing a couple of alien pistols. "Two Zirikian hand guns. Able to turn most organics into atoms." Radon reached for the guns but Chatrox closed the case, "Payment first."

"Fine," he reached under the bed and pulled out a bag that he handed to the agent. Chatrox counted it quickly and stopped the reptile from taking the case.

"This is only half of what was agreed too."

"I had to pull in every favor I had to get this much," he pleaded.

"Sorry Radon, you don't have the full amount you don't get the weapons."

"Then one gun then," Radon was desperate at this point. "You said yourself it was half. That has to be worth one of them at least."

Chatrox thought it over and opened the case, taking out one of the pistols. "You’re lucky I'm in a generous mood today. For old time sake I'll give you a week to raise the funds for the second one. If not I'll take the other one back from you." Chatrox didn't let him answer, he opened the door and disappeared from sight.

***
At the OpsBase Pierce and the other were watching Dan and D.E. go hand to hand, training with some fake knives. It was pretty much a stalemate until Dan knocked away D.E. knife hand and started slashing the air making him back up. D.E. spun out of the way suddenly and kicked Dan behind the legs. D.E. got him down to his knees, stood on the right side of him and put the "blade" to his throat, "Got ya Cap."

His lip curled slightly in a smile and he looked at him out of the corner of his eye, "You sure about that?"

"Cap if you do anything you're dead, I got you dead to rights."

"Then you better already have kids."

D.E. was confused by what he said. Then Ace whistled while Boomer cried, "Oh," and crossed his legs. He looked over to them wondering what they were seeing that he wasn't. Pierce pointed down so D.E. looked down and his eyes went wide. The point of Dan's knife was aimed right at his crotch.

Dan grin got a little bigger, "You might kill me but you'll remember me for the rest of your life. You want to call it a draw?" D.E. backed away and let him get to his feet. Dan clapped him on the shoulder, "Good going though, you gave me a pretty good fight."

"Now I know I didn't teach you that," Pierce said as he walked to them with the other following.

"Was that not a rather dirty tactic?", Rev asked.

"When it's life or death there's no such thing as a dirty trick," Dan told him. To D.E. he said, "You did good but you made a couple major mistakes that I saw. You thought the fight was over before it actually was. It ain't over until someone either tied up, knocked out or dead. And," he flipped his knife into the air and caught it by the blade, "you lost track of this. You have to remember at all times to keep track of an opponent’s weapon. Trust me, I know it's real easy to lose track of it." Dan raised his shirt showing them a scar above the right side of his waist.

"And that's not an appendix scar either boys and girl," Pierce added.

"What did you do to get that?", Ace asked.

"I was on guard duty. Me and a couple of other were trying to subdue a guy with a knife. I learned the hard way don't lose track."

"Ouch."

"I said I little more than ouch when it happened." Dan rubbed the scar from the memory. "Alright guys, practice is over. Shower up and get something to eat."

***
"I am never going to get used to that," Boomer said in the cafeteria. He, D.E. and Ace were watching Rev eat a pile of raw meat on his tray. Boomer shuddered and tried to concentrate on his tray.

"Cap, over here," Ace called out and waved when she saw Dan carrying his tray. He hesitated as he looked at them.

"He's not going to sit with us," Boomer said, "he never does."

"I think he just proved you wrong buddy," D.E. told him. Dan sat at their table, between them and Rev. "Hey Cap, I didn't thank you for agreeing to the hand to hand lesson."

"You're my team mate, I'm supposed to help you guys get better."

Ace tilted her head to read the spine of the book on his tray. "Matthew Stover, isn't he a fantasy writer?"

"I took you for the Tom Clancy type," Boomer said.

"I don't care what it is as long as it's good."

"Sounds, like my Grand Dad," D.E. said. "I knew there was a reason I liked you."

"Hey guys," Michelle came up and sat next to Dan. "Rev, do you have that spice from you home planet on that?"

"Yes, I find Earth meat to be rather, and forgive me for saying this, bland."

"I'm pretty sure that's why they invented steak sauce Rev," Boomer said.

"Do you wish to try some?", Rev offered as he held out his tray. "It is perfectly alright for humans." Boomer declined right away.

"You should try it," Michelle told them, "it's actually pretty good." Dan, Ace and D.E. looked at each other then they all picked up a fork. Each of them picked out the smallest piece they could find and tried it. Boomer made a face watching them.

After a bit Dan said, "A little... bloodier than I like it, but it's not that bad." The other agreed and Rev looked pleased.

"Come on Boomer, you got to try some," D.E. told him.

He looked at Rev's tray and paled a little, "Maybe next time."

"Wuss," D.E. teased him.

"You're all here good," Pierce said as he joined them at the table. "We just got something in from one of our informants. There's an Alienizer robbing jewelry stores in the area."

"No offense Major," Boomer interrupted," but isn't a jewel robbery a little plain for us."

"We're still cops Boomer," D.E. told him.

"He's right, you guys are a covert unit but you're still officers of the law. Even when DekaRail gets going we're still going to have to take on one of these on occasion."

"Just tell me it's not a cat burglar," Dan said. "I mean a literal ‘cat’ burglar."

"Did Cap just attempt a joke?", Ace said in mock disbelief.

He shot her a look, "Quiet."

"No cat, just a lizard. The informant said his name was Radon. He's a bit of a weapon nut according to reports. So much so he resorted to pulling jobs for the Alienizers to support his obsession."

"I'll do a search to see what he has exactly," Michelle said. "Chances are good he has used some of his collection in his robberies. I'd better see if there's a pattern as well."

"You might be right about him using his collection. Reports we were given had him using a," Pierce pulled out a small notebook and flipped though a few pages," a Zirikian pistol."

"Damn," D.E. blurted out.

"Do you think he knows something," Ace deadpanned.

"This things a nasty piece of work," he told them. "It's not exactly illegal but it’s hard as hell to get your hands on one. People shot with this thing had to be identified by the left over ashes."

"And I just lost my appetite," Boomer slid his tray away from him.

"That weapon alone means he's one of ours," Dan said as he got up

"One more thing," Pierce said, "since you’ll be in the city you'll be going out in civvies. I was able to keep information about you to a minimum back in Turkey because of the small number of people involved. A city this size is going to a lot harder, especially of you fight in public. So keep it to a minimum. You're only going to have you License and SP-Shooters with you so be careful with this one, because I don't think the vests are going to help much."

"You heard the Major," Dan said as that sunk in. "So which one of you really know this city?"

D.E. raised a hand, "My family’s been living here for five years."

"Fine, you're driving."

***
They waited until nightfall to pile into a jeep and head out. Dan had a red shirt, black jeans and his bomber jacket on. D.E. was wearing a dark colored shirt and pants and a blue wind breaker on behind the wheel. Ace was in back with the others wearing a pink T-shirt under her jean jacket and blue jeans. Boomer was wearing some yellow L.A. Laker gear while Rev had his Green hoodie over his uniform. D.E. stopped the jeep in front of the last store reported robbed and they got out. All of them stared at the hole in the glass door. "This guy doesn't know the meaning of the word subtle," Boomer commented.

Dan switched his License over to Phone, "Michelle, anything on a pattern yet?"

"Only that his targets are pretty close together," she said. "If he strikes again it should be on that block or one close to you."

"Thanks Michelle. Let us know if you find anything else."

"Will do Cap."

He looked at the others, "I'd know what we do in the Army. But you guys are the cops, what would you do in this situation? Give me some options."

Ace started, "If it was me, I'd split us up into two groups and search the area. See if anybody saw or heard anything while we're looking for him."

"That's what my gut is telling me," D.E. added

"I would check the store for anybody residue he left might have left behind," Rev said. “If there is enough I might be able to track where he has been."

"I'd have a little easier time with that plan if we had the Shepard," Dan admitted. "Can you do it with a hand scanner?"

"He can if I help him," Boomer said.

"Sounds like we got a plan. Rev, you and Boomer scan that store. Me, Ace and D.E are going to scope out the surrounding area in the Jeep. Before I forget," Dan reached into the glove box and pulled out some wallets. He opened them up showing them the police badge and ID card inside. "Michelle had these made up, if anybody asks you're part of the Springfield PD." He handed one to each of them. "Do your best to explain Rev if it comes up. While you two are scanning that store remember that there's still a jewelry store on this block that hasn't been hit yet so keep an ear open. If you hear or see this guy call us and we'll come as fast as we can. And if he got the weapon we think he does don't try to take him unless you have to."

"I understand," Rev told him.

"We'll be careful," Boomer added. Dan and Ace jumped back into the jeep and drove off. "Time to do some actual police work Rev."

***
Radon walked over a bridge fingering the pistol under his tunic. One more hit, that had to be enough to buy the other one. Just one more hit was all he needed. Unless that bastard Chatrox decided to up the price of the other one. He wouldn't put it past that damn chameleon. Old time sake, right. Chatrox would sell out his own mother the moment he thought it would save his hide. Well nothing was going to keep him from getting the other pistol. And if Chatrox tried to take this one, then he’d be sorry.

He was interrupted in his thinking when a human walked into him. A drunk one at that. "Watch it you... you freak," he said. "Those Earth First guys are right. You are... you are trying to take over everything." He stumbled into a fighting stance. "Well... well I won't... won't let ya do it. Put up your dukes."

"How about I put up this instead," he pulled out the pistol and aimed it at the human’s head. He sobered up pretty quickly.

"Now wait a moment," he started sweating. “I didn't mean anything. I... I was only playing around." The human started running away, Radon shot him in the back. There was a scream for a brief moment before the human turned to ashes.

A jeep passed by that instant and stopped. A blond haired human stood in the passenger seat and shouted, "Radon!" The human jumped out of the vehicle and pulled out SP-Shooters.

"Deka," Radon said as he fired. The jumped behind any cover they could find before they returned fire.

Dan pulled out his License and called the others, "Rev, Boomer we located Radon. We need you at these coordinates now."

"We'll be there as fast as we can Cap," Boomer said.

"Cap, he's running!", D.E. called out

"We don't have a choice, change stand by." They ran after with their License out. “Emergency! DekaOps!" The Dekesuits appeared in a digital flash of light. "Stop or we'll fire." Radon kept running and Dan ordered, "Fire a warning shot." He pulled out his D-Colt and the other their D-Shooters and fired over his head. Radon stopped, turned and fired wildly at them. They had to jump out of the way. He reached under his tunic and pulled out a grenade. Eight Anaroids and two blue headed Batsuroids formed. "I'm seriously starting to hate those things."

"Fire," one of the Batsuroids ordered. They jumped to the ground to avoid the shot. Radon started running again.

"Come on!" Dan got up and started firing with his D-Colt. An Anaroid went down and D.E. and Ace started firing theirs. The Batsuroids avoided the shots and fired back. Dan and Ace got hit with the shots and went down. D.E. jumped up and started firing at the group. Ace got to a knee and started firing away with her D-Shot. Dan switched to multishot and started firing too. Radon jumped off the bridge onto the street below.

"I'm after Radon, D.E. shouted.

"D.E. don't," Dan ordered but he already jumped off after him. Where was a rank fearing private when you needed one?

Ace charged the group, knocked down an Anaroid and rolled under a shot one of the Batsuroids fired. She came up with her D-Shot aimed at its chest and fired. She turned to find the other one right there and got hit and dropped her weapon. Dan planted his D-Knife into the chest of one Anaroid and tried to reach her. Two Anaroids got in his path, one was able knocked the D-Colt out of his hands. Ace was thrown into the bridge railing and barely avoided the Batsuroids kick. She was able to pull out her D-Knife and stab it in the shoulder of its weapon arm. She didn't think it was possible but the robot looked like it was getting angry.

Dan took out his D-Rod and blocked a swipe at his head. He started swinging and was able to back them off. He pressed a button on the handle and the rod started glowing red. Dan slashed through two of the Anaroids and they dropped. A couple of more took their place and he saw Ace's D-Shot right behind them. This was going to be tricky. He reached into his backpack and waited a moment. One of the Anaroids took a swing that he blocked and shot the other one with his holdout D-Shooter, one shot. The other one tried to react but he shot it as well, two shots two left. He fired the last two at the Batsuroid, grabbed the D-Shot and tossed it over the robot had, "Ace catch!"

She caught it, pumped it and fired. The Batsuroid stood there so she fired again, this time it went down. Rev and Boomer ran up just then and took out the remaining Anaroids. "Could you cut it a little closer next time?!", she yelled at them.

"You were the ones with the jeep!", Boomer yelled back.

Dan knelt beside Ace, "You all right?"

"I'm great," she said sarcastically.

"Where is Terry?", Rev asked looking around.

"After Radon, anybody see an exit ramp leading to that street?"

"I'm pretty sure we passed one on the way here," Boomer said handing the D-Colt back to Dan.

"Lead the way."

***
D.E. chased after Radon and finally caught him. He tackled him to the ground by the legs. Radon was able to get a foot free and kicked him away. They both got to their feet and started fighting. D.E. was a little stronger but Radon was faster. D.E. spun away from a punch and pulled his D-Shooter. They both turned around and was staring into the barrel of the others gun, standoff. "Do you have any honor human?", Radon asked out of the blue.

"What do you mean?"

"I believe there is an old custom on this planet called a duel. Back to back then walk ten paces, I believe that how you humans do it."

"Give me one good reason why I should do that," he demanded.

"Because if you don't I'll shoot you now."

"That's a pretty good reason." Slowly they lowered their weapons to their side and stood back to back. Walking ten paces D.E. turned around and found himself staring down the barrel of the Zirikian pistol. "What happened to the duel?"

"I changed my mind and I already shot one of you humans in the back already. Do you have anything to say before I send you to the afterlife?"

D.E. nodded, "It's not over until somebody's captured or dead." he dropped back and fired hitting Radon in the leg. D.E whipped his leg up and kicked the pistol out of his hands. “And you forgot about my gun. A buddy of mine says that a big no no." He got to his feet, knocked Radon back and switched his License over to Judge, "Target orders," holding it out in front of him he pressed the button.

The area went dark and a red X and a blue circle started flashing in front of Radon. After he was scanned the X shined brightly, "Eliminate target." He closed his License and unlatched his D-Shot. D.E. connected the two and aimed it at the reptile. Pulling back the grip caused energy to flow through the weapon and entered the barrel. "Strikeout!" he shouted and pulled the trigger. A blue energy beam shot out and hit the alien, Radon was deleted. "Got ya."

Dan and the other found him a moment later and they deactivated the Dekametal. "Where's Radon?", Dan asked.

D.E. waved his License in front of him, "Scanned and deleted."

"Good. And for future reference, when I tell you to stop you stop, got it?"

"I hear you Cap." D.E started grinning, "But to be fair you yelled out ‘don't’ not ‘stop’."

"Don't get smart," Ace said as she was going to smack him but Dan stopped her.

"Ace, I'm only going to tell you this once. You can yell at them, you can push them to their limits, you can even send them to their death. But for some reason you can't hit them." D.E. relax until he saw Dan look at him with a wicked looking grin on his face. "You can, however, get creative on how you want to get your point across. Think I'll leave that one up to you."

"Anything goes?", she asked.

"Almost anything," he clarified," and I have to approve it first."

Ace thought for a second, "Can I have him detail the Shepard?"

"That's a bit much, don't you think?"

"Whew," D.E. blew out.

After a moment Dan said, "Make it the Hounds, both of them."

"With a toothbrush?", Ace offered.

"I'll allow it," Dan said before walking off.

Ace clenched her hands in front of her chest, "Yes."

"Glad I'm not you buddy," Boomer said while slapping him on the back.

"You better start praying I don't swipe your toothbrush behind you back," D.E. told him

"I am never going to understand these humans," Rev muttered.

***
Nearby Chatrox saw the entire thing and his cold blood boiled. That was Stevens he saw the other night. Being assigned to this back water planet might not be so bad if he could eliminate that human while he was here. Looking down he saw a leaflet for Earth First and grinned. This was going to take some planning, and some pride swallowing, but it will do nicely. There was no better way to take out an enemy than to make sure he was distracted by something else first.

Special Police DekaOps
6

-----
OP- Tokusou Sentai DekaRanger- metal instrumental version
-----

An abandoned building in the middle of the city was something most people never paid attention to. That particular building suited his needs just fine. Agent Chatrox knew he needed a place to base his operations. And the skills those SPD fools on Nagaus 7 taught him came in handy to fix the interior to his needs. He waited patiently as his communicator finally came to life, "Has the package arrived?"

"Yes Agent Chatrox," the voice on the other end replied. "But there is a fear that the SPD space station orbiting the planet may have detected it."

"We'll worry about it later," he snapped, his green skin shimmered slightly. "Are you able to get the package before SPD does?"

"No, there was a problem that arose with the guidance system as it entered the atmosphere. The package missed the target zone by a hundred parsecs."

"Where did it land?", he hissed. None of the other Agents could have had this much trouble with their deliveries.

"Projection from the scanners say it landed in the country of Mexico."

"Mexico," he wondered out loud, "is there a Deka unit currently in Mexico?"

"None that I'm currently aware of. The country is neutral as far as SPD command is concerned. DekaRail is the closest unit currently active. Is there a chance they might send them?"

Chatrox thought it over, "Perhaps, but it's more than likely that they'll send the other Deka unit in the country to retrieve it."

"Agent Chatrox, there is no active SPD unit in North America other than DekaRail."

He smirked, "Don't be so sure of that. Time is of the essence, the package must be retrieved before any Deka unit gets there, is that understood. If you have to use what I taught you to complete your task." And if SPD does arrive use any means you feel is necessary to eliminate them."

"Yes Agent Chatrox." He turned off his communicator and hissed in anger. Chatrox looked at the crumpled up Earth First pamphlet in his hand. If his plan was to succeed he needed that device.

***
Rev studied the controller Robert placed in his hands. His human friend had convinced him to try this thing called Dynasty Warriors. Robert assured him that the "game" would be easy to pick up. Behind them Terry was applying a finish to an old Earth weapon that he said belonged to his Grandfather. Trish came into the rec room going over a report in her hand before sitting in on one of the chairs in the room. Rev didn't want to question Captain Steven's decision to make the youngest member of the team status as second in command, it was highly unorthodox. But the young woman has so far proven worthy of the role. Whatever the Captain saw in her was right on the mark.

Terry looked up at her, "I thought we agreed, no work in the rec room."

"Yeah Ace," Robert said not taking his eye off the way Rev was playing, "I'd figured the number two person on the team wouldn't break that rule."

"It's not work,” she said, "it's a performance review of the Shepard laser. I don't want it going out when we need it."

"Sounds like work to me," Boomer said. Trish ignored him and put the report between them. "So where's Cap? Working on his ‘form’ again?"

"I saw him talking to Michelle in the Command Room," Ace replied.

"Hmm," Terry uttered as he put his rag on the table, "they seem to talk a lot, don't they?"

"You noticed that too," Boomer took his gaze off the screen just long enough to look back at him. This was another trait these humans had that he was trying to understand, he believed Michelle called it idle gossip. "Rev watch out for the group of guys on your left. Does anybody else think there's something there might be something there?"

"Why is it engaged couples always try to get other people hooked up?", Trish asked.

"Not all of them," Terry said, "but you got to admit outside of the Major he seems pretty close to Michelle." Rev remembered a conversation he had with the Captain about making the hard call. He felt that might have something to do with it seeing how Michelle did not go out into the field with the rest of them. Of course that was a private conversation between the two of them. He did not want to break the Captain's trust.

Trish finally put down her report, "Wait, me and Michelle talk all the time. I think she would have mentioned something like that."

"It's in the early stages," Robert spoke up, "they're still feeling each other out. That's what happened between me and Lisa."

"Was that before or after you blackmailed her into marrying you," Terry joked.

Robert actually looked upset, which surprised all of them, "Never make a joke about that, got it?"

"Sorry buddy I didn't realize I was crossing a line."

"It's cool dude," Robert said after a moment. "Lisa is the best thing that ever happened to me. It's bad enough her family thinks I tricked her into marrying me I don't need to hear it from my friends too." Terry nodded and all was apparently forgiven just like that. Rev was amazed at how fast bad feeling between the two of them could disappear. To his knowledge the two of them have never met before joining DekaOps. But they acted like birth mates at times at how they reacted around each other and how fast they forgive each other. It was truly the deepest form of friendship he has ever seen on any planet.

"Guys listen...," the Captain started as he came in but stopped as he looked in his direction. "Rev, you play video games?"

"I apparently do now," was all he said while he tried to understand the appeal of this past time.

"I'm amazed I'm surprised by anything after joining this unit," he muttered before getting back to business. "We just got a job from command."

"Cap," Terry whined, "no work in the rec room."

"We all agreed," Trish added.

The Captain wasn't fazed, "As field leader I have the authority to over ride that agreement any time I deem it necessary."

"Since when?", Boomer demanded.

"Since now," the Captain said. His voice and expression told them he wasn't going to accept any kind of argument on the matter. Captain Stevens was an interesting being. Despite his admitted reluctance to assume the position he had totally embraced the role as leader almost from the start. Rev also noticed that despite his wish to remain emotionally distant from the rest of them, to use an earth expression, the walls were not holding. He thought that was it at any point. "Besides it's a pretty simple job, we got a retrieval mission in Mexico."

"We're sneaking into Mexico?", Boomer asked.

"Actually SPD was invited by the Mexican government," the Captain informed them. "The SpaceBase spotted a ship landing a mile outside Puerto Penasce in Sonara, Mexico and so did the locals. As far as the government is concerned if it feel out of the sky it's SPD jurisdiction.

"But us?," Trish asked.

"I know, but the only units available were us, DekaRanger Patrol and DekaRail. The Patrol is a little busy at the moment and they're not sure if the cadets are ready for something international yet. So far there hasn't been any Alienizer activity in the yet and they want this kept as quiet as possible. That means it goes to us, and the Major specifically said he doesn't want a repeat of what happened with Radon."

"Well if we're being invited in wouldn't the local authorities help us cover our track," Terry inquired.

"It's not that," he started to explain. "Pierce was able to use his connections to get a media blackout on what happened with Radon. But people still talked and there were reporters willing to listen, especially those who are anti-SPD. Some news program ran with the story any way, including this one tabloid show called Inside Extra that really latched itself onto the story. So it goes without saying that we don't need to gives these guys any more ammo."

They all nodded. Trish looked like she was concentrating on something, "Since we're being invited in silent op doesn't apply right?"

"Somebody has been studying," Captain Steven said with approval.

"Teacher's pet," Robert said with a smile. Then he saw the look Trish was giving him. "Whoa, you can't hit me. Cap said you couldn't."

Trish raised an a single eyebrow as she calmly said, "D.E." Terry picked up an orange that was in a bowl on the table and threw it at Robert.

"Ow!," he cried as he rubbed his arm, "traitor." Terry just shrugged his shoulders.

Steven put a hand up to his face, "I definitely wouldn't have done that. Any way it's a pretty easy mission, we should be back in time for dinner. But the simple ones can surprise you so I want everybody in full gear just in case."

Trish got out of the chair, "You heard the man people, let's move out." Rev was ready to comply, however for some strange reason he had a hard time letting go if the controller.

***
They arrived at the co-ordinates they were given by the Mexican government in no time, but they did not land right away. There was the ship just like they expected. The guy standing by the car, on the other hand, was unexpected. Should have told Ace to activate the cloak before they got there. "What do we do now Cap?", D.E. asked

"We'll circle the area for a bit, if he doesn't leave soon we'll land a click away and wait."

"Cap," Boomer said while listening to his earpiece, "We're getting a hailing call on all radio frequencies."

Dan raised an eyebrow and went over to the communication board, "Let me hear it."

"Hello?", said a voice with a Hispanic accent, "You are DekaRanger correct?"

"Ah...," he looked at the rest of them, "yeah, Special Police DekaRanger at your service."

"Excellent," the voice sounded happy. "We weren't expecting you this quickly. Why did you not answer my previous hails?"

"Sorry about that, we weren't expecting a welcoming committee. Pardon me, but who am I talking to again?"

"I apologize, my name is Artega, I am a local city councilman. I wanted to make sure the situation is contained. No need to panic the locals yes?"

"We'll do our best to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. You might want to vacate the area yourself. I'm sure it's nothing but I don't want to worry about a civilian getting hurt in case things go bad."

"Of course I understand, please contact us after your mission has ended."

"Not a problem, ah... DekaRed out." Dan ran two fingers across his neck telling Boomer to end the transmission.

"Smooth one 'DekaRed'," Ace joked as he sat back down. He watched as the figure got into his car and drove off.

"It got him out of here didn't it?"

"I'm not sure it was wise to lie to a government official like that," Rev commented.

"It was half a lie Rev," Dan told him.

"But he was looking for DekaRanger."

"And we are the DekaRanger covert operation team. Like I said it was half a lie."

"I still don't think it was right," Rev returned his attention to his board.

"Objection noted Rev," Dan said, "I'll put it my mission report. What do we got on the scanners."

"No life signs are being detected in the immediate area," Rev reported.

D.E added, "I'm not detecting any active weapon signatures or anything from the ship power source."

"I got nada on any kind of signal from the ship. I'm not even getting an ID code," Boomer piped in

"It didn't crash land from the looks of things," Ace said. "Something had to be piloting it."

"Take her down Ace, "Dan told her. In moments they surrounded the vehicle and after opening it to discover whatever, or whomever, was inside was long gone."I knew I was going to regret saying this was going to be simple."

"Captain I found a set of footprints," Rev called out.

"Can you tell what they belonged too?"

"No," he said as he ran his scan. "I am detecting trace amounts of metal, non that come from this planet."

"Bots, great." Dan squatted down and studied the tracks. There were two sets of track that he could see. One set coming from the ship and another set going to the ship. His gut was telling him one thing, "They were retrieving whatever was on that ship. Fan out and search the area, they had to come here in something." All of them went a few yards from the ship before Rev and D.E. both called out that they found tire tracks. There was a big empty spot with the tracks going in different directions, the footprints also headed into the blank area.

"Well that's helpful," Boomer commented.

"It looks like whoever did this tried to wipe out the tracks from here to there," She pointed at the distance between D.E. and Rev. "I don't get it, why go to that much trouble to clearing just that area?"

"Remind me to ask once we find them," Dan told her. "But these guys are good, I'll give them that."

"I think we should send two of the guys to follow the tracks in each direction," she said. "We're bound to find something. And we can back up who ever finds the vehicle first in the Shepard."

Dan let out small chuckle as he told her, "You'll be doing my job before I know it. D.E., Rev take the Hounds and follow the track. Call us when you find anything. Boomer use your D-Hack on the ship computer if you can find it, maybe it can tell us what we're dealing with."

***
Rev followed the track in the dirt road as he rode the Machine Hound. He found himself checking out the local scenery as well. This planet could be most beautiful when left alone. That alone increased his desire to prevent the Alienizers from having their way with it. Of course the humans had to learn not to ruin the planet on their own. But it was not his place to tell them that. Hopefully they will learn that before it was too late. He noticed the trail he was following went around a curve ahead. He slowed his speed to make sure he didn't run into any surprises.

A car was stopped on the side of the road, the trunk was sitting close to the ground. His SPD training told him something rather heavy was weighing it down. He got off the Hound as he looked at the ground, the track lead to the car. He found his target. He was about to call for the others when a voice said, "What is a Zalmanian doing here?" He turned to see a blue headed Batsuroid standing behind him.

He quickly pulled out his License, "Emergency! DekaOps!"

Rev was surrounded by a green digital field as the DekaMetal formed around him in a flash of light. It turned into a black body suit in a burst. A dark green stripe went down the center of his body, from his shoulders to the top of his boots, on the left side of his chest the green and black formed the outline for the number three. A backpack solidified in his back and the D-Shot appeared in a flash. "Face on!", Deka Metal flashed over his head and formed a dark green helmet.

He let his SPD training take over as the Batsuroid started firing at him. Rev had little to no cover as so he had to fire back in the open for now. Batsuroids were more intelligent than Anaroids, therefore more dangerous. Fortunately it looked like this one wasn't carrying any grenades, so that was one thing he didn't have to worry about. Rev ran as he returned fire, he noticed the robot was trying to keep him away from the car. If he survived this he would find out if he was right about it being his target or not. He made it to a rock that as large enough to give him some cover and took a moment to catch his breath. The problem with fighting a machine was that the machine did not get tired. Perhaps he could buy himself some time as the human say, "What was in the space craft?"

"None of your concern," the Batsuroid answered. He could hear it get closer.

Rev looked at the D-Shooter in his hand and holstered it. He centered his spirit and calmed himself. His cast may have trained him to be Shalimon but that did not mean he was defenseless. Eons of experience had taught them that even one that did the Great Spirit's work was not safe from those who would do harm to others. When it was close enough he jumped over the rock and planted both his feet into its chest. It crashed on the ground as Rev pulled out his D-Knife and stabbed at its head. The blue headed robot rolled out of the way as the blade pierced the ground.

He blocked a swing at his head then threw the robot to the ground. Rev took out his D-Rod as it got to its feet. The rod glowed green as he pressed a button on it and slashed the Batsuroid diagonally. The robot sparked slightly before falling to the ground. He put the D-Rod back as he said, "I believe my team mates would say 'got you'." Like on earlier mission he said a small prayer to the Great Spirit asking for forgiveness for taking a life. The Batsuroid may have been mechanical life but it was still a life in his eyes. Rev deactivated the Dekasuit as he switched his license over to phone. "Captain Stevens come in."

"Tell me you got something Rev," he said over the link. "D.E. reported back bit ago and came up with nothing."

"I believe I located the target vehicle. I would have reported it earlier but I was confronted by a Batsuroid."

"Why didn't you call for back up?"

"I was a little busy at the time but the danger has passed."

"Ok Rev, you did the right thing. Check out the target for confirmation."

"It appears to be in a locked trunk of a car," he informed the Captain.

"Bust it open," the Captain told him without hesitation. "If it's the wrong target I'll take any heat for it."

"Are you sure Captain?" Stevens said he was. He did not want his friend to get into trouble for something he had did, but he would not disobey an order. Rev aimed his SP-Shooter at the lock and fired. Inside the trunk was not what he was expecting. "Rocks?", he said out loud.

"Rev can you repeat that, I don't think I heard you right."

"The trunk is full of rocks to weigh it down. The tracks I was following lead to this vehicle."

Steven let out a small curse. "Rev had back to the Shepard," the Captain told him, "I'm not liking this."

He nodded, "At once Captain."

***
Dan sat in his chair on board the Shepard as they went over the facts they knew. Things were not adding up for the bigger picture, which meant they were missing some pieces. But what in the hell were they? "Alright we know that there was something in the ship and it was taken away, but both trails we followed lead nowhere."

"Maybe it was air lifted away," Ace offered. "That would explain why a section of the trail is missing."

"And the car was used as a decoy," Boomer added.

"But according to Michelle no aircraft was seen entering or leaving the area," D.E. countered.

"Which means we're back at the beginning."

Rev thought it over, "We might be overlooking a factor we already knew about."

"What?", Ace asked him.

"Councilman Artega," he answered. Dan slapped his hand against his forehead. "Of course it might be a long shot."

"Remind me to tell you the old joke about how to tell if a politician is lying. Boomer..."

"I'm already opening the link to base Cap."

"How do you tell if a politician is lying?", Rev asked D.E.

"Their lips are moving," he replied. "Joke works with lawyers too."

"I... don't get it."

"Stevens to OpsBbase," Dan called out after Boomer gave to ok.

"Base here, "the Major answered, "what is it?"

"What ever was in that ship was long gone by the time we got here but we might have lead. We're going to need to run a check on a Councilman from the area, last name was Artega."

"I'm checking now," Michelle said. After a few moments she looked puzzled, "That's strange."

"And those two words have never been followed by anything good," Dan said.

"According to this Artega was found dead in his home six hours ago. And his car was found abandoned about twenty minutes ago in a parking garage."

"Find a scan of that car and send it to Michelle," Dan ordered. A few moments later an image was found and sent back to base.

"That fits his car description," She confirmed.

"So who was impersonating him?" the Major asked, echoing their thoughts.

Ace thought of something, "Didn't Rev say he didn't get any life signs in the area?"

Rev checked his scanner logs from the time period, "There were no humanoid life signs in the area when we arrived."

Dan leaned back into his chair, "Ladies and gentlemen, we just officially been had."

***
Chatrox watched as an old truck pulled up to the building. An orange spike headed Igaroid jumped out and pulled the tarp off the cargo he was traveling with. "Well done," he said. "Was there any problems?"

"An SPD unit showed up but they fell for the ruse just like you said they would."

"Excellent, take it inside."

"At once," the Igadroid got back in the truck and did as ordered. Chatrox wrapped his cloak around him. The last time he was connected to a genetic resequencer he gained his ability to turn invisible. And the pain was worth it. Now he had to go through that pain again if he wanted the ability to look human when he needed to.

Special Police DekaOps
7

-----
OP- Alter Bridge- Metalingus
-----

Dan faced the wall of the gym with a look of determination of his face as he started boxing his shadow. Before he arrived the Major told everybody to stay out of his way when he started doing this. A point he nailed home when he bit the head off of somebody wanting his signature on a report a couple of days ago. Now they gave him as wide berth that was possible, even his own team mates. He might have found the guy and apologized if most of free time his mind was occupied by one thing, Mexico.

"Penny for your thought?", somebody said. He turned his head sharply ready to chew somebody else out. His expression soften a bit when he saw it was Michelle.

He returned his attention to his shadow, "You'd be overcharged."

"I'll be the judge of that. Look Cap... Dan, I know you’re upset about what happened in Mexico..."

"Why," he cut her off, "would I be upset by the fact we were tricked like a bunch of rookies?" He stopped boxing and grabbed a towel. Michelle offered him a bottle of water that he thanked her for. "But that's not what's bothering me," he finally admitted.

"So what's really bothering you then?"

Dan sighed before answering, "My family is career military, for as long as I can remember it's been drilled into my head that the enemy could be anybody. Five missions with this unit and I'm already expecting the enemy to not look human."

"Well to be fair, the target your sent after aren't exactly human."

"I still should have checked out Artega, or whatever the hell it was before it left."

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty," Michelle told him. She looked at him for a bit. "You know, from the stories the Major told me about you, not once did you seem like the self pity type."

He turned away, "Yeah, well the Major doesn't know everything about me."

"Well that's going to be a bit of a surprise to the Major," she said walking around so she could look him in the face. "According to him he is the foremost expert on all thing Daniel Stevens," she had a straight face but her eyes were smiling. He smiled despite his mood.

"I'll burst his bubble some other time." Dan sat on a bench and she joined him. "I guess I need to get my mind off the whole mess huh?" She agreed. "So how are things on news info front?"

"Things have quieted down a bit after Rescue saved their area and the actual DekaRed," she elbowed him lightly in the side, "was cleared. Inside Extra on the other hand.....," she trailed off.

"Still trying to figure out who we are right?"

She nodded, "This one 'reporter' they have, John McGee, seem obsessed with it."

"How obsessed?"

"He's camped out in town."

"Good thing it's a big city." Dan finished the last of the water, "Well, if you will excuse me there's a speed bag over there with my name on it."

"Do you want a sparring partner? Or would you rather do some private one on one?", she asked with a wicked little grin.

"Are you ever going to stop that?"

"Are you ever going to take me up on it?", she shot back as she got up and left. Dan watched her leave wondering how cold the showers around here got.

***
Ace was enjoying her time away from OpsBase. Of course if the Major knew she was on the lookout for parts for the Hounds he might have thought twice about letting her out. And she already had an eye on a couple of special parts as it was. There were about five things on a mental list she was making for Michelle to check out. She knew they would work no problem, but like her Dad said it never hurt to double check. Now she just had to figure out a way to sneak the proper forms onto the Major's desk.

A familiar looking red head in a yellow T-shirt caught her attention. She recognized the blond haired woman with him as his fiancé. He showed everybody her picture enough when he first arrived at base that she should know what she looked like. She was going to go in the other direction to give them some "couple" time when Boomer spotted her, "Hey Ace!"

"Hey," she waved weakly as they came up to her. She had SPD special training and yet she couldn't think of a way to get out of there.

"What are you doing out here Ace?", Boomer asked.

"Just getting a little air."

"Same here. Oh crap, I nearly forgot. Lisa," he turned to his fiancé, "I like you to meet Trish Fieldman."

"It's nice to finally meet you Ace," Lisa said. Ace was a little taken aback then she remembered that Boomer called her by her nickname.

"Same here, Bobby talk about you a lot."

"I'd bet he does," she said, lightly punching him on the arm. "He tells me you’re the pilot."

"Ah... yeah," Ace tried to keep the confusion off her face.

"And second in command too. I got to tell you that's so cool."

"Huh?", she shot a look at Boomer. He did not tell her everything about them.

He noticed and started to sweat a little, "Ah yeah, were did you want to go eat again honey?"

"That can wait," she told him, "how often am I going to get a chance to meet one of your Ops team mates?"

"Ops?!", she threw her left arm around his neck and started squeezing. "What part of covert operations do you not understand?"

"Gak!" he choked out. "Cap said you couldn't touch me!"

"He said I couldn't hit you, he didn't say anything about putting you in a headlock."

"The Major knows I know," Lisa said suddenly.

"Nice try lady," Ace told her. "His wife doesn't even know he's involved."

"No really, Bobby made me promise not to tell anybody."

"Even D.E. family knows what he does," Boomer got out. "You can check with him."

"You better believe I'm going to check this story out." Her License went off, without letting go of his neck she pulled it out and switched it to phone, "Ace here."

"Ace," Cap voice said, "we got a case so you better get back here ASAP."

"Right, Ace out." She let go so Boomer could answer his License.

"Ace look," Lisa started, "I haven't told anybody, not even my own family. I would never betray Bobby's trust like that. My God, I can only imagine how fast my family would be calling that Inside Extra crap if they knew."

"Ok, I'll take you word for it," Ace said after a moment. "But if there's a leak anywhere you are top of the list."

"Would you relax Ace," Boomer said, "I don't think Cap would get that paranoid." He turned back to Lisa and got a really dopey look on his face, "I'll be back as soon as I can sweetie."

"I'll be waiting," she said. "Now you be careful, I don't want my little Boom-Boom to get hurt." Ace turned around so they wouldn't see her stick her finger down her throat.

***
"All right troops, listen up," The Major ordered. Ace and Boomer returned to base and got changed in near record time. Boomer kept glancing at Ace for some reason, but there be time later to figure out why. "Word has it a new type of weapon is being pushed on the streets."

"Another version of the rifle?", Dan asked.

"No this one a little closer to home." A picture of a blue frog type alien appeared on the screen. "This is Professor Gremlin. According to reports he discovered a way to mimic SPD technology, specifically the D-Magnums."

"Now that's hitting below the belt," D.E. said.

"I don't have to tell you but the last thing SPD needs is copy cat tech out there in the galaxy."

Michelle spoke up, "It's important you keep his computer intact. We need to know exactly what he was able to duplicate. And more importantly if he sold any of it yet and how many."

Rev said, "If he was able to make a duplicate of the Dekametal the Alienizers would be much harder to stop."

"That goes without saying," the Major replied. “We already know what happened on this planet when they got a hold of SPD tech. Put that on a galactic scale and I don't even want to think about it."

"Are the other Deka units up to speed with this?", Ace asked.

"Yes, and they're already keeping an eye out for any sign of the copy cat tech."

"I'd say it's a safe bet that every Agent on the planet sent some bots to protect him," Dan said.

"We don't have any official confirmation of that," The Major said. "But I wouldn't bet against you."

Michelle changed the image on the screen to a small island off of Hawaii, “Intelligence points to here as his location, his most likely location any way."

"Most likely?", Dan said in disbelief.

"Reports about Gremlin are sketchy at best. Everything says he's avoiding any area with a Deka unit covering it."

"But Hawaii is part of the US," Boomer said. "Everybody knows DekaRail covers this area."

"True," the Major answered, "but there had been scattered reports of a human sized blue frog being sighted. I don't like going on rumor but right now it's the only lead we got."

Dan nodded, "Like you said, I love to fill in the blanks."

"Then you’re going to love this assignment. You people know the drill, move out!"

"Rodger!", they saluted and headed for the ready room.

"Somebody remember to pack the sun block," Boomer said as he exited the room. Dan stopped just long enough to shake his head. He reached the door and gave the Major and Michelle a handgun shooting motion as the door closed.

"Now the part I hate," The Major said as he headed for his office, "the waiting."

Michelle took her seat at the table and started tracking down any piece of info on the island she could find, "You and me both."

***
"I can't believe all you did was make her apologize," Boomer complained to Dan. They arrived on the island a half hour ago. He decided it would be best to split up into two groups to check out the sightings. Ace and Rev went north of their landing zone to check things out while he, D.E and Boomer went south. Of course Boomer decided then would be a good time to let him know about the headlock. Dan knew his team well enough that making Ace apologize would be more effective than anything else he could think of. Not that he let Boomer know that.

"You should have told him you cried or something man," D.E. told him.

"I am not going to tell him I cried!", he shouted. Dan turned around and clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Keep talking and I'll tell Ace she can take off the kid gloves, got it?", he told him. Boomer nodded. He shot a look at D.E. who put up his hands. Letting go of Boomer he turned back around and kept going. Both of them kept quiet for a long time while he concentrated on his surroundings. Dan would have done this part by himself but it wouldn't have been smart in this situation. Something caught his eye and he immediately held up his left hand. D.E. and Boomer stopped as ordered as he knelt down to get a closer look. A couple of broken twigs were barely hanging on to a bush. It looked pretty fresh too. Dan looked around and saw a couple of more a little further up. He drew his SP-Shooter and the other did the same. Waving them on he cautiously moved forward. A very loud crunch made them stop. D.E. was about to accuse Boomer of making the noise when Dan held up a hand.

A blue frog in a white lab coat came into view, "Hello, hello yes, yes. SPD you be I see."

"How dumb is this guy?", Boomer asked.

"He ain't the dumb one kid," Dan informed him.

"We walked into one didn't we?", D.E. asked as he looked around.

"Yes, yes," Gremlin said and stomped the ground with his foot twice. The ground under them fell away and they dropped about fifteen feet into a rectangular room. The ceiling closed back up and the overhead lights came on. They only way out appeared to be a sliding door. Gremlin voice came over a hidden speaker. "Black badge is new, think information should be worth something to right person."

"That frog's on my last nerve already," Dam muttered. "Change standby. Emergency! DekaOps!" they pressed the button on top of the Ops License revealing a black badge inside. Nothing happened, "What?"

Gremlin could be heard laughing with glee, "So happy that worked, very rich it will make me yes, yes. Figured out DekaMetal activation sequence, but more fun this way. Very, very rich"

"We got to get out of her now. Get that door opened now," Dan ordered.

"Only open from the other side yes, yes. Hmm, SPD only travel in packs of more than three, means more out there." They looked at each other, Rev and Ace. Dan started pulling at the doors edges. "Think guards should play with them a bit yes, yes." A click could be heard from the speaker and things went silent.

"That looks like it might be an access panel," Boomer pointed out, too bad there were no visible screws or anything.

"Take aim," Dan ordered. They pointed their SP-Shooters at the panel, on his word they all fired. The panel fell off but nothing but circuit board were on the other side of it. "Where's Michelle when you need her?"

"Too bad the D-Hacks are in the hard pack with the DekaSuits," D.E. said. "We could probably use them right about now."

"Worry about it later." Dan switched his License over to phone, "Ace come in."

"Ace here," she answered. Dan relaxed a bit, at least Gremlin didn't block this function.

"We fell into a trap..."

"Me and Rev are on our way."

"Hold it, Gremlin's on his way to you. He found a way to keep the Dekametal from forming. Suit up now if you can and concentrate on him. We'll figure a way out of here in the meantime."

She hesitated before replying, "Rodger, Ace out."

"Now how are we suppose to do that?", D.E. asked. "Boomer might be able to blow the door open but we got no place to take cover.” While they were talking Boomer was studying the circuitry in the panel. Before either of them knew it he was taking off his pack and hooking up his comm. gear to it. "Trying to boost the signal?"

"Not exactly," he said concentrating.

"Now how is you communication gear suppose to help us out of here then?"

"I'm going to use it to communicate with the door. If I can get the right frequency I might be able to open the door."

Dan looked at D.E. ,"Should I be scared now, because that made perfect sense."

"Cap," he said, "you just had your Boomer moment. Don't worry we all had it."

After working on it for fifteen minutes the door suddenly slid open. Boomer was grinning ear to ear, "And there you go."

Dan clapped him on the shoulder, "Kid, I take back every nasty thing I ever thought about you," and headed out into the hallway.

"Than... hey, wait a minute."

***
"Trish are you all right?!", Rev yelled out. Both of them were hiding behind a set of boulders. Good thing Cap told them to activate the suits when he did. Five minutes after he contacted them she took the most hits from a barrage of fire from the tree line. Before they scrambled for cover she was able to see a set of gray humanoid robot, a design she never seen before, being led by an Igadroid coming in their direction. "Trish!", he called out again a little more urgently.

"Had the breath knocked out of me," she called back. She looked over the rock to see a couple of the gray robots form a black version the Hybrid Magnum, or something like it. "Not good," She and Rev jumped out from hiding firing their D-Shooters and traded positions. One of the gray robots went down but another one came out of the blue and took it'd place. "Son of a bitch."

"I believe somebody is playing a game of cat and mouse, is that the right term?"

"Yeah, and we're the mouse."

"Wait," the Igadroid commanded. "Professor Gremlin wants to prolong this."

"Yes, yes," Gremlin sat in his control room watching the entire thing unfold. After the guards were done with them he would let them take pot shots at the ones he captured earlier. As he gave an order to the hidden guards to circle the Deka officers he would have to remember to thank Agent Chatrox for supplying him the parts to build these new model droids. If they worked as well as he predicted he would be very rich indeed.

Ace and Rev found themselves pinned down for a long time. Any time either of them tried to move a hail of bullets forced them back to where they were. To make matters worse Cap and the others weren't responding to her hails, so she had no idea if they were able to get out or not. Then she saw some movement in the forest behind them. Looks like a lot more cats were getting ready to come out and play. Ace looked over and made a quick couple of hand motions to Rev who nodded and they unhooked their D-Shots from their packs. If this was it they might as well go down fighting.

"Now!", Ace shouted and they turned and fired behind them. Sparks could be seen as the slugs made contact. The Igadroid was about to order as about to order them to fire when two of the gray robots next to him went down. D.E. appeared behind them, somehow able to get his hand on a set of the copy cat D-Magnums and was firing away. Ace and Rev took the opportunity to fire in the Igadroid’s troops direction.

"No, no," Gremlin said as he started pressing button and pulling levers on his control panel. "Not possible, not possible. Should not be out, impossible. Take them out now!" Suddenly the gray robots he designed stopped functioning and stood there. "No, no!", he looked around and saw a black box fixed to one of his computers. A black and yellow clad figure was operating it as a black and red one stood by his side pointing a weapon at Gremlin. "Not possible, not possible!"

"Boomer?", Dan asked.

"Base is getting a clear signal and diving into his data banks now."

Ace, Rev and D.E. had the Igadroid surrounded. She and Rev locked their License into the D-Shots as D.E. connected the Hybrid Magnum together. They pointed their weapons at the Igadroid as Ace shouted, "Strikeout!" and all three of them fired. The Igadroid was obliterated moment later, "Got you."

Gremlin tried to run but they cut him off. Dan pointed his D-Shot at him and waved him away from the control panel. He glanced over to Boomer, "Why don't you take this one kid. You earned it."

"Right," he held out his License in Judge Mode and said, "Target orders." The area went black as a red X and a blue circle started flashing in front of Gremlin. The alien frog started fidgeting after a minute and the red X shined brightly. "Eliminate target." Boomer and Dan hooked their License to the D-Shots and pulled back the grip, "Ready.". Inside the weapon energy started traveling through it into the front barrel, "Strikeout!", they pulled the triggers and two blue energy shot out and Gremlin was deleted. "Got ya!", Boomer cried out.

***
Michelle went over the information she was receiving with great interest. "Good news Cap, we got just about everything," she said over the line. "How are things on your end?"

"We located all of the copy cat tech on the island and have stockpiled it in his base. Boomer’s getting ready to blow it up when you give the word. Michelle did you discover what he did with the suits?"

"I made that a top priority in my search. We got lucky, he apparently just figured out how to do that today and tried it out in you. He didn't tell anybody about his discovery yet."

Dan let out a sigh of relief, "Thank God for that. Any idea who's on his buyer list?"

"If you’re looking for names, or Agent locations for that matter, I can't help you. All I'm finding of a bunch of random numbers that could be Agents or buyers. There's one here that's been crossed out recently."

"If it's an Agent it might be the one DekaRescue took out."

"That's what I was thinking. I'll send a copy of this to the other Deka units and to SPD command to see if they can help figure this out. So when are you guys coming back home."

"As soon as we're done here. But Ace and D.E. are trying to convince me to extend our stay for a bit."

Michelle started to smile to herself, "So the Shepard's engines are acting up huh?"

"I didn't say..."

"Don't worry I'll let the Major know that Ace is going to need a couple of hours to fix the problem."

Dan started to sound upset, "Now wait a...."

She didn't give him a chance to finish, "You owe me one Cap. I'll let you know how you can repay me when you get back. Oh and while you're down there pick me up something nice, nothing too flashy now. Base out," she quickly closed the connection and leaned back into her chair.

Ace, who was close enough to hear the whole thing said, "I'm gonna find me a dumb surfer boy."

"But I got to get back to Lisa," Boomer whined

Ace didn't even turn around, "Stuff it Boom-Boom."

Dan just looked at his License in total confusion, "What the hell just happened?"

***
Chatrox stepped out of the machine and unhooked himself from the various wires and tubes then looked at his hands. With a bit of concentration he was able to turn his blackish gray scaly hands into disgusting human pink and back again. This phase of the plan was done, now on to the next part of it.

-----
ED- Evanescence- Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
8


-----
OP-Alter Bridge-Metalingus
-----

Alone at last, well as alone as you could be in a public bar at any rate. Dan hid in the darkness the booth was able to provide. His beer was half gone at this point. For the first time in awhile he was actually able to relax. He actually envied the others at times, how they could just sit back and relax no matter what. Pierce could be seen joining them at times before he went home at night. Dan on the other hand, well there was a reason why he had to get out of there at times. He's been living at OpsBase for a while now but he still didn't feel comfortable there.

The team wasn't the problem, they were a good bunch of kids. Dan laughed to himself, he was a couple of years older than D.E. and Boomer and he thought of them as kids. Even Rev was technically older the he was. He was used to hanging around the Major and Michelle was easy to get along with. No the problem was the entire situation, he was army and the others were police. Like he told Rev it was worlds apart, and he couldn't get over it. Not for the first time he wondered why he told Pierce yes.

"Fast Track?", a voice he recognized broke through his thoughts.

Dan looked over and saw two guys in civvies, one with longer brown hair than he remembered and the other with dirtier blond colored hair than his. His mood immediately changed, "Petey!", he got out of the booth and grabbed the brown haired one’s hand. Petey dragged him in for a hug. He went to shake the other guys hand, "Andy how you doing?"

"I'm fine," he said without moving an inch. Things were still frosty apparently.

"Come on sit." Dan sat back in his booth and the other joined him. "Petey, you on leave or something?"

Petey leaned back and said, "I'm out man."

Dan jaw dropped, god he was out of the loop. "Wait, Mr. 'They're going to have to bury me in my army greens' left the army? Did hell freeze over?"

"And the Devil giving out free sleigh rides," he joked. "Figured I went as far I could go and thought I try something new."

Andy stared right at Dan. "At least he had a choice in leaving," he said bitterly.

"Andy for the last time..."

"Dudes, chill," Petey quickly said. "We haven't seen each other in ages. Why ruin the moment with bad feelings." Andy said nothing but he started playing with a napkin. "So what have you been up to Fast track? You pretty much disappeared after your last stint in the middle east?"

"I've been keeping busy," he answered.

"Have you? Word going around after you disappeared was that you joined one of those space cops units."

Dan tried to look like he wasn't playing with his mug, "You heard wrong man."

"Good," Andy said. "Any Army guy joining that bunch of posers should be shot as a traitor."

"No kidding," Petey agreed. "Give me a good ol' American tank over that alien crap any day."

"And an AK over a laser rifle to blow them to hell," Dan said getting lost in the moment.

"You better believe it," Him and Petey touched fist. God this was just like old times. "So what are you doing then?"

"Or would you have to kill us if you told us?", Andy asked, a bit of his old self returning.

"I would never kill you guys," Dan told them. Then he added, "I'd beat you so bad that you'd forget, but I would never kill you."

"That's not a denial", Andy laughed.

"Come on," Petey said getting up, "I know a bar were the waitresses are hotter and wear less."

"I'm there," Dan said calling for his tab. The three of them exited and laughed like old times. They went about half a block before his OpsLicense went off and Petey checked his to see if it was his cell phone. "Damn it."

"Duty calls," Petey said and he handed him a card with a number on it. "Give me a call when you got some free time."

"You better believe I will." Dan quickly went off and turned a corner pulling his License out, "This is Stevens, go."

"Cap," Michelle said, "we got a situation about four block west of your position. D.E and Ace were sent out earlier to check out a disturbance that sounded like the Alienizers had something to do with. They just requested back up."

"Why wasn't I told about this earlier?", he asked as he headed for the jeep.

"It was an unconfirmed rumor when we got a hold of it. The Major thought it was important enough to check out but not send in the full team."

"ETA for Rev and Boomer?"

"You'll beat them by a few minutes."

"Right, Stevens out." Dan got there in no time and found Ace and D.E. struggling against a twelve foot tall gray humanoid looking figure in some shredded clothes. He saw nothing like that in the SPD database. Dan switched his License back to Change and ran in. "Emergency! DekaOps!", there was a quick digital flash and he was in his black and red DekaSuit. Ace had reached in and grabbed the things shirt. It ripped off as the thing threw her. D.E. and Dan caught her before she hit the wall. "Status report!"

"We've been better," D.E. told him.

"We got a report of an Alienizer in the area and found the Hulk's ugly cousin, or he found us," Ace informed him.

"Right," Dan said. "Let's try to subdue this thing then figure out where it came from." They pulled out their D-Rods and surrounded the thing. Dan took a swing at it's knee and D.E. did the same. Ace was able to get a D-Whopper around one of it's wrists while it was distracted. Quicker than he thought possible it grabbed D.E. by the head with his other hand and threw him further down the alley. "Terry!", Dan shouted before a back hand sent him flying into a wall hard. It ripped off the D-Whopper as Ace backed up.

"That's it," she took out her License and switched it to Judge, "Target Orders!" The alley went dark and the X and circle started flashing before the X shined brightly. "Eliminate target," Ace hooked her License to her D-Shot as the thing turned around. Dan head cleared in time to see the eagle tattoo on it's back.

"What?", he was stunned. Ace called out for a strikeout and was ready to pull the trigger. Dan ran in and slapped the barrel down as she fired, "NO!" The blue energy stream missed by inches as the thing jumped out of the alley. Dan watched him leave, where did it get that tattoo?

"Cap what the hell?", Ace demanded but he ignored her, and prayed to God that wasn't an Eagle.

***
"What you did was inexcusable!" the Major yelled in his face. The others were staying as far away as they could in the control room, except Michelle who stayed by her table. But she was looking very uncomfortable. "You intentionally let a target get away. What in the hell was going through that head of yours?!"

Dan clinched his fist and turned his head away," I don't have an excuse sir."

"That's because there's no excuse for this! If that thing kills anybody it's on your head." The Major walked away and tried to calm down. "I can't over look something like this. You're confined to base for the next two days, and you better hope nobody dies from your mistake." Dan said nothing in response. He just took out his License, slapped it on the rail and walked back to his quarters.

"Cap, that's not what he...," Michelle started before the Major put a hand on her shoulder.

After the door closed he said, "Give him some time to cool off." He turned to Ace and D.E., "Exactly what happened?"

"We told you everything," D.E. told him.

"Well tell me again," he snapped. "I need to know every little detail. I've known Dan since he was a grunt back in basic. He wouldn't do anything like this without some kind of reason."

"I don't know what we left out," Ace said. "Unless it was that marking on it's back."

"Marking?", Pierce was desperate at this point. "What marking?"

"The thing looked like it had a tattoo on it's back, might have been a bird, I really didn't pay much attention to it."

"I got a good look at it," D.E. said, "it was a bird."

The Major found a piece of paper and a pen and handed it to them. "Draw it for me." It took a several minutes but Ace and D.E. were able to make up a rough draft of what they saw.

Rev studied it for a bit, "The Captain has as similar marking on the back of his shoulder, does he not?"

"Now that you mention it," D.E. said, "it does look like that eagle tattoo he has."

"That might explain it," the Major mumbled. "The Eagles."

"All right I'm lost now," Ace said

"Cap was tight with a bunch of guys back during basic,” he explained. “Somehow they ended up being called the Eagles. I have never seen a bunch of guys who worked so well together. They watched each other back no matter what the problem was and they didn't leave each other behind no matter who gave the order. There was a running joke with the commanders at the time. If you wanted a job done right you better have an Eagle on it. If you wanted it done to perfection you needed at least two. But something drove them apart while I was helping Mynx set things up for the program, he never told me what exactly happened."

While that was going on Dan was in his quarters. His bomber jacket and shirt was thrown on the bed. He was staring at that same tattoo in his mirror for a long time before looking into his own eyes. Not liking what he was seeing in there Dan went to the other wall and started shadow boxing. After a few punches he looked up and realized he was looking right at a picture of him and his buddies back in the Army. Dan was in the center with Petey and Andy on one side with Barry and Jason on the others. An Eagle banner hung behind them. A happier time, before the trial.... His fist shattered the glass of the picture frame as he let the frustration over take him.

***
Those two days went by slowly as Dan mainly stayed his quarters. Michelle and the others tried to get him out but he wouldn't listen. When his time was up he immediately went to the Major and asked for a week to find out what was happening before he sent the case to DekaRail, if he hadn't already. It took awhile but he finally got that week. Luckily they found out Michelle had somehow forgotten to pack what evidence they had for DekaRail during those two days. The Major wasn't happy but he let it go. "That's two you owe me," she teased him.

It took her no time to locate two names for him, Barry Nordstrom and Jason Hart. Petey and Andy were with him when he got the call if it was one of his friends it wasn't them. The first name he checked out was Barry. He was living in a nearby suburb from last report. He found the place he was living at with no problem. Dan hid behind a tree as he saw Barry in his wheelchair playing with his daughter Danielle. He stayed there for a few moments just watching them, he couldn't believe how big that girl has gotten since the last time he saw her. He should have tried to find them sooner and mentally kicked himself. Dan left wanting to believe she be afraid of her father if he did turn into that thing.

Jason location was, expectantly, a veteran’s hospital a couple of cities away. Dan found his room with nobody questioning him but surprise to find it was empty. The room looked like it hadn't been used in awhile. Did he die or something? "Excuse me," he said to a passing by nurse, "What happened to Sgt. Hart?"

"I'm not sure I can tell you," she said. Dan pulled out his fake Springfield PD ID and badge and showed it to her. "A little out of your jurisdiction aren't you?"

"I'm following a lead for a case I'm working on. I'm a little surprised it led me to an empty room."

"Then you might want to check with the local police then. They covered the place pretty good."

This wasn't sounding good, "What happened?"

"Sgt. Hart disappeared a month ago."

"No," Dan whispered.

"Kidnapping a guy in a coma. I mean how low can you go?", she walked off saying. So Jase was still in his coma, but now he had two mysteries to worry about, and hope weren't connected. He saw a set of pajamas hanging in the closet, on a hunch he checked it out.

"Stevens to Base," he said into his License.

"Base here," Michelle answered. "What is it Cap?"

"I'm scanning a pajama top and sending the info to you. Compare it to the shirt we got from the target the other night."

"On it," she replied. A few seconds later, "Ours is dirtier but it's a near perfect match."

Dan resisted the urge to pound the wall. It was looking more and more likely that thing was Jase. "Thanks Michelle, Stevens out."

***
Petey phone started ringing, without thinking he answered it, "Yeah?"

"Petey, it's me," Dan said.

"Fast track, I didn't think I hear from you so soon." Or ever for that matter.

"Yeah I know. Petey did you know somebody took Jase?"

"Yeah man," he tried not to sound nervous, "I found out when it happened. Where have you been?"

"I just found out," he sounded distraught. "Why would anybody take him in that condition?"

"I don't know man. There’s a whole lot of sick people in this world. It could have been one of those freaking aliens for all I know. Look, I got to go I'm getting another call that might be the one I've been waiting for."

"All right, I'll talk to you later."

"Right, later," he quickly ended the call and looked over at Andy. "How did I let you talk me into this?"

"Cause we're the only real friends we got," he told him. "And you didn't exactly reject the idea when I told you we could help Jase out."

"Yeah, help him wake up and walk. Not turn him into that thing in there."

"An unfortunate side effect I wasn't expecting," said a blue white haired alien in a purple coat. "But a very interesting one at that."

"Screw that!", Petey exploded. "Are you any closer in fixing this?"

"Not without returning him to his previous vegetative state."

"I don't believe you."

"Petey calm down," Andy said. "The doctor is doing everything he can. Look, get some air and clear your head.” Petey did just that but he still didn't look happy. When they were alone he said, "That Agent you told me about better deliver."

"Chatrox in rather new but the bosses are pretty high on him." He turned to the window and watched the gray thing in the holding cell he designed. "Don't worry comrade, you'll get your money soon enough."

"I didn't do this for the money," he said a little too quickly. "I did it to help Jase."

"Yes, I'm sure those loan sharks I overheard you worrying about will be impressed with your loyalty to your friend." Andy shut up. "You might be interested to know that the field test for the recall device I implanted in his head worked perfectly."

"It better have. It took me forever to convince Petey to take a night out on the town with me the other night."

"Your friend is very lucky comrade," the alien doctor told him. "So far he is the first successful test subject of my super soldier treatment. Agents galaxy wide will play both sides of any conflict, selling the process to the highest bidder. Then they will come to me looking for better weapons to use. A beautiful repeating cycle, don't you think so comrade." Andy remained quiet, disgusted with himself.

***
Rev was working in something in the med bay lab when Dan walked in. He didn't move, but he did say, "Good day Captain. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Maybe Rev," Dan pulled up a stool and sat next to him. "Do you have any idea what could make a guy turn into what we faced the other night?"

"I have been pondering that very notion since you and the others reported it." Rev stopped what he was doing and bug eyes stared at him. "My first thoughts were that his genetic structure was altered dramatically. I had other theories as well but the restructuring theory is the only one that makes sense with the facts I am aware of."

"Genetic restructuring is illegal galaxy wide," Dan said recalling what he could remember of galactic law. "Is there any Alienizers experimenting in this field?"

"Far too many I am afraid," he sighed. "Several who are unaccounted for at the moment." Dan raised an eyebrow at that one. "I made a silent inquiry into the SPD database while you were confined to base. So I was left to figure out how this was done."

"Do I want to know how many options these guys got?"

Rev looked like he was smiling, "Not as many as you think Captain. Most genetic resequencers use some form of radiation. Even those that use nano machines need a small amount to get the restructuring started."

"How fast can something like this be done?"

"I would need to know the estimated time line."

"I should have asked if Jase was getting any visitors before he was taken," he muttered. "Can this resequencer be small, say you can fit it in a briefcase?"

"The device itself needs to be able to house the subject in question."

"So they couldn't carry it in. Say at least a month."

Rev thought it over for a moment, "There are several form of radiation that could do that."

"That narrows it down I guess."

"Captain I might add a resequencer is very difficult to get a hold of. More than likely it as built on site using local materials. I might also add that current Earth technology is not exactly up to the galactic standards needed for such a device."

Dan got what he was hinting at, "So chances are good that it was cobbled together and might have some leaks." He got up and patted Rev on the shoulder, "Thanks, now I got to see if Michelle can help me locate a stray source of radiation."

"Actually I already went over this with Michelle while you were out," Rev told him. "She would not exactly do the scan. The Major told her that this was your, and I am quoting her, 'fool’s errand' and that you were on your own. She did, however, tell me that I had until she went and got a cup of coffee and returned to find anything on the scanners. She took longer than I anticipated."

Dan smiled to himself, that was another one he owed her, "Did you find anything useful."

"I discovered a source of A-Theta radiation, something commonly used for this sort of thing, around the docks by the river. Michelle returned before I could pinpoint an exact location." He returned to the device he was working on, "I modified this scanner to detect A-Theta radiation." Rev handed him the device, "Good hunting Captain."

"Rev..." he began.

"Captain, I understand better than the others about what you did. True friendship and loyalty is a rare thing in this universe. Although I pray to the Great Spirit that your friend was not turned into the thing from the other night."

Dan took the device and pocketed it, "So do I Rev, so do I."

An hour later Dan was in the ready room getting into his gear, alone. Or he was until Ace and Michelle came in. They looked on as he finished gearing up. Dan Made sure he kept his back to them. "I'll get the others," Ace said.

"No," he ordered. "I'm doing this one solo."

"That's not smart Cap," Michelle said. "You don't know what you're walking into."

"I'll risk it. I'm good at filling the blanks remember."

"Cap you're not alone in this," Ace told him. "We want to get the bastard that did this too." She looked into his locker and her eyes went wide. She reached in and grabbed his badge and OpsLicense before he could stop her. Ace stared at them before looking him in the eyes. He couldn't return the look and turned away. "You were going to leave these behind weren't you?"

"I'm just complying with the Major wishes," he said. He went to leave but Michelle and Ace kept blocking his path, "Get out of my way."

"Dan you can't make this personal," Michelle told him.

"If that thing is Jason then it's already personal. And I'm not dragging SPD into this."

"If he was changed by an Alienizer than SPD is already involved." Michelle took the black badge from Ace and pinned it back on his shirt. "You're part of SPD now, and you took an oath to uphold everything it stands for. And I will be damned if I stand here and let you throw all of that away." She grabbed the License and held it out to him. Dan reluctantly took it and put it back in its holster. She had a satisfied look on her face, "Now me and Ace won't have to beat any sense into you." Dan forced a half smile and left. "You better come back in one piece."

Dan stopped at the door. He took the cap off his head and put it on Michelle's. "I'll be back for this," he told her softly. In his regular voice he said, "Ace, you're in charge until then."

"Rodger," Ace said and saluted. "Oh, I recently did an overhaul on one of the Hounds. Can you do me favor and take it for a long test drive? To say the river and back. Just to make sure the kinks are out of it, of course." He nodded and headed for the hanger.

***
"What do you mean you're sending him out for another test?", Andy demanded. The Doctor was already activating the release protocols. "What if Petey comes by tonight?"

"Don't worry about it comrade, he is far away from here. He will not be in."

"God, you better hope so. If Petey ever found out..."

"If I ever found out what?", Petey surprised him. "I knew I couldn't trust you two."

"Petey, listen to me, it's not what you think."

"Do you think I'm an idiot or something? I overheard you guys talking, some shit about super soldiers and all of that. I'm calling the cops."

Andy and the Doctor both pulled out guns, so did Petey. "Let's just talk this out," Andy said trying to defuse the situation. "We're all in this really deep."

"God, is that the line you used on Fast Track? I would have turned you in too." A shot went over their heads and they ducked slightly. In the doorway was a man in a black military style uniform and light chest armor. The only hint of color was the red star on his right shoulder. He leveled his SP-Shooter at them and came closer. Petey was finally able to get a good look at him, "Fast Track?"

"Please tell me you’re not involved in this." As soon as he said it his entire demeanor went emotionless and he ordered, "Drop your weapons now and get on the ground."

Andy charged, Dan sidestepped and tripped him to the ground. He kicked his gun away and kneeled down on his neck to keep down. He pointed the Shooter back at the others. "Damn it Andy," Petey moaned.

"Drop your weapons now!", Dan ordered again. Petey complied but the doctor stood there smiling. A Batsuroid dropped from the ceiling and threw a grenade. Ten Anaroids formed and stood between them.

"You are outnumbered comrade," the Doctor said. "Perhaps you are the one who should drop his weapon." Dan stood up, holstered the Shooter and took his License out of it's holder.

Andy looked up and saw it in his hands, "You lying son of a bitch!" He got up quickly and knocked it out of his hands. The Anaroids choose then to walk foreword. Dan took out his SP-Shooter and knife and got ready.

"Light it up!" Ace voice called out. Something small and black went flying over head. Dan had just enough time to lower his head and cover his eyes. The object exploded in a bright flash of light, disrupting the bots motor function momentarily while the others were blinded. Dan ran back and dove behind some crates. Ace, already in her DekaSuit, joined him shortly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Thought it was a nice night to do some field exercises," she told him. He couldn't see it but he knew she was grinning behind that helmet. "Michelle suggested that this might be a lovely spot for it. Lucky coincidence for you huh?"

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to buy that bunch of bull, you know that?"

"It's why you choose me for the job," she said. While they were talking the Doctor was back at the controls.

"He's out!", he proclaimed after a moment. "He'll take care of these people."

"What?", Petey said. "No you can't.” He ran into the holding area as shots were fired and returned.

Dan and Ace heard the whole thing from where they were. "Go," she told him, "we got this." He nodded and went around to follow Petey taking the occasional pot shot at a bot or the control panel. When he got there the thing that used to be Jason was throwing things around the room. Petey was in front of it trying to calm him down, Dan pointed his SP-Shooter right at him.

"No," Petey cried out. "I can calm him down!" About them Jason grabbed him by the back of his head, picked him up and slammed him into the ground face first. Petey wasn't moving and he was a thought away from pulling the trigger.

"Jase!", Dan shouted and he put away his weapon. Jase grabbed a crate and threw it at him. He dove out of the way as the thing grabbed a pipe off of the ceiling and water started pouring down on top of them "Jase calm down! Listen to me, please!" He tried to reason with him and dodge at the same time. Running out of ideas he finally went, "Stand down Sargent!" The thing seemed to understand that, "That's an order soldier!"

The thing took a long look at him, he squatted down and grunted, "Da...Danny?"

He got through to him, "Yeah Jase, it's me."

Jase looked at this hands and back at him, "Help?"

"God I hope they can. But I promise you, even if they can't, I'll do everything in my power to make sure they treat you right." Jase looked around and saw Petey lifeless body and made a short crying sound. "That wasn't your fault Jase, you didn't know what you were doing. Don't worry, I'll protect you."

His eyes teared up and looked around again. "No," he said as he picked him up, walked over and put him on top of the stair way.

"What are you doing?", Dan asked as he walked away. Jase was heading for what looked like electrical cables. Panicking Dan looked down at the water covered floor, "Jase don't do it!" He went to run after him but Rev and D.E. came up behind him and held him back. He looked at them and shouted, "Cut the power to this place!"

"Cap...," D.E. started.

"Do it now!", he shouted. Dan looked back at Jase, who already pulled the wires off the wall, "Jase no!" He stood there with the wires in his left hand, with his right he made the gun shooting motion the came up with. Cocked, locked and ready to rock. The he brought his right hand up to his head in a salute. Tearing up Dan returned the salute. Then Jase dropped the wires into the water. He jolted for what seemed like an eternity before falling to the ground. Rev and D.E. let him go as Dan fell to his knees.

Ace had judged the Doctor and the order was to take him alive. Andy was there next to him as Dan and the others walked out. "Dan you got to believe me," he pleaded. "I didn't want this to happen. I just wanted to help Jase."

"Shut up," Dan ordered, not wanting to deal with him at the moment.

Andy got mad and sarcastically said, "Yes sir, Lieutenant Fast track sir! The rules and regulations before anything else! Is there anything this lowly maggot needs to know Lieutenant Fast track sir?"

Dan stopped and got right in his face. "Yeah there is, it's Captain." His fist connected with Andy's jaw before any of them realized it. Not that they would have tried and stop him if they did. Dan watched him lie there for a moment then said, "Get this son of a bitch out of my sight," and stormed off.

"That was police brutality," Andy said as Ace and D.E. dragged him back up to his feet.

"Newsflash," Ace told him, "he's still Army and he can do whatever he wants."

"No he can't," Andy argued.

"Look one more word out of you and I'm going to feed you to my friend over there," she pointed over to Rev. He looked peaceful but Andy still looked like he was about to piss himself and shut up.

***
Jase's funeral was set for a morning service two days later. Dan waited until late afternoon to visit his grave. He stood there for a moment before taking a beer can out of his jacket pocket. He drank half of it then slowly poured the rest on top of the grave before walking off. Not wanting to return to base he ended up sitting on a bench in the park holding his head in his hands. He barely registered a body sitting down next to him. A hand holding a penny entered his vision, he looked over to see it belonged to Michelle. He pushed her hand away saying, "I wouldn't know where to begin."

"The beginning usually works for me," she said. "Or you can answer something that's been bothering me and the others. Like why that guy was calling you Fast Track."

"A nick name they gave me," he explained, "I was usually the first one out of us getting promoted. Everybody joked about it, but I guess it was a bigger problem than I thought because things started breaking down around the time I made Second Lieutenant. Suddenly I wasn't one of the guys anymore in their eyes, particularly Andy's."

"And that's what split the group up?"

"No, it might have made the cracks but that wasn't it." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I was walking around base one night. I saw some lights and heard some noise coming from supply. So I checked it out. Andy and a couple of others were robbing the place. Before they noticed me I heard one of them say something about the black market. Andy saw me and started begging that I keep quiet and that this was the only time he did this and swore that he would never do this again."

"So he was upset that you turned him in, what a jackass."

Dan didn't look at her, "I walked away and didn't report it. I put my friendship before my duty and never said anything to anybody. The idiot was caught red handed anyway by the MPs ten minutes later. He swore up and down that I sold him out to the MPs. Nobody believed his claims that I was there and saw the whole thing. I kind of knew how he felt. Four of the closest friends I ever had and only one believed me when I told them I kept quiet."

"I'm surprised you didn't try to yourself in for withholding information."

"I was about to, but Barry talked me out of it. He told me why should I ruin my record over him. I never should have listened to him."

"I'm glad you did," the Major said behind them. Ace and the other were with him.

"Major," Dan said as he stood up. The Major walked around the bench stand next to him.

"I always wondered what happened between you guys. Now I know. I'm not going to condone what you did back then, but I'm not going to hang you by it either." The Major put a hand on his shoulder, "I've seen a lot of guys ignore their conscious to get ahead in their career over the years. It was very rare that I've seen someone ready to sacrifice their career in order to keep it clear. I'm proud to say I trained one of them."

"Here," Ace said holding a bag, "we chipped in and got this fixed for you." Inside was the picture of him and his buddies in a new frame. The other thing in the bag caught him off guard.

He pulled out the second, empty picture frame, "What's this for? You guys figured I'm going to go off and break the other one too?"

"Actually," Ace pulled a camera out of her pocket, "we figured you could use a picture of your new group too." Michelle took the camera as they surrounded him. "Wait, Michelle you got to get in here too."

She shook her head no, “You guys are the team, not me."

"Michelle that's BS and you know it," Boomer said. "You're part of this team too."

"Come on Michelle," Ace and D.E encouraged her. She still back off.

"Get in the shot Lieutenant and that an order," Dan said with a smile.

She smiled back, "Sir, yes sir." She handed the camera to the Major. He held up a hand before they could say anything.

"Cap, let me remind you that I am the only person in this unit you can't give an order too. Besides, somebody got to take the picture.” He took a few steps back as they got into position. Dan just stood there with his arms crossed. Ace stood to his right and copied his pose. Michelle got behind Dan and wrapped her arms around his neck. Rev stood to their left clasping his hands behind his back. D.E. and Boomer put an arm around the other shoulder and made a peace sign with their free hand. The Major made sure the camera was ready to go and he said, "Emergency."

"DekaOps," they all said as he snapped the picture

-----
ED-Evanescence-Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
9

-----
OP- Alter Bridge- Metalingus
-----



The last few days were kind of rough. John McGee from Inside Extra got word about the "gray humanoid" and ran with it. And trying to find a way to tie it in with the mysterious Deka unit. Everybody could see how this was affecting Cap so she decided to call in one of the favors he owed her, a night out for drinks. Just to get his mind off things of course. She looked herself over in the mirror at the black dress she was wearing. She asked Ace, who was flipping through one of her computer magazines, "How does this one look?"

"It makes your butt look big," she said not even looking at her.

"Could you please try and be a little more helpful"

"You're just going out for a friendly round of drinks. It's not like this is a date or anything," Ace looked up a bit, "right?"

Michelle returned to the mirror, "I just don't want to give Cap the wrong impression, that's all." There was a knock at her door, "Crap he's here already." Ace got up and put this blue shawl around her shoulders that went with her dress, "That's perfect, thanks."

"What are friends for?", Ace said as she opened the door. Cap was on the other side.

"Oh, hey Ace," he was wearing a gray suit and white shirt with a red handkerchief in the pocket. He looked over to Michelle and almost silently went, "Whoa." Ace put up a fist to her mouth and coughed. "Ah... are you ready to go? I can wait a few more minutes if you want."

"No, I'm ready to go when you are," she said. Cap offered an arm that she readily took. They entered the command room where D.E., Boomer and surprisinly the Major were waiting for them.

"They clean up nice don't they?", D.E. asked.

"All right you two," Boomer said looking serious, "we want both of you home at a reasonable hour." Then he got that familiar smirk back on his face, " But if you can't, I here there are plenty of no tell motels around."

Ace leaned against the doorway and went, "D.E."

He reared back and punched boomer on the arm again," Ow!"

"Don't you listen to these two," The Major said. "You two have some fun now, you hear? And don't do anything I wouldn't do."

As they walked to the elevator Cap said, "Then it's going to be a boring night, because according to Helen you don't do anything."

They got a good chuckle but the Major remained stone faced, "You're damn lucky I like you."

Ace leaned her head against the doorway as the elevator door closed. D.E. said, "And to think Cap was asking how he got roped into this. Was Michelle that nervous too Ace? Ace?", he looked back when she didn't answer but she was already gone.

***
They sat at a local bar and just talked. It took her awhile but she got him to relax a bit, and hardly any alcohol was needed either. They even started to joke around after a bit. Dan apparently knew a couple of stories about the Major that even his wife didn't know about. "Oh man that, one is perfect blackmail material," she said while laughing.

"Why do you think he so nice to me?", he grinned. "I can't believe Helen hasn't found out what he does yet. Speaking of which, Ace was telling me D.E.'s family and Boomer's fiancé knows what we do."

She nodded, "The Major made some allowances. D.E.'s family share just about everything so he didn't feel it be right to keep something like this from them. Boomer actually begged to let him tell his fiancé because he didn't want to risk losing her."

Dan grinned again, "Pierce always was an old softy at heart."

"How about you Cap, would you tell anybody?"

His demeanor changed slightly, "Petey and Andy asked and I didn't tell them."

"What about Barry?", she asked. "I kind of figured he was the one who believed you back then." He didn't say anything but he did nod once. "According to the Major you two were pretty close."

"He asked me to be the Godfather of his little girl, who he and his wife named Danielle, after me. Do you want to see a picture?"

"I love too." Dan pulled out his wallet and took out a small photo of a red haired little girl with bright hazel eyes. "She’s adorable."

Dan beamed with a bit of pride, "She looks like her mother, but you can see some of Barry in there too. Danielle a little bigger now then when this was taken." His mind looked like it drifted a bit.

"You didn't say hello when you checked on them did you?"

"It's been over ten months since I last seen them. I didn't think it’d be good to just show up out of the blue and start asking questions like a cop."

Michelle put her hand on his, "You can call them anytime you know."

"I know, but like I said I disappeared for ten months. Just to call out of the blue, that's going to raise some questions. Ones I wouldn't feel right in answering."

"When you do let me know and I'll help you set things up." She patted his hand, "Of course you'll be back to owing me three favors."

"I’ve only counted two."

She started counting them on her hand, “Well there this, letting Rev use the scanners behind my back and I'm saving Hawaii for something big."

Dan pointed a finger at her, "Hawaii doesn't count, you forced that one on me."

She gave out a short laugh, "I swear you are the only person on the planet who complained that they were given a few extra hours in paradise."

"The job was done there was no need to stay," he countered. "That what we do, get in, do the job and get out right after. Hell, I'm still trying to figure out how Ace snuck a set of civvies on board the Shepard without anybody seeing her."

"She got in, stashed it and got out right after," she mocked him and laughed. Dan grabbed a peanut out of a bowl, tossed it at her and started laughing too. A loud voice cut them off and grabbed everybody attention.

Dan looked around in case it was an Alienizer or something until he found the source, "Oh dear God no."

A man in a loud green suit was yelling at a waiter. "Do you know who I am? I'm John McGee, a very important reporter. Hell, I'm probably the most famous guy you ever had in this dump and you expect me to pay!?"

Michelle could tell Dan was mentally putting the cross hairs right between McGee's eyes. "So much for a quiet evening. How about we get out of here?"

"Sounds good to me." He paid the tab despite her wanting to split the bill. As they got out the door he said, "Michelle?"

"Yeah Cap?"

"How about I use one of those favors and take you for a walk through the park. Or does that sound too corny?"

She wrapped her arm around his, "Consider it paid in full," and they headed for a park across the street. "But you still owe me one for Hawaii."

***
Chatrox pulled the cloak tightly around him, why did his newest client want to meet in a sewer of all places. He concentrated and turned invisible, a human work crew was down here. Now he had another stench to add to the ones already assaulting his nose. As he passed he thought of several ways to dispose of them quickly and quietly, but there was only one human on the planet he would actually touch to kill. And he had a client waiting. Turning several corners he found his latest client, a green skinned Trinoblean. He let his invisibilty dropped and shocked him, "Hello."

"Agent Chatrox," he was visibly startled and the third eye on his forehead blinked several times.

"Did you have any trouble setting things up?"

"No, the base is set up as planned. The only thing I need is the part you promised you could deliver."

"Of course," Chatrox pulled a box from under his cloak. "One SPD control processor, modified to your needs of course."

The Trinoblean started watering from the mouth, "How were you able to get a hold of something like this? SPD keeps these as guarded as their own weaponry."

"One of the perks of my previous line of employment that I highly miss. I was able to gain access to this before anybody noticed it was gone."

"I'll be able to hack into any government database with this. Slag, I might be able to access this planet’s SPD computer network with this hooked into my systems."

"One thing at a time," he held out a hand. The Trinoblean placed a data card in it then held up a second one. Chatrox Interest was piqued.

"With something like this I'm going to need something extra to guard it, personally if I can," and he handed him the card, the amount on it was considerable. Chatrox quickly ran through his inventory in his mind.

"Will a Vulcanian war suit do?"

"More than enough."

I'm feeling generous today so I'll throw in a couple of extra Igadroids, free of charge." He nodded and they parted ways. Chatrox had to return to his base and change clothes. There was another meeting he had to attend to today.

***
The field team entered the command room in no time. Dan nodded to Michelle who returned it. She looked over at the Major and started snickering to herself, again. This has been going on all day and it was starting to get on his nerves, and he had a feeling exactly when it started. "Cap, I realize it's none of my business, but what exactly did you two do last night?"

"We just talked," he said like noting was the matter, "told a couple of jokes, told some old stories, nothing important. Like how one day all your uniforms were 'accidentally' dyed pink."

Ace, Boomer and D.E. started snickering as well, an images of the Major in a pink uniform running through their minds. Rev even smiled a little at the thought. "Attention!", the Major snapped, they followed orders but D.E. kept snickering.

"I told you I'd get you back," Dan told him with a smirk

"Humph," the Major grunted. "If we could get back to business?" They got serious again in no time. "All right then, we have a request from the US government and SPD Earth command. A government criminal database was infected with a virus of some kind that quickly multiplied and erased it."

Michelle took over, "Their computer experts were able to isolate it, but it changed it's coding and escaped. But they were able to isolate it long enough to discover two things. One it was of alien origin and they brought in SPD. Our experts were able to determine it was the handy work of a Trinoblean named Digitox, and he specializes in this sort of thing.

"What was the second thing that they determined?", Ace asked

"It was apparently sent from an SPD source," the Major informed them. "Or at least that where they were they were able to back track it to right before they lost it."

"How is that possible?", Dan asked.

"Did he get in one of the bases?", Boomer wondered out loud.

"All of the bases on the planet were or are being checked as we speak, even ours to be on the safe side," the Major replied. "Right now we think he has something that can mimic an SPD ID signature, pretty convincingly too.

"That government database might have just been a warm up," Ace commented.

"Imagine the chaos if he was able to do the same with our criminal database," Rev added.

"That's what we're afraid of," Michelle said, “for the past couple of hours me and the other tech officers were able to get a rough location of where the virus was originally located." She pulled up a section of the map that highlighted the Rocky Mountains. "Satellite imagery is showing part of a complex that wasn't there before."

"The apparent nature of the virus makes coming up with a counter virus a little difficult. A person has to literally rewrite the anti-virus code on the fly," the Major informed them.

"So we set up a D-Hack and let Michelle take over from there," Dan said

"You're half right," The Major said. "There's a fear that the virus might use the D-Hack to jump into our system. So Michelle will be going with you on this one."

"What?", Dan body stiffened slightly.

"We would have asked one of the other units for assistance but they're currently busy fortifying their own systems at the moment," He explained. "Besides Michelle has her own License just like every other SPD officer so you won't have to worry about her." She held up a black License with white lettering to drive that point home.

Dan didn't look all that happy but he said, "You heard the Major, gear up and move out."

"Rodger," they said and headed for the door. Dan and Michelle looked at each other as she passed him. She winked at him but he kept his face all business. He shot a look at the Major before following.

***
On the Shepard Michelle was wearing a field uniform similar to the other, but she didn't have a star on the right arm. She was typing away on laptop that was connected to the main computer back at OpBase. The fact she was doing this in the Shepard small med bay on the bed didn't bother her. The apparent silence from the main cabin was. Dan eventually walked in, "You all right back here?"

"It's not exactly first class but it'll do," she joked.

He leaned against the edge of the bed, "We would have given you better accommodation but the main cabin wasn't built to seat six."

Michelle closed her laptop, "Cap, are you all right with this?"

"A little late to be asking me now isn't it?"

"You had to know this was going to happen sooner or later. Hell, you seen me in the firing range practicing with this thing," she patted the SP-Shooter on her hip. "I wasn't trying to pass the time you know."

“Cap," D.E. called out from around the corner, "Ace said we're going to be there in five minutes."

"Right," he called back. To Michelle he said, "We'll talk about this later. We got a job to do and I need to know what kind of holes we're going to be dealing with."

She opened the laptop back up and turned so he could see. "I couldn't get much. The only thing showing is the opening right here." She highlighted that part of the screen. "Normal scan don't show us much, but I was able to get a hold of a thermal scan from an SPD satellite."

"You found a heat source?"

She wagged a finger at him, "Remember Cap, computers love the cold. And there's a very sizable cold spot where the door is inside the mountain. And using that and a couple of different program I was able to get a basic idea of what this looks like." She played with the control and a rough floor plan the size of a football field formed. "This is the best I could do is right here. The coldest spot seems to be right here, if I had to take a guess that would be the main computer room and our target."

"You're beautiful when you’re right," he said. Then his face went red and told her, "I mean good job Michelle. I'll fill in the rest."

Ace landed the ship a short while later. The doorway was jutting out from the side of the mountain. D.E. and Boomer stood on either side of the door as Dan, Ace and Rev stood by with their Shooter drawn. Michelle hooked up a small pad from and ran a code breaker program. Several long minutes later the door split opened as Dan and the other covered the opening. He quickly held up four fingers than two and pointed inside. Boomer and D.E. both went in and with their SP-Shooters at the ready faced both sides of the upcoming corridor. "Right's clear," D.E. called out.

"Left's clear," Boomer added and they went inside.

"Emergency! DekaOps!", Dan said as the DekaMetal activated. "Which way is that control room?"

"To the right," she told him. He pulled the sky probe out of his pack and threw it down the corridor. Michelle linked up her pad with his as he checked the path so she have a map to work off of.

"I'm not seeing any surprises so far," he said.

"Back the probe up," Michelle told him. "That door there is where the cold spot is."

"Right," Dan commanded the probe to continue checking the corridor and took his helmet off. "Here's how we're going to do this. Me, Rev, D.E. and Boomer are going down the left corridor and provide a distraction. Ace you go with Michelle and cover her as she tackles that virus."

"Right," Michelle said. "I'll tell you when I'm done with it and ready to go."

"Hold it," he told Michelle, "Ace is second in command of this team. If she tell you it's time to go you move your little butt, you got that?"

"Yes sir," she said and saluted smartly. Then she got that all too familiar wicked little grin of her lips, "And how long have you been studying my butt?"

"What... no... I...," he stammered as they headed down the right corridor.

Boomer tapped his arm and asked, "How come you don't say anything about my butt?"

Dan lowered his head, pinched the bridge of his nose and slowly counted to ten. He got to four before he said, "D.E.", who punched Boomer in the arm again.

"Ow!", Boomer rubbed his arm. "You said that was something you wouldn't do."

"I never said I couldn't pick up something from Ace. Now suit up," he said putting the helmet back on, "we got to make sure we cause a big enough distraction."

***
Digitox saw them as they entered, but not through any computer screen. A while back he had a neural interface implanted in his head and used his "pet" to erase all evidence of it. He was connected to every sensor and system in this place, even Chatrox couldn't sneak up on him if he wanted too. Oh look, they were splitting up. He'll let them play the game this way for now. He walked over to the war suit he bought and patted it's arm. Digitox dispatched a group of droids to deal with the two who split off, he would handle the others.

***
Where in the hell was the was the resistance? A complex this size should have guards coming out of the wood works. An automated defense system, a platoon of marines, a boy scout with a slingshot something. Dan checked around a corner, D-Colt in hand, still nothing. He was liking this less and less. Waving the others foreword he could tell by their body language that they felt the same. Rev went ahead to check out a door that was in front of them when his pad beeped. The probe was back in range, Dan programmed it to go down any open path. From the looks of things it would have done a complete circle if they stayed at the main entrance, and if this door was open.

Rev waited by the controls on one side of the door as he stood on the other. When D.E. and Boomer nodded that they were ready he signaled for Rev to open the door. With both of their D-Shooters out in front they entered the room. "Clear but plenty of hiding spots," D.E. called out as they entered. It looked like some kind of storage room or something, a big one at that.

"You know," Boomer whispered, "if I was gonna ambush some guys, this is where I'd do it." As soon as those words left his mouth side of the wall slide up. Thirty Anaroids, five Batsuroids and two Igadroids came out of hiding. They all retreated backwards but the door closed before they could reach it. The all dove for cover behind some computer crates.

"Boomer you are so lucky I can't reach you," D.E. snapped. Rev, who was closest to Boomer, smacked him on the back of the helmet. "You read my mind buddy."

"Why are they not firing?', Rev asked. In fact none of the fired a shot since they appeared. Dan chanced a quick look over the crate he was behind. All of the bots were standing in formation.

"Do you think they broke?", Boomer asked sounding desperate

"All of them?", D.E. asked him.

“A guy can hope can't he?" Then some heavy footsteps could be heard coming from behind the bots. "Oh that can't be good." The wall behind the bots slid up and a seven foot bluish gray metal suit came forward. All their eye were fixated on the Gatling gun on it's right arm. "That kinda looks like an Elemental from those MechWarrior games."

"Rev," D.E. called out, "tell me that's not a Vulcanian war suit."

"I will not lie to you Terry." D.E. started swearing.

"Vulcanian, like in those live long and prosper guys right?", Boomer was sounding desperate again.

"More like the Roman god of craftsmanship and destructive fire."

"I suppose now," Digitox said from inside the suit, "would be where I tell you my master plan. Quite simply it's this." The Gatling gun started spinning and a stream of fire ripped through some of the Anaroids and crates in front of him. The other bots and they hit the floor as he waved the gun around.

"At least he's a lousy shot," Boomer said.

"Too bad with that thing he doesn't have to be a good one," Dan told him.

***
Ace and Michelle didn't run into any trouble until they hit the corridor leading to the target room. Ace turned the corner saw an Igadroid leading about ten Anaroids in front of the target door. "Ops5 to Ops1," Ace said into her License, "We got a bit of trouble." There was no answer. "Ops1, Cap! Damn it, I think they ran into their own welcoming committee." She looked at Michelle, "Ready to get in on the fun?" Michelle pulled out her License and nodded. "Right, change standby. Emergency! Dekaops!"

Ace was surrounded by a pink digital field as the DekaMetal formed around her in a flash of light. It changed into a black body suit in a burst. A dark pink strip went down her body from her shoulder to the top of her boots. On the left side of her chest the black and pink formed an outline for the number five. A backpack solidified on her back and the D-Shot appeared in a flash. "Face on!", DekaMetal flashed around her head forming a dark pink helmet.

Michelle held her License across her chest, "Emergency!", she thrust it foreword hitting the button on top, "DekaData!"

Michelle was surrounded by a white digital field as the Dekametal formed around her in a flash of light. In a burst it formed a black and white version of the DekaSwan suit. A backpack with two cylinders on both sides appeared on her back as a ten button keypad flashed on her left forearm. "Face on!", Dekametal flashed around her head forming a white helmet. Michelle held her left arm in front of her chest, "Officer of the information highway," she swung her left arm back and shot her right fist foreword, "DekaData!"

"Now!", Ace took her D-Shot in hand and quickly turned the corner firing as fast as she could. She managed to wing the Igadroid while taking out a couple of the Anaroids. A hail of return fire forced her back. She looked over to Michelle and realized didn't have any visible weapons. Ace mentally kicked herself, Cap would have noticed that sooner. She handed Michelle her D-Shooter, "Here."

"Not just yet," Michelle told her as she punched a five button code into the keypad on her arm. She clapped her hands as she went around the corner, knelt down and put both hands on the floor, "Electro charge!" A blue electric charge shot in front of her and covered the floor and walls. The Igadroid and Anaroids were covered and stopped moving. She looked up at Ace and said, "Let's go."

"Wasn't that a Tokukyou attack?" Ace asked in disbelief as she stared at the frozen robots.

"Some what, I modified it slightly," she told her. Michelle grinned at Ace from behind the helmet, "Thanks to Commander Scorp we have access to a lot of cool stuff."

"How many times can you do that?"

"Well it's charging up again, but not many in one setting or I'll fry the system," she said as she worked on the door lock. "And I'm still tweaking it. I got hit a little with that one." She shook her hands as the door opened. "Oh... Ace, not to tell you how to do your job or anything, but the effect is similar to Boomer's flash grenade."

"Right," she said as she started firing her D-Shot from close range. Michelle went in and studied the set up in front of her. Punching in another code a keyboard detached itself from her pack. It swung around until it was in front of her. Michelle pulled out a cord and plugged it into one of the rooms ceiling high towers. A virtual computer screen flashed to life in her visor and she started running an encryption breaker.

"Come on, come on," she muttered before she finally broke the computer security system. A few moments later she was smiling again, "There's the little bugger."

His neural connection informed him the moment the break happened. They were better than he gave them credit for. Calmly he said, "We have a security problem in the main room."

"I'll handle it," one of the Igadroids said, glad to get away from this maniac. "Anaroids eleven through nineteen come with me."

"Where's that group heading?", D.E. asked from his hiding spot. Dan watched them head for the door. He remembered that the outer hallway was basically one path.

"Oh no", he whispered. "Light it up!" Boomer threw a flash grenade without hesitation. His intention was to order the other to concentrate fire on the group that was leaving. Of course in his haste he forgot the reason why he didn't order a flash grenade to begin with. Digitox was blinded as well and started firing wildly with the Gatling gun. They hit the floor again as he ripped threw a good chunk of his own forces.

"You bastards," Digitox said as his vision cleared and saw what he had done. "Do you know how much these things cost me?!"

Dan wasn't paying any attention, he was silently cussing himself out. He had to be smarter than this, trust Ace to do her job. Especially since it looked like the unit leaving wasn't affected. "Cap," Boomer called out, "now would be a good time for a plan B!"

"I'm working on it!" As soon as he could get his head straight that is.

"We are worried about Michelle too," Rev said to him. God, was he being that obvious?

"Will that thing run out of ammo?"

"Judging by the holes in the walls I don't think it firing laser," D.E. said, "so I think so."

"Then let's find out for sure. Rev, move when I move. D.E. Boomer wait until I give the signal." He looked over to Rev who nodded. They came out of hiding and started firing.

***
Ace stood in the doorway watching both ends of the corridor. They still haven't heard from Cap and the others. She looked over her shoulder at Michelle who was still working on the virus, "How much longer?" She didn't say a word but kept working as she concentrated. Footsteps could be heard coming their way, a lot of them from the sound of things. Now it was time to book," Michelle we got to go now."

"I need a little more time."

"I don't think we got a little more time."

Michelle's finger danced over her keyboard, "You find a way to get me that time and I'll tell you everything you want to know about me and Cap."

"There is something going on between…?" she was shocked. "No, Cap said we move when I say we move. I'm telling you we got to move now."

"Prepare to eliminate whoever is in there," a mechanical voice said.

Michelle unplugged herself from the tower, "Done."

"It took you long enough to fix that virus."

"I got that done a few moments ago."

"Then what was..."

"Thought I leave a little surprise of my own while I was in there." Ace offered he D-Shooter again, Michelle took it this time. "Wanna save the boys butts?"

"Oh yeah, Boomer gonna love that." On Ace command they both went into the corridor firing at will.

***
D.E. fired away with his and Boomer’s D-Shooter in hand as he dove behind a crate and Boomer slid as Digitox let a few rounds fly. Then Dan and Rev moved again. He had his D-Colt on multishot and fired at the war suit while Rev took a shot at one of the remaining bots. Digitox changed his aim toward them and they went for cover. The plan was working so far but the Trinoblean was only fire in short burst to conserve his ammo. At this point it was a guess on what was going to give out first, his ammo or their luck. D.E. and Boomer moved again as Ace came out of nowhere and took out the last Igadroid. She turned to face the war suit as Michelle vaulted over, putting her hands on it's shoulders, "Electro charge!" Digitox screamed as his systems started shorting out. Ace, with glowing D-Rod in hand, sliced through the Gatling gun.

"NO! You two are still in the main room!", He yelled. Why wasn't his connection telling him of any change? Nobody was where they were supposed to be.

"I put your security systems in a loop, I'm surprised you didn't notice before now," Michelle told him and the other joined her. "You guys all right?"

"Yeah," Dan said. “Time to take this guy down.” He held his D-Colt next to his head, "Ops1!"

D.E. twirled both D-Shooters before crossing his arms in front of his chest, "Ops2!"

Rev took a fighting stance," Ops3!"

Boomer pumped the grip on his D-Shot, "Ops4!"

Ace brought her D-Shot to her right, "Ops5!"

Michelle did her pose again, "DekaData!"

"Special Police!" The lights on their helmets flashed and they shouted, "DekaOps!"

"Cap," Michelle said, "I'll take care of Digitox, you take care of the remaining bots."

"You sure?"

"Ace can cover me." Dan gave the order and left her to the job. Digitox stumbled backwards as he tried to regain control of the suits systems. She pulled out her License and shouted, "Target orders!" The area went dark as a red X and a blue circle flashed in front of Digitox. After it scanned him for a minute the red X shined brightly before him. "Eliminate target." She replaced her License and hit another code, "Data cannon!". The cylinder on her back back flipped up and over until the ends were pointing foreword on her shoulder and the barrels extended. She braced herself as she reached for the barrels and hit the triggers, "Data blast!" There was a slight energy build up before two green streams fired out. Digitox was hit and deleted in moments. Michelle gave the thumbs down, "Got you."

They were finished with the remaining bots and Dan walked over to her, "Impressive."

"Why thank you."

"Is there anything else you can do that I need to know about?"

"Do you want me to show you in my quarters or yours?" she said and walked off a bit. Dan was at a loss for words again, but he did point a finger at Boomer when it looked like he was going to say something. "Ace, can you give me hand back at the control room? I found out why it looked like the virus was sent from an SPD source and I imagine command will want it back."

***

A few days later Dan was in the gym tightening the strap on his padded gloves. He was going to do this earlier, but a small trip to Russia made him put it off. Now that all the units were at Defcon 3 he had time to do this while they waited. He turned around and faced Michelle, who still looked dubious about the whole thing. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Because anybody can fire a gun. If you're going to go out in the field I need to know how you handle yourself one on one. I did this with others when I first got here."

"Even Rev?", she laughed.

Dan shrugged his shoulders, "After I spent twenty minutes explain that I wasn't mad at him or punishing him for anything." He got in a loose fighting stance, "Remember, no actual contact. The gloves are on just in case."

Michelle made a bell ringing motion in the air, "Ding, ding." They started circling each other. Dan threw a couple of punches to test her defenses. Then she started in with a combo he was barely dodging and a roundhouse kick made him fall on his butt trying to get out of the way. She stood over him, "Did I mention that my cousin was an amateur kick boxer? He taught me a lot, like how to know when somebody holding back on you."

"All right," Dan said as he got up, "have it your way."

"So is this your idea of foreplay then?", she asked with a grin. Dan grabbed her buy the arms and looked serious. "Or is this it?"

"Michelle I don't mix my professional and private lives."

"You said no actual contact too, but you’re breaking that." He let go and back away. She was wonder what the hell changed. "Cap I thought you were interested in me. If I read the situation wrong tell me now and I'll stop wasting both our time."

"No, I'm interested but...," he trailed off.

"What, are you afraid I'm going to rob some place and make you choose between me and your job?"

"It's not that."

"Than what is it? You were normal until the mission."

"Michelle," he looked her in the eyes, "every time we go on a mission I have to keep in mind that there's a possibility that one of us might not be coming back. I froze when I thought that might be you. And I made a stupid call because of it."

She grabbed his face between her hands, "Hey, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it, we all did. I'm not asking for any special treatment. Hell I'm not even going to be a regular fixture on the team, I'm special situation only. Besides if I ever find out you went out of your way to protect me out there I'll kick your ass myself, you got that soldier?" and she patted him on the cheek

Dan smiled, "Yes ma'am."

"I'm just looking for a guy to have some fun with Cap. I haven't looked for that since my husband died in that car crash. Right now I really want that guy to be you."

"I want to be that guy too. But things would go a little easier if you were a little more serious out in the field."

"I'll try Cap, but I'm not making any promises."

He took her by the shoulders, "Michelle, could you just call me Dan."

"How about I just call you Cap when we're around the others?", she asked as she got closer.

Dan gave her a half smile, "I can live with that," and their lips met.

"Aw, look they're kissing," D.E. said from the doorway. Both he and Boomer were grinning like idiots.

"How long have you two perverts been standing there?", Dan demanded.

D.E. stood a little straighter as he faced Boomer, crossed him arms and deepened his voice slightly, "Michelle, could you just call me Dan."

Boomer tilted his head and clasp his hands in front of him. Lightening his voice he said, "How about I just call you Cap when we're around the others," He batted his eyes before adding, "Or when we're alone and you do something really, really good." Michelle made a little shocked noise as her jaw dropped in disbelief. Dan put a hand on her shoulder.

"Get out of here before I change my mind and kill the two of you."

They walked off singing, "Cap and Michelle, sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."

"So much for trying to keep this quiet for a bit," Michelle eventually said. "I would have just killed them, but that's just me."

"Paperwork would have been a bitch," he replied. "What's the most disgusting, degrading, dirtiest job we have around here?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm going to assign them to it for a month."

Michelle started smiling, "I'll make something up. Now, do you want to try to get in round two?", she held up her fist.

"I'm game if you are." They started circling each other again.


-----
ED- Evanescence- Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
10



-----
OP- Alter Bridge- Metalingus
-----


An old warehouse somewhere in Germany, a makeshift arena was built inside and the crowd was buzzing about what they have seen so far. A blue skinned woman in a red bikini strutted around the outside of a six sided cage holding a sign over her head with the number four written in various languages. Inside the cage trainers were talking to their respected fighters. On one side a green lizard-sejin was calmly staring at the back of his opponent as he listened to the instruction grunted at him.

His opponent, on the other hand, was leaning on the cage trying to get his breath back. His blond hair was matted against his head and the eagle tattoo on his back was glistening from the sweat. "Ya did good kid," His trainer told. The only thing that kept him from looking human was his purple eyes and the horn growing out of his head. "That last round was a fluke, that's all. Keep your guard up and keep moving, fer God's sakes keep moving. He'll give you that opening," The human nodded his head. "Remember kid eye of the tiger."

"Combatants!", the ox looking ref called out. "Next round!"

"Go get 'em kid!" The human walked away and they exited the cage. The trainer looked at his assistant and went, "He's gonna get killed this round."

"Combatants ready!", the ref held up a hand. Both competitors slammed their fist together, sparks flew and the crowd roared in approval as they activated the bands around their fist. The ref brought his hand down, "Do it!"

The lizard came in fast and grazed the human with a right cross he tried to avoid. The blow he hardly felt, the charge from the band spun him around and knocked him to the mat. The ref started to count to ten as the human quickly tried to get his sense back. He got to his feet and slammed his fist together again. "Come on kid! Be smarter than that!", his trainer shouted. The lizard came in again but the human dropped and aimed a leg sweep at the back of it's knee. The alien fell hard and the human got on trying to grab an arm. He was knocked back by an elbow smash and the lizard slid out from under him. He backed up until his foot touched the edge of the cage. "Don't back up! That's what he wants ya to do!"

He ducked a straight right that hit the cage and made sparks fly. The human hit a quick left jab to the ribs and a right uppercut under it's chin that staggered it. He turned around, jumped up as he grabbed the cage and climbed up half way. His opponent cleared the cobwebs from his head as he spun toward him as he leaped off and planted both feet into it's chest as they crashed into the mat. The human rolled backwards from the fall as the lizard got to it's knees sucking air. He jumped on top of the alien back locking in a rear naked choke. The lizard still tried to get to it's feet but he wrapped his legs around his waist and started squeezing. The lizard dropped back down to a knee then slapped it's hand on the mat three times. "He tapped," the ref called out, "fight's over!"

The crowd erupted as the trainers rushed into the ring. The human rolled off his opponent as his trainers picked him up. "I knew ya could do it, never a doubt in my head."

"What a fight ladies and gentlemen," A red blob of an announcer said as he walked to the center of the cage. "Didn't I tell you this would be one to remember? Give it up for both or competitors," he started clapping and the crowd soon followed. "But there can only be one winner, by tap out and approving his record to three and one," he went to the human and raised his hand, "the American Eagle Daaaaaniel Steeeeevens! Stevens!" The crowd started chanting his name.

***
After the organization "doctors" gave him a clean bill of health he grabbed his winnings and headed for the hotel all the fighters were staying at. It was barely rated a star, but it wasn't drafty and it didn't leak. And more importantly it had a bar. He was the last one there, as usual, several of the patrons inside gave him a good fight or a thumbs up. A few sneered or gave him a dirty look. He stopped paying attention to those back on Nagaus 7 and took an empty stool at the bar

"Where did you learn that stomp move," a bear like alien at the table behind him asked. "I've only seen a Zalmanian do anything like that."

And he was going to have to remember to thank a certain Zalmanian for showing it to him, "Just popped in my head."

"You should thank whatever deity you believe in you still have a head," he opponent stormed up to him. "You are extremely lucky, even for a human."

"Well," Dan started as he faced him, "to quote former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura, sometimes it better to be lucky than good. But right now I'm more interested in another saying you guys have around here."

The guys at the table behind him started laughing, "Winner plays, loser pays!"

The lizard slammed his hand on the bar. A squid-sejin wearing a multiarm shirt walked up, "Yeah, what do you want?"

"Give the human a glass of his usual.... on me."

"Mickey," Dan said quickly, "change it to a bottle of the good stuff since he's paying."

"You got it Danny," Mickey chuckled.

"I hope you choke on it human," the lizard sneered.

"If anybody knows anything about choking...," the bear said loud enough for him to hear and the group laughed again.

The lizard growled at them and stormed off. "Thanks for the beer," Dan called out as Mickey put down his glass. "Ugh," he said after he took a drink, "I'm glad I didn't pay for this."

"You wouldn't know the good stuff if it bit you on the ass," the squid told him.

"It would help if you were born with taste buds to begin with."

"Go to hell Danny."

"Like you too Mick," he grinned.

"Excuse me," a female voice said. Dan turned around and saw an Asian woman with pink highlights in her hair and wearing a very tight blue dress standing behind him.

"Oh my goodness." Dan put down his drink, "Well hello and I hope I can help you."

"I saw your last fight earlier," she said, "And I just had to say that you're like totally awesome."

"Why thank you. It's always nice to meet a fan, especially when they look like you."

She giggled a bit then turned around bearing part of her shoulder. A small eagle tattoo was there. "I got this after your third fight last week, but it's only temporary." She lowered her head a bit and acted all shy like, "I was hoping could help me think of a reason to make it permanent."

Dan looked her over, "I think I might be able to come up with a couple of reasons." He went to take another drink of his beer, remembered the taste and put it back down. "Mick, tell somebody with no taste that this is their lucky day."

"Yeah, yeah," Mickey said he took the glass. Dan let her drag him off the stool. Nobody saw Mickey change glasses and dump Dan's in the garbage.

"Danny!' the bear shouted out. “Women weaken the knees!"

"I got no plans on standing up," he told them. That got a few shout out as they left. She latched onto his arm as they made their way upstairs. They reached her hotel room in minutes and she let him in. When she closed the door Dan eyes glazed over and he fell to the floor.

"Cap!", Ace shouted then started pounding on the door leading to the room next door. "Rev I need you in here now!" The door flew open as Rev and D.E quickly went to Dan side.

"What happened?", Boomer asked from the doorway.

"I don't know, he just fell." Rev and D.E. picked him up and placed him on the bed. Ace quickly went into command mode as Rev started scanning him, "D.E. head out into the hallway and make sure nobody followed us."

"You got it," he stuffed an SP-Shooter into his pocket and went out his room’s door.

"Boomer contact OpsBase and let them know what happened." He nodded. "Rev," he was busy drawing a quick blood sample and ran it through the scanner "Keep doing what you’re doing.

Rev put a hypospray to his neck and injected him with something. After a few minutes he started groaning and moving a little, she was at his side a moment later. "Ugh... did the floor just hit me?", he asked sounding very groggy and holding his head.

"Something like that Cap," she told him, very relived.

"Good, because it was either that or somebody dropped DekaBase on my head." He started to sit up but got very dizzy, "Oh, that was a bad idea," he said as he lay back down.

"I would advise you stay in this position for a bit longer Captain," Rev said running the scanner over him again. "You are still feeling the effects."

"I guess I hit harder in that last fight than I thought."

"What were we telling you earlier? Duck and move, duck and move," Ace joked as she bobbed her head up and down.

"Don't, it hurts when I laugh."

"Unfortunately the fight didn't put him in this position," Rev told them. "He was poisoned."

"It had had to be one of the guys from the fight," Ace said. "They were the only ones close enough to do anything."

"No, this particular poison only activates when it comes into contact with the acids normally found in the stomach. The Captain had to ingest it."

"Then it couldn't have been at that shack of an arena," Dan said sounding a little stronger. "Everybody was drinking and eating the same stuff. And I only had that beer after the fight." He stared at the ceiling, "Mickey slipped me a mickey." He chuckled, "I must be light headed, that was almost funny."

"Fortunately there was only a small amount in your system," Rev told him. "A higher amount and I doubt you would have made it this far."

"Now I'm really glad I ordered the good stuff."

Ace got off the bed, "Boomer should be still be in contact with OpsBase. I'll give him the update so he can tell them."

"God, Michelle’s going to kill me when I get back."

"I'll guard you Cap, you got nothing to worry about." He gave her a weak thumbs up.

"I'll have you on your feet and out of here in ten minutes Captain," Rev said while monitoring his vitals.

Dan covered his eyes, "Could you stretch that out by another ten minutes or so? I got a rep to maintain." Neither of them saw Ace start blushing as that thought ran through her head.

***
Back at OpsBase the Major and Michelle listen as Ace gave them the updated report. Silent op would have been observed but this was a long term undercover mission. Outside of the poisoning the mission was going according to plan. "Where's Cap now Ace?", the Major asked.

"Training for his fight next week. He got word to us that nobody looked surprised to see him there. Cap said he talked to everybody he remembered seeing at the bar last night and nobody was acting strange. Or as he put it stranger than usual."

The Major smiled, "At least he didn't go after his Mickey person." Ace hesitated before answering and he stopped smiling. "Don't tell me he went after him."

"He waited a few hours before he did," Ace said. "I had D.E. tail him just in case. Cap just scared the squid silly."

"That would explain the report from DekaSquad's temporary CO," Michelle said. "She reported that a squid-sejin nearly ran them over saying a human he tried to poison threaten him."

"Do we know who put the squid up to it?"

"Cap said Mickey was more scared of whoever was behind it than he was of him," Ace answered.

"He didn't tell Squad either," Michelle added.

"Well Cap scheduled to meet up with Anna Konstantin in a few hours. Hopefully we'll learn something new then."

"We'll let you know at our next scheduled transmission, Ops5 out," and the link was cut.

"That idiot better not be pushing himself if he's still feeling the effect from that poison," Michelle said to herself.

"Cap got to keep up appearances," the Major said. "He can't let whomever behind this know that something wrong with him."

"I know, but they been undercover for over a month. He's had a fight a week and according to D.E. a couple of them been pretty brutal. Nobody knows who going up against who until they're actually in the ring. I'm not sure how much of this he can take."

"Rev taking good care of him. And I'm going to schedule him for some leave when he gets back to heal up. If he takes it that is."

"If he doesn't I'm calling in Hawaii." The Major wasn't sure what she meant by that. "I'll explain it later."

***
The park was pretty quiet for the time of day. Dan at on a bench in a pretty open area trying to get the smell of alien sweat out of his nose. Here he was thinking he would never have to deal with that particular smell again after Ops training. A person with a hooded jacket sat next to him. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. Dan rested his arms on the back of the bench and flexed the fingers on his left hand. The person next to him finally said, "I hear the eagle wants to fly with the angels."

"Then Heaven better close it's gates," Dan replied looking straight ahead. "Miss. Konstantin."

"Ops1," she replied coolly. "I'm surprised you waited so long in contacting me again. And unprotected too, very sloppy."

"Who said I was unprotected. My second in command is at two o'clock." She glanced over and saw Ace in a gray jump suit and pink top look like she was warming up. "My comm. officer is at three." Boomer was in his Laker gear sitting against a tree with headphones on his ears bobbing his head. "My medic over there at ten." Rev had his green hoodie on as he studied a water fountain. "And my weapon expert is in sniper position."

"Don't you know where he is?"

"Told him to surprise me. And that better be your man watching us from the trees over there because I'm about five seconds away from giving the command to take him down." She looked over and saw Peter hiding behind a tree. "Three... two..."

"He's one of mine. Pierce never gave any indication you were like this."

"I don't like the idea of operating in a protected region. Too many variables to worry about."

"And I don't like the idea of your unit existing to begin with. If I didn't think one of my men would have been recognized I wouldn't have contacted Row about that Fire Squad project of his. To say I was confused when he suggested the Ops option doesn't even begin cover it."

"Obviously, if you brought him along."

"That wasn't planned. He must have overheard me when I made arrangements with your commander. Did you have to get rough with the suspect?", there was a bit of an edge in her voice.

"Despite the fact the 'suspect' tried to poison me I wasn't rough with him."

"You threaten to turn him into calamari!", she wasn't hiding the anger she was feeling. "No police officer would go that far, not a good one any way."

Dan smiled a little, just to piss her off, "I was in character, and in case you haven't heard I'm not police."

She sat there simmering, "There very little I have heard about you and your unit. I needed Row's help just to get in contact with Pierce."

"There's a reason why our information is commanders only. I'm surprised Row even told you about us."

"Well it's a little late to be having second thoughts about calling you in now. Have you heard anything useful?"

"Just stuff from the grapevine. Apparently somebody big is coming in for the next fight night. Word is it's the guy who organized and runs the entire thing."

"Good. There has been five reported death connected to this on this planet alone." She added, "And possibly one attempted murder. That we know of that is. Unfortunately there usually a couple of squads of Anaroids causing havoc on the same nights of the fights so we can't get close enough to check things out ourselves."

"Everybody so far is acting like those death go with the territory. Some of them have told me stories of people dying in the ring."

"I hope that rumor's true, if we take the boss down we can put a dent in this at least. Keep me informed."

"Will do." She got up and left. Dan did the same a few moments later. He stopped by Boomer saying, "You get all of that?"

Boomer kept bobbing his head, "Every word. That mic works like a charm."

Dan glanced at the watch on his left arm, "I could almost get use to this undercover stuff," and he continued walking.

***
Ace and the other meet up at a restaurant later. Cap couldn't join them and chance blowing his cover so he stayed at the hotel. Most of them ordered whatever looked familiar on the menu. Luckily Boomer remembered what "sample platter" was in German and got that for Rev. He sat there contently tasting everything that was before him. Ace smirked as she took a sip of her tea, outside of the mission Rev was having a blast. She put her glass down, "Are all Tokukyou as stiff as she looked?"

"I met one once," Rev said, "he did have an aura of... confidence about him."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"I dunno Ace," D.E. spoke up, "word is that Harris guy in Rescue is a kind of a nut."

Boomer added, "And Leon in Rail is a bit of a show off. Besides from what I hear they mellow out after awhile any way"

"Whatever, I'm just glad we don't have to deal with one on a regular basis."

"Never say never Ace," D.E. told her.

"Maybe," she started grinning, "it might be worth it to see Cap take him down a peg or two."

"If it took the heat off me," Boomer said, "I'll apply for one right now."

Ace looked right at him, "Boomer, you're always going to be a heat magnet."

"She speaks the truth buddy," D.E. laughed. Boomer shot him a dirty look.

"Hey," she pointed at him, "you're not much better, especially when you’re around Boomer. Both of you are lucky the Major talked Cap out of putting of you two on sewage duty."

"That because he likes us," Boomer told her.

"No," she corrected him, "it was because he didn't want you two stinking up the place. And for the record, there no way in hell I let either of you aboard the Shepard smelling like crap too. I don't even want to know how long it would take me to air it out."

"Great to be loved ain't it?", D.E. said flatly to Boomer.

"I think Cap and Michelle are the experts in that department," Boomer said. He started grinning, "Hey, do you think she gonna lock Cap in her room when we get back?" Ace kicked him under the table. When he looked at her she pointed at D.E.

D.E. looked up from his plate, "What?"

***
A week went by quickly and Dan was back at the warehouse / arena. His trainer was giving him the usual prefight speech as he tapped up his wrists. Dan had heard it before in various forms for as long as he could remember he just tuned it out. So far there hasn't been any attempts on his life, but the mission wasn't over yet. He started tuning back when he realized the usual locker room buzz died down in a hurry, even his trainer stopped talking. Dan looked around and saw everybody staring at the door.

"Don't mind us," an Igadroid said, "just making sure you guys are in top condition." He raised an eyebrow, this was new. The bot stood aside and let a green skin alien with pointed ears and a black suit strut in. This was new too. Everybody else in the room was suddenly very still. "He's over there," The Igadroid pointed right at him.

"Oh geez," his trainer mumbled, "keep yer nose clean kid."

"Zax?", the green guy said as he came up to them. "They still let you do this? I'm surprised one of your losers hasn't put you down yet."

"I don't coach loser," then he added, "sir."

"Even the poorest coach can get a lucky find every now and again." He stared Dan in the eye and he started right back. "So you're this amazing human I keep hearing about. Vance McMayhem, owner and originator of this spectacle. I came to this mud ball to see you in action personally. Who knows, if you impress me I might, might help you along to bigger and better things. If you impress me."

"I'm thrilled," he replied without any enthusiasm

"Don't mind 'im boss," his trainer stepped in. "My boy here fights to win just like everybody else here."

"Good to hear." He got in a little closer and spoke a little lower, "But I find it better to know when to fight to lose. If you get my meaning."

"Ya want 'im to throw the fight?", Zax whispered. "Ya lousy son of a...", he was cut when the Igadroid brought up it's cross blade. He stared at it and gulped.

"No wonder you never made it past the local circuit Zax. You never let go of those outdated morals of yours." His trainer stood there steaming. "The choice is yours of course human. I'm just sure how long you'll be able to fight if you make the wrong one. Good luck tonight," he sneered. After he left the entire locker room was staring at them.

"Take a vid!," he's trainer yelled at them. "It'll slaggin' last longer."

Dan put a hand on his shoulder, "Cool down a little bit coach. I need you to have a clear head when I'm in the cage tonight. Nobody knows who's fighting who as usual."

"Yeah yer right kid," he took a couple of deep breaths. "So kid, what are ya gonna do?"

"You know us human ain't that smart."

Zax started looking very sad, "Nice knowing ya kid. Well, at least yer gonna go out fighting. Now warm up kid," he slapped him on the chest, "ya got a fight coming up."

"Sure thing coach." Dan took his bag into a corner. He noticed that everyone was doing everything they could not to look at him, that made this a little easier. He put the bag down and removed a MP3 player, while making sure his watch was still near the top. As he put the ear bud in a pressed down a small bump behind his ear. A small receiver that Rev implanted before the mission. "Please tell me you heard that?", he whispered.

"We got every word Cap," Boomer told him. "We're getting ready to send what we got to Squad now. See you soon." Cap removed his finger and started throwing punches at his shadow. He started thinking about what was going to happen to Zax. The old man was ornery but he was a basically a good guy. And Dan started liking the old guy over the past month. He really wished he had his License right about now.

***
A human with any kind of winning record was a rare thing in this thing. It was also a huge draw so they saved his fight for last. The announcer was already in the middle of the cage, mic in hand. "Has tonight delivered or what folks?" The crowd roared their approval. "Well it's not over yet and we got one more fight for you tonight. Introducing first, at a record of three and one, the American Eagle Daaaaaniel Steeeeeven! Stevens!" A spot light hit the entrance way as some generic patriotic sounding music started playing. Zax led him out and a good part of the crowd was already chanting his name. He got in the cage and raised a hand to acknowledge the crowd.

"And as a special treat for all you fine folk tonight. His opponent, coming in at a record of thirty six and zero. Your Intergalactic Fight Federation champion. The Asteroid Smasher himself. Laaaaaaan Geeeeettor! Gettor!" The crowd nearly blew the roof off the place as his opponent entered. Zax cursed out loud as some alien sounding music started playing and a huge rocky Kordain walked foreword. It snorted smoke out from it's snout as the crowd by the walk way took a step back. Dan glanced around the arena, where in the hell was DekaSquad? Then he remembered Konstantin say they had an Anaroid problem every time they had one of these fights. He found McMayhem sitting in the front row just smiling, looks like Squad might be real busy tonight if the boss was here.

The ox ref stood in the center of the ring with it's hand raised, "Combatants ready?" They slammed their fist together. Dan bands didn't spark. He did it a couple of more time, nothing.

"Shit," Dan spit out

"Hey," Zax shouted out, "we got a equipment failure here!" Dan saw the ox's eyes look over at McMayhem, who was slowly shaking his head. Zax saw it too, "They're gonna kill 'im."

"Go!", the ref brought his hand down and the bell rang. Dan quickly got the bands off his hands, the piece of crap were useless anyway."

Ace saw what was happening and made her way to the exit. The operation just went south and according to radio Squad was in several different spots in the city fighting off Anaroids as they popped up. She tapped the jewel on her bracelet twice, time to start plan B.

The Kordian kept throwing hammer like blows as he got out of the way. The thing had a good foot on him and it looked like it spent a lot of time in the weight room. But this wasn't the first time he seen one of these things. There was one in the group back on Nagaus 7. He watched a sparring match between one and a tiger-sejin he made friends with. Hopefully this one will be dumb enough to fall for the same thing. The Kordain threw a straight right at his head. As he stepped out of the way he grabbed it's wrist and jumped. He wrapped his leg around it's shoulder, the added weight and it's momentum let Dan flip him to the mat as it lost it's balance. Dan pulled back on the arm with everything he had, even arching his body to get more leverage. His opponent had no choice but to slap the mat three times.

"He tapped," the ref blurted as the crowd went nuts. Dan let go and climbed and jumped over the top of the cage. He looked at the crowd, McMayhem and his Igadroid was already gone.

"Kid do ya know what ya did?!", Zax yelled at him

"Yeah, that's why we got to run."

"Screw that, yer the champ!" Dan had to drag him out of there. They went past the locker room and headed for the exit. A blast at the floor in front of him stopped them in their tracks. McMayhem and his bodyguard stepped forward blocking the path.

"You know," McMayhem said, "I really hate idiots. Particularly those who can't do what I tell them too." He pulled out a blaster and shot Zax's assistant right between the eyes. "I told him to get rid of you himself, not to have that incompetent squid do it." Dan pushed Zax behind him. "No offense kid, but I find human are bad for business. They're usually way too curious than they need to be." He waved his hand and two Batsuroids came forward. "Take care of the others boys."

"Not so fast!", Ace said as she and Rev hit the Batsuroids with their D-Shooters.

"SPD!", McMayhem said as he backed up and ran.

"Cap Catch!", she tossed him a black and white License. He caught it and spun toward the Igadroid.

"Emergency! DekaOps!" The Igadroid threw a grenade down and ten Anaroids formed. Dan got Zax to safety as he looked behind them out the door. McMayhem jumped in a car and sped off. Dan yelled into his License, "We got a runner!"

"We're on it," D.E. said. He and Boomer came out of hiding on the Hounds and gave chase.

"We need more Anaroids!", the announcer cried running their way. "DekaSquad just showed up." Then he saw Dan and the others, "Oh slag." He jumped for cover by Zax as the firing started.

"Get that over grown tin can going," McMayhem screamed into the comm. monitor in his car. "I don't want those Deka freaks following me!"

"You got it boss," another Igadroid said. "Kicker will launch now."

"Your damn right it's going to launch now." He punched it off and looked into this rear view mirror. Two black and white motorcycles were following him, ridden by Deka. He speeded up but they were keeping pace, no they were gaining. Every time he tried to turn off the road they fired to keep him on his path. He should have stayed on the main road and not take the back route. The black and blue shot ahead suddenly broke off and shot ahead of his car. He looked back before hitting a button in the bike. A metal spike shot out from under the Deka's seat and hit the grill of his car. An electrical charge shorted out his engine. The blue one went ahead, turned came back and stop in front of him. McMayhem got out and pointed his blaster at him. "You son of a bitch!”
"You might want to rethink that," Boomer said behind him pointing his D-Shooter at him. It was just enough of a distraction for D.E. to draw and shoot the blaster from his hand.

"You can't do this to me! I'm Vance McMayhem dammit!"

"You think that matter to us?" D.E. got off the Hound and switched his License to Judge, "Target orders!". The area went dark as a red X and a blue circle started flashing before him. A minute later the red X shined brightly, "Eliminate target." He locked his License into his D-Shot and pulled back the grip. "Strikeout!" a blue stream of energy shot out and vaporized McMayhem. D.E. slung the D-Shot across his shoulder, "Got ya."

Boomer pulled the spike out of the car and tossed it to him, "Do you think we should do something about the car?"

D.E. thought it over, "I'll check for any surprises, if it's clean we'll leave it for the locals."

The fight with the bots was over before the witnesses knew it. Dan and the others just fired away since anybody organic was behind them. Short and to the point, besides they were in a rush since the Squad was here. They turned around and saw the other cowering there. Well, not Zax he was staring at Dan, "Kid, yer SPD?"

"Sorry coach."

"Well at least I can say for a few moments that I coached a champion. Go ahead, judge me, delete me whatever the hell ya do."

Dan walked up to him and went, "You coached the guy who beat the champion, that's it."

Zax shook his head, "League rules kid, the champ fights in the cage the title automatically on the line."

"Then you coached the guy who never lost the title," he said as he slapped the D-Whoppers around his wrist. "Do yourself a favor and tell them everything you know about this thing. It's the best I can do for you under the circumstances."

"Thanks Champ."

"Anytime coach." He backed away and turned to Ace and Rev, who were bust cuffing the rest. "We got to move. Squad going to wonder why these guys are tied up as it is."

"We're done here Cap," Ace said. "You grab your gear back at the hotel. We'll meet you at the rendezvous point."

"Right," Dan nodded and let them go first. He turned around to make sure there wasn't going to be any surprises coming behind them and looked right at DekaFire. The two red started at each other for a moment. Not sure what else to do, Dan raised two finger to his helmet and gave him a mini salute before heading out. DekaBurst came down the hallway and looked at the door DekaFire was staring at.

"I just saw another Deka Unit," he said in disbelief.

She told him, "Forget you saw them."

"But I’ve never seen them before."

"I'll explain later if I can but for right now forget you ever saw them. We got a report of a Monster Mech wreaking the place. You and the others need to get the DekaSquadRobo out there and take it down."

"Rodger," DekaFire took one more look at the door and ran for the others. DekaBurst sighed, a nice spot for Pierce's people to leave her in.

***
The Machine Shepard was hidden in a clearing outside of town. They watched from a distance as the DekaSquadRobo took on a kick boxer type of Monster Mech. It took a while but the Squad took it down. Boomer stood there whining, "Dude, I want a robot."

Dan didn't even look at him, "Want in one hand and crap in the other. See which one gets fuller faster."

"Why don't you make one of those unauthorized call to you fiancé and tell her your coming home," Ace said as she was checking the Shepard's engines.

"I have not made any unauthorized transmission," Boomer protested. Then he tried to act like he wasn't glancing at his watch. "If you will excuse me, I need to.... calibrate the communication array," and he ran into the ship.

"Go easy on him Cap," D.E. said, "he's in love after all." Dan put his hands in his pockets and said nothing. D.E just stared at him, "Cap, you didn't"

"Just to let her know I was still I one piece. And it's my prerogative as field leader to check in sooner than scheduled."

"Sure Cap, sure," he said. Then D.E. started singing," Cap and Michelle..."

"I can talk the Major into letting me put you back on sewage duty," Dan shot a look at him.

"Ahem," Anna coughed, she was carrying his bag. "Sorry we were late. This operation had more Anaroids than they knew what to do with it seems. And one of the participants we have in custody is willing to talk. His only condition was that I find away to get this bag back to the, and I quote, only human champ in league history?"

Dan took the bag from her, "Everything will be in the report. I'm sure Pierce will get you a copy of it."

"I'm sure he will, but you left me with a situation. None of my people were supposed to see you."

"And I apologize for that, but I've been in too many operations to know that things don't always go according to plan. Tell him what you think you need to. If you want to tell him everything, fine. If you want, lie and say you’re not authorized to explain things at the moment."

"I don't think that one is far from the truth. Winggons file on your unit was locked up pretty tight."

"How is she doing anyway?"

"No change," she looked down, "but we're hopeful."

"We can stay a little longer if you want. My medic been trained to be a healer his entire life."

"I appreciate the offer, but I doubt one more doctor will wake her up any faster. I better get back before the other start wondering where I am."

"Right, glad to work with you," she nodded and walked back into the trees. They entered the Shepard and took their seats, Dan leaned back and buckled up, "Status."

"The area is clear," Rev said.

"Radar says the skies are wide open," D.E. announced

"Base has been contacted and will be expecting us," Boomer told him.

"Activate the stealth system and let's get this bird home," Dan said.

"Stealth activated," Ace replied after she started the engines, "setting course for home." The Shepard rose in the air before disappearing. A sudden gust of wind was the only indication of what direction they went



-----
ED- Evanescence- Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
11


-----
OP-Alter Bridge-Metalingus
-----



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."

***
Michelle shifted through the information they were sent, she and Dan decided Tucson would be a good starting point for the search. She also mentioned an Asian heritage fair was taking place, with the main attention being on Japan, China and Korea. Ace thoughts were along the lines of 'that's just great'. Boomer looked like he remembered something and looked at her, "Ace, aren't you Korean?"

"Only because of birth," she said softly. Boomer didn't hear her and thought he was being ignored so he turned back to his station. Rev, on the other hand, was staring at her. "I located the clearing Michelle told us about. I'm taking the Shepard down now." Michelle found a great spot, an old ravine with a lot of boulders around to block the view of passing glances. Still Dan ordered the stealth system on to be on the safe side. Fortunately they're hiding spot was in walking distance of the city. The ninety something degree weather, however, made it a little rougher than usual. By the time they made it to the city they were already busting out the water they brought with them.

Dan started flapping the collar of his shirt, trying to cool off. "Glad I decided to leave my jacket behind."

"I thought you army guys were suppose to be tougher than this," Ace joked as she took a drink from her bottle. "I mean the stories I heard about you from the Major..."

"Let me point out right now that my 'pushing it' point is a lot lower than his."

"If you haven't killed Boomer yet it can't be that low," Ace countered.

"Rev aren't you feeling this heat?", Boomer asked. The Zalmanian looked unaffected in his usual green hoodie.

"No, on Zalman this would be considered, as you would say, a cool summer day. So I am quite comfortable."

That thought made Boomer sweat even more, "I am never visiting your planet."

"Are you sure Robert? I am certain you would find the experience quite enlightening."

"Rev might have a future in the travel business," D.E joked. Just about everybody groaned at how bad it was. "Sorry, it's the heat."

"People, we got a job to do remember," Dan told them. "We’ll cover more ground if we split up. Ace, Rev you're with me. D.E., Boomer," he looked at them for a moment before saying, "don't make me regret it."

Boomer looked hurt, "What have we ever done to make you regret anything?"

D.E. grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him off, "Let's go before he thinks of something."

"You are so gonna regret that," Ace said with a grin.

"Maybe, but I been wrong before. They headed that way so let's go this way," he pointed to his left. "Let's get going, I want to get this guy before Rail has a chance to spot him."

"Are we not working toward the same goal?", Rev ask. "That attitude seems counterproductive Captain."

"Unit pride and bragging rights Rev," he said. He looked toward Ace for a further explanation.

"We all might be SPD, but we're just individual units when you look at it. I can't speak for Cap, but I like to think we can kick the butts of any of the other units on the planet."

Rev slowly shook his head, "I still say it seems counterproductive to the overall goal.

"You might be right," she agreed, "but I'd bet that the other units feel that same way."

They walked a few blocks before Rev's scanner picked up some massive alien life signs. To Ace's dismay it lead them to the heritage fair Michelle told them about. Several aliens were mingling with the human population with no apparent trouble. "At least we'll fit in," Dan commented as they looked over the crowd of the outdoor expo. "Keep an eye out for McGillia." Ace crossed her arms and tried not to look too uncomfortable as they walked among the crowd. Dan noticed her behavior, "You alright Ace?"

"I'm fine," she answered quickly. "I just want to hurry up and catch this guy." Then get the hell out of here she added silently.

"Trish," Rev spoke up suddenly, "when did you have long hair?"

"What are you talking about? My hair never been past my shoulders." Rev was looking at board of pictures and pointing at a particular one. It featured a woman who looked almost exactly like her. Ace was dumbstruck, "Holy crap."

"Well, they say everybody got a twin," Dan said.

"Hello," an older woman said as she came up to them. "That picture you're looking is an old one from my good friend back in South Korea." She looked at the picture and started smiling sadly. Not looking at them she started talking. "She always had a happy smile, but it got a little sadder a few months after this picture was taken. Her family made her give up the baby she was carrying, a little girl. She wasn't the same after that for a long time. Even twenty years later I can hear a bit of that sadness return every so often."

"Can we go now please," Ace muttered as she fidgeted a bit. The old woman looked at her.

"I'd imagine the child would be around your age now." Then she started laughing. "I'm sorry for talking like that. She'd call me an old fool for telling other people about her past." She stopped talking as she took a good look at Ace. Her gaze went back to the picture than back to her. The surprise was evident on her face.

"We're not here to sight see," she blurted out while hurrying off.

"Ah..." Dan struggled as he wondered what the hell just happened, "sorry about that." He and Rev found her by a fountain. Ace stood there with her eyes closed, she jumped a bit when he put his hand on her shoulder. "Ace?", she wouldn't look at them. "Trish, what's wrong?"

"Nothing wrong," she told them. Then she went all business, "I think we should split up. With a crowd this size we can cover more ground that way."

Dan looked at his second in command. Slowly he nodded, "If none of us spot him in the next hour we meet back here."

"Right," she agreed and walked off.

"Is it wise to leave her alone at the moment," Rev asked.

"If I thought the problem was bigger than she was letting on I wouldn't have agreed to split. Besides Ace is a professional, whatever she's feeling she'll put it aside until the mission done." Dan went off in another direction and left Rev standing there.

Nodding to himself, Rev headed back to the stand and talk with the old woman some more while asking a few questions. Then he found a quiet spot as he spoke into his License, "Ops3 to base."

"Base here," Michelle answered sounding concerned. "Is anything wrong?"

"Everything is fine, but I have a rather unusual request. I need your assistance in locating someone."

***
When Ace got back to the fountain Cap was already there sitting on it's edge. He was watching the crowd, the only indication he gave that he knew she was there was a single nod in her general direction. As she sat next to him he asked, "No sign of him?"

"No, but I did see what looked like a blue dog with scales. And dreadlocks."

Dan whistled, "Glad I didn't see that thing."

"Cap, about the way I spazed earlier. I wanted to..."

"Don't, it's already forgotten." He looked at her with a bit of concern, "Is there anything you want to talk about while we got a quiet moment?"

"Not while we're on a mission."

"Alright, but you know my door is always open if you do, right?"

"I know Cap." Rev walked up a moment later. "No luck either huh?"

"Not exactly Trish." He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. "But I did find out something that you might find useful." Ace and Dan looked at each other confused. What could she possibly find all that useful that didn't involve the mission. She glanced at the paper and froze at the words South Korea.

"What is this?", she demanded.

"It is the address of the woman in the picture. I thought you might want to get in contact with her."

"And why would I want to get in contact with this person?"

"If this person is you mother...," he started.

"I know who my mother is!", she snapped at him. "Her name is Mary Fieldman. My father is William Fieldman. This woman is nothing to me."

Rev was stunned at her reaction, "She might be the one who gave you life."

"That's all she ever did for me," she said angrily as she crumpled up the paper and stormed off.

"Good job Rev," Dan sighed.

"Trish," Rev started after her until Dan stopped him.

"It might be a good idea to give her a little more time alone," he offered.

"Captain I was only trying to be helpful."

"I know you were Rev. And I sure she does too. But remind me to give you the definition of the term ‘hot button issue’ one of these days. I'm just glad Boomer wasn't here to see this. He's been looking for something on her for awhile now."

***
Ace walked away from the fair mentally kicking herself for going off like that. Rev didn't deserve to get yelled at like that, she would have to find away to make it up to him. But he doubted he understand the reason why she reacted that way. Ace put her hands in her pockets, that wasn't how a second in command was suppose to act. She looked up and saw what looked like a green monkey in a suit turn in an alley. Oh what a day she was having.

She hurried to the alley he turned in and peered around the corner, "Op5 to Ops1."

"Stevens here, go Ace," he answered after a moment.

"I might have spotted the target."

"Right, keep him under surveillance for now. I'll contact D.E. and Boomer and we'll hook up with you as fast as we can."

"Rodger, Ops5 out." Ace put her License away then wrapped her hand around the handle of her SP-Shooter just in case. Slowly she went down the alley, if this was McGillia he wasn't trying to hide himself. He turned a corner and Ace quickened her pace to keep him in sight. Peering around this corner he saw the ape walk up to a human who looking around nervously.

"Youse got my money?", the ape demanded.

"Ye..yes.. but,..." he stuttered.

"But what ya hairless ape?"

"Some of the regulars were too scared to buy. DekaRail’s been seen all over the state and they were asking questions."

"Dat bunch of cadets!," he grabbed him by the front of the shirt and lifted him off the ground. "Why should anybody be scared of dem? I need to get rid of my current batch before some real cops get wind of me."

"But they took out an Agent."

"So? It's not like he was the only Agent in dis country." Ace filled that bit of info away. Command would want to know about another active Agent in operation. A cat landed by her and she jumped a little. McGillia saw her before she could hide back behind the corner. "Too bad for you girly." He reached into the bag he was carrying and pulled out what looked like a tommy gun. He pointed it in her direction and pulled the trigger. A volley of laser hit the brick by her as Ace dove for cover.

"So much for waiting for the other. Emergency! DekaOps!" A pink digital flash later and she was in her DekaSuit. She ran across the open to the other side firing away with her D-Shooter.

"SPD huh? Youse guys can't leave a business man alone can't ya."

"There's business then there's 'business'," Ace said before she fired into the alley. As he went for cover she saw him reach into his coat. It had to be a grenade. As McGillia came back into view Ace saw she was right and tried to shot it out of his hands. Too bad she wasn't D.E she thought as it flew from his hands. Five Batsuroids formed as it hit, "Oh shit."

"Show da girly a good time boys," McGillia sneered.

"Yes sir," one of them replied as they raised their weapons. Ace jumped out of the way as they fired. She rolled into view, came up with her D-Shot in hand and started firing away. Two went down before the other went for cover. Ace took cover herself as they returned fire. Ace fired back as she noticed Mcgillia hightailed it.

A shot by her head made her get behind the wall. How long was she going to be able to keep this up? "Hey!" a new voice caught her by surprise. Before she knew it D.E and Boomer were by her side.

"Where did you come from?"

"You're gonna have to talk to my momma and daddy about that one," D.E. joked.

"Laughs after the mission remember," Ace chided him as she fired into the alley again. "We got three Batsuroids to deal with at the moment."

"One each," Boomer said

"Sounds good to me," D.E. said as he drew his D-Shooter. "What's the plan?"

Any other day and she might have said something else. But right now she really needed to relieve some stress, "Full frontal assault, guns blazing."

"Sounds crazy," D.E. commented, "I like it."

"Go!", she ordered and they ran in. Ace hung back a bit to give the other two some cover some fire. Boomer went into a baseball slide to avoid a blast coming at him. He leveled his D-Shot and fired away until the third Batsuroid went down. At the same time D.E. jumped over his. He fired point blank in it's face as it turned around. The last one suddenly fell foreword, three hole now smoking slightly from the back of it's head. Dan put away his D-Colt as he looked over the area. "Did you get McGillia?" Ace asked him.

"We didn't see anybody come our way," he told her. Ace slammed her fist into the wall, damn it how did he get away. Rev tilted his head slightly, as if he was hearing something. Then the others heard it, the sound of an engine coming online.

"Sounds like it's coming from up there," Boomer said as he pointed toward the rooftops.

"D.E.," Ace pointed to a fire escape. He nodded and jumped up to pull the ladder down. As they raced up Ace pulled the Shepard's remote from her pack and activated the homing signal. When they reached the roof Dan ordered for them to spread out and search the skyline.

"There!", Rev pointed to a ship that was flying away from them. A beep from the remote said the Shepard was overhead. Ace worked the controls so the jet hovered over the roof. The increased winds from the engines was the only indications the ship was even there. Slowly the inside appeared as the boarding ramp lowered for them to jump in.

Ace got in her seat, closed the ramp and quickly gave chase as the other were taking their positions. They still had Mcgillia's ship in sight but a light on her control caught her attention as they started to catch up. "Damn it, I thought we fixed that."

"Not something I want to hear at this altitude Ace," Dan said.

"The starboard engine losing power again." She did a quick system check, "It's the stealth system, it's draining power from the engine." How the hell did she miss that? What else could go wrong today?

Dan lowered his head and muttered, "McGee going to have a field day with this one. Drop the stealth," he ordered and power to the starboard engine increased. She was really going to have to pressure the Major about those parts for the upgrade when she got back.

"We barely got McGillia on scanners," D.E. announced.

"Give me the location," Ace said. "I'll figure out the quickest approach vector to close the gap." His location appeared on her screen and she did a couple quick calculations in her flight computer. She had her approach and increased speed while keeping an eye on the engine sensor. "Come on baby,' she said under her breath, "don't disappoint me now."

"We're coming up on Phoenix," Boomer said from his station.

"He's almost in firing range," D.E. called out right after. There was a quick flash from Mcgillia's ship and the Shepard rocked from an impact. "We took a hit. Port wing has some slight damage."

"Space ape did not just shoot my jet," Ace said in disbelief.

"Return fire!", Dan ordered. "Wing guns!". D.E. took aim and fired away. Mcgillia tried to avoid the barrage. Sparks off it's hull were the only indication they hit him. Mcgillia fired at them again and hit the mark again.

"Starboard engine took a hit." Everybody looked at her.

She ignored them and kept her eyes on the sensors. No power loss from that engine. Finally something went right. But that damn ape shot her ship again. McGillia's ship flew between two high rise building. Dan noticed she wasn't changing course. "Ah... Ace?," he said while sitting a little straighter. D.E., Rev and Boomer started tightening the straps on their seats and braced themselves for the impact, "Ace!". She jerked the controls and the Shepard turned ninety degrees on it's side and flew the gap between the buildings, the windows rattling from the wake. Dan took a moment to find his voice, "Could you warn me when you're going to do that?!"

"Didn't have time. Are we in laser range yet?"

"We are now," D.E answered.

Ace wasted no time, "Target his engines and bring him down."

D.E. looked at Dan. "You heard her," was all he said.

"Right." D.E. prepped the laser. A handle with a trigger popped out of his council and the targeting computer locked on. The nosecone split open as he concentrated. "Target acquired. Firing laser," he pulled the trigger and a yellow energy beam stuck McGillia's port engine. It started smoking immediately and the ship headed for the ground. Ace followed it down as it crashed a mile into the dessert. The Shepard landed and Dan, Boomer and D.E exited and found McGillia stumbling away from his ship.

Dan took out his License and held it in front of him, "Target orders!". The area went black as a red X and blue circle started flashing in front of McGillia. After a minute the Red X shined brightly, "Eliminate Target." They locked their License into the D-Shots and took aim. "Ready. Strikeout!" Three blue energy beams deleted McGillia as they hit him. Dan lowered his weapon, "Got you."

When they got back to the ship they found Ace going over the damage it sustained during the chase. "Ace," D.E. said, "normally I don't complain about your flying. But this particular trip....", he trailed off.

"Hey, the Shepard's my baby," she told him. "And nobody is going to mess with it, not while I'm at the controls."

Boomer started laughing, “I just wish I could see the look on Rails face when they find out the missions over."

"I'm sure Kodiak will think of something," Dan told him. "Ace what kind of damage are we looking at?"

"Nothing major," she answered. "Me and my team can have it fixed in no time. The ride home should be a lot smoother than the actual chase. Right Rev?" She noticed Rev was looking at everything but her. Dan saw it too. The look on his face told her that this was her mess to fix and she couldn't argue.

***
Ace was finally able to corner Rev in his office. After repairing the damage to the Shepard she found Rev was doing everything possible to avoid her. At the moment he was busy looking at something on his desk. Now she understood Cap comment about a moping Zalmanian wasn't that fun to be around. "Rev we got to talk."

"Trish, I want to apologize if I did anything to endanger our friendship. I realize you are angry with me..."

"I'm not mad at you Rev," she corrected him. "I was never mad at you. That whole situation has always been a bit of a sore spot with me."

"I did not understand your reaction. Are you upset this woman might possible be the one who gave you away?"

"That would imply I cared one way or another."

"Then did your adoptive parent discourage you from looking up your past and learning about the country you were born in."

Ace laughed, "Oh God no, they practically shoved it down my throat. Every time I turned around it was either 'Here's a book about Korea so you can learn where you came from' or 'Learn a little Korean so you won't look like a total idiot if you ever decide to visit'." She noticed the look Rev was giving her and laughed again, "Ok, they didn't say total idiot, but that's what they meant."

"Then why did you look so uncomfortable at the fair?"

She turned away to study something on the wall and crossed her arms. "It's a long story Rev. You have to understand, when I see a picture of me and my parents I don't see a white couple with a Korean kid they adopted. I see me with the two people I love more than anybody on the planet. Until that one family reunion I never realized some people never saw us that way."

"What happened?", Rev asked while coming up behind her. "If you don't want to tell me it is alright."

"It's alright Rev," she faced him and looked him in the eyes. "I was like seven or eight at the time and this one cousin of mine was making fun of me. Dad told him to stop, but his parents gave a really half hearted attempt at making him stop. Later we heard them say they couldn't believe they brought me. Actually they called me something I didn't realize was a slur at the time. But I saw how my parents reacted and figured it was pretty bad. Then I noticed how they and a couple of the others were looking at us. I've been ultra defensive about it ever since. I still get irritable if I'm around anything that reminds me I'm not actually theirs." She lowered her head, "You think I would have outgrown something so stupid by now."

"I'm sorry that some of your family reacted with such closed minds."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about Rev. I should be the one apologizing to you for reacting the way I did. You didn't deserve that."

"It is alright Trish."

"No, it's not alright. If anything endangered our friendship it was my stupid hang up."

"Your parents mean a lot to you, do they not Trish?"

"I know we're not blood, but they are my mom and dad. And I don't care what anybody else says."

"Then that is all that matters."

She nodded slowly. "Are we still friends Rev?", she had to ask.

"I would like to think so Trish."

She grinned slightly, "Come on, I'll buy you a plate a raw meat from the cafeteria. You heard a little about my family, I want to hear about yours."

"It would be my pleasure."

Her grin got bigger, "Cool."


-----
ED-Evanescence-Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
12


-----
OP-Alter Bridge-Metalingus
-----


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. He had to meet the outrageous price Agent Chatrox’s buyer was asking. Shockblast opened his hand toward the storefront of another jewelry store and let a wave fly. The window shattered and the brick wall caved in slightly from the effect. Luckily he fine tuned this over the years. Before he would have brought the entire building down and buried what he was after.

The team, dressed in full field gear, found him when he was stuffing any jewels he could get his hands on into the bag he was carrying. Dan raised a fist and they stopped behind him. Holding up five then two finger he made a half circle motion, Ace and D.E were to circle around and cover him from the other direction. Then he signaled for Boomer to head across the street. Rev did a scan of the area and showed it to him, minimal life sign detected. Hopefully they'll be smart enough to stay out of the way.

Ace and D.E. signaled that they were in position. Dan signaled for Rev and Boomer to cover him as he slowly made his way forward. Just like they planned Ace was coming up from the other direction just slowly as he was. They found some cover and watched. The target was still grabbing diamonds. It actually looked like he was being choosey and taking his time from this angle. They nodded at each other then went out of hiding, their SP-shooter aimed right at the Alienizer. "SPD, freeze Shockblast!," Dan ordered.

He dropped the bag and slowly faced them, "Oh shoot, you got me."

"Not taking his eyes off he said, "Keep those hands were I can see them."

"I plan too," he said

The air in front of his hand started to distort. Ace saw it before he did, "Cap move!"

Dan jumped out of the way but was caught in the wave's wake and landed hard. Ace was caught in the same wake and was thrown back. The wave crushed the car they were hiding behind. "Fire!", D.E. yelled out as they shooting. Shockblast ran away from the barrage, making sure to fire a wave in both direction to keep them from following.

"Captain, Trish!", Rev called out as he ran toward them. D.E. and Boomer went in the direction Shockblast did but couldn't find a trace of him. When they got back Rev had Dan sitting against the wall and treating a gash in his forehead.

"Is he going to be alright?", Boomer asked.

"Just landed on my head," Dan told them. "I didn't hurt anything important."

"As you humans say Captain," Rev told him, "I'll be the judge of that."

"How about you Ace, anything hurt?", D.E. asked her.

She rubbed her backside, "Just my pride."

Rev bandaged the gash and did another scan on Dan, "I am detecting no other injuries."

"Good because I felt like jell-o after that wave passed," Dan said as Rev helped him up.

"You too?", Ace said. She looked at what was left of a blue sedan. "I'm glad it wasn't a direct hit. Do you think the Dekasuits can handle it?"

"Let's not find out," Boomer said. "Some of us have something to live for you know," he added when D.E. looked at him.

"We all do kid," Dan told him as he took out his OpsLiciense and switched into phone. Pulling up a map in the air they tried to figure out where Shockblast went. "Any ideas were someone big and purple could have ducked into?"

"We stopped about here," D.E. pointed out on the map. "There were a couple of spots I saw he could have ducked into to get away."

"He couldn't have gotten far," Dan said heading for that spot. Rev was right behind him to make sure he didn't fall. "Rev do a scan the area for any kind of alien life sign. Ace contact OpsBase and see if Michelle can get a fix on him or find a place he can use for a hideout that's nearby."

"I'm on it," she replied. "But we're still going to do something about that blast of his."

D.E. looked at them and grinned, "I might have an idea for a plan B."

"What is it D.E.?", Dan asked.

"A slight variation on hide and seek," he told them.

"Is that not another children's game?", Rev asked

His grin got bigger, "Yup."

***
With Michelle help they located the warehouse Shockblast was using as a hide out. He was so busy cataloging his latest haul he didn't noticed the multi colored individuals sneaking around him. A glimpse here and there caught his attention but he dismissed it. "Eh... I must be seeing things."

"You sure about that?", a voice behind him asked. Shockblast turned around and saw a figure in a black and red Dekasuit flanked by four others stood there. Where the hell did they come from?

"You jackasses never learn," Shockblast stated as he raised his hands.

"Scatter!", Dan yelled as he reached for the D-Colt and jumped for cover. The other ran off in different direction. All that sneaking around gave them a pretty good idea about the floor lay out so they knew were to go. Shockblast held off from firing, he had some stuff hidden around here from previous jobs and didn't want to pulverize it by accident. He tried to keep his bearing and fired a small shockwave when he saw one of them. But they moved fast, running in and out of sight. They punks actually had the nerve to take potshots at him.

Dan kept an eye on the pad in his hand. He threw up the mini satellite before they made themselves known. So he was able to direct the other when he saw them. He passed D.E. and tossed him the D-Colt. The plan had better work. From the screen he saw Shockblast start to move and look for them. Dan saw Boomer and gave the signal to speed the operation up. They had to keep this guy away from D.E. as long as possible for him to get in position.

"Come out, come out where ever you are," Shockblast taunted.

"Tag!", Boomer shouted as he came out of hiding and fired with his D-Shooter.

"You're it," Ace said as she did the same. Shockblast tried to cover up as they shot around him. It gave Dan and Rev enough time to run up, jump and punch the Alienizer back. Then Ace and Boomer jumped over them and kicked him back even more.

"I think it's time you called it a day and just give up," Dan told him.

"I could do that," Shockblast turned his palms toward them and sent out a quick pulse that sent them flying. "But this is more fun." Dan unhooked his D-Shot but Shockblast let loose another wave that made them all fly backwards into a wall, dropping the weapon they were holding.

Dan struggled to get to his feet and muttered "There's that jell-o feeling again."

"And that wasn't even full power," he boasted. "Slag, I've seen a guy turn to liquid goo at full blast in seconds. I always wondered how long it would take with a guy wearing a Dekasuit. Hey, wait a minute," he did a quick head count, "there were five of you. Where's did the blue on go?"

"Blue one?", Ace asked. "What blue one?"

"Cute one bitch," Shockblast looked around. "Guess he got smart and ran off. Too bad you guys weren't that smart." He rubbed the tips of his fingers together, "Now you're going to find out how I took down a capitol building in one blow."

Dan and the other struggled to their feet. Shockblast put his hands together and the air started to distort, a huge field this time around. Dan and Ace pushed the others out of the way. D.E. jumped out from hiding behind him and took quick aim, right at the glowing area on the back. Three shots fired out of the D-Colt. The first shot splintered the covering. The second shot broke through. The third shot cracked the crystal within, causing a power surge in the equipment. The energy feedback traveled down the cables and into the emitters on his hand, causing them to explode.

"Argh," Shockblast cried out form in pain from his smoking hands.

"How about you don't cut it as close next time," Dan told D.E.

"I got to make it interesting." D.E. hurried over to them and tossed him back the D-Colt, "Thanks for finally letting me play with that thing, by the way."

"Let me treat your wounds," Rev said as he headed for Shockblast. Dan held up his left arm to stop him.

D.E. pointed his License at him, "Target orders." The area went black as Shockblast was scanned. Before long the red X shined in front of him, "Eliminate target." D.E., Ace and Boomer locked their License into the D-Shots. Ace and Boomer got to a knee as D.E. stood behind them. "Strikeout!", three energy beams struck Shockblast and deleted him. "Got ya."

"Why did you stop me Captain?", Rev demanded.

"No point in fixing him if we're just going to delete him," Dan told him.

"It sucks buddy, I know," D.E. said, "but it's what we have to do."

"Are we still cool Rev?", Dan asked.

"I do not like this," Rev told him, "but this is our duty. I knew this was a possibility when I joined SPD."

"I'm not sure if this helps, but I don't like it either," Dan said. "Come on, let's check this place out then head home."

***
"What the in the hell did you do to yourself?", Michelle asked Dan as he exited the Shepard and saw the bandage on his forehead.

"A little on the job accident," Dan told her. It wasn't a total lie. "Rev said I was going to be fine."

"Well it's lucky there nothing up there to hurt," she smirked."

"Either you were listening in or you been talking to the Major again," he gave her a look. "I better report in and give him the brief mission report."

"If you guys will excuse me," Boomer told them, "I have to get cleaned up and dressed to be just in time to be late with my dinner with Lisa."

"Alright guys," Ace said to her crew in the bay, "time to give this bird it's post mission check up."

D.E. put a hand on Rev shoulders, "You sure you're alright buddy? You were a little quieter than usual on the trip back."

"I wish I could say I was," he admitted. "I am a doctor Terry. I am trained to heal those that are sick or injured. I realize that this is, as you put it, what we have to do. The Great Sprit may have set me on this path, but sometimes I wonder if I can do this."

"Look Rev, I don't have a magic saying that gonna make sense of all of this. If I did I wouldn't be doing this ," he grinned. "I'm sure you're not the only one who had some doubts if they can keep doing this. I know I have, but I found something to fight for to get me through it."

"May I ask what that is?"

"I think of the kids, like the ones you met at the church. I think about what kind of future they might have if we fail and let a really nasty one get away."

Rev thought that over, "Would it be alright if I used that as well."

"Be my guest, mi motivation es tu motivation."

"Thank you Terry."

"No problem man." he looked at his watch. "Oh crap, I still gotta call my folks. I'll meet you in the rec room later."

"Of course my friend," Rev smirked. Children were still the same no matter what species or planet they were from


-----
ED-Evanescence- Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
13


-----
OP – Alter Bridge – Metalingus
-----


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.”

***
A couple of hours later Commander Trytan wanted to see them in action before they did anything else. Starting with how fast they could get field ready and launch the Machine Shepard. Which they did in near record time. Trytan stood in the center of the cabin as they were doing what they were suppose to do during the test flight. “I’m sorry about the accommodations Commander“, Dan said again. “You’re more than welcome to my chair.”

“And that would disrupt things more than I already have Captain. Although if I could I would like to take the controls for a few moments before we head back.”

“Do you want to lose an arm?”, Boomer muttered.

“Boomer,” D.E. warned him softly.

The Commander laughed, “I totally understand, I was the same way back in the day. I’d rather die than let someone else pilot my vessel.”

“Pardon my interruption Commander,” Rev spoke up, “but you had two vessels during your career, is that correct?”

“Yes I did,” Trytan said while looking impressed, “I’m surprised you knew that Ranzack. I’m not one of the legendary Space Sheriffs.”

“The history of the Space Sheriffs has always fascinated me Commander. When my studies would allow I as usually buried in any data text I could find.”

Trytan nodded, “Then you already know how I lost my first ship, the Waverider.”

“Yes sir, but I was hoping to get your perspective on the event.”

“My perspective is in the report Ranzack. I was after a scientist who was trying to decode our weaponry and armor technology. I located him but he was heavily guarded. They were able to force me away from the base. Next thing I knew there was a large flash of light and the base and my ship disappeared.”

“So what happened,” Dan asked, “did this guy trip a self destruct?”

“Nobody’s sure,” Trytan said. “That was the best guess anybody came up with. But there’s no actual evidence to support that theory. And that case has never been closed because of it.”

Boomer spoke up, “My Grandfather was a cop too. He told me there were a couple he had a couple of cases he could never solve while he was on the force, even after he retired. Those cases still bug him to this day.”

“I understand your Grandfather’s feeling. I still go over the data collected on that day.”

The comm. board went off, “Cap, we got an incoming from OpsBase.”

Out of habit Dan said, “Put it on screen.” The Major appeared on the monitor over the cockpit window.

“I hate to interrupt, but satellites have picked up a strange signal in Brazil. And it wasn’t there before.”

“Right, we’ll return to base and drop off the…”

“If it’s all the same to you Captain,” Trytan interrupted, “but I think I’ll accompany you on this one. My mission is to observe how you operate, what better way than on an actual mission.”

His gut told Dan to reject this idea, but unfortunately the Commander outranked him if he decided to push it. The Major thought the same thing, “I’m not sure that’s wise Commander. There’s no way to guarantee your safety if anything happens.

“I’m fully aware of that Henry. I’ll take full reasonability for myself, besides I am part of SPD.”

Well, there was no way out of this one. He did not need somebody out there trying to give orders over him. “Send us the location of the signal. We’ll go silent ops as soon as the transmission ended.”

“Michelle sending it now Cap, OpBase out,” His image faded as the lost the signal.

“Pardon me Capt. Stevens,” Trytan said right after, “but silent ops?”

“I can’t speak for the other Ops units but it’s a factor in our operation here,” Dan explained.” Essentially it means we’re on our own until we get back to base.”

“I got the signal location Cap,” Boomer said. “I’m sending Ace the co-ordinates.”

“Got ‘em, I’m plotting the course now.”

“Can I see the signal wavelength?”, Trytan asked. “I may recognize it.”

Dan’s common sense overrode his gut reaction. The Commander might recognize it and he was trained to use any resource available. “D.E. pull it up and show the Commander.”

“Right here Commander,” D.E. slid over a bit. As Trytan looked at he looked surprised for a brief moment. “Do you recognize it?

“What…?”, he was startled. “No, it’s vaguely familiar, but I don’t want to say anything until I’m completely sure.”

“Right.” Dan pulled up a map, “No offence Commander but…”

“Don’t worry Captain I will stay away from the battlefield. I know my presence would interfere with your team dynamics.” Dan nodded, at least they understood each other.

***
The trip to Brazil was uneventful. Then they got in range of the signal and a volley from the ground was launched in their direction. “Incoming!”, D.E. yelled out.

“Hang on!”, Ace commanded as she tried to maneuver the Shepard between the blast, “How in the hell are they seeing us? The cloak is still on.” Trytan remained stone faced during the whole ordeal.

“Get this bird on the ground now,” Dan told her.

“Right,” Ace replied. Waiting for a blast to go off near them D.E. hit a control and something on the hull exploded leaving a smoke trail. Ace put the ship into a near vertical dive.

“Is this a wise maneuver?”, Trytan asked while hanging on for dear life. “They’ll know where we are.”

“They can see us anyway,” Ace told him. “And hopefully it should give us some breathing room on the way down.” As the ground quickly approached she pulled the stick back to pull the jet out of the dive and hit the landing thrusters. The ship landed with a thud as they were tossed around. “I am not looking forward to seeing what that damaged when we get back.”

“Worry about it later,” Dan said as he got out of his seat and headed for the ramp. “Whoever behind this is going to send out a search party so we don’t have much time.” He turned to the Commander, “Now what the hell is going on?”

“Do you think I had something to do with this?”

“We go out on a test flight in full gear on your order. We suddenly get a mission where the supposed enemy can see us. You tell me what I’m supposed to think.”

“Captain I couldn’t plan something like this if I wanted to, especially on a planet as divided as this one.”

“Then what was that signal? And don’t give that bullshit about you’re not being sure.” The others stared at him like he grew a second head.

“I appreciate your concern…”

“My team safety is my only concern right now Commander,” he cut him off.

Trytan nodded and conceded, “It was from my ship.”

“The one that disappeared?”, Rev asked.

“The very one. It… took me by surprise.”

“This scientist you mentioned,” Dan said, “his name wasn’t Gremlin was it?”

“No, it was Drago. But I think he had an assistant by that name. Did you run into him?”

“In Hawaii awhile back, he was copying SPD tech. Kind of like the guy you mentioned.”

“I guess he survived too if my ship did.” Trytan looked apologetic, “I’m sorry Captain, I should have said something sooner.”

“Worry about it later,” Dan said as he hit the ramp control. “If we’re going to get out of here we’re going to have to take out those guns. Since they’re looking for us they’re going to find us. Commander, can you take out the guns while we had off the main force?”

Trytan was surprised, “What about the safety of your unit?”

“We don’t know what kind of defenses they have. A single man has a better chance of sneaking in.”

“Especially if they’re distracted. So why me?”

“As far as I’m concerned,” Dan said as he went down the ramp, “this is still you case.” He looked him in the eyes, “Time to put this one to rest Commander.”

Tryatn looked moved, “Thank you Captain.” He looked at the others before heading off into the jungle.

Dan pulled out his knife and SP-Shooter, “Buy him as much time as you can.”

“Strike hard and strike fast,” Ace added. Dan nodded. A group of Anaroids came into view. They shot them as soon as they saw them.

“That’s going to attract attention, move,” Dan ordered.

***
Batsuroids and an Igadroid were studying monitors and sensors under a canopy. One of the search groups had failed to check in. Another reported that they found a craft of some sort right before contact was lost. Sitting on a rock in the sun was an old lizard, it’s green scales brittle and on the verge of falling off. It injected itself with something and started moving with a new a new energy. “Status report,” he said to the Igadroid.

“We have lost two,” a Batsuroid in the back said something, “correction, three of the search parties. The fourth heard something by one of the generators and are investigating now.”

“Show me where they are.” The lizard walked to a table that had a map of the surrounding area.

“We lost the three in this area,” the Igadroid pointed in the area were the craft went down. “The fourth is here in this area,” it’s hand moved a few inches to the left.”

“They apparently split up. Fortify the defenses around the base. I don’t want them sneaking in.”

“Yes Prof. Drago.”

Drago looked at the ship in the background, he knew that’s why they come. He spent fifteen years using that ship to get himself back to this dimension. He was not about to let whoever it was take it from him.

On the other side of the camp Trytan was sneaking around. He recognized the tech those generators and sensors were based on and was able to bypass it quickly and send a group of them in the wrong direction. Stevens and his team may have been acting as a decoy for him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make their job a little easier. Finding one of the turrets he tried to find out how it worked. The turret itself was automated, but was controlled by an outside source. He knew what that source was and headed for the ship. Avoiding several patrols made his way to his old ship and closed in on an entry hatch. Much to his surprise his access code still worked. A wave of nostalgia came over him as he looked at the inside. He shook his head, he would have time for this later.

Trytan headed for the main computer and started searching programs. Finding the turret program he deactivated them and sent out a false signal to the read outs. That done, he dove into the records and discovered what happened twenty years ago. Drago had accidentally opened a huge dimensional gate that had swallowed the base and his ship. He escaped about five years ago. Well that was one mystery solved now they had to take care of Drago. “Tryatn to Stevens,” he spoke into his Command License. “The turrets are deactivated, but there are guards everywhere.”

“Understood Commander, we’re on our way. Stevens out.

Tryatn looked at the License in his hand. This was how he did things now. But this was an old case. He searched the computer again to see if a certain set of programs was still active.

***
Dan hid behind the foliage that surrounded the ship and the base. Rows of Anaroids and Batsuroids surrounded the vessel. He wasn’t kidding when he said they were everywhere. “Light it up!”, Dan shouted. Seeing the odds Boomer threw two flash grenades, they use the moment they had to charge in. “Change standby,” as one they pulled out their OpLicense. “Emergency! DekaOps!”

Each of them was surrounded by a digital field. Dekametal covered their bodies and turned into a black bodysuit. A colored striped ran down their bodies and formed their number on the left side of their chest. A backpack and the D-Shot appeared on their backs. “Face on!”, they shouted and a helmet formed around their heads. “Special Police,” the light on the side of their helmets flashed, “DekaOps!”

“And I thought those fools in the Space Sheriffs only had the audacity to attack in the open,” Drago said from the rear. “I guess such stupidity traveled to the next generation.”

“Give it up Drago,” Dan said. “This isn’t your fight anymore.”

“Those so called Alienizers thought the same thing, until I met one who believed I could reverse SPD technology by using the Space Sheriff’s. And I have had success. Shot me,” he ordered the Igadroid who complied. The shot deflect off of him as something flashed around him. “This force field may not be as flashy as your Dekasuits or the Sheriffs armor but it does the job. Did you know your weaponry is very similar to theirs? That disappointed me a little, it made my job a little too easy. Kill them, but try to salvage one of their Licenses. They intrigue me.”

“Not so fast Drago!” Everybody looked up, Trytan stood on top of his ship.

“Slag Trytan, I’m surprised you’re still around. Still protecting the space ways as one of these Deka fools?”

“Yes, but with trash as old as you I’m not even going to use my License.” He held out left hand, palm open. Quickly he swung the arm behind him and knelt down. He stood up pumping his right hand into the air. In less than a second he was covered in a green colored plasma energy. It quickly faded away and he was covered head to toe in body armor with a greenish tint, eyes glowing yellow. Holding his left arm up again he announced, “Defender of the space ways!” He swung his left arm back and crossed his right in front of his chest, “Space Sheriff Trytan!”

“Now that’s old school,” Boomer said. Trytan jumped off the ship and landed by them ready to fight.

“You sure you didn’t plan this?”, Dan asked with a bit of humor in his voice.

“Not even in my wildest dreams Captain.” The force in front of them looked like they were getting ready to attack.

Dan glanced at his team then over to Trytan, “Give the word Commander.”

“The word is given Captain.” Both sides charged the other as Drago watched from the back. Ace used her D-Rod to smash any Anaroid that came near her. Rev used his D-Knife to stab a Batsuroid as he shot at what was coming up behind him with his other hand. D.E and Boomer ran side by side firing way with their D-Shooters. Dan was unloading with his D-Shot at point blank range. Trytan jumped up and shot several Anaroids with his blaster, as he landed he holstered that one and drew his sword and cut down several more.

Dan and Trytan ended up back to back as a group surrounded them. He watched the bots as he held up his D-Shot and told him, “Not bad for an old timer.”

“Old?”, he said. “You’re only as young as you feel junior.”

“If you say so. Now!”, following Dan lead they jumped away from each other and fired at whatever bot was closest.

“Tri Cutter!” Trytan held up two fingers and a triangle shape laser blasted a Batsuroid that was coming up behind Dan.

“Nice trick,” Dan said.

“Surprises them every time.” Trytan told him right before he headed for another group.

“Squash them,” Drago said and the Igadroid ran off. Moments later the ground started shaking.

“Whoa,” D.E. exclaimed while trying to keep his footing, “is this an earthquake?” A Dragon shaped monster mech came out of the ground. They had to jumped out of the way as a foot came at them.

“Now what?”, Ace asked. Dan had absolutely no idea what to do now. Maybe if they got back to the ship and aimed the laser at that thing’s cockpit.

Trytan stepped forward, “Leave this to me. The Waverider might be old but she still has some life in her.” Almost on cue the old ship lifted off the ground. It flew circles around the dragon mech firing it’s weapons at it. “Fire mode,” Tyrtan said standing with his right side facing the mech. A giant green outline of his armor formed in the air above him. The Waverider hovered between the image and the mech.

“I heard about this but I didn’t believe it,” Dan muttered as he watched. The ship started changing. The wing folded down and connected under the hull. The nose section split open and folded under as well. Following Trytan’s movements the image reached out and held the ship like a gun.

“Maximum wave cannon”, Trytan called out, “Fire!” A massive stream of energy shot out and destroyed the mech.

“Captain,” Rev said as he saw Drago run.

“Stop him,” Dan ordered. They didn’t have to chase after Drago for long. He was already at the controls of a device hidden in a column.

“If Trytan thinks he has total control of that ship resources, he is mistaken.” A portal opened that swallowed Drago and DekaOps up.”

“No,” Trytan whispered. He hurried to the controls. Drago was using his ship to power a gateway into that dimension he was caught in. And from the looks of things he fixed it so that if the panel was messed with the portal would be sealed off forever. “I hope you guys area as good as Scorp claims you are Captain.”

***
They were flung through a dimensional rift and were dumped in what looked like a rock quarry. But the sky was purple with various objects hanging in mid air. Dan and the others could feel the heat through their Dekasuits. “What the fuck just happened?!”, he demanded.

“This is not good,” Rev said as he looked around.

“Spill it Rev,” Dan ordered.

“Some of the organizations the Sheriffs went up against had access to a unique dimension. It increased their warriors’ strength and abilities as a side effect.”

“That is correct insect,” Drago came out of nowhere and fast. He slashed Dan, D.E. and Rev before any of them knew it. “I spent fifteen years of my life in this bastard place.” He came in again and nailed Ace and Boomer. “It may have increased my strength but the prolonged exposure took years off my life.” Rev pulled out something but Drago destroyed it the moment it appeared.

Dan grunted in pain as he got up, “How did the Sheriffs deal with this situation?”

“They had special sensors to detect the creature. And Drago just destroyed my scanner.”

Dan looked at him as the idea for a plan B hit him, “Then we use the next best thing. Surround and cover Rev.” The four of them stood and circled around Rev, their backs to him. Not taking his eyes off the area in front of him Dan said, “Rev…”.

“I understand Captain,” Rev calmed himself and said a quick prayer to the Great Spirit. First he concentrated on his own heartbeat to focus himself. Then he listened to the hearts of his friends. The increased beatings of their hearts the only thing betraying the anxiety they were feeling. Then he listened past them into the quarry itself. A moving heartbeat caught his attention. He looked at Dan’s back, “Eight o’ clock.”

“Fire!,” he ordered as D-Colt and D-Shooter were pointed in that direction. The first few shots hit nothing. Then two hit Drago’s shield. “Concentrate your fire their!”

“Slag it,” Drago cursed as the barrage forced him backwards. He hit another control on his belt and a portal opened. “Enjoy your stay here.”

“Move it!”, he ordered but they were already running. They jumped through the portal right before it closed. Drago was leaning against a rock trying to inject himself with something. He dropped the injector when he saw them come through. “Target orders!”, Dan held out his License. The area went dark as a red X and a blue circle flashed in front of Drago. After a minute the Red X shined in front of him, “Eliminate Target.” Locking their OpsLicence into the D-Shots, D.E. and Boomer went to a knee as the other stood behind them. “Strikeout!,” five energy streams hit Drago.

“Ha!”, Drago barked as his energy shield flickered on and off before disappearing completely, the control on his belt smoking. They couldn’t believe he was still standing after that. “You Space Police think you’re so invincible! You can’t eliminate me, not even those so called legendary Space Sheriffs could do it.”

“You sure about that,” Dan said as he hooked his D-Shot to his pack. Drago felt a presence behind him and turned to see Trytan standing there.

“This ends now Drago,” he stated. He held his sword up chest high as lightning struck around him. Holding his left hand in front of the blade he slowly went down the length of the sword, green energy forming around the blade. He swung it around a few times before holding it above his head.

“No!” Drago cried as he tried to back away.

“Dynamic slash!”, he swung the sword down at him, the energy slicing through him like nothing. Drago spun around before falling to the ground and exploding.

Dan threw the thumbs down, “Got you.”

Trytan turned his back to the explosion, “Mission complete.” Then he added softly, “Finally.”

***
Trytan powered down the armor and just stared at his old ship. Memory flowed through him as he laid a hand on it. Dan walked up behind him, removing his hat. He waited a few moments before speaking, “We finally secured he area Commander.” Trytan nodded but kept looking at his ship. Dan slowly walked up and stood beside him, “It must be built pretty solid to survive this long.”

“Yes it is, she got me through a few close calls. It broke my hearts when I thought I lost her.” Finally he looked at Dan, “Thank you once again Captain.”

“Like I said it was still your case, we were just the backup squad.” They were quiet for a few moments, “I also wanted to apologize for accusing you for planning this whole thing.”

“Don’t apologize Captain,” he told him. “In my day we were on our own, some of us may have had a partner but we were alone. Now a days things are different, and you have a unit to worry about. In fact, I would have been disappointed in you if your unit’s safety wasn’t your primary concern.”

Dan nodded in understanding, “So I imagine you’ll be taking the Waverider back to SPD HQ. Maybe take on a few mission here and there.”

“Oh no,” Trytan laughed, surprising Dan, “I’ll let SPD take her back. Besides she belongs in a museum and my space patrolling days are long behind me. No, I’ll leave that to you and this current generation. And the ones like Gavan, some of us think he going to die on his feet during one of them.” Trytan smiled at him, “But I do have to say I had a blast doing this one more time.”

Dan laughed, “At least one of us did.”

“Oh my, the other inspections are going to be quite boring compared to this one. Say, how well to you know this Zzyrax?”

“Not that well, just that he’s a telepath.”

“Slag,” Trytan said looking disappointed. “Then I guess he’ll know I’d asked you to call him right before I landed then.”

Dan looked at him in disbelief, “You put ‘Tony’ up to that?”

“Well he was rather reluctant until I told him it was you,” Trytan grinned. Dan shook his head and laughed. “Let’s head back to that base of yours. I’m sure Henry will want to know that despite the rather unusual circumstances, your unit passed my inspection with flying colors.” He put an arm around his shoulder, “Tell me Captain, how did you survive that dimension?”

“My medic has really good hearing.”

“Alright,” Trytan said pointing a finger at him, “now I’m going to need details on that one.”


-----
ED – Evanescence – Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
14


-----
OP-Alter Bridge-Metalingus
-----


“How did I get roped into this?”, Dan asked pulling the tie out of his jacket and looked at it. Michelle took it from his hand and tucked it back in. D.E. looked like he was going to say something until Dan shot him a look. While he would never admit it out loud he really enjoyed being able to do that. Boomer, unusually, didn’t say much as they walked down the street. Rev looked as uncomfortable as he felt, how they found a suit for the guy was beyond him.

Ace, who was leading them down the street, answered him anyway, “Because we been through a lot the last couple of missions. As second in command I thought we should get away from the base and relax and relieve some stress. The Major agreed with me.”

“But as a unit?”, Dan said still in disbelief. He glanced over to Michelle and narrowed his eyes a bit. “I think some blackmail was involved somehow.”

“Don’t look at me,” she said. “I haven’t told anybody any of those stories you told me about him.”

“Well,” Ace started, “I kinda told him I go easy on the equipment request for the next week.”

The rest of them gave out a collective, “Ah.”

“I don’t fill out that many request forms,” she said a little defensively.

“Yes you do,” Michelle told her.

“I was wondering why he looked so happy earlier,” Dan commented. “I thought his cousin finally moved out or something.”

“I’m pretty sure he would have been doing a jig if he did” Michelle corrected him. Dan had to agree.

“So where are we heading Ace?”, D.E. asked

“This new club I heard about,” she informed them. “It’s called ‘Way Out There’.”

Dan spoke up, “I don’t want to sound like a downer Ace, but I don’t do the club thing.”

“And I’m afraid I won’t exactly fit in,” Rev put in.

“Come on Cap loosen up,” Ace told him. Then she added, “And you’ll fit in just fine Rev. A friend of mine been there a couple of times. She said it just human and aliens are mixing together having a good time.”

“I’m surprise you didn’t bring Lisa along Boomer,” D.E. said. “From the sound of things this sounds like it’d be right down your alley.”

“Yeah Boomer,” Ace agreed, “nobody said she couldn’t come. Besides, I don’t think Cap and Michelle wants to be the only couple in the group that drags everybody else down.”

“Just wait until you get a boyfriend,” Michelle told her.

“She wanted to come,” Boomer said. “But the hospital needed and extra set of hands tonight and nobody else was available.”

“Too bad,” Michelle said, “I really wanted to meet her.”

“Ah guys,” D.E. said as he looked down the street. “It looks like the club was hoppin’ a little too much tonight.” They looked down the street and saw a pack of flashing lights. They hurried up to see what the commotion was. The police were holding everybody back. They made their way through the crowd to get to the front. The club Ace was taking them too had it’s window smashed in and spray paint covered the outside, “Holy crap the place’s been vandalized.”

“What’s a Skag?”, Boomer asked reading some of the graffiti.

“It’s a damn slur,” somebody behind them said. “A bunch of idiots were calling my friends that a week ago.”

“Sorry Rev,” Boomer said looking a little embarrassed.

“No apologies are necessary,” he said. “Although I am loathed to admit that I have been called this myself.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”, Ace asked.

“I saw no need in bringing it any more attention to it.”

They looked around at the graffiti until D.E. pointed out something else. It was a circle with a one inside of it. “That looks like it might be important. Do you think you can find out that stands for Michelle?”

Before she could answer Dan said, “Earth First.” They looked at him in surprise.

“The Captain and I have encountered this particular symbol before,” Rev informed them. “They were telling people about their anti-alien philosophies, it appears they have taken a more aggressive stance.

Dan said nothing as he made his way back through the crowd. The others followed and when they were out of earshot Ace asked, “So what do we do?”

“We do nothing,” Dan said without turning around. They stopped where they were as he kept walking.

“What do you mean we do nothing?”, Ace demanded. “This involved aliens.”

Dan turned around to face them and pointed at the building. “Human did that Ace. As much as that disgusts me, we can’t get involved. The only humans we can touch are those that align themselves with the Alienizers.” They just stared at him. “You want to go over my head and bring this up with the Major go right ahead. I hope I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure he’ll agree with me.”

“You now Cap,” D.E. said, “I’m the only one here who actually an officer in the Springfield police department. And I can go over and see what up.”

“Knock yourself out,” Dan told him as turned around. He slowed down a bit to walk next to Michelle. “See if he finds out anything and try to do some unofficial checking. We can’t get involved officially but nobody said we can’t send an anonymous tip.”

She smiled at him, “And here I was starting to have some doubts about you.”

***
Like he said the Major did agree with him, but he did look the other way when Michelle did a little background check on Earth First. She couldn’t find much on them unfortunately, especially for the last couple of months. Whoever was behind them got really good at covering their tracks.”

A couple of days had past when she called Dan into the rec room. On one of those nighttime interview shows somebody named Chad Rockwell. A tagline on the bottom of the screen identified him as the spokesman for Earth First. “Why do I want to see this?”, he asked.

“They said they’re going to talk about SPD,” D.E. informed him. “Anybody want to take any bets he going to talk about that line of crap as that hag over in England?”

“The one Rescue showed up?”, Boomer asked. “I wouldn’t doubt it.”

“Mr. Rockwell,” the interviewer started, “I’m sure you’re aware that we heard this before, or something like it, over in England.”

“Yes I know,” Rockwell said in a smooth voice. Dan’s eyes narrowed a bit as he listened to him. “But I think Mrs. Flinch went too far.”

“How so? You’re both anti-alien…”

“Yes,” he interrupted, ”but she called for the removal of SPD on Earth. Now, my organization sees the need for SPD but we don’t think these alien should be involved.”

“But SPD is an alien organization.”

“True, but we also feel that the protection of Earth should be left up to us human and nobody else. Look at DekaRanger in Singapore, to my knowledge there is not an alien involved anywhere in that entire organization and they do just fine. Now over here in the United States our own DekaRail is run by a bear of all things. God forbid he should hibernate in the winter…”

The interviewer coughed a bit to cut him off. “Yes…well I’d like your opinion of the recent rise of hate crimes against Aliens currently living in the states. A word often heard and seen during these events, and I apologizes to anyone I might offend, Skag.”

Rockwell shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Yes, I personally despise that word myself. As for the recent activities of some of our members, remember, I am just the spokesman for Earth First. While I speak about our views and philosophies, some of our members prefer a more… visual way to get our views across.”

“These more visible views include vandalism, harassment and there have been some unconfirmed reports of lynching…”

“We are just trying to protect what’s ours,” Rockwell countered. “It was hard enough to find a decent job before these alien showed up. Some of these things will work for anything.”

“Official reports have said the alien have been paid the same wage as everybody else Mr. Rockwell.”

“And reports can be falsified Mr. Jones,” he countered again. “Would you really admit you’re actually paying the elephant that looks like an elephant peanuts? And how many of them want to be paid in blood…”

“Turn that son of a bitch off,” Dan said after he heard enough. Boomer grabbed the remote and switched to another channel. “Why do they let guys like that on the air? It only makes things worse.”

“Your country does have freedom of speech Captain,” Rev reminded him.

“Yeah and jackasses like that wave it around like there’s no tomorrow.” Dan sat on the arm of the couch next to Michelle and asked, “Do you think you can find anything on this Rockwell guy?”

“Already tried,” she told him. “Whoever this guy is his record is squeaky clean.” Then she looked at him a little funny, “Why do you want to know about this guy?”

“I know I’ve seen that guy before,” he told her. “An idiot like that should stick out like a sore thumb but I can’t place him.”

“Perhaps he was somebody you knew before you joined SPD,” Rev said. Dan looked at him confused. “The first time we encountered these people I asked you if you agreed with them. You answered that a few months prior you would have.”

The others just looked at him. “Cap…?”, D.E. asked stunned.

He thought about his answer, might as well be honest, “I don’t think I was as a bad as those idiots, but I’ll admit that I wasn’t the most alien happy guy in the world. I saw them as another problem being added to the ones we already had and would be jumping for joy when they finally left.” He got up and headed for the door. “Then I was assigned off planet for six months and had everything I was thinking thrown back at me ten fold. I was smart enough to figure out how stupid I was being and tried to thinks with my eyes a little more open than they were. Before all this I used to think I was a pretty open minded guy. I kind of hope I became a more open minded person because of it.”

“I believe you are Captain,” Rev said.

“Thanks Rev,” he said gratefully. “But there are times I wished I believed it too.”

***
The Major called the team into the command room the next day. “We’re having an Alienizer problem in our own backyard. One of them has been hitting the local businesses, harassing the owners and customers.”

“Do we have any idea who it is?”, Dan asked.

“We don’t know,” Michelle told them. “The witnesses gave a very good description of the Alienizer in charge but it doesn’t match any known species in the SPD database.”

“You sure this is guys an Alienizer then,” Boomer asked.

“Those witnesses also saw a group of Anaroids with him.”

“So we have an unknown species committing crimes,” the Major told them. “I would have let DekaRail handle this but like I said it is this is our backyard.”

“We might want to get a holding cell ready,” Dan said. “With crimes this small I don’t think we’ll be ordered to eliminate an unknown alien.”

“You never know in our line of work Cap,” the Major told him. “But we’ll have one ready just in case.

***
Dressed in civvies and the bare minimum equipment they hit the streets. The businesses that were hit were small grocery stores and delis so they concentrated their search there. After they arrived Dan said, “Alright let’s split up. Ace, take D.E. and Boomer and check in that direction. Rev you’re with me. Remember we have no idea who we’re dealing with here so be careful. I don’t want any mistakes on this one.”

“Rodger,” Ace replied as they headed off.

Dan and Rev walked off in the other direction. He shined his light down any alley Rev heard something in. After a few minutes of silence Dan asked, “Are we still cool Rev?”

“I’m not sure what you mean Captain.”

“After I told you guys how I was like before I was put in this unit.”

“Ah,” he said. “Yes Captain we are still ‘cool’.” He pointed down another alley and they found nothing. “I do believe people can change Captain. I doubt you would still be in command of this unit if you didn’t.”

“Thanks again Rev,” Dan told him. “I guess I needed to hear somebody else say it. Although the next time somebody calls you that word, tell us about it will you. I’ll get the others and we’ll talk some sense into them.”

“I highly doubt violence is the solution to this particular problem Captain.”

“And ignoring it not helping it either,” he countered. His License went off before they could continue. “This is Stevens, go.”

Ace’s voice answered, “Cap we found them.”

“Keep an eye on them for now,” he ordered. “Rev and I are on our way.” He pulled their signal up on the map as they ran for their location. They were holding position inside an alley when Dan and Rev reached them. He peered around the corner and saw a group of Anaroids surround something that looked like a grey insect, except there were extra pinchers coming out of it’s back. “Ok guys on my mark,” he whispered.

“Captain,” Rev said suddenly. Before anybody knew it he was walking out into view with his SP-Shooter in hand. He aimed a fired a shot between one of the Anaroids legs.

The Anaroid jumped and went, “Shit!”

Dan and the others walked around the corner in total confusion. Boomer asked the question they were all thinking, “Since when to Anaroids cuss?”

“They can’t,” Dan answered.

“Nor do they have heartbeats,” Rev added.

“They’re human,” D.E. blurted. They looked at Dan.

“They’re working for an Alienizer,” he told them, “go get them.” They ran in, the “Anaroids” were no match for them. The alien started to run off and Dan reached out to stop him, grabbing one of it’s pincher on it’s back. He thought it was going to stop, at least yelp in pain. It kept running and the pincher tore off with ease. Dan looked horrified at the pincher in his hand until he noticed something. The inside was different than the outside. He looked a little closer and muttered, “Foam rubber?”

Dan looked at the fleeing alien and gave chase. Its waddling run was no match for his sprint as he tackled it to the ground. He started ripping things off of the alien trying to find the thing he was looking for. Ace and D.E. tried to stop him. “Cap what are you doing?”, Ace demanded.

“Proving a hunch,” was all he told them. He kept ripping way until he found a seam and pulled it open. Dan reached inside with both hands and hauled out the guy inside.

“Get this maniac off of me!!!”, he shouted while still trying to get away.

“What the hell?”, Ace went as her and D.E. looked at each other.

“They’re trying to stir up anti-alien sentiments around here,” Dan explained. “What better way than have an ‘alien’ rob a few human businesses?”

“So what do we do with these guys then?”, D.E wondered out loud.

Dan thought it over for a moment, “We call the police and tell them we made a citizen arrest.” He put the cuffs on his runner and dragged him to the others. The “Anaroids” were maskless now as Boomer and Rev were cuffing them.

“Keep this Skag away from me!”, one yelled as Rev approached him.

Dan quickly got in his face, “I hear you call him that again and you’ll be tasting boot leather after they remove my foot from your ass. Do you understand me?”

He didn’t answer, but he did spit on him. Dan pushed him toward Rev to cuff. Then an Igadroid dropped from the sky and looked at them. “Friend of yours?”, Boomer asked.

“That was a five story drop,” D.E. informed him.

“A guy can hope can’t he?”

“Change standby,” Dan ordered. They pulled their OpsLicense and said, “Emergency! DekaOps!” A quick digital flash later they were in their Dekasuits. Dan wasted no time in telling them, “Take that bot down!”

The Igadroid moved faster than they did. It knocked Boomer into the wall, ducked Dan’s attack and kicked Rev toward the human. D.E. got his D-Rod out to block the cross blade coming at his head. Ace got in a few shots with her D-Shooter that made it recoil form impact. “Get away from me humans!”, it shouted as it swung it cross blade around. Dan and Boomer aimed their D-Shots at the bot while it aimed the cross blade at the humans. “Drop your weapons now humans,’ it ordered.

Boomer looked over to Dan, he was looking at the emitter that popped out of the cross blade. Slowly he lowered the D-Shot and Boomer did the same. “Idiots,” it said and fired anyway.

“No!” Rev shouted as he jumped in front of them and took the full brunt of the blast. He fell to the ground clutching his chest.

“Rev!”, Ace shouted.

“That Skag just saved us,” one of them said totally bewildered.

D.E. energized his D-Rod and sliced through the emitter before it could fire again. Boomer fired his D-Shot, making sure he didn’t hit the captives. While it was staggering Dan and Ace pulled their D-Knife and went in. She stabbed it in the back of the neck while he impaled his blade into it’s chest. The Igadroid stood there and sputtered while they withdrew their knives. “Boomer strikeout,” Dan said quickly. Boomer complied and deleted the bot on the spot.

“Rev!”, Dan and Ace ran over to him.

“Is the Skag…” one of the captives started before Dan shot him a look. “Is he going to be alright?”

“I will be fine,” Rev answered with a hint of pain in his voice. Dan and Ace helped him to his feet, “My Dekasuit protected me from the worse of it.”

Dan nodded and looked at the “Anaroids”, “You’re lucky he’s more forgiving than I am because I don’t think I would have bothered.” They wouldn’t look at him, but a couple of them still shot Rev a nasty look. “Contact the base and have them call the police to pick these bastards up.”

Above them Chad Rockwell watched the entire thing. He had that Igadroid especially built to fit his needs. His lips curled into a hateful snarl as he said, “Stevens.” His flesh rippled slightly revealing a set of scales before he turned away and became invisible.

***
A few days after all that went down Dan convinced the Major to let them have another night on the town. His saying he take care of Ace’s request for the next two weeks sealed the deal. At that moment he, Michelle, Ace, Rev and D.E were sitting at a table waiting for Boomer and Lisa to show up. After awhile D.E. ended up asking, “So why did you arrange this night on the town Cap?”

“The more I thought about it the more I realized Ace was right and we needed to relax a bit outside of the base.”

“Thank you,” she said.

He might as well be honest with as well, “And I thought I might try mending some bridges after you guy found out about the way I thought before I joined SPD.”

“Come on Dan,” Michelle said, “There’s no need to do anything like that.”

“Yeah Cap,” D.E. agreed, “none of us care about what you were like before. We’re just happy you’re the guy you are now. Besides you couldn’t have been that bad if you realized what kind of jackass you were being.”

“I believe I told you something similar the other day Captain,” Rev said.

“I know you did Rev, but it just seems like yesterday that that I was believing those things.”

“Hey you did change though,” Michelle told him. “Not a whole lot of people can say they were strong enough to do that.” The others agreed with her.

Ace looked over her shoulder and said, “There’s Boomer and Lisa. I’ll see if we can add a couple of more orders to our bill.”

As she got up Cap got his first look at the woman in Boomer’s life. “That’s Boomer fiancé?”

Michelle went, “Yeah that’s her.”

“What deal with which devil did me make?”

She lightly slapped him on the arm, “Behave yourself.”

“Hey guys,” Boomer said as they walked up. “This is Lisa. Lisa this is…”

“Let me guess,” she told him as they sat down. “D.E. I know. So you must be Cap,” Dan nodded, “Michelle,” they shook hands, “And you most definitely have to be Rev.”

“A pleasure,” he replied.

“Cap doesn’t look like the pit bull you described him to be hon,” she said to Boomer who eyes went wide with fright.

“Oh really?”, Dan said leaning foreword a bit. Boomer tried to sink into his seat.

“I… I… I never said that Cap,” he said quickly. “Hand to God.”

“I’m just joking honey,” she said. Dan didn’t look convinced, but this was their night out. He wasn’t going to let this affect things back at base, much. “Bobby was telling me about your last case.” She turned to Rev, “I hope that didn’t paint too much of a negative picture of humanity for you Rev.”

“I traveled the universe enough to know that such closed minded individuals are not just on Earth. You learn to, as I believe Robert would say, roll with the punches. That is the correct term?”

“Picture perfect buddy,” D.E. told him.

Dan just happened to look over to see some guy grab a handful of Ace’s butt as she walked back to the table. “Oh hell, D.E., Boomer let’s go.” They quickly got up and headed over.

“Do they think they need to save Ace from that guy?”, Lisa asked. When they looked back over Ace had the guy in a hammerlock and up against that table saying he just tried to feel up a cop.

“No,” Michelle said, “they’re going to save that guy from Ace.”

“I must say though,” Rev spoke up, “Earth does have the most diverse set of… personalities I have ever come across.”

“Very diplomatic Rev,” Michelle told him.

“I do try”, Rev told her.



-----
ED-Evanescence-Whisper
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Special Police DekaOps
15



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OP-Alter Bridge-Metalingus
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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.

“Close,” Ace said. “He stumbled on the operation as they were loading the animals they captured onboard their ship. Instead of getting rid of him they decided to sell him.”

“That’s one way to keep him quiet,” The Major commented. “Did our visitor happen to say where they were keeping him once they got planetside?”

“All he remembers seeing is the cave and a jungle,” she told them.

“Well that really narrows it down,” Dan muttered as he turned away.

“Michelle will pinpoint the location,” The Major assured him. “But at the moment she’s having SPD command contact his home world to arrange transport home.”

“I’ll tell D.E. to head back then,” Dan said.

“And I’ll get the Shepard ready to launch in the mean time,” Ace added.

“Good,” Pierce nodded. Glancing back at the monitor he added, “Somebody see if our guest needs anything.”

***
Michelle was able to get into the shipping database and trail where the different ships came from and find out where they went with no problem. Using that information and what their guest was able to tell them she was able to narrow the search down to a few islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. She highlighted the ones that were known to be uninhabited and outside the usual shipping lanes as likely targets. Now if they only didn’t have five Islands to check out that were on top of the list. And international waters meant the job was theirs alone.

The first three islands turned out to be dead ends. The fourth didn’t seem like much as they approached. But they could see the mountains and the jungle foliage as they got closer. Then again so did the other three so none of them got their hopes up. After a few more moments something on D.E. console started to beep. “I’m getting an energy signature,” he announced. “It’s faint one, but I’m getting one.”

“Any ships or submarines in the area?”, Dan asked wanting to eliminate any possibility of a misread.

“I’m not getting any kind of chatter on the usual channels,” Boomer said.

“Rader and sensor say the area is clear,” Ace added. “Rev, D.E. I’m going to circle the island a couple of time. Run a full scan.”

“Rodger,” Rev replied.

“On it,” D.E. answered.

Dan pulled up the sensors reading on the monitor in front of him as they came in. The island itself was unremarkable, but there was an energy signature coming from it. If he had to guess he’d say it was a generator of some sort. Rev confirmed there were life signs. It read out as alien so chances were good they found their target. Dan plugged his License into the console beside him and downloaded a rough map of the island based on the sensor readings. Ace looked over the readings herself, “I’m not seeing an area big enough for a LZ.”

“And the foliage looks too dense for a hot drop,” Dan commented. “I don’t suppose this bird has any water landing capabilities that I missed when I went over the specs.”

“I heard there was there were plans to add them,” Ace told him. “But it involved a major redesign, and the Major didn’t think we had time to wait for a new jet.”

“Too bad he wasn’t a little more patient,” Dan muttered.

“The best I can do is hover over the small beach right there,” she pointed at the screen, “and let you guys off. While you guys check it out I can try to find a place to land.”

“Alright, “Dan agreed, “but keep an eye open for any kind of ship that enters the area.”

“Right,” she punched a code into her console. “D.E. I’m transferring weapon control to my station. I don’t have the aim he does but I can lay down some cover fire if I have too.” Ace had the Shepard hover until the ramp was a few feet off the ground. As the others jumped to the ground Dan gave her quick salute before joining them. She reactivated the cloak and took the jet back into the air. “Make it quick guys.”

***
The humidity was starting to make their uniform to stick to their bodies. Dan had them stick to the shadows as much as possible so their black uniforms wouldn’t stick out as much. Checking their location on the map he saw they were close to the energy reading. Then he felt it, something felt like it lightly brushed against his mind. Needles to say, that freaked him out a bit. D.E. felt it too as he grabbed his head “What the hell?”

“I do believe that was a psychic wave of some sort,” Rev answered.

Boomer quickly pulled out his SP-Shooter and looked around, “We’re we just made?”

“I believe so,” Rev told him, “but I am unsure by whom.” Slowly he started looking in a direction that led deeper into the jungle, “But it would explain why I have a sudden urge to head in this direction.”

“That’s the same direction as the energy source we detected,” Dan said eyeing the readings.

“Do you think it’s a trap Captain?”, Rev asked.

“That’s what my guts telling me at the moment.”

“Wouldn’t whoever doing that make your gut say something else?”, D.E pointed out.

“Something could be making you say that, “Boomer countered.

“And this is getting us no where,” Dan told them. “Either way we have to head in that direction” Drawing his SP-Shooter he headed off, “Keep you eyes open and try to ignore any sudden urges.”

They found a mouth of a cave nearby. Dan studied the ground leading into the cave, people were going in and out alright. Recently too from the looks of things. Another push grazed their minds, this one seemed clearer then the previous one for some reason. Dan suddenly found an image of a furry alien of some sort in his memory. “I recognize this species Captain,” Rev said. “They are called Marakins and are said to be telepathic.”

“Is this the one in charge?”

Rev answered almost as soon as he finished talking, “I do not believe so Captain.” He was silent for a few seconds, when he started talking again he sounded a little distant. “No she is not, she was captured by accident. The head of the operation knew he couldn’t sell her because of her abilities. So far she’s been able to convince her captors not to kill her but she is unsure how much longer she will be able to do so.”

“Can she tell us what to expect in there?”. Before he knew it an image of inside of the cave entered his mind. He felt the dusty air and how it smelled. He saw rows of cages standing on top of each other all containing various species from all over the universe. He also knew where the guards were at the moment and the circle of cages in the middle where the leader dwelled. Putting a hand to his temple he said, “That was freaky.”

“Captain,” Rev said calmly, “I recognized most of the creatures surrounding the leader. They are on the endangered species list in several galaxies.”

“So going in gun blazing is out of the question then?”, Boomer joked.

“Pretty decent strategy,” D.E. said, “surround yourself with targets more valuable than you are. So how are we going this one?”

Dan thought it over and opened one of the pockets on his pant leg. Taking his hand out he opened it revealing two devices that clipped on behind the ear. The others nodded and took out similar devices, except Rev who had to have a model that attached to the nubs on the side of his head. It was SPD tech from the planet Leslie they gotten a hold of a couple of months ago. As he was attaching them to his head Rev said, “She agrees that this is the wisest course of action.” He felt a bit annoyed at that so Rev added, “She apologizes for the intrusion.”

***
“Would you be careful,” said a robot as it translated the arm movements of the furry lizard in charge. “These animals are priceless/valuable. They cannot be damaged/hurt.”

“But boss…”, on oh the newer human workers said to the robot.

“Look at me,” the robot said as the lizard talked. “I am who you address. Not this robot/machine.”

“Sorry,” his eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. “But they’re just a bunch of animals.”

“These animals/creatures are worth more than you.” He nodded his head toward a cage containing a bird with golden yellow feathers. “I can purchase/acquire a small planetoid for what it’s worth. I can buy and sell you…”, the robot stopped translating as the leader stopped moving. When he started talking again his movements where slow and cautious, “What is that noise?” While the others were looking up around eye level four canisters rolled by their feet. When they stopped a gas quickly released that filled the room in moments. “It’s a…. translation unknown,” the robot said as the lizard fell asleep and humans fell to the ground.

Dan and the team came out of hiding, each wearing a mask that covered the lower half of their face. Boomer nudged one of the humans with his foot as he passed him. D.E. looked at the sleeping animals before pulling out a set of handcuffs and headed for the closest human. After a few moments Dan checked the air and saw it was clear, hitting a button on one of the clips the mask retracted. Looking over the scene he went, “Rev…”

He was already waving a scanner around, “I am detecting no abnormal life signs. The gas had no ill effect that I can see.”

“Good, I didn’t want to hurt these guys by accident.”

Boomer kind of snorted and said, “This had to be the easiest assignment we ever had.”

“Warning,” the robot announced as it came back to life, “intruders detected, defensives online.” Two grenades launched from it’s shoulders forming a group of Anaroids

D.E. punched Boomer in the arm, “Ow! Nobody told you to hit me.”

“They were thinking it.”

They got in a circle with their backs to each other. “Change standby,” Dan ordered and they all reached for their License. “Emergency! DekaOps!” They charged foreword as a Digital covered them in their DekaSuits. Dan’s hand gripped the handle of the D-Colt, but he stopped. He didn’t want to worry about a stray shot hurting somebody. So he reached back into his backpack and pulled out his D-Rod. Activating the red energy field around it he started swinging away.

Rev had jumped up and landed on the chest of one of the Anaroids and made it crashed to the ground. He kicked another one away when an image grazed his mind. Stepping foreword and pivoting around he jammed his D-Knife into a Anaroid’s head, right under the chin. Taking a moment he looked at the just awaking Marakin, “Thank you.”

Boomer was stabbing away at anything that looked metal and mean. Seeing D.E. was having some trouble he rushed over and helped his friend, “You’re lucky I don’t hold a grudge.” Together they were able to clear a spot to get some breathing room. “Looks like you owe me one.”

Without warning D.E. shot past him at the Anaroid that was sneaking up on Boomer. Tilting his head a bit he snorted, “Not any more.”

“I would’ve saw him.”

Dan struck down the last Anaroid in his path, looked around for another target and found nothing. This part of the job was winding down, but he didn’t want to fight anything under these conditions unless he had too. The robot surveyed the area, “Primary defensive units have failed. Activating…”

“D.E.,” Dan said interrupting it. D.E. took quick aim and shot it in the head, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he replied.

Looking around Dan noticed somebody was missing, “No you don’t.” A quick search found the Lizard trying to get out through a small hole in the cave wall. Grabbing him by the scruff of the next he picked him off the floor, “Got you.” The lizard started motioning fast and furious. “Same to you pal,” Dan told him. “The only reason why you are not being judge right now is because your government specifically requested you be sent back alive.” Boomer pointed something out to Rev and they brought foreword an empty cage. Behind his helmet Dan smiled, “I do believe they call this poetic justice.” Dan put him I the cage and Boomer locked the door. Deactivating their DekaSuits Dan said, “Come on, let’s find the sentients and let them out of their cages. Start with the Marakin and ask her for help.” They nodded and spread out.

They contacted Ace and told her to get in touch with OpsBase to make travel arrangements as soon as possible. Rev was giving all the captured creatures a quick medical exam to make sure they were all right. Dan and the others, on the other hand, were trying hard to convince some of them that they were who they said they were. “Look see,” Dan said showing the badge on his chest to a brown turtle with a beak, “SPD, we’re part of the good guys. Granted it’s a color you never seen before, but we are the good guys.” Almost ready to give up he looked around, “Where’s that Marakin when you need her?”

“Hey!”, Boomer cried out as a green lizard in a brown robe took another swing at him. “He’s trying to stab me with a butter knife.”

“I believe the term they use is ‘doink’”, Rev commented.

“Yeah and I’m about to shove that doink right up his…”

“Easy Boomer,” Dan cut him off.

“Ah, Robert,” Rev said, “There is a saying in the universe. When one of his kinds is in your path, find another way to your destination.”

“It’s ok little fella,” D.E. said to an alien that looked like a blue hairless monkey. “You got nothing to worry about. Rev just wants to check you over.” Out of no where it wrapped it’s arms around his right leg and D.E. body stiffened as he got a mortified look on his face. “Could somebody get him off my leg please.”

Dan looked over from where he was standing, “I had a dog that used to do that.”

Boomer grinned ear to ear, “Looks like you made a friend.”

“Just get him off my leg,” D.E. said through his teeth.

“Ok you heard him, the honeymoon’s over,” Boomer reached for the alien who open it’s mouth revealing a set razor sharp teeth. It took a couple of bites at his hand. Boomer pulled it back clutching his fingers, “Whoa!”

“Boomer,” D.E. pleaded.

“Yeah, maybe when he’s finished.”

***
Michelle was already in the hanger as the Machine Shepard came in for a landing. The animals were already taken care of and those who were imprisoned against there will were staying at or currently heading to various SPD embassies awaiting transport home. Dan started down the ramp when he stepped aside to let D.E. fly past him. Everybody saw that his right pant was cut off, right above the knee. “D.E. what happened…,” she started to ask.

“Don’t ask,” he told her as he shot past. A few of the hanger crew started making a few cat calls in his direction. “Oh shut up,” he told them. As he exited a couple of female officers past him and whistled. Michelle looked at Dan and pointed at the door totally confused.

“You really don’t want to ask,” he told her. Without looking he pointed behind him right at Ace and Boomer and said sharply, “And you two really don’t want to say anything.”

“How does he do that?”, Boomer asked Ace who just shrugged and headed for her crew.

“Why do I get the feeling the Major in for an interesting report,” Michelle said dryly.

“That feeling would be right,” Dan told her. “Now if you will excuse me I need to get the smell of animal crap out of my nose.”

“Now there’s a lovely image.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, “You’re not on the clock now as far as I’m concern so don’t say anything. After you give the Major that report I’m taking you outside for some fresh air to get rid of that scent. And I’m not taking no for an answer ‘baby’.”

“Didn’t even know that was an option ‘chica’,” Dan said as he followed her out.

“Good thing D.E. and Boomer weren’t around to see that. We have a mess to pick up in here,” Ace told one of her crew. He nodded in agreement.



-----
ED-Evanescence-Whisper
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Special Police DekaOps
16


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OP-Alter Bridge-Metalingus
-----


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.”

***
Figuring resistance was going to be thick on this one they activated the Dekasuits as soon as they started, Dan and Rev carrying bags containing extra explosives. Dan threw the sky probe ahead of them to cut down on any surprises. And there were plenty, every few yards they had to stop and find cover to avoid the patrols of Anaroids and Batsuroids. Dan held the D-Colt tightly in his hands but didn’t dare take a shot, not without getting swamped. Hiding behind some boulders as they got close he checked the image sent by the probe. At what looked like an entrance Two Batsuroids stood guard. Not that they were planning in going in the front door anyway. Then Rev pointed out that the Frame looked like it was built into the mountain itself. Dan redirected the probe to a level that looked like a potential entry point and didn’t see any guards in the immediate vicinity.

Waiting until the patrols passed they hurried across and started climbing to a higher level before making there way across to the frame. It took awhile but slowly they made it to the frame, jumped over the rail and quickly checked for any patrols. After checking the readings one more time they headed for the core. After a few yards Rev saw something and whispered, “Captain.”

“What is it Rev?”

“I recognize that device,” he pointed to a square panel on the wall with a glowing orb in the middle, various wires were going in and out of it. “It distributes and regulates power. Perhaps destroying some of these will slow them down.”

“Good idea Rev,” Boomer said as he reached into his pack and pulled out a small explosive pack. “You guys might want to pay attention you in particular Rev,” he said as he fixed the pack under the panel then inserted a small metal cylinder into it. He pressed a button and the top started flashing red. “If you see another one of these things do it just like that. In fact if you see anything that looks important put a charge on it. And make sure you put a receiver into it, I’m going to set it so they all go off at once, and we get time to high tail it out of here.”

“Just try to be picky on where you set the charges,” Dan told them. “I’m not sure how many Boomer’s going to need.” He peered around the corner before waving them on. The target was a few stories above them and they needed to get going.

Much like they figured they were forced to take the long way around. Occasionally they stop just long enough to set a charge on something Rev pointed out. Dan spotted a computer and slapped a D-Hack that was hooked to the Shepard on it and a bomb right next to the Hack just in case. After an hour they found the core. They also found what looked like a monitoring station and a couple of Batsuroids and an Igadroid. “Oh great,” Dan mumbled.

“Is there another way to the core?”, Rev asked.

“Not according to the plans D.E. pulled up,” Boomer answered. They didn’t have a choice now.

Dan only said one thing, “Make every shot count,” Than ran in. Catching the bots as unaware as they could they fired first. Dan and Rev had to dodge a couple of return shots but all of them were taken out. “Do it Boomer.”

“On it,” he said as he took the bags from them and headed into the guts on the mech.

“Monitoring station 8-C report,” a voice from no where said. A quick search saw that it was coming from a comm panel on the station. “8-C report.”

Dan hit the comm button, “Monitoring station 8-C reporting,” and prayed to God that was the right was to answer.

“A commotion was detected coming from you area, report.”

“There was no commotion… we had a minor leak in the core.”

“I am not registering a leak in the core,” Dan cursed under his breath. “I’m sending a repair team to investigate.”

“Negative, the leak is already repaired. It was a small leak and easily repairable. It’s good, we’re fine… how are you?” Dan winced at his mistake while Rev looked at him in confusion.

“How am…? Who is this? What is your designation?”

“Ah…,” Dan stepped back and shot the comm panel. “That conversation wasn’t going any were any way,” he muttered as he headed for the opening Boomer used. “Boomer we got incoming!”, he shouted.

“Give me a few more minutes!”, he shouted back.

“I don’t think we have a few more minutes!”

“No offence Cap, but make them!”

“What do we do Captain?” Rev asked.

Shaking his head Dan switched the D-Colt to multi-shot, “We buy him some time.” They started positioning things so they have some cover and waited. Rev unhooked his D-Shot. Dan kept looking down the corridor to the core expecting to hear shot being fired from inside there. Finally an Anaroid came through the door in front of them and Rev blasted it. Another one took it’s place and Dan nailed it between the eyes. Both of them knew it wasn’t going to be long before they realize this particular line of attack was useless.

In the core Boomer was busy setting charges. Fortunately the core being used was in the database and he had a good idea where to set the charges. Destroying the core would be good enough but he wanted to cause the maximum amount of internal damage possible. If he was lucky there would be some feedback that would fry other systems. Setting the last charge he had one more thing to do, place the remote detonator. And he had to set it high to make sure the signal reached all of the charges. Using a nearby ladder he made his way up and found a pallet he could set the detonator and hide it a bit. Running a quick check to make sure the damping field wouldn’t interfere with the signal he got a lock on all of the charges they set. Boomer set the time for twenty minutes, it would be cutting it close but they didn’t need to get to the ground floor. Knowing the core would be the first thing the check he left a little surprise before running down the corridor. When he exited Rev pulled him down so he wouldn’t get shot. “I’m guessing they called in the Calvary,” he said.

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Dan said. “Let me guess there’s only one way out of here right?”, Dan said as he took a shot at an Igadroid that came into view.

“I’m afraid so Cap.”

“Then it’s time to thin out the heard kid.”

“Right,” Boomer nodded. Reaching into his back he jumped up and side armed a frag grenade through the door opening. After a few second an explosion went off and they rushed to the door. Rev and Dan both looked out for any moving droids on the floor as Boomer covered the hallway.

“I got point, Boomer watch our backs,” Dan ordered. The scanner in his pack started to beep, “Now what?”

Rev checked his, “The damping field is now down. Captain I’m getting a humanoid reading now.”

“We’ll worry about it later,” Dan told him.

“It is heading in our direction.”

“Guess whoever in charge wants to lead the troops,” Boomer quipped.

“Let’s not be here when they arrive,” Dan said. “I saw a ladder this way.”

“You’re not going to hear me argue,” Boome told him

***
They were able to go a couple of floors before running into any resistance. Unfortunately this was making them retreat further into the frame. Finding cover they retreated as far as they could into a corridor without exposing themselves. “How much time to we got?”

Boomer clanked at the readout, “Exactly twelve minutes Cap.”

“Took us longer than that to get to the core.” An explosion could be heard above them, “What the hell?”

“Looks like they just discovered the motion detector mine I set on the ceiling,” Boomer answered. “With any luck there should be a nice pile of debris blocking the way.”

“Might be the only piece of luck we have at the moment,” Dan told him.

“Whoever you are,” somebody yelled out, “come out now.” Dan recognized him as the one from the comm. “There is no where you can go to escape.” They chanced a look and saw a white humanoid standing behind the first row of bots. “We will make it quick as soon as you tell me what you did to sabotage this site. I will give you three minutes to decide.”

“That’s generous of him,” Boomer said dryly.

“Does he truly believe anybody would take that offer?”, a bewildered Rev wondered out loud.

Dan watched him move from where he was hiding. “This has to be his first time trying to capture anybody.”

“How can you be sure Captain?”

“He’s acting nervous, like he unsure of what to do.”

“We’re outnumbered out the wazoo and he’s the one that’s nervous?”, Boomer asked.

“We don’t have time and I’m trusting my gut on this one,” he told them. Dan unhooked his D-Shot and got into position to spring out. “As soon as we get close to the door light it up,” he ordered. Boomer and Rev nodded and got into position. He ran at the entry and started firing at the first bot he saw. On cue Boomer tossed two flash grenades that temporary disrupted the bots circuits. Using the few moments they had before the reboot they fired point blank. At close range the D-Shots were causing damage to a couple of them at once. They stood close together as the Anaroids and Batsuroids started showing signs of life again. Dan swung the butt of the D-Shot into a Igadroid that got too close, then shot it in the chest for good measures. “Scatter!”, he ordered as the circle around them started to tighten. Rev jumped over them and pumped and fired his D-Shot as fast as it would let him, Boomer and Dan ran through a group of Anaroids, turned and fired.

During the whole thing Dan tried to keep an eye on the white alien. He was trying to run but his path kept getting blocked. Knowing they were running out of time he had to chance it. Dan broke away from the fight and stood in front of him. He took his OpsLicense and switched to Judgment mode, “Target orders.” The area went dark as the alien was scanned and a red X and a blue circle flashed in front of him. It wasn’t long before the circle shined brightly between them, “Apprehend target.”

“So you think you’re just going to take me in?”, he asked. “Do you think you’ll be able to get me to talk? Do you think I’ll just spill everything I know? You might as well kill me now.”

“Just shut up and come quietly,” Dan told him.

“Do you think the bosses are going to let anybody who knows about the Kaijuki operation stay alive?”

“I think your overestimating them,” Dan told him plainly as he took the D-Whoppers off his belt as he approached.

“You don’t get it do you,” he started laughing. “I’m already dead.” He turned around and ran before Dan could stop him. He jumped over a railing that over looked a shaft of some kind.

“No!”, Dan shouted. He ran over and looked down. The alien was laying, with his neck bent at a funny angle several stories below. “Damn it,” Dan pounded the pillar next to him.

“Captain,” Rev called out, “Robert say the clock is ticking.”

“Right,” he said as he took his eyes away.

“I saw the entire thing Captain, he was more afraid of his bosses than he was of anything else. Do not blame yourself.”He knew Rev was right, but damn it he wanted this one alive.

They ran down a couple of flights of stairs before Boomer called out, “Six minutes.”

Dan looked around, “This way, I see daylight.” They ran and found themselves on the outside of the frame. And no where near the mountainside.

“Please tell me you got a plan,” Boomer begged.

“We take the express,” Answered Dan as he reached into his pack and pulled out the rope. While he quickly tied one end to the railing they took theirs out and did the same and tossed the rope over. Climbing over the railing they held the rope so it was behind them and rappelled down the frame as fast as they could. The rope wasn’t long enough to reach the bottom, but it was high enough off the ground the drop wouldn’t hurt them.

“Four minutes,” Boomer shouted as the hit the ground and started running, pushing themselves to their limit. Before long Boomer started counting down, “Ten seconds, five, four, three, two…”. They dove for the ground and covered their heads. A second past, then three, four. As they got to their feet Dan and Rev looked at the mech, then at each other and then slowly at Boomer whose eyes never left the mech. “No way, that should have worked,” he said as he stormed past them toward the mech. “The equipment was green, all green, that should have worked.”

Dan patted him on the shoulder, “Sorry kid, they must have found the detonator. It was a great plan.” He turned away and pulled out his License. “Stevens to Shepard, prepare for Plan B.”

“Acknowledged Ops1, Shepard…”, Ace as cut off by a massive explosion sounded and knocked them to the ground. They looked and saw that it came from the Mech and the frame. Then several more went off as the Mech smoked. “Ops 1 come in! Cap answer me!”

Boomer stared at the sight as other sections went off. Suddenly he jumped up amid the falling debris, “WOOOO! Who’s the man?! Who! Is! The! Man!”

Dan shook his head, “Shepard, cancel Plan B and prepare for a pickup.”

He looked over at Boomer who was still celebrating. “The timer was off but I don’t care!” He jumped on Rev’s back, “WOOOO!”

Sighing he added, “And get ready for a long trip home.”

Ace chuckled, “Understood Cap, D.E said he’ll have the aspirin and the restraints ready when you get aboard.”

***
The Major paced around the Command Room waiting for an answer from anybody at this point. Dan, Numa-O, Scorp, an Alienizer who wanted to know what the hell his team was doing. He knew informing the Peruvian government was going to be a headache, but even they had to see that this was dangerous to them and everybody else. He and Michelle nearly jumped when her console went off signaling an incoming transmission. He stood in front of the wall screen as the image split three ways showing a human, a lion-seijin and a bird like alien, DekaRanger’s Meng Yeow, DekaRescue’s Gyoc Row and Supreme Commander Numa-O. “Were we given the green light by the Peruvian Government?”

Numa-O did not look pleased, “They want more proof before they’ll let us inside their boarder.”

“The Alineizers has a base inside their country,” Row said in disbelief. “How much more proof do they need?”

“More than a weak sensor reading I’m afraid.”

“This is insane,” Pierce said out loud.

“I’m sure your team’s fine Henry,” Meng Yeow said, reading his features. “If half the stories you told us were true than they have the right man leading them.”

“I know,” he said grateful somebody else said that. “So what do we do now?”

“We tread carefully,” Numa-O said. “Earth is one of the few planets in the galaxy with more than one government, so we know how to deal with the situation. But if we have too I will contact Commander Scorp and see if we can use one of the other Ops units.”

“We might have another option,” Meng Yeow said looking thoughtful. “Row, do you think your Fire Squad program can work here?”

“We’re still finalizing things on our end,” the Lion answered. “Outside of Ops1 there’s not that many red Deka on the planet. The only ones available at the moment are Yeo, Harris and Van Der Gun. Ideally I would want the standard five person unit for this type of thing.” He thought it over, “But it could work with a smaller number, and working in concert with Ops it might work out as well.”

Before the discussion could continue Michelle spoke up, “Major, I don’t want to interrupt, but we just recorded an explosion in Peru.” She checked the coordinates to make sure, “Exactly were we originally recorded the energy blip.”

“I knew Dan said they try and slow them down, but I didn’t think they go that far,” said a stunned Pierce.

“I’m guessing those stories are more than half true,” Meng Yeow smirked, but looking relieved as well.

“Perhaps now the Peruvian government will have enough proof,” Row said. “If we tread carefully,”

Numa-O said, “I believe we will.” He chuckled a bit, “Although you’re going to have to tell me one of those stories Major Pierce. I get the feeling Trytan’s report didn’t quite capture him.”

“Captain Stevens can surprise you when he wants to,” the Major informed him. And to think Dan originally didn’t want to be part of this when Pierce recruited him for the job.

They talked for a bit when Michelle spoke up again, “Major we have an incoming transmission from the Shepard.”

“Put him on.” The screen configuration changed to add an image of a tired looking Dan. Like a professional he hid it when he noticed they wouldn’t be talking alone. “Dan, it’s good to see you and the team still in one piece.”

“And I might add,” Numa-O spoke, “an excellent job as well.”

“Thank you Commander,” he responded. Looking back he added, “My team did a good job on this one.”

“Can I ask how you can up with this particular plan Captain?”, Meng Yeow asked.

“It was Sgt. Parker’s, Ops4, idea sir. We’re just lucky we were able to pull it off.”

“Dan,” the Major said, “what the situation now?”

“The upper portion of the Monster Mech was rendered inoperable as far as we could tell. We were going to do a more thorough investigation but Ops4 said the local military and police channels lit up after the explosion went off. I ordered the Shepard cloaked and air born before they arrived. We’re currently circling the area just incase that thing still has some life in it.”

“A smart decision Dan, keep us informed if there are any changes.”

“Rodger,” he replied.

“One more thing Captain,” Numa-O said “Do you think you put a dent in the construction of Kaijuki on Earth?” Pierce saw the answer in his face before he even spoke.

“Honestly sir, I doubt it. Only one mech was being built and the construction frame didn’t look like it went further into the mountain than what it did. But we were able to hack into their computer system while we were there. We should have some type of info for Michelle and the SPD techs to go through once we get back.”

“Just some wishful thinking on my part Captain,” Numa-O informed him. “Major Pierce I want a copy of this mission report sent to me.”

“Will do sir,” the Major saluted.

“Good, SPD Command out.” His image blinked out leaving the rest of them.

“Word about this is going to spread quickly,” Meng Yeow said. “My people are going to wonder what happened.”

“As are mine,” Row added.

“I don’t want to ask this of you two,” the Major said, “but I have to ask that you keep some of the details out when you explain it to them.”

“You don’t want us to tell them about a faulty core Henry?”, Meng Yeow said innocently.

“You can’t get good parts these days I guess,” Row commented.

“I owe you two one,” Pierce told them and they ended the conference call on their end.

“I can’t say I like that idea Major,” Dan said after they were alone. “A couple of people in Squad know about us already, and so far there been no harm done.”

“Meng Yeow and Row both know Peru going to be a sticky situation Dan,” He told him. “And frankly the less said about us at this point the better.”

Dan nodded, “I understand sir. Shepard out.”

The screen went blank and pierce tapped the railing, proudly saying, “That’s my boy.”

Michelle coughed,” Actually Major, that may be your team but that my boy.” Pierce smiled and left the Command Room still feeling glad that all of them were coming back alive after this one.


-----
ED – Evanescence – Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
17


-----
OP – Alter Bridge – Metalingus
-----


The hallways of OpsBase were pretty quiet compared to the day time. Then again he usually wasn’t here at night. Fortunately Helen didn’t press the matter when he told her something work related came up. Pierce hated lying to her about what he really did, even if he did give D.E. and Boomer permission to tell their family and fiancé respectively. He did tell her he was part of SPD, only as a military advisor slash negotiator. Maybe he would get up the nerve to tell her what he really did with them one of these days. Pushing those thoughts aside he walked the rest of the way to the last door on the right of the field team quarters hallway. He knocked three times, loud enough for him to hear. After several moments, and a couple of muffled noises, the door open and Dan stood there, “Major?”

“I’m sorry to wake you Dan,” he took a look at him. Dan was trying to stand in a way that he was blocking the doorway a bit. “Are you alright? You look a little… flushed.”

“Perfectly fine,” he answered quickly. “So what up?”

“Not good news I’m afraid,” he replied. “Rumors are starting to spread that another version of that alien rifle is being sold.”

“You’re kidding me,” Dan said as he lowered his head. “I guess it was a little too much to ask that after we took out the factory that would be it.”

“You should know better than that Dan, especially in our business.” He nodded in agreement. “Seeing how the rumor’s still fresh we’re getting first crack at it since nobody knows where the new factory is. I thought I give you a heads up seeing how that why you were originally assigned here.”

“Right,” Dan said. “I’ll let Michelle know right away so she can get looking.”

“I’ll tell her,” Pierce told him, “her door’s right over there.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Dan said quickly, then looked at a loss for words.

“Why not?”, Pierce asked raising an eyebrow.

“Because…”, he trailed off while his eyes glanced back into his room, “she… told me it was a really bad idea to wake her up in the middle of the night. I’ll wake her… she might go easier on me.”

“I’ll take my chances,” the Major told him as he continued for Michelle’s room.

Behind him Dan stepped back and waved Michelle out of his room. Quickly and quietly she made her way to the woman’s restroom door and tried to act like she was just coming out. “Major Pierce, I thought I heard you out here. Is there anything wrong?”

“I’ll fill her in,” Dan quickly volunteered.

“Right,” he said slowly. “I’ll be in my office for the time being.”

Dan gave him a quick salute while Michelle nodded her head. Then she made her way over to him and softly said, “Do you think we fooled him?”

Before Dan could answer the Major called out from down the hall, “Not for a second.” Both of their faces went red as Dan started to scratch the back of his head.

***
Once again he hated this god forsaken planet. It was bad enough he had to be assigned here, now his bosses told he him to check out the new weapon factory set in the coldest part of this miserable country. Wrapping his cloak around him even tighter Chatrox could still feel the cold. He for one would be extremely glad when they would hopefully decide his punishment was over. Locating the building he knocked on the door twice. A panel slid open and a pair of inhuman eyes peered out, “what’s the password?”

Why some of them insist on doing this, he would never know. He always hated this part of things and was one of the few things he actually missed about being part of SPD. “Glory to the bosses, may they run things now and forever,” he replied. The door open and he walked in. Several guns, many manned by humans surprisingly, were pointed at him. And again he cursed Stevens for destroying his own personal Igadroid. “Don’t trust I am who I say I am?”

“I know you,” said a slug like being with those inhuman eyes. “You’re part of SPD.” A few of the rifle holders started looking like they wanted to pull the trigger. He sighed, he knew this was going to happen eventually.

“Not any more in case you haven’t heard,” he told them.

“You tracked me down and destroyed my operation.”

“I was suppose to delete you too if you remember, yet here you are,” Chatrox countered. The slug didn’t seem to have an argument for that. Looking around the ‘factory’ he sarcastically said, “Impressive.”

“It’s hard to get parts up here,” the slug said as he kept his weapon trained on the Agent. “Especially after that rumored black badge unit supposedly took out the first one and the supply depot.”

“Unfortunately they are not a rumor,” Chatrox said distastefully. “I know from personal experience they are quite real. Which was why I was sent here. The bosses realize if they discovered the first one chances are they could locate this one as well.”

“So what do we do?”

“’We’ do nothing,” Chatrox told him. “I on the other hand am to check over the factory and determine what it needs so it doesn’t suffer the same fate as the last one.”

“Are you looking at this dump?”, the slug ask. “I don’t think we can afford the bare minimum to get the security it needs.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” Chatrox informed him. “Sales of this particular rifle are very important to the bosses and they are footing the expense for the security upgrade. You have, to use a Earth expression,” saying that left a bad taste in his mouth, “a blank check.”

***
As soon as she got dressed Michelle was immediately at her station and started searching. Using the information they gathered from the rifle D.E. took apart she looked for anybody ordering similar parts. Whomever it was better at covering their tracks this time around. But not good enough to stump her, not with this equipment at her fingertips. It took a while and she had to look past several dummy companies but she found a possible location, an old fishing town on the coast of upper Alaska. Not as definite as she would have liked but it was a place to start.

They walked into the town more or less unnoticed, although a few were giving Rev a curious look. The real strange looks were being directed at Boomer, who was dressed in full winter gear, pulling up the rear. “Guys wait up,” he called after them.

“How long do you think we can get away with ignoring him?”, Ace asked.

“And it’s cold in case you haven’t noticed.”

“It’s like fifty degrees and you look like a Sherpa,” she shot back.

D.E. agreed, “Like I said my family from Oklahoma but even I think you look ridiculous.”

“So much for some support from your friends,” he frowned.

Rev yawned for the fifth time since leaving the Machine Shepard. “You get enough sleep last night buddy?”, D.E. asked.

“I believe so Terry,” he replied. “I think the climate might be affecting me some how. My planet does not have a section with this type of temperature.” He yawned again, “My apologies Captain, if I suspected this…”

“We’ll worry about it in case it becomes a problem,” Dan told him. “We’re still here to find out if this place has the factory or not. Keep an eye on your scanner and ask the locals if you have too. Somebody bound to have seen something if it’s here. Ace, take D.E. and Rev and check out the pier and factories on the waterfront. Me and Nanuck of the north here will check out the center of town.”

“Cap you too?”, Boomer sounded hurt.

“You’re the one dressed like that,” Dan told him as he walked away.

“He just so spared him from further ribbing by us,” Ace said to no one in particular.

“I was thinking the same thing,” D.E. told her as he zipped up his jacket a little higher and stuck his hands in his pockets. “It is kinda chilly though.”

“Wuss,” Ace teased him as Rev yawned behind them.

***
Based on the reaction Rev was getting earlier she was surprised at how many aliens there were in town. Then again there were several polar like planets out there and the inhabitants would have found this comfortable. A couple of them nodded and greeted them as they passed. Every so often they stop and ask a person on the street if they saw anything strange. This part was tricky, trying to ask if anything suspicious was going on without raising suspicions at the same time. Luckily she thought of a pretty good cover story. “Pardon me sir?”, she asked an older gentleman standing in front of a store.

“What can I do for you young lady?”, he seemed kind enough.

“I know this is going to sound really strange, but I’m a news reporter. I’m new and I think the station I’m working for just sent me on a joke assignment just to see if I’d actually do it.”

The guy laughed, “You have to pay your dues some how little lady. So why did they have you come all the way out here for?”

“Well they told me that there were some strange things going on up here, but they didn’t tell me what.” She gave him a pleading look, “I don’t suppose you’ve seen anything out of the ordinary?”

“Sorry,” he told them. “Outside of the deer running across Main Street a few days back the place has been pretty quiet. I think there pulling the wool over your eyes.”

“I’m starting to think you’re right, thanks any way.”

“Do you get the feeling the deer thing is like the biggest news this town seen in awhile?”, D.E. asked after they walked down the street a bit.

“It does seem like a popular topic so far,” Rev commented as he stifled another yawn.

“Rev would you quit it, you’re starting to make me sleepy,” Ace told him.

“My apologies Trish,” he said.

“So what do you think”, D.E. asked, “is this a dead end?”

“Unless we pick up something or Cap and Boomer get a lead it might be,” she agreed. “Let’s keep checking though just in case.” They nodded in agreement. Then they noticed a little girl standing near by staring at them.

“Excuse me,” she said as she got a little braver, “but are you the reporters?”

“Yes we are,” Ace said as she got down to a knee.”Do you have a name sweetie?”

“Amber,” the girl answered.

Ace smiled at her, “Hi there my name Trish.” Amber shot a scared look at Rev. “Don’t worry about him, he’s not a scary as he looks. And my alien friend is pretty cool too.”

“Funny,” D.E. said sarcastically.

“Do you have a story for us?”, she asked ignoring him

“My big brother,” she said. “He went into the old factory and disappeared. They said he ran away. But he wouldn’t do that, he wouldn’t,” she started to tear up.

“I believe you,” Ace said trying to calm her down. “I’ll look into it for you, free of charge this time around. But you’re going to have to show me where this factory is, ok?”. Amber agreed and took Ace by the hand and showed them.

“I’m not sure if this is a wise decision Terry,” Rev said as the two of them hung back a bit.

“It’s the closest thing we have for a lead,” D.E. told him. “Besides if we can help her find a lead to her brother it’s has to be a good thing.” Rev silently agreed.

Amber took them to where she last saw he brother, an old fishing factory that looked like it hasn’t been used in years. If Ace was going to pick a place for a secret factory, it would have been something like this. If this was the place the big question was what did the inside look like? Ace had them hang back a bit while she scanned the outside as best she could. Before long something on D.E’s back started beeping. Looking at Amber she asked, “Do you remember where your brother was at?”

While Amber was pointing that out D.E. stood behind Rev and checked the scanner on his OpsLicense. After a moment Ace looked back at him and he said, “Same reading as the first time.”

Nodding she returned her attention to the girl, “Amber I want you to go back to town for now.”

“But my brother…,” she started to protest.

“We’ll look for him,” Ace assured her, “but I don’t want you getting hurt in the process because that place looks dangerous. Go back to that store where you first talked to us ok. We’ll let you know what we found out as soon as we can.”

“You promise?”

“I promise,” Ace told her and crossed her heart. Reluctantly she did what he was told and left them. Ace wasn’t sure what they were going to do if they didn’t find a trace of her brother in there. A thought for later as her License beeped too, “Ops5 here.”

“Ace,” Dan said over the line, “we think we found out where they might be selling the rifles, or at least storing them. Boomer and I are going to check it out. How soon do you think you can join us in case things get hairy?”

“I’m not sure Cap,” Ace replied, “because I think we just found out where they’re building them.”

“We’re on our way.”

“Cap wait,” she said quickly. “Let’s try to take both of them if we can.”

“I don’ think that’s a good idea Ace. After that last time security bound to be beefed up.”

“And if we go after one the other one is going to take what they have and get away,” she countered. “If we have a chance to get both points we should do it.”

After a few moments of silence Dan said, “Alright, but be careful. I want to hear back from you one way or the other.”

“Rodger, Ops5 out.” Looking back at D.E. and Rev she said, “You heard him, let’s check it out.”

***
As they got closer they noticed that while the building looked abandoned there were a few paths in the ground that look rather new. Especially one that lead to a particular steel door. So somebody been going inside recently. She motioned for them to bypass the door and find another way in. A broken window that was around the corner looked promising. Remembering how toxic the building process was the last time each of them activated the filter mask that folded out and covered their moth and nose and went inside. D.E. and Ace both drew their SP-Shooters as they entered. Rev check the air quality, “It is not as bad as the factory but still dangerous if breathed in for extended periods.”

“Right, keep them on for now,” Ace ordered. Pointing at the door D.E. nodded and quickly checked the other side before giving the all clear. Entering the hallway she wished she had some Cap’s recon gear with them. D.E. found a lock door while he was checking the various doorknobs they came across.

“What do you think?”, he asked. She nodded and told Rev to watch the other direction. D.E. stepped to the side of the door and shot the doorknob. God that sounded really loud. “They really need to look into silencers for these things,” he whispered to himself.

He pushed the door open and Ace and Rev pointed their weapons inside. They saw a teenage boy huddled in the corner looking really scared. She and Rev went to him as D.E. guarded the door. “I don’t suppose you have a little sister named Amber do you?”, she asked feeling hopeful.

“Yeah,” he said before he started coughing. Rev immediately ran on scan on him. “What… what’s he doing?”

“Just checking you out,” she assured him. After a few moments she looked at Rev, “Well?”

“He is starting to show sign of lung damage from the fumes, but it is easily reparable at this stage.” Opening one of the pockets on his pants he pulled out a small med kit. Choosing the right liquid he loaded it into a hypospray and placed it on the boy’s neck. A small hiss later he said, “That should start to heal the damage and neutralize what’s already in his system.”

“Right,” she said feeling relieved. Looking at the boy she asked, “What are you doing locked up in here?”

“I kept seeing things going on but nobody believed me. So I snuck in to find proof I wasn’t lying. Then this slug thing caught me and threw me in here.”

“This is the right place alright,” Ace said. “Rev do you have a spare mask on you?” he said he did and pulled the pieces out of another pocket and handed them to her. “Listen, I need you to stay here for a little while longer. We’re going to find the slug you told us about. But it’ll probably be safer if you stay in here.” He agreed as he took the pieces and put them on. Ace reached up and activated the mask which surprised the boy. “My friend said there’s something nasty in the air so this will filter it out. We’ll be back for you as soon as we’re done.” They closed the door and continued their search.

“I am so pouring salt on that slug,” D.E. said out loud, she agreed.

It wasn’t long before they found the main area of the building and the apparent construction site for the rifles. What surprised them was the actual number of humans working on the weapons. Willingly, judging from the lack of guards in the room. The slug, on the other hand, was in plain view. “Come on you low lives work harder,” it ordered. “Every one of you have said this town has been going to hell since the factories closed. Are you going to blow this chance I’m giving you to bring it back to life?”

“I’m starting to get an idea why nobody believed that kid,” D.E. commented and she had to agree again. They noticed Revs’ head start to drop slowly, D.E nudged him with and elbow to wake him up and he agreed as well.

At her command they jumped out of their hiding spot and aimed their SP-Shooters at the slug. “SPD,” Ace shouted, “freeze!”. The slug laughed as a few of the humans pointed a completed version of the rifle at them. “What are you doing?”

“We don’t want you here!”, someone shouted.

“We need the sales of these rifles,” said another. “Our town will go down the crapper even more without it.”

None of them expected this to happen as they waved their SP-Shooter around trying to cover everybody. Then some Batsuroids came out of a couple of grenades holding the rifles as well. The slug laughed even louder, “Looks like you’re outnumbered, better put those peashooters down.”

“Ace,” D.E. said with a bit of worry in his voice.

“You heard him,” she said with a small smirk as the mask folded away. They dropped their weapons and she said, “Change standby.” They grabbed their OpLicense from behind their back. “Emergency! DekaOps!” A quick digital flash later and they were in their Dekasuits.

“Shot ‘em!” the slug yelled. The Batsuroids fired immediately, the humans started firing a few moments later a bit unsure of themselves. It was so much they had to dive for cover and return fire with their D-Shooters.

“Tell me you have a plan B,” D.E. said as he ducked a shot that barely sailed over his head.

“Pick a bot and shot the gun,” she told him.

“But the weapon will…,” Rev started to say.

“I know what’s going to happen.”

“It’s crazy,” D.E. said, “But I love it.” He took a quick peek and spotted a group of Batsuroids without any humans around. Lowering his head slightly he started breathing slowly as Ace and Rev continued to fire back. He looked up, took quick aim and fired at the center of the group. The bullet flew and hit the rifle in the power source. As expected the weapon exploded taking out the Batsuroid holding it and a couple surrounding it. In turn the weapons they were holding started to explode too in a chain reaction. The humans with the slug dropped to the ground as soon as that happened. Slowly they looked up after it was over.

“What are you low lives doing!?”, the slug shouted. “Shot the bastards!”

One of the humans looked at the gun in his hands the spot where the Batsuroids were. “Fuck this shit” he said dropping the weapon to run. The other humans quickly joined him.

“Get back here you worthless hairless apes!”

“Ahem”, Ace coughed to get his attention s D.E and Rev took out the remaining Batsuroids.

“Hey wait a second,” the slug said while backing away. “Maybe we can make a deal.”

“We don’t make deals”, she told him and held out her License. He reached for a lever behind him but a shot from D.E. stopped that.

“Slagging Agent,” the slug spat. “He said he have this place ready before you would show up.”

“Target orders,” she said and the area around them went dark. A red X and a blue circle flashed between them before finally settling on the X, “Eliminate target.” D.E and Rev stood beside her and locked their License into the D-Shot and took aim. “Strikeout!,” three blue energy streams hit the slug and deleted him.

***
Amber waited anxiously , hoping the lady the lady would keep her word. She as starting to think they weren’t going to show back up. Then she looked down the street and saw the lady wave at her, then she saw somebody else. “Hank!”, she cried out happily as she raced toward them.

“I’ve never been so glad to see you, you little pain in the butt,” he said as he scooped her up. Ace and Rev broke away as a crowd started to form around them.

Dan got their attention as they walked away. “How did you your end go Cap?”, she asked.

“Caught him with his pants down,” he told her. “How about you?”

“The factory’s taken care of. D.E. covering it now in case some of the locals come back. I’ll explain in my report.”

“Right, Rev show Boomer where the factory is so he can take care of the rest of those rifles.” Rev said he understood and told Boomer to follow him. After they left he looked at the crowd that was starting to split. A few were shooting Ace some nasty looks and a couple could be heard saying she ruined our town. “I get the feeling I know what’s going to be in that report. I also get the feeling you guys went outside the mission little bit.”

“I take full responsibility for that,” Ace told him. “D.E. and Rev were following my lead the whole time. If anything comes down, it should come down on me only.”

Dan looked her in the eyes, then looked at the reunited brother and sister. “I think we can let this one slide. But we better cover Rev and Boomer. Some of these guys look like they might want some payback.”

***
“I still don’t believe it,” the Major said as he put down the repot on the desk. He looked right at Dan who was setting across from him, “Using a town own desperation to get them to help build this thing. How low can you go?”

“Some of them didn’t seem to care that what they were doing was illegal or even life threatening, they just wanted their town back the way it was.” Dan leaned back a bit, “But there bound to be some health problem now for the guys working on the rifles. And the way Ace and them described the place a few not involved in this might have been affected without knowing it.”

“Which is why SPD is secretly supplying some medical aid for the town. They told the local doctors what to look for and how to treat it. Thanks to Ace and the other’s report the local police were able to arrest a few that were involved. I’m not sure how many more they’ll get though.” Dan agreed and started to leave. “Just a second, I want to talk to you about what happened last night.”

“Here we go,” Dan mumbled as he dropped back down.

“I don’t know why you two felt you had to sneak around. You know as well as I do that there no regulation in SPD that say two officers can’t have a relationship. Of course with some of the nuts around here I can kind of see why you thought you had to.”

“Yeah, but I also know how you feel about the whole premarital thing.”

“True, I do believe a man and a woman should wait for marriage before having that kind of a relationship. But I’m also aware that you and Michelle are two grown adults capable of making you own decisions.” He took a deep breath, “I also realize that sometime a couple might want to mix things up a bit and get a little adventurous. So I’m only going to say this once,” he tapped his finger on the desk with each word, “not in here.”

Dan blinked a few times totally not understanding what he said, “What?”

“Not in here,” he repeated. “You two can do it in your quarters, her quarters, in med bay. If you can sneak on top of the Sheapard without Ace finding out more power to you. But not in here.”

Again Dan blinked and said, “What?”

“Do I make myself clear?”

Dan looked around the room, “I… guess.”

“Good, I’m glad we had this little talk.” Dan left the room and every so often he would look back at the door leading to the Majors’ office. That was the weirdest conversation he was never part of.


-----
ED – Evanescence – Whisper

-----

DekaOps
18


-----
OP – Alter Bridge – Metalingus
-----

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.”

***
Before they left Ace assured him she wouldn’t act like he made Michelle angry while they were on the job. Dan got the feeling the trip home would be a different story. So better get his talking with the apparently non mad Ace in while he could.

The SPD orbital satellites were having a hard time picking out individual life signs underneath the dense canopy of the tree tops. The Major was hoping the Shepard sensor package would have a better time of it at a closer range. Dan turned to Rev, “Can you make out what’s what done there?”

“Yes,” he answered, “But so far I’m not detecting any human or humanoid life signs as of yet.”

“Maybe we should do a two party search,” Ace offered. “One of from the air and one from the ground. It could make things go quicker. I saw a clearing over there that would make a perfect hot drop point.”

“You sure you just don’t want to test the Hounds in this type of environment,” D.E. teased.

“I do believe we have a volunteer,” she said with a half smile.

Dan nodded, “Rev go with him.”

“Rodger,” Rev said as they got up and headed for the cargo hold.

Ace changed course and lowered their altitude. “Approaching hot drop height and speed,” she announced. “Hot dropping in three… two… one now!” Underneath the ship by each wing a panel opened and two black and white motorcycles fell to the ground. After they landed D.E quickly pointed out a path that looked like it could accommodate vehicles and they headed that while Ace went in the opposite direction.

***
“I’m telling you the sensors got a reading,” An Igadroid was telling Vosk, who was looked distracted s he sat under a manmade canopy fanning himself with a pith hat

“And I keep telling ya the sensor are wrong,” he said irritably. “It is slagging hot around here. Why did I want come here again?”

“Because you convinced the bosses that this would be the best place to acquire new slaves without being noticed.” It turned a data pad in it’s hand around so he could read the display himself,” We’re behind quota incase you weren’t aware.”

“Don’t get your circuits in a bunch,” he dismissed the robot. “If we have to we’ll get some of those, watta ya call them… gorillas and shave them or something. Nobody will know the difference.”

“Human are starting to be recognized as one of the more somewhat intelligent species,” the Igadroid informed him. “People will note the difference.”

“Then we’ll sell them to the dumber clients,” he shot out of the chair. “This wasn’t supposed to be this hard. Gather up a few humans and ship them out to whoever wanted them. Human slaves fetch top credits in the right sector you know. Easy money all the way to the bank.”

“Humans don’t earn any more credits than any other species,” it informed Vosk.

“That’s because human haven’t packaged the right way yet. It’s what everything comes down too, the right angle. Ya have to know the right bait for the hook.” He headed for the sensor and looked at it, “So what this so called anomaly?” Turning to the Igadroid he demanded, “You’re the one who dragged me all the way over here so show me the stupid thing.” Vosk slapped his hand against the side or the sensor before the Igadroid stopped him.

“The readout I was talking about is over here,” the Igadroid went to a separate senor screen. Punching something in on the control a readout appeared that quickly repeated itself.

Vosk looked at the readout for a long time. “So what is it?”. Thinking quickly he added, “I know what I’m seeing but I what to make sure we’re seeing the same thing.”

The Igadroid stared at him for a second before answering, “Two metallic objects were detected briefly before dropping below sensor range.”

“Say what now?”

“They dropped from midair.”

“Why didn’t ya say so,” he snapped. Walking past him to the communication array he switched to wideband transmission and grabbed the microphone. “Listen up whoever you are. Ya just don’t appear out of nowhere and try to horn in on my operation. Ya want to impress the bosses do it somewhere else!” Slamming the microphone down he said to the Igadroid, “Ya have ta show these wanna bes whose boss.”

As Vosk went back to his chair the Igadroid muttered, “Idiot.”

***
“Well that took a set,” Ace commented as she held the Shepard in a holding pattern over the jungle.

“Boomer did you get a lock on that transmission?”, Dan asked.

“Like he lit up a Christmas tree,” Boomer confirmed. “I haven’t seen anything that easy to locate since… ever.”

“Ops2 to Machine Shepard,” D.E. called. “Did you guys get a weird transmission?”

“We got it,” Dan sighed. “Boomer will give you his location. We’ll come in on…”

“Ah… Cap,” Boomer cut in, “you’re not going to believe this.”

“Let D.E and Rev hear it too,” he told him. “If they’re not already.”

“Yo,” Vosk called out, “whoever out there listen up. I’ve been thinking things over. Maybe we can work together or something. I could use a little more brawn around here. Whatta ya say?”

Dan motioned to open the link, “What’s in it for us?”

“A part of the profits,” Vosk answered. “Not a big part, I mean this is my operation and I’d be the boss so I’d get a larger cut.”

“Why would I agree to something like that?”

“I already know the territory and I got a couple of loads off already.”

“You’re finding that many humans out here in the middle of nowhere?”

“Oh loads,” he said. Then he added, “a couple of them tried to say they were ‘scientists’,” he laughed out loud. “Like a human can be that smart, ya know what I’m saying?”

“I said human…,” a new voice started before it was cut off.

“Shadup! Ya say what I program ya to say.” There was a few moments of silence then Vosk spoke again, “Igadroids, sometime I think they made them waaaay too smart, ya know what I mean?”

“That’s why I never use them.” Dan said nothing for a few moments trying to look like he was thinking things over. “How about we meet up, negotiate terms and such.”

“A businessman, I like that. I know this little clearing. I’ll have my robot send you the location.”

Boomer indicated they received the co-ordinates. “Ok, we’ll meet you there, say an earth half hour?”

“How long is that?”, he said to somebody. “Oh yeah I can do that. Look foreword to doing business with you.”

“Right see you then,” Dan ran his hand across his throat and Boomer closed the link.

“So I guess we’re not rushing in?”, D.E asked over his License.

“He already knows somebody here, he could expect somebody to come at him,” Dan explained. “He could beef up security around his camp. This way we can make him think he’s in control. Besides,” he added with a grin, “he doesn’t know how many of us are here.”

“I smell a plan,” Ace chimed in.

***
Vosk paced around the edge of the clearing by his Igadroid impatiently. He kept looking at the field with growing anger. “Were are these morons, I hate dealing with amateurs.” Before long the Igadroid picked something that wasn’t there before, a jet. It flew over their heads as Vosk ducked. Without an order the Igadroid tossed a grenade and group of Anaroids formed. As the black and white jet landed with its rear section toward them Vosk could just make out the symbol on one of the tail fins, “Crud SPD.”

The anaroids took position as the ramp lowered and the three inside walked out. Ace looked around and whistled, “Ten Anaroids and an Igadroid, impressive.”

“Wha… what are you doing here?”, Vosk asked hiding a little behind the Igadroid. “Oh slag black badges.”

“I thought we were going to do business?”, Dan said.

Vosk got a little braver and talked from behind the row of Anaroids as he recognized the voice, “wait, ya want to do business with me? Heh, guess SPD doesn’t pay that well after all.”

“Actually I wanted to see how dumb you actually were,” Dan informed him.

“I’d say pretty dumb,” Boomer chuckled. “I’m not sure what kind of transmitter you’re using but I think they pinpointed your location over in Singapore.”

Vosk was insulted, “I needed something powerful to stay in touch with the bosses. We’re like this by the way,” he held up two crossed fingers. “Yeah, some of the underlings are jealous at how tight we are. I’m pretty sure they were making sure some of my other messages from getting through.” Starting to feel a little more confident he said, “Besides, ya guys look like the dumb ones here. I mean you’re outnumbered and you’re not wearing your flashy suits.”

“Looks that way doesn’t it,” Dan commented.

“Well seeing how I got the upper hand I’ll be a nice guy and ask if you have any last words.”

“Actually I do,” Dan said while crossing his arms.

A few yards away, hidden in the foliage, Rev watched waiting for that very gesture. Listening closely he spoke into his License, “The Captain said ‘nice hat’.”

Further away with his License laying bedside him D.E said, “Right,” and took quick aim with his sniper rifle. He had Vosk smug face in his sights then aimed up slightly before he pulled the trigger.

The pith hat flew off his head and a second later Vosk reacted, “What the slag?”

Half the Anaroids looked for the source of that shot. Dan and the others lowered there head and closed their eyes as Boomer threw up a grenade of his own. The flash disrupted the bots’ systems long enough for them to grab their OpsLicense, “Emergency! DekaOps!” They were surrounded by a digital field as the Dekametal formed a black bodysuit around them. A colored strip went down their suit and formed a number on the left side of their chest. A hard backpack formed and the D-shots appeared. The three of them shouted, “Face on!”, as a helmet appeared around their heads.

Another shot from D.E. pierced the Igadroid’s head as they rushed the line of Anaroids. Dan ducked an incoming swing from one as he pulled his D-Colt and shot it in the gut. Flicking the switch by his thumb to multi he fired at another one and three energized slugs knocked it down sparking. Ace was picking her shots with her D-Rod, only energizing it when she had a clear opening. Boomer was mowing them down with his D-shot. “Where’s Vosk?”, Ace called out after the last one went down.

Dan quickly surveyed the area and saw him, “This way.”

Vosk ran to where he thought his base was. His hearts felt like they were pounding in his head. The bosses had to have something close by to take these guys out. They owed him something for all the things he’s done for them. Then he tripped and crashed to the ground, “Slagging tree.”

“Hold it Vosk!”, Dan shout out as they caught up with him, OpsLicense in his hand.

“Go ahead,” he challenged, “you think you’re string pullers are gonna let somebody like me bite the dust?”

“Target orders,” Dan said as the area went black. A red X and a blue circle flashed between them. Vosk looked confident the entire time, until the X shined brightly after it was done. “Eliminate target.”

“No! There was a mistake!” Vosk cried out. “Do it again. Do ya hear me? Judge me again!”

Locking their License into the D-Shots Ace and Boomer went to a knee as Dan stood behind them, “Ready.”

“I’m important ya slagging idiots! I’m somebody ya hear!”

“Strikeout!”, Dan ordered. Three energy beams fired out and Vosk was deleted screaming. Dan lowered his D-Shot and said, “Got you.”

Ace stood saying, “Is it bad I think I kinda enjoyed that one? Because he was really annoying.”

“Eh,” Dan said while shaking his hand slightly. “D.E and Rev should be heading for his base site. Let’s join up with them.”

***
Hours later Dan finally caught Michelle by herself by the field team quarters. She saw him and started for her quarters, but he ran in and stopped her, “Look Michelle, I’m sorry I didn’t let you in on the joke from the beginning.”

She crossed her arms and asked, “Can you at least tell me why you didn’t think you could tell me about it? You had Rev with you for God sakes.”

Scratching the back of his head he said, “Honestly it sounded like a good idea at the time.”

“Well it wasn’t. I could have helped you know. I could have put some of my perfume on a rag and rubbed it on part of his desk.”

“I never thought of that,” Dan said thinking it over. “That’s a pretty good idea.”

“See you jerk,” she pushed him in the shoulder.

“Well I guess it’s a little late now,” Dan said. “And you probably already told him everything.”

“Well he did notice something was off about his desk, so I’ll give you credit for knowing him that well,” she conceded. “But I never told him it was a joke.”

“Why?”, he asked. “I figured you bust me the first chance you got.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, the look on his face was priceless when he came out of his office,” she stifled a laugh.”

“I knew it be funny,” he said. “So,” he put his hands around her waist and pulled her a little closer, “is there any way I can make this particular plunder up to you?”

“I’m sure I can think of something,” she smiled seductively. Then she pulled away saying, “In a couple of days when I’m ready to forgive you.”

“That was borderline evil,” he told her.

“You deserved it,” she countered as she opened her door.

“Can you at least tell Ace to stop giving me the cold shoulder? Rev was yawning like a madman on the trip back.”

“I’ll try,” she said, “but if I can you’re going to owe me another one.” And she closed the door.

He looked at the door for a few moments before walking away. “She says I’m going to owe her another favor. I still have Hawaii hanging over my head. And I didn’t even want anything to do with Hawaii.”


-----
ED – Evanescence – Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
19


-----
OP – Alter Bridge – Metalingus
-----

A nearly disserted highway during midday, everything was quiet except for a lone semi truck. On the inside the blond haired driver kept his eyes on the road in front and behind him. The red haired person besides him was watching everything else while he tapped his fingers on the arm rest. So far everything was going to plan but they had a while to go. The driver glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Flipping on the CB he said, “How’s the package?”

In the trailer a person in a black and blue Dekasuit looked at the freezer unit containing something that was pinkish purple. “Still solid,” D.E. answered.

“Right, keep you eyes on the readouts and make sure it stays that way.” Switching over to another frequency he said, “Ops1 to Shepard.”

“Shepard here,” Ace answered. “The area’s still clear. We’ll let you know the moment something does.”

“Understood, Ops1…”

“Wait,” Boomer took the mic, “Ace I just wanted to say thank you again. Lisa and me really appreciated it when you agreed to be part of it all.”

“Once again no problem, Shepard out,” she said quickly and ended the connection. Dipping her head a bit she said, “I still can’t believe she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.”

“If this distresses you so much, why did you agree?”, Rev asked behind her.

“I don’t know, she just asked me out of the blue. She had this look on her face. Maybe if could have said no if I knew I was a last minute replacement for one of her friends who backed out. No, I’ve been part of the plans for awhile now apparently.” Ace put the Shepard on auto so she could look at Rev. “I mean I barely know the woman. I’ve meet her a couple of times tops, and that’s only because Boomer was around.”

“You are part of Robert’s life,” Rev said thinking it over. “Perhaps she wants to make sure this part of his life is still welcomed in his new one.”

“I could do that from the pew in the church,” she argued. “God, you should have seen me at the dress fitting. Outside of Lisa I knew nobody and her friends were giving me the outsider treatment. She was the only one there who actually wanted me there.” Turning back around and taking the stick she continued, “Michelle’s been married before, why didn’t she ask her? Maybe she can give me some tips on how not to be bored out of my mind while I’m standing there.”

“I’m sure that not all you have to do Trish,” Rev told her.

“No, I’m supposed to help plan things too. Every couple of days I’ll get a call asking if I think such and such is a good idea. The moment I say anything that sounds like a yes I’ll hear,” she started talking like a valley girl, “’So like thanks, byeeeeeeee.’ Lisa found out and apologized up and down but they kept doing it.”

“If this is so much of an annoyance perhaps you should find away to step away.”

“I thought about it but it wouldn’t be far to Lisa, ducking out this close to the wedding. Besides I kinda like her. I mean anybody prepared to spend the rest of their life with Boomer can’t be all bad.”

***
Boomer continued tapping his fingers, way off to the beat to the tune coming off the radio. Which got on Dan’s nerve a little more considering he only turned it on to drown the tapping out. “Getting nervous about the wedding kid? It’s only a week away.”

After a moment he replied, “I am now, thanks Cap.” He started tapping faster. Dan resisted the urge to grab those fingers just to get a moment of silence.

“I don’t mean to pry or anything but have you thought about the living arrangements…”

“I decided I’m going to do like the Major and his wife,’ Boomer told him before Dan got the question out. “A while ago actually. Me and Lisa found this apartment a couple miles away OpsBase. So I’ll be there in a couple of minutes if we got an assignment during the night.”

“That’s not what I was going to say,” Dan informed him. “I figured you’d be living off base. With some of the guys we bring in I wouldn’t want my wife around either. Not to mention the in-laws wanting to visit.”

“Let’s not mention the in-laws,” Boomer said.

“I’m sure they like you,” Dan told him. “But you are marrying their little girl after all.”

“Telling me to my face they don’t want me marrying her is a funny way of saying they like me.” Dan raised an eyebrow at that one. “It’s because I’m a cop. They’re dead set against Lisa becoming a widow at a young age.”

“She could become a widow even if you weren’t a cop.”

“And Lisa told them that, but they are dead set in their ways.” Boomer looked out the window and watched the countryside. “Hell I’ll be amazed if they show up for the wedding.” After a few minutes of silence he asked, “If you weren’t worried about where Lisa was going to live or how close I’d be what were you going to say?”

“Basically I was going to say it was going to be a little weird on base without you there all the time.”

Boomer got a huge grin on his face, “I knew it you liked me.”

“It’s a situation I can quickly get used to,” he quickly said. “Especially the quiet.”

“Admit you like me.”

“Do you want to be running laps till an hour before you’re married?” The truck hit a rough patch in the road that made it jump slightly. Almost immediately Dan grabbed the CB, “How’s the package?”

“Power readings fluctuated a bit,” D.E. answered, “but they’re back to normal now.”

“Make sure they stay that way. You have that freeze gun nearby?”

D.E. patted the oversize gun hang by the strap off his shoulder, “Hasn’t left my side since the trip started.”

“Keep it there until we’re done.”

“Rodger,” D.E. said.

“Refresh my memory,” Boomer said. “Why are we transporting this thing across a couple of states this way and not in the Shepard?”

“Well for one,” Dan answered, “in case things get hairy while we’re trying to unload this thing we might need the Shepard’s firepower. Two, the freezer unit needed for this job wouldn’t fit in the cargo bay. And three, Ace was already complaining about modifying the Hound bay as it was.”

“I’d feel better if we actually had some back up for this one.”

“For once I agree with you. Some space amoeba that can dissolve just about anything it wants when it’s thawed out. You bet I want an extra tech team back there with him.”

“So why don’t we?”

“Commander Scorp,” Dan spat. “The Major said he wanted to see how we acted under this type of situation.”

“So he just happened to have access to some sinister space slime?”

“Apparently a lab planet did. There are other things out there like this one just floating around the galaxy, and they cause a lot of damage when they’re caught by a planet’s gravitational pull and thaw out. From some of the reports the Major passed me there’s a big push to find a way to counter act them.”

“Then why are we babysitting this one?”

“Because they captured very few of these things and various labs wants to run tests on it.” Anticipating the next question Dan added, “And they don’t want this thing in one place for any long periods of time.”

“In case the Alienizers get any ideas,” Boomer said in understanding, Dan nodded. “So basically we’re just a pit stop.”

“We’re part of the leg of this particular journey. They do this every time when they transport this thing. Plan out a long complicated route, throw out a couple of false trails. A couple dummy ships and they think they have a plan.” Dan sighed, “Always a bureaucrats plan too.”

“Why do you say that?”

Dan waited a few moments before answering, “Now I can’t speak for the police department, but when I was in the military I could usually tell which officers spent time in the trench with the men and which rode a desk their entire career. And bureaucrats always come up with shit like this.” After another couple of moments he added, “I had Scorp pegged as a bureaucrat the moment I saw him.”

“You figured that out the moment you meet an ‘alien’ SPD commander?” Boomer asked with some skepticism.

“It’s a vibe you learn to read,” Dan informed him. “And that why the faster we hand this off to the next courier the better.”

***
“Mr. Rockwell,” The driver of the nearby car said as a man in an immaculate suit looked out over the area with a pair of binoculars, “did you find what you’re looking for yet?”

“Not yet,” he said as patiently as he could. His distain for humans grew with every second he was around them. Then he spotted it and his mood brighten, the truck with the special delivery. It was amazing how easy it was to look through SPD security when you knew where the lesser know cracks where, especially when you planted them yourself. Using a special add on he developed the magnification amplified greatly and he got a good look at the driver. “Perfect,” he whispered, the fact Stevens was involved made this all the better.

“What was that sir?”, the driver asked.

“Nothing.” He said as he headed for the car. “Sorry for the inconvenience. Sometimes you hear a report about an alien that’s so outlandish you have to check it out for yourself.”

“Oh I understand sir. I heard about one that could change from human size to something the size of a whale in a second. Dropped everything myself to take a look.” ‘Rockwell’ nodded and pulled a palm pilot out of his coat, or something that looked like a palm pilot. Sending a message to his, thanks to Stevens and his lackeys, new Igadroid, he ordered it to set the trap. He smirked to himself as he saw his eyes go reptilian briefly in his reflection.

***
The trip was uneventful for awhile, then they passed through a energy field that literally came out of nowhere. Dan stomped on the brakes the moment his mind registered what was going on but the engine had already died. “What the hell?”. He grabbed the CB but got nothing but static. He and Boomer jumped out of the cab as Dan’s OpLicense went off, “This is Steven, go.”

Ace sounded worried, “Cap we just registered an electrical magnetic pulse near you on the sensors.”

“We ran into it Ace, the truck stalled.”

“D.E.,” Boomer activated his, “how are things back there buddy?”

“A little shaken up with the sudden stop,” he answered. “The back up systems kicked in, what happened?”

“We got hit with an EMP.”

“Good thing for the shielding on SPD equipment then.”

“Tell me about it.” He saw something on the edge of the road a few feet back. “Wait a second. Cap,” he shouted after checking it out, “I found an emitter!”

“I found one too,” he called back. “Rev what kind of life sign readings are you getting?”

“You are the only humanoid reading I am receiving in the current area,” he answered after a moment.

“Bots,” Dan said as he tried to put everything together. It was the only thing that made sense with the clues available. “Scan for any stray energy readings. I’m sure whatever set these emitter was smart enough to get away and be close enough to make sure they had the right target. Ace keep us on visual cause this could go south in a hurry.” None of them thought to check under the truck. Once the pulse went off heavily a shielded roller drone silently slide under the trailer bofore either of them noticed. It’s scanner detected the coldest spot overhead and stopped. A cannon raised as it did a deeper scan of the interior. Then it used the rest of it’s energy cell to power one shot that pierced the trailer. Dan turned around just in time to see the shot go through the roof, “What the hell?”

Inside the trailer D.E. stepped back as the shot surprised him. When he looked back he saw a couple of the power conduit and coolant tubes severed. He quickly checked the readings and grabbed his License, “We lost power to the chamber and this thing heating up fast.”

“Blast it with the freeze gun!”, Dan snapped.

“Right,” he said and fired at it. “We lost the containment field,” he announced as it flashed out of existence. It thawed out quicker than he thought it would and the amoeba lashed out at him. “Holy…!”, D.E. headed for the floor. By the time he looked up it was already headed for the hole in the floor. “Oh no you don’t,” he said as he took aim. He fired as it as it shot out another stream at him. The frozen slime arm continued foreword and pierced the freeze gun and jerked it out of his hands. It dissolved the gun in seconds and actually grew a little after absorbing a part of it. Then it started on the floor. “Weapon’s down and it’s getting out.”

“There’s a couple of more in the locker behind you,” Dan reminded him as he looked under the trailer. “Get ‘em and get out here.” Watching the slime come toward him he shouted, “Boomer change standby!” Stumbling to the side he was surprised when it actually jumped at him. The amoeba landed on a boulder and quickly absorbed it mass into it’s own in no time. Standing by Boomer he said, “Emergency! DekaOps!”

A digital flash later and both of them where in their Dekasuits and drew their D-Colt and D-Shooter respectively. “Do we fire?”, Boomer asked.

Dan looked at the D-Colt in his hand, “Either the shot goes through it or it gets bigger. D.E get your ass out here!”

Finally the back of the trailer opened up and the ramp started to lower. D.E. jumped out with both freeze guns when he had enough room. “Sorry, had a hard time overriding the security lock. It wouldn’t let me input the emergency override code, kept saying no access in an emergency situation,” he explained as he tossed one of the guns to Boomer. “Had half a mind to shoot the damn thing.”

“Damn bureaucrats,” Dan muttered. “Let it have it.” The amoeba lashed out again, D.E. was ready while Boomer caught on real quick. Dan looked inside the trailer to find anything useful. He thought about tearing out one of the cooling tanks from the containment units, but they would probably going to need that intact.

“Cap it’s bolting!” Boomer shouted. He looked back and saw it roll away from the freeze beam dissolving and absorbing whatever it ran over.

“Oh no you don’t,” Dan said. “Ace, freeze run now.”

“Rodger,” she replied. She pulled the Shepard around and dropped the cloaking field. Locking on the ever growing target she opened the Hound bay doors and released some of the bombs they were carrying, “Bombs away.” The bombs hit the ground and the air quickly got a lot colder around the amoeba and it started to shrink.

“Good shooting Ace,” D.E. pumped his fist.

“It’s not over yet,” Dan reminded him. “You two cover that thing now.” The Shepard landed and Rev rushed out with two short compact rifles with a dish at the end of the barrels. Dan took one saying, “Rev come with me, Ace fix that the containment unit.”

“I’ll try, but it’s going to depend on how bad the damage is,” she informed him.

“Then jury rig something,” He told her as he and Rev followed Boomer and D.E.. Getting on either side of the thing Dan and Rev raised their weapons. “Rev you ready?” He nodded, “Now.” Two beams came from the dishes and encompassed the amoeba. Slowly the slime shrunk even more and changed shape into what looked like a sphere. An alarm started to come from his gun, “it’s starting to fight back.”

“On it,” Boomer said as he shot another ray at the sphere.

“Ok, we have to keep this thing hibernating until Ace gets the containment unit fixed. How’s the power levels on the freeze guns?”

“I’m still good,” Boomer answered.

“I got a lot of shots left,” D.E. added. “Hey, what do we do if somebody drives by?”

Dan thought for a second, “Say we’re filming a movie.”

“But what about…?”

“Tell them it’s a special effect,” he snapped. “Sorry, situation getting to me and I don’t want an angry ex fiancé coming for my head if anything happens to Boomer. Here’s what we’re going to do, we’re going to take this to the trailer right now. D.E., Boomer watch this thing carefully. Alternate shots to keep it cold until then. Ready? Let’s go.” Slowly they made their way to the trailer with D.E. and Boomer freezing again every time it started looking active. It seemed like forever before Ace peek her head out the door.

“I think I got it,” she announced.

“That’s not the word I want to hear,” Dan told her.

“It’s the best you’re going to get right now,” she shot back.

“Guess it has to do. Rev come on.” Carefully they headed into the trailer. Dan backed into the trailer first. He looked behind to watch out for the hole and saw Ace crouching by the unit. “Do you have to be right there?”

“I’m not sure if this is going to work and I might have to rig up something else as fast as I can,” she informed him.

“Alright then,” Dan said as he and Rev got the sphere into position. When it was hovering in the unit’s chamber Ace activated the containment field.

“Cross you fingers,” Ace said and turned on the freezing unit. After several moments Dan nodded at Rev and they deactivated their weapons. All of them held their breath until the readouts stabilized and stayed strong. “Yes!” Ace celebrated by jumping into the air.

Dan breathed out hard as he tilted his head back and lowered his weapon. “Rev watch this thing for the time being. Ace, your next job…”

She already ahead of him as he reached into he pack and pulled out a wrench, “Get the truck going. Should be the easiest thing I do today.”

Hours later they arrived at their destination. Dan jumped out of the cab as an annoyed looking pointed eared alien walked toward them, “You are late.” A gold badge, just great. Dan said nothing as he reached into the cab and tossed the remaining half of the freeze gun at the SPD operative.

“We had a little bump in the road,” Dan said. “Boomer, you and D.E. help our… friends get it out of the truck. Then it’s officially theirs and we can get the hell out of here. Oh and you can tell whoever in charge of this project that they will be getting my complaints about their security system and set up in the report.”

***
A week later they made it to the church without any assignments coming their way. Although they wanted to do it differently the Major insisted they wear civvies to avoid any question why members of police department from different states and a couple of army officers where there. Dan and the guys rented some tuxes while Michelle found a dress in her closest and Rev wore a ceremonial rob from his home planet. From what they knew of Lisa’s family they were surprised that so many showed up, even her parents. D.E. was next to Boomer trying to keep him calm. Finally the music started and eventually Ace walked out trying not to look out of place in the dress she was wearing.

Then Lisa came out and Boomer fell in love all over again. Michelle whispered into Dan’s ear about the dress while the Major and his wife Helen watched from behind them. The preacher started and everyone paid close attention. When he got to, “If there is anybody here who think these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold you piece.”, Dan, Michelle, Ace and D.E all glanced over to Lisa side of the family. Nobody said anything and the preacher continued. After they exchanged their vows the preacher announced, “With the power invested in me I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss your bride.” Everybody got to their feet as Boomer did just that. “Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to present to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Robert Parker.”

Hours later at the wedding reception Lisa’s Father gave a quick speech welcoming him into the family, but he quickly sat down. That didn’t dampen the mood. A mood that elevated as they gave in to the small smash chant D.E. got started when they cut into the cake. After they had their first dance the floor quickly filled. Boomer and Lisa paid attention to nothing but each other while the Major and his wife remembered their wedding day. There was a tap on the Major shoulder. “Do you mind if we cut in?”, Dan asked.

“Not at all,” The Major replied. He grabbed Dan hand saying, “But I lead.”

Dan backed away, “Do you think I’m afraid to hit a guy with a cane in front of all these people?”

“Don’t mind him honey,” Helen said as she took Dan’s arm. “I’ll be glad to dance with a handsome young man.”

Dan took one last chance to point at the Major, “Keep you hands where I can see them.”

He looked hurt, “I thought you knew me better than that.”

“I do, that’s why I’m repeating keep your hands where I can see them.”

“Come on Major,” Michelle said, “lets’ make both of them jealous.”

“Careful, he breaks easily.”

“That’s my husband your talking about,” Helen chided him. They talked for a bit, catching up where they could, or what Dan thought he could tell her. Then she said, “So, Henry tells me that you and Michelle are pretty close. It’s about time you broke that stupid rule of yours.”

“We’re having some fun,” Dan admitted. “We enjoy being around each other. I kind of wish I broke that rule a lot sooner than what I did.”

“Any plan to make an honest woman out of her?”

“I’ve never heard her tell a lie,” Dan deadpanned. “Well there was that one time involving Hawaii, but I try not to think about it too much.

In a corner Rev and the Preacher were discussing the differences and similarities of their respective bonding ceremonies. At a table sitting by herself Ace watched the others enjoy themselves. Boomer looked happier than she ever seen him so she tried to make sure her mood didn’t dampen theirs. D.E. sat next to her unexpectedly and asked, “How are you doing?”

“How am I doing?”, she repeated. “I’m at a wedding reception, sitting by myself in a God awful pink dress. How do you think I’m doing?”

“Well I can’t do anything about the dress,” D.E. said as he stood up. “But maybe I can do something about the sitting alone part,” and he held out a hand. Ace looked at it for a moment before taking it. He led her to the dance floor, just in time for a slow dance to start. While they danced she looked over at Boomer and Lisa. Whatever they were felling must have been catching, because she slowly started to enjoy herself. All of them glad none of their License went off to ruin the evening.


-----
ED – Evanescence – Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
20


-----
OP – Alter Bridge – Metalingus
-----


Dan and Rev were in a small room with nothing but a table and a couple of chairs. Dan slowly paced the room looking over a file in his hands occasionally glancing over to the third person in the room. A redish skinned, bald, four armed piece of work they brought in earlier, the perp was caught trying to push a super steroid in various gyms. A real small fish in the scheme of things, but apparently connected enough to get an apprehension order. Rev made some small talk, seeing if he was comfortable. Dan closed the file and slapped it on the table. “So,” he said evenly, “your name is Orion Pax?”

“Yeah,” he grunted.

“An Andorian?”, he nodded. “That’s funny, because I meet a couple of Andorians and they look nothing like you. Have you ever seen an Andorian that looks like him Rev?”

“While it has been awhile since I have visited the planet, nor have I visited…” Dan coughed, the signal to get to the point, “No I haven’t Captain.”

“There’s a lot of different types on my planet,” the prisoner said. “I’m just from the south part of the planet.”

“The southern part of the planet?”, Rev repeated.

“Lots of planets have a south,” he said.

“Why would a planet not have a south?”, Rev asked. He didn’t seem to have an answer for that one. Dan leaned there against the wall staring a hole through him with steely eyes as Rev continued. “It is standard procedure to contact immigration whenever we bring somebody in. And I do apologize for making you wait so long. There was an interesting discrepancy in your file.”

“Then that’s their fault not mine,” he stated.

“A possibility,” Rev agreed.

“But this has to be the biggest discrepancy in the history of discrepancies,” Dan cut in. He activated a small device on the table and an image appeared in the air. Pax shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “This is the Andorian Orion Pax they have on file. This Orion Pax has blue skin, white hair, the antennas and what I find really interesting,” Dan put his hands on the table and leaned in until he was in his face, “two arms!”

“Captain please,” Rev said pulling him back. “This is counter productive.”

“Right after he tells me why the locals found an Andorian body matching this Orion Pax’s description two weeks ago.”

“I don’t know nothing.”

“And I know you’re lying.”

“Captain please,” Rev said a little more forcibly. Dan backed off and leaned against the wall. After a few moments Rev continued, “You can see why we are a little curious about all of this.”

“I don’t know anything about a dead body,” ‘Pax’ told them.

“Sure you don’t,” Dan said sarcastically.

“Captain,” Rev said warningly.

Dan ignored him, “Not only do I think you know something I think you did it.”

“You think you scare me?”, ‘Pax’ challenged.

“You saw Pax, waited until he was alone and shot him in the back. You took his ID, his visa and prayed to whatever God you believe in that humans would be too dumb to notice.”

“You can’t pin this on me.”

“Oh yes I can. I’m a black badge in case you didn’t notice, I can make you disappear and nobody would question it one bit.”

“I have rights” their prisoner told them.

Dan held him down as he tried to get up, “You’re here illegally. Your rights are what I say they are!”

He tried to get up again, “I don’t have to take this.”

“Sit down!”, Dan shoved him down hard he almost toppled over.

“Captain that is enough,” Rev said pulling him back. “I have a lot of respect for you but this has gone on too far. I suggest you leave now.” When Dan wouldn’t budge he added, “I will have you escorted out of here, forcibly if necessary.”

Dan stood there for a few seconds before heading for the door. “Always looking out for each other, it’s sickening.” Slamming the door behind him he stood there for a second. Seeing the Major watching things on a monitor he smiled, “Have I mentioned how much I love the fact you had them put in a door I can slam? Because the other sliding doors we have around here wouldn’t have the same effect.”

The Major sighed, “Have I mentioned you like playing the bad cop a little too much?” Dan joined him at the monitor and watched Rev do his thing with the prisoner. “And you were pushing the envelope a little too much for my taste.”

“I know,” Dan said, “but these guys always stop short when it gets to the Agents. And I’m tired of these guys being more afraid of them than they are of us.”

“I didn’t kill that Andorian,” Pax said.

“I want to believe you,” Rev told him. “Unfortunately the evidence we have paints a different picture. And I’m afraid the Captain is particularly good at painting whatever picture he wants.”

“You guys are corrupting him, you know that right?”, Pierce asked. “He wouldn’t lie like that before.”

“Just teaching to use what he’s seen and heard to his best advantage,” Dan said.

“I bought the ID and Visa,” the prisoner admitted. “He said nobody would notice and to not worry where it came from.”

“Who sold you them?”, Rev asked. He remained silent, Rev urged him on, “The Captain is dying to pin this murder charge on you. I am trying to help you but I need all the information you can provide.”

“You don’t understand, he’ll get me and I’ll never see it coming. He can turn invisible, he can stab me in the back in broad daylight in the middle of the street and nobody would know it was him.”

Dan cocked his head slightly as he heard this person could turn invisible. Commander Mynx words came back to him, “He was able to turn invisible Stevens. That's not natural, at most he should have changed his skin color to blend in with his surroundings.” No way, it couldn’t be him.

“Listen to me,“ Rev said calmly. ”I need to hear all you know about this individual. I need a name.”

“I don’t know much. Grapevine said he used to work for both sides but I don’t know for sure. I know he was genetically altered. He’s a chameleon-seijin named…”

“Chatrox?”, Dan said in disbelief.

“Chatrox,” their prisoner said at the same time.

“Dan how did you know that?”, Pierce asked but Dan was already running down the hall.

***
Michelle jumped a little when Dan came rushing through the door. There was a slight panicked look on his face that worried her a little. “Dan what is it?”

“I need you to check the database for a chameleon-seijin named Chatrox.”

“Alright,” she said a little confused. “It would help narrow down the search if I knew where to start, arson, robbery, murder, jay walking.”

“Start with the SPD officer database,” Dan told her. Michelle looked at him, “Just do it, please.”

“Dan what’s going on?”, Pierce asked as he finally caught up. “How do you know the name of this Agent?”

“An Agent?”, Michelle was more than a little surprised. “Why an I looking for an Agent in the officer database?”

“He was on Nagaus 7,” Dan explained, “he was part of the Ops field leader training that I was in. During the final exam he was caught sneaking back into the main compound and trying to access and download the computer database.”

“Found him,” Michelle announced. “Ok, skimming the boring parts… It’s like Dan said. Wait a second,” she trailed off. “This can’t be right.”

“What is it Michelle?”, the Major asked.

She looked up from the readout, “According to this he’s dead.”

“No way,” Dan said. Michelle put the file on the big screen. “That’s him, I know that smug ‘I’m better than you’ look anywhere.”

“Dan according to this when he was being transported back to SPD headquarters for questioning the Alienizers attacked his transport. There were no survivors found when the rescue crafts showed up.”

“No,” Dan said, “it has to be him.”

“Maybe it’s another Chatrox,” the Major offered

“Two chameleon-seijin named Chatrox, both genetically altered to become invisible?”, Dan told him. “That’s stretching things a bit.”

“So is thinking that this is the same guy our guest is talking about,” the Major countered. “It’s possible he’s using his identity to cover his track. He appears to have a track record of doing so.”

“Well, there is one way to find out,” Michelle said. “We have a guy who has seen the agent and we a got an image. To play it safe I’ll pull a few more chameleon-seijin images from the database for a picture line up.”

“And if he picks out this picture then he’s our guy,” Dan said following her line of thought.

“I’ll have Rev do this alone,” The Major told him. “No offence Dan but I don’t want you to intentionally, or unintentionally, leading him to this picture.”

“Fine,” Dan agreed. It took no time for Michelle to make a printed copy of Chatrox image and several others. The Major took the pictures and went back to the interrogation room. While they waited Dan started pacing the Command Room like a caged animal. Michelle watched him knowing exactly what he was thinking. If this was the same Chatrox then he told the Alienizers about Nagaus 7 and what ended up happening to his friend Tony.

After what seemed like forever the Major and Rev finally came back. Rev walked foreword and held out a picture, “He identified this picture as Agent Chatrox.”

Anger flashed through Dan’s eyes at he looked at Chatrox’s image, “I knew it.”

“I’ll inform SPD Command about the situation,” Pierce said taking the picture.

“I’m going in there,” Dan stated, “and pry out where he the last place was he saw him.”

“I already have the location Captain,” Rev informed him.

“How did you get it?”, Dan asked.

“He was keeping quiet about the situation,” Rev started, “then I suggested I might leave the room and let you talk to him alone. After that he was very informative. He also gave me a future meeting time and place, which is in a few hours.”

Dan started smirking as he looked at the Major, “You’re right, we are corrupting him. Good job Rev, we’re launching as soon as we can.”

“Wait a second Dan,” the Major interrupted. “I want to take this guy down too, but Agents are dangerous. I want the full team in on this one. And with Boomer still on his honeymoon we’re one person short.”

“There’s always me,” Michelle offered. “I know I’m not a regular field member but I can fill in.”

“Dan?”, the Major asked.

He nodded, “I’d want her along even if Boomer was here, just for the extra firepower.”

“Alright then,” Pierce said. “Dan you get Ace and D.E. up to speed. Rev you give the location to Michelle so she can work her magic before you leave. This is a big one, so make it count.”

***
Tension aboard the Shepard was high, mainly coming from Dan. He was unusually quiet the entire trip. Michelle kept glancing at him from Boomer station. He sat there barely moving as he looked out the cockpit window. All of them expected him to get up and start boxing his shadow before too long. D.E. finally broke the silence, “Cap?”.

“What?”, Dan snapped.

“I don’t mean to pry or anything, but it seems you have something personal against this guy.”

“Dan thinks this Agent is responsible for the information about Nagaus 7 getting out,” Michelle said.

“I don’t think he did,” Dan corrected her, “I know he did.”

“I just don’t get one thing though,” D.E. said, “if this guy was working for the Alienizers how did SPD not know?”

“It’s a big organization,” Ace said, “They can’t keep track of everybody. And let’s face it the Alienizers probably found his price.”

“Probably all the bugs he can eat,” Dan muttered just low enough to be heard by everybody.

“Cap!”, Ace cried out in shock.

“You’re letting it get personal again,” Michelle told him.

“You’re damn right it personal!”, Dan exploded. “It’s bad enough he was making my life hell during training. Now thanks to him Tony is dead.” He leaned back in his seat as he held his hand, “Damn it, I thought this was over after we got Waven.”

Michelle got out of her chair and went to him, “We’ll get him. But your head needs to be in the game for this to work. I don’t want to lose you to this bastard.”

“None of us want to lose you either Cap,” Ace added. D.E and Rev agreed.

“Tell us about this guy,” Michelle told him. “Why does this guy seem to be under your skin more than usual? You didn’t act like this when you went after Waven and his group.”

He sighed as he looked out the cockpit. “Let’s just say the bad blood grew real quick. When I told you guys I had everything I was thinking before I joined SPD thrown back at me him and his little group was the main source. Even after I got my act straight and started to earn Tony’s and the others respect he was still making the snide little comments. Seemed like every time I turned around I was hearing ‘That was lucky human’ or ‘Why is the lowly human still here?’ or ‘It’s hard to eat this food with the human stench in the air’.”

“And they didn’t say anything?”,Ace asked.

“He was smart enough not to keep it to himself whenever anybody in charge was around. Tony and a few of the other said if I wanted to take a shot they make sure to look the other way.”

“I think I would have taken them upon it,” D.E. commented.

“I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. So I decided to do the next best thing, I tried to one up him at everything. Every test, every exercise I did my damnedest to out do him. And he did the same just so he could put me in my place. Even during the final exam my goal was to outlast him. I didn’t care if I came in sixth and failed, just as long as he was seventh. They should have deleted his sorry ass as soon as they caught him,” he added without thinking.

“Captain,” Rev spoke up, “normally I wouldn’t question your state of mind. But taking into account your behavior and what you just told us I am afraid I must.” Michelle, Ace and D.E. started protesting while Dan remained quiet. “I take no pleasure in this, but as the medical officer I must voice my concerns. There is a potential the Captain may put his personal vendetta over the team well being.”

“That’s the most ridicules thing I ever heard,” Michelle told him.

“I agree with him,” Dan said suddenly. Michelle started to say something but he put up a hand to stop her. “I don’t know what I’m going to do when I see him, I don’t even know what I’m going to think. And the team’s safety has to come first. Ace you have the lead, I’m following you on this one.”

Nobody knew how to respond until Ace said, “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. The fact you think you can’t be trusted in this situation tells me you’re still thinking straight and as far as I’m concerned can still be trusted. I’m going to follow you since you know this guy better than the rest of us.”

“I gave you command,” Dan stated

“I know, I just gave it back,” she said.

Turning to Michelle he asked, “Is there any way I can turn that into an insubordination charge?”

“What insubordination?”, Ace asked. “You gave me command and I made a decision.”

“Thanks Ace,” he said feeling grateful for the vote of confidence.

“Don’t thank me just yet,” she told him. “The moment I think you’re going off the deep end I’m yanking command back.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed. Rev seemed satisfied by the arrangement and turned back to his instruments. Now all Dan had to do was not majorly screw up their faith in him.

***
“Where is that idiot?”, Chatrox asked as he waited designated meeting place, a warehouse that was closed for the night. He was on time for the previous meeting and if he wanted one of the main ingredients for that stupid super steroid of his he better show up soon. If he had to reschedule the price was going to double, if he was in a generous mood and that was a long shot. A familiar feeling started to crawl down his spine. A feeling he learned to trust, something in the air was off. Perhaps it would be prudent to call it an early night. He turned to head back to his ship when he heard a snap that made him freeze.

“Going somewhere?”, a sickenly familiar voice said from the darkness.

“Stevens,” he growled as his eyes scanned everything around him. “I knew this day would come sooner or later. How did you find out about me? Who was dumb enough to talk? Or did you take some perverse pleasure in beating it out of them?”

“That would imply people where loyal to you to begin with,” he shot back. “Then again the Alienizers never seemed that loyal of a bunch to begin with. You fit right in don’t you?”

“Fitting in, that’s funny coming form you Stevens. How you rushed to fit in on Nagaus 7 with your human ideals and beliefs and all so mighty attitude. I was surprised so many swallowed your act, but I knew better. I knew you still believed you were better than everyone there.”

”No, but I knew I was better than you.” Chatrox turned around and saw him in his black and red Dekasuit and found himself staring down the barrel of the D-Colt. “Any day of the week.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t shot me from behind when you had the chance.”

“That’s your style not mine.”

“Then you should be very thankful for the late Waven,” Chatrox informed him. “Because if it wasn’t for him I would have sliced your throat open while you were hanging there. Without even thinking twice.”

Dan didn’t look moved but he did get in a verbal shot, “You seem to have a problem with finishing the job without getting caught.”

“Is this how you pictured this human? Me helpless and at your mercy with nobody around to witness your personal glory.”

“A, I know you’re not helpless and B, I’m not alone.” The other member of his infernal team came into view. Chatrox raised a scalely eyebrow slightly when he realized the yellow one wasn’t there, and this white one he’d never seen before was. “This ends now Chatrox. Ace, judge him.”

“You are right about one thing,” Chatrox spoke before she could do anything, “I am never helpless.” An Igadroid came out of nowhere and threw several grenades that formed a small battalion of Anaroids and Batsuroids. “We will meet again if you survive this Stevens. And I sincerely wish you don’t because I can not stand your stench for a second longer.”

Dan never took the D-Colt off him, “You’ll be seeing me sooner than you think. Now,” changing his aim he ended up shooting the Igadroid in the shoulder as his team tackled the other bots. Chatrox turned and walked away as Dan went after him. A couple of Ananroids blocked his pursuit, “Should have known.”

Michelle was too busy fighting off the bots to concentrate on hitting keypad on her forearm. When she could she hit in a five digit code and clapped her hands together, “Electro Charge,” and grabbed the heads of the closest Anaroid and Batsuroid. They stood in place shaking as the direct charge fried their processor. That bought her some room to maneuver and time to charge that attack up again. D.E shot at every bot he saw, and there was plenty at the moment. Ace and Rev stood back to back as they unlatched their D-Shots and fired away. At her command they started walking foreword and made a path through the bots. Ace grabbed her D-Shooter and tossed it over the crowd. D.E. jumped up and grabbed it. When he landed he fired in two directions. Dan fought off any of the bots that came at him. Reaching into his pack he spun and jammed his D-Knife into the neck of a Batsuroid. Turning the D-Colt sideways and hitting the switch he moved his arm in a sweeping motion as three shots fired out, each hitting an Anaroid. Rev jumped up and landed on top of a Batsuroid that was coming up behind Dan.

Dan looked over the area when he got a chance and saw Chatrox calmly walking into the warehouse. “Chatrox!”, he shouted as he ran after him.

“Michelle go with him,” Ace said as she saw him leave and saw where everybody else was. Michelle looked at the remaining bots and was unsure. “We got this,” Ace told her. “Go after them and back him up!”

“Right,” Michelle said and gave chase.

***
Dan kicked the door open and raised the D-Colt in front of him. Michelle caught up with him as he cautiously entered. Looking around he pointed to an upper level. “That might be an office. See if there some kind of master control in there. Maybe a security system too.”

“You’re not ditching me that easily,” she informed him.

“You can see everything from up there even without the cameras, now go.” Reluctantly she did so and he went further in, “Where are you?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he answered but Dan couldn’t see him. But he sounded close.

“Why did you do it Chatrox?”, Dan asked hoping to get him talking again so he could figure out where he was. “Why did you sell out to the Alienizers?”

“Who says I sold out? For all you know I’m on a special assignment for…”, he started laughing. “Even I can’t say that lie with a straight face. But for why, the Alienizers offered me what I wanted, what I really wanted. Control, power and fearful looks from others. I got none of that in SPD.”

“Then why did you join?”

“Because I foolishly thought I would get that with the badge. How wrong I was. But I was willing to give it another chance when I was offered a spot in the Ops program. I figured my enhanced abilities would serve me well in a secret unit. Then I heard the same rhetoric from Mynx that I heard from my previous trainers and commanders and it made me sick. So I got in touch with my old contacts and offered the bases database.”

“Then you did tell them about Nagaus 7.”

“They weren’t interested at first. Why did they care about an infant program they didn’t consider much of a threat… at first. Then the black badges started making a name for themselves despite the fact nobody could locate any of them. Suddenly my information was very valuable. Not valuable enough to get me off this God forsaken backwater planet,” he said a little bitterly. Dan continued to search for the voice. “But it was worth it when I discovered the tiger had been sent out to control the situation. We both know well that turned out don’t we?”

“I already deleted Tony’s killer, do you think the guy who sent him there going to be much of a problem?”

“Over confident as always Stevens. Even if you realize you’re over classed. Or fail to realize you being lead into a trap.” An invisible punch rocked him as he turned around. “You don’t have the others around to protect you Stevens.” Dan thought he got the voice located and swung but got noting but air. He was knocked back with a kick to the chest. “You would not believe how I’ve dreamed of this moment.”

“Oh I can imagine, I wanted to bash your skull in every time you opened your mouth.” Catching a shimmering effect out of the corner of his eye he shot out his foot. He caught something, he could feel it. But it wasn’t flesh, it felt like that cloak he was wearing. Dan pulled out his D-Rod trying to widen his swing range. Then he was attacked from behind. Resisting the urge to strike behind him he waited, trying to cover as wide an area that his eyes could, trying to find even the smallest hint of that shimmering effect. His ears were starting to hurt as he listened for the faintest sound that would give him away. Then another attack came from right in front of him and wouldn’t let up. Dan tried to fight back but the D-Rod was knocked out of his hand. When it stopped he realized he was looking at his D-Colt hanging in the air in front of him.

“You dropped this,” Chatrox taunted and fired. Three shots hit Dan in the chest point blank. Then another three and another, Dan fell to the ground in pain as his Dekasuit flashed away. The D-colt was flung to the side. Dan pulled out his OpsLicense but it was kicked out of his hands, “No back up and no help for you Stevens.” A noise that sounded like a knife being drawn from it’s sheath could be heard and he started to crawl backwards away from it. “You are not so mighty now are you Stevens? Do you want to start begging for your life now or after I start cutting?”

“I studied your file after training,” Dan said suddenly. ”I was curious about how they could let somebody like you into SPD. There was a lot of Interesting information in the file Mynx let me look at. Like how you were part of a unit but always insisted on working alone. Maybe to hide your secondary job, I don’t know and really don’t care. But that bit of information told me one thing about you. You never saw the benefits in working with a team.” Dan tapped the sensor on the back of his right glove twice.

In the office Michelle got the signal and had already hacked into the computer and security systems and convinced it there was a raging fire on the floor below. As one the sprinklers came to life and Chatrox outline could be seen in the downpour. He realized this quickly and ran off. Dan got to his feet as quickly as he could to follow as he drew his SP-Shooter. Chatrox suddenly turned a corner and Dan lost track of him. Ignoring the downpour as best he could he looked for that outline. Even Michelle came out and searched the floor from her vantage point. By the crates, on top of the crates nothing appeared to be blocking the water. The he saw a small plank set across a couple of rows with a bunch of boxes stored on top forming an arch or some sort or a bridge. Looked like a dry spot too. Turning to go in the other direction he spun around and fired several wild shot under that bridge. One shot hit something low. “Ugh,” Chatrox stumbled backwards holding his leg and became visible again.

“Freeze Chatrox,” Dan kept his aim on the Chameleon as Michelle quickly tried to reach their position. Noticing one of his arms was still under the cloak he ordered, “Hands where I can see them.”

“I’ve studied you and your team as well. I’ve learned quite a few things.” With that he tossed something into the air. Before Dan could react it exploded in a blinding flash of light.

“Shit!” Dan cursed as he held his eyes and stepped backwards. He heard two set of footsteps, one coming toward him and one running away. Aiming at the fading set he fired away praying to god he hit the bastard.

Michelle reached him and tried to check his eyes, “How bad is it?”

“Never mind about me, get him.” When she didn’t budge he pushed her in Chatrox last direction, “Go! I’ll be fine.”

She did so and pulled her DataLicense out, “Ace he’s running outside!”

“I see him,” Ace said. “We’re in pursuit.”

“I’ll be joining you shortly.” Michelle risked turning her head back and saw Dan blinking to get his sight back before heading outside.

“Don’t let him get way!” Ace commanded as they chased after the limping Agent. He was able to make it to the tree line before they could get in range. By the time they got close to the trees an engine could be heard. A small craft emerged from the top of the trees and hovered there. “Fire!” she ordered as they took out their D-Shooters. The shots hit the hull with little pings but seemed to do little damage. Then it started to shimmer in an effect all of them knew. “He’s got a cloaking device. D.E. get back to the Shepard and try to pick up an energy reading. That cloak or those engines has to leave a trail we can follow.”

“On it,” D.E. said running. Ace heart dropped when she heard another sound she knew all too well. The sound of an engine leaving and quickly disappearing. He got away.

***
Dan sat there on the ground dripping as Ace continued to give him updates from the Shepard’s sensors. Rev gave him a clean bill of health a few minutes ago but wanted to run a few more test on his eyes when they got back, just as a precaution. Michelle came up and handed him a towel, “I found it in one of the equipment bins.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly and started rubbing it against his hair. After a few quiet moments she sat next to him and he asked, “Are you alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be alright?”, she asked back. “I was the one in a Dekasuit the entire time.”

“I didn’t mean to be that rough with you in there.”

“That wasn’t rough. You gave an order and I didn’t follow it right away. Granted you try that when we’re not on an assignment and I’ll show you the meaning of rough,” she said smiling a little. He didn’t return it. “We’ll get him.”

“We had him,” he countered bitterly.

“And you didn’t kill him in cold blood when you had the chance,” she said. “It’s a small victory but I’ll take it.”

“You’re going to be the only one. The Major is going to blow his stack when he finds out he got away.”

“They made this guy an Agent. Everybody knows how tricky they are. Even the Major said so before we left.”

“Doesn’t take the taste out of my mouth.” Dan sat there before getting up. “Might as well get back and get this over with. Want to join me for a coffee later?”, he asked while holding out his hand.

“Love too,” she said as she took it. As they headed for the Shepard Dan’s eyes kept scanning the area. Part of him didn’t want to think he actually got away. Another part realized that paranoia could get him and the other killed if he wasn’t careful. And he would be damned before he gave Chatrox that satisfaction.


-----
ED – Evanescence – Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
21


-----
OP – Alter Bridge – Metalingus
-----


“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.”

***
“Boomer, welcome back,” the Major said before he got down to business. “And I’m afraid I have to send you and the others right back out.” D.E. gave him a jokingly dirty look before returning his attention to the Major. “Although we had some rather interesting assignments even I have to say this one is rather unusual.”

“How unusual?”, Dan had to ask.

“Earth weapons have been found being used on other planets,” Michelle answered.

“That’s pretty unusual.”

“But I’ve heard Earth being called a backwater planet a couple of times,” Ace spoke up. “So why are our weapons being used.”

“Because we are a little backwater in the weapon department,” the Major explained. “Even with the most basic of SPD weapons there’s a hint of an energy signature. And that makes them detectable in most cases. Earth weapons are still just a flying metal slug when you get down to it and it’s able to get past your basic scan. There’s apparently a pretty good size market out there for them.”

“Who would have guessed,” D.E. commented.

Michelle started talking again, “Since we usually try to find the weapons that are coming in it took us a bit to change gears and to see where they’re going out. And just in case there was any doubt I did pinpoint a possible location, Columbia. I was able to come across the occasional report of an alien who calls himself the Weaponeer and he has an unusual interest in Earth weaponry. So I would say that would be good starting point.”

“Never a doubt in my mind,” Dan said. “We got a target people, let’s check him out.”

***
The Machine Shepard landed in an open area in the middle of the jungle. Dan didn’t feel that splitting the team up was the best option in case this was the guy they were after. If he was than he’d have a small armory depending on the size of his HQ. Not to mention any off world weapons he may have purchased or brought with him. In this situation Dan wanted the full squad present when they located this guy. “Ace you got point, Boomer you got our backs,” Dan ordered.

“Rodger,” they replied and they headed off.

After they followed a particular trail for a while Boomer ended up asking, “Who names themselves the Weaponeer anyway?”

“I would assume someone who handles and is familiar with the uses of particular weapons,” Rev answered.

“Well obviously, bit’s a bit outlandish even by Alienizer standards. We’re talking comic bookish here.”

“Takes all kinds kid,” Dan told him. A small click made them stop and pull their weapons out. “Eyes on the perimeter,” Dan ordered.

“Guys,” Ace called out a sounding a bit shaky. They looked at her and saw she was frozen in place with a frightened look on her face. “I think I got a problem,” and she pointed at her foot.

D.E. checked under her feet and cursed under his breath, “Mine.” Reaching into his pack he pulled out a device with a disk underneath it and handed it to Dan. “It’s a mine detector,” he explained. “I was going to use it the closer we got to his base. I didn’t think we were going to need it this quick.”

“Don’t worry about it D.E., just do your magic,” Dan told him as he swung the detector around. He already got a couple of more hits.

“Easy there Ace,” D.E. said as he carefully got to his knees. “I’m just going to see what I’m dealing with.”

“Maybe she should activate her Dekasuit to be on the safe side,” Boomer offered.

“No,” D.E. said quickly. “These things are usually pressure sensitive. Any change of weight and it might go off.”

“Then you better activate your suit,” Ace told him

“And let you take the full brunt? What kind of man do you think I am? Now be as still as you possibly can.” Carefully he brushed away the dirt to see what he was dealing with, then he called out, “Cap.”

“Why are you calling for Cap?”, Ace asked nervously.

“Boomer,” Dan said and tossed him the mine Detector. “What is it D.E.?”

“Tell me that isn’t what I think it is.”

“Tell you what isn’t what?”, Ace demanded.

Dan knelt down and got a good look at the markings, “Oh shit, a Bouncing Betty.”

“What is a Bouncing Betty,” Rev inquired.

“An anti personal mine originally developed by Germany during WW2,” D.E. explained as he took out the appropriate tools. “There a small charge that shoots the primary charge up into the air before it explodes. Giving it a wider area of destruction.”

“Can you disarm it?”, Dan asked.

“It’s going to take me a mite longer, but as long as it isn’t enhanced by some alien tech I’m pretty sure I can do it.”

“That could be sweat running down the inside of my leg,” Ace told him, “but I’m pretty sure it could be something else.”

“Have some faith in me would ya?” He worked quietly for several minutes while Dan and the others watched helplessly and Ace prayed to whoever was listening at them moment. Finally he pulled back saying, “And just for the record that is sweat running down your leg. You can call me a pervert for looking after you take your foot off that thing.”

“Rev, Boomer fall back,” Dan ordered. “Just to be on the safe side.”

“If it doesn’t explode when she picks her foot up then we’re good right?”, Boomer asked

“Those things have a four second delay kid,” Dan told him. “They needed to give the person time to walk off it first.”

D.E. stayed with her as she slowly took her foot off the mine. Everybody counted to four. At five they all stayed very still. At six Ace looked over to D.E and wrapped her arms around his neck, “Oh thank you God.”

“I’m sure he heard you,” D.E. said as he hugged her back.

Dan ran over and put an arm around her shoulder, “That was a little more excitement than I needed today kiddo,” and he patted her shoulder. “D.E, good job,” he said as they bumped fists. “Listen up people change of plans. Boomer, give D.E. that scanner, he’s got point and Rev watch our backs. Stay in single file and everybody watch where you step.” They all complied and continued on while D.E drew a line in the dirt with his foot by every mine he came across.

***
“Hmm, this is interesting,” said a person in green fatigues. He looked human except for his red eyes and gill like slits on his neck. His motion sensors were going off while the thermals were picking up five new heat signatures, four humans and what looked like a Zalmanian. An aerial sensor net he bought from an Agent didn’t go off so they landed outside sensor range. He set the mine field just past the sensors so they were able to get past that. “Finally, somebody worthy to test these things on. It was getting so boring.”

There were several crates he had yet to open. He always liked to test out how these weapons would work before he sold him. Preferably on live targets for demonstration purposes. Usually the sale went faster if the buyer could see what kind of damage the weapon could cause. Rarely was he able to do so on anything human size. The locals kept away from this area and those brave or stupid enough to approach were usually dealt with by the mine field. Five targets was a unique treat so what to use? “I always wanted to see what one of those bazookas would do to a humanoid target,” he said to nobody in particular. His eyes fell upon a sniper rifle and he grinned, “Igadroid.”

“Yes sir,” it answered as it walked foreword.

“Is that program I installed working properly?”

“Yes it is. It is surprisingly compatible with my other programming. I was about to test it out.”

“Oh that is still the plan, but I have a new set of targets for you. I was paid very highly to develop that program and weapon modification. I want to see if he received his moneys worth.” The Igadroid fixed a specially made sensor piece over one of its eyes. Then it picked up a sniper rifle with a sensor package instead of a scope. The Weaponeer was still amazed nobody requested this before.

***
Dan and the other paid very close attention to their surrounds after they exited the mine field. He paid particularly close attention the ground for any tripwires, who knew what kind of surprises this guy had set up. “Cap,” Boomer called out, “I found something.” The other came to a stop as he checked it out. “It looks like a sensor. You think it’s for another trap?”

“D.E. and Ace already walked past it so I don’t think so.” Dan looked up at the tree and saw another one, it had to be a sensor net of some sort. “I think he knows we’re here.” Dan looked at Boomer and saw a red dot hovering around his chest. “Boomer!”, he acted out of instinct jumping in and pushing him out of the line of sight. A split second later a bullet hit him in the left shoulder, his arm now replaced with an overwhelming sensation of pain as he spun to the ground, “Argh!”

“Sniper!”, Ace shouted and they jumped for cover. Several more hit the ground with a puff of smoke and dust. “Anybody see where that came from?”

“I did,” D.E. answered. With some help from Boomer Rev was pulling Dan behind some trees as he held a hand over the gunshot wound, blood pouring through his fingers. Then Rev reached into Dan’s pack and took out the med kit inside. “I’m going for him,” D.E. announced.

“Be careful,” Ace told him.

He went off into a denser part of the jungle for some additional cover. Pulling out his OpsLicense he called out “Emergency! DekaOps!”. A brief blue digital flash and he was in his Dekasuit. Reaching into his backpack he assembled his sniper rifle on the run. Popping the clip in last he took position behind a fallen tree and took at aim at their attackers last known position. He was seeing nothing through the scope. Slowly sweeping the gun around he saw some movement that caught his attention, he saw an Igadroid. Then he realized it was looking right at him as well. Both of them waited a second to fire. The Igadroid’s bullet hit him in the shoulder causing him to pull back in pain, but relatively unhurt. His bullet pierced it’s exposed eye as it fell backwards to the ground. He checked to make sure that was the only one before heading back to the others.

When he arrived Rev was tightening a pressure bandage around Dan’s shoulder. “Ugh,” he grunted.

“How bad is it?”, D.E. asked.

“The bullet lodged in the bone,” Ace answered him. “Rev is going to get him back to the Shepard before removing it because he doesn’t want to do it in the open. But you, me and Boomer are going to continue the mission, Cap’s orders. So we are going to get the son of a bitch.”

“Do it legal,” Dan said through gritted teeth. “I find out otherwise and you won’t have to worry about the Major.” Rev put a hypospray to his neck and a small hiss came from it. Dan eyes glazed over slightly as he said, “That’s some good shit.”

“I administered a pain killer,” Rev explained. “It should make him a little more comfortable until I can get him back to the Shepard.”

“I’ll help,” Boomer offered.”

“I can handle it Robert,” Rev assured him. “And you have your orders.”

“Take the mine detector,” D.E. said. “I wouldn’t put it past this guy to circle around and erase some of my marks.” Rev took it and got under Dan’s good arm to help him to his feet. They watched as the two of them headed back.

“You heard Cap,” Ace said, “We got a job to do. Let’s make him proud.”

***
The compound wasn’t that far from where they were ambushed. The Weaponeer had a great seat for the show so far. Time for a really good finale. Cautiously they approached the series of tents only to find the target in plain sight looking like he was expecting them. “Ah there you are,” he greeted them. “I’m surprised three of you made it. I’m even more surprised all of you are still alive, if not wounded.”

“Weaponeer,” Ace stepped forward, “you are under arrest.”

“You,” he pointed at D.E., “the blue one. That was one incredible shot back there. I may have a job for you if you want it.”

“In case you didn’t hear the lady, you’re under arrest,” D.E. told him.

“Oh I heard her perfectly,” he told him. “I was just thinking of that saying you have on this planet. It’s not over until the fat lady sings.” The Weaponeer tossed something at them and they were surrounded by a barrier field.

Ace and Boomer drew their License, “Emergency! DekaOps!”. As their suits formed around them D.E. pulled out his D-Shooter and started shooting the barrier to weaken it faster. Ace and Boomer joined in and it went down in seconds. “Spread out,” Ace ordered, “he couldn’t have gotten far.”

They heard his voice come from somewhere, “Pity, I was hoping to see those shotguns of yours in action, what do you call them again…D-Shots?”

“Oh you’ll be seeing them soon enough,” Boomer said softly.

“Don’t get distracted,” Ace chided him. “D.E. can you tell what he has here?”

“The stuff I can see is marked from Earth. But that Malkarian Barrier says he has some outside weapons too.”

“Ah a fellow connoisseur,” The Weaponeer sounded impressed. “What do you know about it?”

“It’s mainly used for security, designed to last just long enough for the intended target to get away.”

“If you weren’t trying to delete me I would like to sit down and talk shop. I rarely get the chance to do so with anybody who actually knows the merchandise. Usually it’s ‘What will this do?’ or ‘Will this cause a lots of damage?’. It does get a bit tedious at times.”

“And your Igadroid shot my friend,” D.E. said. He didn’t want to give the Alienizer the satisfaction in knowing the team leader was taken off the field. “So I’m not exactly inclined to talk shop at the moment.”

“Pity,” the Weaponeer said, “but perhaps you’ll enjoy this other device I have of Malkarian design, a heavy repeater rifle.” The Weaponeer jumped out from one of the tents with a large gun looking device hanging from his shoulder and let loose a stream of energy bolts at them. They had to scramble to avoid getting hit. “My, that was rather exhilarating.”

“Let’s give him what he wants,” Ace said. They unlatched their D-Shots and tried to return fire. The Weaponeer quickly stopped that plan with another sweep. “D.E., Boomer try to flank him.” Almost on cue he pressed a remote button on his belt and several more barriers went up around the compound, making sure they only had one avenue of attack him from, straight into his firing range. “He’s making sure we play by his rules. D.E. can you get through those too?”

“I get the feeling those are going to be a tad stronger than that security barrier he threw at us,” he answered.

“How about we use a loophole in the rulebook?”, Boomer said suddenly. Reaching into his backpack he pulled out a grenade and threw it. It landed a few feet away from the target and went off, not in a flash of light but an eardrum busting short range percussion wave that made the Weaponeer grab his head from the pain.

“Now!”, Ace yelled as they ran in. The Weaponeer tried to aim but they were already in the D-Shot effective range. Aiming low they fired, a couple of the shot hitting the repeater rifle. It sparked a bit and the Weaponeer dropped it and ran into another tent. Grabbing a semi-automatic pistol off one of the crates he turned around and it was shot out of his hand. D.E. stood inside of the tent with his D-Shooter pointed at the Alienizer as Ace and Boomer entered.

The Weaponeer held his hand and studied the D-Shooter, “It took a lot of rounds to take down that barrier. How many shots do you have left?”

“Just used my last one,” D.E. answered. “All I needed.” Holstering the D-Shooter he grabbed his OpsLicense and switched it to Judge, “Target Orders.” The area went black as a red X and blue circle flashed between them. After a minute the red X shined, “Eliminate target.” They locked their Licenses into the D-Shot and stood in a line, “Strikeout!”. In moments the Weaponeer was deleted, “Got ya.”

“As Cap would say the job not over yet,” Ace said. “That guy had to have a computer around here somewhere. D.E. check the other tents and the surrounding area for any other surprises. We’ll search in here.”

“Rodger,” he replied. Leaving the tent he walked over to the repeater rifle and looked at it for a moment, “I always wanted to take one of these apart.” The computer was found soon enough and they marked the area on a map so SPD could give to the local authorities to take care of, and offer some help if it was wanted. When they arrived back at the Shepard Rev was finished taking the bullet out of Dan shoulder and he was resting comfortably and strapped in for the trip home.

***
While Dan slowly woke up he realized he was in the Med section by the alien antiseptic smell in his nose and that he wasn’t alone. Opening his eyes he saw Michelle, Rev, the Major and the others standing nearby watching him closely. Groggily he said, “What, you guys never seen a guy wake up before?” , and he tried to sit up. A new wave of pain from his shoulder reminded him why that wasn’t a good idea, “Ugh.”

“Captain you are still recovering from your operation,” Rev said as he put a hand on his chest and gently pushed him back down. “I must insist you lay down. Also the Major requested I save this for you after I had removed it from your shoulder,” he held up a small container with a metal slug inside.

Dan took it and studied for a moment, “I’ll add it to the collection.”

“Yeah I really don’t want to see that collection, “Michelle said.

“I’m assuming we got him?”, Dan asked while looking at Ace.

“We got him and his computer files,” she told him. He gave them a thumbs up.

“How you feeling Cap?”, Boomer asked.

“A little woozy. I don’t now what Rev hit me with but it’s some good…”

“No offence Cap,” D.E. interrupted, “but you already told us that.”

“I’m afraid I must cut this visit short,” Rev announced. “The Captain needs his rest.”

“Rev outranks me in here,” the Major said. “So let’s follow doctor’s orders.”

They said their goodbyes as they left. Michelle hung back to say, “I’ll bring you some dinner later. And if you’re a good boy for Rev I’ll feed it to you as well,” she grinned before leaning in and kissing him. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Dan told her.

“You still must be under the influence of that shot Rev gave you, you just told me you loved me in front of everybody,” she joked.

Out in the hallway the Major said, ”D.E. hold up for a second.”

“What is it Major?”

“I wanted you to know I pulled a few strings and that repeater rifle you guys went up against should be here in the morning.” D.E. was speechless at that news. “I think it because it was damage in the battle was the reason why I was able to get it so easily. Ace and Boomer overheard you say you wanted to take one apart so now’s your chance.”

“Thank you,” he said still stunned. “But why? You never did it before.”

“Officially, I want you to as well informed as possible about any and all weapons out there. You can learn form a book or data file, but as far as I’m concerned there’s nothing better than some hands on experience.” He started grinning, “Unofficially, you saved Ace’s skin and took out the droid that winged Dan. So it was either that or give you a pay raise. And as my wife keeps telling me I’m a cheap bastard. So enjoy your new toy.” The Major clapped him on the shoulder and walked off. D.E. stood there rubbing his hands together in anticipation. He didn’t do what he did to get a reward, it never even entered his mind. But there was no way in hell he was going to turn down this opportunity.



-----
ED – Evanescence – Whisper
-----

Special Police DekaOps
22

-----
OP – Alter Bridge – Metalingus
-----


Major Pierce waited patiently for them to enter the command center. Dan was still on the injured list so it was a little strange not to see him with the others as they lined up. Ace even looked over to empty space he usually occupied. She looked very much aware that she was the one in charge for this one. Pierce hoped she wasn’t dwelling about the first time she was forced to take lead on a mission. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a situation in New Mexico.”

Michelle activated the screen, “Sensors have been picking up some strange reading underground in this area. There is no report of any previous seismic activity or any kind of mining operation now or ever.”

“So what is it then?”, Ace asked.

“We’re not exactly sure,” the Major admitted. “Based on these reading Command thinks it might be this individual,” he nodded to Michelle who pulled up an image of a hefty looking mole-sejin wearing heavy coveralls goggles with lenses that were heavily shaded that covered his eyes. “This is, and I’m not joking here, Blinky. He specializes in the extraction of items that are underground, usually those that belong to somebody else.”

“Is there anything out there that he might be after?”, D.E. asked. “An underground government facility or something?”

“There nothing out there that I can tell,” Michelle answered. “I even hacked a few unofficial government agencies computers and found nothing.” The Major shot her a look. “Won’t happen again, I swear.”

Still looking at her for a moment he turned to them, “At any rate Command wants you to head down there and see if it is Blinky, and if it is find out what he’s after.”

“We should be able to handle this with just the four of us,” Ace assured him.

“We should go with a full squad just in case,” Dan said surprising all of them. “Nobody knows what he’s after and you guys might need the extra fire power.” He walked foreword holding the sling in his hand. “Or at least an extra set of eyes.”

“Captain I have not cleared you for active duty yet,” Rev told him sternly.

“I’m well enough for this one,” he told him. “It’s a simple mission, I won’t be that much of a burden.”

“No offence Cap,” Ace spoke up, “but if things get heavy I don’t want to have to worry about you and your injury in the middle of things.”

“I’m nearly healed,” he argued. “Rev just has me wearing this thing as safety precaution. I don’t really need it.” Dan didn’t see Michelle get next to him until she grabbed his left arm. Without warning she quickly raised it up. He couldn’t stop from grunting in pain and grabbing his arm.

“Nice try Dan,” the Major told him, “But until Rev gives me the ok you’re staying here with the rest of us.”

“Ah Major,” Michelle spoke up, “I agree with Cap’s assessment that a full unit should be deployed for this assignment. And seeing how this is a special situation I volunteer to take his place for this one.”

He nodded, “Dan did say he wanted you in the field more often so you could gel with the rest of the team a little better. And this does look like the perfect opportunity so permission granted.”

“Sorry I had to hurt you like that Dan,” Michelle said as she helped him put the sling back on, “but somebody has to make sure you don’t reinjure yourself.”

Dan rubbed his arm again, “With friends like you who needs enemies?”

“Don’t pout.” She gave him a quick kiss in the cheek, “I’ll bring you back something nice.”

“If there’s nothing else, head out,” Pierce ordered.

“Rodger,” they replied. Ace leaned over to Michelle as the others headed for the ready room, “You just wanted to get out of here didn’t you?”

“Shh,” she joked with a smile. Ace started to look apprehensive as she approached the door.

“Ace,” Dan called out, “remember, what happened with Waven was a fluke. You’re more than capable in handling this.”

With a grateful smile she said, “Thanks Cap,” and headed for the door.

“Ace,” he called out again to stop her, “This mission isn’t a silent op, so if you need an outside opinion on anything don’t hesitate to call in.”

Raising an eyebrow slightly she replied, “Right Cap.”

“Ace,” he said for the third time.

She turned around and went, “If anything happens to Michelle give my heart to God because my ass belongs to you, I got it.”

His eyes going wide as she left the room he quickly said, “I wasn’t going to say that!” The Major started laughing, “I wasn’t going to say that.”

“No but you were thinking it,” he said.

“Stuff it,” he purposely waited a few seconds before adding, “sir.” Pierce continued laughing as he left the room. Not sure what else to do Dan took Michelle’s chair at the consol. “So this is what a fifth wheel feels like.”

***
Ace had to keep reminding herself that Michelle was with then because every time she turned her head she was expecting Cap to be sitting there. The other were doing it too, it was so weird to see somebody else in his chair. “So how is it?”, she ended up asking.

“A lot more comfortable than Boomer’s chair surprisingly enough,” she answered.

“I don’t see why,” D.E. spoke up, “We all have the same one,”

“It’s possible it’s in my head because it’s his seat,” she theorized.

“A possibility,” Rev agreed.

“I’m not picking up any stray signals to or from the area,” Boomer announced. “If Blinky’s there he’s running silent. And I can’t believe I just said that out loud.”

“Onboard sensors are picking that seismic reading again,” Michelle said reading the data off of Dan’s screen. “Something’s there if it’s not Blinky.”

“We’ll find out soon enough, preparing to land and get ready for a hike,” Ace announced. A few minutes later the Machine Shepard touched down and Ace powered down the engines. “Any life signs out there.”

“I am registering something,” Rev replied. “Humaniod, underground that’s all I can tell at the moment. I am having a hard time getting a clear reading.”

“I think I see why,” D.E. said. “I’m getting some kind of stray energy reading, look like it’s underground too.”

Ace looked over to Michelle, “You sure it’s not a government facility or something.”

“Positive,” she answered.

“Right, all right I want this done by the numbers. We find out what the sensors are picking up and take it out if we have too. Rev if we have to go underground I want you to take point with that super hearing of yours.”

“Rodger,” he answered.

“Let’s get going people,” Ace told them as she got up. “The faster we get this done the faster we get to head back and rub it into Cap’s face that we didn’t need him.” Rev looked confused as Boomer and D.E. bumped fist.

Boomer held back a bit as the other headed for the ramp. Checking to make sure nobody was looking he jumped into Cap’s chair, “Hey.”

***
Chatrox waited as patiently as he could by a particularly large hole, the hood of his cloak pulled over his head as far as possible. Despite the fact he was in the middle of nowhere with no one else around he despised being out in the open like this. He was reminded of an ambush he found himself in the middle of back when he was in SPD. And none of the bottom feeders in charge knew where his true allegiance was. But Chatrox didn’t complain, it was one of the few situations where he could cut loose while wearing the badge and not get reprimanded for it. In fact the idiots actually gave him a medal. Still at the time he questioned his own odds at surviving the encounter and was in no rush to repeat the experience.

A cough put him on his guard as he looked at the hole. Moments later Blinky came trudging out of the hole brushing the dirt off of him. With a laser drill rid strapped to his chest he looked at the Agent. Chatrox thought he saw the mole-sejin eyes blink behind those dark shaded goggles. “Well howdy there Agent. What are you doing around these parts?”

“It’s certainly not for the company,” he sneered. “What’s the status of the target?”

“It’s not here.” He answered.

“What?!”, Chatrox felt his cold blood throb in his head. “It has to be here. The coordinates were calculated precisely to this area of this backwater planet.”

“Now I don’t know anything about any fancy calculating but it’s not here.” He produced a data pad from his coverall, “I’ve been over, under and around this spot and outside of some terran bones there ain’t nothing here. If I had my say about thing then I say this was a wild mynock chase.”

Chatrox studied the pad in his hands for a moment. Reaching out he took it and flipped it over and put it back into his hands. “Try reading the map right side up this time around.”

Blinky started rubbing his head, “Well that’s mite embarrassing.”

“We are both getting paid a large amount for finding this item,” the Agent reminded him. “I suggest you do your job a little more competently.”

“And I’ve been doing line of work before you were even hatched son,” Blinky shot back. “Besides I don’t see you strapping a rig on and looking for it.”

“I am only here to provide security,” Chatrox told him, “outside of the finders few I am receiving for the job. Security, might I add, you refuse to take.”

“You mean those fancy robots you whipper snappers are using now a days,” he waved them off. “Those things just get in my way. Besides I don’t trust anything smarter than a toaster. I wouldn’t even be using this contraption,” he patted the rig, “if some of my clients didn’t insist on a hasty delivery. I tell ya kid there’s nothing like breaking through the ground with a shovel and a pick axe.”

“How quaint,” Chatrox snorted. “I don’t care how you do it, just get the job done.” He turned around and faded from sight. Blinky adjusted his goggles as he read the righted map. Walking about five yards to his left he adjusted some of the dials in the rig. A huge laser beam hit the ground while a smaller beam spun around the larger on to assist in “digging” the hole.

***
“Ok we are officially lost,” Boomer said after their current search pattern continued to find nothing. “That’s like the fifth time we passed that rock.”

“It’s just the heat affecting you,” D.E. told him. “Right Rev? Wait I forgot, this is a warm summer night to you right?”

“Indeed it is Terry,” the alien answered. “This type of temperature is similar to my spring.”

“Once again I am not visiting your planet,” Boomer told him.

“Any luck on that life sign reading Rev?”, Ace asked trying to get them back on the mission.

“Nothing positive as of yet Trish,” Rev replied. I am still getting some kind of interference in from the area. It’s keeping me from getting an exact reading.”

“I’m getting it too,” D.E. announced. “I can’t even get an exact lock on the Shepard and I can see where we parked it. It seems to be getting stronger the closer we get to it. I’m still trying to figure out what it is so I can help Rev.”

“Let me have a go,” Michelle said as she turned around and held out a hand. “If I can’t figure it out nobody can.” D.E. handed her the scanner and she worked on it a bit. “I think I have an idea, Rev let me see your scanner.” He complied and she started reworking the settings while occasionally taking a look back at the one in her hand. “That should help out a little. I readjusted the sensitivity level based on the interference. It won’t give us an exact reading but it should narrow down the search.”

“Ah,” Rev proclaimed as he checked the readings, “that is a marked improvement, thank you Michelle.”

“I would have thought of that,” D.E. said, “eventually.”

“I’m sure you would have D.E.,” Michelle assured him, “just trying prove my worth.”

“We told you all along you’re part of this team Michelle,” Ace told her. A few seconds later her License started to beep, “Gee, I wonder who this could be?”

“Took him longer than I thought it would,” Michelle laughed.

“OpsBase to Ops5,” Dan called over the link.

“Michelle’s fine Cap, no need to check in,” Ace told him.

There was a small, short curse only Rev heard before Dan continued, “I think I know what’s out there. I was going over some of the more recent reports and came across one about an Andromeda war cruiser that exploded from a core breach about halfway between Earth and Mars sometime last month. That cruiser was apparently carrying low yield Nova class warheads.”

“Define low yield,” Boomer asked.

“If this report is right we’re talking about a creator the size of New York City.”

“Sounds about right,” D.E. commented.

“I played a hunch and looked over the orbital readings for the past couple of weeks. The SpaceBase marked down what they identified as an asteroid impact close top where you’re located. One of the tech guys around here helped me plot a projection of the asteroids path. And based on what he did it looks like it came from the same area the war cruiser. Nothing concrete but it’s a good chance it’s the same thing.”

D.E. half listened to what Cap was saying as he adjusted something on his scanner. Grinning ear to ear he said, “And we got an exact read out. Nova class warheads emit a unique form of interference that purposely screws with scanners that makes them harder to lock on to and shoot down.”

Michelle looked over at Ace, “That’s why he’s the weapon expert.”

“Cap,” Ace spoke up, “is the warhead active?”

“All the information about this particular warhead is coming up as classified so I’m taking that as a yes.”

“So we have a possible active warhead and an Alienizer trying to dig it up,” Ace stated. “And I thought this day was going to be boring.”

“Listen, all of you be careful,” Dan told them. “OpsBase out.”

Closing her License Ace looked at D.E. and Boomer, “If worse came to worse to you think you…”, she trailed off a bit.

“With Boomer helping me out I’m pretty sure we can do it,” he answered.

“No offence D.E. but I don’t think ‘pretty sure’ is going to be good enough.” He nodded in agreement.

Michelle held Ace back a bit as the boys continued one before saying, “Would Dan be that blunt?”

“I’m not Cap,” she answered, “and he told me not to be him.”

***
Grunting Blinky was pulling the warhead out if the ground. He should have asked that Agent for a trolley or something to get this out of here. Then again he’d probably insist on using those blasted machines. That’s the problem with the young un’ now a days, no taste for some honest work. With one final tug the warhead was cleared from the hole. “Now what did I do with that blasted communicator,” he muttered as he checked his pockets.

“Looking for something?”, a female voice called out. Blinky turned around and saw five individuals dressed in black, four with a colored star on their right shoulder. He focused on the black badges on their chest and gulped. “Blinky, step away from the warhead,” Ace commanded, “and you are under arrest for theft in several sectors.”

“I guess you youngsters got me,” The mole said then quietly hit a switch on the rig. The small laser popped up and started to spin. He swung his body around to create a wide firing arc to make them fall back. “Take that you whipper snappers!”

“Change standby!”, Ace called out. “Emergency! DekaOps!”

“Emergency! DekaData!”, Michelle joined in.

Each one was surrounded by a digital field as the Dekametal formed around them and created the Dekasuits. “Face on!”, they shouted and the Dekametal formed the helmets around their heads. “Special Police,” Ace said and the lights on their helmets started to flash. Together they said, “DekaOps!”

“Eat dirt!”, Blinky shouted as he waved the laser around.

Rev went for his D-Shooter. “No guns,” Ace told him, “we can’t risk hitting the warhead.” Reaching into her pack she pulled out her D-Rod, “Try to flank him.”

“Easier said than done,” D.E. commented. The next several moments dealt with Blinky using the rig to hold them back. For a mole that big he was pretty fast on the draw, every time one of them saw an opening he quickly closed it. Rev tried to jump over the beam but the mole backed up quickly and nailed him with the beam. His suit sparked from the impact but it help up. D.E. used the moment to roll foreword and jam his D-Knife into the laser’s track forcing it to stop spinning. Ace ran in with her D-Rod glowing and sliced the laser off. Michelle and Boomer rushed in and kicked him back. What they weren’t expecting was Blinky falling back and hitting the warhead. Part of it started blinking and all of them stopped and stared at it.

“Oh shit,” Ace muttered.

“I don’t think that’s good y’all so I’ll be seeing ya,” Blinky announced as he got up and ran out of there.

“Boomer, D.E.,” Ace quickly said.

“We got it,” D.E. told her. “Rev we could use an extra set of hands.”

“Right, Michelle we got the mole,” Ace said as she started running after him.

“You got it,” Michelle replied.

Boomer tossed D.E. a screwdriver and they started on the bolts that held down a panel below the blinking light. “I have never worked on an explosive device before,” Rev told them.

“It’s just like operating on a person,” D.E. informed him. “You got to know where to cut and where not to cut.”

“Except when the patient dies you die with him,” Boomer added.

D.E. glanced up at him, “I wasn’t going to tell him that.”

“My bad,” Boomer said as they took off the panel.

“I am fully aware of the dangers of the situation Terry,” Rev said.

“Well, if it helps you any think of it as you’re our nurse this time around.”

Ace and Michelle had a hard time keeping up with Blinky. Suddenly he whipped round and activated the rig’s big laser. They jumped to the side, neither wanting to test the Dekametal against that. The beam started to sputter and disappeared. “Stupid contraption,’ Blinky said as he started slapping the rig.

“Go!”, Ace yelled as both of them got to their feet and ran in again.

Blinky got the beam working again and Michelle raised her left arm up and ran her finger down the first row of keys on the keypad. “Barrier shield!”, she shouted as she spread her arms wide. The beam from the rig hit the energy shield and Michelle was forced to take several steps back but refused to fall down. Ace ran up behind her, jumped up and leaped off her shoulder. Blinky looked up in surprise as she pulled her D-Shooter and shot the rig several times. The beam died down and the shield faded away. Michelle pulled out her DataLicense and switched it to Judgment, “Target orders.”

“Now what a second darlin’”, Blinky started as the area went dark. A red X and blue circle started flashing between them as the mole was scanned. After a minute the red X shined brightly.

“Eliminate target,” Michelle said. Punching a code she went to a knee as the cyclindars on her back swung up and pointed straight ahead. Ace got her D-Shot ready and stood behind her. Michelle hit the trigger on the cannons, “DataBlast!”

Ace pulled the trigger, “Strikeout!”. Seconds later Blinky was deleted, “Got you.”

“Who needs Dan?”, Michelle said as she raised a hand. Ace looked at her. “After they defuse the warhead, right.”

At that moment D.E. and Boomer were both elbow deep in the guts of the warhead. “I see the detonator,” Boomer announced. After a few seconds he said, “Damn it, I was afraid of that.”

“Did they modify it?”, D.E. asked already knowing the answer.

“Afraid so.”

“That is bad correct?”, Rev asked.

“Just makes it a little more difficult,” D.E. told him. “And Boomer don’t add anything.”

“I don’t have time. D.E. do you recognize what they did to this thing?”. Boomer moved aside slightly so D.E. could get a better look. “Those three circle lights.”

“I see them. Yeah I know what that is. It’s going to be easy if I can reach it.” D.E. reached in and struggled for a few moments, “No good, my hand won’t fit in that opening.”

“If yours won’t fit than my definitely won’t,” Boomer told him. “Rev your hands are pretty small compared to ours you give it a go.”

“I don’t know…,” he began.

“I’ll walk you through it,” D.E. assured him. “The middle light is the main part from the look of things.”

“It is,” Boomer agreed using a mirror. “I’m not seeing any wires connecting the other two.

“See if you can reach in Rev.”

Rev cautiously put his hand in, “I am touching the light.”

“Good, now do exactly like I say. Take a hold of the middle light and slowly and gently pull it out.” Rev nodded began to pull. After three inches of it was exposed D.E. said, “Stop. Now twist it ninety degrees counter clockwise. Now slowly push it back in.” It went in with a click that made them all flinch.

Boomer announced, “The light stopped blinking and we’re still here. And Rev just defused his first bomb.”

“A rush and a half ain’t it buddy?”, D.E. asked.

“Quite exhilarating,” Rev answered, “and quite nerve racking. “

“Now we can celebrate,” Ace said after they watched the whole thing in silence. The boys watched as the girls high fived each other.

“This was some experience,” D.E. said to Boomer.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But it might be something we need to practice every once in a while, just in case.” Both of them looked at Ace.

Putting a hand on her hip she said, “We are not keeping the warhead.”

“The Major let me keep the repeater,” D.E. argued.

“The repeater isn’t going to blow up the base,” she shot back.

***
Michelle came out of her quarters to find Dan waiting for her in the hallway, “How long have you been standing out here?”

“Not long,” he said. “Want to go get some dinner?”

“Love too,” she said as she took his good arm. “I just have to know, what made you think to look at the reports?”

“Honestly, I was bored out of my mind,” he answered and made her laugh. “I don’t know how you do it every time we go out on a mission.”

“It helps when I think of the tight outfit my boyfriend ends up wearing,” she said with a wicked smile.

“Hey now, keep it clean,” he told her. “Speaking of reports, I read in Ace’s you had a slight disagreement with her command style.”

“It wasn’t a disagreement,” she corrected him. “I just didn’t think she should have said that in front of D.E.. Do you think it’s going to be a problem between them?”

“I already talked to both of them about it,” Dan said, “and he had no problem with it. He told me she was just voicing what was already going through his head.”

“Would you have said anything?”, she asked.

“Me personally, no, but I’ll be honest with you. I know D.E. and Boomer a two of the best, but when I read the words Nova class warhead I had a few doubts pop in. And I’m not going to say anything more to Ace about it either. She has her command style and I have mine.”

“It just seemed off to me,” Michelle admitted.

“It something you better get used to when you go out on more missions,” Dan told her. “Especially when Ace is the one in command. Speaking of more missions,” Dan said with a hint of a smile as they walked into the cafeteria. The Major, Ace, D.E, Boomer and Rev all looked like they were waiting for them.

“What’s going on?”, Michelle asked.

“Dan and myself had a very interesting conversation while you were gone,” The Major said. “And just to be fair I decided to include these four in that discussion. Dan if you would do the honors.”

“Michelle,” he started as he stood in front of her, “we have told you almost from the beginning that you are part of this team. And we decided that it was about time we made that official. Ace,” she came foreword and revealed the white star she was hiding behind her back.

“You don’t have to do this,” Michelle said stunned.

“Oh yes we did,” Boomer said grinning.

“Special situations or not you are one of us,” Ace told her, “it’s about time you started looking the part.”

“I for one say it’s about time,” D.E. agreed.

“Congratulations Michelle,” Rev added with a nod.

“You’re in it deep now,” Dan told her, “and there’s no way to get out of it.” Michelle hugged him suddenly, “Watch the arm.”

“Sorry,” she said as she stepped back. Dan took her lab coat as Ace pinned the star on her right sleeve. Dan gave her a quick kiss on the cheek then she said, “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say it’s party time,” Pierce said. “We didn’t set all of this up for nothing.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Ace said as she grabbed a beer. Dan quickly took it out of her hand, “Hey!”

“You’re not even twenty-one yet,” he informed her. Then he opened the can for himself.

“Oh come one.”

Michelle looked at the star on her arm still stunned. She’s been part of this since the beginning and never complained. But right now she felt like she really was one of the team, and she hasn’t been prouder of anything in her life.


-----
ED – Evanescence – Whisper
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Special Police DekaOps
23


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OP – Alter Bridge – Metalingus
-----


As much as he hated this planet, Chatrox was amazed at how many place there were for a person to hide. A faint light coming from deep inside a cave was the only hint somebody was inside. Even then he had to look for it as it was well hidden behind the brushes that were growing deep in the middle of the woods. So far the stories he had been hearing had been true. Now if it was really him. Turning invisible he made his way inside. His initial concern was tripping some sort of booby trap, but if it was him that would be the least of his worries.

He found the source of the light in an inner chamber. The light itself was a rounder older style interior light found on most cargo ships, and it was hooked up to a rather modern looking generator. Dressed in rags and kneeling before it was red skinned humanoid. His right eye and most of that side of his face along with his right arm was cybernetic. Any doubt Chatrox had about it being him quickly disappeared. But instead of feeling joyful he found himself being very afraid. A fear that grew when the person’s head turned to face him, that cybernetic eye focusing right at him. “Leave now,” the person ordered.

Seeing no point in hiding he turned visible and kept a tight grip of the handle of his knife under his cloak, “Nax, the most wanted assassin in the known universe.”

He turned back to the lamp, “That life is behind me now.”

Chatrox cautiously circled around him, “The bosses didn’t know where you disappeared to. Rumors have started to spread that you were devoured by a black hole.

“I started that rumor,” he said plainly. “It started out as an explosion on my ship and grew from there. Now leave me alone.”

Again the Agent didn’t obey, “But to hide out on the most Deka infested planet in the known galaxy. That takes a special type of madness.”

“Much like the type of madness that is keeping you here,” Nax said adding a dangerous edge to his voice. To prove his point he added, “Do you really thing that knife or that device strapped to your chest is really going to help you?”

Chatrox let go of the handle and drew his cloak tighter around him, “Why did you run and hide Nax?”

“I didn’t run,” he replied without any emotion. “I got tired of that life, death after death after death.”

“So you had a spiritual awakening and realized what you were doing was wrong,” Chatrox taunted, realizing the dangerous game he was playing.

“I had an epiphany that the last death would be my own if I stayed in that life.”

“Is the assassin afraid to die?”

“I am afraid of the unknown.”

“Perhaps you should be afraid of the bosses,” Chatrox told him. “No ones truly leaves this life Nax. Not of their own violation. The moment you disappeared and nobody could find any proof that SPD eliminated you there was a very large price placed on your head.”

“And you are here to collect?”, that edge returned to his voice.

“I am an Agent, not an assassin.” Nax bristled and looked like he was about to strike out. “But I am willing to forget I ever saw you.”

“And I can kill you now and not worry about paying you,” Nax threatened.

Chatrox opened his cloak to reveal the device on his chest. “This sends my bio-reading to my personal Igadroid. If those reading ever stop he his to transmit my current location and the reason why I am here on all frequencies. Every Alienizer on the planet will know where you are. And I’m sure more than one will be looking to collect on that bounty.”

“How much do you want?”, he demanded, cybernetic finger twitching.

“You don’t seem to have much,” he commented while looking around. “So I am not looking for money. I want somebody eliminated.” He threw a disk on the ground. An image of a human with short blond hair wearing a black uniform with a red star on his right shoulder hovered above it. “I had a plan in place to eliminate him personally then I started hearing the rumors about you being here. I just couldn’t resist.”

“Who is he?”

Chatrox grinned, “His name is Stevens, and he is a black badge that been a thorn in my side for far too long.”

Nax looked curious, “Black badge? Since when has there been a black badges?”

“Ah yes,” Chatrox remembered, “the black badges came into prominence shortly after you disappeared. Basically put, SPD High Command authorized the formation of some covert units designed to go in where they are not wanted and eliminate us at will. This human leads the unit based on this planet. I do not know where their base is but I have a general area where they have been seen frequently.”

Studying the image Nax said, “I am going to need weapons.”

“Of course,” Chatrox said, “whatever you request, no charge.”

“You must hate this particular human,” Nax comment finally showing some emotion by smiling.

“Like I said he’s been a thorn in my side.”

“I’m going to miss this cave,” Nax said looking around. “It was a place where I finally found some peace.”

“Worry about your peace of mind later,” Chatrox told him, “you have a job to accomplish.”

***
The command room was buzzing with excitement, the field team got a night to themselves and they were all planning to go out. The Major smiled as the stress of their job lifted there faces. Or in Dan’s case concern as apprehension replaced it. Of course the last time he met up with some old friends things didn’t go all that well. Michelle, who was readjusting his bomber jacket, noticed as well. “You sure you want to go alone?”, she asked. “I can get dressed in no time.”

“No,” he said, “they’re just expecting me. I don’t want to drop everything on Barry all at once.”

“Well if things don’t go well over there you can always join us at my folks place,” D.E. said. “They’ve been wanting to meet you guys for awhile now.”

“You can come with us Michelle if you want to get out of here, “Ace said.

D.E. agreed, “Yeah Michelle, my folks would love to meet you too.”

“Sorry guys, that offer was just for Dan here,” she told them while giving him a quick hug.

“Don’t we feel special,” Boomer deadpanned.

“Besides somebody has to get those security updates for the database that Command been barking about done,” She told them. “Now I can get that done without the usual commotions,” she looked slyly over to Dan, “or distractions.”

“And to think I was happy when you two got together,” the Major said as he left he room. “Now you guys are just getting annoying.”

Dan leaned into Michelle, “You, me, his desk later.”

“I heard that!”, Pierce yelled from down the hall.

“Just checking,” Dan called back.

“Terry,” Rev spoke up, “I am still unsure of the protocols for such an event.”

“Just be yourself Rev,” D.E. told him. “My family already knows what we do so there no need to hide anything. And you know my little bro’s been dying to talk to you again.”

“Come on, we better get going,” Boomer said. “We still got to swing by my place and pick up Lisa.”

“Right,” Ace said. “Catch you guys later,” she told Dan and Michelle as they entered the elevator to the building on the surface.

“Have fun,” Michelle told them. Of course she noticed Dan was still standing where he was. “Never thought I’d ever see you get cold feet,” she commented.

“It’s been over a year,” he said. “I can just picture tonight already. They’re going to catch me up on Danielle. Then they’re going to tell me what they been up to. And at some point they’re going to realize I’m keeping quiet about what I’ve been doing.”

“Well,” she started as she put her arms around him, “tell them you’re working for the Major, but it classified. I’m sure both of them will understand. You can mention what kind of characters you’re working with. From what you’ve told me about your old clique I’m sure Barry will get a laugh out of it. And if you want,” she flipped her hair back, “you can mention you’re dating a smart, particularly gorgeous woman.”

“I am?” She reared her hand back like she was going to hit him. “I’m joking I’m joking.”

“You’re lucky you’re still cute or you would be so dead right now.” She put her arm back around him, “I know your ready for this, otherwise you wouldn’t have asked me to look up his current number.”

“A lot of guys can change in a year.”

“And if that was true you wouldn’t have spent an hour and a half talking to him. And if that emergency call didn’t come in I’m convinced you would have talked all night. Go, you’ll have fun, you’ll regret it if you don’t.”

“How did I luck into getting with you again?”

“I beat you over the head until you realized what a great catch I am. Now get out of here I have updates to do,” she said as she headed toward her station.

“Love you too,” Dan said, smiling as he headed for the elevator. “They probably already took the good jeep.”

***
“Here we are guys,” D.E. announced as he stopped the jeep by the curb. “My home away from base.” His parents’ house was a single story, light blue house in the middle of a big yard. An older gentleman waved from the swinging bench on the porch. “Hey dad.”

“Molly they’re here,” he called into the house then came toward the jeep. “Terry, I’m happy you and your friends could come. And I see you had to bring Bobby as well.”

“Tonight is just not my night,” Boomer said.

“I still love you baby,” Lisa said kissing him on the cheek.

“I’m just pulling your leg Bobby, you know you’re always welcome here,” D.E. father said. “Just call first.” He looked at the group and took a quick head count, “Hey where is your Captain?”

“He had plans to meet up with an old army friend he hasn’t seen in a year,” Ace explained.

“I totally understand, army buddies are buddies for life.”

“Terry,” his mother came out of the house.

“Momma,” he met her halfway and gave her a big hug. “Have you been eating enough? You look like you lost weight.”

“That’s my line smart guy.” She let go and gave Boomer and his wife a hug, “Hello you two, I’m sorry we couldn’t make it to the wedding.”

“Will you stop apologizing,” Boomer told her. “It was a Caribbean cruise. I’m hoping I can save up enough to take Lisa on one.”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Lisa said.

“It’s good to finally meet you Mrs. Kennedy,” Ace said as she took her hand. She was a little surprised when she was pulled in for a hug.

“Dear it’s Molly and Tony,” Molly said. “I get enough of that with people I barely know.”

“Ranzack!”, a young boy shouted as he came running out of the house.

“Hello again William,” Rev greeted the boy.

“Nothing for your big brother?”, D.E. asked.

“I can see you any time.”

“Billy,” Molly said appalled.

“It’s ok Mom,” D.E. said as put him in a headlock and headed for the house, “I’ll take care of it like usual.”

“A pair of nice boys,” Molly said looking at the sky, “that’s all I wanted.”

“So Ranzack”, Tony said as he put an arm around his shoulder and guided him toward the house. “I just have to know one thing. The grill’s already fired up so how do you like your steak?”

“Still mooing,” Boomer answered for him. Ace and Lisa both elbowed him in the side, “Ugh.”

“Rare,” Tony said, “my type of man.”

***
Dan stood in front of the door and just stared at it. For the third time he started to knock but again he stopped. He’d faced off against enemy forces, human and alien. He stared down a countless number of bots. He barely even blinks when things turn into a fire fight. Yet this door was kicking his ass. The Major would be laughing his butt off if he could see him. He was caught off guard when it opened suddenly revealing an annoyed looking blond woman, “Since when is standing outside looking like an idiot been your idea of a good time?”

He smiled, starting to feel a little more at ease, “Hey Paula.”

“Get you butt in here soldier,” she said and gave him a quick hug when she did. Closing the door she announced, “He finally decided to come in.” A small girl quickly ran toward him, “Dani I told you no running in the house.”

She didn’t listen as she grabbed him around the leg, “Uncle Danny!”

“Hey munchkin,” he said as he picked her up. “Man you’re getting big. What have you guys been feeding her?”

“Talk to her father,” Paula said as she took her. “I been wanting to keep her small, but Barry insist on letting her grow up.”

“Oh sure blame the guy in the wheelchair,” Barry said as he wheeled himself to the door. “What’s up man?”

“Not much man,” Dan replied as he took his hand.

“So is that rock you been hiding under still going to be there when you get back,” he joked.

“I got it bolted down,” Dan chuckled.

Dani got out of her mother arms and took her godfather’s hand, “Wanna see what I did in school?”

“Sure kiddo,” Dan said without much choice but to follow her.

“So what are you up too now a days Danny?”, Barry asked as they followed. “It’s like you fell off the face of the planet or something.”

Those nerves suddenly came back, “I’m… working with Major Pierce again actually.”

“There another guy who dropped off the map,” Barry commented. “So what are you guys doing?”

“Ah…”, Dan stalled trying to figure out what to say.

“It’s probably one of those super secret military things,” Paula said. “You remember what it’s like.”

“Here it is Uncle Danny,” Danielle said excitedly. She handed him a painting that was actually pretty good for a six year old. “Do you like it?”

“This is excellent munchkin,” Dan told her. The little girl beamed.

“Dani’s teacher says she the best painter in her class,” Paula said.

“You’re taking after your mother munchkin, that’s good,” Dan said, “because I’m sorry to say your daddy has no talent what so ever.”

“You weren’t saying that when I was pulling your backside out of that foxhole,” Barry told him.

“Come on Dani,” Paula said taking her hand, “let’s get the table ready for dinner.”

“Ok,” Dani replied.

“I’m glad you called man,” Barry said after they were alone.

“I’m glad I did too,” Dan said as he took the chair that was next to him.

“It’s been a hell of a year Danny,” he said looking thoughtful. “With what happened to Jase, Petey dying and Andy apparently going nuts.” Dan got real uncomfortable real quick and looked away. His friend didn’t notice as he continued. “The Eagles were flying high back in the day. Looks like you’re the only one doing any flying,” he grinned while adding, “Fast track.”

“Not quite so high now a days Hot Shot,” Dan smirked.

“So what are you now any way?”, Barry asked. “Last I heard you were a Lieutenant.”

“I’m a Captain now actually, I got the rank after I joined up with Pierce.”

“So what type of crew do you got working under you now?”

Dan thought about it, “The type you’d expect the Major to put together.”

“The type of crew that’ll make you want to pull your hair out,” Barry laughed.

Dan laughed too, “At first but they grow on you.”

***
Nax, now wearing a black body suit with an extra weapon belt strapped across his chest, walked toward the factory in front of him. This place would be the perfect place to attract his attention. That was the plan: get this Stevens’ attention, do the job and get out of there quick. Not that he was worried about Stevens teammates, he never, ever trusted an Agent. More than likely this Chatrox would try to blackmail him again or sell him out to the highest bidder. Which was exactly why he had his ship nearby and ready for a fast take off. He was going to punch in some random coordinates and hit the nearest star portal, hopefully he find someplace secluded rather quickly.

“Hey you!”, a security guard called out and tried to get in his way. “You’re not allowed here.” Nax made a fist with his cybernetic hand and a spike came out of his knuckle. He jammed it into the guard’s throat and let him drop, quickly losing blood. The guard partner saw that and ran for his life. Pulling a small cylinder off the strap around his chest he tossed it at a tower. It was incinerated a moment later. This would do for a start.

***
After a couple of hours they put Danielle to bed and the adults spent the next few hours catching up. Dan was relieved at how little Barry and Paula changed over the year. He was starting to worry about how much he had changed after joining SPD. If he had they weren’t letting on. Dan was currently watching their reaction after what he told him about his team.

“I still can’t believe you made the youngest woman there your second in command,” Paula said.

“That’s how Danny is,” his friend defended him. “He only picks the people he feels he can trust. In every unit I ever been in with him there was always the guy the brass thought was his second because of rank. Then there was the guy he actually turned to behind their backs. And most of the unit thought that way too most of the time.”

“And the ranked guy never complained,” she asked.

“Well there was that one guy,” Dan answered. “What was his name? Rodgers I think.”

“Oh yeah him,” Barry grinned.

“He was making some noise at first. Then somebody put a homemade stink bomb in his tent while he was asleep.”

Paula’s’ jaw dropped, “You didn’t.”

“Don’t be looking at me.” She looked at Barry.

“Hey I wouldn’t have done anything if my CO didn’t put the idea in my head.”

“I would never do that,” Dan stated. “Besides, if you were actually listening to me you would have put the camel shit in his boots.”

“So what happened, did Rodgers find out?”

“Unfortunately,” Dan answered, “and he had me deal with it. So I gave Barry a very stern talking to, while trying very hard not to laugh because it was pretty damn funny. I don’t know what you guys put in that stink bomb but he had that smell for days.” Dan reached for the coffee pot on the table to refill his cup, Paula beat him to it, “I can do it.”

“You’re a guest in our house Dan,” she told him. “Now sit and relax. So are you seeing anybody at the moment?”

“Yeah, her name’s Michelle, she pretty special.”

“You got a picture of her?”

“Paula,” Barry said.

“It’s alright,” he pulled out his wallet. “Here’s one we took a couple of weeks ago.”

“She’s a looker,” Barry said. “How in the hell did you get with her?”

“Barry,” Paula shot back. Then she noticed the other picture in his wallet. “We have to get you a current picture of Danielle.”

“I’d like that.”

“So where did you two meet,” Paula asked.

He already knew what they’re reaction was going to be, “I… work with her.” Like he thought they looked at him stunned.

Then Barry started grinning and looked at his wife, “You owe me twenty bucks.”

Dan looked at them, “You’re betting on my love life?”

“No,” Barry corrected him, “we were betting on you finally breaking that stupid rule of yours.”

“It’s not a stupid rule,” Dan said a little defensively.

“Honey, trust me it’s a stupid rule,” Paula told him while patting his knee.

“Mommy,” Dani said as she came downstairs and rubbing her eyes.

“Did we wake you sweetie?”, Paula asked as she got up.

“I can’t sleep.”

“We’ll let’s try again. It’s time for big girls like you to get their sleep. Now say good night again.”

“Good night munchkin,” Dan said as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Get that pinky up mister,” Dani said before Paula could guide her back upstairs. Something in her voice made his little finger go straight up.

Looking at Barry he asked, “Have you ever told her she reminds you of sergeant we used to know?”

“Constantly,” Barry said. His OpsLicense went off. “So I’m guessing that’s you?”

“Afraid so. Is it ok if I take this in the kitchen?”

“Go ahead man. Hopefully they’re just checking in on you.”

“I wish,” Dan mumbled as he entered the kitchen. Making sure the door was closed he switched his License to Phone. “This is Stevens, go.”

That was followed by a, “This is Ops5.”

Michelle spoke next, “Sorry to disrupt the festivities but I just intercepted a report of some sort of disturbance at the Mason factory. I’m getting conflicting reports about it, some are saying it’s an alien other are saying it’s a robot of some kind. The locals already arrived but they can’t find anything about what caused it.”

“I past that on the way here,” Dan said. “I’m about a couple of miles away. I’ll check it out and see if I can find anything. Michelle, see if you can get the locals out of there so they don’t get in the way.”

“Hang on and we’ll join you,” Ace said.

“Stay on stand by for now,” Dan said. “I’ll go in first and scout the situation.”

“You sure that a good idea Dan,” Michelle asked him.

“We don’t even what there yet,” Dan said. “It could be some sort of prank from the sound of things. No point in going full force until we know for sure. Ace, let the other know just in case.”

“Rodger,” she complied.

“Michelle I’ll let you know what I find out.”

“I’ll be waiting for your call,” she said. Dan just happened to turn around and see Barry in the doorway.

“Stevens out,” he said as he lowered his License. How was he going to explain this one?

“And to think I knew you when you were anti-SPD,” he said as he wheeled over to the sink. “So I’m guessing your part of that mystery Deka team that McGee guy keeps ranting about.”

“Barry look…”, he started.

“Maybe,” he continued,” it because I’ve been on a few covert assignments in my day, but I can see a need for one in SPD. I don’t now what changed your mind but after awhile of just watching the news you can see how dumb we were back then. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Paula why you left. Just kick some alien butt and remember you are welcome back here anytime. And bring Michelle, she sounds nice. Actually she sounds like a saint if she willing to put up with you.”

“Thanks Barry, you have no idea how much that means to me. I’ll explain it to you later.” He started to leave but something that been nagging his mind stopped him. “Barry, tell me something, why did you believe me when Jase and Petey didn’t?”

“I know you man,” Barry answered. “If you did turn Andy in you wouldn’t have lied about it. You would have looked us right in the eyes and told us you did it. The other couldn’t look past the rank or something. Now go get that guy and remember we are doing this again.”

“Thanks again Barry.”

“Thank me by helping me build a moat around the house when Dani becomes a teenager.”

Dan grinned, “I’ll even scare away the first couple of boys for you.” Barry laughed then he headed for the front door.

***
“Did Cap seem a little off at the end there to you?”, D.E., who had been listening in, asked.

“A little,” Ace admitted.

“Do you think he got caught?”

“What? No,” she quickly dismissed it. “Cap’s too good for that. Even if he did he’d find a way to cover it up.”

“Wow Ranzack,” Billy suddenly exclaimed, “You’re really good at this game.” They looked over and say Rev playing a video game with him. Then they noticed his score.

“He’s a little too good,” D.E. commented. “I thought we helped him break that habit.”

“We better nip this in the bud now,” Ace said, “Or Cap’s gonna put our butts in some slings.”

***
Like he thought he did pass the factory on his way here. By the time he pulled up a regular police patrol car was starting off, “Thank you Michelle”. Dan studied the place from the jeep. Something happened here alright. Yellow police taped blocked off a hole that was roughly larger than a human, and it looked like that creator was rather new. But no visual signs or trace of the person or persons who did it. He was starting to think this was some sort of intergalactic college prank, then he saw the chalk outlines on the ground. Making sure nobody as watching he quickly crossed the road and climbed over the fence. He rotated his shoulder slightly after landing, Rev may have given him the green light but it was still a little tender. Dan pulled out his License to do a scan of the area but was getting some type of interference, “What the hell?”

“Stevens!”, a voice made Dan look around. Seeing nothing he looked up and saw a red skinned alien with cybernetic parts standing on top of a water tower. “My Name is Nax, and I have been sent to kill you.” Dan vaguely recalled a Nax from the database as he went over his options. “Now before you get any ideas about calling your comrades I should tell you that my client has surprisingly intimate knowledge about SPD frequencies and right now all of them are being jammed.”

Dan took a quick glance at his License, it told him the same thing. Somebody who wanted him dead and had that kind of inside info about SPD? All of the clues added up to one thing, “Chatrox.” Looking back up at Nax he shouted, “So why haven’t you done the job yet. You had me as soon as I entered the lot from that vantage point.”

“I never cared about the far away kill, it never seemed honorable. I prefer to look my target in the eyes as they die as a show of respect. Besides you Deka are more interesting to hunt after you suited up,” he grinned sinisterly.

Closing his OpsLicense he switched it over to change, “Then I’m not going to disappoint. Emergency! DekaOps!” Dan was surrounded by a red digital field as the Dekametal formed around his body in a flash of white light. It changed into black body suit in a burst. A dark red stripe went down the middle of his body from his shoulders to the top of his boots, on the left side of his chest the red and black formed the outline for a number one. A backpack solidified on his back and the D-Shot appeared in a flash. "Face on!", Deka metal flashed over his head and formed a dark red helmet.

Dan drew his D-Colt and started running to the side as Nax aimed his blaster. They both pulled the trigger on their respective weapons. Energized slugs passed each other on their way to their intended target. Nax moved to the side to avoid getting hit while the ones after Dan hit the ground behind him. The assassin changed his aim to hit the ground in front of him. Dan leaped forward to avoid the shots, rolled as he landed and brought his D-Colt back up. Nax was gone. Quickly checking the ground and seeing nothing he looked back up at the catwalk around the tower. He saw movement and fired forcing Nax back. The alien smiled to himself, “This could be fun.”

Seeing a truck behind him Dan quickly went for cover while keeping his eye on the tower. Both of them exchanged another round of fire while trying to figure out a way to get the advantage. Nax grabbed another cylinder off his belt and used his electronic eye to pinpoint his aim and threw it. Dan saw it the air, “Shit,” and ran as the truck behind him exploded as soon as it landed. Dan turned around to see Nax sliding town the water tower’s ladder. Then he stopped mid way and fired at him. Dan barely just got out the way as the shots whizzed past him. Seeing he was close to the factory he made a run for it. His luck was going to run out eventually if things stayed out in the open.

Nax realized what the human was thinking and let him enter the building. It only made thing more interesting. Cautiously he made his way to the door the Deka just smashed through. Heavy machinery was everywhere, and something about it was interfering with his eye. Outside the occasional flash of a heat signature he wasn’t getting anything. He pointed his blaster at those flashes but didn’t fire. No point in wasting bullets needlessly. Meanwhile Dan was hiding behind one of the metal presses looking at the pad in his left hand after he threw the sky probe into the air. “Come on where are you?”, he muttered to himself. Eventually Nax entered the picture. He looked right at the probe and smiled. Raising his blaster he shot it. Dan stopped paying attention to the pad the moment Nax spotted it and looked in the general area of where the probe was and saw it explode. “Got you,” Dan said as he got out of hiding and ran to that area.

Nax looked around quickly figuring the human was close by. He turned around to see the human come at him firing. Returning fire he was able to hit the Deka several times while he took a hit to the shoulder. He nodded approvingly as the Deka got to his feet and came at him again. “It’s been awhile since I took on a warrior,” and ran in too. Neither fired their weapons but when he was close enough Nax raised his. Dan rolled foreword, ducked a punch from the alien free hand and kicked the gun out of his hand as he turned around. Dan raised his sidearm quickly but Nax was faster as he grabbed him by the wrist with his cybernetic arm and squeezed. Resisting as hard as he could his hand eventually betrayed him and opened up dropping the D-Colt to the ground. Nax threw him to the side and kicked the D-Colt away. “Let’s see how you are warrior to warrior.”

“Let’s rock.” Neither waited to get in position before going hand to hand. Both were able to counter the others’ punch, kick or throw. Dan tried to avoid that cyber arm more than anything since he had no idea of what it could really do. Nax was amazed this Deka was able to keep up with him. They locked up and looked at each other. “You talked about being honorable,” Dan said. “So why kill innocent people?”

“A necessary evil,” Nax explained, “to get your attention.” He pushed Dan away and reached behind his head. “This has been fun, in fact I wish I could battle more people like you,” he pulled out a sword that had a faint energy glow around it, “but regretfully this must come to an end.” Dan backed up with each swing watching as it sliced through the machinery around them. Jumping to the side unexpectedly Dan unlatched his D-Shot and fired a round off quickly. Nax dropped to the floor as a hole was blasted in the machine behind him. He got up and ran for cover as Dan primed another shot and fired. Much to his dismay he lost track of the Alien pretty quick. Slowly walking through the factory he looked and listened for any sign of the assassin.

Hearing something drop behind him he looked up and saw the alien prepare to drop down on him. The blade came at him and on instinct he put the D-Shot up to block the strike. His weapon was no match for the blade as it cleanly sliced through it. Briefly looking at the exposed insides of his weapon he dropped them and backed up reaching into his pack, coming out with his D-Rod in his right hand and his D-Knife in his left. Nax nodded in appreciation as he put them in a guard position. Again they stared at each other for a moment before circling each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Energizing the D-Rod he swung it only to have it blocked. They went into another dance as energy flashed left and right, up and down and clanging metal filled the air. Dan got in a slash with his D-Knife that cut through his shirt and into his flesh. Nax got angry and slammed the blade down, Dan blocked it with the D-Rod but with a quick circular motion Nax disarmed him. A kick to the gut bent Dan over and a knee to the head knocked him down.

Looking like he was holding his back he reached into this pack one more time and pulled out his hold out D-Shooter, unleashing all four shots at the blade above his head. One of the shots hit something in Nax’s cyber arm that caused his hand to pop open and drop the sword. Dan quickly got up and went at him, forcing him back from the assault. Making a fist Nax popped the spike slashing it across his opponent chest sending sparks flying in all directions. A hard side kick to the chest forced Dan against another metal press. Yelling Nax aimed the spike right at his head. Dan moved and he impaled the hydraulic line and he was sprayed by the contents. Trying to free himself he didn’t see Dan spin around behind him. He jammed the D-Knife right into his cybernetic eye. Nax screamed in pain as he knocked Dan away, freed himself and pulled it out, a black liquid spurting out.

Trying to keep on his blind side he tried to take Nax down. Unfortunately that left him open to the spike. He was caught with a back hand that spun him around. Dan forced a leg out and kicked his opponent in the head. There was enough force behind it to knock him back a couple of feet. Dan got to a knee as a black and pink and a black and yellow clad individuals jumped over him and kicked Nax back even further. “Sorry we’re late,” Ace said. “We came as fast as we could after Michelle said she couldn’t get into contact with you.” Dan said nothing, he and Nax just stared at each other one more time. Disappointment etched the alien’s face. If he had to be honest with himself, Dan was feeling it too. Both of them wanted to finish this one on one.

“I think Cap did most of the work already,” Boomer commented.

“So let’s finish it then.” Ace pulled out her OpsLicense and held it up, “Target orders.” After a minute the X shined brightly between them, “Eliminate target.”

“Delete me if you must,” Nax said standing up and pointing at Dan, “but he does it.”

“We do not…”, Ace started.

“Stand down Ace,” Dan ordered sounding fatigued. They looked at him as he stood up and walked foreword. Holding out a hand Ace slowly put her D-Shot in his hand. Locking in his OpsLicense he pumped the grip and primed the shot.

“From one warrior to another,” Nax sax tiredly but standing tall, “thank you.”

Dan nodded and took aim, “Strikeout!” In moments Nax was no more.

He sat down and deactivated his suit as Ace and Boomer did the same and gave him some time alone as they searched the factory for the equipment he dropped and what was causing the jamming field. Boomer came up with both halves of his D-Shot, “Yeah that’s coming out of the paycheck.”

“So where are the others,” Dan asked as he got some of his energy back.

“D.E. brother keeping Rev busy,” Ace said as she and Boomer exchanged glances. “And D.E.’s mom had him cornered asking when he was going to find somebody and settle down. So we were the only ones able to get away.” She gave him a concerned look, “So what was all that about?”

“I’ll explain later,” he said. Rubbing his neck he told them, “I was running out of trick there so I think I owe you guys one.”

“You can pay me back by teaching me how to box,” Ace told him.

“You want to learn how to box?”, he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders, “Why not?”

“Cap,” Boomer started to say.

“No,” Dan quickly said.

“I didn’t get a chance to say anything.”

“I said I owed you guys one. She beat you to it.”

“Well that’s not fair,” Boomer complained.

“You’re right,” Dan agreed, “let’s hear it.”

“I was wondering if we could get one of those robotic dogs like the other units have. The ones that turn into a cannon.”

Dan thought it over for exactly two seconds, “No.”

“Why not?”, Boomer demanded.

“I’m allergic to dogs,” he answered as he got up and headed for the exit.

“You said you had a dog growing up,” Boomer reminded him.

“I’m allergic to robot dogs,” he amended. “And I’m taking the good jeep.”

“This really isn’t your night is it,” Ace joked.

***
Dan knew he should have headed back to base but he had one extra stop to make first. Pulling up in front of the house he saw the rest of his team and D.E.’s family standing outside. “Cap what are you doing here?”

“Just thought I stop by and say hello to your parents,” he explained.

“So you’re the guy holding the reigns on my boy,” Tony said as he extended a hand. Dan took it, “Good grip you have there son.”

“Thank you sir,” Dan said. “I’m not blowing smoke by saying Terry one of my best men.”

“He better be,” Tony laughed, “runs in the blood don’t you know. Say, are you alright son, you look a little beat.”

“There was a situation, but it’s taken care of,” Dan explained. “I hate to great and run but I have to get back to base and file a report about that situation. Ace and Boomer should be pulling up pretty soon, but you can take your time getting back if you want.”

“You got it Cap,” D.E. said.

“Nice meeting you sir, ma’am,” Dan said as he headed back to the jeep. He paused before turning on the engine, thinking about Nax. He wondered about what other assassins where on planet or on their way here. He’d have Michelle check it out when he got back. Some how he didn’t think they’d be as honorable as Nax said he was.


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ED – Evanescence – Whisper
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