Disclaimer: I’ve said it before, and I’m tired of saying it again.
Vandread: The Unknown Soldier
Chapter Twenty-Three: Planning, Part Two
Location: Tactical Briefing Room, S.D.S Whirlwind
“Take a seat,” Colonel Albrecht said without preamble as Aidan and Meia walked through the door of the briefing room. Aidan could tell this was strictly business, so he did as was told and took a seat next to Nick Hawkins, his teams’ explosives expert, which was in the second row. Meia took the empty seat right next to him. From what Aidan could tell, his entire team was at this meeting, as well as another team from the same detachment. From what he could tell, his team as well the as the other were being assembled because he had an operation planned. What it had to do with Meia, he did not know, unless the colonel had found out where they’d taken her Dread.
“Good, now that everyone’s here, we can get down to business,” Albrecht said as soon as everyone was seated. “As of 0126 hours last night, we uncovered a critical piece of information, the location of a top-secret weapons testing facility.” He shut off the lights and the image of a map appeared on the screen behind him. Aidan recognized the rocky, wooded terrain as an area near one of Solaris’ southern mountain ranges, as he listened to the briefing.
“This is the area where the facility is supposed to be,” he said, using a stylus to circle the area on the device in front of him. The circled area was near the center of the map, on an elevated position. “The facility is camouflaged from view by satellite or ship, so the only way to spot it is on the ground.”
“So, you want us to destroy the place, sir?” one of the soldiers said aloud.
“I’m getting to that,” Albrecht answered. “Another interesting piece of info is the fact that this is the fact where they took the captured Mejalean fighter.” This last piece of information was directed at Aidan and Meia.
“How did you come across that information, sir?” Aidan asked, even though he was not sure his commander would answer it.
“This information was acquired from the interrogation of the Avenger’s former captain.” Albrecht answered.
“The mission calls for a covert HALO jump from one of the Avenger’s stolen shuttlecraft,” Albrecht said to the gathered commandos.
“HALO?” Meia whispered to Aidan.
“High-Altitude Low Opening,” Aidan answered in a low voice. “It is useful for covert insertions into enemy-held territory.”
“Your primary objectives are to download as much data as possible on every weapon spec and design in their database, and after that is completed, you are to destroy the facility by any means necessary. Your secondary objective is the recovery of the stolen Mejalean fighter.”
After that last part, Meia seemed ready to protest, but Aidan put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. She sat back down.
“The report indicates the facility has a reinforced concrete wall about eight meters in height, and sizable garrison force,” Albrecht continued. “As such, you will be using powered armor, but nothing over standard size, as the maximum weight of the shuttle cannot carry the extra weight of the heavier models. Captain Mercer?”
“Yes, sir?” Aidan said as he got to his feet.
“You will be in command of this operation,” Albrecht said. “Are you up to it?”
“Yes, sir,” Aidan replied, confident.
“You have two weeks to prepare for this operation, while they finish repairs on the Avenger. Then we will jump into the Solaris system and your shuttle will debark and your mission will commence. That is all, dismissed,” Albrecht said.
Aidan got up out of his seat, but before he could make an attempt to leave, Colonel Albrecht called his name.
“Yes, Colonel?” he asked.
“I’d like to speak with you for a moment,” Albrecht said.
Aidan walked up to where the colonel stood. “Yes?”
“Captain, do you know why I chose you for the role of commander?” Albrecht asked.
“No, I don’t sir,” Aidan replied.
“Because you’re the one with the best record among this detachment, and I have complete confidence in your abilities.” Albrecht said. “Oh, and by the way you get a temporary promotion to the rank of Major for the operation.”
“Permission to speak freely?” Aidan asked, and proceeded when Albrecht nodded his head in approval. “Why did you allow Meia in on the briefing?”
“Because the location of her fighter was found, and I thought it relevant to let her know, and you seem to trust her, so I saw no reason not to,” Albrecht replied.
Aidan thought for a few seconds, and then got an idea. “Isn’t my team down one man?”
“Yes, he was killed during the operation to secure the Avenger,” Albrecht said.
“Then, since my team needs a replacement, why not let her be that replacement?” Aidan asked rather boldly. “She knows about the operation anyway, and I’ll take care of her combat training.”
After thinking about it for a while, Albrecht answered. “Alright, but as you know, she is not part of this military, nor is she even a citizen of the Solaris Federation, so you are responsible for anything that happens to her.”
“That is a risk I’m willing to take,” Aidan answered.
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Magno was amazed with the speed at which the Solaris fleet commander had come with a battle plan. He’d got it to her in less than four hours, which means he probably pushed his tactical commanders hard. It called for the entire fleet to move through the nebula to just outside the system where the planet Solaris is. It calls for a decisive battle against the rebel fleet guarding the planet, seeing as they intercepted comm traffic from the rebel fleet that was pursuing them just received orders to return to Solaris. The travel time through the nebula would be approximately two weeks.
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Meia stood outside the briefing room door while Aidan and his commander talked. She was relieved that they found the location of her Dread, but also worried. The mere fact that her Dread was a testing facility meant that they were going to run tests on it. She was also a little miffed that they would consider recovery of her Dread second priority, although she should be grateful that they’d even bothered to consider recovering it. The door opened and Aidan walked through, and she turned her attention to him.
“So what did he say?” she asked.
“He basically gave me the reason why he chose me to command the operation, and he gave me a temporary promotion to major,” Aidan answered in response to her question.
“Did he say anything else?” she asked.
“No, but I did manage to convince him of bumping the recovery of your Dread to a primary objective.” Aidan said.
“That’s good,” she said, relieved.
“But there is one stipulation…” Aidan trailed off.
“And that is?” she asked.
“You are now part of Team Five of the 4th Special Forces Detachment,” he said with a smirk.
“What!” she nearly shouted.
“It’s only temporary, and besides, that is the only way I could be sure the Dread got into your hands,” Aidan replied.
“But I don’t know the first thing about special forces combat,” she said.
“Don’t worry about that, you have two weeks to learn,” Aidan said.
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Captain Gunter Argust wasn’t a happy man. He’d wished he could finish hunting down the heretics that dared defy Earth’s will. But instead, he’d just received orders to return to Solaris for repair and refit. They were direct orders, so he had to obey them, no matter how much he didn’t want to.
“Inform the rest of the task force, we have been ordered to head back to Solaris. Charge the jump drives and plot in the appropriate coordinates. We’re leaving within the hour.”
He vowed he would return and hunt them down like the dogs they were, but not today.
“Jump drives charged, and the fleet reports ready,” a crewman reported.
“Very well, initiate jump drives, now.”
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Chapter 23 finished. Feedback is appreciated.