How do we Get to Stratus Bastion?
Jackie lightly stepped one her feet – as if she had just walked down from on high – next to Mikael. He smiled at her as Dax climbed down the exposed scaffolding. He walked toward them in complete silence.
He looked to the liasion as the squads group encrypted comms hissed to life.
"Jackie get in this and find out the last verifiable location for these cyborg."
He looked to Mikael and Aiden. "And you two. You right Mikael?"
"As cycled rain commander."
"Let's set up here. Get eyes out. I want us gone before anyone ever knows we were here."
"Yes commander!" The encrypted comms hissed and their was silence.
Dax walked to the liaison.
"What are you still doing here Marsh."
The woman shrugged dramatically. "you know how it is Daxxy. You go where they send you."
He nodded. Yeah he knew. He knew she was a liability. Every partner she had always ended up dead. It never tracked back to her but she was treated like a pariah.
Dax walked away from her. "You can head back to your post. We have it from here."
Marsh shrugged. She looked to Jackie once, a glint in her eye and she casually turned to leave.
When she did a few things happened: Jackie's optical system's data worm detection alerted, BDJ spoke to Jackie, and Aiden stepped into Marsh's path.
Jackie watched her data worm detection track and capture an out going message. The app pulled whatever it was from the system and isolated it – waiting to find out how it was related to Jackie. It opened the encrypted message in half a breath and Jackie saw a picture. Her eyes moved to Marsh as she continued listening to BDJ.
>The encrypted message intercepted was sent to Battle Dome – Ageis Nexus. The message is a photo of Jackie Cannon the message reads. Asset has breached. Can not be secured. Abilities are beyond previous estimations. Squad expendable. Dax Calder not a problem. Is it a go?
End of message. There is a 99.73% certainty that Operative Marsh is a Nexus agent and a current danger. Asset 4986J protocol self preservation halted. Suggestion: kill or incapacitate Operative Marsh.
Jackie's eyes narrowed. Aiden did not look at her as he spoke through the squad encrypted comms.
"Commander an encrypted message was sent out. I think Jackie intercepted it."
As he spoke Marsh's eyes flitted to Jackie – almost imperceptibly.
Both Jackie and Lyra caught it. Lyra reacted faster. The backup squad encrypted comms silently came to life.
"She has access to our comms."
The room went silent.
"Agreed. She looked to me when Aiden said I intercepted the message."
"Exactly I saw that too."
Dax responded on both the primary and the backup comms.
1°>"Is this true Jackie?"
2°>"Don't answer. Just keep an eye on her. Mikael protocol serpent's web."
2°>"Serpent's web deployed"
Jackie's ocular implant had captured, decoded, and redeployed a decoy message in half a breath. A bead of sweat rolled down Marsh's brow as she sent out another message – unaware that the first had been snagged.
Jackie watched a thin sinuous webbing move from Mikael and extended and surround Marsh: at the same time her data worm detection intercepted the second message.
>Operative has attempted to report that she has been discovered and deadly force must be implemented.
Jackie told her squad even as BDJ spoke to her. Lyra and Sura maintained their focus on their tasks.
'BDJ assimilate all information acquired and track.'
>Tracking last verifiable location for given assets.
Jackie, Dax, Aiden, and Mikael moved as one. Marsh seemed to melt into the floor. Jackie watched as the Serpent's Web fell to the floor and retracted back to Mikael.
Dax cursed into the backup comms even as Jackie's ocular system's 360-degree arc caught an anomalous infrared signature.
>Operative Marsh positioned to initiate deadly force against Operative Aiden.
2°>"Aiden your 2!"
Aiden spun away even as he thrust his energy blade forward. Marsh hissed and blue blood dropped to the metal flooring.
2°>"She's a synth."
2°>"Not necessarily."
1°>"Can you find her Aiden."
1°>"Yes commander. Give me a moment."
2°>"What do you mean not 'necessarily' Jackie."
Jackie moved forward. Her neural net processing information from Lyra, Tally, and Sura, the blood substance on the floor, and Marsh's moves. Her cannon came down hard on an empty space. Marsh screamed out in pain.
2°>"my ocular implant says it is Blue Dream."
2°>"She has Blue Dream flowing through her systems!?"
Dax kicked hard in the same empty space – even as he spoke – Marsh's camouflage broke and she spun out of Dax's range.
Jackie's cannon fired three stun energy bursts and Marsh laid out flat, only the sound of her synthetic lung and heart could be heard – a blue viscous liquid pooling under her.
BDJ spoke.
>Assets 2209 and 0871 reported as dying on Stratus Bastion in 2622 and 2630 respectively. Assets 3100 and 1890 reported as missing from posts – also on Stratus Bastion – in 2586 and 2602 respectively.
Jackie nodded as she sent the information to the squad and stepped to a prone Marsh.
2°>"We use comms rotation C for the remainder of the mission."
2°>"Yes commander."
Dax looked up to Mikael as everyone responded.
"Report this to command. See what they want done." His eyes fell to Marsh's unconscious body.
"How do we get to Stratus Bastion?"