23

Insurgency

Jason was chained up against the wall of the cell that had become his home for the last month. Or six weeks. Or...

He had no real idea how long he was locked up here.

His tormentors has taken great lengths to ensure that he had no idea what the conditions outside were like. There was a curtain over the inside of the door to his cell, then there was the door itself, and outside of that was another room. The only light anywhere in this place was that generated by battery-power or electrical circuits in the wall panels.

For however long he had been held captive, he held out against their tactics. They were clearly trying to break him, and every day they would come in, repeat the same thing over and over, and then subject him to all kinds of brutality from bluntly kicking him in the face, to slowly pulling his fingernails, and on many occasions, he was subjected to both electric current, and waterboarding.

No matter what they did, he refused to back down, and he refused to kowtow to their demands.

The thin creepy dude who was behind it all would often come to visit, and while in the first few days... Or was it weeks? The dude would be cool, cloying and smarmy as fuck.

Lately though, he was just plain enraged, shouting and demanding that Jason submit to him in mind and body.

The fact that he had clearly infuriated the creep gave Jason the strength he needed to keep resisting, even though his body was both exhausted and in a constant state of shock.

Lately, they'd grabbed some poor girl out of the settlement and started torturing her in a room nearby. Her screams were loud and chilling, and clearly intended to make Jason think that they had managed to grab his sister, but they had refused his demands to see her, and they had refused to show him any sort of proof that she was in their clutches.

Jason wasn't stupid. They were still trying to break him, and the relief he felt knowing that she was somehow safe, that both she and their father were somehow beyond their reach was both devastating to his resistance, and relief to his psyche. He had been slipping in and out of consciousness for the last few days now... Or however long it was. Fuck, but he hadn't eaten or drank anything in some time, and that just had to be messing with him, as much as he had been used to it his whole life.

Jason was still drifting in and out of consciousness when the door slammed open, blowing the curtain inward, as both 'C' and 'F' stepped through, followed by creepy motherfucker 'A'. 'C' was as cold and indifferent as always, and 'F' looked like he had just come down from the best blow job ever, but 'A' looked like he was both incandescent with fury, yet oddly, smugly satisfied.

Jason felt his heart beat faster, though he felt so weak he was surprised that it could. He felt his mind begin to slip again.

"You've been a constant source of frustration," 'A' told Jason.

"Glad I could fuckin' help," Jason croaked, spitting congealed blood from his mouth onto the floor.

"Well... We don't need you right now, so it doesn't matter any more whether you help us or not."

Jason shrugged. He was too tired to give a shit. "Whatever," he slurred as his head started to swim again.

'A' turned to 'C'. "Give the order. We're going to storm the guard post and start moving on the others," he then turned back to Jason. "Last chance. If you want your family to survive what's coming next, submit to my will and help me to make a better-"

"Go fuck yourself," Jason hissed with the last of his energy, gratefully slipping into unconsciousness.

The security substation that serviced the colony was connected to the emergency transport network that the Tau Cetians used to pull people out of danger if they hit their translocator beacons during danger. Anyone who was within it when they hit their translocators would immediately be transported to the nearest orbital vessel, which at that moment was the Kl'Deesius. Anyone outside of the nominal jurisdiction of the building would be transported to a teleport pad within the building if they hit their translocator beacon while outside of it. This way, all emergencies could be accounted for. If security got into trouble somewhere in the settlement, they would be pulled to the safety of the security station, but if the security station itself got into trouble, then the translocators could be used to emergency teleport to the nearest combat-capable ship belonging to the Realm.

This was generally not known to people at large due to security concerns, and none of the Earth people knew of these facts, so it was completely unexpected when the attack came that day. At midday, dozens of underground insurgents swarmed a transport zone that was being manned by security officers to ensure no theft of cargo was taking place. With only four security officers on duty, two of them in the cargo transport zone itself, they were quickly overwhelmed.

"Alert! Recall!" one of the officers called out as he saw the first of the assailants, who did not hesitate to throw a knife at him, catching him in the shoulder and momentarily preventing him from reaching for his translocator device. The few seconds delay this caused ended up costing the man his life, and also allowed three assailants to swarm him. At the same time, another knife took the second security officer unaware, and four assailants swarmed him, dragging him to the floor, just as he hit his translocator.

Then a third Tau Cetian security officer came running to the scene to see what was amiss, before being stabbed in the back. 'C' was on the scene at the time, and had plunged his shiv into the man's back, where he hoped the officer's heart was located. He then waited for the three other assailants who swarmed the building with him to grab a hold of the security officer, who was now bleeding heavily from a badly-damaged heart, and with rough movements, grabbed the officer's hand, plunging it onto the translocator device.

Within that instant, the officer vanished in a flash of yellow light, as did everyone who had a grip on him, including 'C'.

'C' looked around as his vision cleared, to see an open-plan room with several security officers running frantically to contain the situation unfolding. Three who had followed him to this location were running to the other guards, throwing knives, slashing, or hacking at the security officers in an attempt to get to them and prevent them from leaving. 'C' observed as some of the officers hit their own translocator devices, immediately transporting out of the area.

"GRAB 'EM!" he screamed. "THEY'RE ESCAPING!"

'A' was meticulous and brutal in his training regimen, and while these people had only been constantly training for a few months for an opportunity like this, none of them hesitated, grabbing for the nearest security officers and pinning them down. 'C' grabbed a projectile weapon of some kind from the now dead Tau Cetian officer he had taken a ride with, and started firing it at any of the others who looked as though they might use those stun weapons on his people. This effort would be for nought if they were incapacitated at this stage, and 'A' had pointed out that if this action failed today, they would never get another chance at this.

'C' knew very well why. If the Tau Cetians reported this incident before they succeeded in their job, then security would be tightened up and procedures changed permanently, making another attempt completely impossible to carry out.

It had to work.

Given that there had already been several teleportations out of the zone, it was already likely the enemy forces knew of their actions here and would be alert and prepared for them. 'C' decided to push forward in the hopes that they could catch them off guard. Everyone here had some basic proficiency in ranged weapons, even if they were mere bow and arrow, and they had been drilled on how to handle rifles and pistols, which were similar enough to the designs the Tau Cetians carried that they would be able to translate that knowledge to their usage.

One problem immediately presented itself. He noticed that three of his original team were not present, and had not come through to this guard location when they translocated. It seemed that if a Tau Cetian guard was registered as deceased, his translocator would refuse to operate.

"Everyone grab a hold of the nearest living guard and stand ready, we move at once," 'C' barked. When they had done so, he gave a three-count, and they all hit their translocator buttons at once, transferring seven now heavily-armed resistance fighters to some other place they had yet to learn about.

Davidson and Miradima were within the settlement at the time the initial attack occurred, just after the sun peaked over the garden world. Immediately, an emergency alert pinged through every communicator that was being worn by every Tau Cetian throughout the area, and Miradima reacted immediately, tapping it to connect a channel. "Report," she ordered.

"Guard Station Fifty-Three has transmitted a Black-Level code," an officer on the other end of the exchange reported tersely, sounding flustered. "They've since gone dark. We can't raise them."

Miradima let out a few choice oaths in her language, and tapped her communicator twice. "Fleet Commander to Kl'Deesius. Report!"

"Detected energy-arms fire on transport deck," her tactical Sub-Commander reported. "Ops has attempted to lock down the vessel but the intruders have moved rapidly to-"

The connection went dead. Miradima wasted no time, tapping her communicator once again. "Fleet Commander to Fleet Command," she barked. "Code Black in orbit of Midinia."

She waited. Davidson, however, did not. "I'm gonna go find out what happened," he told her, running off to the nearest security officer.

"Fleet Commander," a voice came over the communicator. "We have your Code Black. Power Signatures on board the Kl'Deesius have gone dark. They do not have power to mount an effective containment of their intruders."

This complicated matters greatly. Miradima's extensive military training kicked in, and she ran after Davidson. They would need to organize a counter-offensive and board her ship again before the intruders could do any real damage.

She was nonetheless astonished that they had seemed to know to kill the power aboard her ship to prevent their forces from being contained, and the speed at which they did so was frightening. There had to have been inside help, and that had stark implications for the alliance and the security of their military forces. She would need to discuss this with Fleet Intelligence at the earliest opportunity.

Finally, she reached the security sub-station near the settlement, approaching two of her subordinates who were manning the post outside the entrance. "Do we have any forces here for a boarding action?" she asked them.

"No longer," the first told her apologetically. "Earth General Davidson had taken them to carry out a retaliatory strike. They have already attempted to board the ship.

Davidson completed his transport to the guard station at that precise moment, armed with a plasma rifle and accompanied by six security officers, all armed, all on high alert.

Unfortunately, they had missed the action. There was hardly anyone here, the only ones remaining were either dead or bleeding out on the floor. One of the officers had some intense burns to the side of his upper torso and face, and the stench of burning flesh was near-overpowering.

Grimly, he continued his mission, moving methodically according to standard Tau Cetian military training. Thankfully, it was similar enough to US Army training, that he was able to fit in quite nicely, covering their backs as they moved from one location to the next.

After a few minutes, they had cleared the entire place. "The area is secure," the lead security officer told him in Tau Cetian, as the others stalked in their direction, all training their weapons in a full-coverage stance that ensured no-one could sneak up on them.

"Shit," Davidson said under his breath, tapping his communicator. "Davidson to Fleet Commander Miradima," he spoke clearly in the Tau Cetian language.

"Go ahead," Mira's voice, though terse and all-business, was a welcome relief.

"Guard station fifty-three is empty," he reported softly. "They must have blown through here quickly and then boarded the ship. Four dead, the rest are missing."

"Understood," her voice was like steel. "Report back here as quickly as you can secure the systems there."

"Yes Commander," he replied in the standard acknowledgment used by the Tau Cetian people, tapping his communicator to kill the connection. "We need to secure this place and then the Fleet Commander wants us back," he told the others, even though they likely heard and understood.

Mephicia quickly sprinted to the secure station where her subordinate officers were waiting. Fleet Commander Miradima had called her in, even though she had not long completed a standing shift at her post and was on down-time, because she was the overall commander for these officers and they needed her leadership right at this moment.

She had heard that around thirty minutes ago, the Kl'Deesius had gone dark, supposedly as a result of a boarding action that cost the lives of an unspecified number of her people. Despite her burning desire for answers to a multitude of questions this all caused, Mephicia was a military security officer of long-standing, and her job was clear.

She arrived to see the Fleet Commander, her posture statuesque, her gestures taut and angry as she gave orders and asked questions of the officers around her.

As well she might, Mephicia thought in complete agreement.

"Reporting as ordered," she told the Fleet Commander as she slowed to a stop, giving herself a chance to catch her breath from the sprint.

"We need to arrange a boarding party to storm the Kl'Deesius and get that ship back in our hands as soon as possible," Miradima told her without preamble. "How many officers do you have at your command that can move immediately?"

"Nine, not including myself," Mephicia replied.

"You're not going," Miradima told her, and Mephicia was about to object harshly when Miradima continued. "I need you to infiltrate another location, one that has just come to our attention as a result of this intruder situation."

Mephicia frowned. "What?"

"Review the security footage of the surrounding area later, and you'll see what we mean. We've backtracked some of the insurgents to a location near the edge of the settlement, a building that was seldom visited by anyone else and was not on the plans for this place. We might get lucky and find who is behind this operation."

Mephicia took a breath and nodded. This invasion of the Fleet Commander's ship was partly her responsibility, and she had failed to see that this could happen. For her own peace of mind and her own sense of honor, she needed to set this right somehow.

"Yes Commander," she replied, nodding again, and then jogged toward the security building for some armaments.