Operation Talon

Important People and Terms:

ATLAS:

Insurgent Paramilitary group, opposing ‘ONE’. They support only inhabiting Earth, and they do not support the New World Order that ‘ONE’ is. Chased from Earth during the civil war, ATLAS Command went into hiding before resurfacing 37 years later on Mars and Braquel XI.

Ensite:

Crystal element discovered in a meteor that crashed into Earth. Has special properties that make it a self-rechargeable energy source.

Hunter:

Specially trained soldier, trained by Special Forces branch Umbra Intentus. Hunters are given highly advanced equipment including Ensite powered exoskeleton suits, and special neural implants that give different abilities not possible without them.

Umbra Intentus: (UI)

Special Forces Branch of ‘ONE’. Overseen by Ryan Holt, founder of Operation Talon; the project that gave birth to the Hunters.

ONE:

Ordered Nations of Earth. As humans- primarily UN nations of The United states, United Kingdom, Russia, and China- gained experience in space travel, they began colonizing the (Earth’s) Moon, and Mars. Soon after, humans became able to travel to three other solar systems, and colonized Ithen and Fenen in the first system, Braquel XI in the second system, and Tecei Ne’Lek in the third system. Seeing the advancement the UN was making, many other countries joined. The countries that remained against the UN formed ATLAS. The UN changed it’s name to ONE.

Hunter Traditional Code:

Hunters use this primarily to communicate on the battlefield, to pass on important information. It is a very simple code, with no set rules for encoding or decoding- just speaking very vaguely in context. When Zachari says “you’re a ghost, but only in your current dimension,” he is saying, “You can’t be seen, but only while on your intended course.”

Braquel XI:

Planet with low residential population. Mainly used for industrial foresting of the vast jungles of the planet. This planet is also the location of Fort Amazonia. (Atlas Troop training and weapons development facility.) Braquel XI not a colony. It is the Tenth planet from the system’s sun- Braquel I.

Fenen:

Highly populated colony. Usually cold. Very mountainous. Big tourist attraction for the many beautiful lakes and rivers among the mountains. Has many reserved hunting grounds. Discovered in 2225, it became the fourth established planetary colony in 2236.

Ithen:

Highly populated colony, Earth-like planet; with terrain and climate that varies depending on relative distance from the equator. Home of Eagle Lake- Hunter HQ. Discovered in 2225, it became the third established planetary colony in 2236.

Tecei Ne’Lek:

Moderately populated colony. Most of the planet’s climate is tropical, with many jungles and beaches. The ONE space vessel “De La Tecia” goes missing in 2207, and is found in 2256- most of the crew survived when the ship lost power and crashed into the planet they called Tecei Ne’Lek.

Luna:

The first space-colony, colonized in 2190, followed by Mars in 2223. Ensite is used to power the first Terraforming device, which America and the United Kingdom use to colonize the moon. The moon develops an atmosphere, similar to Earths (High in Nitrogen and Oxygen) but it remains too thin to be habitable outside. Cities are built into small atmospheric ‘bubbles’ built into the craters, and connected by long tunnels. These ‘bubbles’ concentrate the atmosphere and make it habitable within the bubbles (and the tunnels that connect them.)

Field Specialist:

Has advanced training in all jobs- including assault trooper, tactics, navigation, electronics, aviation, demolition, sniping, medicine, and Point-man.

Assault Trooper:

Usually the first one into battle, they kick down the doors and rush the barricades. Their armour is designed to take more hits- sacrificing advanced stealth technology.

Point-Man:

A Variant of Assault Trooper that takes point for the squad, moving ahead of the squad scouting the area before the squad moves in.

Tactics:

Another variant of Assault Trooper, designed specifically to lead, or to be an advisor to the squad leader. This trooper is trained to create solutions to obstacles the team may face, and to maximize the effective use of each of his team-mates skills in battle.

Alpha: Squad Leader.

Beta: Second in Command.

Proxima: Third in Command.

Squad Tau: Hunter Free-Lance Squad.

Squad Tau Centau: Squad Tau’s official Hunter Team status name.

Reese: Leader of Squad Tau (Alpha/Alpha Tau). Field Specialist. Male, 29.

Hoya: Second in command of Squad Tau (Beta/Beta Tau). Tactics specialist. Male, 26.

Zachari: Third in command of Squad Tau (Proxima/Proxima Tau). Tau Squad medic, electronics specialist, navigation specialist, and communications specialist. Male, 24.

Atlanta: Demolitionist. Female, 22.

Kiyo: Marksman. Male, 22.

Sci: Assault Trooper. Female, 21.

Das Assault Trooper. Female, 23.

Toby and Keith: Twin brothers, Pilots, 26.

Asin: Point-Man. Male, 24.

Eden: Reese’s younger brother. Field specialist. Male, 24.

Prologue

11:00pm Friday, March 12th 2268-

Barazi Jungle Sector 054, Planet Braquel XI

Motion. He sensed it before he saw it. Tau Squad leader Rees “Reese” Hall’s visor HUD was completely offline; knowing that he couldn’t trust night vision, thermal vision, and hardly even his own god-forsaken eyes in the rainy night. The ATLAS militants were getting more and more slick every day, with all forms of camouflage technology at their disposal. His instincts, however, just like the instincts of all ‘HUNTER’ soldiers, were sharper than the blade in his hand. He crept through the jungle brush, inching towards his target; a sentry of ATLAS Fort Amazonia in the Barazi Jungle on planet Braquel XI. The sentry zipped his pants back up, leaned over and noisily spat on the ground, and turned to head back into his lookout; but did not live long enough for his spit to hit the ground. Reese withdrew his knife from the man’s chest, and lowered him to the ground. His visor flared to life, and eight blue dots moved across his motion sensor in a wedged formation towards his position. With a short series of practiced hand signals, he turned and led his squad towards the base.

Reese silently surveyed the base before him, before coming to a decision. “Das, Sci, you two get the package. Asin, we need a getaway car. The rest of you are with me. Atlanta, prep a DDC.”

Behind him, Zachari viewed various schematics downloaded on his neural implant. “Sir, I think I can get access to the security mainframe from that lookout.”

Reese agreed, liking the idea. “Do it. Keep us invisible until the explosion, then get Sci, Das, and Asin through any security locks they run in to. Once they are in a vehicle, you and Kiyo have five minutes to get to the front gate, otherwise rendezvous at the extraction point.”

“We’ll be there, sir.” Zachari said over the team intercom as he jogged back to the look out. Reese signaled to proceed as planned and headed west towards the fort’s front gate, followed by Hoya, Atlanta, Toby, and Keith. Meanwhile, Asin, Sci, and Das headed east to fort’s rear.

Glancing up to the waypoint in the trees above and behind him, he couldn’t actually see Kiyo, but he knew the marksman could see him, the entire base, and all eight other members of Freelance Squad Tau- because Kiyo wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Proxima to Alpha, you’re a ghost, but only in your current dimension, sir.” Zachari said, using traditional Hunter code.

“Acknowledged Proxima, ringing the door bell by Five One Thousand.” Reese replied using the same code.

The attack was sudden, smooth, and according to plan. Atlanta’s Directional Demolition Charge, placed on the back of the guardhouse, is designed to be placed on a wall, and destroy everything within 20m³– but the damage is done on the other side of the wall. Reese finished his countdown, and Atlanta activated the charge. The entire guardhouse, excluding the wall the bomb was placed on, and the large steel alloy gate on the other side of the guardhouse were both destroyed. The forty guards in the guardhouse and on the catwalk over the gate were instantly vaporized in the blast.

Hearing and feeling the BOOM of the bomb, and seeing the large fireball in the rainy night sky was all the three soldiers at the fort’s rear needed to understand it was time; and they began to cut their way through the many fences and walls of the base. Once they were inside the innermost wall, Sci and Das stuck to the shadows of the civilian complex, moving towards the Weapons Facility. Meanwhile, Asin sprinted across the courtyard towards the Garage. With most of the insurgents rushing towards the smoking crater that was once their front gate, Sci and Das did not expect to see much resistance. They crept up to the Weapon Facility’s door which, Das noted, had a large, hard-to-bypass looking security lock by the handle. She carefully scanned the area to be sure they hadn’t been spotted, and turned to deal with the lock. At a glance, she saw the slot for sliding I.D. cards through, and a button pad with letters A-Z and numbers one through nine. She reach up to press a button, but before she touched one, the door clicked open and Zachari grumbled into her ear with heavy exasperation.

“I am good for something, you know.” And then in a more serious tone, “I can’t remote access the next door, but I’ve uploaded the retina pattern to your implant, and that should get you through. “

“Acknowledged Prox, thanks.” Das said as she moved into the building. The lights in the building were completely off, and their implant’s automatic night vision activated. At the next door, Das placed her right eye up to the scanner. The neural implant all Hunters were equipped with allowed for all kinds of special functions- including the ability to download and temporarily replicate a retina pattern. The door slid open, allowing Sci and Das to slip into the large laboratory. The lights in the lab were also off, save one light over a pedestal- which had a chrome finished weapon on it.

“Am I the only one not buying the whole primary-objective-on-a-silver-platter BS?” Sci questioned no one in particular, before her body went rigid. “I count three human life forms on the other side of the room.”

Sci and Das moved carefully around the edge of the room to a pile of stacked crates, searching first for the hidden Atlas troops. Shots rang out, bouncing harmlessly off Das’s armour, but she knew the suit could only take so much so she knelt next to Sci behind a crate.

“There’s three indeed. They’re unmasked.” Das said as she stood up to return fire.

“Shoot the light out over the pedestal.” Sci suggested, an idea forming in her mind. Das shot the bulb, which shattered immediately, leaving the laboratory pitch black. Sci gave the enemy’s eyes several seconds to adjust to the now completely dark room, then stood up and lobbed 3 flash grenades across the room, before crouching back behind the crate. Counting the three thumps as they reverberated through the tile floor, and she rose and calmly pulled the trigger six times- shooting each insurgent once through the heart and once between the eyes. Das rushed forward to a secure looking set of drawers built into the wall, and using the retina pattern in her implant’s file, she opened them. Inside the two drawers were the two Ensite powered prototype weapons they were after. She carefully placed their objectives in a backpack, and they ran back outside, where Asin was waiting with a freshly commandeered Armored Personnel Carrier. (APC)

Halfway to the vehicle, a warning light flashed across Sci’s HUD.

“RPG!” yelled Sci, as she dropped, Das instantly dropping next to her- training and instincts taking over as the rocket hurtled toward them. An ear-shattering CRACK! rocked the jungle as a high-powered sniper round stopped the rocket in its tracks, and a second bullet left nothing of the RPG shooter’s head and shoulders. Instantly on their feet, Sci and Das climbed into the vehicle.

With nearly all enemies running towards them, the rest of Tau Squad circled the crater left by the bomb. The crater gave them the ultimate advantage- since any insurgent would have to climb up the 5 foot wall of the crater, and be silhouetted against the dust before even being able to see their attackers. Almost 10 minutes after the explosion, which were spent picking off enemies through the smoke, a pair of large and very bright head lights could be seen across the crater, before dipping down out of sight. Seconds later, a giant tank-like vehicle roared upwards out of the smoke- trailing dust, and various enemy body parts- landing bouncily before stabilizing and stopping. Asin, Sci, and Das now pitched in to help keep the enemies bottled in at the front gate. Four minutes go by before Zachari burst from the trees on the southern side of the road, Kiyo close on his heels, both running and shooting at the same time. The APC’s door opened to allow the first five soldiers in- followed seconds later by Kiyo and Zachari, and the APC tore off down the jungle road.

“Cutting it close, you two.” Reese complained in a friendly tone.

Zachari shrugged, “Rigged all the buildings I could in that hell-hole to self destruct.”

“Good. What we didn’t take, they still can’t have.” Hoya chuckled.

Suddenly the intercom exploded “CONTACT! ENEMY AIR! BRACE!”

Reese’s heart was in his throat, as the vehicle jolted to the left, flipping a few times- both vertically and horizontally- and came to a crashing halt upside down in the deep mud created by the rain on the dirt road. The team clambered groggily to their feet- all dazed. Das grabbed the backpack, and Atlanta, already seeing the uselessness of the vehicle primed two charges and set them against the walls. The ten soldiers exited the vehicle at a full sprint- hoping to get as far down the road as possible both before the drone swung around for another pass, and before the upturned APC no longer afforded them protection from enemy infantry sightlines. When the enemies got to and around the APC and opened fire, the team split into the trees, and ran west parallel to the road; Kiyo and Reese on the northern side, and the other eight on the southern side. After a few hundred meters, Kiyo and Reese turned south to cross the road and rejoin the rest of the squad, also heading south, directly towards the plane. Halfway across the road, Kiyo dropped into the mud and let off six shots- killing seven Atlas troops, and sending the other enemy soldiers scrambling for cover behind the overturned APC- which exploded seconds later. Kiyo was instantly up, mad-dashing through the jungle for the plane.

Kiyo ran, sliding under fallen trees, hurdling bushes, slinking through thick vines, and leaping over small streams; following his nine comrades through the dense jungle. Even without his HUD’s waypoint, he could make out the silhouette of his Squad leader Reese. He was catching up, but something deep in his instincts screamed danger. Kiyo saw the sniper- but even with his implant’s reflex augmentation, he couldn’t react in time to stop the shot or even warn Reese. Reese dropped, and his vitals instantly flat-lined. Half a second later, Kiyo’s rifle reduced the hidden Atlas sniper to a bloody pulp steaming against the side of a shattered tree. Kiyo correctly assumed the team hadn’t heard the shots through the rain, thunder, and sound of the drone flying low overhead, so he scooped his friend’s body up, and kept running. As soon as he saw Reese up close, he knew that his squad had lost their leader.

Once on the plane, he covered the body and quietly pulled Hoya aside.

“Man down.” He whispered somberly, barely managing the two words through his rising anger at himself, for failing to save Reese. Hoya gathered the rest of the squad in the cockpit so the pilots Toby and Keith could hear, and before anyone could question Reese’s absence, he delivered the bad news. Atlanta fell to her knees, Das clung to the wall for support as her legs almost gave out, and Sci left the room in tears. Asin, Zachari, Hoya, Toby, and Keith lowered their heads in a long moment of silent respect. Kiyo, who blamed the loss entirely on himself, never spoke again. It was a long, miserable ride home.

Hoya’s Speech at Reese’s Funeral,

9:00am Sunday, March 14th 2268–

Eagle Lake, Planet Ithen

“Today, we commit our brother, mentor, friend, and leader to his final resting place. Both a trusted friend, and a trusting brother. Both a natural-born warrior and a well practiced teacher, Reese was our comrade to his dying breath, and may we continue his legacy- living by his lessons both to better ourselves as Hunters, and to better Safeguard Humanity and its peoples. May we bring honor to your endeavors until our own dying breaths, Alpha Tau- Rees “Reese” Hall.”

Squad Promotion Ceremony,

12:00pm Sunday, March 14th 2268-

Eagle Lake, Planet Ithen

“In recognition of their Commitment, their Bravery, their Honor, their Valor, and Belief in themselves; I, Umbra Intentus President Ryan Holt, hereby promote Free Lance Squad Tau to official Hunter Team status under the name ‘Tau Centau’.”

“We hereby promote Warrant Officer Grade 5 Hoya Saldes Jr., of Earth, to Lieutenant Field Major, Squad Leader, Alpha Tau Centauri.”

“We hereby promote Warrant Officer Grade 4 Zachari Turrill, of Mars, to Chief Warrant Officer Grade 5, Beta Tau Centauri.”

“We hereby promote Warrant Officer Grade 3 Atlanta Lorovor, of Earth, to Chief Warrant Officer Grade 4, Proxima Tau Centauri.”

“We hereby promote Warrant Officer Grade 3 Dasayr Soaille, of Fenen, to Chief Warrant Officer Grade 4, Theta Tau Centauri.”

“We hereby promote Warrant Officer Grade 3 Turin Asinuryl, of Fenen, to Chief Warrant Officer Grade 4, Epsilon Tau Centauri.”

“We hereby promote Warrant Officer Grade 2 Tobias Rirche, of Luna, to Chief Warrant Officer Grade 3, Eta Tau Centauri.”

“We hereby promote Warrant Officer Grade 2 Keithan Rirche, of Luna, to Chief Warrant Officer Grade 3, Zeta Tau Centauri.”

“We hereby promote Warrant Officer Grade 2 Kiyo Amoafo, of Earth, to Chief Warrant Officer Grade 3, Delta Tau Centauri.”

“We hereby promote Warrant Officer Grade 2 Sci’nrayla Natais, of Tecei Ne’Lek, to Chief Warrant Officer Grade 3, Psi Tau Centauri.”

“As per the final wishes of the late Warrant Officer Grade 5 Rees Hall, we hereby assign Warrant Officer Grade 5 Eden Hall, of Earth, to Hunter Squad Tau Centau, and promote Warrant Officer Grade 5 Eden Hall to Field Officer First Class, Nova Tau Centauri.”

“On behalf of Operation Talon, Umbra Intentus, and the Ordered Nations of Earth in their entireties, congratulations to you for your achievements, and thank you for your service to Humanity.”