Transport Design
Ship started building more and when ten had been built it sent out the flash update. Almost as soon as the icon became available the Alpha Squad Leader ported one in. Ah, Sweet Ride he said, as he climbed on and tried it out in their much smaller bay. That kid makes the best toys, he said, as he came to a halt in front of the Commander who was not looking nearly as excited as he was about the new transport.
The Commander just shook his head and muttered, dumb ass. The squad leader took that to mean he should probably return the transport to the interface and go find something productive to do. He selected the dismiss button, it returned to the storage area. His toys even put themselves back in the toy box, how cool is that, he said to the cargo bay in general, since everyone had scattered when they saw the Commander coming into the bay. They knew he was tolerant of the squad leader and his sometimes over exuberant nature, but they didn’t want to be around just in case the shit hit the fan.
About the same time the Red Team Squad Leader was earning extra brownie points with the Commander in Saturn Region, the Ship and crew were passing into the Earth region. They had to be extra careful because of the increased security, but they managed to fly undetected to the moon and then down to the secret base. Within a few hours they were off loading Joan to the hospital and then offloading their gear and heading for the Seaver’s house. Both Megan and Michael knew they would have to brief the High Council at some point, but for now it was good to be home. What they did not know was shortly before they had arrived in the Earth Region an attack on one of the defense grid stations had taken place.
The attack was being kept quit as to not cause a panic, but the entire station had been destroyed and a small fleet of ships had to be deployed to seal the breach. That was the reason for the heightened security. The Alliance forces were not sure who launched the attack but they suspected one of the factions. There was not enough evidence left behind to determine the size of the attacking force and from where they had come from. A small plasma disrupter had been used to cover their tracks.
The Earth Security Defenses were on high alert in case of further attacks, and the Security Council was coming together for an emergency meeting to discuss the threat that the factions presented to the Alliance. Renewed efforts to locate and destroy their bases and operatives were discussed and more resources were allocated to help combat the threat. The problem was that there had not been any credible intel for some time. The Saturn Region situation had refocused all attention to that area, and most of the intelligence network had been reassigned to track that threat. There was a lot of speculation as to what new capabilities the factions might have and why they seemed to be fighting each other. It had long been known by the members of the Security Council that the two factions were at odds with each other, but open conflict of this level was unheard of in the past.
More distressing was the apparent increase in combat capabilities both side seemed to be in possession of. The estimates in troop size and capabilities was of primary concern. What they attributed to Gamma Faction alone was distressing to say the least. But for Delta to be able to overpower them so effectively had many Council Members fearing for their regions and the safety of the citizens under their protection. One councilor was not concerned because he was an operative of Delta Faction, he always tried to steer the group away from policies that put the Faction in danger. Unfortunately, Gamma Faction’s acts of aggression and the perceived threat of Delta was not making his job very easy.
Councilor Vargus addressed the Council, may I humbly suggest that we can all agree the primary threat here seems to be Gamma Faction Councilors, he stated. There was agreement around the chamber. Therefore, I submit that while we should increase security in all of our facilities, perhaps we could let Delta Faction continue to do our job for us, he continued. What do you mean one of the other councilors interjected. Simply this councilor, he said, while we all agree that both Factions are a threat, only Gamma seems to be attacking our interests, while Delta seems to be attacking them. If we let them destroy each other we have less work to do, especially since we do not have any credible intel to help us achieve our goals at this time, he concluded. Councilor Vargur makes a very good point the other councilor acknowledged, they had a bit of a frenemy relationship, but usually saw things from the same angle. While the other councilor did not have ties to Delta Faction he had seen enough through the years to realize that Delta was not the threat that the government made them out to be. He was also former military and realized the value of your enemies enemy in battle.
Another councilor asked for the floor, and said, so what is to stop Delta from finishing off Gamma Faction and then turning their sights on us. Nothing, Councilor Vargus acknowledged, however at that point we would then have only one threat to worry about instead of two. Again there was agreement around the room. The Head Councilor brought the room to order ok, then let’s bring it to a vote, all those in favor of increasing security and letting Delta Faction continue to fight Gamma Faction say, aye. There was almost unanimous agreement. Apposed, he said, and he waited for a response and then, motion carried. The Security Council had agreed to increased security but not to try and attack Delta Faction for now. They would hold off unless they became a greater threat to the alliance. Councilor Vargus had done his job once again. He was a powerful supporter to have on their side.
He had been given a brief overview of what was being done by David and his team, but was not given all of the details in case he became compromised, he was an operative because one of his children had been killed by Gamma Faction, and therefore was sympathetic to Delta’s mission to stop them. That did not entitle him to sensitive information about their missions and the equipment they used to conduct them. He had a general idea about the augmented telekinetic energy they used but nothing specific, so therefore could honestly say he had no idea how they were fighting Gamma. He was just happy they were destroying those bastards as much as they were. He would continue to support them for as long as they fought Gamma Faction.
He was loyal to the Alliance and would always put their needs first, but right now he knew the Alliance needed Delta Faction to fight Gamma Faction. He also knew that the government was not as squeaky clean as it would like the public to believe in their handling of the gifted. He was sympathetic to a point, but if it ever came down to it, he would choose the Alliance. Unfortunately, his experience with Gamma Faction had made him realize that those with gifts had a distinct advantage over normal individuals. Since he was normal, he had mixed feelings about coexistence, though he was willing to give them the benefit of a doubt for the moment, as long as their agendas matched up. Ultimately, he was a politician and his motives would always be in his best interest, and to a certain extent the best interests of the people he served. As long as Delta served his needs he was willing to help them. He really wanted Gamma Faction destroyed because of what they had done to his son. However, there was a certain amount of paranoia involving extinction of normal people in favor of the more advanced gifted going on in his head as well. It was a common argument among those who knew of the gifted and worried about their place in the world of tomorrow.
As they say just cause your paranoid does not mean people are not out to get you. In this case it did have some bases in fact, the evolution of the human race was in full swing spurred on by the expansion of the brain and all of the mutations that had been ushered in by it. However, it was still in the early stages, most gifted still identified with normal humans and existed side by side, competition for resources had not started yet so they still had a while before they would be fighting each other in the evolutionary arena. Besides it was still too early to say what the next species of humans would be. They could be a future generation of the gifted or evolution could take a completely different route and they would go extinct as well. There was really no way to tell. The pace that evolution followed was easier to see in hindsight rather t
han while it was happening.
It was clear change was coming they just had to wait and see what that change would bring. The only certainty was the pace was starting to pick up, and the ones that did not evolve would be left behind. It was the same story from the beginning of time and always would be until the end of time.