IBC Chpt 5-1

==Iron Blooded Commander - Chapter 5.1 -In Battletech, first you take Helm==
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===Energetic Staff Meeting===
Red BaseZaniah III, Lyran Commonwealth3020
thumb|Red Base
Telling my command staff went about as well as I expected.
 
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
 
"WE NEED TO GET THERE NOW!"
 
"WE CAN DO IT! WE CAN RESTORE THE STAR LEAGUE!"
 
You know, they were excited and stuff. I spent a few minutes sipping at my water as they all screamed at each other, emotions were high. It wasn't everyday someone told you where the holy grail is located after all.
 
And the Helm Cache? It really is the holy grail. I gave it a few minutes before I pounded on the table "Enough! Sit down! Everyone!" And the room went silent, although I could see Gauge squirming in his seat. Benny had the look in his eyes that meant he was plotting. Carl looked like someone had kicked him in the nuts. And Alfred? Good old, Sergeant Kurtz, looked like he just had someone hand him his first born. He had been thousand yard staring since I revealed what was inside the Helm Castle Brian.
 
"I know this is shocking. How do you think I feel? I've been sitting on this for months now. Waiting until we actually had enough of a base to move on it."
 
Sergeant Kurtz spoke up then. "We should tell someone. LIC or just take it to Tharkad! They could set up a raid, guarantee it gets brought back!"
 
"Guarantee someone finds out about it." I let that response hang over the table for a moment. "I would gladly turn this over to the LIC, Sergeant, if I thought for a second I could speak to someone absolutely loyal, and who could move without alerting the other great houses, but I can't. The last thing I want is for anyone outside these walls to find out what we are aiming for, because instead of being completely beneath notice, it will turn into the spark for the Fourth Succession War."
 
I watched as Alfred listened to me speak, I could tell the man wanted to argue, wanted to poke a hole in what I said, but couldn't find it. "Commander… I."
 
"I get it, Sergeant. Believe me, one of the reasons the Iron Blooded exist is for this mission. To bring back that technology to the Inner Sphere. That's one of the reasons why I started this." I took a deep breath and exhaled. "So that's what I know of Helm. I don't know what's inside exactly, but I can guess. But the most important thing is I know how to find it, and I know the key to opening the Castle Brian without it blowing up on us."
 
I didn't know exactly what the Memory Chip looked like, other than it had the FWL eagle on it. But that was a problem for later.
 
"So the first plan is to send the Delta Ops to Stewart. They are there under the cover of merchants, to buy equipment, but their real goal is to infiltrate the Stewart family holdings, and find the Memory Chip that carries the data we need to open the castle." I said calmly, everyone listening.
 
"R-right, easy, just sneak into a regional capital of our enemy, and steal an object that is treated as the symbol of the landhold of an entire planet. That sounds easy." Carl repeated back looking a little peaked. "Just can't mess up, or we lose access to the greatest Lostech cache of all time. Sure easy."
 
"Carl, You've got the skill for this and you will have the equipment, you don't even need to sneak in if that doesn't work, get someone hired at the place, or bribe someone to get you in. You will have unlimited funds or as best as we can do, to get this job done." I assure him. He was the most important part of this after all.
 
"What if we need something and we can't buy it, not like people will sell spy stuff to a group of obviously Lyran kids." 
 
"I'll be going with, so that won't be a problem."
 
This of course caused a surge in noise as it was shot down from many voices. I raised my hands calming everyone before I continued. "Yes. I'll be going, for two reasons. One, it will take too long to get the key and then come back. Second, it might be suspicious why we keep going back and forth from the area. One trip. First to Stewart then Helm, then back here. Saves time, and if I am with them, it saves us the problem of wondering if Delta Ops has everything they need."
 
Benny was the first to speak up. "I don't like it Commander, we need you here. What are we going to do if we run into trouble?"
 
"We do what all companies do, we handle it. I'll leave you plenty of cash, and we still have the water sales going just fine. Anything we need we can order and Benny, you will be here and in charge watching over everything, until I am back."
 
"Commander! You-"
 
"Benny. I'm not always going to be on the same planet as everyone else. We are growing fast. We might need to expand soon just to handle the numbers. This will be good for us, it will let you practice how to handle things on your own a bit more. Without me holding everyone's hand."
 
"Dammit, Commander. Fine. We'll follow your lead again but I disagree with this plan, it's gonna be dangerous and we need you."
 
"Benny, everything is dangerous. Besides, I have complete faith in you. I know you can take care of everyone while I'm gone. If any issues crop up, you can handle it, and if not you, everyone else here will pitch in." I look around the room, towards all of our pseudo command staff. There wasn't a lot of experience in this room, but there was a sense of belonging. Everyone had a place here. "And Benny. Congratulations, Sub-Commander Rommel."
 
He blinked for a moment before sighing. "Thanks for the promotion, I guess." He grumbled at me, but I could see he was happy to be given such a status.
 
"I want to go too." Gauge interrupted, and I took a moment to look him over. I could practically see the energy rolling over his shoulders. "No. I know that look you are going to try and argue, but I'm going. The Repair Unit can do without me. Just like what you just said it will be good to let them figure things out on their own without me looking over their shoulders, but I'm going. No way are you going to a SLDF Castle Brian and leaving me behind."
 
"Alright." I didn't really care either way. "Gauge can come, but I really do need to insist the rest of you stay, hold down the fort, and make it seem like everything is normal. Seriously, if even a hint of this gets out before we claim Helm… We might lose it."
 
The dead serious nods I received across the room earned a smile as I nodded. "I trust you. All of you, some of us have only known each other for a short time, but we can't fight and die together one minute and then hold ourselves separate another. We work together, we help each other, and hopefully if God is willing, we will make a mark on the Inner Sphere. Let's make it a good one."
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===A Troubled Young Man===
A different perspective
Gauge was pacing. He should be packing but he was too anxious. What else could he do? His best friend, his sister, had just revealed a bombshell of cataclysmic proportions. She had it. The hope of the future. She had it in her hands. Or she would. And soon so would he. 
 
How could he calm down? He was anxious and he felt sick and excited all at the same time. He would get to be there. To help bring back the knowledge of Star League to the Inner Sphere. Him. Gauge, the orphan who wasn't even good enough to join ComStar.
 
No, he reminded himself that wasn't true. Adept Michaelson had explained why he wouldn't. Couldn't adopt him. Even though Gauge knew that the Adept liked him, even enjoyed teaching him.
 
But not enough to adopt him. Those old fears still came into play. Although as had become habit he pushed it away. He didn't need to be adopted anymore. None of them did. They weren't orphans waiting around for their birthday anymore. They were orphans heading out into the stars to claim their own destiny, Vicky's destiny.
 
He exhaled, trying to relax. Vicky had said that each of them should follow her on this path, a path of more than just decline. Gauge had never really believed her. Horrible to admit, even to himself. Even with her gift, he had expected her to fail. To maybe put more 'mechs and equipment into the world but fail to really make a difference. Because just having 'mechs didn't change people. 
 
Knowledge did.
 
That is what Adept Michaelson had said, and Gauge believed him. It was knowledge that would bring peace again, not more mechs, not might. So Gauge swore. He would make this happen. He would be there, a voice advocating the spread of knowledge to help everyone. Vicky may not always appreciate his words or his opinion but he would do his best to help. To be the light that Jerome Blake had wanted to be.
 
So Gauge Blake. Took a deep breath, and settled his stuttering heart. He finished packing, finished getting ready for the biggest adventure of his life.
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===Preparations for Departure===
Preparations took up a lot of time over the next few days. I used one night to create a secret vault that Benny could access that had a ton of things the base went through. Mostly ammo and equipment, but also enough food in case of emergency, we would be fine even if we were besieged for years. 
 
Just to be sure of safety, I even created a second water purifier inside, just in case someone sabotages our normal one. That's how worried I actually was about leaving Red Base on it's own. Not that I was going to tell anyone. Let them think me confident and in control even if I was freaking out and doubling then tripling up on our necessary equipment in case something goes wrong. You know, like a reasonable person.
 
Also attached to the vault was a hangar with a few lances of replacement Centurions. Just in case we were attacked and stuff started to go wrong. Because I was a worrier. 
 
Thankfully, I was busy enough while preparing, I didn't have a lot of down time to worry. Just setting up a travel plan took a long time. Commissioning a dropship to take us to Stewart wasn't incredibly difficult, despite the war going on. The borders weren't locked down, after all. Lyrans commonly traded with the FWL even during the wars. 
 
With that settled I had a few days before the dropship left Zaniah, and I was busy getting my Delta Ops ready for a task that should have been given to someone trained for years and years. Their equipment of course wouldn't be coming with them, everything would 'appear' when we landed. But we did have a few different bags packed with things to keep us occupied for the trip. It was a long trip, three jumps from Zaniah to Stewart.
 
While it wasn't too bad for Inner Sphere travel, it was still the longest trip I have ever taken, much less the fact we were leaving the Commonwealth. The Free Worlds League was a whole different beast. 
 
As the days passed I found a few moments of quiet, and I used them to just watch as Benny took command. He was doing fine, although I could tell he was nervous, but he knew how important this was. The entire Command staff, such as they were, had been tense since the reveal. Especially since most of them wouldn't be coming with, and would just have to stay at home and keep training while history was made without them.
 
As the morning of the last day on Zaniah came about, I double checked everything trying to busy myself. Orders were passed out. The Governess office had been alerted that my second in command would be their point of contact for a few months.
 
And then I threw my duffel bag full of clothes and entertainment into the back of a Norman, along with Gauge and Delta Ops, and we drove out to the star port. The dropship that was taking us was a merchant, a big old beast, that was making the rounds into the FWL, Stewart, was an easy pass for the ship to make, and I paid them well enough for it.
 
So off we went after locking the Norman down in the Dropship's hold.
 
"So Vicky, I see you still don't handle dropship thrust very well." Gauge teased as I flipped him off, my face buried in a vomit bag. This isn't how flight is supposed to happen! Where is the grace? The beauty? This felt like the dropship was attacking the planet for daring to try to restrain it!
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===Weight of Command on his shoulders===
A Different Perspective
Benny did his best to breathe. He could do this. "Yes Hanna, what's wrong?"
 
"Lucas and Alex got into a fight and they broke Simons game."
 
"Okay. Punish the fighters. Give them to Freddy for scut work in the mess, give Simons a replacement from storage."
 
"Will do… You gonna be okay, Sub-Commander?"
 
"Oh sure, Hanna, I just have a military installation and three hundred plus soldiers under my command, and I've never done anything like this before."
 
"Sure you have, you led us all in school."
 
"No, that's small team leadership. I don't… Hanna I only have the training of a rookie corporal, If that. I'm not even cut out for sergeant! Vicky… damn that girl she put the entire company on my shoulders! I don't have her gifts for this sort of thing!"
 
"You mean her completely irrational confidence, and almost deranged ability to just go do something?"
 
"Yes."
 
"Well, hate to break it to you Benny but you are not Vicky, you are much more sane. We need that too. Let Vicky be Vicky, let her be the crazy one that goes off hunting the secret to Lostech. You are our Sub-Commander, so your job is to handle what is."
 
"Yeah, that's the problem still Hanna, I don't have the experience. The training. Hell, I don't.. I don't know if I have the skill for this."
 
"Pff no one else does either, Benny. You are the best choice out of bad choices. So get better. Go talk to Sergeant Kurtz. And we have contact with the 10th now right? Go bug them. The worst they can do is say no."
 
"Hanna, you don't just reach out to an allied command and ask for tips! That's Crazy!"
 
"Well there you go, it sounds like something Vicky would do, completely without shame by the way I can imagine it with her annoying voice right now." Hanna makes her voice annoyingly high pitched which had Benny smiling despite himself "Hello Colonel? It's Vicky. How do you order more potatoes? Oh you just call your quartermaster? What if your quartermaster doesn't know how to order potatoes?" 
 
"That sounds nothing like her!" Benny couldn't say without breaking into giggles Hanna smiling at her success. 
 
"It sounds just like her, you know it. Benny you're great, but Vicky has it right sometimes too. Learn from that, we are the Iron Blooded Orphans, we are completely shameless as taught by our first Commanding officer."
 
"Hear, hear,… Alright let me put in a call then. Get out. I won't be able to keep a straight face if you are making stupid faces at me."
 
"I wouldn't!" Hanna exclaimed
 
"Yes you would, out!"
 
"Yes, Sub-Commander!"
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===Executing an Impossible Mission===
Steward System, Free Worlds League
39 days to reach the Jump Point. Then four days waiting for a JumpShips. Then two jumps, each one taking almost a week to recharge, then we undock and wait for another three days for another JumpShips heading to Stewart, then almost seven days to land on Stewart.
 
It was a boring, boring amount of time. Gauge and I spent a majority of it exercising to keep in shape. Mostly because I kept forcing him into PT, but it did help keep us busy. Most of Delta Ops treated this as a fun experience, the kids were always playing around on the drop ship, enjoying this trip a lot more than they had on the cramped Leopard.
But Carl was tense, and the rest of the Delta Ops were starting to notice it. They had been told only the basics of what was going on, and even at their best they couldn't help but be curious what brought them so far from home, what it was they were doing here. 
 
The final touchdown on Stewart was a relief, mostly to my stomach, although I was still shaky when I finally disembarked.
 
Stewart was a really populated planet compared to Zaniah. Gauge was driving and we had to go slow as we pulled the Norman off the starport into the wild streets of Stewart. The roads were full. Plenty of people wandering around living their lives. 
 
"Hotel should be over there." I point out, as I guide Gauge through the streets. The Dropship captain had been kind enough to offer a few words on a safe hotel for foreigners to rest at. Not all of them were safe for a Lyran after all. 
 
There were always crazies happy to harm a Lyran citizen just because we were at war. Pulling into the not run down, but not fancy hotel was a relief. We all grabbed our bags out of the truck as we walked in. Getting a room was no problem, we had money after all. Although I could tell the hotel staff pegged us as Lyrans right away. 
 
Hard to disguise the accent.
 
As I placed my bag down, and pulled out the Noteputer and Sensor pack. I was interrupted by Gauge and Carl as they approached, before they could get more than a few words out, I quickly shushed them. "Not yet!" I waited for a moment to make sure both boys were quiet, and checked the sensors to see if I could find any hidden bugs. 
 
Thankfully the room was clean. It wasn't like we had a bunch of Intelligence agencies watching me… Yet. So I still wanted to be careful. "Be careful where you walk, make sure to 'check' before you do. Carl, rest up, and do some looking around today. I'll start putting out some whispers, that I'm here looking to buy equipment, maybe even a mech, Gauge you're with me, but hopefully we can find the Memory Chip soon." 
 
"Delta Ops. Since we have some time, come sit down… It's time you learned what we are doing here."
 
While I went over the fact we were looking to steal a memory chip, but not yet why, I really hoped the damn thing was actually here. Finding it… That was the hard part. Like a needle in a haystack.
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===Seeking a Buyer===
Four days of searching, and I think I finally found what I was looking for. Thank God for my sensor, this would have been impossible without it. 
 
"That's it?"
 
"That's it. I think. Only way to know for sure is to get it. Carl?"
 
"Yeah Delta is ready, that place looks quiet enough, we should be able to sneak in, I'm worried about traps, or scanners though…"
 
"That's why next we are going to write up an infiltrate report before we even get close to going." I tell them, pulling out the sensor as I start narrowing the focus. Thankfully even miles away the sensor could still narrow down to notice electronic devices.
 
The Memory chip or what I thought was the memory chip was located in a building near the New Edinburgh Palace. Thankfully it wasn't inside the palace, as the security there was pretty tight from what I could see on the sensor. But either way it was there. And we would have to find a way to nab it.
 
"Operation Jingling Key begins now."
 
"We aren't calling it that, Vicky."
 
"Commander gets to name the operations, Gauge! Also, go look around, I want to know what that building is for, and how open it is. I can already tell the security isn't the highest, but I am still seeing a lot of electronic surveillance. So we need to know what the building is being used for first."
 
"Why me?"
 
"Because, Carl, and Delta Ops need to start studying the security on the building to make it in. You don't have anything to do, Mister I want to come with."
 
"Fine, fine. I'll grab some dinner on my way back too, I guess."
 
As Gauge headed out of the hotel room, Carl and I got to work. We were using a piece of paper and literally working our way through the building step by step trying to bypass the security, working to figure out where everything was, and what could be ignored, and what needed to be avoided at all costs.
 
Oddly a certain song kept popping into my head that I kept humming.
 
Eventually we brought Delta Ops into the discussion. The sensor was explained, and I went ahead and broke down some basics of what my noteputer could do, explaining this was the secret to how our Company had even started, and that unless they want every great house, or pirate, or anyone in the Sphere coming after us, to never speak a word of this to anyone.
 
Honestly, my secret was starting to spread. I was getting a little nervous about it, wondering who would eventually leak it. I only hoped I was ready when it happened.
 
Yet, back to the task at hand, with so many eyes on the screen, we were hammering out everything we needed to work a path through the little traps and turns through the building.
 
We only stopped when Gauge returned carrying a few bags of takeout. We all started eating as he explained what he saw. 
 
"Some sort of administration building for sure. No guards on the outside I could see, but it had plenty of cameras, which I'm sure you noticed."
 
"Yeah a ton of cameras and sensors in the building. Getting to the room is… Difficult. We keep getting stuck in this hallway." I brought the sensor up so Gauge could see. The only entrance to the room was through a hallway that had no blindspots to the cameras."
 
"Yeah we are trying to find other ways in, we checked the air vents. Unfortunately this isn't Immortal Warrior so they are too small." Carl offered. 
 
"I've been going over the guard patrol route, but they have been hanging out in the guard room." Samantha, one of the other members of Delta Ops pipes up as she tears into her dinner. The scar running across her cheek is still quite visible on her flesh despite the months of time from when she was wounded by the Firestarter. "There are usually two on duty at any one time, but they never leave the guard room. So we only need to worry about the electronics."
 
"Okay maybe we can steal a guard uniform? Let's track them, if we follow them home, steal their uniform, and sneak in pretending to be them?" Carter offered as well, The boy despite only being 15, looked older, and was useful for looking like an adult. 
 
"Not a terrible idea, but I doubt those sensors will care if you are wearing a guard uniform." Carl rebutted. "Maybe bribe the guards? We do have cash for that sort of thing."
 
"Bribes are dangerous because we have no way of knowing how loyal someone is. Let's use that as a last resort." I said. 
 
"You guys are idiots." Gauge spoke up from where he was sitting, as he reached over to the sensor and shifted the screen, until he focused it on the camera and sensors that went through the hallway.
 
All of them were powered by a single wire cluster as it threaded through the building. The sensor could easily track the wires, both where they came from, and went. "Look right there, just outside the view of the cameras and sensor, you can see all the wires come together. You can cut through the wall right there, and sever power to every sensor in the hallway."
 
"Yeah, but that would set off an alarm wouldn't it?"
 
Gauge's eye rolls were starting to annoy me. Someone was getting hit in the face with a pillow tonight just as he is about to fall asleep.
 
"Of course it will, but now you have more options."
 
"He is right. We have been focusing on the defenses as they are trying to walk past them without causing any disturbance, but we aren't LIC, we can't just ghost everything, but I bet we can take out a few things, enough to get us through." Carl offered a grin on his face. 
 
"Cool your reactor, SRM boy, we are trying to do this without letting anyone know we are doing it. I don't want all of us shot by the guards, or alert the entire FWL that something is up." I poke him in the shoulder to remind him of who is boss.
 
"Ruining the fun as always, Commander. Okay well. If you don't want anyone to know it was us…" Carl started before I cut him off.
 
"No false flag attacks!"
 
"Okay, well you are not giving us many options here, Commander." Samantha snarked. 
 
"I know. This… This isn't something we are ready for, but it needs to happen anyways. Let's keep an eye on the guard patrols overnight, maybe they all go home or something?"
 
"Unlikely, that is definitely a third shift that came in about twenty minutes ago, so they are gonna be in for the rest of the night." Samantha added. 
 
"Okay so… Hacking?" Carl asked, turning to Gauge, "Well tech guy, can you hack into their system to turn off the alerts?"
 
"What is this Immortal Warrior? I'm an engineer! I don't know anything about hacking!"
"Alright, alright, calm down, it's an honest question, but we already covered this isn't a holovid. Let's set down our objectives. We need to enter that room and steal the Memory Chip. We need to do it, without letting anyone know we did it. We don't want anyone to die. So, options?"
 
"Start a fire, get in when everyone is trying to put it out?" Carl offered with a smirk.
 
"GOOD options?" I ask, already imagining the horrors of that plan. 
 
"Stop thinking about the hallway entirely. It's pointless. Go around." Richard Stone, offered. Richard had been one of the Zaniah orphans, and so proudly used his last name unlike most of the orphans, from Solaris, who had all been told to pick one, but few had so far. 
 
I was working on it.
 
"We can't, the air vents are too small, and it's the only entrance." Carl offered out, but Richard just shook his head. 
 
"Stop thinking laterally. There are six ways to get to that room. One on each side, and… Up and down."
 
I blinked that stupid SONG! "Mission Impossible this, sonnovabitch!" 
 
I was horribly disappointed that no one else got the reference.
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===Wheeling and dealing with the Locals===
Steward, Free Worlds League
Unfortunately. The next day I was required to pretend I wasn't here to steal from the state. Instead I was heading out in the Norman with Gauge to talk to people about buying shit. Of course I was only planning on buying one small thing, an item we would need for our heist, that I actually didn't have stored already. The stops at mech shops were just to throw off the scent of why I traveled here, if anyone started asking. Plus, I had some C-bills on hand, and while it was enough to purchase a battlemech, I didn't have the time or space to take a mech with me.
 
Traveling through the merchant sector of Stewart was… Odd. For one, it was a FWL planet, not Lyran, so the immense amount of business you would find on Lyran worlds wasn't here. Everything was more regulated, more controlled. 
 
We stopped at a few shops. Browsing their goods, I picked up the one item I needed at an infantry supply shop. The old Leaguer hosting the shop glared at me the entire time we were inside once he heard my accent. Thankfully, I didn't need to buy anything I couldn't walk out with, but honestly, nothing here interested me. Helm would have better stuff than anything I could purchase on this sort of open market.
 
I was really looking forward to seeing what infantry gear the SLDF used. I wasted a day going to a few different markets. Gauge accompanied me making it look like I was some bored nobleman's daughter.
 
Hopefully, if anyone ever thought to wonder what I was doing on Stewart this is all they would find.
 
Of course wandering around an unfamiliar city sometimes causes random encounters to spawn. We were walking back to the truck after visiting a gun shop when Gauge nudged me, pointing. 
 
Of course when I looked I recognized it just fine. An orphanage often has a certain look to it. The crowd of kids that were lazing around was a good indicator. I stalled staring at the crowd. "Vicky?" Gauge was staring as well, but I decided to check it out. I turned. 
 
The kids hanging around noticed me right away as I walked up to the gate that blocked off the orphanage. It was open but I didn't enter, stopping just outside, "Hey. This an orphanage?"
 
The few kids crowding the entrance stilled as I spoke and one, spit to the side before talking. "Yeah, this is an orphanage for League kids, if you don't have parents go somewhere else, Lyran."
 
I snorted, despite myself. Getting threatened by a kid smaller than I am was funny. "I am an orphan, but I don't need an orphanage. I'm Vicky."
 
"Like I care what your-"
 
"Calvin. That's Darius. Mara, is over there." The second boy offered although he wasn't looking too friendly either. "Something we can help you with Vicky the Orphan, Lyran?"
 
"No. No, I'm just curious I guess. This is Gauge, we both left a Lyran orphanage, and we're mercs now. Just kinda curious what a League orphanage is like."
 
"No way, you're a merc short stuff." Darius laughed, before I snorted. 
 
"I'm taller than you boy, aren't boys supposed to be taller than girls? And yeah. We are."
 
"No way!" Mara the girl called out as she hovered over. "Who are you with?"
 
I hesitated for a moment, but it wasn't like I was trying to hide who I was here even on Stewart. "I'm with the Iron Blooded Orphans, based out of Zaniah III right now."
 
All three looked confused at that. "Never heard of them." Scoffed Darius as I shrugged.
 
"Not surprised, we are pretty new. So how about I'll tell you some stories, and you tell me some in return, like a proper Lyran business deal?"
 
I fleeced them of course. I did warn them it was going to be a Lyran business deal.
 
Gauge and I left an hour or so later, having learned how similar and different the League orphanages were. I was satisfied with what I had learned and how it was a strange stop. Even if someone wondered what I was up to on Stewart, they would be left very confused at this point.
 
But… I couldn't help but feel for them. They were like me, like my family. No real difference between us but where we were born. It spawned the start of an idea in me. That I started chewing throughout the trip back to the hotel.
 
We reached the hotel and Gauge and I rested for a bit so we were ready. Late that night we moved out.
 
It was time.
----
===Delta Ops begins the their Mission===
A different perspective
Carl kept his breath steady as his team readied themselves. They were sitting in the back of the Norman as it pulled into an alley. He grabbed his duffel bag full of equipment Vicky had handed to each of them as they jumped out. 
 
"Remember, in and out. You have guns, but only use them if you have to. Be sneaky!" Vicky called out quietly as she handed over the sensor. She had been navigating through the city getting them as close as possible without getting them on cameras. Or at least as few as possible.
 
"Relax, Vicky. This is my op now. Delta! Let's move!" He called out as he started walking through the alleys, the sensor fully active showing him all the people around them, and he used it to avoid all of them. 
 
Despite himself his heart was pounding. He could tell everyone was getting tense, but there were no magical words to calm them here. They all knew what was at stake. They traveled as silently as they could until they reached the wall surrounding the administration office. He looked to this right and just over in the distance was the palace itself. He shivered. If they did have to shoot, he doubted they would get away. 
 
So they just had to do this without ever alerting the two guards. He found the right spot and signaled. His squad forming up and a ladder was placed against the wall, pulled out and unfolded from Richard's duffel bag, Samantha pulled out a blanket that Vicky had assured them would protect them from the razor wire along the top of the stone barrier, and since she was up first, she climbed over and hopped to the ground. The rest of the squad went over until it was just Carl, he went last, grabbing the ladder when he was at the top, and pulling it over. 
 
Once he climbed down, they all regrouped. Breathing heavy and awkward as he pointed they all moved. 
 
The windows were all protected by silent alarms, but the thing about having a lostech sensor system as powerful as this one, meant they could check them all before ever starting. Second floor… That one. He confirmed, had a bad wire, probably water damage, but the alarm on that window wouldn't go off.
 
They hoped.
 
The ladder was placed, once more Carl checked the sensor, making sure none of the cameras could see them here, and up they went. Richard first, as he pulled out a tool Vicky had created, he was able to jimmy open the window, in a few moments as silent as they possibly could.
 
Then the squad slipped in one after another.
 
They were in an office, but it was long empty now. Carl pointed at the door and everyone lined up as he once more checked the sensor. The guards were still in the guard room. They were the only other people in the building. With a nod, he slipped open the door. There was a camera in the hall, but it was a slow rotating type. They all knew what came next.
 
As soon as Carl swiped a hand, Samantha moved, crossing the hall to the next door slipping inside. Her door shut just as the camera panned back over. They continued this until each of them had slipped across into the new room. 
 
The new room was in the center of the building. A sort of bullpen that had desks and workers flowing through it constantly during the day, but now it was quiet. Carl guided the path through the room, staying out of the few cameras that could see into the room by slipping under them, or around. 
 
The path they had worked out before coming was working so far. Intelligence really did make things easier.
 
He stopped the group at the other end of the room, they paused as he fiddled around for a moment, reminding himself of the camera positions on their next step. Before he looked up at the faces surrounding him. He nodded as he motioned to follow. They slipped out and he snuck forward his squad following in his footsteps as he took a zig zag pattern across the hall, dodging the sensor systems that were between them and the stairs before slipping into the stairwell. He held the door open until everyone was in before closing it.
 
Now was a tricky part. There were sensors in the stairwell, so Carl led them up. Each step very exact. Making sure he never stepped on an alarm. Everyone behind him following him exactly, step by step. As they traveled ever upward. Finally they made it to the fourth floor. 
 
Once again he slipped out first zig zagging across the hall to stay out of the cameras and sensors. His Sensor giving him perfect knowledge of where to go. He thanked Vicky for giving him this, the backpack was heavy, but he never would have made it through without it. They slipped into a room that was directly above the room they needed to access.
 
The office they entered was definitely a higher ups office. He found the perfect spot, and his squad helped him shift a heavy cabinet off to the side, before Samantha popped up with her Vibroblade. The blade was something Vicky had purchased that morning, the blade was charged and ready. 
 
The hefty dagger was switched on and started shaking near silently, although all of them felt it's movement as Samantha slowly dug the blade into the carpet and wood. It was mostly silent, although it still sounded faintly like a buzzsaw as it cut through the wood and interior. It took nearly twenty minutes for Samantha to finish cutting through, mostly, because they were doing their best not to let any chunks of wood fall to the ground.
 
Once it was done, a rope was tossed down and Carl slipped through the new hole in the floor into the room they had needed to access. While the rest of Delta Ops remained above.
 
The room was a little dusty from sawdust, and Carl made sure to wipe down the cabinets below the hole they had made to make it less obvious what had happened, hopefully by the time anyone noticed the hole they would already be back on Zaniah.
 
The room looked like a treasure room, of sorts. Glass cabinets carrying old history was left here, but things that couldn't just be left open to the public, at least that is what Carl assumed. 
 
Pulling out the sensor he traveled through the rows of shelves, but Vicky had been firm. Ignore everything else, get the Memory chip, get out. They weren't LIC. Any information or treasure they might manage to grab was peanuts compared to the real objective.
 
So he did, Carl followed the sensor until he came up to the glass cabinet that possibly stored the objective. And realized he had forgotten something, as he tried to open it and got nowhere. It was locked. Annoyed, he stalked back to the hole, "Sam, give me that knife." He whispered up to the hole. The first words anyone had spoken since entering the building.
 
Once he had it, he went back, using the sensor to find out exactly where the lock mechanism was and he slipped the blade into the gap, cutting through the metal with a shriek that caused him to tense as he hadn't realized how loud it could be. He grabbed his sensor, and after a minute where the guards didn't move, he breathed a sigh of relief. He popped the case open, and checked the objects inside, situated on little stands, or for what looked like some sort of crystal planet on a small pillow, but none of that mattered to Carl.
 
The Memory Chip was resting in a little holder, face out to show the Free World League eagle on its face, although it was faded with age.
 
This had to be it.
 
He grabbed the clunky thing, slipping it into his bag. He closed the case and hurried back. While he was down, the rest of the squad was packing up the removed floor pieces. Not leaving any of it around, so when he climbed back up, they shifted the heavy cabinet back over the hole. Mostly covering their construction.
 
The cut wood and carpet was passed into their duffel bags, and they all followed his lead as they started retracing their steps.
 
Ten minutes later, after checking the sensor to be sure. Vicky had hammered that into his head over and over to never make a move without doing so, they each climbed back over the razor wire, spending a minute pulling the blanket free, and packing everything away.
 
They slipped back into the back of the Norman truck, Vicky grabbing the sensor from him as they drove off. 
 
Carl's heart was pounding, his head was fuzzy, his hands were shaking.
 
He had never felt more alive. Slowly as his adrenaline wore off, he wondered if he could have snuck into the palace itself.
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Chapter 5-1