Interstellar Age

Chapter 298 Saving Ensign S’aleth Revisited

Ten years ago, After Erich had annihilated the Sages and their ancient order. The man had recalled JT from his underworld services. From the moment Erich proclaimed himself emperor and established the Silber Enclave, he had tasked one man with the construction of its special forces.

And that was JT. The man was an experienced special operator, perhaps more so than anyone else in the Germanic Star-Empire, and he had a close friendship with Erich that had been forged on the battlefield.

It was not just JT. Heavy, and Ghost also defected to the Silber Enclave to aid Erich in his goals. And though these were the three men who were in charge of the Silber Enclave’s Special Forces, who were trained above and beyond the standards of a W-7, they had all volunteered for this mission.

Erich couldn’t risk getting captured by the GSE. If he did, the revolution was over. But these men did not trust anyone else to finish the job. It was the three of them, plus two SPECTRE series combat droids. Which were designed with special operations in mind. These droids were an enhanced version of the LEGION series combat droids which were so commonly deployed by the Silber Enclave.

Their goal, however, was to assist Special Operators with their objectives, and not the other way around. Just recently, the fireteam had landed deep behind enemy lines, on the world of Germania. While the men were disguised as officers of the Germanic Military, and had undergone the same genetic improvement that JT and Erich had. One that improved the shape of their face just enough to pass through any facial recognition software. The SPECTRE droids were completely invisible as they followed the three Special Operators to the tower which held S’aleth as a prisoner.

Ghost was the one who immediately questioned their objectives, as he struggled to understand how they were remotely going to pull this off.

“So let me get this straight… We are going to infiltrate one of the most secure buildings in the entire galaxy by waltzing our way through the front door. Where we will then take the elevator to the top floor, where Emrys’ office is, and simply past the quarters of the Supreme Leader and effortlessly enter our target’s room. While waiting for an invisible shuttle to hover near the balcony, and hope that S’aleth trusts us enough to follow us back to the Enclave?”

JT nodded his head, despite the fact that Ghost was not convinced. He did not even bother explaining to the man why it would be that easy. He simply confirmed that was indeed the goal.

“Yes… That is the plan…..”

Ghost was quick to respond to this wild claim with exceptional disagreement.

“How in the hell are we going to walk into the front door of the fucking citadel without anyone detecting us?”

JT simply sighed and shook his head, and gave the man his orders, rather than explain how and why this plan would work perfectly.

“Ghost, do me a favor, and shut the fuck up… Act normal. As long as we act like we belong here, nobody will question us. Our credentials will check out, I promise you. And with our current credentials, we can indeed enter S’aleths quarters.

As long as we get Erich on the line, he can assure her that we are his men, and that it would be in her best interest to follow us. So, for the last time, shut the fuck up and act normal. We’ve been to the citadel a million times. This is no different.”

Ghost could only sigh heavily. He had never imagined a day where JT would be his superior officer, thus he responded rather sarcastically as he obeyed the man’s orders.

“Yes General…”

And soon enough, the three of them approached the front gates of the citadel, where they were scanned for their identities. Luckily for them, Tia had long sensed the infiltrator’s military network infiltrated the Germanic Star-Empire’s military network, and thus she had easily taken control over the scanners which confirmed their identities as valid.

Once the doors opened for them, and the security detail saluted them. Ghost and Heavy had a hard time controlling their expressions of shock. JT, of course, simply ignored this. And just like they planned, they waltzed right through the front door and entered the elevator, which took them directly to the top floor of the Citadel.

Like JT had said earlier, nobody suspected a thing as these uniformed officers waltzed right past the Supreme Leader’s office and swiped their cards onto the panel, which allowed them access to S’aleth’s private quarters, which were essentially her prison cell.

Once inside, they found the woman sitting near the window, staring out of it with a particularly glum expression on her face. She hated being a prisoner, but most of all, she despised being a burden to Erich. Right now, she was interfering with his goals by being a hostage for his enemies.

The three men just stood there silently for a few moments, waiting for the woman to respond, until finally she did, with a heavy sigh and an exasperated tone in her otherwise alluring voice.

“What does Emrys want now?”

There was an overwhelming sense of dread in the woman’s voice, as if the idea of seeing that smug look on Emrys’s face one more time would drive her to suicide. However, when JT spoke, his words brought hope to the young succubus’ heart.

“The Emperor has sent us to secure your safety. My Lady… Please follow us to the balcony and we will escort you to him personally…”

It took S’aleth a moment to realize what JT was talking about. And when she did, she looked at the three men in disbelief before demanding they prove their identities.

“It’s not possible! How did you get in here? Is this some kind of trick that damned bastard is playing on me to test my loyalty? If you really are who you say you are, then prove it!”

JT did exactly as the woman commanded as he pulled out a holocommunication device, which once activated displayed Erich’s handsome face. S’aleth was stunned into silence as Erich wore a gentle smile before speaking to the woman.

“It has been a long time, S’aleth… For over a decade I thought you were dead…. That you would never return to me. This is Bridgadier General Joar Thorell. We call him JT for short. And the other two men by his side are Colonel Svend Mortensen, also known as Ghost. And the big guy is Colonel Lukas Raschle, though you can just refer to him as Heavy.

I have served with these men in the past, for many years were as thick as thieves. I trust them with my life, and by extension yours. Please, do as they say and follow them to the balcony. There is a shuttle there waiting to take you all back to Midgard. I look forward to seeing you again, my love…”

After saying this, the holocommunication ceased before S’aleth could even ask the myriad of questions she had. Though that could have been a recording, S’aleth decided to take a chance and agreed to follow the men to the balcony.

“Alright… Against my better judgement, I will trust you… Please lead the way…”

Immediately after saying this, two robots appeared out of thin air. One of which was carrying a fine mesh blanket. S’aleth was about to scream in shock when JT covered her mouth and informed her that this was not a trick.

“Shhh! Don’t alert the guards. These robots are here to assist us in this mission. Wrap this blanket around you. I promise you that you will become completely invisible to the naked eye, and undetectable by all censors. After all, we can’t just walk you out of your cell without triggering an armed response!”

S’aleth silently nodded her head and did as she was told. Where she was surprised to find that she was indeed invisible to the naked eye. The only way that JT and the others eve knew she was there, was because JT had held her hand, and slowly dragged her out of the room.

The SPECTRE droids cloaked themselves once more, as they followed JT and the other out to the balcony of the top floor of the Citadel. Where JT miraculously stepped off the edge, and onto mid air, after confirming that the shuttle was indeed waiting with its ramp out. This, of course, immediately triggered a response by the Citadel, which went on high alert. But it was already too late.

By the time security could reach the balcony, S’aleth, along with the others, had boarded the shuttle and taken off. All the while, the Citadel’s AA weapons were absolutely worthless, because they could not even detect the shuttle’s presence, let alone lock onto it. Thus, S’aleth and the others had made a complete getaway without Emrys being any the wiser.