Just another day in the office

[trousers]

Streaking through the sky, a small 2-man Omni-Pol shuttle is descending toward the starport in the Loyalty Trade District of Omni-Prime. Inside the shuttle, just beyond the pale white-ish gray hull sits a man, roughly 25 in age, in full military dress uniform.

His attention is focused exclusively out the rectangle shaped window on his left where the rooftops of the district’s taller buildings are beginning to dance by. Within moments the rapid decent had the shuttle completely masked in shadows as it began its approach to land. The man’s attention was shattered by a sudden beep coming from the front of the cabin.

Much to his surprise a digital readout mounted up by the roof was flashing “>>Incoming Transmission<<.” “Who the frell would be calling me?” He muttered to himself. Just then, his comm. switched on.
”Good Afternoon, Lieutenant Harking, This is Colonel Hoffman serving under General Zora. I am calling to remind you of your judiciary hearing tomorrow at 08:00. As per procedure, if you do not show, you waive your right to defend yourself at the hearing and accept the ruling of the tribunal without an opportunity to appeal. Please bring any papers that you may have prepared with you and submit them for processing fifteen minutes prior to the hearing. Hoffman out.”

Like clockwork the shuttle touches down and the doors hiss open just as the transmission ends. The sunlight floods the cabin leaving him temporary blind as he picks his stomach up off the floor and walks down the ramp onto the landing pad. “This is it, Tom. There is no going back now.”

Lt. Harking stands up straight, fixes the cuffs on his jacket and begins to walk towards the terminal.

A few blocks away a voice can be heard booming down a fairly empty avenue, “Pro!” the voice echoed off a big sign that reads, “No Yelling!” “Yo, Pro! Hold Up!” A man at the other end of the avenue stops dead in his tracks and turns around. The other man comes barreling down the street and staggers to a halt just inches away from him.
“Ellis. What’s wrong?”
“Pro, Dude.”
“What?”
“You need to see this.”
“What? See what!? Is somebody hurt?”
Ellis stands there staring at Pro before allowing a big stupid smile from capturing his face and saying, “This.”
Ellis removes a folded newspaper from his back pocket and slaps it down into Pro’s hand.
“You need to read this.” Ellis says.
Pro unfolds the newspaper and begins to skim over it.

Omni-Tek Press Corp. January 10th 29479
…
Omni-Tek stocks raise .75 points while SOL Banking slides .10 points

“Well that’s good to know, stocks are up.”
“Damnit, Pro, stop thinking of your retirement!”
“How can you say that? If you don’t start planning now…”
“Shut up and keep reading! Damn.”
Pro hisses slightly and keeps reading.
“…The hell is this?”

One Employee’s desire for a good pair of pants
04 January 29479: A holiday campaign by Sotto “Proliferator” Mahoney kicked off earlier this week with Bureaucratic rallies for a more desirable office suit.
…
Sotto said in an interview “It’s not like I’m asking for a bowler cap or a cane to parade around in. I’m just asking for a Business Suit, a nice shirt with a tie, a jacket and a pair of matching pants! Other corporations allow their employees to dress in such a fashion, yet Omni-Tek limits our office workers to corporate uniforms or topcoats, and I do not enjoy wearing a coat all the time.”
…
It would appear Mr. Mahoney’s antics have not won him a suit like he desires but instead the local population found it so bazaar that he wanted a pair of pants to match his jackets that it has won him the nickname “Trousers.”

“Trousers!” Sotto shouts.
Ellis begins to crack up laughing.
“What’s so funny?
“Your face! You should have seen it!” Ellis continues to laugh
“Real funny coming from a guy they call Hummus.”
Ellis abruptly stops laughing and gets dead serious, “I thought we agreed to never speak of that ever again.”
Sotto shrugs and says, “I can’t believe this. This could ruin my career.”
“No it can’t, and you know that. Upper management doesn’t give a rat’s ass what the grunts call you on the street. Hell, trousers is a much better name then some of them get called.”
“I guess you’re right…”
“Of course I am! It’s like I always tell you. When in doubt just…” Ellis trails off as Sotto’s comm. begins to buzz.
“Hold on, I need to take this. “Comm. Speaker On. Hello.”
The voice of a droid can be heard coming from the comm. unit.
“Mr. Mahoney. A letter has arrived that requires your immediate attention. May I suggest you return as soon as possible?”
“Of course. I’ll be right back.” Sotto says as he waves his hand in the air to signal to a passing taxi that he requires transportation. “Though, can you tell me who the letter is from?”
“Of course. The letter is from a Mr. Niklas Kappel from Rubi-Ka.”
Sotto falls silent
“What’s the problem, man?” Ellis asks as he wrinkles his brow.
“I’ll be right there.” Sotto blurts out as he shuts his comm. off.
“Well, who is he?”
“Niklas Kappel is the Chief of Operations for Omni-Trans on Rubi-Ka.”
“Oh…”
“Yeah, I can’t imagine what he would wa...” the ending of the sentience is muffled by the taxi as it pulls up.
“Well, lets get going.” Ellis says as the doors open with a hiss.

The two men climb into the taxi and are greeted by a glowing red orb of light. Shortly after the men seat themselves the orb begins to talk, “Destination. Please.”
“Humility Business Park. 3 Oligopoly Avenue.” Sotto says firmly.
“Destination. Accepted.” The orb replies as the taxi begins to move and lift up into the air.

The silent ride from one district to the other only takes a few minutes but the wheels never stopped spinning in Sotto’s heads

When the door opened Sotto stepped right out and turned around, “Are you coming?” he asked.
“Nah, I think I’ll leave this to you, it might be a little private.”
“Alright.” Sotto turns around and walks toward the building. As the taxi doors begin to shut he can hear the orb say, “Destination. Please.” And Ellis answers, “Red Light District number 5. Big booty bit…” and the door hisses shut. As the taxi lifts up into the sky the ground level elevator opens and Sotto steps inside pressing the number 7.

Moments later, the door shuts.

[trousers]

Lt. Harking pauses for a moment while his eye implant adjusted to the dimmer light of the starport terminal. As his vision returns an indicator at the center of the implant’s display reads,

“Entering a civilian population center…
Auto-targeting: DISABLED
ATTENTION: You are no longer is the presence of Suppression Gasses.
Extreme caution is advised.”

Looking around Lt. Harking notices a small crowd of people standing around a floating monitor watching a newscast. The sound of the lieutenant’s boots can be heard echoing off the walls as he approaches the crowd causing a few passerbys to stop and look as if a show were about to begin. Paying no attention to the gawking citizens he stands behind a small group of men all looking up at the monitor.

“Gentlemen, how are we today?” Lt. Harking says with a slight smile.
“Huh?” one of the men says turning his head slightly. “Oh, Uh...” the man says as he turns around, stands up straight, and gives a salute. “Good, things are good, Sir.”
“Don’t salute him, you’re not part of the military.” One of the other men say.
“Well it’s a sign of respect, ya know.” The first man replies.
“Just a “hey, how ya doin’” works.” The second man turns to Lt. Harking and says, “Hey, how ya doin’?”
“I’m doing fine, thanks.” Lt. Harking says with a chuckle. “So what’s going on?”
“A nasty shuttle accident in the Solar System.” A third man says. “Some civilian transit shuttle collided with a freighter about a half an AU away from Earth. They’re not sure if anyone other then the freighter pilot survived.”
“It’s a damn shame.” The second man says. “It seems like every time you turn around somebody is dying.”
The man’s comment seems to unsettle the Lieutenant, but he manages to respond with, “Yeah, I know. If only people knew how to drive.”
The three men chuckled at the unexpectedly off the cuff comment the Lieutenant made. Without an additional word, Lt. Harking turns to his right and begins to walk down a beautiful plant and water lined promenade.

The glory of the starport didn’t strike Lt. Hawking until just now. On each side of the marble walkway were long shoots that had cascading waterfalls and small, well-groomed plants spaced all along the shores. It was obvious to the lieutenant that all this were a façade, a well planned and even better funded effort of the public relations committees to put a face on the corporation for travelers and foreign diplomats. But nonetheless, it drew a crowd of employees who enjoyed strolling by window-shopping at the many stores that lined it.

“Look Mommy, a solider!” exclaimed a little boy walking along side his mother.
“Well hello there, son.” Lt. Hawking replies with a tinge of nervousness in his voice.
The boy begins to laugh, and then with his right hand he makes a fist, sticking his thumb straight up in the air and extending his index finger toward the lieutenant.
“Pew! Pew! Pew!” The child blurts out, continuing to laugh.
The boy’s mother quickly slaps the shooting hand and whispers something sternly into the boy’s ear. Within seconds the boy calms down and the mother looks up to Lt. Hawking and says, “I’m so sorry sir, he never acts this way.”

The lieutenant makes a 90-degree turn on his heels and begins dashing toward the closest exit, leaving the boy and his mother is a state of confusion.

“Why did he do that?” Lt. Hawking mutter to himself while he dodges in and out of pedestrian traffic.
“Does he know? No! No one can know…they said they wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“Hey, watch it!” A woman yells as Lt. Harking clips her, nearly knocking her to the ground.”

The doors of the terminal bust open and Lt. Harking spills out onto the street landing on his hands and knees. “You need to hide! You have to hide!” the voice inside his head is yelling to him now. The lieutenant stagers to his feet but the amount of people on the city street makes his head spin. Without looking, Lt. Harking begins to stammer to his right before colliding with a businessman traveling in the opposite direction and abruptly halting him.
“The hells your problem?” The businessman says scornfully to Lt. Harking and he pushes him back down to the ground.

The physical contact makes Lt. Harking’s heart race more then it had and the urge to flee now completely overwhelms his senses and overpowers his Omni-Armed Forces training. Looking around frantically he spots an alleyway with a large dumpster adjacent to the starport. Rolling over onto his hands and knees once again the lieutenant begins to crawl across the sidewalk toward the large metal dumpster and does not stop until he reaches his destination. Pulling himself to a seated position he leans against the refuse deposit allowing the cold metal to chill his spine as he buries his head between his knees and starts to cry.

“Seven Charlie One to Central.” A stern male voice says as a looming shadow embraces the lieutenant. Doing his best to hold back the tears, Lt. Harking looks up to the tall shadowy figure standing before him.
“We have a vagrant in an alley by 105 North Avenue, Liberty. It looks like he mugged some military officer and stole his uniform.” The man says speaking directly into a comm. fastened on this left shoulder.
“Seven Charlie One, this is Central. You are authorized to bring the bum in. Over.” A female voice says coming from the trooper’s shoulder comm.
“Officer, My name is Lieutenant Tom Harking with Omni-Armed Forces…” he manages to squeak out before the unhappy looking trooper interrupts him.
“Save it for the judge.” The officer says as he removes a stun baton from his utility belt. “Now…are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?” He says as a very distinct buzz of electricity fills the air.
“I’m serious. I have my ID in my pocket.” Lt. Harking says as he begins to reach for his back pocket.
“Citizen! You’re in a world of trouble!” The officer shouts as he hops forward and winds his arm back.

Lieutenant Harking can do nothing but stare up in disbelief as the buzzing stick comes sweeping in and make contact with his neck. Within a second of the contact he is laying on the ground slightly convulsing.

“Seven Charlie One to Central. Threat neutralized.”

Those were the last words Lieutenant Harking heard before everything went dark.

[trousers]

The elevator doors open up to a fairly small, but well kept office with a red secretary-droid standing in the center of the room. As Sotto steps out of the elevator car the droid turns and begins to greet its master.

"Mr. Mahoney, I am so glad you have returned. I have moved your 3:30 for tomorrow to 4:30, your 4:30 to 2:30, and your 2:30 is now at 5:30 and you will be meeting at Bacco's restaurant."
"Anything else?" Sotto replies.
"Of course, Sir. The letter that arrived for you is on your desk."

Sotto walks past the droid and stands over his desk surveying the ergonomically and clean landscape. Sitting just below the keypad of his intergraded computer system is a small envelope embossed with navy blue bowtie logo with the word Omni-Trans inlaid in it.
"This must be it," Sotto says as he picks up the envelope and breaks the living cellular seal. "Let's see what Niklas has to say..."

Sotto sits down in his reclining desk chair and begins to read.

From the office of the Chief.
Omni-Tek Transportation and Shipping Department

From: Niklas Kappel
To: Sotto Mahoney
Date: 21 January 29479
Subject: Interest to meet

Mr. Mahoney,

I hope you're enjoying your time on Omni-Prime. Here on Rubi-Ka we have been having some unique situations that I feel we could use your expertise on. I cannot go into any specifics at this time, but I would like to meet with you in person to discuss them. It is imperative that we meet in the next weeks because I have already secured your employment transfer from Omni-Administration on Omni-Prime back to Omni-Trans of Rubi-Ka. The Transfer is set for 15 February 29479.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sotto stares at the paper for a minute longer then it took for him to read it, allowing the gravity of the situation to set in.

"Is everything okay, Sir?" asks the droid who is still standing in the middle of the room.
"Yes." Sotto replies "Get me a direct line to Rubi-Ka, Omni-Trans Headquarters. I want to speak to the Chief."
"Right away, Sir." The droid says as its eyes begin to glow while the uplink to the office's computer and telecommunication systems in being established. Moments later a light embedded into the computer console turns green and a young woman's voice can be heard in the room.

"Good afternoon, thank you for calling Omni-Trans. How may I direct your call?" Sotto looks at his droid realizing it called the wrong number then says, "Niklas Kappel's Office, please."
"Just a moment." There is a few seconds of awkward silence before another woman's voice is heard.
"Niklas Kappel's Office."
"I'd like to speak with Mr. Kappel"
"I'm sorry, he’s in a meeting at the moment. Can I take a message?"
"Let him know Sotto Mahoney called."
'Oh, Mr. Mahoney. Hold on just a minute." Sotto looks down at the console as the line goes silent again.
"Mister Mahoney."
"Hello, Mr. Kappel."
"It would seem you received my letter."
"Indeed, but I have some reservations about leaving, Sir."
"Oh, and why exactly is that?"
"Well you see, I'm not finished my statistical analysis I’ve been working on, and I'm the chair of a Public Relations task force. I can't just walk away..."
"I've already taken care of all that. All you need to concern yourself with is getting here."
"I..I understand, Sir."
"Great. I look forward to seeing you when you arrive."
"Thank yo-" The comm-link turns off, catching Sotto in mid-sentence. "Well...” Sotto says with a sigh. "It looks like I’m going home..."

[trousers]

*Dream sequence*

A slick black shuttle darts through the air, the twin suns of Rubi-Ka reflect only off of the white paint on the rear fin depicting the familiar Omni-Tek Logo with the letters "OTAF" under that. Inside the shuttle are only six individuals; the pilot, four soldiers, and their commanding officer. Based upon the rank markings on the uniforms there are two privates, two corporals; one in the back and one flying the shuttle, a sergeant, and the CO is a lieutenant. All of the men are in the customary slick black armor, with the accompanying tank armor with markings that match the shuttle's tail fin.

"Two minutes 'til touchdown!" The pilot shouts over his shoulder as the shuttle begins to drop in altitude.
"Alright, boys. Get your **** and get ready to run." The CO says.
"Yes Sir, Lieutenant Harking." The sergeant says before turning around. "You heard your orders, Move!"
"Sir!" the soldiers shout in unison before they pick up their assault rifles and ammo packs.

Moments later the shuttle levels out and a rear hatch opens flooding the cargo hold of the shuttle with natural light and arid desert air. Without a word, the two privates and the corporal run down the ramp in a 'V' formation and drop to one knee after the last man's boots hit the sand. Next the sergeant walks down the ramp and stands in the middle of the formation, which now has their rifles leveled and scanning the horizon.

"All clear, Sir!" The sergeant yells over his shoulder. "The target is in sight!"

Lieutenant Hawking slowly walks down the ramp and stops just behind the sergeant.

"Where is it?" Lieutenant Harking asks even though he already knows the answer.
"412 meters South West, Sir." The sergeant says as he points off into the desert.
Lieutenant Harking pulls a pair of binoculars out of a pouch on his utility belt as the shuttle begins to lift off. Looking though his binoculars the rusty yellow landscape slowly comes into focus and zooms in on a yellow and orange building that is making a poor attempt to be camouflaged.

Lowering his binoculars Lieutenant Harking says, "lets move out."
"Lets go, Ladies! Move it!" the Sergeant yells to the other three men.
"Yes, Sir!" the three soldiers shout as they stand up and begin to approach the bunker to the South-West at a hurried walking pace.

Before long the lieutenant's squad arrives at the front door of the bunker.
"Sir!" One of the privates shout, "I found something over here."
The sergeant walks over to the corner of the building and peeks around before walking back over to the lieutenant.
"Sir, there is a gun emplacement around the corner." The sergeant says to lieutenant.
"What kind of Guns?"
"I saw three. They looked like a ballistic machine gun and two plasma cannons."
"Yeah, a Neutral bulk food storage facility in the middle of the desert with plasma cannons..."
"Your orders, Sir?"
"Breech the door. We're going in."
"Yes, Sir." The sergeant says as he turns around. "Jones!"
"Sir!" one of the privates shouts as he comes running up to the Sergeant.
"We need this door breeched, ASAP."
"Of course, Sir. I'm on it." Jones says as he jogs over to the facility door.

An engineer by trade before joining the Armed Forces, Jones is usually able to procure just about anything using a standard issue combat-engineering toolkit he was provided with after basic training. In this situation however, Jones only removes a basic breeching charge and fixes it to the door jam and attaches a remote detonator. Less than three minutes pass before Jones jogs back up to the Sergeant.

“Sir, the door is ready to be breeched.” Jones says handing the detonation remote over to his commanding officer.
“Very good.” The Sergeant replies as he raises his head to look at all three of his soldiers. “Fall in formation, we’re going in.”

Jones and the other private line up on the left hand side of the door and the Sergeant joins the Corporal on the right after handing Lieutenant Harking the control.

“Move on the mark.” Lt. Harking says.
“3.”
“2.”
“1.”
Time seems to slow down as Lt. Harking presses the remote and the momentary silence is shattered by the sound of the breeching charge exploding and the door being hurled into the bunker.

“Go go go!” The sergeant yells as the soldiers pour through the still smoking doorway into the dark bunker.

Lt. Harking pauses for a moment, taking a silver-plated Omni-Tek Officers Pistol out on his utility belt. With a flick on his thumb he turns the safety off and begins to follow his squad into the bunker.

[trousers]

"Where are the lights?" Corporal Smith asks as Lt. Harking enters the bunker.

All of the soldiers rise from their squatted positions and look at each other.

"This is the right bunker, isn't it, Sir?" Asks Jones.
"Of course it is, why else would there be Plasma Canons outside." replies the Sergeant.
"Then ... Where is everyone?" Questions Jones as he surveys the short, dark hallway.
"I'll tell you where they are." Remarks Pvt. Rodriguez. "They're in the right bunker. Unlike us."
"Mind yourself, Private." Scorns the Sergeant.
"Pfft" Pvt. Rodriguez takes a few steps backward, blindly entering an intersecting hallway. "It's not my fault the logistics of this mission got blown to hell."
"Private!"
"What? It's not like anyone.." the Private's words get drown out by the sound of automatic ballistic weapons firing from down the intersecting hallway. Nano seconds later the private is caught in a hail of metal, most of which is deflected by the heavily modified metaplast armor he is wearing, however 1 lucky round struck and cracks the visor of his helmet.

“Tangos sighted!” Private Rodriguez shouts reaching for his assault rifle that is still strapped to his back.

The other soldiers turn and draw their weapons diving against the wall preparing to sweep around the corner. The Sergeant holds up his hands with 3 fingers extended. He then shakes his fist going to 2 fingers, then to 1. Just before the sergeant drives his hand forward to signal the men to charge a giant plasma burst rushes down the hallway striking Rodriguez in the face, hollowing out his helmet. The sergeant immediately holds his fist in the air telling his men to stay put as the private's lifeless body falls backward to the ground.

"Grenade." The Sergeant says.
Private Jones unclips a hand grenade from his utility belt, pulls the pin and lobs it quickly to the Sergeant after saying, "Hot."

The sergeant catches the live grenade and in one fluent motion snaps it down the hallway, bouncing it off of the wall to avoid getting in the line of fire. Seconds later the building shakes as the grenade goes off, spewing debris and dust down the hallway.

Using the debris as cover, Pvt. Jones, Corporal Smith, and the Sergeant all dive to the ground in the intersection aiming in the direction of the hostile fire. As the dust settles, the three men can see two bodies lying is a pool on blood halfway down the hallway.

"All clear, Sir." The sergeant says, beginning to rise, followed by his men.

Lt. Harking steps over the body of his fallen private and surveys the damage down the corridor. "Proceed down the hallway. And for God's sake, be careful."

The Soldiers begin to cautiously move down the hallway attempting to avoid any more conflict if possible. As Lt. Harking follows the soldiers he notices a door adjacent to where the two enemy combatant’s bodies lie, the lock now broken with a piece of Shrapnel sticking out of it. Lt. Harking raises his gun and kicks the door open to search the room, however as the door flies open he is greeted with the muzzle of an assault rifle. Without thinking, the Lt. Discharges one round and is relieved when he did not hear, or see for that matter, his victim return fire. His relief quickly changed to fear when the barrel of the gun lowered and no longer obstructed his vision. Lt. Harking could now see his victim's eyes, small, blue eyes; smaller then those of any soldier. A second later the victim’s weapon hit the ground with the uniquely unmistakable sound of plastic hitting rock. With the sound Lt. Harking was snapped out of his momentary daze and focused on the entire face of his victim. The Victim was a boy, a young boy, about five years old.

"M...Medic!" Lt. Harking shouted as the body of the boy fell off of the table in which he was standing landing in a heap on the floor. "Medic!"

Seconds later Corporal Smith came rushing in holding a Standard-Issue Assault Force Medic's Kit. "Holy ****...” the Corporal said, seeing the large pool of blood the child's body was lying in.
"Just don't stand there!" Lt. Harking shouts. "Do something!"
"Yes, sir!" Corporal Smith replies running over to the child.

Falling to the ground beside the boy the corporal removes his helmet and gloves before tossing open his medical kit. Cpl. Smith retrieve a small sensor from his kit and sits it next to the boy after turning it on. The device beeps for a moment then displays a black bar representing the child's life-force.

"****." Corporal Smith says rolling the boy over onto this back revealing a large, almost black hole in the his chest. Pausing for a moment, Cpl. Smith reaches over and removes a Boosted-Graft of Cellular Grafting and within seconds of working is able to close the hole in the boy's chest. Dropping the graft to the floor he reaches for a boosted stim and slams it into the boy's heart in an attempt to restart his circulatory system. It quickly becomes apparent that the stim will not be enough to revive the child.
"Damnit!" Cpl. Smith shouts jumping to his feet.

Tapping his NCU and making a few gestures Smith sends a swarm of Nanobots hurling at the child in an attempt to counteract the trauma the boy has suffered. The whole room begins to glow red as Smith's hands emit a blinding glow as the Nano Technology takes full effect. Moments later the Boy's body is enveloped in the same blinding light. As the artificial nano-powered light subsides the Boy's body can once again be seen, however now the child looks as if he had never been wounded. Falling back to the ground Smith checks the Life Metering Device and notices it is still completely dark.
"**** me!" Smith says as he straddles the boy ripping the tattered shirt from his body. Putting both of his hands together into a large fist smith begins to pound on the boy's chest in an attempt to manually revive him. Smith continues the process of pounding the boys Chest then looking over at the monitor for 45 seconds that feel like hours. With a deep sigh Smith stops attempting to revive the child.
"What are you doing!?" Shouts Lt. Harking. "Don't give up now!".
"I'm sorry, Sir. There is nothing more I can do... He's gone."

Lt. Harking's eyes dilate as the gravity of the situation sinks in; he just murdered a child.

Standing and picking up his helmet with his blood soaked hands Smith asks, "You're orders, Sir?"

Lt. Harking can do nothing but stare at the Smith's hands.

"Sir? Your orders?" Smith asks now seeming slightly concerned.

Without a word, Lt. Harking drops his pistol, makes a 180-degree turn on his heels and bolts out the door.

"Sir!" Smith shouts following his out the door, but stopping once in the hallway. "Sarge! Something is wrong with the Lieutenant!"

Those were the last words Lt. Harking could remember as he burst out of the main entrance to the bunker, the twin suns blinding his eyes.

The bright light frightens Lt. Harking but he can't bring himself to move. This light however is not the same; it's white much unlike the orange light the twin suns cast.

"Is he awake?" A male voice asks.
"Hell if I know." Replies another.
Moaning slightly, Lt. Harking musters himself to say, "W-where am I?"
Both men can be heard laughing before the first replies, "You're in jail, buddy."
"Jail!" Lt. Harking says, sitting up and attempting to open his eyes but only managing to squint through the blinding light.
The second man switches off a flashlight he was shining in Lt. Harking's fact and nods his head.
Opening his eyes more widely, being able to see the two uniformed men on the other side of bared door he asks, "How long have I been in here?"
"Long enough to miss your hearing” the second man says with a chuckle as he removes an envelope from the back pocket of his pants. "You may want to have a look at this.” he says as he tosses it though the bars.
"What is it?" Lt. Harking asks as he picks it up.
"It's the tribunal’s ruling." the first man says turning to look at the second. "Let's get out of here."
"Yeah ..." replies the second as they begin to walk down the concrete corridor.

The envelope is all black and is embossed with a white seal of the Omni-Armed Forces Judiciary branch. Breaking the living cell seal on the envelope Lt. Harking begins to read the letter.

You were formally charged with abandonment of your squad on a military campaign. Your legal council could not explain your failure to attend the hearing so the tribunal has passed judgment in your case without your presence.

By the power vested in this tribunal by the Omni-Tek Armed Forces in loyal service of the Corporation you are hereby found guilty of the charge of Squad Abandonment during an active Campaign. The following actions have been unanimously agreed upon and are effective immediately.

· Demotion to the rank of Private.
· Dishonorable discharge from the service of the Armed-Forces.

Your failure to appear before the tribunal waived your right to appeal the decision. You are ordered to attend an Omni-InternOps career counseling session within three (3) days for reassignment. Failure to show will result in further discipline including fines and jail time up to and including Termination of employment with the Omni-Tek Corporation.

This is the will of the Corporation.

Before Former Lt. Harking could even comprehend what took place in his absence from reality the jail doors opened up and a different man stood in the opening in the cell.

"Get up." Ordered the man.
Standing slowly Harking asks the man, "What's going on?"
"You're free to go. So move." The man says pointing down the dark corridor.

Harking steps out and is hurried down the hallway and through a large set of what appears to be blast doors, which lead to a small reception area.

"The door is right now." The man says pointing. "I suggest you leave now."

Without a word Harking opens the door and steps out onto the dark streets of what appears to be an industrial district. Completely lost and very disoriented he begins to walk down the narrow road in search of InternOps office.

[trousers]

Sound of ocean waves lapping up against a solid object

It’s been almost a year and half now that I’ve been back on Rubi-Ka and so much has changed…

Sound of jack boots meeting cold concrete

I didn’t deserve a second chance. They should have killed me, that would have made everything so much easier…

A dark silhouette appears a short distance off surrounded by the shimmering of the moonlight in the ocean and a single bright star over its left shoulder

Him. That rat bastard of a man gave me a second chance…

A loud, deep bellow can be heard off in the distance, emanating from the star. Its sound causing the ocean water to part in front of it as it lumbers toward the pier with ever increasing decibels. As the sound passes and the gravel on the ground stops dancing the silence is broken by a man’s voice.

"All right. Showtime!"

Two bright blue emergency beacons that begin to twirl, piercing the darkness. The blue light does will to draw detail on the dozens of objects standing about, all clad in black. Detail however is something the leader of the operation enjoys, so within a few moments floodlights flash to life painting the entire dock in a bath of white light.

At the end of a short pier stands Sotto Mahoney with his robotic Bodyguard. A short stance back Omni-Trans’ acting security director Tom Harking is standing at attention with two Special Forces ops behind him. The entire surrounding area is cluttered with Omni-Trans personnel and automatons.

Turning around Sotto yells, "Landing Crew! Prepare the runway!"

Looking over his shoulder the bright star is now six bright stars all in a tight cluster and growing bigger by the second. As Sotto walks off the pier and toward Tom Harking a series of lights spring to life out in the ocean in pairs, roughly 30 meters apart and trailing off into the sea forming a giant amphibious landing strip.

"Thanks for coming out here, Tom. I really appreciate it."

"It’s no problem, Sir."

"How is everything looking?"

"Well, so far so …"

"…Sir!” a younger officer yells as he comes running up to the two men.

“What is it?” Tom inquires.

“Hostiles, Sir. Due West and inbound”

“What’s the ETA?”

“Uh .. Two minutes, Sir. They completely ambushed us.”

“Alright, get back to your post.” Tom says to the officer as he looks over his shoulder, “You two, come with me.”

“Yes, Sir.” The two Special Forces ops say in unison

The three soldiers begin to hustle west as the sky begins to light up bright yellow with the large muzzle flashes of Anti-Aircraft cannons.

“What’s going on, Sir?” One of the close by dockhands asks Sotto

“It’s nothing. Get back to work.” He replies.

Sotto’s comm. Blinks to life and Tom’s voice can be heard screaming out

“Sir! It’s those damn bugs!”

*BOOM*

The night sky lights up like noon as a massive cannon launches a shell into the air

“There’s a ton of them! I don’t see any landing craft!”

Just then a swarm of alien fighters scream overhead going due East, directly at the stars that now are connected together by a hulking hull of a leviathan-class deep space transport.

“Frell, they’re going for the ship!”

The gunfire ceases as the aliens cross over into the unarmed East Harbor.

“I told you to put guns on the Eastern Sea Wall, Why don’t you listen me!”

Sotto’s comm goes quite as he pushes a small button and watches the fighters close on the freighter.

“Docking Crew! To your stations!” Sotto yells, doing his best to remain calm.

“Are you serious?” one of the dockhands asks, “There’re frigging aliens up there!”

“Do as your told.” One of the senior dockhands replies, “Mr. Mahoney has been at this a lot longer then you or I, so I suggest you have some faith in him.”

Faith is the only thing Sotto had as the alien fighters began to open fire on the cargo ship.

“Sir!” A voice yells out of a window of a building behind Sotto, “It’s the OTS Allendorf, She’s hailing us and reporting Hull damage and has lost two of her engines!”

Just as the dread of having to fill out the stack of Asset Loss forms the alien swarm breaks free of the Allendorf and reforms into a tighterformation and begins to fly West, directly at the docks.

“They’re coming this way.” One of the dockhands says, “Why are they coming this way?”

Just then a deafening roar can be heard and a hail of ballistic weapons fire comes flying out from above the docks

“What the freel was that?” someone yells.

“Someone get a light up.” Sotto orders as he looks up into the dark night sky.

As floodlights redirect from the dock into the sky they paint a large grey object hovering high above the dock

As Sotto inspect the ship Tom Harking and his men come running back up.

“Beautiful!” Tom shouts, “Just Beautiful.”

“What is it?”

“That, Sir, is an Omni-Armed Forces Lance Cruiser.”

Another hail of weapons fire rips into the night sky causing several of the alien fighters to spin out and crash into the sea.

“I see.”

“Damn good timing too. I never expected this, that’s for sure.”

Realizing they are out gunned the remaining alien fighters pull up and flee to orbit as fast as they have arrived.

“Sir!” The voice from the building window yells again, “It’s the Allendorf! The Armed Forces ship hit her! She’s coming in fast and can’t decrease speed! She’s going to crash!

“Well. ****.” Sotto says, turning to the Docking team, “You all might want to back up.”

The Allendoft’s entire rear section is now engulfed in flames and in an attempt to control further damage has jettisoned its engine manifolds into the ocean.

“Call Omni-Med!” Sotto yells to the man in the window, “Tell them we need a large-scale medevac! Then call HQ, tell them we need as many shuttles as they can spare!”

“Looks like we’re cleaning up a mess…” Tom says

“Yeah… make sure your men oversee the medical evacuations. I want to minimize casualties.”

“Yes, Sir.” Tom says as he hustles off with his men.

Sotto looks out into the ocean as the Allendorf collides with the water sending a spray of mist into the air.

“Loading Crew! To your posts!” Sotto yells as he begins to walk toward the crash site.

[trousers]

“And that concludes how to perform the continuous reconditioning of a patient’s cellular structure.” A female voice says rising out of the center of a bowl shaped auditorium. “You are all free to return to your rounds.”

With the dismissal a sea of lab and medical coats come pouring out of the two entrances of the Prestin Medical Auditorium on the 20th floor of the Omni-Med Hospital in Rome Green.

“That was some presentation, Eh Dok?” One man says to another on their way down the hallway.

“It sure was.” The other replies, “For as much as I have studied and have done, this stuff the higher up researches keep coming up with is amazing.”

“You’re telling me! I mean…” The other man chuckles, “What’s next? Immortality?”

Both men slow their walking pace as they enjoy a hearty laugh before the Hospital’s public announcement system turns on.

“Paging Doctor Mahoney to the helipad, please. Doctor Mahoney to the helipad.”

“Hmm…” The one doctor looks at the ceiling and rubs his chin. “Looks like I have to go…”

“Alright, take care Dokkon!” the other man says as he walks away leaving Dokkon to exit into a nearby stairwell.

Bursting out of the rooftop door Dokkon is met by a site he wasn’t expecting. Standing beside several smaller airships was a small cluster of doctors who didn’t seem to be in the “Trauma Mode” that an inbound shuttle would put them in.

“Dok!” A familiar voice rings out as a young solitus woman comes running up to him in an Omni-Med Skirt and blouse. “Dok, you need to come over here.” She says as she begins to drag him across the rooftop

“What is it, Alannah” he asks looking down at doctor Alannah “Kealy” Burke.

“It’s your Brother and my Sis, they’re in trouble.”

“What! What happened?” Dokkon asks although he doesn’t have time to get an answer before he reaches the crowd which has the hospitals Chief of Nanosurgery, Peter Spenser at the head.

“Oh good, Mahoney was able to join us.” Spencer says, “So lets begin. There has been situation at The Reck. Apparently from what we have been told a large cargo vessel was struck and downed by aliens. The majority of the 73 crewmembers are suspected to be dead or in critical condition following the ships crash landing. In addition to the ship, several dockhands were injured. Omni-Trans forces have done their best to triage for us, but they don’t know what they’re doing.”

Dokkon and Alannah look at each other as Spencer continues.

“As such, we’re deploying five of you in ramjets to reach the site in quick them. The rest of you will be deploying on the larger shuttles. The first responder’s priority is to properly triage and begin to provide emergency care to those in critical condition. The less wounded can suffer until the bulk of the staff get on the scene. Any question? Good. Athill, Burke, Gaston, Mahoney and Williams you are the first responders. Move out now. The rest of you come with me.”

As Spencer beings to walk the mass of other doctors and nurses follow in step like a giant shadow leaving the other five doctors standing with just aviation technicians.

“Well, let’s not waste any time.” Williams says, turning to approach one of the jets.

“Right.” Alannah says as she walks toward one of the jets followed by Dokkon.

As the doctors strap themselves in one of the aviation technicians begins to holler some instructions that them, “The Jets are pre-programmed with your destination! They will take care of takeoff, navigation and landing! Don’t touch anything! Your flight will only take ten minutes at your speed, but the others won’t be there thirty to forty tops! Now get out of here!”

Moments latter the jets cockpits hiss shut and the boosters engage throwing the doctors off of the roof of the Medical Center and into the air heading South.