This is potentially the first part of many, if anyone cares I will continue it, there is a fair chance I'll continue it anyway.
------------
The scout froze.
He slowly signaled with his left hand, enemy, two of them, hundred meters in front.
The Commander replied in the silent hand signals for the other two sub machine gunners to take them out. The team was dressed in camouflage uniforms, no electronic systems that could betray them to the target and activate the rapid response unit. The weapons were varied, of the eight man team there was one silenced sniper rifle in the hands of the scout, three silenced submachine guns, a light support weapon and three assault rifles.
Through the dark rainy jungle a brief burst of metallic hisses drifted on the damp wind. Following behind them came the two soldiers, dark formless shapes. The commander passed the order to continue and the scout moved on again.
They weren't following any path, the thick jungle that made it almost impossible to see the posed little obstruction. They had been training for weeks in similar terrain and had mono lattice blades to cut through anything they couldn't bypass.
Ahead the jungle stopped, the ground beyond lit by powerful spotlights. The compound was believed to be completely secure. Any would be attacker would have to get onto the planet for a start. And then the automated security systems would be able to detect any armed intruders tens of miles away.
The command went out to the scout, a slightly louder hiss came out of the dark jungle as the final sentry's fatal smoking habit was stopped permanently. The team raced across to the wall, the ropes went over the edge and almost before they had been tested the team was racing up and over the wall.
The time for silence and stealth was almost over. The team hit the ground hard and formed up on the internal side of the massive wall. The compound was made of a light white stone, smoothly cut and finished. The team's uniforms stuck out badly against the dark floor.
The commander gave the whispered order, the first time he had spoken since the drop ship had landed them four hours before. The support gunner and Phil with his submachine gun raced to the support position, guarding the way out. The remaining six men broke up into pairs, each dashing in a half crouch towards their objectives using their mental maps from the innumerable briefing and dummy runs. The commander and the scout went for the coms center, the other two teams for the compound's security center and barracks.
The outer doors were simple things, locked electronically, but not even connected to the security grid. A brief rifle but to the control box opened them, racing through the deserted compound corridors the team members still made almost no sound, the soft rubber soled boots and padding runs that had taken years to perfect eliminating almost all vibrations.
Outside the coms center the commander stopped, the door was shut. All going to plan, the commander raised three fingers to the scout, two fingers, one finger. When the last finger went down the scout planted one rubber soled boot on the door, smashing it open, ending the silent phase of the attack. The commander swung round the corner of the door, there was the regulation two men on duty, then there wasn't, the subsonic bullets ripping them apart. The two soldiers then entered the room and planted their charges. From across the compound came the first cracks of supersonic rifle fire, the security center silenced by the second two man team. The charges planted the two man section raced off to it's secondary target, the biotech labs themselves.
No alarms sounded, the security center now populated only with gore and corpses, courtesy of the last burst of fire. But more fire followed as personnel woke up and made for the armory. They died swiftly, the barracks team secure in it's ambush position. Small thumps rattled the building as the charges and grenades exploded, gutting the coms and security Center. The labs stood well lit in front of the commander. This was not to plan, at this time of night the place should have been deserted, no matter, it had been taken into account.
The two attackers repeated the scene form the coms center, this time bursting into the labs to find two people huddled in the corner hands clasped over their heads, clad in the traditional lab coat. The commander calmly blew them apart with his sub machine gun, no survivors.
The ranks of smooth steel vats edged the massive room. The obscenities inside thankfully hidden to the eyes of the commando team. The computer banks sitting in the center of the room, whirring quietly as the cooling fans spun. On one compound there was a diagram of a human heart, slightly odd however, over the surface of the heart here was a muscle coating, able to contract around it to seal punctures, and the statistics by the side showed an five fold increase in flow rate.
The commander was uninterested in all of this, the mission was not yet finished. The large kiloton range nuclear charge was planted next to the computer. The timer set for ten minutes and the tamper setting activated. The scout stood by the door watching the corridor for threats, the commander ran up next to him, grinning. The scout matched his grin, white teeth contrasting with the black, green and brown face paint.
The two men raced back to the exit point, weapons searching for targets in the connecting corridors, finding none. Through the night air the odd burst of automatic fire cracked out. As they neared the compound wall the commander took out his matte black whistle and gave a long burst. Thirty seconds later the team was back at the wall. No casualties, the grins were uniform. As the team made it's way back into the jungle they didn't waste their time trying to limit their signatures, the entire area would be cleansed in seven minutes thirty seconds.
As they got back to the drop ship they felt a brief burst of heat and the dark jungle flashed bright white. A second later the sound and shock wave hit, staggering the tiny ship as it blasted it's own way into the sky.
On the planet's surface the funeral pyre burned, hissing water droplets landing on he red hot glassy crater. The mission had been a complete success, the abomination of the genetic labs had been removed. The soulless researchers sent to see the god they scorned, none of the empire's team had been hit.
The commander looked at his team and announced the ritual cry in a loud roar of mixed anger and joy.
"God's work"
The drop ship reached the stealthed light cruiser, and made it's silent way out of the Federation system, the latest war of the empire had begun, even though the other side hadn't been informed.
(This message has been edited by EVula (edited 08-12-2002).)
