[h2]Operation: Master Key – Walk Light, Bite Hard.[/h2]

“Helios 4 inbound for scheduled transfer…command how do you copy?” The short resolute man called over his radio piloting the stolen Dominion spacecraft, he had been in numerous covert operations requiring him to remain confident, and unyielding in his approach from transmitting his intentions to those he had to convince of his legitimacy. 

“Helios 4, this is command, we do not have a scheduled transfer in our logs, what is your identification and mission over?” The space command from the high security prison responded with what sounded to be like more curiosity than suspicion. Although, even if there was a bit of suspicion, the OPAO intelligence had done its extensive deep dive into the fabric what information was needed to be communicated for passing the Dominion’s security check pitfalls. 

“Command sending over our transfer code now, our mission is of the upmost confidentiality and has been delegated to us directly by Octo Smith and his higher command.” The transfer code was pulled off a Dominion vessel after the OPAO ambushed their ship, it was then hacked and restructured by the OPAO intelligence and technology communities within their government to reflect a high priority transfer of Strategic Officer Magnus Evander. 

“Received and preparing gates for your arrival, Commanding Officer Jones will be greeting you at the front door, smooth sailing.” The transmission and feedback ended with a gate and arrival code sent to the OPAO covert team’s ship. The pilot clicked on his intercom, “Alright ladies and gents, we are inbound t-minus 59 seconds, updating gate coordinates into your HUDS, the CO is named Jones, he will be picking you up at the gate. We will sit tight unless Plan B is called, good luck, walk light bite hard. “ This was the Bloodhound tagline, “walk light, bite hard.” They were the OPAO’s most diligent, honest, and professional soldiers developed for these sorts of missions. Their reputation would need to be accurate, as the next several hours would determine the momentum of an inevitable war.

Major Baesili scanned her environment revealing professional men and women performing last weapons checks. She had 59 seconds to deliver her brief, more than enough, “Bloodhounds focus up!” Baesili snatched the atmosphere into her lungs demanding attention from her squad, “Donovan remember you take point playing as our CO.” Baesili paused as Donovan confirmed with a thumbs up, “Tyson, you are following Donovan as his second, Claire you are taking rear with me, with Miranda at middle formation as medic.” Baesili knew her team well, what she was designating in her brief was not information they needed to be reminded of, but to give them that moment to switch gears. It was more about the energy Baesili was creating in the space than the words she was delivering. Baesili finished, “we’ve played this out more than one thousand times in our simulations, we know what to do at every level of this operation, if we are who we saw we are, then there will be no need to fire a round.” The team uniformly without hesitation signaled their acknowledgement, “walk light bite hard.”

The pilot had docked smoothly and the cargo doors opened up displaying a long corridor. Donovan lifted himself up from the seat dressed in a Dominion uniform. His face was solid, strong chin, dark brown hair with deep blue eyes. His mind quiet as he stepped off the ship with the rest of his team following. Major Baesili took rear ensuring the security and safety of each team member, like a mother bird keeping count of her flock at each turn. 

The team approached a uniform line of Dominion soldiers standing firmly in their position. The CO stepped forward, “Welcome, my name is Tobias Jones, I am the commanding officer of this facility, I have three men assigned to escort you to the Iso-Unit 227, are there any questions?” The CO scanned the Bloodhounds intensely, he wasn’t sure why he was not included on this high priority transfer, but the questioning came more from doubt in the Dominion’s internal strength. The Dominion had been suffering organizationally for quite sometime, most of those who were in leadership positions understood this which gave rise to paranoia, this paranoia did not escape their fearless leader Octo Smith either, which gave the CO an impression that Octo Smith may be transferring this specific prisoner because of the recent declaration of war between them and the Saxony. Yet where it made sense, it also did not make sense, maybe he’d act with trust and let this team fulfill their objective, or maybe he’d question his authorities and confirm if this team was in fact sanctioned to do this transfer.

Donovan split the inward introspection of the CO by reaching into his uniform and pulling out forged papers to reinforce the Bloodhounds legitimacy. The CO clutched the papers pulling back toward him and scanning quickly, “I see.” The CO waived his hand up as his Dominion comrades stepped aside to let the Bloodhounds stroll through with three Dominion soldiers taking lead. 

Twenty some stories down and a labyrinth of halls and doors later, the team approached another strong security check-point. Baesili thought to herself, if this goes south, we have no choice but to blow the can, we are locked in here. It was clear to her that even in their simulations they did not have all the security check points fleshed out, not to mention there were some extra halls the intelligence team did not account for. 

The young Dominion soldier turned to a one-way window, “Open Iso 227.” There was no response but the door engaged in a process of unlocking. The young soldier moved to pull the door open revealing a deep dark interior. With only light slicing in from the doorway, a thick bearded man knelt chained to the center of the room bound by his wrists. The slack in the chains afforded no movement with tension unless he was to prone out. The young soldier and Donovan stepped in, the soldier called out, “Bring in the Gauntlets!” 

Two other soldiers came through the open door with large circular device. On the device were four thick wide cuffs that were pulled to expand titanium chained links, the cuffs were attached to the knelt man on his forearms after the removal of his current chains. The prisoner was then raised to his feet with the second pair of cuffs expanded to his ankles for snapping on ankle cuffs.  Donovan witnessing the process saw a fatigued, yet surprisingly built man with a circular device in the center of chains, which formed the design of an “X”. The prisoner could only shuffle before tension stopped his advance. The soldiers were trained to pick up underneath the shoulders on both sides to support the prisoner’s weight for a quicker move. 

The young soldier ordered the escorts, “Let’s move to the service elevator and get your team topside.”

[h2]Denizen: F***[/h2]

Lilith opened the envelope after Gordon left her presence, she read it through and with her doubts to this offer she wanted to decline. However, she knew her reputation would be damaged if she did. Not to mention the target that’d be placed over her head by defying the motivations of Gordon and Dizzy. Instead she contemplated how she might turn this deal in her favor.  Before finishing her thoughts as time seemingly passed swiftly into the day a call rang from the manager’s office of her club. Unusual, she picked up, “Boss, we got a problem.” Lilith annoyed at her incompetent employee who did not follow it up with any further details was interrupted before she could respond. The door to her office opened up with an officer and Neema Valshek. 

Lilith put down the phone, “Fuck.”

Neema approached the officer, “We are clear, wait outside and let me know if we have any issues.” The officer stepped out, closed the door, and Neema walked over to the table of Lilith. Lilith locked eyes with Neema, “and what do I owe the pleasure for relegated appearance?” Neema smirked as Lilith had that similar bite of attitude as Neema did when approaching authority in her life. 

Neema sat down pervading confidence and elegance in her poise, “You know sweetheart.” Lilith thought, did she just minimize me to a sweetheart? Before Lilith responded as this whole unfolding of events was quite surprising Neema continued,  “I have been following Gordon for quite sometime, your connection to the espionage albeit was a process of bureaucratic confirmations, it was none the less confirmed. You will be afforded two options today, perform the heist and work with us in capturing Gordon and Dizzy…or…the officer outside along with the teams I have surrounding this place will bring you in, you will be charged as a terrorist, not a criminal under lord of garbage accounts on Dadaelous.” Neema slid one leg over the other and leaned back.

Lilith was being extorted, she really had no options only one, and if even the smell of Neema drifted into the noses of Gordon and Dizzy, Lilith would be silenced without the flash ever being seen. Although this was the fact of the situation, she had no choice, “Ok, what is your plan?” Neema did not disclose much, simply that Lilith would accept the opportunity provided by Gordon and Dizzy, the OPAO would implant her with a tracking device underneath the skin, and the OPAO would facilitate the heist’s success while also aiding in maneuvering Lilith to increase her chance of identifying Dizzy’s location. 

In theory if it worked, Lilith and Neema would have crushed the head and arms of the Martinet, if they failed, the Martinet would live, use this, as propaganda for recruitment in their respective circles and Lilith would be dead. 

[h2]Distress: Prep and Go[/h2]

The sound of equipment being strapped into place aboard a recon vessel echoed in the bay of a large OPAO fleet carrier. A crewman tugged tightly to make sure the straps would hold, “I got one more piece to throw on, let the team know we will be ready to depart in 30 minutes.” Another crewman was prepping radios and communications on deck, she tapped one of the dials rolling it to their designated frequency, “This is Lighthouse to Wave team 1, do you copy?” Wave team one was a recon team equipped with some real bright minds. Not only were they capable in aviation exploration but also high-speed space combat scenarios. They were used for exactly what they were named for, to go out far into the deep black space ocean and wave back with insightful information. 

The response returned to the crewman, “this is Brady, CO of Wave team 1, we are finishing last checks, heading to you shortly for brief and departure.” Their mission was delivered by Prime General Octavia herself, they were to fly out and observe an identified location where a cryptic message was transmitted from. Observe, that was their only instruction.