Operation Barricade
Written by J.M.Cutliffe
It had been a year since the war was declared. A battling struggle that raged as a galloping maelstrom across land and sea. The Intelligence, at the forefront of the Northwest Region, did everything in their power to fight the beckoning tyranny of System-One. Yet, despite their efforts, they were losing.
The construction of the Sea-Barriers became a hurdle that no rebellion could cross, but with the rise of solar winds, it allowed Pentecost, the hub of global rebellion, to spread a message to its pillars. A word came to the rebellion of The Intelligence: a device called a “bug”.
---
DATE: May 29th, 36 U
LOCATION: The Brig, The Deep Creek, Artlin Ocean, N.W. Region.
Rain splashed against the windowpanes, casting a gloomy blue hue into the Bridge of the Brig. The deluge danced and swirled as a concert of a pattering song. A constant and heavy rumble churned the metal and masts of the oil rig that stood far from shore, amid the Deep Creek of the Artlin Ocean.
‘We’re calling it “Operation Barricade”,’ Commander Beckett said.
Sergeant Tristan Gravell ran his hand through his short beard. He crossed his arms, and his brow furrowed into a displeased and nervous frown. He was a man nearing forty. He had a long and hard life battling the forces of System-One, especially in the weeks leading up to the Slaughter of 79. That moment changed the world just over fifteen years back. Since then, the Intelligence had risen into a force, powered by the mechanisms of Pentecost, to wage war against System-One in the Northwest Region of the globe.
‘We want you, Sergeant, to take a team of twenty agents to infiltrate and plant a “bug” in the Sea-Barrier Gatehouse here…’ Commander Beckett pointed at a holographic display. It shimmered with an electrified yellow light, flickering along the thundering storm that battled outside. The metal of the brig creaked and groaned against the whistle of the wind, and it made them sway a touch as the waves rose and fell.
‘This Gatehouse is on the border of the North-West and Middle-North Regions,’ Beckett continued.
The holographic display highlighted the Sea-Barrier, a large barricade standing within the sea. It was an immovable castle-like wall, made of a glossy dark grey rock. It stretched across the ocean with powerful battlements of tall blocky towers, which dotted the line of the thick wall with a precise and pinpointed intercession. Upon the top of the towers were large anti-aircraft turrets, tall and slender, glowing orange in the holographic display. The display shifted like sand dancing through a current of air, and the Gatehouse came into view. Two large blocks that stood higher and wider than the walls, with an arch breaking the wall, allowing a passage through. Between them, under the arch, was a towering portcullis that could block any ships that wished to pass. These Gatehouses stood like skyscrapers next to the already massive cargo ships that passed through their waters every hour.
The walls began construction shortly after the Slaughter of 79, and they quickly became a hindrance, and a painful one. When they finished construction in 29 U, it prevented Pentecost from passing its support and resources to the various regions, cutting off the other Rebellions from the help they needed. Many attempts have been made to counteract these barriers that stretched from ocean to ocean, but they never came to land, and only intersected with each other, marking the borders between one Region and the next. The speed and effectiveness of their construction were a testament to System-One’s ability to reshape the globe as it saw fit, for it only took a few decades before most of mankind was under its sway.
Tristan sighed, he massaged the back of his head, leaned on the holographic table, and his eyes took in the display as the sandy hologram shifted to highlight one of the towers.
‘This mission will require you to infiltrate the southmost tower and plant the bug in the server room located here,’ Commander Beckett said as he pointed at a highlighted room just underneath the main floor. ‘Our agents uncovered these schematics a few months back. The anti-aircraft cannons are effective… too effective. This means Pentecost, and ourselves, are unable to cross regional borders without certain obliteration. As you have probably heard.’
‘Aye,’ Tristan said. ‘I have heard much about these cannons. Quick, fast… flatlined before you even had a chance to process what occurred.’
‘Which is why we must strike now,’ Beckett stated as he leaned forward. ‘The recent increase in solar winds has disrupted their targeting systems. Many of our copters have managed to pass over the barriers without issue during these winds, but the winds won’t last forever. This is the perfect time to strike these barriers and plant that bug.’
This is a dangerous game we are playing, Tristan thought. And sure enough, it was. The war against System-One was an ongoing struggle, a constant tug and pull from either end of the frontlines, and it always ended badly for the rebellions. ‘What will this bug do, exactly?’
‘It will help our Yellow Cloak Devices,’ Victoria said. She stepped out of the shadow of the Bridge’s gloomy corner. Clothed in a suit and tie, her chin held high, her dark brown hair was sleek and tied into a ponytail. She had a pointed face, beautiful, yet firm and sinister. She was the head of The Intelligence, titled “The Mistress”. A formal name she chose upon ascending to The Intelligence’s head of command. Her real name was Victoria, but only a few in the higher ranks knew her by name; to others, her title was all they needed.
‘Mistress.’ Beckett tipped his head towards her in acknowledgement.
‘I need you for this mission, Sergeant,’ Victoria said as she clasped her hands together. ‘This bug will allow us to connect our Yellow Cloak Devices to the System’s database.’
‘And the solar winds will cover us,’ Beckett added. ‘For a brief time that we have, that is.’
Tristan scrunched his brow, ‘Won’t the System know we hacked into its servers? Won’t it just change its code and prevent us from gathering this data?’
‘That is why we call it a bug,’ Victoria said. ‘It was invented by Agent Aubin. Do you know of him, Sergeant? As I have had word on good authority that the System will not detect this “bug” of his.’
‘Aye… I heard of the man, but he’s one of Talon’s lot, no?’
‘One of his little gang, yes.’ Victoria put a small device onto the holographic table, disrupting the hologram and causing it to flicker and distort. It was a small black rectangle. ‘Made from the same technology found in the System’s Integration Keys. This “bug” will cloak our methods. It just needs to be implanted into the servers once, and then we’re in.’
‘Specifically... it hides in the data,’ Beckett crossed his arms.
‘The System will constantly change its code, it will hunt down our bug… but it will evade it,’ Victoria said. ‘It will always scamper away when the System’s eye gets too close, yet it will always be there, giving us what we need to pass over the barricades without… any hindrance.’ She spoke softly and slowly. ‘It just needs a few minutes to connect, and we are in.’
‘Like a spider…’ Tristan muttered. ‘Always there, yet hidden in the cracks of the data pool, carving a web of its own… genius.’
Tristan took the device and put it into the pocket of his thick coat.
‘You can choose a party of your choice,’ Beckett explained. ‘Twenty men, no more. You will take a copter from Bay 2, piloted by Agent Graves, and you will travel towards the Sea Barrier. There will be a ship, captained by Agent Hardstone, waiting for you. You must approach the barrier by the water, and the copter must be kept in the clouds, out of sight. You will be shot down before you can reach the landing if you approach it by air, as whilst the targeting systems are down, allowing us to get close, the officers can still use their sight. So, you must leave immediately, the storm is set to last until tomorrow, so you have until dawn to finish this mission.’
‘This will allow us to reinstate trade with Pentecost,’ Victoria said as she turned to Tristan with a sharp eye. ‘And… let us not forget, it will allow us to send expeditions into the Slums.’
Tristan delved deep into thought. I know this “bug” is important, but if one aspect of this job fails, my men and I will be dead in a matter of moments.
He said aloud, ‘This is a suicide mission.’
‘Do your job, Sergeant,’ Beckett said. ‘You’re one of the best of our men. You trained for a mission like this.’
He was right. Tristan was in the Slaughter. He led a party of one hundred soldiers over the borders of Lexacada and helped free the province, if only for a brief time, from System-One. He lost many on that crusade, but Tristan was successful in one thing. He built a rally cry against System-One, and he brought back more men than he went with. Almost doubled his number, freeing men and women, including some children. During that heist, he infiltrated several facilities and gathered technology that Pentecost was jealous over.
Tristan said, ‘Why are you not bringing Talon in on this? Shouldn’t he lead this mission?’
‘Why do you bring that miscreant into this?’ Victoria snarled.
‘His team infiltrated Bunker 27. He has better skills than I.’
‘His team is on a mission elsewhere. I have ordered him to take his party east, to the Slums. And to do so, they need that bug… to be implanted into the Sea-Barrier.’
Tristan nodded, I am a fool for considering this job, but they are right. If we are successful at this, it will reopen doors across the planet. ‘Aight, I’ll gather my people. Consider this job done.’
——
Read the full story for FREE on the SYSTEM-ONE website!
Cover Art Credits:
Image made in blender by me using free and self made assets.
Tristan Gravell is tasked of planting a "bug" in a "Sea Barrier", a large barricade that separates the seas. Gravell appoints several men an
