Three figures were running on the dark corridors of Schatten Research Facility. The local datacore of the research department was close, though the security was tight since the mysterious disappearance of Colonel Hartmann. The three had thought of everything. Their men took the security room, so surveillance didn't cause any headaches and they already passed two security posts, that makes only one more to go. They only had sidearms, which were on stun mode, however there were no need using them as circumventing the last security checkpoints were easy like they were born to do that.
*Two more corridors. Security check. Surveillance no problem. Data server. Fast.*
And they arrived. There were at least 7 soldiers in full equipment and an officer in black uniform, wearing the insignia of the notorious 14th Schwarze Division. They immediately knew the 14th meant trouble. Even though one of them had access to the data server, it was unlikely the officer would've let them pass without asking hundreds of question and time worked against them.
*Sidearm. Stun. 3 on the right*
None of them said a word, yet they took down the whole security in a blink of an eye so precisely as they were planning it for years. The station still wasn't on alert, which meant their other team hadn't been compromised, though the presence of the Rheinwehr's most elite division made them hurry. One of the trio took off his facemask, revealing his blonde hair and cyan eyes. He went to the door console while the other two covered him. Not for nothing as a patrol passed by, looking for their comrades who hadn't checked in. They were stunned in no time as well. In the meantime, the blonde one opened the door to the datacore.
*Console R-4. Information on Project-X, Dr. Wilhelm Fuchs. Must be wiped out.*
The trio entered a room full of data racks. It was not a huge data center, physically at least. Still not saying a word, all of them went to different consoles and started removing data about a certain project. The blonde one went to the console designated R-4 and typed the search words 'Project-X' and 'Dr. Wilhelm Fuchs'. The computer displayed the results of the search in a minute. There were a lot of files about the members, logs, descriptions, analyzes. Several of them were marked as critical, including every information about something called 'Mark VI', 'Serum-I' and a few video feeds.
*Must be left behind.*
He opened the folder containing the video feeds and played them one by one.
Security footage 43-56-76 - Dock D - Surveillance Camera 03
A Behemoth class frigate arrives to Dock D on Schatten with it's escort. It's clearly can be seen that three men leaves the freighter, one of them is a well built man, blonde, age around 34, wearing a white coat, clearly a scientist. The three men are heading to the security desk with calm but firm steps. It can't be heard but two of them are having a conversation.
The three men arrives to the security desk. From above, one can determine the big blonde one is a high ranked scientist, standing by an also high ranked individual, probably a head of the department. The third one is a common soldier, certainly part of the security, escorting the officers. Two security guards standing behind the desk, operating the security doors and dealing with the human traffic between the docking bay and the station.
Guard 1: Guten Tag, your ID cards please.
The two officers put their cards on the table
Blonde scientist: I'm telling you Hartmann, we're close! Like really close! You just can't see the big picture. Give us more time.
Officer: You had enough time, Fuchs. Two days and your project is to be closed. Period.
Guard 1: Colonel Wilhelm Hartmann, Dr. Wilhelm Fuchs, welcome to Schatten! Here are your security cards. Have a nice day.
Hartmann: Danke.
Hartmann: ... Listen to me, and listen good. Hundreds of millions were spent on your project and all we got are cold, blue corpses I definitely don't wish to study up close. Those well dressed gentlemen in the head want to see results. You have to understand, this project is a dead end.
Fuchs: Dead end? Are you blind? Can't you see the opportunities in this? We are about to create something more than human, imagine that! The next step of human evolution, our weapon, our only chance.
Hartmann: We achieved serious results with nomad technology indeed. Shields, blasters, sensors, every kind of equipment. But your "superhuman" project leads us to nowhere. You're fanatic, doctor. The day after tomorrow, we'll close your project and reallocate your resources elsewhere, before it goes out of your hand.
Fuchs: For 14 years I've been working on making human and nomad DNA compatible. I understand the risks, but this is an opportunity we can't let go! You saw what we've achieved. Human bodies immune to radiation, intact and functional in space with a minimalistic environmental suit! You can drop such achievement to the garbage just like that! ... Listen, I have a good team. The best xenobiologists in Rheinland work for us and we can't turn back now. Give us a month!
Hartmann: *sighs* Two days, end of story, doctor.
Fuchs: Bahhhh...
Fuchs: Personal log, Dr. Wilhelm Fuchs, Schatten Research Facility, Frankfurt. *slight pause* They never understood us. I got the best scientists and minds around me Rheinland... Sirius could offer, yet they look down on us. They don't understand the importance of our project. I wish they could see what I've seen.
All my life, I believed the human race was about to reach a milestone in it's evolution. When we left the Sol system, we became more than a planetary race. We were no longer bound to one place in the universe, using technology, we managed to travel far beyond than our ancestors could've imagined. But was it enough? Will technology always grant us the edge against everything we could face in the future?
The Nomad War was a good lesson for all of us, yet only a few could understand it's importance. They deceived and manipulated most of us. We had technology, we had the best fleet Sirius could offer, we thought we were ready for anything, and how wrong we were... When the Schatten was lost, I was already on Bruchsal with five of my colleagues. Unlike the others, I didn't see that event as the end of our race, but an opportunity to evolve and adapt. Since then, we were working on strengthening the human body with Nomad tissues. As brutal as it sounds, we had some positive results and...
*knock knock knock*
Woman voice from the other side: Wilhelm. It's me, Melissa.
Fuchs: Pause.
Wilhelm and Melissa are walking towards the corner, where the camera is placed. The talking between the two is quiet because of the distance, but can be heard.
Fuchs: We woke him up from induced coma. Remember Serum-I?
Melissa: Yes, I read the files. That supposed to block neural communication between nomad nerve cells. It was a failure, never worked.
Fuchs: The Mark V did. After we injected it right into the incubus, we read 50% less neural activity from the Nomad. Even Gunnar Larsen was surprised. He just stood there, reading data from the monitors. Even he didn't believe it.
Melissa stops for a second.
Melissa: You mean... You found a way to keep the Nomad on leash?
It's clear something bothers Melissa.
Melissa: Where's Larsen?
Fuchs: He didn't feel good after the experiment. We lost the test subject. He woke up and asked where he was, how did he ended up there and what was happening to him. Then his body shocked, started bleeding from everywhere and died. I guess the Nomad realised what we were trying to do and killed the host and itself somehow. That's when Gunnar fainted. Even I didn't understand, he's a fine man who've seen some bad things, he was that agent's wingman, Eckhard or what his name was, he's an awesome... are you alright? You look troubled.
Melissa: I...I am... I just.. Wow! I can't believe what you achieved! Why didn't you tell me right after?
Fuchs: We still have a lot work to do. Now excuse me, I'm supposed to be in the gym. See you later.
Wilhelm is walking away in hurry, while Melissa just standing where she have been. She's just staring at the wall.
Fuchs: Personal log, Dr. Wilhelm Fuchs's, Schatten Research Facility, Frankfurt.....
One step closer to break-through. The Mark VI works at higher efficiency than V. Test subject was a seriously injured pilot from Omega-11. After two weeks, with a large dose of Mark VI, Nomad cells repaired most of the injuries, or at least that's what we believe.
I'm tired. I had a long conversation with that xenoculturalist woman in our department. She reinforced what I always believed: we must understand them better. Only if I had the chance to speak with one of them. Only if they were willing to share their knowledge... No. I must be strong. They never will. We must force them to share what they know and we're close. We will break them, we will control them, we will use them to enhance our race. I spoke with the rest of my team, they should be...
The office door opens, Gunnar and Melissa are walking in. Dr. Fuchs stands up.
Fuchs: Melissa, Gunnar, you're before schedule. I prepared everything, we're ready to... And as he said the word 'ready', Gunnar grabbed his neck and held him against the wall
Fuchs is trying to say a word, but not able to. The agent is holding him like he's holding an empty glass, even when Fuchs is better built than him. Two unknown figures are bringing a bodybag into the office, opening it, revealing Colonel Wilhelm Hartmann's face, covered in blood.
Fuchs: (choked) What the hell's going on?
Melissa: We know everything, Wilhelm. Don't worry, you're useful. We were watching you since you started this project. We know you want what's best for humanity and we know you imagine the human race's destiny elsewhere.
Fuchs: (choked) What are you talking about?!
Melissa: You went really far, Wilhelm. Even I didn't realize how far until I couldn't reach Larsen. We find your research extremely useful, much more useful than these primitives can imagine. *she leans closer to Wilhelm's face* You don't want to leave these achievements to the wrong hands, don't you? You're a great man, Wilhelm, I even think I'm in love with you, though *her eyes lights up* we got work to do. *parallel to Melissa, one of the soldiers is pointing his gun to the camera and pulls the trigger, as she says her last word*
He looked at one of his partners. An attractive young woman. The other was a middle aged man, with a tattoo of a weird looking hammer on his forehead and red hair. Back to the mission, he selected all files that the query had given as a result.
*They're not ready for this. I could've been their saviour, but they're to primitive. Our destiny is elsewhere.*
He wasn't sure these were his own thoughts, but in terms of the result, it didn't matter. As the files were deleted, the base were alerted.
"Zhis is Major Oppenheimer of the 14th. All units, head to the research department immediately!" - they heard from the loudspeaker. Their radio started cracking,
"This is Bundschuh bomber wing Vorschlaghammer to Schlange. We're in position and ready to strike."
"Strike." - said the attractive woman. Her voice was very similar to the woman on the video feeds they just deleted.
Seconds later, the station started shaking and they heared footsteps in the distance. The strike wing did not last long, the trio only used them as a distraction to buy them time to escape.
*Ventilation system.*
...
Minutes later, an officer ran to the blonde one in hurry at the corridor near an office with a disabled security camera.
"Dr. Fuchs! Dr. Fuchs! We have a problem!" - the officer didn't come alone.
"The Bundschuh hit the station, we dealt with their bombers, but that's not the only problem. They managed to infiltrate the station and we believe they are looking for you! They broke in to the local data server and erased everything about your Project!"
"Is that so? In this case, we're leaving. I cannot afford to lose my two colleagues as well."
"Don't worry, we got the situation under control. We neutralized their team at the security, but the infiltrators of the dataserver are still to be found. Don't worry, we'll get them. My men will escort you to your ships!"
"We appreciate that, Mein Herr." - smiled Dr. Fuchs. His hair looked more blonde than ever.
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