Harbinger/5

Subversion
It was late in the afternoon when the dropship holding Daniel and the other "important people" of Los Andares descended into the large starport of Antiga Prime. Daniel was getting tired, and yawned, just as there was a thump, a rocking of the ship. Hey, that isn't supposed to happen! Daniel recalled how on every other landing there had been next to no sound, and definitely no shock like this one. Someone is opening the hatch violently, he concluded, as the thumping noise repeated itself, sending a few easily scared civilians shrieking.

Daniel looked around. There was no military force on board the dropship. "What's going on out there?" he whispered to the warrant officer.

"The Confederates are probably attempting to place us under arrest. We did after all ally with the Sons of Korhal."

"Darn them, they still don't know who their real enemy is," Daniel nearly shouted. Well, we don't have any weapons, so we had better be getting out--soon. Turning his attention to the added chamber to the dropship, Daniel told the nearby civilians, "Quickly now--break down that door with as little noise as possible!"

The civilians seemed to understand this above all the other ruckus, and proceeded to take apart the door.

"If you don't open up, we'll blast the door down," said the voice of a commander on the far side of the suddenly seemingly thin dropship door. "NOW OPEN UP!"

A few moments later there was a sudden explosion as the reinforced carbon door of the dropship was torn to shreds, smoke filling the inside of the dropship and obscuring all view, a fireball scortching all that was nearby, though the carbon proved resilient to fire. The Confederate soldiers, fully clad in marine armor, gradually entered the dropship's several chambers, looking for their quarry.

By that time, however, the dropship was empty of all people, though there were many belongings scattered about the place. "What a mess," said one, right before seeing the door-shaped hole on the far side of the dropship. "They got out through an escape door! After them!" shouted the corporal, and the team rushed back out of the dropship.

Daniel, Sarlena, Christopher, and Michael dashed as a group around the corner, all the way down the starport terminal, knocking a few disheveled passengers aside in their rush to safety. Several shouted out in surprise, bringing the attention of the nearby fully armored guard to them. Just as he swung his gauss rifle at them, however, they vanished into yet another room--a dead end. The guard followed, a grin on his face, opened the door, and stepped inside--

And was immediately pinned to the ground, face-down; Sarlena snatched his gauss rifle out from his hand and pointed the barrel at his head. The guard decided not to move as Sarlena pushed the button on the suit that deactivated its movement, then Christopher proceeded to take off the armor, while Daniel rushed to close and bolt the door.

Half a minute later, the guard found himself unsuited, with a gauss rifle pointed at his head, while Daniel had gotten into the neosteel CNLCS-300. "Knock him out," he ordered, and Sarlena set the gauss rifle on stun, sending a single shot into the helpless guard, then returning the gauss rifle to him. "Now, the confederates who've noticed some ruckus here will expect a guard to come out, and since there was a shot, he ought to be bringing three prisoners with him." He held out three pairs of handcuffs from the back-pack attached to the suit. "Sorry, but you've got to put these on."