They arrived at the landing pad without anyone getting in the way or causing any issues. Which is how they came upon the spacecraft that was before them. It was in no way a small transport ship or vessel.
Instead it seemed to be a medium sized Migration-Class vessel. It had a black and gray coloring and design on the exterior. But it was shaped like an attack craft with its bulky center. The front had a visible cockpit. While the back had four different engines, all of which were glowing slightly. Indicating their state of being on.
On the side of the vehicle a ramp had been lowered. At the top of the ramp he could see several screens and flashing lights on the inside of the ship. At the bottom of the ramp were a pair of silver robotic guards who had square bodies, heads and limbs. The only exception was the barrel that was coming out of their right arms. Their single eye was glowing red. There was a third guard standing at the bottom of the ramp. It was a black version of Miss Yang.
Hoodwink made a motion and Miss Yang turned him around. "Well this is goodbye for now. I do hope I do not see you again anytime soon. I would wish you well on your endeavors but that endeavor is killing me so I will refrain from doing so."
Jace chuckled, "do not worry, we will be seeing each other again soon."
Hoodwink was then spun around and Miss Yang pushed him up the ramp. After they went up the black mannequin followed them up and when she was at the top of the ramp the silver square things began ascending the stairs. Then the ramp began retracting and the door closed on the ship.
Jace stepped back a few feet and glanced back at the way they came from. Standing at the doorway was the trio of guards who escorted them here. Jace tapped his watch and connected with the Anvil.
"Spectre Jace, we were waiting on your message. I will send the vessel down now to come pick you up." The communication officer told him.
"Hold off on that. Lord Hoodwink is going to make a run for it. Follow him with the Anvil, we won't have enough time to get picked up. Send a message to the Director and request her to send the Judas to pick us up." Jace began ordering as he continued to watch the doorway. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Nina give him a confused expression.
"Jace, this is Captain Hammers. I will be able to follow your order, we are already tracking Hoodwink's ship leaving the atmosphere. But what is going on?" Hammers asked quickly. He was probably readying to go into warp.
"A coup. It appears we timed this horribly. We are about to be detained. I will give a more indepth report after the Judas comes to pick us up." Jace answered and Nina's expression changed completely as became amused. "We will have to play catch up with you later."
Not even a moment later the door he was staring at exploded as the guards who escorted them here were thrown off their feet. Then a group of people in black clothes and with gray armor came storming through the exploded entrance. The first ones began tying up the guards who were disoriented from the explosion.
Then behind Nina and Jace a spacecraft flew toward them coming from a steep atmospheric entrance. "Happy Hunting Anvil. Spectre Jace and Nina out." Jace then hung up and then began encrypting his device. "Encrypt your device." He told Nina and she nodded.
The first of the black and gray attackers reached them a moment later. "Get on the ground! Now!" The first one screamed.
Jace recoiled and looked at him. "No."
"No. No?" He looked at the others and they looked equally confused. As they began quietly whispering to each other Jace took a look at their weapons and gear. They were using hard light weapons. Unlike most weapons they did not have a clip or magazine. So they could theoretically fire for hours on end. But eventually the barrel had to be cooled and the weapon had to be recharged after several hours.
Not ideal weapons for waging war. But with a situation where they were throwing a coup it was probably preferable. Since it would take several hours and they needed short bursts of high fire rates. Not to mention they are easily much more concealable then guns and stacks of magazines.
"Why- why not!?!" One of the gray and black armored soldiers asked while swinging his weapon between Jace and Nina.
Jace tilted his head. "Because these are my fanciest clothes and I do not want to get them dirty." Nina who was next to him nodded in agreement.
"What?" Now another one of them asked in absolute bewilderment. "I- ah, you know what- just keep your weapons focused on them."
The ship that was quickly approaching began slowing down and then a burst of hot air hit them as it slowed down and then began lowering. It was an old military infantry transport vessel. It was essentially a giant box with thrusters and a basic guidance system. Usually they were used for delivering non-fragile goods to the surface of planets.
A group of the armored people slowly walked toward it as the rear ramp lowered and several people in Infantry armor began running out. Jace and Nina exchanged a look of surprise as they spread out.
One of the black and gray armored people saluted as three unique individuals disembarked from the vessel despite thought outside still being red and smoking from its reentry into the atmosphere.
The one in the lead was an old man with graying hair. He had on an Infantry Armor that was colored green and gray, reminiscent of the old Vexical Commando Armors that Jace had seen in recordings back when he first entered the academy. Jace frowned as he recognized the man. He was once a dear friend to both the current emperor of Vexical and Director Fenrir.
Former General Henry Trentwood. He was from the station of commoner and eventually climbed the ranks of the military. Throwing out the old idea that only nobility could climb the ranks of the Vexical military. As well as a vocal spokesperson of the abuse of power that is commonly seen among nobles. He disappeared along with his son shortly after his wife died.
Next to the former General was a skinny anthro-lion. He seemed to be the scholarly sort with his glasses and the data tablet he was carrying with him. But he seemed unbothered by the heat coming off the vessel even when he was just wearing a simple black suit. His name is Al-han Jel, a former intelligence officer of the Leonair Intelligence Agency.
Then on the other side of the former General was a large man that was about ten or eleven feet tall. He had a full head of beard hair that was unkempt and had patches of gray in it. He carried himself with confidence as he looked around. He was undoubtedly of the giant race, a hybrid from what Jace could tell. Probably mixed between a giant and a human. The obvious reason being that his skin was tan instead of the bright blue colored skin they usually had. His name is Jack, that is it. He used to be a mercenary but became a full blown terrorist at some point in the last few years.
The two by the former General's side were well known members of the Union. While the former General was suspected to have joined the Union there was no concrete proof or eyewitnesses that could confirm it. At least as far as the normal intelligence agencies were concerned.
If the MILD's analysts, they were not just staring at a member of the Union. Or the head of a faction within the Union. They were looking at the absolute leader of the Union. He may have not founded the terrorist group but he clawed his way to the top. He had expanded their reach to not just include the New Hexarian Republic but every nation they could that had humans or a genetic variation of humans that were ruling others.
They would have to update the information about the Union regardless. Because many of these Infantry Armors were older models that were modified. They were not the high quality that Jace came to expect but they were good enough to make a difference in battle.
"Officer Jones, what is the status of the Royal Palace?" Trentwood asked as he returned the Union salute.
Officer Jones, the officer in black and gray armor that walked up to the trio, relaxed his stance. "We managed to complete the primary objective as well as several secondary objectives. Unfortunately a few nobles we were expecting never showed up and Lord Hoods and his bodyguard escaped before we arrived."