"Did he put up any trouble Smith?"

"Yes sir, just a bit. He knocked out our CO, but other than that, we got him pinned."

A low chuckle escaped Oso's lips as he envisioned McCallister fighting his way past the six man team. He wasn't at all surprised that the Major hadn't gone down without a fight. "Keep him sedated until we reach home. Remind the pilot to do a hull sweep and scan the interior as well. We don't want to take any chances. The three hyperspace jump rule is to be implemented as well."

"Roger that sir. See you home."

First relaying Oso's message to the pilots, then telling the medic to keep the Major sedated, the rest of the team watched as a long, thin needle was used to inject the drugs straight into the man's bloodstream. They were guaranteed to knock him out for the duration of the trip and then some. With nothing better to do, the commandos sat back and attempted to catch some sleep before the Colonel undoubtedly put them back to work.

Hours Later...

Winking into the system with little fanfare, a jet black vessel gave the area a quick scan before pointing its nose towards the poisoned surface of Glee Anselm. With a deft move of his hand, the throttles were pushed to their limits and the Sentinel screamed downwards.

Mere minutes after Oso's ship broke through the atmosphere, another spacecraft invaded the silence of the system. Carrying the commando's and Lance McCallister, it too gave the area a cursory sweep before diving hard for the protection of the planet. As the shuttle blasted through the air and headed towards a small island, all its movements were being tracked by nearly half a dozen tri-trackers that wouldn't hesitate to blast it out of the sky if it deviated a few meters from its projected flight path. Both the pilot and co-pilot knew the dangers involved in this final approach to the hidden base and they were far tenser then they had been the entire trip.

Luckily for everybody involved, the shuttle made it to the island without incident and it landed on a heavily camouflaged landing pad that had been raised a dozen meters off the ground. Before the shuttle even shut down its engines, the pad was already descending deep into the bowels of the earth. If one looked out the window during this time, they could just make out a few streaks of metal that identified the massive hypervelocity cannon that had been buried into the island two weeks prior.

After a minute or two of a slow, measured descent, the pad stopped. A heavy clunk was heard as the pad was shifted from vertical rails to horizontal rails. A streamlined, bullet shaped vehicle had attached itself to blocks at the back of the pad. Without any warning, the magnetic rail train operator mashed the accelerator and the entire lot of them shot off even deeper into the earth. Moving in a relative straight line, it was obvious that they were still descending slowly and once their ears all popped due to the pressure change, the well-informed knew they had passed from being underground to being underwater.

If Lance had been awake, the entire operation would have impressed him without a doubt. The fact that Section 8 had found a dying planet to set up shop was nothing short of a miracle for them. It provided the perfect cover and the entire planet was one natural defensive barrier. What was even more amazing was the fact that the entire complex was buried one hundred to two hundred feet below the seabed itself. A dozen spheres drifted lazily in the ocean area above the base. Armed with turbolasers, sonic cannons and other nasty surprises, they weren't something to shake at stick at. Of course, these were just the planetary defenses and the ones that were immediately visible. Large, gray predators prowled the area around the base, attracted by the bite sized chunks of fish that Xen had the spheres release on a timed schedule. It was odd that these predators hadn't fallen ill to the chemical weapon but Oso didn't complain.

Aside from all of this weaponry, a large and powerful hypervelocity cannon nestled into the island itself gave the complex some long range punch if needed. Positioned so it wouldn't be visible unless it deployed, Xen was loath to use such a weapon for fear of even greater retribution but it never hurt to have options. Protecting the entire area was a theatre level shield generator that was usually turned off so as not to attract attention.

As the train finally pulled into its station six hundred feet below the surface the water, Lance McCallister was slowly lifted out and given a shot of stims to wake him up. As his eyes fluttered open, a shadowy figure stood in front of him.

"Welcome to Section 8 Mr. McCallister." A familiar voice purred...

The major's eyes opened very briefly on the shuttle, only to find themselves staring into the deep brown eyes of an elegant-looking woman in the same black armor as the men who he'd encountered earlier. As if trying to quiet a crying young infant, she pressed a hand against his forehead, gently stroking him. Before he could react or even gain a sembleance of consciousness, there was a sharp pain in the left side of his neck, the armor-clad soldier's right hand pulling away with an empty syringe that was neatly tucked into a bio-hazard receptacle. He tried to speak to her, to form some sort of plea for anything but more of that torturing slumber, but the drowsiness imparted by the chemical made such protests all but impossible. In his mind, the spiraling descent was already beginning...

"There's no such thing as a friendly Mr. McCallister, I'm surprised someone with your life experience doesn't know that. There are only allies and enemies...and your allies are temporary at best."

Giving the man a quick once over, Xen turned to the commandos. "Damn, he looks like shit. Didn't I say bring him back in one piece?" A fine eyebrow arched slightly, sending shivers down the backs of those around him.

One of the men shrugged slightly as he shifted his weight. "Sorry sir. He gave us a bit of trouble."

The medic nodded and chimed in with a soothing voice. "I gave him a stronger dose of the knockout drug just to make sure he stayed under. He's got some spunk."

"Hmm...quite. This is why he'll be leading you shortly. From now, you answer directly to Major McCallister. Let's escort the man to his future quarters, shall we?"

Turning sharply on his heel, Oso struck off silently down the hall, his black coat swishing quietly behind him. Without missing a beat, the six man team, the medic and another guard detail of four men moved in and followed the Director down a long, slightly winding hallway bored out of the packed rock. Supports were placed at regular intervals and high intensity discharge lights flooded the corridor. Alcoves were placed discreetly into the rock and the barrels of remotely operated E-Webs were faintly visible. This was the main entrance into the rest of the complex and as such, it was protected by visible emplacements and invinsible ones. Nearly half a dozen E-Webs covered the corridor while trapdoors built into the floor held deadfalls. Nozzles that were hardened against EMP blasts and sensor scans lined the roof, ready to release neuro or nerve toxins against invading enemies. If one looked up, they would see slots every two dozen meters. Each one held a one foot thick door made of layered durasteel. For now, they had been keyed to stay open.

The corridor itself was quite long, nearly three hundred feet long and twenty feet wide. It wound slightly back and forth, so as to afford the E-Webs the best angle and field of fire. As the group neared the end of the corridor, two large doors could be seen leading off to the sides. On the other side of each one were a dozen battle droids, lined up and ready to pour into the hallway to buy time for the humans.

"Oso, Xen. Identification Code - 1x72z6." The colonel leaned forward and subjected himself to a retina scan along with a fingerprint confirmation. Taking a small swab from a tiny hole that had appeared in the wall, he threw it into his mouth, moistened it liberally, then placed it back onto its tray which promptly disappeared from where it came. After his DNA was confirmed, the same female voice that had greeted Lance through the comlink greeted them here.

"So glad to see you're back Colonel Oso."

"Thank you ma'am. If you would so kindly open the door..."

"Of course sir. But don't think I've forgotten about our dinner date."

Xen laughed slightly. "How could I?"

As several layers of doors parted, each man and woman stepped onto a conveyor belt which took them through a series of sterilization stations. The whole time, they were searched thoroughly and their bodies were scanned by high powered scanners that could detect even a drop of toxin. After the party was cleared, Xen once again led the way. Exiting from the security and sterilization station, they found themself in a enormous lobby that extended six levels below them. Above them was a large holographic image of the ocean that was swirling above their heads. Pointing towards a lift, Oso nodded towards the commandos.

They began to move McCallister.

"Mr. McCallister, all your questions will be answered when you arrive at your room. A datapad that is sitting on your desk has all the answers." Glancing at his chrono, the Director mused for a second or two. "I'll be expecting a preliminary report within three hours."

Throwing the man a lazy salute, Oso began to head off in another direction but not before a single comment drifted its way lazily over his shoulders. "Oh...and like I said earlier...welcome to Section 8."