Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 488: Command Center

Jace frowned as he impatiently tapped his foot against the metal floor. He was watching the various holograms move around him. There were a few people sitting in chairs that were partially embedded in the floor. They were communication officers and specialists who were getting intel and then inputting it into their respective holograms.

The room he was currently in was Cerberus’ new central command center on the Princess’ Pride. Cain really had been putting in the work to make their base as technologically advanced as possible. Jace was honestly even impressed by some of the technology he was finding now.

The people on the colony station will probably never truly understand or know how large the Cerberus base has expanded. Yes there are a good chunk of the external hangars that have been retrofitted for their use. Including the hangar he once raided and first encountered the Orius. Then there was the area in between the ’surface’ of the colony where the actual districts were located and the external hangars. Most of it is internal wiring or facilities. But a third of them when all put together were now being run by Cerberus. Of course they were not all located in one area.

They were mostly spread out with private tunnels and secret outposts around the colony that not even the High Priestess knew about. Mostly because Cain had been hiding them by using Jace’s private funds and assets, using various shell companies that exist in name only. He was initially worried when he got back but he saw that Cain was using them as listening outposts to keep the colony secure and safe.

This Central Command Center was actually something they could lend out to the Victorium Fleet or Military if they requested it. Which is why he planned to show it off.

The door to the moderately dark room slid open and a flood of light pushed in while the High Priestess, General Ta’Maz, and Admiral Dakota all walked inside. Blinking in surprise when the door closed and the room was only lit up by the holograms.

"Please watch your step, there are seats inside the floor for the operators." Jace explained. The operators were the communication officers and other specialists who were relaying the data in real time.

"This is... impressive." General Ta’Maz exclaimed as he walked around the chair of one operator and looked up at a hologram before looking at another one. "How many fronts can you handle in here at once?"

"At the moment? We can handle up to twenty-two fronts or battlefields at the same time at the moment. But Cain, the person in charge of the base is already refurbishing the nearby rooms to expand the area so we can handle more battlefields the next time something like this happens." Jace explained as he looked toward another hologram that changed slightly.

"How many fronts are you handling at the moment?" Admiral Dakota asked with a chuckle as he took a closer look at a hologram that was showing a grouping of space craft.

"Seventeen. It was why I asked for special permission to utilize the extra manpower. Initially I thought we could make do with only a few ships. But halfway through my research into the smugglers I realized that they were quite ambitious. Fortunately I discussed the protocol for non quarantine rated ships and commanders with Specialist Rend. But he is going to be quite overworked for a while." Jace explained as he waved at one hologram. "My troops are only covering three fronts and that is because the smugglers who are not contaminated are located separately. They will be captured at the same time we strike."

"You realize we could use this for more than just this operation." The High Priestess picked up on Jace’s intent in using this place. "But then I suppose you already knew that."

"Colonel Jace. We are ready to begin." One of the operators announced. But they were walking around with a datapad and headset on. They were one of the people coordinating with all of the others.

"Then let us give everyone a show." Jace clapped his hands and looked around at the holograms. "Begin the operation."

They watched as the operators erupted into hushed conversations as the holograms began changing. For only having a few days to set this all up, he would say he got done pretty quickly. But focussing back on the holograms.

The first one he focused on was actually on Vexical Prime. There Ulin’s Covert operations team was dropping from the Nero Hawk onto one of the newly constructed towers. They moved through the roof access of the building and arrived at the top floor where a large and lavish party was underway.

They were celebrating the construction of the first tower on Vexical Prime. But as Ulin’s team came in through the stairs and landed on the balcony after repelling from the roof the room burst into chaos until they grabbed a burly human man. He was a noble from the Vexical Empire but he stayed neutral throughout the civil war and managed to slither through the cracks.

He is actually one of the main three components that Jace noticed and highlighted to make sure some of his people could snatch him up.

"Doughboy is secure on the Nero Hawk. We are heading back." Ulin’s voice came over a speaker that spread throughout the room.

Jace smiled and rolled his eyes. "Good work Ulin." Then that hologram disabled and the operator in charge of it yawned and stretched. "Close up the report and then you can go." Jace told him before turning to the other two holograms that Cerberus was in charge of.

But before he could really focus on them he was distracted by a flash of light. "Colonel Jace. Three smuggler ships were destroyed. They attempted to make a run for it." The operator in charge of the flashing hologram informed him.

"All three?"

"Yes sir."

"Confirm the surroundings and then destroy all remains with an incendiary bombardment and electro magnetic pulsar bombs." Jace ordered as he watched the hologram.

"Umm... the Fleet Captain is concerned about the fallout of doing such a thing near an uninhabited planet." The operator informed him. A fleet captain was a temporary title handed to a captain when there were multiple captains or ships then he fleet captain would have temporary superiority over the others. Setting a form of temporary hierarchy.

"Tell him to do it anyway. Since it is marked as uninhabited then we have no other reason. If he objects again then inform him that it is an order and I will have him brought up on charges if he refuses." Jace informed the operator and she quickly responded before watching the hologram as several fiery explosions and electricity spread out through the area occupied by the ships.

Quickly a massive fire and electricity storm formed and then slowly moved toward the closest gravitational mass. He watched as the operator flinched as the planet was enveloped but Jace was already stepping away. He could just barely hear it but the Fleet Captain was sending the desperate calls he was receiving from over the emergency channel that were coming from the planet that was supposed to be uninhabited.

The Fleet Captain probably realized which is why he was double checking. Jace already knew that there was a town on the planet that the smugglers had just gone through. So it was fine with him if the planet was sanitized.

There were a few other fronts where ships were being fired upon as a final warning. But none of them had to be completely obliterated just yet. So he turned his attention back to his people.

The final two Cerberus groups were led by Nila and Solisa. Solisa was in the midst of embargoing an entire space station. While Nila was... cutting through her enemies. What she was supposed to be doing was capturing the Victorium Politicians that had gathered on one of the remote planets. They were supposed to be having a covert meeting that Nila would ambush them at and easily capture them. But it seems that something had gone awry.

"Open a line to Nila." Jace ordered and the operator gave a thumbs up a moment later. "Nila, I thought I ordered you to capture them. Why does it look like you are slicing through throngs of enemies instead?"

"Sorry, it looks like they were having a secret meeting with some of those vampire humans and they caught on. My targets are dead so I moved to contain as many vampires as possible but they are incredibly durable." Nila informed him.

"Vampires..." Admiral Dakota grumbled. "So this all comes back around to the war. They tried to spread what they believed was a plague. Because the majority of them are immune to most diseases."

"Unknowningly spreading something far deadlier that they are not immune to." Jace sighed. "I suppose Cerberus will focus on the Circle of Yuri and the Holy Empire of Gregory next."