Reason For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

you will be leaving tomorrow morning.  The Large Cargo Freighter, Eric Blair is already loaded with a Forward Operating Base Module.  You will take the Legion Navy Heavy Cruiser, PLN Wishart to Concordia and meet the Blair out at Benson Station, where she will be taking on heavy ores.  This will give you the cover to board the FOB Module using your Helos, without being seen and without the knowledge of the crew.
    “It will be a fifty-six day round trip to your destination.  The Module is fully equipped for the Company’s thirty-seven day stay.”  There were no groans or comments at the news they would all be shut up in such a small environment, but the soldiers of Shadow Company were still human.  Valerie knew each and every one of them and she could feel them stir at this news.  They’d done it before for even longer periods and they would do it again.  It didn’t mean they had to like it though.
    Valerie could see the Colonel was slightly surprised.  Neither Lieberman nor Major Wilson had briefed Shadow Company before.  They were Legion Intelligence and this was their Operation, they saw the need for it, proposed it and written it.  They would have worked with other Special Ops groups or they wouldn’t be here, no matter how powerful their backing.
    Shadow Company were the very elite, the best soldiers the Pantheon had at its disposal.  The Legion, the military arm of the Pantheon, was split into various distinct services.  The biggest were the Navy, Army and Commandos.
    The Legion Navy ran the ships, from the massive state of the art battleships, to the tiny courier vessels zipping between systems and acting as the lifeline of interstellar communication.  The Legion Army with its big regiments was the hammer on the ground for peace keeping, disaster recovery and occupation.  It was also the iron fist keeping the Manuals in check.
    The Commandos were the scalpel; they trained soldiers to a higher level to be specialists.  Either Marine’s stationed on Navy ships for boarding actions, or Rangers working with the Army to hit covert targets behind enemy lines.  Within the Commandos there was another level; made up of the best of both Marines and Rangers.  These were the Devils and within that close knit community of special action teams, Shadow Company sat at the very pinnacle.
    The job was not really that high a priority, but even the sharpest sword needed to be kept honed and this is what this op was.  It was still necessary and if Shadow Company wasn’t available another team would be sent.  For them it would be a mission.  For Shadow Company it was a training exercise.  Her soldiers knew this and Valerie was confident it would not make any difference.  They would approach this operation as they would their most dangerous, because they were true professionals. 
    Valerie and Shadow Company did the most important thing possible in any bureaucracy.  They were successful, every time, without fail.  Valerie was very aware this could be fleeting and she worked hard to keep Shadow Company’s edge.  All it would take would be one failure and in forty-two years that had never happened.  Valerie was determined to keep it that way.
    The Colonel was continuing with his briefing.  “The freighter will be going via its normal route with stops at Persia and Concordia, before heading to your target in Gomez.”  Valerie raised her eyebrows.  She almost expected the Colonel not to give the Company the target planet.  Maybe he had heard how she ran her team.
    “As per our normal Modus Operandi, the crew will be unaware of the FOB Module.  All they will know is it contains machine parts to be transhipped at Valhalla.  The Wishart will be on hand in the system to bring you back to Olympus.”
    The Colonel activated the screen and an image of Gomez appeared.  Valerie could tell he was moving on to the actual assault, so thought it best to interject with a clarification.
    “There will be two spooks