Making their way down the valley, Khamari and Shadow waded through sand in single file. Mindful of the rising sun, they pressed forward at a brisk pace, while Obsidian hovered behind, sweeping away and covering up their tracks as best he could.
Off in the distance, the changeling spied the rest of his comrades. Swift and Shift could be seen copying Obsidian’s actions behind their respective groups, though at their distance, only Obsidian could make out the individuals.
Ahead stood the smaller domed structure that housed the region’s power station. The smooth, black exterior, coupled with red lighting along several parts of the structure, gave the station an ominous look that was mirrored by the other two distant domes in every way, except size.
Khamari, Shadow, and Obsidian manoeuvred around the building, keeping the smaller sand dunes between themselves and the power station. Eventually however, the terrain cleared and flattened out, forcing the three to hold position behind their last suitable cover.
“This looks about as far as we can safely go,” Shadow remarked, glancing in the direction of the sun. “Too bright to not be seen now. Do you think we can risk closing the last half klick, Khamari?”
“I doubt it. These buildings don’t have windows, but they would have plenty of cameras. We’d be sighted well before then, and they’re not just going to let us walk in.”
“Why not?” Obsidian countered. “Who’s going to suspect a Gaalsien, especially when you all cover your faces?”
“What about you two?” Khamari asked. He showed little surprise, when his question was answered with green flames, and a perfect copy of himself in the changeling’s place. Turning to Shadow, he added, “And you?”
“Don’t worry about me. Start running, I’ll follow soon after.”
“I don’t suppose you could elaborate?”
Shadow smirked at the Gaalsien. “I could, but that would be no fun. Now go. And remember, run like your life depends on it!”
Khamari and Obsidian glanced at each other. Shrugging, Obsidian moved first. Khamari soon followed, leaving Shadow alone to concentrate. Air around her started to swirl, orbiting around the zebra as if she had suddenly become the eye of an incredibly low pressure meteorological phenomena. As the wind around Shadow picked up, so too did it pick up the surrounding sand, and by the time the storm reached its peak, a tornado had obscured the zebra.
Looking over their shoulders, Obsidian and Khamari found Shadow’s creation reaching heights just taller than their destination. The pair went into a sprint when they saw it moving toward them. As they continued running toward the power station, the tornado kept a reasonable distance and moved at the same speed.
Upon arrival outside the closed entrance doors to the building, Obsidian and Khamari watched as the tornado closed in on them, before lifting and scattering against the walls. Shortly before revealing herself, Shadow made sure to sandblast the glass on any nearby cameras, leaving what was surely just three blurred blobs to any observer.
“Well, that’s one way to make an entrance,” Obsidian commented.
Before Obsidian could say more, an unarmed Gaalsien emerged from the building to investigate. The newcomer barely had time to see Shadow, before a column of sand shot out from near by and engulfed him. As quickly as it came, the sand receded, dragging its occupant under the surface.
Khamari and Obsidian stared speechless at the patch of sand beneath which the Raider must have been. Recovering first, Obsidian blinked a few times as he finished processing what had happened. “Alright, that’s three out of four elements I’ve now seen you use, and I’d say that was the most brutal application of elemental magic so far. Can’t think of many worse deaths than being buried alive.”
“That sand hit him with enough force to knock him out, at the very least,” Shadow explained, adding, “I’m not a savage, Obsidian.”
“Still … Anyway, how are we proceeding, Khamari?”
“I should be able to locate several critical locations we can use to level the station. However”—he faced Shadow—“we will need to secure a route to more secluded areas first, while you wait out here.”
The zebra nodded. “Very well. Just knock before opening the doors when you return, so I don’t send sand your way.”
Khamari held out an arm in front of Obsidian. “Before we proceed, I might need some of your energy again.”
Glare’s group gathered near one of the research base’s entrances. From their scouting runs, the five identified only two points of ingress and egress, one of which was personnel access built into the closed doors of a large vehicle depot that faced the power station. Knowing Obsidian’s group would proceed through the research base via that point after their first objective, Glare and the others chose to wait at the entrance on the opposite side of the base.
While they waited for a sign to proceed, Glare piped up. “What do you think will happen to us if we survive and make it back home?”
“There’s probably going to be a bunch of angry superiors ready to rip into every decision and action we’ve taken since leaving Hiigara,” Bon Bon replied, her tone almost too casual.
“I’d expect that much. They’d understand, though … Right?”
“Hard to say. I’m willing to bet they’re going to throw the usual junk about chain of command at you. They’re certainly going to come after me for abandoning my post, once they find out I left Basilisk voluntarily. I’ll definitely lose my command.”
“You knew, and you still joined us?”
Bon Bon shrugged. “Some things are worth sacrificing a life-long career for. Besides, if they had half a brain between them, they’d be fools to throw me out.”
“Surely they wouldn’t give you a dishonourable discharge for this?”
The Captain laughed, “Oh Celestia no, that would be a little extreme. They could still discharge me for bad conduct, but they know who they’re dealing with. Likely consequences would be demotion, and … possibly reassignment to planet-bound duties.”
A rumble caught their attention. The distant sound of a large explosion travelled through the air, meeting their ears while tremors passed through the sand. This was the moment they had waited for. After a brief glance at each other, the five sprang into action and split into their respective groups.
Glare flashed out of existence, taking Shift with her. Bon Bon led the ground charge, sending sand airborne in her wake, while Sparky’s paws thundered across the ground shortly behind, and Swift followed alongside.
Sighting a pair of Raiders that had rushed out, Sparky skidded to a halt and brought his launcher to bear. A single pulse met his ears as he squeezed the trigger, and his surroundings lit up momentarily with electric blue hues, as a ball of plasma arced over Bon Bon and Swift. Colliding with the entrance doors, the plasma splashed across several metres of the impact site, melting through them and immolating the Raiders in the process.
The three maintained momentum as they arrived at the entrance’s remains, with Bon Bon leaping across the glassed and incinerated area, into a small reception hall. One Raider froze near a desk to her right, and barely had time to react, before the pony fired her pulsar into him.
Swift flew in, just as another pair of Raiders emerged from an armoured door on the left. Three pulsar rounds streaked across the room, fatally striking one Raider, and hitting the other in the leg. The survivor managed to dive back behind the door, and manually seal it shut, when Sparky finally arrived. Eyeing the door, the diamond dog took aim, before Bon Bon called out for him to stop.
“Conserve your ammo, Sparky. I’ve got this.” she ordered, while positioning herself at a distance in front of the door, where the Raider could be seen through a small glass pane shouting silently into a comms system. Pawing the ground twice, Bon Bon went to a gallop, leaping into the air a few metres from the door. Pulling back a fore-hoof, the mare smashed the door with enough force to shear it clean off its mountings, and into a wall directly behind it.
A loud metallic impact echoed, causing everyone’s ears to ring and drown out the sound of an alarm. Swift and Sparky paid it no attention however, as they both stood with mouths agape at what just happened. At the far end of the formerly sealed room, the door could still be seen embedded into a cracked wall, with the yellow blood of the unfortunate Raider splattered around the door.
“Save the awe for later,” Bon Bon shouted. “Sparky, confirm the power outage has disabled the elevator, then cover the entrance. Swift, with me. We’re clearing rooms.”
Outside, Glare and Shift had teleported to the base’s peak, where the communications array extended. While Bon Bon’s team commenced the ground floor sweep, Glare and Shift had already secured their smaller demolitions to the mast, power supply, and a junction box connecting thick electrical cables from the building to the components.
Freeing his hooves, Shift hovered above Glare, and lifted her into the air. Flying straight up, the pair ensured they would be well clear of any shrapnel and falling debris, when Glare squeezed the detonator. A trio of booms met their ears, followed shortly by the sound of metal creaking, snapping, and wailing, as the radio tower collapsed and toppled over.
Flying to the upwind side of the developing black smoke plume, the pair watched as the mast hit the side of the research base, and slid down the curved surface, screeching as metal scraped on metal. Satisfied, the pair descended toward the sizeable hole gouged into the top of the building, locating an area minimally affected by the smoke. Peering into a room demolished beyond recognition, the unicorn and pegasus landed, and proceeded to secure the immediate area.
Wading through debris consistent with technical equipment, the pair split off in opposite directions. At both ends of the open floor were spiral stairwells that led to the lower levels. On Shift’s eastern side, handrails surrounded the stairwell perimeter, and the pegasus guessed the structure was at least five or six metres in diameter. Glare’s western side was significantly less recognisable, as structural debris from the explosion had caved in on the stairs.
While Shift covered the usable stairs, Glare performed a quick search of the area. Aside from the charred body of a Gaalsien near a large pair of elevator doors on the southern side, and the arm of a Raider protruding from the stairway rubble, the top floor was clear of any base personnel.
After pressing several buttons on the elevator, Glare raised her voice. “Elevator appears to be inoperative. Looks like the main power has been knocked out.” Moving up to Shift, she opened comms. “Top floor secured. How’s everyone else doing?”
“Ground floor secured,” Bon Bon replied. “One large vehicle parked in the depot. Appears inactive, but unsure if occupied. Khamari, you know how to board it?”
“Stand by,” Khamari responded, the sounds of a firefight audible through his comms. Half a minute later, the Gaalsien’s voice returned. “Alright, our area is secure for the time being. Can you describe the vehicle?”
“Uhh, it’s about fifty metres in length, or perhaps a bit shorter. Three domed cylinders at the four corners, facing outboard. Convex, arched chassis, fore to aft, with enough space to pass under the vehicle laterally.”
Khamari hummed. “Do the front left and right propulsors have triangular plates of armour on them?”
“Propulsors?”
“The cylinders that allow it to hover.”
“Then, yes. The ones in the rear don’t have any plating, though.”
“That would be a Gaalsien baserunner. Under the arch, if you look up, there will be an access hatch. However, attempting to enter from there would leave you vulnerable to any crew that might be inside.”
“Alright, we’ll leave it alone for now, but I’ll keep some demolitions armed around it in case someone is inside and decides to flee. We’ll figure out what to do with it once your group joins us.”
“You may have to continue securing the building by yourselves. Light resistance remains at the power station. We’ll catch up when we can.”
“Copied,” Bon Bon acknowledged. “We’ll hold position while the others continue from above. Exits and stairs are covered.”
Glare frowned, doubtful a unicorn and pegasus would be sufficient. “Any chance I could teleport one of you up here to assist?”
Bon Bon looked around at her group. Coming to a decision, she shouted across the reception hall. “Sparky, you’re in charge until either myself or Shadow returns. Hold position until then. Swift, position yourself above the lobby entrance and cover both stairwells.” Opening comms again, she added, “I can spare myself. Ready when you are.”
Flashing into view, Glare looked around until she found Bon Bon. After a quick exchange of nods, the pair disappeared, arriving beside Shift on the top floor. “Haven’t noticed any activity so far,” she explained to Bon Bon. “I doubt that will be the case for long.”
“Agreed. Probably a good idea to strike now, while they still think the ground soldiers are just on the ground floor.”
“I’ll take point. Shift, cover us from above.”
“Will do.” Flapping his wings, the pegasus hovered, and followed the mares down the stairwell.
Descending clockwise to the nearest floor, Glare stopped by the handle side of a door. Cracking it open, she peeked inside and found no one in the corridor, though considerable commotion could be heard from rooms attached to it.
“Cover the stairs,” Glare whispered to Bon Bon. “Shift, with me.”
Sliding past the door, the pair started with the nearest room; a laboratory filled with computers, a pair of phased disassembler arrays, and two rows of tables atop which stacks of blueprints lied. A pair of Raiders remained oblivious to their presence, preoccupied with a frenzied rush of data retrieval from several terminals.
Raising their rifles, Shift waited for Glare to fire first. The unicorn hesitated as she waged another internal war on conflicting thoughts. No. This is not the right time. Exhaling, Glare pulled the trigger, and struck the nearest Raider in the back of the neck. Before the second one could move, Shift fired twice.
Shift covered the exit, while Glare explored the lab. Inspecting the designs upon the table, Glare confirmed what Khamari had said all along. From what little she could understand, the illustrations depicted various delivery systems for atmospheric deprivation weapons, including one designed to be sent directly through a hyperspace window capable of manifesting in the gravity well of a planet.
Glare feared the potential ramifications. Moreso, the anger that boiled inside rekindled her motivation, and pillars of helical light blasted from her horn as she destroyed the designs and surrounding electronics, shaking the room with each flash of light. When no intact device remained, and several parts of the lab were aflame, the unicorn left with Shift in tow. Proceeding to an adjacent archive room, she showed no mercy to the lone Raider that cowered in the corner, before torching the place and continuing to the next room.
Obsidian, Shadow, and Khamari made a beeline for the research base. Having survived the lightly armed security that pursued them shortly after blasting half the power station to oblivion, the three weathered the sun’s assault next, as temperatures continued to rise. While Khamari’s attire seemed more suited to the harsh environment, the suits Obsidian and Shadow wore had trapped most of the heat absorbed from direct contact with sunlight.
Sprinting the entire kilometre from the power station to the research base, the three headed for the door by the vehicle depot. Breathless, dizzy, and nauseated, they burst through the door, sighing in relief at the immediate drop in temperature.
“… And we’ll need to … do that again … to take … the turrets … offline,” Obsidian panted. “Yeah, piece of cake.”
“It might just be.” Khamari wheezed, hunched over with his hands on his knees. Pointing at the giant vehicle beside them, he managed a simple, “The baserunner could transport us across.”
Remembering the comms chatter, Obsidian headed for the lobby. Sighting the diamond dog, he called out, “Sparky, get over here. Need your assistance by the vehicle.”
Sparky glanced at Obsidian, before looking up at Swift. The pegasus waved a hoof in the direction of the vehicle depot. “Go, I’ll keep an eye on things.”
Securing his weapon, Sparky followed Obsidian. “What do you need?”
“As Khamari said over comms earlier on, attempting to gain access to the baserunner would leave us exposed to possible defences,” Obsidian explained, as the pair rounded the corner and entered the depot. “Do you smell anything?”
Setting his launcher down beside him, Sparky's nostrils flared, sniffing the air for any signs of a familiar scent. “No. Unless the vehicle is airtight?” he asked, facing Khamari.
Khamari nodded. “If we opened the hatch, would that be sufficient for you?”
Sparky gave a positive grunt. Khamari moved toward the hatch at the baserunner's belly, while Obsidian and Shadow assembled at opposite ends at a safe distance. Taking hold of the hatch's release mechanism, the Gaalsien rotated the short bar, releasing the hatch and leaping out of the way of any possible threats as the door fell open.
The group held their positions, weapons pointed at the opening, while Sparky furrowed his brow and attempted to pick up any hint of a Gaalsien or Raider inside. For every five or six tones of the base's alarm, Sparky would sharply inhale. Overhead, the dull blasts from Glare caused the building to rumble at about the same rate.
A little over a minute passed, before the diamond dog felt satisfied, only picking up mere hints of scents from occupants who have long since disembarked. “No one is aboard. It should be safe to enter.”
“Thank you, Sparky. Head back to the lobby,” Shadow ordered. “We'll take it from here.”
With another grunt, Sparky hoisted his weapon back up and swung around, leaving the same way he came. Taking point, Obsidian entered the baserunner first, still wary of any potential threats as he floated up beside a ladder. Khamari and Shadow followed, until the three stood around the access hatch.
“Controls are on the top deck, forward section,” Khamari started. “Living quarters in the aft section. Power plant in the rear half, multiple decks. Cargo in the forward decks across all but the top deck, forward of this bulkhead. There’s enough visibility on every deck for us to safely split up, as well as flank any threats if need be. Just mind the bulkhead corners.”
“I'll take the top deck,” Obsidian volunteered. “Forward to aft sweep.”
“I can search the cargo area, top to bottom,” Khamari followed.
“Power plant for me then,” Shadow finished.
Spreading out, the three confirmed the interior was indeed empty. Obsidian gave the baserunner's controls a final glance, before turning around and heading back toward the ladder. As he moved aft, he caught Khamari out of the corner of his eye, frozen in place. Pausing, he looked down into the cargo compartment at the Gaalsien. “Everything alright?” the changeling asked. When he received no answer, he flew down to the Gaalsien to see what the matter was. “What’s going on with …”
Staring down at the bottom-most level of the cargo hold, the changeling found a large device of exposed components. A small console mounted to the side nearest to the pair, while several wires tracked around to a pyramid of cylindrical parts, splitting up and connecting to the individual pieces. Beside the console’s screen, what was clearly a warning sign was fixed to one of the device’s support structures, though it was printed in Kushan-La. Khamari’s reaction confirmed the suspicions Obsidian had about what he was looking at.
“That would be the warhead of an ADW,” Khamari finally spoke, just as Shadow joined back up with the others. “Or at least, a crude assembly of one.”
“So, you were telling the truth after all,” the changeling replied quietly, as if he feared his voice would trigger the weapon. “I’m sorry.”
“We’ll concern ourselves with apologies later. Right now, we’ve been presented with an opportunity.”
“You’re thinking of using it to destroy the base?” Shadow enquired.
“I am. The yield of this warhead would wipe the entire valley out of existence, as a bare minimum. If I can set a timer, your pilot can extract us to a minimum safe distance. There’s a catch, however.”
Obsidian hummed. “There always is. What is it?”
“I can’t say with certainty, but once armed, the device will probably light up on sensors. We’d likely advertise our presence to those in orbit, or at least signify to them that something is seriously wrong.”
“They'll figure that out sooner or later. We’ll worry about that when the time comes. Let's assist the others first.”
“Agreed. One of us should stay to guard this, though. ADW aside, this baserunner will make life easier.”
Considering her options, Shadow quickly decided who would remain on board. Her eyes landed on Khamari. “Fine. Stay here, and secure the hatch behind us. Anyone tries to force their way in, you let us know, and we'll get Glare to teleport reinforcements.” Opening her comms, she continued. “Glare, the vehicle is secured. Where do you need us?”
“We're four floors down from the top. Can you work your way up?”
“Obsidian and I are on our way.”
While the others continued clearing out the base room by room and floor by floor, Khamari busied himself with the super-weapon secured inside the baserunner. After familiarising himself with the console interface and studying the exposed components as carefully as possible, the Gaalsien was confident an arming sequence and timer could be set.
Finished in the cargo bay, Khamari returned to the baserunner's controls. Flipping the appropriate switches and turning various dials, he started the vehicle and checked for anything that might hinder safety or performance. Satisfied, Khamari kept the baserunner's propulsors at idle, and waited, keeping a close eye on external cameras for anyone that might attempt to board the vehicle.
Several floors above, the final battle raged, and the last of the Raider and Gaalsien personnel made their final stand at the centre of a large room. Remnants of a large device lay strewn across the floor, and served as cover for the hostiles. Blue pulsar streaks cut back and forth between each side, and though the base personnel outnumbered their attackers four to one, the two groups were at a stalemate.
Taking cover, Bon Bon stated the obvious, “Glare, we’re going to have to rethink our approach to this.”
Glancing around the room, Glare realised the Gaalsien and Raiders were well entrenched, but pinned down. She quickly identified areas of cover at various points around their enemy, and turned back toward her squad-mates. “Bon Bon, hold position and keep up the fire. Shadow”—she addressed the zebra who had just returned behind her cover—“With me.”
Glare’s horn glowed briefly, before she and Shadow flashed away. The sound of teleportation was heard somewhere on the other side of the room and to the left, before another sound signalled Glare’s return to the others, alone. “Obsidian, you’re next.”
Glare repeated the process with the changeling, followed by Shift, then positioned herself elsewhere. Fully surrounded, the hostiles found themselves completely outflanked. In a matter of seconds, the firefight was over. With nothing but the base's alarm still sounding, the victorious group scanned the area for survivors, before congregating near the centre of the room.
“I think that's the last of them,” a relieved Glare proclaimed, doing her best to ignore the bodies around her. Enveloping her demolitions in her aura, she floated every explosive she had toward Obsidian. “Take these. I need to do one final check of the base for any intel I might have missed. The rest of you, split up and start planting your demolitions. We’ll meet at the baserunner.”