60 Book 4 - Chapter 118 (1/2)
M1 Y:2142
Inter-Academy Round 4 Fortescue Points: 418, Rank: 6, PR: 0.5225
Term: 3, Round: 4
Daedalus Operating Capital: +1,600,000 bitcreds
At first, two Mechs were visible and as they crossed the crest of the range more appeared behind the lead pair.
”Six so far,” Daedo said calmly.
”We can't outrun them, not while carrying Gabe,” Adele observed with her emotions coming through in the tenor of her voice. ”Leave us. Go.”
”No,” Mace said.
”It doesn't matter. I doubt we can outrun these Mechs,” Daedo stated. They were in exos with jumpjets, and while they were fast, first-rate Mechs could easily outpace them in straight line, open area speed.
Daedo brought up the sentry gun controls on his HUD.
”We could go back underground,” Mace suggested.
They heard a large explosion which shook the ground they were standing on.
”Argh,” Daedo grunted, ”The operatives in the base. How many?” He asked Adele.
”Four teams of six,” she replied peering at the horizon in the direction of the western mountain range. ”What was the explosion?”
”Our main reactor,” he replied. ”I don't think it will take them long to disable our entire power system. And it will be before we can take out the Mechs.”
The PPCs had an excellent range for their technology, but their max range was only five kilometres. They would lose reactor power to the sentry guns before the Mechs arrived.
”Do you know the operational plan?” Mace asked her Mother.
She shook her head, ”No Dear. We only knew the role of our squad.”
”Is anything else coming other than the Mechs?” Mace asked earnestly.
”I didn't know Mechs were coming! And I don't know what the other squads are up to either.” She said apologetically.
”I can think of three options,” Daedo said. ”They basically boil down to; we fight, we hide, or we surrender.”
”Fight,” Mace said immediately.
Her Mother nodded slowly. ”If we surrender, Ameline and Gabe are dead for sure. Even if we pretended to facilitate the surrender. Hiding could work, but do you have help on the way?”
Daedo shook his head. ”I expressly ordered them to stay away. It would take them at least four hours to get here.” There was no only the travel time, but no mission prep had been completed. The rest of Daedalus wasn't on standby ready to sortie, and if Daedo had to guess it would take them a few hours at least to fully mobilise with Mechs.
”We fight,” he agreed. ”I don't want to bring the others into this if possible. We don't know the capability of those Mechs or if more enemy armaments are inbound.”
Daedo: we need the diggers to cut us a new entry into the sentry gun tunnel network.
Myrmidon: and assist with taking down the enemy operatives?
Daedo: yes. Can you block their access to the network now? But don't put the diggers at risk, we will need them.
Myrmidon: I will work with AEMO. Retrace one hundred and twenty metres and wait.
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Daedo started moving back into the tunnel where they exited minutes earlier. He brought up a map on his and Mace's HUD which Myrmidon began to populate.
He had his railgun, launcher and grappler. The goo grenades were depleted, but he still possessed smoke and frag grenades. Mace possessed almost a full arsenal of grenades.
Daedo hefted his railgun, looking at it momentarily. ”The railgun round is meant for armoured opponents, any suggestions?” Daedo asked Mace and her Mother as they walked down the tunnel dragging Gabe.
”You can use Gabe's tranq darts,” Adele suggested.
”Shoot them through the head,” Mace said.
”I didn't want it to come to this,” he said regretfully.
Adele was silent, she looked at her husband with concern, but she must have wanted to say something about surrendering when they had the chance. Before her daughter and now herself and husband had signed their own death warrants.
”It was inevitable,” Mace said succinctly.
Myrmidon: keep clear, five metres.
The AI informed them as he painted a line on their HUDs. Within seconds the Digger broke through and began to turn one eighty degrees.
Myrmidon: follow 003. Keep five-metre clearance at all times.
Myrmidon or AEMO, Daedo wasn't sure, had worked out the most efficient way to dig into the sentry gun network whilst calculating their walk time from the surface and through the newly created tunnel.
”Digger 002 and 004 will cut off existing access tunnels, add a few traps while 003 is our escort,” Daedo said out loud for Adele's benefit. Mace could see the plan on their HUDs.
”Sentry Gun 002 will be our base of operations. Gabe and Adele will encamp there while Mace and I hunt down the enemy operatives,” Daedo said in a tone similar to when he gave orders to his squad.
”Mother, the diggers can close off this room if needed, and a prospector drone is preparing an air vent now,” Mace stated.
Myrmidon was picking up the operatives by their activities, their stealth technology and the lack of the base of internal security sensors ensured the only source of information was when they caused some damage in an attempt to neutralise the sentry guns.
There were two more large reactors which powered the sentry guns, and all three had been networked together along with storage to facilitate a highly adaptable power supply system. This adaptability forced the operatives to take out all the reactors as they could not trace the power delivery design to find a weak spot. And if they profiled Daedo at all they should realise there was none, the system possessed his usual level of redundancy elements.
Myrmidon: Tunnel 0142 was closed at 1102.50. The operatives have a plasma cutter onsite now
Current Time is 1117
Daedo: estimate the time needed to breach Reactor 02.
Myrmidon: Estimated time of breach 1121.15
”We've got four minutes to set up an ambush,” Daedo informed Mace.
Daedo: Myrmidon, remove risk avoidance from 002 and have it create a cave-in behind the breach at 1121.15
”Let's move,” Mace said. She then placed a hand on her Mother's shoulder, who was bent over her husband checking his vitals. ”See you later,” she simply said in the way of a goodbye.
Daedo began moving as soon as Mace turned away from her Mother. They checked their remaining ordnance, and while they had enough railgun rounds to last a week, their grenades were limited.
”I've got a prospector building us some cover in the tunnel,” Daedo informed Mace, ”And we are cutting off their retreat.”
”Are we going to eliminate all the operatives? Is that the plan?” Mace asked.
”No, the main objective is to destroy all their cutters. If they can't dig, they're impotent.” Daedo stated. ”Obviously we will have to negate any threat around their cutters first.”
”We never had an underground match,” Mace observed as they waited.
”I guess the Academy doesn't prepare you for everything,” Daedo replied. ”One minute, I'll take left.”
Their HUDs showed a countdown timer for the breach. They both activated their shields, and the three-hour timer appeared for its use with life support as well. Fortunately, they were unlikely to use jumpjets which would decimate their energy storage if used in conjunction with the life support and shield.
As the seconds melted away, they aimed their railguns down the tunnel. They decided not to use smoke or frag grenades.
Myrmidon: Digger 002's sensors indicate approximately six operatives with a plus or minus two accuracy.