Destructive Matters

One

1337

"A raid?" the young man asked in surprise to his orders. Ceom, a zoid pilot from the north-west outskirts of New Helic City wondered why he had been chosen for a strike team. He was slightly short for his age, had brown hair, green eyes, and he usually had a look of calm on his face, however this was not one of those times. "Do you know why?" he asked his friend. She was somewhat taller then he and she had much darker hair, however they were around the same age with her being slightly older. The two were on friendly terms, discarding the normal military talk when not in that setting.

"No. I don't know why, they just told me to assemble three small teams of zoids."

"How strange, it just seems like a bunch of raiders, they haven't even done anything illegal in recent months."

"That's why it's called the military, the higher-ups don't say much about their big plans."

"I understand, is there anything else?

"Yes. I'm assigning you to the insertion team; also I need someone to set up the high-energy phazon cannon and someone to scout for an insertion point."

The high-energy phazon cannon was an experimental heavy artillery weapon which was easy to produce and the shells it fired only needed to go through a low-energy process to refuel them. The downside to this behemoth was that it took several hours to set up.
"I'll do the scouting. I'll use one of those high speed Sinker zoids we have at the base."

"Sure. Just don't get spotted."

"That's why I'm not going to take the neon-green one."

"Okay. Well just be back later for the Opp. Briefing, Ceom."

"See you there Kara." She walked to the doors and left, off to find someone to run the high-energy phazon cannon most likely.

Ceom looked over the aerial photographs of the target and he wrote out a scout plan to check the target for any weaknesses. The compound was built into a small plateau that was just sitting in the middle of the desert. The base was mostly built with the plateau over it so an aerial assault would only allow access to the front quarter of the base. One of the walls seemed to not be as thick as the others and Ceom noted this in his report, and he noted to check it in his scout run.

It was bizarre that the military had taken sudden interest in such a small bunch of rag-tag bandits. The hideout was used for smugglers and other illegal activities although the in recent years the activities had dwindled to almost nothing. There was something definitely strange about this whole situation.

After he had finished his scout plan he headed for the elevators which were on the west side of the building, overlooking the desert sunset. This elevator was a normal military grade, high weight class, and sturdy, but this particular one had a glass panel instead of a wall. As an extra project, as well as for something to do, the soldiers had placed a heavily reinforced glass plate so one could see incoming attacks.

The true reason of this modification, however, was to have a great view of the desert sunsets. Ceom looked at the great view out the glass walled elevator before hitting the button marked H4 and allowing the car to plunge downward to the underground levels.

Soon the car was lowered beneath ground level and the sunset was replaced with the first hangar level where the flight zoids were held. There were three rows of zoids two of which were Storm Sorters and the other row consisted of Raynos.

The next level held the Liger class zoids, mainly Shield Ligers, of which were painted Republic White. There were two Snipe Ligers housed there as well.

The third level housed the artillery squadrons and repair stations. This level contained many Cannon Tortoises with heavy bombardment cannons. The other zoid here in large quantities was the Command Wolf Juggernaut, a powerful zoid sporting massive cannons and high powered rifles.

The final level consisted of the specialized and other kinds of zoids. This level was quite empty because the Republic rarely issued zoids of theses types. Many of these zoids were expensive because they were not produced in massive quantities. The majority of these zoids were owned by the people who lived at the compound. As the elevator descended further there was a good view of a line of three high-speed class Sinkers. After a couple of seconds a larger zoid blocked the others, it was a large Dark Horn with the Republic insignia painted on its sides. This zoid was one of the high-energy phazon cannon's guards. This Dark Horn was outfitted with two large Vulcan cannons and a low-powered beam sniper rifle. Ceom walked past the Dark Horn and several other zoids. After a few more paces across the metallic floor he came to a computer terminal and he transferred his data disk that contained a fully detailed scout plan of the target.

His last pass by the compound was to scan the weakened wall of the base. The scanning equipment required a close pass. This would normally be a dangerous mission, however the cloaking equipment onboard the scout Sinker would allow Ceom to make the pass. If Ceom went too fast it ruin the cloaking and the zoid would stick out. The first two runs along the south side and north-west sides of the base would be from a long distance. The onboard high resolution camera would take excellent pictures of the enemy compound even from a huge distance. Ceom also noted in the logs that he would be under anti-targeting equipment the entire time, as well as full radio silence. Ceom allowed the computer to process the information and it showed a list of zoid numbers along with their launch times.

He selected the time placement he wanted and he noticed that the high-energy phazon cannon crew had already left. Ceom looked back towards the Dark Horn that was one of the cannon's main guards.

The Dark Horn was still by the elevator.

Ceom looked over the cannon crew again and saw that three command wolves and a shield liger were assigned to the crew last minute. Kara did not usually change her assignments for missions and the Dark Horn had specialized close and medium range weaponry suited for guarding the cannon.

Ceom would have to remember to ask her why she made the change so late. He thought about this as he walked to the high-speed Sinker. He used the small pilot ladder to get into the low to the ground zoid and he dropped into the cockpit. He turned the low power 'taxi' engine that drove the zoid in and out of the hangar. The wheels protruding from the zoid's underside started to roll and Ceom steered them from a drop down console that was like a miniature steering wheel. He proceeded to the zoid lift that took the Sinker zoid to the third hangar level where the main exit and entry doors were located for the entire compound's land zoids. The main runways for the aerial zoids were located in a zone connected to the first hangar level. Ceom was cleared to leave the Republic base he wheeled the zoid to the main gate and started the main zoid engines. The hover jets instantly flared to life. When the hovercraft's main engines the weight off the wheels, they retracted into the zoid and the main propulsion jets kicked in, moving the zoid slowly forward. Ceom got the secondary 'green light' and he ran a few final checks. He proceeded to push the accelerator forward just enough to clear the hangar. Shortly afterward he activated the boosters on the back of the zoid. The change from slow to fast was instantaneous that the small hovercraft shot from the compound, past the auxiliary gate, and into the vast desert.