Redrock Ridge
The Wastelands
1430 hours
As her Liger sliced through the Godos, Rose was hoping that the pilot of its partner was watching what happened. The smaller tyrannosaur Zoid, neatly sliced in half, simply keeled over as her Liger continued its charge.
There, she thought. There he was. Lurking in the entrance of a side canyon was a small, grey bipedal Zoid, probably the Godos that had evaded her earlier while she was cutting down its companion. "You can't run forever", she sneered as the Liger turned to chase it. The Godos pilot turned and ran, the smaller Zoid darting down the canyon.
"Stupid." She muttered. "You're only going to make it worse." Her Liger was nearly twice as fast as it was. He couldn't out run her and there was no way he could out-fight her. She dropped the target sights onto the smaller Zoid, but hesitated form firing. No, why not have some fun, she thought. Sparing the trigger for the moment, she closed the distance between the two of them.
"Captain O'Bannon, come in please!" A voice from the communicator grabbed her attention. Flicking it on, a young woman with brown hair and wide brown eyes appeared on the screen.
"What is it, Rush?" She snapped. "I'm very busy right now!"
"Captain Taratov requests that you return to ship immediately, captain." She nervously replied.
"Why?" Rose snapped. "I can handle things out here."
"We-we've been recalled, captain." She stammered. "On the orders of major De Lyon."
"What?" She shouted. "Why?"
"He said it was because Captain Magyari has returned with the-"
"Damn it!" Rose shouted. Her Liger leaped into the air, then crashed down on the Godos. The smaller Zoid collapsed under the force of the blow, crumpling into a heap. Raising one of the Liger's paws, she smashed it down on the Godos' cockpit, silencing it.
"Captain?"
"Fine." She replied. "All units, return to ship!"
-
To say that Rose was unhappy would be an understatement. She'd spent the last month working on an undercover operation to retrieve the last known extant copy of the Quentin journal, only to be upstaged at the last minute by Sel Magyari. The other captain had managed to get away with the journal and was probably being commended for the amount of damage she did. All Rose had to show for it was a video disc of randomly clipped arena fights.
She stormed into her office and sat down in her commander's chair. Glaring at the monitor, she jabbed a button on the keyboard. "Rush?"
"Yes captain?" The female technician replied.
"I want to speak to major De Lyon immediately"
"I'll have to put it through to command and-"
"God damn it, just do it!" Rose shouted. She wanted an explanation and she was not ready to settle for anything less then one from De Lyon himself.
"Y-yes captain." Rush stammered, then closed the connection.
Rose sat back in her chair arms folded and scowling. De Lyon had better have a good explanation for this, she thought. She tried to think of some advantage she had over him that she could use to get her way. Certainly she'd come out looking a lot better then him after the A-X incursion, but then Sel had come off looking better then the pair of them. Great.
The communicator bleeped. She turned back to the monitor, which was now displaying a five-pointed black star and a 'priority transmission' notice. So this was it. She pressed a button on the monitor. De Lyon's stern, angular face appeared. He was wearing his full uniform, complete with officer's cap, something Rose rarely did herself.
"Ah, captain O'Bannon." He began. "You wanted to speak to me."
"What is going on here, Major?" She snapped. "Why have I been recalled?"
"You may recall, captain that the mission I dispatched your unit on has since been completed." He explained. "Captain Magyari retrieved the journal and has since returned home. I see no reason to keep your unit in the field any longer."
Damn. He was being reasonable. That was the last thing she wanted. "But sir, I-"
"Actually, there is one other matter." He interrupted. "As of this moment, I'm reliving you of command of the special operations squadron."
"What?" She explained. "Why?" The special operations squadron was made up of various Zoids that had been captured in the field and were to be used for more deniable or covert operations, as well as aggressor training units. Currently, units captured from Pie's forces currently made up the bulk of it.
"It has been reassigned to other duties, captain." He replied. "On the orders of Colonel Cade." He added, cutting her off before she could reply.
"I see." She'd been beaten again.
"I expect to see you and your ship back here as soon as possible, captain." He continued. "Out."
The screen went blank. Rose sat back in her chair, arms folded and feeling very, very angry. De Lyon had managed to pull the rug out from under her. He'd done to her what she'd been trying to do to him all along. Fine. She'd just have to find some other way to get to him.
She could only hope Sel was having as miserable a time of it as she was.
-
De Lyon wanted to laugh out loud. The look on O'Bannon's face had been perfect. He'd just done to her what she'd been trying to do to him for the last few months. In one stroke he'd completely undercut her authority and effectively eliminated any threat she posed to him.
The Special Operations unit would be very useful to him. While the squad were officially designated as aggressors for combat training, their real use was far more important to him. They existed to do things outside of the normal structure of the military chain of command. The men and women that made it up were trained to follow orders, no matter how strange or unusual they may seem to be. Which was perfect for what he needed.
He was glad that Sel had found the Quentin Journal and not Rose. He knew that he could rely on Sel to just hand it over with no questions asked. More importantly, he knew he could rely on her to follow his orders not to read it. Had Rose found it, she probably would have committed its contents to memory by now in the hope that there was something that she could use to her advantage, not to mention making numerous backups for emergencies or possible future use.
Fortunately, he had gotten to it first.
He'd obligingly handed the disk over to Cade, Abbot and the others, earning himself and Magyari a lot of pats on the back and "jolly good shows" in the process. Of course, he'd read it through and made a copy of it first. The information in it had been... enlightening. That was the only way he could put it.
His assignment of Magyari and O'Bannon to this operation hadn't been his idea. They'd both been chosen by Colonel Cade, due to the vast amounts of experience both of them had with dealing with outsiders. He had personally wanted to command the operation himself, but Cade had overruled him, much as she'd done with the first operation to retrieve the Journal.
Well, that should change, he thought. Once I take advantage of what I've found, I'll be the one in charge.
-
Sel tried to ignore the knocking on the door as she unpacked the backpack for the third time. Eventually she gave up and just dumped the clothes on the floor. "Who is it?" She shouted.
"It's me, Matt." Came the voice form the other side.
Felling guilty, she muttered out a "Come in."
Matt stepped into the room and managed to look decently surprised. Sel's normally immaculate quarters were a mess of clothes and equipment strewn over every available flat surface. A large backpack was sitting in the middle of the floor, a pair of pants hanging out of it. Sel herself was looking somewhat flustered, and was slowly shuffling as if to hide something.
"Is everything okay, captain?"
"Fine." She replied. "Great. No problems. Why do you ask?"
"Well, you've been making a lot of noise in here. Swearing even."
"I've been busy" She replied. "Preparing. Packing. Cleaning things up."
"I see." He replied. "Is that one of the survival backpacks from the ship's emergency supplies?"
Sel looked down at the pack on the floor. "Yes, yes it is. I was checking it to make sure that it was fine."
"Surely that's the crew's job." Matt replied.
"I took it upon myself to conduct a random inspection." She countered. "It's a new ship. It was taken as combat salvage. I wanted to personally inspect their gear."
"I see." Matt said. "Can I ask you something?"
"Certainly." She hadn't moved. Peering around, Matt was sure he could see something behind her. She shuffled as if to hide it.
"You aren't planning some sort of wilderness expedition, are you?"
"Why do you say that?" She asked.
"Well, you took the pack and survival gear from the ship." He began. "And then went back for some climbing equipment from the emergency supplies as well as emergency trail rations."
Sel put the climbing gear that she was hiding behind her down on the bed. "Well, yes." She admitted.
"Can I ask what it's about?" He said. "It's just that, well, since we left Tempus you've been rather quiet."
Sel sighed. "Matt, I don't want to get you in to trouble. I've committed another major breach of security. However, this is one that was my decision and can be placed squarely on my shoulders and nobody else's."
"What did you do?" He asked. "I'm asking you as a friend. I want to know if I can help you."
Sel looked up at the ceiling. "I read the journal after recovering it, despite being ordered not to. I couldn't help my self. Everything Sandra had said to me about my keeping her in the dark seemed to suddenly make sense. I just felt like there was so much that I wasn't being told, and the Journal might have some of the answers."
"And did it?"
She nodded. "Sort of. I... I need to see it for myself, Matt." She replied. "That's what I'm doing. There's a place mentioned in the journal that's been sealed off and hidden away from the rest of the city. I'm going to see that place, Matt. I have to."
"So you can know the truth?"
She nodded again. "I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't." She looked him in the eyes. "When I found Zell, he was already dying. Somebody had shot him. The last thing he told me was that 'they' had been lied to and 'they' needed to know the truth. And he explicitly mentioned the Dark Continent. I have a feeling he was talking about, well, us."
He nodded. "I understand, Sel."
"Good." She replied. "This will probably be the end of my career. I've made sure that nothing I do today will reflect back on any of you in the squad, or any other members of my company. This is something I must do myself."
"I can't allow you to do that, captain." He replied, sternly.
Sel glared at him. "You said you understood why I had to go. Now you're saying you'll stop me?" she said, angrily.
"No, I meant I cannot allow you to go alone." He replied. "Wherever this place is, it can't be easy to reach. You're packing survival and climbing gear which means that it is likely inaccessible or at the very least a long journey. In either case, it would be dangerous to travel alone."
"You want to come with me?" She asked.
"Yes." He replied. "For your safety."
"Matt, you could be throwing away your career here." She stated. "What you're doing could be constituted as treason."
"And I don't think I could live with myself letting you go off on your own like that. Or, for that matter, without knowing what lay down there."
He mentioned my safety first, she thought, and the objective second. "Very well then." She replied. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning before the Foundation Day celebrations begin." Foundation Day was the annual celebration of the city's foundation. Sel didn't feel much like celebrating, however. "I suggest you pack."
"Yes captain." He replied.
"Two more things, Matt." She added. "The first is that if we are caught, you will say that I ordered you to come with me and that you had no idea of what I was doing. That way If I go down in flames - which I probably will - you can at least salvage something of it."
He nodded. "I will. So what's the other thing?"
She smiled, albeit weakly. "Thanks for volunteering to come."
-
De Lyon drummed his fingers impatiently on his desk. Some hours ago, he'd sent several teams down into the depths of the city. They had been tasked with locating several items and places mentioned in the Journal. He needed to know if what Quentin had seen there was correct. If he was, the implications could be… interesting, he thought.
In a strange way, he had to admire Quentin. It was clear from his journal that he was a very intelligent and observant man. He'd made a number of deductions about the city and its people from just his first observations, most of which had turned out to be correct. He also must have spent many hours crawling around the darkest depths of the city at his commander's orders to have found some of the things that he did. Things that the city's own inhabitants either didn't know about. Or, he reflected grimly, weren't supposed to know about.
In many ways, it was a pity that he'd died during the fighting, he thought. Quentin would have been a veritable goldmine of information about the outside world, especially the Draken Empire. The Journal itself wasn't entirely his own work, he'd noticed. There was a good amount of additional material added to it, most notably by Kandrak who had continued to record what had happened during the fighting. It also contained what appeared to be records of the city's original inhabitants, which made for a very interesting read.
A beeping noise from his communicator grabbed his attention. Swinging around, he pressed the receive button on the consol. A flashing red icon indicated a secure connection. After a second the picture came up, a blurry, static-filled image of a soldier in body armour.
"Well?" he began.
"This is team three here." The soldier replied. "Communication is difficult. We're at the base of the core, and it's-"
"Just tell me if you found it." He replied.
"Yes sir." The soldier replied. "It's here, just as you said it would be."
"Let me see it"
The camera jostled around to show a section of the core near where it met the bedrock. A few bulging features on the side caught his attention. Tapping a few buttons, he bought up an image from the journal next to it and compared the two. There. Quentin was right again, he thought. Perfect. If Cade, Burton and Bishop thought they could cal the shots, this proved them wrong.
"Sir?" He soldier asked.
"Good work. Return to base immediately and await my orders." He finished.
"Yes sir." The link closed.
He sat back in his chair. A stream of thoughts that he'd been pulling together for the last few days was beginning to take form. So the core is really… he thought. That was the first and most important thing he needed.
Another beep interrupted him. He pressed the button, the screen resolving to the face of one of his subordinates, Captain Karen Anderson. A pale skinned, dark haired woman, she reminded him of that Blackmore woman who had rampaged through here a while back. "Yes?" He asked.
"Captain O'Bannon's ship has just returned." She began. "Should I meet her and have her sent up to you?"
"No." He replied. "I'll do it myself."
"Yes sir."
He closed the link and smiled. This should be fun, he thought.
-
The instant Rose stepped off the ship, she knew she was in for trouble. De Lyon was standing by the hatch, an altogether too smug look on his face.
"Captain." He began and saluted.
"Yes, major." She replied and returned the salute.
"I trust it everything went well." He began.
You bastard, she thought. "Well, I can't take all the credit for what happened." She relied. "Captain Magyari was the one who retrieved the journal. She deserves the congratulations for what happened." There, she thought. As long as I steal your thunder.
"And how did the Special Operations unit perform?" he asked. "They are using new equipment after all."
"They performed as well as can be expected." Rose knew that the unit was going to be taken from her. At least she'd get to walk away with her Blade Liger. That one Zoid was assigned to her personally, rather the unit.
"Good to hear." He smiled. "So do you have any plans for Foundation day tomorrow?" He asked.
"No." She replied. "I was thinking of taking it easy. After all, I've just returned from the field."
"Of course."
"How about you, sir?" She asked. "Any plans? Or were you thinking of just doing a little reading."
"Reading?"
"Maybe some historical works." She said, then walked off, smiling. Just as I thought, she mentally added. He's read it. She looked back at De Lyon, who was quietly fuming. Maybe its time for me to take a little walk.
-
Since she had started this expedition, one thing about the city in which she lived had surprised Sel. There was a lot more of it then she'd ever thought.
She'd lived most of her life in the massive cavern that was the new city. Far larger then the one that held the old city, it was, in essence, a self-contained world. Everything in the city was layered; buildings stretched hundreds of meters form floor to ceiling. All the roads were multi-layered, interlaced with walkways between buildings. One never needed to go to the ground level if one didn't want to.
Not that you would want to. The ground levels were dark, dismal, forgotten places, often completely blocked off from the light given off by the massive lamps that provided a simulation of the daytime sky. Many buildings at their ground levels were completely abandoned, the streets often a choked mess of debris, garbage and burnt-out vehicles. This was the home of the poor and desperate, those who had either rejected society to live their own way (usually regretting it) or just fallen through the cracks.
Sel's only guide was a copy of the Journal that she'd downloaded to her own minicomputer. Even then, she'd purged a lot of the text to make space for the maps and diagrams. She and Matt had been forced to detour through the maze of choked streets and dead ends that made up the bottom level of their world. From there, they'd be able to find the entrance that they were looking for.
The entrance to the next level down.
It had come to a shock to Sel to discover that there was another layer below the new city that was actually older then the cavern that held what she saw as her world. Quentin had managed to find it, however. He'd recorded every detail of what he'd found there to within the limits of his understanding. Now Sel had to see it for herself.
Descending through a forgotten access hatch had led the pair of them into a maze of tunnels that ran underneath the city. Dark, cramped and claustrophobic, they were often barely accessible, the path being squeezed between conduits and pipes.
Slowly the pair of them had weaved their way down through the maze of tunnels. Sel quietly wondered to herself how far down they had gone. Were they as deep again as the new city? Further down even?
She stopped. There was a square-shaped, straight-sided hole in the floor ahead of her. She double checked the guide. Yep, this was the place.
"Captain?" Matt asked. "Where to now?"
"Down here." She replied. "This shaft will lead us further down. From there, we keep walking." She turned back to face him. "As far as Quentin was aware, this is the only way down."
Matt looked over the side. The hole quickly plunged into darkness. He could see that is sides were not regular, bur rather had a few landings in the sides. "What do you think it is?" He asked.
"My guess is that it was an elevator shaft." She replied, then looked up. There was no sign of a matching hole on the top. "But I could be mistaken. There's so much we don't know about this place."
The pair of them descended into the darkness. The climb wasn't that difficult; the landings had been placed at regular intervals, which furthered Sel's theory that it may have been an elevator shaft of some kind. After a while - exactly how long escaped her - the pair of them reached the bottom. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't completely dark.
A dim light issued from around a bend in the corridor ahead. Cautiously the pair of them followed it. As they got closer, they could make out more details of the passageway around them. It was different to the others they'd seen so far. Whereas the corridors below the city had been dull concrete lined with pipes, these were made up of complex, interlocking pieces and had otherwise bare or featureless walls. No pipes, conduits or the like to obstruct their passage. The lighting came from a single strip imbedded into the roof.
"This is… different." Matt commented.
"We know there were people here before us." Sel replied. "I wonder if they built all this."
"It looks very different from the construction in the cities, however." Matt replied. "I think it may be a later addition after they built the city."
Or an earlier one, Sel thought. She didn't want to admit it, but something about that worried her.
The corridor continued into another maze of passages. Sel didn't want to admit it, but there was something odd about this place that was strangely disquieting. Something… alien. As if it wasn't made by human hands.
The pair of them stopped by a doorway. Sel checked her notes, then looked back at Matt. "This is it." She said, quietly. "You don't have to go on from here. You could turn back now, and avoid the worst of the blame. You could say you tried to stop me but I lost you in the maze."
"Thank you, captain, but I think I have to see this for myself."
And the decision is made, she thought. No turning back now.
They stepped through the doorway.
Sel looked around. They were in a massive domed room of impossibly large size. She quietly figured that it had to be about four hundred meters across and at least a hundred high. Possibly more. The pair of them were standing on a ledge about ten meters off the floor. Below them was… well, Sel couldn't begin to describe what she saw. Rows of massive metal crates. Strange unidentifiable machines. Pieces of… well, she couldn't imagine.
"I don't wish to sound anticlimactic." Matt began. "But what are we looking at?"
"I have no idea." Sel replied. "Whatever it is, it's hidden down here for a reason. I want to know why." She looked along the ledge. A little over from where they were was a ladder, leading down to the floor. Not wasting any time. Sel ran over to it and quickly climbed down to the floor level, running to the nearest crate. With nothing else to do, Matt followed her.
"What is it?" he asked, looking at the giant crate. An embossed plate on the front read as "Gojulas: Tyrannosaurus Type"
"A Gojulas?" Sel asked. "Interesting. As far as I know, we've never had any Gojulas here" She gave the crate a quick once over. Its front side had a handle on it that she supposed was part of a door release mechanism. She tried turning it, but it only moved a little. "Give me a hand here, Matt."
Matt took the other side of the handle. The pair of them strained against it for a few minutes, before it finally switched over with a resounding clang. With a low, loud creak suggesting that it hadn't moved in decades, the door of the crate opened a little.
"What's inside?" Matt asked.
"I can't see." Sel replied. "But I intend to find out." She pushed on the dor, forcing it open despite its protests. She released the door, then walked round to the front of the crate and peered into the darkness inside. Inside was a Gojulas or, at least, the wreckage of one. The right side of its head and much of its body had been sheered way, as if it had been torn from the body. Or, she thought, if it had been blasted away. Parts of what remained looked to have been removed or at least partially disassembled.
"A dead Gojulas?" Matt asked. "What is it doing here?"
"I have no idea." She replied. She looked over at the crate next to it. "Gordos: Stegosaurus Type." She said out loud.
"There's a Redhorn over here." Matt added, looking at a different crate.
"Do you think these all contain destroyed Zoids?" She asked. "What is this, a morgue?"
Mat looked at her. "Sel, when you test piloted the Deathsaurer, did they tell you more about it?" He asked. "Like where it came from?"
"Only that they found it." She replied. "Damaged but still operational in the ruins of the city." She looked around at the other crates. "I wonder if these were found at the same time?"
Matt walked around the crates. "Mammoth. Sabre Tiger. Molga. Geruder." He paused in front of one crate. "Unknown Iguan or Godos"
"Unknown?" She asked. "What, there wasn't enough left to tell?"
Matt looked at her. "If it had been attacked by a Deathsaurer, maybe." He walked back over to her. "Is this what you came to see?"
"No." She replied. "There is more. Things that Quentin may not have immediately recognised but that I may be able to put into context."
She walked past the rows of crates. She noted that a number could have been from Chrom's unit. "Spartak, Stang, Kreep." She muttered. "Red Scavenger, Gordox, Terrox." She added. What was this place?
"Over here." Matt called out. Sel sprinted over to where he was standing.
A large, red humanoid battlesuit with a black torso was lying on the floor, Matt standing by its side. Its head reminded her of the older model Zoids like the Garius, and was similarly sized. Looking in through the canopy cover, she could see a vacant pilots seat in a cockpit that looked much like a Zoid's cockpit. I probably wouldn't feel out of place inside it, she thought. Looking up, she could see a large golden wedge or spike was jutting forward from its chest, presumably some sort of weapon or maybe a tool. Its left arm ended in a twin-barrelled cannon, while the right had a large grasping claw.
"What is it?" He asked. "Some sort of humanoid Zoid?"
"I don't know." She replied. "It's got a number of Zoid-like features, but there are many differences too." She looked along its length. "Certainly, I've never seen or heard of anything like it."
"Maybe it was found here like the Deathsaurer." Matt offered.
"An extinct Zoid type?" She asked. "It's possible. Or maybe it's something else. A related or similar creature." She shrugged. "Or an artificial Zoid maybe."
"I wonder if it still runs." Matt asked. "Or if it's really dead?"
Sel rubbed the back of her neck. "I get the feeling it's not the sort of thing I want to find out. I think this one should be left be." Despite its odd design, something about the suit was unsettling to her. It seemed dangerous.
"Captain?" Matt asked. Sel blinked. She'd been staring at the suit. "Do you want to keep going?"
"Definitely." She said. "I want to know what's down here." And why we're not meant to know, she added.
She looked over at a pair of odd looking tracked vehicles. Both had some sort of strange combination drill/cannon weapon mounted on their backs and looked somewhat more worn or used then a lot of the other things in here. No, nothing odd there. So far only the alien battlesuit seemed really out of place, and even then it didn't seem like the sort of thing you'd hide. A trio of crates off to one side caught her attention. They were metal slabs, similar to the ones that had contained the dead Zoids, but far smaller.
Hey were big enough for a person to fit in. Almost like a coffin, really. That didn't sit well with her at all. She walked over to one of them. It was locked down, like a foot locker. She wanted to open it, but couldn't think of any way to do it without breaking the lock. For some reason, she wanted to leave as little trace of her being here as possible. That way I may be able to get away free, she thought. I can descend to the depths. Come back up and be none the worse for wear.
"Any idea what these are?" Matt asked. He was looking at a pair of large, exotic looking devices. They resembled nothing as much as furnaces or boilers, but weren't obviously connected to anything. Numerous pipes ran along their sides, and each one had a large, clear bowl at the end running out from the main body of the furnace. Whatever came out of it and into the bowl had passed through several fine filters, Sel noted.
"They're nanotech forges." A voice behind her said. Sel and mat both spun around to see Rose sitting on top of one of the 'coffins'. She was wearing a sleeveless top, had her hair tied back and was covered in grime.
"Nanotech forges?" Matt asked. "As in… they make nanites?"
Rose stood up. "Good guess." She replied. "These two are in reserve. I know there's at least two more currently in use."
"In use?" Sel asked. "But… Nanotech is dangerous. We don't use it because of the risks involved." It was something she'd been taught. Nanotech had made man powerful, but had nearly caused his downfall centuries ago. Now it was a banned technology, not to be used, no matter what the benefits would be.
"Yeah, funny that." Rose replied. "And yet, you're reaping its benefits."
"What do you mean?" Matt asked.
"Oh come on." Rose rolled her eyes. "How do you think that oh-so-swanky genetic upgrade you, me, her and every other damned Zoid pilot in this city went through works?" She asked rhetorically.
Sel nodded. She, like every other potential Zoid pilot, went through a long genetic upgrade process during their early teens. The result was that they were stronger, faster and fitter then normal humans, with better reflexes, better hand/eye coordination, stranger circulatory and respiratory systems… and also tended to all come out tall and attractive. The technology had been developed so the city's small pool of pilots would be more effective in battle, given that most opponents would be able to field larger or more diverse forces.
"The same goes for our amazing medical technology that can patch people up without even scars." Rose replied.
"But the nutrient gels we use-" Sel began.
"Is just glop with nanites inside." Rose replied.
"But why?"
Rose shrugged. "Think of it this way. You've got this amazing technology that can do all sorts of amazing stuff. You're also a member of a small elite who wield absolute power. You don't want Joe everyman getting his hands on the technology that grants you that power, do you?"
"Well, I guess…"
"That's right, sis." Rose said. Sel winced. Rose never referred to her like that unless she was up to something. "And those in charge make sure the people that could inherit their position of power, people like you and me, are happy with their lot. How?"
"By giving them power." Matt replied. "By elevating them above all the others. By making sure they will get the most benefit out of the system that created them and that they will eventually lead."
"Smart boy." Rose replied. "Sel, he makes a great XO. I'll have to steal him from you."
Sel was trying not to think about it. Everything that Quentin had said was true. Did that mean… She had to change the subject. "How did you find this place, Rose?" She asked. "Did you read the journal too?"
"I wish." She replied. "I'd love to know what other dark secrets they found." She glanced at Sel's wristcomm. "Say, could I borrow that when you're done?"
"I've deleted most of the text." She replied. "Only the maps remain."
"Pity." Rose walked around. "I discovered this place years ago by accident."
"Accident?" Sel asked. "How?"
She smirked. "Did you ever wonder where I went during parent days?" She began.
"No." Sel admitted. Like all children, Rose and Sel were raised in communal crèches with others of their age. The pair of them had been a part of a large group of foster siblings, but had always been considered two of the best and brightest. They would see their parents, of course, but only for a day at a time, usually every second week. Sel could never remember seeing Rose's parents though.
"Not surprising." She replied. "I used to run away during those days. Call it not facing reality." Rose shrugged. "As I grew, I became more and more adventurous. One day while avoiding a bucket load of cloying touchy-feelyness, I found this place." She pointed to another door on the other side of the dome to where Sel and Matt had entered. "The route to that one is mostly blocked with old debris and chunks of fallen roof. It was a lot easier to get into when I was smaller."
"So you knew all along?" Sel said. "Why didn't you…"
"Mention it?" Rose replied. "Oh come on. Do you honestly think I care about anyone else?" She glared at Sel. "I've spent my whole life looking out for one person. Me."
Sel sighed. She should have seen this coming. "Okay Rose, tell me one thing. Our great manifest destiny. What's the real story?" She was ready for the worst. This was the belief that her entire society was based around, the one thing that had been driving her for all her life.
Sel had been taught that her forefathers had crash landed on this planet a century ago. They had been driven from their home, a paradise-like word and forced to flee into space. One day, however, they would rebuild their ship and return to their true home. In the meantime, they were to protect their current hoe on this world until that great day arrived. That was what she fought for.
"Oh that?" She smiled. "This you've got to see for yourself."
They weaved their way further into the complex. Rose lead while Sel and Matt quietly followed her, looking around. There were things here that Sel didn't recognise or couldn't place. Something inside her told her that she didn't want to know.
"We're here." Rose said.
Sel and Matt looked at what was before them. It was a large, three-barrelled cannon turret. Each one of the barrels Sel conservatively estimated to be similar in size to a Gojulas Supercannon. The turret looked like it had been taken from some sort of ship. Its construction was rather worn, and the metal was both charred and bent in places as if it had been in a battle. There was another one next to it.
"Where is this from?" Sel asked.
"Take a look at it from above." Rose replied. She pointed to a pile of curved hexagonal slabs whose origin and nature Sel couldn't begin to guess at. "You'll get a better view form up there."
A few minutes later Sel was up there, Matt next to her. She looked down at the turret. There was a faded, battered symbol on it, resembling a five-pointed red star inside a white outline.
"I've seen this symbol before." She whispered to Matt. "It's an older version of our normal symbol. It was used before Chrom's coup and-"
"And?" Matt asked.
"And it was used on the ship that bought us here…" She trailed off. The Sovetskii Soyuz. The greatest ship ever constructed by mankind. The largest object to ever cross interstellar space. Its first and last flight had been the one that bought them here.
Matt looked at her. "But it was an exploration ship." He said. "It was unarmed and…"
Sel climbed up next to the pair of them. "Reality sucks, doesn't it?" She looked down "It gets better, though, kiddies. You haven't seen anything yet."
"What else is there?" Sel asked. "Just about everything I ever knew has been proven to be wrong."
"I can fix that one." Rose replied. "But for that we're going to have to take a little trip to the big, bad outside world."
Before Sel could reply, there was a loud metallic clanging sound. As one, the three of them turned to see a large door opening in one wall. "I thought you said this was the only way down here." Matt began.
"It's the only one we could easily and discretely access." Sel replied.
"Well, whoever it is, they're going to see us up here." Rose offered. As one, the three of them scrambled off the mound and scrambled for cover. They decided on one of the cannon turrets.
They watched silently, hardly daring to breathe. A silver and black Gustav, a version particular to their forces, rolled into the bay, accompanied by a number of troops. As they watched, the Gustav advanced across the bay, the troops fanning out to cover it.
"Awfully paranoid, aren't they?" Rose whispered. "Especially considering that nobody is meant to know they're here."
"What are they after?" Sel whispered.
"The question is, what is there in here that is immediately usable?" Matt asked. "Most of it is junk anyway."
The Gustav stoped by one of the Nanotech forges. The trailer-mounted crane arms deployed, swinging out over the forge. As they watched, it lifted the forge, then swung it onto its back. The troops moved to secure the forge on the back of the Gustav, testing that it was secure before throwing a tarp over the back and tying it down.
"Now this is interesting." Rose muttered.
The Gustav and troops crossed the room again, returning through the armoured door. It was only after the door had sealed shut again that anyone dared to move.
"What was that about?" Sel asked as she walked out form behind the cannon. She watched the door intensely, as if waiting for it to move.
"Maybe they needed the forge." Matt replied. "You did mention that these were reserves, Captain O'Bannon."
"Naw, they wouldn't have come down here with troops and then smuggled it out under a tarp if they did." Rose replied. "I recognised one of those troopers from the Special Operations Squadron, and I'm willing to bet that the others were from the same place."
"Special Operations Squadron?" Sel asked. "But aren't you in command of that?"
"Was, past tense, sis." Rose replied. "De Lyon yanked them away from me two days ago."
Sel looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "That's interesting. I returned only two days ago with the journal. De Lyon personally collected it from me."
"Rrrrrrreeeeealy." Rose replied in a way that reminded Sel of Vic. "De Lyon gets journal. De Lyon gets special ops squad. Troops from special ops squad get nanoforge from place where only someone who had read the journal would know about." She looked at the pair of them. "I'd say there's something very, very interesting going on here." She smiled.
"You said something about showing me the truth behind the great destiny." Sel said, remembering what they were talking about earlier.
"Yeah, there is that." Rose said. "Tell you what Sel. We'll get back to the real world, and then I'll show you." She turned around to face them, and smiled. "Trust me, you do not want to miss this for the world."
-