Part 3 –
Five days later, nothing had happened. Oh sure, there was the odd lightning storm where bolts of pure power rained down from the sky like a god's wrath – but nothing happened. The outside atmosphere was still as harsh as ever with CO2 (or carbon dioxide to the civilians) floating everywhere, the sun was shining something fierce on the sand and there were no bandits around…just the dead husks of mekas from an age old battle. It was times like this that LR wanted nothing more than to hang up his hat and retire with Nisha…go somewhere quiet and peaceful.
But then again, that wasn't in his blood to do it.
He knew there was something here, he could feel it in his bones. Just…over the next ridge…he could see it clearly. A base! Quickly, he radioed in to the other members of his team and squinted through the targeting scope. One powerplant – large. Two refineries – medium, three basic ballistic turrents, one repair bay and…a supply dump!
OK, maybe they didn't need the ammo that was there, but there was bound to be rations in one or two of the buildings that they could eat. After a few minutes of fighting, they were within the perimeter of the base and had changed into "planet suits". The planet suits were thick, bulky jumpsuits with a helmet that made them look like fat astronauts, but it allowed them a four hour supply of air so they could infiltrate bandit bases.
He couldn't explain it, but he had a bad feeling about the place. He had never gone out of his command vehicle on Konu before. He never had a reason to…the dropship always came when the call was sounded, he never lead his team into suicide missions and always looked out for his squad. He took a deep breath in and strode towards the door of the supply dump. He could see that the keypad was broken, the sliding door slightly ajar. Something was up.
Well, duh, he thought, mentally smacking himself for being so stupid. Slowly, they all ventured in, after wrenching to door open – LR, Nisha, Monica Krade (Phantom Sharks), Lidija Abdulo (Slashing Hammerheads), Kat Eldero (Midnight Griffons) and Bettina Mawo (Atomic Lizards). He knew he was odd, travelling round with five female crews, but he didn't care what others thought. He knew he had a job to do, and that was all that mattered now.
Inky blackness and reverberating echoes. The tangible taste of fear, chaos and despair.
God, it was like the Hellion evacuation all over again…
TBC…