Chapter 91: Viva la Resistance
Adesus practically dragged Markus into her quarters with a stern lecture about making sure their privacy systems were fully activated still ringing in their ears from a certain grumpy Xeno doctor.
But no sooner had the pair closed the door behind them and Adesus prepared herself to pounce on her prize than a loud shrill bleeping noise cut through their passion like a cold knife.
"What the hell is that?" Adesus asked in an annoyed tone as she froze solid.
"A squeaker, it's a comms mode designed to override the privacy mode in case of emergency, apparently the Grand Patriarch ordered them installed on all Clan wrist comps after an incident on the Serpentinus homeworld with Seeker Silver-Diamondscale," Markus said with a heavy sigh as he lifted his wrist and pressed the buttons to accept the call.
"Sorry to cut into your private time with a certain local girl boss but we have something of an odd occurrence going on up here," Levi's voice said through the loudspeaker on the wrist comp.
Adesus snorted at being referred to as a 'local girl' but her ears pricked up at the mention of an odd occurrence.
"What do you see?" Markus asked his tone shifting into business mode.
"Whose quarters are you in?" Levi asked.
"Adesus's," Markus replied with a confused note to his voice as he glance up at her.
"No probs, I'm routing my feed there now take a look for yourself," she said.
Markus quickly headed over to the little desk and dropped into the seat switching on the holo monitor which was set into the desk and when powered down were little more than two metallic bars jutting up out of the desk.
No sooner had the image fired up than a slightly grainy image from outside burst into life and it took Adesus a moment to realise it was zoomed in image from Levi's gun camera.
They're clear as day was a little group of Arachnidia stood a ways off looking right at where their cave was.
"What are they doing?" Markus asked curiously.
"Dunno, they just seem to be standing there, they keep waving this little flag every now and then, look there they go again," Levi said and as she said it a large member of their species stepped forwards and in their claw-like hand lifted what looked to be a flag pole before giving it three waves.
Instantly Adesus recognised the insignia on the flag and her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened.
"That's the Clan Lunara insignia!!" she exclaimed.
"Wait, Clan Lunara, they're the good guys here right?" Markus said and she nodded excitedly.
"Yes! That's my Clan out there, we must go to them!" she exclaimed and was about to head for the door until Markus caught hold of her wrist and pulled her back causing her to look at him firstly in alarm and then in confusion.
"Slow your roll there sonic, it could be a trap, any of this Clan Ruara milling about are going to know that any Clan Lunara is going to recognise that symbol, we need to be cautious, I suggest a stealth approach until we can ascertain if they are legit or not, they could be trying to bait us out, undoubtedly word of what happened back in the city has spread and any conspirators could be actively trying to lure us out," he said.
Adesus made a snorting huff noise and rattled her quills in annoyance but nodded her head, while Clan Lunara did not deal in deception Clan Ruara sure as hell did.
"Alright, so what do you suggest?" she asked.
"We'll head out there under cloak while Levi and Victus watch our backs, when we're close enough I'll do a mind dive on one of them, that will show me if they are lying or not, it's impossible to keep the truth from a Dream Warrior and doubly so from a Seeker of Truth, the clue is kinda in the name sweet tail," he said giving her a kind of one-eyed blink along with a beautiful smile.
Granted she wasn't exactly up to speed on human body language but the connotations of him calling her suger tail were clear enough for her to ascertain that the blink thing must have been some kind of flirty motion.
"Uggh can you keep the flirting for a private channel? There's jealous as hell singletons here ya know?" Levi said making a mock gagging sound which kind of confirmed Adesus's suspicions.
"Just ask Victus to give you a hug I'm sure that'll make it all better," Markus shot back with an evil grin.
Now it was Levi's turn to snort though how she accomplished that without nostrils was a question that only their scientists would be able to answer.
"Like tall dark and furry would notice, hell I could wrap myself around his wait biting the tip of my own tail like a damn belt and he'd still carry on as if nothing was happening, I mean how hard does a girl have to shake her tail around her to get a guy to look?" Levi grumbled making Markus laugh.
"Not as hard as you'd think, I think it just has to be the right kind of tail, give it a shake you might find yourself surprised," Adesus said mirroring Markus's evil smile which now caused him to raise an eyebrow to go with it.
"Wait, what?" Levi exclaimed.
"Sorry you're breaking up Levi watch our backs for us, we're heading out," Markus said and with that, he shut the comms down rapidly.
"Well I guess snuggle time will have to wait, come on let's go see if we've found some friends or more foes to add to the growing list," Markus said flicking up his mask to cover his handsome face.
"I do not know what this snuggle time is but you can bet your best spear that whatever it is I'm getting some from you later human, now let's go," Adesus said flicking up her own mask and turning towards the door.
As they walked out from the mouth of the cave towards the group Adesus could feel her quills prickling under her armour, though she got the feeling that rather than nerves it was because she was aware of the fact that Levi was watching them through the scope of a high powered sniper rifle as they moved.
Markus was ahead of her and despite the fact he was cloaked and appeared as little more than a see-through image with a wireframe model in the middle of it she still kept finding herself staring at where his tail end would be.
She shook her head to clear it and to try and shake loose the salacious thoughts that kept bounding in like an excited pet happy to see its mistress, they were about to head into a meeting which could either open up this whole conflict or add an even bigger problem to their ever growing list of them and all she could think about was how nice it would be to see his rear end without his accursed armour covering it.
There were four Archnidia in the group before them, two male and two female, the females were obvious as they were larger than the males and their colours tended to be much darker as well, though the males were known to have far more potent venom delivery systems allowing them to deliver a very fatal sting if required, well fatal to a non-Velon anyway.
"We see you strangers, you need not hide from us, few can hide from us for long in the sands of our beloved home, they see all and tell the tales of your passage as clear as the words on a page," the lead female said using the universal Velon language which they used for communicating with outsiders.
It was the same language that both Adesus herself and Feris used to communicate with Clan Mason and that they had translated, though given Jack Mason had walked freely through her mind and had plucked it out of her skull like someone might pull a thorn from their paw she knew that he had undoubtedly pulled the other variants she knew as well.
Adesus looked down and realised that just as the lead female had said the pair of them had indeed left a rapidly vanishing trail of footprints that the wind was rapidly removing from their wake.
Markus was the first to decloak and she swiftly followed suit causing the Archnidia to turn to regard the pair through their multitude of eyes.
"Greetings strangers my name is Tes'veren Longclaw of the Clan Lunara and I hope you understand how much of a risk I take saying that last part out loud these days, you are the two who rescued our reckless young ones from the clutches of the vile invaders are you not?" the large female leader said turning between the pair to regard them closely.
Adesus saw the subtle nod from Markus to indicate that she should do the talking her as this was her world.
"We are indeed but before we go any further with this parlay my comrade here wishes to verify your integrity as I am sure you can imagine we too are taking a great risk here," Adesus said.
"Indeed, please ask your questions I am sure you will find the answers to them satisfactory," Tes'veren said.
Marks moved forwards and as he did his glove retracted to reveal his white-skinned human hand.
"Forgive me Tes'veren but my way is much quicker and more trustworthy than a few questions," he said and before she could ask what he meant he placed his hand on her head causing her multitude of eyes to flash to mirror his.
"Tes'veren! What have you done to her!!?" one of the males yelled rearing up so that his claws and stinger were bared in an aggressive posture which Adesus instantly answered by drawing her staff and unlocking her plasma casters.
"Do not fear my comrade here is what is called a Dream Warrior, they see the truths that others try to hide, if you are telling the truth then you have nothing to fear but if you have tried to deceive us..." Adesus said in a flat but aggressive tone leaving the sentence hanging in the air to show the implications of such a thing.
Moments later Markus released Tes'veren from his grip and stepped back from her, doing up his gloves as he did.
"Oh my, that...that was quite something," Tes'veren said obviously slightly disorientated by the Dream Warrior mind dive.
"They are legit, all four are members of Clan Lunara in hiding," Markus said.
Adesus retracted both her staff and her casters before giving an apologetic bow to the group.
"Our apologies fellow Clan kin but we had to be sure, these are troubled times and the lies and decisions of Clan Ruara are everywhere," Adesus said.
"Indeed they are young Guardian, though I must confess, while I did anticipate the heroes of the desert being some of our own I did not anticipate either aliens or one of the spirit touched coming to our aid let alone both," Tes'veren said waving away her concerns with a large claw before focusing her attention onto Markus again.
Adesus glanced at her and then at Markus for an explanation as to how she knew this.
"I felt it was only prudent to share truth with truth, I saw theirs so I let her see ours, trust goes both ways after all," he said.
"Well said young Seeker and I do thank you for sharing that wonderous truth with me, you have a very beautiful home and it honours me that your Clan has so readily come to our aid in our time of need," Tes'veren said giving him a bow of her own.
"It's what Clan Masons do, now come along let's get inside out of sight of any wandering patrols, I do believe we have a lot to talk about," Markus said.
"Indeed please lead the way, I look forwards to meeting the rest of the warriors that have come here on our behalf," Tes'veren said gesturing with her claw.
"Friendlies coming in Levi tell Lucious to put the kettle on if he can tear himself away from Feris for five minutes," Markus said into the secure comms.
"Already on it boss had it boiling the moment you all started bowing to one another," the little Raptorian's voice chirped in his ear.
"Should have guessed, tell Feris I said sorry for stealing her scaly body pillow away from her," Markus said making Adesus snort a laugh.
"How did you...? Oh, I get it, Dream Warrior thing," Lucious said and Markus just shook his head as his shoulders bobbed up and down as he stifled his laughter within his helmet.
As they entered the cave all of the Archnidia stopped dead and looked up at the Runner sitting on its landing struts taking up the centre of the cave in a look of wonder and awe.
That's when Levi decided to near-scare them out of their carapaces by dropping down from the ceiling directly in front of them, causing the whole group to rear up in a threat display with their tails primed to strike and their claws snapping and at the ready until they realised it was one of their group before them.
"Sorry about that," Levi said before there was a much heavier thud from beside her as Victus too decided to take the short way down from the ceiling and once again scaring the shit out of their new friends.
"I too apologise for any fear caused by my appearance," Victus said much more formally than his Xeno companion.
"Apology accepted as no offence or malice was intended," Tes'veren said lowering herself down from her threat display causing her companions to follow suit.
That's when there was a shrill shriek from the ramp of the Runner and they all turned to look.
"Tes'veren is that you!!?" Feris exclaimed rushing down the ramp clad in her stealth armour.
"I know that voice, young Feris is that you?" Tes'veren exclaimed as she watched the young Hand of Mycelia rushing towards her.
"Yes it's me, oh thank the all mother you are alright! I was so worried about you and the other hands of Sandhome!" Feris exclaimed rushing up to hug her friend.
"Suddenly the arrival of these strangers to our world to aid us makes more sense now, I feel the guiding hand of our all mother upon your shoulders young one," Tes'veren said releasing Feris from a powerful yet still strangely awkward hug.
"Yes she warned me of the oncoming danger and sent me to find allies among the stars with the aid of Guardian Adesus here and we found a whole Clan of warriors ready and willing to assist us!" Feris exclaimed happily while gesturing to the gathered members of Clan Mason.
"Yes I can see that and it warms my heart to see that there are indeed strangers among the stars that would extend a hand not only of friendship but of aid in dire times, it is just as the All Mother always said it would be," Tes'veren said sounding as happy as Feris.
"I saw from your memories that you are a Hand of Mycelia like Feris here and also the leader of the local resistance cell correct?" Markus said causing Tes'veren to turn to face him on her six long powerful legs.
"Yes indeed, there are a great many here in Sandhome that would stand with us, I believe if we could show that not only was there a chance to win this but a way to repel these vile invaders, this is our desert and these sands are ours, we need to remind the other Clans of this and to show them that they need not fear these invaders but that they too can stand up against them," Tes'veren said.
"One of the first things we to do is to free the all mother from her imprisonment, if we can do that then she could help us in that endeavour by getting the word out as well as coordinating efforts while also helping to feed intel to our friends in Clan Mason," Feris said and Tes'veren nodded her large armoured head.
"Agreed though I wonder what makes you think our great mycelia is imprisoned and not worse?" she asked.
"I was able to meet with one of the great deities of Clan Mason through that beautiful male behind me who doing a really poor job of sneaking up on me," Feris said before turning her head and catching Lucious mid-step with a smile.
"Aww, how did you know?" the little Raptorian boy chirped dejectedly before strolling over to join her.
"Because I can still smell myself clinging to your scales and that scent of yours makes my heart race every time I smell it," Feris said openly and warmly as she put her arm around his slender shoulders.
"Oh? You have taken a mate?" Tes'veren said in surprise as she glanced between the two.
"Yes I have, this handsome little male is Lucious Longtail of the proud Raptorian people who are one of the member species of Clan Mason while also being an ally of theirs," Feris said.
"Fascinating, a pleasure to meet you Lucious Longtail please stand welcome in our home," Tes'veren said.
"Thank you for its good to be here though I wish it were under better circumstances, though I am glad these suits have humidity controls or I fear my scales may dry out under this powerful sun you have," Lucious said ruffling his feathers happily.
"Indeed, not many can withstand the glare of the sun and the desert's call, but those that can you will find to be hardy and stout people," Tes'veren said before seemingly remembering her companions.
"Oh where are my manners, please allow me to introduce my companions and fellow members of the resistance, this large lady beside me is Ves'arel Sharpsting, next to her is her husband Vex'aran, then last but by no means least my long-term friend "Arex'telen Quickleg," she said gesturing to each of them in turn.
"Well, it is good to meet you all indeed, now I saw in your mind Tes'veren that the resistance was currently marking targets of opportunity in the area like forward operating bases and landing pads etcetera?" Markus said and Tes'veren nodded.
"Yes indeed, we have not been idle since the invasion happened though regrettably it did take us a while to both organise and gather but we have been trying our best to make up for that, we Archinida are both patient and methodical people as we know only too well that the desert erodes all things in time and the spirits of sentients are no exemption from this, we believe it just needs a little push to get things going," she said.
"Oh, what did you have in mind?" Markus asked.
"The insects seem to need quite a lot of water when compared to our kind and one thing our scouts have noticed is that they seem to have set up a rather large storage area out in the deep desert but we've seen fights coming and going from it day and night, we believe that it is supplying a good many if not all of the bases in the area," Tes'veren said.
"it is also our belief that it is responsible for supplying hydrogen fuel for both the ships and their vehicles as well as their powered armour suits," Vex'aran said making Markus turn his attention to the smaller male.
"Now that sounds like quite a target, I'm guessing it will be incredibly heavily guarded though," he said and Vex'aran nodded.
"Indeed, our scouts report a great many heavy vehicles, mech suits and heavy weapons emplacements in the area around it protecting it," he said.
Markus glanced at Adesus and his face cracked into one of those sly smiles of his that made her knees shake and her quills rattle somewhat.
"Sounds like just the kind of target for a stealth infiltration team especially if can't be tied back to us, the last thing we need is them flooding the area with Nightmare Assassins trying to root us out," he said thoughtfully.
"I agree but it is too much of a good target of opportunity, its destruction will severely hamper their operations in the area while they try to source alternative sources of both water and fuel," Adesus said.
"Agreed, hopefully, it might also have the result of making the populace see that these cowards are just as much flesh and blood as they are and that they can be removed and killed like sand ticks," Markus said.
"You think it will act as a catalyst to spark a true rebellion in the area?" Adesus asked and Markus nodded.
"That is my hope and with a little bit of a push from your ever-friendly local Tamer we might even be able to turn that spark into a full-on rebellion which will seriously hamper their operating effectiveness in the area which will in turn give us a much larger free reign to operate undetected," he said.
"That should help us to possibly start investigating what happened to the all-mother and hopefully reversing it!" Feris said and Markus snapped his fingers before pointing at her.
"Exactly, with the all mother back in the picture our intel network will blow wide open, with all of the Hands of Mycelia operating under our flag there will be nowhere we cannot see and strike, we'll crank this rebellion up to an eleven and make it go planet-wide which will open the door for Clan Mason and our allies to rain hellfire down on their heads, though I do wish we had a Soul Knight on hand, they are much better at reaching out to the souls around them than Tamers are but I'll figure it out," Markus said.
"I have faith in you," Adesus said and Markus gave such a warm smile that she felt her heart flutter in her chest.
"Thanks, Adesus that means a lot to me," he said.
"You are most welcome, we should also take the time to see if we can locate any of the local Guardians while we are at this, their help in both rallying the people and giving them a banner to follow," Adesus said causing Markus to nod in agreement.
"We may be able to help there as well," Tes'veren said and the pair turned to look at her.
"Word has it that some of our die-hard Guardians are performing hit-and-run raids against the insect's smaller camps and causing disruptions with their logistical network, infact I hear only two days ago that a convoy was blown up in transit from one of the nearby bases to reinforce this very city," she said.
"It's not like Guardians to perform hit-and-run guerrilla tactics we usually prefer to face our enemies head-on?" Adesus said feeling somewhat confused by this revelation.
"Dire times require dire actions and adaptation young Guardian, those that fail to adapt perish, it is likely that your Guardian brethren sensed this as well and knowing full well that they would not be able to perform their sacred duty to Velona if they were all dead adapted their tactics to fight this vicious enemy," Tes'veren said.
"A good point, this might also be our way of contacting them also," Markus said and Adesus glanced at him curiously.
"Oh? How did you work that out?" she asked.
"Well if we take out something major like say the water and hydrogen plant then that's sure to catch the Guardians' attention, they are most likely going to try and seek us out which will allow us to guide them towards the resistance, when those two join forces you'll have a much more combat effective force operating in Sandhome," Markus said.
"Sounds like we've got a plan on our hands and I was starting to get a bit bored of sitting on my tail and have been looking for an excuse to shake it instead, what do you say we get moving and blow something up?" Levi said giving Markus a fang-filled grin from both of her mouths.
"Hold your fire tigers there Levi we're gonna need intel here, if we just go rocking up in there and start kicking shit about we're gonna bring a storm down on our heads, we need to do this right and we need to do this smart, the Clan and its allies put a lot of faith in us to come down here alone and we're not gonna repay the faith of the Grand Matriarch and Patriarch by fucking this up, we're gonna do this right," Markus said.
"That's why your the boss, boss," Lucious chirped with a Clan salute that all of the Clan members echoed around them.
"Alright first thing let's get inside the ship and we'll get some maps on the go and some scout drone up then Tes'veren and her people can help us pinpoint exactly where this water plant is, that way we can plan from there," he said and with that, the entire group turned and headed up the ramp and into the ship.
"Ok this area here is where the plant is, its approximately one hundred kilometres from here, but that makes it centrally located for all the other regions and the bases they have there, we believe there is likely to be a large underground lake there that they are using to feed the plant," Tes'veren said using one of her large claws to point to the area on the holographic map that Markus had activated on the rec room table.
"Are these lakes common?" Lucious chirped.
"Not particularly, every single city in Sandhome is built either atop or next to one, they are fed by the abundant rainfall that falls in the mountains that then filters down through underground streams to feed them," she said.
"Alright I'll send a swift up to get a look at the place, should get us a better picture of what we're dealing with here," Markus said punching some controls into his wrist comp and from somewhere above them there was a soft thump noise as the drone launched out of its tubular launcher.
The swift drone was shaped like a small bird almost, it was no bigger than the palm of your hand and flew using a small high powerful ionic thruster that gave it great speed and manoeuvrability.
It also carried a small cloaking device which would keep it concealed from the enemy while it circled silently high above their heads using its powerful cameras and sensors to sweep the area far below it.
Markus brought the feed from the swift's onboard cameras up on one of the large holographic wall monitors and the whole group watched as the little drone rapidly flew like a little high-speed missile across the desert plains towards the co-ordinates that Markus had fed into its navigation computer.
Due to the incredibly high speed that it flew at it didn't take long to reach the area and instantly the whole group saw the plant coming into sight.
The plant itself seemed to be shaped like two massive white balls that easily stood out against the golden sands of the desert floor far below it.
Almost immediately the swift's sensor packages began picking out weapons emplacements and troop deployments all around the area, lighting them up in red to highlight them against the background.
"Oh yeah they got this place heavily locked down, look at that they got a full mechanized division there," Markus said tapping his wrist comp and enlarging an image of what was blatantly a large group of those walking tanks they'd seen in the city.
"That's a hell of a lot of firepower to keep in one place," Levi hissed leaning in close to study the image.
"Several high-value targets, no water equals no hydrogen fuel which would cause major operational issues, it would most likely cripple their mechanized divisions throughout the region unless they can source more from other areas which means a major logistical nightmare as they'll have to buss it in either via airdrop, orbital drop or even via vehicle across the ground itself, all of which presents the resistance with targets of opportunity," Markus said thoughtfully.
"You thinking this could be a serious lynchpin here boss?" Lucious chirped as he studied the image.
"Yup and a major boon to Clan Mason and its allies as well, because when we drop in we're gonna need on-ground resources ourselves, fortunately, we don't need their infrastructure to be intact as we have our own rapid deployment ecologically protective systems developed by the science hive which can be placed there instead, but I'd be willing to be the hive will be able to make use of the scrap metals that get left in its wake," he said wit ha bit of an evil smile on his handsome face.
"Question is how are we gonna get in there, thats a lot of firepower ringing the place?" Levi hissed.
"A night op possibly?" Markus said thoughtfully.
"We may be able to assist you there," Tes'varen said and they all glanced at her.
"See those hills to the north?' she asked pointing her claw at the map.
"Yeah, what about them?" Markus asked.
"They are filled with caves just like this one, but unlike this one they have long interconnecting tunnels running between them formed aeons ago when the rains still fell frequently here, a great many of them lead down to the very lake that feeds that complex," she said.
Makrus's face lit up with a bright smile and his beautiful eyes seemed to sparkle making Adesus's quills rattle under rher armour.
"I like the way you think Tes'varen, we could use those caves to come up right under their bloody feet, then all we'd have to do is plant a few charges in the right places before vanishing back into the caves, though we will want to be a fair distance away before we pull the trigger, that much liquid and solid hydrogen in one place is going to make a seriously big fucking freedom day firework," he said with a smile that seemed to sparkle just like his eyes.
"Are these suits even rated to work underwater?" Lucious chirped looking at his gloved fingers and flexing them.
"Yeah it's rated for both vacuum-like space and for high-pressure environments like underwater, the system even has a next-gen rebreather system installed that can filter oxygen out of a liquid atmosphere like water to make it easier to survive without having to carry large converters or back up tanks, both my own hive and the science hive completely redesigned the breather systems for them from scratch and it's already in the process of being added into both existing and new suits of the Clan's battle armour," Verris said proudly.
Markus chuckled softly and smiled at the large male Xeno.
"You know its always easy to forget how many little moving parts the Clan has all working behind the scenes to drive us forwards in every field possible, from science to medical breakthroughs, to warfare, to battle tactics and hell even conservation and always at the forefront of those efforts you will always find one or more of the hives," he said and Verris gave him a bright smile.
"Our queens take their commitment to the Clan as seriously on this day as they did on the day they pledged themselves to it in order to live in the peace that was promised, the Clan kept its word to us and so we will always keep ours to it," he said.
"Spoken like a true Mason Xeno Verris, when our queen took the pledge and swore her alligence to the Clan we were all grateful for what the Clan did for us on that day they broke us out of our torment and saved her and my brothers and sisters from their captivity, they didn't have to given that we were nothing and no-one to them but they stood for us when no-one else would, they fought and strove to protect us even from some of their own species with a fire and a fury that our queen will never forget as long as she lives, it is a fire and a fury that she now passes down to every single War Angel that earns their war wings and every single one of us stands tall and proudly next to our Clan brothers and sisters no matter what species they are because we know they stand for us no matter the odds, we are proud to be Clan MAson and that will never change because this right here is what Clan Mason is all about, standing for those who cannot stand for themselves and showing them how to do just that," Levi said proudly.
"I too am proud to wear the sword of a Hunter, Clan Mason and its allies came to my world and they plucked as many of my people as they could from the jaws of a vile evil and death, now I am proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with my brothers and sisters from other species as a Beledon Hunter and it is a pride I feel every single time I see our growing city gifted to us on the Clan homeworld, they shared their blood and their soil with us and now we share our blood with them," Victus said
Markus clapped the large female Xeno on the shoulder as well as Victus though he had to crane up a bit to reach the massive Beledon's massive shoulders and then he nodded approvingly.
"Well said both, well fucking said and you are right, this is who the Clan are and this is what we do, so let's get to it people we have a planet to liberate and innocents to protect," he said.
The group spent the next couple of hours going over both the scans and the topographical maps that the drone was creating and they planned both their approach and their assault in as much detail as they could without getting a good look inside the complex.
"Do we have any spider drones on hand?" Lucious asked curiously as he began to go over the ship's inventory.
Markus stepped into the room from the cockpit and he gave Adesus a thumbs up which she had learned was a human gesture of affirmation.
"I just got off the comms with fleet command, the Grand Matriarch and Patriarch have green-lit the op but have advised us to ensure our presence is not detected, this op has to be right under the radar because if Clan Ruara gets wind of us this place is gonna be flooded with Nightmare Assassins before we can blink, so we need to make it look like a pure resistance op," he said.
"Why can they not know of your intervention?" Tes'veren asked curiously.
"Because we are too few in number on the ground yet and we need to disrupt as many pieces of their infrastructure as we can before the Clan can bring the hammer down, with the amount of forces the enemy has at hand the Grand Matriarch and Patriarch, as well as our allies, are worried about this becoming a long-entrenched war which will cause massive civilian casualties not to mention the potential losses to the Clan and its allies, so the trick here is to keep them looking everywhere except where they should be looking and when the time is right the Clan will bring a hammer the size of a fucking planet down on their heads," Markus said.
"Did they mention anything about the fleet in space and what's going to be done about them?" Verris asked and Markus nodded.
"I knew you'd ask so I made a point of requesting an update and it seems our War Angels are already hard at work, it seems that your Dark Angel teams are already being dispatched to covertly infiltrate their fleet and probe it for weaknesses and the Grand patriarch told me to thank you for the headache that the entire of the GMF is currently suffering from as apparently since you sent them those scans and sample results the onboard science hive has been screeching up a storm not to mention the onboard medical hive, apparently it seems they are having a screech off competition," Markus said with a grin that made Verris wince then smile.
"Glad to see my work is not going unnoticed," he said.
"Alright people let's settle in we have a lot of work to do here and not a lot of time to do it in so let's get to it," Markus said sliding into his seat next to Adesus and she fixed him with a warm smile because now the battle for her people and her world was truly about to begin.
