The Terradons and the Raptors both lived under the unspoken agreement of leaving each other alone, sharing Terra Bogaton and not interfering with the other side. However, it was Repton who first approached the Terradons about a project that would appear to benefit both factions. And after remote communications and deliberations, finally, the two sides would meet at the Terradon labs.

Repton, and his three team mates were lead through the Terradon facility by the Terradons' chief scientist, Oppensaur. Oppensaur would look back and forth between the corridor in front of him, and Repton on his right. 'I must admit, this agreement is most unorthodox, although considering the tensions starting to form across the skies of Atmos, perhaps you are correct in assuming we are in need of some defensive measures.'

'Exactly' Repton responded in a chill and calculated manner, his slight lisp barely shining through. The party of reptiles passed through the door at the end of the corridor, it opened to show two more Terradons inside a large laboratory. The lab had a large round table in the middle, a ten foot wide gangway around the table, and a long, circular worktop stretching around the wall on the outside of the room. the worktop had an impressive range of scientific material, sinks in regular intervals, and the walls having small gas taps for bunsen burners. somewhere along the worktops stood one scientist, Beaker, annotating a paper; and another scientist would be stood at the round table, organising the paperwork otherwise strewn across it. As Oppensaur and the Raptors entered the lab, Repton would continue. 'That's why this aerial defence grid would be sure to keep our Terra untouchable.'

Repton and Oppensaur stood at the table, Oppensaur reached out his hand to the other Terradon at the table, who handed him two rolled up pieces of paper. Oppensaur unrolled the first across the table to reveal a blue print for an unmanned turret. 'Well, first you'll need the turrets to defend with. and this is what we settled on.' Oppensaur started to point at individual parts of the turret design on the paper.

'These large fins on the side double as an echo-locator and a meteorlogical measuring device, feeding realtime data to the firing mechanism of the turret, allowing more precise aiming and, therefore, more accurate firing. The echo-locators can also determine crystal power signatures. With enough calibration, we can determine exactly who it is that's approaching the terra.' Oppensaur turned to Repton to look directly at him. 'The best part is that the grid is able to run completely decentralised, making each turret able to operate without hesitation, even if one should fail.'

'Fantastic' Repton replied, pulling an evil and accomplished grin. 'This will keep our deal with Cyclonia in my favour. How soon can you make this happen?'

'Sadly, we have to built the turrets by hand until we get our turret building machine working, not to mention we still need to find the best locations to place them. But assuming we get the data, it should only take a day or so to build adequate protection for our headquarters. From there it should only be a month or two until the entire Bogaton is protected in full strength'

Repton grabbed Oppensaur by his labcoat. 'You expect me to wait two months for this to be working? Every second these aren't up is a second that we could be under attack!' Repton's voiced growled a slight amount. Behind him, Leugey chimed in.

'I uhh, wait. Isn't Terra Bogaton one of the biggest Terras in the Atmos?' He asked, looking up at the ceiling, thinking hard. Repton eased his grip on the scientist a slight amount.

'Yes, Leugey. I guess it is.' Repton let go of Oppensaur. Repton took a second to recompose himself. 'You tell us what you need and I'll have my team get it for you'

Oppensaur straightened out his jacket and cleared his throat. 'Well, other than the easy parts like steel and animal hide, we also need a combination of three crystals per turret. The list is right here.' Oppensaur pulled out a small piece of paper from his coat pocket and gave it to Repton. Repton called Spitz and Leugey over, and gave them the list. Spitz and Leugey both saluted and sprinted out of the labs. 'We also need some field data, as good as our maps are, we need to gather some real data on vantage points, weak spots, and blind areas. Perhaps you can take my assistant, Beaker, with you. She can put down the useful information needed for our project.' overhearing Oppensaur mention her name, Beaker flinched from her notation, looking down at the round table, with the Raptor and two Terradons stood around it, and the tall, muscular Raptor stood away from them, looking the place over.

'Consider it done. Hoerk!' Repton grabbed the attention of the mountain of muscle stood behind him. 'Take the Terradon out on a field trip, I have business to attend to'

'Yes, Repton' He affirmed, watching Repton leave the labs alone. Beaker shyly walked from her part of the worktops to the round table. She grabbed a small notebook and placed it into her labcoat pocket. Oppensaur gave her the second, still rolled up, paper he had in his hand. Beaker unfurled it a slight amount to check it was the Terra's map, and approached Hoerk.

Hoerk stood taller than the other Raptors, but compared to Terradons, he was nearly a giant. Beaker looked up at him and gulped. Hoerk looked down at her, unphased. 'Let's go' he said, 'I want to get this finished before sundown'

Hoerk walked in front of Beaker along the corridor to the exit. Beaker kept a fair distance back. She had hardly been outside the Terradon labs most of her career, so this new opportunity spooked her a little. Once outside, Beaker saw Hoerk board his skimmer. He looked at her expectantly. 'Get on your skimmer, then' He bemusedly said to her. Beaker leant back with her mouth open a slight amount, trying to speak. Hoerk rolled his eyes. 'Climb on' He grumbled to her, leaning the bike over a slight amount. She fumbled her way onto the skimmer, her prattish approach indicating a lack of experience. Hoerk told her to hold on to him, which she did. He Revved his engine, and set off at full throttle.

The engine roared as the bike rapidly started to accelerate. Beaker squeeked a little as Hoerk kept the throttle open all the way. The bike sped up faster, and faster, until Beaker suddenly felt her body weight pull down onto the pillion. It was like climbing a hill, getting steeper before cresting and returning to normal. Hoerk had deployed his wings and pulled up above the tree line. He looked behind him. 'Are you okay?' He asked. Beaker smiled nervously and nodded. Hoerk closed his eyes for a second and nodded himself. He faced forward, and started to fly across the Terra.