Chapter 94: Flames of Rebellion.
No sooner had Markus's finger touched the button on his wrist comp than the blast rolled over the landscape surrounding them.
Just as he had predicted, the explosives provided to him by the resistance fighters set off both the pressurised and liquified hydrogen and the liquid oxygen sending out a shockwave in every direction like a giant expanding soap bubble just waiting to pop.
And pop it did, with enough force to completely vaporise any organic matter within nearly a mile of ground zero and putting out so much heat and force that the team felt it in their hide as if they were standing right next to the blast zone.
"Fuck me I'm glad I'm wearing this armour," Levi said as she watched large chunks of the destroyed tanks raining down from the sky and sending up further dust clouds from their impacts in the sands of the desert below them.
"This makes two of us," Victus said as he peered over the lip of the mountainside at the blast site which had apparently burned so hot that it had turned the sand that wasn't blown away in the blast to glass at ground zero, giving the entire site the appearance of a giant mirror mounted in the desert for no reason.
But as for the production facility itself, it was simply just gone, not a single structure was left standing and everything had been reduced to ground height.
"Now that's what I call a fucking wake-up call!" Markus said leaning over the lip to look at the devastation the team had brought far below them.
"Agreed if this does not sound the call to arms for the Resistance then nothing will!" Adesus cheered passionately before hugging Markus from behind.
"I think it's safe to say that the first blow of this war has been well and truly struck," Levi said and Victus nodded.
"Now we must teach good people how to fight because fight they must if they wish to live free!" he said.
"Alright people, pack it up and let's head back to the ship, I get the feeling the resistance are gonna want to celebrate this one," Markus said.
"Come on tall, dark and fluffy I'll let you buy me a drink," Levi said nudging Victus playfully before running her long tail up his back and making the large Beledon snort inside his helmet.
"I am not fluffy! This is a traditional war mane!' he said his voice sounding grumpy but then with Victus it was hard to tell happy from grumpy as his voice was as deep as a pit of gravel.
"Well if I said tall, dark and horny you'd get the wrong impression of me wouldn't ya?" Levi said playfully and she could almost see the steam leaking out of Victus's helmet as he tried to come up with an answer to that one as she sensually ran her long tail over the back of his helmet.
As she clambered down off the high rock top Levi could feel Victus staring at her like he was trying his hardest to figure out what to say to her, she couldn't help but love teasing the handsome, no-nonsense Beledon male, he was just too easy a target and too easy to fluster up.
It didn't take them long to reach the safety zone of their cave and along the way, they saw the results of the resistance's handiwork.
The trucks they had detonated and attacked were still burning and bodies littered the surrounding area as the insects had tried in vain to protect their precious cargo from the hidden attackers, but it was futile, no one knew the desert as these Velons did.
They had struck, fast, hard and brutally just the way that Markus had instructed them to.
As soon as the mines that they had set in the road had detonated they had hit the remaining vehicles with a combination of anti-armour and anti-personnel fire which had stripped away both the insect's protection and cover, leaving them vulnerable.
In the distance Levi saw the remainder of the troops that had been dispatched into the desert in order to combat the attackers, they seemed completely lost now, they had no base to return to and no combatants to wage war upon as the Velons had melted back into the desert after their deed was done.
"Get the feeling those tanks of theirs won't run for very long without any hydrogen to power them," she said into their local comms.
"That's the point, now in order to maintain a grip on this area they are gonna have to ship in more hydrogen from another plant which is gonna cost them time and resources to do," Markus said.
"Which if we have anything to do with it they will not be able to maintain their hold," Adesus said and Markus nodded and pointed over his shoulder at her as they sped along on their Surface Skimmers.
"We'll make them pay in blood for every inch they hold!" Lucious chirped which sounded very odd as such a bloodthirsty proclamation just didn't sound right in his sing-songy voice.
"Exactly, hopefully, this little demonstration will have the locals scuttling a path to the resistance's door to join up and once we've got tes'veren and her lot trained up we can let them loose on the area to keep any attempts to retake it held at bay while we move on and accomplish our true mission of finding a way to disrupt that shield so the Clan can make landfall, then this party will truly get going," Markus said.
As they pulled into the cave they found Tes'veren and her fighters waiting for them and Levi had to stifle a bit of a laugh as there was something very odd about oversized Scorpians wearing desert camouflage and carrying some very odd firearms a lot of which looked like some kind of mounted turrets that sat on their backs, one of them even had what looked like a bandana on his head.
"Greetings allies! We felt and saw the blast of the hydrogen plant from here!" Tes'veren said scuttling up to them jubilantly.
"Yeah that tends to happen when you light up a few million gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen, pretty sure that bang could be seen from space," Levi said and as if her queen had just pointed at him to give him a cue their external comms system lit up.
"Spectre one one go ahead?" Markus said on their joined network.
"Spectre one one this Seeker one one, saw your little performance from up here thanks to that satalite you set up and thanks to the Dark Angels doing their part, great work, that's really going to rile Clan Ruara up, hold on I believe my beloved Hunter one one wants to add something," the voice of Jack Mason himself said over their comms which Markus had the good grace to put over his external speakers so that the Resistance fighters could hear them and possibly join in the conversation if need be.
"Spectre one one? This is Hunter one one, excellent work down there! I saw the whole thing from the bridge of the GMF and I must say I was most impressed, over," Tik eleth Mason said.
"Thank you, Hunter, one one and I must say Spectre one five is a credit to his people and to the Hunters, he has been nothing but a consummate professional since we made landfall and it is obvious to me that when he sits at our planning table he speaks with the confidence and true thought that one who has truly earned the Golden Sword does, over, also I would like you to please pass along my congratulations and thanks to War Angel one, Battle Angel one and Saviour one one as their people are a true credit to the colours they wear," Markus said making Victus puff out his broad chest proudly to the point where Levi nearly had to sit on her tail to prevent it swishing about.
"Excellent! It speaks very highly of you and my beloved cub's unit that your first thought is to pay credit to your team and those that trained them young one, I see why my beloved cub speaks so very highly of you now as does my truest heart's star, you are a credit to your unit and to that owl you wear and as you say you are all credit's to your trainers, over," Tik eleth Mason said.
"Thank you Hunter one one that means a lot to all of us coming from you," Markus said.
Suddenly it was the Grand Patriarch on the line again.
"Ok Spectre one one make sure you keep up the pressure on the invaders but do not lose sight of your true objective, the sooner you manage to find a way to disrupt that shield the sooner the rest of the Clan and its allies can get stuck int this fight, there is much work to be done and to accomplish it all you are going to need the mighty hammer of the Clan young one, over," Jack Mason said.
"Understood Seeker one one, we have one more target in mind in this zone which with its removal should allow the resistance who are currently with us and can hear you to gain a true hold on this region, this should allow us a true foothold and a staging area, but our plan when we hit our next target is to attempt an infiltration of their military network here on the ground, so tell Savior one one to expect a large info dump because we have no idea how long we will be able to maintain the connection, over," Markus said.
"Roger that understood Spectre one one, trust me she and the analysts from both the Serpentinus and Raptorians are chomping at the bit to get stuck in, they are already working on the data that's being retrieved from both the satalite you set up and that which our Dark Angel teams managed to intercept from the ships they infiltrated, keep the pressure on young one, soon this world will be free and true Velons will be back where they belong, Seeker one one over and out," Jack Mason said and with that, he closed the comms.
"That man somehow just knows when he's being talked about, it's damn scary at times," Levi said grinning as she lowered her mask.
"That's the leader of the Saviours for you, he is the Left Hand of the Eternal Huntress for a reason," Markus said lowering his own helmet only to be grabbed and rapidly kissed by an overly excited Adesus which as it happened was the exact same thing that happened to Lucious as he dropped his helmet exposing himself to sneak attack by Ferris.
"Aww now I'm feeling left out now, pucker up tall, dark and horny," Levi said playfully as Victus dropped his mask and the look of alarm on his face was just so adorable as his eyes widened and his bangs flicked up like he was in one of the cartoons that her sisters loved to watch around the hive.
"Well I err umm would not be opposed to being kissed by a lady as beautiful as you but under such circumstances, I would feel unworthy of such a gift as I would feel as if I had not earned such a thing," Victus stammered in such an adorable way that Levi had to stop herself unleashing a screech of cuteness.
But that's when his words truly hit her like her queen's Wayland Yutani training mannequin hitting the wall of the war gym, he'd called her a beautiful lady.
"Y-Y-You think I'm beautiful!?" she stammered and the massive Beledon male snorted and turned his head to the side as if her words had offended him somehow.
"I am a Beledon, not blind, I too know beauty when I see it, it is the way of my proud people to feel no shame in the revelling in the beauty of another if they are a pleasure on which our eyes may feast it is a joy that deserves to be given words, not hidden silently from the world," he said gruffly though it was obvious he was blushing under his red fur as it had gone about four shades of red darker than it had begun.
"Well it seems out Beledon boy has an eye for the Xeno ladies, better watch your tail Levi or you might find yourself having to petition the Arbiter's office for the right to hunt," Markus said with a grin.
"I'm filling out the fucking forms right bloody now if anyone is getting a shot at tall dark and bashful here it gonna be this girl right here!" she said and with that, she marched her tail right back up the ramp and into the ship leaving them all stood there watching her in open-mouthed shock.
"I-Is she serious?" Victus stammered and Markus glanced at him.
"Err I'd say so, umm better get to stretching because I get the feeling you are gonna be running your tail off after all this is over," Markus said.
"Wait how come we didn't have to chase you two?" Ferris asked glancing at both Markus and Lucious.
"Hey that's right we were allowed to make advances on you two without any kind of rules," Adesus said curiously.
"Right of the Starhunt, you are not from a Clan Mason species or world, it is said that the Lady of the Hunt Paya forgives this because your hunt has taken place across the great ocean of black and your heart has been captured among the stars, so it counts, but for those from the world and species of the Clan our hearts and love must be proven as true before the Eternal Huntress and our own deities may they see the strength of our hearts and love for themselves, only one who is judged pure and worthy will make the catch," Victus said explaining the rules of the Love Hunt to the two Velons and inadvertently to the members of the resistance as well.
"You have very strange but oddly beautiful customs," Tes'veren said glancing between the gathered Clan members.
"Yeah I can see how it would appear to outsiders but these methods have served the Clan for generations and were born to blend the vastly different cultures in the beginning, it has evolved from there," Markus said.
Meanwhile, Levi, true to her word was actually filling out a petition to hunt Victus and was transmitting it to Sela eleth Mason for processing by her Arbiters office when the chance was had, if anyone was going to get a shot at that big beautiful Beledon boy it was gonna be her!
Eventually, everyone filtered back into the ship including Tes'veren, though she was now alone as the remainder of her cell had headed back to the resistance HQ to handle the gathering of recruits as they all knew this next step was going to be the most critical.
"OK the first point I have to make here is the need for speed, we cannot let them regroup and reorganise, at the moment the main base they have set up here in the region is gonna be running on reserves and by the fact there were transports heading out for the place I'm gonna assume that they must be running low already as you do not order more fuel when you don't have the facilities to store it and Hydrogen fuel is not the kinda stuff you just leave laying around because, well, boom," Markus said bringing up the holographic image of the main base.
"I think we should attempt an infiltration of this place before we attempt an attack, we need to see their strength first-hand as the last thing we need is to be caught off guard, there are a lot of things our orbital scans and drone sweeps cannot see thanks to these shielded hangers and what I believe is underground bunkers," Lucious said pointing to the large buildings and rather suspicious humps in the desert ground.
"Agreed, while we need to act fast acting reckless and cocky will get us and our allies killed and that is not something we can afford at this crucial stage of this conflict, we need to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that both Clan Mason and the resistance have what it takes to win this fight," Adesus said.
"It is also a prime opportunity to learn more about our enemy and it will be that intelligence that will help us to win this war, so far we know next to nothing about them other than they are an alien insectoid species who seem to have an incredible grip on biotech and cybernetics, we need to learn as much as we can and to send as much data back to the Clan and it's allies for analysis," Ferris said.
Markus nodded and looked at the hologram of the base again moving it about with his hands so he could enlarge certain areas and angles, he also brought up their current drone feeds from their high-altitude stealth drones which were hovering high above the base and recording the current comings and goings of the troops contained within.
The base was seriously odd as it looked like a perfect amalgamation of biological and technological, in a way it kinda reminded him of an Xeno hive but with a far more insect feel than a Xeno hive which felt a little odd to think.
Most of the buildings were an amalgamation of metal and a similar style of resin to what the Xenos used to fill in for synthetic materials, this gave them a very biological feel thanks to all the rounded corners and almost carapace-like shell that covered up the metal parts.
Some of the drone angles gave views into some of the hangers and from what he could see it did indeed seem that they went far deeper into the ground than one would believe from simply viewing the base from either orbit or from afar, this screamed tunnels to him.
But the one thing they could not disguise the presence of was the satellites and antenna masts that were required for communication with the global network Clan Ruara and its allies had set up.
These were easily identifiable sticking up out of a building located towards the centre of the base.
"If we get you in there Lucious think you can crack into their network?" Markus asked pointing to the comms building.
Lucious among being their pilot was also the team's Electronic Warfare expert and had studied under the Guardian of males Hunter Smoke himself, so the little Raptorian male nodded enthusiastically.
"You get me into that building boss and I'll find a way into their network, hell after I'm done I'll open up so many sockets that we won't even need the base intact afterwards because I'll make sure that the Clan are already hooked into the network from every access point on the planet," he said giving them a thumbs up and a radiant smile.
"That's what I like to hear, alright guys we are gonna hit them with a recon op, myself, Levi, Verris, Lucious and Adesus are on infiltration duty, Victus and Feris you guys will be providing sniper support, I want two different nests set up, one on this hill here and one on the opposite sideo of the valley here, that way you guys will have a fairly unobstructed view down on to the base from at least two sides," Markus said.
"Will you be needing my people for this?" Tes'veren asked looking up from the hologram to Markus and he shook his head.
"Not for this part, we've got the stealth part covered, I want you guys to focus on getting yourselves in fighting shape because when the shit and the fan royally collide it's gonna be your guys leading the charge, I want pictures of this victory to be beamed all over Velona and I want those pictures to be of courageous Archnidia resistance fighters taking back their beloved soil from villainous invaders, propaganda is highly important to this war effort, never underestimate the power of hearts and minds to win battles as well as a railgun," Markus said.
"A solid plan, then I will take my leave and rejoin my people, I wish you luck Markus and Spectre team, hopefully, we will fight together soon side by side," she said giving him a two-crossed claw salute.
"Count on it Tes'veren, by the time we're done these insect bastards will fear every single grain of sand in this desert, mark my words," he replied and with that, she scuttled off to rejoin her cohorts and to prepare.
"Alright people get some rest, I wasn't joking when I said this needs to happen quickly so we will be going in tonight, get some sleep and yes I do mean actually sleep, so Feris if you can resist on bouncing your little Raptorian boy into the bedframe I'd appreciate it," he said shooting the blushing Velon girl a sly smile while the other chuckled.
"I could always give them both a sedative?" Verris offered helpfully making both Lucious and Feris shoot the grinning Xeno a glare.
"I will if my sister in blood promises not to bounce you into the bed frame human boy," Ferris shot back.
"I've got plenty of sedatives to go around?" Verris offered and now it was Adesus glaring at him while Markus simply laughed and shook his head.
"I do believe I can keep my hands to myself for one night," Markus said and now Adesus's glare switched onto him.
"Speak for yourself human boy," she grumbled making Victus snort a laugh before going ramrod straight and looking down at his massive thigh only to find a very obvious Xeno tail sliding its way up said thigh very seductively and making him shoot a panicked look at Levi.
"That shade of red suits you handsome," she said before all of the team simply fell about laughing.
Both Ferris and Adesus did manage to keep their libidos under control that day but that didn't mean they managed to keep their hands to themselves and both of their men found themselves falling asleep in the arms and on the chest of their beloved females, both finding the most comfortable of sleeps that a man can with the softest of pillows on which to rest their weary heads.
When finally they all awoke the team was refreshed and ready to in again and before they got ready for the off the last thing Markus did was to shoot off a quick burst transmission to the GMF to ensure the Grand Patriarch and Matriarch were aware of the plan and to expect either an update or possibly a large scale info dump soon, there was also a message for Levi from Sela eleth Mason acknowledging that her petition to hunt had been received and recognised.
Since they couldn't risk taking the Runner anywhere near the base due to the heavy presence of anti-air and given they didn't fully understand these species capabilities yet the group decided to take the surface skimmers out again, so once they set the ship's defences and the cavern's to automatic they set out into the night.
"What do you think we're gonna find in that place?" Adesus asked curiously as she leaned into Markus's back and she sat in the tail gunner position on their surface skimmer.
"Honestly I'm not sure, I'm hoping for at least some intel on the layout and deployment of their bases and troop formations, but honestly I'd settle for something regarding their capabilities at the very least," he said.
"Think we'll find out anything as to why their helping Clan Ruara in the first place?" Adesus asked and he simply shrugged.
"Goddess knows, I mean Adem is a Nightmare Assassin and they are not to be underestimated by any means, it could be something as simple as they are a mercenary species and sell their services to the highest bidder, say some mineral rights etcetera, or it could be something far more at play, say a form of Nightmare Assasin mind control or co-version," Markus said.
"Can they really do that? Control someone's mind?" Adesus exclaimed.
"There's a reason we call them Nightmare Assassins Adesus, as we can use people's dreams to give them hope and confidence they can use them to drown them in fear, the mind is an incredibly powerful tool and should never be underestimated," he replied.
"Well you already made all of my dreams come true by simply being yourself and loving me the way you do so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by this," Adesus said leaning back against him again and Markus couldn't help himself from smiling under his helmet.
"That makes two of us Adeus, that makes two of us," he said softly.
As they barreled through the desert the sand kicked up by their slipstreams pelted the outside of their armour and created grey fog-like clouds under the soft silver light of the moon but the team were riding in single file with Markus and Adesus at the head to give the impression that they were only a single fast-moving vehicle to anyone who might see them before as they drew close enough to the base that they needed to ditch the surface skimmers.
Each of them marked the vehicle drop point at the base of the hill that Victus was going to be climbing on their virtual maps in case they got separated and had to evac solo for any reason.
Once this was done the team split up and began to make their way in on foot with Ferris travelling with the main team until she too split off to make her way up to her hide leaving the others to continue on their way down the steep valley to where the base was hidden at the bottom.
Despite being cloaked from sight the team observed stealth movement protocols and used cover to move closer until they were right up against the outer perimeter fence which thanks to the visual spectrums their visors were capable of detecting were revealed to be electrified.
"Alright up and over people, watch you don't fuck the landing," Markus said before using his power-assisted movement to leap the 10ft tall fence with ease, followed in rapid succession by the rest of the team.
"Overwatch one to Spectre one one, you have a patrol closing on your area, seek cover, over," Victus's voice came through the comms and Markus hurriedly sent an acknowledgement before signalling for his team to drop into a nearby divet in the ground.
As the infiltration team lay still they all heard the heavy clomping of one of the mechanised walker suits that was somewhere between a tank and an infantry soldier, the thing was basically a heavily armed and armoured mech suit with a single pilot but could do the job of a mobile assault platform while maintaining vastly superior mobility.
The thing kinda reminded Markus of an oversized praying mantis given that it had four legs and a long ceneral torso where the pilot sat, but rather than claws on its large arms, it had what appeared to be a spinning multibarreled plasma accelerator weapon on one and what looked like some kind of large bore cannon on the other.
it also had two shoulder-mounted missile launchers mounted tucked in against it's back much like Clan Mason's own plasma casters sat when not in use.
Between these two multibarreled launcher tubes sat the head of the suit and once again this reminded Markus of a mantis as it had two large capped eyes on a surprisingly flat-shaped head.
Four large feathered antennae sprouted from the centre of the head of the suit and they waved in the soft night breeze obviously feeding the pilot data in the form of any chemicals or pheromones it detected on the wind.
Thankfully Clan Mason's stealth armour was hermetically sealed so their pheromones were sealed within the suits and before entering the base area Markus had ensured everyone had switched over to their internal rebreather systems so not even their expelled breaths could be detected.
Around the suit were four of the soldier bugs and just like the last lot they're encountered they all seemed to be coloured differently from one another, now Markus still didn't know if these colours had any kind of cultural or militaristic significance but it was obvious to him that they seriously didn't believe in camouflage, as electric blue didn't do shit to hide you against a golden background.
The heavy suit lumbered on at an easy pace with its four guards who were all armed with the long thin needle-like weapons they'd seen them wielding before, he still wondered if they were grown or part grown part assembled or even if the metal parts were graphted onto organics.
As the team watched the suit stopped near the point where they had come over the fence and seemed to scan the perimeter as well as the horizon, its feathery antennae seemed to wave in the wind as it scanned from right to left.
But after a few moments that felt like hours to the team all laid in the sand of the divet, the suit resumed its lumbering patrol along the fence line, leaving all of them to breathe a sigh of relief.
"That thing packs some serious firepower, if we end up going toe to toe with one of them I really don't think we're gonna win that fight without some serious firepower," Lucious said.
"Yeah that armour looks thick enough to even absorb a fully charged shot from the railguns and I doubt plasma is gonna be much help against that carapace, it might slag the outer layers but given the way it overlaps like that it's gonna disperse most of it before it gets anywhere near the insides," Markus said thoughtfully.
"Think we should try and get some detailed scans of one of them to send up to the science hive for analysis, they might be able to come up with a countermeasure before the ground fight really kicks off?" Verris asked pocking his crested head up to watch the suit lumbering off into the distance as it followed the fence line.
"Yeah that's a good shout, all intel is gonna be good intel, I also think it might be in our interest to see if we can capture some of their small arms, you might be able to analyse them in the med bay and send your findings to the hive as well," Markus said.
"Spectre one one you are clear to proceed to the hangers but hold off heading to the comms building just yet, there seems to be something going on there, over," Ferris's voice said over the comms.
"Roger that Overwatch two," Markus said and he signaled for the others to stack up before once again they began to move slowly across the open ground.
The team moved as slowly as they safely could to ensure they kept the ripple effect of their cloak shifting to a minimum, they still didn't know enough about these creatures or their physical or technological abilities to really start taking risks around them yet.
Outside of the hanger, there were a series of large liquid storage modules that looked like they had been recently moved up from inside the hanger by the drag marks in the sand that led from the doorway of the large hanger.
"Looks like they are moving some fuel up onto the surface to ensure they don't have to move all of their armour inside for refuelling, smart this will ensure they can keep roaming patrols going with less time taken by refuelling stops, I'm guessing that when these are nearly dry they'll simply drag them back inside to top them up from the base's reserves," Lucious chirped as he scanned the tanks.
"Hydrogen fuel?' Markus asked and the little Raptorian nodded.
"Should we leave them a surprise?" Adesus asked eyeing the tanks and Markus shook his head.
"No, this is a stealth mission, we can't afford them to know we were here yet, we need to break into their network first so that the Clan can start sifting through their data, undoubtedly once they get in we'll start getting plenty of targets assigned to us so don't you worry super spines, there will be plenty for you to blow up soon," Markus replied.
"Looks like they've got a shift change going on, well thats at least one thing that we now know," Verris said and Markus glanced at him for clarification.
"Well if they need to change the patrol shifts it means this species needs rest the same as any other, that will mean sleep which means for all its alien differences the base should still have a pretty standard layout, you know, mess hall, bunks, armoury, that kind of thing, all we have to do is identify what's what," he clarified and Markus nodded in understanding.
The group all leaned out from behind the tanks and watched the insectoid aliens as they appeared to be giving what looked like some kind of shift handover to the new group which had emerged from one of the other hangers.
Although they had no way of understanding what was being said Markus could hear the chittering and clacking of mandibles quite clearly but he was going to have to get up close and personal with one of them to be able to tear their language from their mind and that was seriously risky at this stage.
Once the handover was complete the two groups slipped up with one heading out into the base itself while the other headed for the large doors of a nearby hanger, one or two of the group split off and headed for the comms tower itself.
"Let's move this is our chance," Markus said pointing at the small group that was heading for the comms tower and instantly realising what he was on about the group moved quickly an quetly to close the gap so they could gain access easily rather than trying to figure out a way to hack through the security.
The group closed the ground quickly and as the last of the insects disappeared inside the tower Markus quickly dashed forward and jammed the door open preventing it from closing and locking them outside.
Thanks to his enhanced Seeker strength and power-assisted movement made available to him thanks to his suit he was able to hold the door open and to even force it back against its motors which allowed his team to nip inside before he let it finally close behind them.
Thankfully the insects were nowhere near it when he did this as they had already begun making their way up the long flights of stairs to what Markus assumed was both the control centre, comms center and flight control tower for any stuff being dropped in from orbit.
"Alright people heads on the swivel here, we're royally in hostile territory now," he hissed despite the fact his external speakers were off so no sound escaped his suit.
Once he got a series of thumbs up in response the group began to slowly make their way up the stairs while hugging the outer wall which seemed to be covered in layers of that resin that reminded them all of Xeno resin, so much so that even Verris stopped to take a small sample for study.
They were royally in the lion's den now and they couldn't afford any mistakes here as the slightest misstep could blow the whole thing, it was time to really earn their pay.