Grid 339.

It was exactly the same as every other Grid on the planet. A massive, sprawling edifice of industry. Its positioning in Southeastern Belius meant that it was moderately more intact than most of the ones north of it, but that really wasn't saying much anyway.

Outside of the Contaminated Zone, most Grids were more intact than not. With a few exceptions, of course.

When I arrived at Grid 339, I had been a little surprised to see so much of its industry intact. Yes, there were signs of some looting, and signs of some battle damage, but not nearly as much as most other places. I attributed this to the much lower population density of Southeastern Belius in general, where, even before the fires, there simply hadn't been that many people around. The terrain just didn't support that many people, and Rubicon wasn't so populated that it was necessary to do some geoengineering to set up some cities.

So, of course, I marked it for the future, and kept an eye on the place. What I found was simple; low populations meant low interest, terrible terrain meant little food outside of the Mealworms, decaying industry meant difficulty in restarting, and all of that combined to make a place that wasn't getting nearly as much attention as it could have been.

I was sure that would change in short order once I had it up and running, though. The PCA would not appreciate it.

But, well, that was the point.

And so, in early February, I started setting things up.

The initial stage, as always, was focused on stealth. I waited until a Firestorm came overhead and then moved the drillship into place, deploying hordes of Maintenance Drones and a few MTs. I came with more of the former than the latter, this time; the infrastructure was mostly still there after all, it just needed to be fixed up.

Most of the work was just clearing the debris, honestly. Sure, I had to fix a few conveyor belts or replace some wires and batteries here and there, but Human materials science is really good in this day and age, and it could go without maintenance for a surprisingly long time.

The drillship didn't stick around. Once it deployed its cargo, it went right back to base in order to grab more. It was a repetitive trip, but a necessary one; armaments that could defeat Subject Guard didn't just appear out of thin air, unfortunately.

And that most of my first week at Grid 339; setting up defences alongside getting the facilities operational again.

The second week wasn't very different, to be honest. The first production run went right back into the machines themselves so that I could do more repair work, with only a small amount spared for setting up the defences as they arrived.

The third week did have a bit to spare, at least. The first Combat Drones I was deploying weren't anything special, just smaller air-hover units with in-built Laser emitters. Functionally irrelevant when not present in large numbers, and all but guaranteeing a significant numbers loss if they actually were deployed in swarms enough to matter. Their only saving grace was their size and simplicity, which was 'tiny' and 'very', respectively, in turn making them cheap and easy to build.

The bigger, more useful drones could come later. In the meantime, attacking a prepared environment with a lot of places to hide and many defences was a fast way to get yourself killed. Chaff, these drones might have been, but that didn't mean they wouldn't do the job.

It would be some time before I could get those bigger drones, anyway.

I was willing to wait for it. There was no sense in tipping my hand when it wasn't necessary, after all. Most of my actual firepower here was in the defensive emplacements anyway, and that was stuff that wasn't going away unless somebody resorted to a much heavier use of force.

The PCA wouldn't do that. Not right off the bat, anyway.

It wouldn't be too long before I could get started.

"I am pleased to report that you've completed the last of the processes." I stated. "No signs of rejection, no discernable issues, no complications, everything is green across the board. How do you feel?"

Dolmayan stretched, testing his body slowly. He targeted each muscle, each joint, one by one, stretching and moving as he got used to everything.

"I feel like I'm twenty years younger." He finally said, straightening up.

"You may as well be." I admitted. "Telomere regeneration was included, and downright necessary as a matter of fact, in your treatment. Your cells have gone through such a significant amount of division that you would have lost several years of your life without it. You didn't exactly have a whole lot to spare, either."

"I had not realised how much my body ached until it stopped." Dolmayan stated. "Even with all my Augmentations, it still crept up on me."

"Your 'Augmentations' barely deserve the name." I responded, as primly as I could manage. "Just like most C1 Augments, they were just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. That's why they replaced so much of you. Not for the sake of actually making you better, but to see what you could live through."

Even after all this time, I still didn't like what Dornez had wrought.

"You've got something proper, now. You'll be better than ever. Of course, most importantly-"

"You'll always be able to hear us now!!" Seria sang, radiating her joy and happiness. Something she shared with Dolmayan; the man was greatly enthused that he didn't need to Dose up to hear us. That's something that has been niggling at him for years, after all.

Seria's words got a genuine smile out of him. "Something I shall enjoy greatly." He paused for a moment, rolling his shoulders, before he tilted his head backwards, looking vaguely upwards. A habit he had picked up from the Firekeepers, actually. "Drich. I... Thank you."

"You are most welcome." I smiled. I couldn't help the genuine warmth that flowed through me at his heartfelt thanks. It was a nice feeling, if I was being completely honest. I did like to help people, and in this? I had no issues with it. "Still, for the sake of safety, no combat engagements for another week. I do not believe there will be any issues, but we did not come this far just for something to blindside us at the last minute, right?"

"Hah." He shook his head. "No, we did not."

"Indeed." I hummed. "Still, with that final direction, you are officially relieved of my care. Congratulations, you are free to go. You have been an excellent patient."

"You are the best doctor I've ever had." He seemed amused for a moment, before standing. He stretched for a moment, before walking over to the door.

"By the way, before we leave-" Seria spoke up as Dolmayan opened the door, and promptly came face to face with the Firekeepers. All of the Firekeepers. "I took the opportunity to plan a surprise party."

"Surprise!" The Firekeepers called, on que.

"I hope you like it!"

Dolmayan laughed, long and loud.

One single message was sent out before I started on everything.

'Beginning reveal plan. Dolmayan's on his way back to you. Good luck, Flatwell.'

It was time to bait some attention.

When it comes to revealing oneself, there are multiple ways of doing it, some good, some bad, and some of them a mix of both.

It all depends on how you want to present yourself, how you want yourself to initially be perceived, and how you want people to continue to perceive you.

I wanted attention, yes, but I didn't want to look like I wanted attention. That, see, would have invited a bit more scrutiny than I really wanted, and in entirely the wrong direction.

I wanted to be seen as a private, quiet group out to do things on Rubicon, but not a conspiracy or something equally concerning. That, again, would have invited the wrong kinds of attention.

As for how I wanted people to continue to perceive me... well, that was more of an ongoing process. People had to know I existed in the first place, after all.

Fulfilling both of those first two conditions was a tricky one, but I've been thinking that one over for a while and I'm pretty sure I know exactly how to do it.

They key to my plan laid in the planetary communication network. The network was fucked up dramatically by this point, as previously noted, but the PCA did keep an eye on things occasionally.

What I was planning to do was set up a network 'sniffer'. I'd already done a lot of that, of course, but only on longer timescales and with careful intrusions to minimise the possibility of detection. I was planning on a more... aggressive variant, one that would still be quite secure, but which would also be considerably more noticeable.

The PCA had their hooks in all over the place in the network. I was sure they would notice quite quickly, and the Enforcement System was practically built to handle exactly this. It would tell them that there was an active party. They'd go looking on their own, of course, but I intended to induce an 'accidental' security failure that would see certain locational data not erased from outgoing signals. Not the full info, that would be suspicious, but enough that they should be able to pull some things together fairly quickly.

The timing had to be careful, of course. I wanted to bait attention before Flatwell did... whatever he was doing, but I couldn't call down a full PCA response immediately. I wanted them to progressively stick their hands into this trap only to realise afterwards that it's a fractal of fuckery.

A bit tricky, that, but I would see what I could do.

I was reasonably certain that the initial investigating force wasn't going to be a big or particularly powerful one, at least. MTs, certainly, maybe even an LC depending on the circumstances. Anything larger... eh. Unlikely, to say the least. AH12 Helicopters were powerful things but not exactly suited to fighting in Grids. They could handle the outside, no problems, but there was no chance of fitting them through the interiors.

Which was actually a bit of a problem, because the only other units the PCA had which were meant to battle inside the interiors of Grids were a part of the elite Enforcement Squads and the even more elite PCA SP, the Special Forces division meant to eliminate high-priority targets.

Basically? That means they would be sending EKDROMOI, BALTEUS, and High Mobility Units to go deal with the problem. The PCA's best of the best, and appropriately dangerous.

They technically had the option of just... sieging, since logistics almost inevitably favoured the PCA in any case, but that wasn't something the PCA were very eager to do.

Optics mattered, after all. The PCA lived much easier lives when people weren't turning Grids into deathtraps. Sure, the RLF turning their facilities and living centres into fortresses also wasn't grand, but in those cases they at least had the option of dumping Warships onto the problem, which was definitely not the case for Grids.

Usually better to cut that one off at the head by simply not playing that game in the first place. Thus, non-Grid fortifications could get away with quite a bit more actual activity before the PCA would go and do something about it.

My decision to turn a Grid into a deathtrap was, in other words, very much a calculated one. So long as they didn't learn about it immediately, we were gold.

Well, even if they did learn about it immediately, we'd still have served as a good distraction. The facility was ultimately expendable, even if I did want to keep it as long as possible.

What fun times I had ahead of me.