Secret SFF Missile Base
Somewhere in the Great Expanse Region 35 miles from the Kithan border
18:08
"Sir! We have lost contact with all the bases within the Outer Territories! Not even a word or message from Operations! Please advise."
Sythe swiveled around in his chair to face the brown-haired human who was donning the metal blue outfit of the tech crew. What's more? The two bars pinned to the right side of his chest, red and black, signified an important rank among the grunts. Another thing that stood out to the Hylian official was what appeared to be a burn mark on the overseer's right eye, covering it like an old eyepatch.
'You are the overseer of the Troubleshooters, correct?"
"Yes, sir!" The lad saluted his superior. Sythe had to give the man credit. At least he remembered his place and who he reported to despite having a rank.
"Please have a seat."
The Hylian motioned to the hovering cushion that operated on lifts as it appeared between the desk and the Troubleshooter. Once the lad took a seat, the Hylian base commander pressed a green button on the side of his desk, closing the metallic doors with a whooshing sound.
"So, you have some important information for me? Why not share it over a drink. You ever had Veronian coffee? It is quite the staple in Hyli'a. I can see why."
Official Sythe noticed that the man who he had deduced to be no older than the age of 22 try not to flinch from his dark expressionless eyes. He had been told by non-Hylians that they resembled the darkness of an abyss after it had the light snuffed out of it.
"If it pleases you, Sir Official. "The lad looked like he was anxious and a bit impatient to receive council from the high-ranking SFF official.
"Very well." Sythe tapped a lever on his desk and a crevice on the side of the metallic blue wall clicked open, revealing two canisters of steaming caffeine drinks. "You tell me you have lost contact with the bases we have scattered about here in the Outer territories and not a word from Sgt. Devolle? I am sure it is something as minor as a system error, but we will follow protocol as expected of me."
The pale humanoid turned to the transponder on his desk and activated it. He tried to contact the encrypted contact numbers of the SFF bases within the region, but only received radio silence. Frowning, he tried to reach Devolle's base of command, but only ended up with the same result as before.
"Maybe I should send a Net message. Perhaps the comms are down or something along that caliber. I'll try to reach out to Base 64 to connect with possible assistance. That might be where Devolle and the rest of the team are at right now. In the meantime, all the maintenance groups, especially the Troubleshooters, should toil to bring our systems back online. Can your crew manage that?"
Before the lad could utter a reply, loud bumps and shouts were heard outside of the door. Then came the unmistakable sound of laser fire. A look of terror passed the young supervisor's face as a befuddled Sythe activated the sensors to see what was going on. It sounded like a showdown was going down in the halls. For a second, the Hylian Survivalist feared that some brigands or a terrorist organization had stumbled upon their base and thought they could take some weapons or hostages. Maybe a local outlaw clan had tried to assert its control in the territory that SFF had built their base on.
I sure hope it isn't a local Kithar resistance cell or their sympathizers . Not only would that be a pain to deal with, but it would reflect badly of me to Mithros or SIN. I need to show that I am capable of doing my part in managing this base. We are on the verge of greatness. First, it's Kithan, then we may go on Kaneen. That one we shouldn't break any sweat in as we are on good terms with the Kaneens. Then we will move on to the rest of the Offworld. No country, kingdom, or group would withstand the might of the Survivalist Federation Force anymore.
As Sythe's computer displayed the live feed from the rooms and the dining hall, his jaw dropped in terror.
No, it can't be!
The overseer's eyes also widened in horror. "What is going on, sir?"
The Hylian could only gape in utter astonishment and horror as the feed displayed up to five figures garbed in the red and white armor of the Fantine shocktroopers dispatch the guards and wrest control of the missile base from right under his nose. How could this happen now of all times? Were the guards that incompetent?
Clenching his fist, the high-ranking official glanced over at the boy, his beady eyes glaring into the lad's terrified blue ones. "Well, it seems like this base is no longer in commission. It is only a matter of time until they barge in here and take us prisoner as well. Every soldier for himself."
As he keyed in the code to open a concealed exit for himself, the muffled voices of the enemy was heard outside as well as a clicking sound. The Survivalist officer had to make haste as he knew that the shocktroopers were going to breach the door with charges. As soon as the trapdoor widened like the maw of a Ba'atuian leopard, Sythe typed in the self-destruct code on the keypad of his computer to destroy any evidence before the Fantine force could get their filthy hands on it.
"W-what about me, sir? Am I to accompany you out of harm's way?"
With one foot already in the trapdoor, the Hylian turned his beady eyes on the human. "No, you will only serve to slow me down. I am a high profile target after all. You, however..."
Sythe then drew his black custom-made 1.64 shooter with a leering skull design on the barrel and shot his underling, Without wasting further time, he disappeared behind the makeshift escape route. As the trapdoors sealed shut, he heard the muffled thump of the doors to his command post being blown open.
Just in the nick of time!
---
"C'mon! Scan the room for anything useful!"
Clutching his damaged leg, the overseer glanced over at the intruders in red and white armor as they poured into the room through the smoldering remains of the door. Four of what he recognized as shocktroopers had their rifles at the ready as they scanned the room for threats, but found none. The overseer tensed up and hoped they would overlook him, but one of the soldiers glanced downward and pointed him out. Two snatched him and yanked him up roughly, causing him to cry out.
"What've you got there?"
He was brought before a fit tall woman with shoulder length blonde hair. Her eyes were covered with dark glasses and he noticed she was dressed in desert fatigues and her helmet had the mark of a two-headed eagle clutching a globe and a lightning bolt in each talon. What had ensured his full attention to her was the green 0.21 laser pistol she had pointed at his forehead.
"Who are you?" He uttered, gasping in pain as his leg throbbed.
"I am the one who asks the questions here." She punctuated her point by jabbing his wounded leg with the tip of the pistol. He cried out in agony as the Fantine woman pulled her weapon, its tip now vermillion, out of his wound.
"I a-am t-the overseer of t-the Troubleshooters. M-my job i-is t-to m-make sure t-the m-missile base r-runs smoothly."
"I see." The overseer could swear his interrogator's eyes narrowed as she questioned him. "I take it you are Gaskon'ii, yes?"
"W-what gave i-it away?My a-ccent?"
A wisp of a smile crossed the woman's fair face. "Not only that, but the way you move your hands when you speak. I hail from Nyyx, but I have been to your land twice. Once for a vacation when I was young and a second time for espionage appointment when your country had an uprising against your premier. Thankfully, your revolution was a success, but it came at a cost."
The overseer frowned a bit. "S-so you a-are an a-agent of Fantine's I-Intelligence D-Division?"
His captor smirked. "You catch on quick. Now, you will be granted mercy if you can help us gather information on your superior and the rest of SFF's operation such as numbers of weapons and troops. We don't have much time so let's get the ball rolling. "
"Um, c-can I a-ask y-your n-name, please?"
"Did I stutter when I said I am the one asking the questions here?" The Intelligence operative frowned and touched the burn mark over his right eye. He winced in pain. "Zygmar! That looks like a nasty burn, How did you get that? It is as if a Salazar slaver had marked you."
"T-the filter for t-the Xenon p-port of a C=Clawdan APC h-had b-burst as I w-was w-working on it. "He shrugged as if it was nothing. "W-will I g-get t-treatment i-if I s-spill the i-info y-you n-need?"
His captor nodded. "That and much more."
"O-okay." He smiled nervously. "W-where s-should I b-begin?"
---
20:27
Fantine HQ
The Conference Room
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"Alright! We have all the intel on our enemy that we need to know!"
Mikhail, Calhoun, Zeyda, and all the other top echelons of the Fantine X organization turned to see Sentery scurry through the green and orange doors, She set the tablet in the middle of the table before taking a seat between Zeyda and Heinrich. The pale blue form of the data in hologram form floated over the table, giving the room a ghostly blue hue.
Mikhail smiled as he stroked his chin. "Excellent job, as always. We now know their supply lines in and out of the Kithar country as well as their troop concentrations. It had been greatly beneficial for us to eliminate their secret bases in the Great Expanse due to the valiant efforts of our shocktroopers and intelligence units. Great cooperation there, Zeyda and Heinrich. That is the true spirit of our peacekeeping organization. Now we can be assured of no outside interference in our operation to liberate Kithan from the oppressive clutches of the Survivalists.
He paused to let the information sink in. His eyes flitted from all the attendees until Skandar cleared his throat and rose.
"Permission to ask a question, sir?"
"As always, it is granted. What do you need clarification on?"
Skander's icy blue eyes bore into Mikhail's gray ones. "Where are Ari and the rest of the Air Corps? Shouldn't they be present for this convention?"
The Skymarian just chuckled. "Well, I was just going to get to that. We plan to start our operation before the middle of the night to catch our enemy off-guard. After all, this intel confirms that they have lowered the amount of patrols during midnight as well as the amount of anti-aircraft systems that are active. Moreover, the visibility will be low that time, especially with the light fog that is enveloping the region. The operation will begin its first phase with airstrikes to soften the enemy before the ground troops roll in to begin the sweep. Which is why I exempted Ari, Strygar, and Adlan from attending this planning session to give them time to prepare for the operation ahead. Despite our successes, I feel that this war for liberation will drag on into a larger conflict. "
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