"Now that we know it's with us, what are we supposed to do with it?" Vain asked as Derek weaved in and out of traffic, trying to lose the tail that they gained.
Neesha held on to the handle above her door as Derek shot up and back down. "Ow!"
"We keep it safe," Ida said while glancing at the side mirror. "There's still one behind us."
"I know, I know," Derek murmured and jerked the wheel to the right. "We'll be rid of them in a bit."
"Now," Ida insisted.
Neesha squinted behind her and saw one of the Imperial Forces' hover craft a few cars back, with it blaring an alarm and flashing its red lights. She smiled slightly as they swerved again and the patrol hit the brakes to avoid slamming into passing vehicles.
When they turned another corner, Derek cut back on the speed and blended perfectly into the dark with everyone else driving home or to work.
"It's alright," Vain announced after studying the tablet in front of her. "We can go home now."
And then a beep sounded from the dashboard. Ida tapped a button: "Ida speaking."
"We're being attacked," Doram stated. They could hear shots going off in the background as the man moved from room to room, occasionally stopping to fire at the intruders.
Neesha felt the blood drain from her face. No way. Not so soon after I found it!
Ida quickly brought up the external cameras of their head quarters to see dozens of Imperial Forces' crafts surrounding their building. Meanwhile, the screens in front of Neesha and Vain, attached to the back of Derek and Ida's seats, lit up to show the same thing.
Neesha was more concerned with holding on than fiddling with the screen, but Vain tapped the side of hers and it blinked to show the terrain and the Imperial Forces' crafts as red squares while their own vehicles were in blue. She pressed a button on the panel to her left, between her and Neesha's seats, and a keyboard slid out.
"What happened?"
"They infiltrated through the sides - the guards were killed silently and the pseudo alarms were cancelled. When they crossed the boundary without keying in, they tripped the silent alarms but they were already in and spreading through the base like a virus."
Neesha heard Ida suck in a breath and swear. "How did they overpower us so easily?"
"Our forces were diverged to Base Seven for their operation. They were supposed to be back an hour ago but they ran into some trouble.
"Also, we're going to enable Action Three and Erik wants Neesha in meeting room four."
"M-Me!?"
"Got it," Ida said, "we'll be there in five minutes." She made a chopping motion with her left hand. Derek turned off from the main road and fired up the boosters to their maximum force, shooting them off like a rocket.
"Out." Doram disconnected the call with the last thing they heard as someone screaming. Their vehicle was silent again except for the various alerts coming from the maps Vain and Ida brought up.
"I've connected us to the transmitters and heat sensors," Vain said. "Our people are retreating from the outer regions of the base and making their way to the core."
"How many squads are still in the outer regions?" Ida asked.
Neesha's head swivelled back and forth. Sure, she knew it was important to get the stats but why was she needed in meeting room four again?
"Six: five of them are battling the intruders in the outer regions and some of them are handling any intruders who managed to slip by. About fifty intruders are in the outer regions and twenty are in the core but that's slowly decreasing."
"What of their back-up?"
Vain shook her head. "They went in when our people started to retreat."
"Fifty men with no back-up," Ida repeated. "Okay. We'll get in through the tunnel to the garage. The crew should have it open by now since they're working on the enemy crafts."
Neesha's brows furrowed and she frowned in worry. What are they talking about? The crew's the sixth squad that's still out there? I thought they were mechanics.
"Neesha, once we're in, follow me. I'm taking you straight to the meeting room. Erik is most likely going to want you to help counter Thandisry's magic. Are you up to it?"
"What, you mean - you mean you want me record everything that's going on?"
"Yes."
"Alright."
Ida turned in her seat to stare at Neesha. Her eyes flickered over the girl's face and saw the determined set of her jaw and eyes. Ida nodded and gave her a small smile.
"Ten seconds," Derek said for the first time since the call came in.
Neesha looked out her window and quickly turned away when she saw that it was just a blur of shadowed land. She did not want to think about how she'd look if they crashed at this speed. Instead, she faced the windshield, slightly more comforted with that view, and noticed that they were driving off-road.
Derek was very gently steering the wheel to avoid large boulders or remnants of bombed buildings with great ease, though she had a feeling that his lack of input during the conversation between the two women was an indicator for how concentrated he was on his driving.
Then she spotted something she initially thought was a rock but turned out to be an opening just big enough for their craft to get through. There was a light at the end of the tunnel and their speed decreased ever so slightly as they slipped in.
"Hold on," Vain told Neesha as she replaced the keyboard and grabbed her own handle bar for the first time through the course of this trip. With a gulp, Neesha held on with both hands and had her feet firmly on the car floor.
Derek cut the boosters and twisted the wheel until they were nearly hovering on their side, the bottom boosters coming alive to act as major brakes.
"WHAT THE - !?" Neesha clenched her teeth at the uncomfortable sensation of being in a sideways car. After three seconds, it was over and Derek had braked entirely, leaving their car idling in the brightly lit garage.
Heart pounding, Neesha followed the others out the vehicle with one hand holding her box of diaries. She slammed her door and took five quick steps away.
Derek grinned at her from the driver seat. "Want to do that again?"
"Hell no. That should be illegal!"
"Hey, anything to piss off Thandisry is game." Derek stepped out and waved a hand to the camera that was trained on them.
Neesha took a proper look at her surroundings. They weren't actually in the garage she came to know but was in one very similar to it; the floor and walls were made of the same design and the noises were familiar. The difference was that there were no other vehicles or crew members in sight other than the two women running towards them.
"Where are we?" Neesha asked.
Vain chuckled. "We're in the garage, silly." She gathered her hair and started to french braid it faster than Neesha could form her next question.
"But where are all the other cars?"
The braid was complete. "They're through that door." Vain nodded at the wall - or door...whatever - to their left. "We're in the receiving area for when the main exit of the garage isn't safe to use. Hence the super cool and secret tunnel." She re-positioned her laser rifle in the ready position.
"Vain and Derek, you're both going to the control centre," Ida said and pushed at Neesha's shoulder to get the girl moving.
"Yes, ma'am," the two operatives said and started running up the stairs to the second level of the garage.
As Ida led the way to the meeting room, she said to Neesha, "Keep your goggles on. It'll help mask your identity from Thandistry."
Neesha complied and looked around anxiously, wishing she didn't feel so exposed. Ida swung open the door to the stairwell and listened. Hearing nothing, she gestured for Neesha to follow and they jogged up the stairs.
"Are you glad I made you run up and down these steps?" Ida asked mildly.
Neesha made an attempt to roll her eyes though her voice still came out in a nervous stutter. "I-It would've been better if I didn't have to feel thankful."
"Everything will be fine. Trust me." Ida opened the door for their desired floor and peered out. "Coast is clear."
"'Coast is clear'," Neesha muttered. "Who uses that phrase anymore? You read too many historical fiction."
"Never mind that. Follow."
Neesha was hit with a wave of noise, very unlike all the other times she had been on this level. Soldiers screamed and the doctors shouted out instructions and machines kept up their constant beeping. As they went down the other end of the hall, the noise lessened. Ida slapped her palm onto the finger print reader and Neesha did the same. The doors slid open for them to reveal a room identical to the one she had the holographic meeting with Erik just hours before. It feels like it happened a lifetime ago, Neesha marvelled.
All the screens were used to monitor the soldiers and in one corner the screens were filled with the faces of their people sitting in front of a computer somewhere else in the base.
On the big screen directly across from her was Erik, pacing in his office. "Ah, so you've come back. How was the mission, Ida?"
"Successful."
"Very well. Neesha, it's good to see you again."
"Uh - ah - you too?"
"Could I ask for you to help us using your abilities?"
"S-Sure? - I mean - yes."
"Very good. Now, it's very simple. Take a seat." Erik gestured to the space just to the right of the screen he was shown on, where a desk and chair were set up with a large book and a cup filled with assorted writing utensils.
"I want you to be comfortable while we do this. Take a deep breath and relax. We'll be receiving reports in a few minutes from everywhere. Focus on what's happening in Base Six and record it, no matter what happens."
"No matter what? Even if Base Six falls?" Neesha asked.
"Even if," Erik confirmed. "The truth is always better than the fabrication."
"O-Okay."
Neesha took a seat and rubbed the surface of the desk for a moment. Then she picked out a blue pen and glanced around her: the men and woman working ferociously by the computers and relaying orders paid very little attention to her aside from the occasional glance. In a few minutes though, she became part of the tableau.
"Will this really work?" Neesha wondered out loud.
"That's what we'll find out," Erik said. "This will be a test run. If you'd excuse me for putting it in such a way, Neesha."
"It's fine," Neesha whispered with a grin. "I'd rather test it out on small fry like this than with something bigger, right?" she said in her attempt at a joke.
Erik nodded seriously. "Yes. I must get back to my own battle. Ida, I leave things here to you."
"Yes sir," she said. Erik's image faded, replaced by the time.
Neesha remembered something she was supposed to ask the woman. "What is Action Three?"
Ida sighed and leaned one hip against the desk. "It's where we retreat and close down the doors, separating us from the intruders. Their oxygen is cut off and we give the option of leaving. If they don't, we release green gas."
"Green gas? Is it poisonous?"
"No. They will get the mother of all migraines but it isn't deadly. It would feel a lot like dying, I suppose. It will make them run from us as though Hades is after them."
"The...Greek god of the Underworld?"
"You got it. Start writing."655Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWU4mUh68S
Neesha wrote down the date and time and started writing.655Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoT1BIDL098
