“Approaching Kepler,” Rico says. “Initiating warp drive shut down,” he continues, focussing on the controls in front of him.
The ship slips from warp drive to cruising speed and a red-brown planet materializes in front of you.
“Planet: Kepler,” the computer announces.
“Atmosphere composition: 78.91% nitrogen, 21.85% oxygen, 0.83% argon, 0.38% carbon dioxide, remainder – trace elements. Atmosphere, breathable.
Temperature: 30 to 55 degrees Celsius.
Climate: no rainfall, humidity 0%
Geology: Sand consisting of Silica, Quartz and limestone
Vegetation: None – Desert landscape
Life: Subsurface life forms detected, human life forms detected in surface structures
Structures: Seven clusters of structures detected ranging from small to medium – The three largest ones are military under the control of Miras-Guhl, the smaller ones are all mines.”
“Ok”, you say. “Our basic cloaking system should buy us enough time to land at one of the mines and get what we need before the Guhl scanners descramble the signal. Science officer, how much time do we have?”
“By my calculations we should have approximately on hour before they start tracking us sir”, the Science officer replies over the intercom system.
“That doesn’t leave us with much time”, you whisper.
“Head for the nearest mine”, you instruct.
Rico sets the navigation computer and the Scythe slips though the sky.
“E.T.A. five minutes, sir”, Rico replies. “I’m engaging the jammers so that they can’t send a may-day to the military bases when they see us.”
“All military units, stand by”, you say over your mike.
“When we hit the ground, I want you to disembark in combat formation. I want the Rhino’s to take the lead and pop through the fence. There you stop and cover our approach. The two Tigercats will follow and lead the way to the main building. Three marines stay with the ship. The other three press through and secure the entrance to the main building at the service entrance. You open the doors from inside and the two Tigercats go in and secure the workshop. Once all is clear, we adios the equipment we need. Any questions?”
With no questions you continue, “Remember, these miners are Miras-Guhl. We shouldn’t encounter much more than light gunfire resistance, but keep your eyes open and watch your backs.”
Five minutes later the Scythe blows up clouds of dust as it settles onto the flat plain at the edge of a small mining facility. In a distance the sun is approaching the horizon and you realise it will set within the hour.
The facility is simple, with four small structures scattered around a larger main building. The main building has a massive tower stretching into the sky above it. The entire facility is surrounded by a low-tech fence. The scythe touches down just outside the fence.
Standing in the cargo hold with a small pulse rifle and light body armour, you watch the mechanised units and marines with anticipation. As the cargo ramp touches the ground, the first Rhino steps onto the desert sand. Seconds later its cannon fires and a sentry tower close by explodes. The second Rhino unit is close behind the first. You see it paining the communications tower with its laser designator before it too fires its cannon destroying the tower.
The Rhinos pan out and walk towards the fence, their footsteps accompanied by the signature sound as the mechanics in their legs work. The TigerCats step out behind them. They also start firing short sporadic bursts at security personnel. Empty shells pour out the sides of their arms as their six-barrel mini guns buzz angrily.
The Rhinos easily trample the fence and hold position, still searching for targets. The TigerCats walk past them and approach the main building. Moments before they stop, three of the marines run from the Interceptor. As always, you are amazed at how fast they can move while wearing the bulky mechanized armour.
Running up to a personnel door, one of the marines fires his Jackhammer. The heavy weapon coughs once, obliterating the door in a thousand pieces. The three marines disappear into the building. You hear the muffled sounds of a Jackhammer firing inside the building. Moments later the large service door rolls open. The TigerCats step inside and start firing, tearing the inside of the building apart. You hope they don’t damage any of the mining equipment.
The gunfire stops.
“All clear”, you hear in your earpiece.
With your gun up, you run over to the building with your science officer and engineer in close pursuit. As you run into the mine’s workshop, you find the walls riddled with bullets. A few dead bodies are scattered on the floor. In the centre of the floor, you see a Locator, Mining and Construction Unit or LMCU – exactly what you will need if you want to prospect for shallow to mid-range minerals.
It resembles a massive truck, but one that can deploy to form a drilling rig. With favourable soil conditions it can also act as a subterranean vehicle. In addition to this it has four small drones on the back, each approximately the size of a car. The airborne drones can fly around and hover and with mechanical arms and a range of equipment they can be used to perform various construction and mining tasks.
“Check if all systems are functional and find some spare parts to take along”, you instruct your engineer.
“Sergeant, I want your men to secure the complex for the loading of the equipment”, you say over your mike to the Marine commander. “We have to be out of here in twenty minutes.”
“Check if there is anything else here that might be useful”, you say to your science officer. All seems to be going according to plan. This might just work, you think to yourself.
“Captain, I’m detecting a signal being transmitted from the mine below you”, you hear Rico on your earpiece.
“It seems they are using a fixed line for communication, which means we can’t jam it. If it is linked to one of the military bases, the Guhl is going to be on our asses double quick. I recon we have two minutes before they scramble their birds and another five for them to get here.”
With no time to spare, you realize that you have three options to choose from:
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