Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Five: Deep Strike Preparation (Patreon)

Hifara was waiting at the end of the tunnel when I arrived. Along with a visibly nervous Prospector.

“We’re as deep as we’re going to ever need to go,” Hifara told me. “Ten metres, and we have a chamber of some sort. Large concentrations of the metal you told us to look out for.”

“Any chance of getting more information?”

“Not without a probe. I can open up the gap in five minutes or less. Problem is, anything like a drone going through and the Raptors are going to catch it. Even a large hole would gain their attention.”

“Can you make something the size of a pinhole? A straight line from here to there but small enough to evade their notice?”

“That I can do.”

<Belessar>: Give me a picture of what’s inside.

<Nanocloud>: Sending nanobots through now.

<Nanocloud>: And we have a dark, mostly empty chamber. Um. Looks like they’ve got some sort of equipment here – a long cylinder, and it’s drilling down.

<Nanocloud>: Okay. I’m guessing drill, trying to set up a geothermal heat tap. They must be running low on energy.

<Belessar>: Or they need a power source to run their teleportation equipment.

<Nanocloud>: Also a possibility. Especially if they want to escape from here.

<Nanocloud>: Sending half my bots up. All right, we’re in a chamber. Huh. There’s a crystal computer here, like you saw on the ship. A workstation, and there’s a Raptor typing something.

<Nanocloud>: Fifty more armoured Raptors around him, scattered across the chamber. Armed with plasma rifles, and they have some sort of golden decorative artwork on the breastplates.

<Nanocloud>: I’m guessing honour guard.

<Belessar>: Honour guards are for presidents and prime ministers.

<Nanocloud>: Yeah, and we’ve got a familiar figure up here. You remember our friend Bahurnivaras?

<Belessar>: Our comatose prisoner.

<Nanocloud>: Now very much not comatose. As reported, he seems to be up and about. Healthy, too. He’s the one at the workstation.

<Belessar>: I hate to interrupt a being’s typing.

<Nanocloud>: But in this case you want to.

<Belessar>: Oh, I want to.

“Hifara,” I ordered. “Nanocloud’s going to mark a section of the wall. We need a passage to let us breach the chamber above this one. Get us close.”

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Five minutes later, I was crouched against the edge of a cavern wall.

Beside me stood Green and two of his men, including a demo expert. Right behind me, Unity flexed her gloves – and the new Lightning Hammer I’d given her.

“Nice gift,” she’d remarked. “You really know how to make a girl happy.”

“Knowing you, I’d best not take that forward,” I remarked dryly.

“Heh, you’re not my type. You did me a solid with Quantosphere, though. He does make lots of diamonds.”

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

“Be happier when we can get payback for Agni.”

“Me too.” I activated my communicator. “Mahotsukoi, Indradhanush, Aspenthorn. You guys clear on what to do?”

“Hundred per cent, Belessar,” Mahotsukoi chimed in. “Follow and engage any enemy that seems dangerous.”

I turned to the newest ultras behind me. “Tsuyoiken. Haganenoken. Staalhuid. You ready?”

The two martial artists bowed. “We are ready to learn, Honoured Belessar.”

Staalhuid, meanwhile, chuckled. “As ready as ever, Belessar.”

Taking a final breath, I checked my loadout.

Mass Driver Rifle. Nanothorn Kukri. Two hundred rounds of MDR ammo. Six Nanoblade Javelins. Fifty Plasma Grenades. A HEPAR.

Eighty-eight kilos. Once, that would have been impossible for me to carry. Now, with a strength of forty-three, it didn’t even max out my personal capacity of 129 kg.

I could move, fight, and shoot at top speed, and do it with enough weapons to take out any reasonable concentration of enemies.

I took a deep breath. “Hifara. Collapse the wall.”