The Turning Point

At about five miles Val cut the engine and they dismounted. The objective was over a few hundred meters and didn't want to alert any scouts guarding the location. I activated the scout drones and began to scan the perimeter while Dorothy and Val stayed put. There were two light Cagnettes covering the site and about ten guards surrounding them, a small team of workers manning a massive drill crushing the ground at a rapid speed.

"Ten armed guards, two little walkers, and a handful of workers. No scouts nor any recon units are nearby so it is safe to proceed for a closer look." I sent over the comms as I pulled back the scouts before they were spotted. The two of them went forth, going prone once they got in range.

The slow grind of the Cagnette rotation still spooked me as it scanned the horizon. Heat sensors, anti air ordnance, and a self destruct sequence upon fatal damage or risk of capture made them more lethal than any platoon of Cagnors. The only best way to take them down is to immobilize their legs and sever the relay tower located on their back. This prevents the pilot from further movement and can lead it away from units in danger of the blast radius.

"Sounds like good odds." Dorothy said as she scanned them with her binoculars. I knew what she was thinking and wanted to stop it right before it started.

"We need to know what they are looking for. We kill them now and the mission is a bust." I say, hoping it works. Yet again, Dorothy sees the logic and doesn't move. They stayed prone for a few more minutes before the diggers show some progress. They started chatting feverishly, so much so that the guards got distracted and moved closer to observe. This gave me an idea.

"Val you still got those disruption bombs?" She smiles.

"And if I did?"

"As soon as they unearth whatever they are looking for, throw them and engage. If the item they are looking for is as important as I think, then it will be very important to us as well."

Dorothy chimed in, "I'll dispatch the guards while you guys are doing that. That measly bunch is nothing for me." I didn't doubt it, especially when she has that smoldering flame in her eyes.

The Cagnors shut the drill off and pulled it out, a faint blue glow emitting from the hole.

"The hell is that." We all pretty much said simultaneously as a small jagged orb was extracted from the dirt. They handled it carefully, possibly fragile or unstable. They moved it into a silver canister with a clear cover, the orb being suspended in the middle as the device hissed and beeped. I immediately recognized that device for it was mainly used for rare ores and highly radiated objects.

"Whatever it is, it has to be a power cell of some sort. This is going to a rare find for headquarters."

"Then let's not waste time and get this." Val said as she turned on the disruption grenade. Normally for an observation mission I would object to going in, but that item in question has yet to be discovered and it piques my interest. She chucked the grenade as Dorothy hurtled from her position, the Cagnettes detecting her almost immediately. They were about to open fire when the explosion knocked them over, Dorothy leaping over their glitching systems.

Watching her fight was beyond what I've seen from other operatives. She grabbed the blaster from the closest guard and cracked the butt over his face. Falling over, he flew back from a heavy kick to his chest that toppled the other two behind him. She never fired a shot, snapping the weapon over her knee and using the pieces as batons while knocking them left and right. I flinched from the sounds of cracks and screams. Then I caught sight of a worker trying to scale the dirt with the canister in his hand.

"Val, get him before he escapes." She spots him and lines the shot. A clear shot to his leg sent him screaming backwards, the canister falling from his grasp and rolling into the fray. She was about to get up, only to hit the dirt as the Cagnettes' systems reactivate and send a hail of fire in her direction.

"Shit. I can't throw another while they are looking at me. Dorothy is going to have to get it herself." Dorothy in question was fighting heavily at this point, the Cagnettes hesitating to shoot as she was surrounded by too many potential casualties.

"Dorothy, distract the Cagnettes! Val has a shot at their relays." She responded by breaking one of the guards arms and holding him like a shield. The scream caused both of them to focus on her, allowing Val to poke up and empty a magazine into one of their backs. The relay exploded and shut the Cagnette down. The other one swiveled around and lined up a shot, only to be mounted by a furious Dorothy who proceeded to rip out wires from its inside. The system short circuited and spun about, firing randomly and sparking all over the place. Dorothy dashed and jumped behind the drill piece, bullets and shrapnel hurtling all around her. Val stayed put as I heard the robot begin to beep loudly.

"Stay down! It's gunna blow!" I had barely finished when a red blaze covered my screen and made me squint. It faded into a heavy black smoke that began to disrupt my sensors. I tried to reconnect the comms, but all I got was static. After frantically rewiring the consoles and accessing the ports, I got vision on one of the drone. I sent it over the blast site, scanning for life signs. Val was fine, slightly disorientated from the blast but covered in cuts and bruises. I searched the crater, fearing the worst. Among the wreckage of parts and bodies, I located Dorothy. She was unconscious, lying two feet away from the canister. A small blue hue emitted from her skin as the resolution cleared up, revealing a liquid covering her body that trailed from the broken containment canister.

I immediately called in an emergency extraction as the unstable foreign matter sunk in to her skin and started to mix in with her bloodstream. I didn't know it at the time, but it was right then and there that we finally got a fighting chance after three years of war.