Luck
They were hidden at the edge of a man-made clearing that overlooked a huge expanse of concrete. Two genuinely enormous, reinforced metal doors that were flush with the surface were located in the center. A pair of heavy, sliding metal doors that were obviously intended for personnel access stood vertically out of the ground on the far side of the concrete pad. Unmistakable patterns that were known throughout the galaxy were created by distinctive yellow lines painted around the edges. Unquestionably, this was a landing zone.
"Whatever uses that central door must be enormous," Nayla Zantara remarked as she gazed at the massive building. The central doors were approximately 700 meters wide by 1,000 meters long. These dimensions were instantly recognizable to Nora Rahmyn, who saw that they were exactly the same size as a medium-capacity Rim Army troop transport or heavy cargo freighter.
Luna Trevyn noted calmly, "This proves the base exists, but it doesn't help us get in. Waiting for a supply ship could take months, but breaking through those main doors would draw too much attention.
Nora Rahmyn said, "What we're going to do is simple," with a tone of authority in her voice. "We immediately move our base camp to this perimeter. We set up a constant, round-the-clock watch on this landing area. We continue to analyze the radar data at the same time. Maybe it will show a less noticeable entrance. Her movements were silent on the soft undergrowth as she turned and melted back into the jungle. Without question, the others followed.
Now that the radar units were in place, breaking camp was easy because their loads were much lighter. They carefully set up a camouflage net to conceal their position from casual observers, and within an hour they had re-established their camp fifty meters back from the edge of the concrete pad. Eager to examine the information acquired over the last two days, they ate their evening meals in a hurry. The remote trigger sequence for the deployed radar units was started by Kieran Ravy. As 256 tiny charges exploded over a ten-square-mile area, a slight tremor shook the earth.
On Nayla Zantara's lap, a portable computer was inundated with data streams from the devices. She started a custom program she had written to compile the raw sensor readings into a logical, multi-level map of the subsurface facility as soon as the final packet arrived. She downloaded the finished map files onto each team member's handheld reader in a matter of minutes. There was little reason to question the map's accuracy because its resolution was within half a centimeter.
On the map, there was a circular building with five floors that was about sixty feet underground. This validated their initial suspicion that the shape of the facility had rendered approximately 25% of the deployed radar units redundant. They found a concrete landing pad that covered a huge vertical shaft that went all the way down to the lowest level, sitting directly above the center axis of the facility. A sizable cargo ship and about twenty interceptor-class fighters were clearly visible on the map, parked inside this central shaft hangar.
On the top floor, Nora Rahmyn saw a sizable control center set up to oversee defensive turrets and anti-ship missile batteries. However, there was no indication of any external turret emplacements in the ground radar data or their previous orbital scans. The control center itself was enormous; according to Nora Rahmyn, it could handle targeting information for as many as fifty different defensive batteries. The main manufacturing systems and a sizable fusion power generator were located on the bottom three levels. The other two floors were occupied by personnel quarters on the lower level and security control hubs on the upper floor. The coordinates on the map showed that their present campsite was directly above the control station for the landing zone.
The personnel doors they had seen still seemed to be the most practical entry point, but getting to them would require waiting for someone to use them or avoiding the security electronically. The map verified that almost three feet of reinforced concrete protected the remaining upper level.
After setting up a watch rotation, Luna Trevyn took the first watch and used infrared goggles to carefully scan the surrounding jungle while Nayla Zantara, Yan Zantara, Nora Rahmyn, and Kieran Ravy took their places in the tent to rest.
At 0400 hours, ten hours later, all five were up and getting ready for the day. Casually asking Nora Rahmyn what their immediate plan was, Nayla Zantara did a one-armed headstand against a tree trunk.
Nora Rahmyn said, "The first decision," speaking to the group, "is deciding on the intended extent of damage. We might be able to turn off all of the vital systems, or we might even go so far as to raid the car depot and try to destroy the entire building."
"I like that last option!" With hope, Yan Zantara interrupted.
"Nice try, Yan Zantara," said Nora Rahmyn, grinning slightly. "In all honesty, stopping the pulse rifle assembly line and making sure it stays offline should be our top priority. The biggest obstacle will be getting to the facility. Keycard locks, probably something more sophisticated, are definitely in place to secure those personnel doors.
Luna Trevyn came up with the answer. "Electronic door bypassing is simple. or kinetically, if required.
"You can hotwire security doors?" Intrigued, Kieran Ravy inquired. He didn't have that skill set, but he was sure he could duplicate the procedure if necessary.
"Yes," said Luna Trevyn firmly. "I wasn't exactly idle during my fifteen years on Tyran."
"And I can blast them!" Yan Zantara cheerfully reminded everyone. The team was familiar with his childhood pyromania; Nayla Zantara had especially strong memories of his early plastic explosives experiments.
The rest of the day was spent making last-minute arrangements. In order to find and inspect the external access panel for the control wiring of the personnel doors, Luna Trevyn and Kieran Ravy, who was there for security, briefly stepped out onto the edge of the concrete pad; the task took some time because of the need for caution near the exposed landing zone perimeter. In preparation for the possibility of having to descend the central hangar shaft's walls, Nayla Zantara put together rappelling equipment for every team member. Yan Zantara assembled five small door-breaching charges and carefully fitted silencers to all weapons that could take one. Nora Rahmyn went over the facility map with great care, highlighting possible infiltration routes in blue and using a red marker to mark important targets, mainly the fusion generator, communications hub, and security centers.
They all went to bed at 2300 hours that night in preparation for an early start and the start of their infiltration operation.
Yan Zantara, who had taken the last watch shift, woke the others up at 0400. They packed rations and necessary equipment into their web harnesses, filled their canteens from the nearby stream, and checked their weapons one last time. First to leave, Nayla Zantara surveyed the clearing's edge. After ten minutes, the entire team gathered in the thickets outside the edge of the clearing, only twenty meters from the personnel doors.
Yan Zantara and Luna Trevyn were the first to move, running low across the bare concrete. Luna Trevyn started working right away after deftly cracking open the housing that held the control wires for the door. With his OICW covering the dark, empty treeline across from them, Yan Zantara crouched protectively behind her. Luna Trevyn's fingers were quick and accurate. With a soft hydraulic hiss, the heavy personnel doors slid open thirty seconds later. Yan Zantara waved the others forward with an uplifted arm.
With their weapons ready, they moved out of the shadows of the jungle in single file. Leading the way through the gap and down the dark metal stairs outside was Luna Trevyn. Now they were inside the beast's belly. They planned to give it a bad case of indigestion, with concerted effort and a little bit of luck.