A Hero's Song (Darkest Secrets Volume 1)

Chapter 25 - This One Time in the Rockies

A valley darker than the grim reaper's ghost stories greeted them. Even Gabriel's advanced night vision couldn't help him see through the dusk.

The trees swayed and rustled in the wind. After a couple of startled breaths, the Captains felt around and linked arms while Gabriel used his sensors to make out what lay in store in the valley. At the base of the hill, stood a fortified complex about 30 acres in size. High fences ran the perimeter, with guard towers placed at even intervals, and spotlights danced across the open yard between the fence and the building.

Those were just the visible defenses.

"Ideas?" Rey said.

Crocodile growled. "Simple, we break down a door. Let's set these charges and escape."

Rey shook his head. "We can't do that. Our orders are to get in undetected. Charging in is sure to get us noticed. Come on, Crocodile! Even if we're going get spotted eventually, that doesn't mean we can ignore orders."

"Fine."

"I'll tunnel us in. Like the warehouse." Mystery said.

"Sounds good," Rey answered.

"Wait." Said Gabe. "We don't know what kind of technological defenses they have yet. Let me run a diagnostic first?"

Rey gave a thumbs up. "Of course. Good practice."

Gabriel nudged Alfred, and the AI sent data through the wireless transmitters installed in the suit. He connected to the complex's network and began to rummage through the servers. There! The defense mainframe. Gabriel couldn't just deactivate it; that would sound the alarm, so he merely checked what kind of technology they were up against.

He found a plethora of protection.

Thermal scanners had every inch of the area monitored. The sensors went close to a hundred meters out from the fence. The complex's floor was lined with seismic sensors designed to prevent the very idea they had planned, and turrets hung from the ceiling at intersections.

Gabe hacked the security cameras and saw that warbots guarded the facility. Real Ruchin warbots, not the training variety. These robots were bigger - much bulkier. They could take a beating and keep fighting - at a Class four standard. He noted they were armed with gauss rifles, Plasma Lances, and one other weapon.

This simulation must be from the past, all the models were outdated now and the third was not produced in the Human Republic.

The weapon in question was an Electron Gun. It could emit electricity strong enough to fry most Supers alive.

The Human Republic had discontinued the weapon because it was useless against properly designed power suits like the kind used by the MechaBlitz. That would imply that these warbots weren't carrying the guns for the aliens - they were programmed to kill humans.

Gabriel went over the mission parameters in his head. Getting in unnoticed was one thing, but staying that way would require a bit more work. He would have Alfred DOS the network, ensuring the destruction of the floor would go noticed. The motion sensors he would fool the same way, and the turrets and cameras he would handle by overlaying a false image of each hallway onto their data signals as the team passed.

They would have to avoid the roving patrols as well, which seemed to be made up of groups of three warbots, each with a different weapon. There was a higher concentration of them towards the interior of the structure. He even found a room that housed at least thirty more charging robots.

"I've finished," Gabriel said, moments after having started his investigation. "We are going to need to tunnel in from the very base of the hill and tunnel deep to avoid sensors - at least 30 feet under. Once we're inside, we need to stay together. The plans I have on my wrist pad show that each major support pillar is spaced about four hundred feet from the last."