Among The Stars: Phantom and Mercenary

Chapter 12 - Penance

A large holographic map had taken its place in the center of the bridge, bright red diagrams floating in the air, displaying the entire structure of a huge facility around the two hunters.

Standing near the conference table that was extruded from the floor, Bau'jah stared at the map whilst Gahtan's hands tapped and worked on the hologram as he did a quick overview of his findings again. Sounding more convincing this time. The tension was intense among them.

"The compound holds the most favorable terrain in this part of the planet, using its surrounding mountains to conceal the location underground, so all possible entry points are blocked off. A deep, semi-circle fosse is also drawn behind the front line and we have force field to consider as well. Two sentinels stationed along the crest of the hill - over here, and here, giving them access to a clear view of the field. It's impossible to launch an attack unseen. The only way to get inside this heavily guarded base is here - you walk through the front door." Gahtan's sharp talon pointed at the map. "Like I said, this place is impregnable."

Bau'jah slammed his fist against the metal surface in frustration. "There must be another way."

"We have been sitting here trying to come up with a feasible plan for days. There is no other way." Gahtan replied indignantly. "The sooner you accept this, the easier it will be to give up on this stupid idea."

"I cannot. Not when we are this close." Bau'jah refused. "We have Blood Talons' clan location, brother. No one has ever gotten this far before."

"Yes, and there is a reason no one has made it this far. They are all dead. This is not like storming into an infested hive and hunt every hard meat on sight." Gahtan inhaled to continue in a more calmed voice. "Do you know why Blood Talons has risen to power and become the most notorious clan ever? Because of their newly elected clan leader. He killed an arbitrator during the attack on the asteroid last time. It was a stroke of luck that I found their clan location. If you must do this, you mustn't do it alone. We send the location to the High Council, call in the reinforcement, then you can get your hands on whatever information you needed. No one would get in your way during the chaos of the attack."

"It's not that simple," Bau'jah huffed, "I need their research team and scientists alive to ensure a successful insemination. If we call in reinforcement to raid the facility, the arbitrators would bomb that place to ruins and kill every one of them. Then all of our efforts would lead to naught. I did not come this far for nothing."

"A collaboration with Blood Talons?" Gahtan was taken aback. "Absolutely not. This is against our Code of Honor. I cannot do this." He disagreed vehemently.

"I'm not asking you to." Bau'jah said. "I only need your help to infiltrate their clan. Get me and my mate safely inside. I will handle the rest from there."

"Infiltrating a top-secret base is quite another matter. This is madness. You both will be captured and killed." Gahtan almost shouted to his brother.

"Then I need to make sure we won't get killed," Bau'jah paused to think. "If I have something as leverage, perhaps I can negotiate a way out of their territory and still get what we want."

"A bargain?"

"Exactly."

Gahtan thought about it for a moment, shook his head. "The bad bloods we used to know were unorganized and weak, and now they are strong. We all know who is responsible for their dramatic resurgence. If the stories we heard are true about their clan leader, you cannot even pass through the front door alive. Let alone talk to him."

"Not unless I have something he wants..." Bau'jah's eyes suddenly lit up. "We find out what that is and make a trade with him."

Gahtan snorted at his brother's naive, most unrealistic idea. "He is a totalitarian with no honor. What he wants is total domination over all clans, which it's not going to happen."