FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R T W E N T Y-S E V E N

THIRD PERSON POV

"I suspect this is not, in fact, a treasure vault." Tech bluntly observed.

"You suspect?!" Fern squeezed Omega's hand. Hunter joined her side as she picked at the intellectual clone's intuition. "Then, what is it?!"

"Good question." Echo said, steadying himself just like everyone else as the machine heavily rocked with each step.

Suddenly, an intense, irradiated blue-white light charged and ignited a destructive beam into the planet's razed surface, dragging it upward to inflict the most amount of damage possible. Clouded spots danced in Fern's wide eyes as her breath caught in her throat when she stared through the viewports. Well...she gulped. That would explain how an entire planet can be destroyed...

"It just emitted a massive surge of energy." Tech informed.

"Yes, we know." Fern said, whipping her head around so fast her braid smacked Hunter's chestplate. "Tell us something we don't know yet. Like, how do we stop it!?"

"If removing the Heart of the Mountain activiated it, perhaps we must return it to its proper place to deactivate it."

Phee was not a fan of that hypothesis — she hugged the stone to her chest and turned her shoulder to shield it. "Do you know how much this is worth? It's what we came for!"

"I will tackle you with pleasure if you don't hand it over right now." Fern growled through her clenched teeth, releasing Omega's hand and gently pushing her to Wrecker. Before Hunter could stop her, she stomped towards the pirate, prepared to take her down just for the hell of it.

"Can't you find a separate kill switch or something?" Phee shot back.

"Do you see any switch around?!"

"Our ship is out there." Hunter urgently reminded her. "If this thing destroys it, we'll be trapped on this planet!"

Phee groaned, knowing the sergeant was right. "All right. Fine. But you owe me." She was about to pass over the stone when a high-pitch growl erupted from the other side of a nearby panel door. Giant dagger-like claws ripped underneath the frame.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Fern said, arming herself with her blaster and charging her gauntlet, preparing to roast the scrag out of the cavern nuisance. Hunter and the others did the same with their own weapons. The moment it reared its vicious teeth, everyone opened fire. The stone-grey, beady red-eyed beast screeched and pounced, scattering the squad. Both Fern and Phee were knocked backwards — the latter dropped the crystal. They both witnessed it clattering away and disappearing down in a crevice.

"You klutz of a pirate!" Fern roared, smashing her fist into the lead floor. "Why did you have to go and drop it? We couldn't tear it away from you fast enough a moment ago!"

"Yeah, yeah, Princess!" Phee jumped back on her feet. "You deal with our unwelcomed guest. I'll get the stone!" She plunged down where the artifact vanished. Fern's jaw clenched as she too pushed herself to her feet. Blaster fire echoed into the metallic room. The machine advanced with buckling jolts, making it extremely difficult to maintain her balance. She caught a stumbling Omega as she was discharging her bow. "Where's Phee?" she yelled, worried.

"Oh, I'll get her." The female clone said with determination. She caught Hunter's gaze, who nodded his go-ahead, which she returned and squeezed Omega's shoulder. "Her and the stone. You get some cover." She then dashed and skidded into a dive into the chasm below. Phee nor the stone were in immediate sight, so she scaled down the giant coils that radiated energy until she reached a checkpoint to perch on. "Phee! Where are you?" She got no answer, which for Phee, that was concerning. Fern continued her descent and manuevered with ease underneath a tight squeeze between support beams. That's when she found the pirate and saw she had retrieved the crystal.