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Date: 11 MAR 3011 Time: 10:00hrs
Location: Arkadian Underground
'Welcome Director,' Xao Peng, the P-Tech liaison, greeted as Director Edward Bishop stepped off the teleporter. 'Glad you could make it. Did you have any problems finding the place?'
'You know damn well that I did,' Bishop replied. 'I have no idea why this area is segregated from the surface network.'
'Well Sir,' Pang said, 'After the initial discovery, we received orders to collapse the entrance tunnels and to restrict all access to a single teleporter. We believe this cave system is now completely isolated from the surface and the only contact point between the surface and us is this dedicated teleporter. That's all I know. I don't have a high enough security clearance for them to tell me more.'
'Well I'm the Director of the ACA, so my security level should be sufficient to get someone to tell me what's going on. This is supposed to be a joint P-Tech, IFN and ACA project. We're about to begin issuing deeds to the general population, so why would they be making security access so tight?' Bishop said, his face growing red with frustration. Peng opened his mouth to reply but Bishop cut him off before he could say a thing. 'Bah! I'm tired of being jerked around with all this cloak and dagger rubbish. Harvir never struck me as being the type to participate in this sort of idiocy.'
'I don't believe the orders came from local IFN HQ, Sir,' Peng said. 'I've heard that they came directly from Earth.'
'Really?' Bishop said, startled. 'That is interesting. Why are they taking such an interest in this place?'
'I'm not sure, Sir. Now, if you'd like to follow me, we have a short drive to reach the control centre that's overseeing the last of the excavations.'
The two men climbed into a vehicle and drove deeper into the caves. A few minutes later they stopped at the entrance to another cavern.
'Here we are, Sir,' Peng said. 'Follow me please. As you can see, we have some of the new Badger mining bots already running in preparation for when open up the final areas. They have been specially developed for mining in this underground environment as standard mining practices don't yield results here the same way they do on the surface. The bedrock seems to be of higher density than the ground on the surface. This means the standard P-Tech equipment doesn't penetrate as deep or as wide as normal. However, we have also found that deposits here appear to be richer if you do find one.'
'You don't say,' Bishop said, looking over one of the new mining bots. 'It will be interesting to see how that affects P-Tech's mining strategies.'
'We are still trying to work that out ourselves, Director.' Peng grinned. 'In fact we hope that a combination of the public market deeds we are releasing as well as the potential to hit a huge pocket will encourage the general populace to get more involved, instead of the bigger conglomerates controlling everything.'
'That's not all we've discovered down here though,' Peng continued, 'we've also come across several new species. Initial studies suggest they are completely isolated from the surface and have developed completely independently from anything above ground. Coupled with the Arkadian technology we've encountered, we believe that this area may have served as some sort of biological testing area for the Arkadians. There's already plenty of interest from scientists, hunters and the like. We expect it to take some time before we discover anything concrete but, if you like, I can arrange for you to meet with the science team while you're down here?'
'I'll take you up on that offer later. I would like to get a look at them myself.' Bishop stopped suddenly as he spotted a large floating green ball being worked on by a technician.
'What in Lootius's name is that?'
'Ah,' Peng hesitated slightly, 'we have some of the new IFN Defence Bots deployed down here, though as you can see this one is down for maintenance. They are currently only operating in a closed section. I can't take you there as I don't have the necessary codes myself.'
'I have level eight clearance, Mr Peng,' Bishop said. 'With that, I should be able to go anywhere.'
'Actually, Sir, it's not so much about your security clearance as an IFN transponder code. If you don't have the correct codes the Defence Bots tag you as hostile and will attack. '
Their conversation was interrupted as a klaxon sounded and red lights started flashing around the tunnel.
'That's to signal they are ready to blast out the final section of rock to open up the last cavern,' Peng said. 'We need to go to the control centre with everyone else; it's a precaution just in case the blasting causes any structural collapses. Better to be safe than sorry.'
The two men entered the control centre, Peng manoeuvring them to the back of the room so they could observe without getting in the way. Technicians ran back and forth, checking settings and equipment for the last time. The rest of the cavern was still full of movement as personnel moved other equipment back to a safe distance.
Once everyone was clear and accounted for, the countdown began, a timer on the control centre's bulkhead ticking steadily down from one minute.
The tension in the room became palpable as the timer passed ten seconds. At five seconds, Bishop could feel the excitement threatening to burst out of him. As the count finally reached zero there was a slight pause. Bishop, full of anticipation, turned to ask Peng why there was no explosion, only to be stopped short be an earth shattering roar, the delayed result of a huge explosion in the final cavern. The entire control centre heaved and shook in its suspension field as clouds of flame, dust and debris filled the outer cavern and tunnel. Alarms sounded even as people started to recover.
'That was far bigger than I expected' Bishop said, trying to see through the haze. Giving up, he turned to see an ashen faced Peng pointing out the window.
'What is it?' Bishop asked.
Peng stood trembling, unable to move. As Bishop took a step closer to the window, a blurry figure suddenly appeared through the dust filled air. Bishop stumbled back as the figure materialised into an Oratan Miner, swinging its massive pickaxe and shattering the window. Green laser bolts suddenly filled the air as screams echoed throughout the caverns and tunnels. Bishop scrambled back further into the room as the enormous creature climbed through and began laying waste to anyone within reach.
'Peng!' Bishop screamed at the liaison who stood frozen in the corner of the room. 'Come on man, we need to get out of here!' When Peng still didn't move, he grabbed the smaller man and dragged him out the door, fighting against the rush as everyone tried to escape the manic attack of the Oratan.
Outside, people were running in every direction, trying to escape what was now an oncoming tide of bloodthirsty creatures swarming through the hole caused by the blast. Bishop pulled Peng towards the vehicle they had arrived in, all but throwing the catatonic man into the passenger seat. As he rounded the front of the vehicle to the driver's seat he came face to face with an Oratan, who swung the butt of its crossbow at him, catching him in the side of the head and knocking him to the ground. Dazed, he could only stare as the Oratan loomed over him. There was a sudden flash of silver and Bishop was deluged in the Oratan's blood as the creature was ripped apart. He lay stunned, watching the whirling armatures of the Badger mining bot that had just saved his life as it turned and drove straight at the oncoming horde of Oratan, sparks raining from its control interface. Bishop got to his feet and scrambled into the vehicle, glancing at the whimpering form of Peng in the other side, who seemed to have recovered some of his senses, his hands flying over his Q-pad.
'What are you doing?' Bishop demanded.
'I overloaded the control systems of the Badgers,' Peng stammered. 'Their safety systems have been destroyed so they will all basically attack everything they detect, attempting to mine anything with a valuable material content...including us!'
'Lootius's beard! We need to get out of here,' Bishop said, slamming his foot down on the throttle pedal so the vehicle leapt forward, easily running down an Oratan Prospector as they speed into the exit corridor.
As they neared a cross tunnel, laser shots rang out and the hovering green spherical shape of an IFN Defence Bot appeared before them. Panicking, Bishop jerked the wheel, but only managed to slide the vehicle straight into the Bot as it fired at something down the other tunnel. As he tried desperately to restart the engine, the machine rotated and focussed a baleful blue eye upon him, its internal electronic systems scanning him. He remembered what Peng had said about them registering codes and felt every hair of his body raise in fear. He shut his eyes, waiting for the inevitable, only to hear another volley of Oratan lasers pepper the Defence Bot from behind. The bot spun about and began firing relentlessly back at the creatures, its systems prioritising the Oratan as the more urgent threat. Bishop finally succeeded in getting the engine started and tore off down the corridor again, shaking with relief.
After several tense minutes he finally sighted the blue glow of the teleporter near the end of the tunnel. As they passed into the cavern, the ground exploded under them, sending the vehicle spinning through the air before crashing back to the floor and rolling until it crashed against the wall. Shaking his head to clear it, Bishop said a silent thanks to the vehicle's safety systems. Undoing his harness, he looked over at Peng, whose eyes were squeezed tightly shut.
'Come on! We need to get out of here and alert the IFN!' He said, slapping the release on Peng's harness and hoisting him out of the vehicle.
He turned to drag Peng towards the teleporter but stopped instantly, finally noticing a group of snarling Oratan blocking the way, their weapons pointed straight at him.
'Oh crap...' He muttered.
'Ni!' Peng squeaked, his eyes rolling up into his head as he fainted. Bishop dragged the unconscious man behind a nearby piece of debris.
The Oratan fired and Bishop, crouched alongside the crumpled form of Peng, tried to make himself as small a target as possible, as laser bolts struck all around him. With his head down, awaiting the killing blow from a frenzied Oratan, he was startled as a sudden cacophony of BLP rounds, lasers bolts and a regular thundering boom filled the cavern around him. Bishop looked up to see what new horror was being visited upon him just as the noise abruptly stopped. There was not a single Oratan left standing.
'Morning, Director,' a voice said from behind him, 'nice day for a drive.'
Bishop looked up into the grinning face of an IFN trooper, a massive BLP rifle resting on his shoulder.
'Oh, thank the spirits,' Bishop said fervently. 'I don't know who you are, but thank you.'
'Alpha Team, No. 42 IFN Commandos at your service, Sir,' another voice said as Bishop was helped to his feet.
'Lieutenant Commander Derek Knowles. Nice to meet you, Director Bishop.'
'Alpha Team?' Bishop said, trying to regain his composure. 'But you were reported missing a week ago, after the last attack on Courageous!'
'Yes, well, we got a little side-tracked retrieving one of our personnel from the Oratan,' Bossman indicated Theresa Green. 'Unfortunately, something about this place has been blocking our communications ever since we left the area immediately under Courageous.'
'It didn't help that we stumbled into the secret Oratan frat house either,' John Jones chimed in.
'And we just couldn't let them keep our little prom queen,' Regan finished.
'Bite me, Longshot,' Scrappy snarled.
'Stow it, you lot,' Ironhide said, 'And get to your defensive positions. We don't need any Oratan taking us by surprise while you gossip like a pack of schoolkids.'
In seconds, the team had reconfigured itself, with Bishop and Peng protected in the centre of the formation.
'Move out, Alpha,' Knowles said, 'let's get the Director topside and report in.'
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