As they traveled to the Nugan logistic node, the group started talking about the goals they wanted to accomplish before the trial ended. For Riseth, Simon, Alistair, and even Nessyra, it was reaching grade 8 or at least getting close to it. Riseth emphasized that the universe outside would be much more dangerous than the trial, and they could encounter much more powerful beasts. Becoming powerful enough to claim and defend any stake on a planet would be crucial. Many of the more desirable locations would become layers and territories for the strongest forces on the planet, most likely a strong beast or tribe of enlightened beasts.
This had become one of the most discussed topics, and they decided they would not actively seek out already inhabited planets, so the odds of them having to drive away anything but pirates or smugglers were quite low. In the worst case, they would have to contend with another bloodline or a faction of a similar size.
Another topic was the minimum requirements a planet would need to have. Nessyra, in particular, argued that they should form a team heading out with the Artemis to seek out and catalog as many suitable locations as possible before they made a decision. To make this work, it would be necessary to acquire another spaceship, which was also very high on her agenda, as the Artemis would be too small to transport everyone at this point. The Artemis was more of a stealth and exploration craft. Nessyra planned to bring in more workers and expected Alistair to pick up some Earth refugees. Alistair could not even refute that claim as he knew he would want to help if people wanted to leave Earth.
While they flew, Alistair could not help but be impressed by how well his brother had managed to isolate the mana engine within the Zephyr. Even from up close, he hardly sensed it. According to his brother, he had traded some of his Stealthrim for another alloy that was a mix of orichalcum and cores of the suppression concept. They had to put up some USC to make up the difference as the concept was much rarer than stealth or camouflage, but fortunately, they did not need much of the material.
As they approached the logistic node, they prepared to dismount. They wanted to sneak into the facility to disable communications and check if anything was rigged to self-destruct or other traps. They doubted they would find anything as the Stuquit were unlikely to put in explosives or traps into anything or anywhere. Preliminary scouting had revealed not a single minefield so far, but they were rather safe than sorry. The Zephyr landed in a nearby forest and was stored back in their cube as they approached. The drones had identified most of the locations to strike before their arrival. Still, the drones could not enter the main building, which would be Alistair's and Riseth's jobs, as the rest prepared to shut down multiple communication arrays.
Once the rest of the group was in a position to unleash magic attacks on the communication arrays, Riseth and Alistair snuck in together. Almost no guards were posted; however, there was the hustle and bustle of chunky-looking [Nugan Hauler - lvl 30]. These robots were much larger than even the heavy troopers; one after the other, they loaded a hovercraft. It seemed to deploy storage magic as the metal crates disappeared from sight as soon as they were put inside the hovercraft. Alistair wondered how much space the relatively large container on top of the hovercraft could hold. The hovercrafts themselves were driven by slender and weak-looking [Nugan Cargo Handler - lvl 20]. They had observed some of the hovercrafts leaving in convoys toward the front line while others delivered the materials within the facility to what they presumed was a production facility.
"Both the haulers and cargo handlers have their engines in their chest with the access plate on their back," Alistair noted through the akashic link.
They decided to communicate over the link despite the automata's inability to hear them.
"So far, all of them were designed like that. Let's see if we can find something that's a little different," Alistair added hopefully.
The nearby buildings were constructed from the same magical concrete they had found at their gate location. They were simple, gray-colored large square blocks with no windows or decorations of any kind. The concrete flooring also seemed to prevent plant growth, as the local vegetation was heavily overgrown on the edges where the concrete ended, almost forming a hedge around the facility.
"Their architecture leaves something to be desired," Alistair commented over the link as they snuck deeper into the compound.
"Yeah, they lack distinguishing features. We should number them on our maps for coordination," Riseth agreed.
"Leave it to me. You guys keep going and check the interiors," James communicated over the link.
In the last few weeks, in preparation for the expedition, they upgraded their Akashic Link skills to communicate as a group. Alistair, drawing from his training in radio etiquette, attempted to teach them, but ultimately, they decided to select which parts they would use and forgo formalities like calling out 'over'. Particularly since they would mostly consist of aliens, which had their own signaling and etiquette, it would be something they would revisit in the future once they were more established and felt the need to optimize communications.
As they passed through the metal door into the first building, they found themselves in a vast storage room. Inside, two truck-sized hovercraft and two sets of twenty robots stood in neat rows, resembling soldiers awaiting inspection. Both the hovercraft and the robots seemed deactivated, and darkness shrouded the room.
Both Riseth and Alistair exchanged glances. Both were capable of seeing in the dark. Alistair utilized his Conceptual Awareness skill, while Riseth's species allowed her to see in the dark. Most demon races had some form of dark or low-light vision. Alistair identified the robots as [Nugan Worker Drone] and shared his vision with the rest of the group.
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"They don't display their level and seem to be deactivated. Do you think we can store these without triggering some kind of alarm, James?" Alistair inquired over the link.
"Check if you sense any circuits in the floor or any other magic sources while I check the drone footage," James suggested.
They waited in the dark, flanking the small door through which they had entered. Alistair surveyed the structure with his vision but did not spot any magic within besides the base amount infused into the concrete.
"I don't sense any unusual magic in the building. The only magic comes from the circuitry of the drones and hovercrafts," Alistair relayed over the link.
"Same here. I guess these Stuquits approach warfare quite differently from demons or humans. Their security is a joke." Riseth commented through the link.
Alistair wondered just how different alien species approached wars compared to humans. He was aware that demons from Neshan placed a premium on security, often engaging in corporate wars where factions aimed to seize control without causing unnecessary destruction to valuable infrastructure and often holding said infrastructure hostage. However, they were also masters of sabotage and rapid infiltration, and their bunkers specialized in security and defense, which reflected their preference for subterranean warfare. On the other hand, Earth's approach to warfare was characterized by its destructiveness and violence, albeit with a much broader range of tactics and doctrines to draw upon. Neshan lacked anything resembling an actual air force and was limited to lightly armed transport Vtols in case they wanted to infiltrate from the surface in larger formations, which wasn't common. They preferred silent tunneling. Travel between the city-states happened via rail since all the cities were connected via an underground rapid rail system, which was presumably one of the casualties of the initiation.
"It should be pretty safe to take them. From the drone footage, they never check on them until they need them. But in case something goes wrong, we are ready to blow up their comms," James told them.
They approached the robots hesitantly, approaching one of the two groups as they stored one worker drone after the other. They then inspected the hovercraft, which fortunately had a storage functionality. While the storage functionality made noise, it was of no concern, and as they were in a dark concrete block, nobody noticed the flash either.
"This feels a bit easy," Riseth mumbled uneasily.
"They may adapt to our actions down the line, so don't get too comfortable. If they notice us, they may also just send ICBM our way again." Alistair said in a hushed tone, remembering the missiles soaring through the sky at the end of the battlefield challenge.
They approached the door they had entered through, waiting for James to tell them if they were clear enough to leave the building. They made their way through multiple buildings unharassed, most filled with equipment and resources like metal platings. Eventually, they reached one of the largest structures, which turned out to be their production facility. The facility reminded Alistair a little of his brother's workshop as it had gantries and mechanical arms assembling weapons and communication equipment rolling on multiple conveyor belts, which were loaded and unloaded by Nugan Haulers. The largest difference was that many mechanical arms were much more elaborate, as they split apart and fused back together as they assembled the equipment on the belt.
"We should leave them for now and check the main building first. We might be able to take them down before some of them escape or ring an alarm." Riseth sugguested.
"I really want one of these arms intact. They would be a big upgrade for my workshop," James interjected.
"I am sure we will be able to capture some eventually but let's first check their HQ," Alistair insisted, eliciting a few grumbles from James. With that, they stepped back and made their way toward the central building in the compound.
As they infiltrated the central building, they discovered a small armed force on standby inside. The group primarily consisted of troopers and heavy troopers. In their midst was what Alistair presumed was their equivalent of a tank. It lacked the usual protective armored chassis and was more of a large gun emplacement on top of a hovercraft, only armoring some of the communication and control equipment. After looking around, they spotted a lightly guarded set of stairs to the upper floors, which they presumed held their Headquarters.
"Let's fly over the guards and check the HQ. There should be something directing this facility." Riseth sugguested.
Alistair paused, his attention drawn to the armored vehicle. "This thing seems to have some communication equipment. I'll stay back and take care of it once things kick off, " he proposed.
Riseth hesitated. "Your invisibility is still flawed. If anyone, I should stay," she countered.
"No, I can hide behind those crates just fine. They are not patrolling. As long as I keep my head down, we are fine. Share your vision with me, and we'll see how we proceed from there," Alistair insisted.
Once Alistair hid behind the crates, Riseth shared her vision with him, flying silently over the two troopers guarding the stairs. Through body cultivation, she had fixed the issue of her wings flapping, giving away her position, remolding them with essences of silence and speed.
Riseth was confronted by yet another metal door as she reached the top of the stairs. She could hear whirring beeping inside but not much else. As they had explored everything else already, they decided to let her breach the room as quietly as she could. If she was in danger of alarming the facility, Alistair and the rest of the clan stood on standby to blow up the communications equipment deployed by the facility.
Riseth took a deep breath and swiftly entered the room, her gaze darting around to check for any signs of defensive measures or guards that might have detected the door opening. Fortunately, the room appeared empty except for a sprawling automaton anchored to the floor. Its head rotated ceaselessly as it moved from one panel to the next, its numerous arms tirelessly typing away at the array of consoles connected to the surrounding screens. Oblivious to the door's opening, the automaton continued its relentless activity, engrossed in its tasks.
"Scratch what I said about the mechanical arms. We have to capture that thing as intact as possible. It's bound to hold invaluable data," James suggested, eagerness evident in his voice.
"I don't know if I can incapacitate it and remove it fast enough in case they do send missiles our way," Riseth expressed her concern.
"The missiles aren't a certainty. They don't send out regular reports, and they might not want to destroy the facility, so as long as they don't emit a distress signal, we should be fine," James reassured.
Riseth paused, using the time to identify the sprawling automaton as [Nugan Overseer - lvl 40] while the rest of the group debated whether to take the risk or not. She could sense a much more elaborate mana signature coming from the overseer, but it had the usual hatch on its back and seemed oblivious to its surroundings.
"You could leap onto its back and disable it. I'd wager it'll activate barriers the moment it senses you, so you would need to act fast," Alistair proposed.
"Alright, everyone, get ready. I'll jump it on the count of three," Riseth relayed over the link, getting ready to pounce on the overseer.