Josh's earpiece had been disintegrated in the blast and Sen's had been knocked out by the EMP blast. So, they decided it was worth the risk of exposing one of them to a mental attack while they could reach out with their mindscape's increased range. In fact, Josh had been tempted to do it while Sen had been in his Attunement. But if he had been attacked and the shield failed, letting the tons of rubble above them collapse... Best not to dwell on that possibility!

Now, with their troops under attack. Josh laid out his plan with a nod to Sen through their Bond. It was simple, if slightly involved. First, Sen was to immediately take over shield duty, which he did, pulverizing as much rock above them as Josh had. A look half-satisfied and slightly more smug than humble at his new strength rose on his cheeks.

Josh moved on to phase two and expanded his mindscape. He hoped the range had grown enough to reach the surface. It had. It went out as far as his Event Sphere did. Initially, he overshot and had to pull it back to only include the surface of the clifftop.

There were over a thousand minds in the vicinity of the detonation crater. Josh narrowed the search as he had the first time on the Brigantine. Female... Asian... Space marine knows Sophie... Only one mind remained lit up golden against the grayed-out background of the rest. The spirit being was approximately a quarter mile above them and standing in a group of fifteen other minds. Sadly, the mindscape didn't have the same geographical layout as his Event Sphere. That upgrade was likely the benefit of using it linked with the Stellar Atlas. Josh was tempted to try and pull the Event Sphere out at the same time and see what kind of synergy he could get with both of them active—

It's not time to play Josh! Do something like that later. Your people are in danger!

He reached out to Alysa's mind and spoke to her.

Alysa! It's Josh. Sen and I are under the rubble about five hundred meters down. We have a plan to get out... It should work... but we saw the fighting and thought best to open communication first... What's going on? How bad is it? What do you need?

...

Alysa? Are you able to speak? Your mentation appears normal!

. . . Ahh... I...

...I knew it! You must be hurt!? I'll be right there—

Sir! Sorry, sir! I... I wasn't expecting Your Eminence to open communication like this. Though Alysa—Um, Lieutenant Nang—My cousin, sir... said it was possible in a situation like this. Forgive my delay in responding, sir.

...Cousin... Sabrina? Petty Officer Nang? Is that you? Gods! Is Alysa down?! I'll be right there—

No Sir—Ah yes, Sir—Ah, yes! It's me—Sabrina! No! Lieutenant Nang—my cousin, is not down! She, along with Senior Chief Ishan and battle leader Mzamo, are presently off the surface via wing-frame in pursuit of the leader of the force that attacked us... Up until now, we thought he had killed... ah... you, sir.

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Then Sabrina spoke in a slightly wheedling manner. Sir, I apologize for my lack of organization. This method of communication is... slightly... disconcerting...

Josh took a steading breath himself, and his tone became less than that of a frantic man losing at whack-a-mole. Oh, right. That’s my fault, Sabrina... I’d never have sprung this on you like I did... I was sure that you were Alysa. I apologize. Is the situation there under control? Or do you need immediate assistance?

Yes sir. The situation is well in hand. We vastly outnumbered the forces attacking us and subdued all of the hostiles remaining on the surface. We are about to begin interrogations. Forces from above are positioning to cut off those who fled.

There was a brief gap, and then Sabrina continued. Chief Lobo is in command here. He confirms that your immediate support is unnecessary.

Thank you, Sabrina. We will see you soon. Josh... Um, Tanner out.

Josh pulled back his mindscape and could feel Sen's cringe through their Bond. He had obviously been able to listen to the entire conversation. Josh knew that he was in for one of Sen's absolutely necessary but incredibly pride-bruising critiques.

Shaking his head. ~Brother, you have been thrust into advanced combat and leadership without formal training or instruction. And you have done terrifically well, to say the very least... But I still have much to teach you about weapons, explosives, and field awareness. I have just added to that list, direct communications. For now, always speak clearly and slowly. Be unimpassioned and direct.

Most importantly, only ask one question at a time. Ever. The most critical question. Whatever that is. Lives will be saved, and objectives attained through efficient and effective communication. They can both be lost without these procedures.~

Sen finished with the hopeful smile a father would give their child. Wanting to encourage them to try again after failing an important task due to nervousness.

There is no room for pride here. Josh took a deep breath and closed his eyes. ~Agreed, Sen... Thank you. I guess I can only get better at it, huh?~

Sen laughed and nodded. ~An excellent assessment!~

Josh hung his head in shame but remained silent. Then they moved on with the plan to get out.

And to do that, Josh needed to teach Sen how to expand the Event Sphere and activate Translocation. They could sit around for an hour, Josh could instruct him through their Bond, and Sen could get the hang of it through trial and error.

But they didn't have that much time. And what if Sen got it wrong and translocated directly into the overlying rock?

Not an option.

Josh decided to teach him via the Tetrahedral Hybrid Attunement skill he had formed after Kyon Shi's mental lava attack. The only hitch was that Josh had to already know the skill to teach it...

...So, Josh had to Translocate to gain the skill, come back, take over the shield, teach Sen, and then they could both get out of here and help track down the trigger-happy-nuker who had put them in this hole in the first place. There were definitely some questions that guy needed to answer.

~Sen, I'm gonna translocate to the top and then come back and teach you the skill. Be right back—~

~The plan is strong brother... Just one thing—~

Josh sighed. ~I know, I know! If I run into our troops, I'll be concise and direct. No more multiple questions at once. Bye, Dad!~

Josh disappeared as he finished the last word.

Sen still finished his thought, knowing Josh could still hear him through their Bond.

~ I'm sure you will. But that's not it, brother... you're still naked!~

…

~ Crap...~