Hikari straps on her steel helmet. She lifts her steel shield to test its weight. It was made of three layers of steam tank armour cobbled together, about the weight of her claymore. wide enough to cover her entire silhouette if she got on one knee.
A curved front allows it to more efficiently deflect projectiles and balance itself standing up on level ground when it's not in use.
Around her, the breaching team was likewise getting their gear ready. They helped each other put on their steel plates. Their steel helmets contain a disk with a glowing crystal at the front.
Then they loaded their belts with dynamite, acid flasks, flares, bombs and a pickaxe.
They picked up their weapons, a mix of guns that fired a spread of shrapnel and a singular piercing bullet and flame throwers as well.
"Welcome to the breaching team, Hikari."
Rey pops his head out of his armoured suit. A mana cored power suit.
It had a pressure bolter as a main gun and a drill on its other hand. On its shoulder, a cannon was mounted, its loading mechanism on the back of the suit.
"Well, what do you think?"
Hikari studied his armour. It could certainly stand up to an orc in terms of brute strength. The sharp projectile tip protruding out of its gun seemed like it could pierce the hide of a wyvern. Its frontal armour looks thick enough to survive a cannon shot. Its drill is deadly against armour. The cannon on its back could offer decent long ranged support.
"It's adorable. "
"Thats actually quite the compliment from you. I was half expecting you to tell me about all of its weaknesses and how I should stay back at the camp."
"Hmm… I heard mana cores don't last long"
"That's right! Allow me to demonstrate." A small hatch opened beside him. He took out a mana crystal and dropped it in. The suit rumbled noisily for a moment. Hikari could sense a slight bump in the suit's mana level.
"It's almost as efficient as the one in a mana workshop. Most importantly, it can run on low grade mana crystals which can basically be found everywhere in the underground caverns given that no one has mined it for very long."
"Neat"
"Thank you. Alright! Form up! It's time to get going!"
Rey went back into his power armour, the lid sealing shut above him.
Hikari picked up her shield and planted it facing the thin wall. The breaching team formed up behind her. Two men set off the fuse on the dynamite stuck to the wall and then ran for cover behind Hikari's shield.
Kaboom! The wall exploded into pieces. Several pieces of stone pelted against Hikari's shield. They made a loud clanking sound against the steel, but no damage was done.
Hikari advanced through the smoke. As they entered the cavern, several small cave dwellers scurry away into small tunnels.
The first cavern was dark and empty, except for the dim glow of low density mana crystals, and the chunks of rocks on the ground. The men fan out and briefly sweep the cavern.
"Clear."
Hikari declared. The breachers lowered the weapons and gathered back behind her. Three of them began assembling a pole. One done, the device at the top lit up, dimly but sufficiently lighting the cavern.
"Form up!" Rey spoke through the speaker phone installed in his armour.
Hikari moved to the next wall. After the same drill, the next room was empty as well.
"Don't need to be too tense yet. It's only at the lower depths where we'll face significant resistance. As you can see the mana crystals around here won't sell for very much."
"I see."
After more than a dozen breaches, they have run out of charges allowing them some rest time.
Several caves behind them, the engineers were setting up rail tracks, wall lighting and support columns. Miners clearing away the loose debris and collecting mana crystals.
It was an uneventful expedition so far.
Hikari bit into her dried rations.
"Pssh can you hear me?" Rey whispered in his armoured suit with the speaker phone off.
"Yes."
"We're in the middle of the raid now. There's likely eyes and ears about. I trust your senses but let's be on the safe side. "
"Ok."
"Don't reply either. Just listen. About the haul you brought back from the first mana vein. Well the dead adventurer's gear is safe. The rule is that after three months, any gear that is not recovered becomes free for all. It's really decent too, I'm going to have to be discreet about selling it. "
Hikari continued chewing.
"The wyvern parts are safe too. Well we already got several wyvern corpses for this campaign. Mana crystals are fair game. For the most part anyway, except those very dense ones you brought back from the vein, you're gonna have to consume those. "
Hikari swallowed and took another bite.
"Most importantly, those plant parts, you have to eat all of it. It's a dead give away that you looted the mana vein. So yeah, first thing when we recapture the mining shaft hall ahead, set up your ritual and begin right away. There's a room in there where you could do it in private. We have to speed up to make sure we are ahead of the engineers. Shouldn't be a problem since the deadly monsters only appear lower down in the depths."
Rey takes a bite and swallows.
"But that dark crystal is something else. I have heard reports from the frontiers about the appearance of dark crystals that make monsters many times more dangerous than they normally are. If that's the case, we could claim a bounty on it. But if I'm wrong we could get into some trouble. So let's hold onto it for now. if we meet one later, then we could claim, with the miners as witnesses, that the dark crystal indeed just appeared during the planned raid operation."
Hikari just continued chewing. She has nothing better to do than to listen to Rey ramble. He's just like Ria, thinks and talks too much.
The porters arrived with the resupply.
"Alright! Form up! Time for the next breach!" Rey spoke through his speakerphone.
Hikari got into position. Shortly after, the breachers formed up behind her.