I shrugged at Sheng Yue then turned to Skov,
"Does one of their team members have a skill to build a fortress ?"
Skov thought for a second before replying,
"Yeah, their captain has a skill that can build a fortress, but it's only enough for two units."
I looked at Sheng Yue and poked her shoulder,
"See ?"
Sheng Yue's eyes twitched in disbelief,
"Nah uh ! Impossible !"
I raised a brow,
"Why don't you use that black drone Shin Hayato gave to see if it's true ?"
Sheng Yue rushed back to the TerraRider and took out a drone,
"You meant this one ? Spectra-Y ?"
I nodded and told her to come over. Varelius leaned closer so he can see clearly. Sheng Yue turned the drone upside down and flicked a switch before putting it to the dusty grounds.
Its lens glowed bright blue. A thin beam spread across the ground before expanding into a floating hologram. The surrounding terrain appeared on that hologram, translucent, grid-like, and constantly updating.
A blue grid spread across the hologram, mapping the terrain left to right like a digital blueprint.
Sheng Yue pointed at it,
"This is our current location. This green dot is the Spectra-Y. All we need to do is command—"
I interrupted and pointed at a flickering yellow dot,
"What's that ?"
Sheng Yue beckoned Arlo to hand over the guide book,
"So as I read... Oh ! It says yellow represents an object we can't see !"
Varelius looked at the hologram confusingly,
"If that's so, one more question. How do we see where the Spectra-Y is facing at ?"
Sheng Yue sighed in frustration and grabbed Varelius' shoulder,
"Are you blind !? Do you not see that arrow !?"
Varelius was shaken to dizziness before nodding and gave a thumbs up.
Sheng Yue continued explaining the dots' meaning,
"So like I said, green is the Spectra-Y while yellow means something we can't see. Red means enemies or maybe stuffs that we can see physically."
I stood beside the Spectra-Y and look at the hologram. The arrow seems to be pointing north and that yellow dot kept flickering nonstop.
I kept looking, from the hologram to in front of us, and from in front of us to the hologram.
Shin Hayato spoke up,
"How about we send Spectra-Y to check if there's anything ahead of us."
Skov scoffed and protested,
"Then we'll lose a drone. That Sentinel Orbs can shoot anything."
Varelius added up,
"Maybe we could use Aléssio's pocket watch to scan it ?""
I shook my head and explained,
"It won't work. The camera mode only detects objects that can be seen directly."
Sheng Yue suddenly stood up,
"Wait, I have an idea. Spectra-Y, go forward to that yellow dot."
Spectra-Y closed the hologram and hovered in the air for a moment before flying to the designated location. Sheng Yue immediately ran inside the TerraRider.
She quickly sat on the driver seat and turned on the holo-console that served as both a radio and a camera device.
The holo-console showed us the view from the Spectra-Y's lens, revealing a wide gray structure in front.
Shin Hayato pointed it the holo-console,
"Can you change the view to those Sentinel Orbs ?"
Sheng Yue nodded and swipe on the holo-console. The view immediately changed by looking up to the Sentinel Orbs.
Shin Hayato asked,
"Any ways to shoot it ?"
Sheng Yue shook her head,
"It's only for spying stuffs."
Skov grabbed his energy bow from the cargo racks and aimed for three of the Sentinel Orbs.
Once the energy arrow was precisely aiming one of the Sentinel Orbs, Skov pulled the energy string. The energy arrow flew like lighting and shot it with flawless precision.
Skov continued this for the next two Sentinel Orbs until all of them were destroyed.
Varelius nudged Shin Hayato's shoulder,
"You see that ? That's my brother. I should put him in the archery Olympics instead !"
Shin Hayato nodded without saying any word.
Sheng Yue turned to Shin Hayato and asked,
"What now ?"
Shin Hayato kept swiping the holo-console,
"Any ways to tell the Spectra-Y to come back ?"
Sheng Yue grabbed a microphone from beneath the driver seat,
"Spectra-Y, return."
Sure enough, it turned to us before flying to our direction. As it finally arrived, it landed smoothly like how an owl would. Sheng Yue hopped of the TerraRider and turn Spectra-Y off.
Sheng Yue turned to me and raised both her hands,
"Well, I guess your theory is right, blonde genius."
As Sheng Yue turned on the TerraRider, everyone got inside. Heading towards the location where the Sentinel Orbs laid lifeless.
As the TerraRider surged forward, the dust around started to rise again. Everything was normal until something piqued my interest. There was a weird sort of distortion in the air, catching up to us.
Arlo nudged me,
"What are you looking at ?"
I looked at him and shrugged off,
"Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Arlo nodded silently. Despite the attempts I tried to ignore it, the more it kept coming to my mind. Before I wanted to look out, Sheng Yue stopped.
Sheng Yue unfastened her seatbelt,
"We have arrived but the problem is we can't directly see it yet."
Skov got ahead of us and reached out his hand as if to find the box. Once he had felt something, his grip tighten and pulled something off.
The structure was then revealed. It was a strange metal structure that looked like a large armored container. Its smooth reinforced frame alongside glowing energy lines made it look like a temporary shelter for small teams.
The front door glided open smoothly. As we entered the base, the cold breeze from the air conditioner brushed against us. The door shut tightly.
The interior was far larger than it looked from the outside. We walked towards the circular lobby chamber at the center. It was lit by pale blue panels that were embedded in the walls.
Several metal corridors stretched outward like a spider web. None of us knew where the paths will lead us to and because of that, we chose to stay to discuss.
Sheng Yue spoke up to break the moment of silence,
"So... what's the plan ?"
Skov muttered,
"As if we know the layout of this place. Should've discussed earlier."
Shin Hayato commanded while pointing at the signs,
"Split up ! Varelius and Skov, you two go to the communication room. And the rest of you, follow me !"
As we left Varelius and Skov, we followed Shin Hayato to the armory room. The further we venture, the more corridors stretched out.
Shin Hayato rubbed his temples and commanded us,
"Cassandra and Arlo, head to the supply room. Me and Sheng Yue will stay here. And as for Aléssio, head to the sleeping pod."
All of us nodded and parted to our location.
I walked slowly, constantly looking around. I tried to quiet my footsteps voice on the metallic floor. As I finally reach the sleeping pod, the door glided open and I entered, hoping for an ambush.
Nothing.
No one.
I continued to roam around the room. Opening the pods that are served as beds, shuffling the wardrobes and shelves, even rummaging their belongings.
Until, something hits my mind. I rushed toward the armory room. I panted, panic settled in. But it was too late. The disgusting stench of smell was all over the armory room.
I covered my nose instinctively, my stomach twisting. Something about the smell felt horribly wrong.
A gust of wind blown behind me,
"So this is who they call the 'Great Mechanic'. Such a shame that you're not so great without anyone's help, aren't you ?"
I turned, only to see nothing. All of a sudden, someone gripped on my shoulder tightly. I groaned as the stitches on my injured soldier tore apart slowly.
I look behind, I noticed that person's Holotag hanging on his cloak.
It was written,
[Name : Htet Naing]
I immediately tense, knowing that his family has a history of being high ranking soldiers in the Elysium Ark.
He laughed, taking off his cloak,
"At least you know your place. Well, chop chop. A soldier won't give mercy to someone."
I punched his stomach and quickly grabbed my ChronoLume. Again and again, I pressed the 'Reset' button to change my fate.