Chapter 663 - Groundhog Day (1/2)
Dex summoned a virtual keyboard with one hand and activated Groundhog. Within moments, Mongoose cursed loudly and sat down on the platform. ”Clocks ticking... Let's leave him in peace while he works.”
Gadget nodded in agreement and stepped off the platform. ”We can recon the inside of Yuli's stronghold.”
Dex moved through the air, toward the double doors. ”Put us in real-time, Syntax.”
[Initiating real-time, stand-by.]
The scene shifted slightly, the light changing to a pre-dawn dimness. No roving guards were visible; however, there were several drones.
Dex whistled softly. ”Remotely manned security drones. We need to find the operator's jump capsule.”
Gadget was already scanning the drone; he sent its schematic to everyone's hud. ”Top of the line. We'll need to hack one.”
[Scout Drone]
Propulsion: Rotary (4)
Weight: 12 lbs.
Armament: Single Barrel, semi-automatic with laser sighting.
Ballistics: 5mm AP rounds x 100
Max speed: 50 KpH
Visual Acuity: Infrared and Night Enhancement.
Thumper moved toward the nearest drone while she brought up a virtual interface. ”I'll dampen its security, give it a maintenance issue, and then we can piggyback the camera feed.”
Stiletto was already assisting the takeover; she shorted out a non-essential system before mirroring the camera feed to stream it to the T-6 Interface. The drone paused in its set path and hovered in place. ”Someone's already looking at it. They have a killer response time.”
Dex nodded while he prepared his pinging program. ”I have to get me a few of these.”
Gadget watched unconcerned while the other three worked. Despite being the size of garbage can lids, scout drones resembled flying arachnids. The industry commonly referred to them as spiders. The problem was that if there were this many of them in one area, there were also bound to be higher-tier drones. The thought had just passed through his mind when he spotted the new arrival. ”Wonderful... Here comes big brother.”
Dex turned toward Gadget and then traced his line of sight; a single larger drone rose out of a dome-shaped structure near the complex's center. ”Dragon drone?”
Gadget nodded and followed Dex as he made a bee-line toward the dome-shaped structure. ”If they have dragon drones, then it is probably accompanied by an air-defense system. This changes everything. Bringing up the dragon drone schematic.”
”It's fine,” Dex scanned the schematic; three dragons would be enough to give an assault team nightmares.
[Dragon Drone]
Propulsion: Rotary (8)
Weight: 27 lbs.
Armament: Twin barrels, individual remote targeting.
Ballistics: 40mm Grenade x 12
Max speed: 80 KpH
Visual Acuity: Infrared and Night Enhancement.
Other than his initial glance, Dex ignored the drone and moved over the domed structure. From his vantage point, he could see its maintenance station. ”Eight point recharging station with ammunition supply. Three more are visible from this vantage point.”
[I recommend that you use the virtual Interface on the maintenance station.]
Nix nodded in agreement, not surprised to see that Syntax was taking a more hands-on approach; after all, v-Earth was her domain. ”Good idea.” He descended downward; most of the room was unformed to him. The only clear image was what had been available from the top. ”Pinging the room, give me a resonance build so I can find an interior camera.”
[Dextron, I already have control of all cameras inside of the compound. Updating interior map and schematic.]
Dex closed the virtual Interface and waited while the inside of the building slowly appeared in his view. ”No blindspots; looks like we have just completed the interior.”
Stiletto led Thumper and Gadget through the domed opening. ”I've outlined the spider drones network. There are six of them; each one is partnered to a jump capsule. It looks like the scouts are placed in default sentry mode and are switched to manual during emergencies.”
”Good job, Stiletto.” Gadget opened the updated schematic. ”Did we find the rest of the dragons?”
Thumper pointed to three other dome structures in the compound. ”I couldn't ping their network without tripping security protocols. They have some serious ICE, but... it stands to reason that these buildings house the dragon drones.”