Fate of Terra

Chapter 15.2 - Adaptation

"It was obviously based on our technology, though less advanced if they needed to set it off manually," Aki added, rubbing Aurora's butt which was sticking up in the air. Every once and a while her hand would sneak down and tickle the admiral's pussy lips that were peeking out from between her legs, causing Aurora to jump. The 'stop and go' teasing was slowly building a fire that would grow hotter and hotter until she finally attacked the smaller girl -which was, of course, exactly what she wanted.

"Which means there's a spy," Rin concluded, straddling Aurora's back and working her shoulders. "Which is particularly disturbing since we don't actually 'use' missiles as they're too cost inefficient resource-wise if we're to be self-sustaining. The closest things we have are those two minelayers. The mines they deploy are actually made to lock onto a target and go ballistic when they get in range. We have a limited number of those and they're all accounted for."

Sun Mi cleared her throat. "I, actually, might have an answer to tha- eek!" She squeaked as Dejah's hands crept up behind her and cupped her tits.

"Go on, sweetheart," Dejah growled huskily as she began unbuttoning the girl's shirt.

Sun Mi coughed and in a shaky voice said, "Well, when I came to the same conclusion as Rin, I figured it was sort of my job to figure out how this happened. I looked back at every scientist and engineer that worked on any project that involved nuclear reactors being used as weapons." At this point, she paused and shot Michael an appreciative glance at just how many projects he'd commissioned.

"I found one man that stood out in particular," She continued. "He left the ship just as Dejah and the other aliens came aboard after the first invasion, citing that he didn't want to be separated from his family. Only, he didn't have any family... He- shit!" she exclaimed as Dejah's hand dove into her pants and a claw began tracing the crease in her panties along her slit.

"Dejah, enough." Michael commanded. He was a little frustrated at how lacadasical they were treating the matter of finding who it was that 'killed' him and Kat.

Dejah looked up as if confused, then dropped her head and stepped back to allow the Korean Officer to continue unhindered. "After working for you, brains like him get tons of prestigious job offers. He turned them all down to instead work at a small packaging plant owned by an obscure business chain that Pandora just recently identified as being a front for-"

Stacey, floating in the water, raised her head a fraction and said, "Let me guess, the Advent Brotherhood?"

"You guessed it," Sun Mi sighed. "There's another guy. He worked on the same project with the one who went over to the Advent Brotherhood and if the reports are anything to go by, he appears to have been much smarter than the previous guy and he was actually the lead on the minelayer project. He decided to leave a month ago to go back to teaching and took up a post as a professor. We don't know where he is now."

Sun Mi paused, waiting for a comment from someone about the Professors whereabouts..., but everyone just waited. She suddenly realized she had the full attention of the rest of them as well. 

"What happened to him?" Michael asked in a dangerously low voice.

"Uhh, well from what I've found he's been kidnapped," Sun Mi explained. "Pandora is searching for him right now. He went missing just over two weeks ago. You'd expect his family to have reported him, but apparently they're gone too. The university was the one who made the inquiry."

Michael sat up and growled, "We have systems in place. Our people are supposed to be watched when they leave us." The way he said 'our people' even though the man in question had clearly departed the Intrepid gave Sun Mi some insight into where Michael's loyalties lay. She shivered briefly at the thought of what was going to happen to the person or group who had harmed 'his' people.

"Pan, have the Furies scan for his biometrics," Rin said. "The traitor as well." Sun Mi was astounded to see everyone getting up and heading for a door that led further into the suite. It appeared as if they were getting ready to leave. She shook her head in amazement. Once they had found out one of their own was in trouble, everything was dropped until they got him back.

Aurora kissed Michael and announced, "I'll coordinate things from the Bridge, good luck." Pandora got a hit on the location of the man tied to the Advent Brotherhood before they'd even left the suite. Sun Mi, unsure of what to do, allowed herself to be tugged along by Aki as they traversed the corridors. She was surprised when they entered the hangar to see two shuttles and four fighters prepped and waiting.

Marcus, decked out in full combat armour was waving them towards Michael's personal carrier. Before Sun Mi had really registered that this was happening 'now,' they were already on approach to Earth. Aki and Rin opened up a side compartment that held extra suits of armour and began outfitting Sun Mi. She tried to ask, "What about y-" But was cut off as Aki slammed the helmet down over her head with a giggle.

Barely 15-minutes later, Michael, his girls, Marcus, and two dozen armoured Marines were descending the atmosphere above a little known region in Venezuela alongside another shuttle and their escort. Reaper came on the Comm and told them, "We'll be reaching the site momentarily. I'm pulling back the fighters and we'll provide covering fire. If you find heavy artillery in your path, just laze it and we'll take care of it."

"You let him fly?" Kat asked, surprised.

Michael shrugged. "He has the passive nanites in his system just like Marcus, so it's not that much of a risk to have him in a cockpit. Besides, after 'we' went out in a fighter during the second engagement, I didn't really have much of an excuse regarding his rank."

She sighed. "Ever wonder if it would just be easier to have nanites in all our personnel - just not activated?"

He nodded. "We don't have the cloning capacity to make it effective, but it was definitely a consideration when we were thinking about how to tackle our limited manpower when we leave the solar system. As an added bonus, Pan would also have the ability to disable or heal them accordingly."

"I just don't know if I'm ready for that." He sighed. "Morality issues aside, people would start joining up just for a chance to increase their life span instead of the reasons we're looking for. Even if they wouldn't be enhanced, I still have too many reservations at this time. Hopefully, we can use our automated forces wisely enough and cut down on the number of casualties." Kat wrapped an arm around him and gave him a squeeze, silently lending her support whatever he decided.

Marcus approached the couple and said, "Sensors read two warehouses. One is a holding facility in a small clearing between the forest and a mountain, the other looks like some kind of underground factory."

Michael nodded at that. "At this time of day, the Professor will probably be forced to work in the factory while his family is held in the other warehouse."

"We've got two shuttles," Marcus pointed out. "We could split up. Which one do you want to take?"

Shaking his head, Michael replied, "We'll both hit the holding facility."

Stacey, who'd been hovering nearby, nodded in agreement, saying, "They're the hostages, the Professor is the asset. They won't kill him so long as he's useful."

Sun Mi, who had finally managed to collect herself, sputtered, "Wha- hang on a second. What if they have another fusion bomb?"

"Now that I know what to look for, they won't be able to detonate it," Pandora assured her.

The group they were attacking must have been alerted by all the Furies patrolling overhead because as soon as the shuttles were in range they opened fire on them. Dotted all along the forest and mountainside, plasma gun emplacements identical to those used by the TDF were uncovered and began unloading.

"Hold on to something!" Eliza shouted from the front as Zoe began juking the craft around to avoid the oncoming green bolts. The fighters locked onto their targets and shot a flurry of light-blue ion pulses. Their shuttle braked at the last second and did a 180, hovering slightly above the ground. The ramp dropped from the back, facing the holding facility. Eliza used the rear cannons to make them a 'doorway.'

Sun Mi was startled when panels along the side of the shuttle's interior slid open and ten human-shaped robots spilled out and sprinted down the ramp. Her breath caught at the sight of the cybernetic assault units. Gaining information on them had been one of her primary missions when she'd been working for Council Intelligence. They all trooped down the boarding ramp as the 'Shredders' - dubbed so by the infantry for how they tore through enemy lines - dove through the improvised opening, eager to soften up their foes.

Rin grinned at Sun Mi's stunned expression and told her, "If you think those are impressive, just wait until you see the 'Thrashers,'" When Sun Mi's eyes boggled Rin laughed, "The hover tanks!"