Commanders Course [Girls' Frontline Fanfiction]

Chapter 4: Relying on Signals

Enjoy!

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     Quillana and Aiden alighted the helicopter. The winds of the open land rushed to meet them. They lifted a hand to shield themselves, blotting the sunlight in the process. Quillana motioned to follow.

     "The underground base is not too far off. See those fences?" She pointed to them. "It's there."

     The pilot peered his head out from the opened door and called out to them. "I'm heading off to refuel. Once you're done give me a call."

     "Where are you headed off to?" She asked.

     "There's a civilian airfield south-southwest of here, about twenty clicks."

     She raised a thumb and gave him a short salute. "Thanks for the ride, I'll call for extraction later."

     The pilot nodded, shut the door, and lifted off.

     "Let's head-on."

     The short trek took them minutes, following a dirt path used by military staff in the past. They walked through the opened, rusted gates and descended a concrete ramp. What stood before them was a huge metallic door. Judging by the tyre tracks, vehicles used this to enter and exit the bunker.

     "It's closed," Aiden said, watching her walk to the door's access panel. "Do you think it has power?"

      "Security systems run on a different power circuit. When the mainline gets cut, it doesn't affect doors or defences." She pivoted aside and gestured to it. "It's active. Do you think you can open it?"

     He leaned towards the console and studied it. It's not military grade. He raised his phone and tapped at it.

     A red light came off. Looks like he'll have to work around it.

     "Give me a moment."

     Quillana stooped over him, genuinely curious about the process.

     "Uh, personal space, please?"

     "Oh! Sorry!" She backed up and turned away. After whistling a short tune, she turned to look.

     The metal doors shuddered and groaned as it forced itself to open. Dust, that had settled on the edges, shifted and fall to the ground, creating a small pile.

     "Wow, I didn't know you were a hacker."

     "I'm not."

     "Then how did you--"

     She was cut off when Aiden raised a finger to his lips. "Hear that?"

     Once the doors were fully opened, she tilted her head and listened intently to anything that was out of place.

     Nothing but the soft hiss of ventilation pipes and the hum of lights.

     "I don't hear anything."

     "The lights. It's working. There's power."

     Quillana immediately slung her G36 and held it close. "You think someone's here?"

     "Whoever it is, let's hope they're friendly." Before he could take a step, Quillana stopped him.

     "Let me take the lead; you're our engineer."

     "By that you mean I'm useless and can't defend myself?"

     She recoiled at the implication, never wanting to regard him that way. "N-No! I mean-- You are-- We don't--"