The Fate of Terra Ch. 15

"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 appreciate 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.

"This man went on- *pant* went on to, uhh- come on," she whined and Dejah reluctantly withdrew her hand. With a raspy chuckle, the Felician went back to her tits and Sun Mi struggled to maintain her train of thought. "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?"

"Yo- you guessed it- ahh," Sun Mi tried to say. Finally fed up with Dejah's ridiculous pestering, she whirled around and pulled the blue girl forward. Dejah let herself be maneuvered into a prone position and then laughed delightedly when Sun Mi began raining down blows on her ass. Incensed that her efforts were being laughed off, she tried to spank even harder. To her shock, Dejah began moaning and she froze as she realized what the sticky substance collecting on her hand was. "Now that just isn't fair," she grumbled sullenly.

She wasn't prepared for Dejah's tail to wrap around her neck and slam her onto her back. The Felician promptly mounted her captive and gave her a lusty growl, "You worked me up, now it's time to finish what you started." Before Sun Mi could protest, Dejah sat on her face and began grinding her hips back and forth, drenching the poor girl.

Kat wiggled her hips against Michael's crotch, the scenes playing out before them making her horny again. He smacked her ass appreciatively and said, "Continue."

Dejah slid backwards but pinched her captive's nose shut. "Talk fast," she murmured teasingly.

"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-" she was cut off as Dejah muffled her voice and deprived her of air. Dejah slid back again and when she didn't hear any talking (only gasping for air), she reached back and twisted one of Sun Mi's nipples. "Faster," was all Sun Mi heard and she struggled to get out the rest. "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 to be suffocated, but Dejah 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 lie. 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, even Dejah -who hadn't gotten to cum yet. 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 armor 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 armor 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 15min. later, Michael, his girls, Marcus, and two dozen armored troopers 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 his decision.

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' -the hover tanks." Their shuttle took off again and began a circling pattern overhead. On the far side of the warehouse, the other Roc lifted off. Marcus began shouting orders and the platoon of armored troopers thundered forward in concert.

In contrast, Michael and his girls walked leisurely after them, stretching and rolling their shoulders and heads as they went. Sun Mi shook her head in wonderment and she saw him pull out an actual 'sword.' As the Shredders and troopers began clearing rooms, Pandora lit a path in their vision that led to an area that was, according to the blueprints, the most likely place to house a large number of people.

While they walked down a hallway, the building shook as explosions racked the foundation. Suddenly, at the other end people began pouring fire in their direction. Kat laughed devilishly and broke off running towards them, her Beretta firing nonstop. Michael grinned and took off after her. Stacey yelled, "Hey! Save some for us."

A shocked Sun Mi gaped after them as she witnessed the girls around her seem to blink out one by one as they blurred forward using their enhanced speed. She stared, not believing what she was seeing, and desperately tried to keep up. Ahead, Michael blurred right then left, moving forward each time as a gunman tried to get a bead on him. As Michael passed by him, the sword came up, cleaving the man in two.

They soon reached an open area where cells lined the walls. People could be seen huddled together behind iron bars. The 'traitor' stood in front of what Michael assumed was the professor's family, an AK-47 pointed at them between the bars. "Stay back!" he shouted in a crazed voice. "I swear I'll-" Kat interrupted him by putting a bullet through his skull.

The rest of the girls filed in and stared at the number of families who were cowering in their cells, gazing at the newcomers with unmasked terror. "Quite the operation they had here," Stacey observed. Marcus and his team arrived and he shouted for cutters to get the occupants free as shots of QuickHeal were distributed to those that looked to be suffering.

Marcus told Michael, "There's still sporadic fire coming from the trees. We don't dare take them into the open."

"So...?" Dejah pressed, confused. Just then, they heard the sound of metal tearing and looked up to see two troopers putting in a skylight. A shuttle was waiting overhead. Quickly and efficiently, the families were floated up to the craft via its tractor beam and then it took off towards the Intrepid.

Marcus said, "Seventy yards to the base of the mountain and the opening that leads to the factory." Michael nodded and the group started off again. The Shredders led the way down the tunnel they found into the bowels of the Earth. Sun Mi was thankful for the night vision that came with her helmet since the passageway was pitch dark.

Ahead of them, they could hear horrified screams as the machines tore into their victims. Dozens of native workers swarmed past them on their descent. The first illuminated area they reached housed a number of assembly lines on which all manner of things from plasma cutters to anti-alien manifestos were produced.

From the corridor beyond, they heard a reverberating *boom* followed by a series of deep *thumps* and the sound of metal tearing. Suddenly, the crumpled form of a Shredder was blasted back through the doorway, skidding across the floor. In the opening, a giant mechsuit -easily 16ft. tall- appeared, wielding what looked to be plasma cutting buzzsaws.

"Aww shit," Kat muttered, actually impressed at what these fanatical nutcases had achieved so far.

Two dozen and change guns of varying design all opened fire. The only one that seemed to have any effect was Marcus's cannon based off the B'Amuf ray design, but even then, the metal skin was so thick it would take awhile to penetrate. People dived out of the way as the monstrosity lurched forward and sliced where they'd stood with a spinning arm-saw.

Michael ran forward and hockey-checked the multi-ton metal beast, trying to tip the unwieldy suit on its back. The hit barely registered as it was only knocked back about a foot. He jumped backward as a deadly glowing arm whipped by. It took another step forward and swung again, but they could all tell that it was getting slower.

Pandora told them, 'I'm powering it down. It's not networked so I can't control it, but I can drain the energy it's using.'

As they watched, the plasma saws slowly began to flicker and blink out, the entire suit slumping forward. They ran past it and into the corridor beyond, two troopers remaining behind to cut the man out of the suit and take him into custody. The next five minutes consisted of running from room to room, shooting all those carrying weapons -usually before they had time to react. At last, the party reached a clean room that held occupied desks surrounding what Michael recognized as a duplicate of the containment block they used for the reactors aboard the Intrepid.

There were a number of people in lab coats staring at them in astonishment. One man stood abruptly and shouted in a hoarse voice, "No! What have you done? Leave and save our families!"

Sun Mi, recognizing the individual, said, "Relax, professor. Your families are safe aboard the Intrepid. If you'd just follow us-"

"Master!" Pandora shouted, the various speakers around the room and in the troopers' helmets picking her up. "He's causing an imbalance in the reactor core!"

Everyone turned to see a tall, skinny unshaven man frantically pressing buttons on the console next to the containment structure for the reactor. "Dimitrov, stop!" the professor shouted. Kat didn't hesitate. Her arm came up and in a single fluid motion pulled the trigger, causing the man's head to fall forward, a significant portion of it missing.

"It's too late," Pandora told them. "The reaction has already started. You have less than three minutes."

Stacey yelled into the silence that followed that statement, "Everyone grab an egghead and sprint for the exit." The soldiers moved instantly, throwing a scientist/engineer over a shoulder and taking off.

As Michael was leaving, he told Pandora, "Try to download as much data as you can off their hard drives before this place becomes a crater." The armored troopers weren't nearly as agile as Michael and his girls, but their suits clocked out at forty miles an hour. They could book it when they wanted to. A few feet from the shuttle the ground pulsed once before shaking intensely. A few of the troopers lost their footing before they could step onto the ramp of the rising shuttle.

Michael and Kat, picking up the rear, grabbed the backs of the stragglers and launched themselves in the air, catching the shuttle just as the ground disappeared below them. The mountainside exploded outwards, the wave of air pressure actually throwing them to the front of the shuttle. The Roc was battered and beaten as it struggled to gain altitude. Zoe floored the craft forward, forgetting about gaining more height and simply concentrating on distance, skimming the tops of the trees.

Just before the ramp closed completely, the occupants saw an incredible flash as an enormous plume with a fireball in its center dominated the skyline. There was a collective sigh that passed through everyone in the cabin. The silence was broken when Kat hooted in glee. "That was AWESOME!" she screamed, giddy off the adrenaline rush. Michael chuckled as the rest of them shot her incredulous looks.

"Gotta admit," he said, "it beats playing Call of Duty..." Still lying in the aisle, he reached out and pulled Kat close to share a kiss.

The professor approached Sun Mi and asked hesitantly, "Were you serious? Are our families really safe?" The rest of the scientists and engineers quieted down as she smiled and confirmed they were fine. A cheer went up and her cheeks flushed. She felt exhilarated. This was what she'd been searching for. The chance to do some good; to make a difference; to have her work pay off and be appreciated for her effort.

Michael and his girls sat with the professor -whose name he finally learned was Richard West- as he told the story of their incarceration and what life was like under the Advent Brotherhood. Apparently, the one who'd betrayed them had sold him out and organized his capture. He'd been a vindictive bastard who liked to beat him in front of his wife. Richard was in tears when he thanked Michael profusely for showing up when he did. According to him, the man had told Richard that he'd bribed the guards that night and had planned to rape his wife while he and his daughter watched.

"Who was the man who tampered with the reactor?" Michael asked, trying to change the subject. He was uncomfortable with all the praise the other man was heaping on him. It had been Sun Mi who'd made the connections that resulted in finding them, after all -he'd just been along for the ride.

A sad look crossed the professor's eyes as he admitted, "Someone I considered a dear friend. We'd always known there was a mole among us. Too many secrets had been exposed, too many plans to escape uncovered and all involved punished mercilessly. But, Dimitrov... he covered for me -he covered for everyone. Little things, like stalling the guards so we could have more time to get ready or scrounging up medicine when we were sick. Now, I see it was all a ploy to gain our trust."

Michael gave him an understanding smile and clasped him on the shoulder. "You'll see your family soon. Feel free to rest on the Intrepid for... as long as you'd like," he told Richard with a gleam in his eye. Kat smiled slyly. She knew Michael saw the insecurities of the former captives as she did. They wouldn't feel safe on Earth where they'd been snatched from their homes. Many of them would sleep with a gun under their pillow for the rest of their lives. To them, it wouldn't matter that the Intrepid was heading off to war.