[right][sub]Aboard the Undefeated flagship - the Thorsten[/sub][/right]

The ECU was already sending ships to scout the Zeta-5 surface, but the Grand General decided for a more cautious approach. Even though the battle was a clear victory and the hostile space forces were completely destroyed, losing a Battleship has deeply shaken all the Undefeated. The fleet was now positioned around the Gateway, ready to deter any arriving ships, and, if necessary, destroy them. They were ready to disable and capture the incoming Xandalian ship, but the ECU decided to take a more diplomatic approach. Maybe it was for the better, it wouldn’t be smart to antagonize a strong nation.

Captains from all the remaining ships have now gathered on the Thorsten, awaiting new orders. 

“We have received news from the ECU. Their scouts managed to capture and interrogate one of the Zetans.” Although it was hardly an interrogation - the half-robot gave them all the information right away, basically inviting them into their underground city. That itself was extremely suspicious. Or maybe the machines were just physically incapable of lying? Who knows what algorithms drove their twisted minds. “The captured scientist is in the Zetan main underground city, in a place they call Alpha-Elysium. We don’t know the exact coordinates yet, but we have approximated the location of the Elysium sector and we will begin our scans there. The problem is,” General sighed, “that the conditions on the ground are extremely hostile. We know for sure that at least one of the ECU scout parties was destroyed by weather alone, before even encountering enemy units.”

Quiet whispers spread across the room. “So, what are our plans, General?”

“We scan the surface from space and send smaller ships to investigate suspicious areas. No troops will be landing on the surface. Their ground structures do not concern us. We need to find a suitable entry point to the underground levels and transport our troops there directly to avoid the surface dangers.”

The men nodded and some of them looked at each other hesitantly. Finally, one of the Cruiser captains stood up. “Sir, I’m gonna say what everyone else is thinking. We all want to get revenge for Horizon. So why don’t we just find a hole into these tunnels and start pumping gas inside to flush the clankers out like rats?” The crowd cheered.

“I wish it were that simple. I appreciate the initiative, but without knowing more about the tunnel layout and how their ventilation and filtration systems work, this kind of attack would probably be very inefficient. After all, we don’t even know if their bodies won’t be immune to our chemical and biological weapons.”

[hr]

It was a gate. Not a huge gate, just a regular-size gate in the mountainside, probably just a maintenance access or something like that. The troop transport could probably fit through, but it was decided they weren’t going to try. From here on, they would go on foot. Ten squads through this gate, sixty heavily armed men wearing protective exoskeletons, all battle hardened veterans that went through the endless conflicts back home on Ellara. Other gates were discovered and other troop transports were hovering near them, all waiting for the go-to signal. Their orders were quite simple - go inside and kill anything that moves, be it a person, robot or a fuckin’ automatic can opener. 

Finally they could do what they were good at. The best at. Lieutenant Maya Mayers, the leader of the 2-A-2 squad, grinned. The waiting time was over, they were done sitting inside a spaceship, praying that someone doesn’t blow it up like they did to the Horizon. So many good men died there. Maya served with a lot of them, they went through bloody skirmishes, long recons and boring days at the base together. And now, puff, they are gone. The troopers were angry. No, they were beyond angry. They were pissed off and furious and ready to take it on the first enemy they saw.

“All right people, it's time, watch the light show.” The transporter pilot pointed towards the gate. A Cruiser that was hovering above the thin atmosphere, so far that it was barely more than a small dot on the sky, fired from its plasma cannon several times and the gate just vaporized. There was no loud explosion, no debris flying through the air, as it would be if they tried to blow the thing up with conventional explosives.

“Wow, neat.” The men and women in the transporter cheered, eager to finally get into action. The way was open. At the same time the same scene happened in several other places in the Elysium sector. The transporters landed and soldiers swarmed out, heading towards the dark holes, entering the Zetan underground system.

The tunnel went straight on for a while and they haven’t come across any resistance. When they reached a junction, the assault leader ordered them to split up to cover more ground. Maya’s squad, the Yoyos, and another one, nicknamed the Butchers, were assigned to take one of the side tunnels. Others might have mocked the Yoyos for picking such a name which certainly stood out of the crowd of Reapers, Reavers, Destroyers or Killers. But Maya and the others felt it fitting. It was what they did best - go in, get shit done, go out. No holdups, no problems, and, most importantly, no casualties on their side.

It felt like they had been walking for hours, occasionally putting a mark on the tunnel wall. Adrenaline coursed through their veins, making them see an enemy in every shadow and behind every corner, but everything was silent, it seemed that the enemy had retreated deeper into the tunnel system. Eventually, the tunnel had led them to a large open space, a junction of some sorts, apparently used to load cargo on some bigger vehicles. The place looked deserted hastily, some of the cranes still held boxes mid-air. There was some abandoned vehicle in the corner and Maya gestured to two of her men to go check it out. It would certainly help not having to move through these tunnels on foot.