The surprise attack targeted towards Ves presented a great threat, but only if he remained oblivious about it. A dozen mechs could never defeat his entire mech security detail. They had to rely solely on the element of surprise to give them the decisive edge. Now that Ves discovered their presence, his assassins lost this advantage. What was even better for him was that the potential assailants didn’t know that they’d been discovered! With Lucky’s stealth, signal-tracking and phasing capabilities, they had no way of guarding against such a perverse cat! "Good boy!" Ves hugged Lucky in order to show his gratitude. "I’ll be needing you again, though. Are you ready to put your claws to use?" "Meow!" "Okay, okay, I’ll be sure to give you a reward!" Looking onwards, Fe Nitaa and Commander Cinnabar still looked at the two with doubt. Had the cat really discovered a dozen mechs hidden nearby? Whatever the case, they had no choice but to presume the worst. The three began to discuss measures to turn the tables on their potential adversaries under a light jamming field. "Our conduct alone is probably triggering some suspicion among the observers." Nitaa warned. "The individual coordinating this operation will definitely suspect that we’re aware of something fishy." "It’s fine." Commander Cinnabar said. "They probably think we’ve detected their observers. Their mechs are a lot more hidden." Ves slightly grimaced. "I think Nitaa does have a point. The longer we dilly-dally around, the greater the likelihood that our potential assailants will lose their patience. We need to decide on a course of action quickly." Nitaa opted for the safest option. "I say we call for help. It won’t reflect well for the planetary government if they allow us to die on their soil. The Journeyman Mech Designer you’ve just met can lend a hand as well, either by continuing to shelter us or calling in her friends." "Pah!" Commander Cinnabar huffed. "If we ask for help, we’ll be bound to return the favor somehow. I don’t think it’s necessary to go through all of that trouble. Didn’t we determine that the hostiles are relying on the element of surprise? Why not make it clear that we know exactly what they are plotting? As long as we transmit a message telling them we know exactly what they are up to, they’ll likely abort the mission!" Nitaa nodded in agreement. "Covert operatives are trained to strike only when they have a strong chance of success. They abhor variables and unanticipated setbacks. So long as we do what the commander has proposed, the chances are high that they will call off their attack." Ves shook his head. "That’s not the most optimal solution. We don’t know who they are, who they work for and the reason why they targeted me specifically. We suffer from a severe information disadvantage. Scaring off the assassins might save our skins today, but this will only cause them to prepare more thoroughly next time. If we truly want to stymie our opponents, then we need to take the fight to them, or at least teach them a lesson." The three argued over the best course of action. Even though Nitaa strongly objected to taking a proactive stance, Ves held the final decision. "I’ve made my decision. Let’s just roll the dice and see what happens. I think our odds are quite good." The question was what they should do. Ves turned towards Lucky and contemplated where his cat should be put to use. His ability to sneak up under complete stealth and phase through solid obstacles was quite powerful! However, Lucky wasn’t particularly fast, so Ves had to decide carefully where he should employ his strongest asset. "It’s too risky to send Lucky out to sabotage the mechs in wait." He murmured. "It’s doable if the mechs are lying dormant, but according to my cat they’ve already warmed their systems." "Can your cat sneak up to the figure who is leading this operation?" Nitaa asked. Ves turned to Lucky, who raised his tail in an arrogant manner. "Meow!" "Lucky can definitely do it. There’s a small security detail present but they won’t pose a threat." "Then I suggest you take him out, sir. The way this operation is set up makes me think this person is the key." "Should we take him in alive?" "Is that possible, Lucky?" "Meow." "Lucky says he only has lethal options available." Nitaa retrieved a vial containing an unknown substance from a cavity in her combat armor. "Here. As long as you splash its contents in someone’s face, they’ll be knocked out for a few hours. It won’t work against people who carry standard antidote devices or implants, as many spies tend to carry in their loadouts." "You hear that, Lucky?" Ves grabbed the antidote and placed it between Lucky’s maw. "When you splash this stuff on the leader’s face, make sure to prevent him from neutralizing it. We need this person alive and well enough to talk!" "Mrwor." Lucky responded, his regular meows sounding garbled due to the finger-sized vial between its teeth. After passing on a few instructions, Ves waved Lucky off as he began to sneak back to the hidden room where the suspected mastermind resided. Ves turned back to the others. "Fifteen minutes from now, Lucky will make his move. If we want to accomplish anything else, we have to decide quickly." "I say we make a move on the hidden mechs. My Battle Criers are far more suitable to go on the attack. Since we know where they are holing up, we can quickly take them by surprise by storming straight at their position!" "I don’t suggest we do so, sir." Nitaa replied. "We’re operating on foreign soil. As guests of Paisley I, it is highly unbecoming of us to launch a seemingly unprovoked attack. The mechs in hiding may be working for a legitimate local power." "And if this local power happens to be a part of the plot to take our employer’s life?" Ves scratched his head. "Both options are possible. We simply don’t know enough. Nitaa is right, though. If we launch an unprovoked attack, we’ll definitely get in trouble with the planetary government. With all of the political entanglements taking place in the Redwell Province, it’s not impossible that certain elements of the government are in cahoots with the attackers." "So we should let the attackers go?" "I’m not saying that. We should simply ensure that we should not be the ones who launch the first attack. As long as we can get the other party to do so, we’ll be justified in our reprisal." Nitaa disagreed. "I don’t think that excuse will necessarily hold up. Aggressive posturing is a naked provocation. If the attackers are smart enough, they’ll know what we are up to and will withhold their fire in order to prove they aren’t related to any assassination attempts." "Hahaha! That’s not going to be a problem! My Battle Criers will make sure the hidden mechs will attack first. You can trust my word on this, sir!" Though Ves was inclined to do so, Nitaa held another concern. "There’s another problem, sir. If we allocate all of the Battle Criers to the attack, only the Dustravens are left to protect us against hostile mechs. If they happen to be a part of the conspiracy, that will leave us all dangerously vulnerable." "We can split our forces up." Cinnabar suggested. "Half of my mechs will move out as planned while the other half will stay behind. If I’m guessing right, then the mechs preparing to attack are mostly ranged mechs. They don’t perform very well when taken by surprise. The underground parking hall won’t offer them much distance against my melee mechs." What the commander said made a lot of sense. Only the ranged mechs of the Battle Criers kept the Dustravens in check. Leaving behind half of the Battle Criers also protected Ves against the other cards the assailants held in reserve. Yet.. the question was whether the Battle Criers could truly triumph against the dozen of hidden mechs. The Battle Criers only received permission to bring twelve mechs to the surface. This meant that if Ves went through with this plan, he could only count on the six ranged mechs for protection. As long as the Dustravens were still on their side, then this would not be a problem. Yet if the Dustravens did happen to be compromised, then the Battle Crier mechs would have to focus their full attention on deterring the aerial mechs. This left them vulnerable if another hidden mech force emerged! "This talk is getting way out of hand." Nitaa spoke. "Regardless whether the Dustravens turn out to be hostile or not, they won’t be able to do anything while we are still holing up in the lobby of Linzif’s headquarters. Any operation that is targeted at us is likely aimed at taking out our shuttle. It’s a lot harder to attack us while we are still inside this structure, especially from above. The most the attackers can do is collapse the entire building." "They won’t do that." Ves asserted. "Felicity Linzif is still present in the building. She managed to stay in business to a certain extent by aligning herself to at least one strong local patron. An attack on the headquarters is an attack aimed at her, and by extension her backers." "What if the attackers don’t care? What if Linzif and the attackers are in the same boat?" "Then we’ll just fight our way out." Ves declared. "Every modern office building of this size should be connected to an underground tunnel system. We just have to find one of the evacuation exits." Time was running out. Almost fifteen minutes after Lucky departed, the orders that Commander Cinnabar discreetly passed on to his mech pilots began to take force. Six of the Battle Crier melee mechs abruptly separated and headed towards a specific direction! As befitting for an offensive mercenary corps, the mechs that departed all consisted of light and medium mechs that emphasized speed and offensive power. They traversed the largely-empty streets of the fallen office district with prodigious speed and reached the entrance of a closed underground parking hall. The melee mechs stabbed their weapons through the thin protective cover and cut open a huge opening! Since the material they were cutting through merely consisted of conventional alloys, the mechs faced very little resistance! Within no time, the mechs formed a square opening through the metal cover. They filed through and engaged their alternate sensor modes in order to observe the completely darkened hall. Back at the lobby of Linzif’s headquarters, Commander Cinnabar impatiently stared at the projected interface of his comm. A message finally came through. "They’ve spotted the hidden mechs! They’re all grouped up and unprepared to repel an attack!" "Are they firing at your Battle Criers?" "So far, they’ve withheld their fire." Commander Cinnabar grinned. "We’ll see how long that lasts." In the meantime, Ves received a nonsensical message to his own comm. Although both the sender and the message itself consisted of garbled data, Ves nonetheless recognized a few prearranged patterns that in themselves conveyed a brief message. "Lucky succeeded!" Ves smiled. "He managed to take out the guards and use the vial to knock the leader out! Evidently, they never thought they were already exposed!" "Did they activate any boobytraps?" Cinnabar asked. "Sneaky folks like these often have the habit of preparing several traps and safeguards." "I have confidence in Lucky. I’ve already instructed him to sabotage anything that looks dangerous." The commander briefly paused as his comm received another notification. "Sir, Commander Meivin has just sent an urgent message to me. He’s asking what the hell is going on!" Ves idly waved his hand. "Tell him to go on high alert and guard against any acute threats. Don’t say anything else." "The Dustravens won’t like being kept in the dark. Commander Meivin isn’t stupid. If we don’t tell him anything, he’ll realize that we’re doubting his loyalty." "He’s a mercenary. Being regarded with suspicion and distrust already comes with the job. If he’s truly innocent, then he won’t take this incident to heart." Even if Ves unjustly maligned the Vindar Dustravens, that was better than putting his blind trust in their loyalty!