Ossanlin nods as Ehvrin, Aurellia, and Leskel all announce combat readiness.
Outside the Mirage's viewports, blank whiteness appears to
accelerate into the regular white-specked blackness of true space. Looming in front of the Mirage is the giant greenish-blue striations of the gas giant known as Corvus II. Outside, as soon as the Mirage is visible in true-space, it ripples to invisibility as the camouflage engages. The ship flows into a high planetary orbit.
<Sir, we'll be entering the atmosphere of Primus in approximately 35 seconds.> Leskel, standing at the helm, pilots the approach. <We should be on the ground in 1.7 minutes.>
Ossanlin glances around at his Warriors again. <Remember, NO open thought-speech, I cannot stress this enough. The whole idea is to convince the operators of this facility that they have been raided by Yeerks. One open thought will ruin the entire disguise. Private thoughts within battle-group, ARC transmission between alternate groups. Do not use thought-speech on any of the hosts...they could ruin the disguise almost as effectively as an open thought, even though they don't mean to. If they need convincing, I'll handle that bridge when we come to it.>
The viewers glow a bit as the Mirage begins sliding into the atmosphere of Primus. <Remember, the atmosphere isn't easily-breathable. We'll survive better as Hork-Bajir due to the lower need for breathable atmosphere, but we can't last more than a standard hour exposed to the atmosphere. Leskel will use the stationary guard's rebreather. Once we pass through the airlock on the service level, we'll be fine.>
The slight orange glow disappears and the Mirage slides through the black sky of Primus's umbral night. Nothing is visible on the pitch-black ground until, quite-suddenly, a small, well-lit dome comes into view where before there had appeared to be nothing. One corner has a second, smaller dome with landing pads, but near the back corner, two landing-pads and a hangar structure stand outside environmental protection, with a small, domed hallway leading toward it from the main dome.
<Sir, I'm tracking the mobile guard just passing, he'll be passing into his return trip in approximately thirty seconds.> Leskel manipulates the Mirage's controls to hover silently and invisibly, moving toward one of the landing pads and descending softly, making absolutely no noises. <Activating solar reflex interference.>
Ossanlin nods. <It's time. Enorryma, take up position at the bottom of the ramp. The stationary guard should be standing just outside of the main hangar door, directly in the middle.> He nods. <Your shot needs to hit, Vanarx. If the guard has a chance to give warning, the entire endeavor fails. I know you won't miss.>
The landing struts touch down on the vacant landing pad silently, the ship still completely concealed. The displays show the stationary guard exactly where he's supposed to be. The mobile guard is approaching the front of the hangar on his route. <The mobile guard will cross in front of the hangar, then start back down the tunnel. I'll give the signal once it's safe. Everyone, stay safe. We'll be fighting our one-time comrades out there, but you need to remember who they work for. The Electorate is a group of genocidal fools. They kill those who are attempting to achieve the same ends as we...and their innocent hosts as well. They strip our defenses and lose valuable ground to the Empire. Those males and females out there stand in the way. We're only stunning them...giving them nothing worse than a headache in the long run. They'll not be extending us the same courtesy, they'll shoot to kill. Give no quarter, and all of you,above all...return safely.> Ossanlin takes his own position at the top of the ramp, leaving the way clear for Enorryma to take hers.
