Equinox: The Uprising

Chapter 8: An Unknown Threat

                I arrived back at the Hentu base and walked into the briefing room, where the General and a few others had already gathered.

                “…and when you get there, you must neutralize their defenses so Chris can get into the base and talk to them.”

                -Talk to who?

                “There’s a new threat that has been placing random attacks against Siege and we need information on it. The only way we can GET that information is by infiltrating one of the most dangerous bases we have ever seen. Luckily, the owners of the base are very docile and might forgive any intrusions made by us.”

                -Why do we care about problems that our enemy is having? Couldn’t we just let it go?

                “We could, if we knew that the threat wouldn’t just attack us afterwards. There’s no telling if what is attacking Siege is on our side, nor if they know about you. We cannot risk waiting around, we have to act.”

                -And what about these owners of the base? Who are they?

                “We call them the Unknown. We know very little about them other than that they are not from Earth. They came here long ago, back when interstellar travel was still going on in this area of space. They drove off the evil on this planet for that time and had set up a peaceful civilization here with the locals. After that, Siege was formed, they nuked the planet with their satellite and the Unknown disconnected themselves from the humans. That was over 2,000 years ago.”

                -So are these ‘Unknown’ friends or enemies?

                “They are neutral, but like I said, they are docile. They have not been known to attack anyone, even before the disconnect. Chris, we need you to go to their base and at least try to talk to them.”

                -Not until I find out what you plan to use Siege’s satellite laser for.

                “We had planned on activating all three satellite lasers in this area and use the combined power to wipe out their new main base. That would deal a crippling blow to them, enough so that we can get in there and kill any remaining Siege operatives. None of that will matter, though, unless you neutralize this new threat.”

                -Three?! When were you planning on telling me this?

                “When the time was right. That was not very important information at the time and we need you to complete this task. Like I said before, though, that will not matter until you neutralize this unknown threat. I am sending my best men to accompany you on this mission.”

                -I don’t need your men; I don’t believe a ‘hostile takeover’ is necessary. I will go to the Unknown base by myself. I work better that way anyway.

                With that, I left the Hentu base and headed northwest, to the Unknown base.