𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 - 𝙺𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙺𝚘𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Chapter Twenty-Six - Changes

An electronic beeping blared from the small device floating in the middle of the water, and as the Galra ship neared sea level, the water became treacherous, large waves spanning out around the device as the ship hovered. Inside, Galran troops made contact with another fleet.

"This is Galra cruiser beta-nine. We are within range and requesting permission to dock,", the leader announced to the other Galran as he stood on his podium, staring up at the video call.

"Proceed,", permission was granted, and so the ship submerged itself into the water bit by bit until there was nothing above water level. Then, they moved forward, heading towards the base that lay a few yards away, cleverly hidden from the prying eyes of others.

"A priority-one shipment is en route. Activate the docking station immediately,", the announcement was made over the PA system of the base, alerting the crew inside to do their job. With the pull of a lever, the docking station was powered up by one of the troops, and he turned to his friend, a not particularly pleasant scowl on his face.

"I can't believe we're stuck here. This base predates the Zaipirium Siege. It's amazing this equipment remains operational,", he commented, glancing around the room at the dull, worn architecture.

"We're lucky to have it since the rebels overran the Sigma-3 Quadrant,", his friend reminded him. "It's all we have left in this system,", the powering up of the equipment needed to open the dock up to the ship sounded, interrupting their conversation. The Galran closest turned the pole at the centre, opening the floor and allowing the ship to raise itself into the space before beginning to unload the goods they had transported.

From their hiding spot, three Blade members watched the exchange, looking at the steel-panelled, glass containers filled with a blue substance being moved onto the dock, puzzled at what they were seeing. In those containers, there was an excess of quintessence.

"We destroyed the Komar. How are the Galra still producing such vast amounts of quintessence?", the member in the middle turned to the companion to his left. "Find out where it's coming from and where it's going,", satisfied with his orders, the figure scurried off, and the man in the middle turned to his other companion. "Get a reading on that shipment,", just as they were about to leave, the leader grabbed their arm, stopping them. "Remember, this is purely intelligence gathering. Do not engage,"

With a nod, the figure, too, rushed away, leaving the person who seemed to be leading the operation alone.

---

A snoring guard occupied the chair in the overview room of the docking station, feet resting against the panel in front of him as he slept. This was the perfect time for the Blade to do their job. Sliding down a wall, the Blade member reached a certain point and paused, keeping himself in place with his legs and hands. Using his tail, he pulled his sword out from its holder and cut a small panel off of the wall before inserting a device into the opening.

Then, he pulled out his reader, the machine beeping as it did its job. Though an alert of his hacking popped up on the screen in front of the sleeping guard, he did not wake up, not even when it beeped quietly. The Blade member continued his scan, his companion sneaking around in a more open place.

Hiding and manoeuvring to get past guards, the figure eventually reached a shelf holding the newest shipment of the Galra base, and so pulled out a scanner, sending the results over to his leader, who analysed the data collected on a similar, if not identical, machine.

"Impossible. It's overloading my monitor. I've never seen these kinds of readings before,", he muttered to himself.

On the ground level of the base, a soldier had spotted the Blade crouched by the giant, silver barrels and went to shoot, when the individual pulled out a weapon of his own, sending the soldier to the ground instantly, gun firing uncontrollably, though this meant that they had been spotted, and could no longer proceed.