-=+ +=- [COMPLETED] The Second Universe -=+ +=-

Part 12: A Game Changer

Tempus activated a function in his UI. It caused drones nearby to flash, as his armor seemed to fade and CROS-style officer uniforms appeared on him. Turning to the other members of his fireteam and the SF operators, very similar clothes had appeared on them as well, a few wearing CROS tactical gear. Taking another look again, he confirmed they were all in camo. "Go ahead, LT." Tempus said to William, some OFR operators also joining in last-minute.

The team headed down a hallway, which lead to a portal room. The portal had 'Reactor #20 and Logistics Center' written on a holographic sign above it, and Tempus, the Lieutenant, and a few others entered. As soon as they did, they noticed CROS people at the other side. The group immediately raised stolen CROS rifles and knelt, pointing them at the portal.

A CROS Sergeant in the room, remembering where the portal was linked to, immediately issued orders. "DEFEND THE PORTAL! THE INTRUDERS MIGHT COME THROUGH!" At this, the other CROS personnel raised their rifles and assumed defensive positions with optimal fields of view. A few minutes passed, and CROS reinforcements arrived. One of them patted Tempus on the shoulder, letting him know he could leave.

Tempus motioned to William, who reassumed command and lead the group out. They turned down a long hallway, filled with other CROS soldiers in defensive positions. Soon, they reached another right side turn, filled with more soldiers manning defensive positions, including men armed with rocket launchers. Tempus pinged them as he passed, until the team was halted.

A different perpetually angry-looking CROS Sergeant stopped them. He wore his helmet over his eyes, and he stopped the infiltration team. "Alright, askin' for verification. Code word?" "Emerald." Tempus responded, and the Sergeant nodded. "Alright go get the fuck out of here, space bugs!" The Sergeant said, gesturing for them to run past him as he held up a rocket launcher.

Passing through more hallways, the team arrived at a tube road, where CROS armored vehicles drove through. The LT peeked through, at his left and right, and found the passages essentially traffic jammed by armored vehicles, heading up a ramp and onto the stronghold's roof. Looking above the vehicles, it seemed to go on for a few hundred lanes.

"Let's ghost up." Tempus said, going invisible and starting to levitate. The others followed suit, and simply started levitating, phasing through the CROS' armored vehicles in their way. Their crews were totally unaware of this, and their sensors were not picking up on it either, staying silent. Eventually, all of the CROS vehicles reached the roof, and the team had crossed to the other side.

Past a few more layers of easily-passed reactor security measures such as thaumaturgic barriers among other obstacles was the reactor itself. The Lieutenant transmitted to the other groups. "We're at reactor 20. Rest of you in pos[ition]?" An affirmative response came over the transmitter, causing the Lieutenant to smile. "Tossing target designators down."

Bright flashes appeared on the NWU and OFR UI systems, marking the locations of the stronghold's reactors. Smiles almost always appeared on the faces of the ship controllers on both sides, who proceeded to have their carriers, the Supernova and Motherland class respectively, fire their accelerators.

The massive projectiles fired from these systems flew towards the reactors and detonated within a set range of 500 kilometers, which allowed not only them to detonate, but also triggered critical damage and overheating in the thaumaturgic reactors. This caused them to violently and brightly explode, taking out Saturn-sized sections of the stronghold when they ignited.

Chaos immediately broke out, the SF operators abandoning their forward operating base and returning back to the ships they had deployed from. CROS personnel were almost immediately subjected to outer space when their section was hit by the reactors going off, which, while survivable due to their bioengineered bodies, was still deeply uncomfortable.