The Fractured Empire: A Tale of Downfall

Chapter 24

"State your reason for approaching Apollihiri airspace."

Fucking hell...should've expected this to happen...

"We were hired by the administrator on Apollihiri to deal with some local insurgents," Boreas chimed in as he stood between me and Alannah, "Patching our credentials through...now."

Silence greeted us for several moments before a disinterested grunt answered us.

"Your credentials check out. You are cleared to land."

"Alright," Boreas answered before the line went dead, "Fucking hell, do these bastards patrol their systems like coked out guard dogs?"

"I guess they do," I murmured, not peeling my gaze away from the red, orange, and brown mass of rock before me that was Apollihiri, "Keep in mind this is one of a few genuine Federation strongholds left."

"Good point," he mused, "Alright, I'm heading back to let everyone know we're getting close."

I grunted in response and listened as my partner walked off.

"Well, we've at least arrived at our destination," Alannah mused, "I can tell Apollihiri's gonna be hospitable..."

"Uh-huh, sure seems like it..." I breathed, entering the planet's atmosphere to be greeted with a clear aquamarine sky and a serpentine layout of canyons, mesas, and plateaus stretching out before us. A few blue rivers could be seen, but I wasn't looking forward to the ungodly heat my crew would most likely have to contend with.

"Yeah...no, I take back my comment," Alannah continued, "Fucking hell...how did the UTF manage to turn this hellhole into a hideout for their goons?"

"Think about it: there're countless places for the Federation to hide their outposts and settlements in," I told her, "I have a feeling we'll be led to the largest one."

"Yep, our friends haven't left us yet," she pointed out, rolling her eyes in response, "How typical."

True to her word, the Federation crafts were still on either side of my ship. Interestingly enough, they appeared to be Spitfires. Typically, Dreadknights are used for patrolling systems. Hmm...Curiouser and curiouser.

Moving on, our guests flew ahead of us started a downward descent. Taking that as our cue to do the same, I dipped my ship down and watched as we flew into a wide canyon. I had to avoid outcroppings of jagged rock that jutted out from the canyon walls, but our flight was smooth sailing for the most part. 

We continued flying through the multi-colored canyon for roughly another thirty minutes before the walls around us began to widen out. Sure enough, we flew into a large valley that appeared to be the epicenter of several large rivers.

"Holy...shit..." Alannah breathed, "Seems like quite the desert jewel to me."

"No kidding," I murmured, "For such an arid planet, the UTF sure managed to find the right place to build a colony."

"How much you wanna bet they built some of these rivers?"

"I'd bet a substantial amount of money," I continued, shaking my head as I continued studying the advanced city before us, "The bastards even built a biodome so the colony wouldn't heat up too much."

"Well, that'll make our job easier," Alannah replied as we flew through the biodome. "What the hell...?"

"Don't ask me. I've only seen this tech a few times in the past, and it's more advanced than your humble settlement. From what I understand, the biodome we just flew through is...for lack of a better word, an artificial atmosphere commonly used in hostile environments."