The commander watched the oddly beautiful sight of lightning striking the Cylovan base. The icy ground melted a bit with each strike as blue lightning rained down from the clear skies above. Although if you looked carefully you could spot the dark hull of the Battlehawk Cruiser Accentor as she rained fire down on the base.

A drone skittering between structures took a direct hit and spasmed for a second or two before falling over dead. Every circuit in its mechanical body almost certainly had been fried. Making one less defender for her and her troops to deal with when they stormed the base.

They landed a few hours earlier on the other side of the mountains, their dropships having been launched from the carriers Horizon and Dawn. Since the plan was to storm a large underground facility they had not been equipped with any heavy equipment like tanks or walkers. This was a pure infantry operation, and once they were inside they were on their own. Given these conditions, the commander had made sure her troops were armed accordingly. Everyone had extra grenades, breaching charges, plasma cutters, and particle weapons suitable for close-quarters fighting. The XR-471 used to be a prime choice for both close-quarters and mid-range combat, while obsolete its successor the XR-520 was built on the same basic philosophy.

The XR-520 was a dual-mode particle rifle just like the 471. Employing the same two modes that it’s predecessor featured. In the primary mode it fired phased particle bolts in either single fire, burst, or continuous stream (the energy weapon equivalent to full auto). In its secondary mode, it fired a particle dispersion blast. The phased particles were compressed to the limit and then fired through an emitter lens set to disperse the particle pulse. The result was a lot like a shotgun blast. Short-range, high power, and could hit multiple targets, but power fell off dramatically with range. Quite useful in tight spaces.

The weapon is quite useful in its main mode as well. The power pack contains enough energy for roughly five hundred shots, an improvement over the old packs used with the 471 which ran dry after two hundred and forty shots. The weapon supported a maximum fire rate of 1300 bolts per minute and packed quite a punch. The phased particle bolts could punch through medium personal armor and most personal shields with ease. The weapon was effective and had a built-in digital sight with zoom control. Allowing the user to acquire their target easily, and put a hole in them even if they were over a kilometer away. These features were why the XR-520 was rapidly becoming the most popular rifle in the Refuge armed forces. They didn’t need the range it had, but its other features were key here.

Other rifles like the LRB-1258 which was designed to replace the aging LRB-1247 would not be good here. Sure the LRB-1258 was a good weapon, but it was a long-range beam weapon at its heart. It fired a phase particle beam that could punch through shields and armor and packed enough punch to be a threat to light vehicles. Its low fire rate however made it a poor choice for close quarters. So, she had her scouts trade out their LRBs for an XR series rifle.

Another weapon she had brought along was a little something called an Electro Pulser. A small-arms version of the Electro Cannon. It came in two models, a smaller less powerful wrist cannon that made a good sidearm, and the more powerful rifle version. She had every squad equipped with at least one EPR-120 the current rifle version of the Electro Pulser. It fired a lightning-like blast that was devastatingly effective against Cylovan drones. The downside was that it was a short-range weapon with a maximum effective range of one hundred meters.

She also had made sure that all squads had at least two of the wrist mount version. It had a slightly shorter range, fired slower, and less power. However, it was still very effective at knocking out Cylovan drones. The rifle could fire about eighty times a minute and carried a power pack with enough charge for 400 shots. The wrist mounted version could only fire fifty times a minute and ran dry after 340 shots.

Finally, since she did not know how many drones would be defending the facility she had made sure everyone had plenty of extra ammo. Instead of the typical four extra packs for each weapon, she had them carrying eight. It should be more than enough for the mission, but you never know.

The blue lightning falling over the base finally stopped. She surveyed the alien structures. They were quite intact for a base that was just being bombarded, but that was the point. Electro Cannons were designed to disrupt shields, and systems while leaving the target structure relatively intact. This gave them quite a few uses, and made them of great value when you wanted to capture a ship intact. Their ability to disrupt shields also made them quite valuable in bringing shields down quickly in combat.

The base was eerily silent, not a single machine moving. No sign of any activity at all. It seemed the bombardment had disabled all of the surface level drones and defense systems. She spent a few moments surveying the base, and then gave the signal.

Several units broke from cover and rushed towards the base. From here to the base the icy terrain gave no cover, so they moved in a dead sprint. Covering the distance in a hurry they moved into the base without any opposition. Supporting her initial observation that the fleet had shut down all the surface level defenses.

The commander remained in place, waiting for the first wave of scouts to give the all clear signal. Fortunately she did not have to wait long for that signal, and the other units began to move into the base. A few units would stay on the surface, and establish a forward command post with her. While other units would penetrate into the facility. The Cylovan landing pads could be used once secured to bring in reinforcements and supplies if needed. The fleet only had to maintain control long enough to secure anything interesting the facility below may hold. Fleet believes this to be a research facility for the Collective, and wants them to secure any technology they could get their hands on.

Entering the base proper, she noticed several collapsed drones that were not so apparent from a distance. A couple of infantrymen were there to greet her. “Perimeter secure, ma’am. There are no hostiles on ground level, the bombardment seems to have cleared them out.”

“Have you secured a route into the facility?”

“We found what looks like a way in, but the blast doors are sealed. I have people with plasma cutters working on cutting us a way in.”

The doors being sealed was actually rather expected. She also agreed with the choice of plasma cutters here. They were well suited for cutting through the reinforced structure of the blast doors. While those troops were securing a route into the main facility, they could pick through what is up here in the outer base.

According to scan images all of these structures were part of the defenses. They included bunkers, ground to space weapon emplacements, independent power systems, and base shield systems. Supporting all that were a series of drone barracks, a term that applied to certain Cylovan military structures. They were the machine equivalent of a barracks, and served much the same purpose. The structures were designed to stow drones not in use while also serving to recharge them, and maintain their systems. Each structure came with an attached armory that stored weapons, and power packs for the drones to use. Most Cylovan combat drones employed a modular weapon mounting system. Allowing them to change weapons to suit different roles and missions.

While everything appeared to have been fried from the bombardment, there was a good chance that their might be something interesting left behind. The drones were all made of useful materials, and the bunkers were rather hardened. Some of the tech in their may still be operational, although given the lack of activity she doubted it.

Dismissing those thoughts, she gave orders for a second sweep of the upper levels. Maybe they would find a second route into the main facility not revealed by orbital scans.

The sweep failed to turn up an alternative route, but the blast door came down without any problems. With a route open into the facility, the order was given and several units made their way into the facility. While cutting had taken some time, evidently the drones the facility had not had time to set up a defense as they entered unopposed.

At least initially, the troops managed to make it down a couple of levels before they encountered any opposition.

The scout moved carefully down the corridor, she was cloaked, but knew not to rely on that. It would keep her from being spotted in most cases, but the Cylovans could penetrate the cloak if they were actively looking. In the distance she could hear the unique sound of energy weapons being fired. A distinctive buzzzing hum echoed through the corridors, as weapons fire was being exchanged between a few squads and the defenders.

She turned a corner after checking it was clear. Thankful that this route seemed to be clear of defenders at the moment, but it likely would not last. She marked it on the map, she was making, and continued.

Her job was to find a route to the mainframe, so that the troops could escort a few hackers to the mainframe. Once they have control of the mainframe shutting down the defending drones would be trivial. Honestly she thought these Cylovan machines were flawed, she was better built than any of them. Unlike them she was entirely capable of independent action, and thought. Not to mention, the humanoid form sure had its advantages over the spider bot form the Cylovans favored for most of their drone designs. Being able to equip the same weapons her creators used themselves was certainly an advantage.

Keeping an eye on the doors she continued down the corridor. One door opened suddenly and a pair of drones emerged from the room. Both of them were clearly armed, and armored. They were combat drones, but now wasn’t the time for an engagement. She pressed herself against a wall, and observed the drones.

Her sensors detected a scan, and they moved on. Evidently they had not detected her presence, and they were moving in the same direction she had been going. It seems she had found a patrol. Without a sound, she moved to follow the patrol. Perhaps they will lead her somewhere interesting.