Chapter 561: Dustball Planet

"We need the traitor alive," Xavier said. "According to intel so far, he knows the location of the next fragment. A blast like that kills him and destroys our only lead."

Rin raised a hand. "What about the bots we stole from the raid on Crimson Haven?"

Xavier shook his head. "Their trackers are still active. Activating those units alerts the Empire's warship to our position in seconds. We are in no position to deal with that kind of heat."

Kylus adjusted his skeletal grip on a rifle. "Should we send drones?"

"That base is a ghost," Xavier replied. "It is shielded on all sides and built to withstand orbital strikes. There is zero signal output. The drones will accomplish nothing."

Silence settled over the group.

Kylus looked up. "We are out of options, Captain. You give the order."

Xavier sighed loudly and dragged his hand through his hair with a dramatic flair. "In the end, I have to do everything myself."

Lyra crossed her arms and smirked. "You could wake her up. The woman you left knocked out in your bed possesses enough power to flatten this base like a twig."

Xavier shook his head with a serious expression. "We have been fucking nonstop, and I kept her awake for two days straight. Waking her up right now is a death sentence for me."

Viola snorted.

A spark flickered in Xavier's eyes as a massive grin carved its way across his face.

The crew groaned in unison.

"He is going to say something insane again," Rin muttered.

Lyra narrowed her eyes. "Don't."

Xavier pointed toward the towering mountain shielding the enemy's underground base. "That mountain serves as their only line of defense. Removing the mountain solves half the problem."

"How do you plan to remove a mountain without damaging the base underneath?" Viola asked.

Xavier walked past them to stand at the edge of the cliff, facing the giant mass of rock as the crew followed a few steps behind.

"If you guys haven't guessed it yet, I have also not slept in two days, so I am going to be out of action for a bit after this," Xavier said over his shoulder. "Try to keep things running while I recover. Remember that I want the traitor alive for questioning."

He turned back to face the crew. "Whoever pulls the most weight in this operation gets the usual reward."

"Your dick again?" Lyra asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly." Xavier grinned. "Two hours of whatever you want. Bite it, ride it, choke on it. I am your toy."

"Two hours is a tight window," Reva complained. "You always finish fast anyway."

"I will consider extending it. And where I come from, thirty minutes is far above average. Now shut up and watch."

He held up his right hand and peeled the glove off finger by finger, moving with absolute confidence. His bare hand glowed with pale golden starlight as he pointed directly at the mountain and clenched his fist.

The mountain twitched. The ground vibrated violently beneath their boots. A deep, guttural sound tore through the valley as the earth groaned in protest. Cracks spiderwebbed across the surface of the peak. Boulders tumbled down the slopes, sending massive clouds of dust upward.

Xavier raised his hand upward.

The entire mountain lifted off the ground intact, severing from the earth like a blanket pulled from a bed. The sky darkened as the dust cloud spread. The sheer force exposed the base underneath, revealing ancient lights flickering across steel and titanium layers deep within the crater.

Xavier glanced at the base and then looked back at his crew. He swatted his hand to the side.

The mountain flew through the sky. It crashed into the far horizon with an earth-shattering boom and vanished in a plume of smoke.

Xavier cracked his neck.

"Now, go say hi to our little rat. I will take a nap here."

Xavier dropped onto the grass at the edge of the cliff and closed his eyes as exhaustion took him instantly. Lyra and Reva exchanged a sharp look, their competitive instincts flaring at the prospect of claiming the captain's reward.

Kylus charged forward before anyone else could formulate a plan. His opalescent skin caught the harsh sunlight while his hands gripped a massive thermal cutter. The mutineers inside had betrayed Bull and left their former captain for dead, and Kylus wanted their heads.

Scrambling down the crater toward the exposed hyper-titanium structure, Kylus reached the main blast doors first. He jammed his superheated cutter directly into the central lock to slag the metal instantly, allowing him to kick the doors inward with sheer brute force.

Red emergency lights bathed the entrance alongside blaring sirens as the ancient military auto-defenses activated. Laser grids snapped across the corridor just before a dozen mechanical guards stomped out from hidden alcoves.

Requiem stepped through the smoking breach and hoisted his mechanical greatsword, swinging it in a devastating arc that crushed the vanguard of mecha-guards into useless scrap.

"Move up," Requiem called out to secure the entry point for the others.

Viola slipped past him like a shadow. Her matte-black battlesuit blended perfectly into the dark corners of the hallway as she deployed her collapsible staff to vault effortlessly over a sweeping laser grid. Landing behind the defensive line, she drew her specialized daggers to systematically dismantle the turret control panels with clinical efficiency.

A squad of armed mutineers rushed down the adjoining corridor and fired a volley of plasma bolts, but Rin stepped directly into the line of fire. His twin dark steel swords flashed as he projected a brilliant silver-light aura, deflecting the incoming bolts with a series of reactive parries before dashing into the enemy ranks. His blades sheared right through their starship-grade armor to leave the mutineers in pieces on the floor.

Reva and Lyra ignored the frontline grunts entirely to sprint deeper into the facility, racing each other for the highest body count.

"I am claiming the two hours," Reva yelled over the gunfire.

She activated her Crimson Spiral Circulation, blurring into an animalistic frenzy. Her talons tore through a group of defenders, puncturing chests and severing major arteries before the men could even raise their weapons. Blood painted the metallic walls as she secured another five kills.

"Keep dreaming, leech," Lyra shot back.