Just Deserts

Our story begins in the middle of seemingly nowhere. Indeed for thousands of kilometers there was nothing visible on the horizon but tumultuous sand dunes and red-rock monoliths, all arching up into the sky like a static, orange-brownish ocean littered with treacherous shoals. It was bone dry, and the only relief from the scorching sun belting down on the coarsely eroded landscape was the occasional warm breeze blowing in from the north.

To say it was entirely abandoned was mostly correct. Though that was the point. There was, in reality a rare smattering of G.U.N. military bases, which were strategically - though expensively - placed here in the boneyards of the central UZA desert to take advantage of the forced isolation. A blessing and a curse, really.

One of these G.U.N. bases in particular was seeing a lot of logistical activity at the moment, trucks coming in and out with supplies, and technical crews scurrying about in a orderly, but rushing fashion. Facilities were being pushed to their limits or shut down, the operation of this place was currently on a tight schedule, and for good reason. 3 main reasons, really.

The hustle and bustle had been forced upon this lonely, though expansive, outpost largely due to the report of an incoming threat. Empire threat. It had long been common knowledge that the Empire was setting up facilities, or reactivating old facilities, in undisclosed locations around the world. Tensions were rising on the conflict's front, and there was really little G.U.N. could do beyond defending the people. The Empire's technology was always just that few steps ahead of them, and seemed to have endless resources at hand.

Quite a few all-terrain vehicles were coming in and out of the base. Scouts. It was one of these scouting parties that had intercepted an assault recon team sent out by the Empire, a few Eggpawns, and it was clear that only more were incoming. 

The second reason for the flurry of movement within the compound was the employment of civilians at the site. Sure G.U.N. could have simply relied on the strength of their deployable soldiers and armor, but it would rapidly become far too expensive to deploy the entire cavalry, and it seemed civilians were far more willing to undergo injuries in combat without expecting a WHS payout.

The third and ultimate reason for the near-panic was, in reality, perhaps the hidden reason for both the first and second reasons. G.U.N. had just recovered one of their own experimental bipedal weapons from deep within the central UZA jungle. A new Cybred prototype. Seeing as they were being tested and deployed solely within the low-risk environments of the deserts, for now, exactly how the monolith machine had ended up in the tropical rainforest to the east was unknown. But it had been brought here to this particular base post-haste.

The heavy walker was a Talon class Cybred, and while the main classes were currently already in widespread G.U.N. use around the world, the Talon line were still in testing. Each machine was a truly devastating weapon on its own, but these new prototypes were being tested with an experimental nanonite armor plating, rendering them invisible to almost all sensors, so this one's recovery was a relief for the military budget. Currently, the beast was deactivated and undergoing critical repair in an underground hanger below the base.

As of yet the civilians who had been brought in by jeep were not made aware of the exact weapons being protected here or even where it was being held, only the incoming hostilities. 

The grey fox, however, knew. Oh he knew. At this point the fox, who was adorned head to toe in compression bandages underneath his regular G.U.N. military uniform, was just about fed up with his history of deployments in the desert. His first desert blunder had been a massive tragedy against Empire forces in Shamar, but his second and most recent - excepting his current deployment - was in this very same desert, and had involved more than just one Cybred.

That battle had been almost 2 years ago, and his current injuries weren't related at all, but they made standing out in the desert heat for days at a time almost completely unbearable. It was only salt in his wounds that this third deployment was building up to be a catastrophic combination of both his previous experiences.

"Darken, the civs are arriving now, and we've been told to start shutting down the information servers in preparation for the assault."

The fox spun around in his chair, stretching his arms out to either side of his body to allow some small relief from the sweltering heat that seemed to permeate through the concrete building, and from the constant stress of the bandages. It was his duty to acquaint the already informed newcomers to the base. They were already informed about what they needed to do here, but were yet to find out what here was.

He stood up reluctantly from the chair, moving himself away from the computer he'd been overseeing the encryption of all of the site's high-profile documents but it was now time to move on. In all honesty the reason he'd been brought here to the site was for partially the same reason as the civilians he was soon to meet. Protection of the Cybred. Darken was first and foremost and engineer by trade, though his involvement with G.U.N. meant he'd been face-to-face with these machines in combat situations, so he understood the gravity of preventing them from falling into the wrong hands.

"Yeah alright." The fox mumbled, with a half-yawn, "I'll assign them." Darken followed the other soldier out of the hut-like computer room and out into the main courtyard of the base, where the jeeps were only just now pulling up.

Out of one of the jeeps rolled out a mint-blue colored echidna, transitioning from a somersault to a powerful pose with grace. With a smirk, he stood up. For a brief moment, he gave off an air of a well-seasoned military professional. But once he tilted his head up and saluted, that energy... sort of dissipated.

"Gooooo~ood afternoon, sir!" The monotreme vocalized this with a level of bubbliness. His salute was professional, but his attitude was a bit more casual. He quickly remembered the situation he was in, and quickly made an attempt to subdue himself, putting a hand on his hip. "So, this is the desert G.U.N base I've been assigned to," he said, looking around. He fixed his view back on the fox, and extended a hand. "Sorry for the overenthusiastic intro, sir. My name's Mint, one of Toadleaf's shinobi. I've got a few years field experience, but I've been training for about seven, and I'm ready to help defend... whatever it is that needs defending."

As the jeep drove through the desert, the older horse waited patiently while the raven and the younger rat both expressed eagerness to different extents.
While the raven looked around out the windows of the jeep over the desert, the rat, standing on the shoulder of the horse, said in quite an annoyed tone, "I can't see shit, ma'. Too bright. How much longer til' we get there...?!"
The horse gives an exasperated sigh. "Be patient, Adeline. We are in no rush, we'll be there soon enough."
"Yeah, and when we get there hopefully there's a roof or something. Don't want you to become a liability." The raven snarked at the rat, apparently named Adeline.
"H- hey, not cool Sol! I'm no liability!"
"I know, jeez dude, lighten up. It was a joke."
The horse sighs, this was going to be a long ride...

Eventually, they reach the base and the jeep is parked. 'Sol' notices the echidna pretty quickly, a smirk forming across her beak as her curiosity was piqued. There was also the man in the bandages, a fox it seemed.
"What's with the mummy?"
"Now Adeline, there's no need to be rude."
"But look at him, it's true!"
"Just... Don't say that to their face... We gotta at least pretend to be professional."

Sol steps out of the vehicle, her black and purple boots hitting the ground. She... kinda gave off goth vibes, though her outfit was fairly simple. A white and gray bird wearing a black hoodie and a purple skirt. Strapped to her back in some kind of harness seemed to be a strange sniper rifle almost as big as she was, and around her neck was a Soleanna Silver Medal. She was casual, probably even more so than the echidna, but otherwise low-energy. She looked like she was only here for a job, like she was forced into this - she had a subtle disdain for everything surrounding her. G.U.N. was involved in international government affairs, after all.
Shortly after, the horse stepped out with Adeline still on her shoulder, holding onto the horse's hair. The horse didn't seem to mind despite the rat's apparent weight. The horse was rather stoic and professional - everything she did had an air of respect, even her movements as she got beside Solana and Mint, clearly being one of the tallest Mobians most people have met. The horse looked like a samurai, down to the sword in her scabbard. Somewhat fitting that today she'd work alongside a shinobi.
Finally was Adeline, who was clearly just glad to be here. Pale white and kinda rough looking, she was clearly a gremlin child.
"Hello sir. My name is Roxanne."
"Solana."
"The name's Adeline!"
"And we are Team Blackmist, at your service. If I am to understand correctly, we're here to defend an undisclosed weapon, correct?"

The small, maroon and yellow tenrec waited in the backseat of the jeep. He had a strange feeling doing something related to G.U.N. But he wanted some way to challenge himself with practicing his chaos abilities. 

Once the jeep arrived, the tenrec opened the door and hopped out into the sand. He was on the shorter end of the group of people that seemed to be a part of this team. He walked over to the group, taking a glance at all of them and then saying in a serious tone,

“The name is Drexil Grenson.” He then looked around the base and asked, “Alright, I’ve got two questions. First, who’s the person in charge here? Gotta know who I’m supposed to listen to here. Second, what is it we are here to protect?”

The swaddled fox made an attempt to lightly dab his forehead, already breaking out into a sweat in the harsh desert sun, but did little more than drench his head bandage. He could, of course, take them off, but the benefits of feeling an occasional breeze were vastly outweighed by the risk of possible infection on top of prolonging his recovery time. He sighed, trying to smile as best he could without appearing as a grimace in the scorching heat.


The all-terrain vehicles had already stopped and their passengers were now stepping out of the air-conditioned interior and joining him in the outside desert misery. There were 5 in total, which seemed to match up with the amount of people who'd expressed interest in this operation. So everything was in order then.


Besides the obvious 'mummification', the grey fox was wearing the classic G.U.N. uniform in desert camo, which was at least slightly less warm than the standard G.U.N. navy. Though everyone else was apparently wearing their own choice of garb. Which he couldn't really say surprised him. He certainly wouldn't choose to wear a G.U.N. uniform if he didn't have to, but it was still a classic civilian move.


Shaking himself loose of his own thoughts, he attempted to show a more convincing smile as he shook the enthusiastic echidna's hand. Gingerly, he might add. Although it was his usual desire to provide a firm handshake, doing so would probably hurt a lot more than he needed at the moment, given the belting sunrays.

"G'day Mint. Darken." he said, looking for a moment to the other group members before continuing his individual greeting and introduction to the teal echidna, "No need for apologies, it's good that you've still got a bit of energy in this... blistering heat. I've heard of Toadleaf cit- Village- before, but not familiar with their order of shinobi. Either way, you sound prepared and enthusiastic, so It's good to have you on board."

He wanted to use the term 'my friend' while talking to the people standing in front of him, but HQ would have his neck for being unprofessional, and it was also important to distinguish their roles in the situation. He wasn't here to be friendly, but he also didn't want to be a cold-ass.

"Hello, Roxanne, Solana, and Adeline- Team Blackmist. It's good to have a team of people working with us, as it means you're already familiar with each other and how best to coordinate your activities in the role you're assigned. Yes, you're all here to protect a G.U.N. project here at the base, and it's very assuring to have you all on board as well."

Darken could very clearly see the apathy on the raven's face, and the not-so-subtle staring of the young rodent at his bandages, so while what he said was true, the grey fox was certainly going to be keeping a slightly closer eye on them to make sure they weren't getting distracted. They struck him as... the vigilante type. And it may be considered profiling, or rather presumptuous at least, but that usually means a small bit of G.U.N. data pilfering wouldn't be beneath their interests. He'd at least be keeping that in mind.

And then finally, the camo-and-bandage clad fox turned to the rather stern figure of whom he could only describe as a hedgehog. A hybrid perhaps? He was an engineer by trade, not a biologist. So being able to delicately lay his finger on the name of any given mobian's species was not his specialty.

Darken wasn't sure whether or not to interpret Drexil's inquiry as arrogant, or blunt. But given that he was representing G.U.N. at the moment, it would be smarter to rely on the latter. "Afternoon Drexil, Head Researcher Darken here, I'm the one in charge." That was about 50% true. And that 50% was completely misleading. He was far from being the one in charge of the operation, and his position as head researcher was completely unrelated; he wasn't even supposed to be on the Cybred project team. Though the message was true; the tenric aught to be following his directions for now.

"And I do believe it was detailed in the request we sent out, but you're all here to protect a special weapons project being held here at this base. So in terms of what you're here to actually protect; I'd be allowed to say the base itself."

Now with introductions and clarity out of the way, it was time to get a little more acquainted with what exactly was already going on, as opposed to what they were here to do.

"If you'd all like to get out of the sun, then just right this way." Darken motioned, heading his way over to a temporary shelter that'd been set up to the side of the truckyard- where they were currently standing- which had a few crates supporting portable computers being typed away at by some G.U.N. logistics officers. "If there aren't any more questions, I'll get right into the debriefing?"

Mint enjoyed the shade. While it wasn't quite hot enough outside to render him unable to do anything, it was certainly a little uncomfortable. He reached into one of his bags and pulled out a blue-and-white uchiwa fan and began cooling himself off a little. 

He turned to the others as he fanned himself off. "So, you're the people I'll be working with?" he smiled brightly. "I'm certainly looking forward to it!"

Then, he turned back to Darken, now with a more serious expression. "So, I know we're defending some project; what are we defending it from?" Mint asked. The teal echidna knew something serious was up, and he figured it wasn't going to be one of the typical threats he'd heard about.

As the fox addressed the three, Roxanne listened intently, though she did smile towards the young echidna when they introduced themself to the group. A kind young man indeed.
While Roxanne was being polite and professional, Solana was getting... other feelings from the fox. She says nothing - their intentions here were genuine, if he chose not to trust them then so be it, but it was still... disappointing.

Once Darken offered them some shade, Adeline lets out a soft "Thank Chaos...", greatly appreciating no longer being out in the Sun for a bit. Solana couldn't help but scoff at this, shaking her head lightly as Darken continued talking.
"I was also curious about that, sir. With all due respect," that being none, "who could possibly be dumb enough to attack G.U.N. that you needed civilian help with?"

Drexil nodded at Darken’s response. He then followed the group into the shelter. He took a closer look at the rest of the people on this team as he thought to himself,

‘Hm… Quite a ragtag group this fox put together. Eh, I’ve worked with worse.’

He then looked around the rest of the shelter, remembering when he used to work for G.U.N. The tenrec got a feeling of deja vu from the sight of it.

“Been a while since I’ve been inside one of these shelters…” He mumbles to himself.

Perhaps the fox's mistrust was misplaced, but in the wrong position his trust would be placed until proven wrong. Assumptions can be incorrect, but it's troublesome how stubborn a person can be.

With everyone now tucked safely and comfortably underneath the sheltering shadecloth, the fox was able to breath himself a short sigh of relief, because even though he was practically cooking in his uniform, at least he was out of the sun. With the dry heat simply sucking the moisture out of him, Darken took a sip from a water bottle stationed next to one of the small computers under the shade. 

"Please, drink, it's going to be a long day." He added very quickly, motioning to a half-opened crate of disposable water bottles.

"Well..." The bandaged fox checked his watch, "We're expecting company from the Eggman Empire." He very clearly and sternly answered. Though it was difficult to get a reading on the fox's facial expression through what was essentially a balaclava, his hands trembled a little as he put the water bottle back down besides the computer, and his shout could have been interpreted as an attempt to avoid sounding fearful.

Indeed he was very afraid. Having been ambushed by Empire forces before, it is a very dangerous encounter, and not one he was hoping to experience again so soon... or ever for that matter.

As if by command, a siren called out through the camp, the tall sandstone walls of the facility acted as an echo-chamber, causing the alarms to blare from every direction. 

"Platoon of Egg Pawns sighted on an intercept course with logistics trail. Platoon is on the offensive. Repeat, Platoon of Egg Pawns on intercept course with logistics."

The fox nodded, time for evacuation efforts to stop and full lockdown to begin. "Alright you five," He said, getting a bit more panicked, but also a bit more objective-focused at the same time, "What weapons do you have with you, and what are your skills? We're going to need all of you in defensive positions around the base as soon as possible."

Mint scooped up one of the water bottles, and downed about half of it before pocketing the bottle into one of his side bags, surprisingly fully disappearing despite the bottle being taller than the bag.

When the alarm sounded, Mint prepared himself to fight. Egg Pawns didn't sound like they'd be too big of a problem individually, but a whole platoon of them could be a different story. Good thing I'll have some backup, he thought to himself. After the fox asked the group for their weapons and powers, Mint stepped forward to present himself and his capabilities, speaking quickly but clearly, knowing they were a little pressed for time.

"Let's see," Mint said as he double checked his bags. "I've got quite a few shuriken in here, should be enough to last me a couple days... I've also got some kunai at my disposal, about ten or so smoke bombs, aaand..." He paused, as he pulled out a pair of blue and black cleaver-sized blades, twirling them around in his hands. "...my trusty Leucojum. And that brings me to my next point; my skills."


He put the blades back in his bags as he spoke. "I'm a decent runner, I can jump about two stories high, an expert acrobat, and..." He pulled the water bottle back out, and gripped it with a slight firmness. In a couple of seconds, the water completely froze up, as did the plastic of the bottom half of the bottle. "...I can be a little... cold, at times. VERY cold." He quickly unfroze the water, and put it away once more. "I can pass on that coldness through my Leucojum. Things can get kinda chilly with them... Oh, and I can become sort-of invisible. It's a little hard to stay hidden while moving, but when I stand still, I'm undetectable." 

Tokino grabs a couple water bottles - one for her and Adeline, another for Solana. When Adeline is offered the water, she drinks it almost ravenously - and notably, Adeline was holding it on her own, despite it almost being bigger than her!
As the three listen in to what Darken says, Solana takes a sip of water. "Eggman Empire... Well, there's a first for everything, never faced them before." She muses, looking to her companions. 
Her disposition didn't change, even when the sirens started blaring. 
She even somewhat chuckled, grabbing her weapon off her back. 
"Woah, already?! Where are they, let me at 'em!" Adeline shouts, looking around excitedly as she grips her 'swords'. 
Tokino sighs, looking to Darken as she grips her katana. She lets Mint go first, before beginning with her own skills. 
"I am the fastest of us three and wield Akatsukiken, my katana. I am capable of energy manipulation to further boost my speed as well as the power of my sword strikes, and I can use it to redirect energy attacks. It's likely I could perhaps help young Mint here by absorbing energy around me, making it easier for him to use his freezing power?" She explains rather quickly, looking to Mint upon addressing him. 
"I'm really small and really strong! A smaller target to hit and I've easily taken down targets more than 10 times my size! I can also release energy off my swords." She says with pride and child-like energy, ready to kick butt. Of course, this was a defense mission it sounded like, and she made it clear being out in the Sun is a detriment to her, but if the other two trust her...
Speaking of which, the last of the three, Solana, speaks up. 
"I can offer support from high above. This weapon can act both as a scythe and an automatic sniper rifle, and it uses my energy as ammo. And since my energy comes from negative emotions, you could very well say that your angst, depression, anger, stress, sadness, and so on is my ammo - there'll be no worries with me around, shooting at empire forces from above." She explains, holding it over her shoulder in Scythe Mode, though she didn't ignite the blade yet for obvious reasons. 
All in all, seems Team Blackmist weren't worried in the slightest...
As Drexil would likely give his rundown, the three got ready to receive their orders of where to go.

Drexil takes a water bottle and takes a sip, before he goes on alert from the alarm sounding. His quills instinctively raise up, ready to defend himself before hearing the announcement about the Egg Pawns. He was familiar with the Eggman Empire, having worked with G.U.N. in the past, so he somewhat knew what he was going up against.

Drexil watches all the others with a serious look on his face. 'So we've got a mummified fox, a shinobi, and a trio of magical swordsman.' He thinks to himself before it's his turn to speak. "I have worked with G.U.N. before so I have quite a bit of experience with jobs like this. I also can use a few Chaos abilities. Other than that, not anything else that would be relevant or important to note."

The fox had his attention set on the group of mobians standing before him as each of them demonstrated or explained their skills and capabilities, but allowed himself to glance at one of the human operators as they left from the shady cover they were all standing under and headed off to do other important business. It was a small detail, but one that more or less added to the atmosphere of 'rush'.

As the mint-green echidna introduced himself, Darken also found himself sharing the same sentiment that Mint did. A lone Shinobi amongst what could potentially be a sizeable force of Pawns was a slightly worrying circumstance, but to underestimate a mercenary was always a mistake. For now the fox wouldn't doubt Mint's ability to hold his own, especially after his demonstration of Cryotechnics.

The speed and stealth claimed by the echidna was making him a very tempting choice as either a sentry or some sort of counterstrike team. But again, for now they'd better all stick together.

When Mint's run-down was finished, Darken thought to comment, but decided it would be better to wait until everyone was finished, and so he did.

As Team Blackmist began introducing themselves, a gentle breeze tickled the foxes hair, and a much stronger wind was faintly audible somewhere far beyond the sandstone walls of the G.U.N. facility. A dry, hot wind, no doubt; one that left your mouth full of dust. Gaia, he wished he didn't have to spend so much time in the desert.

Having two martial artists with powers to support each other was certainly going to be interesting, and in the event that everyone did need to be split into specializations at some point in the assault, the fox decided he'd give Tokino's suggestion a test. As for Adeline however, if she was indeed a miniature powerhouse, than he might have something particularly special in mind for her, though he doubted Logistical Work was going to please the young gremlin.

The fox chuckled at Solana's explanation of how her weapon functioned, though tried not to make it sound mocking. Truly he was musing on the fact that with him around she'd never possibly run out of munitions. Which really fitted, given he too was going to be playing the role of support and coordination.

Darken's fur was hidden underneath his bandages, so while it would usually have stood up on end at the sound of the alarm akin to Drexil's quills, it wouldn't have been visible. The Tenrec made his very brief introduction and it was certainly most interesting that they would have a chaos user among them. To say the fox was a little dumbfounded as to how to actually coordinate a chaos user would be an understatement.

Either way, it was now his turn to give out some orders. "Alright, well... FI-" His voice cracked, nervously. Darken attempted to play it off as simply a dry throat, and took a sip of water, but now he just needed to use the bathroom. "Firstly. Drexil, would a Chaos drive be of any use to you in assistance for your Chaos Abilities? If so I can have one of the troops bring a drive out for you."

"Secondly, I need-"

There was a distant rumble from somewhere way out beyond the walls. It sounded like the logistics trail wasn't going to make it back in one piece. The feint echo caught the attention of most of the computer operators that were still outside, and caused them all to immediately shift their focus. It was time to prepare for the hasty return of the trucks.

"Alright then. Secondly I need Mint and Tokino up on the wall, watching the front gate. Mint, does your invisibility use energy in any sort of way that Tokino could boost?" Darken flicked his hand at one of the tech-soldiers and motioned for everyone to follow him as he led the way out from the shade and over to the front gate. "Adeline and Solana I'd like the both of you to stick with me for the moment, but don't worry we won't be going anywhere away from the others. And Drexil, it's a bit late for me to ask exactly what your Chaos powers are, but you said you had some experience with G.U.N. operations like this? As long as you weren't dishonorably discharged, you're good to give some orders to my men when you need to. Of course keep in mind that their lives will be their priority over your orders given you're still currently a civilian."

Mint's expression immediately changed to a more serious, furrowed look upon hearing the rumbling. He then addressed Darken, his tone suddenly dropping to a firmer, more critical tone.

"I'm not sure on the energy thing, but it's worth a shot. Worst case scenario, I'll just have to be careful in my movements; it's certainly difficult to stay perfectly hidden while moving, but not exactly impossible. I imagine the sand being blown around from the wind might also help to further obfuscate me should I be unable to maintain perfect invisibility." 


The minty blue echidna whipped around to face the horse with a semblance of a grin, still otherwise maintaining a focused look.  

"A ronin and a shinobi working together... what are the odds," he quipped, trying to ease a little tension. He then returned to his prior, serious attitude. "While I'm not certain if you'll be able to help my invisibility, I'd say you'd probably be able to do quite a bit with my ice." He then glanced at Tokino's katana, and smiled. "Actually, you said you can boost your sword's power too, right? Perhaps we can find a way to combine my ice with that lovely katana of yours into something devastating, should we need it..." he said, already thinking of possible maneuvers involving their skillsets and weapons.


After all was said and done, he followed Darken after he made his little gesture.

With the situation quickly yet subtly growing in tension, the three stayed focused on the current task - yes, even Adeline.
Tokino took note of Drexil - damn, a chaos user. At least she already had plans to help support someone, but she never quite felt comfortable around chaos users due to her own lack of control over chaos energy.
It's not her job to be comfortable with chaos. It's her job to listen to Darken's orders and help fight back Eggman forces.
Solana could tell Darken's chuckle wasn't meant to be demeaning anyway, but beyond what his aura told her, she couldn't quite understand why. She raises a brow in response for a short moment, curious but otherwise not bothered.

The rumbling caught everyone's attention it seemed. Still, Tokino was quick to acknowledge Darken as he called attention to her and Mint for directions.
"Yes sir, I'll be right on over. However, unless his invisibility is also related to their ice powers, I'm not sure how possible it'd be for me to help with that specific technique." She explains, responding back to him with respect owed to her current superior.
She shortly after takes Adeline and puts her down on the ground beside Solana, much to Adeline's annoyance, before facing Mint, looking to him with a stoic demeanor, clearly taking the situation as seriously bas deserved.
"Indeed... It is quite amusing." She says to him, before her expression cracked and softened ever-so-slightly to a motherly grin back to him.
Aw, he thinks her katana is lovely. That's sweet.
"Let's get moving, Mint. We have our orders." She says as Mint finishes his musings on their powers, before leading the way to the front gate with him likely close behind...

Solana gives a lazed salute to Tokino before looking back to Darken. "Alright, I'm ready for whatever."
Adeline was a little pouty for being placed down like she was, but had to get over it quickly for the sake of the mission. "Yes sir!"

Drexil listened carefully to what Darken was saying before responding back. “Thank you Darken, but a Chaos Drive will not be necessary. And about my previous involvement with G.U.N., I do not know for certain, but previous records might have stated that I’ve been presumed dead.”


And to be fair, if it wasn’t for the Chaos Guardians that had found him at the crash site of his vehicle that day all those years ago, he probably would have been.

Drexil crossed his arms before saying, “But nonetheless, you’re the one in charge here, so what’s our plan of action?”

With the quiet thundering of footsteps thumping into the stone, sand, and concrete throughout the entire facility beginning to rise into a thrumming back-track, Darken waved at a couple more soldiers who were dressed head to toe in the khaki desert camo uniform and heading their way over to the gate's stairwell. "I'm sending up a pair of Mobians to help you out!" He called to them, which received a hurried "Aye" in response.

"Alright, well if the idea to boost your invisibility and use you in a forward defense team is questionable, then we won't risk it. We need as much agile defense up in the ranged position on the gate as we can; cuz the empire is gonna hit the wall with as much of their melee troops as they can to wipe out our support." The response was directed at Tokino and Mint, who he'd instructed to stick together. "But yes, join the soldiers up those stairs and await further instruction, we're going to have company soon."

Already a large dustbowl was beginning to waft its way towards the base from the horizon, clearly where the trucks were trying to race their way back to the base and whatever safety it could provide in post-haste.

"Well, I've got Roxanne and Mint on the wall to protect our first line of support cuz they're gonna get hit hard while defending the incoming survivors. But I need you and Adeline to actually help the survivors as soon as they arrive. I'm not perfectly familiar with Chaos powers, but if you can help unload any wounded, supplies, and assist in securing the gate shut once everyone's inside then that would be superb. Same applies to you Adeline, you're a strong lady so I thought I'd give you a test of your strength." He instructed both the Tenric and Rat before moving finally moving over to Solana and motioning for her to follow as he led the way towards an adjacent building.

"Now, as for you Solana, I won't be taking you far from the rest of Blackmist, but I need you on the highest ground we can get you, while also keeping close to everyone else. I also don't know if it actually helps or not, but I'm a massive grouch underneath these bandages so you might have a bottomless magazine if you stick by me. I need to stay far from physical combat while also remaining close by, plus coordinating everyone. Because of all these things I'm bringing you-" He says, parting the green curtain acting as a placeholder for a door, "-into the radio building. On top of this hut is a radio tower which you should be able to climb for a height advantage. I'll stay either inside here or just on top of the roof."

The desert sun had now reached its zenith and glared down on everyone outside of shelter like an overbearing meter-maid. The sandstone wall which served as a perimeter for the base was maybe no more than 7 feet thick, with an upper battlement about 5 feet wide. There wasn't going to be much leg room for Tokino and Mint with the 2 dozen or so soldiers that were to join them there. Especially once the gunfire began.

Apart from the upper levels, the gate itself was merely a sandstone structure with a thin, hardened steel plate as a massive double-doored entrance. Right now the doors were opened, but it seemed by the use of a hand-crank just inside the wall, it could be forced shut. As soon as the last truck made it inside, it would be imperative that the doors be closed before any empire forces made their way in behind.

Meanwhile the radio room was no more than a room full of shelves and shelves of electronic servers, computer equipment, and a commander's seat with several microphones and controls. There was, however, a ladder which led to the roof, where indeed a large radio tower stood maybe 5 stories high, and ample place to get a foothold and climb or rest a rifle to spot from.

Mint lead the way up to the spot on the wall he and Roxanne would be at, overseeing the entrance with his partner, alongside the other soldiers. He readied a few shuriken, and kept a close eye out for the Egg Pawns.

"Alright, so... Egg Pawns. I think I've actually heard of them before. Some of them have shields which can be a bit of a problem if we can't blow 'em off, first." He then turned to his partner. "If you charged me up, I could probably use my ice breath to blow them all away, but I'd probably have to go down there for it to be effective... Do you have any ideas on how we can take out their shields from up here?"

Tokino followed not too far behind Mint to their station, hand on the hilt of her blade once they reached their destination, ready to act at any moment. As Mint spoke, Tokino thought through their options and sighed.
"Sadly, I don't have any ideas. I tend to be more of a... close-ranged fighter myself. Unless you were able to extend your powers further with my help, it might be best for you to just go down there. If you need me to I'll go too, my best method of boosting your power is absorbing the thermal energy around us and making it cooler, but if you go down there you'd possibly be out of my range." There was a hint of frustration in her voice, like she suddenly felt there was a problem, but she kept her cool and remained ready all the same.

"Alright, I'm on it! You can count on me!" The young rat squeaks with a hop and a flex, before looking to Drexil when the gate opened and rushing on over to be ready to help, as she was asked. While she'd prefer to be fighting, she gets that this is important and that she shouldn't waste time.
"That makes sense. Got it." Solana said with a nod.
It wouldn't be long before she reached her spot at the top of the radio tower, staying close to Darken but otherwise taking a rather indirect path.
Being a bird helped a lot.
Once up there, she waited for Darken to reach the radio tower, before calling down to him. "Hey uh... just gonna give you a heads up? I'm good on ammo now, but when I need to reload I'll have to come down to swipe you with my scythe. It won't hurt... unless I let it, but you don't have to worry about that." Afterwards, she relaxed at the top of the tower, watching the horizon from her bird's eye view as she got her rifle ready...