The strike team surged forward, a wave of soldiers and Skyblades closing the distance in seconds.

Plasma fire lit up the sky.

The fortress's automated turrets spun to life, locking onto the approaching forces and unleashing streams of superheated energy. Soldiers scattered, dodging and weaving as bolts of plasma tore through the air.

One of the Skyblades took a direct hit, its wing exploding in a shower of sparks. The pilot ejected just before the craft spiraled downward, their emergency chute deploying.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Tatehan shouted. "Don't give them an easy target!"

The strike team split into smaller groups, spreading out and attacking from multiple angles. The Skyblades unleashed their own weapons, firing missiles and plasma cannons at the fortress's turrets. Explosions bloomed across the structure, turrets sparking and shutting down one by one.

Tatehan activated his gravity manipulation, focusing on a cluster of enemy soldiers gathered on one of the platforms. He increased the gravitational pull around them, and they staggered, struggling to lift their weapons as their bodies became suddenly, impossibly heavy.

"Riven, Lyra, with me!" Tatehan called.

Riven banked hard to his left, her rifle already up. She fired twice, the explosive rounds detonating against a turret and blowing it apart.

Lyra activated her Void Step, disappearing into a black hole and reappearing on the platform ahead. She moved like a ghost, her movements impossibly fast, cutting down enemies with precise, brutal efficiency.

Tatehan led the charge, his chakrams spinning in his hands. He hurled them forward, the blades slicing through the air and cutting through armor and flesh alike. They returned to his hands a moment later, dripping with blood.

The strike team pushed forward, fighting through wave after wave of enemies.

Plasma fire lit up the sky in every direction. Soldiers shouted orders, screamed in pain, called for backup. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of burning metal.

Tatehan's heightened perception kicked in, everything slowing down just enough for him to react. He dodged a plasma bolt by inches, felt the heat sear past his cheek. He spun, releasing a burst of kinetic energy from his fist and sending an enemy soldier flying off the platform.

"Breach the perimeter!" Tatehan shouted. "Push through!"

The strike team surged forward, breaking through the fortress's outer defenses.

And then they were inside.

Tatehan's boots touched down on one of the main platforms, the rest of the strike team landing around him in quick succession.

For a moment, there was silence.

The platform was massive, wide enough to hold dozens of soldiers, lined with crates and equipment, and ringed by metal railings. Beyond the railings, the sky stretched out endlessly, the city of Waython Hollow visible far below.

Tatehan took a breath, scanning the area.

And then the doors opened.

Enemy soldiers poured out, dozens of them, maybe more. They moved in perfect formation, their armor sleek and black, their weapons raised and ready.

Far more than Tatehan had expected.

"Contact!" someone shouted.

Plasma fire erupted from both sides.

Tatehan raised his arm, activating his armor's shielding. Energy bolts slammed into the barrier, dissipating in bursts of light.

He looked around at his team, at the soldiers fighting beside him, at Riven and Lyra holding the line.

And he realized, with a sinking feeling in his gut, that this was going to be a lot harder than he'd thought.

"Hold the line!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos. "We're not backing down!"

The strike team roared in response, raising their weapons and charging forward.

Tatehan moved through the fortress like a storm, his chakrams spinning in his hands, cutting through enemy soldiersbrutally.

Around him, the strike team fought with everything they had, fire lighting up the corridors, explosions shaking the metal floors, shouts and screams echoing through the structure.

They were making progress, but it was slow and bloody.

"Torvan, status on the bombs!" Tatehan shouted into his comm, ducking behind a crate as a fire bolt seared past his head.

"Planting now!" Torvan's voice crackled back. "Three down, two more to go!"

Tatehan nodded, then vaulted over the crate and charged forward.

The strike team had split into smaller groups, each one tasked with planting explosives at key structural weak points throughout the fortress. The plan was simple, blow the supports, collapse the structure piece by piece, and get out before the whole thing came down.

Simple in theory. Hell in practice.

Tatehan reached the next planting location, a massive support beam that ran vertically through the center of the platform. Mara, one of the scouts, was already there, attaching the explosive to the beamquickly.

"Almost done," she muttered, her fingers flying over the device's interface.

"Make it fast," Tatehan said, his eyes scanning the corridor for threats.

Mara finished, stepping back.

"Done," she said. "Let's move."

They ran.

Behind them, the bomb detonated with a deafening roar. The support beam buckled, metal groaning and twisting as the structure around it began to collapse. Chunks of debris rained down, and the platform tilted violently.

"Keep moving!" Tatehan shouted, grabbing Mara's arm and pulling her forward as the floor beneath them crumbled.

They made it to the next section just as the platform behind them gave way completely, plunging into the open sky below.

Tatehan regrouped with the rest of the strike team on one of the central platforms.

Bodies littered the ground, both enemy and ally. Though those of the Red crest clan were fewer.

The strike team had lost a few soldiers already, their names flashing red on Tatehan's HUD. He pushed the thought aside. There'd be time to mourn later, if they survived.

"Two more bombs," Lyra said, her voice steady despite the blood streaked across her armor. "One at the north support, one at the core."

Tatehan nodded.

"Torvan, you take the north support," he said into the comm. "I'll handle the core."

Of course he would…

Tatehan actually needed the core, if he could he able to get it into his inventory, it would be a big win on his progress for getting the spaceship to it's full capacity.

Leading this mission would actually benefit him and that was one of the reasons he decided to take it.

Imagine what a core that powered a large fortress in the sky would do to the spaceship.

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