Chapter 272: Ch

They had to be precise and fast, as they needed to clear a path through hundreds of Minotaurs in small, sequential, and silent engagements to avoid alerting those within the core bays, which would, in turn, alert the entire ship.

“Okay!” Kaelen finally said, letting out a breath. “Everyone, a change in plans, seeing that new variables have appeared. Though we can handle them without breaking a sweat, we have to proceed under extreme constraints. We cannot alert those Minotaurs, for they can…”

The assembled Marines rolled their eyes collectively—internally, of course. “We know that already! Can we move on and tell us the changes?” they silently screened, agreeing with Adam’s suppressed thoughts: Kaelen was taking too long.

“So, here’s what we will do,” Kaelen continued, snapping back into focus.

[Initial Takeout (Intersection 1)]

“First, we will take down those six Minotaurs in front of us using the distinction-grade integrated weapons in your combat suits.”

“Since there are six, I want Adam, Daniel, Michael, Liam, Kabir, and Aarav—the six of you—to take the shot on my mark. Once they are taken care of, we will all directly move inward to intercept the moving patrols that should be joining other patrols in the middle.”

“Ah, before that: Ananya, can you neutralize those energy turrets installed all over the corridors? We don’t want to stop to destroy them and create any sound that might give us away,” he asked, turning slightly to address her.

Her face, like all others, was hidden by her suit, but her voice came through the comms: “Sure, no problem, leave it to me.”

Kaelen momentarily froze. Her mesmerizing voice pulled him into a strange realm of daydreaming. He jerked his eyes open, realizing he was about to stand there like a fool. He inwardly sweated buckets, thankful his composure had barely held.

“She really is my nemesis,” he thought, giving Ananya a swift, red-faced glance through his visor. “I talk less with her for a reason. Won’t do it! Hmph!”

“Thanks,” he managed, then quickly muted her comms channel so he couldn’t hear her voice again.

[Mid-Corridor Interception (Targeting 96-100 Minotaurs)]

“Okay, so we would need to move at a fast pace to catch up to those two Minotaur patrolling teams at that specific point,” he said, and a map illuminated in their visors, highlighting the midpoint between the first and second intersection—an S-shaped curve where the two patrol teams would meet.

“Here, we can neutralize them without alerting anyone! There will be in total about… hmm, about 96 or 100, give or take.”

Michael interjected, pointing out a potential flaw: “But, Lieutenant, because their number is huge and they are moving in smaller groups, if we go directly, won’t it let others run? The curvature of the corridor already prevents us from taking shots at all of them, and we must consider the noise they can make!”

Adam stepped in, addressing Kaelen with respectful—but extremely blunt—criticism: “Well, that’s not it, Captain. We know you won’t ignore something that obvious, at least not when you are trying not to cause any commotion. The reason we asked is—” he muttered, gathering courage—”this is taking too long for you to explain, Sir. We are not children, and you should, with respect, be more direct and quick.”

Adam then quickly turned his head, fiddling with his fingers, refusing to look at his Lieutenant.

Kaelen felt like spitting blood. Thousands of arrows seemed to pierce his chest. He glared at Adam, who played dumb, then looked at the others—many, including Ananya, were nodding in agreement. “Darn it… see how I deal with you after this mission,” he threatened internally, knowing Adam shuddered.

“Darn it… see how I deal with you after this mission,” Kaelen muttered, the threat aimed squarely at Adam, who shuddered but dared not speak further (knowing his mouth would only land him another beating). Adam felt a wave of despair but held back tears.

Kaelen shot a look at the other Marines. They, too, were speechless, yet nodding in agreement with Adam’s bold critique—and Ananya was among them.

“Darn it…” he repeated internally.

To execute the silent takedown, Kaelen moved quickly through the remaining assignments:

“To neutralize those patrols behind the initial guards, I want Emma and Sophia, along with 20 others each, using the Phase Shifter Module of your combat suits to pass through these hard walls from both right and left, respectively. On my mark, you should take care of them immediately.”

“Sam and Ava, both of you, similar to Emma and Sophia, will lead teams of let’s say 30 each—the same with left and right via Phase Shift. I want both of you to take care of the entire lineup of Minotaurs within the second intersection: those standing at the gate and the three patrolling teams. I’ll leave the second intersection to both of you.”

“Then Alex and Ryan, both of you will take a team of 50 each from left and right as you phase through these walls. I want you to similarly take care of the third intersection.”

“While for last, Noel and Jay

, you will wait for both Emma and Sophia to rejoin us after they finish their takedown here. You will take those returning Marines, with an addition of 90 others, giving both of you 65 Marines each. With them, both of you should have no trouble in taking down those Minotaurs without making any noise.”

“Just like how we will neutralize those Minotaurs in these intersections as I have explained, all of you should follow it as well. As we go deeper, the more Minotaurs we will encounter, and thus the more people I am providing each of you.”

“There should be no trouble arising unless you all are incompetent,” Kaelen concluded, taking a long, frustrated breath. He had delivered the entire complex plan in one breath, spurred on by Adam’s unwelcome direction. “Hmph.”

“Now, was that fast and direct enough, Mister Adam? Do tell us your view and provide—guide me—with that wisdom of yours,” Kaelen said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes.

The other Marines smiled inwardly, thinking: “Oh, Adam, poor you! Who told you to be so bold? Can’t you train your mouth to suffer less?” They collectively sighed as they looked at Adam, who was literally shaking, cursing his big mouth. He knew he hadn’t said anything untrue, but he had said too much in front of everyone. “Damn, damn this mouth of mine… I wish I could cut this tongue out and never let it regenerate!” he despaired internally.

“Oh, what happened, Adam? Cat got your tongue now? Why didn’t it get your tongue before? That might have saved you from the trouble you will go through in the future,” Kaelen pressed, seeing his subordinate’s visible distress.

Adam, who had his head down, looked up. His face, hidden by the visor, was stiff with terror. He felt he was facing a devil coming for him. He gulped.

“C-Captain,” he managed, his voice barely audible, “it was j-just a simple joke… n-no need to m-mind it that m-much, r-right?” he stammered and shuddered.

“Now, no use saying that, Mighty Sage Adam,” Kaelen grunted. Although Adam couldn’t see Kaelen’s face, the tone was enough. Adam constantly shuddered, as if seeing a vision of his impending suffering.

Suddenly, just as Kaelen was about to say a few more things, a beeping buzzer sounded through his combat suite, and a countdown starting at 30 seconds appeared.

“Okay, we stop here now. Everyone, it is time for us to make our move. Everything will be in place in less than 25 seconds, so move quick!”

“Emma, Sophia, both of you, hurry up! Same for others, quick!”

In an instant, as if they were already prepared, about 200 of the 295 Marines made their move. Splitting into teams, they began phasing through the metal walls of the corridors—half on the right, half on the left—making their way toward their assigned targets.

Kaelen was left with 95 Marines. He quickly unblocked Ananya’s comms, turned toward her, and asked, “Ananya, are you done with the job that I asked you off?”

She quickly replied: “Yes, it is done. All those turrets and any kind of trap should now be ineffective or unworkable.” (She desperately wanted to add that she could have made the turrets obey their commands if she’d had a few more tens of seconds, internally cursing: “Darn it, you idiot, can’t you have told us about it sooner?” as she glared at Kaelen.)

This time, Kaelen successfully suppressed the urge to daydream. He quickly looked toward Aarav, Kabir, Adam (who had pushed his dread to the back of his mind), Daniel, Michael, and Liam.

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