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  He figured that there would be an aerial drone he could make, or something equivalent, as most base-builder players would need to survey areas.

  His eyes settled on the word 'Sky Guard.'

  Riley's brow lifted. He tapped on the word to bring up the schematic.

  -

  Sky Guard 1b

  Name: Sky Guard

  Hitpoints: 1,000

  Energy: 1,000

  Command Potential: 0

  Primary stats:

  Power: 28

  (25 Base damage upon hit by energy beam. (Modified by Power.))

  Constitution: 10

  Toughness: 8

  Mind: 0

  Stamina: 10

  Dexterity: 32

  Command: 0

  Secondary stats:

  Command Point Requirement: 150

  Stealth Rating: 200

  Stealth Detection: 0

  Accuracy: 80%

  Skills:

  Silent

  (Makes no sound when moving around.)

  Anti-Grav Flight

  (Has the ability to fly continuously without fuel or energy use. Flight is based on hovering. It has slow turning and slow acceleration.)

  Stealth

  (Allows the entity to vanish from sight when it hasn't taken or dealt damage in three seconds.)

  Cost:

  Waste Rock: 40

  Iron Ore: 55

  Copper Ore: 75

  Crithil Dust: 60

  Epzyte Crystals: 5

  -

  By the time Riley had finished reading the details of the sky guard, his eyes were wide. "You've got to be kidding, this is perfect," he murmured. "I guess its damage could be a little higher, though. It's…wow, expensive. Hell, that's probably more expensive than those three scorpions I was with. Let's see…oh, damn, they take one-hundred and fifty command points? Well, there go my dreams of commanding a fleet of them. Not that I'd be able to afford building them, that is," he sighed.

  He noticed that the schematic was currently constructable, which meant that he had the resources at the base to build it. It could recharge via the base's power by extending a cord into any one of the connection ports at the top of the buildings, like the aerial drone.

  He quirked his lips to the side, pondering the cost and the utility of the drone. He really wanted it. Like, really bad. He chewed on his lower lip. Should he consult with Chrono first? The base technically belonged to the alliance and not just himself. For all he knew, the schematic could be modified and improved if he took it back to Chrono. So that was probably what he should do. Despite how desperately he wanted to go and build one right now to see what it could do, he had to wait.

  He got out of the chair and went to the socket that held the data-drive. He ejected it and then opened his inventory to place it inside. He watched it disappear and sighed. Maybe Chrono would let him command one of the sky guards at some point. For now, the sky guard was their only real aerial unit, unless he wanted to try ascending into the sky on his own, on the back of an aerial drone that was meant for reconnaissance.

  He grinned as he remembered what he'd done previously with the aerial drone.

  "System, are you able to set up a schedule for teleporting a set amount of resources to Crimson HQ?"

  "A scheduled teleportation measure can only be created with a facility that the base has an active link to, via the communication module. Currently, no facilities meet that requirement."

  "Ah, like Chrono said…a multifaceted problem." Riley shook his head. "Alright. Can you at least send a portion of our resources to Crimson HQ, right now, with me here?"

  "Yes, I can do that as long as a commander is present with the appropriate contacts and permissions."

  "Ah, you're pulling the information from my contact list, but you can't store it when I'm not here? Eh, oh well. I'm not going to think too hard on it. That's fine. Can you send…wait, let me check one thing," he said as he went back over to the command chair and quickly pulled up the base's inventory. He noticed that Chrono had made a few more mortar rounds and had brought the trooper count up to 25. He checked the supply of epper rods and everything else. The base was running fine on what was currently installed, and would be good for several days. He'd be able to transport all their materials to Crimson HQ without issue, not to mention, more materials would continue to arrive every so often that T-One would be able to use in case he needed them for defense. Aaron's data-drive was still installed, which would have everything T-One would need to defend the base, except for mortar rounds.

  "Alright. System, go ahead and send all the resources we have in storage to Crimson HQ. Except for any actual items, like weapons and ammo and munitions."

  "Displaying list of queued items to be sent," said the system, as a screen appeared before Riley's eyes as he sat in the chair. Riley slowly scanned through the list, which showed a number beside each of the resource names. He nodded. "Yeah, go ahead and send it."

  "Transportation will commence in ten…nine…"

  With that, Riley stood up. "Was there anything else I was supposed to do?" he spoke to himself as he walked around the room. "Hmm. I haven't been gone long. System, have you been scouting around with the aerial drone?"

  "Only in a near proximity to the base, just outside the range of the base's actual scanning range."

  "I see," Riley murmured. "So…Hmm. Do me a favor and can you send that drone up into the sky, really high up? Like…let's say…two-hundred feet above our scan range?" Riley imagined that since the angler from earlier hadn't been detectable by the base's system, the aerial drone wouldn't have better luck. The drone was decently fast on its own, so it could surely outrun anything trying to 'eat' it. "Oh, and is the drone's stealth detection better than the base's?"

  "The base's scanner was upgraded by Chrono, improving its stealth detection. The stealth detection of the aerial drone is currently equal to that of the base."

  Riley's brow furrowed. "So, earlier, when that creature attacked me outside the base, the stealth detection of the base was less than that of the aerial drone?"

  "That is correct."

  "But now they're of equal stealth detection strength?" Riley questioned further.

  "That is correct."

  "Hmm," Riley murmured.

  He made his way out of the command center and soon enough, was standing just outside of the structure. He looked into the night sky and reached up and flipped his goggles back on so that he could see properly. He switched the stealth-vision on, but nothing different appeared in his sight, other than the shimmery view on everything that let him know that the stealth detection was currently active.

  He ran over to the still-standing storage building and jumped so that he could hit its wall with his boots. He ran up the side of the building, all the way to the roof. Wall-walking was a lot easier without a pack on his shoulders, that was for sure.

  Once on the roof, he carefully observed his surroundings. He walked the edge of the roof, checking down into the streets below, noticing his patrolling troopers walking on their routes. He left them alone and was just happy to know that everything was working properly.

  The solar arrays on the roof were in perfect working order as well and hadn't taken any new damage, else the system would have notified him. He decided to walk to the center of the half of the roof that didn't have any solar arrays. He looked up and glanced around. There weren't many clouds. He could see some stars speckling the night sky, but as per usual, the moon wasn't around.

  Riley didn't know if what he was about to do was a good idea or not. He was curious about the practicality of it, along with whatever might result.

  He thought about it for a minute, wondering what the worst possible scenario could be. He shrugged. "Won't know till I know," he murmured.

  He created an orange gem roughly the size of a golf ball in his left hand and then formed the amber gel on his right. He morphed the slime into a two-foot long sling. He moved the gel with his mind and placed
the gem in the bottom of the sling. Then, he brought his arm back and with a fling of his arm and the mental release of the gem, he sling-shot the jewel into the sky, as far as he imagined he'd be able to.

  He watched as the gem glinted ever so slightly in his view. He squinted, peering through his goggles. The orange gem went higher and higher. He kept a close eye on it.

  When it reached the zenith of its momentum and looked as if it was about to start falling, he triggered it.

  A bright explosion the size of a truck lit up the sky. It was surely visible from a distance, though to him, it wasn't as bright due to the goggles.

  On second thought, maybe he shouldn't be doing this? He might alert nearby players. Well, it was too late now.

  He watched the momentary explosion and subsequent smoke. Nothing revealed itself. He quirked his lips from one side to the other. "Maybe…one more," he murmured as he then loaded up another gem in the slime sling. He shot another gem into the sky and waited until it reached its maximum height. He detonated it, just like the first.

  An explosive 'poof' lit up a piece of the sky. He watched for a few seconds and shook his head. This was hopeless.

  "System, are my gem explosions detonating above the highest range of the stealth-scanning capability of the base?"

  "They are," came the digital voice from his wrist-band.

  "By how much?"

  "I cannot calculate what I cannot scan."

  "Ohhh, right. Yeah, that makes sense. You can't like…calculate its trajectory upon leaving the scan range?"

  "I cannot."

  "Huh, interesting," Riley mused. He loaded up another gem and tossed it up. He detonated this one about a second or two earlier.

  "Could you detect that one?" he asked.

  "I could not."

  "But you see the explosions, right?" he questioned further.

  "I can tell that you are hurling an explosive-capable component. The cameras of the facility are able to see explosions in the sky, but they are outside of my scan range."

  "If you saw an explosion with the cameras, but it was outside of scanning range and it wasn't of my own making, would you notify me of it?"

  "Yes, that is one of my priorities."

  "Good to know," Riley murmured. He threw a fourth gem into the sky, detonating it a little earlier than the last.

  "Did you detect that one exploding?"

  "I did. It was seven feet from the maximum scan range."

  "Interesting," Riley mused. "Not sure how this entirely helps me, but…good to know. How about this, system, can you just circle and zig-zag the aerial drone around fifty to a hundred feet above us?"

  "The drone is already deployed, and is now navigating to a route in the vicinity above you."

  "Great," Riley said, noticing the drone coming in from a route nearby. Apparently, it had been scouting in the distance.

  "How high is the drone currently?" he asked.

  "The drone is one-hundred and twenty-three feet from the maximum scan range height of the base."

  "And what's the radius of the drone's scan range?"

  "One-hundred and fifty feet," the system replied.

  "Alright, position it so that it's one-hundred and fifty feet above the max height of the base's scanning capabilities."

  "It's on its way."

  Riley had another gem prepared by this point, and set it in his sling. He hummed to himself, just waiting for the drone. This was probably a useless endeavor, but he figured he might as well go through with it while he was here.

  Riley could see a yellow indicator in his vision for the flying drone. He could just barely make out its frame. It sped up into the sky at a slight angle. He waited, and waited.

  The drone reached what Riley imagined its designated height would be, but it was still heading toward its location due to how far out it had been.

  An orange indicator lit up in the sky. It was the same indicator that the system was supposed to use for anything it considered unknown and possibly threatening.

  "Alert, possible threat detected," the system said within a moment of the indicator appearing.

  "So something's up there then?" Riley asked with a slow smirk.

  The orange indicator shifted slowly, but as the drone neared it, the indicator moved away more rapidly, as if trying to escape its scan range.

  "I thought you said the drone had stealth detection?" Riley asked as he squinted some more. "I don't see anything other than the indicator."

  "An indicator appears if a threat is detected. The stealth capability of the possible threat must be slightly higher than that of the drone's stealth detection. Thus, the identity of the possible threat cannot be revealed."

  "Alright, um…hmm, it's not moving very fast," said Riley as he watched the drone move. "Have the drone chase it toward me, but above me. Not down toward me. It seems to be fleeing from the drone."

  Riley then watched as the drone shifted and flew around in a slightly more erratic but slower pattern in order to push the threat in Riley's direction.

  Another orange indicator appeared as the drone got closer, still chasing the first.

  "Second possible threat detected," the system spoke, just as Riley had begun to.

  "Another one?" Riley murmured.

  The second indicator tried to flit away from the drone. The drone wasn't able to easily keep up with both of them, but both orange indicators were loosely moving in his direction, while remaining high in the sky.

  Another orange blip.

  Then another.

  "Two…"

  Another orange blip.

  "Three new possible threats detected," the system notified him.

  Riley could easily see five indicator lights moving around in the drone's scan range. His eyes slowly widened.

  Another orange indicator.

  Another, and another.

  They appeared one after the other, and the system continued to announce them in groups of two and three.

  The drone zoomed overhead, directly above him in the sky.

  Riley's eyes were wide, his jaw low.

  The drone circled a mass of nineteen orange indicators.

  Chapter 18: Threats Detected

  "Nineteen threats detected, with individual hostiles moving in and out of detectable range," the base's system told him.

  "They're right above me!" Riley shook his head. "They know I'm here? What are they doing?"

  "Intention of possible threats, unknown."

  Riley barely let the system finish speaking before he slung another gem into the sky. The drone was flying around in a circle now, somewhat corralling the indicators into a pile above him. But even before it started doing this, there was a large concentration of indicators there already.

  He watched the gem soar into the sky, but as it approached the mass of indicators, the orange blips shook in place, then darted off in all directions. They were well out of range of the gem and its possible explosion radius as it reached its height—which took it a little higher up than where the indicators were looming.

  Riley went ahead and detonated the gem at its zenith and watched the indicators keep their distance, before slowly flowing back into place.

  "What the hell?" Riley growled. "So how long have they been up there? Did I draw them in when I used the first explosion, or were they up there already? The mortars might be able to reach them, but…how accurately would I be able to even try? If I miss, I might hit the base since they're right above me." Riley quickly tried to work out a possible plan as he spoke to himself. "Let's see, there's nineteen of them, probably twenty or more. But I've only got twenty-five troopers with rifles."

  Riley thought back to the angler he'd fought. If these things were anglers, then they wouldn't have a huge amount of hitpoints, since the angler only had around 1200 if he remembered correctly. The one he'd fought earlier hadn't been hard to kill once he'd freed himself from it.

  "System, you already sent away all our resources, didn't you?"

>   "That is correct."

  Riley sighed. "Now I can't make the sky guard even if I wanted to. But what could it even hope to do against that many anglers? I still can't even see if they're anglers or not. They could be something else entirely, but the way their indicators moved implied that they very well could be anglers. System, do you have any ideas on how I can deal with these things outside the base's scan range?"

  "No ideas available."

  Riley rolled his eyes.

  If he left the base now, would the anglers try to attack? Could they detect if he was inside a building or not? But then again, who knew what capabilities these things had? He looked around the base and spotted the nearest of four machine gun emplacements that Chrono must have constructed. He then looked back up to the sky. “System, can you shoot those indicators with the machine guns?"

  "The indicators are outside the optimal range of the turrets. The machine gun emplacements have a high accuracy falloff when trying to hit targets beyond optimal range. The turrets in question fire a significant amount of low-damage bullets. It is statistically possible that some shots may hit their target."

  "But you could technically aim the turrets in the direction of these indicators above us and fire at them?"

  "That is correct."

  "Good. Can you estimate how many bullets are likely to—"

  Suddenly, all the orange indicators disappeared, along with the yellow indicator for the drone.

  "What just happened?" Riley yelled.

  "Unit lost. The aerial drone that was scouting the potential threats has fallen out of communication range."

  "Was it destroyed?" Riley asked quickly.

  "Unknown. The signal being sent from the drone has been lost."

  "Crap crap crap!" Riley's fists clenched. "Can we construct another…crap! We just sent all our resources away. System! How long until we might have enough resources to create a new drone?"