"I can do sothing... if..."
That was what Torvan replied with after Tatehan had finished narrating his current situation.
Tatehan stood there, his armored hand gripping the phone, his visor reflecting the chaotic scene around him as fighters continued to load salvaged weapons into transports and secure prisoners. Bjorn was nearby, overseeing the operation with his usual commanding presence, but Tatehan’s focus was entirely on the conversation he was having with Torvan.
"If what?" Tatehan asked, his tone urgent. "We need to move these chs, Torvan. They’re too valuable to leave behind, and we don’t have the equipnt here to transport them."
There was a pause on the other end of the line, and Tatehan could almost hear the gears turning in Torvan’s head, the man’s mind already working through possibilities, calculating variables and running through scenarios.
’Yeah, I know you think like a genius, far better than even, and you run better scenarios in your mind, but he quick about it.’ Tatehan thought.
"If you can give access to their internal systems," Torvan said finally, his voice with sothing that sounded almost like excitent. "If you can get the right codes and disable their anti-intrusion protocols, I can hack into them remotely. Take control of their operating systems and make them move on their own."
’Make them move on their own?’
Tatehan blinked behind his visor, montarily stunned by what he had just heard. "You can hack into them? From all the way back at the base?"
"Yeah," Torvan confird. "I’ve got the equipnt here. High-frequency transmitters, signal boosters and all this stuff you won’t understand lol. I can interface with their systems as long as you give the access I need. But I’m going to need you to do so legwork on your end first."
Tatehan’s mind was already doing wonders, processing what Torvan was asking for. The guy was not only able to build tech but also do so serious hacking. And if hacking into military-grade chs remotely qualified as "so bit," then Tatehan was honestly impressed beyond words. This was the kind of thing that sounded impossible, the kind of operation that should have required specialized equipnt, a team of engineers, and probably weeks of preparation.
But Torvan was talking about doing it right now, in the middle of a battlefield, with nothing but the tools he had back at his workshop and Tatehan’s cooperation on the ground.
He hadn’t even been prepared earlier, it hadn’t taken him a week to think about, he just kinda ca up with sothing on the fly.
Kinda like he improvised.
"Alright," Tatehan said, his voice steady despite the adrenaline still coursing through him. "What do you need to do?"
Torvan’s instructions ca quickly, his tone shifting into sothing more technical and more focused. Like he was so different guy.
"First, you need to get inside one of the chs. Find the main control panel,it should be in the cockpit or near the central processing unit. There’s going to be a series of identification codes displayed on the interface. Read them out to , exactly as they appear. No mistakes."
Tatehan was already moving, jogging toward the humanoid ch that was still standing dormant in the back of the base.
He rembered doing sothing similar like this when he repaired the spaceship manually back at the Spaceship. He had did so bit of manual repairs ( many hours), so he had so experience.
Especially in talking instructions.
Now he climbed up the side of the machine, his armored hands finding purchase on the plating, and he hauled himself into the cockpit. The interior was cramped, filled with panels and displays that glowed faintly. Tatehan scanned the interface until he found what Torvan was talking about.
A string of alphanuric codes, displayed in bright green text on a central screen.
"Got it," Tatehan said, and he began reading them out, his voice clear and audible:
"Alpha-Seven-Nine-Delta-Niner-Kilo..."
Torvan repeated each code back to him, confirming the sequence, and Tatehan could hear the sound of typing on the other end of the line, the rapid clicking of keys as Torvan fed the information into whatever system he was using.
"Good," Torvan said after a mont. "Now, look for a panel on the left side of the cockpit. It should have a series of colored wires running through it. You’re looking for the blue ones. There should be three of them, bundled together."
Tatehan found the panel, pried it open with his armored fingers, and peered inside. The wires were exactly where Torvan had said they would be, their insulation bright blue against the darker tangle of red and yellow cables.
That made him wonder how Torvan knew that. Perhaps by models? Or it was norms in all standard chs?
"I see them," Tatehan confird.
"Cut them," Torvan said. "All three. Those are the anti-intrusion safeguards. They’re designed to prevent remote access to the ch’s systems. If you don’t cut them, I won’t be able to get in."
Tatehan did not hesitate. He summoned his sword from his inventory, reached into the panel, and sliced through the blue wires one by one. Each cut sent a faint spark flying, and the displays in the cockpit flickered for a mont before stabilizing.
"Done," Tatehan said, unsummoning the sword back to his inventory.
"Perfect," Torvan replied, and Tatehan could hear the grin in his voice. "Alright, give a minute. I’m sending the intrusion protocol now."
There was a long pause, and Tatehan stood there in the cockpit, his heart pounding, his mind still trying to process the fact that this was actually working. He glanced out through the ch’s viewport, watching as fighters continued to load equipnt and secure the area, and then he heard Torvan’s voice crackle back through the phone.
"I’m in," Torvan said, his tone triumphant. "I’ve got full control. You’re going to want to get into the larger ch now, the humanoid one. I’ll pilot it remotely. The spider ch too, if you want, but the humanoid is the priority."
Tatehan grinned beneath his helt. "You’re a genius, Torvan."
"I know," Torvan agreed. "Now get moving. I’m booting up the systems."
Tatehan climbed out of the cockpit and jogged over to where Bjorn was standing, his massive fra silhouetted against the Martian sky. He tapped the Viking on the shoulder, and Bjorn turned to look at him.
"We’re good," Tatehan said. "Torvan’s hacking into the chs. He’s going to control them remotely and fly them back to Waython Hollow."
Bjorn’s eyebrows rose beneath his helt. "He can do that?"
"Apparently," Tatehan said, still slightly in disbelief himself. "We need to finish evacuating this place, though. Once the chs are airborne, we blow the bases."
Bjorn nodded, his expression shifting into sothing more serious than it already was. "Aye. Let’s do it."
He turned and raised his voice, shouting orders to the assembled fighters. "Empty the bases! Take everything that’s not nailed down! We’re blowing this place in five minutes!"
The fighters moved quickly, their pace accelerating as they hauled the last of the equipnt out of the structures and loaded it onto the transports. The bases were stripped clean now, every weapon, every piece of ammunition, every useful item taken away, leaving only empty shells behind.
Tatehan climbed into the cockpit of the larger humanoid ch, settling into the pilot’s seat even though he would not be the one controlling it. The interior humd to life around him, the displays lighting up, the systems booting under Torvan’s remote command.
And then, with a low, chanical groan, the ch began to move.
It stood, its massive legs straightening, its arms hanging at its sides, and Tatehan felt the entire fra shift beneath him as Torvan tested the controls. The movent was smooth, precise and far more coordinated than Tatehan had expected for a remotely piloted machine.
"How’s it feel?" Torvan’s voice crackled through the comm.
"Feels good," Tatehan replied, grinning. "You’ve got this thing moving like it’s on autopilot."
"Because it is," Torvan said. "Alright, hold on. I’m activating the flight systems."
The ch’s back opened, panels sliding aside to reveal thrusters that ignited with a roar of energy. Tatehan felt the sudden lurch as the machine lifted off the ground, its feet leaving the dirt, and then it was airborne, rising steadily into the Martian sky.
The spider ch followed a mont later, its thrusters flaring as it took to the air beside the humanoid unit.
Bjorn stood on the ground below, watching as the two chs ascended, and then he turned to the assembled fighters and shouted, "Now! Blow it!"
The fighters moved quickly, planting charges around the periter of the bases, setting tirs, and then retreating to a safe distance. The transports lifted off, their engines roaring as they climbed into the sky, and the last of the ground forces scrambled onto the remaining Skyblades.
And then the charges detonated.
BOOM!
The explosion was massive, a rolling wave of fire and force that consud both bases in an instant. The structures collapsed inward, their walls crumbling, their foundations shattered, and the flas rose high into the sky, painting the battlefield in shades of orange and red.
Tatehan watched from the cockpit of the ch as it soared away, the explosion shrinking behind him, the heat and light fading into the distance.
He spoke softly to himself, his voice barely audible over the hum of the ch’s systems.
"What a lovely sight. Stunning."
And then he turned his gaze forward, toward Waython Hollow, and the ch flew on.
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