“The bounty hunter has cleared the building,” announced XLS Phase Travel Operations’ security.
“Send a team after them. If she can’t talk Salazar into taking her to Subdivision headquarters within the next half hour bring them both back here.” Lee shut down the communicator and turned to Kline. “How soon can you be ready?”
“Five, maybe six hours.”
“You have four.”
Kline’s eyes narrowed. “With three separate squadrons? That’s pushing it.”
“Our window of opportunity is shrinking by the second. The Union’s going to discover what we’re targeting—if they haven’t already.”
Lee and Kline entered the briefing room. The screens lit up, showcasing all known information about the secret government assembly center that had been tasked with constructing a key Union asset—the Exodus Project. An incomplete, fractured holographic model of the production facility appeared above the center table. Lee zoomed out so that all of the moon’s Fra Mauro region could be seen. The Exodus Project’s assembly center sat in an isolated area just outside of New London’s city limits. From the outside, the massive production plant looked like any civilian facility, but the XLS knew better. The assembly center was defended with advanced, but discreet security systems. Any force attempting a surface or air attack would be thwarted before they could even begin. And that is why the XLS had spent trillions of credits and a vast number of resources to try a different approach. An approach that had required the most ambitious attempt at time travel that had ever been envisioned.
Lee rotated the hologram. “The tunnel system we’ve built below the assembly center gives us access to each target.”
The screen displayed the underground tunnel that stretched from XLS Phase Travel headquarters in New London to the Union assembly center in the Fra Mauro region. Once it reached the production facility, the main tunnel branched off into three smaller corridors, each leading to a different area of the Union production plant. Since the XLS couldn’t get at the Exodus from the air or the ground, they would attack the facility by burrowing underneath it.
Kline examined the underground tunnels. “Looks like the drill team got the job done.”
“Indeed. Three separate entry points,” said Lee, pointing. Each corridor leading away from the main tunnel lit up on the holographic screen. “Three teams, each with a singular objective. Red Team—demolition. They plant the spider nuke. Green Team confiscates the blueprints. Blue Team brings the power cells back here.”
An operative burst into the briefing room. “Sir, we’re picking up some chatter across the spectrum.”
“About?”
“We think they’re increasing security at the Exodus facility.”
Lee turned to Kline. “Get the teams ready. The final stage of Operation Yamato begins now.”
