The Fall of Aomori

[Blodo]

DAY 5 - Aomori Station, Deck 16 (H-Fuel processing and storage)

- "Almost done here..."
A man was kneeling down next to one of the broken terminals, holding a non standard PDA hotwired into the open circuitry below the keypads. He was surrounded by three armed GMG security carefully watching the surrounding area. One of them stood by a corner, peeking only slightly to see the grotesque shock troops slowly scanning through the large storage area.
- "They're sweeping the last tank, Guild Master."
Katsuo wiped the sweat off his forehead, then took his hands to the wires while whispering to the officer behind him.
- "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that... Not until these gaijin are off the station."
A slight humm erupted from the terminal as the broken screen shed sparks from an apparent power surge.
- "Now to connect this... here... got it!" - he said enthusiastically while getting up from his crouch and hastily unplugging his PDA. He turned towards the security officers.
- "We got our access to the machinery back. I should be able to access the bulkhead security controls from there. Now lets get out of here before the 'hounds' find us."
The four men went behind the H-Fuel storage tanks nearby, and started sneaking towards one of the GMG strongpoints on this deck.

Katsuo had to take these trips to isolated terminals several times now, due to him being the only one on this deck skilled enough in electronics to be able to tap into damaged terminals. The Phantom hackers didn't waste any time either, constantly trying to deactivate the security measures on the station, terminal by terminal if necessary. Although the fact that most of the systems were never connected to the rest of the station comm net, and most of the automated security measures were controlled by specific terminals spread all across the station was a nuisance in times of peace, it certainly gave the GMG security an edge as they secured chokepoints and crucial locations with concentrated firepower. The fighting itself turned increasingly tactical ever since Okazaki's fighter crash-landed on Aomori during the initial Phantom attack. Both sides lost enough men to start coping with the losses, and the fighting has by now turned into a gruelling excersize at trench warfare.

The man in the front stopped suddenly, halting the others behind him. He raised his hand in a motion that would suggest caution. The others would hear a faint mechanical screeching, as several Phantom soldiers in their powered armour approached their location.
- "Gui - ... Okazaki-san? I think we were detected."
- "We will see about that..." - Okazaki whispered while activating something on his PDA. Within the space of a moment a loud humm filled the large storage rooms, as the giant robotic arms attached to the ceiling sprung to life and began loading up H-Fuel canisters to the now moving conveyor running through the middle of the deck. The noise became elevated, distracting the Phantom soldiers who were now carefully scanning the mechanical movers. The men used that to sneak by to the next row of H-Fuel tanks. They were now just one cargo bay away from the strongpoint. As they moved slowly towards the barricades in the dimly lit room, the front soldier took out his communicator from the pocket, whispered something into it and put it back in.
- "All right we have thirty seconds."
The men stood up and ran out towards the barricade in full sprint, moving from behind the tanks into the field of view of the barricade guards who kept their rifles trained on them. They made it to their own a few seconds later, and moved behind them as the guards then switched their standard issue Skysweeper energy rifles to full auto, anticipating a Phantom rush to follow.

A man came out from one of the rooms next to the barricade to meet the arriving party, clearly in a rush. He walked straight to Katsuo, as the three security men took their positions at the barricade.
- "How did it go?" - he asked. Katsuo pulled out his PDA.
- "With a little bit of luck we will have our security access back for this deck soon. I built a few communicators into the last few terminals so we should be able to keep control over all the cargo bay machinery until the Phantoms figure out what's going on."
- "And the main bulkhead control?"
- "Sorted. I have the access codes right here."
- "Perfect. I'll tell our forward men to start packing up and move the barricade to the next line."
The man looked up at Katsuo.
- "I should go thank those gaijin for having you crashland on this station, Guild Master."
- "Don't be too glad. I will be leaving you as soon our men secure the docking bays. The liberating fleet is going to need me in space for this one. You're going to be in charge of security down here on the supply decks."
Katsuo looked behind his shoulder at the barricade then back at the man.
- "I should go activate the laser cutters. We might need them should the Phantoms deploy their tin cans to come over. Tell your people to put all the floor and ceiling guns on standby, we're going to need the Skyblasts."