Chapter 281: The Strange Facility
By the next morning, Silverpeak was already busy before the sun had fully risen.
The Golden Eagle foothold around the old transport yard had changed considerably over the past week. What had started with a Power Plant, a War Factory and two Barracks had spread into several connected sections. Four War Factories and eight Barracks now occupied the expanded base, while two Airfield Bases with their own Radar and power support had been completed farther out where the city opened into less crowded ground. Additional Power Plants supported the larger facilities, and two more MCVs produced in the south had already deployed into Construction Yards.
The new production structures were immediately put to use. More soldiers, vehicles and support units had arrived from Grefort as well, until even the nearby MDC positions looked small beside the Golden Eagle buildup around the transport yard.
That morning, a large portion of those forces began moving. Guardians led the column, followed by armored vehicles, heavier tanks, Engineers, recovery vehicles and the rest of the support elements assigned to the operation.
Civilians stopped to watch from the roadside, damaged storefronts and upper floors of recently reopened buildings. A few children waved when the first Guardians passed. Some of the soldiers waved back.
Several MDC personnel stood farther away near one of their checkpoints. Many of them watched as the columns passed.
A small group had other plans.
"The main group has left the area." One of the soldiers muttered under his breath. "Tell them to prepare."
A few soldiers shifted out of the crowd and made their way behind the alley.
Back in the BACV inside the compound, Brandon watched their markers move away.
"We’ve got contacts moving out of the road and proceeding south."
"Should we intercept them, Southern Command?"
"Not yet." Brandon frowned. "Keep tailing them and see what they’re about to do."
"Roger that. We’ll keep you posted, Southern Command."
The channel went quiet.
Brandon enlarged the tactical map.
The markers continued moving through the streets, avoiding the main roads whenever they could.
This wasn’t the first time.
Over the past several days, the same small group had appeared around Golden Eagle positions more often than Brandon liked. Sometimes they watched the transport yard. Sometimes they followed supply movements. A few even appeared near routes his reconnaissance teams were using.
None of that was enough evidence to show Colonel Voroltz that these MDC soldiers were up to no good.
Perhaps they were simply Voroltz’s men checking on the Golden Eagle Army, as they had done several times before.
If Brandon ordered his soldiers to grab them without evidence, Colonel Voroltz would have every reason to ask why Golden Eagle was suddenly arresting his men inside his own city.
And so Brandon watched, waiting for an opportunity to show itself, if one even existed.
Another marker shifted south, followed by another.
"They’re separating."
"Southern Watcher One, I’ve got the group at nine o’clock."
"Copy, Southern Watcher Two. We’ll take the one at four."
Brandon stared at the map and leaned back in his seat.
Whatever they were doing, they were finally moving somewhere instead of simply watching his people.
"If they’re not going back to the Colonel... then where?"
...
Several kilometers farther south, the Golden Eagle column continued along the road.
Silverpeak’s denser districts had already fallen behind them.
Buildings became more scattered as the formation moved toward the older industrial outskirts. Warehouses, fenced yards and abandoned workshops occupied both sides of the road, many of them damaged but still recognizable.
The facility’s outer walls eventually appeared between the abandoned workshops. Beyond them stood the same long warehouses and hardened structures shown in the earlier imagery, with an old rail line entering through one side and disappearing deeper into the compound.
The place had been quiet for months—at least, that was what the surviving records suggested.
The Golden Eagle formation slowed as it approached.
Recon vehicles moved farther ahead while Guardians spread along the road behind them. Engineers and recovery vehicles remained closer to the middle of the column.
Nobody had entered the compound yet.
They were still several kilometers away when another group began moving toward the same area from a different direction.
Their vehicles carried no Golden Eagle markings.
One of the forward recon elements radioed.
"Southern Command, this is Recon One. Are you seeing this?"
Brandon shifted the map closer to Recon One. The new markers remained gray.
All unknown.
There were dozens of them, varying in size from individual soldiers to armored vehicles and several tanks moving along another road toward the facility. More appeared behind them.
Brandon frowned.
The group wasn’t small. From what the Radar could currently see, their strength wasn’t that far from that of the formation he had sent south.
"Recon One, hold your position."
"Copy, Southern Command."
Brandon enlarged the area again. Both formations were approaching the same facility from different directions.
"Recon One, establish communication and ask their purpose here."
Then Brandon shifted toward the Radio Operator beside him.
"Contact Colonel Voroltz. Ask him about the facility again. Tell him we’ve encountered an unknown military force, possibly from the southern military installation in Hawford."
"Understood."
Recon One received the order.
Inside the lead Guardian, its commander changed frequencies and opened the channel.
"Unknown elements south of our position, this is Recon One of the Golden Eagle Army. Please state your identity and your purpose in this region, over."
Static followed.
Several seconds passed.
The unknown formation continued moving.
Then a voice finally answered.
"Golden Eagle Army, you are trespassing on restricted government property. Return to where you came from and leave this area."
Recon One’s commander exchanged a glance with his Radio Operator.
"Southern Command, you got all of that?"
"I heard it."
Brandon was already standing beside the other Radio Operator.
Colonel Voroltz’s voice came through the speaker a moment later.
"Commander Brandon?"
"Colonel, we’ve reached the location you provided. There’s another armed group approaching from the south."
"What group?"
"We don’t know yet. They just told us we’re trespassing on restricted government property and ordered us to leave."
Silence ensued.
"What?" Colonel Voroltz sounded surprised.
Brandon looked at the map again.
"You heard me."
"That facility was on the recovery list we gave you."
Another pause followed. Then Voroltz spoke again.
"Use the MDC’s name. Tell them Colonel Voroltz sent you."
"You recognize whoever might be there?"
"No. But if they’re operating anywhere around Silverpeak, they should at least know who we are."
The response wasn’t particularly comforting, but they had few choices in the matter.
Brandon switched channels.
"You heard the Colonel, Recon One. Tell them the Golden Eagle Army was sent by Colonel Voroltz of the Silverpeak MDC."
"Copy."
Recon One’s commander opened the channel again.
"Unknown party, this is Recon One. We were sent by Colonel James Voroltz of the Silverpeak Mountain Defense Command to secure and inspect the facility."
The other line did not answer.
"We are not here to engage you. Identify yourselves so we can talk our way through this."
The line remained silent.
Recon One waited.
The unknown formation stopped moving. Several of its vehicles shifted along the road.
One tank moved slightly away from the rest.
Inside Recon One’s Guardian, the gunner was already watching it through the forward optics.
"Commander."
"I see it."
The tank’s turret began turning toward them.
Recon One’s commander immediately opened the channel again.
"Unknown party, your vehicle is traversing its weapon toward our position. We have not taken hostile action."
At the same time, the Guardian’s driver was already backing the vehicle away from the open road.
The vehicles behind Recon One reacted almost immediately.
One Guardian moved toward the side of the road while another shifted behind a ruined warehouse wall. Farther back, the lead Golden Eagle tanks brought their own turrets around, tracking the unknown formation without firing.
Another unknown tank began moving. Then an armored vehicle farther behind it.
Brandon watched the gray markers spread apart across his tactical map.
"Recon One, pull back. Keep your weapons on them."
"Already moving, Southern Command."
The gray markers suddenly flickered straight from gray to red.
"They’ve turned hostile!"
A warning tone blared inside the lead Guardian.
"Warning: target lock."
"Driver, move!"
The Guardian lurched sideways just as the enemy tank fired.
Boom!
The shell tore across the road where the APC had been only moments earlier and slammed into the ground farther behind them.
Recon One’s gunner had already acquired the tank.
"Target acquired!"
"Fire!"
The Guardian opened fire immediately. Its 30mm autocannon hammered the tank’s armor, sparks spraying from the repeated impacts.
Another cannon swung toward them.
Behind Recon One, Golden Eagle armor continued spreading out across the road and nearby structures, their guns following the unknown vehicles one after another.
Brandon grabbed the radio.
"All Southern elements, unknown party has turned hostile. Weapons free."
Another warning appeared.
"Recon One, second target locking!"
The commander didn’t hesitate.
"Smoke! Move!"
Launchers on the Guardian fired. White smoke burst across the road as the APC accelerated away from its previous position.
A second shot thundered from the other formation.