With our armor and the air support we managed to cross the open field to the second ring of defenses rapidly and in relative ease. The tanks provided ample cover while their machineguns combined with those of the shuttles mowed down the mechanoid opposition with ease. The only thing we really needed to be careful of was the enemy who was coming from the rear. But as we had blown up the gatehouses after we were done with them, that had stymied the flow from behind as well.

We ran into very heavy resistance when we broke through the second circle though, forcing our advance down to a painfully slow crawl. Although the distance to the compound was only a kilometer at most, the fortifications within this circle made it hard to advance with armor. The open space of the last zone had changed places with a network of metal defences with interlocking fields of fire and different nooks, crannies and changes of elevation that made it hard to get long sightlines for ourselves. It reminded me a lot of the multiple tiered fortifications you would see in Medieval and Early Modern Earthern defensive architecture although now all clad in a layer of metal.

Adding to this difficulty was that the mechanoids occupying this sector were of a high quality. The weapon systems of these mechanoids seemed all to be in perfect working order and their units even started to make use of the cover that was abundant in the sector. Tactics that they were definitely not showing earlier in the operation. Maybe the processors of these units were less degraded or the proximity to their mainframe made them run better… I could only make some educated guesses while we were blasting mechanoid after mechanoid to smithereens.

I could tell one thing while commanding my troops, without the air support that our shuttles were providing, this would have quickly become a slaughterhouse. Now at least the shuttles kept the high ground somewhat clean for us, and if they didn't they would call out zones of fire for us to focus on.

Luckily the 'Slaughter Mile' didn't come to be as we finally reached the final circle behind which our operation's goal resided and although the fighting in the second circle had been though we were now actually running slightly ahead our predicted schedule.

"Listen up!" I opened an open channel to all my troops on the ground. "We are almost at our goal but don't get cocky. The next section involves close quarters combat so watch each other's back. Check every corner. Don't get blindsides. Just like the simulations. We've got this."

While I was talking and the demolition guys set up the breaching charges on the final gate, the tanks repositioned themselves to have their frontal armor face the second ring. They weren't going to be useful for indoor fighting anyway. Having them guard our back would provide us with a lot of ease of mind.

The same was true for our warbirds flying overhead. Their job now was to keep the enemy off our backs for as long as possible while also providing information on what was happening outside.

"Charges have been set, Commander." The demolition team notified me after having set the explosives in record time. "On your signal."

I looked at everyone in front of me and nodded, checking my gun's ammo one last time by slightly opening the slide. "Remember, I ordered you all to come home and I have not rescinded that." I then looked at the demolition team's NCO and signalled a five second countdown. "Let's stop these blasted mechanoids dead in their tracks. Show them what the people of planet Earth are made of."

And then five seconds later, the doors that were holding us back got blown to smithereens and everyone stormed the compound.

I went in with the last group, right behind our medic team as we started to scour for a way to the computer mainframe that was controlling everything on this planet. But instead of heavy close quarters fighting we were only met with eerie silence and darkness. The only thing to be heard down here were the footsteps of our soldiers and the high-pitched sound of scraping metal echoing through the unending hallways.

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Opposed to the somewhat familiar feeling architecture outside of this compound, these hallways felt distinctly alien. The hallways contained not a single light source, were unnaturally winding and they were made completely out of perfectly welded and bolted metal. This was clearly where the hold of the AI was greatest of all.

"This is giving me the creeps, Commander." Gunny, who had found himself only a couple of meters in front of me now, commented while he pointed his guns and floodlights down a narrow corridor that angled slightly downward. The other squads had all taken a different direction, their routes marked in different colours on my HUD-display in my helmet.

"Same." I replied and looked over at Sergeant De Smet. "Go ahead, Sergeant, our squad will follow yours."

"Alright, slow and steady." The Sergeant beckoned us to follow him as he and two of his marines took point, methodically checking every corner before turning out by using the camera and corner shot attachments on their weapons.

We searched through the compound for about five minutes before I called for a status check of my other squads. They all reported immediately, no enemy contact so far. But a route to the center of the compound had also proven to be elusive.

"I have the distinct feeling we are waltzing into a trap." One of the marines, Corporal Strauss, on the medic team commented.

"If we continue this way, definitely." Sergeant De Smet replied and raised his fist in the air, making the rest of us stop. "But I have just thought of something." He tapped the side of his helmet. "Alright, could you all apply a thermal overlay on a part of your visor?"

"What's the plan, Sergeant?" I asked as I got the overlay in place. It looked perfectly normal to me, just cold blue metal.

"Servers, no matter what kind, produce heat. And I would assume that controlling an unending army of robots would use quite a bit of processing power. But in these hallways, there appears to be little to no airflow so I don't think it's currently directly connected to the network that connects the main mainframe."

"This is the only entrance that Ellie identified though."

"It is, and therefore I think they buttoned down the hatches when we arrived on the planet." Sergeant De Smet signalled to slowly start going further again. "If my theory is right, some of these panels hide hallways that go deeper down to the core of the compound. They need to maintain these hallways too and lose heat one way or the other. So keep an eye on the edges of the paneling and if you see a temperature difference, even if it's only minute, speak up."

"Copy that." Gunny confirmed after which the other marines did the same.

I spread the message to the other squad after which we spent the next ten minutes slowly making our way through the hallway we were following until Eva spoke up. "Sergeant, I think I got something."

"Where is it, Doctor?"

Eva pointed her flashlight at a somewhat smaller panel on the bottom right of a lazy corner we had almost all already walked through. "That one right there."

Sergeant De Smet called another marine forward to take his place at the front while both me and him at the same time came over to inspect it. With the heat overlay I could only barely see a difference, but the difference was definitely there. Only a very faint lighter tint of blue escaping from the edges of the panel. "Incredible spot, Doctor."

"I'm used to looking at miniscule details when stitching up wounds." She proclaimed.

"What do you think, Sergeant? Thermite cord?"

"Might be too thick. Let's take the laser cutter."

"That will take longer though. The enemy will probably start coming once they realise we saw through their ruse."

The Sergeant looked at the front of the hallway, the way we came and then back to the panel. "Good point, but I still think we should go for the laser cutter. If the cord fails, setting up the laser afterwards will cost more time than doing the laser from the getgo."

I nodded after going through the plan in my head. "Okay let's go with that then, but I'll wait for some of the other squads to also find entrance hatches before we continue. Let's say three total and then they can group up and go in together."

"Sounds like a good plan to me."

I started communicating through our channels to lay out our plan and told the others what to specifically look out for. Only ten minutes later we had found plenty of entrance points for our plan to continue.

"I hope everyone is ready because I very much assume the next part is going to get really hairy." Sergeant De Smet commented.

I started the countdown on the operation wide comms network. "On my mark start cutting… Five…. Four… Three… Two…. One…."

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