Everyone quickly returned to the hidden chamber behind the mountain wall concealing the forest park. Once the last soldier had led the quadruped robots through the gate, dragging the spoils behind them, the stone wall closed seamlessly once more, leaving not a trace. They passed through the chamber and went a little farther in, where they could see the rugged, winding cavern hidden inside the mountain.
Gongsun Qing had guessed right. Nearly two hundred people were indeed concealed in the cavern, all vigorous young adults. Most were wrapped in dusty gray cloaks that protected them from dust and harm. If it weren't for the guns in their hands and their fierce bearing, it would have been easy to mistake them for scavengers living on the margins of society.
"This base is no longer usable. Everyone, split up and withdraw according to plan," the leader instructed. "Regroup at Base F in seventy-two hours."
He turned to Gongsun Qing and the others. "The three of you, come with me. We can talk about everything on the way."
The three friends quickly exchanged opinions. It was hard to tell whether these people were enemies or allies, and Yaxiu in particular had made his resistance quite clear. But at this point, they had little choice but to follow.
It wasn't as if they could turn around and go back the way they'd come.
These people really were a well-trained gang of outlaws. They divided themselves into more than a dozen groups, took the spoils with them, and vanished soundlessly into the labyrinthine underground caverns.
While they had the chance, the reporter finally explained to Gongsun Qing that the so-called "Sons of Loha" were an old separatist terrorist organization within the Alliance. They had been active since the end of the Third Galactic War.
Its