Adventure of Devin Halbolt 1

The shuttle settles into a hangar swallowed by weeds and rust. Beyond the cracked bay, old Karaba fuel lines vanish under rubble, and a dead terminal blinks once, then steadies.

Devin Halbolt climbs down into the ruin and heads for the service pumps. The depot is enough to keep the shuttle moving, and moving is how they stay ahead of the Black Sheep.

A burst of static tears through the hangar speakers. The old terminal lights up with a broken Karaba priority ping, then overlays a Federation pursuit tag on top of it.

The beacon is linked to the same compromised network as before.

Devin reaches the pump control as the tag updates, showing an active search corridor closing on this hub and the Europe route beyond it. If he can siphon fuel before the scan narrows, the shuttle stays mobile and the siblings stay covered.

Devin locks the shuttle’s couplers onto the abandoned fuel lines and opens the manual bypass. Old valves groan, then the pump wakes beneath his hands.

Fuel surges through the transparent transfer hose, amber indicators climbing across the shuttle’s console. The depot shudders around him, but the connection holds.

Devin keeps the flow at maximum safe pressure, watching the old line for leaks while the shuttle tanks fill. The reserve crosses operational minimum, then continues upward.

The final gauge turns green. Devin seals the bypass, disconnects the lines, and stows the couplers beneath the shuttle’s service panel. The depot falls quiet again.

The shuttle’s engines flare, lifting dust and dead leaves through the ruined hangar. Devin rushes from the pump station as the craft begins rolling toward the cracked bay.

He sprints across the weeds, boots hammering over fractured concrete. The shuttle gathers speed, its open ramp jolting above the ground as it clears the fuel lines.

Devin leaps, catches the ramp rail, and swings aboard as the shuttle surges forward. Toma braces him by the shoulder and hauls him inside before the ramp rises.

The ramp seals with a hard mechanical clank. Outside, the overgrown depot drops behind them as the shuttle cuts through the weeds toward open sky, its Europe route glowing on the navigation display.

Devin crosses the shuttle’s narrow cabin to the radar console, securing one hand against the frame as the craft climbs beyond the ruined depot and into open sky.

The radar display expands beneath his hand, layering the Federation search corridor over the Karaba route. A countdown appears beside their projected flight path.

The radar redraws as Rina adjusts the route. A broken chain of abandoned factories forms a concealed approach, adding twelve minutes of cover before the shuttle must climb.

Devin shifts into the copilot station and steadies himself against the console as Rina angles the shuttle toward the industrial ruins. The altitude drops smoothly.

Rina guides the shuttle between abandoned factory towers, keeping the hull beneath the sensor horizon. Rusted gantries slide past the canopy as the search corridor sweeps harmlessly overhead.

Devin brings the navigation overlay across the copilot display, filtering the Karaba route against stored fuel range, terrain cover, and the moving Federation search corridor.

The route resolves cleanly, but the data pull spikes the shuttle’s passive signature. A red notice records their position for three seconds before the system buries it again.

The map marks the aerodrome beneath a collapsed maglev interchange. Its approach is narrow, but the route offers eleven minutes of signal cover and a maintenance cradle sized for the GM III.

Devin layers the nav data over the canopy feed, marking each gantry, cable span, and collapsed support in Rina’s display. The shuttle sinks smoothly beneath the sensor horizon.

The aerodrome emerges through rust-colored haze. Rina threads between broken maglev pylons as Devin adjusts the descent vector, guiding the shuttle toward the covered landing bay.

Devin’s markers settle over the bay threshold. Rina follows them down, clears the collapsed interchange, and brings the shuttle inside without a scrape as dormant power wakes along the walls.

Rina powers down the shuttle’s external systems while Toma brings the aerodrome schematics onto the central display. The covered bay settles into dim amber emergency light.

The three move through the maintenance bay together, sweeping abandoned equipment lockers, inspection gantries, and sealed utility rooms. Dust covers the old consoles, but the emergency grid remains stable.

Devin settles at the powered security station and wakes its local archive with the aerodrome maintenance key. Dust lifts from the console vents as old records populate the display.

The logs date the facility’s formal abandonment to February U.C. 0085, after an A.E.U.G. evacuation order. Emergency systems were left active, and no later recovery team is recorded.

Asset manifests show sealed rations, medical packs, replacement filters, reactor coolant, and small-arms batteries stored in the lower service vaults. Most remain marked present.

Devin opens the vehicle register. A stripped transport shuttle is locked in the east hangar, while the mobile suits have no active transponder signals and their cradles remain sealed.

The question carries through the maintenance bay. Beyond the security station, the sealed cradles wait beneath dust and amber emergency light, their dormant silhouettes promising mobility without the shuttle’s signature.

Toma brings up the maintenance inventory while Rina unlocks the service lift controls. The archive confirms both cradles are sealed but accessible, with coolant, tools, and pilot interfaces listed in the lower vault.

Devin turns back to the security console and opens the sealed vehicle register. He enters the aerodrome maintenance key, then cross-checks both cradles against the local access ledger.

The archive accepts his credentials. Two authorization windows appear, identifying the GM II and Nemo by cradle number, interface status, and emergency pilot access.

Devin generates a paired set of machine codes and prints them to a physical maintenance strip, then mirrors encrypted copies onto the shuttle’s isolated console.

Amber indicators wake beneath the dust-coated vault schematics. The two mobile suits now have valid local access, their recovery systems ready for inspection while the aerodrome shielding continues to hold.

Toma and Rina take the maintenance strips and move toward the lower vault. The service lift descends through amber-lit concrete as dormant machinery wakes around them.

Devin crosses to the supply registry and opens the lower vault manifest. Sealed rations, medical packs, coolant, filters, batteries, and maintenance tools remain stacked behind numbered doors.

He unlocks the stores and begins transferring the useful cases onto a grav-cart, marking each item on the isolated shuttle inventory. Nothing routes through Federation command.

Devin guides the grav-cart across the maintenance bay. At the shuttle ramp, he engages auto-load, and the cart’s clamps lock onto the cargo pallets before moving them inside.

The shuttle inventory updates as rations, medical packs, coolant, filters, batteries, and tools transfer into secured storage. Green confirmations stack across the isolated console.

Devin returns to the security station and wakes the perimeter scan through the local archive. Sensor feeds unfold across the display, covering the interchange, landing bay, service roads, and upper approaches.

Devin layers motion detection over thermal and passive signatures. The scan confirms the perimeter is clear, while several dead sensors and buried access tunnels appear on the old facility map.

The last green inventory confirmations settle across the isolated console. Behind them, the GM II and Nemo rest in their disconnected cradles, safely loaded and silent.

Rina checks the mobile suit restraints while Toma updates the shuttle’s isolated manifest. The maintenance bay remains quiet beneath amber lights, its perimeter scan clear.

Devin smiles, collects his hygiene supplies, and crosses the maintenance bay toward the hangar bays locker room. The aerodrome remains quiet behind him, amber lights steady.

He changes out of his travel clothes, secures them in an empty locker, and steps beneath the communal shower. Hot water drums against his hair and shoulders.

Steam gathers across the tiled room as Devin lets the spray run over the ache in his back and the stiffness left by cramped flights and hurried escapes.

Through the open entryway, Toma’s voice carries over the pipes. No alarm follows, only the distant ventilation fans and the gentle tick of cooling machinery.

Devin lets the hot water run over his shoulders, steam softening the locker room’s hard edges. The past few days have been rough, marked by pursuit, cramped flights, and too little sleep.

Beyond the entryway, Toma shifts against the wall, keeping his voice low. The aerodrome remains still, its amber lights steady and its perimeter feeds quiet.

Devin shuts off the shower, dries himself, and pulls on clean clothes from his locker. Steam drifts around him as he steps into the corridor.

He gives Toma a quick wink on his way out. The gesture is small, but it catches Toma completely off guard.

Toma disappears into the locker room, still smiling. Rina gestures toward the maintenance bay, where the isolated route display now shows several Karaba corridors beneath the aerodrome’s shielding.

Rina brings the route archive full-screen and filters for orbital infrastructure. The query spikes the old terminal, briefly thinning the aerodrome’s shielding and stamping their search into local memory.

A second entry resolves beneath the first: an A.E.U.G. spaceport on the Atlantic coast, damaged but equipped with a dormant orbital shuttle cradle and launch-control access.

The terminal fan grinds louder, then settles. One amber warning remains: the archive query created a timestamped trace, and anyone checking the aerodrome may now know someone searched orbital routes.

Rina switches the archive to the spaceport route and marks the dormant orbital cradle as their destination. The aerodrome scan remains clear, with no sign that anyone has entered.

She commits the route to the isolated console. The terminal records another timestamped access pulse, spending more of their cover, but the spaceport coordinates, tunnel map, and launch sequence are now downloaded.

Rina seals the route archive and kills the terminal display. The safer destination is chosen, the orbital cradle is confirmed, and the shuttle’s departure plan sits encrypted on their local console.

Rina heads into the locker room while Devin seals the route archive, loads the launch sequence, and brings the shuttle’s systems online on isolated power. The aerodrome remains empty.

He verifies fuel, restraints, and the GM II and Nemo cradles, then transfers the spaceport coordinates into the flight computer. A hidden maintenance channel appears in the old map, offering a shielded approach beneath the coastal launch complex.

Rina straps into the copilot station as Devin closes the hatch and starts the engines. The shuttle rolls from the covered bay, rises beneath the interchange, and slips into the low industrial route without broadcasting.

Reach the coastal spaceport