The schematic for the cracker didn't make for particularly happy reading. For rather self-evident reasons the massive structure had been designed with some of the heaviest security on the planet. Now that very security that had been so easily bypassed by the rebel commanders was staring them in the face.

There were two main entrances on either side of the dome that were large enough to accommodate vehicle transit. On top of that there were a dozen service and maintenance doorways, barely large enough for single-file access. Guard cupolas jutted out from the higher reaches of the dome, fixed with heavy calibre cannon emplacements that looked down over the approaches. Those defensive positions were completely under the control of the rebel forces now, and there could be no doubts about their willingness to use them. Any frontal assault would result in massive casualties on both sides.

But static defences presented a less daunting problem for the Blink operatives. With full blue-prints of the cracker's structure laid out across a series of tables in the barrack room, the young men and women examined them from every angle, hunting for the best approach; the quickest route to the jugular of the defenders.

The rumour mill on the base had been churning wildly since the cracker had been seized, but one thing that had been made crystal clear through the grapevine was that the navy was out for blood. Their first and still preferred recommendation was to smash the cracker to pieces with a gigantic orbital bombardment.

Amber shuddered at the thought.

Naval bombardment was a last resort, and for good reason. The main armaments of standard military cruisers fired solid anti-matter slugs that, when moving at muzzle velocity, would leave a crater a hundred feet across. A single round would easily level a building. But they were not homing weapons – they relied on the computerised firing solutions generated by the ships, and the individual skill of the gunnery officers.

When firing at a planet from high orbit, aiming at a precise target was like trying to throw a dart and knock another dart out of the air in mid-flight. The slightest deviation could send the slug hundreds of meters off target. If the navy did enact a bombardment of the asteroid cracker they would ensure maximum casualties. There was simply no way to engage in such an action without collateral damage.

And once that notion had been planted in Amber's mind she became more determined than ever to make sure it didn't happen.

Her eyes flicked over the blue-prints as she searched for the best points of ingress. For the operatives, there were several options. Actually stopping the cracker from being able to fire could be done relatively simply, by taking out the geothermal power plant built into its base that powered the gun itself. But they couldn't just blow it up. For one, a powerful reactor like that needed to be handled with care. For another, the planet might actually need the cracker. If they destroyed its power-plant, there was no way to know when it would be operational again given the state of the current conflict.

To her mind, they needed to get in and turn the reactor off without damaging it. The rest could be dealt with later once the cannon could no-longer be used to target the enemy ships. The concurrent objective was to deal with the defensive batteries screening the approaches Merlynn's troops would have to take to attack the structure itself.

"Those emplacements are a bastard, no mistake," Taggs grumbled, sitting at an adjacent table with his feet up, glowering over the blueprints. "Even for us getting at them is a snare."

Hekket nodded in agreement, shaking his head. "The platforms are so small – we'd only be able to Blink one operative on at a time. And even then you're contending with whoever's guarding the damn thing, too."

Amber agreed. The platforms were barely big enough to accommodate the guns mounted on them. She leaned in closer, scrutinizing the schematic for anything they'd missed. There didn't seem to be any way around it as far as she could see – they'd need to open the place from the inside out.

"We'll need to find somewhere to Blink in," she said. "Somewhere out of the way – a storage bay or something. Then split the teams and get to the reactor and the outer emplacements."

"Dodgy," Bandle interjected from where Panther Squad were making their own deliberations. "I agree we need to get to that reactor fast, but we don't know much about what we'll be dealing with once we're inside there. Could be quite a fire-fight once we're in."

"We'll stealth it," Darien told them. Get everybody in at a central location then cut this place up into sections. We'll take the main reactor and get it offline. Everyone else, organise your teams into pairs and sweep the interior." He pointed out a series of square symbols on the blueprints they'd been given. "All those batteries take power from hardened secondary generators within the structure. For a normal force those generators are impossible to get to, without having gone through the guns first. If we can kill those secondary generators we'll power down the guns without having to fire a shot."

"Seems like a hell of a lot of unnecessary risk," Vass piped up suddenly. "We can bust those gun emplacements from the outside. No problem."

Amber cast a dubious glance at him and she wasn't the only one. Tundra's leader shrugged, stepping forward and indicating the map they'd been studying.

"Going from the inside out, if they raise an alarm they'll fortify every single one of those emplacements and you'll never get near them without fighting room to room. It's what I'd do."

"You heard the others," Darien said flatly. "We can't Blink onto those platforms – it's much to too dangerous and has no guarantee of working."

"Yeah, yeah I heard." Vass folded his arms, shaking his head in irritation. "I'm not talking about Blinking onto those platforms. We can hit them from the outside, as long as you and Merlynn aren't going to be so damn squeamish about things we're going to have to do to pull it off."

"And that the hell does that mean?" Taggs asked incredulously. "How many body bags are ye' wantin' to ship off this rock?"

"Oh, give it a rest," Vass sneered. "Are you at least going to listen to what I have to say, or are we just following our lord and master like a bunch of donkeys?"

"Spit it out, Vass," Darien told him, and she could hear him fighting to keep his voice level. "Whatever it is just spit it out."

"It's very simple. We can't Blink onto the platforms themselves, but we can Blink into position to hit them before they can hit us." He leaned forward, indicating the main approach that Merlynn and the Dragoons would have to take. "Those guns are set to cover the main vehicle paths – anybody walking up that way gets cut to pieces. We can skip that part. We Blink units into position all around the cracker with sight-lines on the gun emplacements. We can get into the crags and cliffs all around – places Merlynn's thugs can't go. Give me two full squads and ask the Dragoons very nicely for a dozen anti-armour launchers and we can blast every single one of those emplacements to pieces in one volley."

"And kill every single person manning them," Amber snapped sharply, not willing to let Vass's wanton disregard for human life pass by. "You really don't care how much damage we do down here, do you? We are supposed to be keeping casualties to a minimum, not bombarding the place with rockets!"

"Oh, here we go." Vass threw up his hands in frustration. "I'm the bad guy because I seem to have grasped the core concept of what is happening here."

"And what's that?"

"That we are in the middle of a war!" he yelled suddenly, his voice rising to echo through the chamber. "Everyone on this stupid planet seems to be soft-stepping around that, but there it is. We're not here to stop a war from happening – that ship has well and truly sunk. They shot a cruiser out of the sky yesterday and killed everyone on it! They're fighting to win and if we don't start doing the same then this is already over."

"That's enough, Vass," Darien said, his voice surprisingly quiet. He straightened up and moved around the table, standing facing the other squad leader. "Even if what you're saying is true, I'm still not about to sanction what you're asking."

"Well there's a shock-,"

"Shut up and listen to me you insolent prick." The anger surged into Darien's voice like a stabbing knife. "You want to go in guns blazing with a plan that has a chance of success, I'll consider it, but this? This is nothing more than a gamble. You're gambling that we can get positions for flawless firing solutions on every single one of those emplacements. You're gambling that a group of operatives who've never used military grade anti-tank equipment can suddenly hit every single shot first time of asking. And you're gambling that there are no counter measures in place to stop exactly what you're suggesting. If you can't get them all – what happens then? Those guns will tear those crags to pieces once they figure out where you're shooting from and if anyone catches a shot from one of those cannons, we won't be taking them to an infirmary. They'll be going home to Blink in a coffin."

Vass gritted his teeth stepping close to meet Darien's gaze. "As if your horseshit scheme is any better, Darien. Just sling every single one of us into that building with no idea what's inside it, and just assume we can fight our way to the reactor and to all of the emplacements from the inside? Hell, odds are your way will get a long more people killed than mine. But no, you're Darien Flint, leader of Hammerhead Squad, loose cannon and Ravine native who knows better than everyone else. I'm sick of it. You don't know better than the rest of us just because you lived on this hell-heap years ago."

The ring of his voice died, leaving him staring eye to eye with Darien. She could see his fists clenching white-knuckled by his sides, fighting back every impulse not to knock Vass flat on his back then and there.

Operatives shifted uncomfortably – Amber could feel the accusing eyes of the other members of Tundra squad on her as they backed up their commander, while the members of Hammerhead reciprocated in kind. She could see Idas bristling, whole frame wound tense as he stared them down. Niamh folded her arms and moved up alongside Darien, daring anyone in Tundra to say another word.

And for what it was worth, Amber added her own cold stare to the mix, thoroughly uninspired by Vass's reckless brand of bloody-mindedness. Every problem had the same solution – go in fast and hard and shoot anything in the way. Darien wasn't above giving an order like that himself, but at least had the good sense to exhaust other options first. It seemed that the irreconcilable differences between the two young men had finally reached breaking point - neither of them about to back down from this confrontation. Worry burned deep in her gut. If Darien couldn't get Vass under control they could be facing a veritable mutiny within the Blink ranks, right when they could least afford it. 

The members of the other squads exchanged uneasy looks and shuffled back from the confrontation, unsure what to do. For an achingly long moment no-one spoke.

"Darien." It was Vanna Proctor's voice that eventually cut through the silence like a stiletto. Heads turned to see Rigel's leader, her expression stone and her hands clasped behind her back in a picture of calm. "I'd like to speak to you and Vass in private. Sir."