Raynor's reply came faster than Valerie expected.
The message was brief, carrying his usual pragmatic style: "No need for credits. We might have a use for transport. Bring your people to the salvage yard west of town in one hour."
The message was clear: the test had begun ahead of schedule, and the "transport" was highly likely to be the key.
Valerie arrived on time.
Inside the salvage yard, alongside Raynor and several core Raiders, Tychus's prominent blue power armor was also explicitly present. He was leaning to one side, tinkering with a Gauss rifle with his thick fingers.
Seeing Valerie and her "security squad" appear, he whistled: "Well, look at this turnout, Jimmy. Are we going on a picnic, or are we here to wreck the place?"
Raynor ignored Tychus' banter and walked over to Valerie, his gaze sweeping over the ten motionless "security consultants" behind her and the cold lines of the Thunderhawk gunship.
"I have received the first step of your 'sincerity.' Now, it's time for the second step." He pulled up a crude electronic map and pointed to an area marked as a "Dominion Outpost."
"The Dominion has reinforced its troops in the mining zone north of town. Nominally it's to 'maintain order,' but in reality, they are cracking down on and forcibly conscripting civilians. There are people inside who shouldn't be there.
We're going in to get whoever wants to leave out, and give the Dominion boys a piece of our mind while we're at it. Your transport ship will be responsible for quickly dropping a squad onto the flank after the operation begins, creating chaos and drawing fire. Any questions?"
"None," Valerie answered cleanly and crisply.
She could see that this was both a live-fire test and an evaluation of her team's capabilities.
The operation unfolded under the cover of night.
Valerie took her ten-man squad aboard the Thunderhawk, quietly ascending into the sky and hovering at low altitude on the periphery of the target area. Through the viewport, she could clearly see the searchlights of the Dominion outpost below cutting through the night sky, as well as the main force of the Raiders led by Raynor launching a frontal feint from the ground.
The sound of gunfire instantly shattered the silence of the night.
"Prepare," Valerie ordered the power-armored soldiers beside her, her voice calm. She was playing the role of commander, while Osiris's directives echoed within her logical core: observe, evaluate, limited support.
The side hatch of the Thunderhawk slid open. Without any redundant commands, five "security consultants" fast-roped down in sequence, landing precisely at their designated positions. They rapidly formed a tactical formation, suppressing the defensive firing positions on the outpost's flank with precise bursts.
Their movements were highly efficient and cold, completely different from the somewhat wild style of the Raiders, and far exceeding the standard expected of ordinary corporate security.
Over the comms channel, Raynor's slightly surprised voice came through: "Flank fire is slacking off. Good job—your people are quite professional."
Tychus's booming laughter cut in: "More than professional, Jimmy! They're like a bunch of clockwork machines! I like it! Let those tin cans hold the line a bit longer!"
Valerie did not respond, calmly monitoring the stream of battlefield data. She saw Raynor's squad break into the interior of the outpost amid the chaos, saw the panic of the Dominion defenders under the pincer attack, and saw the rescued civilians fleeing in a hurry under the guidance of the Raiders.
Throughout the entire process, she noticed that Tychus closely followed Raynor. There was a strange, wordless understanding between the two; Tychus's seemingly reckless actions always managed to defuse crises or open up situations for Raynor at just the right moments.
As the operation neared its end, a hidden Dominion bunker suddenly opened fire, blocking the evacuation route. Raynor attempted to organize an attack, but the frontal fire was ferocious.
"Do you require an airstrike? We possess precision-guided weapons," Valerie inquired over the channel. This was a "convenience" she could provide within her authority.
"No, don't draw the big stuff here!" Raynor immediately vetoed. "Tychus!"
"Been waiting for this!" Tychus laughed wildly, shouldering an anti-armor rocket launcher scavenged from the Dominion troops. Under the cover of his teammates, he rushed close in an almost insane manner and blew open the weak point of the bunker with a single shot. The fire from the explosion illuminated his excited face.
Ultimately, the operation was a success.
On the way back to the salvage yard, Raynor walked up to Valerie's Thunderhawk, looking at the "security consultants" who were filing into the aircraft with barely any scratches on them. He fell silent for a moment.
"Your people are good. Far better than most 'corporate security' I've seen." His gaze still carried a sense of scrutiny. "Consider today's job a pass. However, there's something even more 'interesting' coming up next."
He paused, glancing at Tychus, who was not far away boasting to the Raiders about his recent shot, and lowered his voice: "Tychus brought in a piece of 'business.' The target is an 'artifact' that the Dominion has buried deep, and the pay is handsome. The risk is high, probably ten times higher than today. If your ship and your 'tin cans' still want to tag along for a 'risk assessment,' assemble here tomorrow at the same time."
Valerie nodded. "We will be there on time, Mr. Raynor."
On the way back to the Thunderhawk, an encrypted internal line from a "security consultant" conveyed Osiris's instructions: "Operational data received. The coordination efficiency between Raynor and Tychus exceeds estimates. Continue tracking, focus on collecting information related to the 'artifact.' The vanguard of the Zerg signal has entered the planetary gravity field; escalation of the conflict is imminent."
The so-called "artifact" was referred to by Raynor and Tychus as an "artifact fragment." According to the vague intelligence provided by Tychus (who claimed it came from a "mysterious employer"), the Dominion was secretly studying and preserving this strange object of alien civilization deep inside a remote excavation site on Mar Sara.
The scale of this operation far exceeded the last one. Raynor mobilized nearly all available forces of the Raiders, while Tychus appeared exceptionally proactive.
Valerie and her ten-man squad were assigned clear tactical tasks: utilizing the high mobility of the Thunderhawk to forcefully drop onto the power sector at the rear flank of the facility while the main force assaulted the main entrance of the Dominion excavation site, destroying its shield generators to create conditions for Raynor's main force to break in.
This was a critical and dangerous task, directly bearing on the success or failure of the operation.
"The defense level of the Dominion here is very high, it's not a common outpost." During the pre-operation briefing, Raynor pointed specifically to the structural diagram of the power sector to warn them. "There could be heavy troops, or automated defense systems. Once you are exposed, you will bear the full brunt of the pressure. If you can't handle it, it's not too late to back out now."
"Risk assessments require facing high-threat environments, Mr. Raynor," Valerie replied. "We will complete the mission."
Under the cover of night, the Thunderhawk gunship bypassed the Dominion's peripheral radar network by utilizing an extreme low-altitude penetration tactic, appearing above the excavation site like a ghost.
The hatch opened, and powerful winds poured in. Below, the outline of the Dominion power sector buildings was clear, with searchlights intertwining.
"All squads, descend," Valerie commanded.