The H4 plunged into the sinkhole''s electro-muted darkness, its collision alarms muted. Karl''s neural lace flickered with combat diagnostics - 87% humidity, trace radiation spikes, and the kind of silence that gnawed at augmented eardrums.


    Twin crimson beams slashed through the void, illuminating three H4 skiffs bearing corporate yellow numerals:


    > Unit 246 (Lanthanum residue: 3.2kg/m3)


    > Unit 099 (Core temp: 112% threshold)


    > Unit 712 (Unauthorized seismic charges detected)


    West''s threat assessment blinked amber. [Illicit mining collective. Probability of corporate oversight: 0.03%.]


    Karl''s jaw tightened. Memory fragments reassembled - these were the ghosts who''d struck metaphorical gold last timeline, their sudden wealth paving the way for G46''s collapse. But the math didn''t compute: Standard H4 scanners couldn''t penetrate beyond 200m of regolith. Unless...


    The skiff banked sharply, its belly scraping the tunnel''s lithium-caked walls. As retro-thrusters flared, two spider-like drones detached from maintenance ports. West''s subroutines activated their black-market upgrades:


    [Micro-thrusters: Online


    Thermoptic camouflage: Engaged


    Neural tap vulnerability: 0.7ms latency]


    The H4 drifted silently 300m above the mining frenzy, its shadow merging with the sinkhole''s curvature. On the cracked display, drone feeds revealed the truth:


    Unit 246''s modified drill array chewed through bedrock at 150% spec capacity - military-grade augments glittering beneath corporate paint. Unit 712 deployed prohibited plasma torches, their cobalt flames vaporizing quartz veins where the lanthanum deposit slept.


    [Alert: Biosign stress at 122%] West warned as Karl''s fists clenched. These weren''t prospectors. That drill pattern matched Consortium Special Ops mining protocols. That plasma tech cost more than a year''s platinum yield.


    "Magnify sector Gamma-22."


    The drone''s enhanced optics revealed what naked eyes couldn''t see - Aex Corp security badges beneath grime-stained pressure suits. The same insignia that later authorized the casualty reports. The same faces that approved the cover-up.  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Unit 099''s operator turned suddenly, his helmet cam sweeping the tunnel. Karl''s drones froze, their carbon-fiber carapaces mimicking asteroid debris. The man''s lips moved behind his visor, forming words West''s lip-read algorithm decrypted:


    *"...Where does the light come from?..."*


    The H4''s reactor whined as Karl engaged manual override. Below, the rogue skiffs'' drills whined deeper, oblivious to the micro-drones now affixing EMP charges to their reactor housings.


    Some timelines needed surgical adjustments.


    Rock shards pinged against H4 hulls like hail on a tin roof. Karl''s drone feed revealed the carnage - tunnel walls pockmarked with 327 illegal boreholes, their jagged edges still glowing from plasma torches.


    **// AUDIO DECRYPTION //**


    **Unit 246:** (male, 43Hz vocal stress) "What the fuck was that skiff doing here? Nearly blew our cover!"


    **Unit 712:** (female, 89% anxiety index) "Your cousin''s coordinates better be solid. We''ve stockpiled six weeks'' worth in these--"


    **Unit 099:** (male, command modulation) "Relax. Scanned the intruder - H4-2781''s a greenhorn. Joined Aex Corp 27 solar days ago. Probably chasing phantom signals."


    The mining resumed, drills chewing through regolith with mechanical fury. Unseen beneath their skiffs, Karl''s micro-drone adjusted its thermal silhouette, black-market optical array zooming on the latest excavation.


    **// VISUAL ANALYSIS //**


    A cobalt-blue vein shimmered in the borehole wall, deflecting standard mining bits. West''s mineral database flared across Karl''s neural lace:


    > **H7-grade Zisite**


    > - Mohs hardness: 8.3


    > - Market value: 10,456 credits/kg


    > **H5 Phenite** (secondary deposit)


    > - Radiation shielding efficacy: 93%


    > - Black-market demand: 2,300% markup


    **Unit 246:** (laughing) "Another 3kg chunk! That''s lunch at Ceres Prime covered!"


    The drone''s enhanced optics tracked 099''s pilot revealing a hidden cache - 327kg of raw Zisite glowing like stolen starlight. Karl''s biometrics spiked:


    > Heart rate: 142 bpm


    > Adrenaline levels: Combat-ready


    **Unit 099:** "My cousin wasn''t exaggerating. Scatter deposits across 12km of tunnel. We extract simultaneously, report as single vein--"


    **Unit 712:** "And trigger the motherlode bonus clause!"


    The truth crystallized. No precious lode. Just rats hoarding crumbs. Their greed would lure fourteen miners to watery graves when the rains came.


    **Karl:** (subvocal command) "West. Cross-reference their stockpile locations with collapse models."


    The HUD overlay turned blood-red. Every hidden cache aligned with future structural failure points.


    **// DRONE FEED UPDATE //**


    246''s skiff exposed another cache, the Zisite glittering with lethal promise. No demolition charges detected - just greed and bad geology.


    **West:** [Rainfront approaching. Estimated tunnel integrity: 31%]


    Karl''s knuckles whitened on the control yoke. No corporate cleanup crews this timeline. Just fourteen miners who''d die believing in a phantom lode.


    The H4''s combat drills hummed to life.