Alta Base
| Alta Base | |
|---|---|
| |
| World | Detritus |
| Universe | Skyward Universe |
Alta Base is a military outpost on the surface of Detritus above Igneous Cavern. It acts as the main base of the DDF.[1] It contains the only trees on Detritus.
Alta Base sits over 120 kilometers west of a mountain range. Anti-aircraft (AA) guns protect the base, with a comfortable range of 75 meters and a maximum range of 120 meters. The area around Alta Base has been turned into farm land. A public elevator is available to take people to Igneous Caverns, however, it is quite slow. In comparison, the private elevator which extends to the Deep Caverns, is relatively quick.
On duty pilots live and work at Alta Base and are rotated down into the Deep Caverns at different intervals in order to protect some of the DDF forces in the case that Alta is destroyed by a lifebuster. If a lifebuster is dropped directly on Alta Base it would also destroy Igneous Caverns which can be found underground beneath the base.
Flight School is located at Alta Base, with cadets training and living at the base. Cadets are housed in the same buildings as full pilots and share facilities with these pilots. Spensa is denied lodging at Alta Base during her time as a cadet and instead stays in the cave close where she first discovered M-Bot.
History
Prior to the Battle, Alta Base had been cloaked to hide it from the Krell, in an attempt to build up a defense force against the aliens using the machinery that had been found beneath the base in Igneous Cavern. The Krell, however, discovered the base and sent a large force to attack and destroy the humans. The DDF won the battle, chasing off the Krell and saving Alta Base. Following the battle they removed the cloaking from Alta Base and further fortified their position.
Shortly after the graduation, Ironsides sent the entire fleet of the Defiant Defense Force to protect a falling shipyard, in the hope of preserving and havesting the shipyards acclivity rings, thus leaving the base vulnerable. As expected, the Krell attack the DDF ships, attempting to destroy the shipyard and acclivity rings. This attack, however, was a diversion planned by the Krell so they could gain an opening to directly attack and destroy Alta Base. A second force of Krell, including a Lifebuster, went to attack Alta Base while it was undefended. Spensa defended the base in a damaged Poco by anticipating the movement of the Krell using her Cytonic abilities, however, was eventually shot down. She managed to land her ship successfully, despite the damage it had taken. Cobb, piloting M-Bot, found Spensa and gave her control of the ship so she could rejoin the battle. When the Lifebuster dropped its bomb Spensa jumped it away to save Alta Base and Igneous Cavern.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]