Chapter 212: Missed You

August 28th, 625

“We’re nearing the Epicenter.”

My eyes snapped open when I heard Jasmine. I felt how much rest I got, guessing 7 hours 25 minutes. 

I looked at the clock, seeing I had gotten 7 hours 21 minutes. 

“Fuck my internal clock is good.”

I climbed out of the bed in the back of the XR-11. There were two beds next to each other divided by a thin wall. A bit cramped but it provided enough comfort. Certainly better than tiny bunks. 

I stopped by the shitter before climbing into the pilot seat. I was quick to see the epicenter in the distance, the sight of it waking me up. 

It was daytime so it was easy to see. We had been up in the sky for over a full day now and we had made several sweeps across other areas like the Pass before finally coming here. 

We had mountains of data, but this was the jackpot. 

I glanced at Jasmine, “Go ahead and snap pictures.”

“Sure.” She jumped out of her seat and went to the console behind me, activating all the collection systems and operating the camera. 

The Epicenter was a city of flesh, much larger now compared to the pictures Chief Reginold brought back. There were now 6 other intestines coming off of it as well, four going behind it, one going to the western coast, and the other going east to where other human strongholds were. 

I raised my voice a bit, “How would you feel about checking out where all those intestines go?”

“Let’s do it,” Jasmine raised her head, “I’m more than comfortable for another week. We’ve got months of food anyway.”

“It’s a plan then. How are things looking down there?”

“As good as you can expect. Based on what I can see there has to be several hundred thousand monsters, probably a million factoring those hidden inside the structures. And even with this weak magic sensor, the reading is giving us Sovereign-class densities.”

“Yeah, I’m not liking it.”

I looked back down. My Aura was tingling, giving me a bad feeling. Something strong was down there, something comparable to a Sovereign. I had met two more during the showcasing and got a good read on what that level felt like outside of Anarchy. 

But I couldn’t feel a King down there. Was there another Sovereign-level Royal besides the Kings?

I continued to stare at the Epicenter, Jasmine collecting all the data she could. We were above it for several minutes, my anxiety gradually increasing. 

“Jasmine, strap in.”

She was silent for a couple seconds before she scrambled over to the seat next to me, strapping in as quickly as she could before tightening everything down. 

After that there was silence, until I saw a flash come from within the Epicenter. 

I jerked the control stick to the side, the entire plane turning on its axis and diving away from its original position, quickly dropping a thousand feet. 

A second later I saw a bright flash of fire streak past us and explode above us. No damage done, but the fact that something could attack us from so high up, and so accurately, worried me. 

I looked down again for a second, and that’s when I saw the Sovereign-Class Royal. Not a King, but something just a step below. I could feel it lock onto us. It may not be able to see us but something that powerful sensing a couple people from 40 thousand feet away wasn’t that difficult. The King of Anarchy was able to sweep an entire base with its Aura from many more miles away. 

“We’re bailing.”

“What is that?”

“A Sovereign-Class.”

“You think that’s what the Sovereign at the Treehouse came for?”

“Probably.”

I saw another flash and spun out again, a bigger explosion streaking past us and detonating a few hundred meters away, shaking the plane. Flames washed over us but the damage was cosmetic. 

I turned on the two idle engines and punched all four, heading west and away from the Epicenter. 

Thankfully we were just that small in the sky. So long as the Sovereign didn’t go all out, we were safe. I had no doubt it could blow us out of the sky otherwise.

Soon we were out of range, the Sovereign not following. I let out a sigh and turned the other two engines back off, letting them continue charging. There was a bit of room to run both but if we weren’t careful with fuel management we’d have to land at some point, and we were too far behind enemy lines to take that risk. 

Jasmine relaxed a bit, “Fucking shit… Well, I can officially say I’ve survived a Sovereign-Class attack.”

“Welcome to the club.”

I put up my fist, Jasmine bumping it before unbuckling and heading to the back. 

“I’m gonna sleep.”

……

For the next few days Jasmine and I made our rounds across the map. 

We checked out the west, heading to the coast where we found the end of an intestine. It was drinking up water from the ocean, for what I had no idea. It was also infecting the ocean with something similar to algae, creating a massive delta of red and brown that spread for approximately 120 miles beyond the coast. It was no less ecologically devastating than an oil spill from the looks of it, but any aquatic life that might indicate such had either evacuated or been consumed. 

From there we headed to the north, following the coast before turning inward and reaching the depths of Scourge territory. 

More Epicenters, but more importantly, countless nests and conglomerations of Scourge. We saw hundreds of millions of monsters across thousands of miles. Most of them weren’t of the combat variety though. They were labor monsters, responsible for whatever the Scourge needed to get done. 

They collected rare resources like metals, which meant mining operations. They also farmed to some extent, though I didn’t recognize any of the plants they farmed, if they could be considered plants. Trees like the Gut Roots were found in forest-level concentrations, being harvested like orchards. 

Any rivers that existed were thoroughly corrupted, most of them a dark red and brown. There wasn’t an inch of untouched land within their territory, and absolutely no normal flora or fauna. It was nothing but huge expanses of red. The only places that lacked extensive biomat coverage were the icy peaks of mountains where nothing grew anyway. 

The climate got warmer and more tropical as we went east. The weather seemed to remain unchanged in general, so that was one less concern of mine. However, we managed to find some disturbing establishments in the absolute deepest portions of the northern territories. 

A City of Royals. 

They had an actual intelligible city. It was absolutely massive, even bigger than the Capital, with castles and houses and humanoids everywhere. 

Royals were humanoid monsters that possessed intelligence, and they were supposed to descend from certain bloodlines within the Scourge. These bloodlines specifically were what granted them intelligence. 

It was the King Blood Royals that descended from the Kings, and they were naturally far rarer than normal Royals. 

They were supposed to be rare in general, but this city was full of them. There had to be over a hundred thousand Royals. 

A training ground, perhaps a society. I wouldn’t grant these things humanity but they still seemed to form something similar to civilization, not that they were civilized. 

Jasmine and I did brief sweeps over the place for 2 days since we picked up two Sovereign-Class threats. During that time we gave that place the name City of Sin. 

We saw gladiator arenas where Royals frequently fought to the death, killing each other and then consuming the Crystal within their opponent. That seemed to be how they got stronger, so as long as they were breeding more Royals and constantly killing and eating each other, they’d produce powerful soldiers. 

Oh how I wished I could drop a couple bombs on them. Unfortunately Sawn was still figuring out the kinds of spells to arm the Elemental Crystals with so I didn’t have any yet. 

Unfortunately we couldn’t get close to observe more. We wouldn’t take chances with more Sovereigns so we stayed multiple miles away and at the highest altitude the XR-11 could reach. I was pretty sure we were spotted anyway but we weren’t attacked thanks to my sense of danger. I simply bailed whenever I got nervous, which Jasmine greatly appreciated. 

The City of Sin had more gargantuan intestines coming out of it, some going south, some going to the east or west. It seemed this was the most northward establishment since none were going even further north. 

After those two days of observation we finally left, heading back south. Since we were already all the way out here, Jasmine and I decided to head to the base directly south of us before heading west to go back to the Treehouse, picking up more intel for one of the bases out there. 

Specifically, Stronghold Beta, where all my friends were. 

……

…

“Looks pretty calm right now.”

Jasmine muttered while snapping some pictures of the front line we were crossing over. We had gathered enough intel for Stronghold Beta to process for days. 

I nodded, glancing down through some of the glass. 

“Yeah, well, these guys have special operations to help out. I know they aren’t entirely localized here but it’s not like we have some, so they’re going to do better than us.”

“True, though it’s not like they have multiple armies worth like we do either.”

I shrugged, continuing to guide the plane over to our destination. 

I was excited. Stronghold Beta was one of the places an airfield was being built, so if it was finished, I’d be able to land.

“There’s a plane.”

“Hm?”

I perked up, looking to where Jasmine was pointing and finding a fighter model plane. It was smaller, but it held two people who controlled 2 turrets each. It was meant for strafing runs and close air support. 

It was currently flying back to base. I smiled a bit as we continued to pull ahead. It looked like they were teaching pilots well. More than that though, I was simply excited to see them working in the field. 

Soon enough, Stronghold Beta came into view. 

The landscape around the Stronghold was full of rocky formations and thicker forests. Surprisingly, most of the forests still existed, not yet wiped out by the biomat. Even near the frontlines there were still trees and animals that some soldiers fought among. 

It made me curious why they were able to maintain their ecosystem and not the Treehouse. 

The question got slotted into the back of my head as we made our approach. A quick view told me that Stronghold Beta did in fact have an operating airfield, obviously since there was a plane in the field. So with that, I powered on the comm systems and tuned to the proper channel. 

“Tower Beta, this is callsign Dreamboat, checking in for authorization and landing, over.”

“…Tower copies, Dreamboat. We don’t have you or your plane in our flight list. Are you coming from another airfield?”

“That is correct, Tower. We are from the Treehouse, currently carrying out long-duration reconnaissance. Plane authorization code is XR-11-00001-8008135.”

There was a short delay before the Tower chimed back in, “You’re a long way from home, Dreamboat. You have authorization to land, 2nd in queue. Enter holding pattern until you’re cleared.”

“Roger, lowering to Flight Level 5 and entering holding pattern. Dreamboat out.”

“Tower out.”

The channel dropped, Jasmine turning to me as I flew the plane down into the holding pattern.

“What’s that code you gave them?”

“Sawn Industries created a repository to store every aircraft code. It can be accessed from the systems we installed into Towers, allowing flight controllers to verify whether a plane is in the system or not. It allows Towers to authorize planes not on their flight lists.”

“Why do you have to verify planes at all? It’s not like the Scourge has them.”

“It’s called operational security. You don’t know that the Scourge couldn’t hijack a plane. So just in case, we create a system of authenticity. Call it paranoid but it’s better if we don’t take the chance at all.”

“That’s true, I guess.”
She shrugged as I brought out my own Aerial, tapping it a few times and making a call. 

That beautiful voice came through. 

“Hello? John?”

“Hello, my dear. I hope you’re free right now.”

“I’m about to be? What’s going on?”

“I’m currently inside a plane above Stronghold Beta.”

There was a long moment of silence before her excited voice came back. 

“I’ll be there.”

“Can’t wait.”

The call dropped, a big smile on my face. 

Jasmine looked at me weirdly, “Who was that?”

“That was my girlfriend.”

“You mean that Talerria girl? You mean you weren’t lying about her?”

I shot her a look, noticing the coy grin on her face. 

Then I jerked the control stick, flipping the plane a few times. 

“Alright, alright, I give! Don’t make me barf again!”

“Cheeky pipsqueak. That’s gonna be your callsign from now on. Pipsqueak.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

I chuckled a bit, getting the clearance to land and taking the bird down. 

The plane touched the ground, sending a jolt through the structure before I started braking. We slowed to a stop pretty quickly before looping through and around the airfield. 

We stopped near the hangars after following the guidance of one of the workers. Once in our spot, I depressurized the cabin and turned everything off so we could make our way out. 

The exit hatch opened for the first time in a week. Jasmine and I were both smiling while going down the ladder, touching ground. 

“Haha! The floor! I love the floor!”

Jasmine laughed uncontrollably for a bit. I, on the other hand, looked off into the distance. 

I saw exactly who I wanted to see.

Umara, Feiden, and Tana all came walking over in unmarked spec ops uniforms. At some point Umara broke out into a run. Even the wind carried her. 

I jogged a bit, bracing for impact once she got close and catching her body. 

“Jesus! Gonna knock the wind out of me!”

I laughed as she wrapped me up with both her arms and legs, spinning once or twice before stopping and facing each other. 

She smiled at me, “Hi!”

“Hi!”

“I missed you!”

“I missed you too!”

We both chuckled before she smothered me with kisses. It felt heavenly. 

After a long, deep kiss we separated and she slid off me. I looked down at her and shared one more kiss before I turned to the others. 

Both Feiden and Tana had more scars than before. Feiden had a split on his chin and Tana had a fading pink gash going down her lip. Even Umara had a scar across her temple. 

I went and hugged the two of them, giving some greetings before turning back to Jasmine. 

“Jasmine, these are my friends from my class and my girlfriend, Umara. Guys, this is Colonel Jasmine. We work together at the Treehouse.”

“A pleasure.”

The two parties greeted each other with handshakes. During that time, I watched as two people came walking over. One of them had no nametag or insignia. The other was a full General.  

I felt Umara’s Aura poke me, so I reached out with my telepathy, forming that familiar link for the first time in over two years. 

[That’s Gurns. He’s the recruiter for Special Operations. I’m not sure what his rank is but he stands equal to at least Marshals. The other guy is Stronghold Beta’s General Kisa.]

[Copy.]

She linked her arms with me as I smiled at the two approaching men. 

Gurns smiled, “Lieutenant Colonel Cooper, it’s a pleasure to meet the inventor of flight.”

“The pleasure is mine, sir,” I saluted, “General Kisa.”

“At ease, Cooper. It’s a surprise to have you here but certainly not an unwelcome one.”

He stuck out his hand, which I quickly shook. 

I motioned to Jasmine. 

“We stopped by to drop Stronghold Beta some intel regarding Scourge operations beyond your front lines. That and to get some time on the ground.”

“How long have you been in the air? It’s a long way from the Treehouse.”

“We’ve been in the sky for 7 days straight, sir.”

“7 days?”

Everyone’s eyes bulged, making me laugh. 

“Yes sir, this bird can remain in the sky forever with proper fuel management, only limited by the supplies the crew has to sustain them.”

“That’s… impressive. Well please, come and relax for as long as you need. Do you need us to send a message back to the Treehouse?”

“No sir, I already did. Thank you though.”

I shook my head with a smile. Naturally, I was lying about telling the Treehouse about this impromptu visit. Not that I was afraid of the repercussions anyway. I had reserved two weeks for this mission. Nobody would get on my ass for taking a day to myself. It wasn’t like we didn’t have intel to hand off anyway. 

All of us walked back to the main part of the base. The General and Gurns split off with Jasmine to handle intel while I got to have some leave with my friends. 

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