Chapter 220: Fire Hawks

“We’re transferring a few teams to the Treehouse for reinforcement.”

Umara’s brows raised when she heard those words. Normally there would be excitement but if they were going somewhere, it wasn’t in good shape. 

“From reports, the Scourge is currently advancing on the Treehouse with 1.7 million strong army. The bulk of them are still far away but the Treehouse wants to start whittling them down well before they reach the walls. On the frontlines they are by far taking the worst beating. More reinforcements are being sent every day, but they need a sharper knife if they’re going to remove the true threats from that horde. That’s where we come in.”

Gurns threw up a batch of intelligence. They had gotten used to seeing so many details after the planes got going. It was impossible for the Scourge to do anything about them so they had a perfect view of all fronts and all battles at all times. They had yet to suffer a single intelligence failure since then. 

“I will be going with you, but you all will be under the command of Brigadier General Pollina. Chances are, some of you will be sent back to Stronghold Charlie. The Scourge has shown signs of activity along Hare’s Pass once more, small groups of humanoids only occasionally spotted. That means Royals, and they will likely be your primary targets.”

Umara looked around. There was a platoon’s worth of them in the room, the only people that would be going besides the pilots flying the planes to transport them. 

36 people might seem like nothing, but Umara knew they were all at least skilled enough to hold off a thousand times their number. Most of them could fight moderately above their Authority and nobody would hold each other back. 

She had been pleasantly surprised when she finally got through the first few phases of Special Operations. Now that she was full fledged, she got to work with those of the highest skill level in the entire Kingdom. They all had impressive Auras, skills, and grit. Only King Bloods could give them a hard time. 

But she wondered if it would be enough. Memories of Purple Sky flickered through her mind. The sight of monsters using their sheer numbers to pile on top of each other and scale the walls before flooding in with literal tides of poisonous flesh and claw gave her a good idea of what was coming. Sure, they had planes and bombs now, but would that overcome the numbers? 1.7 million was no small number. 

Umara glanced to her side, finding Feiden and Tana frowning, likely thinking the same things. Like Umara, Feiden had advanced to Authority 8 not long ago. They had rapidly climbed in strength after making breakthroughs with their Aura, Umara especially. Only Tana remained at the height of Authority 7, still trying to make a similar major breakthrough in her Auric Technique. 

But even they, in all their skill, wouldn’t be able to hold off 1.7 million monsters. It didn’t matter if they worked day and night, constantly depleting and regenerating their power. If they didn’t have sufficient numbers to meet the Scourge on the same level, they’d collapse all the same. 

That’s when Gurns said it. 

“Alright, consider this top secret information that’s come down from above. High Command has reasonable concerns that the Treehouse may fall. The planes are the only thing that’s thrown those concerns into question. Nobody knows which way it can go. We are going there to attempt to provide the edge that we need. Ensure that the main forces don’t have to deal with any catastrophic combatants. You will deploy two days from now, on December 2nd, taking a C-400. Prepare a full kit.”

Umara continued thinking before getting dismissed. 

She walked out with Feiden and Tana, as well as the two others in their squad, Harsha and Jaya.  

Jaya walked over to Umara’s side with a smile. She was a girl only slightly shorter than Umara, with black hair and blue eyes. She was a good warlock like Umara, specializing in healing and alchemy, with a perfect fire and water affinity alongside an enlightened water element. 

She blended in well with the three, even though they were often kept to themselves. Harsha still had trouble connecting with them but Jaya was good at keeping her in the loop outside of battles. 

Jaya’s soft voice was soothing to Umara’s ears.

“Happy to be seeing your man at the Treehouse?”

“I’d prefer if we weren’t reuniting in a war zone, but yes, it’ll be nice to finally give him support. If I have anything to say about it, we’ll be running with his platoon.”

“The Snow Doves, right? I’ve heard things about them. A lot of special operators come from that platoon. I’ve heard they regularly hunt Royals. It’s amazing for a summoner to be a part of them.”

“Well with any luck he’ll be coming here soon.”

“Mm. Still, I’m interested in seeing him. You guys regarded him so highly even before he invented the planes.”

Umara glanced at Jaya before focusing her eyes back forward. 

Jaya and Harsha were new to their squad. The previous two had been transferred for failing to meet their standard. So far Jaya had been able to keep up, and while Harsha struggled, she didn’t hold them back. 

Umara wasn’t sure how to feel about Jaya though. While she was a nice girl, skilled and easy to get along with, she could also be a bit… promiscuous. She had gone between more than a few squads and there were reasons why. 

In an attempt to keep her out of trouble and drama, Gurns had put her with them and tacked on Harsha. Now they were a 4 woman 1 man squad. 

As for why Gurns wasn’t worried about Feiden, it was because he had already turned down Jaya several times before. So while Jaya may continue to have affairs beyond their squad, it at least wouldn’t cause drama within. They’d remain combat effective and Feiden would continue to be as stoic as ever. 

Now though, Jaya would be meeting John. Umara wasn’t worried about John but she still couldn’t help but get protective. She had already heard about all the correspondence he received from dozens of other noble ladies trying to take him from her. He didn’t need another girl making trouble. 

“Just make sure to prepare plenty of materials. We’re going to be in constant heavy combat. You should prepare to get cut off from supply lines for at least a month.”

“Roger!”

Jaya snapped off a casual salute, Umara half ignoring it. 

As the squad leader, she was the strongest and needed to make most of the decisions. Managing and making sure Jaya had all her alchemical materials was one of her jobs. 

As was training. 

“We’ll meet up in the morning tomorrow for one last spar. After that we’ll prioritize recovery before we leave. Harsha, make sure you have a new mace for the spar. Your current one is fractured.”

“Roger.”

Harsha nodded more formally. Like Feiden she was generally quiet, but Umara didn’t know if that was because she was still uncomfortable with the squad or if she was just socially awkward. 

They retired to their rooms for the night. Well, based on where Umara felt her Aura, Jaya didn’t, but she had stopped caring about that after the 30th time. She was at least always on time.

When Umara entered her room, she stripped off her outer robe before looking toward the small wooden box on her bed. 

It was the package John sent from the Capital. She hadn’t opened it yet since she had gotten called into a briefing right after picking it up from the supply room.

The important thing though was that she couldn’t put it into her spatial storage. That meant whatever it had been made with was powerful and likely had some kind of spatial storage of its own. 

She flipped the latch and tilted the box open, her brows raising when she saw the full ear cuff sitting inside on velvety fabric. 

It was dark purple, matching her eyes, and it had a snaking design that wrapped up her ear from lobe to helix. It was a matte metal design, making it subtle, and had two small encased White Crystals embedded in the bottom and top, some enchanted arrays slightly glowing along the body. 

She picked it up and turned it a few times, smiling at the design before putting it on her ear. 

It fit snugly. She didn’t know how John knew the exact dimensions of her ear but he had a good memory so it wasn’t that far fetched. 

Once on, it adhered to her skin. Then it bonded with her Crest and allowed her to infuse her Aura into it. 

Her eyes widened when she saw the massive storage space within, realizing that the two tiny White Crystals were both taken from Authority 10 Crystals. They were cheaper because they were smaller but it was still difficult to think about the cost. 

Umara sighed, thinking about how she’d reprimand his financial hypocrisy before finding the main function of the ear cuff. 

She activated it, a large black hat appearing on her head. 

It had an excessively wide brim and a large pointy top, the top point bent, with some purple metal ornamentation around the base of the point. 

She got up and ran to the mirror, seeing her purple eyes glowing from underneath the brim that extended past her shoulders in width, face palming when she saw how ridiculous it looked. 

“A Witch hat? What the hell did you make me pinky promise, John…”

She looked back at the mirror, staring at it and stepping back, checking herself out from different angles. 

A smile slowly surfaced on her face. The hat was certainly unique enough, and it was funny to think about how adamantly he insisted on her wearing this. Considering how much coin he would’ve sunk into it, she really didn’t have a choice either. 

She turned back around, seeing a note on the roof of the box. 

“The larger the hat, the stronger the Witch.”

She chuckled, thinking about how weird of a correlation that was. 

She looked back at the mirror, getting more looks at herself before there was a sudden knock on the door. 

Umara felt Tana’s Aura outside, so she used some of her mana to unlock the door and let her in. 

“Hey, I was going to ask you about-”

Tana paused, seeing Umara standing there with the hat, her face a bit red. 

A grin slowly floated up on Tana’s face, making Umara scrunch hers. 

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Your eyes speak for you.”

“I just… He certainly has an interesting taste.”

Tana barely held back a laugh, walking over and checking the hat out. 

“It’s at least pretty, even though I’ve never seen a hat like this. How much did it cost?”

“Well, based on how much he’s making with the newest contract Sawn Industries signed, the Authority 10 Crystals in it, and his general recklessness, I’d say close to 100 million.”

“Holy shit,” Tana sputtered, “He was serious when he said he’d spend that much?”

“Apparently. And its functions are as good as the money he’s spent. If I’m seeing these functions right, it’s got defensive abilities rivaling an Authority 10 knight helmet. It can perfectly filter air, quadruples the Magika density around me, can isolate sound, can enhance my barriers, and can insulate magical signatures. This would be a great gift worthy of my mother, let alone me.”

“Wow. Must be nice, having a rich boyfriend.”

“Trust me, he’ll get an earful when we get to the Treehouse.”

Umara willed away the hat, Tana’s brows raising when she saw the ear cuff. 

“That’s a beautiful piece. Part of the hat?”

“Mm. It’s got a spatial storage in it 5 times bigger than my personal one.”

“My, my. He sure knows how to spend money.”

Tana chuckled, Umara bringing the hat back out and looking back at the mirror. 

“…My boyfriend is a weirdo.”

“A rich weirdo.”

……

…

Two days passed and Umara stepped onto the C-400 with her squad, taking one of the many seats on the side of the plane. There were 4 specially modified Steeds sitting inside already taking up the bulk of the Plane’s cargo space. 

Umara saw them and shook her head. She could still barely believe that John had made something like this. Let alone making troops fly, he could create planes with such strength that entire troop carriers could fly. 

The propellers were already spinning by the time they boarded early in the morning. It was loud and a bit nerve-wracking. Umara had only been on the helicopters. She had no experience on a plane. 

After everyone was loaded on, including Gurns, the massive back hatch slowly closed itself. Almost a dozen clamps locked down once all the surfaces were flush with each other, the co-pilot doing final checks before going back up to the pilot chamber and readying for takeoff. 

Umara looked behind her as they started to move, watching the runway through the window pass faster and faster. 

Then they tilted up, her hand clamping down on her harness.

For the next 30 minutes they simply climbed altitude, getting higher and higher, farther away from Stronghold Beta. Then they finally leveled out, Umara relaxing a bit, taking in the view from over 30 thousand feet up. 

“Fucking hell…”

Feiden muttered from beside her, eyes glued to the window like her. The view from so high up was unlike any other. The helicopters didn’t climb this high, that was for damn sure. 

Umara sat there and watched the sun come up, watching it climb over the horizon from a new perspective, suddenly more aware of some of the things John had talked about long ago. 

The sun and its place around their world. It was a vast distance away but if John was correct, it was their world that turned, not the sun itself. It was stationary, their world orbiting around that incomprehensibly massive ball of fire. 

She could barely visualize it though. Some of the concepts written in her Grimoires were still difficult to grasp. 

This view helped her with one though. Just slightly. 

The flight didn’t take long. Umara watched as they started their descent, quickly getting clearance to land. 

She looked off into the distance, seeing the hordes from above and the bombs constantly being dropped on them. She could sense the towering Aura off in the distance, the many hundreds of thousands of Scourge marching toward the tiny Treehouse, salivating at a chance to kill every human within. 

Her gaze fell. It was worse than she thought. She had heard the numbers but it was starting to feel like Purple Sky all over again. 

At least John wouldn’t be fighting alone. 

The entire plane jolted from a weighty landing, braking to a halt. After some silence the back hatch cracked open. 

They all stood and walked out. There was a Colonel there to meet them. Umara recognized her as Jasmine, the woman with John when he stopped by Stronghold Beta. 

Her eyes had bags under them. The overwork was apparent, and unlike when they last met, Jasmine was in no mood to be cheery or overly courteous. 

Gurns stepped forward to meet her, shaking her hand. 

“Glad you could be here, Gurns. Your reinforcement is timely.”

“Then I won’t waste time with pleasantries. Please, lead the way.”

Jasmine nodded, turning and walking. Everyone followed, going to the headquarters where they were piled into a briefing room. 

Once inside Jasmine got straight to the brief. 

“The situation is rapidly deteriorating despite our best efforts to hold our lines beyond our walls. The Scourge is not only introducing high numbers of common monsters, but about double as many Royals as we’ve expected even in our worst projections. There is more power variance to them, appearing with power levels as low as Authority 5, but those show up by the battalion and they utilize actual tactics that are thwarting our positions. Nevertheless, we need you all to handle the most extreme threats.”

Jasmine brought up images of their maps, filled with more details than they knew to make sense of. 

She pointed to the eastern areas. 

“Most of the high Authority threats are coming down the eastern flank along with smaller batches of monsters. Currently, we have 4 special companies handling those threats. You all will be the 5th. We will divide you by squadron and send one to each company to bolster their top end combat power. I understand that there are six squads of you, so the two extra squads will take up positions in this northern area to prevent any major collapses in key bulwarks. I have your assignments here. First squadron…”

Jasmine started listing off where each squad would go. Umara’s heart beat a bit faster, hoping that she’d get them placed with the Snow Doves. John should’ve been notified, and there was no way Jasmine or her superior Polly wouldn’t place them accordingly…

“5th squadron, you are assigned to Charlie company, composed of the Snow Doves and Pathfinders. The Snow Doves are out, so you will leave this room and report to the Pathfinder Platoon Commander Pollux at their barracks first.”

“Copy.”

Umara nodded, keeping her face neutral even though she wanted to smile in relief. 

Having friends in the right places really helped. 

After giving the last assignment, Jasmine looked back up. 

“Each of your squadrons will be under the command of your assigned Company’s highest commanding officer. I understand that you all are special operations but we have new ways of doing things here, new threats to keep track of not native to where you’ve come from. For your own sakes, listen to your orders. I have packets for all of you detailing the various outstanding threats we’ve come across over the last few months, monsters to remember, tactics to watch out for, tips to aid in your survival atop the infectious biomats. I suggest you all study them and head to the armory for refits as soon as possible. They will all be pertinent to your wellbeing in the field.”

“We will take and implement all advice you give us.”

Gurns stepped forward and took the packets, tossing them out for the squadrons to take. 

He took the floor. 

“You all know the drill. We’re on a foreign battlefield and you all will learn from the masters here. Trust your instincts, trust your superiors. If I hear about any fuckups or complaints, I’ll be handling it personally. This is the first external deployment for all of you! Get used to it, because this will not be the last time you come to bolster entire strongholds with your skill! Am I understood?!”

“Yes, sir!”

They all stood and snapped off salutes, seeing how dead serious Gurns was being. Considering an entire base was at stake, they could understand why. 

The war was changing right in front of them, and he didn’t want his soldiers making stupid mistakes just because they got cocky. Thankfully, they had all seen how lethal things could get. They had all seen other special operators like them get killed, and it didn’t take a mistake to lose your life in an instant. 

Gurns nodded. 

“Good. Now, you all have your assignments. Let’s show these people what the Fire Hawks can do! For Honor!”

“For Honor!”

They all chanted, getting dismissed. 

Packet of information in hand, Umara walked with Feiden, Tana, Jaya, and Harsha to the barracks of the Pathfinders. It was a good distance away, a large multi-story building meant to hold both them and the Snow Doves when they were here. 

They entered the main area, finding a few dozen people lounging and recovering, pulling most of their stares. 

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep