Chapter 44: Contact

At some point the Crawler rolled off-road. We tread through some plains before heading up a large hill and finally coming to a stop. 

Everyone disembarked and scanned the surroundings. There was no immediate threat, but we still had to be wary. 

The entity we were hunting wouldn’t be alone, that much we knew. However, we also didn’t know how powerful it was. Since we weren’t going in with much intelligence, an extra layer of caution was warranted. 

But after several minutes of looking around, nothing was found. So we all settled while gathering around Sir Hemet. 

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do.”

He took out his Aerial, tapping a few times before bringing up a map. 

“From here we need to move down the hill in that direction. While we don’t see anything out of the ordinary now, this thing could be hiding in plain sight, so we still need to search some key landmarks. But since we don’t have communications all the way out here, we’ll all need to go together.”

“I have a suggestion.”

I suddenly raised my hand, prompting Hemet to turn and stare at me. 

I spoke.

“I’m good with long distance attacks and observation, and this hilltop is perfect for someone like me. I was wondering if it would be better for me to stay here and provide some overwatch for the group.”

“…You’re the summoner?”

“Yes sir.”

I nodded, to which he went silent for a few moments. 

“…Very well. You will stay with the Crawler and watch us from afar.”

“Understood. I will also need Umara to stay with me for support.”

“The warlock? That doesn’t seem optimal. If you get attacked you will need close range support, so…”

Sir Hemet looked around, finding and pointing at Tana. 

“She will stay back with you.”

“…Are you sure, sir? Umara is already my designated support, and she’s not a knight, so she may hold you back while traveling.”

I spoke back up. While staying back with Umara was partially driven out of my desire to have some alone time, it was also practical. Her auxiliary support was rather critical to ensuring I didn’t attract every living thing within a 5 mile radius, including potential enemies. We complimented each other well, even if there was truth to Hemet’s statement.

But his only response came with a frown. 

“Please don’t question my decision. I’m not a knight either and I’ll be walking just as much. Leaving you here is already enough of a risk. She will stay with you here and neither of you will leave this position until we have returned. Am I clear?”

“…Yes.”

I responded dully, my mood having been quickly ruined. 

I get it. He was military, I was just a school kid, and I was talking back. He didn’t even need to explain himself, but he was being lenient and exercising some patience, even if it was thin. 

He sure wasn’t like that in the briefing room. It amazed me how different he had become in just an hour. Perhaps he was just locked in for the mission, but it still pissed me off. 

I was glad I was taller, since I was able to look down on him as he tried to seem intimidating while exercising his authority. 

Eventually he turned away. 

“Gear up. We’re heading out as soon as possible.”

With those words, everyone else went to go and make final preparations. 

As they did so though, I went up to them. 

It was time to test out my Aerial’s main function: the mobile Node.

With the built in program, I was able to create a node on the fly and allow others to connect to it. This wasn’t simply something like a website that gave information, but a transceiver that could send and receive data. 

The transmission range of this Aerial was far higher than the standard ones, meaning I could connect to everyone even when they were miles away. And with myself as the medium, they could all maintain contact with each other. 

So I went over to everyone and helped them connect to my Node. It took a few minutes, but before long, everyone was connected and could send messages to each other. 

I could even create a large group chat, which I did, allowing us to pool our messages. 

Of course, Hemet wasn’t invited. My current mood could basically be summed up with the phrase, ‘Fuck that guy’. 

Umara also came up to me one last time before leaving, giving me a wry smile.

“You didn’t have to talk back for me.”

“It wasn’t for you, but for everyone. I work best with you. But since that’s not happening, we better hope I don’t need to step in. Otherwise, any nearby enemies will come flocking. Keep that in mind.”

“Right. I will.”

She nodded seriously. Such a thing was a very real possibility and could end badly if not handled properly. 

With that, the group separated. 

Vetsmon, Feiden, and Umara left with Hemet while Tana and I stayed behind. 

We watched as they descended the hill. 

Their first landmark to investigate was actually the side of the hill itself. It was completely covered in scattered rock formations including massive boulders and deep crevices. The entity could be hiding anywhere inside, and they would need to check. 

Of course, they wouldn’t be searching blindly. That’s why Hemet was here. Using detection spells, they could scan an area with pulses of mana, greatly accelerating their search speed. 

They wouldn’t be going that far from us at the top. At the least, they would always be within my range. 

Before finding a rock to perch myself on though, I went around the Crawler, taking a peek at the driver’s seat. 

And its layout surprised me. It looked similar to cars on Earth. There was a steering wheel, a key to start it, and pedals on the floor for acceleration and braking. 

Of course, Hemet didn’t leave the key behind, so I unfortunately couldn’t play around. Still, it was good to know that vehicles were similar to what I knew. Then again, the design was rather intuitive anyway. Not surprising that it was universal.

It was only then that I found a rock, brought out a seat for myself, and got comfortable.

Taking out my rifle, I could see the group gradually making their way down the hill through my scope. While doing that, I lifted my Aerial and started speaking. 

“Come in, squad. Comms check. Can you hear me?”

“I can hear you.”

“Me too.”

“Same here.”

“Hey, what’s that?”

I smiled as I heard Hemet’s voice through someone else’s Aerial, speaking again. 

“Just another form of communication, sir. I’ll inform you all if I spot anything out of the ordinary. For now, you’re clear. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Will do. Good to know my back is being watched.”

Vetsmon smiled while looking back up the hill, waving once toward us before continuing down. 

And I could see Hemet’s weird face as he wasn’t sure what to say. 

Yea, that’s right asshole. You didn’t get invited to the party. 

I smiled in petty victory. After that though, we all settled in for the long haul. 

For me, I just had to hurry up and wait. And since I was watching, Tana decided to kick back and relax. 

My, how I wished Umara was here. We could be talking and keeping each other company, but our asshole superior decided to get in the way. 

Well, I wouldn’t neglect my job, but I still wasn’t happy. And since they were all busy hiking, I couldn’t really text her either. 

How depressing.

For about two hours I watched them hike down. That was when they reached the bottom of the hill and spread out a bit more. 

Vetsmon stayed with Umara, going one way while Hemet and Feiden went another. 

They searched all the dozens of crevices and hidden areas, but after an hour, nothing came up. 

At some point, noon started to come around and the sun started beating down. Thankfully summer had already passed and it was getting cooler, so it was actually a really nice day weather-wise. 

It was sunny, making everything clear. From my vantage point, I could make out any and all abnormalities. 

As I looked between the two groups, Tana spoke from beside me. 

“You know, the missions on these trips seem cool for a bit, but then you’re forced to sit around for hours and suddenly you wish you had just stayed back at the school. At least with the Puppet Master we had constant battles.”

“Eh, I think real danger tends to make things more exciting, even if most of the time you’re just plain bored.”

I commented back while adjusting my seating position. 

I had learned over time that staring through an optic could fatigue your eye. So since I first sat down, I had been using my left eye to observe, saving my right eye for when I needed it.

I also got nice and stiff when sitting in one position for so long, so I shifted between several different positions on top of my chosen rock. I also stacked my bag full of rations and supplies underneath me, providing some extra cushion. 

Doing that, Tana and I talked back and forth for a while. We laughed occasionally and simply passed the time. 

But then, the first interesting thing happened. 

It wasn’t much. Nothing more than a random rock suddenly shifting and falling down the side of the hill. 

But it immediately caught my attention. My sharp eye, having been trained by video games from Earth to pick out the tiniest and fleeting details in fast paced shooters, spotted a momentary distortion heading down the hill. 

It was the slightest warp in light, but it was enough to make my heart thrum with adrenaline. 

Sure enough, only another second or so of observation and I was able to see the distortion again as it headed toward my squad. 

I suddenly yelled into the open comms. 

“Enemy contact! Heading towards Vetsmon, your right side!”

In my scope, I watched as Vetsmon and Umara instantly turned with my directions. 

But I wasn’t going to trust that they would spot the enemy and risk them getting hurt, so after taking a few seconds to aim, I pulled the trigger with an empowered shot. 

*BOOM*

*Screech!*

Everyone heard a scream as my bullet tore into the entity. Blood splattered across some rocks as the distorted light flickered even more, outright revealing the enemy. 

It was a gray beast that looked like a spiked wolf. It had sharp spines along its back and a sleek, thin body. Its abnormally long claws made it look even more vicious as it left streaks across the rocks it jumped along. 

My bullet had torn accurately through its torso, but it wasn’t enough to severely injure it. 

Plus, after revealing itself, it went berserk. It started running and streaking across the hillside, heading down toward its prey. I couldn’t land another shot. 

But now that they could see it, I had no qualms. 

Sure enough, Vetsmon stepped forward with his tower shield and spear, meeting the beast head on. They clashed before long, Umara supporting with some debuffing spells from behind that would provide him an advantage.

And as that happened, I pulled away from my scope for a moment and looked around. 

At several other positions along the hillside, I could see some more distortions. More of those beasts came charging, but the more they moved, the easier they were to spot. 

I spoke into my Aerial. 

“Feiden, three more enemies coming in behind you! Umara, one more to your left! I’m taking my shot!”

“Roger!”

I heard her voice come back over. At the same time, I took aim at the moving distortion. It was moving slower, perhaps trying to sneak up while its kin was acting as bait. 

At that moment though, I saw Tana step up. 

“Should I go help?”

“No!”

*BOOM*

I took my shot, hitting the beast and taking it out of stealth. 

I then looked at Tana.

“Stay here and check the surroundings over there for me. Tell me if there are any enemies coming. This noise might attract attention.”

“Got it.”

She didn’t hesitate to follow my orders, running off and scanning the landscape around us. 

While she did that, I continued to watch my squad. 

Despite having three enemies, Feiden was fine since Hemet was right there. He cast large area spells to find the enemies, lock them down, and then kill them before Feiden could even step in. 

And since I had shot both of the beasts going toward Vetsmon and Umara, they were able to easily handle those fights and finish them off. 

But even that was less of a pressing concern. After all, they weren’t the controlling entities. 

The boss was still out there, and it was definitely in control of those wolf beasts. Otherwise, they would have appeared sooner. 

Then, all of a sudden, I felt a chill go down my neck. 

I instantly responded as the powers of my coat actuated with a purple flash, spinning around while communing with a peacekeeper. 

Sure enough, I saw a beast running right toward me in slow motion, about to lunge forward. Its distortion faded as it jumped, its maws aimed right for my throat. 

But my pistol came up in time, my barrel only a few feet away from its vicious snout and blood red eyes when I pulled the trigger. 

*Bang!*

“Agh!”

The body went limp as my empowered bullet tore straight through its skull, but the body continued straight toward me, falling on top of me.

I felt its claws and spines stab me in a few places not covered by my coat. I immediately threw it off, but blood came out as I did so, staining my clothes. 

“Shit. These are nice too…”

“John! Are you okay?!”

Tana came running over, sliding to my side with worry all over her face as if I was going to die. 

I waved her away. 

“I’m fine. Keep watching out for enemies.”

“Are you sure? Let me get the med kit.”

“No, I got it.”

How could I not have my own medical supplies on me? I had been injured too many times to count in the trenches, so I had gotten pretty good at packing wounds. 

Taking out some gauze and wrap, I felt around and stuffed the wounds based on how much it bled. Anything that wasn’t pouring was left alone. 

And after taking care of that, I went right back to work. 

Sending Tana off, I looked back down, seeing the finished battles. 

However, even though the wolves were dead, Hemet was still moving. 

“I found the entity! It’s running, so I’ll chase! You all stay!”

Just like that, Hemet used magic to give chase. 

Right after that, I saw a figure running toward a hill opposite to us. I took aim at it, but it was too far to hit. 

It may only have been 400 or 500 meters away, but that was beyond the effective range of this weapon. This rifle was pre-world-war, after all. It wasn’t a modern sniper. 

Besides, Hemet could take care of it. And since he was gone, I took command. 

“Everyone, head back up here and regroup.”

“John!”

Right as I spoke, Tana suddenly shouted. 

I had a bad feeling.

“I see enemies coming toward us! There’s a lot!”

“…Fantastic.”

I scowled.

“You see, Hemet? This is why you listen to me. You think you know how I operate better than I do? You think my judgment was just shit out of my ass? And now there’s a horde coming! How wonderful! Everyone, double time! Put that training to work!”

I shouted while changing positions, setting my sights on the small horde of stray beasts heading toward us from the bottom of the hill. 

And I opened fire, cursing our stupid commanding officer.

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