Chapter 120 – Conducting Operations

  “I hate using that element. It’s so mana hungry it leaves me feeling absolutely tapped, at least when using any spell that’s moderately combat effective.” – Kurt talking about the rift dive.

  “Alright, any of you know anything about setting up a support by fire in a gun section?” Kurt asked Gem Squad as they gathered just outside the tunnel entrance, crowding on the ledge.

  Gus, one of the older werewolves who looked to be in his late twenties but was actually in his late fifties, raised a hand. “Spent some time in the second infantry division, sire.”

  Kurt nodded, choosing to ignore the honorific. “Strykers, right?”

  “Yes sire, that’s them. I was master gunner for the company and put in three tours, so I know a bit.” He then looked at the two wolves holding MK 48 machineguns. “These aren’t ideal, but they will work. Also, the forties we have are only going to get us a few hundred meters in range and I don’t think they will work well in the swamp.”

  “Why won’t they work?” Val asked. She was curious about the explosive weapons despite her preference for quiet firearms.

  “They don’t often detonate unless they get a solid impact, ma’am.” Gus pulled one of the yellow topped grenades out of a loop on his belt. “Even if it’s a hard surface, they sometimes skip if the angle isn’t steep enough.” He demonstrated by tilting the giant cartridge in relation to his palm.

  Kurt sighed. “Remind me to talk to Renee about some Carl G’s. For now, let’s roll with what we have.”

  They quickly progressed down into the tunnel that led to the interior of the caldera. They moved without the use of an illusion for the vast majority of it until they reached the point where the crevasse met the lava tube. There, Val cast her illusion to cover them, and they moved into the smaller tunnel at a slower pace.

  When they got around halfway down, Kurt saw a flicker of movement and called the column to a halt. He raised his rifle and used the magnified optics to get a better look at what was happening. It took a moment before he was able to catch what he saw happen again.

  It was barely noticeable due to the strange light against the nearly black rock of the tunnel but there was a shadow that moved along the bend in the wall. The movement was a halting and jerking motion that changed in elevation several times, like it was bobbing up and down as it moved. Kurt watched and waited, seeing the shadow move in the opposite direction. He then began counting and saw that it passed every twenty or so seconds.

  “Something is patrolling the front of the tunnel.” Kurt said to the rest of them.

  “Val, can you cover us to take a closer look?” Kristi asked and got a nod a moment later.

  Slowly they crept forward. Jade halted her squad a fair distance short of the bend while Anna proceeded forward with the rest. She was sticking close to Val at the moment, almost like she was trying to act as a second shadow to the kitsune.

  Upon reaching the bend, Kristi was the one to poke her head out and take a peek. “Frogman patrolling, just between the far edges of the cave mouth. I can snag him if Val can hide me for a second.”

  “Do it.” Kurt responded via the implant.

  Kristi summoned her knife and then whispered the incantation to turn it into her pole axe. Then, waiting for the frog to hop toward them and cross to the other side of the cave mouth, she crouched and stalked forward. She moved in a rolling walk that seemed to completely silence her footsteps on the coarse stone until she reached the end of the cave wall where she stopped in a half crouch, her tail coming to a rest on the ground behind her.

  As the frogman turned and began to move away, once again crossing the tunnel entrance in its strange bobbing walk, she sprang forward. Her legs and tail all pushed against the tunnel wall like compressed springs finally being released as she brought the pole axe down toward the monster.

  Kurt thought her strike had been too deep as the haft of the weapon is what hit the creatures’ shoulder, but he was proven wrong. As the frogman began to crumple from the impact, she yanked the weapon and pivoted her hips and shoulder around her trailing foot. The beard of the axe hooked the frog below the neck and she flung it back into the cave like she was swinging a golf club.

  The frogman flew from the end of her weapon with remarkable speed and smashed into the tunnel wall with a sickening, though muted, crunch. Kristi continued on her half rotation and used the momentum to leap back toward the cave wall. She had sprung from her ambush spot, attacked and retreated in less than a second, likely less than half a second, as best Kurt could tell. She then stalked her way back into the shadow of the tunnel, looking rather proud of herself.

  “Slick.” Kurt commented and held out his hand for a fist bump which she returned.

  “Thanks.” Kristi whispered back, looking very smug as she retook her spot and they moved up to the tunnel mouth.

  When they reached the tunnel entrance, Kurt saw that not much had changed other than two more frogmen standing guard down the slope, around fifty yards away. They stopped and observed the swamp, taking the time to watch for any movement between the trees and in the canopy.

  After a few minutes, Jade asked a question. “What is the disposition of rift beasts?”

  “What do you mean?” Kurt wasn’t sure what she was getting at. Did she want to know how many or…

  “Do they attack on sight? Will they converge on a disturbance?”

  That was a good question and one that Kurt had to consider before responding. “Of the rifts we have cleared, all the monsters within have been overly aggressive and not prone to retreat. They also typically display the need to investigate things.”

  “Whatcha thinking?” Val whispered. So far, she wasn’t showing any strain in upholding the illusion that was covering the mouth of the tunnels.

  “Why should we go skulking around down in the swamp, where these creatures have the advantage, when we can just have them come to us. If they will naturally come and investigate, then let’s cause a ruckus and funnel them into a kill box.”

  Kurt looked at the swamp below them then back to the tunnel that curved up and away behind them. “Lure them into the tunnel and let them have it huh?” Kurt said aloud. “That might just work. If it doesn’t then we go back to plan A anyway.”

  He considered it for a moment longer before coming to a decision. “OK, let’s set this up.”

  *****

  Penny was flipping between screens on her laptop, wishing she had more than just one extra monitor. She was trying to figure out how Kurt was progressing and how the rest of Jay’s teams were getting on with the emergency rift situation. She was also trying to coordinate with Justin about how to get where he needed to go in the Order. All while she was diving through historical data to see if she could find a trend with the rifts on Earth.

  It was due to this focus that, when she felt something brush against her, she nearly jumped out of her skin… again. “Gods be dammed BONT!” She cried as scales sprouted across her skin and she nearly shifted out of reflex. Something she really didn’t want to do while wearing her favorite leggings.

  The giant cat just propped his head on the corner of the desk and looked at her with his mesmerizing eyes. Every time he did this, staring and pulling her attention into his eyes, Penny felt like he was looking into her soul. It was an unpleasant experience, mostly because she felt a subconscious pull for her to put her face within biting range. Despite this, she reached out and ran her fingers through the fur on his head.

  Oddly, though not surprising, giving the tiger some head scratches was also a calming endeavor and it allowed Penny to return her focus to the data. She was able to compartmentalize a little more and focus on doing one task at a time. Justin would text when he needed her and constantly checking her phone wouldn’t change that. The rift data was batched yesterday and wasn’t getting any updates until midnight GMT, so it wasn’t an urgent matter. Then there was Kurt’s rift.

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  Penny knew that she shouldn’t worry and that there was nothing she would be able to do even if she saw something. So, making an executive decision, she minimized the program window that showed the camera feeds and mapping data. She then dug in to analyzing the movements of Team Letters and Team Fraction.

  “Hmm thanks, Bont.” She said while taking a sip from her tea after seeing that the other teams were already moving with the help of their handlers.

  “MWrooooorr.” The tiger did its best impression of a house cat meow, but it came out more like a ‘moo’.

  “I wonder why you didn’t go with them?” Penny asked, curious as to why Bont didn’t want to dive into the rift when he followed Anna everywhere else he could. She stared at him as he locked eyes with her.

  Penny felt a sudden pinch, like a brief flash of a migraine before the feeling vanished, fading so fast she thought it never happened. That was until there was a voice in her head.

  “Because the wolf is with my mistress. Even one such as I, born of the hunt, apex among the peaks and valleys, am but a docile kitten compared to him.” The deep whisper of a mental voice resonated in her mind and made her eyes tear up and ears pop from pressure.

  “His loyalty is absolute, and, by his divinity, his strength is peerless. There is no better to protect from the depth of shadow where even she cannot see. My mistress must learn and grow where she thinks she is in danger, unaware of the protector beside her.” Bont finished then slowly closed his eyes, breaking the mental connection and repositioned his head under her hand.

  A sudden shiver ran down Penny’s spine and she blinked in astonishment at the six legged tiger that just spoke to her. And not in ‘I can read body language or intent’ but actual mental communication and words. She just stared at the giant head resting on her desk as it opened one eye by a tiny slit before reaching a massive paw up and pressing her hand back down between his ears.

  “Don’t suppose you have any insights on the rifts?” Penny ventured while returning to scratching the base of Bont’s ears. She was still trying to come to grips with the fact that Bont was a sapient creature and not just a very smart summon.

  “OwwWWOOoow.” Was the very feline response of a soft yowl.

  Snorting, Penny returned to her work and plotted the data on rift activity with her free hand. “I guess we can talk later then?” She rubbed one ear between her thumb and fore finger, scraping one nail along the base while her palm worked the edge.

  Purring was the only response.

  *****

  Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang…bang-bang-bang-bang. One out of five. That was how often a tracer showed up in a belt of machine gun ammunition. That meant for every red streak that arced out into the swamp, there were four other bullets right behind it. Kurt remembered the little factoid as he watched the machine guns overlapping streams of fire.

  Kurt thought the plan was going rather well. They had initiated with a hand grenade, as one does. That grenade practically rolled down the gentle slope that led from the swamp up to the tunnel. As it clattered down the slope, the two frogmen standing guard turned and fired their blowguns with surprising speed and accuracy. Unfortunately for them, the quills bounced off the steel body of the grenade and they watched it roll toward them with confused expressions.

  BOOM. The grenade had detonated within a few feet of the frogmen, turning that part of the slope into a cloud of dust and rocky debris. Neither of the frogmen survived the blast, their bodies turned to tatters of meat and splintered bones flung into the swamp from the pressure wave.

  After the blast, silence reigned, not a sound being made. Not a sound until the splashing and slapping of webbed feet could be heard. From every direction, frogmen converged on the sight, most coming from deeper in the swamp but a few approaching from along the rocky walls of the caldera. The ones that came from higher elevations glided in, their underarm membranes fanned out as their hands held their blowguns out in front of them.

  En mass, they gathered at what was now just a charred and blackened section of mountain. Nearly a hundred of them grouped up, all looking around, blowguns half raised as they clustered together. For the first time, Kurt heard them chirping in what sounded less like a croak and more like a high-pitched hum.

  Thunk-tink… tink… zip-zip-zip-zip. Another green ball of hate bounced down the slope only to receive the same welcome as the first, a hail of darts. Once again, the ball was unperturbed as it rolled under the webbed feet of the monsters before … BOOM!

  Debris, mostly of the fleshy kind, was flung in all directions as the grenade detonated. Many of the gathered monsters survived the initial explosion only because their fellows had been in the way and absorbed much of the blast with their bodies. Those that weren’t turned into smaller bits were peppered with steel fragments and chunks of their brethren while being concussed by the pressure wave.

  Slowly, the frogmen that were knocked down in a fifty-foot radius climbed to their feet again. This time, they wobbled as they reconverged and began moving toward the cave above them. They stumbled and shambled as they fought the disorientation that persisted from the concussion. Those lucky ones, who had been far enough away to not suffer any ill effects, quickly passed their fellows in the rush for the cave and were joined by still more who had been converging on the site from afar. Their luck quickly turned as they bunched in the cave mouth.

  The first of them raised their blowguns and their throats bulged as they sent their toxic projectiles into the cave. Those darts seemed to stop in mid air, splintering and skipping as they hit a nearly invisible barrier floating a foot off the ground. It was from under this barrier that the Order soldiers delivered their answer to the rift monsters.

  Bang-bang-bang-bang. Pop-pop. Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang. The sound of three machineguns and several rifles filled the tunnel as the wave of several dozen frogmen were cutdown. Kurt and the others with rifles all fired into the ranks as fast as they could while the belt-fed weapons slowed their rate of fire to shorter bursts after the initial twenty round burst.

  As the initial wave of the creatures fell to the massed gunfire, the one person outside the cave contacted Kurt via the implant. “Those squirrel things are coming. I think I see the crocodile things moving too.”

  Sure enough, as the frogmen were being cut to ribbons, the monsters that resembled large squirrels came bounding up the slope to the tunnel entrance. Unlike a normal squirrel, this particular brand of tree rat stood two feet tall on its hind legs. Its fur was more of a tree bark like material and rather than large incisors, it had a single triangular tooth. That tooth was serrated like a shark’s and seemed to mesh up with two other matching teeth on the lower jaw.

  These critters came in fast and low… until they began running up the walls. Kurt knew that Kristi’s barrier didn’t reach the edges of the cave, nor the ceiling, and had to redirect fire. “MG’s KEEP ON THE FROGS!” Kurt yelled over the sound of gunfire that echoed up and down the tunnel. “RIFLES ON THE SQUIRRELS!”

  Leading by example, Kurt stood and began to fire on the quickly approaching rodent like creatures, only getting a couple as their darting movements made them hard to track. It seemed the others in the squad were having similar issues as only a few more were hit and dropped to the tunnel floor. Thinking quickly, he let his rifle drop and reached out a hand and made a gesture.

  “CLOSE YOUR EYES!” He yelled in a last second warning.

  Hovering in front of his pointed finger, a circle of condensed mana appeared. It was a set of rings, one within the other and connected by a quintet of arrows pointing from the outer to the inner ring. Centered within the smaller ring was a trio of symbols that rotated around a central point. The first symbol was of a segmented dotted line that would be common on a trending graph. The second was two lines that looked like a ‘V’ with the bottom snipped off so they didn’t connect which would eliminate feedback. The third represented the type of element in an ever-familiar shape for common modern hazards, a jagged lightning bolt.

  The outer ring made one full rotation before suddenly snapping into place and in less than half a second, the whole magical construct flashed a blueish white. SNAP-BOOM! In something that sounded like one action, a bolt of lightning arced from the construct to the first squirrel creature, following Kurt’s will. Then it bridged to the next monster, then the next and so-on until over two dozen of them had been linked by electrical chains. Then, they detonated.

  Kurt panted as his vision went white and his ears began to ring from what was essentially a lightning strike in a confined space. The nanobots in his body had imprinted the spell months ago when he had them learn his combat spells but this was the first time he used it on something living and it hurt. He felt drained, despite the spell being constructed to pull in ambient mana, it took a lot of his personal reserves to get the spell started.

  “WHAT IN FUCK!” Jade screamed incoherently. She grabbed him by the shoulder as she stumbled in the aftermath of the spell.

  It was only now that Kurt realized the guns had gone silent, their operators furiously rubbing at their eyes and more than one shaking their head to clear the ringing in their ears. The frogs were also having a rough time and more than a few of them were on the ground, smoke rising from their prone forms. The few that were standing had their eyes shut and blood ran from their temporal membranes that covered their ear holes.

  “Keep shooting!” Kurt yelled and began to fire into the massed amphibious assault. His actions got the rest to get back to the fight and allowed him to look around. He squinted his eyes through the sudden migraine from low mana to survey the damage.

  There were no longer any squirrels anywhere. The primary focus of the attack spell had been reduced to a couple of dozen charred corpses scattered around the edges of the tunnel entrance. He even saw a few that had been hit before they made it into the mouth of the cave.

  Even better, the frogmen seemed to be on their last legs as no more were streaming up from the shoreline below and only a few remained to be taken down. They feebly attempted to fire their blowguns but the barrier being cast by Kristi was more than enough to deflect them.

  “Kurt, you need to tell us about things like that before you set it off!” Val scolded him from her perch outside the tunnel exit. “I nearly fell off this damned rock and landed in the mix of them when a fucking bolt of electrified hate fried every squirrel in sight.”

  “Sorry, didn’t have time. Need to stop. Almost overrun.” He responded through the headache despite the implant making it sound like Val was yelling at him through a loudspeaker.

  Kristi, who was always a font of wisdom, weighed in. “He’s right Val. Should have warned us but those fuckers almost had us.”

  Val grumbled but didn’t say any more as she returned to spotting. Her focus returned to the swamp just in time to see the first of the crocodile monsters slowly clear the shade of the tree canopy. “Oh, oh shit.” She then focused on her mental connection. “Kurt, we have crocs coming and I don’t think you want to fight them in a tunnel.”