Chapter 29 – Full Penetration

  “Kids these days have it easy. When I cleared rifts, it was with a halberd not these fancy guns.” - Order retiree

  Penny stepped through the door and into Kurt’s kitchen. “Good morni… oh.” She stopped when she caught sight of them. “I see you guys are ready to get started.”

  Kurt and Val were standing near the kitchen isnd, finishing off their coffee while fully dressed for the rift, rifles and all. They had come to a few decisions the night before and took them to heart.

  First and most important, tickling was too powerful, and they wouldn’t make fun of each other’s little slip ups… too much, anyway. Secondly, they decided to get a jump on the rift in order to clear it fast and move on to other endeavors. Kurt wanted to test some things and they also wanted to get Kristi in for a visit.

  “Yeah, Kurt wants to push hard on this one, really plumb the depths, give it to them good, give them a thorough pounding.” Val said with way too much energy. She was in fine form that morning, being a little extra chipper.

  “Phrasing.” Kurt groaned as he put the cups in the sink.

  Val gave him a ft look. “I was being funny.”

  “You are making Penny uncomfortable.” He returned the stare.

  Looking back to their handler, Val saw that she had indeed gone a rather interesting shade of pink. She also noticed that Penny appeared back in the casual clothes she had yesterday and had put a neatly folded stack of clothes on the counter.

  “I… ah. I had these undered and brought them back for you.” Penny said, trying to bridge the now slightly tense silence.

  “Oh, thanks. We can get them ter.” Kurt said as he hoisted his rifle and slung it. “Let’s get the show on the road.”

  They trooped out the door and into the hub where Kurt was given a small camera that clipped to the webbing of his vest. After doing a quick radio check, he and Val hopped through the portal while Penny took her pce behind the desk. While opening the monitoring programs she had to wonder about a few things. The first thing that came to mind was what had happened to their rifles and why was Kurt’s so big.

  Kurt and Val made their way through the entrance tunnel, slowing down as they approached the end, in case there was anyone waiting or looking for them. They didn’t see anything on approach and waited a little to see if they could hear anything.

  After giving it a couple minutes and hearing nothing, they moved down the path they had taken the day before. Kurt’s idea was to check if anyone else had wandered down the upward sloping passage since the day before.

  He reckoned it would be nice if there was any dirt on the smooth stone floors to show footprints but also knew that was a double-edged sword. They trooped up the gentle incline at a moderate pace, not going nearly as slow as when around the main intersection.

  The small side room was clear, the same boxes and beams still present. The site where they had engaged most of the elven phanx was also still debris free, but the small pools of blood had dried, turning a rust brown color.

  When they reached the end of the tunnel and the entrance to the room, they noticed that, while empty, someone had been there. The carts that they left had been removed, and the walls had a little more mining done to them.

  “Looks like we have a choice to make.” Val said, getting a nod from Kurt as they walked back down the tunnel.

  “Left, or right?”

  Val hummed for a moment then stopped and pulled out a chem light. She pced it on the ground and spun it like a very poorly banced top. The thing made a few rotations and came to a sudden stop with its clip end pointed to the left wall.

  “Left it is.” Val said as she chased after the now rolling chem light.

  Kurt suppressed a chuckle as he watched her chase the small rolling tube. She eventually caught it, but it had taken way longer than needed due to her ck of depth perception from the gsses.

  Arriving back at the crossroads, they approached the other end of the room. The left path seemed to carry on mostly level but bent to the right. The path on the right went downward at a retively shallow angle but steeper than any of the others. It tracked mostly straight, but they could see it bend to the right before their view cut off from the roof of the tunnel.

  Moving down the left tunnel with a little caution, it wasn’t long before they encountered another bunch of elves. These ones were actively mining in the side wall of the tunnel, following another vein of the strange ore and creating a rger room. They were able to see the group at nearly a hundred yards away due to the nature of the tunnel and room, which was a huge bonus for the two agents.

  Val pushed off to the left side of the tunnel, crouching and peering around to see if there were any more than the squad of ten that they saw. She couldn’t see any and looked back to Kurt who had just settled into his own kneeling position. She briefly considered the rifles they used and how this encounter was likely to py out.

  That morning, while getting ready, Kurt had handed Val a longer barreled AR and had her change her magazines for ones loaded with M855. It was a steel core design that was supposed to help with penetration but was not so great at wounding. She fully intended to make sure everyone got more than just a single serving, but the warning was nice.

  Kurt had gone a very different direction. He had stowed away his 5.56 gun and pulled out a rge, boxy looking rifle that was very different in design than what she had seen so far. The SCAR 17 as he called it was chambered in 7.62, a little rger bullet that had some better penetrating capabilities.

  He did have to swap out his ser to the new rifle in order to have some aiming capability besides the scope that was on it. While Val was using a simple red dot and had the ability to passively aim with her gsses, Kurt had kept his magnified optic with the offset red dot. He expined that it would be nice to have if they found a rger space and he could use the backup red dot and IR ser for up close work.

  Their current pn was simple, Val would engage and once they ordered and brought the shields up, Kurt would also take some shots. They still wanted to test if the rger, slower bullet of the SCAR was able to penetrate or if he would be better with a smaller caliber. At the end of it all, Kurt was hoping to switch over to the 6 Max round, but he hadn’t had a chance to make the switch yet.

  Val could see the ser emitter from Kurt fsh on and off, signaling he was ready. She took a breath, picked one of the guards holding a ntern and fired. She had lined up a shot to his upper chest, betting on a better margin of error for the less accurate round.

  Their thermal overy picked out a slight pinprick of heat from where the round had struck. The little spot that appeared just under the colr bone was paired with a spray out the back that glowed eerily in the heat sensitive enchantment. The short elf dropped in his tracks, causing the ntern he was holding to break on the ground.

  The remaining nine elves all began looking in every direction, trying to spot the source with their nterns held high and pistols drawn. They fanned out in pairs, ones with nterns being supported by ones with shields.

  Kurt waited for one of the pairs to begin walking their way and centered his ser on the shield. He fired a single shot, the sound was absorbed by his enchanted silencer, but the concussion knocked some dust loose. The thirty-caliber bullet easily penetrated the shield and the elf behind it. Unfortunately, this pair wasn’t lined up for a double, but Val picked off the spare.

  That second shot seemed to alert the rest of the elves to the location of the attackers, and they began converging on the mouth of the tunnel. Val took a few shots, also able to penetrate the shields that were held mostly straight on, but not reliably at the current distance.

  Having no performance problems, Kurt braced hard and fired a quartet of shots across the front of the formation. Three of the shots had the desired effect of killing the shield bearer while the forth one must have found empty air after passing through. The problem was quickly solved as Val picked off the st one.

  With the front line gone, the st three elves fired a volley in their direction before turning to run. Kurt managed a couple shots at their backs and did drop one before the others had fled from his view. Val began cursing up a storm and clutching her hip which made Kurt sprint her way, crossing the width of the tunnel in an instant and leaving the remaining elves to flee.

  “Let me see.” Kurt said and pulled her hand away from her side.

  “It fucking hurts.” Val hissed while trying not to squirm from the pain. “I think one of those pistol shots skipped off the ground.”

  Kurt inspected the wound but couldn’t see much. He grabbed the hole in her pants and ripped it open, exposing her entire thigh to inspect. He had to deactivate his thermal overy for any hope of making out what was going on. When that wasn’t enough, he turned on a very dim light that he had on his chest rig, focusing all ten lumens on the wound.

  Blood poured from a six-inch-long gash that was nearly two inches across at its widest point. The wound was also deep, parting the fat yer and showing some muscle. It looked like the ball passed through at almost half its depth, creating an open wound that was going to be hard to stop from bleeding. He could see it slowly closing on its own but not fast enough to happen before she lost a lot of blood.

  “Keep an eye on the tunnel.” Kurt said, really wishing they had another person to provide security. “This is going to be a two-step process.”

  Summoning an aid bag from his ring, Kurt opened it on the ground while Val bit her knuckles to keep from groaning. She was ying on her side now but was still squirming too much for him to do what he wanted. He straddled her legs, bringing his knees together while sitting on her to keep her still.

  The top section of his bag was all for stopping bleeding and had both magical and mundane supplies. He pulled out a talisman that would numb almost all pain in a small area, in this case it would cover about a square foot. He forced mana into the slip and touched it to her wound, causing the paper to glow then vanish.

  The talisman had thankfully gotten Val to stop squirming and she noticeably rexed. Kurt wasn’t done quite yet however and went back to his bag. The next thing he pulled out was a big bottle of sterile saline. This he used to flush the area, which caused Val to yelp.

  “Ah, shit!” She cursed. “What’s that?”

  “Sterile saline flush.” Kurt knew his numbing talisman was pretty good, but some things still made it through. He noticed that she visibly rexed after he stopped washing her wound but then smelled something acrid.

  “Fuck, fuck, sorry.” Val tried to hide her face. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to.

  “It’s okay.” Kurt said. “You cant feel anything and that naturally extends to muscle control.” He couldn’t fault her, after all, he had seen people piss themselves in plenty of other situation from pain medication being a little too effective.

  “Um this might feel weird.” He said as he pulled out the st thing he needed.

  The talisman that Kurt pulled out was pretty much made for these sorts of wounds. They couldn’t be anything more complicated since this enchantment didn’t have to power to repair organs. Still, he pced the paper slip over the cut and pushed a bit of mana into it while holding it taut over the area.

  The paper glowed a pale green before fttening out then conforming to the shape of Val’s hip. It adhered itself to her skin and continued to brighten. The spell would take a few moments to complete, and Kurt began packing away his things.

  “Uhan. Ohh.” Val groaned a little as the spell took effect. She was happy her leg was numb because she could feel a very faint itch as the talisman worked its magic. She tried very hard to resist the urge to squirm and while keeping her eyes on the tunnel ahead.

  Kurt saw the light begin to fade from the talisman. “Alright I think we are done here.” He saw the first motes of light drift up and away from the parchment, signaling that it had run its course. “Lets get you on your feet an…” He was cut off by a boom followed by a smack and a whiz.

  Pivoting and dropping ft, Kurt fired at the lone gunman that had taken a shot at them. He hadn’t noticed anyone getting closer but realized the glow of the talisman had likely silhouetted him. His return fire center punched the elf in the sternum, causing it to crumple from the severed spine.

  He pced a follow-up shot to make sure there wasn’t any temptation to do something stupid. From his left, Val fired a few slow shots, still ying awkwardly on her side but likely having the best view of what was coming from farther down the tunnel.

  “We got like thirty more of them.” Val said after her bolt locked open and she changed magazines. “We should pro…eep!” Her suggestion was cut short as Kurt grabbed her by the colr and hauled her upright as he backed away.

  “Can you walk yet?” He asked while stopping to send a couple rounds down the tunnel. His ser was set to constant on while he one handed the battle rifle.

  “I can manage.” She said and took a few hobbling steps.

  They made a break for it, firing a few rounds down the tunnel before turning to run. Kurt would stop and go prone to put a few more well aimed shots at the pursuing rift creatures, buying a little more time for Val.

  Eventually they made it to the crossroads and Kurt did something Val was not expecting. He grabbed an empty magazine and a few chem lights and hurled them down the other tunnel, he then dropped one of the lights closer to its entrance after cracking it.

  “False trail.” He said and all but carried her into their tunnel. He did stop for their IR chem light, pocketing it as they hastily got out of sight of the crossroads.

  When they got to the portal, Kurt almost shoved Val through before taking a st look down the hall and stepping through on his own. He almost welcomed the static feeling as it passed over him but focused on the now shouting Penny.

  “…happen to you? I’ll call a medical team.” She dug her hand into a pocket before Val put her own hand on her arm.

  “I’m fine. Kurt fixed me up but we kinda got swarmed and decided to retreat.” She said while rubbing her eyes at the still too bright light.

  When Penny looked to Kurt, he decided to eborate. “She caught a ricochet in the outer thigh. I numbed, washed and healed it before we had to run for it.” He looked to the portal. “You’re sure they can’t come through or see this?”

  “As far as we know, they can’t see it or even get close for that matter.” She said irritably, still looking Val over.

  Kurt couldn’t bme her, there was a lot of blood. The once green pants were now a brownish red and split wide open, only held up at the belt and cargo pocket. Her skin, however, was its usual healthy tone despite being covered in blood.

  He walked up to Val and wrapped his arms around her, pulling the shorter woman close against him. He just held her for a minute, the reality of the situation setting in, now that he had time to think. She just hugged him back, pressing the clean parts of her against him.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up and then some lunch. Magical healing takes a toll regardless of how its cast.” Kurt said after a few moments of just holding his girlfriend.

  They all trooped into the house. Penny tried to make her excuses but was literally dragged along. In what was becoming a rather unsettling habit, Kurt and Val stripped off their clothes into a bag that Penny promised to get cleaned. Val went right for the bathroom, her tail all but tucked in embarrassment from remembering she wasn’t covered in just blood.

  After finding shorts, Kurt emptied his used equipment into a bin by the stairs. It wasn’t much but a few magazines, the chem light and medical packaging would all need to be repced and this would help remind him, since the rings sort of hid it away.

  He returned to the kitchen, washed his hands then went to the pantry. He pulled out a loaf of bread and several cans of soup. It wasn’t as good as home made, but it also only took a couple minutes to make. He then went to the fridge and fetched some sandwich fixings before pulling out pots, pans and a cutting board.

  “With or without meat?” He asked Penny as she fidgeted nervously, filled with anxious energy.

  “Huh?”

  “Do you want your grilled cheese with or without meat? I have ham, turkey and roast beef. There might actually be spam somewhere if you want that.” Kurt was buttering some bread and making neat little stacks.

  “What ever you think is best, I guess.” Penny looked very unsure of herself.

  “Can you get a couple beers from the fridge?” Kurt asked. “You will have one with ham and one just cheese. Better to get to try both.” Kurt said in his very matter of fact tone. “Then you can open those cans and get them in a pot. Four cans and two filled with milk.”

  He finished his buttering and popped the top on his beer, taking a hearty pull before setting it down. While Penny worked the can opener, Kurt began prepping his grilled cheese sandwiches. He wasn’t making anything too eborate but was using more than craft singles.

  Penny had managed getting the tomato soup going and stirred it before putting the lid on. She turned around to face Kurt as he began grilling the sandwiches. “I was scared.” She said.

  Kurt nodded, then swallowed hard. “Me too, Penny. Me too.” He looked over to see her eyes nearly spilling over with tears and just opened his arms. She shuffled forward and pced her head on his chest as she softly cried.

  He didn’t break away, just held her with one arm while he kept the food from burning with the other. Kurt knew she needed the hug more than words at that moment. After a few minutes, she backed away and wiped her eyes.

  Penny’s forked tongue flickered out and swiped the falling droplets off her cheeks. She sniffled hard and looked up to Kurt. “Thanks. I… I didn’t know I needed that.” Her tongue flicked out again and she froze.

  Kurt just smiled and went back to pting the food. “Penny, it’s ok. I don’t care that you are a half breed and Val certainly doesn’t either. If you don’t have a problem with us, we honestly don’t mind.”

  She seemed frozen in thought for a few moments. “Ok. If, you are sure?” She questioned and received a nod. She then rexed a little and let some of her scales show, the light tan ptes adding a soft contrast to her already bronzed skin.

  Penny watched his expression as she let her naga aspect come out. Kurt honestly wasn’t bothered and just went on about his business of pting the diagonal cut sandwiches on a big pte, separated by type. He then dled the soup into three bowls and set them on the table just as Val wandered back in, dressed in much more casual clothes.

  “Oh, hey! Finally letting the scales out huh?” She commented before plopping down in a chair. “Grilled cheese and tomato soup?” She asked after seeing the offering set on the table.

  “Soul food.” Was all Kurt said before shoving Penny into a chair and taking his own next to Val.

  The next several minutes was filled with nothing but eating and asking for someone to pass food. No business, no rift, no injury. They just ate, knowing they could deal with all of that ter on.