Chapter 225: Whites Of Their Eyes

    Vetsmon watched as John blurred from his gaze. It was only through his equipment that he could track his fading figure as he ran away. Yet, not even the equipment could completely resolve him. Something about John’s Aura was able to scramble the device’s sensors.

    “Your friend has some fucking balls, Vetsmon. I’ve never seen a summoner wipe out an entire force by himself and then declare war on the Kings.”

    “Honestly, anything less would surprise me.”

    Vetsmon smirked in response to his squadmate’s comment, his helmet hiding his expression.

    He glanced to the side, looking at the person who was supposed to be recording everything. Collecting intelligence on John Cooper had become one of their primary objectives ever since his series of accomplishments and inventions that rendered him one of the most famous and valuable people in the Kingdom.

    The only thing that came second to documenting his whereabouts was protecting him. It had to be done from the shadows but they were more than ready to step out, which they had almost done five separate times during this battle.

    Vetsmon tensed when his squad leader rose from his kneeling position.

    “He knows how to thread a fine fucking needle too. Was he always so reckless with his life?”

    “Yes, sir.”

    “Great. Things are only going to get worse and he’s already dancing with death. Let’s move. Kill all except the Brigadier-class. If he wants to deliver a declaration of war, we will allow him to.”

    The squad leader shot forward, the atmosphere screaming as he streaked through it to arrive among three of the Authority 9 Royals. With but a slash, all three were decapitated.

    Vetsmon jumped in like the rest, all of them taking their own targets and slaughtering them ruthlessly.

    Within seconds every Royal was dispatched. The Brigaider-class looked back at them, terrified in the presence of the squad leader.

    Vetsmon didn’t blame it. He was scared of the man too.

    They stared each other down for several seconds, the Royal not daring to twitch a muscle, before the squad leader jumped back out. The rest followed, all of them returning to hiding and making haste back to where John was going to meet with his forces.

    Vetsmon asked, “Sir, I’m not sure why we’re allowing John’s words to be delivered to the Scourge. It’ll make things dangerous for an already vulnerable summoner.”

    “You obviously don’t know why your friend would goad the Scourge like that, if you’re asking me that question.”

    “No, sir.”

    Vetsmon admitted it easily. He asked the question in the first place because he wanted to know why.

    Why would a summoner, one so famous, paint a target on his back? He was already in enough trouble as it was. Even though it was John, Vetsmon couldn’t grasp why a declaration like that was necessary.

    The squad leader glanced back with a smirk.

    “John Cooper is giving himself as bait. Now think about what he was trying to accomplish several months ago, and how difficult it has become in the past couple months.”

    “...Traitors?”

    “Good. Looks like your brain isn’t just for show.”

    Vetsmon’s face fell flat, the squad leader chuckling.

    “With the war raging, traitors are becoming more difficult to weed out, if it’s not already impossible. Procedure is falling apart on the platoon level, tasks are redelegated as priorities shift, and everyone is concentrating on the immediate problem in front of them. This allows the traitors to hide in the chaos, and John Cooper wants to bait them out, play on the pride of the Scourge, goad them into activating those traitors so he can get his hands on them. It’s dangerous only if he’s too stupid to protect himself in advance. I’m willing to be he isn’t.”

    “Taking more risks. Sounds like him.”

    Vetsmon sighed. He knew that being exceptional was something to strive for, but he got worried when John went and did things like this.

    He knew intelligence could be just as potent of a weapon as the edge of a sword. Battles could be won even before they were fought should the generals behind them be smart enough.

    But he knew things about the Scourge that John didn’t, and this seemed more reckless than he thought was appropriate.

    The squad leader shook his head.

    “Your friend isn’t perfect, Vetsmon. He may be smart enough to use the chaos but don’t misunderstand. He’s panicking, probably desperate.”

    “That doesn’t seem like him.”

    “Come on, use that brain. He’s doing his best to find traitors when nobody else will, he just invented one of the greatest technologies history has ever seen, the 3rd Claw got to him and made him throw away every ounce of independence he had, and now the western front is collapsing all around him as he desperately tries to prevent it with brand new weapons that can’t seem to be fielded fast enough to make a difference.”

    “Well...”

    Vetsmon scratched his helmet. When it was put like that, it was almost obvious how John would be feeling.

    Instead of hiding away though, it seemed he was doubling down. He had confidence in his skills, which was good, except for the fact that the more risk he took on, the greater the downfall would be should it all go wrong.

    But, that was why they were there, wasn’t it? They would make sure that no matter what happened, such a valuable man wouldn’t be wasted on people who couldn’t appreciate it.

    They ran for a time across the endless biomat, arriving just outside the battle between the Snow Doves and the remaining Scourge forces.

    The Brigadier Nonnen seemed to be finishing off his foe, the rest of the monsters dwindling in number. When John returned, he started slaughtering the remaining force just as he did the previous one.

    The battle was over before long. It seemed the battalion the Snow Doves were saving had taken heavier losses, and there were fewer Snow Doves standing than before. Not many, but it was clear the Snow Doves had been whittled down a bit.

    “Looks like we’re not needed. Let’s regroup with the others. We’ll establish our next targets then.”

    They took off with that command, Vetsmon giving one last glance at John.

    For a moment, he felt like John was staring back, the eyes of his Aura all encompassing. He wondered if they had been discovered, but decided it didn’t matter either way.

    ......

    ...

    December 14th, 625

    My heavy breathing sent visible clouds of vapor into the air. Water dripped from the barrel shroud of the glowing MG 42 in my hands, the heat melting the heavy snow around it, the moderate winds bringing us halfway into a blizzard.

    Uamra’s voice entered my mind.

    [I can’t see you. The blizzard is getting worse, and I think it’s laced with mana. Not natural.]

    She was only 15 feet away, which meant it was getting heavier than I thought. My acute vision afforded me obviously better visibility even in harsh weather, so I had to use my team as a realistic gauge.

    I turned, finding her figure amidst bellowing winds. The sun was setting, which would assist the blizzard in rendering our sight useless sooner rather than later.

    Unfortunately we couldn’t go anywhere.

    This supply post was responsible for providing logistics for 3 battalions including the Snow Doves. We were almost a forward base, probably not designated such since we barely had proper walls and no standing force to protect against sieges.

    Whoever happened to be here was the standing force. For now, it was us and half of a battalion recently returned from a battle with substantial losses. Thankfully the Scourge hadn’t attacked with much of a force. Yet.

    My anxiety started heightening as visibility dropped.

    I responded.

    [Let’s go talk to Nonnen.]

    Umara followed when I jumped off the small makeshift wall and sent the gun back, hitting the ground after slowing my descent with my boots.

    I looked back, Umara gliding up to my side, the witch hat on her head and mask on her face, those purple wisps within the eye sockets glowing eerily in the blizzard.

    We continued to our camping ground. A few warlocks had made some makeshift structures out of reinforced dirt in order to protect the tents on the camp ground from being buried in the snow.

    We found Nonnen in the dirt building designated for the Snow Doves doing some two finger handstand pushups, shirtless and showing off steel muscles.

    “Psh, I can do that.”

    “Can you now?”

    He tilted his head and looked up at me from below, a doubtful gaze.

    “Watch me.”

    I suddenly dropped to the ground, kicking up on my hands before shifting my weight to one palm. Then I popped up on my fingertips, then shifted to two fingers, sitting there for a few seconds before doing a few pushups.

    The Vigor combined with the control I could exercise over my body meant that something like this was relatively simple, a mere matter of balance rather than strength. It still hurt my fingers a little but I could do it.

    Her voice cut and I lowered my wrist.

    Before long, we skidded into the supply post, the entire place frenzied with activity. Nonnen ran over to us as we jumped out of the Steed.

    “How much time do we have?”

    “18 minutes until they reach us. Jasmine is contacting 2nd and 3rd Battalion to see if they can meet with us 14 miles from here, but if we want to get there, we need to start moving now.”

    “Yeah, I’ve got everyone getting ready. If we overstuff the Steeds, we can get everyone on wheels. The problem is we still have wounded.”

    “Well they’re gonna have to suck it up. I’ll start organizing. Get the Snow Doves in their own Steeds. Chances are we’re going to fight our way out and we can’t have wounded getting in the way.”

    “Copy.”

    I nodded and turned, “Umara, go with Nonnen. I’ll be there in a bit.”

    “Don’t take too long.”

    She grabbed and squeezed my hand before she, her squad, and Nonnen all shot off. I went in another direction, starting to guide people into steeds and organizing them based on their combat capability.

    Before long we had most of the wounded in a few Steeds, Intelligence agents sitting on top of each other in a few Hummers, and the rest overstuffing the remaining Steeds. I also told Jasmine to keep an eye out for any helicopters for evac in that time but I wasn’t counting on it.

    “Get fucking rolling! Let’s go! Driver, go!”

    I banged on Steeds, sending out the vehicles with wounded out first, the Pathfinders going with them. It was a tradeoff between getting them farther from the danger and having them pave the way. If they got attacked, at least we’d know in advance.

    Better than keeping them with the force and setting them up as collateral. I was under no impression that today wasn’t going to get ugly.

    The Steeds started moving. I wasn’t willing to waste a single minute, having literally thrown people into the passenger holds like garbage bags. Some people from the battalion weren’t quite grasping how urgent the situation was.

    At least we actually had the intel. If I hadn’t felt anything and checked it out, those monsters would’ve swarmed this place unannounced. We would’ve been fucked sideways then.

    Before long, most of the extraneous personnel were leaving. I had given all drivers their destination so it was up to them to get there as fast as they could.

    I heard Nonnen’s voice after I sent off the last one.

    “John! Let’s go!”

    “Coming!”

    I yelled back, took one last look back at the rest of the post, and then ran to the Steed.

    I glided into the back with the rest of Umara’s squad, the hatch closing before speeding off. Most of the combatants were already off, the Snow Doves leaving last.

    It had taken almost 14 minutes to get everyone out. It was pretty fast for abandoning an entire supply post but not fast enough apparently.

    They were right on our heels, and we had to plow through an active blizzard. It wasn’t looking good.

    I could almost hear them.

    We got on the trail that the leading convoy paved. It wasn’t exactly straight but getting anywhere was better than getting nowhere.

    “How fast are we going?”

    “Uh, 30 miles an hour?”

    “We may as well be fucking walking. I don’t know how long they’ll spend searching the post before continuing to pursue us, but I wouldn’t count on them being stupid for long. They’ll be catching up to us given around 5 minutes at the most.”

    “So we fight.”

    Umara chimed, making me nod.

    “We fight,” I sighed, “I should’ve just retired and continued working in the Spire. This is bullshit.”

    Nonnen snickered, “Yeah, are you sure you’re smart?”

    “You know, I would usually say I am but ironically enough I’ve got my helicopter sitting in an airfield collecting dust instead of helping us out here when we need it most.”

    Nonnen chuckled a bit, then went silent when we all turned our heads to look toward the back of the Steed.

    Magic power gathered, then launched toward us like a cannon.

    “Incoming!”

    “I got it!”

    Umara shouted and kicked open the hatch, throwing out a bolt of fire in response.

    The two spells collided, Umara’s detonating and blowing the other, significantly more powerful cluster of magic off its original trajectory. It exploded to the side of the vehicle, shaking the frame.

    I looked out before searching my armory and taking out a flare. It was there, not used often, but now was as good a time as ever.

    I ignited it before tossing it out, the light glowing in the blizzard. I watched it get farther away, then saw a blur pass over it right before it was obscured out of view.

    “They’re catching up!”

    “Then it’s time to fight!”

    Nonnen stepped up, his Aura bellowing out like a beacon. Whatever was out there backed off really quick, but then two more Auras erupted from a couple miles away.

    The fight was on.

    The thousands of monsters in the distance charged at us. Obviously the empty supply post did nothing to distract them, or at least not the bulk of them.

    Those towering Auras came to a silent agreement as the lesser monsters rapidly gained on our Steed. It wasn’t their job to fight the fodder, and I wouldn’t make Nonnen waste his energy on clearing them out either. He had his fight. We had ours.

    Suddenly, I kneeled down and brought out a new weapon.

    It had been unsuitable before now. It wasn’t something built to be carried by one person and since I always needed to be on the move, I never found a good time to bring it out.

    Now though, I had a good opportunity.

    The M2 Browning Heavy Barrel appeared with its tripod, which I settled onto the floor right behind the hatch. It took up space but that’s exactly why I had Nonnen keep the Steeds for the Snow Doves clear of extraneous personnel.

    A can of ammunition appeared in my hands after I was settled. I took the link of .50 BMG and lifted the cover, laying the rounds in place before dropping it closed and charging the handle.

    After locking the bolt latch, I settled my thumbs over the butterfly trigger, the iron sights hovering in front of me.

    “Umara, Jaya, take anything that comes from the sides. Feiden, Tana, take the turrets up above. Only shoot what you can see. Don’t waste energy on area attacks.”

    “Roger.”

    “Copy!”

    I got a few replies. As for our driver, Harsha, she already knew what to do.

    The enemies got closer, my thumbs tensed up. I could sense the mana around Umara getting denser as she poked her head through another open hatch, Jaya preparing some alchemical weapons. Feiden and Tana swiveled the turrets above us.

    They got closer.

    “Hold!”

    The snarls and screams started piercing through the blizzard winds. I could feel the tension rise within the Steed. Everyone knew this was just the start of a long fight.

    “Hold!”

    Their figures started appearing, claws dragging ugly forms through the snow.

    “Not until you can see the whites of their eyes!”

    Their bodies appeared in full view, dark fur or hide contrasting against the white all around us.

    They reached out toward the Steed with the raving malice of a rabid animal, and we responded with the cold fire of magic and steel.

    “Open fire!”

    I pressed the trigger, and the explosions signed our declaration of war.