We arrived at New Ferris Naval Fort and was immediately ushering into an Aerial Cruiser. They’re about the size of tank only twice as large.
Anyway we flew from the cruiser to the Aerial Frigate, one of those massive airships that would you expect to see from sci-fi movies. Granted, these things are actually used for space exploration.
Speaking of space exploration, the new found continent Nevyniu happens to appear out of nowhere. We have satellites exploring every single inch of the whole planet, yet we somehow manage to miss a large continent that is actually larger than ours.
Scientists are speculating, but are unable to come up with conclusion.
Oh? We’re here.
We entered the hangar and was greeted by someone who I am familiar with.
“Enforcer Mihr Duvan, it’s a pleasure again.”
“Captain Atreus Gala Sotiriou, it’s certainly been a while.”
Captain Atreus is dressed in a white uniform and a peaked hat. Captain Atreus isn’t a Kravltian native, he’s from the Kingdom of Aplulia. The technological advance country that is also famous for creating advance drones for combat.
“Indeed, indeed… Well then, we’re to depart immediately. New development just taken place in our territories. I’ll brief you on it, come along.”
Mikail was assigned to the Operation Room, so we parted ways for now.
“So… What’s the development?”
“The land we control for our mining facility is about to be overrun by the native armies. The Uclarian Royal Military. Notice the Royal part.”
“This won’t be as simple then.”
The Kingdom of Uclaria, is considered one of the strongest nations within the Nevyniu Continent. As of now, they are currently the most modernized opponents within that continent. Of course, their weapons are antique compare to ours.
However, they are also strong enough to resist the one of the major powerhouses in Nevyniu, the Proijan Empire before our interference.
“Indeed, they have mobilized over six thousand troops to retake the lands that we claimed. It also appears that they have some new tricks up their sleeves as well. Which is why we are to reach Nevyniu now before they could do any harm.”
“How long will it take before we reach out land claims?”
“About an hour, the KRR Blue Yonder is the fastest Aerial Frigate in service.”
“I see… Am I assigned to a specific location?”
“You’re welcome on the Bridge, but as of now we don’t have much to do aside from preparing our drones for combat.”
We entered the Bridge where the officers navigate and control the ship. It is spacious and kept clean. I see a door with letters spelling Operation Room, I believe that is where Mikail is.
“Speaking of drones, what are we provided with?”
“The other officers and I decided to take things a little bit costly. If the Uclarian does have a trump card, then most of our common drones would be scrapped and we’ll take more losses then necessary. Take a look.”
Atreus picked up a brown clipboard and handed to me. About ten sheet of papers were clamped, with the first page being the amount of drones taken on the mission while the others is the function, maintenance, and other logistic information.
“Hm… 600 Hominids, 300 Spiders, 150 Scorpions, 60 Turtles, 4 Guardians, 40 shells of Spid and Scorp, 120 Dragoonflies, 10 Wyverns, and 4 Automatons… Wow that is costly.”
Normally, we just throw in lots of Hominids, cheap drones that is stronger than an average human. Along with a platoon of Spiders or Scorpions, we often overrun large armies by firing teleportation arrays on top of the army and let the drones’ teleport in.
I look at Atreus.
“Isn’t this a bit overkill?”
Stolen story; please report.
Most of the time, only 15 Turtles; turtle looking drones that can pack a punch, is enough to bring down an entire fortress. Not only are they tough, but they are the artillery class type drone in service. It’s a moving tank.
And pair that with Guardians and Wyverns, its overkill from all perspective.
“We thought so as well, but we don’t tend to use them unless the situation demands it. And if we do use it, think of it as an investment. The mines that we are protecting can replenish our losses within weeks, Mihr, weeks!”
“Hm, good point. We’re on the move already?”
“Yes, I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”
The Aerial Frigate, the KRR Blue Yonder engine is silent unless there’s damage to it.
“It is quiet, and I heard it’ll be a smooth ride.”
“Even I know the term ‘smooth’ is an outdated term, Enforcer Mihr.”
“Meh, I never cared about current trends anyway.”
“You probability might want to start now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I feel like you’re older than me, and I’m in my late twenties.”
“Oh please, I’m only five years younger than you.”
“You sound as old as my father and that is a fact, Enforcer.”
“I am disappointed in you, son.”
We both laugh and shake hands.
“Well, I will see myself in the Operation Room with Mikail. Curious to what he will be doing here, though I suspect the four Automatons will be controlled by him?”
“And the rest of the drone army if things goes awry. There’s a reason why he’s favorited by senior officers.”
That’ll be no surprise, Mikail is unholy good at controlling drones. He can cut some serious loss with a handful of drones, whereas a typical drone operator might need assistance in minimizing losses.
“I thought as much, might as well see him now before the storm.”
“I’ll be waiting here, if you need me.”
“Thanks.”
I waved Atreus off and push opened the door to the Operation Room. There were five other people inside including Mikail.
“Eh? Enforcer, sir!”
Everybody stood up and saluted me.
“At ease, I’m here for leisure. For now, I suppose.”
“Yes sir.”
The other four resume what they were doing, trying not to meet my eye or catch my attention. Given the status of Enforcers, that’s a typical response for regular enlisted servicemen and servicewomen.
Only Mikail waved me over.
“Check this out.”
Mikail pointed at the screen in front of him. It was from one of the surveying aerial drones. On the screen, I saw a white and red armored person. Fully armored and floating a feet above the ground.
“Who’s that?”
“We believe it’s their trump card, but we don’t really know if it’s just for show or practical military use.”
The armored person was issuing some orders to nearby troops with hand gestures.
“This is the Uclarian’s trump card?”
Flying armored knight charging at us isn’t very game changing, as Mikail would call it.
“Notice the armaments? Those aren’t for decorations, we detect some serious mana flux every time they brandish it.”
“In other words…”
“They’re like small mechs with a high powered artillery as their weapon.”
“It’s just one right?”
“Very unlikely, we detected several others as well.”
“What would be the damage against our army?”
“This plus six thousands soldiers… We’ll most likely have a wipe on our common troops and a number done on our more expensive drones.”
“That is, if they attack as well.”
“Yup, we don’t really know if they’re there for morale support. Also, follow me.”
“Hm?”
Mikail shut down the screen and dragged me towards another door. It lead to another hallway, but this one was empty.
“We’re about to reach our destination. Big brother… There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Okay, let me hear it.”
“… The General who is presiding over this operation wants you out of the picture. We don’t know which General, but it’s someone who is siding with the Hawks.”
“Okay… But how would they get rid of me?”
“Captain Atreus is being forced to follow an order, he’ll ask you to go out on the battlefield to deal with these… Valkyries, those armored flying knights. Then, once we extract the materials and users of the Valkyries, you’ll be ask to do more damage while you’re at it. After that… The Expedition Force would abandon you.”
“That’s it? If he’s going to ask, I could refuse.”
“Captain Atreus family is being threatened.”
“…”
Blackmail. The most common method of forcing anyone to do someone else’s bidding. As an Enforcer hunting down corrupted personal, I dealt with people who were facing blackmail as a threat.
“Not just that, but if things don’t go as planned… Then the whole fleet might experience an ‘accident’.”
“How is that possible? How can this get past the other Enforcers? This is extremism.”
Mikail isn’t lying. He has been led in onto secrets back at headquarters under the Marshal and Commander-in-Chief. Despite being a Specialists, he has proven himself worthy by keeping silent of special operations requiring his drone handling skills.
“Two other Enforcers, the Fourth and Fifth are sided with the Hawks. The First and Second is affiliated with the Doves or simply don’t care about the situation, yet… As for you…”
“I’m a wild card.”
“They want you out of the way, but killing you is a biggest alarm within the military structure. The best way is to set up an accident where you or everybody gets lost in the expedition…”
“So that’s why I been getting all these fancy clothing and powerful equipment?”
Mikail nodded.
“We know you would accept the request, with me telling you or not… So we prepared…”
“Farewell gifts, personally speaking… I prefer something more practical and not a shining jewel if I’m going to survive in foreign lands.”
Mikail gave me an odd look before smiling sadly.
“I’m sorry… We’ll come back for you. I promise… I swear…”
“Its fine, not your fault anyway. Besides, I have the Mark of Language. I can listen and talk fluently in any languages. I’ll find a way to survive. I own Atreus too.”
The situation seems somewhat unreal… But I know what is at stake here. I just hope that the Brass get their stuff together and sort this out quickly while I take the bullet for the whole military.
“…”
“Don’t cry Mikail. You been showing off how much of a man you are to Jessica, even if she isn’t here I can tell her that you cried.”
“That’s not fair…”
Laughing weakly, Mikail wiped his eyes and stood attention.