It took a little over 2 hours for them to cook the crab and tentacles, eat, and store the rest.
“Alfa says we’ve lost 37 droids in the battle against the Kraken.”
Gina spoke to Gustav who was stretching his limbs.
“You’ve taken a liken to it?”
Gina nodded.
“Alright, you’re in charge of Alfa from now on. I’m counting on you to make the right decisions when the time comes.”
Gina saluted.
“Yes, General.”
“Alright, it’s time to move.”
Gustav slung a revolving cannon over his shoulder and walked towards the bushes at the end of the beach. Gina turned to the nearest droid.
“Alfa, can you carry our equipment?”
“Alright, Gina.”
The droids picked up the weapons and supplies from the boats and followed behind Gina.
“She’s definitely going to get attached to that AI.”
Ryker mumbled while watching her.
“That’s just how Gina is. Leave her be.”
Raphael said as he followed behind Gina. They entered the bushes with Gustav and stumbled into a jungle. They walked surrounded by droid soldiers with them in the middle.
“I’ve been meaning to ask.”
Gustav suddenly spoke up.
“I know you’ve all gotten a boost in your senses, but what about your six sense?”
“What are you talking about?”
Roxanne asked.
“I’m talking about your instincts. For example…”
All of the droids stopped and readied their weapons. Gustav grinned and pointed his cannon above him.
“Sensing bloodlust!”
He opened fire. The ground and air shook. Several trees above were blown to pieces.
“They’re faster than expected!”
Gustav brought the cannon down and aimed at his right. Several droid soldiers were thrown at him before he could fire. Something popped up below him drawing a weapon.
“Fuck off!”
Roxanne kicked it away while Gustav dodged the soldiers. It disappeared before they could see what it was.
“Raphael!”
“Already on it, General!”
Raphael pulled Gina towards him. Something appeared cutting down where she stood before. It ducked under a gunshot and disappeared.
“Tsk.”
Chul clicked his tongue after missing his shot. He positioned himself in front of Damini and Ryder. His eyes danced in his head as he scanned the area.
“Alfa, defensive formation!”
Gina shouted. The droids formed a defensive line aiming their weapons in every direction.
“Alfa, how many are there?”
Gina asked.
“Sorry, I’m unable to confirm. I can’t detect any heat readings other than yours.”
Gustav laughed.
“So they’re already making our technology obsolete, huh?”
“Orders, General?”
Roxanne asked while surveying the area.
“I would love to tell Alfa to just fire in every direction to scare them off but I doubt that will work. So, Damini.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Spider monkey.”
Damini’s eyes widened for a bit before she nodded. She dropped her rifle and pulled two high-frequency daggers from her powersuit.
“General…”
“Don’t worry, Roxanne.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Gustav dropped his cannon.
“I’m doing it too.”
He and Damini jumped on a tree. They leaped to another one and then to other. They leaped from tree to tree moving around the jungle at lightning speed. Those on the ground tried following their movements with their eyes.
“They’re really like two monkeys.”
Ryder mumbled. He spotted movement in the shadows. He fired without hesitation. He missed as the shadow moved. Damini leaped at it as it jumped. They faced each other in the air. She slashed it as she passed by. Another shadow flew down at her from above. Gustav popped up beside it and kicked it into a tree. Damini kicked off a tree and aimed a kick. Another shadow attacked her before she could reach it. It swung at her neck.
*Clang!*
Its weapon was shot out of its hand. The shadow reflected in Chul’s eyes as he readied to fire again. At this time, Damini stomped the other shadow through the tree. The tree fell along with the shadow and Damini.
Chul fired again at the other shadow but it disappeared before the shot could reach it.
“The fuck?”
He scanned the area. Meanwhile, Damini looked for the thing she was fighting.
“It’s gone.”
Gustav landed next to her.
“Chul, you can stop looking. Your target is gone too.”
Chul silently lowered his gun.
“They can disappear at will? Now that’s just cheating.”
Gustav mumbled.
“Damini, did you get to see what we were fighting?”
Damini shook her head.
“It was like I was fighting a shadow or something impossible to make out.”
“Could be some camouflage ability. Maybe one that makes it hard to discern by the naked eye.”
Gina said.
“Either way, it’s tough. It took kicks from me and Damini like nothing. It was even kicked through a tree.”
Roxanne said.
“General, how did you sense it before Alfa?”
Ryder asked.
“I’ve always had a sense of danger. After eating the demon fish that sense became something like a superpower. I can vaguely feel presences normally, but once hostile I can feel them clearly.”
“This man turned into an anime character.”
Damini mumbled.
“Isn’t it the same for your speed though? You were already the swiftest but I can tell it’s increased quite a lot.”
Gustav started heading deeper into the jungle, and everyone followed behind him.
“Anyway, let’s continue. We need to meet up with the locals.”
“Since we were attacked, is the aim now to kill everything?”
Chul asked.
“Kid, you really need to see someone about those murderous impulses. How did you even become a lawyer?”
Gustav sighed.
“No, the ideal situation is still to get the cooperation of those living on the island. They most likely see us as invaders, so it’s natural they’ll attack us.”
He stopped for a bit and looked back.
“Of course, if they attack again we’ll act like the British before the 20th century.”
He burst out laughing.
“General, that was a bad joke.”
“If it is, why am I laughing?”
He laughed even harder as he resumed walking. Once he was far ahead, the smile dropped off his face.
(We reacted too slowly to the ambush. Gina took too long to command Alfa. Ryker basically froze up most of the fight. Damini was the same until I called out to her. Roxanne and Raphael were sharp as expected, but their inability to sense hostility like me made them react too slowly. As for Chul, he showed signs of irritation when missing a shot, something he didn’t do before.)
He frowned.
(As I thought, those who return to being civilians have gotten rusty. No, they merely became normal. Raphael remained at my side all these years, while Roxanne became a military instructor. Those two were able to remain sharp. Even so-)
“I’ll have to make up for their shortcomings.”
He wore a bitter smile as they walked. After an hour of walking without being attacked, he received some news from Alfa.
“I’m picking up heat readings about 300m away.”
“How many?”
“In the hundreds, Gina.”
“Alright, my soldiers. Get ready for a possible round 2.”
They increased their pace and 5 minutes later they were overlooking a valley. In the center of the valley were houses surrounded by a pasture. In the sky, giant Phoenix-like birds were flying above the village. They were mostly blue but some had shades of purple.
“Now that I think about it, we didn’t run into any wildlife in the jungle other than what attacked us.”
Ryder spoke up.
“Don’t think about it too much.”
Roxanne said while looking through binoculars.
“Do you see anybody?”
“None, Sir.”
“I see. We may have been drawn into a trap.”
“What do you mea—”
Gina swallowed her words as a droid stepped in front of her. With a loud bang, its head was blown off. Everyone immediately dove to the ground.
“A sniper?!”
Roxanne started mounting her rifle.
“They’re using our technology against us. They know we use heat readings and are creating fake ones to lure us out.”
Gustav crawled over to the droid that shielded Gina and started examining its head. He found a piece of black crystal.
(Is this the bullet?)
He squeezed the crystal and it cracked.
(Even with my super strength I can’t destroy it that easily.)
“Be careful. They’re using bullets we’ve never seen before. I used the powersuit’s gauntlet so I’m not certain, but it’s possible the bullet could be coated in some kind of poison.”
“How do we proceed, General?”
Damini looked at Gustav with trembling eyes.
(She’s losing her nerves.)
Gustav smiled.
“Don’t worry. We’re not going to rely on your speed in this situation.”
He stood up which shocked everyone.
“Whatever we’re fighting is familiar with how we fight, meaning they’ve faced the soldiers that came here decades ago. But I wonder if they’ve ever met someone crazy like me.”
He pulled some orbs from the belt on his powersuit. He squeezed and threw them into the air.
“Close your eyes!”
The orbs exploded and bright light illuminated the area.
“Why did he use flashbangs in the day?!”
Damini screamed out with her eyes shut. She heard a boom along with something cutting through the wind. When she opened her eyes Gustav was gone. She looked down at the valley and saw him moving at lightning speed.
Gustav under cover of light blasted off from where he was and down the valley running at what seems to be his max speed. He was hit in the head and his helmet shattered. He leaped into the air twisting his body. He was hit in the stomach cracking his armor. He landed and continued running. He almost fell after being hit in the leg but kept running towards the village.
(Now I have a general idea of where the sniper is. So you must too.)
Damini turned her head and saw Raphael, Chul, and Roxanne aiming cannons in different directions. They fired in unison. Several buildings were blown away. They didn’t let up and fired without pause.
“Good.”
Gustav continued running towards the village. Specifically, where his soldiers were attacking. He spotted movement in the smoke. With a savage grin, his suit activated.
“You thought I couldn’t go faster?”
He blasted off the ground. He cut through the smoke and popped up in front of someone carrying a weapon. Gustav slammed his fist in their face. Their feet were forced off the ground as they were blown away. Gustav blasted off again pulling his sword. He swung it and cut off the person’s legs before they hit the ground. He then stabbed his sword in their stomach and forced them to the ground.
“Ahhhh!”
Somebody else flew out of the smoke at him. They were blown away after getting shot in the head. They crashed into the earth but quickly started to get up. Gustav was already in front of them. He hit them with an uppercut, grabbed their face, and slammed it on his knee.
“Hello, my name is Gustav Fernandez.”
He lifted them off the ground with a gut punch and then burst both of their faces with a headbutt. He held the bloody face and forced them to look into his eyes.
“It’s nice to meet you.”