“Get everything packed! You need to get out of here!”

Kyle’s shouts were met with blank stares, until one man stepped forward.

“Sir, we already sent teams out towards the locations you marked. This looks like a simple extraction, there’s no need to waste time.”

Kyle ground his teeth in frustration. “There is a D Grade monster lurking around here. If you don’t get your people out, you’ll get eaten.”

The man gave Kyle a broad smile, not at all what he expected.

“That’s why we have you! From the sounds of it, you’ve been more than a match for the last couple D Grades. We’ve all heard stories about the ‘Onyx Warrior’ you know.”

“Then you have no clue what you’re doing. I’ve faced two of them, and if I was alone, I would have died.”

The man’s smile faltered at that, and he looked like he was about to say more before Kyle’s nav bracelet crackled to life.

“Mayhew, are you there?”

It was Skippy’s voice, breathing heavily.

“What happened?”

“We found the D Grade. It made the ruins of the city a nest, apparently. We fought, after it took some hits it disappeared. No idea where it is now.”

“How far are you from the landing zone?”

This time, Benjamin answered.

“We’re several hours away, but we aren’t going to head back immediately. Now that I know the silk wasn’t part of the normal architecture, I have some notes to update. Our goal would be to return before nightfall.”

Kyle rubbed his temples. Of course they’re going to take their sweet time.

“Any chance you’d be willing to accelerate the timeline?”

“Due respect, Kyle, but this is why I came planetside in the first place. I understand the risks, and I trust that you’ll be able to handle things until our return. Feel free to ask Duroc or Skippy any questions about the encounter, otherwise I’m getting back to work.”

Kyle had a picture in his head of the remaining two monsters from his vision, and given the context he knew this one would have to be the spider.

“What can you tell me about the fight?”

Duroc’s voice squealed through the nav bracelet.

“It was a little taller than me, maybe three and a half, four meters tall? Eight legs, really big fangs. And fast, with some sort of mobility skill.”

Skippy jumped in to clarify. “I’d rank its combat speed between you and me. I was a little faster. It teleported a lot though, which made it hard.”

Kyle nodded, considering what they’d told him.

“So it was more of a direct attacker, fangs and claws?”

“Not at all. It has bladed barbs that it shot from its back. Probably covered in some sort of poison, too. Not that we have any real way to check.”

Duroc’s response caused his heart to sink further. This kind of opponent was tricky to deal with. It was an especially bad matchup for him. Still, there was a lingering thread of hope.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“How much damage did the two of you manage to do?”

Skippy’s voice sounded annoyed. “Not as much as I wanted. Duroc got one big hit, and I was able to string together a short combo before it teleported away.”

“I appreciate the information. We’ll do what we can to prepare on this end.”

Kyle took a deep breath. Triage.

First – the danger level was severe. They had multiple teams out on their own against a creature specializing in ambush. Getting them to band together should reduce the risk.

Second – Once the miners grouped up, they would be best served with defensive formations. Melee specialists surrounding Rangers and Mages, with any Healers in the middle. Going on the offense would be a poor decision.

Third – Wait for Benjamin’s team to return. This was likely the most dangerous part, though if they were attacked, Kyle could go to meet them personally and hopefully turn the tides. Once all the military power was back together, they should be able to reevaluate and make a new plan.

It wasn’t clean triage, but it was a plan that could stabilize them, at least for now. With approximately six hours until the others were hoping to return, there was time. All they had to do was hold. Looking around at the lax attitude in the camp, Kyle’s confidence waned. For whatever reason, they didn’t seem to be taking the risk seriously. Fortunately, Kyle had a solution to that problem.

“All hands to me, now!”

Kyle was doing his best Garth impression, holding his baton by his side as he spoke. The expedition members, clearly taken aback by the sudden burst of volume, were slow in responding. Kyle walked up to one unfortunate man – the one who had joked earlier about having the “Onyx Warrior” behind them – and prodded him in the chest with the weapon.

“I said all hands. You have thirty seconds to round up the rest of the camp, or else you’ll be the example to everybody here the difference between an E Grade and a D Grade.”

It was a corny line, but it got the job done. Thirty seconds later, all the personnel in the camp had their eyes fixed on him. He knew the shiny chitin armor added to his presence, and he was thankful for it. Looking out at the group, Kyle spoke, focusing on keeping the calm yet stern tone that seemed to come so naturally to his friend.

“The situation here got a hell of a lot more dangerous. We have a D Grade predator in the area, and I suspect it’s the reason there aren’t more creatures roaming around. Communications teams, call back all the squads that are currently focused on extraction. From here on, we move out with overwhelming force.”

Kyle searched the faces of the assembled men and women, just shy of two dozen remaining in the camp. Nearly the same number were out in small extraction teams. There’s not enough of us. Kyle’s plan carried a flaw that he should have anticipated. Those remaining at the camp were mostly support personnel, meaning the combat strength was far below expectation. Worse still, of the twenty-two people, only three had Warrior type classes. That left two Healers, eight Rangers, and nine Mages. There was no way they’d be able to form an effective line with this little manpower.

Still, Kyle held onto a sliver of hope. The spider should be a good distance away, which would give them time. If the teams acted with some urgency, they would still have an opportunity to prepare a meaningful defense and wait out the time until Benjamin’s team came back. With all of the forces together, they would have options.

An hour later, the first squad made it back.

Ten minutes after that, the second squad returned.

Two hours after the order, the third and fourth squads arrived, and Kyle’s hope began to blossom.

Then they got the first alert. The squad farthest away sent out an alert signal, which abruptly went dark as the nav bracelets registered their owners as deceased. Scarce minutes later, another squad was taken out, just as quickly as the first. Looking at the location on his nav bracelet, Kyle knew that there was no way the last squad would make it to the camp in time. That left him with a problem. While their numbers had been bolstered quite a bit, they were still light on combatants. After seeing how quickly the small squads were taken out, Kyle knew that his defense plan wouldn’t work.

Most likely, the D Grade would tear through the defenses like a hot knife through butter, leaving him to face the creature alone. Even if they held, there would be heavy casualties. Once Kyle and the creature met, there wasn’t going to be an escape for either of them. If it was trapped here, it very well might slaughter everybody in the camp before Kyle could suppress it or Benjamin’s team arrived.

The answer was a simple one, even if he didn’t like it. If he met the creature out in the forest, it would be stuck there with him. Once Skippy and Duroc made it back to camp, they could come assist. All Kyle would have to do is survive until then. He turned to the man who was his unofficial lieutenant.

“Change of plans. When Benjamin’s team makes it back, tell them I went to buy you all time, and tell them where I am.”

“Yes, sir. But…” His voice trailed off as he looked out into the endless expanse of rattling bamboo.

“You have your orders.”

With that, Kyle activated HASTE, disappearing into the fading light.