Chapter 16
When Justin made it back to the staging area that’d been set up near a bend in the river, all anyone could tell him was that Savage Company had rolled out about 6 hours ago, having organized support and replacements, then re stocking on gear, and heading out to clear any elves out of Columbus and Cusseta.
After managing to find a radio operator, Justin was given orders to loot anything the system would let him out of the battlefield near the river, turn it into supply, get issued any equipment he was missing or might need, and then wait to join the next Quick Reaction Force (QRF) convoy headed to reinforce 3rd and 4th Platoons in Cusseta Georgia. After getting some directions to the QRF staging area, Justin headed for the battlefield.
He wasn’t exactly looking forward to touching a bunch of inhuman corpses in the hopes that something might drop, but orders were order, and they couldn’t just leave the bodies to rot. Doing so would cause all kinds of sanitation issues, and who knew what kind of diseases something with an extraterrestrial origin might have.
When Justin arrived, he saw several people in hazmat suits coming and going from a white tent that’d been set up. He’d have to pass through that check point to access the area he’d been fighting from, as there was caution tape and barbed wire forming a perimeter.
As he drew closer, one of the hazmat clad individuals called him over. While the person’s voice sounded somewhat robotic coming out of the microphone and speaker attached to their gas mask, at least they could communicate loud enough for everyone to hear them. He was quickly directed to a table where a several pairs of thick CBRN gloves and large black body bags waited. He was directed to take the gloves and a body bag, and then comb through the field. Any gear he managed to loot should be placed in the bag, but he was allowed to keep any system credits.
The hot Georgian sun was starting to go to work on the corpses, which had been out overnight, and the smell was getting to be a bit much. As soon as Justin was sure he’d retrieved anything the system would let him, he returned to the tent.
Two suited up CBRN soldiers hosed him and his bag down with a jet of lukewarm water, then a chemical solution, and finally another round of water. After that, he was directed to take a seat on some metal benches with black-lights set up all around them. After an hour of black-light exposure, more of the hazmat-suit clad individuals did a quick inspection and directed him to take his bag to supply.
Justin hadn’t really found anything that he felt was going to be worth much. A few weapons of different types, mainly blades and bows. A few bits of jewelry such as rings, earrings, bracelets, and other trinkets, but they didn’t seem to be worth much on cursory inspection. Probably the most useful item was the $100 USC he’d come up with. Regardless, he understood the equipment would likely go to a good cause, helping civilians learn new skills in a world that would soon operate completely within the system.
As soon as he arrived at the supply receiving area, he saw a large pile of black bags like the one he carried. He was quickly guided towards the pile, and after a harried looking supply person recorded the items he’d brought in, he was provided with a paper receipt, and directed to another building for gear issue.
It didn’t take long for Justin to find an armored suit that fit, and after spending a few minutes on the range zeroing in a newly issued M-7 rifle, he was ready to go. He wasn’t sure how much he’d actually need the battle rifle, since apparently they were going to be phased out soon due to leveling overmatch issues, but he was used to it’s familiar weight. Soon he was headed for the QRF staging area.
Most of the other soldiers in the QRF area weren’t members of Savage Company, instead being part of one infantry unit or another assigned to the base. There were two other members of Justin’s unit, but he didn’t recognize either. They’d likely been part of the unit since it was founded, instead of joining after the invasion as he had.
Justin felt that the old army adage of “Hurry up and wait!” certainly applied here. He was excited to get back out there and test out his new abilities. Instead he was stuck with a bunch of other guys, waiting in the Georgia heat to be called into action. At least he was able to catch up a bit with what had happened after he passed out.
Rumor was that the captain had called down some avatar that’d scared the elves shitless, and sent them running. Thus far the company had split in two with supporting elements from the rest of the base, and had moved into the nearby towns. They were clearing buildings, looking for civilians and Ice Elves alike. Thus far they hadn’t met any real resistance, but the towns seemed mostly abandoned.
That didn’t sit right with Justin. How much time had they wasted fighting illusions and expecting the system to keep civilians safe while the enemy had been kidnapping people or slaughtering them. The thought had him pissed off. He suddenly didn’t feel as bad as he had previously for looting bodies. The elves deserved what they got. He wasn’t sure if their society encouraged taking slaves and slaughtering innocents, or if it was some local commander giving the orders, but he would make sure he had a part in ending that behavior.
As he talked more with the others, he realized he and the other two members of Savage Company were the only ones with classes. The others hadn’t had a chance to interact with the system yet. Justin explained that they needed to be careful about communicating when they reached level 4, and what they could expect when they reached level 5, and to his surprise, they seemed to remember what he was talking about, something he was sure he hadn’t been able to do. That bothered him, realizing that there would have been some way to warn everyone about what to expect so that arrangements could be made, and people could make a decision about how they wanted to handle that change, and he resolved to take it up the chain of command.
Eventually the call came in, and everyone mounted up into GWOT era HUMMWVs. There hadn’t been much of an Ice Elf presence thus far, so there wasn’t much worry about needing the more heavily armed and armored MRAPs or BFVs. Plus the HUMMWVs were highly maneuverable within the city streets, and the doors had been stripped off to allow everyone to get in and out of the vehicles very quickly.
The drive to meet up with 3rd and 4th squad command element was fairly short. Barely a 30 minute drive. As Justin understood it, they were moving slowly, looking to clear the entire city one building at a time. He wasn’t sure he would have made that call, since the desire to get to wherever the elves were, and stop them from causing more damage was huge for him, but it made sense from a tactical perspective. If a large force of elves managed to get between them and Fort Moore, they would potentially be cut off from resupply, and the elves could overrun the base fairly easily since there wouldn’t be any classers there, other than a few stragglers from Savage Company who may or may not be in a coma from leveling.
A lieutenant in the lead HUMMWV was busy talking with SSG Davis, the 3rd Platoon leader when Justin walked up. The other two members of Savage Company were with SFC Alistair Olagsdotir’s 4th Platoon. He waited patiently for the two to finish talking, standing at attention. Eventually the LT and Sergeant Davis recognized him.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Welcome back Specialist Wallace. It’s good to know most of 3rd is back at it. We need higher level guys to cover in case we run into anything harder than the traps we’ve come across so far.”
Left unsaid was the part about any possible deaths or “accidents” that might have happened to cost them manpower. Justin figured most soldiers had enough mental control that they could avoid anything too crazy happening as a result of the system sending everyone’s sex drives crazy, but there were stories of the old days before the pre-service mental health screenings were as good as they could be.
“It’s good to be back, Sarn't. Where do you need me?” Justin replied.
“Getting right to business. I knew there was a reason I recommended you for pilot training with the First Sergeant. I’ll have you stick with this group of FNGs. you’ll be the big guns in case they run into anything that can’t be taken out with small arms. I assume you have something to show for reaching level 6?” the staff sergeant inquired.
“I do as it happens. Things went a bit differently than I’d planned, so we may need to update my plans for higher levels, assuming that’s something the company still wants to track. I ended up with a [(Yang) Energy Core (I)], and I can use that to power weapons and other abilities.
At first, Staff Sergeant Davis didn’t react, but a moment later, he seemed to finally process what Justin had said.
“Well, I’m not sure what that was about, but you can just stick with the new guys, and pull their asses out of the fire if they get in too deep. Lieutenant Warwick will be leading, so take orders from them as if they came from me or the rest of Savage Company command. Don’t fuck it up.” SSG Davis finished.
Justin headed back to his HUMMWV’s, but soon found himself being ordered to sit in the lead vehicle behind the Lieutenant. The switch was a bit awkward for Justin, as he wasn’t used to being important enough that a commander would take direct notice of him, but he realized he was essential the system subject matter expert, and the LT would want to have quick access to his expertise, even though he really didn’t know that much.
The driver had them heading to a neighborhood near the county building, with orders to clear the multi block area, and then meet up with another QRF team and push toward Highway 280. As the convoy pulled to a halt about 100 meters from the first house, Justin found himself watching the tree line. While the area was basically a standard deep south neighborhood, and had been developed, there were still a lot of trees, some of them leading off into highly forested areas, and even the smaller trees could have presented a good position to fire down on the convoy.
The whole situation had him a bit uneasy. The captain might be over leveled compared to the rest of Savage Company, but was it really enough to make the elves leave the area? And what about all the missing civilians. It poked at his 6th sense, and he found himself acting a bit on edge. Of course, that was probably a good thing, since everyone he knew with actual combat experience told him that keeping his head on a swivel and not getting complacent was essential for survival. And now that he thought about it, he had combat experience of his own, and paying a little more attention to things probably would have served him well. He’d allowed himself to get too complacent, not thinking about experience and such during the defense of the base, resulting in the whole level 5 fiasco.
Granted he could blame some of that on the system and whatever ability the enemy commander had used to fuck with everyone’s perception, but a good soldier learned from their mistakes, and took the blame when it was appropriate. Justin wasn’t going to develop any new bad habits now.
The soldiers began to spread out in wedges, walking down either side of the road toward the first houses. Things went smoothly for the first block or so finding each house empty, but eventually a team came across something they didn’t like, and called over the LT, who brought Justin along.
A large pile of blood stained clothes sat in the middle of the back yard. A couple of neighborhood dogs loitered in the area, alternating between sniffing at the pile and whining. None of the clothing on top seemed to be ripped or torn, and none of the items were totally soaked, as Justin would expect if their owner had died from the kinds of wounds the elves' weapons inflicted.
Basically the odd sight represented three possibilities. First, the elves had stripped the civilians before taking them somewhere else to kill them. Second, the elves were setting up some kind of gruesome trap. Third, the elves had stripped the civilians after inflicting light wounds before taking them to another location, but keeping them alive.
None of the possibilities were very pleasant for Justin to imagine, and he hoped they would quickly catch up to the elven back line. The way they were treating humanity was utterly barbaric. Assuming the stories and rumors he’d heard during the illusion fight, it sounded like they might treat themselves in a similar fashion. That was even more incentive for humanity to win the war and show other civilizations how things could be. Not that the US or Earth in general had the best track record for civil liberties and treating each other well, but in the last 50 or 100 years, things had come a long way.
Justin found himself wondering how the rest of Savage Company was doing. Obviously some of the leadership hadn’t fallen for the level 5 trap, letting the junior soldiers do the work, but they had to be getting close by now. Did they know what to expect? What plans did the captain have for rotating personnel out, and how were they going to take back any big cities the elves managed to capture. Going house to house might work out in the relatively undeveloped country, but if the elves managed to take a larger city, like LA or Chicago, the US military would soon find itself stretched way too thin trying to take the city back.
*******
First Sargent Dirk Cabral woke up in his bedroom at home. He’d reached level 5 early this morning, and had been instantly ordered to return home by the captain and the rest of the higher command at Ft. Moore. He’d understood why shortly after getting home and spending his attribute points. Somehow his loving wife of 15 years had been briefed before he had on what to expect, and they were able to enjoy a few hours of rare intimacy.
Gloria Cabral was the perfect match for Dirk. Both her parents had been in the military, so Gloria had some idea of what to expect marrying an operator type. Unfortunately the Pacific Unification War had kicked off shortly after they’d gotten married, and Dirk hadn’t been around for more than a couple weeks at a time for the early years of their marriage. The fact that they still managed to have 3 kids together was nothing short of a feat. Gloria had managed to find fulfillment by investing her time and their money in various projects and causes, and Dirk didn’t really mind.
After the war ended, Dirk found himself a stranger in his own house, with their oldest being about old enough to graduate high school. Fortunately, while the kids resented Dirk somewhat, his wife had stood by him, and after the kids were grown and moved out, Dirk took a transfer to work as a trainer, and the two had reignited the romance they’d had as a younger couple.
All this said, Dirk found himself somewhat at peace when he woke up, ready once again to face whatever his country demanded of him. He left his wife a note since she wasn’t at home, which was usual for when Dirk would leave on assignment, not knowing when or how he’d return. He left her a note, as usual, saying he’d be back when he could, and headed for the QRF staging area.
The reports waiting on his Pers-e-comm let him know that almost all of Savage Company had dealt with the level 5 quest to one degree of success or another, and had rejoined the respective platoons in clearing houses. Dirk found a radio operator at the QRF area, and was soon in contact with Captain Williams.
“Sir, how’s it going out there? Where do you need me?”
“Actually, First Sergeant, I have a bit of a special plan for you.” The Captain replied.
Dirk listened intently, a wide shark-like grin growing on his face. The Captain could come up with a good plan now and again it seemed.