Chapter 28
First Sergeant Dirk Cabral sat at a long table made of solid oak. Such displays of wealth were often reserved for higher command, and indeed, it made sense to see one in the base commander’s personal headquarters. He and the other members of the Savage Company command team were waiting for the second debrief to start. Neither the commander of Jaws team nor the base command element had made it yet, but that was somewhat to be expected. Captain Jeff doubtless needed a bit of time to prep the information he’d present, and base command was likely trying to get in contact with Washington and the Pentagon, or waiting on last minute reports.
Dirk knew both Lyndis and Matt needed some down time. Lyndis likely more so than Matt, as she’d just returned, where Matt had been on base for a few hours at this point. Dirk briefly wondered how the Captain had handled the level 10 quest. He didn’t seem the type to turn down a one night stand, but he also didn’t seem the sort to do anything without at least some thought. Dirk recalled having several conversations with the captain about the nature of what happened at level 5, but for some reason, he hadn’t been able to recall the details until he himself was at level 5.
Dirk allowed his mind to wander a bit, thinking about what class his wife would have ended up with. She hadn’t been around when he’d woken up, and He was admittedly eager to return home and discuss what he knew of the system with her. She’d been his rock, but had never really been able to understand his professional life, both because he often couldn’t tell her what he did while he was away, and because even if he could, she simply wouldn’t understand on the same level as someone who’d been there. He found himself excited to finally change that dynamic in their relationship, being the one to listen to her experiences.
The non violent side of the system was a total mystery to everyone on earth. All of the returnees had combat classes, and even if they’d learned some skills from various trades, the information they had from the system didn’t really add up. A non combat class was apparently called a ‘Profession’ and didn’t receive much exp from fighting, rather receiving it from performing actions associated with their chosen line of work.
Dirk found himself pulled back into the present when Matt said the words he’d been waiting for.
“Company, Attention!”
Dirk and Lyndis stood at the same moment. The base commander, General Mays, didn’t stand on ceremony.
“Carry on. Also, orders from the Pentagon, Consider us actively at war in the states. No more saluting and no more calling formations to attention. We could be the subject of everything from aerial bombardment to assassination attempts at any moment. While I am unfortunately somewhat still stuck behind a desk, we don’t need the enemy to understand our rank structure just by glancing at random formations. We’ll wait for Jaws company before we officially get started.” The General ordered.
“Roger that, Sir.” Matt replied, and everyone took their seats.
Knowing how tired Lyndis was, Dirk took it upon himself to perform the ritual of starting a pot of coffee, and he felt comfortable making it extra dark. He and the General knew each other somewhat, and if Taylor wanted to make a stink about the powerful stuff, well, he could go to hell. They would all need the energy before the meeting was over.
A few minutes later, Captain Jeff Miller and First Sergeant Mike Thompson, what was left of the command team of Jaws company entered the room. The General gave them the same information about the US being considered an active war zone, and both men nodded solemnly.
“Alright, lets get this debrief in gear.” the General continued. “Given that we’re in a war zone, meetings like this will be somewhat less formal than you might be used to. No more minutes or secretaries. We will refer to each other by first names rather than rank while we’re here as well. We'll get right down to business. We’ll start with the AAR or After Action Report for the defensive action fought along the Chattahoochee river. The floor is yours Matt.”
“On the morning of August 22nd of this year, Savage Company received actionable Intel that a sizable force of what we code named ‘Ice Elf 2’ were inbound…” Matt proceeded to give a short description of events leading up to the illusion attack, his elimination of both a party of non elven enemy combatants, and his communications organizing the elimination of the elf mages behind the illusion attack, and his orders to move the main force of Savage Company to the bank of the Chattahoochee. Lyndis occasionally interjected a bit of clarifying information, and the General asked a small handful of pointed questions, likely hoping to gain a better understanding of the enemies actual abilities. Dirk stayed quiet and listened until it came time for a description of how so many soldiers had been incapacitated at the same time.
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“I’d noticed the lack of experience during the illusion attack, but hadn’t thought much of it. The system is a new entity for us, and I don’t fully understand how it judges credits for a kill and how it calculates exp. However, when I noticed the same things happening a second time around, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I got a quest from the system, but by then it was too late to stop the soldiers from crossing the level 5 threshold. Fortunately we had a system to call up reinforcements on short notice due to the captain’s foresight on the level 5 quest, but this is one potential issue other units will need to be advised on. For some reason, in spite of all the conversations we had about similar situations, I couldn’t seem to recall any of the specifics at the time. I think we can only conclude that the action up until this point was a no-go. Yes, we made it up to this point without taking any casualties, and we managed to repel the main elf force, but if not for the Captain’s foresight, we would have likely lost a lot of good men at this point.” Dirk explained.
“I concur.” Matt added “The returnees mentioned something about the system blocking knowledge of the level 5 quest by actively removing or locking away memories of it. I’m not even sure if the rest of you will remember this later, but for my improve recommendation, we need to find a way to set up rapid reinforcement force wide when soldiers get close to level 5. That or find ways to artificially elevate them past the quest outside of combat. We will likely need to work with the returnees on that though.”
“How do you see that playing out, Matt?” General Mays interjected. “I agree we need to have something in place, but I’m not sure it’s feasible to have a quick swap system set up force wide, especially with the elves having air superiority. They must have something other than the transports we’ve seen, but they haven’t used them yet. If and when they do, we could lose a lot of lives just trying to get to somewhere they can’t just bomb to hell.”
“I’m not sure, Sir.” Matt replied. “But I know something has to be done, or we won't have enough soldiers survive to a high level. Keep in mind this quest more or less repeats itself every 5 levels up to 20. If it weren’t so socially taboo, we could do a lot of good with the free levels as well, but I don’t want to suggest any kind of systemic mating program. The idea itself makes me sick, but I wouldn’t doubt the elves make use of it somehow. What I can glean of their society seems… much less focused on the concept of freedom in any way.”
“I agree that the elves likely make use of the free levels somehow. But even if we wanted to entertain such utterly disgusting thoughts, the returnees made it clear as an international whole that they would stand against any nation that tries to implement something remotely like that.” The General informed.
“Well at least there is that.” Lyndis interjected. Everyone nodded in agreement with the sentiment. Having humanity's most powerful members standing strong against the idea was the best possible solution to preventing any kind of system orchestrated sex crimes.
The meeting continued, covering similar topics, and Jaws company provided a brief report on how Fort Eisenhower had fallen to the enemy. Finally the general provided information on the state of the country (dismal, but hopeful for recovery), a list of equipment lost or destroyed, and finally, the part everyone had been secretly dreading. A list of the missing in action and dead.
Over two hundred names were on the KIA or Killed in Action list. The whole room grew quiet with a sort of reserved and somber respect as the General read the names off one at a time.
“I will forward the personal files for each of these men and women. I expect you to write the letters to next of kin. I will need both a handwritten copy as well as a digital one. We will do our utmost to make sure the handwritten letters are delivered by someone who served with the deceased. Where that isn’t possible, we will send out the digital version over the pers-e-comm cell network, which still seems to be working. We will hold a ceremony 28th honoring all who’ve fallen thus far. This service will be held across all standing US military installations in the world, and most other nations that we have comms with will hold similar ceremonies at the same time.” The General ordered.
“Until then we will be allowing the soldiers to recover, assuming the enemy allows it. After the ceremony, Savage Company will be re-outfitted, and sent with the survivors of Jaws Company and an as yet to be determined complement of tanks and supply vehicles, to retake Fort Eisenhower. Once that objective has been completed, we will review additional actions, but it is likely you will be tasked to meet up with other forces and clear out the greater Atlanta area, as we’ve had reports of elves attacking the city. Pass along the order that we expect everyone to be present in full dress uniform at 0800 hours the day of the ceremony.” The General finished.
And with that, the debrief was done. Matt quickly released Lieutenant Soto and Dirk, letting them know he intended to begin reviewing personnel files and composing letters. Dirk felt for the poor man, understanding intimately the weight that now rested on his shoulders. He would find time to help, he promised himself. But first he would head home and sleep.
Congrats!
You have been directly involved in resisting the first phase of the invasion!
Due in part to your contribution, you have been awarded $500 USC, +1 Gear Token, +1 Skill Token, +1 Upgrade Token.
A system store node has been placed at [Fort Moore - CIF] and the area has been designated a sanctuary.
No spells or abilities may be activated within a 5 mile radius, and no exp will be awarded for combat operations taking place in the same radius.
Your efforts have not gone unnoticed. Enjoy your well earned respite, but do not allow yourself to become too complacent.