Chapter 42
Captain Matt Williams felt a headache building. Between having to stay with the elf prisoner, deciding what actions the element would take to prevent future monster attacks, and his normal duties as the leader of Savage company, it was enough to make him wish he could have a drink and forget about things for a few hours.
He really needed to figure out if what the elf had said about the system was true. If so, it probably wouldn’t be long until they were being attacked by oversized birds and rodents. The idea of being attacked by a level 30 fox or a level 25 frog wasn’t exactly something he wanted to add to his list of concerns for the near future.
Something about how the prisoner had said things just rubbed him the wrong way. As though she was telling the truth, but with the intent to lead them to the wrong conclusion. He wished they hadn’t brought the captive along, but he did see why it’d happened. It was unlikely any other human had reached his level, aside from the returnees, and they were obviously busy trying to protect VIPs in the hopes that human society and government could continue in some regard.
On the positive side, if they were attacked multiple times along the way to Fort Eisenhower, they might be able to gain some experience and levels, not to mention practice using their newly acquired system abilities. What he’d heard of the after-action report from the bear attack earlier gave him hope, as long as his soldiers could avoid potential friendly fire.
After a few levels worth of extra attribute points, the soldiers under his command might actually present a competent, capable force able to resist even mid-level elf soldiers. Not to mention how much more powerful a given spell or ability could be when there was a significantly larger pool of stamina or mana behind it.
For a moment, Matt allowed his mind to wander. What would he do after the elf invasion had been dealt with? Would he stay with the military? What would the human military even look like after the invasion? He was vaguely aware that Ice Elves likely weren’t the only other intelligent species out in the universe. There’d been various servant races that the elves used as spies and saboteur forces. Maybe some of them would survive the war.
And from what he’d heard of the system shop, Earth wasn't even the only human planet out there. Would other civilizations attack? And that didn’t even take into account the sentient plants the elf had mentioned. Were there other, more powerful, factions out there? They would likely be waging their own wars, and the chance that Earth might get caught up in one was non-zero.
Perhaps Earth would find itself joining some larger force, providing soldiers in return for some kind of greater security. Or maybe there would be other things Humanity could trade away, without turning into the equivalent of the elf’s slave races.
Matt looked up at the night sky, feeling a profound sense of loss. Roughly half the stars he was familiar with were being hidden by the elf mothership, a dark shape blocking out the lights he was used to.
*******
Under that same night sky, SFC Jennet Ming and SPC Justin Wallace sat on an old, dried-out tree stump, back to back telling stories of their lives.
“...And that’s why I joined up. There was no way my parents could afford to send me to college, and I wasn’t trying to take on that kind of debt. So I always planned to do my 8 years and get out.” Justin finished.
“I guess that makes sense. My family never really lacked money. All of my siblings and I went to the best schools and universities. For my family, joining the PLA was an opportunity to secure some new political connections. The head family has had money for generations, so much so that even some of the branch families would be considered wealthy. But I personally wanted more from the military than just the chance to meet a politically connected future husband.” Jennet explained.
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“I wanted to make my mark on history. I want to restore my family's honor and prestige. That's why I’ve always volunteered for the most difficult positions and training. And I found I enjoyed it. Before long though, just training wasn’t enough. I wanted to prove myself. That’s when the Iron Man project opened up. I did everything I could to end up in the program. And the best part is, now I’m not even piloting a suit. My class is more about sword fighting and using heirloom weapons in combat.” She finished.
“Wow. I guess our backgrounds couldn’t really be that much more different in the grand scope of things.” Justin proposed. “At least we ended up fighting the invasion together. I guess I never really thanked you for saving me that first day at the gate. I was sure I was about to be an ice statue.”
“Hey, that’s what battle buddies are for Justin, we look out for each other. Besides, that elf was acting like a total bitch from what I saw. And you’ve returned the favor a few times over if my count is right. So I guess I owe you a ‘thank you’.” Jennet replied.
“Well, I am okay with you considering the debt paid if you survive all this. I don’t want to lose any more of the people I know. I mean I get that this is war, and we don’t really have a choice about defending ourselves and whatnot, but why do the elves want to attack us? Couldn’t they have found someone else to mess with? I guess we’re lucky to have the system since regular munitions are getting significantly less effective against higher-level opponents. Who knows what would have happened if the system hadn’t shown up to save our asses.” Justin considered.
“You are right there soldier. The System probably saved our butts, but some things just aren’t fully adding up for me with all of this. Do you feel that too?” Jennet asked.
“I thought I was the only one. Yeah, I have no idea what, but the system shop just seemed a little too good to be true. We’re being allowed to improve really quickly. Even without a ton of levels, the captain made a whole bunch of the enemy run away back at the river. I didn’t see it, but I heard it was some crazy stuff. One second they’re charging toward the line, and the next second they’re running away like some scared animal. I kinda want to know how that happened.” Justin considered.
“I missed it as well. Damn elf commander and their ability to fuck with our perception of reality. I guess that’s the downside of it all, huh? We can’t just rely fully on our natural abilities anymore.” Jennet postulated.
“Yeah. I even picked up the equivalent of a scanning skill just in case, but it only works while I’m piloting my exo-mecha. I guess we’ll see if it ends up being effective enough, or if I end up spending more for something similar that works outside the suit in the future.” Justin added. “Anyway… it was really nice talking to you Sarn’t. Or I guess Jennet. I should probably get back to camp before anyone starts asking questions. I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble for fraternization, even if you aren’t directly in my chain of command.”
“Why? Are you insinuating you want to do something that’d get us in trouble?“ Jennet’s quick wit supplied.
She felt her cheeks heat a bit almost instantly. That kind of back and forth was something she’d been used to in the PLA. Most of her male subordinates still saw her as potential marriage material, and she’d developed a snarky side as a result. But the Americans were a bit different. At least they seemed to respect the women in the force, seeing them as equals and women just as committed to their careers as the men were. To make matters worse, Justin seemed completely caught off guard by the question.
“Uh… I mean… I don’t really think-” Justin started to reply.
“I was joking specialist. I doubt the Army’s strict regulations on cross-rank dating will really apply to us forever. If that changes, or you manage to jump ranks quickly, maybe I’ll let you take me out sometime. Until then, we’ll keep things professional.” Jennet quickly added with a wink. “Besides, you are a bit young and inexperienced for a woman like me.”
“Haha. I’m going to hold you to that date sarn’t. Don’t go dying or disappearing on me until then.” The specialist replied, quickly picking up on her joking tone. He hopped off the tree stump they’d been sharing and started walking back toward the airfield. Jennet watched him go, wondering what had come over her. A stray part of her subconscious couldn’t help but notice how nice the man’s ass filled out his uniform. Maybe she’d flirt with him a bit more in the future, after all, it had been a bit fun to watch him squirm.