CHAPTER 93: Water Reclamation Raid

Adam stood on a hill. This was where the road that led to the water reclamation plant was. If they followed this road down the hill then they would arrive at a weak chain link fence containing parking lots, buildings, and a few massive cylindrical structures that pressed against a flowing water way. Huge pipes were coming out of the ground, connecting into the various buildings.

With Adam was Nick, Elias, Lucas, Brittney, Lamar, Captain Krysti, Mr. Fenton, a few other military company leaders, and surprisingly Rick Sherman.

“Why do you look so much more relaxed here than in the meeting room, Rick?” Adam asked the intelligence officer.

“I love being outdoors. Desks are rather stifling,” the man answered while observing the base. “Besides, out here you glare at me less.”

“I didn’t glare at you,” said Adam, taken aback.

“You were definitely glaring at him in that meeting,” said Lamar.

“How could I have been? I was looking at the map the whole time,” insisted Adam.

“Even your voice and hmms were glaring at him,” said Carlos. Adam did glare at him. He just laughed.

“Adam, just assume that whenever you look at people and you aren’t having fun it seems like you’re glaring,” explained Nick.

“Did I glare before the [System] changed me?” asked Adam, curious now.

“No. Before the [System] you just always looked like you wanted to take a nap,” said Brittney.

Lucas laid a heavy hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Do your thing here and we’ll continue to ignore the glaring.”

“I’m feeling rather ganged up on,” Adam said indifferently, not bothered by it at all.

“You’ll get over it,” Nick laughed as he punched the unarmored part of Adam’s arm.

“Rick, sorry for glaring at you,” Adam apologized as he looked intensely at Rick, causing him to step backwards.

“Sir, you’re doing it right now.”

“Seems I can’t help it. Anyway, this feels wrong,” said Adam as he went back to looking at the water reclamation plant.

“The glaring or your apology?” asked Carlos.

“Neither, dumbass. The base. Why is there a Rift that has merged with our planet and didn’t change the area around it?” questioned Adam.

“Ah, I hadn’t thought of that,” admitted Carlos.

“It does seem suspicious,” said Mr. Fenton, squinting at their surroundings.

“Any thoughts, Rick?” asked Adam.

“Sir, this is my first time at a base other than yours. I’m not even sure what the bases are capable of. I came just to reassure you of our confidence in this target.”

“Where are the Pellicians that you mentioned? They control this area, right?” asked Lucas.

“Scouts have searched the surroundings and we didn’t find any. We haven’t gone into the base yet,” said Nick.

“What about those trees?” Adam asked, pointing to the woods at the top of the hill that spread out. They were a short distance from the boundary of the enemy rift edge.

“Nothing was found in them.”

“Carlos, what is the range on [See Life]?” asked Adam.

“About 20 yards.”

“Damn, that’s not far enough,” said Adam. “This just isn’t right.”

“What do you want to do about it?” asked Elias.

“We came all this way. Shouldn’t we at least hit the base? If the Pellicians lost most of their forces fighting the air bound Arripions, then it would make sense that they’d take shelter,” said Captain Krysti.

“The lookouts haven’t seen any of those flying Arripions,” said Lamar.

“Damnit, they should know we’re here. We’re on the base turf,” swore Adam. “Why aren’t they doing anything?”

“What about traps? Maybe they laid out some traps for us,” suggested Rick.

“Adam, I’ve never seen you hesitate,” said Lucas. “It’s making me nervous. My vote is to retreat, at least until we can scout the base itself.”

“We can’t do that,” said Krysti. “We’ve put a lot into this offense and we haven’t seen anything to make us think to back off. Is it possible that someone is influencing you, Adam? Maybe they’re making you hesitate?”

“I guess that’s possible, but I should be the least susceptible. If anything, you guys should be influenced in attacking and I’m the voice of reason,” argued Adam.

“I have an easy way to answer,” said Lucas. Everyone looked at him. “Adam, what would you do if it was only you?”

“I’d blast in there and kill anything I found,” answered Adam without hesitation.

Stolen story; please report.

“Well, Adam’s not being influenced,” said Carlos.

“I trust you, Adam, but standing around here isn’t doing us any good. I’m willing to lead a group of 30 to scout the center of the base,” volunteered Krysti.

“My unit will go with him,” said Mr. Fenton.

Adam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He looked at Rick, hopefully he wasn’t glaring.

“Mr. Fenton, take your unit up to those trees. You guys are the best at terrain management. Set up the ranged in a defensible position. Elias, get your mages ready and Carlos, take over Lamar’s archers. Lamar, you have more tracking skills, so go with Krysti and see what you can find. Brittney, let everyone know this could go fight or flee. Have them prepare for both.”

Adam gave orders and people moved to pass them down. The military men seemed fine with this approach. Even Rick was nodding along approvingly.

Before everyone was gone, Adam signaled Nick.

“Go with them as backup. Stop them if you notice something and get them out,” Adam whispered, hoping no one else heard. Nick nodded and then his presence became thin as he slipped away with no one else knowing.

***

“Adam didn’t seem confident about this raid from the start,” Carlos commented to Elias as they walked up the hill. His voice was filled with concern.

“He didn’t,” said Elias briefly.

“Think there is going to be trouble?”

“Most likely,” said Elias.

“Things are going to get really bad, aren’t they?” Carlos screwed up his face as he asked.

“Without a doubt,” answered Elias.

“No one else is even taking this seriously.”

“They aren’t.”

“Well, damn! Let’s go whip the troops into shape.”

“Of course.”

“Good talk, Elias. You’ve really put it into perspective for me.”

“Anytime.”

***

Lamar crept forward, which wasn’t difficult as he had a skill for it, although the skill called [Creep] made him sound a bit sleazy. It allowed him to move as if he were hunting, knowing where to hide his body and place his feet to make no noise. It might have been a bit unnecessary in this situation since they were moving through a parking lot.

The weird thing was that even though the whole area was just open asphalt, he was getting feedback that certain places were better than others to step and stand. His [Notice Sign] skill was telling him that there were tracks from creatures in front of him, but no matter how closely he studied them, he saw nothing. The skill and his senses were communicating different things.

The skill [Evidence] was coming up blank. It was confusing him. He was noticing signs of creatures, but there was no evidence of them. That seemed to contradict itself, though he was sure there was a reason.

Captain Krysti tapped him on the shoulder, the two of them squatting in the middle of the parking lot. “Shouldn’t we just move through the open space?”

“No. Have your men move exactly where I do. I haven’t found signs of a trap, but I do think we’re surrounded,” answered Lamar.

Krysti looked around. “That doesn’t make sense. We’re in the middle of a parking lot. In the open. Where anything could see and attack us…IF they were around. Nothing is around.”

“Hmm…” said Lamar thoughtfully.

“Don’t you start that too,” Krysti hissed. Still, he went back to his men and they all squatted and began moving forward like little ducklings, following Lamar.

They continued on like that. Lamar didn’t take a straight line, moving all over the place. Krysti complained several times that Lamar was just screwing with them, though he could see that Lamar was taking this seriously. The pressure of squatting and waddling in the middle of enemy territory was getting to his men as well.

It took 15 minutes to cross the parking lot, a walk that should have taken 15 seconds. The men were sweating from having to stay so low and move awkwardly. Lamar was sweating because the responses he was getting from his tracking skills were in such opposition that he felt his mind being affected.

When they finally got to the main door of the facility, Krysti began to signal to his men to form up for their entry.

“Wait!” whispered Lamar.

“What now?” asked Krysti, tired of the delays but professional enough to follow the directions.

“I don’t think that’s a door.”

“What do you mean it isn’t a door? I can see the door right there,” grumbled Krysti.

“I can see it too. That’s what’s wrong. We’re seeing what isn’t there,” said Lamar.

“What are you talking about?” one of the soldiers asked with irritation. He ignored everyone whispering, telling him to get back down, as he reached out to grab the handle of the door.

The soldier’s hand passed right through the bar handle that he saw. Then his hand was stopped right after. A furry claw was holding his arm, preventing it from moving. A lot of hissing noises that sounded like “tss tss tss” could be heard from where the build had been.

The whole world shifted. Reality corrected itself. Lamar stood, two knives quickly in his hands as the parking lot was replaced by spaced out trees, and the buildings were replaced by hundreds of the Pellicians.

They were mean looking creatures, as if a hyena had a baby with a mole, then learned to walk upright and grew opposable thumbs in the wrong places. Hundreds of the creatures that were only shoulder height, with hunched neck and shoulders, all stared at them with their ferocious teeth spread in a grin. The hissing laughter mocked the soldiers.

Now it made sense to Lamar. His [Notice Signs] had told him where the safe spots in the illusion had been, while his [Evidence] didn’t notice anything tampered with because Lamar hadn’t seen any physical evidence. That skill must rely on his senses while [Notice Signs] relied on his intuition.

Krysti and his men had their swords out several moments after Lamar. All except the soldier who had grabbed for the door handle. He was on the ground, one less arm and a terrible gash on the side of his neck.

“Into the trees!” Krysti yelled as the soldiers fled, once more a step behind Lamar.

The trees would give them some cover, though probably not much considering how much more the Pellicians were howling with laughter.

“A little play before a light meal,” said one of the furry creatures, with a tag of the Tier 2 class “Mangler [9]” above its head. It jumped onto the trunk of a tree, holding himself on it with his claws. The others didn’t hold back either, as they all gave chase into the trees.

***

Above the water reclamation plant, Adam had wait with a few others. He wouldn’t move from his spot. No further orders came from him as he watched, arms folder and large triangular sword propped in the ground next to him.

Further up the hill were the rest of the 5,000 people who had come on this assault. They were watching all over. Many were watching the parking lot where the soldiers were creeping back and forth in ways that didn’t make sense. Most were watching Adam, as he stood unmoving. Even from a distance his intensity radiated from him.

Then he felt it, even before he saw it. There was a sound in the air, like when your ear is ringing and no one else can hear anything. He didn’t wait for the world to change. Immediately his sword was in his hands as he was speeding down the hill.

People who had been watching took a moment to realize he was gone. Then they noticed all the trees where the parking lot and reclamation plant had been. People tensed.

Rick Sherman, who had been standing with Adam, was blown to the ground from Adam’s departure. He was on the side facing the base as he tried to recover. The tops of the trees began to shake.

“Sound the retreat,” he said, his voice muffled from the impact with the ground, knowing he didn’t have the authority for the command but making it anyway.

“What?” asked another of the unit leaders who had been with them.

“RETREAT!” he shouted, pushing himself back up.

Lucas, who had been near Rick a moment before, was already at the top of the hill, shouting orders. Horns were blown to indicate the fastest retreat.

From the tops of each tree on the invader base came between 5 and 20 of the Arripions. There were hundreds in total. There were also now Pellicians bursting from the trees on the ground. Rick gasps and ran up the hill as fast as he could. He had been wrong. They had all been so very wrong. The class and levels above all the invaders names also indicated that they were Tier 2.

Rick knew it’d be a miracle for any of them to make it back to the South Hampton Rift.