“London, come in London, this is Alpha” Said sergeant Alfaro his voice urgent “Damn it London, come in. We have a man down we need support here”
“This is London, Jose what’s going on” The voice of Lieutenant Brasseur came through crackly
“A massive fucking wolf attacked Milford, we need medical evacuation he’s stable for now but lost a lot of blood I don’t know how long we can keep him alive, over.”
“sergeant repeat your last transmission it sounded like you said a wolf attacked Milford, over.”
“Confirmed, a massive wolf attacked lance corporal Milford, easily two metres tall. Attaching images to this transmission, over.” Alfaro lowered his voice barely above a whisper “Sir, the wolf never even got close to him, it swiped its paw and what looked like condensed hit Milford, it was strong enough to almost take his leg off in one hit.
Corporal Chloe Wescott knelt next to Lance corporal Milford, her skilled hands navigating through the damaged pieces of his armour to better assess his injuries. The metallic tang of blood filled her senses as she gently removed layers of protection. She came across a deep gash on his upper arm that was already sealed thanks to quick clot, and as she carefully removed his chest plate and undersuit, she was taken aback by the extensive bruising on his chest and the visible signs of broken ribs. Without hesitation, she inserted a small needle into his chest to release trapped air from his collapsed lung.
Her heart raced not just from the urgency of the situation but the chilling image of that colossal wolf in her mind it was a creature from her nightmares.
“Wescott, focus up!” Alfaro’s voice cut through her trance and back to the task at hand. She looked up, meeting his gaze, “We need to keep him stable until we can evac. Can you manage?”
“I’m on it,” she replied, her voice calm and steady despite the chaos of the last five minutes. She could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins, sharpening her senses as she continued to work on Milford, each movement deliberate and calculated as she searched through her field medical kit, the flickering light of the holographic medical display casting a ghostly blue glow over Milford’s battered body. In the background she could hear sergeant Alfaro’s patience running thinner and thinner at the delay in getting them an evacuation.
“I don’t care if the wolf shot fireballs from its ass, right now all I care about is getting Milford to the surgeons on the London” Alfaro snapped closing comms with the London. He walked back over to Chloe who was working hard at keeping Milford alive “Lieutenant is saying one hour for evacuation, you can do it corporal.”
[SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[YOU HAVE UNLOCKED ‘STATUS WINDOW’]
[YOU HAVE GAINED SKILL ‘FIRST AID’]
[YOU HAVE GAINED 1000 EXP]
[YOU HAVE GAINED AN ACHIEVEMENT]
Corporal Wescott jumped backwards at the sudden assault of words in her face, as she swiped at them she realised it wasn’t going away.
“Sarge do you see this? there’s a small text box in front of my face telling me i’ve gained experience and the skill ‘First aid’.” A hint of fear crept into her voice, first a giant wolf shooting blades of condensed air and now text boxes appearing out of nowhere like a game.
“I don’t see anything, you okay?” Alfaro said sounding sceptical of what she was saying.
Chloe squinted at the shimmering interface hovering in her vision, the glowing letters casting a surreal light against the forest. “It’s like… like a game, Sarge. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s giving me stats and skills!” She waved her hands in frustration as if she could swat away the strange phenomenon.
Alfaro crouched beside her, his brow furrowing with concern. “Focus on Milford. We don’t know if this is some kind of psychosis from stress or—” he paused, glancing over his shoulder to scan the darkened forest surrounding them, the shadows long and menacing. when he received a similar notification.
“What the actual fuck is this?” Alfaro flinched back as the glowing interface popped into existence for him “Chloe how do I get rid of it?”
“Just imagine it isn’t there sarge it disappears, think the words ‘status window’ to show it again. When it opens again it’ll be your character sheet.” As she worked on Milford, Chloe seemed to gain a better instinct on where to place instruments to get the most use. that same instinct ended up catching an issue with Milford that would have caused his death. “Sarge I don’t know about you but since I got the skill I’m having an easier time keeping him stable.”
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“We can discuss this later focus on Milford until the dropships here.” Alfaro was impressed with Chloe’s discovery and pulled up his skill sheet.
[Leadership 2]
[Strategy 2]
[Tactics 3]
His instincts kicked in with an urgency he had never felt before. The subtle shift in how he perceived the terrain around him, a newfound clarity compelling him to act. He glanced at the surrounding foliage. “Alpha one and two move to these positions” he used his HUD to ping locations his brain was telling him was perfect “Alpha three take the scientists over here” he pinged another area with a small ditch they could hide in that he hadn’t fully noticed before almost as if the skill was drawing his eyes to it.
“Copy that, Sarge,” came the responses from his squad, their voices crackling through the comms as they began to reposition themselves. He could hear the rustle of leaves and crunch of broken twigs in their hurried movements.
“I’ve got this,” Chloe assured herself, her focus unwavering as she tightened another dressing around Milford’s bicep, the wound had reopened now the quick clot was starting to be absorbed by his body. The interface flickered again at the edge of her vision, the notifications of her skills gaining levels becoming less alarming with time. The main problem she was having is keeping his almost dismembered leg from bleeding, with the amount he was going to overdose on the chemicals in the quick clot. Using her new skill, she carefully assessed her options, grabbing a scalpel and clamp the managed to tie off the almost destroyed artery.
A fresh wave of adrenaline surged as a new notification appeared before her eyes.
[YOU HAVE UNLOCKED ‘EMERGENCY SURGERY’]
[YOU HAVE GAINED SKILL ‘SURGICAL PROCEDURE’]
[YOU HAVE GAINED 2000 EXP]
[YOU HAVE GAINED A LEVEL]
[YOU HAVE GAINED A LEVEL]
Chloe’s heart raced at the newfound capabilities flooding through her mind. In that moment she felt she was more than just a soldier. She envisioned every scenario where these skills could be applied.
“Sarge!” Chloe called out with her new development on the skill issue they were facing “If you gain a skill you gain the knowledge and the skill to apply the knowledge.” she shouted with enthusiasm, this could be a game changer for the stranded crew on this world.
Alfaro’s eyes widened at the knowledge she had just dropped on everyone. “Are you sure?” letting a small amount of excitement creep into his voice “So you’re saying if we can unlock skills by engaging with the environment and eachother we might be able to adapt faster?”
“pretty much it sarge, we could do so much with this.” she looked intently at Milford pressing her gauntleted palm against the side of his pale sweat soaked face “Stay with me Milford, we’re almost out of this. There’s a nice quick heal tank with your name on it.” she said with a smile. somehow knowing Milford was going to make it back to the ship in one piece.
“Twenty minutes!” sergeant Alfaro called out. At that moment an uncanny feeling of dread spread through his body. “Everybody, weapons up somethings out there and its not happy.”
The members of Alpha team exchanged glances, the sergeant hadn’t led them wrong before. Moments later six more of the wolves appeared from the morning shadows.
“Weapons free, kill them all!” Alfaro shouted out. The repositioning of the fireteams worked perfectly, they had a perfect view of the wolves and overlapping fields of fire.
The fight lasted no longer than two minutes with the last wolf going down in a hail of gunfire.
“Cease fire, Cease fire!” He called out not wanting to waste ammo if any more of these wolves decided to make themselves known. “Anyone else have weird pop ups they cant get rid of?”
A few members signalled for affirmative in their helmets HUD. “If you imagine it disappearing it actually does so. If you want to bring it back just think the words ‘status window’. The marines that signalled affirmative seemed to relax now their entire vision wasn’t filled by a wall of text.
“So what exactly are we seeing, sarge? figments of our imagination or what?” Okawa’s voice shook slightly
“Unsure, It seems like when we interact with this world or its inhabitants we gain access to this ‘system’ and everything along with it” sergeant Alfaro looked at the scientists “did any of you gain access to the system while researching the flora?” he said
not one of the scientists raised their hands but the look on their eyes Alfaro knew they wanted access to the system as soon as possible, if what corporal Wescott was true then it means it bypasses a lot of education needed to gain skills as they did before the crash landing.
The distant hum of the dropships engines filled the air, growing louder with each passing minute. Alfaro’s eyes scanned the distance, his hands tightening on his weapon “Dropship inbound, ETA five minutes,” he announced his voice back to being steady and calm. “Alpha team maintain perimeter until Milford is secure, leave the camp we’ll come back for it.”
“Chloe is Wescott stable enough to move?” Alfaro moved over to Milfords side giving him a once over.
Corporal Wescott made her final check of Milford’s vitals. “Affirmative sarge, He’s going to have to be stable enough to move I’m at the limit of what I can do with the tools in this pack.” She responded glancing at Milford she placed a hand on his good shoulder and whispered. “You’re going to make it marine, just hang on for a little longer.”
“Virani, Miller, get the stretcher set up and get him onto it carefully, and leave the leg we can grow him a new one.” Alfaro said.
With practiced efficiency, Virani and Miller unfolded the stretcher and gently maneuvered Milford onto it, carefully avoiding his mangled leg. Chloe watched intently, her heart pounding as they secured him in place. The dropship’s roar intensified, the wind from its engines whipping through the trees as it descended just outside of the forest.
“Lets get home Alpha we need to debrief with the lieutenant ASAP” Alfaro commanded his voice softening as he watched the unconscious Miller board the dropship. As Alfaro boarded the dropship, he automatically connected to the pilot’s comm channel.
“Get us back quick as you can not just for the Lance Corporals sake but for all of our sakes”
“We can have you back in forty five if we strain the engines”
Alfaro sat at the open back loading door staring back at the quickly shrinking forest wondering what else lived inside and if he could gain more skills.
“Chloe,” he called over his shoulder, meeting her gaze. “Check on Milford’s vitals. I want to be ready when we land.”
One of the dropship medics glanced up from where he knelt at Milford’s side. “Sergeant he’s stable but we need to get him to med-”
“I know but I still want her to check on him” Alfaro interrupted his voice edged with urgency as the dropship swooped lower its hull vibrating with the strain of the speed.
Chloe nodded, her expression resolute as she moved swiftly to Milford’s side, her hands deftly examining the various monitors that flickered with data. The cramped interior of the dropship was filled with the sounds of machinery and the strained roar of the engines
“Prepare for landing!” the pilot shouted over the dropship comms, his voice rising above the roar of engines. The dropship shuddered violently as it deployed its air brakes and took them in towards the hangar bay closest to the surgery suite.