Chapter 7: Enemy Contact I

Marcus had always been proud of his work ethic. In the past he had build up a massive body over two years, only driven by his own will and goals. He had resisted the urge to invest his crests before the right time and overall he felt he was not somebody who would shy away from a challenge. But now, he wondered, if he had been slacking off the last two years.

Three days had gone by since everybody showed off their classes. In that time Russo had pushed Marcus to his physical and mental limits over and over. At first Russo had him use Impulse Hammer (in full combat gear, “train, how you fight”) until he would fall over from exhaustion. After a rest, the procedure repeated, again and again.

Of course he was not the main protagonist in a shonen manga and just using his Impulse Hammer over and over did not make him stronger, or his ability more powerful. Training to exhaustion also did not power him up just like that. Instead Russo wanted Marcus to learn his limits, to instinctively know how much gas he had left in the tank, even in a hectic combat situation. Adding to that “The only way to gain more control over an ability is to use it over and over until it becomes natural. Until you do not have to think about “using” it anymore.” Russo explained.

To switch things up, Marcus had to use Impulse Hammer with kicks and other strike type attacks. The different motions demanded different timings and mental images and Marcus could only barely make it work.”Your punches can be used in battle, the rest is currently useless.” was Russo’s short and devastating judgment. But this was not where the pain ended.

Combat training, or sparring, with Russo and Lars was a humbling experience for Marcus. At first Russo had Marcus try to strike him, with Impulse Hammer. He refused at first but the older man insisted that he would be fine. After a few attempts Marcus realized how foolish he had been. Far from “hurting” Russo, he could not land even one Impulse Hammer. Once his target moved he failed to connect even one proper blow. Either he messed up the timing or the attack went by his sparring partner barely grazing him. After this debacle he was sent to Lars for basic martial arts training.

Lars was a stoic man, who used short and precise commands to teach Marcus the basics. From striking stance to basic kicks and of course defense. How to move the body to reduce the impact of a hit, how to protect the head, foot work. Marcus tried to keep up with all of the new information but he felt like a baby bird trying to fly after being told “flap your wings”.

For the great finish, grappling training took even the last bit of self confidence Marcus had. At first he hoped his size and weight would give him an advantage over the tall but lean Lars but he soon learned that grappling was even more depended on experience and technique than striking. Over and over the blonde man put him in to holds or mounted him, ready to clobber his face in.

Thanks to his 5 crests in vitality Marcus had great endurance but Russo and Lars carefully managed to completely exhaust him to zero. Barely a human, he would crawl back into the dorms after training, somehow get out of his sweat covered armor, shower and spent the rest of the day learning. Tactics, hand signs, code words, emergency procedures and on and on and on. Thanks to his heavy work load he ate even more than normal and according to the chef he ate nearly as much as the rest of the team together. They had to increase the provisions just for him.

Still, he did not mind the heavy work load. On the contrary he felt like he was making progress. This training was important to reach his next goal. Level 6. If his assumptions were correct, he would be able to unlock his next ability on that level (if he only spent on vitality of course). Training did not provide experience points, only killing enemies does. But it would prepare him for exactly that.

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In the hours between training and drilling in procedures Marcus got to know his teammates better. Janette was big into something called “punk rock” and terrorized the whole dorm with her “music” every so often. Lars and Pavel often sat down playing chess with both being not only surprisingly good at it but also evenly matched. Marcus joined them on days when his brain had still some juice left but Lars’s domination continued even on the chess board.

The whole facility felt strangely empty with only a fifth of the intended personal and so they often spent time huddled up in the corner of the far too large common room. Reading, talking and playing games. They had a big screen and a state of the art game console (the winter here can be long and boring) four controllers and a heck of a lot of games. Finally Marcus was able to earn some victories, even so it was only on the screen.

To his surprise he learned that they got one portal event per week, on average. “Unsecured portals have become more and more frequent over the years and there are only a handful of response groups around here. So we are responsible for a huge area, even if most of it is fairly empty.” Pavel explained on his second day on the base. After that Marcus did expect the first mission every day. But a whole week went by without an incident.

It was the 8th day, shortly after noon, that the alarm activated and Russo’s voice came from the intercom “We have an unsecured portal. Standard equipment, in 5 at the heli.” Everybody scrambled to their rooms and Marcus’ heart was beating in his throat. With shaky hands he put on his armor, double checked his gear and ran towards the transport helicopter. On the way Janette sprinted by him “slowpoke” and reached the helicopter first.

Once everybody was on board, the pilot (Gregory) lifted the helicopter from the ground. “Satellites have picked up the EM signal of a new portal about 300 kilometers from the base. Weather forecast for the area is light snow fall and winds.” Russo gave some basic information and everybody looked professional. Janette fiddled around on some visor that covered her left eye and was connected to a pack on her hips.

She was the designated scout of the team and also carried the identification and information system. A combination of camera, display, massive database and a more or less helpful AI. The open source creature database was used by everybody from the lowest clans to the largest corps and the governments. It held information of every known and recorded alien life form. The difference between knowing a beast has a poison bite or not can be life and death.

About an hour later the helicopter descended. Even in falling snow Marcus could see the light corona of the portal about a hundred meters from their landing point. “Standard formation, secure the portal first, keep a look out for tracks.” Russo’s voice came from the com-bead in Marcus’ ear. After a short moment he added “And Marcus, no heroics.” Marcus nodded but felt bad that the leader felt the need to say that. He understood why but it felt bad anyway.

The snow fall was lighter than expected and the area around the portal was clear. Through the thin disk of the portal he could see the surface of an alien planet, maybe on the other side of the universe or even from a completely different universe all together. That, humanity had not figured out, yet.

The other side seemed to be covered in snow too, which was a bad sign according to the manuals. They had no problem finding tracks. The whole area around the portal was full with it. Claw marks from beasts, medium to large (something like a bear?) Janette and Lars agreed.

The tracks were splitting up and after informing the local authorities Russo decided to form two teams and follow them. Marcus went with Pavel and Lars following the tracks that went to the east.

The area was mildly forested with trees huddling together in groups of hundreds between open fields. Lars and Marcus moved in the front and Pavel followed them a few steps behind, guarding their rear. Only now Marcus realized that Lars was wielding a long, pointed sword in his right hand (and a pistol on his hips). It made sense, there was no reason why he had to fight without weapons, Channeller can guide their electricity through objects too. Somehow he had never thought of this before and now he felt stupid for thinking Lars was an unarmed fighter like him.

The tracks lead them into one of the micro forests and they started to move slower, anticipating enemy contact. Through the trees they could see movement. Something big with white fur. The sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bones filled the silence of the woods. They closed the distance to less than 20 meter, Pavel took position behind a tree and aimed his rifle.

Suddenly the beast stopped feeding on the cadaver of what looked like a fully grown elk. It raised its blood covered snout and sucked in the cold air. Then it turned towards Lars and Marcus and a deep growl came from the jaws covered with dagger like teeth. For a moment the beast just stared at them its massive muscles strained under its thick fur. Then it leaped, jaws wide open.