Chapter 316. Coax.
“We’re getting reports of contact with the sweeper team and on a few spots on the perimeter,” the track commander said over the speaker system. Our headsets had been tuned into their channel, so we could hear what they were doing as we watched it on the monitor.
“Any word on weapon effectiveness?” the first sergeant asked.
“Wait one, Top,” the commander replied, as he asked on another channel.
“Okay, we do have an update on our weapons. They seem to kill mutated rabbits as well as they kill people. There is a much higher than normal failure rate among our weapons, though. Not serious stuff, just more likely to have things jam,” the commander explained.
I watched the monitor and tried to keep myself from being tossed around too much by the motion of the Bradley. It was a piece of military hardware and wasn’t exactly designed for comfort. Still, it didn’t punish me too badly, and my armor, with Melvin along for the ride, softened any blows when things got too rough.
“Contact Front! Rabbits in the open, distance, 100 meters. Gunner, engage with coax,” the track commander said trying to control himself as they fought a very different enemy from what his vehicle was designed to handle. The monitor was linked to the gun camera, and I watched as the commander slewed the turret over to face the target and let his gunner get to work.
“Engaging with coax,” the gunner calmly said. Through the monitor, I could see a swarm of giant, mutant jackrabbits charging toward our track. I couldn’t get a good count with how much I was being jostled around, but it was impressive how the gun camera remained steady on target. The government spent a lot more on firing accurately when moving than it did on comfort.
Even though it was partially muffled by the mounting system, the M240 coax machinegun was still loud inside the vehicle. The soldiers all head ear protection, but I was a bit more durable now that I was a summoned being. Despite the loud noise, my constitution prevented me from any kind of permanent hearing damage.
The gunner fired in even, short bursts, and I watched the tracers walk across the mass of charging rabbits. Once hit, the rounds tore through the creatures, dropping them one after the other. I was glad we were looking at things through a thermal image, as the blood being shed was just a glowing green splotch of heat on the monitor.
The other three vehicles in our platoon, a trio of MRAPs, also opened fire. They didn’t have a cannon or anti-tank missiles aboard, but they did have much more powerful machineguns. In place of our 7.62mm coax, the MRAPs each fielded a big .50 caliber. The guns were remote operated, which let us all remain nice and buttoned up behind armor plate as the rabbits closed the range.
“Tango’s down, secure and safe your weapon,” the commander ordered as the last rabbit was torn to pieces by the fire.
“Weapon secure,” the gunner confirmed as we continued toward the strange ring of rabbits surrounding the humanoid. Twice more, rabbits attacked, but instead of a large group, these came at us in ones and twos. A burst of fire dealt with each threat as we finally reached our objective. There, among the dirt and scrub brush of the area, was a wall of fluffy death.
They had heard our approach and formed a line in front of our vehicles. The humanoid moved through the crowd and yelled something. It was hard to tell on the monitor, but the guy looked like a human. He waved us forward, still trying to shout at us though we couldn’t hear him.
“Rico, you’re the expert here, what are your thoughts?” Top asked. We were a good 200 yards from the creatures, and vehicles pulled into a line so we could bring all our firepower to bear on the rabbits if things went south.
“He’s shouting something, and the rabbits aren’t just charging at first sight, so maybe I should go speak to him and see what’s happening. My armor and minions should keep me safe enough, close to 50 yards and I should be able to talk to the guy,” I offered.
“Roger that, bring us in,” Top said to the track commander.
“You sure, Top?” getting closer when we can shred those things from here sounds bad,” the commander said with concern.
“You haven’t worked with Rico that long, he’s the real deal, and should be okay. Just be ready to rock and roll if things turn south,” Top ordered. The track moved forward, the MRAPs following in line. I was happy to see they weren’t all fixated on the targets in front of us, and the turrets of two of the MRAPs were constantly rotating as they looked for additional threats to our flanks and rear.
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“I’ll head out and summon my team, they should keep me safe enough from some low tier rabbits,” I said, more to give myself confidence than the soldier’s inside with me.
“Rico, you want us to dismount with you?” One of the soldiers asked. I was about to tell him no, that I’d take things from here, but I quickly realized something. These guys were going to deal with the integration soon and wouldn’t have the help of summoned beings. It was better to get them some practical experience now, while things weren’t quite as dangerous as they would likely become.
“Yeah, join us and help keep an eye out for anything sneaking up,” I ordered.
We reached the designated spot and the ramp at the back of the Bradley lowered. I exited, but before waving the soldier on or moving into view of the man standing next to the rabbits, I began to summon my minions. The mana slayer drone was first out, then the goblin trio. After that, Digbaz and Elida appeared. Khurr and Blieek rounded out the team and followed behind me as we stepped out in front of the vehicles.
Thankfully, the weapon systems on the various vehicles were mounted higher up, so even the tall drone wouldn’t be in the line of fire. Now, only fifty yards away, I could make out the man in front of us a bit better, the view improving as the vehicle lights came on, showing the man and the rabbits in greater detail.
With Top and the four soldiers in the track flanking me, I moved forward. I didn’t move far, just twenty feet or so, enough that I wouldn’t have to shout at the top of my lungs to be heard over the rumbling diesel engines of the idling vehicles. The man duplicated my move, heading forward with only a trio of rabbits at his size.
These rabbits were true monsters, and many were as big as a horse, rather than the dog-sized creatures we’d already gunned down. Their visage was a horror show, as each of the giant white rabbit companions had their muzzles covered in gore. It dripped down and stained their coats a dark red, and I was glad I was too far away to smell the beasts.
“A fellow anointed one, welcome!” the man shouted.
“Anointed one? What do you mean?” I asked.
“The great ones have touched you, as they have me. I was granted power by them, power to guide my friends as they ascend to replace man as the dominant species. With your aid, we can turn the tide on these relics of Earth’s past power. Guns, vehicles, and soldiers will soon fail and are no match for what we can do. I see you are a summoner. Your minions are not the same as mine, but they, and all the minions of the anointed ones, shall be welcome,” the man, obviously mad, shouted.
I had no desire to debate this guy, and was pretty sure this was going to go badly for him once the talking was over. Despite that, he might have some information that we would need. First, I had to determine how long he had been a summoned being.
“Top, I’m not going crazy or anything, but I need to play along with this guy for a bit so we can see what he knows,” I whispered to Top before replying to the crazed man.
“I see that you are like me. Tell me, friend, what is your name, and how long have you been under the System’s guidance as a summoned being?” I shouted.
“My name is no longer relevant to what I have become. I am now the Warren Master and that is what I shall be called. As far as a summoned being, I’m not familiar with that. Is it the title that the great ones have bestowed upon you?” the man asked.
“Warren, do you mind if I call you that? How long have you been anointed? It seems you have built up much since your anointing occurred,” I asked.
“Warren, hm, that is fine. I’ve been blessed by the great ones for a mere week and look at what I’ve amassed. Now, brother, shake off these soldiers that try to bind you to the old world. Kill them with my aid and we will find you a place to rule that befits your station,” the man said.
“I can’t do that, Warren, and I can’t let your freaks hurt anyone else. Surrender, and I’ll see that you are treated fairly,” I ordered, whispering to Top to get ready to fire.
“You seek to command me? You think the power of your failing technology is sufficient to stop my people! No, fool, if you will not join me and share in the power of the great ones, my pets will feast upon your flesh and take your power for themselves!” the man shouted maniacally before beginning to babble and gesture toward us.
“Contact rear, more rabbits moving up on our six,” one of the men in the MRAPs advised over comms.
“My turret traverse is jammed, moving to manual,” the Bradley commander replied.
“Mine too, turret is a no go,” one of the MRAPs announced.
“He’s casting some kind of mass fail weapons spell, fire while we still can!” I shouted before ordering my minions into action.
Only two of the MRAPs opened fire, one pointing to the rear, and one that had zeroed in on Warren. His giant rabbits jumped in front of him, absorbing the first strikes as the rest of the rabbits charged. The soldiers around me opened fire, cutting down the rabbits with ease as the drone began to lob grenades into their midst.
The rest of the platoon exited the MRAPs and added their fire to the mix. I could see Warren running into the night and was just about to cast switch and replace to appear near him when an arrow from Glurk’s longbow slammed into his back, causing the crazed man to stumble.
He regained his feet, only to be cut in half by a burst of .50 caliber rounds. After that, the surviving rabbits went into a rage and began fighting amongst themselves as well as trying to get at the soldiers. It took only a few minutes before we were able to cut down the last of the changed creatures.
“Cease fire, get some teams out to collect that Warren guy’s remains,” Top ordered as he began organizing the platoon.
“You did good, Rico, maybe that conversation will turn something up. We also have some weapons jammed by mana that we can examine. You saved lives tonight, son,” Top said.
“We did, but we didn’t save everyone,” I replied, looking at the bloody muzzles of the giant rabbits that had defended Warren. Their own blood mixed with that of their victims, and I couldn’t help but think about those victims as we secured the area. Even a victory with system changed creatures had a cost. How much worse was this going to get?