'Hm. This went better than I thought.'
The plasma gun in Evan's hands was still warm, as were the augmentations inside his body. The corpse of the cursed general he had hunted fell to the floor. This one had been a troublesome enemy. It defied laws of physics to move the very ground as it pleased, at a distance. If this force was carried by something, at least none of his men could detect it.
Neither could he. He was sort of mad about that.
The captain of the most elite squad of all humanity had to always be perfect, after all.
He straightened his posture, nicely setting his gun in its holster as he moved his sweaty blonde hair out of his eyes. The chestnut-colored irises whipped around as he evaluated the situation and calmed his breathing.
'No matter. It isn't the first time we've seen unexplainable phenomena anyway. This forest is full of paradoxes.'
It was still bugging him, though. Science was man's greatest weapon. Finding gaps in his knowledge had never been pleasant to him.
But this was not the time to feel dejected. This was the time to regroup.
"Gather round ! We need to bring proof of kill !"
Through the veil of smoke from the small fires and smokescreens, emerged four soldiers.
Directing his gaze at the biggest one, the captain commanded : "Knitt, bring its head."
Without a word, barely even a nod, Knitt's two and a half meters tall figure approached the still hot corpse. As he kneeled, an insanely fast chainsaw emerged from his arm, and started to cut into the beast's though meat.
Seeing this, captain Evans tried to imagine how many surgeries and procedures the frontline soldier went through.
'With a quick headcount, his bones are steel, all of his skin has been replaced and enhanced, his eyes are robotic, a lot of his muscles have been replaced with potent electrical pistons, his lungs are modified to process liquid oxygen, and his whole body has been enlarged. Of course, after that, a lot of his veins became obsolete, his heart was also modified, and all the machinery needs cooling, so several heat vents have been installed as well.'
Evans often thought about how different his own body was from the natural norm, but it was hard to even compare himself to someone like Hugh Knitt. Frontliners like him were almost a different species.
A very high maintenance species.
Halfway through the general's neck, Knitt raised his comparatively small head and said in a deep, near robotic voice : "Stephan, exhaust vent n°5 is clogged. I will need help to avoid overheating."
The mechanic Stephan Burt was kneeling on the ground, examining a drone that let off a thin stream of black smoke. He was a red haired man, about as small as Evans, with several freckles on his cheeks. Hearing the call, his head jumped up with a surprised expression, which quickly turned to distress. His gaze alternated between the broken drone and Knitt frantically as he shouted : "Ah, uh, just- just a sec !"
With fast but precise movements, he unscrewed the drone's cover, fixed a circuit, solidified a couple more, before screwing the cap back on, handing the fixed drone to the man standing near and darting off to help Knitt.
Julius Chance, the man who recived the drone, unscrewed the cap again with a frown, and examined his drone. After thirty seconds, he nodded, impressed, and put the cover back on.
Next, with the drone flat on his hand, he extended his arm, the other hand in his pocket.
With just a thought, the drone's propellers activated, blowing his hood off and revealing messy black hair. It flew up to the same height as five other drones that were surveying the area.
He looked up at them with both hands in his pockets and smiled, finding no problems.
Behind him, a small and long otter-like monster bared its weirdly long fangs and pounced on him before giving him the chance to react.
However, it was quickly hit with a blast straight to the face.
A tall brunette was holding the gun that fired it with an immaculate posture. Her uniform was spotless, and her hair was tied up, as protocol required, in a clean bun.
Jeanne Dark carefully put her gun away while walking towards Julius. "Be more careful. We are still on the battlefield."
He glanced at the soldering corpse over his shoulder. "Come on, if that thing has been an actual threat, I would've detected it. I doubt it can even pierce our uniform. Did you just come here to scold me, miss Dark ?"
She sighed and shook her head. "You never know, it very well could have been venomous. But no, mr. Chance, I didn't. I am thirsty, can you pass me a bottle of water ?"
Julius clicked his tongue and sent a mental command. Out of the woods, a heavier drone carrying supplies flew in Jeanne's direction.
She took out a plastic bottle. "Thank you."
In the meantime, Knitt's heat release vent had been cleared out, so he finished cutting the head.
Seeing this, captain Evans turned away as he talked. "Let's go back. We have a couple of hours before sundown."
"Yes, sir !" The whole squad said in unisson.
"Ah, Julius !" Stephan called out as he was unceremoniously jamming his tools back in his pouch. "Did you find anything weird with your drone ? What did I miss ?"
Julius looked at him silently for a few seconds, before scoffing and patting the anxious mechanic on the back. "No, it was all good. I just like to check my own equipment, you know I always do."
"Yes, well.. you know I did invent them, right ?" He replied meekly. "If any mistakes slipped past me, that would be, uhh, a pretty big surprise, huh ?"
"A surprise I would not like to have in the middle of battle." Julius then walked faster, away from his interlocutor.
Seeing how the discussion was cut short, Stephan slowed up a bit, then broke into a light jog to catch up with the rest.
"Hugh ! Do you have any other issues ?" He asked the cyborg. "I wanna try repairing while walking."
Without looking at Stephan, Hugh Knitt replied curtly : "Not necessary. I am fine."
The mechanic found himself without anything to do, so he took out a small robot and started tinkering with it.
Above them, the six drones were still spinning in circles. While piloting them with the chip in his brain, Julius suddenly looked to his left. At the same time, a drone fired in a seemingly random direction, and a dying shriek resonated with a thud.
No one else reacted to any of it.
Jeanne had finished drinking, and made eye contact with the operator.
He sighed as the mule drone caught up to her.
She fished out a small cup from it, and emptied its contents in the empty bottle.
A little time passed, and she emptied the cup into the bottle again.
After repeating this strange process a few times, the bottle was full once again. She put the two items back in the mule.
In the meantime, Evans, the captain, was thinking.
'This is already the third general in this area. We will need to get that item before our expenses become too much. There can only be so many profitable missions.'
He mentally activated an implant that rushes sugar and nutrients to his brain, helping him think.
'After we obtain it, we will have a good enough presence in the city's economy. From there, I can cash in Stewart's favor, and get a monopoly on food. It will be smooth sailing from there. Anderson might pose a little problem, I better seize his assets as soon as possible. Those new arrivals have been causing a ruckus too, I have to make sure it will not bother us. If no further problem arises, we will leave in a month.'
He looked back at the mule that had yet to retreat.
'It has been seven months since we departed from Wiss, but we are only as advanced as this... When will we get a chance to advance our goal ? If only we knew a single thing about this Lord...'
He imperceptibly shook his head. 'Pointless thoughts. Think about how to get intel, not about what if you had it.'
But he sadly had no leads on that. And miracles did not exist.
After all, Forchrit, the great human nation, did not have gods. It did not need any.
Men were enough.
At least, they used to be. But one day, some reconnaissance drones were observed malfunctioning at a specific spot. No images came back, and no defects could be seen. Under all measurements, this area was completely normal, devoid of strange magnetic fields or other disturbances.
This was a paranormal phenomenon.
The authority on the matter, the elfic nation where even childs possessed mystic powers, reported the existence of this new monster, the mysterious Lord.
Five years and several months later, there they were, utterly lost. They could only rely on all the weapons and tech they brought with them. But it wasn't enough.
He had decided, while he waited for information to pop up, they had to get stronger, better equipped. And the only things of value in this hateful forest were all those paranormal items.
Like a cup that always refills itself. A magnifying glass that could see through solid objects. A glove that adds power to a punch.
Or the one he was coveting, every hunter's wildest dream, a bag always full of various foods.
It was disgusting. It was wrong. Relying on things he had no understanding of, therefore no control over, made him sick. But the mission didn't care for his feelings.
Truthfully, he himself hardly cared about them.
"We are here."
Evans raised his head to look at Knitt's face. His warning was not needed, as everyone here has memorised the map. They knew where they were, and where they were going.
In front of them, they all saw something that had shook them to their core during the first month.
A house. A lively, two storey house in this cursed forest.
And behind it, stone walls encompassing a bustling city.