Chương 3: B1 | Chapter 2

Aria A few hours later sees me in another meeting room as I cross my arms in the back. Except that this meeting room is filled with just six warrant officers, two second lieutenants, and a single captain instead of the entirety of the base's officers that the last meeting had.

"Your mission is to enter the Northern Pass and search for the enemy's newest ability holder," Captain Striker declares, his terse voice filling the meeting room as he uses a pointer on the wall where the projector is projecting a map of the Northern Pass.

"The commanding officer of this mission will be Second Lieutenant Walston, the second in command Second Lieutenant Falter, and the rest of you will be team leaders with a small force of ten men for each team lead."

"We have two different locations where we believe the ability holder and his forces may be stationed," the captain says before moving the pointer around an area to the Northeast of us, close to the base of the mountains.

"First is a cave located right in this quadrant." He then moves the pointer to the small, abandoned town to the North of us.

"Second is the first town."

"Sir!" Warrant Officer Calem exclaims while raising his hand, continuing once the captain nods his head his way.

"Do we know how many forces are under the ability user's command?" The captain shakes his head and answers, "Unfortunately not, however we believe it is safe to assume that they do not number very high. That they lost most of their men in their failed mission last night." That explains the smaller teams we're being given. Not to mention that smaller teams are harder to spot. And the abandoned towns are almost always occupied by one force or another.

Whether it's our own, the enemies, or even rogue bandits who live in the Northern Pass. And since we're not occupying it right now, it means there's a high chance bandits might be occupying it even if the enemy isn't.

"Warrant Officer Crimson," the captain declares, making me salute before he continues, "you will be leading Alpha team to the abandoned town. Your particular ability will be useful there regardless of if the target is present or not."

"Yes, sir!" I exclaim, only for the captain to turn towards the other warrant officers and begin issuing their teams right away. And right after that the second lieutenants start issuing orders to them as well. In the end, I'm in charge of Alpha Team, Warrant Officer Decum is in charge of Beta Team that's also directed towards the abandoned town, and the other four teams, Delta, Gamma, Omega, and Epsilon, are all sent to the caves.

Simply because, while all of the warrant officers are ability holders, I'm the only Category Five amongst us. The others are all Category Threes. Just like the target. After a brief rundown of the terrain to familiarize ourselves with it a bit more along with another rundown of the target's ability, the captain pops off a salute and declares, "You're dismissed! Meet up again at eighteen hundred hours!"

I get up from my chair and begin heading towards the door, not particularly interested in speaking with the other officers. Because I already know the names of every officer in the base, along with their abilities. So there's no reason to speak to them. The leader of Team Beta has fire magic, Team Delta has water magic, Team Gamma has super strength, Omega has super speed, and Epsilon has some sort of ability enhancing her senses. Which means I was paired up with a mage.

A good pairing, since it's always best to pair up a physical ability user and a magical ability user. Even if I'm technically a special ability user and not a physical one. I don't have magic though, so I'm closer to physical than magical on that spectrum. Not having any sort of power aside from not being able to die is a pain though. Literally.

When it comes to ability holders with things like super strength all I can really do is distract them and shoot at them, hoping I either hit, or my distraction gets them hit by the other soldiers. Or I can get repeatedly stabbed and slow down a superspeed ability holder if I'm fighting one of them. Overall a rather large headache to deal with not having any supernatural strength or speed or any of that. Just the inability to die and the regeneration of any wound I get.

Sometimes makes me jealous of those with superstrength. Just seeing them punch through a wall or something. Until I also see them dying by a bullet through the chest that is. My wandering mind catches up to reality when I hear someone shouting, "Crimson Blade!" So I turn around from my place halfway through the hallway from the meeting room's door to find Warrant Officer Calem – the leader of Beta Team, codenamed Beta – jogging through the hall towards me.

"Can we speak?" I frown for a second before tersely nodding my head without a word.

"In that case I'd like to talk about our plans for the mission," he says before adding, "since we were left fully in charge of the abandoned town." That has me grimacing slightly on the inside. Guess the first and second in command decided to just push it all off on me. Something a lot of my team leads end up doing. Probably due to my perfect record and immortality. That and the fact that they technically can't give me orders since I only answer to colonels and above. One perk of being a weapon.

I get all of my missions over with quickly and with little to no casualties amongst my men. Because almost all of the gunfire is always aimed at me as part of the plan. Something I've gotten used to over the years, and something I don't really care much about anymore, even if it wasn't my choice at the beginning. Now I barely notice pain anymore, so it's fine. Wish they wouldn't rely on me so much though.

"It looks like they don't believe the target will be at the abandoned town, but they told me that we should clear out the town of any bandits that might be in it even if the target isn't there," he continues, making me fully take in the man for the first time. He looks to be about twenty-five or so years old and has brown hair and gray eyes, a rather uncommon color for eyes. And he's wearing the usual gray and black uniform but with the heavier armor plating around his torso.

"Understood," I tell him with a nod of my head.

"Anything else?" He looks surprised for a second before he scratches the back of his neck and asks, "Would you like to discuss the plans in the cafeteria over lunch?" You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I blink at that. After a few seconds I decide I might as well since there isn't all that much time to talk to him about the mission. I was originally planning on waiting until a couple hours before the mission call time, but now works fine too.

So I nod my head and we both begin heading towards the cafeteria. And I quickly grab a soda, glass of wine, and some peanuts to snack on. Since, while I don't particularly care much for eating, peanuts do taste good. And I like drinks. Also, my ability is rather odd in that nothing that I eat ever actually seems to hit my stomach or, really, do anything. Almost as if it vanishes after I eat or drink it and I never see it again. Meanwhile my body is always in perfect condition. Makes things convenient.

Also makes it so that what I eat doesn't matter. The warrant officer looks confused at my choice of 'lunch' but doesn't say anything about it as he orders his own and we sit down at a table while waiting. And as if on cue, some whispered conversations start up around us. Likely due to the fact that I rarely ever eat with anyone.

But they shut up almost immediately when they hear me start, "For this mission we should bring long range rifles, the usual infantry standard SMGs with bayonets attached, and knives for close range combat within the town. Each soldier should be equipped with them and we should have two soldiers, one from each team, stationed far enough away that they can keep an eye on the town without being seen." Warrant Officer Calem nods his head and says, "Sounds about what I was thinking as well.

They'll be able to tell us if the target is inside of the base or not." I nod my head back while taking a sip of my soda, the drink having been right from the tap. Also, the warrant officer keeps eyeing my wine like he wants it but isn't saying anything. Although it's not hard to guess why, considering that it's not exactly allowed for most soldiers or officers to have wine on the frontlines or in any military bases. I just have special clearance since the wine doesn't affect me. So I can't get drunk.

"Let's start planning the assault then," I state after taking another sip of my soda.

"Two plans. One for if the town is manned by bandits and the other if it's the target." He nods his head at the proposal and we both get down to planning. The planning session stretches on for longer than I would've liked, the man being a little too ambitious with his planning already to the point of getting old maps and monotone pictures of the town for the plans. But I go along with him anyway because it is a nice change of pace in the end.

Since he's not relying entirely on me like most of my previous comrades have. By the time the planning session ends though, it's already nearing call time and we immediately make our way to the meeting room again where we find everyone else. And when call time arrives, we all leave the base, heading North before splitting up into our two groups. Alpha and Beta Teams still heading North while the other four teams begin heading East.

It doesn't take us long to march through the Northern Pass to the abandoned town, and immediately upon reaching it, we find nearly three dozen soldiers manning it.

"Looks like the other teams are-" I hear Warrant Officer Calem begin only to pause when our radios start playing static following which the second lieutenant in charge of the mission states over the radio, "Thunder here. We found soldiers stationed in the cave. Deal with the bandits at the town and come back us up when you finish. Thunder out." Both Warrant Officer Calem and I share a glance before he goes on the radio and informs them of our situation.

Then silence fills the area for a few seconds, following which the second lieutenant comes back on the radio saying, "Thunder here. Understood. Disregard your last order and focus on the soldiers in the town. If you finish before us, head over to reinforce us if possible. Thunder out." I share a glance with the warrant officer again as he says, "Looks like it's on to plan B then."

"Affirmative," I state with a nod. Both our teams spread out in the trees around the town while making sure to keep out of sight. Then my team stays in the trees, each getting into a position where they can fire their rifles on the town over the short two meter tall walls that were originally built strictly to keep animals out. Meanwhile Team Beta moves towards the back of the town, still keeping cover under the trees.

After getting the all-good from the warrant officer, I sprint out of the cover of the trees straight towards the front gate of the town – a wooden structure that slides open with two doors to the gate and no roof. And it only takes a couple seconds for the soldiers manning the wall to spot me and begin shouting, firing their own rifles at me. I try to avoid the first few shots before purposefully letting a couple hit me and falling down to the ground, acting as if I'm dead.

And after waiting a few seconds, hearing the shouts of the men on the walls as they try to search around the town in the dark for others with me to no avail, I jump to my feet, the wounds already having closed, and begin rushing straight towards them again. It doesn't take long for them to notice me again considering the short walls, but by that point I'm only a dozen meters from the wall and closing in fast.

A small enough distance that lets me pull out my pistol and immediately begin picking off a couple of them, taking advantage of their confusion in the process. The shouts grow panicked and more soldiers begin popping their heads out over the walls, meanwhile some even jump down with a bayonet in hand rushing towards me, apparently assuming I have some sort of barrier ability. Or perhaps an ability to block bullets or something.

I of course shoot the runners, getting two of them before having to reload, a process that leaves me open for both return fire and for the men to reach me at our spot about five meters from the wall. And they don't hold back, stabbing me straight through the heart with their bayonet, making the usual crimson light shine from my chest unlike before when my wound was covered by the snow after falling to the ground. Just like always, my wounds leak that crimson light until they heal.

And also just like always, I ignore the wound, grab my knife, and plunge it straight into their neck, finding the neck to almost always be the most vulnerable part of their body considering the way their armor is set up. The people on the walls continue their shouting, and by now I think the majority of the soldiers in their base are there, so I raise my pistol and shoot up into the air four times in a pattern to signal the others.

And right on cue, my team starts firing on the soldiers who are on the walls, picking them off one by one. Meanwhile the warrant officer's team should be rushing to the other side of the town where they'll climb over the wall and flank those at this wall. So far no ability holder though.

I grab the bayonet in my chest and yank it out, having almost forgotten it was in there before I shoot the heads of two of the soldiers who had jumped down along with this one, the both of them seeming overwhelmed by the sudden flood of gunfire from the trees. Then I sprint straight to the gate and climb over the wall with ease, finding the inside of the town to be covered in snow and rather barren. Albeit with the exception of the remaining dozen men, only four of whom manning the walls are still alive.

Looks like my team did well. By now the remaining ones on the walls are ducking down for cover though, so my team won't be much help anymore. My thoughts pause when reality around us seems to begin warping for a brief second. Illusion mage. Several snakes suddenly rush forwards to bite me, but I ignore them since I know they're just illusions. Even if the pain they cause is real. I'm used to pain now though, not to mention that my ability seems to dull my pain a bit as well. Although not too much.

I holster my pistol real quick before pulling out my SMG that was hanging across my back. And at the same time as the enemy soldiers begin firing it in a horizontal spray, taking out three more of the soldiers while taking more than a few bullets all over my body. But those wounds heal quickly enough, along with my armor as well. I begin to reload my SMG, only to find Beta Team arriving.

So I decide what the heck and charge at the closest soldier with the bayonet, impaling them through the chest before ripping it back out. Then the area around us begins to grow dark from the illusion mage. After looking through the town from my spot for several seconds, I manage to spot the mage holding a rifle aimed directly at my head. And they fire without hesitation, making my head jerk back before I lean forwards again with a scowl and mutter, "Ouch."

I'm not sure if it was me taking a bullet to the head or my comment that rattles the guy so much that he drops his rifle, but either way, I raise my pistol and begin to pull the trigger to shoot his head. Only for everything to freeze around us as if time had stopped. The hell?