Codename: Freedom - Book 4 - Chapter 32

I made note of the soldier who had died and planned on giving him a nice bonus for his sacrifice. His mistake was one that any of us could’ve made. He hadn’t known what to expect and was simply too slow to react.

Mel’s men ran into the second manticore soon after the first. This time they weren’t playing around. Sending two runners, they tossed a few bolts and got the monster to chase after them. Then they reached a wider part of the same tunnel. More than twenty casters were waiting for it. It wasn’t even able to strike with its tail before it was battered to the ground. Destiny estimated that it took approximately two hundred bolts to take its life. This process was much safer but lacked any real efficiency.

I confirmed that Barrell and Ma were clear on the monster we’d discovered and how Mel had handled it. True to their personalities and strengths, my other two Captains approached things a bit differently.

Ma marched his men forward in a layered shield wall. As with the first, they found their manticore in a much more open cavern within the mine. Instead of leading it away, they did the opposite. Swarming it with shields and spears, his men at the flank and rear were tasked with interrupting its deadly tail. A soldier got pummeled but his psionic shield held. Once it was surrounded, it lowered its tail to defend its softer regions. We found out its claws and maw were just as dangerous as its ranged weapons, but there were just too many soldiers. Even if it was a new creature to everyone there, they knew how to look for kinks in armor and had advanced military AI to help.

When Barrell’s turn came, he was sure to prove Heather’s words true. He didn’t even go himself, but sent one of his elite lead squads to rush in. They parted as the manticore’s tail arched back, reading to strike. As soon as the tail surged, the lead soldier dived and rolled out of the way as the next man in line drove an energy covered spear into the tender meat of its belly beneath its rear haunch.

It roared and spun, only to have the next few spears to tear into it. Its attackers had run past it as soon as they came. From there they chose their angles and picked it apart. Their job was obviously made easier because they had watched Mel and Ma’s men first, so they already knew many of its weaknesses.

I glanced back to find Heather sitting on a stump and nodding her head as if confirming that her decision had been the right one.

Before the day was over, forty seven manticores were found and dispatched. I was sure to make mental note of one thing Destiny said. We catch them during the day when they commonly sleep. They would be much more active at night.

And the reward for the day, besides the SP+ already promised, was a copper mine. If the missions of the other Prodos battalions were included, there was also a bauxite mine Kline had cleared, natural gas mine and power plant cleared by Harrison, and an astronomical observatory and settlement cleared by Cornelius. These weren’t simply trophies, nor would they automatically yield resources. AI could handle most of the labor, but people would be needed to manage each resource and Prodos couldn’t spare soldiers to be trained to do it.

This mean that all that extra space Victoria had planned in Fort Prodos’s design would be put to use. Now that we could make use of them, our first noncombatants would soon arrive. The more resources we cleared, the more people we’d need to manage them. Once they were up and running, manufacturing could begin. There were still numerous resources we’d need, but one of Victoria’s reasons for choosing Hectate was because it was rich in all the natural resources we’d need.

With that over, I returned to the recovery chamber soon after. I had no intention of leaving my cube until I had to for training in the morning. After I’d fallen into the necessary rhythm for the recovery technique, I turned to mediation.

Everything that happened today would’ve gone the same way whether I was in a leadership position or not. In Freedom, I had helped Barrell and Mel get to where they were now, but they’d still done the work themselves. Still, my position wasn’t without reason. As I thought back to my days in Freedom, I realized I’d always led by example. Now that I wasn’t able to do much of anything, my main problem was impatience. In a few days, I could return to the front line and be of use.

Was this how Victoria often felt? Sure, she’d decided the direction of Prodos, and had done a lot of planning. There was no doubt that her decision made a huge impact. But after the planning was over, except in large scale battles when a combat general’s coordination could be made of great use, she would also find herself as I found myself today, watching with little to do but worry. It made me further appreciate all that she’d done.

I sent her a quick message. It had been a good day and I was sure she was excited to get industry jumpstarted on Hectate. Much of it I couldn’t help her with, but I could at least encourage her.

She replied to me this time almost immediately, thanking me, expressed her excitement, then said she would be extra busy the next few days. I went back to my mediation.

It was something I’d been looking forward to. I had Destiny bring up a three dimensional image of a manticore, then asked myself how I’d go about fighting it. I confirmed with Destiny after that that she’d gathered enough data to upload it to my bandit training simulation. It would be a few days, but once I’d recovered, I’d be able to fight them to my heart’s content.

I thought back to the more animalistic Ekseliksi I’d seen footage of. It wasn’t just humanoids I needed to learn to fight against, but almost anything that could be imagined. The manticore was a great starting point. They were dragon-like insects twice the size of a horse. Fighting them one on one after what I saw today wouldn’t normally be the sane thing to do. Fighting Ekseliksi elite solo was even more absurd. It was necessary to do both. After I became proficient against the manticores, I could even have Destiny give them psionic abilities.

I cringed to myself. This is going to hurt.

***

When my psionic injury finally recovered a few days later, I could tell almost immediately. It was like a release of internal pressure I hadn’t noticed until it was gone. I had taken four days to recovered completely. Rank E psionics were now available to me.

The last few days had turned into a repetition of an hour of basic training, two hours of combat parkour, then the rest of the afternoon traveling to resource depos and clearing them of mostly manticores. Fort Prodos was already filled with new non-combatants

Receiving a message from Victoria early morning, I headed to my cube before breakfast was even served. She had a surprise for me. I ported into Fort Prodos to find people in already scurrying around and not wearing any ballistic armor. They were mostly wearing outfits of one solid color with bright, but muted tones. Their headsets were the last key to the puzzle. They were much more varied than the standard military issued ones—even the higher end headsets. Anything from almost invisible implants to full goggles were worn. The answer was plane. The metaverse had come to Fort Prodos.

It was the beginning stages, so almost nothing in the world was augmented. For creators, it was an exciting time. Some people lived for such opportunities. Hectate wasn’t a planet unfamiliar to Earth, so much of the old facilities would already have virtual overlays, but not here. Fort Prodos was brand new. More than that, it had the makings of future military city. The population would be much greater than the world had ever seen before.

“Do you want me to allow overlays?” Destiny asked.

I thought about it for a moment, before telling her no. “Only show things labeled public service, instructional, and for military use.”

“Data flow open.”

Most of what one could see without augmentation was still the giant walls and the towering building in Prodos’s center. There was new construction going up in many locations. Much of it was many level housing projects, but once Destiny allowed virtual overlay the entire courtyard lit up in blue schematics. It was like an architect had made a three dimensional model of the fort’s future development, blew it up to life size, and dropped it in place. Thankfully, everything was ethereal enough to not become a safety hazard.

So this is what an Ekseliksi princess does when she gets her hands on the augmented reality. As stark and cold as it was, there was a majesty to it simply because of the size and complexity. Looking up, I saw the skeletons of numerous buildings that would one day reach to just below the protective psionic dome protecting the fort. Such scale… I thought I knew how many people Victoria was planning for. It seemed I had underestimated the number many times over.

I found her in the command control room where she’d been spending most of her time. As I walked in, I immediately noticed that most of the intelligence team wasn’t there. Liam was the first person I noticed. He stood closest to the door as if anticipating my arrival. He was already giving me a look as if studying me like an insect in a jar. If my suspicions weren’t already aroused, they were now.

Looking past him I saw Peter and Oliver on the other side of the room standing with their backs facing me. They were blocking my view enough that I didn’t see much of Victoria, but I could tell she was standing on the other side of them. When I recognized who was beside her, every other thought disappeared from my mind.

My sword was already unsheathed as my silver aura burst from me for the first time since I’d faced the Ekseliksi elite. Half a head taller than even Oliver, the blocky faced alien with light purple skin was in the midst of them.

Only the most distant part of my mind registered Liam touching my shoulder. I remembered this monster’s speed above all else, so I moved before he could gain my attention. I rounded my approach to get an angle so that I could see well enough not to accidently target one of my friends. My psionic bolt flew before they’d even acknowledge my presence.

Catching the Ekseliksi elite off guard was a fleeting hope, but if it was there, I’d use it.

Peter and Oliver turned calmly to see what the ruckus was. Their reaction didn’t register. It was the Ekseliksi that stepped passed them to face me. It mockingly grinned as I surged at him behind my bolt.

His hand was already up, intercepting my bolt with an open palm. My physical speed with rank E psionics was something I had little practice controlling, but I recklessly make full use of it.

He shifted his weight to fend off my attack.

Moving to thrust, I only feigned with my sword and took to the floor sliding instead. I came up between the elite and Victoria. I bumped into her hard, forcing her back to create distance. Hearing her shout my name, I reach back with my off hand and found her still standing. My stance was low, and I was ready to attack once again.

The Ekseliksi was looking at me with a curious smirk.

“Lucius,” Victoria called in a much lighter tone.

She had my attention, but I didn’t dare to turn around.

I then felt her hand on my back before gush of energy flowed into me, disrupting my psionic flow. I almost fell to my knees.

“Lucius, he’s not our enemy.”

Even after she said it, it took a few seconds for me to believe her words. She walked passed my outstretched hand to stand at my side. Only then did I dare glance at her.

“This is Aeneus Raptis,” she said, nodding it the alien’s direction. “Starting today, he will be helping with your training.”

I just stood there gawking with my sword still outstretched.