Chapter 203 - Underground Infection

With the issue of rationing now making good progress, Kyle focused on other matters, most importantly, the mapping of the dungeon. The earlier mapping was done via the mineral ant network, but the scouts did not get very far.

“Our preliminary scouts have all pointed to large caverns beneath the tunnel networks. Their true size and scale are not known.” Nox pointed on a two-dimensional area map, laid out in a central operations room. The map had been generated based on the lightcapturer films collected, some showing deep, vast crevices that seemingly went on forever.

“Just yesterday, one of our scouting team attempted to enter the nearest cavern, but the mineral ant refused to budge any further.” Nox continued, showing another film on a light thrower that showcased the reluctant mineral ant and its handlers attempting to coax it in.

“It’s afraid of something,” Kyle concluded, recalling decades of expertise in exploring alien ecosystems. If the aliens themselves are afraid, it’s best to be wary.

“Without the mineral ant, we won’t be able to survey the cavern's interior by air. The hovercrafts are too small to fit through the gaps, and going on foot might take forever. We need a better method of mapping the tunnel networks.”

“How about bringing as many arctech spotlights as possible? Maybe if we illuminated the area enough, the mineral ants would move forward?” Mari offered her suggestion, lazing idly in a chair nearby.

“I don’t think that would work – mineral ants don’t rely on sight as much as we do. They must be getting spooked through another sense. It could be anything: a trap, a pocket of poisonous gas, predatory flora and fauna, or simple aversion to certain chemicals in the bedrock.”

Kyle pondered for a moment, staring at the ends of the map that had yet to be drawn. He hated entering a cavernous system like this completely blind. If he had access to everything before, he would have instantly blasted the surface with sonar, just to get a depth scan of the entire planet through multiple off-the-shelf drill rigs. Exploration was so much easier back then.

“Ollie, you’re up. Time to make a new scouting tool. Any ideas?” Kyle motioned to the newly appointed leader of the arctech designers, who he had given a crash course on Galactic Era relics and their inner workings.

Ollie nodded, standing up from his seat next to Mari. “I have a few ideas, but I am not sure if they are feasible for combat scenarios.”

“Go ahead.”

“The first step in the idea is to figure out how mineral ants find their source of food. How do they navigate underground with almost no light source save for the radioactive fungi or crystals? Once we solve this, we should attempt to replicate it using arctech. My current suspicion is that the mineral ants use a combination of sounds and arcia energy to detect minerals.”

“Sounds?” Nox was confused. “But the mineral ants hardly make any sounds.”

“Many forms of life communicate by sound, and on sounds that we might not be able to hear nor understand. If we can tap into that, we can begin to monitor their emotions and distress as well, corroborating it with the various sounds that are occurring all around. What I am leaning towards is a way to visualize the higher or lower pitched sounds that we cannot hear, either on paper or on another medium.”

He’s talking about a spectrum analyzer, albeit one for audio ranges. Kyle was slightly impressed with the technological derivation that Ollie managed to interpret from the solution. His position as ace of the course was well deserved, a mix of hard work and talent, as well as a passionate drive.

“What if it wasn’t sound? Maybe it’s smell?” Kyle threw in a wrench, trying to see how Ollie would account for this.

“It is possible that scent is another factor that is scaring the mineral ant. We would need to bring other animals in as well to gauge the strength or aversion of the scent as well. Perhaps birds would react to it as well. This would need to be a separate experiment in itself, assuming the sound detector fails to retrieve anything.” Ollie was unperturbed, solving the problem methodically.

“What about arcia energy? You mentioned it was a combination?” Nox continued his inquiry.

“In my honest opinion, I can hardly fathom how a mineral ant is able to find iron veins three hundred meters deep, unless they have developed X-ray vision without us knowing. Iron veins do not produce any sound at all unless during an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, both of which do not occur in the Keru Forest. The stomping or vibrations generated by the mineral ant is not sufficient enough to detect at that range either.”

“So arcia energy is the only way. But the Arcia Energy Detectors did not pick up anything dense enough like an arcia crystal to warrant such a reaction from the mineral ants. In fact, I believe mineral ants are even more attracted to arcia crystals.” Nox contemplated.

MG404: [Item | Arcia Energy Detector (Intermediate) | Detects the flow of arcia energy from a kilometer away, with mildly accurate pointing. Use in batches for best result.]

The item Kyle had crafted before the fight with the Ardent Cretins was still immensely useful, but like what Nox said, it was inaccurate. Kyle did not bother with creating an even more precise version of it, knowing that it would be cost-prohibitive.

“This is where Mari comes in.” Ollie suddenly pointed to her.

“Huh? Me? What did I say?” Mari was utterly confused.

“As a fledgling mage, she is the most attenuated to arcia energy in her surroundings. She should be far more precise than an Arcia Energy Detector, and she can help to either validate or invalidate our assumptions.”

“Agreed. Mari, gear up and get ready to enter the caves with the scout team. Ollie, go with them as well.” Kyle ordered.

“By myself?”

“You’re combat-ready now, and I can’t keep babysitting you forever. Consider this your first solo mission.”

“That warehouse raid in Raktor was already solo.”

Kyle didn’t bother arguing, simply letting Mari, Ollie, and Nox settle the kinks while he moved on to other issues. He approached Sasha, who was busy planning the layout of the forward operating base, with which she was tasked with defending once operational.

“Progress?”

[A preliminary layout is available now, but until we clear the entirety of the first cavern, it is still up for change. With your information of a hidden enemy below the ground, the terrain might be vastly different from what we see now and in the future.]

Kyle recalled the Trial’s final stages, where he and Feldon narrowly escaped the cave with large rock spikes jutting out from the ground, trying to impale them. Perhaps it’s a giant rock spider of sorts; maybe that was what the Prince referred to.

He still did not know the condition required to clear the Trial, but until then, he agreed with Sasha. “Let me see the layout now.”

The base layout was simple: wide corridors between each temporary building and logistic tents to prevent incidental fires from taking out an entire district. This also prevented any potential enemy or rebels from taking cover in tight alleyways, forcing them to be exposed when running for cover.

Multiple guard and watch towers were mounted in the camp, designed to be independent of one another in terms of power source and rotation of shifts, ensuring that there was 24/7 coverage of the forward operating base. As Kyle examined more and more of the layout, he felt something strange.

“Are you designing this like a prison?”

[Specifically the roaming slave camps, sir. I’m very familiar with them.] Sasha beamed positively, a stark contrast.

“Well, the soldiers are not slaves, nor are they prisoners. You would do better to integrate certain common areas and places for recreational relaxation after deep dives. If things go sideways, we will be living there for a long while before any form of rescue can arrive from the surface.”

[Exactly. If things go sideways, we will have to pacify the soldiers to prevent potential riots. I believe this layout is the most effective at doing so.]

“Rejected. Comfort is priority number 2. Also, you’re missing utilities as well. Where’s the sewage and water treatment systems?”

Sasha didn’t reply, having no knowledge of how to do any of that. Kyle sighed, realizing Sasha still had a long way to go from being a reliable second-in-command, with still much to learn.

“Talk to Yona and Nox for help, you can’t work alone on this. All leaders should have an input to ensure minimal friction when living in the base. Understood?”

[Yes, sir.]

Kyle left the operations room, heading to the training grounds where both new and veteran ADCON troops were being trained and drilled on subterranean warfare. Already makeshift cave-like structures were being created to mimic possible scenarios and traps, all of which were detailed on a list Kyle provided to Nox.

The list contained nearly everything Kyle expected from a Galactic-Era military bunker hellbent on defense: laser traps, gravity inversion, turret guns, invasive parasites, poisonous or corrosive gases, highly irradiated surfaces, pitfalls, spike traps, and so on. It was impossible to prevent everything, but Kyle aimed for the highest survival rate regardless.

He watched as a squad entered the mockup cave system, glass windows allowing the officers and instructors to peer in and watch the squad’s progress. The squad gingerly stepped through the wet muddy soil, their arctech rifles held at the ready while their vision was limited to the arctech spotlight strapped to their chest.

Already, the squad could be seen to be fumbling, slightly bumping into each other, and nearly causing the member in the lead to fall head-first into a fake trap. Kyle watched a few more squads, noticing a similar cohesion problem, especially in tight, narrow spaces. Looks like we need a bit more time before launching Operation Piledriver then.

All of a sudden, a gust of wind swept across the vast training grounds, and a trio of mineral ants immediately landed right in the middle, prompting an angry training instructor to shout.

“Hey, you can’t land here, the landing zone is on the left!”

Yet no one replied, the mineral ants only dropping off three scouts who crumpled to the floor, their chest heaving violently as they puked out their dinner all over the dusty ground, the bile greenish.

The word spread quickly, with the medical team immediately coming in to rescue them, but Kyle instead stopped them. “Don’t touch them yet!” He warned.

“What? Why?”

“It is still unclear if it is an infection or not. Have them quarantined immediately!”

“We don’t have a quarantine sector yet!”

“Then make one immediately! Clear the training grounds!”

Even Kyle did not dare to touch nor go near them, unsure of what the underlying root cause was. Alien worlds always had unique viruses or bacteria that could decimate a human’s internal gut or biological makeup, requiring stringent practices to ensure no spread could occur.

The three scouts could only suffer in silence, their eyes locked onto the onlookers who stood clear. As time passed, a sickly dark green tinge began to pulse up through their veins, the writhing and the pain becoming even more apparent over time.

“Help me!” The scout rasped in a horrid, hoarse voice, parts of his skin beginning to peel open before being replaced by the sickly dark green mixture crusting over, forming a disgusting scab that soon spread further and further, encasing the scout in it over time.

Kyle’s face darkened as he watched the scouts die before him. This process looks familiar, but I’ll need to see the end result to verify it.

By the time a proper quarantine tent had been set up, and the plague doctors wearing full chemical protection suits came back, all three scouts had already scabbed over, their bodies encased fully in something similar to a cocoon. The surface was extremely tough like bedrock crusted over in three different layers.

Kyle quickly retrieved his exosuit, sealing all air gaps before hauling them into the makeshift quarantine tent. The first two cocoons were moved easily, Kyle assuming that the scouts within were already long dead.

However, as Kyle lifted the third cocoon, a sudden kick from within nearly jerked it off his arms, the scout within still moving.

“What? Is he still alive?” The surrounding doctors exclaimed, but Kyle didn’t stop to marvel or ponder, quickly moving him inside the tent.

“Cut open the cocoon immediately. Make sure none of the gases escape this tent. Keep your gas masks on at all times.”

The doctor hesitated. “But, sir, cutting open the cocoon might kill the person within! This is the same with every other insect who undergoes metamorphosis.”

“If you don’t cut it open now, whatever comes out from that cocoon will cut you open first.”