In the North

Vincent's eyes fluttered slowly open as the sunlight streamed through the slats of his temporary shelter, signaling the start of a new day. The softness of the mattress tempted him to linger a little longer, but duty called. He sat up, stretched his limbs, and shook off the remnants of drowsiness.

First on his agenda was personal hygiene—a necessity he could now manage with a bit more civility than the previous rough-and-ready methods used in the field. Vincent made his way to the small bathroom adjoining his sleeping quarters. He turned on the shower, appreciating the rush of clean, warm water—a luxury crafted from the base's newly installed water purification system. The warmth was a comfort, rinsing away the stiffness of the night's sleep.

After the refreshing shower, he stood in front of a small, fogged mirror, running his razor through the stubble on his face... Teeth brushed and face clean, he felt more like the commander of this fledgling outpost rather than a survivor of mysterious circumstances.

Dressed now in his standard military attire—a durable combat suit—he made his way to the command center room where he found no personnel but himself. This is to be expected. After all, his summons were summoned solely on their task. Engineers are summoned to build infrastructure of the base and the soldiers are summoned to serve as a defense force of the base. What the base lacked was an officer who would take charge of daily operations. 

Vincent sighed. He'll need them in the future, and so to acquire those officers, he must go out and kill monsters and earn souls and experience points.

But, he did order his soldiers to scout the perimeter within a two-kilometer radius.

Vincent settled into his seat and reached for the radio, dialing in the frequency assigned to the scouting teams. 

"This is Commander Stryder, report in," he said, awaiting the status update from the soldier he spoke to last night.

Static crackled briefly before a response came through. "Sir, this is Recon Team Alpha reporting. The scouting teams have been deployed as per your orders. They found no significant discovery within the initial radius. However, they've noted unusual tracks at the northern edge."

"Come again, Recon Team Alpha. Did you just say unusual tracks?" 

"Positive, they were footsteps, but they are small, like a child's. Not human though—too wide and deep for that. Seems whatever made them is quite heavy or moves with considerable force," Recon Team Alpha explained.

"Recon Team Alpha I copy. New directives, I want you to follow that trail and see where it leads, but proceed with extreme caution. Maintain constant communication and the moment you discover something, I want you to report back to me for further instructions."

"Copy that commander, Recon Team Alpha out," Vincent switched off the radio and leaned back in his chair, waiting for the report to come in.

Two hours later. A crackle from the radio sounded. Hesitant but curious, he reached for the handset, "Commander Stryder here, go ahead."

"Sir, this is Recon Team Alpha. We've followed the tracks further north. They lead to some sort of a village, sir. It's... unconventional. Appears to be inhabited by goblins. The structures are rudimentary, made of mud and what looks like scavenged materials. It's not pretty, sir, very ramshackle. We've also identified human prisoners here, mostly females, confined within a fenced-off area."

Vincent's grip tightened on the handset. "Can you describe their condition? How many prisoners are there?"

"Difficult to say from this distance without risking detection, but looks like a dozen or so. They seem malnourished, and scared. There's no immediate goblin presence in their enclosure, but there are guards patrolling the perimeter of the village. It's heavily guarded, sir."

"What are their weapons?"

"Mostly primitive weapons, sir. Clubs, spears, a few crude bows. Nothing that should pose a significant threat to a well-armed team, but they're numerous. The goblin numbers appear substantial from our vantage point."

Vincent considered this information carefully. "Maintain your surveillance. Do not engage." 

"Copy that, commander. We are holding position and keeping eyes on the hostages and goblin movements."

Vincent concluded the communication and immediately started planning the next steps. Those human prisoners contained a treasure trove of information. In a world that is unknown to him, getting those human prisoners could provide critical insights about this world such as what country is surrounding him, races, geography, everything! 

"Recon Team Alpha, we will attempt a rescue operation at dusk. Ensure you're not seen and keep updating me with any changes."

Vincent turned off the radio and began planning. 

"All units, this is Commander Stryder, assemble in the command center immediately, except engineers. Repeat, all units except engineers."

Moments later, six soldiers filled into the command center, each one in full combat gear, alert and ready for orders. Vincent surveyed them briefly and nodded in satisfaction.

"We have a situation in the north. Goblin village with human captives. Our mission is to extract them out and exterminate all hostiles as efficiently as possible."

"So, what's our rules of engagement?" 

"Well, given that the goblins are stupid and are easily provoked and the fact that they are guarding human captives, our priority is the safety of the prisoners. However, once we have secured the captives, we are to neutralize all hostile goblins to prevent future threats. That means we strike hard and fast, leaving no threats behind. The problem we have right now is we don't have any idea about the layout of their village. For that, I'm going to summon a tactical drone to get us aerial reconnaissance. This will give us the layout and help us identify key points for entry and extraction."

With that decision, Vincent opened his Private Military System and tapped the Military Development System menu to summon a specific tactical drone. He selected the "Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout".

He went outside where he could summon the drone from a clearer location. Once in position, a magic circle appeared on the ground. Moments later, the MQ-8 Fire Scout materialized along with its flight controls which Vincent swiftly transported back into the headquarters where he'd set it up.

Then, he operated the drone to launch from its temporary platform outside the command center. 

"Alpha Recon Team, this is the Commander. A drone is en route to your position for reconnaissance. I need directions, over." 

"Copy that, Alpha Recon Team."