Chapter Four: Working With Amateurs

There are three types of people I absolutely hate. The first are people who wake me up. Second, are those that are just utterly incompetent. And third, are people who waste my time. So as I looked at the group of amateur mercenaries in front of me, a deep burning hatred was starting to brew. There were five of them, all absolutely covered with various weapons and equipment. They wore knock-off military fatigues, and had horrible "warpaint" on their faces. It was quite clear just by looking at them, that they didn't even know how to handle their weapons, as they constantly flagged eachother with them. They even talked like newbies, telling obvious lies about how many men they killed, and how hardcore they were. But their faces told the true story. Not a single scar, no missing teeth, and their eyes dont have the look of someone who has killed. No, these fools have never harmed anyone in their life. But that bastard Ross dropped them off on me.

"Oi!" I said, feeling pretty much done with their shit. "Get around here, and listen up." They seemed to ignore me, as they continued to boast among each other. "Oi, bastards and Ms. bastards!" I said, this time much louder. But much like last time, nobody was listening. Already wishing this was over, I went over to one of the men who was flexing how badass he was. He was a tall man, easily over 6 feet. He was dark skinned, and admittedly had some impressive muscles. However, it was very clear that these were just for looks, and not for real action. Pulling out my knife, I made a quick slash at the back of the man's heel, severing the achilles tendon. He immediately collapsed, clutching his quickly bleeding foot, as everyone else stopped what they were doing to look at us. They were slow to pick up what was going on, but they did eventually figure out they were in danger. They started to pull out their weapons, but they were too slow. I dashed over to the second one, also a rather large man, and made two slashes into his gut, and weapon hand. He too was quick to go down. By the time they put any effort into trying to defend themselves, I was already at the third person, a smallish woman, and already placed my knife in her kneecap. The remaining two began to open fire at me, however their aim was sloppy and frantic. They were more of a danger to their allies then themselves.

Whenever I got into scraps like this, it always felt like everything else got slower. As such, I was normally able to see projectiles and other attacks, and have just enough time to defend or dodge. Which was fortunate, as any of the bullets these two fired, I managed to narrowly avoid. Rather than using my knife on the next man, I decided to just punch him in his throat, causing the windpipe to partially cave in. Now was the last man, who realized that guns will not do the trick here. He threw his gun away, and charged. Meatheads like this always believed that their sheer weight was enough. It was no effort in dodging the man's attacks, as he was much like a raging bull, but slower both in mind and body. After I dodged him for the third time, I decided to lay a little trap. I pulled out a smoke grenade, and rolled it onto the floor, without taking out the pin. And just like I expected, the meat head did not see it as it rolled under his foot, causing him to lose control, and fly towards the nearest wall. Though this did not down him, it definitely stunned him. I took this chance to hop onto the man's back, and wrapped my arm around his neck. Although it was meaty, I found just the right place to put pressure. The man tried to fight back, but it was clear that he was quickly starting to lose consciousness. Soon, his body went limp, where I dropped his body to the ground, and delivered a kick to his thick skull. I took a look around the room, and was glad to see that everyone was staying down, though they didn't really have a choice. With this small lesson over, I went over to a nearby medical kit, and grabbed five things of medi-gel, along with a few instant action ice packs. I went around to all those that were seriously injured, and began to treat their wounds, though I made sure to knock them out first. Medi-gel is a fast acting, combat spray that is able to heal most minor wounds. Once everyone was patched up, I gathered a few chairs from the nearby broom closet, and dragged their limp bodies onto them, and topped it off with placing a small black square on their necks. I then grabbed a chair for myself, and started to wait.

Eventually they started to wake up, and they seemed to be in shock. Once the smaller woman woke up, did I finally begin to speak. "Oi oi, ya dumbasses. Didja learn a valuable lesson?" I said, in the most mocking way possible.

The small woman was the first to speak up. "What the hell is your problem you dumb bitch?!"

"Yeah, wahaca attacking us for?" Said one of the bigger men.

"Yeah! Why you being crazy?" Said another.

I couldn't help but laugh. If everyone looked mad before, it was safe to say they were pissed now. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just funny, how you were all talking hot shit, but you all went down so easily." It was clear I hit a nerve, as one of the men tried to charge at me. But unfortunately for him, I pressed a button on my phone, and he went down like a sack of rocks. "Ah see, I wouldn't recommend being a dumbass. It's best if you all just sit there and listen."

"And who the fuck are you?" The woman said.

"Well, first and foremost, I'm the person who kicked all your asses." I mocked. "But seriously, I am the one in charge of you all."

"What?! Who the hell decided that?! I'M the one in charge here!" The woman said.

"Well, you might be in charge of those weaklings. But I am the lead on this mission. If you have any questions, I am sure Ross could clear some things up." I said, as Ross slipped inside, trying not to bring attention to himself.

"Ross, what the hell is going on here?! Did you really put this crazy cunt in charge?!" The woman shrieked.

Ross looked like someone who walked into the wrong bathroom, and desperately wanted to be somewhere else. Nervously, he began to speak. "Uhh.. Yeah. She's the one in charge of you all."

"What the actual fuck?! Are you fucking kidding me?! This crazy ho literally attacked us!"

"Well, I wouldn't really call it attacking, and more of teaching a valuable lesson." I chimed in.

"How the hell is teaching us a lesson?!"

"Well, you all were acting like hot shit. So I decided to knock you all down a peg. Plus, you guys were wasting my time."

"Ross, you cant be fucking serious! There is no way in hell this child can be in charge!"

"Well uh..." Ross began. "Well, to be blunt, she is a better merc than any of you. And on this mission, you will need to rely on her experience to come back alive."

"Okay, what possible mission are we doing, where we have to work with her?"

"Well, I was going to explain that, when you all decided to do your own thing." I added in. "But essentially, we will be assaulting an outpost full of Aura users. Your job will be to follow me into the base, where you will cause as much chaos as possible, as our other forces will be launching a larger assault away from us."

"Alright, so we follow you in, and cause trouble. But what about you?" Said one of the less meaty men.

"I will be the one who will make an infiltration point, so you all can cause your chaos. Then with your distraction, and the assault, I'll deactivate the main Aura barriers. From there, it is classified. But once the barriers are down, you will join up with the main force, and finish cleaning the rest of the base."

"Classified?! What the hell does that mean?"

Ross jumped in. "It means, it's none of your business. Your job is to be meat slabs that shoot things, and get shot at, not to ask questions."

"Couldn't have put it better myself!" I said, "Now, let me explain some of the specifics before we actually head out. Since we will be going against Aura users, Arc weaponry has been permitted, even to those unqualified. Any questions?" One of the guys raised their hand. "Yeah?"

"Uh, so why are we using Arc weapons? Wouldn't normal ones do just fine?"

I gave a painted sign, as I looked over to Ross, who was giving me a please dont shrug. "Alright, looks like imma have to give a quick crash course. What can any of you tell me about the relation between magic and Arc?"

"Isn't it created from magic or some shit?" The woman said.

"Well, it's not created from magic. It is created by exposing trace amounts of Arc to magical energy. The Arc then eats away at the magical energy, leaving behind more Arc. Now, magical energy is all over the universe, and is constantly expanding at a slow rate. Magical energy is also created by living beings, which we call mana. Mana is a key part to living beings, essentially considered their life force. So if a creature is exposed to Arc, they would be instantly dead, as their body is consumed by the electrical energy."

"Uh, then why aren't we dead then huh? I think my foot massager is Arc powered, so how come I am still here?" One of the guys said.

I sighed. Where the hell did Ross grab these guys?Most devices we use are powered by Arc, since it's a powerful and abundant energy source. The reason people don't die when they use Arc devices is because the Arc energy is contained within an insulated battery. As such, energy only goes into the device, not into organics." There is also a huge difference between Raw Arc, and Refined Arc, but I didn't want to be here all day. "There are also devices that extract some of your mana, and convert it into Arc. These devices are generally more powerful than normal Arc devices, and are most commonly cybernetic implants. Now, objects can also be imbued with Arc. Instead of it being insulated, Arc is instead coated on an object. When this object is then exposed to something made of magic, the Arc will start the conversion process."

"Which uh... uh,.. if shot at people, they get turned into Arc?" One of the slower men said.

"Exactly. Which is why use on ordinary people is strictly prohibited. Death by Arc is a quite horrible death. So use is only authorized against Aura users, and Mages. Normally one would have to acquire a licence from the Alliance to use such objects, but this is a special case.:

"Aight, but you said that stuff is effective against magic. Ain't Aura some type of holy god shit?"

"Yes, but it is also very similar to Arc. Like Arc, Aura is created from magical energy. Except, instead of consuming the magic, Aura instead expands it, and makes it become much more potent. This is why Aura's miracles are much more powerful than any mage's spells. Now I'm not going to explain the uses of Aura, but just know that these guys have it, will attack with it, and will use it to defend themselves. And exposing yourself to Aura, could also kill you if the user wants to. Either you just fall over dead, akin to a freshly roasted deer, or you will explode in holy fire."

"That.... sounds pretty unfair."

"Oh it definitely is. And to make it worse, they are hard to kill as well. They essentially use Aura as a shield, literally using their faith to protect them. So while normal weapons do work, it will take a lot of effort to even smudge them. Instead, we rely on Arc. When Aura is exposed to Arc, or vice versa, the two energy sources cancel each other out. This means that if Aura enters into an Arc powered device, the device will no longer function. And if Arc enters an Aura user, they will find that the exposed area is no longer protected. Which then allows that very attack to do critical damage. So pretty much, use the Arc weapons we gave you to hurt the holy people. Make them go dead dead. Got it?"

They all mumbled in agreement. Once i answered a few more stupid questions, I managed to get them out the door and onto the transport. Since this was a stealth op, I decided to go light. I brought my pistols, daggers, Arc grenades, and in case things get a bit heated, my Axe-Rifle. A high powered rifle that has a gnarly axe head at the top. It was admittedly heavy, but I can deal with it. Once I was properly geared up, I went over to the transport, and we set off. We flew for about an hour, when we reached the sight of the outpost. Admittedly, this area looked very similar to the one we were just in. But this is what the whole planet looked like. One large, overpopulated city. Once we were dropped off, I saw signs of other units as they flashed their markers. I flashed mine, to signal that we were ready to move, and was set to switch to the command channel.

However, I had a few things to say to these guys. I turned towards the mercs. "Alright, here we are. Things are going to get rough, so listen closely. I do not give an absolute fuck if you live or die. Your job is pretty much bait. You make it out alive, great. But I ain't gonna lose sleep if any of you kick the bucket. Nor will I go out of my way to save any of you. Understand? Though we may work together, merc work is mainly about survival. And going out of your way to save other dumbasses, is one quick way to die. Got it?"

The feisty woman responded. "Okay, so if they are gonna kill you, we shouldn't help."

"Exactly. Though I aint like you. They will have to try pretty hard to kill me." I said, in a deservingly cocky tone. With that said, I tuned into the command channel on Arc-Net, and signaled we were ready to head in. Once I got the all clear signals from the other leaders, I gestured my team forward. The next few seconds were very animated, as explosions rocked the outpost, while many war cries could be heard. Gunfire soon followed, as one could see explosions of holy energy in the distance. The newbies looked like they realized what they were finally dealing with, and it seemed to bother them. "Don't focus over there! Focus on what's in front of you! Thats how you survive, by looking out for yourself!" I yelled, as we reached the wall of the outpost. I looked around for a maintenance panet, which would lead to a maintenance shaft. It took me a bit to find it, and the newbies were looking more and more nervous. Once I finally found it, I pried it open, and took a look inside. Just as I expected, there was an Aura barrier to keep non Aura users out. I began to take off my equipment, and handed over everything to a terrified looking man. "You are gonna hold on to these, while I get that barrier down. Okay?" The man nodded. The woman looked like she wanted to ask a question, but a nearby explosion caused her to jump. I started to crawl into the shaft, armed only with my multitool. Unlike Arc powered multitools, that used the users mana to create whatever tool is needed, this one was more basic. Plastic, with metal shaped into many heads that served many purposes. As I crawled, I eventually came across the barrier. Unlike Arc, I have barely interacted with Aura. But, that didn't really matter. Despite that, I was still nervous as hell. Creatures with mana would die if they tried to cross. But luckily for me, I managed to cross with no issue. I found the power box for the barrier, opened it to reveal a crystal made out of solidified Aura. I quickly yanked it out, and placed it into my pack for later. I then called out to my team, who then came crawling into the vents behind me.

I got my gear back from the guy who looked like he wanted to faint, and we pressed on. The Empire was generally very cocky about their barriers, and normally only put up a single layer of them. Which meant that we could move on without issue. Inside the vents, we were able to see into the main hallways of the outpost, and it looked very chaotic. Priests and Knights were running back and forth, carrying all sorts of supplies. I took a look at my tactical map, and saw that we were close to the main barrier control. All I would have to do is follow this vent. I looked back at the team, and gave them a smile. "Time to see what you are made of!" I explained, as I used my activated my Arc knife, and sliced cleanly through the vent, causing it to bend, then break. I was safe, as I was on a part of the vent that was supported by a wall. But my teammates were directly above the hallway, and went with the vent as it fell. Both they, and the knights were confused. But the mercs soon realized I gave them a source of cover, and started to use it as they opened fire. I couldn't help but smile.

I continued down the vents, as the outpost was rocked by artillery fire. Not that it would do any good. This place was most likely made out of hardened Aura. But if that's the case, then that would mean there were some priests around to strengthen it. No, worry about that later. For now, I am getting closer to the main barrier control area. As you see, the Empire is not very creative with their base designs. Meaning that almost every single one of their bases, outposts, FOBs, all of them share a very similar layout to each other. So thanks to this, even an outdated schematic of an Empire facility would prove accurate. And just as the tactical map indicated, I was right on top of the barrier control room. Just like with magical energy, by shifting my focus, I am able to see both Arc and Aura energies. Though I can only view one energy type at a time. There appeared to be five guards in the room, there was one paladin, two knights, and three squires. The reason I could tell, is because of a unique property of Aura, that many in the Alliance dont know about. Unlike Arc, which is considered wild in nature, Aura is much more controlled. That control, laying with their god of light. Thus, the ratio of mana to Aura plays a heavy role in their society, and social structure. Those with the lowest being common citizens, and have about 10 percent Aura, 90 percent mana. The more Aura one has, the more control the god has over them, but the more powerful they become. However, there is a limit, as if full control is given over, the person no longer retains their own identity. What happens to them after that, I have no idea.

While the warriors below me weren't all that powerful, the Paladin might prove to be a challenge. I slowly sliced a small hole in the vent, so I can get an actual visual of what I am up against. It seemed I was correct on the assessment of the below warriors. While they all had different sets of armor, they were very similar looking. Pure white armor, with gold trimming, with the crest of the empire. The crest was a star which sat above a sword, placed in front of a spiral galaxy. However, these warriors seemed to have painted a red X over the crest, signaling their defiance to the church. The squires wore chainmail. with a cloth overshirt. The knights wore a mix of chain mail, and plate mail. And, much to my irritation, the Paladin wore full plate mail. All of it most likely made out of hardened Aura. Which means that getting past them will be a little more difficult, as breaking through hardened Aura is much more difficult than normal. Arc weapons still work, but you will have to make multiple attacks in a precise area, or a single powerful attack. Fortunately, I planned ahead, and I had something that might just do the trick.

With a plan mostly figured out, I jumped into motion. I pulled out my axe, and loaded high caliber Arc anti-tank rounds. Next, I prepped two Arc Grenades, and finally, one smoke grenade. In very quick succession, I tossed out the two Arc grenades, and waited for them to set off, once they did, I followed it up with the smoke. I then focused on Aura energy, and saw that the three squires were immediately killed, the two knights wounded, and the paladin dazed. Wasting no time, I leaped from the vent, and took aim at the paladin's head. While I designed this thing for shock absorption, the kick of my axe-rifle never failed to stagger me, especially when I was using such powerful rounds. However, my shot found its mark, as the paladin crumpled to the ground. Now all that was left were the two knights, who seemed to be staggering around blind. My guess was that they were trying to look for a source of mana, how unfortunate. I gripped my axe by the lower and upper shaft, and readied a swing at the nearest knight. I wasn't going for anything fancy, just a clean chop at his head. My axe broke through the helmet, and the sound of metal against bone gave me slight chills. The knight went limp, as I used my leg to help leverage my axe out of their head. However, it seemed that the other knight heard the commotion, and started wildly swinging my direction. But it soon became clear that he had no real target, as his slashes were wide and sloppy. I then felt something grab my foot, and noticed that one of the squires was still alive, though barely. Feeling particularly fiendish, I picked up the squire, stood him on his feet, and pushed him in front of the knight, as he made another long slash. Though his attacks were wild, it seemed he wasn't holding back, as he sliced cleanly through the squires chest, severing him in two. And just as I planned, the knight believed it was over, and momentarily lowered his guard. I used this moment to find a nice hole in his armor, pulled out my pistol loaded with Arc rounds, and began to open fire. The knight didn't know what hit him, as he collapsed to the floor.

The smoke started to clear, so I switched my vision back to normal. All five of the soldiers were dead, with the Paladin's head being absolutely obliterated. The round I used might have been a bit too much, as those were designed with Crusaders in mind. Regardless, they were all dead, and I was able to continue my mission. I went over to a nearby console, however it seemed that it was password protected. Which would make sense, the base was under attack, and that is a sensitive terminal. However, just like with the other barrier, there had to be a power source, one large enough for a barrier of that size. I looked closely at the map, and saw that there was a large compartment right below me, however I saw no way of opening it. I began to think of ways of busting it open, under the impression that it was made out of hardened Aura. However I had a nagging feeling in my gut that I should check. So I switched focus to look for a hardened Aura, and much to my surprise, only the walls and the soldiers armor was composed of it. The floor was made out of regular metal, which meant I had a way in. I pulled out a few regular explosive grenades, and set them for a ten second destination. I used this time to hop into the vent, and well away from any possible shrapnel. There was a large explosion, though it seems there were plenty going on outside this room. I went back into the barrier control, and saw that my plan worked, and a large Aura crystal was sitting in a crater, shining brightly. These crystals were more akin to batteries rather than hardened Aura, this could be destroyed pretty easily. Even small arms could break them, however without Arc, there would be a violent eruption of Aura, killing all nearby living creatures. Well, most of them. I pulled out my pistol, and opened fire, causing the crystal to shatter. Holy energy violently erupted from the crystal, and into the surrounding area.

I walked out of the barrier control, calling in that the barriers have been deactivated. Loud cheers could be heard through the coms, as the sounds of explosions and gunfire intensified. Out of curiosity, I decided to switch over to my team's channel. It was immediately hard to tell what they were saying, as all of them were talking at once. But it was very clear they were in a tough spot. I opened the nav, and at where they were, and where my next objective was. Where I was currently positioned, there were two paths to the objective. My team was located on one of these paths, however it was the longer one, and the sound of fighting was greater in that direction. By all means, I am completely justified in heading straight to the objective, as that's what I am being paid to do. And what they are getting paid to do, is to be a distraction for me, which is exactly what they are doing.

But...

As hard as I try to make myself seem, I just couldn't let these guys die, especially under my command. I began to make my way towards them, looking to see what I would be up against. The force attacking them was made of purely knights and squires, and the team was pinned down. I couldn't take all these guys on myself, even with surprise on my side. And using smoke would be too risky, as I couldn't cover the whole area, and I would be making my team blind as as well. I placed myself behind a wall, ensuring nobody would see me. "Hey team, it's me. I have a visual on you, and I can see that they have you pinned down."

"Yeah, we're getting it pretty hard over here." The female responded, clearly out of breath.

"What is your status?"

"No one has gone down, but we have two wounded. We are also running low on ammo."

"What else do you have? Explosives?"

"A few Arc, and a single concussion."

"Alright, that might just work. However, I'm going to need you to follow my orders exactly, alright?"

"Whatever you say."

"Alright, look at your tac-nav, and see my position."

"Copy, I see you on the map."

"Okay, so I need you to cook an Arc grenade, and throw it directly at me."

"What?! That's way too close to either of us!"

"Just trust me. As one of you throws the Arc, have another throw the concussion grenade directly behind you. Once both have been done, Run as fast as you can in the direction of the concussion grenade, and try to take out as many soldiers as you can. However, focus on finding decent cover first."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Just do it!"

"Alright, following your orders."

The two grenades were thrown in their respective directions. I hopped out of my oven, and switched my focus to Arc energy. I pulled out the Aura crystal from earlier, and trying to align as best I could, threw the crystal directly into the Arc grenade. Both collided, causing a massive concussive blast that irradiated both red electricity, and holy light, before being replaced by nothing. All the soldiers that were within the radius were suddenly reduced to ash, the effect of Arc and Aura colliding. I looked at my nav, and saw that my team was still alive, though pinned down. But this time by a much more manageable force. I went behind the fallen air duct from earlier, and pulled out my rifle. I switched out the anti-tank rounds, for armor piercing, and took aim. "I'll start picking off the ones closest to you. Once I do, start to open fire to draw them out. I'll take out whoever sticks their heads out."

"Copy that!"

In rapid succession, I downed three knights, all cleanly through the skulls. As I did, the teammates who were able to fight, began to open fire on the remaining soldiers. And just as I planned, as there were lulls in the squad's fire, the soldiers would peek their heads out, allowing me to pick them off. It didn't take long for the remaining knights and squires to be picked off. Though I ordered the team to double tap them all, just in case. With everything mostly safe, they came over to me. "Hey, odd seeing you here." I said coolly.

"Hey, uh, thanks for the save..." The woman said, slightly embarrassed.

"Save, what save? I was just on my way to my next objective."

"But... this would be the longer...."

"Nah, other way was cut off. And the vents didnt lead there. So this was the only open route."

"Okay... Well, still thanks for the save." The woman said sincerely.

"Ha! Like I said before, I'm not gonna risk my neck for you all. That's not what I'm getting paid for. Using you all just made my job easier."

"Ah, right. I guess you did say that..."

"Yup, so don't forget it!"

"But, I do have to ask something...."

"About how badass I am?"

"Well, kinda. That move you pulled there, what exactly was it? And how did you survive?"

"Oh that? Whenever equal forces of Arc and Aura collide, they will maturely cancel each other out, causing all magic nearby to go haywire, and eventually completely disappear, leaving a small space of nothing. As a result, any living creature in the area turns to ash."

"Okay, then how come you are fine?"

"Oh, I just dodged at the last second!"

"Yeah... but..."

"But nothing! Everything is fine! You guys are safe, and the way is clear for me! I'd say this was a solid V!"

"Alright.... whatever you say..."

"Damn right! I am your awesome squad lead!"

"I... guess you are...."

"Anyway, you all need medical attention. Go out through where we came in, and call an evac shuttle."

"What about joining the assault?"

"The others got it, and with so little ammo, and wounded, who are you even gonna help?"

"Heh, I guess you got a good point. Alright, I guess we will head out then. Thanks Mordred."

"Yeah yeah yeah, just get out of here.... Uhh..." Oh crap, I never learned their names....

"It's Clarice. I'm sure the others will introduce themselves when they recover a bit."

I couldn't help but smile, though I tried my hardest not to let it show. "I'll be looking forward to it, take care Clarice." I waved the squad off, as they made their way into the vents, and out of the outpost. Now, all that remained was the Crusader.