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Story Notes:

This is mostly inspired by games I've played, such as UFO: Aftermath and the fact that I've seen the same formula used so many times in a GTS story, it would be a welcome change to have a story where the tiny heroes have a fighting chance.

The story is a mix of action with humour, so there are things you don't have to take seriously when reading. Especially when some characters interact.

I also won't go into much details about the universe, but there's a mixture of technology and magic within. There are also elements from other universes.

Author's Chapter Notes:

This sets who our band of mercenaries are and establishes the main setting.

 

The VTOL aircraft banked left as it travelled through the narrow passageways of the valley. The twin jet engines shifted again and the craft quickly righted itself

The occupants of the aircraft were not concerned about that however. Something more important was on their minds.

 

“OK everyone, let’s go over this again” a loud voice said over the roar of the engines. Everyone in the cargo bay looked towards the rear cargo bay door where the voice had come from. Standing there was a somewhat tall man holding a long tube-shaped weapon over his right shoulder.

 

He idly fiddled with the scope and began talking once he knew he got their attention. “I will summarise my previous briefing on why we’re here”

“Yesterday we picked up a distress signal from the surface of this planet.” He continued, keeping his balance as the craft shifted to the right.

“The signal asked for help from several threats that have been plaguing their world for years”

“Naturally, we assumed it was an alien invasion. Those things are popular with the grey-folk...”

He glanced down at his left arm to look at a thin computer screen that was strapped to it. Several readouts of the planet were displayed on it.

The atmosphere was breathable and no anomalous energy sources were detected at the designated landing zone a few kilometres away now.

“But that was not the case according to what little they could send out... we’re dealing with a large threat” he explained. “The people calling for help sounded desperate and requested for anyone out there to arrive soon to help them.”

“Then the signal had degraded into static. That’s all we could gather.”

 

The man adjusted his brown longcoat as the VTOL dipped for a few seconds. He could hear the belly of the craft skim a few outcropping treetops.

“Our current objective is to find out what happened to that transmitter and gather intel on the new threat” he finished. “Then we are to find where the monsters hide and destroy them by all means possible”

Then there was silence, apart from the background noises as the craft rose again.

 

“Have you supposed this might be a trap, Mr Dragonhelper?” a woman’s voice then asked. The man looked over at her. She held an assault rifle in her bare hands, and wore a large teal dress over her thin body.

The woman always liked to call people by their surname, never by rank or just a simple “sir.”

It would have been annoying, had Captain R Dragonhelper been an actual military officer. Right now, he was just a mercenary. A mercenary with the best damned squad you can ask for.

 

He simply replied “Considering the enemies I’ve had to face, it could possibly be a trap.”

“But, that’s the thing Rosalina... we’re gonna have to face it. It’s why I asked everyone to bring their best weapons with them.”

He gestured to the missiles strapped on his back in neat rows.

 

Rosalina sighed and examined the clip of her rifle. “Do you think we could turn back? I’ve only brought the soft rounds and now I have a feeling I might need the AP” she asked jokingly, running a finger through her long light brown hair. A large triangular bang covered her right eye. The Captain sometimes wondered if it were there to improve her night vision or that there was something wrong with that eye in particular.

 

Rosalina looked up as the Captain was staring at her for a second too long and not replying. The Captain cleared his throat only to be interrupted by another voice, another woman’s voice and one that he valued very much dearly.

“I think it’s a bit too late now to change your mind. We’re just over the LZ now” this voice said, this one over the VTOL’s intercom system.

“And if you’re that concerned about armour, I’m sure my husband has plenty of rockets to spare to assist you.” She added with a laugh.

“Thanks for that Rhiza” Captain Dragonhelper yelled back.

 

-----

 

Rhiza Kalanin smirked as she peered at the various displays in the cockpit. One of them she kept an eye on the most. “Dopplers are still not picking up anything” she keyed over the intercom. She paused for a second and added “Or at least nothing important is being picked up. We’ve got birds if you’re interested”

 

“No thanks” yelled her husband again.

Smiling now, Rhiza began the landing procedures of the craft. Truth be told, I’m not really good at flying this bucket, she thought to herself, the thrusters aren’t fully repaired and it handles like a pregnant cow... I’d probably crash this thing easily if it got into an actual fight.

 

Looking at the cockpit glass, she caught a faint reflection of herself. Her short hair was a bright purple in colour and she wore a closed black longcoat. A glimpse of black padding underneath could be seen indicating that she was protected more than others.

 

The landing wheels and the cargo ramp of the VTOL lowered at the same time. Rhiza then opened up a small compartment in front of the controls which carried a bulky-looking pistol with a sphere on the end of it. The words “Peacebringer” were stencilled on the side as a company name.

 

Retrieving the gun, Rhiza then undid her seatbelt and got up from her seat to enter the cargo bay. The autopilot would handle the landing, or at least she hoped it would, does it actually come with one?

 

-----

 

As the craft began to land, the Captain looked over at the only other two people onboard. They wore what appeared to be suits of medieval amour. The closest one, the man was dressed in a chain mail shirt and long leather pants. His hair was black and long, with a large ponytail at the back.

He idly fiddled with a small crossbow. A red aura could be seen emanating from the quiver of bolts on his back. He glanced at the scenery outside the cargo bay door which was revealed to be a verdant jungle and then back at his crossbow.

“I wonder if the natives are pretty” he commented to the floor with a short laugh.

 

A gauntleted fist answered him. That was from the woman sitting next to him. She wore full plate armour made from a dark grey material. Her hair was a silvery grey in colour, with two long thin braided ponytails at the back.

She lowered the thin reading glasses on her face and replied “You better not be thinking what I think you are thinking Marth.”

“And I thought our relationship would be more open...” Marth Shepard muttered. “I should have refused that mission...”

Martha Shepard glared at her husband and went back to what she was doing before- polishing a long grey sword that emanated with a black aura. Why does he always have to bring that up? She thought to herself, a depressed look on her face.

 

-----

 

As soon as the VTOL had landed, Captain Dragonhelper jumped from the cargo ramp to the ground, his rocket launcher already loaded and poised to strike.

 

Seeing that the area was clear enough, he waved his free arm to signal the others to follow. Rosalina shook her head and stood up, attaching a scope to her rifle as she moved towards the entrance.

“Basic hand signal. Come on” the Captain called, continuing his waving.

Ignoring that, Rosalina moved towards the cargo ramp. Instead of walking down it though, she closed her eyes for a few seconds and began to float, as if the air was like a pool of water. Instead of swimming though, she moved as if guided by invisible strings, her body bobbing up and down gently.

 

Martha slung a large teardrop shaped shield over her back before picking up her sword and sheathing it behind her. She followed her husband who was moving down the ramp quickly, his crossbow held awkwardly in his arms. His wife noted that he wasn’t used to wielding the weapon.

 

Rhiza stepped off next. She slipped a power cell into the pistol and heard a satisfying charging noise for a few seconds. Looking over at her husband, she frowned. He’s wearing that stupid bandanna of his, she thought to herself, looking at the piece of red cloth around the Captain’s head.

 

“You smell that?” Rhiza suddenly said, sniffing the air.

“The one who smelt it...” the Captain started to reply before Rhiza interrupted with “No, it smells like smoke”

She glanced down at her left arm. Much like the Captain, she too had a computer screen around her arm. Unlike his though, this one seemed to have a few small devices attached to the bottom.

“I’m running a thermal scan now.” She explained as the Captain looked at his own screen. His didn’t have any special features beyond displaying data.

 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea Mrs Kalanin? The jungle is full of thermal signatures.” Rosalina asked.

“I’ve got a lock. It’s coming from the same location as yesterday’s transmission.” Rhiza stated, ignoring Rosalina’s comment.

“Obviously the enemy caught on to their transmissions and burned the place down. Be careful, they may still be around” the Captain replied, moving forward into the jungle.

 

-----

 

They travelled a short distance before they stopped outside a large burnt area of jungle. It was black from a massive fire. The smell of ash and smoke was still rich in the air.

“Still think it could be a trap?” the Captain asked Rosalina smugly.

“Never dismiss the possibility Mr Dragonhelper.” The woman replied as everyone moved forward.

 

The base was a massive pile of burnt wreckage. Various buildings and towers lined about, toppled or crushed from a massive impact. They could not see any signs of surviours within the area.

“I’m guessing this used to be a radar base” Rhiza commented as they approached what was left of a massive transmission dish.

 

“What could have done such a thing?” Rosalina asked, examining the dish’s transmitter by floating to the top. She was quite surprised it was still standing, the only damages being the transmitter and several large gashes being taken out in the dish.

“Many possible causes... could be aliens, mutated lifeforms...” the Captain listed “I wouldn’t be surprised if the call was asking for help fighting a terrestrial war or something.”

“I’ve got a possible cause” Rhiza suddenly spoke up.

 

Everyone turned to look at her. The woman was pointing to one of the crushed buildings. There was a large metal spike with a thin coating of dried blood on it slightly bent. “A large creature probably had stepped through here” Rhiza was explaining, walking over to the spike. “And while they did so, they got their foot pierced by this sharpened support beam”

“It could have been an impalement of a person” The Captain suggested, looking at the spike himself.

“Then there would be a body...” Rhiza replied, examining the base of the spike. “And it would have had to have been moved...”

 

Just then, Rhiza heard the sound of the rubble nearby shifting. She took a step back and drew out her pistol in one quick move, pointing it at the source of the noise. Everyone else had their weapons at the ready.

A small rat scurried out of the rubble and ran past the spike. Rhiza kept her pistol trained on the rubble though.

“Anyone in there?” she called.

 

There were more shifting noises. “Who are you?” a voice called. Rhiza could see an eye peering out from a hole, as well as the barrel of a submachine gun

“You’re not a cultist are you?” the voice asked as he got a better look at the purple-haired woman.

“I’m not in any cult as far as I’m concerned. I know my husband has blown up a few in the past” Rhiza replied.

“They all deserved it.” The Captain yelled back. “No religion should ask you for money to join.”

The survivor then suddenly cried “Thank God! Our call has been answered!”

 

-----

 

In a nearby building, two men were lying prone on the second floor, looking down at the gathered group. While the Divine Goddess Cult was certain that there were survivors hiding in a bunker somewhere in the base, it wasn’t a high priority. Regardless, a watch would be kept for any activity, just to be certain.

The first man spoke into a headset “This is Watchman One. We’ve got stragglers. Be advised, over.”

“Copy that. Keep an eye on them. We have a strike team en-route to your position.” His commanding officer replied. “For the Goddess! Over.”

“For the Goddess” Watchman One signed off.

 

 

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