READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 41: Find The Base
Under a dark sky, Crisis traveled through the vast, mostly empty green field that surrounded the base, walking up small hills to get a better view of their environment, only to realize they were far from anything that would lead them closer to their objective. After more than an hour of walking without coming across any structures or direct clues to locate the base, the squad became bored and tired. Without anything interesting to look at, except for the bright stars above, which served no use in guiding them where they wanted, they only had to follow Frost as he led them seemingly nowhere. Even he was losing energy as well as patience, though his teammates had it rougher as they had to carry heavier weapons and gear.
While the squad no longer had the spirit to keep walking, let alone take on a whole enemy base, Scott seemed to be the most reluctant to be a part of this mission. Despite not having anything heavy to carry, the fact that he had so little on him hindered him just as much as the others. Since his sleepwear consisted of shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, he barely had anything to protect himself from the cold of the night, even with the spare shirt that Panda handed him. He had to keep himself warm by any means possible, but as he was at the very end of the line, he started growing nervous and a little paranoid as his body kept freezing.
Noticing that the squad appeared to be lost, he tried to look around in various instances to help the search, even when he didn’t know exactly what to look for. But since it was clear that there was nothing that stood out for miles, he gave up quickly and tried to focus on staying alive. While everyone remained fairly quiet, the squad still chatted once in a while, though they never addressed Scott, not even turning around to check on him. It looked like they had forgotten about his presence, and as they didn’t speak one word to him, he became bored as well.
But after looking for something to entertain himself with, Scott gathered the courage to approach Candy, who had been right in front of him ever since they left the base. Although she hadn’t said a word in a long while and hadn’t even turned around to check on Scott like the others, Scott looked more comfortable around him than the others, so after hesitating countless times to speak to hear, he finally tried to open his mouth to hopefully answer some questions left unanswered, which meant all of them.
–Candy?– Scott whispered to her as he walked closer to look at her. But despite the group currently keeping a long streak of silence, no one seemed to hear him, not even her. She didn’t notice him until he appeared in her field of view, and while she was pleasantly surprised to see him come to her first, she became nervous all of a sudden before breaking her hour-long silence.
–Hey… Keep quiet so Frost doesn’t hear you…– Candy whispered back with apprehension, looking at Frost cautiously to check if he could hear them, with Scott doing the exact same, only slightly more fearful. But as Frost didn’t turn back and kept looking forward like he had been doing the entire time, Scott relaxed slightly as he proceeded to talk to a seemingly dejected Candy.
–Oh, okay…– Scott replied in a low voice, getting closer to Candy sheepishly, which went unnoticed by her. In response, she turned around to give him her best attempt at an optimistic smile, though it was clear she had her mind elsewhere as she couldn’t stop glancing back at Frost.
–How are you doing?– Candy asked with a concerned, soft voice, though she was absent-minded, prompting Scott to think for a while as he got distracted by her absent-minded staring. He noticed she was hiding her anxiety behind a pretty smile, but only when she looked at him. Now, she went back to being quiet as she listened for Scott to speak, and while it didn’t inspire much confidence in him, he still saw it as an opportunity to express his worries.
–I’m scared, I don’t know what’s going to happen…– Scott confided nervously, shying away as he looked over to Frost and the rest of the team. Candy turned to him once again, only to notice his shifting eyes, which uneased her for a moment. She struggled to find words for a response, but after she placed her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it ever so lightly to comfort him, she drew his attention back to her instantly, giving her the chance to speak back, but she also made Scott fluster for a second.
–Don’t worry, you will be safe. Just stay behind me, and I’ll protect you– Candy whispered reassuringly, looking him in the eye with a sweet, earnest smile that made him blush. She removed her hand from his shoulder and stepped away after noticing Panda, Tricky, and Nitro turning around and looking at them. Both Candy and Scott stayed quiet for an awkward moment, but the former kept staring at him to see if he would calm down. But after seeing that her attempt to comfort him wasn’t as effective as she wanted, possibly making things worse as Scott began shivering, Candy switched her approach for a casual one.
–Oh, and on behalf of everyone, sorry for dragging you into this. You don’t deserve it…– Candy added in an apologetic, compassionate, yet lighthearted tone that caught Scott’s attention. He turned to face her, and when he saw her pouting in an attempt to look cute, he began smiling, with her cracking a laugh but remaining kindhearted.
–Well, it looks like I really messed up, and I’m supposed to learn a lesson, so I guess I don't have a choice…– Scott responded in a carefree manner, seemingly low-spirited for a moment before scoffing at his misfortune. He shared a laugh with Candy, and as she began looking at him in a friendlier light, forgetting her concerns, she regained her lovely demeanor, though both remained quiet for a moment.
Scott couldn’t help but keep staring at her, even if he was a bit embarrassed to do so, but since Candy was easygoing and nice, he didn’t have a problem continuing their conversation. And with the rest of the team ignoring them after checking them briefly, they shifted their attention to Frost as his uncertainty began to show in his expression.
–Are you sure this base is nearby? We’ve been walking for what feels like hours– Tricky asked with signs of exhaustion in her voice, with her teammates sharing the sentiment as they kept sighing out of boredom or fatigue. Frost completely ignored her at first, but after stopping for a moment to think, prompting his squad to do the same, he just continued walking forward with more resolution.
–Yes, I started tracking motion around this area. I started following some of the scavengers I spotted, and they all went in this direction. In theory, we will get there at some point if we just keep going…– Frost replied convincedly but not as excited as he was before. Noticing this, the rest of the squad just stayed silent and didn’t question him, except Indie, who had given him the lead until now as she picked up the pace to walk next to him.
–We need to be there before morning?– Indie asked with curiosity, and while Frost walked faster to be ahead once again, he noticed Indie was becoming impatient, so he didn’t waste time to give her an answer.
–Yes, that’s when they all bring the materials back to the base. I doubt we can sneak in unnoticed, but it will be much easier at night, even though it doesn’t help us spot the darn place…– Frost replied firmly, but she grew skeptical of him as he became annoyed, creating a tense silence. She kept staring at him, but since he always looked away and outpaced her, she didn’t get to see if he was telling the truth.
–As long as we confirm the location of the base, we can call this mission a success…– Indie added in a casual, passive manner, slowing down to assume her previous position behind Frost, but she led him to turn back for a brief moment as he showed some nervousness.
–Right…– Frost muttered anxiously after noticing Indie’s deceivingly compliant demeanor. Her response sparked some doubt in him, but as he kept walking faster, forcing the entire squad to pick up the pace, he tried maintaining his composure, even though he was falling apart internally.
Frost became desperate to find a place that seemed unlikely to exist in the middle of the plains. But as he kept pushing himself to continue, Crisis eventually found itself entering a new area. The field’s plains appeared to end as the terrain became uneven, with many different paths to take to circle the many hills in front. But since they preferred having the higher ground, they walked up one of the hills, giving the squad some interesting shapes in the scenery for them to appreciate. They also had new spots for them to search, and while they didn’t bother checking the sides of the small hills at first, after reaching the top of one, Indie appeared to recognize the area they were in.
The squad began looking harder around the chain of hills that bordered their region. They weren’t familiar with their surroundings, but they got a hint of their location once they located one of the three villages that were attacked a month ago by the Omens. After climbing up one of the taller hills, they headed towards the destroyed village, walking east near what appeared to be a small lake. But with everyone shifting their attention in that direction, Nitro had to stay behind for a moment as one of his grenades dropped and rolled down the other side of the hill. Both Candy and Scott didn’t bother picking it up as it rolled past them, but Nitro was committed to saving his grenade, and it was when he went looking for it that he came upon what they were looking for.
–There it is!– Nitro exclaimed in glee, prompting his teammates to turn back and follow his voice. They ran down the hill through the side opposite the village they were originally heading to. But as soon as they walked past the peak of the hill, they found a sign of some kind of unnatural intervention. They saw Nitro running towards a big cloud of smoke that came behind another hill in front of him, and as Frost assumed the lead, they followed Nitro to the very top. Frost ran past him to assess the situation first, and in return, he was met with a full view of what looked like their exact objective.
The squad caught up quickly and witnessed the same, which left them both astonished and relieved. In front of them, not too far away, was the other raided village, which was much smaller than the other two, making it easier to hide between the hills. But surprisingly, it wasn’t uninhabited despite being destroyed like the other ones. It was located entirely on top of a hill, though it was still lower than the other ones around it. The different burnt houses were naturally useless now, completely ruined, devoid of any life, but below them, there was a big opening to the hill, a sort of entrance to a cave, which was covered by walls, as well as an open gate that barely showed some of the depth found inside, and the basic structure of a mine thanks to the dim lighting surrounding it.
The gate had walls on each side, and on top of it, two thin but tall towers dwarfed the collapsed building of the village behind them. They concealed most of the destruction left behind at the village but left exposed multiple chimneys behind the top of the gate; they were the source of the smoke, which was clearly visible despite the dark sky due to its lighter tone. What also increased visibility were the two towers, which were equipped with large spotlights on the top, and with people seemingly controlling them, they shined down the cave entrance, giving Crisis a good view of what was waiting for them.
In front of the gate were dozens of large crates, most of them full of materials like rocks, wood, or sheets of metal, but they were overshadowed by the piles of scrap at the sides, creating a makeshift fence around the walls but leaving a direct path to the front of the hill open. Outside the barrier of scrap were the same carriages that were found near the forest at the base, but most importantly, the same scavengers were spread all throughout. They were hanging around the entrance, sitting in a circle around a scrap table, right beneath one of the spotlights, chatting casually as they were done working for the day.
And as the team stared in awe, trying to comprehend the sight found not too far away from them, they became excited as they finally found the base. Panda patted Frost on the back to praise his hunch, but in response, he stayed quiet. Scott looked more scared by what he was seeing, and unlike the squad, it took him a moment to figure out exactly what everyone was looking at. He wasn’t the only one in disbelief, though, and with Frost and Indie already analyzing the layout of the entrance to the enemy base, they didn’t waste time to create a plan of action.
–It looks like they are building a mining facility. It’s right below the village, so why would they settle there?– Indie asked in curiosity, with Frost sharing her intrigued expression, slightly more excited about proving his suspicions correct. After a thoughtful moment, he fixed his attention on the thick smoke pouring out of the chimneys behind the gate, and while his teammates tried to count all the guards found around the entrance, he was already pulling out his swords.
–There’s only one reason, but we have to get in to make sure…– Frost replied with determination, but as Indie dismissed him and kept assessing the situation, he tried to keep himself from making a decision, spacing off to think more and let her take charge.
–I’m not sure we can infiltrate this camp, look at all those guards. We must take out a fair amount of them before entering, that would surely alert everyone…– Indie said apprehensively, taking some time to think as well, although she mainly focused on all the threats she could find as she grabbed binoculars to get a closer look. Shortly after, she handed them to Frost for him to check the danger they were facing, but after a brief glance, he turned to her and his team with the same enthusiastic attitude from earlier.
–Why not take them all? They won’t see us coming through the darkness. As long as there isn’t any backup nearby…– Frost asked with a nonchalant smirk, but despite his teammates already on board, his idea wasn’t met with much support from Indie, who became slightly concerned after seeing the base’s towers and general defense.
–I don’t know, it still sounds risky…– Indie argued, sharing her worries with her teammates, who didn’t pay much attention as they kept trying to guess the number of enemies they would have to kill. The only one who got to use the binoculars after Frost and Indie was Panda, who only had to take a quick view before agreeing with Indie. But as Frost seemed betrayed by him taking Indie’s side, he became more determined than ever.
–Come on, since when don’t you like taking risks?– Frost asked teasingly, keeping a steadfast demeanor about his plan, which managed to win Panda over, though it was only met with silence from Indie. She considered his idea for a second, but after seeing Panda’s reaction, she stared at Frost with a straight face, showing slight resentment when he stared back.
–Since you brought an inexperienced recruit to our highly secret mission…– Indie replied bitterly and bluntly, refusing Frost’s plan with a shake of the head, and drawing his attention to Scott, who tried to hide behind Candy to not be seen. She stepped back and turned to her team, already taking out her radio to call the base, prompting Frost to turn around and stop her before attempting to convince her one last time.
–Don’t worry, he won’t have to do anything. He’ll just watch us destroy this base. It’ll be pretty fun– Frost argued optimistically, keeping up a lighthearted but sincere demeanor, even when he pointed at a nervous Scott. Indie ignored him at first, choosing to check on Scott as he was being calmed down by Candy. She stayed close to him and kept comforting him with gentle pats on the shoulder, but he still looked quite anxious, making Indie apprehensive about listening to Frost. But since he got closer and kept trying to change her mind with a now smug expression, she couldn’t hide her interest in his idea for long, slowly being persuaded by his eyes until she gave his suggestion another thought.
–I’m guessing most of them are in there. It would take backup hours to come here, so as long as we’re fast, we can take them down… I mean, it’s possible, but I think we should scout the perimeter first…– Indie replied in doubt, still thinking it through out loud, which only fueled Frost and the squad’s eagerness. But as she began getting invested in the idea herself, she let out a sigh before reluctantly giving him a nod. She immediately seemed to regret giving him permission, but right after he convinced her, Frost laughed with delight for a moment before stepping to the side, shifting his attention away from Indie, and gesturing for his team to listen as he began addressing them.
–Alright then, listen up. We are going in. Gear up, but stay low, we don’t want them spotting us before we reach the base…– Frost ordered as the entire squad pulled out their weapons, taking a moment to psyche themselves up to raid the mining facility. And with the whole team ready, except Scott, who just stayed back and watched awkwardly, Indie delivered a brief message back to the base before Frost took the lead and put his plan in motion.
–Let’s get this operation over quickly, everybody. We’ll exterminate these rats before they get a chance to run away!– Frost added with vigor, a big grin on his face, and a resolute but animated look in his eyes that pumped up his squad, even Scott, who suddenly seemed interested in watching how everything could end. But as it appeared that everyone would be running into the cave to destroy it from the inside, Scott soon realized he might not be as safe as Candy promised he would be, though he didn’t even get to say a word before they began the assault on the scavengers.