Aurora Over a Dead World

Chapter 49: Getting ready for battle

"Commander Nadir, look," Cecilia says as she switches the drone’s camera feed. After we ascended to Aurora Island with everything we’d gathered, we immediately launched the drone scanning system to search for the monster we’d deduced was lurking in the area.

"..." I step closer to her and peer at the feed from drone number 30. It manages to pick up something moving through subtle shifts in the environment and irregular sound patterns.

"Does that look strange to you? It’s trying to hide from the drone... switch the camera mode, zoom in, and activate infrared," I tell her. She quickly works the keyboard, the camera begins to shift, and through the walls of the ruin, we see the monster’s heat signature.

"What a grotesque thing," I say, looking at the creature in question. It resembles some kind of round slime covered in hands, using its dozens of hands to keep itself fixed and hidden against a spot on the wall.

"Looks like an ambush, don’t you think?" I remark on the way the monster is concealed. It doesn’t seem like cowardice.

"Yes, Commander Nadir. Considering its position, it appears to be waiting for something to enter. Also, the camera shows a high level of fear permeating the environment around it."

"How strong is this weird thing?"

"It’s impossible to measure because of the way it’s hiding. We can’t even gather data and have Nexus evaluate it based on monsters of a similar class and type."

"In the end, the monster’s appearance affects the assessment. The fact that it’s hiding prevents a more accurate evaluation. What do you think we should do?"

"...Shoot it. Even if it doesn’t kill it, we’ll open up space for the drones to see what’s there," I tell her. She begins activating one of Aurora Island’s defenses.

An energy cannon begins to move beneath the island, aiming down below, and starts charging. I stare at the progress bar, and when the shot fires, you can see it through the drones.

A relatively large beam of energy is fired, hitting the ruins where that thing is hiding. The beam lasts only three seconds before deactivating to avoid overloading.

"It’s still alive," I tell Cecilia, seeing that it still shows up on infrared through all the smoke.

"...Hmm... that shows it’s strong," she murmurs as the drones circle overhead. Soon, the monster dashes out and leaps up toward the drones, and we get a better look.

The monster’s entire body is covered in black slime, and its appearance is extremely misshapen.

"It looks like a generation 50 monster. How rare," I murmur, genuinely surprised. Even Cecilia is taken aback. Monsters from the first generation up to generation 100 are very strange in appearance and, for the most part, easy to recognize.

"Maybe generation 60, Commander. It has well-formed hands, and its agility is frighteningly high despite its body looking like a ball full of hands."

"You’re right... but if we’re in an area with that type of monster, then Aurora Island will soon be entering more dangerous territory. It’s not a reason to change the island’s course, since turning it in any direction is too costly."

"But we need to stay more alert when it comes to gathering resources... it would be terrible to get caught off guard." The more dangerous the area, the higher the chances of soldiers dying during resource collection.

"We lost three drones," she warns as we watch some of the drones struggling to dodge.

"Order the drones to ascend. It won’t be able to reach them if they’re higher than it can jump," I give the order, disinterested. The monster is strong, but it seems like a lesser threat than I had assumed.

’Strange. Generation 0 to 100 monsters are generally pretty dumb. They’re not known for setting traps and ambushes, and the few intelligent ones, like Nemesis, end up having human-level intelligence or higher...’

"Commander, it started throwing rocks at the drones, and the force of each throw is strong enough to destroy them."

"...What a little pest... fire the cannon at it again. We’ll see how it reacts. If it dies, great, we can go back to exploring the area." Cecilia quickly reactivates the cannon.

"Increase the power by 20% and hold the shot for four seconds," I request, wanting to raise the attack’s intensity.

"Understood." She repositions the cannon’s aim onto the monster, which is oblivious to the attack, and then fires, hitting it directly. The drones execute a nimble maneuver to avoid being hit while climbing a bit higher.

"...?" We hear a boom as the island trembles. On the recording, we see the monster firing an energy beam at the island.

"!!!!"

"Commander, it absorbed and returned our attack," Cecilia says, alarmed, as I click my tongue.

"Damage to the island?"

"Two stabilizers cracked and one floater broke, but repair drones have already been dispatched to assess and fix the damage, and shields have been activated to prevent another shot."

"It seems that ugly thing over there is stronger than I imagined." It seemed weak, but if it can absorb and return attacks, then any non-physical attack might possibly be returned... probably. We don’t know its limit enough to say yet.

"What do you think the fear was that spawned this thing?" I ask Cecilia, who becomes thoughtful.

"I have no idea, Commander. I can’t think of anything that would generate that. Its appearance is too deformed to be a good indicator, and the absorption and return capability is too broad."

"Considering it can’t climb, do you think we should send a team to kill it? Or should we just ignore the area and descend to the next ruins?" I ask her this because she’s still an experienced Vice-Commander.

"Maybe send a team. Although its ability is strong, the threat level we’re seeing now is low, and the area is quite valuable."

"I agree. That’s two against zero. Let’s send out a request for a group of three Kairas to face a threat capable of absorbing and returning attacks. We’ll also call an evaluator to watch the footage and catalog this thing."

’Good thing we pulled back...’ This is problematic. I don’t know the conditions for absorbing an attack, but if we had stayed and fought, we could have suffered too many casualties, because this monster proved itself strong, fast, intelligent, and with excellent decision-making ability.

"I’ll do that immediately. Commander, are you planning to participate?" When she asks that, I think for a moment about whether it’s worth me joining.

"Yes, I’ll participate, considering I already ordered the attack against it. It’s better that I’m there for an assessment and to adjust security measures if necessary."

"And are you coming with me?" It would be a good opportunity for her to let loose and use her powers a bit.

"No, in this case, I think I’d just get in the way. I’m support, but I don’t see how to provide support against something so strange. Its intelligence is a problem."

"If it knows how to assess enemies, it’ll target me since I’m the weakest, and if it targets me, I’ll become a burden in the fight. So it’s better to leave this one to you this time. Besides, if it somehow absorbs an attack from my vectors, it would seriously hinder the whole team."

"But I’ll be on standby with the cannon again. If you need an attack, I’ll have everything ready to fire." She gives a confident smile that she’ll manage to be useful even from a distance.

"Perfect, then. Call the team, and I’ll prepare for combat. Also, before I go... I’d like you to—"

"I already know, Commander. I’ll send a message to Zenith for you," she says with a little smirk, as if she knew exactly what I was going to ask.

"...That’s not what I was going to ask..." I deny it without much conviction, because it was something like that I was going to ask, though it would have been something more neutral and not necessarily a message.

"I believe you, Commander. Of course not. So, do you want anything else?" She makes a little joke as I leave, closing the door after saying no, I don’t want anything else. That only makes her more confident.

’Entering combat without Zenith nearby... it’s been so long...’ We always did everything to be by each other’s side in combat. I feel strange fighting without her to cover me or without me covering her.

"I bet she’s being really tough on her students. I wonder if when I see her again, she’ll have changed that sarcastic and somewhat cruel attitude of hers." I enter the equipment room, changing my clothes for a uniform with better defensive capability, though heavier.

I also grab two knives, one for my waist and one for my boot, two pistols, and a submachine gun. I’ll hardly use these weapons, but as a distraction for my enemy, they could be useful.

"..." I look at the helmets and decide not to use one. Although their defense is good, the visibility with them is too limited.

"I have to do my best and make Zenith proud... and I also need to fulfill the agreement..." To pull Zenith out of the war, I had to make a very costly agreement.

I can’t let my performance metrics drop. If it reaches the point where it shows that Zenith’s absence is felt, they might try to bring her back. I need to achieve targets equivalent to my work and hers.

I practically had to double my work capacity just to keep her away from danger.

"Zenith would kill me if she knew I have to work this hard just so she can live on Aurora Island... Astrid promised she’d protect Zenith too... it’s better this way..." I prepare myself for the arrival of the team that will help me kill this monster.