Chapter 185: Discovery
Benitez sat next to Eric as they looked down into the valley. Each team had been reporting the same report, and the soldiers were getting on edge. Every four hours, a transport team would follow the same path the original convoy had taken. After the second report from Mia’s team, Mia called Eric.
"I think they’re trying to bait us out."
Eric turned to Benitez and put the phone on speaker. "I agree. It doesn’t make sense for them to waste resources by sending small convoys down mountain passes like this. On our end, it has been four so far. They did it at 0100,0500, and just now at 0900. Do you think they know we are here?"
"No. I think they think we are here. Since they have been unable to flush us out, they will likely send patrols towards the high points on the roads. Cartharic doctrine is observation points within a four to five hundred-meter radius. They likely think we are in that range."
Eric frowned. "Well, it is a good thing we chose observation points that are out of their line of sight. Alright, we are going to go radio silent now. Hide the trucks down hill in the treeline, make sure the troops know that there is no smoking, no skylining, and no exposed movement. Only report what is necessary. We will do radio checks every four hours."
"Okay. Be careful."
"You too. Love you." After hanging up the phone, Eric hopped on the radio to relay the same order to the rest of the Helios teams.
They didn’t wait long to find the real convoy.
A few hours later, the radio cackled to life. Eric looked at his watch. There were still a few hours until the next radio check, so he frowned and walked over to the vehicle.
"Helios one, this is Helios two. Large convoy spotted."
Eric looked towards the horizon, his eyes narrowing.
Then, he felt it. The wrongness in the air. An unsettling feeling as the mana of the world became weighed down like the ocean being pressed on his shoulders. He took a deep breath and grabbed the radio.
"How large of a convoy?"
There was no response at first, and Eric felt his chest tighten. He sat down against the truck, looking out in the direction where Helios two was. "Come on, answer dammit."
After what felt like hours, the radio came alive again. "Helios one. This is Helios two. Ten Llrathels and five of those new mana trucks are escorting the transport convoy. And Eric?"
Eric held his breath. "What is it?"
"They have twelve mages, and fifty troops walking on foot."
Eric sucked in air sharply and banged his fist against the dirt. "Shit."
He hopped back on the radio. "Helios Two, Helios one. Verify whether the Ark cores are present or not."
"Roger."
Eric walked up to Benitez. "We may need to move. Have the soldiers get the vehicles ready. I need to verify whether the transport convoy Captain Stryer found is the Ark Core transport we are looking for."
Michael came back over the radio. "Helios one, Helios two. No confirmed Ark cores are present."
Eric looked at Benitez. The Staff Sergeant was currently logging another fake convoy making it’s way past the checkpoint two miles to their south. Clouds of dust rose high into the air behind the convoy. Eric checked the time.
It was now 1000.
"They are starting to move at intermixed intervals." Eric murmured before radiology Michael again.
"Helios Two, Helios one. What does their formation look like? Are the Llrathels staggered, are the mages on horseback or foot?"
Eric thought back to when Mia and he had first started dating. They had spent a full night talking about the different types of convoys the Empire used.
Mia opened the book and slid it over to Eric. Their hands touched and she blushed slightly. Her eyes met his, and she smiled. Eric pulled her into his lap, kissing her. "We’ve already slept together, Mia." He said with a chuckle, and she rested against him.
They kissed before she shook her head. "No sex. It is lesson time."
"Sex after?"
She smiled, kissing his nose. "Only if you pay attention."
He nodded, and they stopped playing around. She hopped off of his lap and he took out his notebook.
"Alright. Lay it on me. What types of convoys do they use?"
In the book, there were various hand drawn vehicles depicted. She drew his attention to the top of the page. "This is probably the most important one. When it comes to their manufacturing and logistics transport, they rely on a company of mages and a company of Llrathels. Often times, they will have up to a battalion of foot soldiers as well. In the past, rebels or bandits would realize that their convoys were easy pickings, so they beefed up their security depending on the cargo."
Eric narrowed his eyes. "I see."
Eric shook his head as Michael’s response came. He was daydreaming about the night he had after and pinched himself to focus. Benitez saw the act, but said nothing.
"Helios one, llrathel columns are staggered. Two in front, two in rear. The mages are horseback, with the foot soldiers covering every angle."
Eric rubbed his face in his hands. "Roger that, Helios Two. Helios one out."
Eric looked down the valley, biting his lip. "Helios three, Helios one."
"Go ahead Helios one."
"I sense the cores somewhere, but Helios two says there is no visible confirmation. What are your thoughts?"
Mia’s answer came a few minutes later.
"Helios one, this is Helios Three."
Eric sighed in relief. He had been been pacing as he waited for Mia to respond. He nearly tripped running over to the radio.
"Go ahead Helios three."
"I think the real convoy is what Helios two reported. I can sense the mana from here. They can mask much of the mana output, but even then, the cores are too powerful to hide. However, I think that it is incomplete. The numbers that Helios two reported are not enough to..."
Her report cut off, and Eric frantically grabbed the radio. "Helios three? Come in Helios three."
Eric sat down in the truck, looking towards the direction he felt the mana overload coming from. He couldn’t speak. Words tried to come out as he held the mic down, but eventually he let it go.
Finally, her response came. "Helios one, Helios three."
Eric nearly shouted into the radio. Instead, he responded calmly. "Go ahead."
"After referring to my notes, I noticed a discrepancy. The Empire convoys are being noticeably on time every time. Except for the 900 and 1300 convoy’s. Yesterday, they arrived at the checkpoint at 0907. Today, it was 0918. Yesterday, it was 1302. Today, it was 1324. Do you think they may be hiding a small amount of mana cores in what we thought were the fake convoys?"
Eric sighed and looked out towards where the last convoy had disappeared to. He pulled out his own notes, cross verifying all the dates and times the convoys appeared.
"All Helios stations on net, did anyone notice a discrepancy in the times the convoys passed through their checkpoints?"
"Helios one, This is Helios four."
Eric looked at his notes again, verifying once more that there were no discrepancies. "Go ahead Helios Four."
"Yes, we had two discrepancies. One at the 1600 checkpoint yesterday, and the other at the 0900 checkpoint. Each time was twelve minutes past."
Eric closed his notebook and got out of the truck. He grabbed the radio. Michael and Mia had confirmed no other discrepancies for their convoys, and Eric paced as he thought.
"There could be any number of reasons why a convoy is late. Think, Eric. Think." He murmured.
Then it hit him.
"Helios three. This is Helios one."
"Go ahead Helios one."
Eric sighed, holding the radio to his head as he thought of the possible scenarios. "What if the convoys aren’t fake? Do you think they could be storing the cores elsewhere?"
Mia once more didn’t respond right away. A few tense moments later, she came back over the net. "Yes, that could be possible. But, it is unlikely. Even if they think or know we are here, they likely wouldn’t leave the cores without a heavy guard. We would have picked up the signs already, if they were hiding the cores somewhere."
Eric chewed on his lip as Benitez walked over. Benitez sat down in the TC spot, looking towards the soldiers pulling guard.
"We can’t fight a force that large with four teams, Master Sergeant." He said, putting a wad of chew in his lip.
"We would need at least a company of armor and maybe some artillery."
Eric sighed. "I know, but I have one nagging worry."
Benitez looked up, his eyebrows arched and head slightly tilted. "And what’s that?"
"Where is the other transport team?"
