American Isekai - Chapter 172 (Patreon)

November 18, 623

The night came.

The Snow Doves had returned, were briefed on their next objectives, and had been sent off once more. 

The plans of action regarding the Bombardos and massive Scourge forces getting ready to storm the base were still being pondered upon by the upper echelon. 

Pollux and half the Pathfinders were out there collecting tons of information. 

And I was about to lead the other half, along with three infiltrators, to finally carry out this insertion. 

The three Chiefs, two knights and a warlock, had been taught about exactly what I needed them to do and how to do it for every day that they were beyond Hare’s Pass. They wouldn’t have to think much. They just needed to log everything they saw in an organized fashion. If they brought back adequate information, all of this time and effort would be worthwhile. 

Of course, the fact that I even had doubts on whether or not they would do it properly still irked me to no end, but we were beyond the point where I could continue to complain about not going myself. 

I simply made sure that things would go as well as they could. I’d have to trust these soldiers to do the rest. 

“Unfortunately you’re leaving at a bad time.”

Jasmine muttered as I stood at the entrance to the garage. My two squads of Pathfinders were packing what little remained to be packed. We would be deploying in less than 10 minutes. 

“I’d prefer if we could receive word from base before you left. If the order to pull out came down, we’d struggle to get you back safely.”

“We could make it work. I’m packing extra rations for that reason. We could spend the next month out there and be completely fine.”

“Mm. Just make sure you get out there safely. You need to err on the side of caution. If things are too risky, pull out and preserve lives.”

“If things at the entrance to the crossing are really that bad, than I can’t imagine how things are beyond it. We need this information. I’m going to get it one way or another if it means the generals will act on it.”

I thought about what might be happening with the newly discovered Scourge armies and Bombardos. While this was a relatively dire situation for the Treehouse, there might be many other dire situations that the Kingdom was trying to do something about. 

I wasn’t expecting lightning fast strategic responses, but the Kingdom at least had lightning fast communications. I was hoping that the decision would not only come soon, but the necessary troops would be mobilized just as quickly. 

The issue here was that the Scourge was sending an army that it shouldn’t have bothered to send. The reason Stronghold Charlie, and by extension the Treehouse, was so understaffed was because the Scourge never bothered to send massive armies due to the complex terrain. It was too logistically difficult. 

And yet they were forcing themselves too, because they could or not I wasn’t sure. Either way, we now had an army on our doorstep that we couldn’t handle. 

I wanted to know why they were not just able to do so, but why they were doing it. Did they simply have that many lives to throw away? Or were they relying on some superior form of transportation and supply lines? Whatever it was, we needed to know so we could do something about it. 

This mission would be the biggest step toward that end. 

One the Pathfinders were done loading, I walked over and grabbed onto a metal handle on the Steed. 

“I’ll check in before we go dark.”

“Mm. Stay safe Cooper.”

I gave her a salute in response, which she returned before heading into headquarters. 

I looked around at the four Steeds that comprised our convoy, all of them ready. 

Then, I spoke into the Aerial. 

“Green light, Pathfinders. Let’s roll.”

……

…

(November 20, 623)

Thankfully, the route I picked was just as clear as I hoped it would be. I had been worried ever since finding that Scourge army in the ravine, but since this one was on the other side of the map, Scourge presence was nearly nonexistent, as I figured it would be. I was happy to be right. 

Unfortunately, I should’ve rethought which squads I gave to Pollux before he left. I hadn’t been worried before but now it was coming back to be a pain in my ass. 

That irritating voice came through the general channel on my Aerial. 

“Hey pipsqueak, can we stop for the night already?”

“Negative First Sergeant. We’ve got a schedule to stay on.”

“You’re really forcing us to drive for 20 hours at a time?”

“Please keep this channel clear for any emergencies, thank you.”

I said that before ignoring any more protests. It wasn’t like I was comfortable either, but a knight like Eric had no right to bitch and complain. He was lucky that he was still a rank higher than me. Even though I had operational command, I couldn’t just shut him down. 

I’d be putting in for another promotion when I got back to the stronghold, whenever that would be. 

The first two days of the trip passed uneventfully. Nothing to fight, nothing to hide from. Boring was just the way I wanted it to be. 

We had gone dark not long into the first day, and it would stay that way for the duration of the mission until we returned. We had no connection to base and nobody to come and help us. 

I didn’t mind that either. I enjoyed this kind of independence. I frequently reminded myself that this was my mission. I wasn’t here to just follow along, I was leading. I needed to act like it, which came a bit more naturally to me than otherwise. 

Of course, I was acutely aware of my position as the ‘commanding officer’. I was the lowest ranking man here and like with Eric, I couldn’t pull rank on anybody, nor could I expect to be treated as if my position was a given. 

So long as I didn’t act like a prick though, I would be good. I was here to carry out the mission, not lord over these soldiers. So long as they didn’t try to jeopardize the mission or do something really stupid, I wouldn’t have to wrangle them. 

On the contrary, all I had to do for the duration of our travel was make sure we were on the right course and pick out good camping spots. Otherwise, I was spending most of my day working on my formations and projecting through my 5th Star in search of more weapons. 

My primary focus was on my advancement formation, but I was also spending energy on developing the Mind Palace technique. I had made some headway but it would be a drawn out process until I could run the idea by Maxwell, perhaps have him help me with it. 

I wondered if the military knew the concept of vacation days. There was no way they were holding soldiers in those bases for decades at a time. There had to be some opportunity to visit home. 

Not that I had a home to visit. I just wanted to see Umara. 

Either way, it wouldn’t be soon, so I focused on training instead. We had three more days until we arrived at our target area. Besides the ass-numbing drives, this was a nice break from the normal bustle of the bases. Peace in the middle of nowhere. 

The calm before the storm. 

……

Two more days passed, and we settled for the night. 

Camp was set up, dinner was made, and it was almost time to retire. 

I called out. 

“Dennis and Smithson, you’re on night watch tonight.”

“Roger.”

“Mm.”

I received two unenthusiastic replies. 

“Hey summoner, why don’t you take watch instead of making everyone else do it? Aren’t you the one with good eyes?”

Plus one nuisance.

I sighed. 

“Same reason I’m not making our drivers take watch, First Sergeant. We need our sleep. You all can sleep in the Steeds. I need to navigate.”

“Please, not like you don’t just sit on your ass all day doing whatever you want. You think you get full authority just because you’re the ops commander?”

“Not full authority, no. But enough to ensure that we don’t stray from the mission objectives.”

I looked over at Eric, who was quickly getting on my nerves. He had a knack for pissing people off.

“Do you question Commander Pollux this much, First Sergeant?”

“No, bu-”

“Then I expect you to do what’s necessary in order to carry out this mission, especially listening to me. Contrary to what you might think, I’m not stupid. I just about designed this entire mission with the help of Colonel Polly and Colonel Hendriks. It took months of constant analysis. And we will not stray from the plan just because you don’t care for me giving out night watch duties, or because you don’t care to listen to a summoner.”

“I also don’t care to be interrupted, fucking smartass. Since you seem to know fucking everything, why couldn’t you guess that? And how about you pipe down when your superiors are talking, since now you do know.”

“...”

I stared at him, hardly dumbfounded. I could no longer be surprised by his stupidity, or by his desire to create conflict no matter the situation. 

I probably should’ve left him behind. I guess I was stupid for not thinking of that. I’d take care not to make that mistake again. 

“The fuck are you looking at, summoner?”

“...First Sergeant.”

I looked to the side. It wasn’t me who had called Eric, but Chief Reginold. 

The warlock looked up from his chair, a scowl on his face and the two other Chiefs, my infiltrators, by his side. 

Eric raised his head, looking at them.

“...Yes?”

“Come here. Now.”

“...”

Eric was silent as he stood and walked over, leaning on one foot once he stood in front of Chief Reginold. 

“Yes si-”

“Salute your fucking superiors, and present yourself correctly.”

“...”

Eric stood there silently, stunned for a moment. He looked around, everyone else dead silent and watching him. 

Reginold barked. 

“Now, First Sergeant!”

“Sir! Yes sir!”

Eric snapped of a salute, standing ramrod straight.

“Now what the fuck are you doing in front of me, First Sergeant?!”

“Sir, reporting as you’ve requested!”

“Alright then! Listen closely.”

Chief Reginold glanced at me before continuing. 

“This mission that we’re currently conducting has been created with very careful planning, because even the smallest mistakes will mean that I, as well as the two Chiefs beside me, will face far greater danger within enemy territory once we insert! And I will not have some snobby First Sergeant jeopardizing our lives! So you will listen to every word and command your Operational Commander gives to you from now on, without question nor critique, because he knows more about what’s required of everyone here than you will ever. Is that understood?!”

“Yes sir!”

Eric continued saluting. He had no choice before the sheer might of an Authority 9 Chief, someone he could never hope to match up against. 

However, despite being face to face with an Authority 9 warlock, he wasn’t sufficiently cowed. I could feel the sheer rage in his Aura, as if he were trying to kill Chief Reginold with his mind. 

And if I could feel it, so too could they.

Chief Reginold stood, looking down at Eric. It seemed like Eric’s own anger had pissed Reginold off. I was sure that from Reginold’s perspective, Eric was acting defiant because he didn’t understand why he should fear, or respect, the power of a Chief.  

“Are you sure, First Sergeant? Would you salute your Ops Commander in apology, then?”
“...No sir. We don’t salute our inferiors in the military.”

“Well then, today we’re going to step out of our comfort zone. I’d bet my life that Captain Cooper will rise to your rank equivalent and soon surpass it long before you could ever hope to rise to the rank of Commander. And since he has command of this operation, I want you to act like it. Go over there and salute him.”

“...Sir-”

Eric was about to speak in protest when Reginold raised his hand with lightning speed, backed by the power of water and earth. He grabbed Eric’s neck and then brought him down, slamming his face into the dirt. I could feel the tremor under my feet. 

I kept watching without a word, thinking about how this would both help and hinder me. 

Reginold bellowed. 

“I will not hear the slightest hint of protest from you, especially against me! You are nothing more than a liability to us! If you dare to threaten the integrity of this operation with your sheer retardation, then I will find a Scourge encampment and let them skin you! I would sooner kill you myself than risk my life by letting you step out of line! So do as I say, how I say it, and when I say it! Do you fucking understand?! Or do I need to engrave this in your bones?!”

“I understand, sir!”

Eric yelled his response, his face half uncovered by dirt.

Then, Eric stood with him in hand and threw him to the ground at my feet. 

“Then salute your fucking Ops Commander, and apologize!”

“...”

Eric crawled to his feet, looking at me with sheer hatred before saluting. 

“Sir! I apologize for my actions!”

“Mm, thank you for the apology, First Sergeant.”

I didn’t smile, but I did salute him back lazily. Another thing I did was transmit the amusement I was feeling in my Aura straight to Eric while withholding it from everyone else. 

I wanted him to know just how happy I was to see him getting treated like this. I wanted him to know that I would revel in this. I wanted him to hate me with every fiber of his being. 

‘You’re a fucking pussy.’

I muttered that in my mind, sending those words straight to his. Nobody but him could hear it, and it made him positively livid. 

His hand moved in the direction of my neck, quickly, but not quick enough. I soon saw his body go flying toward a nearby boulder, hitting it so hard that he went through it and tumbled into another, cracking it. 

I could see blood stream out of his mouth. 

“Huhh… Healer, don’t bother healing him. He’s a knight. He can tough it out.”

Chief Reginold let out a sigh and straightened his clothes out, cooling down his brief anger. 

He nodded to me. 

“Captain Cooper, please continue with what you were saying.”

“Yes sir.”

I gave him a quick salute as he went to go sit back down. Then, I continued with my orders for the night. 

“Dennis and Smithson, you’re on watch tonight. Like the last few nights, if you see anything at all, especially indications of a scout, come get me. We’re getting close to Commander Pollux but I’d still like to remain concealed for a bit longer. As for sleep tonight, we need to be up in 9 hours. Be fully rested because tomorrow we’re going to be getting close to a lot of Scourge activity. We need to be battle ready. That’s all. I’ll be in my tent if anyone needs me.”

I quickly wrapped up my orders for the night and walked off before anyone could formally respond. Everyone was on edge after Reginold made a First Sergeant grovel at my feet, and I didn’t want them to think that such treatment was for anyone else beyond Eric. While I wasn’t necessarily trying to make friends with everyone, I didn’t want people to avoid me either. Not for matters of socialization, but because I wasn’t some tyrant. I needed to know about everything going on with my soldiers or risk missing details that might threaten our livelihood, and I wanted them to be able to at least talk to me, even if they weren’t completely sure about something.

Still, this little display would definitely affect how people treated me, at least in these squads. Although, I didn’t mind that Eric wanted me dead. If he really stepped out of line, I’d have every justification to put him down, whether that was by ejecting him from the Pathfinders altogether or actually riding him from life. 

I wanted this flight risk gone. I’d capitalize on this to make that happen. 

I retreated to my tent. I was tired from the day anyway, and I wanted at least 8 hours. I had been sleep deprived lately and needed to catch up. 

I went to sleep not long after hitting my pillow. 

……

…

“C-Captain Cooper…”

“Hm?”

My eyes opened, someone just outside my tent and calling my name. 

I looked at my Aerial. It had only been 6 hours. 

“Captain Cooper?”

“What? What is it?”

I got up and threw my flap open. I was now pissed but since the memories of last night were still vividly in my mind, I couldn’t take out my anger on other people. 

It was Smithson, and he pointed me toward a direction beyond our camp. 

“I think you might want to see this. There’s movement on that cliff.”

“What kind of movement?”

“I’m not sure…”

I marched off, hood and mask covering my face to block out the biting cold. 

I climbed onto one of the Steed surrounding our camp, looking to where Smithson pointed. 

Then, my eyes widened. 

I could see four Cyclops Scouts, along with a sizeable escort of spiked wolves. However, they aren’t what surprised me. 

There was also a large group of Flickers, and they were tearing those Scouts apart even at the cost of some of their own. 

Since they weren’t far though, I suddenly dropped down and brought out my Springfield, equipped with scope and silencer. 

Even with empowerment, the silencer didn’t do too much to muffle the sound. But it would prevent the loudest of the noise from attracting anything in the surrounding lands. It would be the best I could do. 

So I started picking off the enemies, helping the Flickers best I could. The battle was quick and I only let off 8 rounds, killing just as many, but it was something. 

Then, when the Flickers settled, I saw a few of them look toward us. 

I stared at them. We were about 350 meters away from each other and I wasn’t sure if they could actually see me, but I had a feeling that their Auras could make do in place of their eyes. 

After a brief period though, one of the Flickers let out a whistling sound. The group turned and trotted off, bringing away their dead, and leaving my line of sight. 

I sent my gun away, rubbing the chin of my mask in thought.