How Aliens Kill Things

Vrrr....

The APC drove slowly over the difficult forest terrain with the occasional bumpiness. It did not help that the forest was no longer a forest, but also a sanctuary of a ruined small shopping district. The concrete roads fighting with the thick roots of Larchil trees was certainly an odd sight.

Klein looked out of the window and then back to the driver's seat where Lieutenant Sid was alertly navigating the terrain.

He carefully observed the man in how he drove the vehicle and attempted to mimic him in the passenger seat, his arms moving an imaginary steering while, while his feet pushed the invisible pedals.

Lieutenant Sid observed Klein's actions from his peripheral vision, and a bead of sweat formed and trailed down his cheek.

"What are you doing?" He asked the young mage.

"Learning to ride" Came the answer, as Klein focused on the road, steering his imaginary wheel with care and precision.

"...Why?"

"Well, I'm gonna be in your company for a while right? You guys might need an extra driver in case of an emergency or something" Klein turned his head to the man and flashed a bright smile.

"No, but... Ah forget it..." Sid gave up, returning his focus on the road.

"By the way, I heard you aliens don't have mages?"

"... Where did you hear that from?"

"An alien friend"

"... That's right"

"So how do you make things like this? I've been wondering about it ever since you came here"

"... Precise engineering?"

"Can I learn that too?"

"Well, I guess... if you ever find a library and can read, you can learn anything. If the internet was still up..."

Before the lieutenant could continue, a large movement in the trees caught his attention. He turned towards it, and from the foliage, a large creature emerged, causing the man's eyes to widen.

The creature was a silver wolf about as large as the vehicle he was driving, and it appeared to be aggressively eyeing them.

Sid gulped.

"W-w-what's that?" He asked trembling, almost forgetting he had modern firepower at his disposal.

Klein was interrupted from his imaginary driving and looked over to where the alien warrior was staring.

"Ah, a Silvermoon wolf. Odd, they should be sleeping at this time of day." Klein spoke casually and then tried to return to his driving practice.

The wolf approached steadily and circled the vehicle.

Although the lieutenant was startled out of his wits, he still had enough presence of mind to contact the company behind him at the unexpected and unwelcome discovery through radio transmission.

Klein's interest grew upon observing the magicless use of distance communication, but after looking at the current distress of the alien warrior, decided to postpone his inquiries after he let the man deal with the current situation.

He was curious to see how aliens kill things.

Lieutenant Sid quickly grabbed his rifle, briefly lamenting that the APC he was driving was not equipped with a turret.

CLICK.

He turned the safety off, and carefully exited the vehicle at an angle that obscured the wolf's vision.

Growl.

The wolf's ears twitched slightly as it paced around the vehicle once more.

The lieutenant held his breath, grasping his rifle firmly in the direction he anticipated the wolf to come from.

Its approaching low growls hammered against the lieutenant's chest, raising his heart rate.

The wolf pounced over the vehicle, and its shadow passed over the crouching military man.

 The lieutenant barely had the time to look up, but by the time he did so, the wolf had already landed, causing the ground to vibrate.

As he looked into the wolf's hungry eyes, he started to become paralyzed with fear but quickly managed to shake it off.

He had experienced too much in the service of the army to let a mere wolf bring him down, no matter how large and intimidating it was.

He quickly adjusted his aim, and even faster than he could think, let loose a spray of bullets at the beast.

RATATATAT!

Due to the wolf's size, he had managed to land good shots on the creature before it leaped away from the rifle's aim with astonishing speed.

Before he could turn to face the wolf again, it leaped at him, long sharp claws aiming for his neck.

It was only due to the purely honed instinct trained from the long duration he had served that he managed to roll forward at that moment, escaping death.

As the wolf prepared to leap again, the lieutenant was faster this time, emptying out his magazine on the beast, luckily managing to pierce its skull.

The ferocity slowly left its eyes before whimpering, and it collapsed in front of the armored vehicle.

Huff. Huff.

After the lieutenant confirmed that he had dispatched the massive wolf, he panted, the adrenalin coursing through him slowly wearing off.

Klein observed the man from the passenger seat with great interest.

'Those sticks... are dangerous' He had felt it before, but the weaponry used by the aliens was extremely powerful. They may not have much of an effect on magicians of decent skill and awareness, or higher-ranked beasts, but they were perfect for rank-and-file combat.

Wars on The Continent would have been very different with the usage of that kind of weaponry. But although Klein was impressed, his mind focused on something else as it turned at the rapid speeds befitting the calculative power of a magus.

'Precise engineering. Stick Weapons. Enchantments. Casting' Those four concepts played around in his mind, and an idea began to form.

'If that's possible, then...' Klein's heart thumped. It was the first time in a long while since he felt this kind of excitement; blood and mana rushing through him like a strong tide. The last time he felt something similar to this was when...

At that moment, the land tremored slightly. The vibrations were not enough to be noticed immediately, but they were accompanied by roars and wails, getting louder with each passing moment.

Naturally, Klein recognized the phenomenon, not too surprised that it was occurring after such an environment-destroying, eco-unfriendly cataclysm that changed the shape of the world.

'Beasts like their homes too'

Klein immediately paused his thoughts and knocked on the window of the APC, grabbing the lieutenant's attention.

"Time to go alien, his friends and enemies will be here shortly" Klein smiled, gesturing to the wolf's corpse, and after the man holding the rifle registered his words, he visibly paled.

The lieutenant hurried over to the driver's seat, panicking as he fumbled through the radio transmission.

"Alpha two to company. Code black. Repeat. Code black. Retreat, over" He spoke as he quickly drove the vehicle away from the incoming catastrophe.

He very much desired to rendezvous with his squadron at that moment, knowing that the only hope to survive in such a situation would be to work with the safety of numbers.

It had taken his everything to survive an encounter with just one of the dreaded beasts, and he had no idea how many were charging through the area.

He then turned to look at the carefree wizard on the passenger seat who was eyeing the corpse of the wolf with great interest.

As he drove as quickly as he could, the lieutenant suddenly remembered a crucial detail he had missed in all his panic and distress

'Couldn't he have helped?'