Chapter 72 - Endless War

"Oh!"

Staring at the brown eyes, Sarah's mouth opened in an 'O' shape. Then, she nodded slowly, until Drake let go of her arm. She watched interestedly as the young man beckoned for four more people to come, most in bad shape.

They were using the Menoraz Army uniform, so dirty and ragged that it was almost impossible to see the emblem of the Advanced Scout Unit on it. Like her, they were soaked and tired. Turning back to the man that had held her, she saw that he wasn't wearing any kind of military clothing.

"What are you guys doing here? And who the hell are you?"

He was about to answer when one of the scouts, a fierce-looking woman, stepped forward.

"Leave the questions for later, soldier. I'm Captain Ruli Undelave, 37th Squad. Is this General Lilac's battlefield?"

"Uhh... Yes, ma'am."

"Great. Where is she now?"

Sarah stared at the captain, Ruli, wondering if she should disclose that information or not. They came from Lapidum's side of the battlefield, so she still had some doubts about their identities. But then again, they were scouts, so it made some sense. Feeling a headache coming, she pointed to the back of no-man's land.

"She is at the headquarters. Apparently one of her companions got hurt, so they retreated to take care of it."

She saw the woman tense up as she said that, which confused her a little, but Sarah honestly couldn't care less. She had more important things on her mind, like the battle that was going on.

"Take us there, soldier. Please."

Again, it was the young man that talked. Sarah had the feeling he and the woman named Ruli were the leaders of the team, or something close to that.

"I can't... Sir. I was posted here, so I mustn't..."

"Uff... All right, I forgot about orders, ranks, and sh*t. Captain Ruli, would you?"

The man let out an exasperated sigh, and turned to the scout. Her lips curved upwards for a moment as she turned to Sarah.

"Yep, okay. Soldier... What's your name?"

"Sarah, ma'am."

"Sarah, take us to General Lilac. Now."

"And before Jeff starts complaining like a little b*tch, please."

"Ah, f*ck you, Drake! Try getting shot and see if you like it!"

"I did! Twice."

It was a command coming from a superior officer. This time Sarah couldn't reject it even if she wanted to. Ignoring the conversation between the two men, she saluted Ruli.

"Follow me."

So they did. Sarah seemed to know her way around the battlefield very well. She hopped into trenches, sidestepped around the carcasses of huge Iferes and - somehow - smoldering trucks and tanks, and dodged collapsed bunkers.

She could feel the eyes of the man they had called Drake on her for a moment, then they moved to keep watch on the battlefield again. She had the distinct feeling he was evaluating her, trying to discover if she could be trusted to guide them. Apparently she passed the evaluation, because he didn't say anything.

The rain seemed to have weakened for now, although Sarah was pretty sure it wouldn't last long like that. In the past week, there had been moments it became a light drizzle, only to suddenly come back much stronger. Still, it helped see more of the barren land before her, which was helpful.

They were now at the first few lines of trenches. She could see several hundred Menoraz soldiers holed up in them, firing away at the enemies. One of them, a sergeant, saw them going away from the battlefield, and stopped her.

"Where do you think you are going, soldier?! The fight is this way!"

Unsure of what to say, Sarah turned to Ruli. It was a tested and approved method. You didn't know what to answer, pass it up the chain of command, which meant letting the captain do the explaining.

"She is following my orders, sergeant. Captain Ruli..."

"Incoming! Down!"

The warning came too late. Sarah felt herself being pushed down by Drake, and Ruli tried to do the same with the sergeant, but both failed. A sharp pang of pain hit her as a sharp boulder pierced her forearm. The officer wasn't as lucky as her, and had a similar rock going through his jaw.

While she grimaced in pain like she never felt before, Sarah managed to turn and see the source of the attack. It was some rock-type Ifere, covered in an armor of boulders, and big as a tank. The creature had a frenzied look on it's red eyes that Sarah knew all too well, having seen it many times in the last weeks. It was the look of an Ifere that lost it's companion, and all it wanted was revenge.

Dozens of rocks, all sharp and pointed like the one still embedded in her body, detached themselves from the Ifere's body, and flew towards Menoraz's lines. Yells and exclamations of pain came from several points along the trench.

Bullets impacted on the creature's body, most just ricocheting away or chipping shards from it's armor. Some, however, penetrated it, leaving bloody holes the Ifere didn't seem to care about.

Feeling a weight on her back, Sarah only now realized Drake was still on top of her. His ragged shirt and jacket were almost gone now, a long cut dripping with blood in his chest on their place. The same rock that injured Sarah had almost killed Drake.

"Crap..."

The young man didn't seem to notice he was injured, instead fixing his eyes on the rock-type Ifere. It was sprinting towards them, now blind of one eye and bleeding profusely from dozens of bullet wounds.

"Ruli, I might need help."

"On it! Hit the eyes, try to slow it down!"

Sarah didn't know what the scout was planning until she saw her fiddling with the uniform of the dead sergeant. When she triumphantly pulled out a grenade, she understood. Drake did too, and didn't like it, but kept aiming and firing at the Ifere.

His first few shots missed, mainly because he couldn't grip his gun properly, so wet and slippery as it was. On his fourth or fifth attempt, however, the Ifere howled in agony as it's remaining eye exploded in a red mist.

Without wasting a breath, Ruli climbed out of the trench, and ran towards the Ifere. When she was about ten meters away from it, she pulled the pin on the grenade, and simply dropped it at her own feet before jumping to the side.

The timing was impeccable. As soon as the Ifere stepped over the grenade, it exploded. Pieces and bits of it were sent flying, but it's huge body contained most of the blast, and Ruli, who was just a few meters away, came out unscathed.

Meanwhile, Drake and the other scouts were firing wildly at Lapidum's lines, making sure they kept their heads down. However, Sarah had the weird impression the young man was missing on purpose, firing way above the black-coats.

"That's probably the craziest thing you've done yet, captain."

"Nah, I'm sure it's not. Remember that time on the south border? By the way, thanks, Drake."

Ruli patted Drake's shoulder, who nodded in response. Then, he frowned, and looked down at his chest. Blood was flowing from the cut, helped by the drizzle that was falling.

"Ouch. It's starting to hurt."

"No sh*t, Sherlock. Come on, let's go."

Drake's frown deepened, seemingly more bothered by Ruli's actions than the pain.

"That was too risky."

"Maybe. But it was the fastest course of action. And it probably avoided a dozen more deaths before it was taken down."

He didn't have an answer for that. Sarah saw him stretching a hand to her, and she gingerly took it with her good arm. Drake glanced at the piece of rock that was still stuck on her forearm.

"Uhmm... Better leave that there for now."

"Agreed. Sarah, would you mind continuing leading us to the general?"

Looking back at the dead sergeant, Sarah hesitated for a moment before nodding. The absurd pain she was feeling also helped her make up her mind.

This time there weren't any mishaps along the way, and even the officers let them retreat quietly, seeing as most of the group was wounded in some way. Soon they arrived at the backlines, where General Lilac's headquarters were.

At first Sarah thought they would be stopped by the guards, but Ruli whispered something to one of them, and he disappeared inside the building. Soon he returned with a colonel with a warm smile on his face.

"Heya, girl! Are you all right?"

"Of course, Colonel Acam. Thanks for your concern, sir."

Sarah had the feeling the captain and the colonel knew each other pretty well. The officer scanned her and the other scouts, and they all saluted him. His eyes paused on Drake, who not only wasn't exacting the necessary formalities, but also didn't seem to even notice Colonel Acam's presence. Before he said anything, however, Ruli tugged at his arm.

"Who was it? Minxa or Kilqia? How serious is it?"

"Kilqia. A spirit-type skill shook it out off Space Slit, and a stray wood-type skill hit it. Nothing too bad, thankfully. Just another scar for the collection, am I right?"

"Uff... Thank Ingenum."

Colonel Acam patted Ruli's head like one would do to a child, and grinned. Sarah, on the other hand, was stunned. Kilqia was General Lilac's companion, so why would the scout be so worried about it?

"Ruli, I hate to interrupt your reunion, but could we hurry up? They are in there."

Once again, Drake shocked Sarah with his lack of discipline as he butted into the conversation. He barely nodded at the colonel, and was looking anxiously at Ruli.

"And you are?"

"Drake Stronter, General Lilac's personal scout. Also the guy who told you about the hidden army. Excuse me?"

Without waiting for an answer, Drake pushed open the door. As soon as he did so, two figures jumped on top of him, and he gleefully caught them.

"Ah, I missed you guys!"

---------------------------

Drake had been growing increasingly nervous and anxious the closer they got to General Lilac's headquarters. It wasn't as much anticipation to see his companions as it was the feeling of reuniting something that should have never been separated.

Ignoring the stunned and somewhat annoyed look the officer who came to receive Ruli had, Drake squeezed past him and opened the door that he obviously didn't have the authority to open. Without a moment's hesitation, Frainer and Kniivar jumped on him.

Catching the two Iferes, he embraced them without saying much. The Spirit Contract that bound them transmitted his thoughts perfectly.

Carefully patting them, he first looked at the wound Kniivar had before he sent her and Frainer to deliver his message. The shallow cut had already healed, the only sign that it ever existed being the slightly smaller patch of fur around it.

Sighing in relief, he noticed that the wood-type Ifere was heavier in his arms. After two weeks, although it was still very thin, Kniivar had grown to over a meter long, her horns the size of his hand.

Frainer also was bigger, although the change was less noticeable in the spirit-type Ifere. The green mist that was it's body seemed to have grown denser, and the red eyes were shining.

"Aham..."

A loud cough interrupted their blissful reunion, and, Drake looked up to see not only General Lilac, but also several other high-ranking officers. Most of them had a frown, while the old woman was smiling slightly. Ruli was shaking her head disappointed, and Holber had a sneer on his face.

"Err... Sorry. Just excited to see them."

"All right. Everyone come inside, please. And guard, fetch us a medic."

"Yes, ma'am."

Under the disapproving glare of several officers, the group entered the room. There was a weird Ifere in the corner, which looked like a giant silver snake with wings. Drake easily recognized it as a Kilqia, one of the most famous space-type Iferes. At the moment, the creature had half of it's body covered by a mucus-like substance, a product of certain life-type skills.

"General, Captain Ruli Undelave of the 37th Squad presenting herself."

"Huh. Your team is in a pretty bad shape, captain."

Drake couldn't help but scratch his head at the conversation. While their interaction would have been considered the normal banter between superior and subordinate in other circumstances, Drake knew they were daughter and mother - well, adopted daughter, but it didn't matter - which made the formality seem unnecessary and uncomfortable. Still, it wasn't his place to point out anything.

"We were almost wiped out during our mission in Lapidum, general. What you are seeing is what remains of the 37th Squad."

"Uhmm... Understood. I will need a report later. It's good to see that you are well, though."

"Thank you, ma'am."

General Lilac's eyes flashed with relief and happiness, the only signs that her relationship with Ruli was something special. The captain was about to say something more, but her mother raised a hand, and turned to Drake.

"You did a damn good job for someone who takes every opportunity to complain about being enlisted, you know?"

Drake shrugged. He was in a good mood now that he had Frainer and Kniivar with him again.

"Just luck, gen."

He didn't miss how his addressing of General Lilac made Ruli and the other officers flinch, and smirked. There was no real reason to provoke them, other than it being fun.

"I don't think you can cast that to luck. But praises to who needs to be praised. We really own you one, Stronter."

She could see the confusion in the eyes of the other people around them. Smiling, General Lilac did a fake bow to Drake, as if she was introducing him to a crowd at a theater.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Frainer's and Kniivar's companion, Drake Stronter. Amongst other things, he is responsible for warning us of a hidden Lapidum Army, avoiding thousands of casualties. And he can be a bit of a prick sometimes."