The Cyborg System-Chapter 70: Other Side

On the other side of the portal, Sergeant Jones waited eagerly. The rest of the squad looked somewhat bored, disappointed that they had been placed on babysitting duty.

"They should be here by now," said Private Willow staring at her watch. Rather than bored, she appeared to be genuinely concerned.

"Be patient," said Sergeant Jones. "They’ll be here soon."

As if waiting for this exchange to take place, an orange portal opened up above their heads and off to one side. Without hesitation, the bodies started falling through, like rain, landing with a regular thud.

"See," said the Sergeant.

As the bodies piled up, many falling on top of one another, the distance between the portal and the ground decreased. It grew to the point where it was in danger of new people struggling to come through.

Lifting his arms, Sergeant Jones parted the mounds of bodies using his telekinesis ability, creating more space for the next batch. Shortly after, a second and third portal opened up, and before they knew it, their squad of eleven was surrounded by well over two hundred students and their teachers. While the less experienced students landed ungracefully, those more used to travel via portal navigated through with more decorum.

Finally, the portals started to close, blinking out of existence.

"Who’s in charge here?" asked Sergeant Jones.

"That would be me," said Master Wood stepping forward from the congregated combat masters. No one seemed to mind this declaration, despite the fact they were all technically on an equal footing.

"Lieutenant, it’s good to see you again," said Sergeant Jones.

"It’s Master now," she corrected. Her teaching role was outside of the traditional ranking system the Western Allied Forces used, but to have reached the level of Master at her young age spoke to her ambition and skill, if not also a little to her father’s powerful connections.

"We should get going now anyway. It’ll be dark soon. We don’t wanna get ambushed. And we still need to assign rooms."

Master Wood nodded. "We need a quick register to ensure everyone is here first. Then we’ll depart."

"Very well," replied the sergeant.

*

The journey proceeded in the giant armoured transport vehicles. Unlike the PTVs, light machines which would float above the ground, the ATVs were terrestrial vehicles which could carry twenty or so people, if a little snug. The Spirit Tech glass slits that acted as windows suggested that there was some need to use such machines near beasts capable of destroying strong components.

Looking outside, Lenny could see a number of beasts out in the wild. There were herds of prey class beasts and stray scavengers wandering about. It was a surprisingly beautiful landscape, rich vistas of open grass and rolling hills stretching off into the sunset. Occasionally, one of the beasts would come up and attack their vehicle, but they were largely ignored like the nuisances they were.

One or two of the more vicious-looking prey were shot down by the turrets when it was deemed necessary, and one was even targeted by an archer, but in general, they were surprisingly conservative with their ammo.

"Are there no predators about?" asked Lenny.

Private Willow was the squad member dedicated to their group. Most vehicles had both a master and a private, but there were not enough combat masters to go around. Private Willow had an affable smile, however, and was happy to answer the question.

"Not usually in this area. It was cleared initially decades ago when the first fortresses were built. That’s not to say we don’t see them from time to time, and a portal could always open up nearby. You never know on the beast planets. But as for predators, they’re not common. Not unless you travel to the unconquered territories."

Lenny nodded. He had no desire to fight one, not yet anyway, but he was curious if they would come up against anything they couldn’t handle. He felt relief that such a scenario was unlikely.

"Will we be staying at the fortress, then?" asked Harry.

"Yes," replied Willow.

"How will it fit over two hundred and fifty students?"

Willow smiled again. "You haven’t seen a fortress before, have you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Stick your head out the top and take a look."

"I thought we were still a few miles away?" said Harry.

"We are," she replied.

Harry and Lenny looked at one another, then lifted the hatch in the centre of the ATV. Sticking their heads out the top, they could see it in the distance, a vast black fortress that looked like it was carved out of stone. It rose up into the low-hanging clouds. Even from this distance, something irregular could be seen about the pattern of stone.

"It’s huge," said Harry in awe.

"It is," replied Private Willow. "We’ll take a proper tour of the facilities soon." She yawned and closed her eyes. "Wake me up when we arrive."

At that moment, though, something strange happened. Lenny felt a sudden sense of déjà vu and his HUD came up in his view without thinking about it.

"Hidden conditions have been met," said the System. "Unlocking memory files..."

A loading bar came into view as a flood of images began to enter Lenny’s mind. They were not clear and linear, like a well-organised collection of film clips, but jumbled and disorganised, like flashes. He saw a crib, tubes of fluorescent liquid, a strange fox-like beast licking his hand. Lenny screamed out, grasping his head, feeling an immense pain.

"Lenny? What’s wrong?" asked Harry.

A few moments later, the pain started to subside.

"Nothing," he replied.

"You boys alright?" asked Private Willow.

Lenny slumped down in his seat, looking tired. Harry came back in too and locked the hatch above them tightly.

"We’re fine," said Harry. "He gets migraines."

He’d have to thank Harry later for covering.

"Pathetic," said one of the boys in the ATV. Turning to face him, it was Brom. Neither had spotted him sat there in the corner with his group. His cronies laughed at his brazen comment.

"Don’t worry about him, Lenny," said an unexpected voice: it was Nicholas. "He’s still sore from you giving him a beating." He smiled.

Meanwhile, Brom seethed in the corner, not angry at Nicholas, his superior he felt impotent against, but the little vermin who had embarrassed him not once now, but twice.