Amazon Apocalypse 6: Chapter 30

Charlie was excited for actual training the following morning. I had to admit, the idea of training intrigued me.

I’d done plenty of it myself at Cyra’s instruction, and I’d learned the basics of adventuring during that dungeon dive with her and Myrina.

After, I had run training programs for the Nineteenth Legion. The military training proved quite useful at turning academy students into war mages.

And yet I’d never done something similar for Crownhill. I had an old jobs program, but that was more about settling people into roles as blacksmiths, teleportation array technicians, and other basic jobs. I wasn’t teaching combat. It was just something people picked up if that was what they were interested in. After all, early in the integration, just about everyone was self-taught.

Things were different now, though. There were people who had plenty of experience and were willing to share. In a way, I largely handed the job of teaching recruits off to Frank and the other guilds. They had experienced adventures and knowledge to share. But generic skill proficiencies like with the sword, bow, dodge, or others like it could be easily taught on a larger scale.

It was an idea I planned to keep in the back of my mind, and I was eager to see how the military base planned to make it happen.

We were gathered up with several groups of trainees, most slightly lower leveled than ourselves. A few had the classes and look of adventurers from Crownhill about them. I was debating how to probe them when Abby walked over to me and revealed she’d already learned everything I could want to know through casual conversation.

“Two teams are formerly from Crownhill. The women to the left, and the three men to the right. They share a similar story. After being disheartened at their inability to join a guild and compete for the best missions, they came here to improve their fortunes. Some are still hopeful, but others have realized the grass is not as green as they thought on this side of things,” Abby said.

Suzie left to take a stab at a similar investigation, but before she could really get started, our trainer arrived. Much to my surprise, he wasn’t human.

The man was tall, well-muscled, and had distinctly orcish features, though his skin was gray instead of green. He wore hard leather armor and looked like he would have been more at home on a medieval battlefield than on a military base.

Orku Warrior (Level 105)

“Attention, recruits! I’m told you’re going to be my first batch of students. Don’t ask me about anything outside of your combat training, because I’m as new here as you are. General Marshall and his men kindly took in what was left of my village. Before the end of the world, I was a soldier, but not the kind of soldier our hosts are. I’ll be teaching you how to use a weapon and hit the enemy without getting hit. Now, enough jabber, let’s get started.”

Soon, the orku warrior took us through another set of drills. They seemed useful to the others, though I only gained a single proficiency point, mostly thanks to the fact that I hardly ever used a spear for anything.

Our instructor seemed normal enough. When we took a water break and Abby asked him about his personal life, he revealed he had joined up with the human forces of this military base hardly a week ago, which was true to his claim that he was as new as we were.

The remains of his village had been fleeing the ruins of their destroyed home after losing the previous round of the integration to a wave of monsters. At the early C-Grade, our instructor had been the only real defender of his village and had bargained his services for protection from the strongest stable force he could find.

The poor rations were just fine by him, but he hadn’t met with anyone important. In fact, he’d never even seen General Marshall in person. The closest he’d come to an authority figure was one of the sergeants.

Training ended with a series of sparring sessions. My team naturally dominated what ended up being a mock-tournament.

I tried my best not to win, but Cyra had drilled sword forms into me too well. Every time I tried to fumble or drop my sword at the wrong moment, my body recovered before I could even think to stop myself. It didn’t help that my opponents were little more than toddlers compared to the foes I was used to fighting.

At least all my efforts meant I hadn’t been too flashy with my sword moves. The last thing I wanted was to stand out.

“You’re the best damn swordsman I’ve ever seen, kid. I’m not qualified to teach you,” the orku warrior said.

“No no, you’re qualified, I’m not that good!” I insisted.

“Nonsense. That parry into a sideways dodge and flanking sweep was one of the cleanest maneuvers I’ve ever seen. You earned the win. Go on, you’re free of me. I have nothing to teach you.” The instructor gave me a pat on the shoulder while I blinked in surprise.

“Oh... in that case, see you all later!”

I hadn’t expected to do well enough to skip combat training, but that actually ended up being ideal for me. It gave me a perfectly legitimate excuse to wander around the base in broad daylight.

I suspected the drill instructors would force the instructor to rescind my free time eventually, but the orku warrior was clearly used to a much more loosely run organization than the one he found himself in. Right now, that was to my advantage.

I did a quick loop around, this time confirming what I’d seen from the air. I uncovered a few things I’d missed from so high up.

While looking at the helicopters being loaded and prepared for battle, I noticed the bulk of the labor was being done by gray-skinned orku, like my instructor. There was one military man among the crew, and he worked with intense and single-minded efficiency as confused alien helpers handed him tools and hauled goods around.

Perhaps I was seeing things, but it seemed to me that humans would be of more help. I was sure the Orku were hard workers and diligent assistants, but having to explain what a screwdriver was or how door handles worked would no doubt be a strain on productivity. Why give these jobs to the alien races instead of the large encampment of refugees outside?

I ended up cornering one of the Orku assistants.

“Oh, sorry, sir. I need to move these square things from this shiny building to the other shiny building,” said an orku. He was much smaller and weaker than the one who was serving as a combat instructor.

“I’ll help you. I’m free right now. Mind if I ask you how long you’ve worked here?” I asked, drumming up a quick conversation.

Soon, the orku got talking. “I joined up recently. We ran out of food when we ran into a human expedition party, and the chief decided to throw our lot in with them. I haven’t been here long.. Truthfully, I don’t know who’s in charge. Human organizations make no sense to me. All I know is that the people in camouflage tell me what to do and how to do it.”

The same story repeated itself several times. The military personnel had strangely kept to themselves for most of the integration. Only now, when their competition was much fiercer, did they finally start bolstering their numbers less cautiously.

I shared a bit of what I’d heard with my comrades. We couldn’t talk much, even in our bunks at night, but pointing them in the right direction would help. We were all new to spy work, me included.

“It seems like everybody is either brand new or has been with General Marshall since the beginning. I’m not sure why yet,” Suzie said.

“Tomorrow, the weekend begins, and we should have more time off. We should visit the refugee camps and speak to the people there.” Abby curled up under her blankets.

“I’ll check it out tomorrow while you’re all training,” I promised. Though that was only half true. I didn’t plan to wait that long.

A few minutes later, I’d snuck out of the barracks and landed in the refugee camp away from the base.

It was not a particularly impressive camp in my mind. The dirt paths were filthy with mud and much. Clotheslines went left and right from every tent, making it hard to walk. Hungry and dirty people stared at me as I made my way through camp. The whole area had the stink of human waste about it.

They must have been here for a few months at least. I was surprised they hadn’t built something better. I’d seen plenty of survivor groups, and a few thousand people could put together a decent shelter if some of them were handy and most of them were motivated. The jobs and levels the System provided could make that even easier, if any of these people had access to them. Sadly, their levels were mostly in the single digits.

If I’d been given this many people earlier in the integration, Crownhill would likely have two or three times the number of C-Grades it had now. But for some reason, General Marshall had let this resource wither away.

“Greetings,” I said, approaching a group of men and women hovering around a small pot over an open fire.

“Get your own rations. These are ours,” said a man among the group of survivors. He looked like he’d been a big and strong man at one point and had the voice to match. Now he was considerably thinner.

“I’m not here to steal your food. I just wanted to ask what’s happened lately. I’m new to this whole place.” I gestured around us.

“I can tell,” the man replied, giving me an even stare.

A woman nearby nudged him with an elbow. “Don’t mind him. Things have just been difficult since the end of the world. We will tell you how the camp works, if you want. The military men come by once per day to distribute rations, and you have to be in line or you won’t get any. Theft is quite rampant here, so mind your belongings.”

“Very useful, but I was thinking more along the lines of how you all ended up here. Why not leave the camp and go beyond the fence? Or at least build something better than a tent.” I gestured past the fence surrounding the refugee camp.

“We’re not allowed into the military base, and leaving would be suicide. I’ve seen monsters lurking in the forest. Some of them have come right up to the fence line before the military took them out,” the woman said.

“They have forward bases. Surely some of them would be better than staying here.” I pointed to the far buildings and then beyond them.

It was the man who spoke again this time. “I wouldn’t if I were you. Something strange happened with the army early on. Our son used to serve, you know. That’s why we were here when the end of the world happened. Things were good at first, and we were staying on the base. It was crowded, but we made do. Then something happened, and everything changed. We were kicked out and made to stay in this camp. I have a theory about what happened.”

“Hush. Don’t go spreading that conspiracy of yours around. If the guards hear and trace it back to you, who knows what’ll happen!” The woman shushed the man and nudged his arm, but he shrugged her off.

“Bah, what do I have to live for anyway? Might as well speak the truth until my last breath. Everyone who was here before the integration knows the truth. There wasn’t even a general before the integration. This base was commanded by Colonel O’Neill. General Marshall, if that’s even his real name, is a mutineer.”

***

After that declaration, the woman pulled the man into their tent and wouldn’t let him out, so I could learn nothing more from them. Shortly after the man had started speaking, all the other people who’d been gathered around the pot vanished, taking everything but the fire with them.

Clearly, this information was both secret and dangerous to possess. Unfortunately, it was also of limited use on its own.

There had been a lot of casualties early in the integration, and by this point, those early days were well behind us. General Marshall didn’t strike me as someone foolish enough not to consolidate his power. By now, whether or not he’d gained his general rank legitimately hardly even mattered. At most, it was a rallying cry for people who didn’t like him.

At most, it suggested General Marshall was a little less trustworthy than if he’d come by his title honestly, but I’d already had suspicions on that front.

I once again realized that if this were a normal scouting mission, this is where I’d call it quits and go home. I knew General Marshall’s big secret, which was likely why he was keeping people from the refugee camp away while he consolidated his position. There would be bad blood among some of the people there, especially those who had family slain in General Marshall’s takeover.

I figured I’d give it one more day. After that, I’d disappear. I’d either take my team with me or give them a few more weeks to gather intelligence the slow way before picking them up later, depending on how they felt about things.

All in all, I was satisfied with this brief diversion, even if it hadn’t turned up what I’d hoped. I’d been certain something would show up to justify my suspicion, but so far, the real secret turned out to be as mundane as a coup d’etat.

At least, those were my plans until someone familiar appeared standing outside our barracks. It was Sergeant Benton, and he wore a smile on his face. His uniform seemed cleaner too, but that was mostly because he wasn’t out in the field.

“Charlie, Himmel! I’m glad to see the two of you. Your training has been going well, and the pair of you have been selected for a special leadership program. You’ll be attending it starting today in place of your regular training,” Sergeant Benton explained.

“Special leadership program?” Suzie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, glancing at Charlie.

“Yep. The higher-ups have seen these two and were impressed. Maybe they’ll be impressed by you later, ladies. Keep up the good work.” Sergeant Benton gave them a salute, which they returned, and then gestured for Charlie and me to follow him.

We followed, both curious. It seemed like I would finally learn what that program I’d been selected for was.

Soon, we came to an isolated building deep in the center of the military compound. We entered a small building staffed by two guards with machine guns. That was rare when most of the base was understaffed. The two guards saluted Sergeant Benton and parted ways, and he led us past the doors to a dark tunnel underneath the memorial we’d paid our respects to while jogging the previous day.

No light illuminated the path beyond. I could see fine despite that, but Charlie had to slow down and find the handrail. Eventually, we found ourselves in a very dimly lit and windowless chamber. I could hear Charlie’s heart racing faster by the minute.

If I were to discover someone was a spy, this was exactly where I’d bring them first before capturing them. Naturally, such restrictions would never hold me, but Charlie had every right to be scared.

“You two will stay here. Try to relax. You may be waiting a while. Someone from the leadership program will come to get you.” Sergeant Benton turned and closed the door behind him, locking us both up in the building.

We waited in silence, first for a minute, then two. Then five.

This was a rather curious chamber to leave us in to wait. There were no other doors here besides the one we entered.

Eventually, Charlie started yawning.

“Oh man, I’m getting sleepy. I guess we’ve been working too hard.” Charlie covered his mouth and looked as if he was stopping himself from dozing off as he leaned against the wall.

Interestingly, I felt a little sleepy too. I wrinkled my nose and sniffed the air to look for any sort of gas. With my enhanced senses, I should have been able to pick up most sleeping gases, but some were completely odorless.

What exactly was the plan here? Why were they trying to put Charlie and me to sleep?

My spine was tingling, though I didn’t need my bloodline to tell me that taking a nap right now was a bad idea. I’d been planning on calling this scouting expedition finished anyway. This would just blow our cover a bit earlier than expected.

“Hold on, Charlie. I’m calling off the mission. We’re getting out of here.”

“Huh?” he muttered over half-closed eyes.

I picked him up under my arm while he lay limply folded in two. Then, I stepped into the shadowrealm.

I was about to step right back out again when I realized we weren’t alone. Within this otherworldly, shadowy realm, a cold and clammy hand rested on my shoulder. And it wasn’t the only one.

<Note>

You know, I've actually been waiting a while for more enemies that also use the Shadow Realm. I thought it would be a risker proposition to use it when Carter first got it, but a lot of the time he seems to have free reign of this mysterious and dark dimension containing the shadows of conscious entities.