Life was easy once… Getting up in the morning, having a hearty breakfast, and then absorbing the knowledge of the university. Maybe landing a scholarship or two, watching cute girls swaying their hips while wearing tight dresses… However, playing guards with a human native on an alien planet did not sound "easy". Bravo-Seven, the (civilian) mechanics pioneer of Recon Team Bravo, was seriously questioning his life choices so far. Still, he blamed his commander mostly.
Seriously, just dispatching the drone would be more than sufficient to scout ahead. Setting his own customed drone for automatic flying at around 100m in the air would be more than enough to cover the whole area. With this eye on the sky, they could totally spot any hostile force ahead. The sheer number of local convoy's guards as well as the over-powered Terran rifles would be more than enough to force any breakthrough if needed. Strength in numbers, as they would say.
On the other hand, he had no idea why he had to physically move ahead of the convoy. Sure, he knew and understood that the only bridge on the road has to be kept in their hands, but why the actual fuck he had to be physically here?
Hell, he was not even armed with the exo-skeleton suits or the handy backpack. He just had the standard camouflaged battle dress uniform, the riggings, and his carbine. Furthermore, Bravo-Actual also saw fit to pair him with a few guards of the convoy. Normally, having a local tagging along was good, but this was not a normal situation. Being watched during the whole trip was definitely not something he enjoyed.
Still, it was better than fighting for dear's life.
Vuong could not believe that… He had actually killed someone. Not in rage or in a clouded judgment, but with clarity. Sure, it was against his own honor code seeing a girl (almost) getting raped, but this could hardly answer the question of why he could kill in cold blood. His mind was still very clear and sharp, allowing him to recall every single kill count with quite a detailed visualization. The most problematic part was that he felt… nothing thinking about it. Not like a complete void though, more like a serene acceptance and understanding.
That was what worried him the most. Even for someone subscribing to the stoicism philosophy, it was still highly worrying. If one could kill in cold blood, he had already forsaken his humanity. Who had discarded their own morals should be executed, or worse. A Western person would consider visiting a psychiatrist or having some therapy… However, he came from PAC, a coalition as Eastern as it could be. Such actions were still being looked down upon as signs of "not being manly enough", and even if not, he would have trouble finding reliable support.
Fucking life. The reason why he left Earth was pondered again… Right, it was his drive to excel and to achieve victory, as well as a good salary.
"My Lord, what troubles are besetting you?"
Right, the guards of the convoy. Four of them, decently armed and armored (for the Medieval era, at least), all of them capable horsemen. The group of five was tasked with scouting ahead and securing the only bridge on the road. Both of these could be done while he was still sleeping, but orders were orders.
"I am no Lord, just a simple man like you. Maybe with less martial and more scholar, but still a man like you. And for your question, I'm just… thinking. Killing is not looked favorably by my own people."
"M'Lord, but those are just scums! And they dare to spring a dishonorable ambush on us! Furthermore, they even dare to sully our Family's Lady."
Interestingly enough, only the last part was well-received by the young Terran. His stoicism held strong enough to keep him from blurting out something… Antagonizing the local before official talks and negotiations were seriously bad luck.
"Even then, they are, well, sapient and sentient beings. My homeland does not know about carnage and bloodshed, at least within the last few generations. Generally, we shy away from such acts."
"Then how can your homeland protect your honor and sovereign?"
"By making sure that any invasion and attack must be paid in blood, by making sure that our defeat would be extremely costly… and by making sure that by the end of the day, there will be no victor."
It was mad… And yes, it was a bloody word pun. MAD, or Mutually Assured Destruction. Less with nukes or things like that recently, but more with information and intel. Every country has its own skeletons in the closet, no one knew what they were precisely, others than the fact that they existed.
At least, the concept of "having no victor" was more than enough to shake the guards. Clearly, they did not really understand the concept of total warfare, which was good. The history books painted quite a bleak picture for those cases. The geo-political landscape after World War Two was quite… terrible, but it was still better than a dazzling firework show with a dash of radiation.
Vuong let out a quiet sigh. Politics was never easy stuff, the difference between right and wrong was thinner than a single piece of paper… Well, there was a reason why he was in Engineering and not Political Science. The former would give out a single correct result and for the better of mankind, while the latter may or may not trigger World War Three.
There was a saving grace in the whole shit show: the nature was pleasant. Even for an urban dweller and a technophile, the young pioneer was still able to find solace in nature. At least certain parts of it. However, this was definitely something he could enjoy. Chill wind breezing behind his back, a calm and cool river passing by, and the emerald shadow of the jungle on both sides of the road. Yeah, life was good. This would be a good place to build a tourist resort… assuming they could actually earn the permission.
One of the guards suddenly perked up, saying he had heard something. The other guards quickly made a stance on their horsebacks, drawing out their weapons. Meanwhile, Vuong just silently moved to the side, slightly blend in with the jungle. Thanks to the camouflage battle dress, one could hardly notice him standing in the shadow. It was even worse because the young pioneer had already laid down on the ground, aiming downrange.
If the guards saw that, they would not voice their concerns. After all, Vuong and his team just saved their lives. The Terrans deserved some slacks… Besides, it looked like the local convoy was not in a position of strength. One of the best local guards, along with some of the escorting soldiers, was absent, being brought to the spaceship in the orbit for treatment. The convoy was also hit hard by the recent ambush, severely losing their precious fighting prowess. And the most important, the Terrans fought in a completely way compared to them, and real-life experiences showed that Recon Team Bravo could wipe out the entire convoy if desired.
In "xianxia" novels from the old China, it stood for the saying "might makes right". Not the best mentality, but the fittest in a situation like this.
And besides, it worked. A new convoy was getting into sight. If they knew that there was a carbine aiming at them the whole time, things would not be pretty. Vuong knew he could deal with the guards of the convoy if they betrayed him or snitched, but to deal with a whole lot of newcomers? Yeah, that was another story.
"Bravo-Actual. This is Bravo-Seven. Visual contact with an armed escort, presumably ours. Over."
"Bravo-Seven, Actual here. Solid copy. Maintain observation, stay hidden until the all-clear is given. Over."
The young man spoke softly into his microphone, gun still aimed downrange, but his eyes were focusing on the flag of the newcomers. Luckily, it was the same as the convoy, from the color scheme to the actual letter. It showed that the two groups were actually one… Assuming there was no intrigue here, of course. It paid off to be careful. The guards of the convoy had already relaxed, but barely. And Vuong was still putting his index finger on the trigger guard. Just in case.
The newcomers stopped about 50m away from the guards. About a hundred plus versed five… Decent odd for the new guys. Mostly because he did not have enough ammunition…
Vuong eyed the people who had just arrived, nothing out of the norm. As in no one with special features like fangs, horns, wings or succubus tails. He definitely did not mind the last part. Hondo-sensei was a wholesome succubus personality (even if her real identity was just a normal human)… He gave himself a small smirk thinking about it. If the Faunus was on Terra Nova, would succubus appear too? He was really looking forward to meeting one… Of course, it would only be observation and making acquaintance, he was not keen on having his soul sucked away or his life force drained (even if that was done pleasantly).
The exchange between the guards was a quick one. Apparently, nothing was amiss, nothing went wrong, everything proceeded precisely as it should. Slightly boring, but after a scene of carnage, boring was good. The guard from the convoy had already turned back to the pioneer, waving his hand. It was the signal for the all-clear situation. Good news, because further fighting would be inefficient at best and suicidal at worst.
He deliberately ignored the jolt and surprise of the newcomers, knowing full well that his camouflage suit had worked as intended. Based on the outfits, the locals seemed fond of open and direct warfare, and they looked down on surprise and sneak attacks. Too bad for them, the Terrans used the later form extensively. Of course, Vuong also made a greeting politely, it would not be fun for a guard to pull out a sword and chop his head down.
A bit jarring, the initial exchange. The archaic form of the locals did not mesh well with the informal style of the mechanical pioneer. At least, they acknowledged that a small bow was sufficient as a sign of respect. Failing that, the barks of his gun would be deployed to quell and disagreement they might (or might not) have.
"My esteemed stranger, on behalf of my Master and his household, I would like to extend the thank and gratitude for protecting the Young lady's virtue."
"Don't worry about that, it is just the right thing to do."
Even if it made him question his own sanity and morals after that. Killing was never easy… Or to be more precise, living with the knowledge that you had kill someone was never easy. Still, it was something that must be done. And even then, he still felt something wrong about the death and carnage he had made.
At least the next few moments were safe and pleasant enough. The convoy had been alerted about the welcome committee, and they were speeding up to meet at the bridge here. Vuong used that gap to relax and to dig for some information. Intelligence saved lives – that was something drilled into him while he was under military training.
Things were… quite hazy. The guards here were not scholars, and the ones with sufficient training and education failed to make it clear, concise, and coherent. Furthermore, they were still deliberately holding back a lot of key basic information. It meant they were either competent in counter-intelligent or being assumptive that the Terrans had already known those. Anyway, there would still be some time in the future for a full investigation. Now, there was more critical information.
First, both convoys belonged to a local Lord (unknown rank, or at least, his equivalent on Earth was unknown). His domain consisted of this jungle, but his actual control was more limited, mostly tied around a citadel and surrounding towns and villages. The said citadel was the destination for everyone here, and it would be "half a day on horseback". Translating that into numbers, it would be about… 15 to 18 kilometers. So it meant that they would arrive around sunset. Not too bad of a deal.
Second important piece of info was the "Faunus", who was officially called "Beast-men" here. Just like the original of the namesake, they were discriminated against and sneered upon.
Yes. Faunus, taken from RWBY franchise.
Yes. The first few parts were good. Things got worse from Part 5 or 7. Part 8 was definitely a shitshow, the less talked about Part 9 and 10, the better. For if even the "Supreme Leader of DPRK" was voicing concern about the show, everyone knew it should be dropped for good. At least the VR game based on the franchise was very successful.
And yes, Velvet, the rabbit girl of team CFVY (Coffee) should be the best waifu.
Anyhow, back to the main point, Vuong was not particularly enjoying the name "Beast-men", not to mention that it would not sound cool on the report, so he would be sticking to the designation "Faunus". Or rather FAUNUS as military lingua went. What this acronym stood for? He had no idea.
Moving to the third point… well, it looked like there was something else going on, a problem of the sort. From the wordings of the guards, it looked like there was a shadow war going on between their Lord and someone else. However, he would leave it to the professionals. Now, his job was to make contact with the local lord and impress him in a good way.
Things would be tough in the next few days… unless the higher-up saw it fit to dispatch a diplomat or two. They should be awake by now, pulled out of the cyro tank, and being briefed on the situation. They would need a few days to recover the feeling in their muscles, but it should take only a few hours to clear up their minds. Nevertheless, it was not his job. His order was to escort the convoy to safety, and speaking of the convoy…
They had arrived at the bridge.