C234 - Trench
The Guko continued to speak. "Martial arts: Lightning-demon style and Divine Reaper; Proficiency level with the said martial arts: Co-."
"Stop right there," Khan interrupted the alien.
Three eyes rose to inspect Khan, but they quickly returned to the screen as the alien resumed its description. "Lightning-demon style: Competent proficiency level; Divine Reaper: Nov-."
"I said stop it!" Khan shouted. "You have no right to reveal private information."
The Guko looked at Khan again. Its eyes carried no emotions, but they weren't cold. The alien simply found no difference between inspecting a screen or Khan.
"Everything listed here is already part of the Global Army's network," The Guko explained in its perfect human accent. "My team can gain access to private information about every new asset that reaches Ecoruta to choose a suitable role. I believe you want us to evaluate your power correctly before sending you to the surface."
Khan wanted to complain, but the situation seemed hopeless. The training halls and the scanners could record every result, so it wasn't a surprise that the Global Army was aware of most of his abilities. Still, it didn't feel good to get exposed so easily, especially when some of the soldiers in the room had shown a clear interest in his mana core.
'Don't tell me that they will try something nasty while I'm down there,' Khan thought as the Guko resumed reading the data on the screen.
The short alien and the familiar air in the room had revealed how Khan had yet to reach Ecoruta, but he dismissed that information to point his cold eyes on the soldiers. The white medical coats hid the shoulders of their uniforms, but he didn't need to see them to understand their level. Khan could sense that the room featured only a couple of humans stronger than him.
"The briefing is complete," The Guko announced after revealing Khan's score on the test about the Niqols. "You will join the thirty-seventh battalion. Lieutenant Amos Pouille will be the leader of your platoon. Do you have something to ask before reaching the surface?"
Khan moved his eyes on the Guko while drawing his cracked knife from his sheath and voicing a simple request. "I need a new first-grade weapon."
"You will visit the armory on the way to the spaceship," The Guko promptly replied. "You can step off the teleport now. Follow Eunice to the hangar."
Khan nodded and stepped off the teleport while inspecting his surroundings. The Guko had already lost interest in him and had reached a shorter console near the wall. The other soldiers in the room had also turned to look at their screens.
A corridor expanded from the hall, so Khan guessed that he had to cross it. He sensed the soldiers peeking at him when he walked past them, but he couldn't do much about that behavior.
A young woman with short curly brown hair, dark skin, and clear eyes became visible once the bright corridor expanded into a rectangular hall. She had a larger version of a phone in her hands, one star on each shoulder, and Khan could read the name "Eunice" written on the tag appointed on the left side of her chest.
"Khan, correct?" Eunice asked when she saw Khan leaving the corridor. "My superiors have warned me about your sudden arrival. I must say that you are more good-looking than I expected."
"How could you expect that?" Khan frowned.
"Oh, you might not know about this," Eunice exclaimed. "Nitis' reports went public right before they informed us about your arrival. We have naturally looked you up on the network afterward."
"What do you mean by us?" Khan asked after heaving a helpless sigh.
"The soldiers on this space station," Eunice revealed before placing a finger on the corner of her mouth. "We have forwarded what we learnt to the soldiers on the surface. I might say that everyone is eager to meet you."
'How much did Lieutenant Kintea even reveal?' Khan cursed in his mind before voicing a question that worried him a little. "Why did you expect me to be good-looking?"
"Well," Eunice announced in a timid voice as her eyes went on the screen to avoid Khan's stern gaze. "Only a good-looking man would have been able to make a Niqols' princess fall for him."
'I fucking knew it!' Khan shouted in his mind before dismissing that statement. "She wasn't a princess. The Niqols don't have that type of society."
"I see," Eunice nodded while showing an awkward smile. "I guess we only read the parts that involved you, and you know how it works with rumors. People tend to hear what they like instead of the truth."
"No, I don't know how they work," Khan stated in an annoyed tone. "Can we go now?"
"Of course!" Eunice exclaimed in front of Khan's evident irritation.
The woman turned and led Khan across the space station. The two crossed a series of empty corridors until they arrived before a door that Eunice unlocked with her device.
A small square room that featured a single console unfolded in Khan's vision when the door slid open. Eunice turned to give him some privacy, and he slowly stepped inside the area.
Only a few steps divided Khan from the console. Its screen showed a series of instructions that told him how to handle the device and gain access to the actual armory.
It turned out that Khan couldn't see the weapons with his own eyes before picking one of them. He had to use the console to choose something fitting to the level of clearance that his phone carried.
Khan didn't know how much his phone would allow him to do, but he nodded after placing it in a small hole next to the screen. His device unlocked most of the first-grade weapons listed on the console, and their price even disappeared.
Khan followed the console's instructions to filter through the list and find knives or short blades that suited the Divine Reaper. It turned out that the armory had many of them available for his clearance level, and detailed descriptions accompanied each label. He could read information about the materials and methods used to produce those weapons together with their features.
The Divine Reaper's training program had given Khan a detailed description of the knife that suited the martial art, so he didn't take long to choose one of them from the list. All the labels went dark at that point, and the console even allowed him to retrieve his phone as clanging noises resounded from behind it.
A spot under the screen soon slid open and revealed the weapon that Khan had requested. It was a simple-looking knife with a slightly soft brown handle and a long, pointy black blade that featured two sharp edges. An azure line ran across both faces of its thick body and connected its tip to the small guard.
Khan wielded the new knife and waved it a few times. His new weapon was heavier than the last, but that didn't affect his movements. Covering it with mana also didn't cause any problem. He felt able to fight with it right away.
'Do you wish to recycle your old weapon?' Khan read on the console before drawing his cracked knife and placing it in the drawer under the screen.
The console closed, and a spinning wheel appeared on its screen, but the words "No value" soon replaced it.
'I guess I won't get my hands on Credits anytime soon,' Khan thought before storing the new knife in the sheath and leaving the armory.
"Lieutenant Pouille's platoon is currently fighting," Eunice revealed as she resumed leading Khan across the space station. "We'll try to drop you near the trench, but it will be up to the pilot to decide how close the spaceship can get to the battle."
"Understood," Khan firmly replied, and the lack of fear in his expression captured Eunice's interest.
"You know," Eunice said while turning toward Khan. "It's rare for soldiers to end up here in the middle of the academic semester. Did you offend someone by dating the Niqols' princess?"
Khan's irritation only grew as Eunice kept mentioning Liiza. Nitis' events were still too close to his mind for him to talk about it with a stranger.
"Why would you think that I offended someone?" Khan asked.
"Someone with your profile would never choose a battlefield on purpose," Eunice explained, "Especially this one."
"Is the situation on the surface that bad?" Khan questioned.
"It's quite messy," Eunice sighed. "The Guko have lost too much during the initial phases of the war, and the Stal aren't dumb when it comes to battles. They never show themselves unless they know how to counter air support. They basically force us to fight on their terms."
Khan limited himself to nod. He didn't only dodge the annoying question. He had even learnt something more about the Stal. It seemed that simple reports couldn't describe all the features of an entire species.
"So, about the Niqols' princess," Eunice reminded as curiosity filled her face.
"I'd rather focus on the mission," Khan interrupted with his cold voice. "You are about to send me in the middle of a battle, right?"
Eunice could only fall silent after that statement. She even hurried across the corridors to reach a large hall containing multiple spaceships, and she promptly pointed at the smallest vehicle in the area.
The vehicle seemed barely able to contain three people. It had a pointy front covered by a glass that revealed the presence of two seats, but its back was large and featured two circular engines.
A soldier was enjoying a cigarette while leaning on the glass. The helmet and dark visor prevented Khan from inspecting his facial features, but he could notice the absence of a beard, and his senses revealed that he was a first-level warrior. Khan could also check his left shoulder from his position, which showed that he was a first-level mage too.
"Jakob, you know that you can't smoke here," Eunice scolded.
"Do you have any idea of how good the filtration system of this space station is?" Jakob groaned as he straightened his position. "So, he is the guy from Nitis. Did you find out what he did wrong to end up here?"
"We don't have time for this," Eunice scoffed while shooting worried glances toward Khan. "Lieutenant Pouille's platoon is in the middle of a battle. He might need Khan's help."
"How can a single soldier even change the situation in the trenches?" Jakob asked. "He will only waste more synthetic mana."
"Our superiors still have ordered to send him to the surface immediately," Eunice complained.
"Don't worry," Jakob said while patting the spaceship behind him. "This beauty can reach the thirty-seventh battalion in no time."
"Don't take detours when you come back," Eunice ordered. "You have already wasted your monthly share of fuel. I can't hide your trips anymore."
"Nothing turns a woman on more than a nice trip in space," Jakob laughed as he pressed a button on the spaceship that unlocked its glass.
"Please, forgive him," Eunice shook her head in shame. "He is an incredible pilot, but his priorities aren't exactly virtuous."
"She is just mad that I've never used that fuel for her," Jakob laughed as he threw his cigarette away and lifted the glass to jump on the left seat. "Nitis guy, come here. We don't want to keep you from the mess."
"I swear that I'll report you one of these days!" Eunice shouted while Khan left her side and hurried toward the spaceship.
"Jump in," Jakob ordered.
Khan walked around the spaceship before jumping directly toward the seat. Jakob pointed at some belts after he sat down, and the two quickly fastened them.
The glass descended on them after Jakob pressed a series of buttons. Some holograms came out of the various lights that appeared after the pilot turned on the spaceship. The vehicle even began to tremble as the engines started to accumulate power.
The spaceship slowly left the floor and started to approach one of the walls of the hangars as Jakob moved the rectangular steering wheel. Khan wanted to memorize the pilot's actions, but a side of the hall suddenly opened and captured his attention.
A blue planet appeared in Khan's vision. He had seen Ecoruta from the pictures in Lieutenant Kintea's report, but no image could depict the beauty of that scene.
"The acceleration can be tough to handle," Jakob warned as the spaceship slowly left the hangar. "You should lay your head on your seat."
Khan followed those orders before a sudden force fell on his body and pressed him on the seat. The spaceship had accelerated as soon as it left the hangar, and he barely had the time to inspect the blackness of space before the planet filled his vision.
"This feeling is the best, am I right?" Jakob laughed as he led the spaceship inside Ecoruta's atmosphere and dived toward a brown patch of ground that Khan couldn't study from that distance.
"I only have time for a question, so I'll get right to the point," Jakob uttered. "How does it feel to do it with a Niqols? I mean, aren't they cold?"
Khan directly ignored that question as he peeked at the environment past the glass. Details appeared on the surface as the spaceship continued its descent. He soon became able to see a vast plain occupied by a series of unclear figures that stood on opposite sides of the area.
Azure lights flashed in the empty area that divided the two platoons. They resembled spells, but Khan couldn't believe that both sides could launch the same types of attacks.
The lights turned out to belong to weapons. Khan soon became able to notice long rifles that fired masses of energy in the hands of the soldiers taking cover behind a long, short wall. He could finally understand what Jakob meant when he mentioned the trenches. It seemed that both sides were using barriers and long holes to protect themselves from the incoming bullets.
"They will take me down if I slow down," Jakob announced as the spaceship got dangerously close to the surface. "You can look forward to a rough landing. I'd start holding on to your seat if I were you."
Khan didn't hesitate to follow those orders. He adjusted his position before grabbing the sides of his seat. Jakob nodded while moving the entirety of his focus on the scene ahead. The spaceship seemed on the verge of crashing on the surface, but he abruptly pulled the steering wheel and made the vehicle's tip turn upward.
The scenery seen from the glass rotated, but Khan suddenly lost his foothold. He lowered his eyes in time to notice that he had started to fall at high speed toward the surface. The lower part of the spaceship had opened to release his seat and send him on the battlefield.
Only thirty meters separated Khan from the ground, but his speed was too great. Jakob had made use of the spaceship's momentum to fling him toward the surface. Khan feared that the landing could kill him, but a series of pillows quickly grew from under his seat.
Khan didn't feel anything when his seat hit the ground. He expected a violent impact, but the pillows had managed to absorb all the force generated by the incredible speed. They even prevented the opening of cracks on the surface.
Khan didn't have the time to feel amazed about the event since a series of azure bullets began to fly above his head. They were close enough to worry him, but none of them seemed able to hit him while he remained on the seat.
Everything became clear in his mind at that point. Jakob had to make him perform that abrupt landing to dodge the bullets that filled the battlefield. Moreover, the barriers next to the trench prevented him from ending up in the trajectory of those projectiles made of energy while he continued to sit.
Khan quickly unfastened his belt and half-bent forward as he moved toward the trench. Whooshing noises and orders spoken in the human language reached his ears as he got closer to his platoon. His senses alerted him whenever a bullet flew above his head, and they also allowed him to find the strongest soldier in the group ahead.
The items used to build the barrier were quite unique. They had appeared as a black metallic layer capable of enduring the bullets crashing on their surface when Khan inspected them from the sky. However, they were transparent now that he looked at them. The soldiers had also dug a series of steps on specific spots of the trench to peek past the defenses and fire their weapons from relatively safe areas.
"Lieutenant Pouille!" Khan shouted as he jumped inside the trench to appear before a soldier with two stars on each shoulder. "I'm Kha-."
"I know who you are!" A tall man with short black hair, unkempt beard, dark eyes, and dirt on his face shouted while glaring at Khan. "Those bastards have gone through all this trouble just to send a single soldier to my battlefield. Don't bother wasting time with the introductions. Grab a rifle from one of the corpses lying around and start shooting!"
Lieutenant Pouille seemed to forget about Khan after those orders. He turned to inspect the area past the barrier before glaring at some soldiers to his right. Then, his rough voice resounded inside the trench again. "I can see that you aren't shooting! Drop those cigarettes and fire at some aliens before I throw you over the barrier with my own hands!"
Khan watched Lieutenant Pouille marching toward those underlings for a few seconds before inspecting the trench. Almost everyone was on the steps dug in the ground to fire at the opposing army. The bottom of that long channel only had corpses or injured soldiers. Spots full of mud created by sweat and blood filled the area, and a few rifles eventually appeared in his vision.
Khan stepped forward and jumped over a corpse to land in front of a rifle. It was heavy, but he was strong enough to feel comfortable with that weight. Still, he had no idea how to use it, so his eyes quickly went on the soldiers around him.
Part of the trench in a distant spot in front of Khan suddenly blew up and interrupted his inspection. Something had managed to pierce the barrier and destroy part of the channel, engulfing a series of soldiers in the explosion.
A series of painful cries reached his ears before a shout conveyed clear words that the soldiers echoed throughout the trench. "They have a tank!"
To be continued