As Captain Henry made himself a footing, the Elite Savant Team rushed out of the water, catching the attention of the Aberrations. Not happy with the intruders, the Aberrations quickly chased the Elite Savant Team out of their territory. Seeing the Aberrations move away from the Anchor Crystal, Captain Henry shot himself upwards and swung his war hammer at the crystal with all his force. The Anchor Crystal shattered with the impact, and the volatile Ether sent Captain Henry flying. The shockwave of Ether reached the Aberrations, where they realised the Anchor had been destroyed and an Evacuation Portal emerged.
An Evacuation Portal was named as such because it was a temporary portal formed after the anchor was destroyed. There were other ways to open portals back to Jer, such as using Ether Crystals to feed the Anchor and forming a legitimate portal. But doing so would also have the Gate active, which would birth Abominations passively, with them getting weaker in each instance. Normally, the guilds and the government would keep the Anchor intact, slowly farming Abominations until it wasn't profitable to send cohorts to exterminate Abominations. When that happened, only two choices existed; either they destroy the Anchor Crystal and let it rebuild, which would be considerably slower than normal because of fatigue, or they would habitat the now clean Gate and live there. The elite of the world all lived in Gates, as it was safer and richer in Ambient Ether. You didn't worry about Gates forming or Incursions when you were inside the Gate.
They didn't have this kind of choice this time. There was an Abomination horde attacking the camp, so they couldn't take long to close the Gate. They could always farm it later when the Anchor Crystal rebuilt itself.
The inconspicuous Savant slashed at the now returning Aberrations, wanting to halt their advance. The Evacuation portal would be open for a short amount of time, five minutes at tops. They had to stall for time for that. Lilith shot three exploding Ether bolts simultaneously, and Billy charged at the Aberrations with battle axes out. Dylan brandished his sabre and pinned one of the Aberrations with Billy. A war hammer came down on one of the Aberrations, splitting the skies. The impact tumbled the Aberration, but it regained its balance quickly. It roared towards where the hammer came from, but its roar was cut short as Captain Henry delivered a punch, surpassing Mach 2. The Aberrations head swayed, but it recollected itself as fast as before. It opened its maw and a water jet of hot, boiling water shot out. It was like a mobile geyser that spewed out hot water at will.
Captain Henry had picked up his war hammer in the meantime and swung it with great force. His swing created a shockwave that repelled the jet of hot water, and he engaged with the Aberration again. Zane joined him as he cut through the fins of the Aberration, only leaving slight cuts. Meanwhile, Amaya and Lilith were fighting the last one. Amaya coated her whip with water and extended its length to ten metres, which then she coiled around the fins of the Aberration. Lilith then shot a condensed bolt that exploded on the Aberration's face.
The bolt's explosion made it blind momentarily. Then she shot another three that were longer and didn't explode contrary to the previous one and instead, they embedded themselves deep into the Aberration's flesh. Blood leaked from the wounds slowly. They were not regenerating. As the group engaged with the four Aberrations, the portal was getting dimmer and dimmer.
"Retreat!" Dylan ordered.
The seven suddenly ceased all attacks, and put their weapons into their storage. They then beelined to the now near closing portal. They made it to the portal in under a minute, and the Aberrations were hot on their trail. The six of them passed through the portal quickly, but Amaya turned around and used her hydromancy before passing the portal like the rest. She created a current with most of her Ether that flowed in the opposite direction of the Aberrations, slowing them down. Then she too passed the portal. Not long after, the Aberrations got closer, with one of them taking the lead. The leading Aberration jumped high from the water, opening its maw, ready to swallow the puny creatures when it went to the other side.
{CHOMP!}
The portal closed just before it passed, and the Aberration bit on air and then fell into the water. It released an angry cry and attacked where the portal was.
The seven came out where the Gate was on the other side, and fell to the ground. They quickly got up in case one of the Aberrations made it to this side, but the Gate closed right after. They heaved a sigh in relief and made their way to the camp. They still had hordes of Abominations to sweep. What they didn't realise was, in Captain Henry's spatial storage, the bead was shining as it had when they used it before, even more intensely perhaps.
—
"Ma'am, we've lost the Ether signals."
"What do you mean we've lost the Ether signals, how is it even possible?" The First Lieutenant Vilue neared the officer and took a look at his tablet, which previously was showing the Ether readings of the sector. Now it had gone blank, as if there was no Ether in the sector. "This is bullshit, have someone check the satellites, they might be malfunctioning."
"We already checked, ma'am. The satellites are working as they should in other sector's readings."
"Damn it!"
Just then, the Gate Crystal on the horizon dimmed and the Gate closed, indicating that Captain Henry and the Elite Team had accomplished their mission.
"Connect me to Captain Henry, quick!" she ordered.
The officer quickly called the Captain, but the signal wouldn't connect no matter how many times he tried.
"Ma'am, we can't reach to the Captain."
The First Lieutenant Vilue was about to lose it, how could their equipment malfunction twice in this situation? As she was about to storm out and go to where the Gate was herself, louder booms resounded through the battlefield. They had already arrived.