Viktor Stahl POV
Day 5
Following a vague trail of vehicle tracks through a Grimm-infested savannah was frankly easier than I would have imagined, the benefit of having excellent tracking skills allows me to pick out small details like broken twigs or flattened shrubs and find out roughly how and from where someone traveled through.
Currently, we are stopped at a small camp we pitched up before dark fell. Surrounding us in the perimeter we have jury-rigged a bunch of searchlights, allowing us to see far enough that any Grimm won't be surprising us. Surrounding the camp, we have placed a few boxes of screamers.
A Screamer is an automated proximity alarm that will release a horrendously shrill sound able to be heard from up to 1 kilometer away, so long as obstacles such as doors or walls are not in the way as they may reduce the screamer's sonic range. Besides that, we have positioned both centaurs at opposite ends, each of them having a kriegsman manning the heavy stubbers, on the lookout for any intruders.
As we sit around the fireplace, a crocodile tail Diced and cooking on one of the larger pans, I take the rare opportunity to see the kriegsmen and women without their gas masks, i have come to find out that the kriegsmen who do not have a name are usually… plain. Not in an insulting way mind you, they can be considered conventionally attractive, however, they share enough features that you would think they are siblings if not twins.
The named ones though, like for example Hans, who is a 6' foot tall brown-haired man, with an always present soft smile that tells you he would be a pretty chill guy to hang out with, are much more distinct. Besides appearances they also have arguably better skills than the normal kriegsman, be it in weapons handling, knowledge, or even battle acumen.
Speaking of, the short girl that I picked out of the group at the main camp is, apparently, one of the newer arrivals and is named… Tanya. She is an attractive girl with blonde hair and emerald-like green eyes. She also has a… disturbing expression when talking about how she kills Grimm, as I have come to find out.
"And since the big puppy was chasing me into the rock formation, I made a sharp turn to hide my body behind one of the stone pillars, as it passed by I swung the butt stock of my lasgun, cracking the thing's armor on the head" as her grin stretches to show a mile of sharp pearly whites she continues, "next thing the fucker sees when he turns to where I was is a cloud of dust as I ran away, and a grenade without its pin bouncing on the ground"
Yeah, she is… intense. I know for a fact some superior being is having a crack at giving me Alt!Genocidal-isekai-victim-turned-shojou. Thankfully though after some questions I managed to find out that she is not in fact, a reincarnator or anything of the sort.
I suspect she is the byproduct of a certain part in one of the perks I chose, 'but there are a few elites in their ranks that would be considered hero's in other settings'. Picking the highest option on the 'skill' part of the CYOA probably made my company a melting pot for a multiversal mashup.
Speaking of that though, after finding out about Tayna my memory got jogged and I managed to remember that Dr. Ludwig, is in fact, a medic from TF2. I will not lie, the realization made me shiver a bit, Medic from TF2 is infamously known for having insane and borderline, no scratch that, VERY unethical medical practices, which in hindsight… checks out.
As I am ruminating on my lot in life now, and how I am gonna be herding a bunch of undoubtedly unhinged characters, Hans passes me a metallic bowl, filled with croc hibachi. "Here you go commissar, I suggest you pair it with nutrient paste, it tastes decent with what is essentially algae-flavored mashed potatoes."
Taking the bowl I nod at him, "Thank you, and you can call me Viktor while we are in private." tasting the combination I humm as it indeed does taste decent… like an alternate world's sushi, if every ingredient was picked at random and the cook was a madman that made it work somehow. 'Still much better for your stomach than Mexican I wager.'
With his smile turning a bit mischievous he responds, "Sure thing, Herr Commissar!"
As I roll my eyes at him, we all start eating the camp falls into a pleasant silence, the crackling of the dried wood on the campfire and the jumping embers giving it a friendly atmosphere.
In recent days after accepting my lot here, 'which didn't take long honestly', I have come to find a certain pleasure in moments like this with my men. It feels like having a bunch of brothers and sisters I never knew I needed, from their serious moments to the more anime gag ones it has been a fun few days.
It was also a surprise to find that when not charging into enemy lines as they are being bombarded with heavy artillery, from frendly forces, the kriegsmen are a very friendly and fun bunch. They often have conversations about the most mundane of things, or what they consider mundane anyway. I doubt a normal person would argue who deserves the kill, the guy who shot an ursa 5 times with his lasgun, or the guy who blew up its head with the heavy bolter.
After we finish eating some of them switch out for their turn in guard duty, the rest of us laying down for some rest. Tomorrow we will probably be catching up to the small apparent caravan we are following.
Day 6
As our centaurs make their way into a clearing, we find signs of a camp having been made last night, 'they probably aren't that far ahead', dismounting from the centaur I motion the driver to kill the engine.
"Set up a perimeter here, I will take Tanya and Hans with me on horseback, we don't want our friends to hear us from a mile out with the sound of these things." as I say that I begin taking a few things from the storage compartment, slinging a Melta gun on my back I take a few extra battery packs for my las-pistol, throwing two more Melta guns at hans and Tanya as they come next to me to restock.
After I finish checking if I have everything I will be needing for at least 3 days of small squad reconnaissance I summon three Krieg Steeds. Hopping on one of them I order, "Us three will be following the trail left behind from the tracks, if we are lucky we will be able to catch up to them. They are probably being harassed by Grimm much like we were, but i doubt they have the same firepower as us."
As Hans and Tanya hop onto the other two horses, their rucksacks filled with enough ammo and grenades for a normal squad they respond, ""Yes Commissar!"" at the affirmation I give one last glance to the remaining 9 kriegsmen setting up an encampment, filling sandbags and deploying barbed wire.
As our horses begin trotting I realize, 'I should have taken a parasol, even if it looked dumb'.
1 hour later
With the sun bearing on us, we arrive at what seems like a well-traveled path, the ground beaten into flat terrain by the passing of various vehicles leading towards the peak of a Red rock formation, motioning for my companions to follow, we trek towards the side, in one of the steeper parts that provide better visibility.
As we reach the apex, we can see that the rock formation, is in fact a large crater, nearing the edge I can see a barebones town, with wooden shacks and tents set up, surrounded by a perimeter of wooden walls. As I bring out my binoculars I can see the tracks we followed leading up to three trucks and an armored car, with what seems like a machine gun mounted on it in a manner similar to Earth technicals.
From what I can observe this place screams 'outlaws', as I keep observing however, an ursa makes its way down from the other side of the crater, the bear-like Grimm barreling towards the encampment, before it can reach the walls however, someone hops down and rushes towards it, wielding what seems to be a steampunk-esque spear.
As the two near each other, the man thrusts his spear towards the Ursa, before the spear can pearce the mear, it's swatted away by one of its forelimbs, opening up the guard of what I assume now is a huntsman, judging by the mechashift weapon.
As the Ursa capitalises on the opening and slashes at the huntsman with its other paw, he is blasted backward, a flowing shield of grayish mist surrounding him, as he rights himself up on his feet, his spear begins to shift and fold on itself, turning into a shotgun from what i can tell of the posture he lifts his weapon in.
Before the Ursa can reach him in time, the distance of the swing having thrown him at least a dozen feet, its face meets a handful of incendiary pellets. The skull of the thing cracking and making it halt its advance, just as the pellets lodged inside its flesh started to burn it from the inside, the huntsman cocks the pump action shotgun and another shot is heard, this time the creatures bone white mask breaks and it begins to smoke.
As the huntsman lets down his guard, the shimmering aura surrounding him dies down and disappears, with him walking back towards camp, one thing crosses my mind. 'Im gonna kidnap this fucker and make him unlock my aura.' before I can get carried away however I turn towards Hans and Tanya, who are now standing next to me, peeking at the ramshackle town.
"We will wait for one of them to leave their camp, as soon as they do we will grab them and question them about who these people are." with that we settle down, observing the town from afar with binoculars.
40 minutes later
As I am playing with my mono-knife, flicking it between my fingers and doing tricks that I was not able to before my new dexterity, I hear Tanya. "Commissar sir, two of them are getting ready to leave."
At that I stand up and grab my binoculars, looking at the entrance, sure enough, I can see two people sitting on dirt bikes, talking to the huntsman before being dismissed and driving towards the entrance of the Crater.
As I let down my binoculars I say, "Let's go to the entrance, we will ambush them. Tanya, you carry a Melta gun, if any of the two turns out to have aura I want you to melt them." nodding at me she takes the weapon from where it is tied on her horse and equips it, the weapon almost as tall as she herself is, making it an almost comical sight if not for the fact that the thing can and will atomize you.
Turning towards Hans I begin, "You and me will set up a wire on the entrance of the crater, when they drive towards it it will catch their bikes and flip them over, making them fly. After that secure and disarm them before they can know what is going on." he nods and hops on the horse.
When we make our way to an appropriate spot on the road, me and hans hop off our horses, taking a steel cable, we secure it at about just above knee height, the cable thin enough that it cant be seen until you are 5 meters close to it, as we finish we begin hearing the sound of the bikes come nearer.
Hans and I separate on opposing sides of the road, hiding behind the rocks we attached the cable to, as I raise my fist to motion for him to wait, I can hear the bikes make their way to the peak of the crater, climbing over and putting them in view of the road, as they enter the decline they begin to speed up, the engines of the bikes screaming louder.
A few seconds later, I can hear over the sound of the engine a panicked scream, "Oh shit bra-!" before the screech of the stretching cable and a crash is heard.
As I lower my fist, we both go into action, rushing at the nearest rider as they are still tumbling on the ground, by the time I reach the one closest to me he is laid out face first on the sand and gravel, his clothes dusty and torn in places. Getting a closer look at them I can see an insignia on his shoulder that matches the one on their bikes.
Before he can realize what's going on I grab his hands, binding them behind his back and tying them, as I frisk him, I manage to find a pistol as well as a knife. Both are on holsters tied to his chest like a detective would in an 80's movie. Throwing the weapons aside I manage to find a white device rectangular device with two solid end grips, in the center there is a diamond-shaped button that when pushed opens the scroll, deploying a transparent screen.
Closing the thing I pocket it and turn towards the man, now coming to his senses. Before he can utter a word or realize what's going on, I hit him on the back of the head with the butt of my las-pistol, knocking him out.
Turning I see Hans has also tied up his own capture, next to him laying two pistols. As I motion for him to follow, we load up the now prisoners on the back of our horses, tying them up. "Hans, remove the wire and bundle it up. We don't want anyone to pass by and find the crime scene" With a nod he goes to dismantle the hinges holding the steel cable.
Meanwhile, I go towards the crashed bikes, seeing as both are partially totaled I simply look for anything useful in the pouches on their sides. Finding some food and water, as well as a metal case labeled as 'fire dust - 70%' with a stylized snowflake printed on the metal. Putting the case on the back of my horse, I move back to the bikes and begin to push them to the side of the road, hiding them between a few rocks in a way that anyone traveling on the road won't have an angle to see them.
As I finish I hop on my horse and wait for Hans to pick up the cable. I check on the tied-up guy behind me again, making sure he isn't wounded heavily or conscious. With Hans hopping on his horse, I motion for us to head to our previous vantage point, picking up Tayna on the way.
'Now, i wonder what we can find out from these guys'