Chapter 157: Alive

Chapter 157: Alive The rubble settled and they saw a translucent blue shield guarding the the figure who still remained with a smile.

The person was donned in the official attire of the camp. He was a soldier, one from the outpost! That shouldn’t be possible!

"Who are you?"

Orion’s voice was freezing, a visible mass of energy condensing in his palms.

His teammates had all gathered around him, ready to attack at his signal.

"Hmm... My name doesn’t matter, the commander is waiting for you!"

The soldier said simply, ignoring their state of alertness as he turned his back on them, walking into the outpost.

"You aren’t coming?"

Orion’s companions stared at him, all anticipating the decision of their leader.

His stare lasted a bit longer on the back of the soldier, before turning to follow.

’Let’s see what exactly this is abo—’

"How?!"

One of his companions muttered in shock as they walked further into the outpost. There were soldiers in front of them.

Not one, but multiple, all working around busily. It didn’t look like some calamity had befallen the place.

"Shut it!"

Lira shushed the teammate as they followed the soldier.

Their presence only attracted a few looks drom the soldiers before they were ignored. The team was struggling to comprehend what they saw in front of them, so was Orion, but they coukd only hold back their questions for now.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"I’ve brought them over!"

The soldier said, turning to them after.

"Just enter when he tells you to!"

He left with a smile still plastered on his face.

"What and odd personality!"

One of the other two male recuite said, sucking on his teeth.

"You can step in!"

The commaders voice didn’t take long to reach them and Orion took the lead stepping into the room along with his teammates.

"Commader!"

"Commader!"

"Commader!"

"Commader!"

All four of them saluted the head of the outpost whose back was facing them, the stomping of their feet, giving a feeling of discipline which wasn’t usually seeing in people like them, especially back at the camp.

"Orion Valister, reporting!"

Orion took a step forward and gave a report on the nature of their mission to the commander while the rest remained at attention, yet to recieve permission.

"Hmm. At ease!"

The commander’s voice came lightly and they all, followed, their expressions still cold and mechanical.

"I was waiting for this. You are the first group to reach here. It’s good you arrived safely through the front."

The man said turning to face the group of four.

The commander of the outpost was younger than they had even expected, looking to be in his early forties, just a little bit older than some of their instructors.

His eyes contained a calming effect, same as his voice as he addressed them. Yet, his actions carried a sense of power which reminded them of their place.

They were dealing with a military official, not their fellow recuits.

Lira’s body shook at those words, feeling sweat flow down her back.

’Safely through the front?’

The commader turned to look at her with a smile.

"You must be the scout of the team. You should have seen the traps set around the outpost. You lots would’ve died if you tired to get through it!"

The commander confirmed her thoughts and the other’s shivered at how close they had been. Once again, she had saved their lives.

’I should treat her to a meal after this’

’I should ask her out or something!’

The other two recuits thought of ways of making up to the lady who had beared with them up till now.

"Valister?"

"Yes, sir!"

Orion answered smoothly, awaiting the words the commander had to say to him. He couldn’t just have called them just for that!

"You must have questions!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Ask then. I’ll answer what I can!"

The commander said, leaning back into his seat behind the desk.

"How are you not dead, and this outpost not destroyed?"

Orions said, going straight to the point. His questions had the hearts of his teammates palpitating at how unfiltered it sounded.

The commander didn’t appear concerned, as he addressed the question.

"It’s simple if you think about it, recuit. The monsters didn’t get past the second line of defense before we defeated most of their forces and the rest scattered upon the descent of the fog. They aren’t completely immune to its effects after all."

"Then why did the camp put up this mission? You could have made contact, since the outpost wasn’t breached and no equipment damaged."

Orion asked another concerning question.

"We can’t communicate with the camp. I’m sure you know the effects of the fog, but it’s become stranger and more amplified of late. The equipments designed specifically for that aren’t capable anymore. My soldiers have been trying what they can though, but nothing yet."

The commander tapped his hands on the desk waiting for Orions next question, and the recruit didn’t disappoint. Asking another questions out of the long list his brain had come up with.

’He’s right about the interference issue caused by the fog, but that’s not enough.’

"I am aware of the effects, commander. But I believe those effects should be lesser or non existent when the fog recreeds back towards monster territory."

The fog was active most times, but not through the day. There were a few hours where it receded and stayed away before covering the whole region again. They had timed and exploited that period to get there.

"Hmm. Quite sharp, Valister!"

The commander said, changing how he addressed him and the rest of the team looked on awaiting the commander’s answer.

That was the only thing that could prevent them from acting according to their bosses intentions.

"Unfortunately, not sharp enough! If you were, you must have noticed that your theory is no longer valid. A lot has changed since the the monsters started to move and this region also changed recently. The moment venture deep enough into the region,"

The commander said, leaning forward.

"Communication stops working. You can check with your watches!"

He pointed at their wrists, seeing the frown which appeared on Orion’s and Lira’s face.

’What is this?’

Orion thought seeing the data on his watch which only displayed one thing.

<Indefinite>

The camp had studied the area extensively before deciding to set up a camp and with that data, they could predict how the fog moved and when communications would be back to normal.

Their watches were also equipped with that function for the mission, but now all that was in place was the message saying "Indefinite".

It couldn’t tell the movement of the fog again, which meant it couldn’t tell when they would be able to link back to the camp.

"You’re cut off. The same thing that happened to us too."

The commander’s voice came in.

"It only cuts off our tech. I don’t think this barrier prevents physical communication, so why didn’t you send a soldier to the camp to relay these changes. Why wait?"

Orion’s voice reminded the same as he caly questioned the commander.

"We simply couldn’t. We have a mission here and that takes priority, besides we are currently understaffed. Do you really think we manged to fend off the attacks without any losses?"

Orion remained silent after those words, silenty reconsidering which question to ask next.

"Why did camp call this a retrieval mission then? They should have more equipments to know that something is wrong. Why not a rescue mission rather than this?"

"They were pretty sure you were all dead!"

"The camp doesn’t just send us on death missions, there might be complications in the information, but they certainly don’t give false information!"

Lira asked, taking advantage of the Orion’s silence, bringing the attention of the commander to her.

"Hmm. That’s a valid point, but I can’t answer that."

Their expressions, hardened at those words.

"I advice you rmeber where you are, kids!"

The commander’s voice was light, but they could feel a pressure latch onto their souls, like several eyes were watching them at once.

Outside the office, all the soldiers moved their eyes from their direction, carrying on with their duties.

The pressure came off and the commander proceeded to speak, ignoring their flustered state.

"It’s standard military procedure to assume us dead. The last report was of a serious attack and all communications were cut off after. I would have done the same. As for how and why they didn’t seem to consider the interference and how they came to the conclusion that there are no life forces in here, I don’t know!"

"Unlike you, we are trapped here. We don’t know what exactly is going on outside. You’ve seen the soldiers, I think you can tell of they are alive or not!"

The commander said sending them into thought.

"You can wait and observe for as long as you want, then you can report back to the camp. I hope you get convinced fast enough. A soldier is outside. He’ll escort you to your residence!"

The commander dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

"Wa—"

Lira was cut off by Orion’s hand signal as they proceed to salute the commander.

"Yes, sir!"

They turned around to take their leave while Orion remained silent, his thoughts on the matter unknown.