Chapter 314: A time and a place
A heavy silence filled the room as Nero looked at the soldiers with vacant eyes, and the rest looked at him. Vanessa and the others wore troubled expressions, while Orion seemed the most disturbed. Nero, however, wore a perfect mask.
He had perfectly restrained all his emotions, keeping even his body language in check, though it didn’t take a genius to guess what he was probably feeling. He was practically being asked to take soldiers into battle, knowing that they’ll most likely die.
Even if physically they were fine, it was more than obvious that mentally they were far from their best, and yet they were being told that overcoming such adversity might be the only way to resolve their predicament. But who could guarantee that they would even survive long enough to fix their issue?
"Form ranks," Nero suddenly said, his voice solemn and heavy with purpose. "Check all your gear, and check your ability to actively use your Eldrim cards on command. Report any and all irregularities."
Everyone turned to watch the seven soldiers who immediately began to move under Nero’s order. Every wave of the army, every smallest manoeuvre, all of it gave off an extremely practiced and mechanical feel, as if they were robots, performing a function they had already done thousands of times.
They checked each and every gear item professionally, showing no shortcoming, and detecting no flaw, before they began to use all their Eldrim cards. Each card worked perfectly, leaving nothing to doubt.
Almost simultaneously, all seven of them finished their fear and card check. They turned towards Nero and stood at attention before declaring, "Gear check complete! Card check complete! No issues detected!"
Under orders, their actions and words contained the trained and controlled ferocity of battle hardened soldiers, yet the very moment their orders were completed, a lethargy seeped back into their very being.
"Alright soldiers, for the following mission you will be under my command," Nero declared, standing in front of them as if he were a superior officer. "During this mission I expect the best and nothing but the best. I will conduct a one-to-one evaluation of your performances after the mission is over. Not a single one of you is allowed to miss it! Understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!" the seven chanted in unison, gaining a sudden vigor, and then losing it the very next moment.
Nero turned to Vanessa and the rest, who were looking at Nero with doubt practically visible on their faces. His gaze, eventually, fixed onto Noman.
"Are you sure you want to volunteer for this mission?" Nero asked. "While your ability might be useful, your skill and strength level does not match the difficulty of the mission. You will face greater danger than before."
"Sir, yes sir!" Noman said, emulating the others without explaining himself. For all Nero knew, he could still be harbouring doubt about Vanessa and him, yet within a dangerous mission was no place for an investigation.
Still, since he was sure of his actions, Nero simply nodded and looked away.
"Let’s begin our briefing and go over the plan for today. This could very well be our last excursion, so let’s make it count."
Upon hearing his words everyone moved deeper into the room and gathered around a table with a map of Perilith laid out in the middle, though Bael and Vanessa stayed back.
"You sure you can handle this?" Bael asked Nero in a hushed tone, all the confidence and bravado he usually carried gone. "This... this is not right. We’re not in an active war. The injured should not be made to fight."
Nero did not immediately respond, and instead only stared at Bael. When they had first met, Bael was not shy about using the privilege that came along with having a famous and powerful father. He was an arrogant bully, and though repeated defeats at Nero’s hands had worn down his character, he had never dropped his pride.
This was the first time he displayed a different side of himself. Gone was his ego and pride. Instead, he showed only concern for his fellow soldiers.
"I don’t know if this is right or wrong, to be honest," Nero responded, though he also kept his voice low so that only Vanessa and Bael would hear. "I can only tell you that if it were me in their shoes, I too would choose death over defeat. Fighting to try and recover, even at the likely risk of never coming back, is a million times better than living a long, peaceful life of recovery while everyone else out there fights.
"Do not pity them. If you don’t trust them, then don’t let them cover your back during the fight, but whatever you do, do not pity them. They are warriors, true warriors, one and all. Besides, a Kolars death is already written..."
Nero did not need to complete the expression. They all knew it well. After exchanging one more glance with the two of them, Nero also proceeded to the table.
Besides them, there were a number of other groups that would be going in, but they would be going to pre-explored areas to gather valuable ingredients and materials, such as the sugar cane field to gather more samples of the sugarcane.
Nero’s team had a number of spots designated, and would act under the guise of searching for Sage level ingredients. To make their explanation more convenient, their team was informed that they were looking for a very specific ingredient that would be inside a pong. The truth was, Nero and Vanessa were only going for their own personal benefits.
The two of them were putting a lot of lives at risk just for their own gain, and the weight of that was something they both felt during each moment of the meeting. Yet neither of them would back down.
They did not need to justify their actions to themselves, or give explanations such as the fact that their potential to help out would increase drastically if they completed their mission. Whether it was true, or just an excuse, since the decision had already been made, it was too late to show any hesitation now.
Nero paid full attention to the briefing, taking in every single detail shared with him as if his life depended on it. No matter what happened, in this upcoming mission, he could leave no room for doubt that he had done his best.
*****
’ Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!’ Dave cursed internally, though he tried his best not to show his emotions on his face.
This could be their last excursion, which meant that no matter what, he had to succeed in his real mission inside Perilith. He would not be able to deal with the consequences if he failed.
The problem was that freak Nero intimidated the hell out of him, and Perilith itself was no walk in the park either. Completing his mission would be no easy feat.
Fortunately, as a result of some twisted series of events, more than half their team consisted of braindead cripples. That would go a long way in providing justification if - when - he was the only one who made it back alive.
Everything was ready, all his preparations were in place, but his nerves and the anticipation of the mission coming up made him extremely nervous. Eventually, feeling unsure of himself and wanting to take precautions, he excused himself from the briefing under the excuse that he needed to relieve himself.
That was very important, for Perilith really wasn’t the kind of place one could stop to relieve themselves, which is why he easily left the room.
Dave quickly made his way to a distant bathroom, away from the command center, and locked the door before quickly opening up his card case. He went through all his cards, one by one, until he saw the one card he was looking for.
He took a deep breath, trying his best to calm his nerves, as he mentally prepared himself. When he was ready, he closed his eyes and activated the card, allowing its effect to take hold. Once it did, he took out a carefully wrapped pill he had tucked away in a case inside his pocket and gulped it.
Immediately the aether within his body started to rage, and a sharp pain shot through his body, but Dave managed to keep himself from screaming.
He no longer had any mind to focus on the card he had just used, and put it aside.
Name: You shall not pass
Image: A massive barricade over a bridge, blocking the path
Type: Augmentation/Diminution
Star rank: 0
Ability: [ Create an artificial barrier that prevents a breakthrough into the subsequent Card Master level, should a breakthrough point be reached. The barrier can be dropped at any time to resume the breakthrough instantaneously ]
Flavour text: "There is a time and place for everything, and it is not here, and it is not now," - ???