Master Jet led him to an armored military PTV that stood a few ters away from the crowded platform. It seed that vehicle access to this part of the station was heavily restricted, but she paid it no attention. Apparently, her rank and status tramped so of the rules.
The PTV itself was very different from the civilian models Sunny was accustod to, as well as the heavier police cruiser he had ridden on occasion in the past. It was much more robust and angular, weighted down by several layers of composite armor, and entirely grounded. Even if the vehicle possessed limited levitation ability, it was perfectly capable of traversing natural terrain on its own.
As they entered the cabin, towering humanoid loader robots moved in to unload cargo from the train, piloted by servicen who could be seen in the open cockpits. The crude exoskeleton platforms were devoid of armor and failed to reach the smoothness of motion, scale, and sophistication of their military siblings, but were more than enough to perform various labor-intensive utility tasks.
The PTV roared to life, startling Sunny. It seed that the distinctions from civilian models were even more pronounced below the surface. The systems propelling the vehicle forward were entirely different, producing much more noise and vibrations, but also raw power. The PTV shot forward, narrowly avoiding several barriers before reaching the primitive cent road that led to the port.
As they ca closer and closer to the naval fortress, Sunny was able to study the swarm of activity boiling all around it.
Currently, the port beca a staging ground for a much greater force than it was designed to accommodate. Thousands upon thousands of governnt servants and soldiers were busy with frantic preparations for the approaching deploynt.
Nurous recently assembled prefab buildings stood in neat squares, so ant to provide the personnel of the First Evacuation Army with a temporary place to live, so serving as storage depots, production hubs, training facilities, field hospitals, and so on.
A lot of heavy machinery was constantly moving between these squares, either transporting cargo or participation in the disassembly of various structures. Despite the impressive scope of the military camp, its makeshift and transient nature was apparent to the naked eye. The army was already busy deconstructing many of the buildings in order to move their components to the holds of the forty battleships.
Thousands of humans sward the camp like ants. Sunny saw a lot of non-combatant servicen hurrying to accomplish their tasks, as well as plenty of soldiers busy with training exercises and drills. So of them were Awakened, but most were mundane humans.
There were all types of specialist units in view — engineering corps, chanized infantry that moved around in fearso exoskeleton armor suits, artillery vehicle operators, and many more that Sunny could not na. He even saw several mobile war platforms that resembled giant cyclops forged of tal, ranging from six to ten ters in height. These humanoid robots and their pilots left an especially strong impression on him.
They were nothing like the primitive loaders he had seen a few minutes ago. Even though Sunny knew that these machines were built and operated by humans, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was looking at hulking Nightmare Creatures.
Slowly, the scale and scope of the upcoming operation started to dawn on him. Sure, he had known the approximate numbers for a long ti… but knowing and seeing were two different things.
Sunny lingered for a few monts, then asked in a slightly hoarse voice:
"...You said that there would be several such convoys?"
Master Jet nodded as she easily controlled the PTV:
"Yes. Four, for now. Two will sail from the Northern Quadrant, one from both the Eastern and the Western. Each will transport around a hundred thousand soldiers to Antarctica in the coming month. That will also include around twenty thousand Awakened, and fifty or so Masters."
She paused, and then added:
"If the mobilization goes well, we will eventually have at least sixty thousand Awakened and anywhere between a hundred and three hundred Masters participating in the evacuation efforts."
Sunny took a deep breath.
These numbers… while the amount of mundane humans being sent to Antarctica was much more imnse, it were the latter two that gave him pause. Sixty thousand might not have seed like much, but it ant that a quarter of all Awakened in the world was going to be concentrated on one continent… and that was without even counting those who had already been based in the Southern Quadrant.
The number of Masters was even more unbelievable. Three hundred was more than a half of all Ascended alive today! The governnt was truly pulling out all the stops.
Such might.
But was it going to be enough?
Sending so many Awakened to war would also inevitably leave the other three Quadrants with less protection, and their inhabitants more exposed to the vagaries of the Nightmare Spell. The pressure on the existing infrastructure was bound to increase dramatically after the flood of refugees reached the strongholds of humanity, too.
'It is... all such a ss.'
Looking at the thousands of people moving around the temporary camp, Sunny couldn't help but wonder how many of them would be coming back.
…He had no choice but to wonder if he himself would survive, as well.
Even though the mbers of the First Evacuation Army seed trained and disciplined, he could see hints of fear and uncertainty hidden deep in their eyes. These people might have been dedicated and professional soldiers, but none of them had ever faced the kind of threat they were going to throw themselves against, soon.
Funnily enough, Sunny — despite his young age and lack of a service record — had co much closer to this kind of warfare and was much better prepared to withstand its horrors than most mbers of this hastily assembled army.
Finally, he felt sothing that he had not felt even once since learning about the approaching disaster.
The weight of responsibility slowly settled on his shoulders.
Sunny sighed, and then ntally shook it off.
'What nonsense is this?'
He looked at Master Jet, lingered for a mont, and then asked:
"So… when do I get a dapper uniform?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers