The troops didn’t linger. If there was an entity that shouldn’t be underestimated, it was the swarm.
"If you would." Stephen gave a aningful glance to one of his troops.
With a nod of understanding, Natalia took a deep breath before casting her concealnt technique over the whole troop.
She had been vital when it ca to sneaking into Celestia in order to rescue the civilians. Once again her technique was going to play a major role.
"This is far enough." At a certain point Grandmaster Alice spoke, bringing them to a halt.
In the far distance a settlent stood, one too small to be called a city. It was closer to a small military base with a diater no more than a hundred ters.
This was their first goal. Conquering the little patch of land.
Even if the mission might have looked easy, with three Grandmasters from Azure and several more from Vespera. The rulers of the city had deed this was worthy of being their first target for two reasons.
First and foremost, as this was the unit’s first mission, it was crucial to conduct a sort of trial. One that would allow them to gauge their team’s strength and determine which mbers worked best together.
The second reason was because they needed the place to serve as a shelter where they could rest. Sleeping on the backs of the cha tigers, while doable, wasn’t going to provide them with enough comfort to restore their vitality to the maximum.
Keeping low, Michael made use of Perfect Vision to scan the place carefully.
Bzzzz!
Over a few structures a dark cloud flew calmly. If one were to observe closer, they would realize that this cloud contained millions of little insect-like aliens that were acting as a single entity.
The beings had spread over the whole periter, residing inside and outside the military structures.
"Won’t it be beautiful if we light them on fire?" Richard exclaid, catching the others by surprise. "Think about it, we won’t have to worry about being surrounded if they all burn to ashes!"
Alice frowned. "That won’t do. We are ant to get rid of the aliens only, not take the whole settlent with it."
Clicking his tongue, Richard shook his head in dejection.
"You are no fun..." He complained.
"Fun?" Karson arched an eyebrow. "Does your empty head even comprehend where we are? Unless we exercise utmost caution, we are as good as dead!"
With a smirk, Richard glanced at Karson.
"And who do you think you are? Barely being in the Middle stage of my realm while I am in the Peak stage... I don’t listen to weaklings."
In a bizarre twist of fate, Karson, the arrogant Master that refused to give the proper respect to anyone he deed weaker, was now receiving the sa treatnt!
"There is no need to argue." Anticipating trouble ahead, Michael quickly cald down Richard.
"Sorry, Boss." Richard seed genuinely apologetic.
’He dares?!’
Naturally, Karson beca livid. Richard had claid to be stronger than him, brushing aside his advice. Yet, he followed Michael’s orders without hesitation. Didn’t this imply he valued a re Expert over him?!
Richard chuckled darkly, noticing the way Karson’s face was slowly flushing red from rage. On the way here, Ava had complained about how the arrogant Master had treated them last ti.
This gave Richard the idea to taunt Karson a little.
Of course, Michael had long realized what Richard was aiming for but didn’t interpret. Unless the actions of his crew endangered them in so way, he would let them do as they wished.
The unit began to debate what the best course of action was.
While frontal conflict could work, since this herd wasn’t that large, the risk of damaging the nearby structures was high.
In the end, they agreed it would be for the best if they split the aliens apart.
When united they represented a real danger, but divided or in small groups they were as dangerous as a Lesser tier alien. A threat level that anyone in the unit could effortlessly handle.
But for them to be divided, sobody had to enter the place undetected and wreak havoc on their order.
"I volunteer." Michael declared instantly.
’Stacking Fade with Natalia’s concealnt technique would make completely invisible to them.’ He mused.
"..."
He waited a few seconds to see if the Grandmasters would object, wanting to go themselves. But apparently even they felt reluctant to enter the lair of the small flock.
With a nod, Michael was about to go. However, a hand gripped his arm, halting him in place.
"I am joining you!" Ava proclaid, her eyes burning with fierce determination.
Since Michael had beco a Peak Expert, she had begun to lag behind, being only in the Late Expert realm.
Before Michael could object, she added.
"You don’t have to worry about ! I am small, so they won’t notice even if there wasn’t a concealnt technique on !"
Michael’s eyes narrowed montarily. Even if reckless, he had to praise Ava’s commitnt. Ultimately, he judged that going with her would be better than going alone.
As they left the warmness the heating generators of the tigers provided, they stealthily neared the military base.
The other troops spread out, circling the settlent. Their task was to cut down the aliens that would break out from the herd.
"This reminds of the ti we went to rescue Victoria. Rember the wrecked vehicle that the two of us entered?" Ava giggled.
Michael chuckled warmly.
Approaching the target, they eventually beca silent. From now on they had to rely on hand signals for communication. Otherwise, speaking out loud would alert the herd of their presence.
BZZZZ!
By now the annoying sound of buzzing perated the periter, drilling deep in their ears.
’Annoying.’ Michael sighed inwardly, entering the place.
The reason he had eagerly volunteered for the infiltration was that he understood how the Ro’trah operated. With a small herd present, it was clear there had to be an alien acting as the queen, commanding them.
Killing her would cause the herd to go mad, dispersing around the area.
While Michael fearlessly moved past the cold blizzard, Ava began to rub her two hands together, generating heat. Quite bizarre considering that they were replaced by cybernetics, but to each their own.
"..."
Wordlessly she stared at Michael’s free hand.
Sensing that Ava’s begun to slow down, most likely due to the strong winds, he gripped her hand gently, leading the way.
A small smile tugged at Ava’s lips as they paced forward.
BZZZZ!
The buzzing sound intensified as the millions of creatures cast a shadow over them.
Nevertheless, they ignored the small creatures flying around them, pushing forward.
’It’s not as bad as I thought.’ Ava realized that as long as she didn’t stare at the creatures and they didn’t detect her, it was an easy mission.
Reaching the biggest building in the base, Ava gently pushed the handle down, opening the door.
"...!"
The interior was filled with a surprising amount of the little creatures.
However, what caught their attention the most was the being that stood at the center of the room.
It was the queen of the herd...
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