21:00 AT, Day Five | Western Forest of the Winding Waves / Neutral Fort

  “Alright fellas, are you all ready for some fun times?” Ray says, addressing the crowd of about one hundred soldiers.

  We are all gathered near the recently discovered fort. The first one we have found in the forest biome.

  It's much larger than Fort Ridere. And the drones inside are rated at medium-level. There are even a few turrets and such on the outside. Though, as a trade off it seems there aren't any major obstacles like a hellfire cannon.

  The assembled crowd cheers in agreement.

  “Hmm, I couldn't hear you. Are ya ready?”

  *even louder cheering*

  “That's more like it. Now, let's go get us a fancy Fort. You all know the plan, so let's go slaughter some drones!”

  With that everyone disperses to do what they need to to get ready for the big operation.

  Our capabilities have significantly stepped up since our first fort raid.

  This time we have proper explosives, vehicles, as well as breaching gear.

  We have several squads dedicated to breaching the wall, then to fall back and provide covering fire while the infantry sprints in.

  It was all quite expensive, but the theory is that capturing the fort will easily pay for it all. Plus provide more strategic opportunities. Thanks to our regular hunting parties, we have managed to accrue enough of the valuable Ti. Both for equipment, and also the attainment of more soldiers as mentioned previously.

  I turn to Itvak Pole, Emil’s subordinate. It seems that he has become something of a head of intelligence in Emil’s network. It seems Emil intends to have him travel with us to provide us with required intel.

  After all, we can't know everything that goes on, we only need to know the important stuff. The things that can affect the entire theatre.

  Itvak is perfect for such a purpose, since Emil seems to have taken on a lot of the administrative duties, he won't always be with us to do such things. Linda also seems to have fashioned herself as some form of assistant to him. Which is cool, we never really intended her to become a primary combatant.

  What a good guy. Saving Ray and I from all the boring bureaucracy, I'll have to buy him a nice bottle of liquor after this trial is over.

  I turn to Itvak and ask for a full sitrep on the fort. Just one last time, for good measure.

  It seems there are around six hundred drones inside. And the western wall (that we plan to break down) has seven anti-infantry wave cannons. Basically cannons that fire lots of small projectiles along with a weak emp. Designed to annihilate weak infantry.

  That's where the first squad of this operation comes in.

  I find Ray, who is currently talking with a group of warriors, who are eager to get to some slicing.

  “Darling, let's get this thing started, shall we. We are the first squad and all, so its up to us to kick it off.”

  She grabs me into a tight hug and even gives me a quick kiss. “Good idea, let's give this group of fresh meat some real combat experience.”

  “Lets go give those drones a nice pretty show. Really light up the night sky.”

  “That is what moonlight tends to do. And we are the Moonlight duo, so let's go show those drones why we will win this thing.” She says, a strange conviction in her voice. It seems like she is really motivated to win this thing for some reason. Almost as if the drones in the fort did something to her, personally.

  “Hey darling, make sure not to go too hard on the drones. They are just targets to provide us with a bit of fun.”

  “Nah, ima annihilate every single one of them by myself.”

  “Well, I guess you have the passion, that's good for a leader I guess.”

  “Ko darling. These drones are standing between me, you, and a long session of headrubs. So yes, ima blow them to smitherines.”

  Oh, that makes a lot more sense now.

  I feel a sense of vigor enter me. Headrubs are a very good motivator.

  We head over to the stockpile and we pick up the nice gift we are going to deliver. That is, seven large emp devices. One for each of the wave cannons.

  Ray grabs three and I get four. Since I'm more agile in the air, it's better that I do more of them.

  We both take off into the skies, me with my inae-teleikensis based flight, and Ray with the flight provided to her by her special armor.

  We approach the fort, which sits on top of a hill in a clearing devoid of trees for several hundred meters.

  Once we reach the edge of the tree line, I look down. Below us, the soldiers are gathered. Rifles, swords, spears and such in hand. Ready to charge when we take down the cannons.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  I look over to Ray, and she flashes that brilliant smile of hers. Then, we charge.

  I fly as fast I can towards the wall. After a few seconds, the cannons lock on and start to target me.

  Waves of projectiles whizz past and all around me, some plinking off my armor as my repulsors are disabled by the emp pulses.

  Luckily, I've probably got the thickest armor in the arena at the moment, so they can't touch me with such weak stuff.

  I get to my first drop point, and deploy the emp right behind the barrels of the gun. I set the timer and fly off to the next one.

  I repeat the process all four times, and then quickly dash out of range and meet up with Ray in the skies.

  “Good work, no.1.”

  “And you, no.2. You looked mighty cute deploying those charges.”

  “Ha, of course I did. I can look cute doing anything!”

  “What about that time back in school when you were tasked with cleaning the chalkboard? Only to fail miserably and end up with chalk all over you and the front of the room?”

  “Oi, we don't talk about such times. Like, can you believe it, they still were using chalk. Didn't they know we have NeuralLinks now?”

  “For some reason the school decided that the old ways were better. I can't believe your mother decided you should go there, rather than somewhere more high tech.”

  “Well.. my mother is a particular sort of person, y’know. You didn't have to follow me, you could have gone to a fancier high school. It's not like the person who raised you didn't have the money.”

  “Nah, like, what's the point? Without you, nothing's ever any fun. Isn't this great? Now we get to have lots of fun, all across the stars.”

  “Yep, the IEC is going to regret selecting us as contestants, one way or another.”

  Below us, the charges detonate and the cannons are taken offline. Along with several dozen of the drones that are standing nearby.

  “Alright y’all, you know what to do. Charge!” Ray commands, her voice resounding across the battlefield.

  Instantly, our forces start to charge across the field. Those at the front have their hellosphere launchers out at the ready.

  At once, they fire at the wall and a massive chunk of it is blown apart.

  I proffer my hand to Ray and ask “May I have this dance, darling?”

  “Who could possibly refuse a request from such a cute guy?”

  With that, we rapidly descend down, right into the middle of the fort. We land right in the midst of a large cluster of drones.

  I immediately expand my inae field to help me dodge any ambitious projectiles or swords. Then, I ready my spear and get poking.

  Ray and I dance around the courtyard, down alleyways, and around each other. Trashing drones with every thrust of our spears.

  I even get to practice my skills at making a barrier of raw inae. Unfortunately, I'm not very good with it, and many projectiles still manage to pass through. Only to helplessly be deflected off my repulsor shields.

  I'm sure if we were unprepared and unskilled, this siege might actually be difficult. But, we are the Moonlight Alliance. No way we would fail such a simple siege. Especially not with Ray in charge, and me supporting her as always.

  For the first time in combat, I use the skill from my commendation.

  Ray seems to have chosen not to take it, she says she doesn't want to be all zappy or whatever. Fair enough, it's not that necessary quite yet.

  I use {Lightning Bolt} at a group of drones that are charging at me, swords in hand.

  I feel the familiar tingle and the bolt of lightning arcs from my hand and strikes them. They all fall to the floor. Crazy advanced technology sure is nice and convenient.

  After sound returns to the battlefield, having briefly been disabled due to the thunderclap. We resume our dance and along with the soldiers we quickly finish off the remaining drones.

  Once it is done and the dust has settled, I grab Ray and give her a nice big hug.

  I lean in and whisper into her ear “soo, I guess this means we are free to engage in a lot of headrubs, right?”

  She blushes profusely at my statement, but she just holds me and doesn't disagree.

  Suffice to say, we occupy one of the quarters for a particularly long and intense session of headrubs. It took me forever to fix my hair afterwards.

  09:00 AT, Day Six | Fort Arbor / Command Room

  After our intense session of headrubs. We remembered that we actually had to capture the fort. Since only contestants can actually do that part. Whoops.

  Anyways, we successfully captured the fort and named it Fort Arbor.

  A very creative name if I do say so myself. We are the best at naming things, if you haven't noticed by now.

  We also helped the soldiers settle in and organize the command structure.

  We have selected one of the high-level soldiers that we think would work as a good garrison commander. Thus we have officially given them the title in the system.

  Apparently, it allows them access to manage the inventory of the local Fort. As well as provides them access to a small storage system. Where we can place Ri and beings so that we can easily allot soldiers to each fort.

  “Hey Ko, stop daydreaming and give me attention.” Ray says she is currently sitting on the meeting table, very unprofessionally.

  Her long hair is reflecting some of the early morning light from the nearby window. Making her look like she is a shining star amidst the drab gray interior of the fort.

  Complying with her demands, I walk over and wrap my arms around her shoulders. Then, I give her a kiss right on the nose.

  We break into a light fit of laughter, and then she kisses my nose back.

  We stay like that, wrapped in each other's embrace for quite a while.

  In fact, we could've stayed like that for an eternity, if only reality didn't get in the way.

  That reality came in the form of a knock at the door.

  “Pardon me, milords. But we are currently detecting six energy signatures coming from the east. They might be hostile. They are expected to arrive within ten minutes.” Itvak informs us.

  “Darling, are you sure we can't just ignore this one?” Ray asks, flashing a very enticing smile. I really do wish I could say we could.

  “Unfortunately, I believe the duty of leading requires us. I'm sure we will have time for more headrubs later.”

  She seems to brighten a bit at the latter half of my statement. “Ima hold you up to those headrubs.”

  “I wouldn't dream of trying to skip out. After all, who wouldn't want headrubs from such a cute girlfriend?”

  I'm sure that whatever should come next, Ray and I shall overcome it together. Even if it's some strange energy signatures. So, bring it on.

  End of Chapter 92

  Next: Chapter 93 | Parlay