The squads finally reached their dualcycles despite the Corpse swallow’s persistent chase. They revved up the engines and made a beeline for the outpost. Shooters on the back continued to shoot and slow the birds down. It was a matter of time before the birds lost interest and left them alone. The squads finally made it back to the outpost. They left their dualcycles to the logistics team and reported to the major.

  The next day, major Shalshukein called them up.

  “Alright, it’s been long enough. How about your group handle this elimination mission?”

  “Yes!” Harver and Avryn rejoiced.

  “This’ll be a good challenge. You’ll be accompanied by three more squads. Go to the quartermaster and tell him you’re grabbin’ the special,” he dismissed them.

  They went and asked for the special from the quartermaster. He smiled and supplied them with explosives.

  “Here you go, one order of the special.”

  There was a heft to the explosives. It would prove to be helpful for the upcoming mission. They met up with the squad outside of the gates. They took jeeps towards to bear’s den.

  “So, champ, what’s the strategy?” Jovie tested Avryn.

  “Blow them up and bury them in their own home,” Avryn replied.

  Jovie nodded,

  “And if things go south?”

  “We fight ‘em. That’s why we got more manpower this time,”

  They stopped at the clearing and made the rest of the way on foot, transporting the special explosives. They stopped before the cave and assessed the situation.

  “Jenilah, Tvira and I will set the explosives, the rest of you back us up near the mouth of the cave,” Leifren ordered.

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  “Just the three of you?” Rinna asked.

  “Any more and we might make too much noise. Wouldn’t wanna wake up the bears,”

  They all nodded to the plan and took their positions. It was a perilous process. They needed to carry the heavy explosives and planted them near the bears. They were all hibernating, the crystals embedded in their bodies hummed as they breathed. They placed the explosives in key parts of the cave to maximize their impact. They finished setting them up and retreated far away from them.

  They nodded to each other. Avryn lit the fuse. A few seconds later, the explosions started. The entire cave fell on top of the bears. The rocks fell with a loud roar as they started piling up. The dust settled down after a while. The squads got into their stance.

  The rocks melted into mud and parted away like water. Several of the Gaia bears rose up as if from the dead. The embedded crystals in their body started to glow.

  “Impossible, they should all be dead. There’s at least ten of them, with more on the way,” Harver readied his estoc.

  “Doesn’t matter, we take them down. Would’ve been to easy if they didn’t die,” Avryn smirked.

  The squads split into two formations and fought the bears. Frontline taking the brunt of the bears’ counterattack. Shooters supported them from the rear. Rinna was the star of the battle. She danced around the bear’s swipes and countered with a flurry of slashes. She ended her combination attack with burst fire shots to the head, and then she noticed something. The bear was still fighting. She retreated back into the formation,

  “This is bad,” she thought.

  What was the next logical step, she wondered. She looked around. Other bears also sustained head injuries but were still alive. There were a couple who were just literally shot in the head by Leifren and Jenilah. She shared a look with Avryn who just noticed too. The veterans backed the frontline up but they can only hold it for so long.

  “What’s the plan?” Rinna asked Avryn.

  “I just need some time,”

  “How long?”

  “As much as you can give me,”

  She nodded and went back to the front.

  “Avryn, they’re not dying from headshots,” Leifren exclaimed.

  “I know,” he yelled back.

  “So what now? Do we run?”

  “They can be beaten, just let me figure it out,”

  “You won’t have long,”

  He didn’t needed to be reminded twice. Avryn looked down on Lerosa. His grip tightened around the handle. He looked at the crystals empowering the bears. They were rhythmically glowing like a heartbeat. It was then he figured it out. He went to the nearest bear and brought it to the sword. He slashed on the crystal and it spewed yellow-orange blood. He took one more slash to fully sever it from the bear’s body. The bear screamed and fell to its side.

  “Good thinking, kid,” Jovie gave him praise. “Aim for the crystals. Crush them!”

  The rest of the squads followed suit. Avryn’s quick thinking helped save the day. The bears’ numbers dwindled as the battle died down. A few minutes later, silence once again fell on the battlefield.

  “Alright, that was a good tussle, eh?” Jovie asked them.

  “The crystals in their body were indeed the key to their defeat. How’d you figure that out, Avryn?” Hraldi asked.

  “They were glowing like heartbeats, uh, ma’am,” Avryn saluted.

  “Mhm, at least you’re smart. Our future isn’t doomed yet,” she joked.

  “Let me make a call to the major, you guys sit tight and scout the perimeter,” Jovie took out his Scribe.

  The rookies were given the task to scout the perimeter and made sure no other Corpses were nearby. It won’t be long until the scavenger corpses would come.

  “Nice gamble, kid,” Rengo patted Avryn on the back.

  He went and scouted the perimeter with the other squads. Avryn’s and Lefiren’s took to the job of protecting the jeeps. Rest was good and welcome to them. They huddled around as they reflected on the fight. There might be more fights that would be similar in the future. It was a good thing their weakness was found out early. They checked on their weapons and tallied their ammunitions and other supplies. They made some short conversations as they waited for their next orders.

  A few minutes later, Jovie arrived with their new assignment.