“Alright, got new assignments from up top,” Jovie gestured to the dead Gaia bears. “Gotta transport a couple of these for the R&D department to study.”

  “Sounds easy enough,” Avryn spoke.

  “Not exactly,”

  Jovie began to explain about the Corpse scavengers. They would have to fend them off as they transported the bears back to base. The transport wagon was on its way, so they needed to wait first. A few minutes later, the wagons arrived and they loaded up two corpses. The long journey began. They embarked on their jeeps and established a convoy for the transport wagon. The rookie squads were at the front, the vets were at the back. Avryn and Leifren’s squads were at the sides.

  “Special delivery, huh?” Avryn muttered to himself.

  He kept his eyes on the horizon. The silence of the forest, and the rapids of the river kept them on edge. The journey had reached its first leg. Up towards the sky, Corpse vultures were circling, their eyes on the Gaia bear corpses.

  “Be wary of the vultures. They’re bigger than they look,” Jovie gave them advice.

  “They’ve been following us for about twenty minutes,” Leifren observed.

  The vultures propelled themselves towards the transport wagon. The squads were alerted. Feathers and bullets flew as the two forces clashed. Avryn got on top of the transport wagon and shot the birds. The noise from the battle attracted more Corpses nearby. Ravenous Corpse swallows tore their way through the forest canopy and even through the vultures in order to get some of the prized meat.

  Avryn did his thing and protected the wagon. He fired off many shots but the scavengers kept coming.

  “Man, at times like these I wish I had a machinegun,” he panted.

  He continued dodging, dazzling and firing with his dual pistols. The other shooters continued firing at the birds.

  “How long until we arrive at the outpost?” Leifren asked.

  “At this rate, half an hour,” Jovie replied.

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  They had no other choice. They must eliminate these birds. And quickly. Avryn thought of an idea. He tossed up grenades and fired them in quick succession. It served to take out many of the birds in one shot.

  “Just how many ideas do you got in your head, kid? That’s another one,” there seemed to be a hint of envy in Jovie’s voice.

  “Sometimes I don’t even know, myself,” Avryn replied.

  The convoy picked up the pace. Most of the birds saw the explosions and elected not to risk their lives anymore.

  “Finally some breathing room,” Rinna said.

  “Not for long,” Tvira pointed out.

  Mutts were seen running across the river. The smell attracted them, too. They were bigger, meaner, and dark ichor were trailing down their jaw. They bumped into the wagon in hopes of getting over and inside. The squads in their jeeps tried their best in keeping them away. It was a hectic ride. Avryn jumped back to his jeep and attacked with Lerosa as he helped his squad.

  “Use the jeeps as weapons if you have to. They can take a beating,” Jovie advised.

  Avryn got back into the driver’s seat,

  “Right, hang on tight!” he cautioned his squad mates.

  He swerved directly into the pack of Corpse mutts. They were sent flying across into the nearbby trees, their body almost exploding on impact. Avryn was laughing at the sight. Rinna grabbed the top of his head and had him focus on the road.

  “Don’t take us off our patrol route, and focus on protecting the wagon,” she smacked him.

  “Right,” Avryn got back to the road. “Just keep the mutts off of me.”

  Rinna nodded and aided Tvira and Valoche. The mutts had been at them for the better part of ten minutes. Hunger had driven them this far. Another competitor had arrived to the field as ravenous Corpse wolves intercepted the convoy.

  “God damn, all this for two, two corpses!” there was a hint of panic in Harver’s voice.

  One of the Corpse wolves gets ran over by Avryn’s jeep. The force from the collision forced the jeep to land sideways.

  “Crap!” Avryn screamed.

  Avryn saw Jovie hold up a hand gesture. He heard beeping in the distance. The convoy stopped to engage the animals. He looked to check on his squad mates,

  “Everyone alright?”

  They all nodded.

  “Right, let’s help the others,”

  They ran over to where the fighting was and joined the others. Avryn jumped up and dazzled the monstrosities with his gunblade fighting style. Rinna followed suit with follow up attacks between Avryn’s pauses. The two of them alone handled many of the wolves and mutts.

  “Shooters, get up on the wagon and support us from there. Rest of you, prevent the wagon from being overwhelmed,” Jovie led the defense.

  They followed the veteran’s advice. The fighting took a few minutes. Purple blood spilled onto the gray grass as each Corpse got cut and shot down by blade and bullet. Avryn was on the forefront of the battle. He kicked and cut his way through the wolves’ offense. Having his squad by his side allowed him to fight freely. His acrobatic fighting style matched the rage of these creatures.

  Finally the battle died down after a few more minutes had passed. Avryn and his squad went back and flipped their jeep back and rejoined the convoy. Fortune smiled upon them as the rest of the journey was uneventful. They returned to the outpost hardened and victorious.

  “Man, finally, we’re back” Harver rejoiced.

  “Had enough of fighting?” Kiria asked him.

  Avryn interrupted them,

  “You guys have a rest. Me, Leifren and Jovie will report to the recon team,” he eyed the transport wagon.

  The vehicle made its stop before the recon section’s tent. The wagon opened up. Assistants from the tents helped the Gaia bear’s corpses onto reinforced tables.

  “Very fascinating,” one of the members observed. “And you said slicing off the embedded crystals helped killed it?”

  Avryn nodded,

  “Yeah. I think it could be connected to its heart. It glowed in rhythm like one,” he replied.

  “I’ll make sure to mention you to the major for your team’s help in this,” the researcher started on his work.

  “Well, there you go, kid. Nice work, it saved our butts out there,” Jovie commended him. “Tell you what, I’ll make the reports to the major, you and your friend’s squad here get some rest. You earned it.”

  Avryn and Leifren saluted him and left to tell their comrades the news.