NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16: Exploration Brigade
Yuan was up early the next morning, in anticipation of the challenges to come. He had a feeling today may be harder as he now had a basic understanding of the workings of everyday life in the kingdom and the commanders would probably take their frustrations out on someone who was conveniently the newcomer.
This time after breakfast, Yuan was brought up to the Command Bridge of the Exploration Brigade. This overlooked a massive internal compound that housed a variety of specimens and artifacts brought back from the endless travels that occurred beyond the planet.
Tiger came to Yuan and took his hand.
"Today you will be briefed on the operation that is coming in the near future. Snowy Commander wants you in his chamber now. Follow me."
Yuan and Tiger headed up through a stone elevator to the upper levels of the kingdom. They passed through a literal maze of compounds until they reached a suspiciously colder region. Tiger glanced at Yuan.
"You first."
Yuan walked through a white entrance cloth and was shocked at the large white beast, leaning forward on a strategic planning desk, in front of him. It was Snowy Commander, a middle-age Ursipias. His large sword-like horn hung right below Yuan's neck. One further step and he would have been impaled.
"So you are the new comer huh? Why do you walk so brazenly? Do you have no sense of caution?"
A chained partition rose and blocked Tiger from intervening.
"If you were part of the Exploration Brigade, you wouldn't even be useful cannon fodder. We have to get you into shape. Guardsmen, to the simulation!"
Two heavily armored and decorated guards Yuan did not even notice swooped up his arms and dragged him through a set of doors on the right side of the room. Yuan was taken into a spacious white room. What are they going to do? Make me go insane through white torture?
The guards left and locked the doors. Yuan was left alone. The white room suddenly transformed into the loud busy passenger compartment of some kind of advanced army helicopter. A lush plain spread as far as he could see, sun streaming through with small forests here and there. It was a beautiful site until a gorilla in a ghillie suit carrying a large rifle turned to him and began shouting through the noise.
"Y512, 12 meters from deployment! Why aren't you moving fucker? Jump!"
Yuan, confused, realized that there was a parachute on his back. He frantically tried to locate what to pull. The director gorilla looked at him furiously. Yuan forgot that he was in a simulation and decided, in the moment, that it was better to jump. He took one last glance at the gorilla who began cursing even more violently then jumped right as the gorilla took a lunge to push him out.
The speed of the fall could not be controlled. Yuan hurriedly grabbed a small red rope and prayed in his heart. The red color meant the emergency start switch.
However, it didn't move.
Yuan pulled hard, but only got a silent mechanical failure. While mentally cursing the shabby equipment, he realized that he was heading straight towards a pond below.
At the last moment, he finally broke free of the parachute, but it was obviously a step too late.
The parachute only slowed down his fall and saved him from fatal injuries, but it was not enough to avoid the tragic impact.
Bang--
Yuan slammed through the water, causing a large splash, and then hit the bottom of the pool hard. There was a sharp pain in his chest, and the silence in the water swallowed up all sounds.
Yuan could only lie as the pain spread through his body, he didn't even pay attention to the precious ecosystem it had damaged. Precious fish and vibrant aquatic life was destroyed by the impact his body made.
"Field medic to Y512! Field medic to Y512."
Yuan began to lose his train of thought. He was slowly fading into the water on this warm sunny day in the unknown world. That was until he began to lose his breath. His heart started beating rapidly until drums were ringing in his ears.
"Gasp. I'm. Gasp. Gasp. I'm. Gasp. Fine. I'm. Ouch. Gasp. I'm fine, no… no field medic."
Yuan had sat up, the warm rays of the sun shining on him. Relaxing a bit, he began to process his surroundings. There were a few more people descending and someone was running towards him. The field medic pulled him up and placed a pedipalp on his external nerve point. The pain was instantly numbed. Yuan was surprised.
"Our race specializes in healing, Yuan. Don't worry, you will still have to seek medical attention later but this will do for now."
Yuan nodded, and the two ran back to the crowd. It was then that Yuan realized that a large device was strapped onto his chest. What is this? Yuan was too nervous to ask but as the last diver headed their way, the muscular lion in the group spoke.
"For some of you, this is your first time in an amulet dimension. For others, this is your second or third time. I am Liyung. Your captain for this mission. This is a test for the Exploration Brigade. You might be wondering, am I real? I hope most of you by now understand the basics of the amulet dimension. We are all actual beings, somewhere in the stronghold kingdom but we all take on character or another once we enter the amulet dimension. The simulation will only end on three conditions. The first being death, the second being success and the third being failure. Our newcomer, Yuan, is here and so are a few others who are applying for the Exploration Brigade. I am sure those who have been here before will be able to aid in this mission. If you were not previously alerted, today, we will be in a Neutral Extraction Scenario. Our goal is to take samples of supposedly important plant matter within the small forests scattered around this area and bring them back. The chopper is refueling right now and will be scouting the perimeter. As for assignments, here is what I have been told;
Liyung: I will be overseeing this mission and assisting in the majority of tasks.
Yuan: You will be gathering samples with Hana and keeping a field book of data.
Hana: Operate the sample devices and document traits and other characteristics. You will also be tasked with maintaining the frequency connection with the chopper.
Kuma O: You will be on defense. Commander said you have three sentry robots. Set them up wisely. We weren't given much information about this planet. You will be additionally in charge of carrying the samples we are to extract.
Yan Li: You will be in charge of locating the plant matter we need to extract. Try your best to find enough to fill the case. Your second duty will be Support Guard. There is additional ammunition in your pack.
Min Rayyan: You will be on Look-Out duty. If the chopper misses something, it will be your job to alert us. I was informed that your pack has an additional propulsion system.
Gouro: You will be using the harvesting vehicle to take larger samples.
Mike: You will be on Danger Duty. Make sure there are no threats where we will be working and eliminate any that present themselves. You will serve as a medic too.
Cai: You will be with Mike on Danger Duty, you two will head out first, we will follow you. You will also be a medic.
Is everyone clear with the mission?"