Chapter 59: A Little Now, For The Future

  Nearing an hour later, the thundering sound of choppers beat in the distance. Jessie waited until they all had flown past her and landed before moving closer to base. Twenty people were scurrying around, carrying supplies, munitions, and materials. A couple of generators had already powered up and were being connected to all the lights and electrical equipment left here from before Bridgefort fell.

  Some of the equipment worked, while some was too far gone. Scavenging parts of what couldn’t be saved helped in repairing some others. They scrapped unusable parts or equipment for material. Seeing the military at work like this impressed Erik. If only people had shown such dedication in their normal work before the invasion. Potholes taking a year to fix would be a thing of the past.

  Erik and Jessie assisted where they could. They were carrying and moving stuff for them, considering their strength and stamina were much higher than theirs. Erik’s claws were also useful for slicing metal apart, helping with welding and repairs. When most of the heavy lifting was done, metal salvage was the Titan’s primary job until the base could be deemed operational.

  Meanwhile, Jessie helped in a more subtle manner. Her Surge trait from her aura helped regenerate energy in those she considered friendly, so she kept to the places with the most people and focused on keeping her aura spread out as much as possible. Because they were working with electronics and metal, she kept her ‘Storm’ spell effect turned off. It had proved to only charge herself and Erik anyway, the non-Remnants getting nothing but a static, tingling sensation.

  The personnel on base consisted only of engineers and soldiers with Bumley’s stamp of approval, and there was little need for Erik and Jessie to hide their abilities. There was a chance they were being observed by the OID or a slew of other parties, but they couldn’t afford to care about that. Luckily, this mission wouldn’t be mentioned to the public until Bridgefort was already up and running again, so the private sector had little reason to keep surveillance on the area. Still, they had resigned themselves to being discovered so long as it helped them win the war.

  Only one of the abandoned ground vehicles was in adequate shape to be used by the Remnant team in their counter-invasion. After several attempts to Frankenstein another vehicle out of parts from the other ones, they had to give in.

  Their last chance of a more-or-less roomy ride all the way through the Empire was the OID’s cargo plane and the vehicles they promised to airdrop. Having to trust politicians was unnerving, being of the mind that no trustworthy people ever ended up in politics. Well-meaning people, sure, but the trustworthy ones would quit the moment they realised how little they could do in the stormy sea of politics.

  When night fell that same day—everyone was exhausted, and rightly so. Several half-barrel barbecues filled with charcoal, stocked the air with a nice, charcoal smell as meat and vegetables were sizzling on the grill.

  The walls were up and deemed safe to endure an attack, helping settle everyone’s nerves. When Jessie magicked out a large suitcase in the middle of a table, she shouted to get everyone’s attention.

  She opened the suitcase, revealing two rows of stacked glass bottles with a square card on top. Everyone cheered at the sight of the bottles filled with liquid relief, then Jessie picked up the note, giving it to Angela to read to the men and women risking their lives to help them retake the Empire.

  “General Bumley has been kind enough to send us this as a small token of thanks for our expected success in retaking Bridgefort,” Angela started with her own words, which were met with a resounding cheer.

  She smiled, but gestured that she had more to say, and the hubbub calmed somewhat. “He sent us this along with a few words, and looking at this note, it really is just a few,” she said, a slight smile sneaking its way past her defences. She read:

  A little now, for the future.

  – Brigadier General A. Bumley

  Silence followed, as everyone seemed to expect a bit more. As Angela clarified the end of the note had been reached—and the meaning of the words had finally sunk in with some—a massive cheer all but shook the bridge they were on. Bottles of champagne popped open, and song, dance, and small speeches echoed throughout the night.

  An hour after Angela’s brief speech from Bumley had been given, several more people landed in and around the base, some needing the gate opened to get inside. When met with drinks and food, the remarkable job done fixing the base in just a day was all ignored, and all newcomers were welcomed with open arms.

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  The last to fall were two large crates, lit by red and white glaring signal lights as they descended close by. Erik followed Angela and a few of the engineers out of the base and towards the crates, driving back into base in two land cruisers in perfect condition. The OID had delivered on its promises.

  The following morning, before most of the personnel had even woken, the Remnant team had packed most of what they needed into the two new vehicles, deciding to leave the third behind at the base, in case the base personnel needed it.

  With Bridgefort operational once more and serving as the fall-back point of the invasion attempt, more resources would roll in during the next little while. Until then, they might need at least one vehicle.

  During a quick breakfast a short while later, most now having risen from their cots to eat together, a lone Hellbeast was spotted lumbering over towards the bridge from the Swedish side.

  It soon reached the metal gate and started clawing at it, the squeal of the metal waking the poor souls still sleeping. Several men and women, both from OID and Bumley’s division, gathered atop the gate, only the OID-men firing their weapons in short bursts to scare the creature away. The usual tactic—the one that, at some point, lost Bridgefort.

  From the common area where most were eating, a low chant grew louder and louder.

  “Jessie! Jessie! Jessie!”

  The chanters all belonged to Bumley’s division, knuckles rhythmically pounding on tables. Even those from the OID atop the gate stopped firing and looked down at the commotion inside the base, losing their focus on the attacking monster.

  “Guys, come on!” Jessie said with feigned bashfulness as she smiled and waved playfully at them to stop.

  The chorus didn’t stop. It only grew louder. Jessie eventually signalled ‘fine’ with a grin and jogged over to the gate.

  The OID soldiers’ uncontained whispers about the weapon they had heard about spread like wildfire. Expectations took hold inside them as they figured they would finally see humanity’s last hope in action for the very first time. Judging by the reaction of the UBAF soldiers and engineers, they had faith that it worked.

  Jessie looked at Erik for only a moment, and Erik understood. This was it. There was no going back now. After sharing the look, Erik noticed several of the OID personnel tapping on their own shoulders.

  “Cameras,” Emma leaned over and whispered.

  “I noticed. We’re all ready to go?” Erik asked in response.

  “I told Dunham to get Sophie into their car as soon as the hound came knocking. We are good to go.”

  “Then let’s,” Erik said, signalling Angela and Jessie as he and Emma entered the second car. Emma turned the ignition and drove it towards the gate after the engine rumbled to life, Dunham following right behind.

  Jessie waved goodbye to Amir, whom they were leaving behind in Bridgefort. As she approached the gate, she looked up towards the people at the top of it who were staring back at her. She unzipped her dark red zip-up hoodie, and the white tank-top underneath revealed a faint red glow to everyone staring at her. Her eyes glowed an ethereal green as she activated Jet, this time soaring upwards with no need to jump or otherwise move, her body lifting by itself.

  As soon as she doubled the height of the gate, she dashed forward in mid-air, much to the increasing surprise of the people below. The gate started opening, but the hound in front of it had little chance to do anything about it as the ground beneath it stabbed it through its chest and neck in the same moment.

  The observers didn’t notice this until Jessie dropped onto the asphalt next to the dying—not dead—creature. She touched it, as if she were petting its head, the living creature’s whimpering as it proved unable to move or break the spike from Jessie’s spell.

  A nigh imperceptible spark entered the whining monster as Jessie waved goodbye to the people behind her, flashing them an almost teasing grin. Emma drove past her, but Dunham stopped, letting the Witch into the car in the front passenger seat before also driving on.

  The gate shut behind them as silence filled the base. Bumley’s people rejoiced in another chant for Jessie, yet the OID soldiers did no such thing. In fact, several of them checked their phones, having already forgotten they would find no signal. Satellite phones were all that worked before functioning radio equipment was installed. The highest-ranking OID officers were already on it.

  “Now that we’re alone, we should talk about a few things,” Angela said from the back seat in the car along with Erik and Emma. “—namely who we’re up against, and while we’re at it, that lone Hellbeast back there.”

  “I didn’t think they usually went anywhere alone,” Emma commented.

  “Exactly. Solitary Hellbeasts aren’t rare, but that’s usually when only one has broken through the defences keeping them out. They seem to always travel in pairs.”

  “I’ve met a lone one just twice, I think,” Erik said. “The one when I first arrived in England, and the one that attacked me in Norway, when I saved that kid.”

  “The one outside Cambridge had got through the beachhead that morning, according to reports,” Angela responded.

  “And the first one I met followed me to Africa along with not one other monster, but an army of them.”

  “You think an army of them will attack Bridgefort?” Emma asked.

  “No, I don’t. I think that big one was special. It’s hard to tell as it was the first one I actually fought, and the only one I’ve left alive. Not for lack of trying.”

  “Maybe an alpha? They do act and look a lot like canines, which are usually pack animals,” Angela said, providing her theory.

  “If it wasn’t the first time we met, it certainly was the second time. No one’s seen a big one since, either?”

  “Not that we know. Let’s table that for now, because I have another theory. Though, it does require a bit of an explanation, especially for Emma,” said Angela, changing her sitting position. “Let’s start with Erik’s death…”