Chapter 424 – Recon
“MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!”
Major Elliot Owen ordered his Rangers forward. They were the Regimental Reconnaissance Company, which meant everyone under his command were Special Forces. More importantly, it meant that they all knew their business, without needing him to go barking commands. When needed, they could all conduct operations in perfect silence. However, in the heat of combat, communication helped cut through the fog of war. More importantly, their role for this mission was less ‘stealth’ and more ‘shock and awe’. The idea was to give the goblins a shock to the system, and encourage them to back further into the Exclusion Zone, towards the center. They wanted them to be on the back foot, rather than organizing and trying to break out through the swamp, or around the walls.
His Recon Team 1 lit up a group of four Goblin Rat Tamers, cutting them, and their twelve tamed Dire Rats, down. Head shots still worked on the goblins, since they couldn’t use any of their active abilities, and the rats were still low-enough level that they were still susceptible to bullets. Which was good, because he didn’t want to know what kind of damage a rat the size of a dog could do.
He had all six of the operational teams for the company with him. They’d worked their way past the Valencia Reserve neighborhood, moving south along US 441. This area was mostly farms. Or, it had been before the System turned on. The residents fled, and the farms had been untended since. The goblins weren’t farmers, and the few structures in the area had not survived the hurricanes and fires that had swept through the zone the last couple years.
Without the farmers doing work, spreading fertilizer, and such, the fields were no longer tame rows, but rather a mix of mud, weeds, and plants that were fighting for every bit of nutrition they could get. The goblins were not farmers, that much was clear. However, that did not mean that the area was empty, or unattended.
Crude fences had been built around the fields, because while goblins were not farmers, apparently, they had some idea of ranching. Only, they weren’t raising cattle, or other normal livestock. They raised more of the Dire Rats that the Goblin Rat Tamers were using. Dire Rats were approximately the same size and weight as an adult rottweiler, and were mean enough to make the most rabid dog look cute and cuddly in comparison. Supposedly, the rats ate the wild vegetation, each other, and any goblins who happened to get careless, and the goblins ate the rats.
Incendiary rounds from the artillery barrage had sparked massive fires in the area, and it turned out that Dire Rat fur was very combustible. Which led to the panicked rats running around, spreading the fires, until about ninety percent of this whole area of the EZ was up in flames. The fires were still burning, still spreading, but he and his men were responsible for covering the area between Aberdeen and Florida State Road 794, where they were supposed to link up with 2nd Battalion.
Major Owen didn’t begrudge 2nd Battalion not needing to walk through literal walls of fire to get to the rendezvous. He and his men had [Fire Resistance] enchantments on their gear, meaning that so long as they didn’t just stand in the fire, they could move through flames without worry. 2nd Battalion was going to have to deal with a wider stretch of land, and more buildings, meaning moving house to house instead of just mopping up what was left after the fire swept through.
He looked at the [Monster Scanner] in his hand. Experimental magitech, it allowed him to scan distances from 10 to 1500 meters, reporting on any living creatures in the area. Well, not all living creatures. Somehow, the scanner discriminated between monsters and people or normal animals. Even picked up plant monsters, supposedly. This was the first time they were using the devices in the field, but so far, they’d worked to track down goblins and dire rats that had survived the fires, which made his life a lot easier.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect. The scanner showed all monster signs equally, so it couldn’t distinguish between the goblins and dire rats. And it also didn’t deal with elevation, so they had to be careful for burrows, or looking up in the few cases where they were still near buildings or trees that had not been completely consumed by fire. There was also the fact that the Awakened Alligators (the monster version of alligators, apparently) in the nearby bit of swamp were pinging the scanner, but they could ignore them, so long as the gators didn’t start coming towards the fires looking for food.
He looked up as Master Sergeant Hayden Lawson moved next to him. “Major, we’ve got a concentration on the scanners. The little neighborhood over off the left. Sergeant Romero says the greenies are gathering, and starting to move towards her team. Estimated numbers are about five hundred.”
Sergeant Ellen ‘Zombie’ Romero was on Recon Team 4, and the only woman in the RRC. She’d thoroughly earned her spot, even before the Initialization, by being the best sharpshooter he’d ever seen. At the range, she could put three rounds through a target at 1000 meters, leaving a single hole the size of a quarter. And that was before the System made her an Elf as well as a Ranger / Marksman. Now, she could do the same feat at 2000 meters with her M107 sniper rifle, or reliably bullseye moving targets at 600 meters with M4A1, and twice she managed to shoot a round from her Glock 19 straight down the barrel of an enemy target’s weapon! Absolutely no one in the regiment gave Romero shit about whether or not she deserved to be there. And anyone from outside the regiment that started making noise quickly learned about why that was a poor life choice from the rest of the unit. She was one of theirs, and they stood by their own.
Of course, this mission meant that Romero was more at risk than the rest of them, because of what the goblins were, and the fact that they had that [Sense Females] passive skill. But they had the [Monster Scanners], and they were in the less-populated section of the Exclusion Zone. So long as she didn’t get separated from the group, he wasn’t worried about her. Not with all six of the RRC’s combat teams in the field backing her up.
He keyed his radio, on the company frequency. “All teams converge on Team 4. Goblins gathering in large numbers. Show them that they should have chosen the fire instead.”
The neighborhood in question was full of cookie cutter houses placed so closely together that there was barely room to walk between them at most points. The only ones that even had any kind of yard worth speaking about were houses on the curves, where roads looped around to circle back on themselves. Otherwise, a house was lucky to have a few feet in the back. Not a ‘rich people mansions’ neighborhood, but definitely not poor, either.
Now, though, the neighborhood was a wreck, and the only thing that kept the fires from spreading from the fields to the houses were waterways and artificial ponds designed to make the place look nicer. It had allowed the rats to extinguish themselves, so no fires, but the buildings were still half-wrecked from storms and general abuse by the goblins, with some of them being rebuilt again and again in ramshackle patterns each time the weather or goblins destroyed them. And that was before the artillery blasted half of them. Even so, the scanners were showing that, yes, goblins were still there, and they were gathering at the remains of the community center for the housing center.
As they converged on Team 4’s position on the outskirts of the housing complex, he saw Romero on the remains of a house, looking down the sights of her M107. When he asked her for a report, her voice as cold, with that kind of dispassionate tone snipers tended to get when they were at work. “Major, eyes on one big fucker. Looks about ten feet tall, and at least three wide. Power lifter build, fat over muscle. And I’m seeing captives. Fifteen total. All women, and all naked.”
Owen frowned at that. “There haven’t been any reports of women taken by the goblins lately. Not since the walls went up on the Zone. What can you tell me about them?”
“Fourteen in cages, near some kind of ritual circle. Mix of white, black, Hispanic, Asian… Count four goblin shamans. They look to be getting their magic back, sir. And the circle is glowing. Don’t know what the circle—Scratch that. We have sixteen captives, now. Number sixteen just appeared in the circle, no clothes on, just like the others, and the goblins threw her in one of the cages.”
“Well, fuck. We expected that the goblins would work out a way to do some of their tricks eventually, but this is too quick. What about number fifteen?”
A bit of cold rage crept into the sniper’s voice. “Big guy is wearing her like a fucking chest plate, and splitting her apart while he does it. He’s… proportional. Girl’s going to need healing magic to walk straight after that. To say nothing of everything else.”
Major Owen cursed under his breath. “Put out the big guy’s eye, Zombie. And then take out the shamans. Everyone else, defensive positions. We draw them to us, instead of going to their zone. I’m calling this in.”
He turned the radio to the battalion command frequency. “Break, Break, Break! This is Dagger Six Actual. All points be advised, confirmed goblin shamans using magic inside the SIF. Repeat, goblin shamans using magic in the SIF. Confirmed ritual magic in effect inside the Exclusion Zone. Confirmed presence of non-goblin prisoners. Ritual magic appears to be a summoning circle.”
There was a roar as Zombie’s rifle put a round through the big goblin’s eye. The big goblin stopped, and then slowly fell forward, pinning the poor captive between him and one of the smaller goblins. The goblins all paused in their actions, and another bark of Zombie’s gun turned a goblin shaman’s head to a red mist.
“Dagger Six Actual reporting one extra large goblin and one goblin shaman down. Proceeding on extermination of goblins and rescue of prisoners.”
“Dagger Six Actual, this is Whiskey Six. Confirm Goblins working magic in the zone. Consultant Black wishes to know if the ‘extra large’ goblin is over three meters tall and one wide.”
Whiskey six was the battalion command sign. Which meant that the god Kuronoth was still at the command post with the colonel and his people, observing. “Confirm, Whiskey Six. Roughly ten feet tall and three wide. Sergeant Romero put a round from her M107 through the thing’s eye.”
There was a pause, and then, “Dagger Six Actual, be advised, Consultant says that target should be designated a Goblin Lord, and he will regenerate constantly so long as living goblins are near him. Shot to the head may not be enough.”
Screams and war drums erupted as the goblins shook out of their stupor, and began charging. However, there was a little over a kilometer between their position and the community scenter, and the only way “Roger that, Whiskey Six. Does the Consultant have any advice on the prisoners?”
There was a long pause this time. “Dagger Six Actual, Whiskey Six. Consultant says that if prisoners are marked or branded by the goblins, then they may be considered Dungeon Bound. The magic linking them to the dungeon is different from the magic linking the goblins. It will remain, even if the goblins are all killed, or they are taken out of the EZ. Unfortunately, definite confirmation of Dungeon Bound status is not possible within the SIF.”
The goblin horde was advancing on them, running down the street. A perfect kill box, since the houses and artificial ponds broke up more direct routes. But they were still about six hundred meters away. Romero kept plugging any goblin shamans or any goblin that looked like they were smart enough to think about turning and running, but the rest of the company waited for them to get closer.
“Whiskey Six, Dagger Six Actual. Please advise, what do we do with the prisoners?”
The Colonel’s voice answered. “Dagger Six Actual, Whiskey Six Actual. Rescue prisoners if possible. Eliminate them humanely if not. We have Black Hawks ready for extraction if the prisoners are rescued. Advise the prisoners that Consultant will be on hand when they land, and any Dungeon Bound individuals will need to either be bound to another dungeon to break the link, or eliminated, like the goblins. Otherwise, the effect is the same as leaving goblins in the Zone.”
Owen felt his stomach turn to ice. Getting rescued from goblins, only to either get turned over to another dungeon or killed? Shit. He felt bad for the women. But there wasn’t anything he could do about that. Well, first things first. The goblins were within range of his teams and their rifles.
“All teams, open fire! Kill them all!”