Elements Of Power: Scarlet Dragon Chronicles, #1

By Isaac Reighard

World War Four has ended. Powerful weapons used during the globe-spanning conflict have created hazardous areas, and a team of scientists have been ordered to discover a means to neutralize the dangers posed by these anomalies. Tina Gale, leader of the Scarlet Dragons mercenary group, has been contracted to escort the researchers to the chosen test site for protection. Little do any of them know that the direction of their lives is about to lead them into the adventure beyond their understanding.

 Elsewhere, Commander Rolf Sheerin has spent years preparing the defenders of Gaia's Hope, a massive and magical castle, for the coming of an evil army. The fortress and its defenders are the first defense against the coming dark force, and Rolf is the youngest and brightest military leader that the humans have to face it. Seemingly insurmountable challenges loom before him, and he can only hope that his warriors and wizards have the power to turn the tide of invaders back once more.

The beginning of a fight beyond the scope of mortal comprehension has started. Two powerful groups must unite to survive, but is survival enough?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Isaac Reighard
• Release date: Aug 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393327417

Isaac Reighard

Isaac Reighard dreamed of writing a book since he was sixteen. Two decades later, he completed his first epic tale with plans to write two series, the Scarlet Dragon Chronicles, followed by The End's Beginning series. 

Book preview

Chapter 1

NOT MUCH STIRRED IN the barren, dusty flatland outside of New Colorado while the afternoon sun was slamming the landscape with scorching temperatures. Usually in excess of ninety-five degrees, the temperature had decided to skyrocket past one-hundred and four, ensuring that the wildlife that called the area home stayed burrowed underground or in the scant shade that the remaining plant life could provide.

Today, the monotony of the blazing daylight hours was broken as a convoy of vehicles rumbled across the dust-choked land. The variety of the trucks and trailers spoke of a large operation to any observers that might have witnessed the procession leaving the military compound that morning. And the interested parties who had witnessed the departing convoy seethed with envy at the mercenary group that had been chosen to handle the contract.

Tina Gale, the commander of the mercenary group ‘Scarlet Dragons’, looked out of the passenger side door of her battle truck, which she had named ‘Tiamat’. Her dark blue eyes sparkled as she contemplated the details of the incredible deal she had made with the U.S. Army, and her thick brown hair bounced off of her shoulders as her truck rolled across the bumpy terrain. She could not believe the stroke of luck that had placed this contract in her lap. Then again, she had a large team with a reputation for expert acquisition, salvage, and battle proficiency that made her one of the three most sought-after mercenary groups in a four-hundred mile radius.

The commanding general of the U.S. Army’s Central Command, General Hoyt, had informed Tina that the mission should be relatively simple. A team of scientists needed an escort to an off-limits zone to conduct research tests. The zones had been called Negative Energy Fields, or NEF’s, and had been discovered four years ago with the unofficial conclusion of World War Four. A new weapon had been developed, which imploded and caused an intense increase in gravity that drew matter to the detonation area. The payload device was always destroyed by the crushing force that it unleashed.

For some reason, the General explained, large and perfectly circular areas that had been affected by the bombs were devoid of life. No plants, weeds, or flowers grew in these areas, although it seemed as if the area had a definite cutoff point, since various forms of cacti and shrub bushes would grow right outside of the NEF. The scientists were supposed to attempt to negate the field, or obtain data to fix the problem in those areas. 

The reason Tina had been contracted was simple; pockets of the Korean Liberation Force were still scattered throughout the region, and the scientists were carrying equipment worth tens of millions of credits to carry out their research. The Scarlet Dragons, having one of the best reputations among the mercenary groups (and Tina serving under General Hoyt when he had been a Major) had been contracted to carry out duties as escorts, since the military forces in New Colorado were scarce. The Russians were being pushed back to the Washington State coast, and Colorado had been forced to send a large number of reinforcements to assist in the offensive, which left mercenary groups in high demand.

The Korean Liberation Force still had pockets of light and heavy resistance in the south-west. These were mainly composed of unorganized companies and battalions of soldiers that had been cut off from communications and supplies from their country. The poorly equipped troops were more of an annoyance than anything. Since they had no way of knowing the war was over (thanks to numerous countries destroying the KLF communication satellites) these indoctrinated soldiers were still keeping the war alive.

Pockets of enemies such as these were a primary reason that mercenary groups existed. Many older veterans had had enough of the hard lifestyle of the military, yet knew that missions were still in high demand. Others only knew war as a lifestyle, and often ended up joining a mercenary outfit because they could do a job that they knew in a much more luxurious and laid back atmosphere than the military could provide.

General Hoyt had deemed this contract as a high priority, and Tina wasn’t surprised at the offered job. Usually, Tina had to haggle to make the payment for these contracts profitable. The general, however, had delivered a proposition so sweet that negotiations had been entirely unnecessary.

The offered payment reinforced the notion that this was going to be a high-priority contract, and the details included from the general indicated the need for a group like the Scarlet Dragons. Since most of the zones of negative energy were blocking major trade and tactical routes, as well as otherwise habitable areas, nullifying the problems created by NEF’s would be a critical operation.

With her acceptance of the contract, she had immediately received two-hundred laser rifles, fifty cases of fragmentation grenades, fifty cases of flash-bang grenades, four Mark 4 auto-tracking laser turrets (which were the most recently developed and hard-to-get automated defense systems), and three quick-assemble fighting position/shelter kits. She would receive repair modules for all of the weapons as well as an additional one hundred rifles and two fully equipped combat vehicles with fusion power cores at the successful completion of the mission.

With such a large cache of weapons and equipment already received, she had started refining her plans to wipe out the Blades, a rival mercenary band with a less-than shining reputation that had been trying to find ways to remove the Scarlet Dragons as their main competition for business. Up until now, Tina was unsure of her ability to launch a successful operation that would wipe the Blades off of the map.

As a former captain serving under General Hoyt, the thirty-year old mercenary had enough experience to eliminate opponents who would get in her way. She had turned the tide of more than a handful of battles with the Korean Liberation Front with as few as thirty men, often decimating her opposition even when outnumbered four-to-one. Her troops loved her, and her enemies learned to fear her.

She chuckled quietly, bringing her attention away from her future plans and back to the present. The mercenary commander stood up in the spacious cab of the truck and stretched; there was a foot of space above her head, even though she was five-and-a-half feet tall.

When Tina looked around, her eyes settled on the young boy in the seat behind the driver of the fearsome vehicle. During a scavenging mission that Tina had called for, a number of the mercenaries had been seriously wounded by the traps this kid had devised. Had the mercenaries not been as skilled and cautious as they were, a few of them would have been killed by the cunning child.

They had nicknamed the boy Trap because of his unique skill. Tina had approved of the adoption of the youth; he could prove to be a highly valuable member of the mercenary group. He was only fourteen but already had a keen eye for setting up a battlefield, and with practice he would easily be a master tactician.

When they had found Trap, he was extremely sick and almost dead from starvation. Curled up on a pile of old blankets, Jessah Reed was the first of the group to find the boy and adamantly refused to let anyone retaliate against him. She had brought the poor kid out and begged for Tina to let her keep the boy and take care of him, to which Tina agreed; Jessah had threatened to leave the mercenary group if she hadn’t been allowed to keep the child.

Trap had ended up recovering and, after apologizing to those members of the mercenary band that had been injured by his traps, taught some of the veteran’s new ways to set up some nasty surprises for their enemies. The mercenary leader learned the value of Trap’s lessons a few months later, as they had been forced to flee into the ruins of a town as they had engaged a battalion of Russian forces. With the methods that the young man had taught them, the mercenaries had managed to repel their enemies long enough to allow reinforcements from the military to wipe out the invaders.

Tina’s attention went back to the attractive engineer that was driving the Tiamat. Jessah’s expertise in engineering had proved to be invaluable to the Dragons. The young woman had spent two years inventing new weapon and defensive systems, and had created the Tiamat to be a brute-force weapon in combat missions.

The beautiful mercenary had a degenerative bone disease. From her shins to her feet, her skeletal structure refused to strengthen on its own. Specially developed bone growth stimulants had been surgically grafted to her legs, which helped her to maintain the ability to walk around, even though she had to be careful from the simple act. To keep her leg muscles strong, Tina had purchased a treadmill that the disabled lieutenant could use in a small tank of water, lowering the impact on Jessah’s legs and allowing her the chance to maintain her physical fitness.

The mercenary commander had also brought two of her best lieutenants out for this contract. There hadn’t been any real need for their expertise for such a relaxed job, but Tina realized that some of the soldiers might have the opinion that they were being given favorable treatment, since they had remained at the mercenary HQ for the last three months. In reality, the mercenary leader had kept them at the base to protect her assets, since there had been rumors circulating that rival mercenary groups had been preparing to wipe out her Scarlet Dragons. With her best fighters managing the defense of the base, she was able to complete ther contracts for those three months without worrying over the safety of her home.

Miguel Ortiz was an expert tactician, having learned directly from Tina over the years they had spent together. She had often allowed him to construct the plans that would ultimately be used for a number of missions, simply approving of the ideas he had come up with. 

To add to his resume, Miguel was the armory supervisor of the group. He maintained most of the weapons in the ever-growing arsenal of the mercenary band, kept the inventory for it, and even modified the powerful laser weapons they carried to maximize their efficiency. Tina had heard rumors that he was even working on a new type of weapon, although nobody could say what it was.

Standing a few inches over six feet tall, the lieutenant was a self-proclaimed gym rat. His massive frame seemed to ripple with muscles, and only a few of the Scarlet Dragons could keep up with his grueling exercise routine. His torso was as wide as a fifty-five gallon drum, and his arms and legs were thicker than large watermelons. Tina brought him with her during most of her contract negotiations to intimidate those folks not affiliated with the government into a better deal.

Blake Fellman was the third lieutenant she had brought along, and he was by far the deadliest of the three she had brought along. She had run across him long ago, before she had officially pulled together her Scarlet Dragons. In a set of unusual circumstances she had bested him in combat, and afterwards Tina had offered him a job in her organization. After a bit of time he had decided to accept her offer. With his impressive skill with sniper rifles, he had trained a small unit within the mercenary group to provide targeted support on large scale missions.

The rest of the thirty-person crew taking part in this mission were mostly rookie recruits who needed to get some field time in. With her dependable lieutenants and twenty-five soldiers, she felt confident enough that everything would run smoothly and things would be relatively easy. The only threat that the general had mentioned was a possible battalion of KLF troops running around the area. Reports from military intel stated that the group wasn’t very well armed or equipped, so they wouldn’t be much of a problem.

It couldn’t get much better than this, Tina thought.

BY THE END OF THE DAY, everyone in the convoy was tired and cramped. As soon as they stopped for the night, Jessah Reed stood up in the cab and carefully stretched her aching joints and muscles. She was a small woman, standing barely five feet tall due to her disease. The engineer wasn’t disproportionate in her size though.

Her legs were skinny, as she had trouble getting enough exercise to properly develop her muscles without injuring her shins. Fortunately, she had spent plenty of time with her upper body workouts, boasting a firm abdomen and slightly toned arms. Her large chest always seemed to test the physical limits of her shirts, which drew attention away from her scrawny legs.

After letting her long, red hair fall free of the ponytail she had been wearing, she reached over to poke at Trap, who was still sleeping soundly. He mumbled groggily and sat up, looking around at the open area where they had stopped for the night.

Hey Jess, the boy greeted his adoptive mother.

Get up, you have to help set up some of the snap-shelters for the night, Jessah replied.

I’m tired though, he said, the sleepiness he felt making his words difficult to understand.

You slept all freaking day! We drove nine hours today, and you slept for eight of them!

Okay, okay, Trap said as he shrugged himself into his armor. I’m moving!

Jessah continued to poke the groggy teenager to make sure he didn’t slump over like he usually tried to do when he was trying to stay asleep. Once he had climbed out of the cab, Jessah started to check all of the systems in her truck. There were modifications of all types that she had installed, as well as tweaking other standard equipment to improve performance.

The Tiamat was an incredible piece of mechanical engineering. Jessah had used a crew of ten to design and piece together everything that was needed to build the one-of-a-kind monster of a truck. It stood ten meters in height, fifteen meters in width and twenty meters in length, large enough to carry all of the needed equipment for the missions that Tina chose to accept. 

Weighing over ten tons, the front of the vehicle was armored for use as a battering ram or a bulldozer, especially when their enemies had taken cover in a well-fortified area. Bulldozing into positions that their enemies were taking cover in was an entirely unconventional tactic, but was useful to severely disrupt opposition activity during combat.

Jessah had outfitted the Tiamat with all types of other modifications. The top of the cab had three gunner hatches which allowed for two-hundred and seventy degrees of area coverage around the vehicle. Powerful automatic machine-gun styled laser weapons were mounted in these hatches and manned by three of the mercenaries. With this kind of firepower, the vehicle wasn’t lacking for protection or the ability to go on the offensive. Still, Jessah had not stopped there. Not one to be content with the impressive vehicle, she had worked on an even more powerful weapon that the Tiamat fielded, a weapon that even the army generals envied.

Jessah had convinced Tina to let her negotiate one contract through the Army for schematics to a specific type of laser cannon. Once she got the information she needed, she had developed a laser cannon of her own, which was a quarter of the size of the tank cannon the schematics were meant for, but could still fire shots that were half as strong. It took longer to charge each shot, but the payoff was enormous. Punching through walls to get to targets was a useful way to finish up their missions. The modified cannon had been used multiple times to eliminate hostile targets and enemy vehicles, or even to explosively remove walls that their enemies used for shelter.

The resourceful engineer had also managed to find undamaged solar panels to be used in emergencies, and for the shelters that she currently had Trap assisting with. In situations where the power core had failed, she could charge Tiamat’s batteries in a couple of days. Twice before this had allowed the Tiamat to crawl back to HQ when the power core had been unable to be used for power.

Her favorite invention was the thermal scanner. After a mission where they had taken heavy casualties due to bad intelligence, Jessah had resolved to invent a device that would allow them to detect living creatures in a large area, while also integrating a way to detect Scarlet Dragon personnel. Since it was capable of picking up heat signatures, she could use the thermal scanner to detect enemy forces from up to ten miles away. She could adjust the detection distance if they were close to their opponents and identify individuals, which was useful when the Dragons had to storm a building.

Tina had been incredibly impressed by the equipment, and had ordered the device to be installed in the Tiamat. Over the last three years the thermal scanner had served to assist in finding targets when the Dragons were on search-and-destroy contracts, and when they needed to avoid confrontations. After seeing the value in the scanner, Tina had convinced Jessah to develop a few of these handy devices into a portable unit. Jessah had managed to develop three hand-held units, but their use was severely limited due to the speed that they consumed their power supply. The thermal scanner in the Tiamat could detect signatures for up to ten miles, but the portable scanners were only able to detect targets up to sixty feet.

All of the extra technology installed in the Tiamat required her to spend an extra hour making sure everything was turned off correctly or functioning properly. As she started the shut-down procedures, she heard the heavy footfalls of Miguel approaching, even in the muffling sand.

Need any help? the giant man called up. Jessah leaned over to see her fellow lieutenant standing below her. She was glad that she was so high up, as it prevented him from noticing the habit she had of admiring his muscular physique. The engineer had been infatuated with the brawny fighter since she had first seen him, although she hid it well. She was too shy to do anything about it, even though she knew he liked her from the things his soldiers had said when she was close enough to hear.

The engineer gave him a quick smile. Yeah, go ahead and start checking the power core hook-ups, then check to see if my axles are still holding up.  Although she enjoyed his attention, the Tiamat was her baby, and she always treated her baby right.

That’s a job for a grunt!

You asked if I wanted help. If you don’t want to help, your crew is over there and you can help them set up weapons systems. Now she was just teasing him. Since she knew that he liked her, she was willing to play around with him a bit, while hoping that he would figure out that she was trying to flirt, in her own way.

She knew he wasn’t going to leave that easily, so she improved the tease. Letting down her lustrous, waist-length red hair, she shook it out and let it frame her pretty face. She looked down at him while she did so, then slowly rewrapped her hair in the bun. Someone had once told her that he would almost drool when he saw her doing it, but she didn’t know why.

Hurry up and get done with the power core, and then you should probably come up here to check the weapon mounts.

The giant lieutenant grumbled something that she couldn’t make out, then walked away to do what she had told him. Jessah laughed just loudly enough for him to hear, then went back to shutting down her machines.

TRAP HAD ALMOST FINISHED setting up the last of the snap shelters when the shadow fell over his five foot, scrawny frame. He knew who it was, and he also was hoping not to have to talk to the weapons expert of the mercenaries.

Trap turned around as soon as the shelter had been put into place. Miguel stood there, arms folded across his massive chest, with an unreadable expression on his face. Miguel had been the first victim of the inventive child when they had found him. The trap that the lieutenant had sprung was a clever one, involving one mechanism to spring two traps at the same time. In this case, Miguel had tripped over a wire, causing a heavy stick full of nails to snap down above the prone weapons expert. Since the nails had been at various angles, his arm had been shredded from his elbow to his shoulder.

Trap felt bad about the incident, but had only apologized to prevent any hostility from the band. He hadn’t known that the Dragons would end up taking him in. He had only been defending himself!

The boy had expected that one day he would have to make amends for the damage he had caused. And now he expected that the time was at hand.

Hey kid, come with me, Miguel ordered.

Where are we going? Trap asked.

It’s time for you to learn how to properly use a weapon.

I get to shoot?! Trap had been hoping to someday get to learn how to use weapons, but he thought he would have to wait until he was an adult for the chance to be handed to him.

Miguel couldn’t keep a slight grin on his face as he saw the excitement on the young face. C’mon kid, we’re wasting daylight! Miguel turned away and headed to a point that had been set up between the snap-in fighting positions, which were extremely quick and easy to set up.

What do I get to shoot? Can I shoot an assault laser rifle? Or the laser machine gun? Trap asked, literally bouncing on his toes with excitement.

No. You get to fire, Miguel said as he pulled open a small box on the ground, a laser pistol.

Trap looked disappointed for a second, then regained his enthusiasm at the knowledge that he would get to shoot a weapon at all. Miguel explained the basic functions of all of the knobs and buttons on the pistol, and let the child shoot at some cans he had set out. His aim was terrible, but the massive lieutenant gave him some pointers. Although Trap still failed to hit any of the cans, his aim managed to improve a bit before Miguel told the boy to stop.

All right, bud, the weapons expert began, this pistol is yours, but you will have to work hard for it. One day Tina will decide that you have been useful to the Dragons, and then you will be allowed to keep it forever. They both walked over to one of the fighting positions and Miguel pulled out a belt with seven laser pistol battery cells. Don’t you forget what I told you about weapon safety. Make sure you keep track of the battery charge in those cells, and if you empty a cell you are responsible for recharging it.

Trap nodded excitedly. Yes sir! He was so happy to get a gun, something he could defend himself with. After living by making crude traps for so long, this lethal tool was much more comforting to him than he thought it would be.

Eventually the excitement wore off and Trap found his cot. The night wore on, and soon Trap was asleep, holding his new weapon tightly against him.

Outside of the camp, Blake had left to scout out the area. With his special equipment, he was able to blend in to the environment, and at night he almost achieved perfect invisibility. His footsteps made no sound, adding to his effectiveness at remaining stealthy.

He reached the top of a hill, about two hundred yards from the camp, then laid down in the prone position, assembled his sniper rifle, and looked out to the west. Making sure that the camp didn’t get ambushed at night was one of Blake’s more important duties.

The sniper started to monitor the western horizon. For hours nothing happened, but before sunrise he noticed an odd greenish light in the distance. He tapped his ear piece, calling for Tina to come out to join him. Ten minutes later they were laying side-by-side, watching the eerie light in the distance.

Isn’t that coming from the direction we’re heading? Blake asked.

Yeah. I didn’t hear anything from the general about strange activity happening out here though, Tina replied. We’re still two days away, and it’s pretty far from us, but it is in the direction we are going. She stood up, brushing some of the desert sand from her clothing. I’ll tell Jessah, we’ll keep our eyes on the thermal scanner.

She saw Blake nod his head and resume his watch, then she moved back to the Tiamat. It was too late to try to get back to sleep, so she started going through a basic workout routine, moving from strength training to her martial arts routine.

An hour later, as the sky started to brighten, she had completed her workout regimen. The thought came to her that she hadn’t tested any of the new recruits, and that was something that the mercenary leader could not be lenient about. She made a mental note to make sure the watch for tomorrow night was set so that the rookies would be awake early to join her in some physical training.

Let’s go train some rookies, she thought with a smile.

Chapter 2

TINA WALKED CALMLY and quietly among the snap-in shelters that were always used on long-term missions. One of her best purchases, the shelters allowed her soldiers to set up a temporary living space in a matter of minutes, without too many components to assemble. 

Since the walls were metal, she used them as a readily-available noisemaker to rouse the troops.

Grabbing a large rock from the ground, the mercenary commander started walking around the three shelters, beating the sides with the rock and drawing cries from inside. She heard the veterans that had come along telling the rookies to shut up and get dressed and to stop freaking out, somewhat spoiling her entertainment.

However, Tina put them all through an intense workout (that she found to be quite easy), minus those who had been assigned to watch the perimeter. She was highly skilled in martial arts, and she made sure her men learned at least the basics of hand-to-hand fighting in case they came across a situation where it would give them an advantage. Since her training was extensive, she ensured that the rookies were extra sore when the exercises were complete. She chuckled as she heard the groans from her soldiers.

It was seven o’clock when she concluded the workout and told her soldiers to get cleaned up and eat. She made the climb up the Tiamat to her small private quarters; she didn’t indulge in too many things, but privacy was something she valued. It helped that she had full say over the expenditures of her operations.

Tina stripped down after she locked her door, pulling out a complete change of clothing. Her outfits rarely varied; sports bra, black tank top, spandex underwear, and her custom made black Kevlar combat pants. Determined to always be armed, she laid a custom-made knife next to her customized Kevlar pants; there was a special slot along her thigh for her unique blade, along with a strap to keep the weapon secured. It allowed her to keep space free on her belt for extra ammo to her laser pistol.

Dumping a bottle of water into a large bowl, she wiped her face and neck clean, then took a washcloth and wiped down everything else. As she air dried, she grabbed a nutrient bar to snack on while she reviewed financial information from the past month.

At eight o’clock, Tina expected to be ready to continue the journey to their destination. When she climbed down from her quarters, she discovered that the science team had not even emerged from their trailers. Apparently, the conversation she had had with their leader, Allen Geoffrey, had not had the effect she expected it to.

She triggered her communication implant to activate. Miguel, Blake, what can we do to wake up the science team?

Miguel responded first. Do you want to make them shit their pants, or do you just want them to get the point about moving out?

Her lieutenants always had these kinds of questions. It made things... interesting. Let’s go with just a message. We have to spend at least a month with these people. It might be a good idea to let them keep their sanity.

Blake responded. Flash-bang grenades?

I like that plan. Go ahead and get everything set up. I want it done in fifteen minutes, we’re already thirty minutes behind schedule.

Miguel responded. Already moving, boss.

Trap saw Miguel jogging to the Tiamat, and he wondered what was going on. His curiosity compelled him to run over to the ladder that ran up to the bed of the massive truck and wait for Miguel to come back down.

When the massive man made it back to the ground, Trap couldn’t help but ask, Sir, what’s going on?

A mischievous smile grew on Miguel’s face at the question. The science team is putting us behind schedule, and Tina wants to make sure they know that she is in charge of all the travel operations. You would think that people as smart as they are would have understood a simple schedule.

The young boy nodded in agreement. Nothing that he had heard Tina say ever seemed to be anything but simple to accomplish. Scientists should be able to understand and follow her instructions.

Sir, can I help with the setup?

Miguel, who had started walking away, turned around while continuing to walk backwards. Yeah, you know what? That’s a good idea, we need to keep your ambush skills sharp, and you might have a good idea to deliver the ‘message’. The current plan is just to toss these flash-bang grenades into their sleeping trailers and watch the fun.

Trap looked at the three trailers that the science team were sleeping in, which were all close together. As he looked at the way the trailers had been parked, he saw an optimal way to achieve Miguel’s goal without having to waste too many of the disruptive grenades.

Sir, when I was still hiding and setting my own surprises, I liked to make things happen in a sequence. If we have some string we could tie up the grenades, string them across the length of the trailers, tie strings to the grenade pins, and pull them so that they explode at random times. The way the science team parked will make it easy to use only a few of the grenades.

Miguel was smiling by the time the boy had finished his explanation. Well, son, we have ten minutes to make that happen. Let’s move!

One of the mercenaries had a long spool of wire, and he gave the length of it to Trap. Together, he and Miguel set up the non-lethal ambush quickly. The lieutenant called for seven volunteers to pull the strings tied to the grenade pins, and Trap was allowed to pull the first one.

Three explosions were set for each trailer, and the effect of the loud weapons on the science team was hilarious. The seven men and four women screamed, and the sounds of personal effects crashing to the ground punctured the noise of frantic people scrambling to get out of the trailer.

The slow-rising science team only increased the humor of the situation when they managed to open the doors and stumble out, most of them in boxer shorts of varying colors (for the men) or bras and panties (the women), and one scientist wearing a light blue thong. The Scarlet Dragons howled in laughter as the now humiliated scientists ran back in to their trailers, and soon they were all dressed and fuming, but none of them dared to confront the hardened soldiers.

Tina, who had retrieved a bullhorn from the Tiamat, called out to the entire science team. We leave at eight a.m., we stop at six p.m. Next time you hold us up, the wake-up call is going to be much, much worse.

The science team was ready to leave a few moments later, but Trap was surprised to hear Tina calling for everyone to meet her at the rear of the Tiamat. He had no idea what she was going to say, but when she started to speak, he listened intently.

So last night Blake saw a weird light coming from the direction of our destination. It went away shortly after he saw it, but I want to make sure we are extra careful. I’m not expecting trouble, but we’re not going to be complacent, Tina told the gathering. "If you see something strange, call it in so we’re all aware of it.

Jessah and Tina climbed into the Tiamat and waited for the signal that everyone was ready to proceed on the next leg of their journey to the NEF. Trap took his position in the seat between them. While they waited, the two women talked.

Why don’t I drive today? Tina was asking Jessah. I want you to monitor the thermal scanner. I’m not feeling entirely certain that this area is going to be safe. Plus, you can use the time to teach Trap about the equipment you installed in here. Our newest recruit is going to need to start learning how we operate sooner or later.

Jessah nodded. Will do, but I don’t think the thermal scanner is gonna pick up anything important if the weird light was that far away. Trap! she called over to the boy. Behold my genius and be amazed!

Tina laughed at the goofy engineer. Trap couldn’t help but to grin at the youthful energy his adoptive mother seemed to radiate. He hoped to be as happy as she was when he grew up. However, he started to pay close attention when Jessah began explaining how to operate the equipment in the massive truck. 

As the day went on, Jessah went about her normal tasks, monitoring the thermal scanner like Tina had instructed. She spent most of the day showing Trap all of the functions that the machinery could perform without interfering with its functionality. He wasn’t as quick to pick up on the entire scope of operations that some of the equipment could utilize as she had hoped, but she did notice that he was eager to learn what she showed him. Of course, this was as much time as he had been able to spend with her in the last two weeks, so he might just be happy to be spending time with her.

Scheduled stops had been included for the personnel to relieve themselves, grab something to eat, and to stretch out. During each stop, Jessah instructed the drivers to quickly inspect the vehicles. It was something that the drivers were used to doing regularly anyways, but she reminded them of the task to ensure that they didn’t slack off. Finding small problems before they turned into big problems saved a lot of money and time, mostly for her since she was the chief mechanic of the group.

At five-thirty that evening, Tina decided to stop for the night. They had already covered more than half of the distance to their destination, and stopping now still kept them ahead of schedule. Jessah stretched out before flipping the switches to cut off unnecessary systems, then told Trap to climb down and get started on setting up the snap-shelters. The boy, sore from the exercises Tina had put the mercenaries through that morning, groaned at the twenty meter descent but started the climb down.

The engineer pulled a large gadget and her datapad from under the driver seat. She was still monitoring the thermal scanner, waiting until it was dark before she ordered someone from her squad to take over the watch. Just because she was watching the monitor didn’t mean she had to be bored while she sat there.

The gadget was a prototype for the laser cannon on the front of the Tiamat. For months, she had wanted to be able to give the laser cannon dual functionality, giving her the option to fire a traditional laser pulse to punch through walls or other defensive barriers, or to fire a beam to cut through large numbers of personnel. When Tina had heard of Jessah’s project, she had brought up the tactical advantage that could be gained by forcing enemies to flee from a continuous beam. 

Jessah had made a powerful case to Tina to get approved to work on the device. The intelligent woman had discovered key words that the commander would respond positively to, and she used them to secure the funding she needed. Tina, not to be won over so easily, had insisted that she develop at least three additional units when the working device had been developed and tested, a deal that Jessah always agreed to. After all, once she had the first unit operational, she was easily able to duplicate her work.

Adrianna and Jessah had both been working on the device, and now the project was close to completion, with only two other pieces of equipment needing to be installed to the firing rod of the cannon to prevent the component from melting after one use. With luck, the two ladies would be able to have a test-ready unit in a few days.

From the ground, Tina’s voice was being broadcast from the bullhorn. Apparently, the commander of the mercenaries wanted to be sure that the science team did not delay their travel time any more than they already had, and wanted to be crystal clear to all of them about her expectations. The engineer chuckled as she thought back to that morning and the amusing events that had transpired. Fat chance of them waking up late again, she thought.

The smell of dinner being cooked brought a rumble to her belly. Jessah told someone to bring her a plate of food, since she was engrossed in trying to complete the weapon component and monitoring the thermal scanner. A soldier brought her a meal a short time later, and she ate slowly as she continued her work.

The sun had completely set behind a low hill in the distance when she realized she would have to wait until tomorrow to resume her tinkering. With the loss of an activity to complete, she started wondering about the event that had happened the night before. Wanting to hear a first-hand account, she opened a private channel with Blake to hear what he had to say.

What? she heard as the quiet voice of the sniper replied.

I gotta know why Tina was weirded out last night. What happened?

Weird green light appeared, and it was coming from the direction we are headed in. Not much else to tell.

Jessah slumped back in her seat. Alright. I was hoping for something more, but that’s fine. Jessah out.

She grabbed some of her hair and started twirling it with her finger. Not wanting to miss anything, the engineer expanded the range of the thermal scanner to three miles. Nothing showed up. She increased the range to its limit of ten miles. Not expecting to see anything, she was surprised when the scan came up with a positive reading of forces in the area.

Switching her headset to transmit to the entire mercenary group, Jessah called for the commander and the other two lieutenants to report to the Tiamat. The cab of the truck was large enough to accommodate the four highest ranking members of the group easily.

Tina was the last person to climb up, and she looked like she expected some important news. What do you have for us?

About seven or eight miles northwest of us is a large concentration of troops and equipment. From the recon report that General Hoyt gave us, it’s unlikely to be a friendly group, Jessah reported.

What’s the troop count? Miguel asked, getting his pen and notepad out.

I would say roughly twenty-five hundred personnel, maybe a hundred large trucks. That isn’t the only thing though. Jessah pointed to a green glowing spot right at the edge of the thermal scanner’s range. I think that’s a group of reinforcements. This buildup of troops might be preparing an assault on the army base.

The other lieutenants looked at Tina as she decided what course of action to take. I’ll send a report to Central Command about these guys. In the meantime, go and inform your teams that this is a developing situation and to stay alert. Miguel, go and get the four laser sentry turrets set up, and I want vehicle gun turrets and the laser cannon ready for use until we get some distance between us and this KLF group.

The three group leaders nodded. Tina climbed back to the ground, followed by Miguel and Blake. Jessah stayed in the cab of the truck, continuing to monitor the large force that was almost sharing their space.

Two hours later the engineering wizard watched as the smaller group that was being monitored on the thermal scanner joined the larger group. Knowing that Tina would want a report on the new development, she immediately notified the commander and her fellow lieutenants to get back to the truck.

After a few minutes of waiting, everyone arrived to see what was going on. Jessah started to explain:

So about five minutes ago I was watching what we are assuming is a large force of KLF waiting for this other small group to join them. I’m still not sure what exactly to expect, but in a few minutes both groups will be joined up.

The group of mercenaries kept watching the screen. When the two masses on the thermal scanner merged, Tina started to switch on the communications equipment to alert the Army forces about this gathering. Before she could, Miguel stopped her.

Hey, that doesn’t look right. He