Path to the Apocalypse

The rest of boot camp was fairly uneventful as Chris's space finally seemed to run out of new tricks to pull and Chris could focus on developing his skills as a scout, mechanic, and minion coordinator. All he needed to do for scouting and coordinating his minions was polish the skills he already had, but starting in the second half of boot camp, his mechanics class moved from simple maintenance and repair to actually designing and creating specialized equipment for the squad. For Beth, he created a pair of knuckle spikes with retractable barbs that she could use to pull enemies in or punch into walls to anchor herself. For Nadia, he made spined metal loops that were designed to catch T'ka’s threads if spun one way and cut if spun the other, giving the two a bit more synergy. Carmen got a spear with a spring loaded spike to give her attacks some extra oomph when necessary. For himself, Chris made a gun for his portals which was essentially just two tubes welded together, one vertical, one horizontal. And for everyone else, he made dart guns that used compressed air to fire, because he wasn't sure what else to do for them. The only unique one was Derek's, which had darts that connected to the gun through wires, so he could use his ability through them.

Of course, that was just personal equipment. Chris's main focus was the various traps the squad would be using, because ultimately the best way to win a fight was to incapacitate your enemy before they even knew you were there. This was where Chris's space really shone, because most squads simply didn't have the storage space for more than the most basic sort of traps. A few spikes to line a pit and some tripwire was about all they could pull off. Still, Chris's space wasn't unlimited, so he focused on two types. The first was a set of four spikes that would spring open at a forty-five degree angle, impaling anyone who charged into it and acting as a barrier for anyone behind. The second was a set of four blades that would lie open before snapping shut, cutting through anything that happened to get in its way. For anything else, Cabbage, Sidulpek, and T'ka had it covered. Cabbage could make pits, T'ka could make threads to trip and bind, and Sidulpek's ability could hide it all.

As for Chris's ability… well, he still didn't have one. According to the Reader at the ability management office, the energy inside him was no different than ambient energy, utterly incapable of producing an effect. At least, until he borrowed the ability of one of his minions, at which point it shifted to match their ability's energy. Which, according to the Reader, was the strangest damn thing he'd ever seen. As for the actual strength of his ability, in his base form it reached eleven ability units, shooting up to forty-four when he transformed. The cut-off for high-tier was nine ability units, and the cut-off for superior was twenty-seven, so Chris was officially a high-tier and tentatively a superior-tier. The only reason the superior-tier was tentative was because the Ability Management Department couldn't decide whether he should be classified as superior-tier or high-tier with a mid-tier physique, because technically his ability didn't reach the standard for superior-tier. Not that Chris particularly cared. The power was the same either way, so did it really matter what you called it? Chris just left all that crap to Jacobs and focused on his training.

Chris got Jello checked as well, finding that her ability had reached a little higher than his at fourteen ability units, while her physique hadn't actually improved at all, or more accurately, her ability was her physique. Jello's ability had expanded from simply altering the consistency of her body to affecting any quality her body possessed, while her body had expanded to encapsulate as many qualities as it could, including aspects of bone, organs, brain matter, and even stone and metal. This, combined with the data stored in her core, allowed her to transform herself into anything she'd consumed before her mutation. The mutation had also strengthened her natural telekinesis, allowing her to control a larger body, so she took a few weeks to slowly grow from large enough to form the body of a four year old to enough for the body of a ten old.

The squad continued to progress through boot camp, the tasks set before escalating in difficulty as they did, until they arrived at the Sunday of the fifteenth week. The squad gathered outside the barracks, kitted out in full combat gear: a duster made of mid-tier leather covering their neck, torso, and upper thigh, a vest made of more mid-tier leather plated with hardened ceramic, and a helmet made with a mix of mid-tier leather and a steel mesh. Their equipment was strung across their armor and packed bags sat next to them, ready to be picked up at any moment. All of them stood at attention as they waited for their final practical exercise, an excursion into the Maze. They'd be attached to a veteran platoon on a simple mission to judge whether they were truly ready to be a part of the Scouts. If they passed, they graduated, becoming official members of the Scouts. If not, they were out, and they'd need to go through boot camp all over again, with a new squad.

“I think I'm going to puke.” Zack groaned, doing his best to stay in position as anxiety tore through him.

“Are you sick?” Chris asked curiously. “Do you need to hop in my space real quick?”

“No! Fuck, I'm nervous you robot!” Zack snapped, shifting away from Chris. As miraculous as Chris's ability was, the fact that people had to die to heal made it a… less than comfortable experience. Particularly once Chris started getting creative looking for the ‘best way to die’.

Chris clicked his tongue. “Damn. I wanted to try the guillotine.”

Nadia frowned. “Didn't we already agree to avoid beheading?”

“Oh, I modified it.” Chris explained. “Similar concept, just instead of a blade, it's a giant steel block.”

“So it just obliterates the brain before it can process anything?” Nadia muttered thoughtfully.

“That's the idea.” Chris nodded.

“Okay, now I'm going to puke.” Carmen grumbled, clutching her stomach.

Beth sighed. “Chris, Nadia, we agreed that we wouldn't talk about execution methods in public.”

“Right.” Chris nodded.

“Sorry.” Nadia agreed.

“Why are you nervous?” Derek asked Zack. “I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I'm pretty sure we're the best squad in the bunch.”

“We're the most powerful squad, not necessarily the best.” Beth corrected.

“Squads are judged by how well they utilize their capabilities, not by how strong they are.” Nadia added. “Otherwise high-tiers would get in automatically.”

“That's what has me nervous.” Zack grimaced. “What kind of test are we going to go through to account for him?” He waved at Chris. “Our last practical exercise had us facing things with venom that could melt someone's brain in a few seconds!”

“Really should have saved that.” Chris muttered to himself. It would have been an excellent execution method.

“We dealt with it, didn't we?” Beth retorted. “And we'll deal with this, too.”

“If nothing else, I'll make sure you all survive.” Chris added. “I'd rather we all fail than see any of you die.”

“Yeah, it'd fucking suck, but better to live and try again, right?” Derek agreed.

Nadia groaned. “But I like our squad.”

Beth wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, even if we change squads, we'll still be friends! You couldn't get away from me if you tried!” She gave her a tight squeeze, causing her to flush.

“Can I get a hug?” Zack asked.

“Sure, buddy.” Derek chuckled, wrapping an arm around him.

“Not from you!” Zack complained, suppressing a laugh. Chris paused, before wrapping his arm around him. “Not you either!” Chris opened a portal and Dyrdek jumped out, wrapping his arms around Zack's waist as they all burst out laughing.

“I'm glad to see you're all so relaxed.” Sergeant Callista commented as she arrived, the squad quickly composing themselves and snapping to attention. “Or perhaps your success in your practical exercises has made you overly confident?”

Zack suppressed a groan as Beth snapped a salute. “No, ma'am! We will take this task as seriously as every other assignment we've been given, ma'am!”

Sergeant Callista grunted in grudging acceptance. Despite certain advantages- Her eyes flicked towards Chris- the squad hadn't let themselves become lax in their duties. It was one of the few things that gave her hope for this squad. If they could maintain this attitude, they could go far. But if they didn't… she feared they were in for a hard lesson. Too many times she'd seen squads become overly reliant on powerful abilities, only to fall apart the moment they encountered something the ability couldn't deal with. If they were lucky, it'd happen in boot camp, where the instructors could keep things under control. Unfortunately, Chris's ability fell in the latter camp, the abilities that were strong enough that the boot camp lacked the resources and knowledge necessary to counter them and those… those rarely ended well. Sergeant Callista handed Beth a slip of paper. “You've been assigned to Platoon Four. They've been tasked with the subjugation of a tribe of imps on the seventh level. You'll receive more details from Captain Nefred. Good luck.”

“Thank you, ma'am!” Beth saluted, echoed by the rest of the squad.

“Dismissed!” Sergeant Callista roared, the squad immediately picking up their bags and strapping them on, before marching off to Platoon Four. Sergeant Callista watched them go with a distant look in her eye, fervently hoping that Chris's ability wouldn't ruin them.

*

“Imps. Why did it have to be imps?” Zack complained as they made their way to Platoon Four.

“Because of me?” Chris replied, giving him a weird look like it should have been obvious. “Imps provide the ultimate test of my scouting and mechanical abilities, due to their intricate and easily overlooked traps.”

“They're also highly intelligent and one of the most strategically difficult creatures to face.” Beth added.

“Tactically as well.” Nadia agreed. “Their physical weakness forces them to rely on tricks and traps to defeat their enemies.”

“Watch out for their poisons.” Carmen informed them. “Imps come up with new ways to make them all the time, so they're hard to predict.” She paused. “Collect samples if you can, though, it could be valuable.”

“We should requisition some stink bombs if we can.” Derek suggested. “Imps have incredibly sensitive noses.”

“We'd have to be careful with them.” Beth warned. “A stink bomb makes the first encounter easy, but then every imp in the area knows you're there and stuffs its nose with perfume to protect themselves.”

“We should talk with the captain about using Chris's minions and portals to dump a bunch right in the middle of the tribe before they even know we're there.” Nadia muttered. “I'm not sure if we could be quick enough to take advantage of it though. It depends on the specific objectives.”

“If their sense of smell is that sensitive, I'm not sure how easily my minions could sneak in.” Chris countered. “I might be able to get one in if it borrows Sidulpek's ability, but I don't think that'd be enough to hit the entire tribe.”

“You only need the one to sneak in, while the others just hold the portals it sets.” Nadia retorted. “A single paw or tail shouldn't set the imps off.”

“Ah, right, that should work.” Chris nodded. He hadn't quite figured out how it all worked yet, but he couldn't just leave portals lying around. They needed to be ‘in range’ of either him or one of his subordinates. Sort of, because he could leave portals without anyone around them when he or his minions entered his space. In any case, as long as one of his minions had a physical presence outside his space near a portal, it would stay.

“You guys do realize we could die here, right?” Zack asked incredulously. “Imp traps can kill you instantly, before even Chris could save you! Falling boulders, spikes through the head, collapsing pitfalls, swinging blades… if something like that gets us, we're done!”

Derek gave him a weird look. “Zack, we've been over this like a hundred times by now. We all know Chris's space isn't going to save us from everything. We all knew we'd end up dealing with things that might kill us anyway. This isn't news.”

Zack groaned. “I know, but- I thought we'd at least be out of boot camp before we faced something like that! But these last few weeks, every time we end up facing something that could kill us if we get careless! My nerves are fried!”

The whole squad stopped, turning to look at him with concern. “Zack… do you want to quit?” Beth asked him in a quiet voice.

Zack hesitated for a moment, before shaking his head. “No- no, I'm good. I just- I'm tense. I haven't had a chance to really relax in weeks now, and- it's just getting to me a little.” The others nodded in understanding. As the challenge level of the practical exercises increased, their free time on Sundays had been getting shorter and shorter, until it was practically non-existent. Coupled with the growing intensity of their daily training as the instructors pushed them harder and harder to pull as much improvement out of them as they could, the hour and a half they got of free time every night was barely enough for them to decompress, let alone relax. It was frustrating for all of them.

“If you're reaching your limits, it's better to tell us now, than after we get to the Maze.” Nadia warned.

“We aren't going to hate you if you can't.” Carmen added. “We'd rather go through boot camp again than see you crack under the pressure and get yourself hurt, or worse.”

“No, guys, I'm fine, really. I can do this.” Zack assured them. “Complaining is just how I get shit out of my system. If I let it build up, it feels like too much, but once I get it out there… I'm good. We could die, yeah, but I knew that when I signed up. Fuck, this is just what a normal squad deals with, isn't it? Those poor schmucks who aren't squad mates with an immortal god of bullshit.”

“Ha!” Derek laughed, turning to Chris. “I'm getting you that on a t-shirt.”

Nadia narrowed her eyes at Zack for a moment, as if checking something, before nodding in satisfaction. “Alright, we should hurry up. We don't want to start things off by being late.”

“Right, double time it!” Beth shouted, the squad getting moving and picking up speed as they started to jog. This was the final hurdle before they finally became full Scouts, and none of them wanted to fail.

*

“Recruit Squad D, reporting for duty, sir!” Beth announced as they arrived at Platoon Four's barracks, the whole squad saluting as she did.

“At ease, recruits.” Captain Nefred waved dismissively. “It's been a long time since my platoon has hosted a recruit squad, and I don't have the patience to deal with everyone saluting me every five seconds. Were you briefed on the mission?”

“All we were told was that we'd be helping with the subjugation of a tribe of imps on the seventh level.” Beth replied, no longer saluting but maintaining a rigid stance.

Captain Nefred nodded. “That about sums it up. Not the type of mission you'd usually take a recruit squad on, but I hear this squad is a bit special. Your last exercise was exterminating a nest of death's shadow scorpions, correct? Not many squads would be willing to tackle something like that, not without specialized abilities and equipment, which you did not have.”

“We determined it was within our capabilities, sir.” Beth replied simply.

Captain Nefred snorted. “You made it look almost easy, from what I heard!”

Beth frowned. “We- simplified the process, but I wouldn't say it was easy, sir. We were lucky that one of our squad mates has a dominated creature that was capable of defeating the scorpions’ camouflage. Fighting creatures with such a potent venom on top of the danger presented by their mid-tier physique was still a very… tense process.”

“Oh, I have no doubt.” Captain Nefred chuckled, before clapping his hands. “Alright, enough of that. Which one of you is in charge of equipment?”

“Me, sir.” Derek announced, stepping forward.

“You've been tasked with subjugating a tribe of imps on the seventh floor. You know the tribe has forty to sixty fighting members, access to fungal biome types four, nine, and thirteen, and wasp colonies are common in the area. What equipment are you bringing?” Captain Nefred asked. Derek frowned, considering the details for a moment, before listing off all the supplies you'd need for that scenario, starting with the necessities then adding a few extras on top that would be nice to have if they had the space, like the stink bombs. “Stink bombs, eh?” Captain Nefred shook his head. “Everyone always goes straight to the stink bombs, but it's overkill for imps. Sure, you can wipe out a small group with it, but then the rest of the tribe is on guard so you can't use anything else! Better to go for something milder that will disorient a group, but won't spread through the whole damn Maze.”

“We- actually had some thoughts on that, sir.” Nadia interjected, stepping forward. “We believe it might be possible to hit the entire tribe simultaneously using Chr- Recruit Vincent's portals, subduing them all at the same time. It's just a question of if the platoon is capable of taking advantage of it in time.”

Captain Nefred blinked slowly. “Is that so?” He considered her for a moment, before nodding. “Alright, take me through it.” Nadia quickly outlined the idea, sticking to the key points that could make it work. “It's a bit tricky but if we find ourselves in a position to pull it off… definitely worth bringing the stink bombs, just in case.” He pulled out a pad and quickly wrote up a requisition order before handing it to Derek. “Go pick these up and hurry back. We're porting out in two hours.”