The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 199

Chapter 199: Departure

Lisa had a frown on her face, one that hadn’t been there earlier and it was all thanks to one person.

“The sisters of fate have favored me, my lady,” the cause of her annoyance spoke up again, “they have allowed us to meet once more.”

Said cause of annoyance was a face Lisa hoped not to see again after the test, Alce’s.

Since nearly every cadet had been promoted following the recent incident, a desperate attempt to fill the gaps left by the staggering number of deaths caused by the primal attack, team five had also been one of the promoted hence the reason why Alec was currently in the bay with them.

Their team was also about to depart on a mission, one that involved reclaiming a wasteland.

Team five’s leader during the test, Riley, approached Reid, “I see you’ve gotten a lot stronger than the last time we met.”

“I could say the same about you,” Reid answered as he took her extended hand in a shake.

“Yeah, but I’m still a bit far from platinum rank,” she muttered with a smile before standing by his side.

The fact that Reid was now at Platinum rank was basically common knowledge to the soldiers in the basement.

Even if they didn’t know who he was, they had already heard of the new, youngest platinum rank tamer, one that took the record from Elizabeth.

“So,” Riley started as she turned to him, “what’s your mission about?”

“Classified,” Reid answered.

“I see,” she muttered, not feeling the least bit bothered that he refused to answer, “then it must be an important one.”

Rather than refused to answer, she understood that Reid couldn’t. After all, now that he was a platinum rank tamer, he definitely would be taking on missions that require higher tier clearance to get any info on.

“We’ll be heading east,” Riley said,”our orders are to reclaim one of the old wastelands near the border. The higher-ups are trying to make it habitable again.”

Reid turned to her with mild surprise, “A reclamation mission? I thought those were still on hold.”

After the recent rifts that opened up in the skies, command had put every mission that involved short staffing them on hold and that included sending Soldiers to the wastelands to reclaim it, so what changed?

“They were,” she replied, as she lowered her tone a bit. “But after the last attack, command decided to accelerate the reclamation program. Too many outposts were wiped out, and they’re trying to reestablish control over lost territories before the rifts reopen.”

He nodded slowly. That explained the sudden promotions and rushed deployments but still, what made them change their minds about leaving the base ‘vulnerable’?

It seems he didn’t need to ask because Riley soon continued.

“But honestly, I think rather than reclaiming the land, we’ll be acting more like guards to those guys.” She pointed to the side where a group was gathered.

They had on dark blue jackets and pants, covering their hands were thick black gloves and hanging on their necks were things that seemed to be gas masks.

“And they are?” Reid asked as he looked at the group with a raised brow.

“Corpse collectors,” Riley answered, “they’re responsible for collecting primal corpses and bringing them back for the forge masters, so our primary mission is to keep them safe while the secondary is to reclaim the wasteland.”

“I see,” Reid nodded in understanding.

If they were scrambling for Primal corpses right now, then maybe it was his master who requested them.

Though there might be some other forge masters in the base, his master was no doubt, the best they had and was probably the only one that could make them scramble together a team for a mission.

And he had an idea as to why the old man would want more primal corpses, after all, he was the one who gave him the recipe to obsess over….the documents on evolving Forged beasts.

“Figures,” Reid muttered quietly with a small smile, his gaze following the group of collectors as they ran checks on their containment crates.

Each crate had a tight seal on them as if the team was going to collect radioactive stuff… which the corpses of primals might as well be.

A couple of minutes later, the sound of a small air craft was heard approaching the bay.

“Guess that’s our ride,” Riley muttered before turning to Reid, “make sure you don’t die on this mission, after all, I’m still hoping for a rematch.”

“You too,” Reid answered before Riley moved to regroup with her team and much to Lisa’s relief, Alec also moved with them.

“We shall meet again my lady,” he muttered dramatically, the same white handkerchief appearing in his hand as he waved it.

A second later, a small craft landed on the landing platform and the ramp opened for Riley, her team and the collectors to walk in.

As she and her team boarded, Alec made sure to be the last one in, he paused dramatically at the ramp with a hand on his heart.

“Fear not, my lady Lisa,” he called out, his voice almost drowned out by the engines. “For though distance may separate us, destiny shall—”

The ramp completely shut before he could finish, cutting him off mid-sentence and it immediately took off.

“They seem nicer than I remember,” Clara said with a chuckle.

“That’s because they’re not fighting us for a supply crate this time,” Marcus responded.

“I dunno,” Ethan muttered, “I don’t think the Alec’s sister liked me too much.”

Well rather than dislike, it was more like she was afraid of him. After all, he had placed her hawk under his full control and she had no way of stopping it.

“Are you guys ready?” A voice called out from behind, causing them to turn and face Elizabeth, Null, the sleepy Owen and Commander Voss walking towards them.

Elizabeth was the one that had asked the question earlier.

“Mostly,” Reid answered as he looked at the four approaching.

“Great then, let’s depart.”