Jer Patch
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Chapter 38: Hellion’s on a Mission
🕑 Added 2025-03-07 16:00:03 +0000 UTC“Think this will be a suitable area?” asked John. “I think these are the rocks you wanted me to check out.”
I stood up from the floor, pushing away the thoughts about the scientists. While I hoped we’d find them at the same time, if all of them vanished forever, that’d be great. I’d almost pulled the rest of the family from the mission when I’d discovered my ex-wife had been approved.
While I’d hiked through the jungle on foot, seeing it from above made it harder to be sure about the area we were flying over.
Rocky outcroppings rose toward the sky.
“I remember this area. It wasn’t too dangerous, but we’ll need to get the crystals squared away.” It didn’t have as high-level creatures as around the other drop-ship’s camp. “There should be a snake creature in the rocks, which I will take care of with Hawk and Denver.”
“Snake?” asked Maggie with a shiver.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “It was here last time, but only around level 20. I wasn’t high enough to take it out then. Now, it’s a different story. Guard the shuttle with Jimmy until we get back.”
The shuttle lowered toward the ground, and I marched to the back of the shuttle. Hawk and Denver were already on their feet.
“The goal is to take it out, fast.”
“Roger,” said Hawk, nodding.
My eyes landed on Benny. “Make sure you get the crystals out as soon as possible, before anyone else leaves the shuttle.”
I pulled my rifle over my shoulder as I stood waiting on the ramp.
The shuttle set down with a thud, then the ramp lowered.
I raced off with Hawk and Denver behind me.
Last time, the snake had stuck near its Den. Hopefully this time it did, too.
#
By the time we made it back to the shuttle, the ring of crystals sat out and Randy and Maggie patrolled the inner ring.
“Holy smokes,” she whispered as we marched by.
Hawk and Denver carried the massive creature over their shoulders. It’d been a quick clean-up, even with it at level 21.
Abby stood near the campfire, eying our bounty. “Well, I hope your snake tastes good.”
“Me, too,” added Cass, who tossed down a bunch of firewood.
“Abby can work her magic and make anything taste good,” I said confidently.
A light blush crept up her cheeks, which made me smile. I realized I was staring and looked away.
John walked off the shuttle and waved at me.
I gave Abby a nod, then hurried his way. I didn’t need to get distracted by a beautiful woman, though I reminded myself she was very different from my ex.
“Dad, do you know how high the mountains are that we need to pass through?” asked John. “I’m worried about the flier situation.”
“I think it’s best if we leave just before dawn. We’ll get to the mountains right as the sun is rising.”
“That’s a good plan,” said John, looking relieved. Then he chuckled. “I wonder what level Alex has gotten to. Last time she went off on her own… I mean, you saw.”
“We trained her well. Maybe too well.”
“You have a damn good reason to make sure she’s prepared.” John glanced at me sharply. “We all told you how awesome she is. Don’t worry.”
“It’s a dad’s job to worry. I worry about all of you.”
John rolled his eyes. “Alex understands the system better than any of us. We need to learn from her. At least she’s blown past all of us, even starting out later than any of us. I feel less bad about her beating me.”
“We’ll catch up,” I said, before turning back to the camp.
“I doubt it,” John said, softly enough I knew he didn’t mean for me to hear.
The rest of the night passed quickly, and then we got back in the air. Thankfully, the trip over the mountains was flyer free.
[You are exiting the Sanctuary, which is restricted to level 24 and below.]
I directed John to the area of the jungle where the equipment drop ship had crashed.
“See that area, with all of those ferns?” I said pointing. “That’s the trail.”
“Oh, I can see the path.”
Ferns had taken over the area quickly, but the trees hadn’t had a chance to recover yet. The direct area around the drop ship had been cleared, too, but not a large enough area for the shuttle to land. The weight of the shuttle crunched several plants when it came down, but nothing that’d harm the ship.
This time, when the ramp lowered a familiar face greeted me. He appeared slightly older and fitter. Streaks of dirt covered part of his face, and sweat dripped down his brow.
[Hammy, Level 28, Mech Warrior, Threat Level Variable.]
“Hammy, it's good to see you,” I said, while lowering my rifle. “I brought some company…” I motioned behind me and several people quickly got off. That last leg of the journey had taken longer by air than I thought it would. It turned out that exiting the Sanctuary by air wasn’t any different than walking through the tunnel. It gave the same notification warning.
“Hammy!” Abby rushed down the ramp, pushing past Sang and Hawk.
He twisted about and opened his arms as she practically tackled him in a hug. “Auntie, you made it!”
Tears sparkled in her eyes, and I turned away from the scene. Abby had basically adopted all the young folks who didn’t have any family on the colony ship. I knew she’d been worried about him, even when I told her he was fine. It was good to see he didn’t make me a liar.
John powered down the ship and joined the others as they stretched.
“Hammy, is the inside the same as before?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Alright everyone, there is limited bunk space, but we should have just enough for us all to sleep in shifts.” I lead everyone inside the rigged door on the dropship. This ship had minimal staff and staff space, but there was a bunk room for use after landing. We’d put it to good use.
The front room was a mess, and very clearly where Hammy worked. An armored suit stood next to a metal table and some equipment.
“What happened?” Hammy’s eyes went wide at all the people in the small space.
“I’ll tell you all about it,” said Abby, walking inside with him and glancing around at the projects. “You’ve been busy. You’ll need to update me once I get you all caught up.”
“Wait, I gotta talk to Hellion. Uh, read him in on the local situation.”
I turned from Hawk to glance at the kid, his eyes wide. They darted around the room and he pulled a crystal out from under his shirt. He hadn’t had one of those before.
“Uh, Alex said to give this to you, since you didn’t have an inventory crystal.” He started lifting the cord over his head.
I held up a hand to stop him.
“One, you can keep the crystal. We have a surplus of them at the moment. Two, you saw Alex? Is she here?” I swallowed. “What about anyone else from Sanctuary?”
Benny heard my question and headed in our direction with an eyebrow raised.
“Alex is the only one since your last visit… But she isn’t here…” Hammy shook his head after stashing the necklace under his shirt. He scratched his head. “I think she's in a hidden dungeon. After we did the one to the north, she wanted to find a super secret one that Lenna mentioned. She told me to go ahead and figure out my strengths.”
I blinked twice and heard chuckling from John and Hawk.
What the heck was my daughter doing? She was supposed to meet us here. Then something he said made me pause.
“Lenna?” I asked.
“One of the jungle folk from the nearby village. We teamed up with her and her Velociraptor, Dengu, to complete the first dungeon.”
“Wait, so you both completed the dungeon quest?” asked Benny, finally joining the conversation.
“Yeah, I’m working on the third quest now.” Hammy nodded with a smile. “Though, I’m not sure what really to work on. Alex mentioned John might want to build a flight suit with me, or learn how to adapt his class to fit him better. So that might help.”
How many of these damn quests did we need to complete?
He eyed the rifle on my shoulder. “She also mentioned you have a working gun that I might want to examine.”
Benny shook his head and patted Hammy on the shoulder before heading to where Cass was talking to Sang.
John joined us. “What’s this about a flight suit?”
“Wait,” I said, before everyone got distracted. “Are the local folks friendly?”
“I think so.” Hammy scratched the back of his head. “I’ve been to their village once. They look kind of like green elves, and they usually have dinosaurs as pets, so don’t attack on sight. But yeah, they seem nice enough.”
I left the two to the discussion of flying mech suits and headed back outside to process everything he’d read me in on. I had plenty of questions, but I needed to organize them before I grilled the kid.
***
So that was where Alex was.
I brushed my wings together in pleasure.
She’d decided to take my advice and complete a dungeon. Not just one dungeon, but a second one as well.
I buzzed pleasantly to myself, happy I’d found the shuttle northeast of the tunnel.
As Alex’s father had left the dropship, I’d landed on his shoulder. He headed up the ramp into the shuttle. He picked up a crate loaded with crystals and moved it from one area to another.
I stabbed into his shoulder, taking a tiny sip of his blood.
Blood told me several things about my food source. Like, Hellion focused on Strength and Constitution, and a bit less so in. He practically ignored Charisma, but most of the humans did that.
Not that he wasn’t smart, from the things I’d seen, but the information Hammy gave about the jungle folk was both correct, and sorely lacking.
But, more importantly, Alex cared about her family, which included most of the people on the shuttle. They weren’t really safe here, and the sooner they knew it the better.
“Alex can handle themselves, I’d be more worried about everyone else,” I said with a small buzz.
Hellion twisted to the left, a knife suddenly in his hand. His eyes flickered around, trying to spot me. “What do you know about Alex?”
Straight to the point.
“Alex is slowly becoming less squishy.”
“Show yourself,” demanded Hellion, still searching for me.
“You aren’t ready for that,” I buzzed, finally removing myself from his shoulder and flying over to a crate. I landed on the edge, staring up at him. He had the same stance as Alex, and kind of looked similar. “You need to be on guard with the jungle folk.”
“I’m listening.” Yet, he still held up his knife, as if it would help him.
“They have opinions about certain classes, like Crystal Singers. You might want Sang to stay away from them until Alex gets back.” That was about as direct as I cared to be.
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn’t, but Alex trusts me.”
“Is that why you are talking to me, because of Alex?”
“Yes. When she finishes the dungeon she is in, I will have a quest for her. It will help her complete the 4th quest on the path to citizenship.”
“What type of quest, and how many are on the path?”
“Good luck Hellion. You might want to become less squishy as well. Alex would hate to lose you.” I flew away from the cart and out of the shuttle. The ideas I had for Alex’s quest rolled around in my mind. There were just so many options, but one stood out more than the others. Still, I had plenty of flying to do to make sure it was possible. Plus, if Alex wanted their family to be safe, this would be the best option, short of all of them leaving the planet. And, as much as my world might be safe, none of them were ranked high enough to survive. Odds were, most of them never would be.
