There wasn’t much more information forthcoming about the mission. The details of such actions were normally held within the military and the upper ranks of government, which Colonel Valerie would count as, but her department was Elite Development, so she might have only just been briefed on this herself and didn’t want to have to look up all the little details to answer questions.
“When do we leave?” Karl asked.
“Right about now. Do you need anything from your rooms? We have the kit bags packed and ready to go, loaded to Ascended Mission standards, so there are some more medical potions and cooking supplies as well as the rations.” Colonel Valerie replied.
Dana gave her a curious look. “Why were there no cooking supplies in the last mission packs?”
“How many of you actually knew how to cook? That’s why. If we relied on the first years to cook for themselves they would become nutritionally deficient before the mission was over, but you will have clerics with you on this mission, and they can create food. Plus, the other Elites are known to hunt for themselves occasionally, or bring various vegan options, depending on their preference.
That is why I asked if you need to go to your rooms to get anything.” The Colonel explained with a smug smile on her face.
She wasn’t wrong, though. Only one in the initial group actually knew how to cook. On the way back they had gained Sister Betty, who was much more knowledgeable, and even the two clerics they had rescued had some cooking skills.
“Will there be a water mage with us? Rationed water is no fun.” Karl asked.
“There should be. I can’t guarantee that the two of you will be together for these missions, as they will be split into smaller teams, and two rookies would be a liability, but there are usually either mages or clerics capable of creating water with each team.
Karl will presumably take the role of one of the warriors, while Dana will be their secondary mage. Most government issued missions call for groups that are a minimum of three people for Awakened Rank or lower incidents, five for Ascended Rank threats.
That is the safety tolerance. I believe I mentioned once before, that it would look terrible to the public if they found out that we had lost a student, or a promising young Elite.
Not that any of the Elites are particularly old, the program has only been running for ten years, but you get my point.”
The team members all chuckled at her reference. She was one of the early testers of the Divine Serum, so she was older than the mainstream Elites, but still not far into her thirties.
“Alright, we will take the packs and head out as soon as we have checked them.” Karl agreed.
“They’re in the helicopter. Good luck, and we will see both of you soon.”
Karl and Dana followed the Pilots out, while the Bureau agents prepared for whatever they would be doing while the pair were away from the Academy for an undefined amount of time.
If the goal was population control, it might take them a week or a month, or a season. There was no clear end point, unless they were going to be relieved as soon as the regular teams returned from their vacation.
That seemed unlikely to Karl. Back at the mines, there was always a bit of overlap after holidays, when they pushed to get more done than the standard quota to make up for the missed productivity. The same was likely true here, where the regular teams would join the substitutes for a day or two before the relief teams were sent back home.
Karl called the beasts back into their spaces, interrupting their training, but for a good reason. Thor was a bit disappointed that he had to stop playing so soon, but he would get to see new places, so it was a fair trade in his mind.
Hawk had no problem returning. The mages hadn’t come up with any new strategies since yesterday, anyhow.
Each of the helicopters had twenty students already in them when they arrived, and the pilots pulled Karl and Dana toward separate rides to grab their gear. Karl waved goodbye to the mage as he wondered when they would next see each other, but the door closed as soon as he had his pack and had taken his seat.
The pilots weren’t waiting any more, and headed straight out to their first destinations.
The berserker beside Karl smiled and patted him on the shoulder. The face was familiar, and Karl realized that he knew him from Earthquake training.
“What are you doing alone on a helicopter? Are you assigned to join one of the teams?” The muscular man asked.
“I’m getting airdropped in as support for an existing team, or so I have been told. I got the lottery win for a relief operation, so a regular military team can get days off.” Karl explained.
“Oh, you lucky bastard. You got the call a month after reaching Awakened, and I didn’t get the call until the end of last year. Military support missions are cushy. They throw all sorts of people at them, since they’re not professional soldiers.
Half of the Elites on my mission were blogging and taking selfies as much as they were actually working. It was just one big social media publicity tour. Who knows, you might even get to meet one of your idols.” The berserker laughed.
The man on the other side of Karl nodded. “Mine wasn’t that casual, we were in the woods and actually working, but there were at least three times as many people as we needed. We ran across other teams like twice a day. But the team I was with were all idiots. A banker and two politicians with their assistants. They had ditched too many calls, so they got forcibly sent on an actual mission.”
Neither of those options sounded much like what Karl had heard from the Colonel, but there was a chance that they were right. She had said that they would be joining a team because the regular one was on days off, but she didn’t explicitly state the quality of the team that they would join.
For Dana’s sake, she hoped they were a good team. He could rely on Hawk and the others, but she was somewhat squishy. Warm too, and soft.
Karl caught his wandering thoughts and looked out the window before the berserker realized he had lost track of the conversation.
The others were all talking about the various missions that they had been on, so nobody expected Karl to fill in much. As a first year, he wouldn’t have been out much, no matter how strong he had gotten.
“The best advice I can give you is not to piss off the healer. They might seem all righteous and such, but when shit hits the fan, and they have to pick who they heal and who has to suffer and hope they survive until the next spell comes in, you know it’s not the group’s jerk that gets priority.” One of the warriors laughed.
The mage next to him laughed. “You learned that the hard way. You had a broken leg for all of a lunch break because the healer was too tired for one more spell until after they ate.”
The warrior nodded solemnly. “It was an important learning experience.”
“You’re a slow learner, though. Didn’t Sister Betty punch you in the face just two days ago?” One of the other warriors asked.
“Hey, she’s not our healer, and I was very sincere in my intentions.” The warrior defended himself.
Karl laughed. “You should be careful, she’s stronger than she looks. She rode to the Academy from the Seminary with my team after our last mission.”
