The walls of the east gate towered over the convoy as we made our way past the guards and into the city. The MRAP seemed to be getting a lot of strange looks from the guards and the civilians as we passed by. We took a turn and we were now on a much wider street and there didn't seem to be much traffic, 'Maybe there is an important event'. As I looked out the window, I noticed a few people wearing dark cloaks turning into the alleyway, 'Something is about to happen'.
"*stchk* Sir I don't like this, something is off," Mark said over the comms.
"*stchk* Contact! Two o'clock high! Moving to protect." Rob practically shouted over the comms.
The soft throbbing of the MRAP suddenly grew in ferocity as it pulled out of the convoy and to the left of Princess Katrina's carriage.
*Boom! *
The MRAP was engulfed in flames and a wave of heat hit the carriage, the princess let out a small yelp as it hit. I grabbed my rifle as the convoy stopped and opened the door, a whistling sound caught my ears *thud*. An arrow had just embedded itself in my ballistic armour, 'whew Thank God for technology', I looked to see where the shot came from and saw a hooded figure on a roof to my 3 o'clock, I raised my rifle and gently squeezed the trigger three times, the soft kickback of the rifle hit my shoulder and the figure dropped down. I turned around to see the princess's surprised face as I realised, I still had an arrow embedded in my plate carrier. I reached for it and pulled it out with ease. Suppressed shots resounded all around the area as my team dismounted and took out the remaining few enemies.
"How is that strange machine still intact?" Katrina questioned me.
"Well, it's an MRAP, which stands for Mine-Resistant-Ambush-Protected vehicle, it is built to survive explosions," I said.
"Huh." She replied seemingly bewildered.
"*stchk* All tangos down we are mounting back up, the convoy can move again. Over," Mark said over comms.
"Copy, all good here, keep your eyes open for any other contacts. Out." I replied.
I flicked my rifle back on safe and got back into the carriage after signalling the coachman to continue moving. I sat down next to the knight commander who seemed to be in shock from the sudden engagement.
"Th-that was s-so fast, you dispatched an assassination squad in seconds, we couldn't even react." Alyx stuttered bewildered.
"We weren't called the best of the best in our world for nothing," I replied blankly.
"How did that arrow not kill you? That was a magic arrow it penetrates through plate armour." Katrina asked curiously.
"I thought it penetrated deeper than it should have, it stopped because of this" I gesture towards my plate carrier, "it is a high-strength fabric with interchangeable plates for different armour thicknesses."
As I finished, another set of walls higher than the last loomed in front of the convoy.
"We're just arriving at the palace, but they're asking for you to show yourself." The coachman outside said.
"Show them the seal." She replied.
"We already have but they aren't listening." The coachman replied.
"Then they aren't the palace guard they are someone else," She replied swiftly, "turn us around! They're probably with the assassins from earlier, we have to get out of the city, hopefully, they haven't killed my father."
The convoy began to turn around and run out of the city at a fast pace. The MRAP took the lead of the convoy, as the gates of the outer walls started to shut the MRAP sped up, the engine roared as the vehicle picked up speed and slammed into the rapidly closing gates knocking the guards over and forcing the gates open. The convoy charged through the gates and out towards the plains.
(Time skip: 1hr)
The convoy has now set up camp the carriages have been set up in a circle formation that provides minimal protection, the darkening sky forced the convoy to stop as more monsters come out during the night. The MRAP is parked near the centre of the camp next to a small campfire that Bravo Squad has set up.
"Can you summon MRE's?" Mark asked looking hopeful at me.
"Yes actually, are you guys hungry?" I asked.
"Yeah, this day has been far too weird to not be hungry," Rob said.
"Agreed," I state.
"System, how do I summon MREs through equipment summoning?" I asked the air.
[Just specify the object and it will appear]
"Ok, American MRE's quantity 10," I said to the system.
[Confirmed, summoning 10 American MREs.]
The summoning circle appeared in front of me and the MREs began to appear. The guys grabbed one each and I put the rest in the back of the MRAP underneath the 4 back seats.
"Why did you get ten?" Mark asked.
"In case we get hungry on the road, also if the knight commander or the Princess gets hungry, we can always give them one," I answered.
"Ok, oh, the maintenance on the MRAP is done we finished up about 10 minutes ago," Rob reported as he tore open the MRE and took out the heater, after adding some water he dropped the heater back into the poach and it cooks his meal right then.
"Ho-ha, this smells good," Mark said giddily, luckily, I had been thinking about everyone's favourite MRE when summoning so it summoned those exact ones.
"Excuse me, but what are you eating?" Alyx asked, I didn't even notice her creep up on me.
"Oh, uh, well they're MREs or meals ready to eat, their main use is for a quick meal to revitalise energy in hostile places," I stated calmly.
"Um, co-could I try one?" Alyx asked flustered.
"Me too!" Katrina shouted while running towards them.
"Ok, ok I'll get you some too," I smiled back as I opened up the back of the MRAP again to retrieve the two MREs. I gave one to Alyx and another to Katrina, then explained how they work and how to use them. They both picked it up very quickly.
"Who knew something so simple could taste so good," Alyx remarked while scoffing down the MRE.
"When you have finished just give the pouches to me and I'll get rid of them," I nodded and then walked back over to the campfire and sat down next to Rob.
"Ok, everyone try to get some shut-eye we're up early tomorrow we have a kingdom to take back," I said, I got up while the guys started to talk again and walked back over to Alyx and Katrina.
"You all finished?" I gestured towards the empty MREs in their hands.
"Yes," they replied in unison.
"Ok, I'll take those and dispose of them, oh and we are waking up early tomorrow so try and be awake before dawn," I said and walked back towards the MRAP.
"System, how do I get rid of used items?" I asked.
[You can unsummon specific objects, you can also specify the objects state, whether it is just empty or broken you specify and it will be done]
"Ok, unsummon empty American MREs."
[Confirmed, unsummoning empty American MREs.]
The magic circles appeared around the empty pouches and they slowly started to disappear into the magic circles. I sat down and leaned my head against the hard rubber of the tyres of the MRAP, 'Time to get some shut eye'.
*Rawwrr*
The sound of a beast jumped me awake, I rushed to grab my rifle and saw the rest of my team jumping to grab their rifles as well. I picked up my HK416 and checked the magazine, it was full, clipping it to my sling I rushed over to the sound and saw the knights who were on watch desperately trying to fend off a horde of magical beasts. The rest of my team rushed up next to me and saw the horde.
"Mark, Rob get the MRAP up here we will need the extra firepower," I gestured towards the MRAP, "Fabian get that MK46 ready and lay down covering fire, James you with me we're gonna assist those knights."
I pulled my NODs down and waited a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, the MRAP started trundling forward towards the knights, I started running forward with James and my rifle firmly locked against my shoulder. The quiet click of the safety flicking to full auto is drowned out by the loud sounds of the battle.
"You guys retreat we'll handle this!" I shouted towards the knights who heard me and turned tail.
The knight's loud armour rattled past me as I radioed.
"Weapons free," the second the command was issued the loud gunfire of the 50.cal brought the rest of the camp to their senses. The kickback of my rifle massaged my shoulder as the burst of bullets hit their marks and many of the magical beasts fell. The M2(50cal) tore up the ground around the beasts before hitting and tearing the beasts and leaving gaping holes in their bodies. The once large horde was finally beginning to thin, after about 10 minutes the last beast fell. I walk over to the MRAP and look at the barrel of the 50cal, it's glowing a deep orangey-red.
"How long till that barrel cools down?" I gesture towards the M2.
"About 10 minutes but I can halve it if we have water, also the barrel will have to be replaced the inners have been melted," Mark shrugged
"We have spares, right?" I asked worriedly.
"Yes, we do luckily," he replied.
"If you need water then my butler can help," Katrina said.
"Really, how?" I asked intrigued, I pulled up my NODs to get a better look.
Her butler walked over to the MRAP raised his hands and a ball of water slowly started to form from seemingly thin air. The ball grew in size and he manipulated it to cover the barrel of the M2, a satisfying sizzling sound escaped and a cloud of steam erupted from the water. The butler lowered his hands and bowed then walked back to Katrina, Mark hovered his hand over the barrel then reached down and started unscrewing it.
"So, are you ready to rescue your father?" I asked Katrina while smiling.