The symphony of violence, growls, and cries stopped, and a silent calmness broken only by many steps replaced it. Khan listened to that change of mood as the two teams regrouped and Lieutenant Leville started assigning specific tasks to a few soldiers.
The assault team had seized the settlement. The rifles, vehicles, provisions, and various resources of the Stal could be helpful to the human side, so the soldiers had to seize them while the Lieutenant studied how to deliver them.
Khan wandered past the corpses as his eyes moved among the area. The sharp difference between that silence and the previous chaos left him pensive for no specific reason. Something inside him desired that peace, but he also wanted the previous mess to last a bit longer.
His eyes eventually fell on the alien corpses. Strands of mana seeped out of those huge figures while part of that energy remained in their insides. There were two second-level warriors among the dead Stal, and an idea appeared in Khan's mind when he sensed the amount of mana that remained in their bodies.
'Is a second-level warrior enough for the third checkpoint of the [Blood Shield]?' Khan wondered as he stretched his hand toward the hole a projectile had dug in the alien's head.
Red-purple mana came out of his hand as he closed his eyes. Khan felt his energy fusing with the blood dripping out of the injury. The nature of his element made part of that dark liquid splash on its own, but he slowly suppressed its destructive properties to obtain complete control over the material.
Khan opened his eyes and took a deep breath before fixing his gaze on the blood. He tried to make it condense in the flesh below, but the liquid splashed and divided itself into a series of drops that flew everywhere.
'Is this a problem with my mana or my expertise?' Khan asked himself. 'Maybe both.'
"Khan, what are you doing?" Peggy Kilwood asked while a frown filled her face.
"I was only checking something," Khan lied. "The Stal sure are a strong species."
"Don't you want to clean your face?" Peggy continued, uncaring of his previous line.
Khan touched his cheek and finally recalled the blood and gore that had fallen on his face. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had forgotten what had happened during the battle.
Peggy had seized a towel from one of the buildings in the settlement and was handing it to Khan. The latter quickly took it to remove all the filth from his face, but his companion's expression said that the situation didn't improve too much.
"I'm going," Khan sighed, and Peggy nodded a few times.
Soldiers ran around the settlement while carrying various tools or resources. Khan dodged a few of them to enter one of the buildings and use the bathroom to remove the remains of blood that tainted his face. When he came out of the structure, he found Moses, Peggy, and other first-level warriors waiting.
"Is something the matter?" Khan asked.
"Are you okay?" Moses questioned. "You have been kind of lost since the beginning of the mission."
"Oh," Khan whispered before coming up with a lie. "It's a bit hard to deal with my element. I have to remain focused."
"No wonder," Moses replied. "I'm surprised you can do so well. I've heard nasty things about chaos wielders."
"His talent isn't the issue here," Peggy stated. "I don't know how you can cast so many spells in a row without getting tired."
The other soldiers nodded and began to voice their approval. It was clear that they found Khan's mana capacity odd, but he didn't think he had gone overboard. Luckily for him, one of his underlings voiced a comment that explained the issue. "He lights up his knife non-stop."
"That's not really a spell," Khan lied again while showing his palm and releasing a bit of mana.
The mana created a small red-purple sphere that slowly changed color as Khan focused on modifying its properties. Its shades initially intensified before growing pale.
"This is something I've learnt on Nitis," Khan explained. "The mana naturally changes color and texture if you modify its nature."
The soldiers gasped in surprise and inspected the tiny sphere of mana. Khan never used it to do anything, but they could feel that its power and nature changed whenever it gained different shades.
"Right, you had to go to an alien academy," Moses commented. "I guess you had to learn something to gain points in the eyes of the Global Army."
"It's more useful than you think," Khan revealed while drawing his knife and creating the red-purple membrane. "I can add the properties of my element to martial arts without relying on spells."
A new series of surprised gasps and sounds resounded among the soldiers. Khan was lying about his techniques, but the theory behind the Niqols' methods was real, and it was easy to explain its usefulness.
"How long did it take you to learn?" Moses asked while scratching his chin.
"I'd say six months to start thinking about using this ability in battle," Khan exclaimed, using numbers that reflected his actual accomplishments. "Though I went all-out on the Niqols' training when I was there."
Most soldiers diverted their gazes at those words. They could guess why Khan had worked so hard on Nitis, and they didn't want to mention that topic. Instead, Moses and a few others tried to consider learning that ability, but it soon became obvious that they were finding problems with that idea.
Khan felt able to understand what was happening in their minds. Six months weren't a long time, but the soldiers could focus on techniques that the Global Army acknowledged in that period. It would have been fine if the matter only involved a few weeks, but half a year was simply too much.
"Did the Niqols help with your element?" Moses asked as the group began to disperse.
"They did far more than that," Khan sighed as he retracted the barrier and inspected his knife. A few new marks had appeared on the weapon after the battle. He might need to change it after the mission.
The assault team loaded the three armored trucks in the settlement with the resources seized from the various buildings. There was even a tank and a small vehicle with two seats, and Lieutenant Leville stared at them while trying to understand how to deliver them to the humans.
"Alright, gather up!" Lieutenant Leville eventually shouted. "The enemy lines aren't far away. I need the best shooters and someone willing to go into the tank. The others will remain here and defend the settlement in case the Stal try to reclaim it. If there are too many of them, run toward the enemy trenches."
Khan instinctively stepped forward, but the Lieutenant stretched an arm to stop him. She shook her head as a quick explanation left her mouth. "We won't get in their range. We'll gun them down and let the allied forces on the other side advance."
Khan could imagine the scene, mostly because his escape had featured something similar. A group of twelve soldiers had managed to conquer a trench with nothing more than a few rifles and a powerful decoy. Lieutenant Leville and her team could do far more with vehicles, a tank, and a larger group.
"You and Lieutenant Webburn are in charge while we are away," Lieutenant Leville ordered. "Let's move up, people! Fill the trucks and the car!"
The soldiers were aware of their skills, so a team didn't take long to form. Everyone took their position on the vehicles and started to leave. They couldn't move quickly due to the tank, but they eventually disappeared from Khan's sight.
Khan reached for one of the buildings used to inspect the surrounding areas. Some soldiers went with him, while others occupied the other structures with a similar purpose.
It was still deep into the night, and the silence that filled the settlement made the soldiers decide to remain silent. It was hard to inspect the distant areas due to the darkness, and turning on the beacons could attract unwanted attention, so everyone focused on their immediate surroundings.
The two women that had followed Khan glanced at him from time to time. They wanted to take that chance to talk with him, but the nature of the situation forced them to remain silent.
Khan ignored those glances and focused on the transparent glass used as walls in the room. He couldn't see much, but he could sense the ground at the base of the building. That was enough to check eventual elevators since they were the most threatening aspect of the enemy territory.
The silent night went on peacefully, and the morning didn't bring any problem when it arrived. The soldiers remained in their position, but they left the buildings when they saw their companions in the distance. They appeared tired due to the long fight and walk, but Lieutenant Leville didn't let anyone rest yet.
The settlement was easy to protect, but the assault team would remain in the open. Besides, the last two battles had already ignored the mission's primary purpose. HQ could consider stealing vehicles and delivering them to the allied side a waste of time or an unnecessary deviation.
Lieutenant Leville led the entire team back inside the underground structure. The group marched for half a day before reaching an area large enough to contain them and choosing to rest there. Their provision could last for a long time, especially after refilling them in the settlement, so they only had to sleep and recover before resuming the main mission.
The following weeks saw the assault team busy in the slow advance iconic of the first part of the mission. Small squads of Stal would appear to delay the soldiers, and walls or other traps would force the group to waste time, but nothing tried to stop them forever.
The mission continued relatively smoothly, with real battles happening only when the group attacked settlements on the surface. Those fights weren't too hard due to their proximity to the frontlines and the assault team's sheer prowess. Still, losses happened from time to time, even if they mostly involved one or two soldiers.
The underground structure never rewarded the long efforts of the soldiers. The assault team eventually visited the remaining three labs, but they were empty and abandoned. Nothing valuable had remained there, which turned the mission into a complete failure.
Lieutenant Leville and her underlings didn't feel too bad about that since they expected a similar outcome. The gains of the thirty-seventh battalion were also enough to quell any annoyance that could appear in their minds. The group had sent many resources to the allied side, so they could feel proud of themselves.
However, HQ couldn't be satisfied with that outcome. When Lieutenant Leville led her team back to the nearest allied trench, she received orders to wait until the higher-ups of the Global Army came up with a new plan.
