Smooth Ride
Two days later, they abandoned the resupply station. The underground depot was left almost empty, since Sunny had decided to take everything they could on the road. Not all the vehicles were loaded to capacity, but even if there was just a driver and a shooter inside, every last one was commandeered and put to good use.
Only the discarded civilian transports and those of the Erebus Field vehicles that were too damaged to remain reliable were left behind.
Nightmare, Abomination, and Blackie moved at the front of the caravan, serving as its vanguard. The Rhino was still at the head, but it was now flanked by two lumbering MRWs, both of them constantly scanning the surroundings with their high-tech optical arrays.
Behind them, the long column of vehicles stretched for more than a kilometer on the mountain road. The remaining ten MRWs and two dozen Awakened were spread along its length, meant to protect the caravan in case of an attack from the flanks. Most of the vehicles were armed, and there were personnel carriers with full companies of mechanized infantry placed strategically among the refugee transports.
All in all, the caravan looked like a big, delicious target for Nightmare Creatures... but also one that would be extremely hard to swallow.
'I'd like to see the bastards try... uh, actually, scratch that. I'd rather not...'
Sunny was positioned on the roof of the Rhino, wearing his military coat over the Mantle of the Underworld. With the elemental resistance of the onyx armor and the Memory of Ice slotted into it, he was more or less immune to mundane cold, so the chilling nature of the polar night was not bothering him too much. The falling ash, though, was still irritating. Hopefully, they would leave the area near Mount Erebus soon.
The wind was blowing in the other direction, which not only moved the clouds of ash away from the caravan, but would also make it harder for those Nightmare Creatures that relied on their sense of smell to detect the approaching humans far in advance.
Still, he had no illusions that theirs would be a smooth ride.
Luckily, Sunny was extremely well-suited to serve as a guide. Lie had updated his map with as many details as he could and planned multiple suitable routes for the caravan. With his shadows scouting ahead and the crow keeping an eye out for hidden threats from high above, he was as informed about the surrounding area and the enemy movements as anyone could be.
The shadows scouted most enemies long before the long column of vehicles approached, and the black bird with its magical eyes was able to notice anything that they missed. The combination was extremely effective.
Information was the lifeblood of warfare, so Sunny had a considerable advantage. He was going to use it well to navigate the treacherous expanse of the Antarctic Center and reach Falcon Scott unscathed.
His task had grown much harder because of the sheer size of the caravan, but on the other hand, the land they were traversing was also different from the complicated network of decrepit old roads in the south. The infrastructure between Erebus Field and the northern parts of the landmass had indeed been much more developed, and then expanded on by the First Army in the recent months to boot.
Plus, they were moving away from the area that had been affected by the earthquake the most, so there were fewer signs of destruction and obstacles on their path the further north the caravan drove.
The roads were wider and better preserved, the terrain was less rugged. It was not as flat and straight as the coastal highway, of course, but Sunny felt reluctant to return to the ocean just yet. Even if he did, it would only be to bypass an especially difficult region and then swiftly return to the mountains.
'...Or not at all.'
At first, there were not too many Nightmare Creatures in the way - most of them that had been in the immediate area probably migrated to the ruins of Erebus Field and were yet to return. What little resistance the caravan did meet was promptly obliterated by the Irregulars and Carin's Awakened.
For the first day or so, the MRWs did not even have to fire a single shot.
The next one brought more enemies with it, however. The caravan did not stop, with drivers working in shifts to keep it moving, so the destroyed city was now far behind them. Here, the abominations ran free, and plenty of them caught the scent of the large group of refugees.
Swarm after swarm assaulted the column of vehicles, shattering against its defenses. The devastating barrage of bullets tore them apart, accompanied by arrows and magical projectiles tossed by the Awakened. The MRWs let their monstrous Gatling guns and heavy mass drivers cut large swaths through the mass of abominations, sending swarms of explosive missiles flying from the mounted launchers from time to time.
If the Nightmare Creatures got too close, destructive flamethrowers and Awakened fighters made short work of them. If there were Fallen or Corrupted abominations among the swarms, Sunny and Nightmare charged forward before the creatures could do any harm to the refugees.
With Sergeant Gere running logistics and organizing the mundane soldiers, Lieutenant Carin commanding most of the Awakened, and Beth caring for the needs of the civilians... that was pretty much all he had to do.
Dealing with various powers Nightmare Creatures possessed was a bit challenging, but mostly, Sunny found himself unexpectedly free. Which was good, since he had plenty of time to address his tasks as the strategist and guide of the caravan, but still...
'Weird. Am I actually... a little bored?'
Looking at the remains of another swarm that the column had all but rolled over, Sunny scratched the back of his head. Ie knew, of course, that this rate of progress would not continue indefinitely... in fact, they were bound to get bloodied as soon as he failed to lead the caravan past a real horde of Nightmare Creatures, which was getting harder and harder to do.
That had not happened yet, though.
Am I suddenly very lucky, or have my luck just been really terrible up until now?'
Sunny pondered about it for a few moments, and decided that it was probably both.
The question was how long would the stretch of good fortune last...
