There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 517 - 510. Ambush

Chapter 517: Chapter 510. Ambush

"What happened?" the reporters looked around as the alarm blared through the main base.

The guard leader turned to look at the screen, but the guards manning it shook their heads. "It’s not from the radar."

"The alarm came from the command tent, Sir."

"So it must be from the outpost," the guard leader frowned. "It seems that we have to cancel your schedule for to--where are they?" the leader blinked at the empty space that used to be occupied by the reporters.

"They ran down once they heard it comes from the command tent."

The guards looked at each other for a few seconds before shrugging. "Oh, well...they should be safe inside the main base anyway."

* * *

"Hurry, hurry! This is a scope already!"

The reporters climbed down the watch towers and ran across the field like the heaviness pressing on their bodies before was nothing but a lie. The prospect of getting an exciting sorry energized them like no other. They were a bit disappointed by the dry reception and uneventful tour, so there was no way they wouldn’t move when a headline was right in front of their eyes.

Even the senior reporter who had always been calm and respectful couldn’t help his tingling senses for something big. That being said, he did not forget to warn the others that the command tent was a prohibited zone for them.

"But Senior...how else would we get the information?!" some of them argued as the senior stopped them not far from the command tent and pulled them aside as some espers were going in and out of the structure.

"Just wait for now," the senior glanced at the tent. "It seems like an emergency, so let’s not hinder them and look with your eyes and ears instead."

Some of them nodded obediently, although the other only agreed begrudgingly. But there was nothing they could do since it was in the contract.

"Wow, you are fast!" they heard the guide girl’s voice approaching. "But you shouldn’t just dash away like that."

"Ah--we’re sorry, Miss," the senior reporter bowed his head slightly. "It’s an occupational reflex. But Miss...do you know what happened?"

The reporters all looked at Dheera, who had become their sole source of information. "Hmm..." she tapped her chin in contemplation. "Obviously, I have no idea. But if the alarm is from the command tent, then it means one of our outposts is being attacked--ah, that means you won’t be able to do your tour today, at least until everything’s safe again."

"Oh, come on..."

"That’s too bad..."

The reporters sighed and Dheera just smiled innocently while telling them to get further away from the command tent. The senior, however, could see the way her eyes darted anxiously toward the command room despite the cheerful exterior.

It’s not a regular attack--the senior reporter’s instinct told him.

And he wasn’t wrong about that. Inside the command tent, Lex had been in contact with all outposts and Bassena simultaneously.

"There’s still no further contact from the third mountain outpost after the first emergency button," Lex told Bassena. "The people in the mountain base still trying to find out what happened--we haven’t gotten an update since."

[Have you sent anyone?]

"Group two is getting ready. I’m going to send them once you give your endorsement--or are you going to send someone from the desert."

[The main base is closer, so just send--wait...]

Bassena stopped talking to his commlink and they could hear some background noise which Lex thought was coming from Zein.

[What?! Wait--fuck, Lex, get me hunting squad one. I’m going over there now]

"You’re coming he--okay," Lex turned to another screen and typed the order to the computer.

Right away, all of the operation members’ commlink let out a level two warning along the order for Hunting Squad One and the Auxilliary Group Two to mobilize toward the mountain base. The auxiliary group was one thing, but the fact that the hunting squad was mobilized meant that it wasn’t just a horde of beasts or a Specter.

It was a fragment.

Naturally, Dheera also received the same warning. The anxiety was getting harder to hide, and the reporters were starting to smell it. But before anyone could pressure her for some answer, they were startled by the sudden wisp of dark smoke in front of the command tent, which soon materialized as Bassena Vaski.

At the same time, a group of espers in black coats appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. The reporters couldn’t recognize them as members of Trinity, but Leah recalled one of them used to be Guide Luzein’s bodyguard.

"Commander,"

"Jock, go right away. There’s no need to wait for Group Two," Bassena told the leader of the squad immediately. "Zein said it might be a strong one, so be cautious."

"Yes, Sir."

Wasting no time, the people in the different uniforms moved right away, vanishing almost as abruptly as when they arrived. Bassena immediately walked toward the tent before the reporters could wake up from their surprise and approach him.

Not that they could, since he looked very much unapproachable at that time. He did not look agitated, but the calm demeanor that contrasted with the fierce amber eyes froze the reporters’ legs.

Especially because another alarm was ringing from the command tent, identical to the one earlier. Lex came out of the tent right away with a paper in hand. "It’s from the Castle--two of them, medium-sized size. Ashur said they’ll be able to handle it for now, but they requested another support group and two more guides."

"Right, guides--get two guard team ready," Bassena looked around and swiftly caught sight of Dheera, who already run toward him before getting called. "Did you hear?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Take two people and go with a guard group, and send another two to with another through the tunnel. I believe you can make your own judgment of who to send."

"Yessir!" Dheera readily saluted before dashing toward the guard clinic, leaving the reporters guide-less.

Still, in the middle of the chaos, the reporters captured as much as they could with their cameras. They had almost given up on ever seeing Bassena Vaski or Luzein Ishtera during their stay since both of them had been staying in the desert, so despite the palpable tension, they decided to at least capture his figure.

Perhaps feeling the cameras, the fierce amber eyes glance at the reporters, who almost stumbled back from fright. The pressure that a saint class exuded on a battlefield was vastly different from a high-profile celebrity. These reporters, who never faced Bassena Vaski in his combat stage, almost thought the esper would crush them to death from the simple glance alone.

But the fierce gaze left them soon after, as Bassena turned to speak to his secretary. "Lex, get the reporters inside the arena until everything is under control."

"Understood," Lex nodded and gave the paper in his hand to Bassena. "Are you going to head to--"

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP

For the third time, the alarm was ringing from the command tent. This time, even Bassena could not play calm anymore. "Son of a--" he gritted his teeth to pause and took a deep breath so he could calm his heart. It was the first time they had been attacked from all sides like this, and this last alarm gave him a bad feeling. "Where?"

"Commander, it’s from the desert."

Fuck--Bassena swallowed his curse and went to his commlink. "Kei, what is happening over there?"

[Movement from the northeastern border, Commander--I’m confirming the number now. It’s...]

"Yes?"

[...a lot] her voice sounded uncharacteristically shaken.

"What do you mean? Is it a horde?"

[No, Commander...I mean, yes, there’s a horde too, but...the fragments are also...a lot] Bassena could hear her take a deep breath. A rustling of a paper later, she continued with the report. [So far, we have seen seven small ones, and a few Specters. More is coming from behind the void. For now, I’m calling everyone back]

Haa...fuck--they were getting attacked from every corner. After all the silence for the past year, even with their baiting...and those creatures chose this very day when there were civilians here.

"Pull back to lane three, and get all the anti-fragment shields up. Zein--"

[He was heading there already, don’t worry]

Letting out a relieved breath, Bassena gave his last command before hanging up. "You’re in charge until I get there, K. Wait in defensive formation and ready the trigger--we might need it later."

[Yes, Commander]

"Keep me updated," Bassena closed the call and turned toward Lex. "Put the base on lockdown; all passes are revoked, every available personnel is to be deployed to the desert, including the guides. Call the Tree Fortress and tell them to get ready for an emergency."

"Yes, Commander. What about the civilians?"

Bassena stopped in his tracks, turning toward the running cameras and the reporters. "Helios, send them back to the Borderland," he said.

A nearby defender straightened his back. "Yes, Commander!"

"Wait--what are you talking about?" naturally, the reporters did not agree. "What do you mean sending us back during this crucial event? We’ve paid a lot to be here!"

"That’s right! You can’t just kick us out when there’s finally something interesting going on--"

"Hey!" Leah clasped her partner’s mouth in dread, but it was too late.

Bassena Vaski was already in front of them, with a hellfire dancing in those eyes. "Event? Something interesting?"

The reporters, even those who said nothing, swallowed nervously.

"No, this is not an event, nor it is interesting," the low voice was dipped in sharp poison. "This is a battlefield. This is a war."