With a series of sonic booms, the Scorpion units started the final part of their atmospheric insertion and started slowing down only about 50 meters above ground level and fired a series of external reaction control thrusters and spread out in formation as they crashed into the forest and pains surrounding the Ta'ai castle.

[SYSTEMS ONLINE, WEAPONS FREE.]

Mapping the surrounding area with a series of LIDAR's, unit 1 let out a low growl as it came alive and started crawling out of its crater using 3 pairs of solidly reinforced machine legs.

[TARGETS.]

Having received operational directives before it deployed just like its brothers and sisters, unit 1 was clear to engage at its own discretion, and so it did.

[MULTIPLE TARGETS ACQUIRED, SATUATING TARGET AREA, AIRBURST.]

Opening up its ma.s.sive claws normally used for everything from clearing out debris to crus.h.i.+ng crew compartments in less advanced combat vehicles, unit 1 revealed a series of 20 millimeter machine canons with their own individual targeting units inside and opened fire on the crystal infected monsters which had been drawn to its location. Wreaking havoc as the 20 mills loaded with proximity fuse sh.e.l.ls fired in a synchronized manner and turned most of the monsters into a brown red-ish liquid which blended together with the surrounding dirt and mud h.e.l.lscape around it, unit 1 linked into the overall operation ICI architecture and established a connection with overhead operational tasking and surveillance drones to learn of its prime directives.

[FIRE MISSION ACQUIRED. NOW TASKING… SPOOLING UP 204 MILL FOR STRIKE PACKAGE.]

Fitting in while working with and around the overall mission, the a.s.sets the Scorpion unit was not currently using were tasked for other needs.

[FIRE MISSION RECEIVED.

RANGE: 5.015 METERS.

RELATIVE GRID: 03 A 01.

LOAD 204 MILL SAPHEI

FIRE AT WILL.]

Raising up its aft turret (tail) housing a high calibre railgun, unit 1 continued on its rampage while gradually establis.h.i.+ng an outer perimeter net.

---

"We're leaving the plane in a few seconds! Don't stop moving until I tell you as it will not stay on the ground longer than a few seconds!"

Speaking over the roaring sound of the CAS-7A's engines, Dax explained exactly what was going to happen, partly because he didn't want to drag people away from the busy landing zone, but also because he really didn't want to see someone getting melted by a VASIMR plasma thruster again. As the CAS-7A landed inside the Ta'ai castle, Dax guided Chad, Xi and the two homunculi twins away from the craft as it ramped up its engines once more and lifted off at the maximum factory designated stress factor.

"Chad and Xi go say h.e.l.lo to lady Grishu, she's in her personal room together with Zao who  is currently unconscious."

"O-okay, let's go Chad."

"Yeah, thanks for doing this Dax."

Waving goodbye to the knight and princess pair for the time being, Dax waited a few seconds before turning his attention to the twins.

"If you want to learn from me, you both need to do your parts and help out."

"Of course."

"We'll a.s.sist in any way we can in exchange for knowledge."

Having the twins to need a bit more convincing, Dax was momentarily taken back, but he quickly adapted.

"That's the right att.i.tude~ Follow after Xi, when she gets where she's going you'll meet a young girl with long hair and clear eyes. Do what she says and help with treating the sick people here, I'll get back to the two of you when I'm done with this operation."

""Understood.""

(They might come to be extremely reliable subordinates in the future… But before that they need new names, I can't keep calling them 'you two' or 01 and 02.)

Looking around the castle for a few seconds as he familiarized himself with the layout and Lux's deployment of defences Dax was brought up to speed through the neural downlink located in his cybernetic spine.

"So Lux and co are out hunting for samples while dealing with the contingency plan… Which would leave just Lilly and Alice here, that explains the slightly nervous stare I've felt on me ever since setting foot here."

Speaking loudly to himself, Dax suddenly disappeared from his stalkers sight, stealthily reappearing right behind them with a large grin on his face.

"Boo~"

"Kyaa!"

Having made sure he had moved right next to Lilly's ear Dax's grin grew even wider as he placed his head on her shoulder.

"So, what are you doing?~"

"Eh?- Em… I-I was-"

"It is good to see you again Lilly, let's go some catching up after this mission is over."

Patting Lilly on the head Dax went on with the operation, leaving a very confused red haired elver behind. 

"What was that all about?"

-

"Solaris cover me!"

"On it!"

Moving mana through her body, Solaris created a lightning spell and threw it towards a crystal infected monster.

"They just keep coming! Lux, we need that air support now!"

Having made their way towards the small village where the first case of the crystal infection happened, Lux, Solaris, Mare and Terra had run into a new issue, guns no longer worked to kill the monsters they faced. Instead of the vaguely humanoid or beasts with spa.r.s.e crystalline growth around their heads, these creatures had almost the entirety of their vitals covered in a thick layer of purple crystals which acted as high strength body armour as they mindlessly charged at anything alive.

"CAS inbound hot, 30 seconds! Switch to CQC, Mare!"

"Got it!"

With Lux and Mare drawing bayonets and abandoning their rifles, the two of them went on the offensive to buy precious needed time. Ever since the fall of the magic academy, Mare had been honing her skills with the help of Dax and Lux, now she finally had the time to use them.

(You first.)

Closing range instantly Mare made use of her short figure to get below one of the monsters, then she used her momentum and the strength in her legs and core as she drove the bayonet into the monster's heart with both her arms, pressing a b.u.t.ton on the hilt of her weapon at the same time. With a sharp hiss, a blast of molten copper alloy shot out multiple vents in Mare's blade and created truly horrific internal trauma which instantly killed the monster.

"Next!"

Pulling out the blade and flicking off any remaining blood and or remaining superheated metal, Mare ejected the spent casing from her anti drone bayonet and continued her a.s.sault together with Lux.

(So f.u.c.king slow! If only they weren't so hard to incapacitate…)

While Mare made sure to kill each of the monsters she faced while receiving plenty of cover fire from Solaris and Terra, Lux had the strength and experience to not be bothered with needing such things. Aiming for joints, eyes or other exposed areas Lux surgically disabled or outright killed monsters that came within her strike range, but still, the ground was quickly shrinking beneath her feet.

"Finally! Danger close!"

But hearing the faint sound of close air support drones Lux retreated together with Mare and opened up the distance, just in time as the monsters were pelted with anti tank rockets.

"... T-that was way too close…"

Feeling cold sweat run down her back Terra sat down on the ground and took the chance to breathe properly for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Get up, we're moving!"

"B-"

"No buts! Orbital marines sleep when they're dead, not before."

(She really is a demon…)

With the help of the Hornet air support drones and Lux's dedication to the mission, the group reached their destination in the middle of the operations first night.

"This is the place. Pop flares and establish area security, the aerial extract will be here in 10 minutes."

""Haaa…""

Realizing that they finally had a short break until the CAS-7A arrived, or the drones which held the area around them needed help with killing some monsters, Terra and Solaris released a collective sigh while Mare just laid down flat on the ground.

"If we're flying back why couldn't we just fly out here?"

When Solaris finally felt some blood return to her head she made an extremely valid point which made all eyes focus on Lux as a silent pressure build.

"Because we're at transport capacity bringing in all the equipment we need for the operation."

a.s.sessing the conversation was over Lux let the girls rest while she explored the village. All around the place laid crystal infected corpses of all different races, but more of them were from the village inhabitants than monsters, leading Lux to believe that the weapon consumed mana rich lifeforms like monsters more slowly.

(Seems like this is exactly what I believed it to be… f.u.c.k.)

For once Lux really hoped her intuition would turn out to be wrong, but when she laid eyes on what was believed to be the carrier of the bioweapon, Lux truly felt sick to her stomach. Almost torn in half, a young knight laid on his bed with a truly ma.s.sive crystal growing out of his chest, reaching several meters into the air. Scars from clawing, the state of the hands of the youth as well as his eyes which still remained open told Lux everything she needed to know. Used as fertilizer, the young knight had been made partially immune to the disease he had suffered until long after all his friends and family around him were already long dead, then he died alone and in misery.

"All this effort and suffering for something so meaningless… Now I am really glad Dax made the sick f.u.c.k how did something like this suffer."

Looking at the corpses inside the youths room Lux realized the true meaning behind this man made mana disaster was. After the crystalline parasite had infected the host's brain and obtained complete control, it looked for healthy beings to infect for a while, but as the crystal continued growing the host's body eventually started to fail, that's when the second phase would start. Slowly and over the course of weeks, the crystal would continue to grow as it sucked out the host's mana, eventually leading to death at the same time as a large high purity mana crystal would have grown out of the host and was ready for harvest. 

"This wasn't a f.u.c.king attack, it was a controlled and deliberate operation conducted to collect high purity mana crystals."