If the Mechanoids could feel sweat and palpations, this would be the time as they never saw the Forest Trolls to be so active in hunting their enemy. Despite them having the advantage in terms of distance, they had never seen those Forest Trolls running at all until now. Some of them were bashing through the trees no matter how sturdy those innate obstacles were while the rest were jumping from one corner to another.
The Combat Jeep was swirling around to take the shortest trail as their onboard AI were calculating the path ahead of them and Diaz shot down those Forest Trolls that were nearest to their position but this was not sufficient to keep them away at all. Artillery bombardments had also stopped as the predicted distance to shoot was not the same at all.
But when all seems bleak, it seems like their commander had flipped out a card to change the tide of war.
Communication had been patchy until Page suddenly received a very clear message. "Accelerate and drive as straight as possible and do not turn drastically turn your vehicle." Though the person saying it was unknown to the Grey Bears, their IFF tag stated that it was the Daimon Defence Forces.
"Copy that." Page turned off the jeep's onboard AI and stepped on the pedal without regard. She did her own analysis and calculations to avoid any other obstacles yet it was still a rather bumpy ride which the rest did not mind except for Diaz who needed a more stable platform to aim and shoot. There were suspensions for the combat jeep as well as the mounted machine gun emplacement but it was not sufficient for Diaz as she could feel that she was going up and down.
Page did not care about Diaz's complaints and focused on driving forward. Soon enough, the hope of seeing reinforcements was indeed sighted true. There was an opening in their formations just for Page to force her way through the incoming battalion of Armoured soldiers and troops. The irony was that they seemed much better equipped compared to the offensive force the Grey Bears had fought at Mount Sunn. "Perhaps, they were really underestimating us at Mount Sunn, but it was also fortunate that they had taken it easy on us."
"Nah, I doubt they underestimate us. It's probably due to the fact that they had much more money to spend and hired freelancers to do the job. Their heavy equipment on the other hand... well, you remember that rows and rows of tanks that came in. Not to mention that air fleet you brought down." Yinn commented and Page laughed.
"That was no doubt a good memory for my comeback fight." Page chuckled as she and the other Grey Bears saw the Daimon Defence Forces were already shooting the moment the combat jeep came into view.
"Command Post to Grey Bears. Return to the city for quick repairs and some special rearmament. Commander Jin's orders. You are being dispatched to the West to assist with the monster horde in that area." The noisy radio on the combat jeep crackled after giving its commands, not waiting for the return reply from the Grey Bears indicating that the command post was busy handling other instructions. At that point, Diaz had also given up firing and finally returned back into the squeezy combat jeep to rest. (After all, there was the comfort of air conditioning which can aid in the cooling of her mechanical frame.)
"Shouldn't we just head to the West? I think they wish for us to subjugate the Monster Lure as well." Page asked Yinn but Lynn interrupted.
"No, let's head back to the headquarters. Command had said the equipping of special armament and I think if we disobeyed that order, it would only impede in our progress to fight." Lynn said.
"You seem awfully eager to return," Diaz said
"Well, it's Commander Jin's girl. What do you expect?" Click said and the rest almost forgot that fact and grinned a little.
"Hey, hey. Don't change the subject." Lynn said with an angsty pout and everyone within the group had some relief from their 'hearts' as they knew that they had been thrown from one battle to the next without rest and that they wished there was a way out of this.
"But if you ask me. I don't think that you should worry that much when it comes to the Western Region's Monster Lure, I doubt that Jin would be asking any of you girls to go for it."
"Why do you say that?" Yinn asked and Lynn smiled widely.
"Because that objective is a money making item for him...if I know him well enough. Right, System?" Lynn said as she opened her holographic console as if staring at the System for a reply. At that point in time, the System kept quiet as if it refused to acknowledge that they had been listening into the conversation for the longest time ever. However, the silence was long enough that it finally decided to reveal a little.
"Yes. User had planned for certain elements of a massive foreign force to enter and attack that. It will be a three prong attack if everything goes well." The System replied and the Grey Bears were confused.
"What the System implying is that he is bringing ... some friends from our world to come to save the day now that we are stuck in this situation."
"Can that really work? I thought this erm reality is tightly sealed from external forces. Unless you mean the 'Creators' have allowed it." Yinn questioned and it seems like the Mechanoids were not able to touch on the subject of the Synthesis AI Administration as if it was a forbidden topic. Yet, the rest kept quiet and Click felt that the awkwardness was too much and decided to change the topic
"Are the monsters at the Western dungeons, the same as Forest Trolls?" Click questioned the System since it should have the answers to it.
"No, They are of a different breed of monsters. A troublesome one is that explosives might have some difficulty performing their job." The System replied giving them the data of the monsters that they are supposed to fight against.
Metal Ogres.