Chapter 936: Grand Plans

The nominations and the discussions about any tweaks that they would make to the plan went on for the next two days, leaving everyone stressed out and ready to just nuke the planet and hope that it didn't do anything too extreme to the Anomaly.

They all understood that the chances that would actually work out in their favour were extremely small, about the same as that of the Myceloids coming by to invite them for tea and crumpets. But it had crossed their minds.

Finally, they were ready to start sending the patrol teams out in the area to make sure that nothing strange was wandering in the newly grown woods and that the Myceloids in the area weren't going to be an issue.

There was so much life in the woods that it was hard to tell it apart with the scanners. The trees weren't even really trees; they were some sort of fern, and the genetic similarities to the Myceloids were throwing off the biological scanners.

They were too sensitive, and the trace results were enough to have them note everything as a possible Myceloid.

So, the teams going out on their own would be able to give much more detailed information, and the Drone Bombers were already overhead, scanning through the thick canopies to look for appropriate targets.

Five teams went out at once, all headed in different directions but making a sweeping pass to cover all of the territory that they were tasked to investigate. Team one was given the closest village, as it was their right to the first fight.

Once the mission started, there were no guarantees, but they had gotten to pick it themselves, so the chances that they would miss out were pretty low, even if the other teams were also covering ground as fast as they could in order to get to their own targets.

"We have contact. Team One has found their village, and the leader met them out front. It looks like he's up for a challenge right off the bat. Do we have audio?" Huntress Lilith narrated as she scanned through the drone feeds.

"We have audio from the Hunter Suits. Bring it up on the speakers so that we can all listen in." Max suggested.

They had missed the opening words, but they were in time for the response.

[We're out clearing our territory of losers and grifters. No weaklings allowed. Either prove yourselves or bugger off somewhere else.] She demanded.

Those were definite fighting words, and all the Huntresses prepared themselves for a good fight.

As Max had done, all the teams had taken smaller Hunter Suits, closer to the same size as their enemies but heavily armed and extremely agile. They were deemed the best equipment for the job, while the heavier units stayed at the camp for the area damage that they could put out in a large-scale attack.

[I will show you what a real Boss can do, you pompous jackanape.] The Boss declared, looking very proud of himself for having remembered those words.

Where he had learned them in the first place was a mystery, but the fight was on. He was a single large axe sort of fighter, and his style was brutish but powerful. Unfortunately, he had been challenged by a true battle maniac, and she was rapidly disassembling his attempts to defend himself, making him look incompetent as she cut him down.

She might not be a master strategist, but she had the right idea. Make the Myceloids look as weak and incapable as possible before telling them that they were too close to the Hunter Camp and had to move.

If they went along with it peacefully, they would probably be let go, and if they didn't, then the rest of her team would get to fight.

None of them would complain if it ended up that way. In fact, that was what they were hoping for as the team leader mercilessly mocked and hacked apart the Myceloid Boss.

The Drone scans said that they weren't going to get it, though. While the tents were still up inside the wall, the Drones had already detected the rest of the group packing up and getting ready to move.

The question was how far would they go. There were other camps and villages in the area, and they were barely a kilometre from the Hunters' Camp, so there was a chance that they wouldn't go far and would end up being targeted again in a few days or weeks when the closest areas to the camp were deemed secure.

When the Huntress finished with the Boss, the rest of the camp collapsed their tents and filed out in a silent line, headed directly away from the Hunters Camp and into the forests.

If they ran across another group, there might be a fight, or they might be taken in to form a stronger group, but that would depend on whether they could impress or defeat the other leader.

This group was fairly strong, and there were a couple who could challenge for leadership of most weaker groups, so the chances that they would find a good new home were high. They might also become nomadic, but they weren't really that sort. This group had been one of the weapons makers, hammering out rough swords over crude forges to create deadly edges.

If they wanted to continue that, they would need a place.

Not long after, the other four groups found their targets, and four more camps fell to the Hunters. None of them fled, though. Once the boss was defeated and the Hunters demanded that they leave, they decided to fight it out and pick a new Boss afterward.

One of the groups had nearly won. It was a bit of a shock to the Hunters, but they had over fifty strong warriors in the camp but no notable leader, except one who was slightly stronger than the others. So, the first fight had been easy, but the second fight had been very difficult.

[Send out reinforcements and spare gear for the teams. I want them back up to full strength before nightfall.] Huntress Khan ordered once everyone was in position.

"Well, that's one day down. Care to wager about how tomorrow goes?"