American Gate

Chapter 7: The Expedition

To that end, the 4th Deep Recon Team had been temporarily expanded to include an extra Rhino and two Abrams X2 tanks. They would be escorting three military cargo trucks carrying humanitarian aid and wyvern scales to Miretan. Elmot had assured them that the people of Miretan would accept wyvern scales as payment for mithril.

The tank and cargo truck crews added ten extra lives Daniel was responsible for as the commanding officer of the operation. Not to mention the three civilian scientists along with Eldryn, Elmot and Thungar. Daniel swore he would do everything in his power to make sure they all made it home safe.

As Daniel made his way out of the barracks towards the now complete vehicle depot, he caught sight of Benny and Thungar. They were heading to the vehicle depot as well.

Benny greeted Daniel with his usual boisterous energy. "Danny boy! Glad we caught you! I have a surprise for Thungar, here. You should come check it out too."

"What have you done now, Benny?" Daniel said mockingly.

"Nothing nefarious, if that's what you think. Come on, you guys are gonna love it!" Benny replied excitedly.

Daniel wondered what Benny was up to. It wasn't uncommon for Benny to be this proud of himself, but it usually meant that he did something he wasn't supposed to. They arrived at their Rhino and Benny, with a huge grin on his face, opened the rear door.

"Ta-da!" Benny exclaimed. "I modified this seat for you, Thungar! So you won't have to ride with your head sticking out the hatch anymore."

Looking inside the crew compartment, Daniel could clearly see what Benny meant. He had ripped out two of the standard seats and replaced it with a single larger one, more suited for a minotaur. It was a large white 3D printed seat in place of the standard black plastic seats. It looked very uncomfortable, for a human at least. Benny also removed the overhead storage compartment above the original two seats, to make room for the larger minotaur sized seat and passenger.

"Well? What do you think?" Benny asked excitedly.

Thungar was speechless. He was not used to being treated with this much consideration by humans. He sat down in the chair, testing it out. It seemed to be comfortable for him.

Then Thungar looked back up at Benny and said, "No human has ever shown me such kindness before. You have my gratitude."

Although Daniel was impressed by Benny's initiative and ingenuity, knowing Benny, he also probably violated a dozen vehicle regulations.

"Benny," Daniel began, "Did you get approval to modify this vehicle?"

"Well, no," Benny said sheepishly. "But when I submitted my request to the Vehicle Operations Manager, she didn't explicitly deny it either."

Daniel rolled his eyes, annoyed, "Well that's something, I guess." Daniel clapped his friend on the shoulder, "Great work, Benny."

Soon the rest of the team arrived, and they were ready to get started. Daniel divided his marines among the three Rhinos. The trucks and tanks had their own crews attached to the 4th Deep Recon Team for this mission.

Being the highest ranking officers besides himself, Daniel gave Emily and Liv each command of a Rhino. Daniel's command cabin was manned by himself, Benny, Marcus, and Eldryn. Benny was driving, of course, while Marcus manned the equipment operations station in place of Liv. Eldryn would serve as their guide through the Duremar Plains.

Soon the 4th Deep Recon Team was ready to depart. They pulled out of the vehicle depot and headed towards the south gate of Fort Roanoke. The single file convoy was led by one of the Abrams X2 tanks, followed by the Rhinos and cargo trucks in an alternating pattern, while the other Abrams X2 tank brought up the rear. This formation would offer them the best protection and distribution of firepower.