Jason's eyes fluttered open to see the strange pink gum that he was encased in. He immediately panicked but discovered that he could not move or even talk. Surprisingly, the pain in his body from the fighting was gone. 'How long was I out for?'

The face of Colonel Barnes suddenly hovered within Jason's line of sight. His lips moved as he seemed to be talking to someone but Jason could not hear a thing. 'Shit! I've been captured!' Until this point, Jason still had the slightest trace of hope that he had been rescued. However, seeing that face crushed it.

"Captain, be extra careful from here on out. The captive is awake." Barnes frowned as he studied Jason's condition. "It seems that Green's Power has worked its magic. His wounds have finally fully healed."

Barnes nodded happily now that there were no worries of Jason dying due to his injuries. The other two cadets did not receive the same treatment but that was just because Jason was too valuable.

"Yes, sir!" Captain Horst replied as he saluted smartly.

Their infiltration unit was currently slowly advancing through a forest. A few days had passed since they captured the cadets but they had become troubled when they noticed that Rust's fortress had given chase to them. Logically speaking, a few cadets should not be worth this much hassle.

Unless…

Their team had picked up something extremely valuable and the Pillars knew it. Barnes had cursed endlessly over the past few days as they were forced to deviate from their original path.

The rendezvous point had been destroyed before they had reached it by Sentinel's long-range firepower. Which meant that they were now deep in enemy territory without any form of backup!

They were now in an area that they had no information about. Barnes was unsure how far they were from the border since they had been forced to head back towards the centre of this region. Their scout had reported signs of strange beasts roaming this area recently.

This unstable factor in their escape was just another cause of concern for Barnes. Wild packs could inadvertently end up exposing their location to the Empire's Pillars who still nearby. The only reason they had not been discovered yet was the canopy of the forest shielding them from view.

However, Barnes did not have much hope that it would be able to protect them for much longer. Sentinel had an overbearing reputation in his country. Years ago, one of their expeditions into the Empire consisted of an entire squad gifted in concealing their presence.

However, Sentinel had somehow sniffed them out not long after they crossed the border and accurately targeted them. Needless to say, that squad was completely wiped out in seconds. Barnes had only been a Lieutenant at that time in charge of transporting supplies and setting up a base outside of the enemy's borders.

He had watched in horror as an area across the border was reduced to a crater. That day was already deeply imprinted in his mind, he never expected to experience being chased by this monster himself. 'Why hasn't he discovered us yet?'

Barnes was becoming more restless by the second, the usual sounds that you would hear in a forest were silent right now. That usually meant that there was a predator in the vicinity and every animal knew it.

Jason, on the other hand, was wide-eyed inside of the bubble of gum. He could see broken branches and some moss that he recognised growing on the side of one of the trees. That moss had been a critical ingredient in masking his scent what felt like a long time ago.

'That's the same moss that I harvested!' There were marks in the tree from where he had climbed it by driving some pegs in as footholds because his Gramps had refused to help!

'Fuck! We're headed towards the zoo!' Jason panicked when he realised that. After all, there was a very pissed off Trion living there that would happily devour him if it caught his scent!

On the other hand, it might turn out to be his best chance to escape! Of course, Jason was unaware of the unnatural silence outside of his prison since he could not hear anything anyway.

"McAdam! What's going on?" Barnes hissed when he came next to their scout who stood still with a raised fist, this was the signal for their squad to halt.

"Sir, I thin…"

CRUNCH!

McAdam's upper half disappeared inside of a pair of huge jaws as the crazed beast stared at Barnes hungrily with blood dripping from its lips. Barnes' eyes went wide in horror before he quickly dove to the side!

"Longneck!" Barnes roared as he narrowly avoided being chomped on by a second pair of jaws!

The remaining squad members quickly drew their rifles and opened fire! There was no point in trying to remain stealthy now that their lives were on the line!

The carnivorous giraffe's heads snaked between the trees as they searched for their next meal. 'Fuck! This is what I hate about these beasts!' Barnes thought as he stared at the horror show. It had used its innate ability to stretch its pair of necks to ambush them from above!

Barnes had seen these creatures before in his country, but they had made a point to exterminate such dangerous creatures whenever they found them. However, the real nightmare usually started when the other beasts that usually lived in the same environments with the Longnecks appeared!

"Horst! Keep an eye out for anything else using this as cover to launch a sneak attack!" Barnes roared. "If you have to then cut the injured cadets free but no matter what keep ahold of the guy in the suit!"

Flashes from their muzzles lit up the area as the Longneck let out a screech in response to the injuries it suffered. Barnes felt a chill slither down his spine when he heard that noise. He knew all too well that was what this beast did when it felt threatened. It would alert other beasts to the location of possible prey!

Sure enough, a bunch of hurried footfalls could be heard heading towards them from the same direction! Barnes cursed as he fell back towards Horst who had just managed to blind one of the Longneck's eyes.

"Horst! Fall back! We'll cover you but you must get out of here with the prisoner!" Barnes' expression was grim as he stared at his subordinate.

Unfortunately, he could not take Jason and run himself. Horst's Power would wear off unless he was around to renew it. So the best chance of success they had for their country was to allow him to escape.

Horst hesitated for a brief second before nodding and fleeing in the other direction with Jason in tow. The latter had only realised that something was wrong when he saw the flashes of muzzle fire going on around him. But he had no idea of what exactly had attacked them until he passed under a portion of the stretched neck between two trees.

Jason felt absolutely helpless in this situation. He was trapped with no way to protect himself if he were targeted. He did not exactly have a great amount of confidence in the small group that held him prisoner. From what he had seen of them they did not seem to be prepared for dealing with beasts.

It was almost like they had been forced to travel light. Which meant that whatever they were up to had required speed more than anything else. Of course, Jason's anxiety would have hit new heights if he knew that he only had one person to rely on now since the others had stayed behind!

Meanwhile, a short distance from the engagement in the forest…

"Rust! Over there!" Sentinel shouted furiously as he pointed at a spot in the forest. "That's gunfire!"

Rust's eyes narrowed as she spotted the flashes of light as well. She frowned beneath her helmet as she put a great deal of effort into changing the fortress's trajectory as quickly as possible. Sentinel marched away from the opening to head towards the vault that was kept on board.

It was stacked with materials that were useful for his ability since the pair were usually deployed together. They made an almost unstoppable team. Rust would provide transport and defence. While Sentinel would rain down death from above.

Naturally, the Empire's enemies feared this pair. They were more than capable of destroying entire regions together. In fact, a few of the Lords had even tried to convince the Emperor to execute them. After all, what was stopping them from seizing the empire for themselves?

Naturally, they were just worried about the firepower that the Emperor controlled and would rather see him weaken his position by using such an excuse. However, right now it was the empire's enemies that were about to experience Sentinel when he was truly furious!