You are Summoned

Chapter 305. Into the Trench.

The rumbling continued and grew in strength as we huddled in the room. With a loud crack, the reinforced roof above us began to collapse and the soldier in charge waved us toward a side passage. Just as the last of us exited the room and entered the passageway, the ceiling collapsed. I thought I caught a glimpse of stone spikes jutting up from the floor even as the entire room was obliterated.

“Dammit, let command know that we’ve lost summoning platform seven. I’m inbound with the last three arrivals from the portal. You three follow me, we’ll brief you in one of the munitions dumps,” the soldier in charge said. The glow in the other soldier’s ear intensified as he spoke with someone else that we couldn’t see or hear.

That pretty much confirmed they had some sort of magical radio thing going on. I made note of it so I could let Agent Lopez’s people know it was possible. It was yet another thing to bring up with Fitzfazzle when the cooldown on his figurine was up.

We moved through the roughly constructed passageway, which was made of packed earth and reinforced with stout wooden beams. Pulling us into a side chamber, I could see several crates were stored. A few of the crates were open, and I took a peek inside. It looked like it was stacked with small, solid metal boxes. The system didn’t bother to identify them before the soldier, who was also our summoner, continued his interrogation.

“So, you can summon ten minions for an hour or so. What about you?” the summoner asked me after confirming what the young gnome woman had claimed before the roof collapsed.

“I can summon up to eight minions in total across a wide range of tiers and ranks. They’ll remain here for as long as I’m still around,” I answered, seeing no reason to try and hold anything back yet.

“Good, and if your minions are killed, then what?” the summoner asked.

“In that case, I can resummon them after some time has passed. How long I have to wait to resummon them is based on their tier and rank, so the more powerful ones have a longer wait,” I explained.

“Given you armor and gear, I take it you can fight as well?” the summoner asked.

“Yes, but I’m not as effective at melee than some of my minions. I do have a magic missile wand and some support spells to bolster and heal my minions,” I said.

“Excellent, and you, the last one,” the summoner asked. The final summoned being in our group was another human, this one was an older human that looked like a dollar store version of Gandalf, complete with white beard, robes, and a wooden staff with a glowing white gem atop it.

“I am the Imp Master, and I will flood the battlefield with my minions,” the old man said. His accent was strange and going off his gear and mannerisms, I doubted he was a fellow Earthling.

“Details, that’s what I asked for. How many minions, how long will they last?” the soldier asked, seemingly annoyed at the old man’s answer.

“They last a short time, ten minutes or so, and with my current mana pool, I can summon just over a hundred,” the old man said.

“Impressive, even if the duration is short, it’s perfect for what we need on this assault. All right, all of you follow me, we’ll get you gear and send you with your liaison to the jumping off point,” the summoner said. He hadn’t given us a name, and oddly enough, the system didn’t provide one with the contract.

We continued down the passageway and out into a wide trench. The sky above was grey, which matched the filthy uniforms of the soldiers moving about the trench. After a few hundred yards of wandering through the trench line, we entered a large dugout. Inside was a long counter with crates of gear stacked behind it. A pair of clerks were handing out gear based on wooden tokens that the soldiers were turning in.

“Corporal Bellmore, we have three summoned beings that need a standard issue kit before the next assault,” the summoner said.

“Pulling out all the stops this time, eh, Sergeant?” the corporal said as he waved us up to the counter and then began tossing items to us.

“Each of you will wear the overcoat so we can tell you’re on our side. I know your summoned minions won’t have that luxury, but if you do your job right, we can tell their friendlies by the direction their running. Does anyone need a weapon other than the gear you have with you?” the corporal asked.

“I hold the Staff of the Pit Lord and need no other weapon or armor,” discount Gandalf claimed.

“Good for you, what about you human? Your gear looks up to snuff,” the supply corporal asked me.

“I’m good for everything but a ranged weapon. I can only throw the javelin once, and my magic missile wand holds only a few charges. If you think I’ll need more than that, I’ll take whatever you’re willing to offer,” I told him.

“That’s the spirit, none of ‘this powerful staff makes me invincible’ garbage for you mate. Here, this is a standard long-distance bolt projector. Just load the box in the bottom, line up the sights, and bingo, your target is dead,” the corporal said, handing me a crude device that resembled a World War 1 bolt-action rifle, crossed with the crude stock of any early matchlock weapon.

It was heavy, despite the barrel being only a few feet long. A box magazine was fitted to the weapon, and I looked for a magazine release to see what type of ammunition it used. The corporal pointed out the release, which was oddly part of the magazine. Once out, the mag looked like a solid block of metal, which confused me more.

“Ammo’s in short supply, so I can only give you one reload. Trust me, you’ll probably be able to pick up more after the fighting starts, if you know what I mean. Do you have any questions on aiming the weapon?” the corporal asked. At his comment about finding more ammo, I recalled war movies I’d seen where there were plenty of casualties, and lots of fallen weapons and gear to choose from.

“I’m good, the sights are similar to the weapons we have back home,” I replied after lining up the weapon and seeing it had a simple blade sight. The trigger was odd, just a metal lever jutting out from beneath the stock. While the corporal showed me how it worked, I found it a cumbersome way to fire. You had to press and hold the lever for a whole second before the weapon would activate.

It was a janky design, but I intended to use it as much as I could so I could give it a comprehensive review before I headed home. Something told me we weren’t going to field this hunk of junk, but maybe our scientists and mages would come up with something better. If we could issue firearm-like weapons that wouldn’t be too susceptible to spells, it would give our armies a big boost after integration.

“Everyone will follow Corporal Schmidt; he will lead you to your jumping off point. Follow his orders like they were my own,” the summoner said, and I could see our summoning link branch off to the new corporal that had just joined us. This Corporal Schmidt was a dwarf of some sort, and he had that bone weary look in his eyes that told me he had seen a bit too much action and was running on auto pilot at this point.

“Follow me, if I tell you hit the dirt, do it. It’ll take us a bit to get to our assigned location, and the enemy isn’t sparing the mana with their long-range firepower today,” Corporal Schmidt said. Our journey through the trenches proved safe enough, and we were moving north according to the corporal.

Schmidt gave us instructions as we walked. When the attack was about to commence, we were to summon all our minions and send them toward the enemy trench line to the north. After summoning, we were to go over the top and join them in the assault. The objective was a ruined temple about a mile from the trench we were starting from.

When we arrived at our destination, I could see we were in a much wider trench this time. Wooden steps lined the dirt walls of the trench, and we were herded toward the front of the line. Behind us were several ranks of soldiers in their dirty grey uniforms. They clutched the same odd firearm that I had been issued, and I could see fear etched in many of their faces.

“Just in time, Corporal Schmidt. When are the next summoned beings arriving?” A human in a much cleaner uniform asked.

“Captain Adkins, I’m to inform you that summoning platform seven is out of commission for the foreseeable future. For our section of the line, what we have now, is all we’ll have as far as summoned beings. This lot is a bit above average in the number of minions they can summon, so it won’t be too bad,” Corporal Schmidt reported. I was reminded of one of Major Finley’s favorite sayings that we fought with the army we had, not the army we wanted.

“Very well, I have additional reinforcements arriving soon, they’ll go over the top before the summoned beings do their thing. We’re throwing a lot of resources into this, and the Salmasani Collective expects us to finally crack open that temple. Keep in mind men, when we take the objective, and the general has promised leave, and a pay advance for everyone that took part in the assault!” the captain shouted. The men gave a brief, but forced, cheer at the mention of rewards.

My minions and I were about to go over the top of the trench and into what promised to be a meatgrinder of a battle. I wasn’t looking forward to whatever awaited us.