(POV Nathan)
With only a sigh, I close the group call, cutting off Jayden's pleas for mercy. Almost instantly, I get a call request from Jayden.
Answering it, I brace my eardrums.
"NATHAN, PLEASE. I BEG OF YOU, CALL HIM OFF!"
"No."
"HE'S GONNA KILL ME!"
"I'll stop him before he does permanent damage."
I hear Jayden scream. He had bolted when I said that.
"Plus, he doesn't have his power armor, so you can fight back. That might make it worse, though."
"THAT DOESN'T HELP!"
"It also doesn't help when you lie to the man you've known since childhood. And from what I can tell, it's a pretty big lie. You know what? If you tell me the truth about what you did and I find it reasonable, I'll help you."
There's silence over the comms for several moments; in that time, David has been visibly shaking. I think he's trying to restrain himself.
"...fuck. Alright, fine."
I'm actually shocked for a moment. Jayden, admitting to a mistake? Reality would start breaking apart before Jayden even hinted at making a mistake.
I slowly turn the portal. Oh yeah.
Jayden hesitatingly begins speaking again. "So, uh, it was a few hours ago, when this whole thing started. I was performing maintenance on my suit and detected the energy spike as the portal was forming. I came to investigate and saw the portal and people trying to touch it. So, I stopped them and called David for help."
"He's on vacation."
"I was panicking and only had David's phone number."
"We have a group chat."
"...we do?"
I sigh. "That explains a lot. I'll resend you the invite later."
"Anyways, I was panicking and woke David up so that he could help me deal with this. When he said no, I improvised a reason and said it was a mission from command. He asked if he should get his armor. I said no and rushed him cause the crack heads were getting more persistent."
I blankly stare into the sky, processing what Jayden just said. "So, you're telling me that you impersonated command to coerce David into ending the month-long leave that he worked 8 years to get?"
"No, it hasn't ended, just postponed. He can return to it after this is over."
"No, he can't. If you willingly partake in any military action whilst on leave, you are assumed to be ready to return to service early. David discussed this with me. He discovered this little tidbit in the fine print and told me about it."
The silence that follows is deafening.
"You just ended David's time off, entirely. He cannot get that back. He probably wouldn't even be that mad if it were the last few days, but this was his second day on leave. I'm surprised he hasn't just shot you yet."
I notice something odd: David has stopped shaking.
"I'm gonna call you later, David seems to have either calmed down or is plotting your disappearance. Reflect on your actions and improve."
I open a call with David. As the squad leader, I have the authority to just open a call, no request needed.
"David, you good?"
"No. Not even close. But no amount of rage will change anything."
My bullshit detector starts blaring. "You're remarkably civil after what Jayden just did."
"Whatever could you possibly be referring to, squad leader?"
That's not a good sign. David is using my actual title in something that isn't a meeting? And, he hasn't made a joke about this incident yet.
"What are you planning, David. Do I need to have you detained?"
"No. At least probably not. I won't do anything until after this whole ordeal is over, or we get rotated away from this. Plus, I'm so used to Jayden's bullshit that I'm already calming down."
I look at David for a few moments, my bullshit detectors blaring even louder. "No. No, you're not. I haven't seen you literally shake in rage in years."
"I won't let it affect the mission. And, even if I slip up and it does affect my judgment, you possess total authority over this squad. You can literally just order me to back down."
I silently bring up the command console and assign the option to lock up David's armor as a quick option. This command console is only available to me, since I'm the squad leader and my armor is closer to a light exoskeleton than infantry armor, so there's more advanced stuff in it. "I just put the option of locking up your armor on speed dial. Don't try anything."
"Damn it. How is that even an option? This type of armor doesn't even have anything that can restrict movement. Like, not even pistons or something similar to help lift things."
"That is a very good question, cause I don't know. Now, go help Izaiah and Oscar protect the scientists."
I watch as David walks over to Izaiah, who is having an animated conversation with Natalie. Well, Natalie is doing most of the talking, and Izaiah is trying to find a way to leave the conversation. Close enough, I guess.
Well, time to wait for the Reinforcements while making sure David doesn't do something stupid. I should probably get Jayden back here.
A few minutes later, the first squad of reinforcements arrived. They're followed by more scientists, because of course they are. Why wouldn't we bring civilians into a warzone with a portal to another dimension that has already had two unknown entities come through? I will never understand scientists.
As I'm talking with the other squad leader, a few large cargo carriers land nearby. A few people come out and begin setting up additional defenses. Mostly more turrets to cover any gaps in the coverage of the turrets already here. They do bring out something different, though.
A command node. Jet black and angular, an outer shell of titanium alloy and one of the few things privy to shield generators. It's 6ft tall, 4ft wide, and 5ft thick.
It's swiftly hidden in a nearby building, carried by several cargo bots.
I had only ever heard of command nodes in debriefs and from stories from others. These things are one of the most advanced weapons humanity possesses. The command node itself doesn't possess weapons; it doesn't need them. Instead, it's a supercomputer holding an extremely powerful AI that commands combat droids.
Speaking of combat droids, A few dozen of them silently exit a cargo carrier and take up positions around the portal. To my only slight surprise, there are different types of droids. There are small, spider-looking ones that're only about 2ft tall. Then there's the most common type, basically the droid equivalent of infantry, medium armor, and either ballistic or laser rifles. The 2 models share the same jet black colors as the command node.
I kind of expected there to be more types, but I won't complain.
After a few moments of silent contemplation, after finishing my conversation with the other squad leader, I get an Idea. Opening a call with Oscar, I ask a simple question. "Since you're so good at predicting the impossible, when are the entities going to come out again?"
"100 dollars on 4 days."
I silently transfer the money to him. He's never been wrong when it comes to crazy stuff like this. "Thanks, Oscar. Don't spend it all in one place."
"I'm not an idiot, Nathan. And why do you always say stuff like that? I'm not a kid."
I chuckle softly. "You're 17, Oscar. That's still childhood."
"I'm a qualified soldier! That makes me an adult!"
"If you say so." I cut the connection before he can protest anymore.
Ok, 4 days. We can do a lot with that time.