Chapter 255: Short Layover

The trio flying with the Utility Speeder were incredibly impressed by the mana control of the team members inside.

They were all putting just a bit of mana into the vehicle, cutting down the drain on the pilots, as the boxy speeder raced over the desert. They weren’t flying high, but Vinny could feel the shudder under his feet like a jet pushed to its altitude limit, where it was in a perpetual state of near stalling.

"If you drop the height by a hundred or a hundred fifty metres, the mana draw should drop. You’re at the limits of this machine," he informed his daughter.

"Really? I’ll suggest it."

From the cockpit, Reggie gave them a thumbs up, as the other pilot requested the altitude change for the escort.

Once they dropped, the mana requirement really did go down, and their speed went up a little. Not a lot, but it was an improvement, and it allowed the escape shuttle to increase speed a bit as well, without outrunning the escorts.

That made for a smooth trip across the desert, though still at impressively high mana consumption rates.

Belatedly, Yara realized that they could have spread the team out, as there were two utility speeders which hadn’t gotten anyone but the pilots to help with the load. But they weren’t about to stop just to move some people around.

Not in the middle of the desert, with whatever was under the sand waiting for them.

So, they decided to just keep their speed up and wait for someone to say something. Then, they would swap over a few of the members who were napping in the utility speeder, and let the other pilots rest.

The speeders didn’t actually take much mana to fly, so it wasn’t like they were exhausting themselves on a Pulse Cannon.

It was just a very long flight.

In total, they would be out of Marimgar for nearly seventeen hours, and would get back before the second sun went down. But that was still a long time to be trapped in a seat.

And they had forgotten about one minor issue.

The utility speeders had a tiny lavatory. The Assault speeders did not.

No matter how disciplined they were, they were going to need to take a break at some point.

Preferably after they left the deeper sand dunes, and before they reached the forests full of monsters. Not that they had much choice about it when it finally came time to take a break.

They ended up landing not far from a river, on the logic that monsters would naturally head for the water source in the afternoon heat. So, if they could see the water, they could see the monsters.

The Escape Shuttle sent a single message as the speeders prepared to land, informing them that they would make full speed for the city.

If the shuttle went supersonic, it could be home in a little over an hour, and they already had a good idea of what was between them and the city, as they were following the same route as last time.

The only real concern was the ocean crossing, but that was more for the speeders than the shuttle, which was currently cruising at ten thousand metres above sea level.

It would be akin to a whale attacking an airliner.

{Go ahead, we will meet you back at the city. Just get the shuttle back safely.} Yara agreed.

The shuttle was something that they couldn’t replace if it was damaged, after all.

They were just about to lift off and leave when a small herd of rhinos with black stone armour on their hides approached the river.

"Hey, we found heavy battle unicorns!" Reggie cheered. "Should we send someone over to see if they’re edible?"

Vinnie and his guards chuckled at the comment, but they were curious about the capabilities of the group from Marimgar.

Yara shrugged at the same time that Sergeant Sanchez gave the order.

"Send the Flight Suits and two assault speeders. No more than four of them, so that we can load them into the empty utility speeders."

The Flight Suits geared up and smoothly exited the rear door of their speeder, while two teams returned to join them. They didn’t bother to send a Heavy Speeder, as the secondary weapon was a heavy Plasma Cannon, and that would just vaporize the rhinos if they were too weak.

And that left no meat.

The creatures didn’t appear to view the flying suits as a threat, and the moment that they began to fire, everyone realized why.

The rhinos were instantly encased in a glossy black stone armour, and bolts of earth magic were hurled at the flight suits fast enough that they struggled to dodge.

However, the Pulse Cannons tore through the stone after a few shots, and the flight suits were all aiming for headshots so that they would get as much rhino as possible. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

Assuming they were edible.

The first of the rhinos fell, and the others began to scatter. That was fine by the flight suits, as they chased down one, while the assault speeders went after another, giving them a total of three rhinos to bring back to Marimgar with them.

And then they landed beside the bodies and realized that they might have underestimated the sheer size of the monsters.

Getting two into one utility speeder was going to be tight.

The assault speeders landed next to them to inspect the corpses, and gut the rhinos, so they could drain the excess blood and prevent the meat from spoiling. The rhinos smelled regular enough, without any hints of toxic stench.

That was good enough for them.

"Load them up, and let’s get going," Sanchez instructed.

The blood was going to attract other predators, and they hadn’t scouted the area before they began the hunt. That was an oversight, but they hadn’t been thinking about the possible dangers.

Still, three rhinos was enough that they would be able to change the menu for a few days.

Especially when they were more than twice the size of an average cow.