The Time I Was Reborn A God Of War 12 An Unexpected Encounter

" What brings you upfront, Agent? " the pilot asked Henry.

" I was bored to death back there. What's your name mate. " Henry simply answered, smiling to his pilot.

" The name's Jackson. It's rare for one of you, special agents to talk with the rank and file. Don't you have homework to do back there for your mission? "

" I did. I'm done actually. Am I disturbing you? I can go back if you want. " Henry told the man.

The pilot stared at him from the side, not knowing what was wrong with this guy.

" Nah, it's fine mate. I'm just not used to an agent talking to me. Y'all are a cold bunch usually. If you want to talk, have at it, we have a few hours before us still and I wouldn't mind the company. " Jackson finally answered, hanging a smile on his face.

And so, both men started talking about all and nothing on their way through s.p.a.ce. After 4 hours of whizzing through countless stars, they finally made it back into Earth's solar system. They had traveled through FTL all the way there, since portal use gave out a large amount of dark matter, and was easily read through s.p.a.ce scanners. Travel through FTL was a lot safer in this aspect, only it was a lot longer too.

Once the ship made it into range to see Earth, the pilot switched on active camouflage.

" I'll be dropping you a few miles away from the village, Agent Calvert. Any closer would put the ship at risk. " Jackson told Henry, slowly bringing the ship into Earth's...o...b..t.

" All good. I know my way around these parts anyway. Will you be the one to come get me in a week? "

" Yes, Agent. I've been a.s.signed for the mission travel back and forth. " The pilot responded.

" Call me Henry, man. We're not robots, and I get the feeling we'll be working together in the future. " Henry said joyfully.

" Although I don't think that is true, I hope it does come to happen. You're a lot more enjoyable company than any other special agent I've carried before. In that case, call me Felix. " The pilot replied to Henry, with a slim smile.

" In that case, Felix, I'll make sure it happens. Till then, wish me luck and don't forget me a week from now ahaha! " Henry said, slapping his shoulder and walking to the back of the ship, towards the warp pad.

" Break a leg, Henry! " Felix hollered at him, raising his fist to the sky.

Warping to the surface, Henry had taken with him his 2 kukris and a long-barreled laser sniper. Also with him, he brought a backpack loaded with explosives and grenades. He had jumped into a light exo-suit, tailored to his person. This exo-suit was made typically to boost his physical capacities, making him capable of running faster, jumping further and higher and hitting harder. This type of suit was standard gear for a special agent.

Once on the ground, he looked up, knowing the ship he came in was leaving orbit right now. He sighed and started walking towards the town. It had been a while since he set foot in Legacy Cave Town, and he hoped no one would recognize him. He walked towards the Inn on the main street and took a room. The man at the counter looked at him weirdly.

" Have we ever met? " The man asked.

" I don't believe we have sir, this is my first time on Earth. " Henry replied.

He couldn't say the truth about his origins, or the fact that he had been here before, six months ago. At the same time, the fact that he was wearing a typical military uniform, would surely fool the locals into thinking he came from Tera Nova. That would greatly cover his tracks from them.

Henry walked up to his room to drop off his stuff. He then walked back to the counter downstairs to ask the man for information. He asked the clerk where he could find doc.u.ments and maps about the region. Of course he already grossly knew the layout around the village and where to find such information. But for purposes of keeping his cover as a newcomer from Tera Nova, he had to act like he knew nothing about the place. The clerk simply instructed him as to where he'd find the library, telling him all he wanted would be available there. Henry thanked the man and left.

He reached the library in a short time and asked the librarian the location of the maps. The librarian looked at him with a sense of déjà vu and pointed the far end left corner. Henry thanked him and walked over to find a specific map. What he was looking for was not a map of the surroundings of the village, but a map of the general region. He wanted to map it out in his head precisely, before going out to accomplish his mission.

The tamarains had established camp 50 Km out of the village and this time, they had come with more than four squads. They came to Earth with a whole division of men. They had ten squadrons ready for deployment, without even counting in the logistics soldiers. Henry would have to play this one smartly if he even wanted to make it out alive.

He planned to take out the squadrons one by one before the week had pa.s.sed. Of course, he had a contingency plan, in case things didn't go his way, but he hoped he wouldn't have to use it, as it was so overly risky. He wanted to first scout the camp and find out the patrol routes used to secure it. Then he would start planting traps all around the route to chip away at the troops. Once the officers decided to rein everyone inside the camp to defend, he was going to use the long-range laser sniper and take the remaining ones out, one by one.

After finally finding the map he needed, he walked back to the librarians' desk and asked " how much for this map? "

" Sir, it's not for sale, these are for browsing only. " The man responded, a dumbfounded look on his face.

" Is a thousand credits enough? " Henry persisted.

"As I said, Sir "

" Two thousand then " Henry cut him.

" Okay, okay. Fine, take it for two thousand credits. But if you could bring it back, or at least a copy, the library would be eternally thankful to you and we would gladly pay you back your money. " The librarian said, finally conceding.

" Thank you, my friend. Of course, I'll try bringing it back safe and sound. " Henry said, smiling widely.

Henry grabbed his stuff and headed out of the village. His treck towards the tamarain camp was a long one and he would still have to find a place to hole in for the mission. After walking for half a day, he found a cave to spend the night. He estimated that he was approximately 10 Km away from the camp. With the tamarains having their ships still airborne, any closer than this was too risky.

" This will make do for now. " Henry said to himself.

Henry then proceeded to lay out a few b.o.o.by traps around the cave, so he wouldn't be taken by surprise by unwanted visitors. He then laid down on the cave floor and draped himself in a heat refracting blanket. This would keep his heat in for the cold night, as well as make him untraceable by heat sensors. With his precautions taken, he fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, Henry's smart comm started vibrating, waking him right up. Something had tripped the proximity alarm. Something human. He had to reach that person before they tripped any trap, or they would surely die. Henry ran out of the cave at full speed, following the direction his comm gave out the alarm. By the time he made it to the spot, the person was stepping on a pressure pad for a planted grenade. Henry hurriedly ran up to the person and stepped on his foot to keep him from lifting it off the pressure pad.

" STOP MOVING! " Henry exclaimed.

It was only a boy, no older than 14. The kid probably had no idea what was transpiring, but one thing was for sure, he was terrified. Henry had just popped out of nowhere at an incredible speed, not giving time to the kid to react.

" You're hurting me, mister! " said the child.

" Don't move, or we both die kid! " Henry replied.

The kid's face instantly turned pale. He stopped moving and held his breath. Henry was already inside his comm, locating the grenades' set-up. His traps had pressure pads, wires, and detonators for instant blow up, but they also had timers, in case the enemy noticed they had stepped on a trap and wanted to disarm them. He acted quickly, his timers being set to only 15 seconds. He tapped his screen like mad to open up the interface and disarmed the grenade trap before it blew up.

At the last second, he managed to enter the safety code, disarming the trap. He sighed and then lifted his foot off the kid's. Henry then turned around and looked at the poor boy, who had fallen on his a.s.s, gasping for air.

" What are you doing in the woods at night, boy? " Henry asked with a patronizing tone.

The kid looked up at Henry, before calming down and answering in a rebel tone " That's none of your business, mister! "

Henry almost laughed at the answer. That kid had s.p.u.n.k, he liked that.

" Answer me, child, or I'll rearm the bomb you're still sitting on! " Henry said, trying to look menacing.

The kid yelped and jumped up to his feet, fearing he might detonate the d.a.m.n trap again. After a few seconds of panting, the boy realized he was still fine. He turned around back to Henry, anger in his eyes.

" It's not nice to terrorize kids you know!? " He screamed at Henry.

" Hahahaha!!! " Henry laughed out loud, not able to keep it in anymore.

" Come on child, come with me, it's not safe here. " Henry said, still laughing.

He then turned around and walked back towards the cave. The kid hesitated a little then followed suit, too scared to stay here amidst who knew how many traps. Once they both made it to the cave, Henry pulled out a spare blanket a threw it to the boy.

" Here, wrap this around yourself. You must be freezing. " Henry said to the boy.

" Uhh... Thank you... I guess? " The boy said, taking the blanket and wrapping it around his body.

" Now answer me, kid. What were you doing alone in the woods at night? This place is dangerous you know? " Henry reiterated.

" My name is not kid! Nor boy, or child! " The boy rebuked.

" Then what is your name? " Henry asked.

" My name is Jonathan. My parents call me Jhonny " The kid answered after a few seconds.

" Well, Jhonny, you still haven't answered my question. " Henry said.

" I did. I told you it was none of your business! " Jhonny grumbled.

Henry was getting impatient. He hadn't dealt with a stubborn child in so much time, his patience was wearing thin already. He pulled out one of his kukri's and started fidgeting with it, in an attempt to scare the kid into answering. The boy only quickly looked at the knife before looking Henry back into the eyes. " He's got courage. " Henry thought. " Or he wants to die. "

After sternly looking the kid in the eyes for a few more seconds, Henry gave up the scare tactics. The kid withstood his stare the whole time, without budging. Henry put his knife away and sighed. He saw the kid faintly sigh in relief.

" Start talking kid, or I'm forcing you to walk away in the traps alone. " Henry said, this time with a serious look on his face. He had no time to be babysitting. Jhonny gasped and terror crept up in his eyes.

Jhonny took a few breaths and the decided it was better to talk than take his chances out there, walking through a b.o.o.by-trapped jungle.

" I was heading to save my parents from the tamarains. " Jhonny said, resolutely.