After the report of what Hans had found during his solo mission this noon, the group cancelled any plan of moving out in favour of planning ahead for their future trip. Food and drink for dinner were plenty, not as much as what they ate during the feast but still filling, there were no spicy things now though and also no alcohol this time too, despite Hans's request for it but they needed him sober tonight so… no drink for him for now. Samuel and the current team's main brain, Doctor Rosemarie Weber in all of her bright red British Grenadier uniform glory, needed every account of what Hans saw inside the mine, everything he could remember.

They have been pulling out and fabricating many kinds of conjecture and theories of what happened there and what is in for them in this world. The popular theory among the four was the world they were stranded in was some kind of post-apocalyptic world where things went wrong in the past and the civilization was knocked back into the stone age. The second most popular theory was that out there they'll see cities and modern civilization, this was the most logical theory made by yours truly Rosemarie Weber, only losing out to the most popular theory for the cool factor. The soldiers and Samuel were leaning on the first theory because they thought it sounded cooler for them to traverse the post-apocalyptic world and find ruins of the long-gone civilization in another world.

Many other theories were way too illogical or straight up didn't make any sense, they sounded like a joke someone clueless throwing in the hope some of it clung onto something… they sounded silly. Well… four out of four people in the group know exactly nothing about what happened here so most of the things they spout out of their mouths would sound silly to people who put at least ten seconds to think about it rationally. Even Rosemarie was grasping at nothing and even tried to rationalize things with the pseudo-science of all things, something she wouldn't have done before. In their defence, they did get transported into another world, called by a dude that has a game-like system as his personnel or soldiers. Even Samuel doesn't even know how he got here, who was the mysterious dude that sent him here nor why he was the one sent here, he doesn't think much about it, just glad that he was at least given something to survive the other world.

After choosing the two most sane-sounding theories, they discarded any other idea that would imply their IQ to be less than a room temperature.

There were a lot of things about this world for them to unravel and they would see those secrets unravel by themselves as the group goes around finding out more about this world. Along with an implied immortality by the system, they technically have unlimited time and chances to fuck around and find out… with moderation of course, they'd die for good if they ran out of credits. With guns in hand and more comrades to recruit in the future, they plan to explore things and gather a lot of stories for them to tell when they eventually… probably… get back to their home Earth, even if the Earth they went back to wasn't their version of Earth they know about before being called. Hell, even Samuel wasn't sure if the Earth he looked out to was the Earth he knew about, what with him being trillions of years old or being trillions of light years away from it. Sentiments and curiosity would be among their main drive to push through their adventure.

Heaven knows the last few days they took for granted will be the last time they would see Earth, there wasn't even a chance to prepare anything or even say goodbyes to those they knew back there. Those recruited in the future will also experience this, being their senior as someone who got cast away into another world, the current four should do their best to adapt and familiarize themselves with being in another world before recruiting more. So far, even if they barely passed their second day in this world, they have taken everything in a stride and already found out so many things about the world they found themselves in, yet what they know so far also felt very lacking and only gave them more questions to ponder at night… or during a toilet break. Well, they won't have to worry about clothes to wear or sleeping without a roof, and their food and drink also weren't among their immediate worry so it might be fair for them to be not very panicky with their situation.

Now… let's go back to those four who had gathered near the campfire, belly-filled and coffee-brewed, ready to be briefed about what went down during the afternoon outing by Hans Friederich.

"That's why I said, Commander, I'll need a beer to help me digest all of this information."

"And we need you to not be under the effect of bad-decision juice to retell everything you saw down there, after that… even if you want to chug down a whole barrel of rum, beer, wine, anything… be my guest just ask away. For now, I need you to be sober and not slurring every detail away, Okay? Here uh, the downpayment, in a sense… don't drink it now though."

"Yee, many thanks, Commander. If you could, I had read something about an English Commemorative Ale somewhere in the history book, a "Flyer" was it? Could you get one of that? I would be happy to get a taste of that."

"Err… I'll look into it, but after you recount everything you see. Just take this one that I already bought as the downpayment, everything else comes after the story, deal?"

"Deal! Now… where do I start?"

Samuel pulled out a big barrel of beer from his inventory and rolled it over to Hans who was happy to receive it. With a re-energised spirit, Hans sat on top of the barrel while fiddling with something on his personal system interface, he then pulled out something that was put inside a leather knapsack.

"So you DID bring something from there."

"Well I thought we would need it, so I took some on my way out but I forgot about it for a while… and Voila! The beer brought it back to my memory."

"Oh my God."

Chuckling to himself, Hans wore a glove before he took out some kind of rocks, a mineral, mostly black with a red hue coming out of it.

"They were mining these things along with Iron ore and some other thing, they cleared out everything close to the surface but when you go deeper down, some of them are still left inside the minecart. The first time I saw them, I thought they would go boom or something so I refrained from even getting close much less touching any of them. But as I went deeper I came to realize that they might just be something common in this world and were regularly mined so I took some with me before I went back. I went past some kind of office back there but there was nothing of note to be taken, there were some boxes that might contain documents from the past but none of the content survived the test of time, all that was left was something akin to paperclip or writing utensils, also none of them is useable anymore."

He emptied the rest of the items in his knapsack, it was a familiar item, wrenches, spanners, and some very familiar kinds of power tools but broken.

"I couldn't bring the big ones with me… which in hindsight I could've just put them in my inventory without the knapsack… but it is what it is, I only brought the small things… but you guys do know what these things are, right?"

What he implies, the rest of the team knew. They'd seen them back on Earth, even before Hans showed them these tools, from the picture alone they already had some inkling that what they were dealing with had some similarities with Earth. The only problem was whether these things "were in the past" kind of thing or "still relevant today" items used by those outside of this jungle, they wouldn't know until they met them. However, now they also hoped that those they might have to meet in the future wouldn't be as hostile as what they experienced in their first contact with the natives in this jungle… they would definitely fight back if faced with hostilities though.

So many unknowns… but too little information to search the answer for…

There wasn't much else variation to what Hans told compared to what he had already told them in his report this afternoon.

"Wait, Hans, what was with those group of crocodile people in the end?"

Victoria calls out to Hans who was about to receive the rest of his alcoholic beverages from Samuel. She doesn't really understand that scientific mumbo-jumbo, she was interested in them, she truly was, but understanding them was another matter entirely. But, what she does understand is that a sighting of opposing forces wasn't something she was comfortable with.

"Oh right, almost forgot, apologise. As I said before, remember what those crocodile people we interrogated this morning say? Something about fighting festivals among the tribes. I think they have something to do with that, they did chase after me so I had to take a detour to shake them off by running the other way from here before I sneaked my way back here when I managed to lose them."

By this time, Hans already poured himself a mug of beer from the "downpayment beer" he received earlier. Chugging himself a big swig of beer, he exhaled a big sigh of contentment as he pointed at nothing towards the forest with his mug.

"Relax, even I know being completely wasted ain't good for someone who will guard the night. Another one after this will be my last one for tonight."

"Good to hear."

0o0o0

After Hans recounted everything he went through, the team dispersed to do their own thing. Hans was talking with Victoria by the campfire, and by the sound of it, they were discussing how to respond if by chance there was another raid by the native. They loaded their magazines and performed some maintenance on their weapons, nobody wanted their weapon to be unusable when they needed them the most. They also reviewed the area surrounding the campfire, preparing booby traps, and a rudimentary early warning system with empty cans and rope, they made sure everything was accounted for from the possible pincer attack and the possible spots to be ambushed from. They also took notes of every trap they made so there wouldn't be friendly fire by accidentally triggering their own trap.

Rosemarie was busy reviewing the report from this afternoon and the picture Hans had taken from the mine. She seemed deep in thought as she sat with a steaming hot tea in one of her hands and the tablet in the other hand. Her blonde hair was tied in a low ponytail neatly placed on her back to prevent them from blocking her sight when viewing the pictures and the note she took after reviewing the written report Hans had made. Hans was given a clipboard and some paper to write his report on but Hans seemed to not even bother using the papers and just wrote his hastily written report on the wooden board instead, his report only contains a summary of things and many underlined keywords which by itself doesn't really explain anything without context, which was why he was requested to retold his report by the campfire and Rosemarie had to write it down herself a more coherent version of Hans's report.

It wasn't to say that Hans was incapable of writing a report, but his attempt to summarize things caused some context to be lost. In a situation where every small detail is very important like a puzzle piece to complete a very large metaphorical puzzle, his efficient report writing was a minus instead of an advantage like it would have been in any other situation. Luckily, the pictures he took and the detailed recounting he did before were more than enough to fill in the holes in his report. Now it was up to Rosemarie to compile the information and connect as many dots as she could.

Each person has their own business to focus their effort on, that also includes Samuel who was fiddling with his handgun near the campfire.

"Sigh… I don't know which was easier, my old work or what I'm facing now… Damn it."

With the current information they had, the bulk of the things he had to consider about suddenly increased by many folds which gave him a slight headache.

He had a choice, he could just… not think too much about it. Responding to every encounter with guns and wits, relying on sheer brute force to solve his problems but it won't be a very fun adventure, does it? Thinking about how to fight the next battle right after finishing one, having enemies in every corner of the world… it would be a very tiring life to live, in his opinion. He understands the appeal of living such an adrenaline-filled life but too much of something is poison, so he intends to keep things in moderation, a balance to adventure-fight-relaxation, to pursue his passion, to keep his credits afloat, and to enjoy the fruit of his effort. This was the current trinity of the good life he had just thought up barely an hour ago, he was in the mood to be philosophical… for some reason.

His current funds are plenty but his future spending plans were even more pricy than what he had, he had thought of experiencing the novelty of riding on top of a tank or the more grandiose vehicle such as a zeppelin crossed across his mind. But there were many reasons such a dream wasn't achievable for the time being, mainly funds to afford such a thing, then the manpower capable of maintaining and operating the stuff, and the last whether it was worth the price it has. Should he be spending his funds now? Pursuing the novel experience or waiting until he could afford the price to upgrade his shop to the Second World War era which in his opinion was a far better era compared to the First World War, firepower-wise and also technologically. It might be because of video game influence, Samuel's impression of the First World War era was very lacking compared to the Second World War which almost always had a new game that covered the topic or had a theme surrounding it each year. For this very reason, Samuel was inclined not to haphazardly spend his credits in this era and preferred to save up his funds to quickly upgrade his shop.

As he ponders his choices, the fire in front of him is ablaze from the amount of fuel thrown into it. Sticks, logs, dried pinecones, and many more flammables were absent-mindedly thrown into by Samuel who was lost in his own bubbles. The blaze radiates a lot of heat, enough to keep the only person who sits near it warm and comfy as he drowns deeper into his thoughts. Unbeknownst to him, the large fire also acts as a beacon to whoever it may concern, mainly those in the forest who are curious or wary of them. Luckily for him, the forest and its inhabitants choose peace for tonight, as those who knew what happened the night before or what was the cause of multiple graveyards being made in bulk somewhere in the forest, are not very interested in joining the unfortunate, buried and nameless.

The man pondered until it was late, Rosemarie already retreated to the car to get some sleep, and Victoria and Hans had already back from booby-trapping the vicinity. The two let Samuel be with his thoughts and busied themselves with various activities as they guarded the camp.

None of those who awake are talking to each other, the camp is silent with only the crackling noise of the campfire and the flowing water filling in the cold night. The occasional noises of the insects also add colour and enhance the feeling of camping in the wilderness. Coffee and tea with biscuits once again became the best friends of the awake who were sitting around the campfire.

Dejavu, similar to the other night, they were sitting around the campfire minding their own business when suddenly an ambush happened. But a feeling is only a feeling, there was no ambush tonight, or they hoped it to be, so far the forest hasn't betrayed their hopes, yet.

Samuel broke out of his pondering, he hadn't figured much but he had an idea. Not really in the mood to sleep, he brewed himself a coffee, it was a black coffee with no sugar… like how he usually does back on Earth. As he was waiting for the temperature of his coffee to lower a bit, he noticed Victoria was staring at him, she shifted her seat a bit closer to him. Figuring out that she wanted to talk to him, he put his coffee on top of a wooden stool nearby and fixed his sitting position to face her.

"Commander Sam."

"What is the matter?"

"I just had an idea, I remember those crocodile people talking about fighting competition, right? How about we join them?"

"And?"

"And we get credits!"

"So the plan will be fight-win-run then?"

"Why run?"

"I was told that the festival is a very important event in their culture for determining the next chief by choosing the strongest fighter, so the winner will rule the forest. While I love a chance to get credits, being some tribe war chief wasn't on my to-do checklist. Also, chance are we, as an outsider wouldn't be allowed to join the competition in the first place."

"No chance huh… wait, how about we don't join the competition at all?"

"I kind of know where you are going, but I'm interested, go on."

"Nice. Commander, we were attacked no? So it would be natural to seek revenge, right? We could use that as a pretence to attack, we don't need to be very rough and lethal, does your store sell tear gas? I take from their 'preemptive attacks' that the competition would be attended by tens or dozens of warriors. We could gas the fighting warrior's camp then both me and Hans would jump into the smog with masks and raise mayhem with blunts or our fists. How does it sound? We go in with Gas, cause chaos, then escape. Pretty simple plan if I say so myself."

"You sure are gungho about this, Victoria."

Victoria chuckled upon hearing Samuel's comment, upon being questioned why she reasoned that even if she had participated in a lot of battle, she had never been the one that made the plan. So she was kind of excited if she was allowed to include some of her "flavour" into the plan.

"Whatever you guys doing, please don't involve civilians, okay?"

Suddenly, Rosemarie who Samuel had thought to be asleep came to his side and sat beside him.

"Can't sleep?"

"No, I felt like I would miss something important if I slept now, Sam. Seems I was right… can't contribute much to your battle planning but I would like to submit my request, is that okay?"

Rosemarie was already in her pink pyjamas and also had a cup of piping hot coffee in her hands somehow. In her words, because the flow of time in the system's inventory seemed to be stopped, she had prepared a few cups of hot coffee inside ready to be taken outside anytime without losing any of its heat. "Is this the mind of a genius?", Such was the quip made by Samuel in response to her way of using the system's inventory as a refrigerator. It wasn't that he had not used it like that, he already had a lot of raw food material stored inside for later use, he just didn't think of keeping a bunch of coffee to drink at any time he needed a cup of joe.

Setting aside Rosemarie's interesting use of inventory, they went back to discussing a possible plan to disrupt the fighting festival. Rosemarie was fine with anything as long as the plan kept civilian casualties as low as possible or even not having any at all. This request would possibly limit the allowed weapons to be melee only or if using a firearm, Hans and Victoria as the main battle force would be forced to fight closely. While this was all in line with Victoria's initial plan, the tear gas would also obstruct both Hans and Victoria's sight making it hard to identify between enemy fighters and civilians.

While it would significantly complicate the battle effort exerted by Samuel's team, they also agree with the point voiced by Rosemarie. Reminding that the fighting competition was considered a festival, they had to consider the possibility that a lot of children and elderly would come and watch their tribe's warriors duking it out in an arena. This was where all of them drew the line, so if they wanted to go through with their battle plan, that meant they would also have to take all of these obstacles and boundaries into consideration when making their plan.

If a battle plan was deemed to be unfeasible with their current capability, they could always default to a more peaceful resolution of trading food and materials for information with the natives. This would mean that they will burn through their credit reserve for a chance to get important information that the natives may or may not have.

Much to Rosemarie's annoyance, six cups of her coffee were consumed as the team was discussing deep into the night. The sand near the campfire was full of scribbles of multiple battle plans made with sticks, there were also multiple crumpled papers containing the same thing. Putting into consideration what they knew about the natives' fighting capability so far and the big fellows Hans saw on his way back from the mine, they concocted a lot of possible battle scenarios against the natives and also an estimate of resources they would burn while doing so.

From this planning session, Samuel realized that a battle fought while being outnumbered was a pain in the ass, proven by the many battle scenario where Victoria and Samuel worked together to fight Hans who acted as the opposing force to emulate how the enemy would react to their strategies. Three people were just too little firepower, the only times they could win with a lot of wiggle space was when they turned a large portion of the forest into a no man's land filled with landmines and many other kinds of booby traps and fight defensively. Literally surrounding themselves with mines with the only escape route being the river… which also includes free falling from the waterfall, nobody wants that, right?

However, they had to visit their native former prisoner first to know how tight their schedule was and also to secure a peaceful route with at least one of the tribes before causing problems with the others.

Samuel was tired mentally after trying to figure out a plan to win against Hans and his melee fighter's Zerg Rush, where Hans showered the frontline with overwhelming numbers and vicious encirclement with the spear throwers. The big fellows only add insult to injury because they are tenacious and a general menace whenever they're present on the battlefield. Although it was a monumental pain in the ass, Samuel could say that he got a lot of experience from this and it also helped him to know what to expect in the future… most likely a whole lot of pain in the ass also.

Samuel went to sleep with a headache.

0o0o0

A/N : I love landmines in-game... when I'm the one using them.