Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 431 431: Orcs, Elves, and Aliens! Oh My!

Jace watched as the swirling portal of purple energy disappeared. He then looked at the surroundings and saw that the majority of the outpost had collapsed or was slowly falling apart. It seems that without a demon, the structure could not maintain itself. The cages were the only thing that were left from the outpost.
There were also the bodies of the demons they killed and the weapons and armor they were using. But that was about it.
Jace tapped his comm piece. "Major Jace to Sergeant K and Captain Uti. The demon outpost is clear. Come help me free these people and we can point them in a direction and continue on our way." He told them as he considered their situation and looked over at the people in cages.
"Hey you! Come free me you peasant!" Jace heard a voice come from the back of one of the cages. Jace raised an eyebrow but ignored it as he moved over some of the closest cages. He grabbed the cage door and prepared to pull it open when he heard the same voice. "Not those lowlifes you peasant! Come get-" The voice was cut off as Jace could hear a thudding noise like someone smacked him over the head.
Jace tore the metal cage door off and tossed it backward. He then moved into the cage as several people started walking out. He walked over to an older woman who was passed out while resting against the side of the cage. He first checked her pulse and then picked her up and walked out.
This particular cage had only women in it. Most of them were human but there were also a few other races that he did not recognize. Like a humanoid race that looked similar to humans but they were taller and skinner with ears longer with more of a pointed tip than Jace's. Or the blue skinned race that seemed to be struggling to breath, he could see gills on the side of their neck. There was also a pink skinned race that seemed to lack eyes but it was smaller than any of the others.
Jace set the woman outside the cage and made sure it was empty before moving onto the next one. By the time he had finished opening all the cages the count of people in total was thirty six. In addition there were three elk and a bear that he released from the cages as well. They ran off as soon as he opened them.
When he got to the cage that had the person yelling he was greeted to the sight of a large green skinned humanoid with protruding large teeth coming from its lower lip dragging the huma he assumed was the yeller. That made only four non-humans amongst the group they liberated here.
"Major Jace, what should we do with them?" Captain Uti asked as Doctor Foulm raced off to check on all the people that seemed barely conscious. Jace would have him do scans of the four new species when he got a chance.
Jace waved his hand. "We will point them in the direction of Zuki and continue on our mission." He answered as he walked toward his dirtbike which was sitting on the ground.
"Are you planning to fight the Daemons?" A voice asked. Jace turned to see the others looking at the green skinned creature who seemed to speak in the Oda dialect. But thinking back for a moment Jace realized something was off about the way he spoke, almost like it was robotic.
The creature turned its head slightly and showed a small metallic spot under its ear. "Translation implant, The Collaboration requires it for all soldiers, workers, and others that work between nations." That must be why he spoke so strangely.
"Well, yes. We do indeed plan to fight the Demons, Oni, or Daemons as you call them." Jace answered as he stood his dirtbike up.
"If you would allow it. It would be an honor to fight alongside someone that is able to take on one of the Daemon Sin Evolutions and come out on top. I am an Orc and my name is Kal'ath. I am a berserker from my Collaboration Military Complex." The orc explained as he kneeled.
Jace frowned as he thought about it for a second before a small human girl stepped forward with his hat that had been hit off during the initial confrontation with demons in the outpost. The girl whispered, "please get rid of the bad creatures mister. They hurt my mommy and little brother."
Jace flinched at the thought. This girl was only four or five. That must mean her little brother was only a few years old. He looked over as she ran back over to where he set down the older woman that was still unconscious. But resting in a basket quietly was a small human child, but even from here he could see that child had been injured severely. He had limbs removed and Doctor Foulm was currently replacing the bandage that was covering its eyes at the moment.
"I no longer care about my honor. As long as I get a chance to pay them back for the atrocities that I have witnessed then I will only have partially paid back my debt for you saving me." Kal'ath declared with an inaudible tone of anger entering his speech patterns.
Jace nodded his head. "Grab what weapons you can from the dead demons. As well as anything else you can use. We will be continuing-" Jace saw a look of disappointment cross the orc's face. "-but, as much as I want to get as much help as possible. I need some of you to escort the civilians and non-combatants to Zuki. I will let all of you figure that out. But for those that want to join us." Jace pointed in the direction of the canyons. "We are going in that direction and sometime over the next day or so a pair of armored vehicles should pass by and you can hitch a ride with them."
The orc processed Jace's words for a moment before grinning, showing off his serrated teeth that were clearly not taken care of for a while. "I believe your people called you Major Jace? Thank you for this opportunity."
Jace waved his hand. "It is fine. But I suggest you figure out how you are going to split it up." Jace put on his hat. There was a new cut in the bill of the hat. He frowned but ignored it as he pulled his aviators out of a pocket and put them on. He then climbed onto the dirtbike. "As soon as Doctor Foulm finishes getting scans and giving all of you a check up we will head out." He nodded at the doctor who looked up at his name being spoken. They nodded to each other before the doctor went back to work.
Jace watched as Sergeant K and Corporal Quest rolled up. He raised an eyebrow as they took a bit longer to get here. Sergeant K sighed and pointed at the hill they came from. "Ran into a returning patrol when those demons left through the portal."
"In that case we will all have to head out at the same time." Jace nodded his head. "A number of them could start gathering here and attack the former prisoners if we leave ahead of time."
"That is good. Because some of these people are going to need some emergency help. Can you give that one water? My scans show me that the only reason she is in such bad shape is because she is dehydrated." Doctor Foulm nodded at the blue skinned woman with gills.
Jace tossed a canteen to the sharp eared woman that was standing next to the woman with gills. "Give her my rationed water. I can go a few days without food or water." Jace told her. She looked confused so Jace repeated the words in the bit of broken dwarven he had learned from Gorund.
She looked shocked for a moment before getting angry before rolling her eyes and helping the woman. Jace heard a burst of laughter from the orc who was already collecting weapons with several others. He looked over in confusion at the orc.
"You dwarven is shit. But you got the point across!" The orc informed him. "But I am wondering where you learned dwarven from in the first place. Those anti-xeno nuts are so closed off, especially to humans, I doubt you could learn it from them."
Jace shook his head. "Sorry to disappoint you but you are in a galaxy that is in the backwards end of nowhere. I learned the bit of dwarven I know from an exiled member of their species." Jace explained as he relaxed a bit and pulled the timer he set to see how long they had until the Wolfsbane made landfall.
"That is just my bad luck." The orc chuckled. Then he seemed to think of something. "Before I forget. That Daemon Sin that you fought is the strongest one among their ranks. Not even that Duke's child is as strong as her."
Of course she was.