"What are they doing?" I mutter before Rewinding again. The scene displayed on the screen was repeated five times already, but I'm still not understanding the purpose of the new arrivals. They burst into the area, and they seem to be shocked by the devastation around them. At first, I thought that they would instantly run away. But instead, they start looking around, carefully examining the spots where the most damage was done.

It's almost like they are surveying the area.

The Stonecrusher soldiers keep investigating until they are satisfied, then they disappear as swiftly as they came. It boggles my mind; if they were reinforcements, then they would have immediately run away to report the situation to the higher ups. Instead, they remained calm during their whole stay in the destroyed bases.

Maybe they aren't Stonecrusher soldiers? They could be spies that were sent to sabotage the Imperial installations?

The possibility is certainly there, but let's not jump to conclusions.

I rack my brain to find another reason why these people appeared after the battle, but my attention is then diverted towards a part of the screen displaying a medium-sized base. This is the most headache-inducing part of this bizarre event. The fort in question was a medium-sized mansion, and it quickly fell to our tank charge.

In fact, the Legionaries who were dispatched to take care of this particular location were then sent to the large bases as reinforcement once they looted and destroyed the innocuous base. However, what should have been an unimportant outpost turned into a battlefield seemingly out of nowhere.

The Stonecrusher personnel did their thing in this place as well, although there wasn't a lot left to inspect. The problems arrived, or rather teleported, a minute later.

My jaw dropped the first time I saw the new arrivals, but my surprise was washed away by the multiple Rewinds. Steve and a cohort of heavily armed magical creatures appeared at the outskirts of the destroyed building, and their arrival didn't go unnoticed. The Stonecrushers reacted quickly and teleported near the group of Freedom Movement members before attacking them.

And we are back to the present time, where an already destroyed battlefield is somehow even more destroyed by the skirmish between the two groups. We could intervene and stop the battle, but this is a golden opportunity for us since not one of the two participants noticed our spying. I also think that they are too busy with not dying to pay attention to a potential third observer, but I might be wrong.

Spells fly, and Steve makes wide swings with his sword. The strikes create huge fiery arcs that burn the sparse vegetation around the area. But the main target of the attacks, the Stonecrusher soldiers, aren't affected in the slightest since they teleported in an instant.

Their teleportation technique seems to be more refined than the one of the Freedom Movement members, but it isn't really a surprise. The Stonecrushers move with practiced movements, slowly encroaching upon the defensive position of their enemies. The Stonecrusher way of fighting when they aren't caught with their pants down is frightening. I can tell that there is no wasted movements and no superfluous spells despite my limited combat experience. I also notice that one of the Stonecrusher men stayed in the back before sneaking away.

He's probably going to report the situation to his superiors, and it looks like Steve also noticed the missing man since his attacks become even fiercer.

"Don't let the pressure down; we have to chase them out!" Steve roars as he kicks one of his opponent in the stomach, causing the frail-looking creature to smash head first into a pile of rubble. The shock probably killed him since he isn't getting back up and his limbs look to be completely broken.

It is a grim reminder that the Spell Jammers aren't a guaranteed victory, almost every magical creature on Earth could do the same with a human.

I focus back on the battle; it looks like the Stonecrusher side is slowly losing its advantage. But the Freedom Movement side also looks battered, a few of Steve's companions are in bad shape, their armor is covered in scorch marks and some parts of their metal suits fell off.

Steve might not know this, but he isn't in any real danger. I don't care about his companions, and weakening a possible opposing faction is always a good idea, but I can't let the Werewolf die.

He must have the answers I need, and I will interrogate him.

The battle keeps going until the Stonecrushers are pushed back into the ruins of an auxiliary building. The must have realized that the situation was hopeless since they all teleported out at the same time. The members of the Freedom Movement slowly approach the last position of their enemy, and they cheer once they realize that they are gone.

"We did it!" Steve shouts. "But let's stay on guard, who knows what those Stonecrusher bastards are planning."

His companions nod while the wounded are sitting against the nearest pile of rubble. A small woman with vines for hair runs between the wounded and administer first aid.

The data we collected here tells us a few things. First of all, the Stonecrushers are very well organized, something that wasn't really apparent during our last assault since we had the help of the effect of surprise. Secondly, the Freedom Movement's way of fighting is reminiscent of the Families of old. The leader is the heavy damage dealer, and he has the best equipment to further increase his already massive damage output while the others are coordinating their actions to protect their leader while trying to deal as much damage as possible to the enemy.

I think seeing this will help Terrence form better strategies for our future encounters, but now I need to focus on my next objective.

"Can we deploy a couple of Spell Jammers around them?" I ask an operator, and he nods.

"On it!" he replies before typing a few lines into the terminal in front of him.

The screen flickers for a brief moment as the Spell Jammers are deployed, and the targets don't even have time to react as the artifacts come to life.