23rd-Century Warfare

Chapter 58 – 23rd-Century Warfare

= Mafdet Federation Boot Camp =

While eleven players of Chula High, Dove, Pioneer King, and eight psychic players, were training on the field, they received a sudden quest from the Mafdet Federation.

…

<<Urgent Faction Quest: The Yellow-Eye Rebels>>

The Mafdet Federation has detected the rebellion's movement 200 kilometers southeast of the Capital City. We suspect that they are behind the spreading of the zombie viruses as they frequently visit queen egg monsters around the wasteland without harming them.

This mutant society has abandoned their human conscience and joined forces with these monsters. They are the threat of humanity in this country and the world.

As soldiers of Mafdet Federation, you are ordered to deploy and get rid of these rebels as soon as possible before they harm the citizens of our country.

<<Quest Objective>>

- Join the expedition forces.

- Kill all the mutants.

<<Reward>>

- Character EXP

- Free status attributes

<<Note>>

All rewards are calculated by your contribution in this battle. Do your best!

…

From the description of the quest, everyone thought it was an event as they were in the middle of their training in the boot camp, which should not have initiated any quest at this time.

An agent from the local government arrived at the boot camp, shouting to every student.

"Board the truck, now! Move it, soldiers!"

Dove and all psychic students hopped on the back of the military truck without question. They sat on the row seat and stared at the agent with anticipation.

"I'll give you a briefing once we gear up. Keep your mouth shut for now."

The truck carried them to a military base outside the wasteland, after which the local military passed weapons and gears to the students.

With the pre-set gears and ammunition from the local soldiers, all students moved from the truck and boarded on one of the military APCs. This time, even one of their instructors, Petty Officer Crimson Krastel, joined this battle, which he organized all preparation for all students.

Different from their previous load-out, all of the students carried AH bullets, HE grenades, and even a rocket launcher. The army was serious this time.

Krastel also acted as their squad leader, and he was briefing them about the mission.

"Our intel detected 18 mechs and almost 200 soldiers around the queen egg monster. Also, two thousand green zombies are surrounding the egg, but they don't attack each other. We're assuming that they are in cahoots with the monsters, or they can communicate and co-living in this wasteland, which is bad news to the local government."

A satellite photo displayed on the transparent monitor, which was projected by Krastel's wristwatch. It was the image of Zeris, Tautog, and Balam squadron moving toward the egg.

"Our unit will take care of the infantries behind these mechs. As for the fighting with the robots, leave it to the local army. I will not join you on the frontline, but I will be assisting all of you from behind. Use whatever skills you have learned from the game and obtain as many experiences as you can."

Every student was excited that they would participate in a real battlefield for the first time in this game alongside the real military instructor. They planned to show off the newly learned psychic skills they acquired from all the quest they had completed.

…

Dove stared at the level ranking in his menu, which his eyes glued at Misha's level.

'She's catching up with me.'

His level staled at 40 after the survival test from the MGW. Meanwhile, Misha, who fell behind him over a dozen levels at the end of the test day, had reached level 35.

Five level difference might be significant to others, but Dove did not think so. To him, 25 points different in bonus status points was meaningless as the battle in this game was the same as the real world.

There was no HP or MP bar, only flesh and blood. One simple cut to the neck could kill a character in the game.

It was also about his pride as the top leaderboard player. Dove felt threatened that someone was competing with him.

'I don't know how you did it, but I'll leave you behind after this event!'

…

Ten artillery trucks, twenty AHMU, ten light tanks, a hundred APCs, and five hundred soldiers rushed toward the site where Misha and the others were.

Upon getting to the firing range, the artillery trucks stopped and adjusted their missile launchers. The monitors of artillery vehicles, embedded with the windshields of the trucks, revealed the heat signal from the mutant's mech units.

The drivers and the crews picked their target and inputted the command into the front console keyboard. Ten of the 18 mechs of the three squadrons were locked-on.

"Locked-on!"

The facecam of the commander of this campaign was revealed on the monitors. A late middle-aged Caucasian man with kempt grey hair a curly mustache grinned as he played with his curly hairs above his mouth. He wore a one-eye glass and a tall black hat as if he was the exquisite meme guy.

"Gentlemen, we shall perform our magnificent fireworks of all ages. Allow us to demonstrate the glorious weapons of our civilization and punish those evildoers. You are about to witness the spectacular flame of science and the orchestra of death. Please, missile squads, flip the firing switch gently."

The crews of the missile launchers cringed. They retorted this commander in their mind, 'You can just tell us to fire normally, you sick fOOk!'

…

All students in the APC could hear the firing order of missiles. They puzzled about the local's tactic and technologies as the location of the mutants were not that far, yet the missile trucks had to get this close before they could shoot.

Krastel predicted what they doubted, "Have you ever learned about the warfare of the 23rd-century?"

Dove and others shook their head.

"The mutants launched over 5,000 surveillance satellites to space during the early years of the 23th-century. Around the world, each of 5,000 secret bases of these rebels possessed a satellite of their own. They are not using this to spy on the movements of the local governments, but they can also use it as a long-range disarm weapon."

"Disarm weapon?"

Krastel's face grimaced, "A jamming weapon. All long-range missiles that humans were proud of were nothing but useless toys in front of these satellites. Any missile or a jet in the sky can be automatically disabled in an instant once their sensors detected any non-authorized flying object. It was originally made to counter nuclear missiles, but it was used to restrict the military movements of the people in this era."

"So, the reason for the short-range …"

"The gap of the entire auto-disarm sequence is less than ten seconds. If a missile can reach its target within the timespan, all watching satellites won't be able to stop them in time. These trucks have to get closer to avoid the eyes and the auto-disarm function."

"Can't the mutants just manually disarm the missiles before they were launched?"

Krastel's face grimaced, "Indeed. They can. That's why we have to be quick!"

He displayed the real-time images at the front of the APC.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

The front mechs had already started shooting at the mutant's 12 Tautog mechs, which they also countered with their bullets.

All mechs of the Mafdet converted their legs into caterpillar tracks, which functioned the same as wheels of tanks. They scattered and formed a net formation, encircling the Tautog squadron. All units kept moving to avoid all oncoming rifle bullets from the enemy mechs.

Meanwhile, Tautog mech did not transform their legs. Instead, they jumped and deployed their back boosters, allowing them to temporary fly in the sky and shoot at the Mafdet military from above.

10 Missiles also flew over the APC of the students, beelining toward Dolphin and his teammates.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

Dolphin aimed at the oncoming missiles and pulled the trigger, spraying bullets to the sky.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

All missiles were shot down before they reached his teammates!

…

Dolphin watched at the front 20 mechs and ten light tanks in solemn. His yellowish snake eyes glowed in the dark cockpit.

Attaching the front console of his cockpit, an old photo of a family of three was there. It was Dolphin, his wife, and his 2-year-old daughter.

Under the photo, writing in English described, "We're always with you."

Every time Dolphin glanced at the photo, his adrenaline and his motivation surged.

"For their sake, I will not fail!"

Dolphin's Tautog One got a clear shot on a Mafdet's tank.

*BANG*

The AP bullet from his mech rifle penetrated through the tank, destroying it in one hit.