Long-term salvation

Chapter 500: Mercenary War: Thunder from the Sky (2/5)

"Honestly, we didn't expect Atlas Corporation to be able to organize a large-scale airborne operation. That alone surpassed the three permanent members."

A lieutenant colonel from the 501st Regiment, 1st Airborne Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division said this. He tugged at his camouflage uniform, crossed his arms over his chest, and his face was full of solemnity.

The investigative reporter sitting across from the lieutenant colonel took a deep breath. He was about to say something when he was rudely interrupted by the former:

"Airborne raids, seizing airfields, and quickly and efficiently dismantling a city's defenses—they can even airdrop armored vehicles! And all of that... well, you can't know that."

"...So, you think Atlas Corporation is a threat to the United States?" The reporter finally found a chance to speak. "If I remember correctly, many of those airborne troops came from the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. Of course, there were also Russians."

"Origin doesn't mean anything, except that any private company with this kind of force is a threat to every country in the world."

“But they were over Mogadishu…”

"We are confident that we can do better than them," the lieutenant colonel said, with some obvious displeasure on his face. "Don't forget, we also shed blood in Mogadishu."

"That's not what I meant, Commander."

The reporter quickly ended the topic. He tried to keep a straight face to suppress his anger. After taking a deep breath, he asked:

"So, in the end, the Atlas Company's airborne troops captured and suppressed the airport in one hour and twenty-two minutes, and also defeated the main defensive forces in the city?"

"……Yes."

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The turbulence left by the huge fleet of aircraft pierced the gray sky, wrapped in a deadly roar.

The hydraulic door on the belly of the transport plane slowly opened with a harsh sound of metal friction. The darkness before dawn was torn open by the dazzling red combat readiness lights in the cabin. The manic airflow mixed with a little sand and gravel rushed into the cabin and slapped the camouflage-painted faces of the paratroopers.

We are about to reach the drop zone, but the green light has not yet come on.

The strong wind pounded Captain Corbin Frost's body, making his heart beat faster. Feeling the suffocation brought by the thin oxygen, the captain turned around and shouted to the other paratroopers in the cabin:

"We are the Screaming Eagles from the entire United States! We are the elite troops from the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions who came to the Army Without Borders. We must not be outdone by those Warsaw Pact VDVs. Anyone who brings shame to the 183rd Airborne Brigade through their foolishness will not be allowed to participate in the next airborne operation behind enemy lines!"

"Huha!"

"The light is green—JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!"

The paratroopers filed out and disappeared into the dim darkness that was half night and half dawn.

At this moment, the earth is still sleeping in the shadow of the night, leaving only a silence like death.

When Captain Corbin jumped out of the cabin, he looked up and saw the gray belly of the C-17 Globemaster strategic transport aircraft blending into the sky. But if it fell for a few more seconds, more things would appear in his sight -

Umbrella flowers, blooming like flowers, slowly drifted down, and thousands of light points connected with each other, approached each other, and separated, dotted the Somali sky with twinkling stars.

The stars fell, carrying with them an icy murderous intent that could no longer be suppressed.

"WTF?! Those Soviets actually stuffed a T72B tank into the An-124?! That thing on the hull is... a recoil rocket platform... Did the company go to such great lengths?"

More than just a tank, more than just tanks! Ten M6 AS mechas were pulled upward by parachutes, struggling to defy the planet's gravity. The steel behemoths stretched their bodies in the air, their unfolded parafoils like the membranous wings of mythical creatures, reflecting an amber halo in the lingering moonlight and the yet-to-arrive sunrise. The captain blew a hearty whistle and turned his gaze to the earth.

In an instant, Captain Corbin's pupils were stung by the burning morning light on the horizon. He saw the gray-white runway below stretching across the ochre-red desert like a snake's skin, and the old air defense radars and air defense weapon positions on both sides of the runway had already turned into a sea of ​​fire.

Suddenly, Captain Corbin smelled a faint burnt smell and knew he was about to arrive at his destination.

The moment he touched down, the captain bent his knees and rolled as per training, but the slightly soft sand caused him to lose his balance, and his head nearly made contact with the huge gravel on the ground. By the time he cut the parachute cord and completed the self-test of his mechanical exoskeleton, the entire airfield had become a vortex of steel and fire.

The airport guards were defeated in an instant, the tower was occupied, and the C-130 transport planes hovering above began to try to land on this simple airport runway to deliver more armored vehicles and weapons and ammunition to the airborne troops.

"Soldiers of the 2nd Company, 3rd Battalion, 183rd Airborne Brigade, come closer to me!"

Captain Corbin picked up his rifle and shouted loudly on the communication channel. He saw the paratroopers around him quickly folding their parachutes, then taking out weapons from the weapon bags next to them and heading to their superiors.

After gathering most of the people, a VDV wearing a sailor shirt came over and told Captain Corbin in English with a thick Russian accent to report to the temporary command post that had been set up over there.

There, an officer wearing a sky blue beret was looking at the map in his hand. In addition to the "Red Star" Airborne Brigade composed mainly of Warsaw Pact soldiers, several officers from the 183rd Airborne Brigade were also standing nearby.

The Captain knew who he was.

"Lieutenant Colonel Nikolay Yevgenievich Malashenko (from World in Conflict: Soviet Assault), I remember you - 'Iron Fist Corbin', the best company commander of the 183rd Brigade - large-scale communications covering the entire city have not yet been established, so I can't contact all the secondary officers, but the enemy and time will not wait for us!"

Malashenko, who had become a lieutenant colonel, nodded and said to the officers around him:

"I'll give you two minutes to determine your command hierarchy, then immediately lead your men in a counterattack toward the city. Establish defensive positions centered around the airport, ensuring the runway is protected from potential long-range artillery fire. Logistical supplies for the next few days, even weeks, will depend on this tiny runway. Do not charge into the city. We lack the numbers and armament to sustain street fighting! Keep communications open, and disband!"

This was an extremely clear order, and Captain Corbin began to carry it out without any complaints, even though the other party was the biggest enemy of the free world a few years ago... Haha, the free world.

Captain Corbin took his soldiers to the front line in a six-wheeled vehicle called "Bobcat All-Terrain Vehicle".

These small gadgets that can be assembled in modular form have become the favorites of airborne soldiers. Whether it is a heavy machine gun, 81mm rapid-fire mortar, grenade launcher or even a 120mm mortar version, they can be installed, which is enough to make the soldiers smile evilly when they touch the gun body.

The same was true for the four M6 AS tanks. They marched forward, stepping through the smoke and passing by the two T-72 tanks. Together with the latter, they formed a temporary mechanized offensive unit and fearlessly faced the armored convoy coming out of the city - a team composed of troop transport trucks, BTR-152 and BTR-60, filled with soldiers of the former Somali government army and mercenaries from the "free world".

Before reaching the outskirts of the airport, these cannon fodders driven by Somali warlords were hit by fierce direct fire:

The moment the grenade hit the troop transport truck at the end of the team, an orange-red fireball engulfed the entire vehicle and the bodies in the back, causing burning tire fragments and fireballs wrapped in body parts to rain down on the sand - at the same time, the front and middle vehicles were also hit. Several mortar shells fell on both sides of the road, and the exploding metal fragments whistled and cut through the armor plates and the bodies inside, bringing death suddenly here.

Machine guns and bullets rained down, leaving those self-proclaimed elite Western mercenaries with nothing but regret. Their experience in small-scale conflicts could not be applied to the war.

In the air woven with ballistics and gun smoke, humanity’s most sophisticated killing machines blended with the primitive dust of the African wilderness into some kind of absurd oil painting.

"Good job!" Captain Corbin picked up the telescope and saw some shadows in the pale sky. "Is that... a tank? A T-55 tank? Oh, more than one... Following behind them are what look like modified Labor robots."

But what's the point?

The captain put down his binoculars. He could hear on the communication channel that the AS mecha drivers and T-72 tank commanders were vying for the chance to draw a kill mark on their vehicles. Even the paratroopers were discussing who would qualify for the "engine kill."

When a lion fights a rabbit, he also uses all his strength.

Chapter 501: Mercenary Wars: Decapitation Raid (4K·3/5)

"In the mercenary wars, the tactics Atlas Corporation demonstrated included not only Soviet-style large-scale mechanized offensives and Western-style three-dimensional support by land, sea, and air, but also their own specialty, elite troop decapitation operations, which they also excelled at. Elite soldiers wearing mechanical exoskeletons, with the best training, the best equipment, and the best tactics—they would sever the enemy's command nodes at the very beginning of the battle, thus creating the conditions for subsequent tactical breakthroughs."

"Of course, if destroying half the city is considered perfect, then you can call it perfect, but we don't like to say it all."

The man in a suit shrugged, took off his coat, loosened his tie, and took out two bottles of beer from the office's small refrigerator. He handed one to the investigative reporter across from him. After taking a sip, the man continued:

"As a senior analyst at the RAND Corporation, I can tell you that, aside from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, no other country in the world can rival them. Of course, that piece of shit Britain doesn't count."

Putting aside the beer in his hand, the investigative reporter quickly wrote down these words in his notebook. He was not a war correspondent with military knowledge, but he still tried hard to remember these words and the person in front of him's evaluation of Britain.

"Actually, this isn't the scariest thing... According to our calculations, Atlas Corporation possesses far more than they've revealed. It's like technology from the future! In another ten years, no company, organization, or even country in the world will be able to match their technological level—it's terrifying, isn't it?"

Future technology? The investigative reporter paused, sensing a sense of strangeness in these familiar words. After a few seconds of silence, he raised his head and asked:

"Then who gave them the 'future'?"

"...We don't know, but you can ask more interesting questions, such as the 'decapitation operation' mentioned earlier. Oh, and we've also collected some interesting legends. Would you like to hear them? What did the locals see after the attack that night..."

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An XH9-warbird flew low over the barren grassland. The air currents stirred up yellow-brown dust, ruffling the branches and leaves of the acacia trees into a mess. The branches that were torn off floated down in the direction of the fuselage's flight.

Sousuke Sagara (the following characters are all from "Full Metal Panic") pushed his night vision goggles up his forehead and, using the dim green backlight, made a final check of the map coordinates and the simplified map of the target location. After completing this final confirmation, he looked out at the world outside the cabin.

Under the dim moonlight, the wasteland in central Somalia looked like photographic paper soaked in developer. The outlines of patches of dwarf acacia trees were constantly distorted by the vibrations of passing fighter planes, and then mixed with other taller trees and disappeared into the shadows.

"We will arrive at our destination in ten minutes, and in an hour, the main force will launch an attack regardless of whether we succeed or not. To reduce our casualties, it's best to act quickly."

Melissa Mao said, she was a Chinese-American born in the United States and often served as a translator for soldiers from Aurora, but this was definitely not her job. She moved her arms slightly, and the light bulletproof armor plates opened and closed with her movements:

"Cruz, are you ready?"

"Why don't you ask that guy Sosuke?" Cruz Weba grumbled in dissatisfaction. He spread his hands, and the sniper rifle behind him swayed slightly. "I'm ready, I'm ready. I don't want to be scolded by our lieutenant... Tsk, I'd better sign up for AS mecha training next time. I want to be a handsome knight too..."

"I don't scold others casually! Besides, you three guys have been secretly conducting AS mecha simulation training in the training room for a long time, right?"

Belfgang Clouzot, who was piloting the warbird, replied angrily. He patted the co-pilot next to him and asked:

"Ahab, how much redundant power do we have left?"

"It needs to last five minutes," said Ahab, who previously worked for Doctors Without Borders and is now a medic in the Army Without Borders. "From the start to the end of the battle, it has to be over within five minutes—actually, three minutes is ideal. The optical camouflage system is still in the experimental stage, and the area it can cover is also very limited."

Three minutes was a bit short for Sosuke Sagara and the other two who needed to carry out a combat mission, but it was not a problem.

However, just as the XH9-Warbird approached the target location, the order from the rear changed:

Cooperate with special forces to complete the hunt for members of the Ibris organization.

"Cooperate with special forces? Where are these special forces?"

Cruz shook his head, took off the sniper rifle in his hand, and pulled out an elastic band from both sides of the cabin to support the gun. But when he turned his eyes to the sniper scope, his heart sank.

In the corridor of the residential building where the target independent warlord lived, eye-catching orange muzzle flashes were flashing.

The gunshots did not immediately wake up the city that was accustomed to this. It only lit up the lights in some buildings, but those were scattered lights. Many Somali militias could only use torches for lighting.

The next second, an unusual roar cut through the silence of the night—the outline of a twisted beast appeared in the darkness, howling at the sky, its body wrapped in flames running along the city streets, as if dragging a trail of hellfire.

"Is that... an African elephant?" Cruz looked away in surprise. When he returned to take a closer look, he could only sigh, "Well, African elephants don't have three heads. It's obviously been transformed by the other world... Everyone, we've hit the jackpot."

"Then take action immediately. We must not let our friendly forces fight alone!"

The flame-encased elephant ran. Someone tried to stop it—a figure rushed out from the corner, firing a rocket at the monster from the side, but it resisted! Rotting intestines flowed from the exposed bones to the ground, dragging along with the monster's run, then gradually rolling back to its original position—the thing crashed directly into the building on the corner, forcing the figure to scramble out of the way.

The creatures that were tortured both in life and in death howled, and the sound waves that shook their internal organs pierced the fading night and tore the dry darkness into flocculent fragments.

At this moment, the entire city was gradually waking up from its slumber, but the continuous explosions distracted the attention of the militiamen, allowing Sosuke Sagara and Melissa to successfully rappel down and rush towards the target area.

After falling to the ground, Sosuke Sagara, wearing night vision goggles, fired several bursts of shots, killing the militiamen who had surrounded him in panic from outside, and ran deeper into the building over their bodies.

However, the two soon found themselves surrounded - the corpses stood up again, shooting indiscriminately with AK47s or other rifles - these moving corpses followed the breath of the living, and the desire for fresh flesh and blood was constantly tearing their souls until they completely disappeared in another supernatural dimension.

The two were almost overwhelmed by the indiscriminate firepower. Moreover, the enemy would dig up the use of RPG from their shattered memories and even open fire directly inside the house:

The rocket flew in from one end of the corridor, passed through the other end and exploded outside. The shock wave of the explosion shattered every piece of glass, causing the fragments to flash with bright flames.

"These things are really hard to deal with. Should I hit them on the head or the limbs?"

Melissa Mao spat angrily. She shook her head, which was a little dizzy from the shock, and just wanted to take a few breaths, but found that Sagara Sosuke had disappeared.

Before she could subconsciously say anything, someone covered her mouth and pulled her to the corner of the stairs. A low, cold voice came to her ears:

"Keep quiet, Sergeant Melissa Mao. We are Lord Rhodes's direct unit - you can call me codename 1-E."

Mass-produced Nikki's face was dimmed by the firelight. She removed her hand and continued:

"I noticed your Warbird support aircraft... they have air-to-ground anti-tank missiles on them, correct?"

"Yes, enough to wipe out an entire tank platoon," Sosuke Sagara said softly. It was only then that Melissa noticed him crouching in the shadows around the corner. He had no opinion of the current situation, remaining as calm and composed as ever. "But that monster seems to be moving very quickly, and with the interference of the surrounding militia, we need to limit its ability to move."

"That monster is currently being controlled by a member of the Iblis organization. Perhaps the enemy is spreading the power of otherworldly spells within their organization... Never mind, that's not something we should discuss right now. We didn't bring many anti-tank weapons, after all, we didn't expect an Iblis member to be hiding here."

Half-kneeling, 1-E listened carefully to the noise outside and continued:

"Now, I will work with you to divert and restrain that monster, the giant elephant. Then, we will have the warbirds attack with missiles, firing at full capacity, to kill it with excessive damage! The rest of my team will kill the member of that organization. I'm not sure if you will be affected by the curse of the other world, but by comparison, we, Nikki, can still withstand more damage."

"...I understand, Lieutenant Belvedere Clouzot, do you hear me?"

After hearing the reply on the communication channel, Sosuke Sagara and Melissa looked at each other. After checking the remaining ammunition, they walked downstairs along the stairs and under Nikki's guidance.

Two minutes later, Sosuke Sagara and Melissa found the African elephant two blocks away. The elephant seemed to have lost control due to extreme pain and was now frantically destroying city buildings, causing the residents and militiamen to flee in panic... Perhaps after today, there will be more strange rumors here.

After getting ready, Sosuke Sagara fired a shot from the grenade launcher mounted under his rifle. At the same time, the girl named 1-E also started firing while running. Her speed was so fast, as fast as a cheetah on the grassland!

The grenade exploded on the giant elephant's body, blasting the flesh that had regenerated and been burned by the flames. The gunfire that followed made it even more furious, and it chased after 1-E and Sosuke Sagara.

The XH9-Warbird immediately activated its optical camouflage and flew over the city. Cruz, as a sniper, kept reporting the location to the two people below while using his sniper rifle to clear out any enemies that might cause obstacles.