A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex

Chapter 9 - Arctic Tactic (part 2)

-          Anyway, fire grenades and flamethrowers are must-haves. I will escort you to a safe sniping spot, then we split up. In case things turn bad, call in air support to distract them. - I suggest the idea as a last attempt.

-          Sure, let's make do with this first.

  In the snowy weather, we flee across the forest. Soon, we see a hill, which is again covered in layers of snow and complex terrain. At the top of the hill, we can see the military camp.

  I help Mirai to set up a camouflage, which simply consists of a white suit to fit the snow and a disruptor to conceal their electromagnetic radar. Then, I leave the hill, across the forest, towards the military camp again.

  Things do not go as easily. As soon as I reach the forest, a few Intruders have been deployed to search for us in the forest, and if not thanks to my sharp instinct, I could have exposed myself. I hide behind a boulder and update the field through my tablet. About twenty Intruders with light arms are patrolling, and their boss is standing on slightly higher ground, guarding.

  I cannot move out of my hiding spot. There is simply no blind spot. But then, sitting here until I get exposed is no different from digging my own grave.

  The temperature sensor registers a drop in temperature, and I feel the winds becoming stronger. The time has come. A snowstorm.

  Very shortly after, the menacing winds swirl the forest, blowing up the snow. The pine trees firmly rooted to the ground also cannot withstand the impact, and they start tilting. The vision has turned pretty bad, and I turn on the thermal goggles to look more clearly. I slide out of the boulder and beam the Intruders with my guns. A slightly improved version, not only piercing effect, but also improved heat damage. They will either die from the shot or thermal shock. The higher damage output is at the cost of higher vulnerability to wear and tear.

  From the hill, Mirai is providing cover shots. From a distance of approximately three to four hundred metres, the pulses of penetrating laser take down the weaklings, one by one. The boss one is regaining his caution, when we have knocked down essentially his scout, and I have approached him with a flamethrower. The snowstorm also quickly ends, leaving the turbulent field with dispersing pine nuts, snow and some dirt.

  This Intruder is no good news. As soon as I get to see it up close instead of through the blurry goggles, it is a 6-foot figure but now has changed to another form. It is now covered with lightweight armour and close-combat arms. I jump backwards right before he draws a combat knife and swings it across my face.

  I put the flamethrower onto my back, and take out a submachine gun with a long photon bayonet. The Intruder dashes forward, holding two short knives. I dodge the charged attack and counter with a few shots, but they do not do well in penetrating the armour.

  I throw two sticky grenades at him. They stick to the armour and explode, but besides irritating him, there is no significant impact.

  The weather has turned for the worse. The sky is again greyish with clouds, signalling another spine-chilling snowstorm. The vision would shrink, and it will be either escape or death.

  I snap my fingers, and a swarm of Suicide Drones emerges from the air, attacking the boss Intruder. Some are deflected, but they explode and blow up the snow surrounding him. The wind comes and coats the forest, again, in a thick blanket of mist. I grab at the chance and run from him, towards the direction of the camp.

  The winds blow and stop periodically like waves, making evasions and camouflage more convenient. Near the camp, I set up and trigger the EMP device. A strong electromagnetic pulse emerges, temporarily disabling the electronic devices of the Intruders nearby. Combined with the weather that would discourage anyone to fix them, I launch a blitzkrieg.

-          Mirai, launch an air strike now. We have a few minutes before their air defence system works again!

-          Roger that!

  Sitting in a corner, I open the tablet and watch the swarm of blue arrows from every direction. In the sky, despite the blizzard raging, it is overwhelmed with the sirens from the military camp, along with the loud engine noises from our planes. About twenty big ones, half of them are Pyro-planes, and the rest are typical aircraft carrying ballistic missiles and planes with electric rays. There are also swarms of small Suicide drones, tracking Intruders with sensors, charging at them and exploding upon impact.

  The camp is scorched with raging fire, even though the temperature is low. Missiles plunge at the big infrastructures like plane storages and dorms, decimating the low-rating Intruders. Aircraft blast deadly electric rays towards the ground, damaging electronic devices and electrocuting the remaining Intruders trying to escape.

  Their air defence system automatically calibrates and aims at the planes, but the squadrons of Suicide Drones attach themselves to the barrels of their launcher and detonate, bringing their last resort down. After a few minutes, up to ninety-nine per cent of their infrastructure has been reduced to ash and metal scraps, and I halt the air assault. The tablet shows exactly five red marks left in the middle of the military camp. Seems like the Intruder who chased me before has retreated after hearing of the air attack.

-          Mirai, the field is cleared. Please direct the satellite towards the coordinates I mark on the map, and move to a nearer location to standby and observe. Prepare to engage the five bosses.

-          Thanks. The satellite will be ready in five minutes. Permission to trigger another EMP attack.

  The updated version of the map of the military camp has been uploaded onto the tablet. The five red marks are seen to disperse to hold different corners. I will wait for them to be sufficiently far from each other.

  Mirai has found a nearer hill. She is currently setting up the railgun. The strategy is that since we cannot attack them head-on, we will assassinate them with a critical hit from a railgun, and buy some time to recharge.

  The first one is currently patrolling in the North-East section. After confirming the distance, the wind direction and locking the target, Mirai presses the trigger, making the first shot. At a muzzle velocity of nearly eight kilometres per second, the bullet, packed with massive kinetic energy, penetrates the layers of protective armour of the first Intruder, piercing through its core. The first red mark disappears from the map, and the four other marks are seen to gather around again.

-          First shot, hit. Please recharge for the second shot. I will distract them before they can reach the corpse and analyse where it comes from.

-          Roger. Recharging electricity takes ten minutes. The satellite is on standby, ready to attack when called.

  Another snowstorm comes, blowing dirt and snow everywhere. I infiltrate the camp, heading directly towards North-East.

  Anywhere I walk past, there are metal scraps and blocks of reinforced cement broken into pieces, collapsed on the ground into piles. There are also scents of smoke in the air, despite the strong winds trying to disperse them, showing how devastating the air attack is. Sometimes, I can see the remains of one or two unlucky Intruders, unable to run away from the rain of missiles, thunder and streams of fire, taking all the damage and getting burned to death. The eerie atmosphere of a "fresh", living graveyard, plus the unrelenting vibe of a cold winter with shrieking gales, makes my blood run cold.

  The North-East section is one of the strongholds located near the border of the military camp. Other strongholds are the South-East, the North-West, and the South-West. The last one is the only one right at the centre. Attacking the central stronghold will give away a free advantage for the remaining Intruders since it is a rendezvous that can give easy access to the whole military camp. Attacking the corner one, while still raising their alert and forcing them to gather, there is a good chance that they will gather at the point where their ally is killed. And they did.

  All of a sudden, my gut feeling tells me that something is wrong. From the tablet, Mirai's voice propagates through the air, as clear as the daylight.

-          Yuusha, their communication system has been recalibrated. The EMP system will be useless for the next few hours. With proper communication, they will be able to transmit information and scan the whole military camp. At the moment, they may be heading for you, please retreat...

  The voice suddenly stops. In the sky, flocks of bird-like drones blanket the blue colour one would normally see. Observing their behaviour, they are autonomous aerial drones from the Intruders, which jam any of our electromagnetic signals. The tablet's interface shows a signal disruption, and the only data it manages to save is the instantaneous map, with four red marks pointing at a direction that is no longer towards the North-East section.

  They are pointing towards me.

  Losing connection with Mirai is equivalent to me unable to use satellite attacks or call out anything from the arsenal with the tablet. Right now, in my backpack, I have to make the most out of a flamethrower with a full fuel chamber, a bunch of tactical grenades, a submachine gun with a photon bayonet, and some other useless item. I cannot combat in this state.

  In a desperate state, the ultimate decision is to buy enough time with whatever I have, until Mirai fixes the problem, and gets the second shot locked and loaded.