Chapter 76: Lower Ridge Forest Mission (1)
Editor: Geoffrey_
Stewart seemed to be a person who could not stay idle. Seeing Fatty not saying anything, he turned over and started chatting with another commando with a voice so loud that the entire transport ship could hear him.
“O’Neal, what is your current ranking in Fire of War [1]?”
The moment Fatty heard the three words “Fire of War”, he immediately understood that this bunch of people surely spent most of their time mixing around in the virtual battle web, so he perked his ears up and was ready to hear what O’Neal had to say.
O’Neal said, “Don’t mention it. Those who are ranked after 10,000 and before 100,000 have a standard that is considered as average. The majority of those in our battalion is ranked at about 80,000 and right now, I’m the highest amongst them at around 15,000!”
Stewart laughed in jest: “This father is stronger than you. I’m reaching 12,000 soon!” Seeing O’Neal’s expression turning ugly, Stewart consoled him hypocritically, “It’s not that bad since there’s already more than 100 million people participating in the game internationally. For you to rank at about 10,000 proves clearly that our Fierce Tiger’s techniques are quite good.”
First Lieutenant Company Commander O’Neal did not seem like he really respected this monster-like Battalion Commander as he snorted disdainfully, “What good is that? There are still so many experts who have yet to come, and there’s not a single one from Leray with a ranking in the top 1,000! It’s such a pity that SM01314 has disappeared after a single fight; otherwise, I estimate this chap would most likely be ranked in the top 1,000.”
Fatty fell in a daze as he thought, “Why did he mention me? Have I battled against this chap?”
The moment SM01314 was mentioned, the entire transport ship immediately exploded as the commands began to discuss in high spirits, with some scolding and the others praising. Those who were scolding him used words that were truly sharp and unkind, causing the entire body of Fatty to tremble; those who were praising him, however, were truly passionate as those words came like a tide, causing Fatty to feel his brows and eyes curving in happiness.
Stewart, who had most likely suffered before SM01314, voiced out indignantly, “That brat isn’t human. Damn, last time when this father fought with him, he had used an engineered bomb to blast apart part of a mountain, causing the debris to fall down and burying this father alive! Up to this point is still fine, but after entering the international web, that chap has, at the very least, snatched 12 of my parts. F*** this! Even after investigating for such a long time, I’ve yet to discover who he is. When I get my hands on him… Heh heh…”
Feeling alarmed as he watched the figure of this monster, Tian Xing Jian turned that fleshy face of his around. Indeed, enemies always appear on a narrow road.
Under the protection of the fighter aircraft, the transport ship continued flying towards its destination. The current cabin was so bustling and noisy that it felt like a market. Tian Xing Jian looked at these boastful Fierce Tiger Commandos, and for a moment, he wondered how these people, who had yet to go on the battlefield, would have such high enthusiasm as if they were merely sight-seeing; he had never seen them being nervous at all. This was their first time entering the battlefield, and yet, they were so bullish. Indeed, the Fierce Tiger Commandos lived up to their reputation.
After an hour or so, the transport ship’s system broadcast emitted the voice from the captain of the ship—the transport ship will be entering the region of their destination 20 minutes later, and 30 minutes later, they will be dropping from the air, so everyone, please make your last preparation.
The cabin turned quiet within moments. Seeing the chaps, who had apathetic expressions, going to the toilet one after another or just sitting there feeling at ease, Fatty chuckled in his heart, ‘This father still thinks that all your mental states are made of iron while your bladders are made of alloy. So, it turns out that all of you were actually just acting like heroes.’
Ten minutes later, everyone started entering their own Battle Mecha and waited for the airdrop. These few minutes were truly the most arduous, as time itself felt as if it stopped. Everyone in the cabin started hearing the sounds of cannon fire, as several Federation teams had long breached the external perimeter of the Lower Ridge Forest and were currently battling with the Gyaca Woods Imperial Army; the sounds of explosions came up and down, and the fiery brightness shone on the cabin windows, turning them red.
Tian Xing Jian was the last person to board his Battle Mecha. As the airdrop signal lighted green, the soldiers from the Fierce Tiger Commando Battalion catapulted out like dumplings. The amber sky had seemingly been sprinkled suddenly with beans as hundreds of Battle Mechas, with heights of a few meters, densely whistled down onto the surface. Afterwards, the assistance system started operating, and amidst the rumbles, the Federation Battle Mechas in the sky gathered at the landing point as if they were divine lights that had been sucked in by deities. After they landed, they, one after another, dispersed as they started securing and forming a defense line.
‘Their movements are fast, and everyone knows their duty. The Fierce Tiger Commandos have been trained quite strictly.’ Tian Xing Jian looked at how these Federation commandos who had been deployed here due to the waning Federation military strength acted, allowing his heart to have a bottom line in terms of their skill levels.
As Tian Xing Jian was the final one to land, the Fierce Tiger Battalion Commander, Stewart, commandeered the over 400 warrior class leaders to switch on their stealth mode. Two companies worth of Battle Mechas were sweeping towards the front, and to the left and right, there was a company each expanding to a kilometer out as they remained on high alert. The Fierce Tiger Commando Battalion rapidly started their silent and fast movement towards their destination.
Tian Xing Jian anxiously looked at the map on his Battle Mecha computer. This journey would pierce through the forest over at the flank of Lower Ridge Forest before following along the mountain ridges into a mountain basin in the deepest parts of the forest. According to intelligence, Lieutenant Colonel Johan was absolutely certain the enemy’s front line forward command post was hidden over in that particular region. This mountain basin covered a huge area, the actual size of which was undetermined. Only via the search done by the commandos in the rear line could they find out how large it was.
Fatty smacked his lips. Saying is easy, but if not for the current situation in the front lines attracting the Imperial Army’s attention… If not for the current control over the air space being in the hands of the Federation… If not for the activation of a group of intelligence agents… Wanting to know the approximate location of the other party’s forward command was extremely difficult, especially when it was the forward command post of a general of the Empire!
Even still, these temporary, hidden forward command posts would usually be concealed underground, and there would be countless of other fake forward command posts dispersed around that location, increasing the difficulty of searching for them. If by then, they meet a Myth Legion that came over from Garo Mountain to carry out a house arrest, then it would be truly lively.
The team had very quickly penetrated through the forest at the landing point and moved up the slope. Lower Ridge Forest was considered a region full of hills that were totally different from the Higher Ridge Forest, which had gigantic mountains. Here, the hills were akin to many big steamed buns, with only the central location having several higher altitude mountain ridges.
Reaching the ridge, the murky forest concealed the movement of the team as mecha after mecha moved in stealth mode. Suddenly, a huge explosion came from the distance, and soon after, gunshots and cannon fire could be heard. Fatty looked to his left—beyond the horizon, over at the main battlefield, the entire place was filled with soaring fire and light. The blanket of night had long covered the entire place as the clouds in the sky appeared at times during the flashes from the explosions.
The Federation soldiers that were all over the place went ahead with someone leading them and a plan in mind, isolating and separating the Imperial Army’s main forces that were dispersed over the entire area of more than a hundred thousand kilometers. The entire Miracolo Planet was currently blowing with the bugle horn of the counter-attack of the Federation Army. In the rear enemy lines, several cities that were surrounded had simultaneously started their attack. The Imperial Army that was already spent could no longer continue with their scheme in attacking, as the magician’s secret had been revealed to the world. Right now, without an overall commander and without the logistics providing them with information, the Imperial Army could only struggle like trapped beasts in the battle.
In the night, a bean-sized rain droplet fell onto the Battle Mecha, letting out a clear sound. Following that, more and more droplets came striving to be the first as they fell down. In a few minutes, the world in Tian Xing Jian’s eyes became a world of water as the pouring rain fell from the skies. The tree leaves were hit by the heavy rain, causing sounds of pitter patter. As for the ground, mud started forming from the rain.
[1] Referring to the online game.
Chapter 77: Lower Ridge Forest Mission (2)
Editor: Geoffrey_
Under the pouring rain in the forest, without even the slightest bit of light, over a hundred / hundreds of Battle Mechas moved with rustling sounds. From the mecha’s night vision equipment, the environment in front of them became distorted with green and red colors blurring their vision.
The mountain ridges started leading downwards. [Logic] was current in between several mechas; there were six mecha behind him, and there were three mechas, which were equipped with slip-resistant mecha equipment ahead of him. Every step they took would raise an innumerable quantity of mud and would leave deep prints behind in the muddy soil.
Seeing this broken-looking Battle Mecha suddenly move without sound in a manner where the steps were even lighter and quieter than a cat’s, the Fierce Tiger commandos behind Fatty clicked their tongues in wonder.
Half an hour later, the team finally reached a location between several high towering mountains. They tightened their formation as several [Antennas] activated their signal shields at the same time.
In the distant where cannon fires were being set off, Fatty felt that this mountain basin had a different sort of silence. What he did not know was that at this time, the Gyaca Woods Imperial Army was entirely in a mess, and the Myth Legion had long entered the mountain basin one step earlier!
The movements of the vicious dogs were much faster than expected. After receiving the orders given down by the Imperial Army royal family, they had maintained the offense on Garo Mountain Region partially so as to not let the forward command department feel any abnormalities. At the same time, they dispatched two companies worth of [Devil Tigers] and a platoon worth of [King Kongs] to carry out the mission of capturing Russell.
Even if they were being cautious, the movements of the Myth Legion had alerted Russell. The initial plan of this Empire general had been to use the form of adding oil bit by bit in order to consume the strength of the loyal dogs of the royal family, thus he had told Hamid to keep a lookout on the Myth Legion.
After the strange circumstances regarding the Myth Legion had happened half an hour later, Hamid discovered that the Myth Legion’s offense on the front line had started to become weak and feeble and had also discovered that a small section of the Myth Legion was currently moving towards the Lower Ridge Forest.
Almost at the same time when Hamid reported this matter to Russell, Russell received an emergency report regarding the fact that there was a part of the Freedom Battlefront infiltrating the Empire’s internal political government.
Even after a full ten minutes later, Russell had not regained his mind. He had not thought that he would be betrayed by the Leray Federation, not to mention they had not even hidden anything—it was especially clear-cut!
Just a spy who revealed his identity, and several words later, his entire plan had been ruined the next instance without there being a chance to criticize what was wrong with it!
Only after a long period of time did he finally understand that the two of them did not only have an ally-enemy relationship! During certain circumstances, an ally could become an enemy, and an enemy could also become an ally!
On the matters regarding military affairs, he himself had the capabilities of playing the two nations on his palm, and what he was good at was a roundabout route of interweaving plots—that was an eight-directional sweep on the map amidst the cannon fires.
But on issues related to politics, he himself was not a match for these veterans. Making a deer out to be a horse and hiding daggers in one’s smile were the prowess of others, allowing them to use the misrepresentation of words to move the will of the people’s hearts!
Since he was making use of the Leray Federation, then why wouldn’t the Federation make use of him as well? Saying such good things to each other or even making a louder move on the chessboard, without having a true gain, the other party, the Federation, was not a fool and would not just accept his words at face value. But between him and the politicians that mired in the maelstrom of politics, who would be the bigger fool? When there’s true gain, regardless of whether it had been with a friend or not, they would still betray him! That’s the essence of politics!
The Leray Federation’s method of governance was very simple—everything must be done for the benefits of the nation!
Just a small resistance organization could not give him much political experience. If he could hide all these political schemes even deeper, if not for him rushing to grab hold of an opponent to consume the combat power of the Imperial Army, if he started cooperating with the Federation honestly from the start... these things might not have happened in the end,
After his mind became clear, Russell laughed out loud. He really admired those politicians from the Leray Federation. These people might not be able to see the map, but all their minds were extremely sharp when calculating the next move to be made on the chessboard!
Russell was someone who could let go of things. Once the report was burned in the flames and turned into ashes, he had already let go of this load. He was not the leader of the Freedom Battlefront who thirsted for a new society and neither was he a respectable general of the Empire. As long as he could escape to the Federation, there was still hopes of having a new beginning; however, this would be without his general title, and his starting point would be much lower.
Without hesitating, he set down several orders. He had asked his trusted aides to first detain all the members of the Gyaca Woods Imperial Army forward command, including the two lieutenant generals, before immediately executing them by fire! At the same time, he deployed all the soldiers from the Imperial Army, who were still in dark, to the front lines. As for those soldiers from the Freedom Battlefront hiding in the army, they would begin a secret assembly, preparing themselves to move towards the Leray Federation’s controlled regions.
The royal family’s order had, at the same time, reached Miracolo General Headquarters that was 500 kilometers away. Several staff officers who were usually responsible only for deduction and planning became truly astonished, as they did not know what to do. There was also a set of notices given out by Russell placed in front of them.
This notice announced that the Myth Legion could no longer suppress the allure given by the Leray Federation and had already turned away from the front lines. As for the traitors, they included the two lieutenant generals under Russell. The notice ordered the entire army to kill any of the following members should they discover them.
The staff officers department were acting in a flurry as they released another notice that was entirely contradictory, announcing that under the orders given by the royal family, the Empire’s General, Russell, had already betrayed the Empire, and his current position would be terminated as of now. Furthermore, to all Imperial soldiers, should they discover traces of Russell, they would have to immediately capture him.
The Empire was completely in a chaos. The staff officer department that did not have the authority had actually given the orders to capture a general. Furthermore, the General Headquarters actually said the Myth Legion had become traitors. In addition to Russell’s extremely high prestige in the Gyaca Woods Imperial Army, these soldiers in the front lines were akin to having been enveloped by a dense fog, as they did not know who to trust. Thus, the defense lines that were under a full-on attack by the Federation had crumbled apart within the blink of an eye.
The situation of the defeated Imperial Army was forced to become a situation where it was “every man for himself”. The Federation, which had cut the Imperial Army into pieces, started cutting them further into even more pieces all the way until the battle situation of the entire Miracolo Planet turned into a chaotic mess! Those pursuing, those defeated, they were everywhere!
Once the Myth Legion’s Battle Mechas entered the mountain basin, Russell began his escape under the protection of a guard company.
On the rear of the Myth Legion, the Federation’s rescue battalion went on ahead under the lead of Tian Xing Jian iand entered this low-lying basin surrounded by mountains. This basin was seriously too large, and the vegetation was dense; this was essentially a primitive forest. After several Battle Mechas entered the dense vegetation, even their shadows could no longer be seen.
After Tian Xing Jian asked for the commanding rights, he went ahead to the forefront of the team. [Logic]’s All-Round Radar had been turned on to its maximum power. If they were to meet any enemies here, then they would have to fight on this narrow road. Whoever was crushed first would be doomed, as there would not be a second chance for a new team to provide reinforcements.
As to the request for the commanding rights by a staff officer, Stewart did not feel happy. If not for the fact that those above him had reminded him before leaving for the mission that he had to listen to the commands from this Fatty, he would surely let this white and clamoring fatty know that what a commando from the special forces could do wasn’t necessarily something anyone could do!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone 
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