章 57: The Opening Salvo

The meeting was finally underway.

Several soldiers stood by. Sebastian was also among the participants along with a group of teenagers.

Right at the very center of the room stood Arthur and his team.

"Ladies and gentleman. Allow me to formally introduce myself and my team. I am Colonel Arthur Humphrey and next in command is Major Alean Cipril."

Arthur carried a domineering pressure. The soldiers had already witnessed how this small teen tortured the Australian soldiers to get what he needed. They knew that this wasn't a normal kid. And with Major Cipril bowing to his every whim, they knew that this was someone they should respect.

"You are all gathered here so that we can discuss the plans of our attack at New Fort Base."

A hologram displays of the entire city appeared in the middle.

"Obviously, one brigade is not enough to conquer this city. Our mission is not to destroy this base but to infiltrate it. There is a key technology that we must retrieve. Once we accomplish that, our victory is secured."

"The problem is, infiltrating this base is extremely hard. The technology that defends it is not to be underestimated. We have received reports that Australia is now capable of creating an EMP satellite attack. Rendering most of our technologies useless."

"Won't that also be bad for them Major?" A Lieutenant Colonel inquired.

"We can't be too sure. We must attack under the assumption that they have the means to resist it."

"That is why we will be taking part in this battle. I will also lead the attack along with Major Cipril, Doctor Charles, Cliff Fangwood and of course, Meryl Mikado."

Meryl and Charles gave a slight nod while Cliff silently stood by observing everyone in the room.

The soldiers in the room gazed in surprise.

"This battle is a suicide mission. This is why my team will start the attack. Leading this army will be President Hoross' own son, Sebastian Hoross or Lowengren as you may know him."

The soldiers gave a confusing look at the set of teams.

"Lowengren, what are your plans." Arthur immediately asked seriously.

The team leaders of Warfreakz was in the room. Each of them had a scared expression.

"We've discussed it in our team." Lowengren began. Sweat continued to pour out on his back. It was his first time talking to such an elite group of warriors.

"The best way to infiltrate the enemy base is to create a massive distraction that will draw out a bulk of its forces leaving fewer obstacles for your team to face."

"So an old-fashioned surprise attack?" Charles immediately asked.

"Well… No. We don't want that. If we do that, the army will overwhelm us. What we need is to do, is make smaller bits of distractions. This will draw out either the police force or a few soldiers which we can overpower."

"We maintain a level of discretion in our attacks and slowly build up as they continuously send more forces." Arthur summarized.

"I see. So by the time they know that it's an actual battle, they would have already lost too much and we would have established our foothold."

"That's right. That's the first step." Lowengren nodded.

"Create a distraction that would draw out the police and possibly the military. We also use the chaos to immediately secure key areas of the city. These places are marked on your individual files." Alean started handing out small digital chips to the Lieutenant Colonels in the room.

"Distractions? Like what? Fire?" Meryl innocently suggested.

"Too small. Maybe a bomb threat will do." Charles mumbled.

"Terrorist attacks?" Cliff immediately remarked.

"Public shootouts?" Charles joked.

"As we are deep in the Network of Australia, using comm systems would be dangerous. That is why some of you are tasked with setting up our own Comm Arrays. These must be completed as soon as possible. Until we can set those up and reconfigure the communication towers within the city, we cannot communicate with each other." Arthur explained.

"After you complete your individual task, a ping will be sent out to all your devices which will tell you when you can freely use the comm systems. Commander Lowengren will then assign you your next task once we set up the communication array."

"Sir! I question the credentials of our new Commander." A soldier couldn't help but interject. He knows what Alean and her team could do. But doubt was in the hearts of this new face.

"He's the best general we have here. Don't underestimate his skills just because he has been using it in games. At this point in time, we don't need a proper commander but someone who can think outside the box."

The soldiers stared at Lowengren and his team. Most of the soldiers knew who Lowengren was. War of the Generals was such a popular game that many in the army actually play the game.

"Lowengren and his team have been considered the best generals in the War of the Generals. And as you may know, some even use actual army General's to tutor and guide teams while in other countries, real Generals play the game. Yet of all the names that could easily have reached the top, Lowengren is still considered to be the best in the game. So believe in your Commander. Colonel Arthur and I have also discussed the plans together with Lowengren and I can vouch for his skills."

The soldier gave a quick look at his commander and immediately nodded.

"We're in your hands, Commander."

"You will receive further specific instructions once the comm system is set up. Dismissed."

The soldiers slowly went out of the room and were looking grim as they were to set out what would possibly take away their humanity.

"Are you sure you want your team to be your assistants in this battle, Lowengren?" Arthur asked as he scanned by each member of the Warfreakz.

"They're not ready." Cliff softly spoke.

"They know my plans better than anyone else's. If you trust in my skill, then having this hesitant team would still be better than any other soldier in this building."

"Alright. Let's get ready for battle. Warfreakz, please follow me upstairs for the last briefing session." Arthur then signaled Meryl to follow as well.

Meryl followed obediently and went with Lowengren and his team.

"Where are they going?" Cliff asked as he watched the group walk out the door.

"What else? That last briefing must be a little scare tactic to get the Warfreakz's hearts in order. I pity them. The soldiers only had to deal with Meryl…" Charles shook his head.

"At least Seeker was gentle with girls. That Arthur really doesn't show mercy." Alean sighed.

Cliff then offered a silent prayer to the Warfreakz. Sounds of screams and terror filled the room above as Meryl and Arthur utilized every scare tactic they have. As the session continued, Arthur started reminding the group of Australia's sin.

"I hope with this; you realize the weight of the Australian's crimes. And if they were willing to do that, what more will they do to you? You live in a different world now. If you fail in this mission, you will all die. I can only hope that you won't experience hell before you die." Arthur strode out the door and threw the pickaxe towards one of the Warfreakz. The pickaxed was pinned on the wall and was not an inch further from this member's face.

"Ummm… You better get ready. We'll be heading out to proceed with the mission." Meryl gave a respectful bow before leaving.

Meryl and Arthur soon reached the basement where several armored vehicles were parked. As it was in all places of the factory, soldiers were running around this area and many were configuring and adding more specific configurations to their car.

"Took you guys long enough." Charles greeted.

"Is that the car?"

"Yes. As you ordered, a blue Marex Convertible. The engineers just finished tinkering with it. This could easily go three kilometers in ten seconds." Alean opened the hood.

"It's got the speed and the handling you requested. It can zoom in and out and with our perception, we could easily evade mortars and missiles."

"I'm no expert. But I'm pretty sure that the engine of this car's pretty flammable." Charles worriedly pointed to the engine.

"It is. With the nitro device, any stray bullet could set this entire car on fire." Arthur immediately jumped into the car.

"And we're using this?" Meryl gave a worried reply.

"Don't worry. With the equipment's I've prepared, this car will probably not get a single scratch on it." Arthur then signaled for everyone to jump in.

"Does everybody understand each of your mission?" Arthur asked.

"Wait. I haven't received any yet." Meryl panicked.

"You're with me." Arthur pulled Meryl in and then started driving out.

"Was it you who came up with that crazy plan?" Cliff asked.

"No. I explained what we needed and Lowengren immediately came up with it."

"What a cruel man." Meryl shook her head.

"Not cruel. He's just a gamer. He is approaching this war just as how I hoped he would. A gamer with no morals to bind him. Just victory in mind."

Meryl had a worried look.

"What exactly is the plan?"

"I'll tell you later." Arthur immediately answered before anyone else could.

Alean and Charles had a complicated look on their faces.

Arthur drove out of the warehouse and zoomed towards the heart of the city.

Arthur continued to drive and dropped Alean, Cliff, and Charles in different parts of the city. Meryl continued to look in amazement at the sights of New Birth City.

She also wondered what it would look like by the time tomorrow arrives.

New Birth Memorial Park.

It was one of the biggest tourist spots in the entire nation. It was an outdoor park with lush green trees and shrubs and was a popular picnic spot for families to go and enjoy the day. The park was even more popular at night as the light show in that park would continue all evening to the break of dawn. It was because of this that it was a popular place for concerts to be held at.

Meryl could not help but admire the park. She looked in pain at the people who were here and was secretly apologizing for the war that they will bring.

"So what's the plan?" Meryl finally got the nerve to ask. After Seeker's revelation, Meryl found it extremely awkward to talk to Arthur.

Arthur kept quiet and took out a pair of the mask and tossed one to Meryl.

"Wear this." Arthur then parked the car deep in the park's parking grounds. He then grabbed his suitcase and started walking towards the center of the park.

The park had a huge crowd at a concert was currently underway. A barrier was set at the entrance where people would pay to enter.

"We're the opening salvo. It will be the first distraction that will get the media and the police's attention." Arthur explained as they neared the concert grounds.

"But how? You or Lowengren didn't explain what to do back then."

"There was no need to. You already discussed the answers."

Meryl was surprised.

"What? Which one? I remember us talking about a fire, then a bomb threat, a terrorist act, and Charles even said something about a shootout! Which one of those is the right one?"

"All of them."

Meryl gasped in surprise.

"So what do we do? Start a fire? Or is it a bomb threat?"

"Lowengren's already prepared for setting up bomb threats all throughout the city. And Charles and Cliff are out starting fires. But only after our act. If we start one fire after another, the military could get suspicious and send their forces immediately."

"So what's our opening act?"

Arthur then suddenly stopped walking. The security guarding the entrance gave a curious stare at the two masked teens. Arthur opened the suitcase.

"I kept quiet because I didn't want to spend my time arguing with you on the way here. But this is the plan. If you do not follow my orders, we will lose Seeker and Lynd. So show me your resolve now."

Arthur took out two sub-machine guns from the suitcase and tossed it to Meryl. Arthur quickly picked up the remaining guns in the case.

The guards were panicking at the sight of the guns. They started shouting and warning Arthur.

"Let's begin."

With that Arthur immediately unloaded a full magazine of bullets on to the guards at the gate and then suddenly started shooting everyone else in the vicinity.