บท 29: Eagle’s Crash
บรรณาธิการ: Lis_, Rainystars
"This is Eagle-I, we are at the target area."
"Roger, this is Eagle-II. Eagle I, open electronic life detection."
"Roger. Opening electronic life detection."
The aerodynamic exterior design had an external door at the back with a heavy machine gun attached. The disk-shaped turbo accelerators on both sides of the craft emitted a deafening noise as the air vibrated beneath them. Inside the vessel were soldiers fortified to the teeth, each armed with pitch-black turbo packs that held terrifying single-person heavy firearms. On the right side of the craft, Liuding Town’s logo was drawn over traces of what seemed like scratched-out symbols.
Attack Helicopter-51. PCA equipped the amphibious attack helicopter in year 2153 to primarily serve the Southern Sea fleet as it was particularly effective in beach landings. But after the war, it became less effective.
The two black helicopters flew separated by 1000 meters and hovered above a building.
Wang Shiwu glanced at the the life detection device that displayed the unknown bacterial level outside of the armored craft. He then flanked the building outside of the helicopter, a gloomy expression cast over his face.
"This has to be the place."
"Life form matches. The target is in the building. Eagle-I requesting permission to attack."
"Negative." Wang Shiwu cautiously gazed at the building. He activated the communication device on the power armor. "This is the Dark Knight Squad. We are above the target creature. The target creature information is unknown. We request missile support."
"This is the command center, missile support approve."
The cost of a direct invasion was too high. Wang Shiwu couldn’t risk his comrades’ lives without even spotting the creature. He cautiously requested missile support in hopes of exposing its body.
"Eagle-I, Eagle-II, missile will arrive in 1 minute. Please increase altitude."
"Roger.""Roger."
The two helicopters began to increase their altitude to avoid friendly fire. The sunrise cast rays of yellow paths through the radiation dust. With the disgustingly greenish-yellow particles emerging from the yellow building, the entire area looked like an egg from above
[What’s hidden inside the building?]
Wang Shiwu locked his eyes onto the murky yolk.
Why would Liuding’s elite force show up 30 kilometers away from the city border? The story began with the battle meeting two days ago.
Bohai Aircraft Carrier, Command Tower, Meeting Room.
"Area coordinates (412, 151) displayed an unusual life signal. Our scientists are unable to determine the creature’s identity, but the crystal energy indicator has increased to 90,141, surpassing the limit by 300. Since it is within our strike range, we have to stop it from evolving further and retrieve the crystal. I need you to take care of this thing. Do you understand?" The middle-aged man in an old PCA uniform stood and commanded from in front of the full-sensory map.
"Yes, sir!"
The uniformed soldiers barked out in unity. They wore the PCA navy seal uniform to the meeting in an organized manner.
"That is all for this meeting!"
"Yes!"
The electronic life detection device was commonly used in the wasteland. Research indicated that all life forms emitted certain life signals that could be detected over long distances through emissions. It had been used as a tracking device during the war and after it, a rescue aid. In the current apocalypse, it became a civilian equipment.
The unit detected not only humans but also any life signal that could be recorded on the radar life electronic screen. The life signal was proportional to the energy of the creature. Mutant creatures had a higher life signal than humans. The advanced ability to calculate a mutant creature’s crystal energy had only been completed after the war and was possessed by the majority of the larger survival bases.
After recording any unusual life signal, the survival bases in the vicinity often chose to attack the creature as it was extremely dangerous to let mutant creatures evolve. Unfortunately, there was always the possibility of strange creatures forming since all mutations were spontaneous.
Evolutionary pathways that once took thousands of years could take three days in a nuclear crater. The evolved creature could be a harmless bug or a colossal monster.
Any creature with over 300 crystals were considered extremely dangerous.
But it did not mean they were strong.
Compared to the ones with 40 to 300 crystals, the extremely dangerous mutant creatures were easier to deal with. A 100-pound human for example, would have a difficult time beating someone who was 200 pounds since they were not in the same category. But what about someone weighing 500 pounds or 1,000 pounds? They would be considered disabled, unable to maintain basic life functions.
Similarly, mutant creatures with over 300 energy crystals were considered "disabled." Under the influence of radiation and other factors, the continuous mutation endlessly expanded the life energy, but that did not necessarily equal strong destructive ability. Once anything surpassed a limit, it would be a hindrance.
Liuding Town had similar strike operations in the past where their target was an unknown creature with 110,000 crystal energy.
Once the squad had arrived, they were met with a crowd of corpse-eating creatures and a massive half-eaten meatball.
A meatball that filled the entire street.
The clueless squad had to call missile support to blow the meatball into pieces. With an energy detector they were able to locate the meter-tall crystal and transport it back. The rest of the meatball attracted an endless number of corpse-eating creatures in the vicinity, so it was impossible to retrieve. It was unfortunate because it would have been an excellent source of nutrient supply.
These excessively mutated creatures had no fighting power most of the time. For economic reasons, they were much easier to deal with compared to Death Claws or Roshan.
With this reason, selfish commanders were spurred into action to destroy the mutant creatures.
Wang Shiwu was dealing with such a creature.
Although the soldiers began to whisper about finishing the mission and taking a shower since the power armors were extremely humid to wear. Wang Shiwu felt something was off and cautiously followed the missile support procedure.
The Eagle-I in the front opened the radar to provide exact location for the missile at Liuding.
"Prepare for missile launch, raise the barrel! Quick!" A few people in work uniforms hustled. They controlled the equipment around the launch pad as a ten-meter-long barrel emerged from the aircraft carrier.
The sleek-looking barrel had a famous name—electromagnetic gun.
"Distance between two points are 310,203 meters, detecting the thickness of the target. Use a 10-kilogram missile, raise to 47 degrees, and adjust power setting."
The technician on deck was changing the settings with a tablet computer. Bohai’s fire control system had originally been destroyed by an electromagnetic pulse during the war. These fixed gun barrels were later fixed by survivors and connected to nearby terminals to be controlled at close distance.
The technician pressed <Fire>.
A blue spark filled the barrel as the high-density electricity generated a short but deafening noise.
There was no explosion.
There was only the initial noise of the missile breaking the sound barrier. A trail of light blue casted across the horizon.
The force of the electromagnetic ripple pushed the barrel slightly backward. Steam began to rise as the liquid cooling system activated. A light flashed from the back of the aircraft before fading into the endless ocean.
The flat-headed missile flew across the sky. The remaining electricity from the initial firing maintained the internal detonation device and also created a vacuum around the missile.
As it approached the target, the vacuum layer disintegrated.
The speed coating began to melt as the missile expanded.
Followed by a red trail, the cylindrical missile hit the building like an iron fist.
The deafening explosion spread as the missile penetrated the building as if it was paper.
The building crumpled under the force of explosion, a hollow space left behind by the missile.
"Direct hit. Great shooting."
"Target spotted. Wait! What is that! Dammit."
"Eagle-II, report the situation. Eagle-I…"
"Crashing! Crashing! Please send assistance." Sounds of chaos.
From the explosion, a giant emerged. No, to be accurate, it was a giant gun.
A dark red energy began to focus before ejecting a beam.
The red ray cast a straight line across the sky.
It didn’t directly hit any helicopters, but it rendered all electronic devices in the area useless.
<Warning! EMP strike>
The power armor’s EMP resistors opened suddenly, but all the devices suffered different degrees of damage before they were triggered.
Because of the EMP resistance, all communication signals were blocked.
"Fuck! EMP! Jump!" Wang Shiwu roared into the intercom. In the rapidly plummeting craft he managed to regain his foothold. With heavy steps, he walked to the door and jumped out.
Due to the power armor’s sophisticated design, it was only momentarily disabled before all functionality returned. The two helicopters, however, did not have the same fate as the EMP instantaneously destroyed all electronic devices aboard.
Wang Shiwu gaped at the giant red barrel.
[What the hell is this? A creature that can emit EMPs? Destroyed the helicopter without even directly hitting target.]
<Landing device activated.>
After he read the letters in his helmet, Wang Shiwu let out a sigh of relief.
Cracks emerged from his knees, waist and shoulder as the small turbo engine appeared under the metal surface. Wang Shiwu felt a sudden jostle before he finally regained control.
The soldiers began to land on the ground.
"Mutation virus, concentration level 97. Dammit, what is this goddamn thing?" His comrade spoke through the intercom.
"Stay alert! Make sure everything is sealed. These floating viruses are giving me a bad feeling." Wang Shiwu checked the air filtration device. These viruses covered the filter in minutes.
The concentration was so high they were almost in chunks. The greenish-yellow appearance made their stomachs clench in disgust.
[Should we evade first?] The thought crossed his mind before he decided that he must figure out the terrifying barrel’s origin.
The helicopters were already destroyed. Even if Liuding sent support, it would be extremely dangerous.
"Be cautious of filter status, prepare for attack!"
"Roger."
In case anything happened, Wang Shiwu cautiously recorded the picture of the battlefield and sent it to the command center. He grabbed the machine gun from his back and pushed forward.
There was no response from the command center. The virus could block radio communication?
Probable, since the ray created an EMP effect, so the virus definitely had something to do with it.
No, this was still too odd!
Normally these extremely dangerous creatures would attract other mutated creatures to feast on, but there were no rats to be seen in the area.
It was peculiar!
Wang Shiwu was drenched in sweat before he heard the screams of his comrades.
"Above us! What the hell is this?!"
Wang Shiwu immediately looked up. Energy began to fill the red biological cannon once more.
There was nothing in the sky. What was this thing shooting at?
"Fire! Immediately!"
Without any time to think, Wang Shiwu ordered the attack with his gut feeling.
Twelve power-armored soldiers focused fire on the red cannon. The bullets shot out in clusters. No one knew if it would do anything, but there were no other solutions.
Five hundred meters was the effective range of machine guns. The spark from the bullets cast a glow on each of the vicious faces as the rapidly rotating barrels unleashed its firepower.
Suddenly, the half-building-tall cannon contracted. It was no longer charging.
Wang Shiwu was surprised that their bullets were effective against this creature.
But they were proven wrong as another explanation presented itself—the energy had been filled to the maximum.
With terrified expressions, they watched as the cannon exploded.
The red flash submerged the entire area in shockwaves that emitted across the radius of explosion. Silence ensued.
A few red-colored "meatballs" were propelled into the distance with the help of the explosion.
"Eagle-1, Eagle-II, Dark Knight Offline."
"Life signal is changing! Target is dividing!"
The commander’s face had gloom written all over it. His hawkish eyes stared at the full-sensory screen in the air.
The 90141 crystal energy symbol disappeared and was replaced by 12 unevenly distributed energy life forms.
The mission had failed.
The commander was not saddened by the loss of the 12 combatants and 4 pilots. Under their virtual reality training program, it was easy to produce these types of talents.
But the two attack helicopters and the twelve sets of MAX-I Power Armors cost a total of 220,000 energy crystals.
This was a disaster.
As to how the mutant creatures would impact the wasteland? The future is unknown.
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