NoveLight ™
[Alert: Detecting abnormal energy signals.]
"Is this an airport or DARPA? If someone saw this, they’d think they were at a next-gen weapons showcase."
Reactions varied. Some people chuckled, others nodded. Hearing all those noises in the dark felt a bit strange.
It wasn’t entirely off the mark. The Russian forces stationed at Bradley International Airport, equipped with gear resulting from a joint effort between Artemis and the Russian military, were armed in the most bizarre ways imaginable. One might even believe that the Wagner Group had been absorbed by Artemis.
Despite the fact that it was the middle of the night, the shooting continued. Just because this was an abandoned airport didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any skirmishes. Quite the opposite. More effort than in broad daylight was needed to confirm each other’s positions, and the intensity of combat was heightened.
Especially, as mentioned before, when the technological gap between the two sides wasn’t all that wide.
"Drone, 20 meters ahead, charging EMP behind the wall."
"Hang on, I’ll handle it in a second."
Thunk!
A hacking tool attached to a launcher shot across the air, landing near the wall close to the drone. Instantly, it emitted interference signals, seizing control of the drone. The faint white glow from the drone in the darkness shifted as it crashed straight into the enemy’s area.
Boom. A muffled noise accompanied an invisible shockwave. Artemis drones advancing towards our forces paused momentarily. I could hear shuffling noises across from us, indicating that their night vision had been disrupted.
What happened next was predictable. In a brief moment of exchanged signals, our allies pushed forward, breaking through the enemy lines and tearing everything in sight apart.
This was the basic tactic of the Dagger Team: minimal casualties, maximum efficiency. It would be tough to follow unless you were used to it.
"Wow, everything’s moving so fast today! I can barely keep up."
"Just push a little harder, Cat Girl. You’re still quite slow."
"Ugh…."
Harmony seemed to be working well with Specter.
Anyway, it seemed like she was about to give up already. Not that it was incomprehensible. But this operation needed to be even faster. Plus, teaming up with them again after so long was enjoyable.
Even Harmony, who had worked with me closely before, found it tough even though we were only halfway through the mission. This wasn’t the first time. It had been like this back in the early days, too. Something like that.
Meanwhile, I shared with the group in the secret voice channel that Harmony was just a civilian, which seemed to surprise everyone.
"I thought she must have had some serious training, considering she was keeping up so well. Is she joining the Final Championship?"
"Hardly. She’s a civilian."
"She’d be fun to teach. If nothing else comes up, I might invite her to Norfolk. She definitely looks like someone who’d enjoy the Navy."
"A cat that likes water? What kind of world do you live in?"
This intense yet useless debate was typical. These guys, driven by pride in their unit, would argue over anything.
Amid the decaying corpses and metal scraps that disappeared into polygons, we finished our final checks. Seeing the alert about abnormal energy signals, it seemed we’d soon face the master control.
Even though this had all happened about a year ago, the structure and specs of the device came back to me as vividly as if it were yesterday. If this strange game had modeled its scenarios on past events, then the progression would likely be similar.
Nearby on the runway, instead of planes, stood a massive truck.
The black ceramic armor reinforced with carbon nanotubes made it look like a gigantic black object in the dark. Without night vision, we couldn’t have discerned its shape or identity.
Through a pair of high-tech binoculars, I observed four medium-sized generators cloaked under camouflage, along with thick power transmission coils, all connected to the central armored vehicle.
Naturally, the area was teeming with enemies. Camouflaged surveillance posts, patrols—it would take ages to list them all.
But we had a plan.
Placing Mjolnir on the ground, I set up a tripod and attached a large silencer. It was so long that it would be impossible to carry under normal circumstances, but it was useful.
—Click!
I replaced the magazine with a fresh one, loading it with Lapua Magnum subsonic rounds—20 seconds later, I had five magazines ready. I handed the gun to Laurentina and prepared to descend with Logan.
Harmony would be spending a lot of time with Shark today. Laurentina, knowing how the skirmish would unfold, put a hand on Harmony’s shoulder and added,
"Just keep an eye on enemy positions and the wind speed. Leave the rest to me."
"...Huh? Yeah, okay?"
"Here, binoculars."
After leaving Harmony with Laurentina, Logan and I carefully descended to the runway. I held a tactical knife and a silenced pistol, forming an infiltration team, while the sniping team prepared from behind.
Through the intercom, I could hear Harmony being instructed on Icarus gear operations. She quickly learned how to share enemy markers on everyone’s UI via her binoculars.
I designated the first target with the infrared laser on the pistol. As I hurriedly approached, I heard a faint ping even from a few dozen meters away, followed by the sound of the target’s head exploding.
I caught the body before it hit the ground, gently laying it down to muffle the noise.
"Good shot."
"Whew, almost burned myself…."
"Sorry for not having a bolt-action."
She must have touched an ejected shell casing with her hand.
Laurentina and Harmony remained behind, crafting a makeshift shell catcher, as Logan and I fixed our sights on a distant patrol unit.
Rushing forward silently, I aimed the pistol. With a muffled pop, the body dropped like a marionette with its strings cut. Crow, who had been following at a steady distance, approached one of the UGV sensors operated by the patrol team, holding a peculiar device.
The autonomous attack system shut down instantly.
"All clear."
"Moving to the next target."
Nothing much changed from there.
With a makeshift shell catcher, Laurentina and Harmony’s sniper team sent a bullet straight into the head of a Russian soldier observing from a high point. Logan, Crow, and I then swept the area over five minutes, sending all nearby patrols to the River Styx.
After clearing the local watchmen, all that remained were the camouflaged surveillance posts and the extra airport defense forces a bit further away.
As always, one plan was simple: let the enemies fight each other.
—Vroom!
"Let’s see how these Artemis machines handle."
"Trust me, you won’t be disappointed."
Indeed, the UGV operated as smoothly as a charm, difficult to believe it ran on tracks. Its IFF (Identify Friend or Foe) system had been configured, marking the Russian forces as friendly green hexagons on the screen.
With a few adjustments to the settings, the friend-foe markers reversed. Enemies became allies, and allies became enemies. Then it was simple. Deactivate the safety, select the weapons, and fire.
In view were 60mm grenade launchers and even guided missile launchers. For such a small machine, it packed a terrifying punch.
I signaled to Logan and synchronized with Harmony and Laurentina.
"Let’s start the fireworks."
Thunk.
The grenades and missiles soared through the night, erupting spectacularly. The polygons scattered in bright flashes as screams of terror drowned in the flames.
But this was just the beginning. As the rhythmic thud of grenade launchers joined the roar of the chain gun, the night lit up with a dazzling display. And 7.62mm rounds zipped through the air at blinding speed.
The performance was brief, and the result predictable.
It took less than three minutes for Icarus to secure the master control at Windsor Locks.
—Wail!
A siren, grating like sandpaper against eardrums, filled Norfolk Naval Base.
Prepared launch vehicles, destroyers’ VLS, submarine-launched SLBMs, torpedo tubes, and all available cruise missile platforms lit up with red alerts. Hundreds of missiles surged into the sky, piercing the darkness.
With the jet engines roaring, the Tomahawk cruise missiles soared past Delaware towards Philadelphia, while the Navy base in New Jersey initiated the same procedure. Almost all available missiles were unleashed into the night sky.
It didn’t take long for them to converge.
"First missile group advancing. Following at 10 km intervals."
"Any system interference?"
"None so far."
"Alright, let’s see what Icarus has brought to the table."
Six hundred seconds later.
As 200 missiles crossed Long Island, the precision-guided data from the Artemis-Icarus collaboration infiltrated their systems.
If the Tomahawks had eyes, if they were living creatures, they could have seen the bustling Russian invaders moving around several kilometers away.
The cameras on the upgraded Block 6 missiles provided a live feed for those controlling them.
"Target data acquired. Entering final acceleration phase, accelerating to Mach 7."
"Two Lider-class destroyers detected. CIWS engaged. Two missiles intercepted, 34 missiles remaining."
"Three submarines in emergency dive. No IFF response. Entering strike trajectory in two seconds."
"Impact in five seconds!"
The longest five seconds.
When the missile cameras, shown on the command screens in Norfolk and New Jersey, turned to X-marks and static, New Haven was reduced to rubble.
—Boom!
As the missiles, traveling at supersonic speeds, blasted through, the Russian command in Connecticut and naval forces scattered in panic.
But the rain of steel from above turned them into ashes. Thunderous explosions sounded like a bell being struck with all might, doubling, quadrupling, and reaching a hundred in less than five seconds.
Even the Icarus operators, watching from kilometers away, whispered in awe.
"Oh, my God."
The proud ships on the sea, the submarines moving freely below, the Russian command directing the remaining forces—all were equally obliterated.
Even the operators who had to transmit the damage estimates to allied bases were momentarily stunned by the spectacle. When the Lider-class destroyer split in two with an explosion that reached the sky, they remembered their duties.
After a slight screen delay, cheers filled the naval bases in Norfolk and New Jersey.
And from a premium seat, others were watching this sight.
"All drone signals lost. Looks like everything hit its target."
"Good work. I wish I’d seen it up close, but watching from 100 km away will have to do. I missed the best show."
Creak.
Crow and the other three exited the cockpit, stepping onto the ground. The dawn wind greeted them as they faced the empty, dark landscape.
But as the blocked communication network restored, and the excited voices flowed through their earpieces, everyone felt the success of the mission.
[M: There’s a lot to debrief on, but to put it simply, we might need to rename Connecticut to Ground Zero. Not a single rat with a borscht stain survived.]
[M: Five ships, including nuclear submarines and destroyers. With this one operation, we wiped out over 60% of the Russian naval power in the Northeast.]
[M: Now it’s just Providence and Boston. But with control over the system, cruise missile bombardments will continue to be effective. Nothing’s more fun than beating down a blind enemy.]
[M: We’ll talk more back at the base. Fantastic work.]
The sky began to lighten.
The black sky turned blue, and the stealth helicopter, piloted with a cheerful grin, deployed the landing gear.
As Harmony sighed with relief, a hand patted her shoulder.
Except this time, there were several.
"Great job."
"You kept up well. Want to be friends with me, too, not just the newbie?"
"I’ll buy you something nice if you come to Norfolk. How about discussing the Navy over some tea—ow!"
With those lighthearted jokes, the five, including Crow, boarded the stealth helicopter, climbing towards the sunrise.
And so ended Eugene’s first Incursion mission.
[Alert: Updating progress…]
[Alert: Recalculating worldline synchronization estimate.]
[Alert: Estimate - 16.6% // Next Incursion Mission unlocks in D-7]