NoveLight ™
“It feels like it’s been a while, Squad Leader.”
“Did you miss me?”
“Haha, of course! Anyway, I believe you’ve checked all the information secured by the youngest, so let’s get down to cleaning up the facility.”
West of the airport, at the rental car pickup point.
The enemies keeping watch around were already sprawled on the ground, their skulls smashed in. They had joined the reconnaissance team that was scouting the area and reporting the situation in real time. In other words, it was now time for everyone to engage in combat without exception.
Of course, the dirty work always fell to the manifestors. Tasks such as planting bombs on armored vehicles and tanks or doing nefarious deeds in the dormitory ventilation ducts. However, today’s reconnaissance team planned to storm the operations control room, seize all crucial information, and eliminate the high command. This was, after all, a decapitation operation.
To put it simply, the reconnaissance team’s mission was to storm the operations control room, interrogate the logistics officer to confirm the list of tactical weapons at the base, and send that information to us. Meanwhile, our job was to handle the buildings used for residential purposes by the Chinese military and the cartel, taking action before the enemy’s weaponry became operational.
With a farewell wishing luck, the six personnel split into two groups again, heading to their respective positions.
Dais and Harmony moved forward, hoping to meet Owens' high standards, while Lorentina and Logan advanced further north. Interestingly, next to Phoenix-Mesa Airport was Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Since it was right next to the airport, there was a soundproof dormitory building.
That was today’s destination.
As I mentioned earlier, the noise level of this dormitory was quite loud, as if it had thrown all sense of soundproofing to the wind. It was late, so it wouldn’t be wrong to say that there were almost no enemies wandering outside, but the light coming from the windows suggested that many were still inside the building.
───Piiing!
An intangible pulse enveloped the building.
There were four entrances to the building. On the roof were ventilation systems and ducts, and the number of personnel inside exceeded a hundred. The building itself was five stories tall, so it seemed quite crowded. Of course, there might also be a case where more people than the room could accommodate were stuffed inside.
I checked above the door. There was a fire shutter that could be completely closed in case of an emergency. I remembered that too.
Lorentina added with a grin, as if finding it quite amusing.
“Let’s release sleeping gas into the ventilation ducts, then lower the fire shutter and weld it shut with thermite. They won’t even think about getting out.”
“That’s a brilliant idea.”
The chat was going wild. There was still one more left, and it shouldn’t be like this already.
Anyway, it was time to start moving. Climbing onto the building was my job. Logan and Lorentina would hack into the building’s system to disrupt the ventilation once I released the sleeping gas, bring down the metal shutter, and thoroughly weld it shut with thermite, turning the entire building into a giant tube.
The method to climb the building was simple. I activated a pin with a heating stick, pressed it firmly against the wall, and the wall melted as the pin embedded itself inside. This was also a product of Icarus's technology. While it couldn’t be used to ascend high-rise buildings, it was sufficient for buildings of considerable height.
One by one, I placed them in my hands and in my shoes. Though it was a somewhat odd climbing method, I managed to step onto the roof of the building, which was slightly over 20 meters, in less than a minute.
“Climbing completed. Let’s see, where’s the canister… I’ll set it up in 30 seconds.”
“Take your time, take your time… Oh, wait a moment.”
At the same time, a distinct sound rang through the intercom. It was the noise of subsonic bullets fired from a silenced pistol. The sound of someone hitting the ground came almost simultaneously, followed by the dragging noise of something being pulled along the floor.
Lorentina joked about turning one of the friends who came out for a smoke into a star in the night sky while I carefully tied a canister of sleeping gas mixed with halothane and benzodiazepine to a fishing line and gently placed the pin into the ventilation duct.
I couldn’t just toss it in; I had to ensure there were no metallic clinking sounds from the ventilation.
“Installation complete. Please take care of the ventilation system.”
“Of course.”
There was no need to explain the results.
The sleeping gas released through the building’s internal air conditioning system filled every room as it did its job superbly. After checking a few pulses, I found the interior filled with bodies, reminiscent of a morgue.
Meanwhile, Logan and Lorentina, who had used thermite to weld the door shut, added.
“No signs of life inside. Wrap it up and come down. We’re heading to the hangar.”
“I’ll be down soon.”
Of course, here, “wrap it up” meant something slightly different.
I opened my pouch and poured polyurethane grenades into the ventilation duct, a total of five. I also brought a chemical agent launcher canister. In just a few seconds, with a bang, the substance expanded hundreds of times, completely filling the duct.
At the same time, I took out a thermite stick that Lorentina had handed me and ignited it. Although it was designed for night use and didn’t emit flames, the stick was already burning at over a thousand degrees. As I moved around the rooftop, I gently hissed into the polyurethane foam, which began to melt, quickly igniting.
Toxic gas tried to escape through the duct, but I completely blocked several vents with cardboard and other materials scattered near the roof. It would likely continue to burn. Since there were passageways connecting the vents inside, there would be no risk of the fire going out from lack of oxygen.
Once all the polyurethane foam burned away, the toxic gas produced as a byproduct would be dispersed through the air conditioning into every room.
To the viewers reacting to this, I added.
“During the midweek championship duo and squad matches, I mentioned to the Korean representative team that burning polyurethane foam produces toxic gas. Some of you might remember that.”
They correctly guessed the answer.
Burning polyurethane foam releases hydrogen cyanide, otherwise known as cyanide gas.
That gas filled the dormitory through the ventilation system, so the result was quite obvious—of course, friends making jokes about fishing lures were immediately banned. This was a complete neutralization of the enemy through minimal preparation.
After firmly tying a rope to the ventilation duct, I smoothly descended to the ground, where two people were waiting for me.
“Just in time. The squad leader seems to have successfully taken over the operations control room as well, so let’s quickly move to the hangar. I doubt there’ll be anyone aboard the equipment, though.”
“Then we’ll have to remove everything we set up. We might just have some gifts to hand over to our American friends.”
Perhaps that could be true.
Meanwhile, Dais was genuinely trying to hold back laughter while looking at the logistics officer with a shining head.
It was ridiculous, so I added.
“Stop doing weird things and leave it be.”
Anyway, it wasn’t time to join the reconnaissance team yet.
The destination was hangar A-23. It was time to check if the engineer Lorentina had interrogated had given proper answers—though it wasn’t even necessary to verify. Beyond the distant open door of the hangar, several figures moved about, and among them, I glimpsed several enemy weapons.
What followed was simple. The three Hurricanes that landed in the hangar swiftly cleaned up all remaining enemy personnel, and we meticulously placed thermite, sticky mines, and drill charges on over twenty tanks and armored vehicles.
After spending about five minutes finishing that process,
───Tat-tat-tat-tat!
“Oh dear.”
Someone fired a gun.
The distinct sound of an AK. However, neither the reconnaissance team nor the infiltration team was flustered. This was the same when sirens blared across the entire airport just seconds later. After all, it was impossible to keep track of every individual in this vast area, and inevitably, we were going to be discovered sooner or later.
Determining when that moment would be was our task—and with more than half of our force silently slaughtered, it was a bit late for the enemies to realize that traps had been set on most of the ground weaponry belonging to this airport base.
“It’s begun.”
I didn’t know who said it, but it didn’t matter much.
Now it was time to wrap up the tasks.
Approaching a motorcycle parked in one corner of the hangar, Lorentina started it and added.
“Myself and the youngest will clear the area near the SAM site first. You know what to do, Polar Bear?”
“Of course.”
Fortunately, the motorcycle was quite sturdy, and it was no problem for two manifestors to ride it.
We squeezed through the hangar door, and the motorcycle, with its headlights off, sped down the runway.
The operation to reclaim Phoenix-Mesa Airport was reaching its climax.
“Raid! Enemy raid!”
“Get up, you lazy bums!”
“I alert the perimeter troops. Enemies have infiltrated the base. Numbers unknown. Open fire immediately upon spotting any suspicious behavior!”
The base was in chaos at 10 PM.
However, the occurrence of the situation and the search for culprits were completely separate issues. Even as the cartel alliance and the Chinese military, who had been relaxing, hastily armed themselves and rushed out to search the airport, all that could be seen were corpses.
The operations control room was eerily empty, as if some supernatural being had taken the people somewhere, and the dormitory building, which should have had numerous allies bursting out, remained quiet. All entrances—the front, side, and back doors—had been solidly welded shut.
They shot hundreds of rounds to tear down the steel doors, but only horrific scenes awaited them.
Yet the questions remained unanswered.
How many personnel had invaded the base, and when?
Were they still in the base? Had they already completed their tasks and exited? If so, for what purpose?
The size of the puzzle that needed assembling was vast, and the number of puzzle pieces collected by the Chinese-cartel alliance was woefully inadequate. Moreover, with the order to open fire immediately upon spotting suspicious behavior, friendly fire was easily provoked.
There was no possibility of a password. The trust between the cartel and the Chinese military, which originally had no reason to be bound together, was exceedingly flimsy, and the passwords that had been set were easily disregarded. As a result, it was only natural for the Chinese military, which had somewhat organized systems, to fire first at the cartel.
What resulted was a literal civil war.
“Fuck, those Chinks are shooting at us!”
“I knew it. Brothers, in the name of Sinaloa, kill every last one of those bastards!”
“Damn, those niggers are shooting! Return fire!”
“It’s time to cleanse these bastards who just sell opium. Wipe them all out!”
The chaos compounded again and again, revealing the hell that was Phoenix-Mesa Airport.
However, amidst all this, Lorentina and Yujin sped across the runway on their motorcycle, quickly approaching the area near the SAM site.
“I’ll keep my head down. Let’s make a hole for each of them.”
“Of course.”
───Pick! Pick! Pick!
Brrrrrrrrm!
Mixed with the loud engine sound was the sound of firing. With the sharp noise reduced by the suppressor, the 7.62mm NATO rounds of the M110A1 flew. The head of a perimeter guard who had been taking cover between sandbags was neatly penetrated.
The firing, without any recoil suppression, was highly unlikely to hit by chance. However, the shooting skills honed beyond the limits of humanity made that simple.
The motorcycle made a wide turn near the SAM site, and Yujin deftly adjusted his weight through his feet and tail, finishing off the remaining enemies that were obscured from sight by the missiles.
Of course, the SAM sites weren’t just one; according to the logistics officer who had been grilled, there were six in total. All of them had to be dealt with. And that was not too difficult. The two-wheeled vehicle accelerated and quickly headed toward another site several hundred meters away.
Yujin shot as if standing on flat ground, and Lorentina joyfully laughed as she listened to the gunfire from behind and watched the enemy perimeter guards fall to the ground.
“Hahaha! It’s been a while since I felt this way! It’s truly refreshing!”
Ignoring Lorentina’s maniacal laughter in front and the intercom voice of “that crazy bastard…,” Yujin continued to shoot.
With his godlike shooting skills, over half of the perimeter guards had disappeared in an instant. Meanwhile, the reconnaissance team was also engaging in their first skirmish with the cartel and Chinese military search teams.
Amidst all this, the SAM hacking prompts popped up on the UI. Logan was bringing the ownership of the sites one by one to their team. In accordance, Lorentina and Yujin accelerated even more, speeding across the runway at over 100 km/h, erasing everything in sight.
Thus, in less than five minutes, all enemies near the runway crossed over to the afterlife, and Yujin, who was hacking a surface-to-air missile at a suitable spot, heard Owens' voice.
“Four attack helicopters approaching from bearing 140. They are registered as allies in the operations control room IFF. You know what that means, right?”
“From our perspective, they’re enemies. I’ll handle it.”
At the same time, Lorentina headed toward the fifth SAM site with Yujin.
Currently, Logan had completed the switch for the first and second sites, while Yujin, after finishing the sixth site switch, was aided by Lorentina to reach the fifth site. If Logan went to the third site and Lorentina to the fourth, all six surface-to-air missile turrets would fall under their control.
Each turret was equipped with eight missiles, totaling 48 missiles. That was more than enough to shoot down the four enemy helicopters.
And how long had it been,
───Kiiiiiing!
The turret turned and automatically fired two missiles.
Each of the six turrets launched two missiles, totaling twelve. From the distant horizon, bright red flares descended like hail. However, the number represented violence, and evading all the missiles launched in succession was impossible.
Thus, in less than thirty seconds, the four attack helicopters became fiery balls of doom that illuminated the darkness and crashed in the middle of the desert.
The six turrets had a total of 12 missiles remaining.
Of course, it wasn’t that they couldn’t strike the ground.
“Is there an urgent target that needs striking?”
“Send me the coordinates.”
Owens' voice followed as if he had been waiting for it.
At that moment, eight missiles soared into the air, promptly heading toward the ground. While their explosive power was slightly lacking compared to actual air-to-ground or surface-to-surface missiles, they were more than adequate for eliminating some enemy troops.
Meanwhile, in hangar A-23, about a third of the mines, drill charges, and thermite traps activated, burning both the crew and the vehicles. Of course, even after waiting a few more minutes, it seemed like nothing else would happen; that must have been the last of it.
The UI displayed that the percentage of enemy troops within the airport was now below 30%. Even that was merely because enemy vehicles had not been destroyed, so the actual number was likely lower.
Yujin exhaled happily and added.
“Now it’s simply a matter of calling our American friends from the north of Phoenix.”
“Not much different from San Antonio. Good job, Yujin.”
“You did well too, youngest.”
Of course, it was a bit premature to exchange compliments when Dais quickly added.
“If you have the energy to praise each other, come here and help us! There are still a lot of enemies left!”
While chuckling, Logan added.
“Let’s go help the newly joined youngest.”
“Of course.”
Leaving behind the remaining four surface-to-air missiles that were fired somewhere else, the three personnel crossed the airport to join the reconnaissance team.
The night was deepening, but for Phoenix, the day was just beginning.
At least, it was for them.
Thanks for the chappy!