[East City, Val Verde]

[June 21, 2023]

[11:41 PM]

Avery Apone sighed as he ate his Foodbar 7.0. Today it tasted bland as he tried to stuff the whole thing down his throat. The usual fruity notes were absent as he focused on the mission.

The ruins of what was once the downtown section of East City were depressing. He had grown up around here. The nightclubs he used to hit as a teen still vibrated in his memories.

Sort of.

There was a fair amount of drug use and that resulted in some very hazy nights. Not to mention enough alcohol to float a warthog down the street.

[Brakakakaka]

The sound of distant gunfire had settled down somewhat. The more intense hour of landing had softened into a lull of near-close quarter combat.

Even now he could spot the occasional ballsy pilot dropping off soldiers. The scattering fire of attempted anti-air fire was usually ineffective.

Usually.

Apone recalled the three explosions as the Pelican's engines got hit. it lit up the evening skies as the flaming wreckage smashed into the empty, city streets.

The pilot was most likely alright. Modern armor could take frightening amounts of punishment. The pilot would link up with the soldiers and help out as they could.

Avery finished his meal and grabbed his helmet. Even after all these years, the design was roughly the same. Gas mask with red lenses underneath a bucket helmet.

Of course, the amazing advancement changed it. Gone was the simple glass and air filter. The new fancy brain protectors were cutting-edge stuff. The basic steel was upgraded to Val Verde’s Tritanium alloy.

Avery put on his helmet and wiggled it down. The internal systems recognize the helmet and sealed itself. The metal latches and magnetic anchors connected with a hiss.

The internals was far more than a carbon filter or red lenses. It had a self-contained air system with a rebreather. No air leak to give away the position and preserved their limited air. Multi-environmental powered combat armor.

This ensured that he could survive in harsh conditions. He had tested it in the vacuum of space, and 400 meters under water. The suit was rock solid against environmental changes.

The world blinked into a surreal vision. The lenses were the result of many types of sensors. It had night vision, optical-vision enhancement, and thermal optics.

All are processed by the onboard computer. A system that could react fast enough to counter a flashbang. What was a blinding light was reduced to a bright light.

A far cry from what they used five years ago. The internal AC alone was enough for him to give R&D his firstborn.

He still had some nightmares about working around the Kahndaq border. The 40-degree Celsius weather in packed leather and metal? He was strapped into an oven and had 3 cases of heatstroke for his 3 week contract.

“Alright ladies,” Avery said as he stood and the others stood with him. “Let's go earn our paychecks.”

The first squad got the best gear, the best toys, and the best stuff because they were the best. Which meant that they had to play equally hard.

—

Hudson huffed as he ran forward. The power armor allowed him to generate bursts of speed that exceeded 88 km/h, or 24.5 meters in one second.

[Brakakakakkakaka]

Hudson’s body rushed across the street and the ground exploded around his form. A trail of gunfire tracked his body. The machines could not track his erratic zig-zag pattern as well as his speed.

Their shots went wild from three different locations.

Red markers appeared for the team. The bursts of gunfire were tracked, identified, and the enemy positions were marked.

[Fire at will] Apone ordered. His calm, smooth voice is a pillar for the team.

Vasquez and Drake aimed their heavy cannons at the largest groups. In sync, they began to lay down covering fire. Their M56.6 began to spit out the gram needles.

The fast and powerful needle rounds turned the enemy cover into pincushions. Some got through and hit a target. Most missed but that was fine.

Frost and Crowe circled in from the right. Hicks and Wierzbowski hit the left.

Apone watched as the groups found the enemy. Their forms turn from red dots into sharp, HD images of the foes. Skeletal robots were mixed in with the more chunky Omnic ground forces.

Apone could feel his team switch from defense to offense. The oppressive fast rounds shifted to powerful penetration mode.

The red blips began to wink out and Vasquez and Drake began to leap forward. The power armor let them rush up rubble and onto a second floor where they began to clean up.

Apone rolled his eyes. That was stupid, but he would allow it this time. The dangers were low, but bad habits were bad habits.

Lieutenant Dietrich huffed as she held her rifle and shifted her feet. While she was glad that the new armor was impressive, she did wish for the impossible.

If it only could enhance her friend’s ability to think.

—

[East City, Val Verde]

[June 22, 2023]

[1:21 AM]

[Brakakkaka]

The incoming fire tore apart the concrete walls. The high-caliber rounds met reinforced walls.

Pieces got gouged out in fist-sized chunks. The native buildings were designed to withstand typhoons. Perhaps high-velocity objects hurled by hurricanes.

Rail guns and bullets were not traditionally used by hurricanes.

The bullets made short work of the support wall. The Omnic war machine was smaller than a car but larger than a man. The armored robot fired off its heavy machine gun with impunity as it had for the last hour.

Hicks grunted as he was peppered with what his system was identifying as 15mm rounds. The heavy bullets forced him off his feet and pinned his slumped form against the wall.

Vasquez stepped out of cover as she reached her desired vantage point. Nearly three meters up, she aimed her Smart Rifle, and the internal systems locked on.

Omnic A-12. Vulnerabilities were the power core in the back area and weakened joints due to load weight. Suggested attack angle, top-down as armor seems to be thinner on top.

Her M56.6 was set to full power. Maximum penetration.

Vasquez smiled as she pulled the trigger. Her gun whined for a second as the heavy power system of her gun began a successive set of on and offs.

The simple, ferromagnetic-tungsten-lead rounds hissed out of the gun and into the air. The air pressure could not take such intense velocity. The air could not compress or separate fast enough.

The new Smart Gun had a unique effect that if fired at full power. The rounds could generate a usable, pinky-sized plasma layer around the front of the needle.

At around 1,000 degrees Celsius, it could warp most materials it touched. The target armor was never rated against plasma rounds.

The Omnic war machine buckled as Vesqueze did not hold back. Two dozen rounds to punch into the body and the last two rounds went through it.

The robot hissed, gurgled, and sparked as the armor was torn open. Its internals pierced, melted, and ripped apart.

The machine fell down with a loud thud. A massive sound broke the relatively calm night.

[Thanks] Hicks groaned out.

[No problem] Vasquez said with a shit-eating grin and tapped the gun against her helmet’s lips.

She always loved heavy weapons. This baby thought? A gun that also generated plasma fire against targets?

She was in love!

[You doing okay Hicks?] Apone asked as he stared at the remains of the enemy squad. Three A-12s this deep into East City was unnerving.

[Alive and kicking. Did I ever mention how much I love this new mark 5 armor?] Hicks said as he pushed against the wall and stood up.

For the sheer violence of the barrage, the new mark 5 armor gleamed in the moonlight.

The omnic surged into this city with much higher forces than originally anticipated. Unlike the other three major cities, East City had an enemy count nearly three times higher. The local forces were either killed or forced into retreat.

It was relieving to know that all safety shelters had contingencies. Impulse-Gates had been installed to ensure all citizens could escape if needed.

Which lead to the newest problem. Power. There wasn’t enough power in the city to ensure smooth reinforcements.

Ironic since the four major cities had massive Impulse Reactors to power the city itself. There were even reserve generators, which were not functioning.

Apone tapped into the military channels.

Magi updated his systems to show the current warzone.

There were dull brown/red blips everywhere. Problem was that it only indicated the last known positions. There could have easily been ten times that number.

Damn Omnic interference. Their jobs would be so much easier if the electronic warfare tilted to their side.

—

[Secret Lunar Base]

[June 22, 2023]

[1:25 AM]

Franky Cook stared at her bridge. Her crew moved as needed, or sat as needed.

“Readings, all clear!”

“Systems, all clear!”

“Weapons, all clear!”

Franky nodded. Her pose was firm and resembled an old friend who ran SHIELD. Her eyepatch was on the other eye. It looked more dignified and awesome, a fact that she let her friend know on the regular.

The captain touched her collar to her throat, and it tapped her into the ship’s communication system.

[All hands prepare for gating. We are entering the battlefield hot. The Supreme Leader wants the area pacified, and we will not disappoint.]

The bridge stilled as they waited for her command. Five girls in military dress uniforms stared at her for confirmation.

Franky swept her eyes across the bridge and nodded. “Gate.”

The sound of the distant impulse engines, usually silent, somehow grew. It became loud enough to drown out all the background noise.

Then the universe turned inside out and outside in.

—

[East City, Val Verde]

[June 22, 2023]

[1:25 AM]

[Cracka-TOOOOOOOOOOOM!]

The city below shook as the sky changed from starry and open skies to showcase a massive, glowing floating fortress.

Project Prometheus, the Light of Val Verde.

What was once the Hydra Terror-Carriar was now the Hildegard. A floating fortress designed to exterminate all invaders to the country.

The design was tested against six Timber Wolf battle platforms. The Hildegard won but repairs, recalibrations, and upgrades had set them back months.

The Hildegard was strong but not invincible. A fact that Captain Cook needed to keep in mind strategizing.

From the sides of the battle fortress, small chutes opened. Drones were unleashed by the dozens. Then they became a hundred.

Mega drones began to hover out. These heavily armored units were designed to facilitate information. It could also perform advanced electronic warfare.

For the soldiers on the ground, the battlefield changed.

Red blips were tracked in real-time, and enemy communication was immediately disrupted.

[Vreeeeeeeee!]

High-intensity Macro Impulse-Beam Cannons were aimed, confirmed, and fired. The high-intensity Impulse-Beams melted the targets before locking onto the next one.

The air filled with explosions as the Omnic air force reacted. Air to Air combat initiated with a new variable.

They encountered a new object. Something that their systems could see, but not properly react to.

Project Thunderbolt.

Val Verde’s newest jet fighter. It utilized the best materials, designs, and reactors that it had.

Something that Franky watched engaging the enemy with a bright smile.

—

Zinda Blake whooped into her helmet as her Thunderbolt shot down two Omnic J-4s. The enemy jets seemed so slow as her own unit swept by.

The Imuplse-Beam rifles were powerful. A simple, smaller version of what the Hildegard used, but no less dangerous.

The enemy shots that did hit only annoyed the flying machine. With the new neural interface, she could feel the shots scratch at her. Material rounds shattered against her skin, and energy weapons itched. The few that did as her body rocketed through the air.

The high G turns that should have blacked her out did little more than make her feel heavy. A gift from salvaged Kree and Skrull technology. Some sort of inertia dampener for her cockpit.

Her mind tracked targets and the support system filtered out all unnecessary information.

[Beep Beep]

Zinda looked down and saw the distress signal. The systems showed a rough 3D street where red blips were fighting green blips.

Her attention focused and the Thunderbolt veered down.

The high-output engine had her streaking to the ground. The street changed from a rough 3D outline into a real-time environment.

Zinda willed her jet to transform. It was like how one wanted to go from laying down to sitting up.

The sleek jet frame shifted and changed into a robot form. The twin Impulse-Beam rifles were linked under each arm. Much like the scorpion system of the ground soldiers.

Her jet-robot skid across the concrete road as if she was skating. Her systems locked onto the enemy and she began to fire.

The enemy forces had Val Verde ground infantry pinned down. There were a dozen large machines providing enemy cover fire as the basic infantry flanked in.

Zinda melted the lot in a barrage of attacks. Then she jumped into the air and willed it back into a jet. The cockpit shifted back down.

Her robot changed back into its jet form and flew off to swat more flies out of the skies. The air was quickly cleared of all enemy forces and the ground units were beginning to route.

Zinda smiled as if it was her 16th birthday all over again.

Damn did she love her job and this jet fighter!

—

[East City, Val Verde]

[June 22, 2023]

[1:45 AM]

Franky stared at the holographic display. The city no longer had any red blips, and the reinforcements were now entering the city.

A little late, but any internal enemies inland had to be dealt with. The citizens were warped to various locations and most of those were just deeper inland. Which was why the military was so slow to stop the East City invasion.

The lives of citizens were far more important than bits of land.

“East City has been secured. Magi, please verify,” Franky said as she pressed her collar in.

[Verification started]

Franky nodded and relaxed a few touches.

The underwater probes were now looking into the ocean but they were tricky. The navy was devastated but not completely destroyed.

The Thunderbolts were designed for all-terrain combat. Which included up to 150 meters underwater. The Impulse-Beams did work, but their range was reduced to a quarter.

So far, clear.

Franky nodded. Her home country was safe for now. Safe forever if she had anything to say about it.

“All Thunderbolts are entering phase 2 patrol routes.”

Franky nodded but said nothing. The crew knew what they were doing, and she had seen them trained personally.

The Hildegard was Val Verde’s beacon of hope. She would ensure that it burned brightly.

————

Chapter 67 - The Eastern Front