In the Aleppo Region of the Middle East, although there hasn't been a large-scale alien invasion, sporadic attacks occur frequently.
Engineering teams from Flame Country and Lucia were the first to help the local garrison reinforce their defense line here, to consolidate the defense and repel potential alien attacks from this location.
So far, the defense of the line has been normal. Although large groups of aliens occasionally invade, compared to the never-ending tide-like offensives on the European Defense Line, the pressure here is much less.
If not, with the military capabilities in the Middle East Region, which were almost like a joke to Flame Country, they would have been wiped out by the aliens long ago.
Now, with a stronger defense line, repelling alien attacks has become easier.
Of course, the fact that repelling alien attacks has become easier doesn't mean that the garrison here can relax.
On the contrary, upon realizing the true scale of the alien threat, the troops stationed in the Aleppo Region became noticeably more anxious than before.
Before Flame Country and Lucia came to help reinforce the defense line, they thought it was just a regional disaster, not intense enough, something they could handle alone.
Countries in the Middle East even thought it was a type of previously undiscovered sea creature that lived deep underwater, only appearing on land due to this disaster.
So even though they concentrated most of the military forces of the Middle East, which survived the disaster, in the Aleppo Region for combat, their approach was fundamentally like dealing with a biological pest.
However, when Flame Country and Lucia gradually appeared, with equipment comparable to a sci-fi film to fight aliens, and told them these creatures were extraterrestrial invaders intending to conquer the world, with Europe being fully attacked, these Middle Eastern oil magnates were utterly baffled.
Initially, they thought it was a joke, as after a disaster, Flame Country took out equipment like Land Ships and Power Armor, indistinguishable from a sci-fi movie; it was more believable to say they were the invading aliens than the creatures being extraterrestrial.
But when various data and video records were laid before them, they had no choice but to believe the world had changed.
Especially when Flame Country simply took them for a spin on the Land Ship, showing them the European Battlefield. Witnessing firsthand the tide-like offensive threatening to engulf the earth, these oil magnates had no choice but to believe.
As a result, their army moved like donkeys kicked in the rear, cooperating with Flame Country and Lucia to reinforce the defense line.
These oil magnates even revealed their reserves, purchasing a large amount of new weaponry from Flame Country to rearm the military, while hiring Flame Country nationals as instructors to retrain the entire army.
The purpose was to enhance the combat capability of these troops, ensuring they could better protect themselves.
Flame Country and Lucia didn't comment on the actions of these oil magnates, but their willingness to cooperate was certainly a good thing.
Thus, later, Flame Country dispatched high-ranking officials to oversee the construction of the Middle East defense line and to build Dome City for these oil magnates and Middle Eastern dignitaries.
However, these developments had little to do with the troops stationed in the Aleppo Region, apart from being re-equipped and heavily drilled, there was no other impact.
Unless the defense line they are stationed on is completely breached, they will not withdraw.
The Dome City being built on the Iranian Plateau was beyond the concern of these big-headed soldiers; rather than wishing for impractical things, it was better to spend more time training, hoping to survive and possibly get promoted off the front line, becoming a guard for those big shots, and live in those houses said to have plants and sunlight.
To these defenders of the Aleppo Defense Line, being reassigned to the rear and becoming a guard for the influential was their ultimate goal and dream.
Nonetheless, even so, they only occasionally pondered such thoughts, as survival was the most practical concern for them.
Although the alien assault on the Aleppo Defense Line wasn't fierce, it still faced an alien invasion. Even with defense line upgrades making defenses more robust, people still died daily fighting aliens.
However, today seemed different; the Flame Country personnel training them seemed to receive orders, requiring them to dispatch a unit as a reserve to cooperate with their actions.
Yet, the Flame Country personnel didn't disclose what action they were to cooperate with, only instructing them to gear up and assemble, leaving them waiting.
As for what they were waiting for, the Flame Country personnel always avoided discussion, positioning people continuously on the forefront of the line with night vision goggles watching the sky, as if anticipating something from above.
The garrison was somewhat confused, but since these Flame Country personnel were commanding them, and they were ordered by higher-ups to cooperate, they could only obediently follow orders and wait.
As they waited in some boredom, these Flame Country personnel seemed to finally encounter what they had been waiting for and started signaling into the sky.
The seasoned troops then witnessed Titans beginning to fall from the sky.
A squadron of twelve new Titans equipped with Shield Systems, an additional squadron of twelve older Titans equipped with Shield Equipment, and a Command Plane were all dropped from the sky by two specially modified Land Ships.
Titans had been airdropped before, but usually at low altitude, or simply by helicopters lowering them into position.
This time, however, they used a high-altitude drop, releasing twenty-five Titans from five thousand meters above the ground.
Inside the Titan cockpits, many pilots were tense, but only those operating the twelve older Titans with Shield Equipment felt such tension; the pilots of the twelve new Titans did not.
Because these twelve new Titans were unmanned, equipped with weak AI, allowing for a certain degree of autonomous combat, directed and controlled by a Command Plane.
This time Flame Country deployed them to the Aleppo Defense Line not just to test the air-drop equipment, but also to assess the actual combat capabilities of the new unmanned Titans.
"We've reached the parachute deployment altitude. All units, deploy parachutes!" instructed the Command Plane as it opened its own parachute.
Thus, under the surprised eyes of the ground forces, flowers of parachutes bloomed in the sky.
