─── Pick! Pick!
"Ugh, ugh..."
"...!"
Thud!
As two Chinese soldiers, who had been scanning the surroundings with binoculars on the quiet rooftop, fell to the ground like rag dolls, the muzzle that had been resting on the wall of the rooftop disappeared, and the two silhouettes leisurely ascended the roof.
With a soft metallic sound, the two men silently landed on the rooftop. They held pistols in their hands, and the drone hovering above indicated with its gaze that the deaths of the two soldiers were not the end.
Soon, the second metallic sound echoed. This time, the sound of the body falling to the ground was unheard of. The bullet had torn through the soldier’s body, preventing the body from crashing to the ground.
The cigarette ends still smoked in the mouths of the enemies.
"They’re thoughtful friends. They even marked their position to make it easier for us to find them."
"Do you think they knew that the cigarette burn would outlast their lives?"
"Who knows. Those who met these friends again on the River Styx will probably ask them."
Yujin nodded with a ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) somewhat wistful expression, and Olivia quietly secured the path leading up to the rooftop. She hadn’t welded the door shut with thermite since they would need to descend that way later.
The rooftop returned to silence, but Yujin was looking down at the grand scene visible beneath. Just a few hundred meters away, the guided points where enemies were gathered flickered with lights and noise.
The parking lots and gymnasiums, frozen solid in the winter cold, were gradually being covered by large tents. Some armored vehicles had started parking inside tents, the same color as the gymnasium or parking lot.
Surprisingly, the view from a slight side elevation was completely different from the view from the sky.
"...From the sky, it’s hard to tell if this is just a playground or if there’s something more."
"It’s not properly set up yet. If we angle the tents to the side, we’ll need to deploy a proper reconnaissance drone to detect them. Even then, once the engines are turned off and the temperature matches the outside, it’ll be hard to pick them up with heat detection."
"So, we need to break it down now."
"Looks like you’ve gotten quicker, junior."
Yujin glanced down with a mixture of joy and bitterness on her face, while Olivia continued to monitor the surroundings, keeping the communications flowing.
Below, the strike team was also moving.
They had turned toward the government building and, while keeping watch, dragged a sleeping soldier outside the building. They immediately interrogated him to extract the location of someone higher in rank.
After repeating the process about two more times, the strike team finally learned that the anti-aircraft missile battalion had not deployed in the area — in fact, it had been shot down during insertion — and that portable surface-to-air missiles were stored in a separate location.
That was enough.
Olivia simply flicked her hand, sending a signal, and soon a voice came through the intercom.
-[Confirmed. The Avenger, which had been on standby at Westchester Military Airport, just took off. It will arrive in the operation area within 3 minutes.]
There was no response. Now it was time for the Eagle Team.
Olivia placed a hand on the junior’s shoulder and added,
"Let’s begin, junior."
"Yes, yes. I’ll do my best..."
"You better."
Yujin took a deep breath, and after a short time, she checked the data uploaded to the interface.
The two Avengers flying toward the area had the call signs Valkyrie 1-1 and 1-2, and the enemy type was fixed vehicles. Therefore, a BOC (Bomb on Coordinate) was appropriate.
Though it was night, the target’s precise information meant that the bombing type was Type II. Yujin, as a JTAC, mentally noted the data she had to confirm, just as Olivia had taught her.
Then, a follow-up comment.
"...But, isn’t the bombing location too close?"
"We’ll designate the bombing location and inform the strike team. They’ll back off and give the OK sign. We just need to hold the rooftop until then. Before that, do what we can. How’s the grid reference update?"
"Ah, I’ll do it now."
"Next time, be more prepared."
In these moments, Olivia could only become strict.
Yujin looked slightly flustered, but she couldn’t stop or hand over the situation to someone else. She fumbled but kept doing her job, confirming the trajectory of the friendly aircraft.
She checked the IP, the approach point, and needed to relay the direction and distance to the drone pilot to reach the minimum location for the bombing. She didn’t need the altitude but had to get all the details right.
The next steps included the target’s type and coordinates, how to mark the target, the friendly position, and finally, whether the aircraft conducting the air support would stay in the area or withdraw.
As she processed the grid reference update, the coordinates were computed, and soon, the Dagger Team received the OK signal.
-[Coordinate point designated - 1: 41.378422, -73.962436 // Converted: FI 154236.]
-[Target confirmation: multiple infantry and BMD-4M.]
Yujin swallowed hard before speaking.
This was her first JTAC mission.
"I’ll inform Valkyrie 1-1. It’s Tangsso Viper, requesting Type II. Preparing 9-line. The strike type is... BOC. Please brief on the current location once ready."
Yujin barely remembered that it was the phonetic code derived from Peekskill, a small city about 12 kilometers south. She added:
"Approach via Whiskey. Azimuth 100. 2.5 miles from the IP. Altitude 60. Multiple infantry and BMD-4M. FI 154236. Laser code... 1458. Danger close. Abort code... Lancer. No exit from the operation area."
At that moment, Yujin felt a hand brush past her head, and she recognized it was Olivia’s. After a loose smile, she refocused and heightened her tension.
She wasn’t striking moving targets, nor was she in a dense forest, and there was no urgent need to verify terrain like special forces or pilots in a desperate situation. But still, Yujin realized, for the first time, that she had accomplished something.
-[Reached IP. Pulse.]
"Uh, pulse... pulse confirmed."
Click!
Having remembered what the pulse was, Yujin pulled out a tripod, placed a small target designator on top, and activated it. The designator blinked, continually aiming at the same position.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
Though it was incredibly complex, considering that a single bombing could take out several dozen, maybe even a hundred people, it was surprisingly simple in procedure.
Yujin exhaled deeply, precisely marking the bombing location. How long had passed?
-Valkyrie 1-1 to Viper. Ready to engage (In hot).
"No enemy movement. Begin attack (Cleared hot)."
-Beginning attack. Cluster bombs inbound.
A bomb dropped, cutting through the dark night sky.
Only Dagger Team knew where it was headed, and even Yujin, who had requested the strike, had no idea where the bomb was going to land.
However, one person, Olivia, remained fixed on the dark night sky. Slowly, she tilted her head downward—
───!
When the cluster bomb reached the height sufficient to break into hundreds of submunitions, it became a burst of starlight.
As the starlight rained down on the ground with a thunderous roar, everything within the bombing range was engulfed in a thick, gray smoke. The few remaining lights in the parking lot and stadium shattered completely.
Among the deafening explosion, the screams of a few survivors, and the sound of armored vehicles exploding into pieces, echoed through the air.
But that wasn’t the end.
To avoid friendly fire, the cluster bomb had been dropped slightly off-center from the middle of the field, and some of the enemies who hadn’t yet tasted the cluster bombs were still alive.
It didn’t take long before the second round of cluster bombs began to descend.
───Boom!
"...Eh, ugh."
"Are you okay? Want me to cover your eyes?"
"...No, it’s just... a little, no, I’m fine. Just... cover me now."
Of course, that wasn’t a difficult request.
Despite her training, Yujin was still too young to fully endure the atrocities of war and take them in with her own eyes.
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.
Olivia wordlessly held her and patted her gently.
The dawn at West Point was a loud, chaotic mess.
In the early hours of 3:01 AM, December, in New York’s West Point, which was a bit warmer than Russia’s winter at about -3°C, the allied forces, who had been peacefully sleeping and had even borrowed the facility, were pierced by a terrible explosion.
Their reflexive, spinal cord reaction led them to immediately recognize what they needed to do.
They scrambled into the hastily made bomb shelters.
Hundreds of soldiers rushed underground to protect their lives.
Of the hundreds of people, only the bravest or most fearless came out to try and figure out what kind of attack had been launched and where it was targeted.
When the silence finally lifted, orders were given.
"No contact with the brigade stationed south!"
"Smoke... smoke is rising!"
"The U.S. forces are attacking! Increase the security and put all personnel on combat alert!"
"What do we do with the hostages?"
"...Dammit, is that important right now?! Just follow the orders and do your job!"
Of course, it was utter chaos.
It was a catastrophe that had occurred out of nowhere. Just hours earlier, they had barely finished a fierce battle and were finally about to rest, when the attack came in the middle of their most vulnerable moment.
Even though they had just begun taking shifts to rest, the U.S. forces attacked fiercely at the weakest moment, determined to take advantage.
At least, that’s what the West Point soldiers and the higher-ups believed.
That was, until they realized no simultaneous assault had followed the artillery bombardment.
"...Why, why is no one coming?"
"Dammit, is that really important right now? No one can get in touch with the units stationed in the south!"
"Shut up, you idiots! We should be deploying guards, not worrying about this!"
It was inevitable.
The situation had become unmanageable. It was almost impossible to believe that the ones who had attacked the brigade were only a handful of men, not even ten, but for the high command of the coalition forces, this was an absurd situation.
However, this was the Third World War. The so-called "manual" had collapsed, and new towers of strategy were being built, only for them to crumble just as easily in the chaos.
Even the Icarus Operators had been fighting long enough to create their own version of the "manual."
It was no surprise that the coalition forces were in disarray.
But what the coalition forces didn’t realize was the speed at which the Icarus Operators' blades cut through their defenses — faster than they had ever anticipated.
The Dagger Team’s destination was one place: the dormitory where the soldiers from Central Park HQ were being held captive by the enemy.
Pick! Pick! Pick!
"Ugh..."
"Ugh!"
Thud!
Around five coalition soldiers guarding various hallways fell one by one. Not a single one of them had a head intact, as if crushed like watermelons.
When the captives inside the dormitory heard the commotion, they got up and, not long after, the sounds of footsteps stopped.
The Icarus Operators, who often roamed the HQ, stood before them.
"Well, well."
"I came to do some sniping, but I’m using the dot sight on the LPVO more than expected... Anyway, thanks for waiting. How extensive is the damage?"
"Seriously, you guys came to rescue us? Am I dreaming or is this real?"
"Well, answer my question first. About 50 of us are dead, Operator. We were guarding the airport, but at night, soldiers with parachutes began dropping one by one from the opposite side..."
"They came all the way from a distant drop point by HAHO. They landed right at West Point."
A brief silence.
Then, a voice full of hope followed.
"So, does this mean we’ll be able to escape soon if we just wait a little longer?"
"Honestly, not really. Dagger Team was sent here to prevent further escalation, and strictly speaking, rescue is not part of our mission. But..."
"...But?"
"If you help us out to some extent, we can throw all the enemies here into the River Styx, and as a result, if there’s no one left to block our escape, we can safely return to HQ."
"Excuse me?"
"It’s a bit messy, but there are five enemy firearms with plenty of ammunition and bulletproof vests in the hallway. We’ll raid the armory. Just don’t take the military uniforms, or you might get shot by mistake."
At that moment, the hostages held captive at the HQ realized what that meant.
Logan added, in an irresistible tone:
"Would you like to become the heroes of West Point’s liberation?"
Naturally, no one refused.
It had only been 10 minutes since the large-scale rebellion began.