Rallying the Survivors

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several sharp gunshots rang out.

The last Imperial Orbital Paratrooper fell to the ground, terror frozen on his face.

The close-range pistol fire had nearly severed his neck, leaving only a little flesh and skin holding it together.

It wasn't that Amber liked close combat.

The main issue was the Ghost Sniper Rifle's rate of fire.

Although it was semiautomatic and didn't require him to chamber each round manually.

After every shot, the motor had to recharge.

That limited its rate of fire.

Just now, the last Imperial soldier had switched to infrared imaging and could pick out Amber's silhouette.

The 8 mm Gauss Rifle mounted on his right arm had swung toward him too.

The motor in Amber's Ghost still needed another moment to finish charging.

But he didn't dare bet that he could fire first, nor did he want the two of them to go down together.

His only option was to evade the enemy's line of fire and close in along a curved path.

Amber didn't particularly enjoy shooting people in the head and neck, either. He wasn't that twisted.

It was simply that the armor plates on the Imperial Orbital Paratroopers' exoskeletons protected them too well.

Their curved contours were not only extremely strong but also prone to deflecting bullets.

After closing in and switching to his pistol, Amber had to press the muzzle against the weak point at the back of the soldier's neck to guarantee penetration.

As he finished off the three Imperial Orbital Paratroopers, the gunfire in the distant valley suddenly intensified.

Clearly, the two 120mm High-Explosive Shells he'd fired had done their job.

Given a moment to breathe, the Federation Mobile Infantry had finally found an opportunity to use their numerical advantage and suppress the enemy in turn.

After removing the Gauss Rifle mounted on one of the bodies and digging out several Plasma Grenades.

Amber wasted no time and took off toward the valley.

At the same time, he used his high-level Psychic Agent clearance to connect directly to the nearby Federation Mobile Infantry platoon's communications channel.

"Attention, Federation soldiers currently engaged in combat. This is Warrant Officer Amber of the Tactical Support Team, Yasin Base Combat Intelligence Center."

"Under the authority granted by Federation Field Regulation DT5235, I am assuming temporary command of your unit."

"IFF is active. Everyone, watch the southeast. Hold your fire on friendlies! Hold your fire on friendlies!"

In the center of the valley, the Mobile Infantry were using their armored vehicles as cover while trading furious fire with Imperial soldiers on the high ground to either side.

When they heard the voice suddenly break into their channel, they froze for a moment, then were swept with wild relief.

They'd been bewildered when those two mortar shells landed on the Imperial soldiers.

But the transmission made them realize what was happening at once.

Reinforcements!

And a Psychic Agent, at that.

“Everyone, watch the northern slope! Block it off with Anti-Infrared Smoke Grenades!”

When people saw a glimmer of hope amid despair, they instinctively followed its light.

Just like these Mobile Infantry, who followed Amber's orders almost reflexively upon hearing his voice.

Soon, the multipurpose launchers on several Mobile Infantry soldiers' shoulders flung out a handful of Anti-Infrared Smoke Grenades.

Once the smoke obscured the vision of the Imperial soldiers ambushing them from the north, the Mobile Infantry on the valley floor saw two plasma grenades fly from the southeastern slope.

They landed on the Imperial soldiers' position to the south.

As fireballs rose from the exploding Plasma Grenades.

A figure charged out from the slope at an unbelievable speed, firing his Gauss Rifle in short bursts and dropping the Imperial soldiers who hadn't been knocked down by the blasts.

He moved so fast he almost seemed blurred. Even the little green targeting box on their visor HUDs struggled to keep up.

The Mobile Infantry watched Amber discard his empty rifle, then kick the last Imperial soldier on the southern high ground flying with monstrous force.

Then he took an Automatic Shotgun from one of the nearby bodies and calmly blasted apart the last unlucky soldier's head, visor and all. (In truth, the shot couldn't penetrate the armor plate on his chest.)

Another order came over the communications channel.

"Stop fucking standing there watching! Move up both flanks and surround them! Don't let a single one get away!"

"Keep that smoke screen up!"

At Amber's furious roar, the dumbstruck Mobile Infantry finally sprang into action.

The fewer than thirty soldiers still able to move split into two teams and charged the high ground from the left and right.

They kept throwing smoke grenades as they went, completely screening the ambush position on the northern heights.

With their vision cut off entirely, the Imperial Orbital Paratroopers began to panic.

One soldier charged out of the smoke with a 25mm Chain Gun braced on his shoulder, trying to stop the Mobile Infantry's advance.

But a steel needle round tore through the air and struck him square in the chest, knocking him back into the smoke.

The Mobile Infantry who reached the high ground spread out around the smoke, but held their fire.

The Anti-Infrared Smoke Grenades blocked the enemy's vision, but also interfered with their own.

Even with their visors switched to infrared mode, the heat from the burning white phosphorus inside the grenades made it impossible to see what was happening within.

For Amber, however, that wasn't a problem.

He could sense living creatures' vital signs through walls. A little smoke was nothing.

For him, fighting inside the smoke was a massacre with all the cheats on his side.

The stalled Mobile Infantry watched the Psychic Agent who had appeared out of nowhere charge straight into the smoke.

A rapid burst of fully automatic shotgun fire followed, accompanied by the screams of Imperial soldiers from within.

When an evening breeze gradually blew the smoke away.

The surviving Mobile Infantry looked at the man standing beside a heap of Imperial corpses, like a demon emerging from the smoke. For a moment, none dared make a sound.

"What unit are you with? Who's your commander?"

Amber had no time to wait for them to recover.

The Empire would soon discover that this squad of Orbital Paratroopers had been wiped out.

They might conclude that a sizable Federation force was here and send more units to encircle and destroy them.

"Sir! We're D Platoon, 2nd Mobile Infantry Company, 179th Combined Battalion, Yasin Base garrison."

"After the Imperial Orbital Paratroopers attacked, Lieutenant Colonel Dallas took command of the base garrison and prepared to break out of the Imperial encirclement."

A Mobile Infantry soldier whose voice sounded older stepped up to Amber.

He instinctively started to salute, but Amber stopped him.

Realizing his gesture was inappropriate under the circumstances, the Mobile Infantry soldier coughed awkwardly twice, then continued:

"But we got separated from the main force, so we were heading for the designated rendezvous point. Then Imperial troops ambushed us here."

"The platoon leader and operations staff officer were both in the first vehicle."

Amber looked in the direction he pointed. The lead vehicle at the front of the marching column had been hit by an anti-vehicle missile and was now engulfed in flames.

By now, D Platoon's headquarters personnel were probably cooked through.