Ters-Ly War (8)

  “I don't know what we'll face, but it won't be so smooth anymore.” Fox started, cracking his neck a little before continuing. “We will search how to kill the targets, nothing will be more important. Check as much as possible, and when the time comes, we'll deal with what's in front.”

  “Lye?” Fox asked out of nowhere, as if just in case. The representative captains and the other Captain responded, to his mild surprise, including Nala. “Lye.”

  Fox nodded before taking his helmet off, leaning back on his seat, feeling comfortable enough. The tankettes continued on their way to the westernmost northern regions, in their mission to take out the heads of Terka, who hid in not the capital, a safe place, but a faraway location from the war.

  The war would still continue, but the SAs were already on their way to achieve the ending of it all. At least, that was the idea.

  … Several hours later, they arrived at a safe house prepared by the District beforehand. The company rested there. These were part of the stationed SAs who did the previous scouting and gathering of information, who discovered the Terkan president’s whereabouts.

  The others were already deep into the war at the frontlines. Regardless, these SAs welcomed Fox respectfully. They introduced the SA company into vital information immediately, with the sight of at least 3 hoog organizations involved, including the Terkan hoog, and Tri Shield Fortress.

  These news were as crucial as they were impactful. But it obstructed nothing. Besides, TSF was probably here to kill Terkan effectives scouting, and maybe the Terkan hoog as well.

  Regardless, the mission was still there, and it was the highest-profile Fox has ever been part of since his ‘career’ as a special agent. The representative captains and Captain added to the planning, with some 2nd and 3rd Grade Captains that scouted adding pieces of information.

  After the first day of new goals for information being set a-going, which was all Fox kept asking about, Fox let the others decide what exactly to do with the offensive and flash strike to assassinate their targets.

  Close to the night, Fox returned to the Red tankette, only to hear Miros in the tech tankette. After grabbing his sleeping bag, washed but still reminiscing of ‘sweet’ moments, Fox took a look.

  “Ah, boss.” Miros looked at Fox, who took a look into the tankette where his tools and equipment were. Fox nodded and entered, checking what the boy was working on, before sitting at the side, a meter away from the hardworking fella.

  Miros had what was one of his refused drones for Piya Sanctum District’s use in the past, when he first presented it, which was small with stagnant ‘wings’ folded backwards. It looked like a bird diving from the sky, but sharp and with a notorious damage potential if used as a weapon. It wasn’t, however.

  Miros was focused, looking down the baby in his hands, which was no longer than 20 centimeters, and about half a meter wide. It could be considered a wingspan, if it wasn’t because those ‘wings’ didn’t look as such.

  “I thought Colmillo would be around,” Fox finally commented, having done his best to understand what was going on there. While the comet he developed was of an advanced, new niche technology, it was a bion. Bion and technology weren’t in different fields of expertise, but they were vastly different pertaining to some vital characteristics.

  What Miros created years before today was a drone, one that could be considered to have reached the rooftop of the military grade nowadays, but it was too bland. Its use was also quite limited, and it was too costly, so using it for surveillance or dropping grenades was too wasteful.

  Thus, even Luis refused it after Butler did, not wishing to spend more for a differently designed drone, with more cost but less benefit.

  “Oh, no, I just needed my time alone, you know?” Miros looked up and looked at Fox, a little awkward, but clearly feeling good talking about it to someone, somehow. Fox nodded, looking at the drone behind Miros, pointing at it. “Is that the Viper? Is it ready?”

  It was the other drone Miros had as his baby. It had a length of half a meter, and according to the information Fox read, it could extend its actual wingspan to 3 meters. Otherwise, those wings would remain folded for a width of 1.25 meters.

  This one was Miros’s ‘masterpiece’ to transport people and supplies, but like other drones the army has, and PSD can make use of for certain assignations, it was refused. Once again, it was not beneficial, too costly and as useful as other models.

  Miros grabbed it, leaving the small one on his lap to pass it to Fox, wearing half a smile when Fox started scrutinizing it. Fox’s polycoria darted around, looking at the new additions he’s seen Miros work sweat and to exhaustion while he ‘conversed’ with the army.

  Fox lifted his eyes to Miros after checking it, “Is it prepared with everything?”

  “Yes, boss.” Miros nodded firmly, not as boyishly as before, but still with the same essence. His voice was growing a bit, along with the maturity of his attitude, though it was still in progress. Then, he passed what seemed like a watch-sized panel to Fox, “This is the control remote. It has all the features you wanted, only not as detailed or deep as the Insect Snake.”

  “Mhm, I see. These will be exceptional for the mission, Miros.” Fox said, rising the drone and not listening to any reply, but still hearing Miros tweak with the smaller drone, albeit slower. He looked down. Miros was a little absentminded, still working on his drone with delicateness.

  “Once it is used as good as it will be, you’ll start getting rich.” Fox blinked and added, all to add to the hidden longing of acceptation of this poor boy. Miros might never show it, but he had a desire from the 2 fatherly figures he found in Butler and the President. While Fox didn’t feel the same, or something similar, he understood the boy’s sentiment.

  “Thanks, boss. That would be for the best.” Miros nodded, looking up at Fox before childishly hiding his tears which were threatening to spill. Fox rolled his eyes and continued looking at the drone, frowning as he wondered how these were made with such easy by the boy.

  “…” Miros looked at this and blinked. Fox seemed to want to learn more. He blinked some more before thinking of a way of thanking the boss for being patient with him, and supposedly ‘seeing’ things others didn’t in small matters like his failed babies.

  … After meeting with Miros, Fox tried out the Viper a little, finding it rather helpful to the point he actually thought it could be used for transporting people. He still shook his head. For something as small and ‘singular’ to be used even by special agents would be inadequate. There were better, faster, stealthy ways to infiltrate or gain a good position/angle to assassinate.

  Nevertheless, despite its wastage for what Miros thought would be best for years ago, and not counting the new additions that’d change the course of at least this drone; Fox felt a good sense of its utility to his likings.

  Then, he went to the place where he and Nala would rest; a small room with some ventilation. It was still quite hot in this time of the year. There, he found Nala already prepared to rest, cuddling and chatting with him, and perhaps some more ‘research’. The technology in this part of Terka was bleak, so it only had a small vent with some fresh but not cold air coming in.

  She was out of her NUA, with her uniform on, and flinging her hair just when Fox entered their room. A minute later, they got all comfy and warm in their sleeping bag, their bodies against one another. The meeting was postponed a little, letting their brains work their magic after receiving the information.

  Some time later, after spending their cherished moments of silence, Nala lifted her head and look at his face before leaning it on the wall. Her nose just below his earlobe, and her lips moving on his jaw, she inquired. “I have some doubts about you.”

  “Hoh? How can you not know everything about me?” Fox jumped his eyebrows and genuinely asked. Nala narrowed her eyes, “Indeed. I even know of your little past lovers. So…”

  Fox listened attentively. Nala’s lips moved while she formed a little smile with them, her face mostly covered by his. She was enchantingly sweet, “How come you’re coughing blood but never expel it elsewhere?”

  “You’re talking about my other holes, other than my nostrils and mouth?” Fox blinked. Nala looked at him with bothered eyes, before she curtly added. “Your sperm neither comes with blood. How so?”

  Fox smirked before responding, “Before getting my arm, the doctor did some operations in my body. Thanks to that, I only spit, have a bloody-runny nose, and sometimes cry blood. Otherwise, I’d shit, pee, and… ‘give’…? Ahem, my sperm with blood too, at times.”

  “Hmm…” Nala frowned, holding his right wrist unknowingly. A few minutes later, she changed the subject after remembering something else. “Why are you looking at your NUA’s hands so much? Did something happen to them? Got broken?”

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  “Oh, that…” Fox looked at the ceiling with upturned eyes before grabbing the large, heavy box where he stored his NUA. Nala’s box was right beside it. He opened his and took his armored hand segments out, showing them to Nala.

  There wasn’t light from the room other than a thin, reddish-orange light tube at a corner of the wall behind them. Even then, Nala immediately saw the dents where the fingertips go, with the size exactly as those of Fox’s ultra nails.

  “You…” Nala stupidly locked eyes with Fox. She silenced any questions she had first before checking both segments, finding the same. She looked back at his face and finally asked, “You don’t even have a pinch of Mintip in your ultra nails or teeth, how could they make dents in processed Mintip?”

  Nala shook her head and took his wrists, “Let them out, let me see them.”

  Fox obeyed, letting her see his practically untouched ultra nails. His ordinary nails sharpened, showing that unrealistic motion again. Nala frowned a little, slowly tilting her head left and right before touching them. After a couple of minutes testing, even biting a bit, she dropped them.

  “They look perfect, their surface is mostly intact, clearly healing from their damage… They don’t bend, can cut my skin open, and they still warn my teeth I might break them if I try to bite them…” She thought for a moment before seriously adding, “They don’t feel different in or on my body, neither…”

  “…” Fox blinked a few times in a row. ‘Was that necessary?’

  Nala looked back at him, slowly returning to her position with her face near his jaw and earlobe. She hugged him, showing both subtle elation and sadness in her gray, light blue eyes. “You supposedly evolved once already. You’ve also trained to use these… evolved features better for years. Could you be going through another… evolution?”

  “…” Fox pressed his lips. Then, he shook his head for a brief moment, “I have no idea. The last person who knew about that was felled. Although others could take an interest in me, they either treat it as second-handed in their line of work, or are simply not focused enough. I don’t want any of that, nor do I need to bother my doctor while he is still invested in the silver medicine.”

  “What if that… brings you out of the race against death?” Nala softly muttered, caressing his chest and collarbone, just below his neck. Fox held her hand with a soft grasp from his fingers. “Maybe in the future… I- something tells me I can’t stay idle for a time now.”

  “Indeed,” Nala lifted her head and hovered over his face, silently looking at his face before lowering her lips to smooch his mouth sweetly, dedicated. She then leaned her head beside him again, hugging his shoulders a bit too tight. Her small voice sounded, “You’re stuck in the unimaginable now. And you have me. You can’t face an unknown risk without… being with me.”

  “The queen has spoken,” Fox commented, rubbing his profile side on her face, feeling her fluttering eyelashes. Nala nuzzled her nose into his neck, “Hmph.”

  . . .

  Time passed. The war continued, yet, it had been shortened without prior notice by Lymoca.

  When the world least expected it, as experts varied between discussing the continuation of the war until beginning to see its ends between the 9th to 11th month of the year, Lymoca sent shipment via all means.

  At first, it didn’t raise many eyebrows, as the Lymocan artillery was mostly transported to the war after the soldiers arrived, or they might’ve taken a few more days before arriving at Terka, and advancing within. In addition, the enemy wouldn’t have been forced to move out and face them.

  Regardless, while it was thought Lymoca was sending more arsenal, maybe a bit too much, the truth was revealed just the next day after these supplies were received in Terka. There were simple news: other pistols, explosives, and a notorious upgrade of the armored vehicles and helicopters. There were also ‘new’ artillery guns.

  Even though it was almost enough to supply 200,000 soldiers with these, they became too notorious in the battlefield. Everyone knew Lymoca had as much technology in some regards to the world’s actual military tech. But, with this, they showed… they might have a few leading roles from now on.

  The armored vehicles had a faster, steady marching speed of 50 to 65 km per hour. They had better all-terrain functionality, with the use of Pugor bars to feed it, only needing 2 of such Pugor fuel every several days before needing to replenish.

  When traveling around hills, it could level itself even in the air, even if there was a short time to react for the vehicle, avoiding overturning. It also worked when blasted away, or falling from a high altitude by accident or during combat.

  Going through troublesome terrain, except deep waters, became easier. The entire vehicle was built with Mintip and Courusel, using an exquisite combination, from machinery also made of Courusel, to travel through anything on land.

  The fronts of the armored vehicles looked like they were eating the ground, while the wheels seemed doubled. In truth, it was a complex multiple-faced armoring in movement. It ricocheted bullets, rockets, and even warheads, although their proficiency still had to be tested more.

  The tankettes were a bit shorter, but their armor now consisted of processed Mintip. It was barely a series of processing, more like the medium NUA. Only, this one had 2 layers, with the addition of caged antennas for the vehicle radar and the detector of Lymocan devices.

  Thanks to this, with the permeability of any element and adaptability to such from the Mintip, and the exquisite all-rounder solid yet stable structure of Courusel works, it also had encrypted communications. It wasn’t to the level of the devices that take hours to form a connection with a base of intelligence, but it made communication in the war much smoother for Lymoca.

  Now, every military unit higher than a squad, starting from the platoons, had at least a tankette. These also counted with a small turret hidden on its rear, with an automatic turret at the front and back to aid the main turrets atop the tankettes. Their all-terrain was also improved, thought not as much as the other armored vehicles. Their speed increased just the same, thankfully.

  All these had better maneuverability, with their engines just like a small toy with remote control, fast and precise when starting, and a much better turning and speeding up. This also demanded a higher improvement in their clutches and slowing down, which were adequately implemented.

  They were also all of a murky green, like the rest of most new equipment. All military grade vehicles shared these same colors with an emblem of Lymoca’s symbol.

  The helicopters were also changed, but these had their appearance reworked more than the land vehicles. Both types, support and combat, became smaller, almost like the generally known light models.

  The light ones were now for only 1 person in the cabin and another one doing some engineering in the back. The support types had installable fire-fighting, water-rescuing equipment, which could be stored in the chopper, with a single rotor and 2 small machine guns at the front.

  The regular model of the support helicopter had 2 rotors, a bit bulky at the front half, with one rotor atop the front, and the second slightly below on the rear. It had air propellants at its sides, where the rotors’ space between the rotors was located. These increased the speed boost and ascending, with a need for mastery so that the Pugor bars, which practically all Lymocan vehicles used, wouldn’t be used up too fast.

  The light combat helicopters were for only 2 people, with 2 rolls of rockets of 12 salvos, and up to 8 missiles from both sides of its flat plates just behind the cabin. It had one scary machine gun below the cabin, with full control and targeting system, like the rest of the Lymocan vehicles.

  This new, targeting system was Courusel-Mintip made, with Courusel making most of it. It was fueled by a small ball of Pugor, which worked with the integrated system made with the same combination, albeit not of the same proportions. Regardless, the tracking of the Lymocan vehicles’ guns was something innovative, which the world hadn’t seen before with such synergy.

  The regular combat helicopter was for 1 pilot and 2 others who could work the helicopter’s resupplying of ammunition and storing. It would be necessary, as these had larger fuel boxes than any other none-navy vehicle, second only to the new warplanes or the heavy choppers.

  It had the same qualities as the light combat helicopter, but this one had mobile radar and sonar devices, which can share information to every new Lymocan vehicle and base of intelligence. Furthermore, the ammunition inside was enough to match that of 4 light models.

  It had seats for 4 soldiers beside the 3 main personnel, but it had space for a couple of injured and their equipment, nothing more.

  It no longer had a rotor atop, only at the back, while 2 wings spreading to the sides like metal plates, 2 meters long, expelled powerful air to maintain itself airborne. The use of Pugor bars was major than in other vehicles because of this, but the consumption wasn’t too much.

  It could combat continuously for a few days before having to return to the secured storage facilities, extremely protected, and then return to the conflict. It might look crude, but it was highly functional.

  The heavy combat helicopter had 2 scary machine guns, one below, the other at their left, and another 2 slightly smaller machine guns on the right side. The cabin was small, for 2 people only, but it required another 2 to constantly move.

  It had 2 floors, built in more detail than the regular model. The first consisted of the armory, where the rolls of rockets and missiles were stored, along the machine guns’ ammunition, which had to go in a box, well-placed and ready to be eaten away. The other was for transport.

  The ammunition is chained quite largely, but while the storage was enough for more missiles and rockets than a regular combat helicopter, its major function was its survivability. It was almost as agile as a regular model, but it was faster, making the consumption of Pugor bars was a few times more expensive.

  It could last an entire day and a few hours in combat, as tests would have it, before retreating to resupply. Additionally to their airlifted systems, the Pugor consumption was further pressured by the fast mechanism it has to hide and reveal the rocket launchers and missiles.

  The heavy combat helicopter kept them the installable missiles to be reloaded after keeping them inside, with the rocket launchers just the same. It was a quick, smart set of mechanisms, and multi-tested for any inconveniences. This was for the sake of the chopper in case it was hit hard and fell, or exploded. The storage floor was built to keep the chopper from a chain reaction with so much ammunition in play.

  Its appearance was like a sharp monster of metal and barely any glass at the front, which were intricate processed Mintip made as transparent as possible. But looking at it from the front, a few meters away, was enough to instill momentum of doom in anyone’s hearts… against it. For the Lymocans, it was their star to follow.

  Its airlifted system came from 3 sets of plates protruding to the sides, one below the other, and slightly to the back. It had engine-like systems at its rear, where the tail started extending backwards. However, it kept auxiliary rotors hidden in case they broke, malfunctioned by affliction, or the chopper ran out of Pugor.

  When these first appeared, able to carry 20 soldiers and their equipment in one go, it was like a bunch of worms watching the serpent royalty descend from the unseeable, unreachable heights.

  The surrender rates increased vehemently after Lymoca’s new vehicles made their presence known, leaving experts who discussed the war baffled. They got it all wrong…

  …