303: The Gap Between

The Gap Between

Lander kept on attacking in the middle of the battle. He was in a hurry to kill, but he dared not shoot beyond the range of his expertise. He was competing with the detestable Major Gardo, but as a soldier, he would dare not risk the lives of these soldiers.

The Commanders had already concluded that Lander was dangerous and placed the full effort into killing him. Some fired powerful solarium beams, but it proved useless against Lander.

He was known as the Hero of Helion's tragedy and had fought and survived against several waves of Exoskeletons. And now, with his Unlocking, facing an army was possible.

Still, Lander's own supply of energy was running low. His Skill had a limit, and since most attacks were now using tracing bullets, evading was becoming a task.

As such, Lander had to attack and use suppressing fire at various cases, and while he couldn't disable a soldier, it would injure some of them and force them to retreat or find cover.

The Commanders continued to order the soldiers to change the formation to keep moving away and wear down the Major with ranged fire.

The time limit drew near, and Lander was immersed in the battle and even forgot about the gamble on the last minute.

He fell into the trance of the battle. He was immersing himself into the flow. He felt as if he was a musician lost in the world of his own melody.

Roselyn and the rest of the Unlocked who watched the battle saw the magnificent movements.

"Amazing…" Lucy praised.

"Zone! That's definitely zone!"

"That's expected of him. Lander spent the most time with Seeker after all of us. He is someone that Lynd even praised." Roselyn reminded.

"Look's like this battle is his victory." Arclight concluded.

"Wanna bet?" Hank laughed as he moved closer to the group.

"Gardo's the winner here." Zidane added.

"Yeah. He managed to wound the boss after all." Counter recalled.

"That's Zone! Look! Lander is already able to see and understand the entire battle! Right now, his map awareness, response, and judgment are at their peak!" Arclight argued.

"Why are you guys here?" Czerus asked the Small Time Drug Dealers.

"The battle is about to end. The time limit draws near, and if we stay behind, we won't be able to fight." Counter explained.

"Yeah. I'm excited at winning! Those inexperienced Unlocked soldiers are all betting on Lander. I can't wait for the winning pile!" Counter gave a hearty laugh.

"I just can't see how Major Gardo wins this! His attacks are unnoticed in the battle!"

"Exactly." Roselyn finally sighed.

"The Small Time Drug Dealers are right. It's a good thing I didn't bet until now." 

"Hmm. Cheater." Zidane cursed. Roselyn was among the richer soldiers on this battlefield.

"Lieutenant? How can Gardo win?" Even the more perceptive Lucy of Warfreakz cannot understand how Gardo will win.

"He was intentionally attacking in a very spread out area and minimizing the perceived threat he gives to the army. This way, the soldiers will focus on Lander. His attacks are meticulous and precise. I won't have noticed this if these three haven't mentioned it. You detected it through Realm Synch?" Roselyn asked.

"People keep asking us how we do Realm Synch, but we really don't know. Why is Realm Synch necessary to detect Major Gardo's movements?" Zidane asked curiously.

Roselyn wanted to slap Zidane. The one thing that the Unlocking couldn't cure was wisdom and intellect. Despite having enough knowledge and memory that could put to shame mathematicians, these three were still slow on the uptake.

"Never mind." Roselyn ignored the three but couldn't help but admire them. If they could see and notice how Gardo's attacks worked, it meant the Small Time Drug Dealers could sense the entire battlefield.

"Was that a… double eagle?" Hank was amazed.

"Right! That was a double eagle!" Counter confirmed.

"A double eagle?" Roselyn asked.

"It's what Major calls when he can hit two soldiers with one bullet. I think he borrowed it from golf terms. If two enemies are killed, or in this case disabled, he calls it a Birdie. If three, it's an Eagle. If four, then it's a Double Eagle. But I heard Lennox refer to it as an Albatross." 

"I wonder if the Major can pull of a Condor."

"Five enemies in one hit? Not with regular bullets." 

"Wow. Another Double Eagle!" Zidane muttered in amazement.

"How do you guys see that?! Where in this battlefield are those attacks occurring?" Roselyn was now getting irritated.

"You guys can't see it?"

"We don't have Realm Synch! Especially one as disgusting as yours!" Roselyn erupted.

"We honestly don't know. But one day, we just managed to see things the way another person sees it."

"The boss said that our Realm Synch is improving." Counter shrugged.

"Oh. Times up."

"Erm… General Lennox, Sir? Can you announce the winner to everyone?"

"No need for the formalities. I am not the real Lennox but a thought. Just treat me like an AI." Lennox's voice replied to Zidane, who made the request.

"Times up. Final confirmed disabled soldier count. Lander injured a hundred and fifteen soldiers. Ninety-seven of them are confirmed to have been disabled soldiers. No accidental kills. Gardo, of one hundred seventeen injured, a total of One hundred seventeen confirmed disabled soldiers. No kills. Gardo wins." Lennox broadcasted.

A commotion erupted as the Unlock were shocked at Gardo's victory. Of course, these were all complaints of how they lost in the gamble. No one dared question the Overcomer's judgment.

"Alright. Time to move." Roselyn called all the soldiers and issued the attack.

The Small Time Drug Dealers were the first to move, and Warfreakz followed behind.

The WGP Commanders felt helpless as they saw over a hundred soldiers move out. Some of the Unlocked went underwater, and many remained in mid-air. No amount of tactic, planning, and even the explosive weapons they had could win against this.

When the soldiers saw the numerous soldiers attack, most began to shoot towards the sky. But while the hundred-some soldiers weren't as skilled as Gardo or Lando, the WGP couldn't land a single hit. What was shocking was that they weren't even able to use the powerful weapons in their arsenal. The Unlock would shoot or attack any Exoskeleton or Armor that was about to launch an attack.

"Echo Five. Attack the Armor on your six. Alpha Three. Watch out for the turret. Shoot it down now. Drug Dealers. Prioritize attacking any Exoskeleton preparing to attack." Gardo gave his orders from afar. He kept on ordering and would single out some Exoskeletons to command where and what to attack.

In contrast to Gardo's micromanaging, Lander was brutally making his way as he had a rampage. He was so frustrated at his defeat that he went faster in his assault. He wanted to end this mock battle as quickly as possible.

"Charlie group. Attack the Jet-propelled platoon on the Eastern quadrant. Warfreakz. I want this battle to be done in the next minute. Command your respective platoons faster. Delta squad, push forward faster. Bravo and Alpha cover them. Small Time Drug Dealers lead the way for Delta. Keep in mind, Major Idiots orders."

Lando continued macro managing the army and followed the flow of the battle as he used his zone.

"Small Time Drug Dealers, disable the Armors first. Delta Two, snipe the turret at the north. Also, I might be an idiot, but I'm not a loser." Gardo chuckled.

The approach of the Small Time Drug Dealers y drew closer was shocking to see. The trio began to use melee weapons which hacked and slashed off the limbs of some soldiers.

"You'll live." Zidane laughed as he sliced off the leg of a soldier.

The onslaught of the Unlocked was so terrifying that some of the former WGP soldiers were breaking ranks and retreating.

Half of the WGP Commanders were offline. Many of them would lose an arm or leg in the process.

"It's over…" A Commander helplessly said.

"It is… Are we… this weak?" Another asked as they watched the approaching soldiers massacre theirs. They outnumber the Unlocked ten to one. But when Lander and Gardo moved in, the losses they received were already catastrophic.  1

The gap between them was so large that tactics and plans couldn't bridge it.

In that scene, the well-trained Commanders who were taught to keep fighting and always look for a way to attack, retreat and exploit the situation couldn't offer any counter plans.

The WGP soldiers who numbered nearly a thousand were easily eliminated.

It was no contest but bullying. The army easily devoured the thousand-strong soldiers.

The sight of the one-sided massacre shocked the various countries watching over the battle. The chaos in the Tail of the King Naga was growing even wilder as more soldiers started to die and fight each other. Many were attempting mutiny as they concluded that the General and Commanders commanding this ship were the traitors.

But at the peak of the chaos, the entire Tail of the King Naga received a broadcast coming from the President and various Generals of SPU and ordered the Tail to continue its path in escaping and that they would not be charged with treason.

The suspicious orders were rejected at first, but then the SPU began to prove the credibility of the orders as the assigned state leaders of the various countries in the SPU made their broadcast.

Soon, the Tail continued on its retreat. The Tail kept an eye on the battle of the King Naga's other parts.

As the mock war for the WGP ended, Lennox initiated the last leg of their plan.

The King Naga began to ram the bottom of the Lingkaran. 

Though the battle looked destructive, the truth was, there were large holes gaps prepared in the Lingaran. These gaps allowed the King Naga to 'penetrate' the Lingkaran as it was drilling through it,

The King Naga broke through, and explosions occurred on the surface. The King Naga arced as it reached the heights. The Lingakran attacked the serpent that had bit through it, but as with before, the turrets and rockets exploded before it made any impact.

It looked as if a large worm was devouring an apple. The King Naga would rise from the sea and break out through the surface of the Lingkaran and crash towards another part of the Lingkaran and pierce through it.

Slowly, the Lingkaran began to sink.

Roselyn led her team underwater as part of the plan.

With the Lingkaran apparently destroyed and the Pangean army decimated, the recovery and rescue mission was now happening. Explosions were used to hide the rescue operations that were generally performed underwater. The King Naga hovered over the water as it began to gather the remaining Pangean Exoskeletons they could see on top of the surface. But explosions would occur on some parts as there were still some survivors who were being captured. But the main reason why the King Naga hovered above the sinking Lingkaran, was to hide what was happening directly under it.

The Lingkaran was actually fully operational. Water had not breached the rooms, and various Exoskeletons emerged from within the Lingkaran to save the Exoskeletons.

Warfreakz took charge of the operations and gave specific commands on how to carry out the rescue operation. All the Unlocked took a mental note of all the soldiers they attacked and reported who required immediate treatment.

Gardo was underwater and was about to enter the Lingkaran, but then he suddenly stopped as if he felt a strange fear grip his heart. He was about to fight with his life on the line, but then, he heard a peculiar voice talk to him.

"Are you guys done with your fun?" A tall man stood in the waters with a rather torn and ragged appearance. The right hand couldn't be seen, indicating that this man had his hand chopped off. What shocked Gardo was that this man had no suits, techs, or anything to make him move and walk under the water.

"Now that your mission is complete, how about you guys have a little fun with me?" The familiar man asked.

pqdm.com