Chapter 414: Time Rewind
Under the devastating fire support of Maine's squad, the originally collapsing landing point was forcefully stabilized.
With the firepower of the Iron Guards and Rebecca at the core, a temporary defensive perimeter was established. The surviving UDF soldiers began to converge inside this perimeter.
Right at this moment, Maine's optical lenses captured a routed UDF squad on the right flank.
One of the soldiers appeared exceptionally panicked. He wore a seemingly brand-new combat exoskeleton; the face beneath his helmet was young and completely drained of color.
He fired his rifle haphazardly, his footsteps stumbling, almost being dragged backward by his companions as they retreated.
His identification tags were faintly visible in the shaking: W. Cage.
"Observed a UDF soldier whose behavioral pattern matches the characteristics of a recruit with no actual combat experience," Maine reported plainly in the squad channel, marking Cage's position in the data stream. "Identification code: W. Cage."
Rebecca glanced over during a reload and snorted disdainfully: "Rookie."
Dorio showed no reaction; her attention was entirely focused on the continuously surging Mimics. Another heavy punch smashed an approaching enemy into burning fragments.
Cage's squad attempted to move toward the defensive perimeter established by Maine's squad, but a group of Mimics suddenly burrowed out from a crater on the flank, cutting off their retreat.
Cage fired wildly in terror at those approaching twisted metallic creatures, most of his bullets hitting empty air.
The Iron Guard piloted by Jackie swiveled its autocannon, and a short burst tore the leading two Mimics in half.
"Threat in target area neutralized," he reported calmly.
Cage and a few survivors scrambled and crawled into the defensive perimeter, collapsing onto the sand, gasping heavily for air.
Cage looked up at the massive dark-red mech before him, and the oddly equipped, astonishingly combat-efficient figures around him. His face was filled with the daze and shock of surviving a disaster.
Maine did not pay much attention to this recruit; he was adjusting deployments based on real-time battlefield data: "Valerie, advance fifty meters and establish a new firepoint. Rebecca, cover her left flank. Dorio, clear the remaining enemies on the right flank. Pilar, watch our six."
The squad, like a precise machine of war, began to crush forward according to his commands.
Wherever they passed, they left only the burning and molten remains of Mimics.
The UDF soldiers followed behind this steel reinforcement, gradually consolidating the beachhead.
However, the number of Mimics seemed endless. Further away, more dark-gray silhouettes were surging from every corner of the coastline.
The beachhead temporarily stabilized under the strong fire support of Maine's squad.
Burning Mimic remains were scattered across the sandy beach, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of ozone and molten metal.
Relying on the massive bodies of the Iron Guards as cover, the UDF soldiers reorganized their defensive line, their firepower noticeably strengthened.
But the advantage did not last long.
"Sensors show more targets approaching," Falco's voice rang out in the squad channel, carrying a heavy tone. "Numbers continuously increasing, surging from inland."
As if to confirm his words, more dark-gray silhouettes emerged from behind the dunes. They climbed and slid, ignoring terrain obstacles, pouring in endlessly like a metallic tide.
The UDF soldiers' newly boosted morale began to waver again, and their ammunition consumption rate skyrocketed.
"Is there no end to their numbers?" Rebecca complained irritably while replacing the coolant in her plasma bombardment cannon's energy storage unit.
Her barrel was glowing a dull red from continuous firing.
Dorio silently shook off the Mimic tissue residue clinging to her power gauntlets. Her breathing was slightly heavier; continuous high-intensity close combat was beginning to consume her stamina.
Maine calmly evaluated the situation.
His volkite blaster fired another short burst, turning a Mimic approaching from the flank into a fireball.
"Maintain formation, control firing rhythm. Valerie, Jackie, expand your field of fire."
Just then, Kiwi's urgent voice cut into the channel: "High-intensity energy signal detected! Bearing 2-7-0, approaching at high speed!"
Almost simultaneously, a deep blue shadow darted out from behind the dune line at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary Mimics.
Its size was similar to an ordinary Mimic, but its entire body flickered with an ominous blue light, and the glowing point at its core was exceptionally bright.
Its movement trajectory was erratic, cleverly evading the Iron Guards' web of fire and the UDF soldiers' intercepting shots, heading with a clear target straight towards the squad position where Cage had just caught his breath.
"Special individual!" Maine immediately noticed this anomalous unit. "Prioritize capture! Restrict its movement!"
Pilar attempted to fire a non-lethal capture net, but the blue Mimic easily dodged it with a bizarre change of direction.
Lucy's quadrupedal automaton swiveled its guns, but the heavy machine gun bullets hitting it were deflected by an invisible layer of energy, only sending up sporadic sparks.
"Its shield energy signature is very strong!" Lucy reported quickly.
"Distance is too far, capture devices cannot lock on effectively!" Pilar shouted.
The blue Mimic—an Alpha—had already broken through the sparse outer web of fire. Its metallic tentacles thrust like poisonous snakes toward Cage, who was slumped on the ground.
The color instantly drained from Cage's face, his pupils dilating in terror.
He rolled backward almost instinctively, his hands blindly grasping around him.
His fingers brushed against an explosive left behind on the beach by a UDF soldier—a bundled set of fragmentation grenades.
The instinct to survive overwhelmed his fear. Summoning all his strength, Cage grabbed the bundle of grenades, yanked the pins, and hurled them fiercely at the blue Mimic that was practically lunging right in front of him.
"No! We need it alive!" Maine called out to stop him, but it was too late.
The grenades exploded with a massive boom against the Alpha's chest.
The shrapnel failed to fully penetrate its energy shield, but the immense concussive force blew it tumbling backward.
More crucially, a piece of shrapnel coincidentally pierced the relatively fragile outer shell of its core area.
Deep blue blood, resembling liquid energy, spurted from the wound, drenching Cage from head to toe.
"Ahhh—!" Cage let out a bloodcurdling scream.
The instant the blue blood touched his skin and combat suit, it seemed to writhe and seep in as if alive, simultaneously releasing astonishing energy.
He felt as if every cell in his body was being torn apart and burned. Indescribable agony caused him to curl up on the ground in violent convulsions.
That Alpha struggled on the ground a few times, the light at its core flickering rapidly before extinguishing completely.
"Target life signal vanished," Falco reported.
"Damn it!" Rebecca cursed. "Lord Magos wanted it alive!"
Maine stared at Cage, who was writhing in agony on the ground, his entire body enveloped in a faint blue glow, and then looked at the Alpha remains that had ceased all movement.
He immediately ordered over the channel: "David, record Cage's vital signs! Lucy, scan the energy residue on the Alpha's remains! Pilar, prioritize monitoring the spacetime readings!"
Pilar's voice was filled with unbelievable urgency: "Spacetime readings showing a violent spike! Energy levels far exceed anything prior! Coverage radius... immeasurable!"
The entire battlefield seemed to have been put on pause.
The next second, an invisible, massive wave of energy centered on Cage instantly swept across the entire beach, over Maine's squad, countless Mimics, UDF soldiers, and across the entire planet.
Maine felt a slight dizziness, akin to the discomfort of a short-distance dimensional teleport.
He shook his head. When his vision cleared, he found himself still standing inside the swaying cabin of the landing craft, the ramp not yet lowered.
Around him were his equally bewildered squad members. Outside the hull, the roar of naval gunfire bombardment could be heard.
Time had rewound to before the landing began.
(End of Chapter)