Chapter 415: Second Landing
At the exact moment the light of the Alpha's core extinguished, and Cage, drenched in blue blood, let out a scream, the specialized monitoring equipment carried by Pilar and Lucy simultaneously blared sharp alarms.
"Spacetime curvature readings rising sharply!" Pilar's voice cracked with shock as he stared intently at the curve on the screen suddenly shooting straight up. "Energy levels... immeasurable! Coverage radius... global!"
Almost simultaneously, the sensors of Lucy's quadrupedal automaton captured the same phenomenon.
"Anomalous spacetime energy pulse detected. Origin coincides with Cage's position. Pulse waveform... unparseable!"
Their reports had barely entered the squad's communication channel, and before Maine could issue any directives, an irresistible wave of dizziness washed over his consciousness.
The sensation was not a physical impact, but more like his entire existence being forcefully peeled away from its current coordinates and instantly shoved back into another familiar framework.
The scene in his vision—the burning beach, the thick smoke, Cage writhing in agony—vanished abruptly, like a picture being erased.
The next moment, the sensation of heavy jolting and the low rumble of an engine re-entered his senses.
Maine shook his head, his dark-red optical lenses quickly scanning his surroundings.
He was standing inside the enclosed cabin of the landing craft.
The cold, damp sea breeze smelled of rust, not gunsmoke and ozone.
The ramp was tightly shut, its indicator light blinking red.
Beside him, Dorio, Rebecca, Pilar, Falco, David, Lucy—all the squad members maintained similar postures, their faces bearing varying degrees of the daze that comes from just regaining one's senses.
Valerie and Jackie could also be seen through the observation windows of the Iron Guard cockpits; they too seemed momentarily stunned.
Inside the cabin, the UDF soldiers remained in their pre-landing state. Some were checking their weapons, others talking in low voices. The content of their conversations was exactly the same as what had been heard before; none of them showed any signs of anomaly.
"What the hell?!" Rebecca was the first to cry out in the squad's encrypted channel. She instinctively touched the plasma bombardment cannon on her back. The barrel was cold, and the energy readings were full, as if it had never been fired. "Weren't we already on the beach? Where are those damn metal octopuses?"
Pilar rapidly operated his arm-mounted device, his voice filled with disbelief: "We... we returned to before the landing began? The spacetime coordinates indicate an exact match with our first landing attempt."
"That energy pulse just now... was it a time reset?"
"All external environmental parameters match our memory of 'before'." Falco's voice remained calm, though his speech rate was slightly faster. "The behavioral patterns of the UDF soldiers match the initial observation records by 99.7%."
Lucy immediately checked her quadrupedal automaton. "The automaton's system logs are intact. They contain all the data records of the previous beach battle; memory storage was unaffected."
David took a deep breath and looked at Maine. "Captain, we all remember. Only we remember."
The channel was instantly flooded with voices.
"Time reversal? How is that possible?" That was Kiwi.
"That blue guy... after it died..." Sasha tried to parse the logic.
"Cage! That rookie! He got splashed by that blue blood!" Rebecca suddenly remembered.
Maine raised a hand. Although the gesture wasn't conspicuous in the crowded cabin, the squad channel instantly fell silent.
His synthesized voice, carrying unquestionable authority, suppressed all shock and doubt: "Everyone, stay calm, stay silent. You are forbidden to discuss what just happened with UDF personnel."
His gaze swept over each member, ensuring the order was received.
He saw Dorio take a deep breath, quickly steady her slightly rapid breathing, and return to composure.
Rebecca, although still looking annoyed, shut her mouth and kicked the bulkhead hard.
Pilar and Lucy buried their heads in recording equipment data, comparing the differences before and after the reset.
David and Lucy exchanged a glance and silently began checking their gear.
"Confirm the status of your respective systems, record all anomalous sensations and data," Maine continued issuing orders, his voice low and steady. "Pilar, Lucy, focus on analyzing the data of the energy pulse recorded just now; attempt to build a model."
"Sasha, Kiwi, scan the global electromagnetic and energy background at the current time point and compare it with 'before'."
He paused, adding, "We have encountered an unknown phenomenon; panic will not solve the problem. Collect data, analyze the situation. That is our mission."
The squad members quickly executed the orders.
Only the repetitive conversations of the UDF soldiers and the roar of the engines remained in the cabin.
Maine himself stood quietly, integrating the brief battle they had just experienced with this bizarre reset.
The death of the Alpha was the critical trigger point...
Cage was the anchor...
A time-manipulation capability of this magnitude... its value was immeasurable.
"Ramp lowering! Prepare to disembark!" the UDF officer shouted again, not a second off from the scene in memory.
Looking at the slowly illuminating green indicator light, Maine knew what was about to happen.
The bloody battle on the beachhead, the frenzied tide of Mimics, the Alpha's surprise attack, Cage's desperate counterattack... all of it would repeat.
But this time, they knew.
"Prepare for combat." Maine's voice rang out in the squad channel. There was no longer any doubt, only cold determination. "Operate according to the procedure of the first time, but maintain the highest level of observation and data recording."
"This time, we're going to see it more clearly."
The ramp of the landing craft dropped again, and the familiar battlefield scene met their eyes.
Gunsmoke, explosions, routing soldiers, and the surging tide of Mimics—everything matched the images in their memory precisely.
The members of Maine's squad charged out of the landing craft silently, deploying according to the operational pattern of the first loop.
"Establish a defensive perimeter." Maine's command came through the channel, his voice steady, betraying no abnormality.
But every member knew the nature of this operation had completely changed.
Rebecca's plasma bombardment cannon roared again, clearing the area ahead, but this time she deliberately controlled her firing rate, leaving more energy to observe her surroundings.
Dorio was still fighting in close quarters on the flank, her movements efficient and lethal, but her gaze repeatedly swept over predetermined positions, confirming the time and manner of every Mimic's appearance.
Pilar's sensor array operated at full power, no longer limited to conventional battlefield data collection.
He dedicated a high-sensitivity probe specifically to continuously monitor changes in spacetime curvature in the direction Cage was located.
"Background spacetime readings are stable at baseline levels," he reported in real-time. "The Alpha's unique energy signature has not yet been detected."
Lucy's quadrupedal automaton roamed the battlefield. Its onboard multi-spectral recorders were capturing every detail of the battlefield at the highest resolution—the trajectory of splashing sand, the swing patterns of the Mimic tentacles, the angle at which a UDF soldier fell after being shot.
This data was being encrypted and stored, and preliminarily compared with the records from the first loop.
(End of Chapter)