Chapter 420: Killing the Alpha
"Target locked!" Valerie's voice came from the Iron Guard.
The neural connection system synchronized her reactions almost perfectly with the mech. The heavy bolter on the Iron Guard's shoulder spewed deadly flames, accurately blocking the Alpha's movement path.
The Iron Guard piloted by Jackie used its autocannon to sweep away the ordinary Mimics attempting to approach, creating a clear firing environment for Valerie.
The Alpha nimbly evaded the direct hits of the bolter rounds, its energy shield flickering violently under the impact of the continuous explosions.
Right at this moment, Sasha reported: "Jamming effective! The coordination efficiency of the Mimics around the target has dropped by about 40%!"
Kiwi added: "Detected the Alpha individual attempting to re-establish the command link, but the signal quality has severely degraded."
"Now!" Rebecca pulled the trigger.
A thick stream of plasma tore across the battlefield, shooting towards the Alpha at astonishing speed.
The Alpha attempted one last change of direction, but the chaos of the surrounding ordinary Mimics exposed flaws in its evasion route. Valerie's bolter rounds perfectly sealed off its last space to dodge.
The blazing white plasma completely engulfed it.
The deep blue light instantly annihilated in the high temperature, the shield overloaded and shattered, and the tough outer shell rapidly melted and vaporized under tens of thousands of degrees of heat.
There was no blood splatter, no screams, only a split second of extreme light and heat, leaving behind a shallow molten crater and a few twisted remnants.
"Target eliminated," Rebecca reported, her tone carrying satisfaction.
The needles on Pilar and Lucy's equipment shook violently for a moment before returning to calm.
"Detected a strong energy release, consistent with the death signature of a high-energy-level unit. But... the spacetime curvature mutation or global pulse of the previous magnitude was not detected," Pilar's voice carried surprise.
"Spacetime readings are stable," Lucy confirmed.
The Mimics on the battlefield showed obvious chaos, their movements becoming more disordered and inefficient.
"The overall efficiency of the Mimic network has further declined," Sasha monitored the data stream. "After losing the Alpha node, their adaptive capabilities have significantly weakened."
Kiwi nodded in confirmation: "Jamming remains effective; the Mimics in the area are no longer able to organize effective offensives."
Having lost the Alpha's command, coupled with the continuous firepower from the two Iron Guards and Rebecca, as well as the effects of the electronic jamming, the Mimics in Sector S-7 were rapidly cleared.
The pressure on the UDF troops plummeted. Seizing the opportunity, they began to consolidate their positions and even launch small-scale pushbacks.
"The loop did not reset." Maine stared at the molten crater where the Alpha had disappeared, his optical lenses flickering slightly. "We have eliminated one possibility: the death of the Alpha itself is not the direct trigger condition for the reset."
Cage let out a long sigh of relief, feeling his continuously tense nerves relax slightly.
Looking at those Mimics steadily retreating under the firepower and electronic jamming of Maine's squad, he truly felt for the first time that the tide of battle could be changed.
"But this raises more questions," David pondered. "If the death of the Alpha doesn't cause a reset, then what exactly is the key? Must the Alpha's blood come into contact with Cage? Or... is Cage's own death the necessary condition?"
Rebecca interjected: "In other words, even without that blue guy, as long as this rookie dies, time will still flow backward?"
Pilar adjusted the sensor records: "There's another noteworthy phenomenon: every time the Alpha appears, it explicitly targets Cage. This kind of directionality is very unusual."
"We have obtained valuable data and eliminated an incorrect option," Maine integrated his team members' observations. "What is certain now is: the Alpha individual can be safely eliminated, provided we ensure its blood does not come into contact with Cage. Electronic jamming methods have been proven effective against ordinary Mimics, but we still need to verify the exact trigger conditions for the reset."
He looked towards the distant sky still filled with gunsmoke: "This loop is not yet over. Utilizing the remaining time, we will continue to collect data, focusing on observing the battlefield changes while Cage remains alive. Meanwhile, Pilar, you guys start working on collecting the materials needed to manufacture the capture device. We need to be prepared to verify our next hypothesis."
"Understood!" the squad members responded in unison. Although this operation answered one question, it led to more conjectures waiting to be verified.
With the last batch of resisting Mimics cleared out, the UDF announced victory in the landing operation.
On the beachhead, soldiers hugged each other in celebration, but the members of Maine's squad merely packed up their gear calmly.
They submitted an application through official channels, requesting to transfer Cage into their temporary jurisdiction under the pretext of "special technical evaluation and adaptive training."
UDF high command quickly approved this request.
When Cage arrived at the independent area assigned to Maine's squad at the rear base carrying simple luggage, Rebecca was leaning against her equipment crate, chewing on a nutrition bar.
"So, what did you do before?" she asked casually, sizing up this young man who looked completely out of place on the battlefield.
Cage awkwardly set down his luggage: "I was a civilian officer in the Recruitment Propaganda Department, responsible for... writing recruitment copy and planning promotional campaigns."
Dorio was passing by and stopped in her tracks upon hearing this: "A civilian officer? Then how did you end up on the front lines of the landing force?"
Cage explained with a bitter smile: "I... offended a general during a promotional event. The next day, I was transferred from my original post, my identity information was changed to private, and I was stuffed into the landing force."
Valerie whistled: "Wow, offending a superior means being sent to the front lines to die? That's way harsher than workplace retaliation where we're from."
"So all those morale-boosting recruitment slogans were written by you?" Pilar lifted his head from a pile of equipment, asking curiously, "'Join the UDF, Expel the Aliens'?"
Cage's face reddened slightly: "That... was indeed one of the copies I was responsible for."
"Looks like you don't just need to know how to write slogans," Dorio handed him a set of training clothes. "Now you have to experience it firsthand. Go change, training starts in ten minutes."
Training began at the first training ground.
Dorio looked at Cage, who had changed into the training clothes. His stance was loose; he didn't look like he had received any military training at all.
"Alright, Propaganda Officer," Dorio said, "let's see what kind of foundation you have."
The first lesson was close-quarters combat.
Cage clumsily mimicked the movements Dorio demonstrated, ending up tripping himself into a stumble.
"Relax, you're not giving a speech on stage." Dorio steadied him. "Mimics won't listen to you recite recruitment slogans."
As the training progressed, Cage was thrown to the ground time and time again.
When he climbed up for the fifth time, Dorio offered a rare word of praise: "At least you have good perseverance."
During the halftime break, Cage sat slumped on the ground, gasping for air.
Maine walked over and handed him a can of energy drink: "How are you feeling, Propaganda Officer?"
"My whole body is protesting..." Cage took the drink with a bitter smile. "In the past, the most I did was write copy in an office."
Jackie laughed loudly from the side: "Then you can write an article titled 'From Propaganda Officer to Frontline Soldier' now."
(End of Chapter)