Chapter 421: Iron Guard Training
The afternoon's battlefield mobility training was handled by Falco.
In the simulated urban ruins, Cage frantically dodged various simulated attacks.
"Watch your right!" Falco's voice came through the earpiece. "You were ambushed by a Mimic right here in the last loop."
Cage hastily rolled, narrowly avoiding the simulated attack.
"Improvement." Falco's voice carried a hint of approval. "At least you remembered to keep moving this time."
During a break in training, Cage asked curiously, "How can you all remember how I died every single time?"
Rebecca happened to walk by and interjected, "Because the ways a civilian officer dies are always particularly... educational."
This made Cage feel genuinely embarrassed.
The third training session was a weapon familiarization class.
Rebecca guided Cage through various heavy weapons. When Cage clumsily fumbled with a heavy machine gun, she couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Relax, it won't bite. But if you fire in that posture again, I can't guarantee it won't shatter your balls."
She corrected his posture hands-on: "You need to do it like this, use your waist for power! Looks like you must have been quite popular with the ladies at the bar before."
Being teased by Rebecca, Cage couldn't quite handle it. After all, he was just a civilian officer; he really couldn't cope with Rebecca's foul-mouthed, dirty-joking style.
After a day of training ended, Cage practically collapsed from exhaustion onto a chair in the cafeteria.
Dorio pushed a high-protein meal in front of him: "Finish it. We continue tomorrow."
Pilar sat down next to him with his food tray and asked curiously: "Honestly, writing promotional copy or fighting a real war—which is harder?"
Cage thought about it and said with a bitter smile: "Endlessly revising copy is painful, but right now, I'd rather revise a hundred pieces of copy."
The squad members were all amused.
Even Maine's synthesized voice carried a trace of amusement: "Unfortunately, in this loop, you do indeed have to repeatedly 'revise' your performance."
Training continued day after day.
Cage's body gradually adapted to the high-intensity training. Although he was still thrown around dizzily by Dorio every day, had various tactical errors pointed out by Falco, and had his weapon operation roasted by Rebecca, he could feel himself improving.
During a break one day, Cage couldn't help but ask, "Why are you all willing to help me like this?"
Rebecca, wiping her plasma cannon without even lifting her head, said, "Don't flatter yourself, Propaganda Officer. We're just executing a mission."
But Dorio handed him a bottle of water and said calmly, "Everyone has their own starting point. What matters is that you're willing to keep moving forward."
Maine stood by the training ground, his optical lenses flickering.
He knew the time loop could restart at any moment, and these training results might be reset.
But watching Cage go from being clumsy at the start to gradually getting the hang of things, and watching the squad members go from strictly business-like instruction to occasionally cracking jokes, he felt that these efforts were at least meaningful within this loop.
And Cage, despite complaining every day about the grueling training, had never missed a single session.
He began to understand that these seemingly cold warriors actually each had their own personalities, and he also began to truly believe that he might actually be able to escape this cycle of death.
Training entered the second week. Cage had basically adapted to the daily high-intensity physical and tactical training. This morning, when he arrived at the training ground as usual, he found the two Iron Guard prototypes already powered up, with Valerie and Jackie standing beside them.
"We're changing the training content today," Maine told Cage. "You need to understand the most important firepower platforms on the battlefield."
Valerie walked toward the standard-cockpit Iron Guard and opened the hatch beneath the chest plate. "Come on up, Propaganda Officer. Let you experience a real war machine."
Cage climbed the ladder with some trepidation and squeezed into the relatively spacious standard cockpit. The interior was covered with various display screens and physical control sticks, completely different from what he had imagined.
"This is the model Jackie usually pilots," Valerie's voice came through the internal comms. "It uses a traditional control scheme, which is better suited for beginners to understand the basic operational principles of the Iron Guard."
Jackie added from below: "Get familiar with the basic controls first. The left hand controls balance and movement, the right hand controls the weapon systems. Pay attention to the energy readings and armor status on the dashboard."
Cage carefully pushed the control stick, and the Iron Guard subsequently took a heavy step. At first, his operation was extremely clumsy. The Iron Guard wobbled as it walked, causing Rebecca, who was watching from below, to laugh heartily.
"Relax, Propaganda Officer," Valerie instructed. "The Iron Guard has an auto-balance system; you don't need to over-control it."
After a morning of practice, Cage was able to make the Iron Guard walk steadily and perform simple tactical maneuvers. The afternoon training shifted to simulated combat.
"Now, try fighting in coordination with the Iron Guard," Maine said from the command position. "Dorio, you are responsible for ground support. Rebecca, long-range fire cover. Cage, your mission is to protect the Iron Guard's flank."
On the simulated battlefield, Cage piloted the Iron Guard, following Valerie's neural-linked Iron Guard forward. Dorio cleared approaching Mimics on the ground, while Rebecca conducted long-range strikes with a simulated plasma cannon.
"Watch your ten o'clock," Valerie warned. "Three Mimics are approaching."
Cage hurriedly swiveled the Iron Guard's weapon systems, but due to his unfamiliarity with the controls, by the time he finished aiming, the Mimics had already closed in to a dangerous distance.
"Too slow," Jackie pointed out on the comms channel. "On a real battlefield, that delay is enough for the Iron Guard to sustain damage."
Dorio appeared just in time, dispatching those Mimics with her volkite gauntlets. "Protecting the Iron Guard's blind spots is your responsibility," she said over the comms. "You must anticipate the enemy's movement paths."
In the ensuing training, Cage gradually grasped the rhythm of coordinating with the Iron Guards.
He began to learn to observe the battlefield situation, moving to advantageous positions in advance, and forming a synergy with Dorio's ground actions and Rebecca's fire cover.
"Good," Valerie evaluated after a successful coordinated engagement. "The reaction time was reduced by forty percent this time."
During a break, Cage climbed out of the cockpit, his entire body soaked in sweat.
"How does it feel, Propaganda Officer?" Rebecca teased. "A lot more exciting than writing copy, right?"
Cage wiped the sweat from his forehead and returned a rare smile. "Definitely more interesting than sitting in an office."
In subsequent training sessions, Cage gained more opportunities to actually operate the Iron Guard.
Sometimes in simulators, sometimes on the actual training ground.
He began to understand the tactical value of this heavy equipment on the battlefield, and also learned how to better coordinate with the Iron Guard pilots.
"Remember," Maine summarized after one training session, "the Iron Guard is not just a weapon; it is the fulcrum on the battlefield. Your mission is to ensure the safety of this fulcrum."
(End of Chapter)