The Power Armor Assault
Sihyun, head to the village immediately.
The village? Not the plain?
Yes. The training ship is optimized for deploying infantry. Moreover, they must be underestimating our primitive tribe allies. They have no idea that we have modern firearms, so they're planning to drop infantry from the air and finish us in one go.
An airborne assault unit, huh. This is getting complicated.
The good news is that they have completely misjudged our allies' strength. They don't think we have guns, let alone Marinuss brand ones. Your soldiers should be able to repel the training.
Yes.
They also have to return, so they'll be docking their ships on the plain. I'll hide between the village and the ships to block their retreat.
Alone?
She smiled.
Single operations are familiar to me.
She said that, then suddenly disappeared from in front of me and appeared far away. It seemed like one of the Psy-casts she mentioned earlier. She repeated it several times until her figure completely vanished.
Hildegard doesn't need to worry. The problem is me...
I immediately ran to the village. No matter what, I hoped there would be no civilian casualties. If an airborne assault unit suddenly appeared, they would panic and not be able to flee properly. Thinking that, I ran quickly to the village.
When I arrived at the village, an airborne assault unit was descending from the sky on parachutes. The people were watching the strange sight without fleeing, which was a very difficult situation. If they all landed on the ground, they would start killing people indiscriminately, and that would cause great damage.
“Kumpa!”
“Yes, chief.”
“You have a gun? Shoot those bastards.”
“Even I can't hit them from this distance. They're moving targets too.”
“It's okay even if I miss. Just shoot them.”
Kumpa took out the gun from around his neck. When Kumpa put his hand on the grip, the gun's shape changed and started to lengthen. Normally it was a storage type size that could be carried around the neck, but in battle it would change to a rifle form.
Kumpa took out the rifle and started shooting at the enemies falling from the sky. Then something surprising happened. Soldiers from all around heard the gunshots and started shooting at the enemies coming down together.
The enemies falling from the sky and the allies were both surprised. The enemies were surprised because they didn't know we had guns, and the allies were surprised that they realized late that the unknown things falling from the sky were enemies.
The gatekeeper recognized me and opened the door, so I immediately jumped into the village and called my subordinates.
“Balibali!”
“Chief!”
“Take the people and evacuate! Only the warriors will remain here!”
“Understood!”
The allies' riflemen started shooting indiscriminately at the pirates falling from the air. There was no specific command, but no command was needed. Because Kumpa ran into the village and kept shooting at the enemies, and the soldiers who heard the gunshots started shooting too.
The pirates responded as they descended from the sky, but shooting from the ground and from the sky had different stability. The pirates were shooting while slowly descending on one parachute, so they wouldn't hit accurately.
Pirates started falling one or two at a time after being killed. However, the battle didn't end there.
Suddenly, a huge man in large steel armor started falling at high speed from the sky. The allies were surprised by the sight of him falling so fast that it was hard to hit with a gun.
Are they planning to die?
However, contrary to expectation, as he got closer to the ground, his falling speed slowed down.
The mechanical device on his back spewed fire and lifted him into the air.
“That's...”
I knew what that was. A jetpack. When attached to the back, it uses the fuel inside the jetpack to spew fire and lift the user into the air. It's a magical equipment that makes infantry fly in the sky. It was something I saw in comics or novels set in a future background, but I never thought it would actually be implemented.
The allied snipers, panicked, started shooting at the armored giant, but the large armor covering his entire body blocked all the bullets.
The armored giant started running towards the allies with a huge two-handed hammer. Boom boom boom! With the heavy weight of the armor, the ground shook with each step.
And a short while later. One of the allied snipers was hit by the hammer and his head flew off instantly. It was a young sniper named Dem.
“This crazy...”
The snipers, chased away by the armored man, scattered, and there was no one to stop the pirates falling from the sky. The soldiers started landing one or two at a time and started shooting at the allies' soldiers.
Now I could understand. Just as there were tanks in the Second World War, there was this guy in the training operation. It seemed like the way to break through the defense line in front with the steel armor was to have other pirates provide firepower.
“Until just now, we were clearly winning...!”
The favorable situation was overturned by just one person. The guy in the full steel armor couldn't be hit by guns, and every time he charged, dozens of snipers fled, so they couldn't shoot properly, and the allies were only receiving one-sided attacks.
“There was no such talk!”
Hildegard didn't tell me there would be such an enemy. No, if I have to say, it wasn't Hildegard's fault. It was mine. If I had investigated more thoroughly, studied harder, the allies wouldn't have been at a disadvantage.
And at that moment. Suddenly, there was a figure leaping forward.
“Kumpa!”
“Chief, I'll block that guy. I trust that the chief will do something in the meantime.”
After hearing that, the surroundings gradually became visible. Balibali had safely evacuated the civilians and was heading to safety, and Kumpa was looking for something to do even in the disadvantageous situation.
Soon, Kumpa ran towards the steel armor and body-checked him. Kumpa's height is over 190cm. Indeed, did his body check work? The steel armor staggered for a moment.
And then a contest began. Kumpa exerted strength to snatch the Slatzi hammer from the steel armor, and the steel armor pulled to not be snatched. The contest of pulling with one Slatzi hammer proceeded relatively evenly, and Kumpa was successfully blocking the steel armor.
“This crazy native bastard! How can you fight power armor with your bare hands!”
“I don't know what you're saying, die!”
I was the only one who couldn't do anything and just stood there. I felt ashamed of myself. After coming to my senses late, I gave orders to the soldiers.
“Snipers shoot at the regular soldiers without armor! Reduce the headcount as much as possible and suppress the enemy's firepower!”
Although many pirates had descended, their guns weren't particularly superior to ours.
Compared to the advanced future firearms we have, the pirates' guns were somewhat outdated and had many old designs. Except for the armored giant, there were no particularly scary ones.
Kumpa, who was buying time, could reduce many of the pirates, and the remaining were about 20.
Soon, the steel armor in the enemy camp started shouting.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
After releasing the Slatzi hammer, the steel armor pushed Kumpa away and ran to the village's outer wall to break it.
“That's?”
I was momentarily surprised, but soon I could understand the intention.
They were making holes in the walls and escaping through those holes. We shot a few shots at their backs, but we didn't follow deeply. Because if we left the village, the civilians would be in danger.
Kumpa's arm had a large footprint from the steel armor. It was the aftereffect of the contest. Kumpa raised his relatively healthy left hand and shouted.
“We won!!!”
“Wow!!!”
The soldiers responded to this, and the allies were able to repel the first attack thanks to Kumpa's performance.
“Damn it! Alonso you bastard! These guys just said to go crazy! How do they have so many guns! High-end rifles too! We're behind in firepower!”
“How the hell do I know where they got them, you bastard! Who knows where they picked them up from!”
“You damn it, where did you pick up that expensive Marinuss brand rifle? Tell me too. I'll pick some up too!”
“Shut up damn it! I'm already irritated!”
The fleeing pirates started fighting among themselves. They were irritated because they lost a fight they thought they could easily win.
“Captain, what should we do from now on? Those natives are stronger than I thought. Especially that big guy... He fought power armor with his bare hands.”
A subordinate asked the steel armor. The steel armor spat out curses.
“Damn it, what can I do? We have to go back to the ship and bomb them all away.”
“Then, can't we clean them up?”
“Is the problem right now? More than half of those natives died. If we go back like this, we'll be treated like idiots at headquarters, and you guys can twist your faces and do pirate stuff?”
“So, since we can't clean them up, let's at least get the loot?”
“Yes. Since we can't make money, let's at least make a name for ourselves.”
The subordinates started to understand. They were a lower organization of the Red Fleet, a huge pirate group. If the rumor spread that they were robbed by savages and just came back, they would be treated like idiots in the Red Fleet.
“The ship should be docked to the north. First, go back and order the navigator to do high-altitude flight. No matter how advanced the rifles the natives have, they won't be able to do anything if we drop bombs from above.”
“Yes.”
However, at that moment.
“Hmm, these little pirate brats have power armor. Using something that doesn't suit them.”
A woman's voice, the first one heard in the forest, echoed.
“Who's there! Show yourself!”
“Do you think you can lecture on manners as a pirate?”
Someone started walking slowly from far away. Upon closer look, it was a young woman who was about 20 years old.
The pirates, who had been worried about being the pursuers of the natives, soon let out a sigh of relief.
“Kuhuhu, what? It's a woman. Why? Play with us a bit? We have a lot of big brothers.”
“Kahaha!”
However, the captain, Bentley, was so surprised that he couldn't even open his mouth.
On a primitive planet like this... A woman from the Empire? Wearing the Empire military uniform?
It was an odd situation no matter how you looked at it. Moreover, with dozens of outlaws in front, her attitude was strangely relaxed. The other little brats didn't notice, but Bentley, who had lived by his wits, could only predict that there was something about this woman.
“Excuse me, but who are you?”
“Captain?”
Seeing Bentley suddenly polite and asking, Hildegard laughed softly.
“Huhu, at least one has a brain.”
“We don't need to make unnecessary trouble. It's better not to create problems for no reason, right?”
“There's no need to create problems. That's why you all have to die.”
The pirate subordinates started pointing guns at Hildegard.
“What are you saying, crazy woman! Do you want to die?”
At that moment.
-Shuang!
Hildegard's figure disappeared instantly. The panicked soldiers shouted.
“She disappeared! What is that!”
“It's a Psy-cast, damn it! A knight! A real knight! Battle ready! Battle ready!”
However, their shouts didn't last long.
The next moment, Hildegard, who moved at an unbelievable speed, dug into the soldiers and took out her sword to start slashing them.
“Aah!”
“Ug!”
The pirates started screaming their last words and falling. Captain Bentley was forced to be surprised. Screams were coming from all around. The opponent was moving at tremendous speed and continuously slashing at the allies, and the allies had no choice but to fall one-sidedly without knowing what they were facing.
Soon, all the pirates fell.
Only the pirate captain Bentley remained.
“Damn it! Come on! This is power armor! No matter how much you use Psy-cast as a knight, you can't win against power armor with your bare hands!”
“...”
“And the invisibility Psy-cast? Even if it's long, it's only 5 to 10 seconds! You'll know it will run out soon!”
But something was a bit odd.
10 seconds... Didn't it pass a while ago?
“Power armor doesn't get pierced by a knife! Let's see if your invisibility lasts longer or my power armor does!”
And the next moment.
“Kuhk!”
The pirate captain, Bentley, spat blood from his mouth.
-Shuang!
Hildegard revealed her figure again. Her sword was stuck in Bentley's chest.
“H-how?”
A normal knife doesn't pierce power armor. But how did her power armor get pierced? Bentley looked closely at the sword stuck in his chest. It was true that a normal knife couldn't pierce power armor. But this wasn't a normal knife at all. A sword that could pierce power armor, any metal, even the outer wall of a battleship, the ultimate monomolecular cutter.
It was something ordinary knights couldn't have. It was something only very excellent knights could have.
“Why would someone like you be in this changed planet...?”
“Everyone has their own circumstances.”
Bentley looked down at Hildegard's face. From afar, he didn't notice, but up close, he could guess.
“Y-you! I know you! Hildegard von Arcadia, famous as a war hero...”
“Quiet.”
Hildegard's sword was driven deeper, and soon Bentley could only fall quietly.
After finishing the series of operations, Hildegard quietly muttered.
“Even these changed planet little pirate brats can recognize me...”
Hildegard was thinking she had to find a way to hide her face somehow.