Chapter 299: Blazing Flames of the Battlefield[R-18] (17)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 299: Blazing Flames of the Battlefield[R-18] (17)
Unfortunately, I didn't get to fuck Kim Su-hyeon.
We had to stop when we heard someone approaching the alley.
Smacking my lips in disappointment, we returned to the hotel as if nothing had happened.
Kim Su-hyeon went to report directly to Adele, while I went into my room and threw myself onto the bed.
On the soft sheets that enveloped me.
“…Hahh.”
I smacked my lips again, my gaze fixed on the ceiling.
If only I'd had a little more time, I could have drawn a pleasure-filled moan from that cold woman. I never thought I'd feel this regretful over a few seconds of bad timing.
‘Should I call Hina?’
Just as I was about to call for Hina in the next room, a sensation jolted me.
‘……?’
A chilling sensation ran down my spine.
Without hesitation, I shot up from the bed and headed for the hallway.
Straight to the room next door. Hina's room.
-Click.
When I opened the door, I saw Hina inside, startled, hastily pulling the blanket up.
“H-Hiek…! O-Oppa, what's going on all of a sudden?!”
She was hiding her hand below, but it was too late.
Her cheeks were flushed, and I could see the hand resting between her thighs. I stared at her for a moment, then gave a slight shake of my head.
‘If I had my way, I'd jump on her and pin her down right now…’
But I didn't have the luxury for that right now.
“Hina. Grab your gear and move to Adele Licencia's room. Now.”
“Huh…? So suddenly? What's going—”
“No time to explain. Gear up. Right now.”
Seeing the serious look in my eyes, Hina's expression hardened. She ran to the side of her bed and opened her equipment case.
“……Yes. Understood.”
Sensing at once that the atmosphere was different from usual, she began to take out her suit with a serious face.
While she put on her gear, I quietly turned my gaze out the window.
‘Something's coming. No doubt about it…’
I quickly opened my weapon case and took out my personal blade and gun.
Just as I finished checking my equipment and was about to head to Adele Licencia's room—
—KRA-BOOOOOM!!!
An explosion.
The ceiling vibrated, and the floor beneath my feet shook violently. From outside, the sound of people screaming and running followed.
“Aaaaaaaahhh!!”
“An explosion—!”
I immediately turned on my communicator and barked an order to Hina.
“Hina, stick to Adele no matter what! Don't leave her side!”
[Yes, sir! I'm on my way now!]
Her breathless voice came over the comms. It seemed she, too, had realized the gravity of the situation.
Without a moment to catch my breath, I sprinted down the hallway.
At the end of the corridor that ran along the massive arc structure was the exclusive, maximum-security suite used by the Licencia group.
As the door opened, I saw Adele Licencia, Kim Su-hyeon, and Hina inside, along with security personnel.
“Are you all right?”
Adele answered in a surprisingly calm voice.
“Yes. Fortunately, the impact wasn't too severe here.”
She stood up and nodded at me.
“But I can tell the situation is serious.”
I said immediately.
“We need to move to the cruiser immediately. Escape must be our top priority.”
At my words, Adele hesitated for a moment, then turned her gaze out the window.
A pillar of black smoke was rising from the colony's central district.
“…The Elbaite Colony Self-Defense Force will respond. Once it's suppressed—”
“No.”
I cut her off firmly.
“This is my personal opinion, but I believe we need to leave this place at once.”
At that moment, Adele's gaze met mine. There was a moment of silence before she gave a short nod.
“Alright. I'll trust your judgment, Lieutenant Jin.”
“Thank you. I will ensure your safety.”
She said as she turned.
“Su-hyeon, secure an escape route. Immediately.”
“Yes. We'll proceed via Route 2-B, the emergency route.”
Kim Su-hyeon was already in her combat-ready attire. With a cold gaze, she was inputting something into her terminal.
“Hina.”
I called to her as she stood beside me.
“Yes, Oppa.”
“Don't leave my side. Got it?”
“Understood.”
The warning lights in the hallway continued to flash. The vibrations were growing stronger.
We finally began to move toward the cruiser hangar inside the colony.
*
“This is Knights-Shade. Commencing the operation now.”
A short, cold transmission.
Simultaneously, in the darkness along the colony's outer wall, ten soldiers clad in crimson exoskeleton combat suits began to move as one.
There was not a hint of hesitation in their movements.
Using gravity anchors to scale the zero-gravity outer wall, they looked less like humans and more like precision machines.
The noiseless modules on their boots didn't allow for even a single sound of friction, and the surface of their combat suits slowly changed color, as if melting into the darkness.
“Approaching the left maintenance hatch. Infiltration complete in three minutes.”
At the leader's command, the unit split into two groups, gliding toward their respective targets.
One team targeted ‘G-13 Zone’ inside the colony.
The other moved to eliminate Adele Licencia, the core objective of the mission.
“Rodi, you take B-Group. The target is Adele Licencia. Elimination is the priority.”
“Okay, order confirmed.”
“The rest of you are with me to G-13.”
At the same time, the marking device on their combat suits' shoulders activated, tracing a red line as it covered their entire bodies in a stealth shield.
—Shwww…
A transparent field spread across their surfaces.
In an instant, their forms vanished as if they had evaporated into the darkness.
The ten soldiers moved like fractured shadows, an invisible melody of war flowing across the silent surface of the colony.
One of them, a young woman, spoke up.
“Bane, is it really okay to secretly infiltrate a neutral nation like this? This... feels like we're really crossing a line.”
The leader, Bane, moved in silence for a moment before quietly replying.
“A neutral nation... They pretend to maintain peace and balance, but in the end, they're just puppets who can't even breathe without the Federation's permission.”
“Still... if that balance collapses, it could escalate into an all-out war.”
Bane gave a short laugh.
“We've already stepped into an all-out war. Now it's just a matter of who fires the first shot.”
His gaze was fixed beyond the distant colony wall, toward the city district where the lights had not yet gone out.
“And... inside here, there is something we absolutely must get our hands on.”
His voice trailing off, Bane quietly raised his hand, signaling the infiltration sequence.
“All teams, move out.”
At the short command, the figures in crimson exoskeleton combat suits melted into the darkness.
Without a sound, with machine-like precision.
Bane and four team members entered a maintenance area in the colony's lower levels.
A closed-off route. A seemingly abandoned corridor.
Their tactical HUDs displayed layered routes and heat-detection patterns leading to G-13 Zone. But even that was incomplete information.
“Latitude 32.88. No abnormal readings, approaching.”
The soldier in the lead reported over the radio.
“Maintain noise suppression. Rely on visual confirmation for sightlines. No unnecessary engagements.”
Everyone nodded at Bane's command.
Old paint peeled from the metal walls, revealing rust underneath, and the floor was caked with contaminated lubricant and dust, making their steps heavy.
In the pitch-black darkness, they glided forward like shadows.
“……Is this place really used by people?”
A team member at the rear whispered.
“The silence... makes it even more unsettling.”
Just then, Bane raised a hand, halting their movement.
“Up ahead. Surveillance device.”
His gaze pointed to a small optical sensor embedded in a blind spot on the ceiling.
“High-speed tracking type. Not the latest model, but its reaction time will be fast.”
He activated a noise field from the device on his wrist.
—Shhhhhk…
A waveform spread out, distorting the camera's lens. While the sensor was temporarily disrupted—
“We pass in four seconds. Three, two, one... now.”
The entire team passed through in an instant. The lens belatedly tried to rotate, but they had already passed by like shadows.
A moment later, they arrived in front of a narrow, dark ventilation shaft.
A steel access panel was exposed. Bane knelt and examined the internal wiring.
“This is the last manual route to G-13.”
He precisely manipulated the wiring and bypassed the circuit with a special driver.
[Beeep...]
The panel trembled slightly as the lock disengaged.
“It's open.”
The steel sliding door split open, revealing faint, flashing red emergency lights inside.
G-13 Zone.
A top-secret facility that didn't even exist on the official schematics of the Earth Federation.
As Bane and his team entered, the smell of lubricant and metal stung their nostrils.
“……Is it just a hangar?”
In response to his teammate's mumble, Bane silently pointed to the end of the dock.
A massive mobile weapon.
Its power was off, but its external structure and wiring design were completely different from any standard unit.
Its size, structure, and even its very reason for existence were questionable.
“This... is a format I've never seen before.”
Another team member whispered, taking a step closer.
“Holy shit... why is it so big? It looks at least three or four times larger than a normal unit.”
“Secure the data. Check all recording devices and local server communications.”
Bane's voice was low and firm.
But before he could finish, a mechanical sound echoed from the walls.
—Wheeee…
The entire team looked up.
“Automated defense system!”
—KRRRRRRRR!!
Unmanned combat drones shot out from gaps in the ceiling and walls.
Infrared and laser scopes flashed red as they took aim.
-Clank. Clank.
With the sound of clashing metal, numerous combat drones emerged from the ceiling and walls.
At least twelve of them.
Each was armed with high-speed firearms and close-combat stun batons.
“Take cover!”
Bane shouted instantly.
Simultaneously, his team scattered, hiding behind the structures.
-Rat-tat-tat-tat—!!
A barrage of fire erupted in an instant.
The walls and floor were riddled with ricocheting bullet marks, and some of the box-shaped concrete covers were blown to pieces.
“Captain! The self-defense force seems to be heading this way too!”
a team member shouted, checking the scanner in his helmet.
“We hold out here until we secure the data. Rose!”
he yelled toward the female operative moving in the back.
“The weapon's data! Connect and secure it now!”
“Just a second... the port has double-layered security... external connection is blocked... No, I have to connect directly to the internal terminal!”
Rose ran to one wall, searching for the data port on the side of the unit.
An interface cable extended from her wrist device and connected directly to the terminal.
[Attempting connection... Decrypting key... Searching for backdoor route...]
Meanwhile, the battle was intensifying.
“This entryway! Two drones broke through!”
“Cover on the right is collapsing. Be careful!”
“Rose! We can't hold out much longer! Are you done yet?!”
Bane's voice was growing rough.
[Information Extraction Progress: 71%... 74%... 77%...]
“Please... don't stop.”
Rose swallowed hard, her fingers trembling as she continued the hack.
“Captain, left entrance! Confirmed self-defense force pursuit unit! Contact expected in twenty seconds!”
“…Dammit.”
Only a few seconds remained.
[Data Download Complete]
Rose's trembling voice rang out.
“I got it... We have to get out of here now!”
The moment she pulled out the interface cable—
-BOOM!!
The side entrance collapsed with an explosion.
“Enemy contact!”
Red warning lights flashed and blared as soldiers from the colony's neutral self-defense force entered, led by automated units.
“All units, take cover! Engage!”
Bane drew his gun. After a moment of silence, gunfire erupted.
-RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!
-BOOM!
-BZZZZT...!
A radial EMP shell detonated in front of them, and the shock caused their combat suit HUDs to temporarily malfunction.
“Fuck...! Why are there so many of them?!”
Bane yelled through gritted teeth.
“Rose! Transmit the data you just downloaded to HQ!”
“Transmitting... Transmitting... Complete!”
And a few seconds later—
■ [Reply: Change of Plans]
■ [Order: Retrieve the unit]
■ [Top Priority: Capture G-13 weapon]
The comms inside Bane's helmet buzzed.
‘Capture it? This huge thing... right now?’
But, it was an order.
It meant the unit itself had become just as important as the data they'd acquired.
“Change of objective. We're capturing the mobile weapon behind us.”
“Captain, if we take that thing out now, we'll be a flying target!”
“That's an order. Open the hatch.”
Bane's eyes turned cold.
“Prepare external forced boot sequence for the control interface.”
On the external panels of the giant weapon, which had been sleeping silently in the dock, red power lights began to switch on one by one.
[Codename: OBSIDIAN]
[Acquiring main power...]
[System startup... 17%... 42%...]