ion launchers were the first to deploy. They whistled ominously, showering the barricades opposite with fire. Immediately after, the tanks responded. The flash was so intense that it took a moment to assess the extent of the destruction.
What remained after the shelling was simply impossible to imagine. Instead of fortifications, they faced a pile of rubble, wood, and metal, strewn with corpses. To make matters worse, a fire broke out, completing the destruction.
Seeing this, the captain ordered the advance to the city center. The tanks were sent ahead to clear the street before the infantry passed.
Over the next half hour, they encountered just over a hundred rebels. Poorly clad and equipped with outdated weaponry, they posed no serious threat to the state-of-the-art government commando.
None of the enemy attempted to surrender. On the other hand,
taking prisoners was not even considered. Santier considered this highly inadvisable, even dangerous. According to him, prisoners of war were considered "the highest risk element," capable of derailing any military operation. Furthermore, the lack of prisoners also meant no witnesses to his brutal behavior, which he habitually displayed during combat. While his soldiers were still there, he could absolutely rely on their loyalty. They remembered nothing that hadn't been ordered directly by Santier.
They reached the administrative complex without any major problems. It consisted of eleven tall buildings. Their distinctiveness was immediately apparent. Constructed
of lightweight and durable neo-composites, they were exceptionally impressive. Their
shape resembled monstrous sails, rising into the sky.
It was at this point that the resistance visibly thickened. Somehow, the rebels had managed to gather some more modern equipment. Some of them even wore top-of-the-line combat armor, standard equipment for the army.
Suddenly, one of the soldiers screamed in horror,
"Good God, that's our boys' equipment!"
Among the crowd of rebels, they spotted equipment that had previously belonged to the group of Lieutenant Meyers, commander of the second subunit. By some unexplained means, a whole host of brand-new rifles and body armor had ended up in their opponents' possession.
But there was no time to dwell on this. Action was necessary, and decisive action at that.
Captain Santier was about to give the order to attack when something unexpected happened. A wave of terrible heat ripped through the air, knocking the soldiers back a good dozen meters. As they struggled to recover, they were overcome by nausea and dizziness. Those who managed to get to their feet came under crossfire from two opposing buildings. Furthermore, something bad began to happen to the tanks and artillery. The crews completely lost control. For a moment, they spun in circles, throwing columns of fire in completely random directions. Several of them collided with each other, others plowed straight into the terrified soldiers, further intensifying the panic. A moment later, all the machines froze, also for no apparent reason.
The expedition's defeat seemed inevitable. A significant portion of the unit was eliminated from the fight, either by rebel fire or by their own equipment. Less than half an hour after the clash began, less than a third of the men remained on the battlefield. Worst of all, no one had any idea what was happening. Had they been exposed to some new type of unconventional weapon? Or was this simply one big nightmare they'd soon wake up from?
The commander left these speculations for later. For now, he decided to save at least some of his forces. He was already turning toward his second-in-command when a blast of energy struck him squarely
in the heart. Santier stiffened and, with a resigned grimace, sank to the ground.
However, in the general chaos, no one realized what had happened. Lieutenant Marcus Norton was the first to notice. Amazingly, he was one of the few who didn't lose his cool. He gathered a handful of survivors around him and, under heavy fire, breached one of the buildings. With that, everything was on the line...
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