───Tududududu!
"The plane is so spacious inside, and it’s just the two of us flying. It feels like a waste of space."
"But flying with others packed in tightly wouldn't be great either."
"That's true."
On the flight path to Washington D.C., a prototype tiltrotor aircraft, following the lineage of the V-22 Osprey, was slicing through the sky at a speed of 780 km/h. The view outside the window was nearly pitch-black. Only occasionally could a light be seen, and even then, it was so faint that you had to strain your eyes to make it out.
We were flying a route that took us through New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and on to Washington D.C., which ant that even these massive cities had lost their lights, underscoring just how close humanity was to falling into the abyss.
There were 7 minutes and 31 seconds left until we reached the drop zone. It was ti to explain the current situation to Harmony, who, as usual, didn’t fully grasp what was going on.
"Do you know why we’re heading to Washington D.C.?"
"Well, kinda... Isn't it just to expand the Icarus faction's influence? The ga’s story is really poorly explained."
"You're not entirely wrong."
"Which part? The forr or the latter?"
"The latter."
What can I say? The story, as experienced by an operator who joined Icarus after the protocol was issued, tended to prioritize realism over imrsion. In other words, it didn’t spell out the entire story in a straightforward manner.
Actually, to be more precise, the ga did provide all the details. However, it was far from a simple, linear story that anyone could easily follow. Instead, most of the backstory had to be pieced together through collectibles and briefing files sent by Icarus.
Piecing together the backstory like a puzzle is sothing that can definitely be polarizing.
"Should I explain it at a middle school level or a high school level?"
"...Is there no elentary school level?"
"Then I might need to buy you a picture book first."
LOL
Aww, baby Harmony… Feed with a spoon…
I want to smack her, lol
Hot take: It's actually sowhat linear.
What good is being linear if you have to hunt down everything yourself, lol
Ignoring Harmony’s bright red ears, I thought of an easy way to explain the situation. Back in the day, failing to properly summarize briefings would get in serious trouble, so I had no choice but to get good at it. My English skills improved a lot back then, too.
Anyway, I decided on a high school-level explanation.
"The U.S. is vast, and within it are a lot of cities. Icarus is originally a branch of the Departnt of Holand Security, so it has influence in almost every city. But if we prioritize the most important locations, New York and Washington D.C. are at the top. And Washington D.C. is a bit more critical. Do you know why?"
"Uh… because all the important governnt offices are concentrated there?"
"Correct."
The IRS. The Capitol Building. The Pentagon and DARPA. The NASA headquarters. And, most importantly, the White House. Of course, there are countless other facilities there as well, too many to list. Washington D.C. is packed with crucial sites, which is why it has been called the heart of Arica instead of New York.
"Normally, the capital should be the most heavily defended place during any kind of crisis, but a virus is a completely different story. And when the pandemic started, as the virus spread rapidly, what happened as countless people tried to flee the heart of Arica?"
"...I don’t get a good feeling about this."
"They were all slaughtered. Even high-ranking officials trying to escape and operators with inadequate equipnt who attempted to contain the situation in its early stages—all of them were wiped out. The virus wasn’t exactly selective about its victims."
"Oh."
And it would’ve been relatively manageable if that were the only issue. But the situation spiraled out of control when mysterious EMP blasts—later identified as caused by non-explosive magnetic field bombs—started going off all over Washington.
In a situation that was already chaotic, power outages and fires broke out, turning the capital into complete pandemonium. It only took three days for the city to beco a massive graveyard.
"Communications with Washington D.C. headquarters were completely destroyed. The U.S. spent nearly two million dollars per person to train its countless special forces operatives, and now less than half of them remain."
"Did they all die?"
"Half of them died, and a quarter beca warlords, rcenaries, or sothing worse. The rest are probably in hiding."
"So we're going there to reclaim the city from those guys."
"That’s the gist of it."
A mission briefing appeared in the air. I didn't expect this type of presentation—a mission briefing right before a HALO jump. The objective was the Departnt of Holand Security headquarters, located below the Smithsonian Institution’s office and to the right of the Federal Courthouse.
The first task was to find out what had been happening in the nation’s capital. As the mission began, the voice of the support operator filled my ears.
Finally in the late ga, lol
Sothing big is coming! Sothing big is coming!
Fact: These two are locked on Very Hard difficulty.
You need a four-person party from here on out, but they’re just charging in, lmao
Into the flas of battle!!!
-[ISO: You’ve reached the objective. Let’s find out what kind of shitstorm has hit this dead city.]
-[ISO: Good luck.]
───Giiiiing!
With a tense sound, the ramp door opened. A deafening wind and freezing gusts began to flood the aircraft’s interior. The slight warmth that had been in the cabin was sucked out in an instant, and sub-zero temperatures rushed in.
My voice automatically rose to overco the howling wind.
"Ugh, the wind is too strong!"
"Check the green light! Activate night vision! Set the auto-altiter to 500 ters!"
"Okay! Night vision on! Altiter set to 500 ters!"
Whoosh!
The wind was so fierce it was hard to keep my eyes open as the pitch-black darkness lood below the ramp door. Jumping out felt less like exiting an aircraft and more like opening the door to a sealed-off ancient ruin, but night vision made the night as bright as day.
There was an Icarus gear box lined up on the rail, packed with gear we’d need. I was on the left, Harmony on the right. We stood parallel to each other, facing the darkness. We checked our parachutes. Since this was a ga, there was no chance of a malfunction.
A grand BGM swelled, and various pieces of information popped up before my eyes.
-[Notice: Moderate turbulence near the objective.]
-[Notice: All Green.]
"Dive, dive, dive!"
"Yaaaah───!!!"
Drurrrrr!
With a strong push, I sent the gear box hurtling down into the darkness, piercing through Harmony’s scream as it plumted to the ground.
The Washington D.C. mission had begun.
"It kinda feels like we're doing the tutorial again. Doesn’t it?"
"So, should I assu you plan to troll as much as you did during the tutorial?"
"Keep it up, and I’ll dodge you."
"I’ll just piggyback you, then."
Oh, lol
It doesn't sound sweet when the teacher says it, does it??
Not sweet, more like an ergency devac
Is she suggesting a fireman's carry? lol
Double shield on the back, lol
Tutorial.
It hadn’t been that long since then, yet it felt so distant. Maybe it was because of how dense our schedule had been since.
Anyway, the difference between here and New York was that, unlike the latter, which at least had generators providing so light, this place had been hit by multiple electromagnetic pulses, plunging it into complete darkness.
The one silver lining was that it made navigating sowhat easier.
Though, there were exceptions.
"…There aren’t as many enemies around as I expected? I was thinking of the quarantine zone, but the lack of anyone around is even scarier…"
"At least New York has abundant resources. Here… it’s hard to find even a night vision scope. So enemies who roam at night naturally disappear. But…"
That’s how it usually was.
In a place cramd with governnt offices like this, where would firearms or explosives co from? Walking through Washington D.C. ant you were within a 10-kiloter radius of the people who ruled the U.S. and the world.
Those without permission couldn’t even carry a small folding knife here. By that logic, it was fair to assu that this area would turn into a belated lee zone.
But on the flip side...
-[Notice: Presence detected.]
"Prepare for combat."
"…Okay!"
Those with access to firearms in this cluster of governnt buildings were likely dangerous, experienced enemies.
My hunch was right.
───Swoosh!
Bang.
The air compressed and heated up in an instant, sending shockwaves in all directions. A missile. Or maybe a rocket. Thankfully, it missed by a hair. Instincts flared to life.
The enemies already knew our location. Normally, this would be a situation where retreat made sense, but the advanced technology of the Icarus Device pinpointed a sliver of possibility amidst the exponential odds.
It imdiately identified the location of the few operational remote-controlled devices in the area and the signals connected to them. Two straight lines connected like beams of light, marking the enemies' positions.
Gotcha.
"Found them. They’re monitoring us from the balcony of the building complex to the right, above the rooftop garden. Take over the launcher. I’ll lay down suppressive fire so they can’t escape."
"Shall I blow them away?"
"Of course."
Harmony grinned slyly. The enemies on the balcony moved in a well-coordinated, disciplined manner, scanning the surroundings. A tripod and sniper rifle—a standard setup. At least three enemies, possibly four.
Letting them escape would cause endless headaches.
-[Suggestion: Top Attack Mode]
Thunk!
I initiated the shot.
At the sound of a single shot, three of them swiftly took cover, but the balcony wasn’t exactly a spacious area. Harmony, deftly manipulating the missile launcher, shared the expected impact point.
With a whoosh, the missile soared almost vertically. Strictly speaking, it followed a parabolic trajectory, but the arc was so steep that it seed nearly straight.
A heavy recoil pressed against my shoulder. The enemies, who had just taken over control of the launcher, suddenly realized that the rocket was coming toward them. They began to scatter, but at that mont, a .338 round pierced through their legs. They fell awkwardly, frantically trying to crawl away.
The irony of a life being worth only 2,500 won was sothing else.
───KABOOM!
In that mont, the balcony exploded.
It wasn’t a large space, and the missile was unnecessarily powerful. The combination of these two factors created a new outco—destruction.
The unusual sound and flas were followed by tons of rubble crashing down. It was a broken orchestra that you wouldn’t hear anywhere else.
The darkness shuddered violently under the sudden commotion.
"Three enemies neutralized. No further movent."
"Let’s get out of here quickly. I’m not in the mood for more welco parties."
Crunch.
One minute into the engagent.
Three enemies had been vaporized, and the explosion that collapsed the balcony had dissipated into the night. The two of us left no trace, vanishing along a path no one had walked before.
Only the biting winter wind remained, filling the silence as it always did.
[Tricki Personal Community - Harmony]
[General] Why is Nocnyang getting better and better????
I used to see her trembling a bit, but now she just pushes through like it's nothing. So scary, wow;;
[All Comnts][Sorted by Most Recent]
=Isn’t it because Teacher Yujin does everything for her?
ㄴYou haven't been watching the streams lately, lol
ㄴThat's not true, she's been matching Yujin's support very well lately.
ㄴHer skills have improved so much, lol
=I want to see how good she really is, but she hasn't been doing mission public matches lately.
ㄴRight? Yujin is so overwhelming that it’s hard to tell how much she’s improved.
ㄴShe’s only been playing with the teacher these days, lol
ㄴThe mission difficulty isn't shown, so we really have no idea.
ㄴAh, we’ll see how it goes soon, lol
=They hinted at an upcoming collaboration in today’s chat, so hang in there, lol
ㄴOh, lol
ㄴIs it the Byongmangchi collab? We’re done for this weekend, lol
ㄴYeah, it's next Wednesday~~~~
ㄴLol, I’m safe since I’m unemployed.
ㄴWho’s employed here, lol
=Her skills have skyrocketed in just a month, lol
ㄴShe’s probably the luckiest one, lol. Where else would you find a guide like Yujin?
ㄴFact: Yujin isn't a guide, she's a newbie like Harmony.
ㄴOh yeah, lol, I forgot.
ㄴNewbie (who won first place in Apex in a month)
ㄴInsane, lol
=But seriously, I'm jealous. It seems like she’s getting proper training.
ㄴRight? So ntors teach their ntees bad habits instead.
ㄴThere’s a reason the rating system exists, lol
ㄴWhy don’t I have such a cute teacher?????
ㄴLol, not for you~
ㄴDamn it...
Everyone, I’m currently working hard on new emotes, and I’m giving them out like crazy.
Aren’t they cute?
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