From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 777: Invasion of the Presidential Palace

Deafening explosions echoed over Placid Square in the capital, and dust and debris fell like rain.

Sergeant Jackson was crawling behind a broken wall. His combat visor had been damaged in the previous battle. After losing the air filter, his lungs were burning severely due to inhaling too much smoke and dust.

He quickly raised his head from the ground and scanned the surroundings through his spare goggles. There were only thirteen soldiers left holding their positions among the ruins.

"Morris, cover the left wing!" He shouted into the communication channel, his voice hoarse from dryness and fatigue, "Lance, take two people to switch to point B and prepare for the next wave of attack!"

The veteran who had fought alongside him - now he knew his name was Watson - was leaning against a crumbling wall not far away. His lower body had disappeared, leaving only a pool of indistinguishable flesh and blood. Jackson still remembered that it was this veteran's words that saved their entire platoon more than an hour ago.
"Quickly take everyone back to the shelter!!!"

At that time, Sergeant Jackson and his soldiers were ambushing a group of Renaissance Alliance soldiers. Then, spots of light began to flash in the distant sky, indicating that a new round of orbital strikes was about to come.

Veteran Watson quickly grabbed Sergeant Jackson who was about to rush to the defensive position, and approached him and shouted:
"Look at the distribution and rhythm of those light spots. This is not tactical support, but a full-scale bombing! Quickly retreat to avoid this round of attack!"

For some reason, Jackson instinctively obeyed the order and led the team to retreat quickly underground. The moment the door of the shelter slammed shut behind them, the entire block was engulfed by orbital strike missiles.

At that time, he was standing in front of the monitoring screen, watching a flash of white light on the monitor, and then turned into static snowflakes - the external camera was completely destroyed in this round of attack.

"Thank you, Mr. Watson."

As the ceiling of the shelter shook, Sergeant Jackson said to the veteran with lingering fear, "If it weren't for you..."

"Don't say that, kid." Watson replied with a complicated expression, "I've just lived long enough and seen enough missile attacks. The firepower wave of this round of orbital strike is completely different from the preset tactical support. This is a strike mode that aims to raze the entire area to the ground."

The veteran's words seemed to still echo in Sergeant Jackson's ears, but now the veteran who saved the lives of their entire platoon was leaning against the broken wall, his lower body having disappeared in the explosion.

Jackson tried to collect his body but was forced back into the bunker by another explosion.

Intermittent calls came from the communication channel:

"Alpha-3 requesting backup! We've encountered a heavy armored force east of the City Hall!"

"This is Delta-7, we have lost control of the perimeter and are in tactical retreat"

"The area outside the Presidential Palace is under attack! I repeat, the area outside the Presidential Palace is under attack! The enemy is rushing towards the Presidential Palace at all costs!"

Every message on the tactical communication channel was like a hammer hitting Jackson's chest. The defenses of the capital were collapsing one after another, and their makeshift force composed of regular troops, reservists and veterans now had only the last remnants left, struggling to survive among the ruins.

Sergeant Jackson didn't know how many troops had retreated to the underground bunkers like them in the second round of orbital strikes, but judging from the defense line that was almost collapsing, it seemed that not every defensive force had veterans like Watson.
"boom!"

A high-explosive grenade exploded not far away, shaking the ground.

Jackson quickly rolled to another shelter, just in time to see three other young soldiers under his command being swept by the enemy's vehicle-mounted electromagnetic machine gun fire as they were preparing to move.

The silicon carbide armor plates attached to their combat exoskeletons collapsed completely after only a few hits under the intensive firepower, and then the dense rain of bullets completely tore their bodies apart.

"Damn it!"

Jackson gritted his teeth and quickly activated the team communication channel.

"Everyone, pay attention! Our position has been discovered, move to the second line of defense!"

The fighters under his command who were still able to move quickly took action after hearing the order, but it was too late to move.

Sergeant Jackson saw on the refreshed battle situation map that the ground forces of the Renaissance Alliance were pouring in from all directions like a tide. These "revolutionary troops" were well-equipped and well-trained, and more importantly, they had sufficient manpower and were going to crush the defenders in terms of troop strength.

At this moment, Jackson knew that this battle was no longer winnable.

"Sergeant!"

The voice of his subordinate named Morris came from the communication channel. He appeared in the building opposite Jackson with a team of soldiers. After seeing Jackson, he immediately prepared to quickly cross the street to meet him.

But at this moment, Jackson felt a sense of crisis suddenly surge in his heart. He immediately activated the communication channel to stop the other party's actions, but before he could say anything, a dazzling blue-white beam of light streaked across the street and hit Morris's position.

The HCP used the power of the heavy particle cannon to completely wipe out the first floor of the entire building. Jackson only had time to see a flash of light for a moment, and then Morris and the three comrades around him disappeared, as if they had never existed. Then the building, which had lost its support, completely collapsed. Jackson hid behind a tilted concrete slab, trying hard not to make a sound.

He looked in the direction of veteran Watson. The other party was no longer moving, his head slightly tilted, and his eyes closed, as if he had finally fallen asleep peacefully after a long battle.

On the command interface, his entire platoon had been killed, including reservists and veterans.
"Attention all federal troops who are still resisting!!!"

The voice of the Renaissance Alliance's broadcast echoed in Placid Square. "You have been completely surrounded. It is futile to continue to resist. It will only lead to meaningless sacrifices! Lay down your weapons and surrender immediately. You will be treated as prisoners of war!"

After hearing the surrender broadcast, Sergeant Jackson sneered. He looked at his electromagnetic rifle and saw that there were only 24 steel needles left on the magazine. If he used them sparingly, they would be enough for him to knock down three or four more enemies.

He checked the multi-function launcher on his left shoulder again and found that there was still one last plasma grenade left in the bay.

"A glory bullet."

Just as Sergeant Jackson was thinking about how to use this "glory bullet" to pull enough scapegoats, a familiar voice suddenly came from the communication channel: "Sergeant Jackson, this is Captain Marshall, how is the situation over there?"

This was the person in charge of the underground shelter where Jackson was previously located.

"I am the only one left, sir," Jackson replied calmly. "The others...are dead."

After a brief silence on the communication channel, Captain Marshall's voice sounded again: "You have done well enough. Sergeant, now, I have one last order for you."

"What orders, sir?"

"Stay alive." The captain's voice was extremely firm. "Surrender, at least you can stay alive, and there is hope."

Jackson gripped the rifle tightly, hesitating.

At this moment, the faces of his comrades who had fought side by side with him, the weather-beaten but still clear eyes of veteran Watson, and the little girl named Irene in the shelter flashed through his mind.

"The battle is over. We can't change anything. There's no need to be buried with this country that is about to end."

"I understand, sir." Finally, Sergeant Jackson took a deep breath and lowered his weapon.
-
Meanwhile, at the other end of the capital, the presidential palace area had been reduced to ruins in the previous orbital strike.

Colonel Coleman, commander of the Renaissance Alliance's vanguard, stood on top of an armored command vehicle and watched with satisfaction as his troops took action on the ruins of the presidential palace.

As a comrade who fought together with Franklin from Rubion V, he knew the significance of this moment.

For the commanders of the Renaissance Alliance's ground forces, it would be a great honor to be the first to lead their troops into the Presidential Palace and plant the alliance flag on the roof. It would also become an important political asset for their future promotion within the alliance.

Therefore, the attack on the presidential palace quickly became a race, and the troops even abandoned the combat rules and attacked the presidential palace recklessly, leaving no one to guard the prisoners of war and civilians.
As for these "unstable factors", the commanders of the ground forces who had some conscience concentrated them in a certain area and notified the follow-up troops to take over.

But if you happen to encounter those inhuman commanders, the prisoners of war and civilians will become kill statistics.

"Boost!"

Colonel Coleman shouted loudly on the communication channel:
"Clear the entrance to the underground fortress! We must complete the cleanup before other troops arrive!"

In front of the armored command vehicle, several HCPs that had deployed their heavy particle cannons were at the edge of the ruins of the presidential palace. Their heavy particle cannons continuously bombarded the ground, and each shot could completely wipe out a large area of ​​obstacles.

Although this method is rough, it is the most efficient way to clear the ruins on the battlefield right now.

The surrounding infantry dispersed and cooperated with other armored vehicles to vigilantly monitor the surroundings. The anti-artillery and anti-sniper radars on the armored vehicles were operating non-stop to guard against possible sneak attacks by the enemy.

After hearing the news from the reconnaissance team, Colonel Coleman's eyes swept to the end of the street behind, where he could see the vanguard of other Restoration Alliance forces advancing towards here.

He cursed and continued to put pressure on the communication channel: "HCP troops, speed up! Other troops are almost here!"

At this moment, an HCP detection unit sounded an alarm and the pilot's voice sounded on the communication channel, which sounded like heavenly music to Coleman.

"Sir, an underground hollow structure has been discovered! The coordinates have been marked!"

(End of this chapter)