Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 25: Everyone saw the result of rushing in through the fog
The other party obviously didn't expect that what they thought was just a garrison of a marginal node city with a few mercenaries at most would turn out to be so difficult to deal with.

The two sides fought back and forth, and many people were killed so far. At least the overwhelming explosion caused a lot of casualties on Sefer's side.

But... the attacking side suffered more casualties, and a group of people were even killed by Cypher. To be honest, he was actually a pacifist.

The world is already so bad, why do these people fight so recklessly?
Various thoughts were swirling in his mind, but Seifer did not stop moving at all. He crawled for a while, and when the fire suppressing him disappeared, he immediately went to find a motorcycle that could move quickly.

"Alright guys, cheer up and aim your cannons at those guys nearby. I spent a lot of money to buy that thing just now. If you can't achieve any results, don't blame me for deducting your salary!"

Tien's voice remained clear and confident. Compared to hers, the other party's movements seemed a little subtle. It was as if they had suddenly lost their backbone. Although they maintained their course, they were somewhat hesitant...

Slowing down is the best proof.

"Leica, what was that just fired? It seems like there's something wrong with the other party's command?"

"I can't analyze it. All I know is that someone in your team used some kind of attack in the distance."

As the mercenaries began to retreat, relying on their armor as a defensive unit to slowly deliver firepower, Cypher took a long detour from the other side.

Sneak attack!

Anyway, motorcycle tracks in the desert are very short-lived and disappear in about half a minute...

Leica said she didn't know. Tien was busy directing the team while scolding her men for being too slow. It can be said that she played an indispensable role in the fact that the entire scene was able to fight back instantly instead of being stunned by the attack.

So this is why she may have been a pirate in every way, but she has not been fired by the company until now. Her personal command ability is indeed quite strong.

Seifer took some effort to sneak around, making a big circle, and waited in advance near the place where those medium-sized vehicles, which were a little panicked and had no choice of direction, had to pass.

Then he pulled off the tattered protective suit that had no protective ability anymore, and touched the layer of camouflage stuck to his body with heartache... He had just bought it, and it was already scratched by a stray bullet. It was too fragile.

There was no time to feel sorry for the things. They thought they could just tail them when the enemy went around the mountain, but they didn't expect that Tien had already deployed two mobile mercenary bases at the turning point. As soon as they came out, they were intensively bombarded by the two vehicle-mounted firepower.

The lead car exploded with brilliant flames on the spot, stirring up circles of blue light on the sand.

It is not clear how many living people are inside, but what is certain is that their reconnaissance function as an outpost has been completely useless.

Because their supporting firepower in the rear has been silent for a long time, and there has not even been any exploratory ground shooting - the missile that Tien just shot out was definitely not something with ordinary explosives or armor-piercing capabilities.

So, without long-range fire support, how long could these few medium-sized mobile bases hold out? Perhaps they would be faster if they fled... but Cipher had already set his sights on the vehicle at the end of the team.

While all their firepower was directed to the other side, Seifer seized the opportunity and rode into the hatch of the last vehicle that had not yet been closed.

The short track line was difficult to detect among the tire tracks, and when he rushed into the open warehouse, he was surprised to find that there was no one here.

...It seems that the commandos and autonomous weapons carried by this vehicle have all been thrown out, and now the warehouse is in an empty state?
Then why not close the hatch? Are you leaving it open to welcome invasion?

This thought just flashed through his mind and then disappeared. The threat scanning module was activated, and dozens of active biological signals immediately appeared in front of him.

Everyone was on the weapon control platform, and everyone was concentrating on firing artillery shells at the convoy. There were even a few energy-condensing weapons on display. For this kind of enemy, they had to strike hard!

In the physical sense, using fists.

Cypher was clearing the moving vehicle from bottom to top, knocking down any moving target with a single punch—though to the person being punched, it was just a perfectly shaped, silver-haired beauty suddenly walking in and punching them. But it was a real, mechanically driven punch that required restrained force, and a blow to the head could cause permanent damage if not handled with care.

Then the firing point immediately went silent. During this process, he also contacted Tien specifically, asking the other party to be careful not to hit him - and the prisoners - when they opened fire.

These words made Tien very happy. He quickly issued the order and then led the convoy except the transport vehicles to charge towards the direction where the long-range fire support had come from.

The other side is obviously here to wipe out everyone, so it would be more reliable to wait until they return victorious before asking them in detail.

Meanwhile, Seifer successfully knocked out all the fire turrets and make-up turrets on the vehicle, and then checked the weapons and ammunition in his hands outside the main control room.

After the inspection, he raised his leg and kicked the sealed door, causing it to dent and the lock to completely collapse open. "Don't move! This car is under my control now!"

This loud shout made the dozen or so people in the brightly lit control room subconsciously stop what they were doing and look over.

Under the light, a beautiful woman with short silver hair, smelling of gunpowder and stained with other people's blood (other people's), was standing there holding a high-powered weapon that was obviously used by mercenaries.

Her face was as cold as steel at night, and judging by her appearance, she was definitely not joking... After all, this vehicle had been noticing their firepower points being hit since a while ago, but the combat troops had already been deployed, which meant...

"I, we surrender. None of us here have weapons, so..."

Cipher didn't care whether they really had no weapons or not. A few minutes later, he tied up a group of people with the strapping he had found in the warehouse and threw them into a corner.

"Tien, this is Red Arrow. I've captured an enemy vehicle. Please respond."

'Zizizi...'

There was only noise in the communicator. There was no response to the noisy voice just now. Seifer frowned. "Pier, the communication is down. Do you have any information?"

This time, the mercenary team that was in the process of blowing up the last two medium-sized vehicles that were still resisting immediately replied that they had not received any intelligence either - this was not normal, so Seifer asked immediately.

"Are the freight cars we're transporting to the neighboring city really empty? Is this transportation really just about moving construction supplies?"

"Very sharp, Red Crossbow. Unfortunately, we don't have that kind of stuff in transit. Focus on what you're doing, we're turning back."

As he was speaking, several earth-shattering noises were heard from the dark horizon. Looking through the panoramic camera in the control room... raging clouds of fire were surging and rising.

The only thing that could cause such a deafening noise was a mobile base explosion...

Just as I was thinking this, a track line with a bright blue light suddenly appeared at the edge of the undulating sand dunes and rushed towards this side at a rapid speed.

Tien's voice was clearly audible over the communication line: "Everyone, take the trucks and turn around! You've been beating up chicks every day, and today you've been kicked by the hen..."

Then she made a retching sound that was unbearable to listen to.

Only when he got closer did he see that it was... a bipedal, propulsive, mobile unit with obvious limbs and a torso.

This is the "human-computer interaction combat unit" that was once used in the vision.

(End of this chapter)