Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

Anti-armor missile: SP10, automatic charging, manual release, consumes 1 power battery, deals 200% (270%/300%) small area damage to the first enemy and stuns targets in a small area for 1 second, up to 3 missiles can be charged.

Fortress Mode: SP35, automatic charging, automatic release, unlimited duration. Gains 2 layers of shield that absorbs all damage. After the shield is broken, consumes 1 Power Battery to replenish 2 layers of shield. In Fortress Mode, nearby operators gain damage reduction effects equivalent to the second talent. After the Power Battery is depleted, the shield will no longer be replenished, damage reduction will be disabled, and the operator's defense will increase by 100% while attack power will decrease by 30%.

Forty-two True Security Advisor

Forty-second truth

In the workshop, Ash and the other three placed all the weapons and equipment they could collect on the workbench, next to three sets of protective gear. "Let me first confirm how many combat personnel belong to our side in the area we are responsible for guarding, and what their armor configuration is."

"The combat personnel of the two standard squads are fully equipped with basic auxiliary equipment, two sets of power armor, and four sets of heavy armor."

“Hmm…” Alexander was silent for a moment. This should not be considered a large-scale group operation, but just an ordinary squad-level battle, which was a situation he was quite familiar with.

"Any leads?" Only Ash and Frostflower have the ability to modify and improve equipment, while Alexander is better at hands-on work than developing modification plans.

"First, we need to determine our defense zone. I've divided the entire facility into five areas: Zone A is our armory and command post, Zone B is the reactor location, Zone C is the main defense zone, and Zones D and E are the open-air farm and water storage station, respectively." Ash spread out the map and building blueprints, took out a pen, and pointed to several red circles on it.

"These areas need to have their walls reinforced, and these passageways need to be equipped with sandbags and fixed firepower. Finally, this area needs to be fitted with shotgun explosives as a trap. Do the tanks need any replenishment?"

“Here, here, add crossfire points. We have a sniper, so we need to set up ziplines and rapid-fire stations between the main building and the water tower.” Alexander arranged the defensive line based on his experience struggling in Grozny.

“Armored vehicles are set up in the underground garage, with two powered armored soldiers on standby. Simply holding the line is meaningless; a well-timed attack can put more pressure on the enemy.” Alexander did not underestimate the locals’ military skills and capabilities. Perhaps their tactics were a bit novel, but war, in the end, always leads to the same result.

"First, we can decide to abandon the open-air farm; second, the water station; and finally, the main building. Hopefully, the enemy won't launch a heavy attack."

"What about equipment upgrades? How's the progress?"

"It's alright. They lack too many tools and the right environment. For example, I couldn't find suitable gunpowder, but some other tactical modifications are still possible. After all, we are professionals in this kind of thing."

“Our equipment has some advantages, but some disadvantages, while the enemy’s equipment is not without merit. I need more time to study it.” Shuanghua had dark circles under her eyes. She had been spending the last few days in the studio studying the local people’s equipment and weapons, but the progress was not as optimistic as Ash had said.

After all, the Terrans aren't stupid, and Master Nian even has the arsenal of the ancients as a reference. To say that these equipment have no room for adjustment would be an exaggeration, but to say that these equipment have any immediate modification solutions would be basically nonsense.

“So, more importantly, we need to utilize local technology and increase some tactical equipment. At least from my observation, they have a lot of experience in breakthroughs and urban warfare, but they lack some tactical coordination and equipment, and experience in large-scale operations,” Alexander added. “It’s probably related to the fact that they have those super-giant ground vehicles and lack qualified ground infantry tactics, but that’s about it.”

"Fortunately, this time we only need to face ground infantry attacks, but we shouldn't let our guard down," Ash said. No one knew what tactics the enemy would use, but they were already familiar with the equipment. The next step was to make targeted arrangements and make all the necessary preparations.

"And we don't need to stand out too much." This is also an important reason. Standing out too much is not good for their current situation. Of course, surrendering is definitely a worse option.

A week and three days passed quickly, and the testing site had completed its initial deployment and reinforcement. Alexander, wearing a set of power armor, directed his two temporary squads to set up the defensive line as the defense commander. It must be said that these people were of good quality; they were all veterans who had undergone professional training.

He executes orders accurately and quickly, and is taciturn; he is clearly an excellent soldier. It's a pity that his command is only temporary, otherwise I would really be interested in commanding such troops and subordinates.

"Close the windows, set up bunkers and speed bumps, and arrange these 'welcome mats' I made." Shuanghua skillfully instructed the engineers to set up traps and various tools and traps made with local equipment.

Compared to improvements in tactical equipment and weapons, the progress on these tools and traps was extremely rapid. She quickly created a variety of trap tools and brand-new Originium traps that met local technical specifications.

"Bang!" In the midst of the tense setup time, a red signal flare, signifying the start of the attack, shot into the sky, indicating that the enemy units had entered the battlefield. "Everyone, to your positions!" The operators took their positions, and Ash gripped his modified rifle tightly.

"Has it started?" In the distant valley, Niyan looked at the signal flare, gripped his sledgehammer, and behind him was the combat force responsible for this breakthrough exercise. The number of people was about twice that of the defending side, which was about four squads. They did not have armored vehicles, but they had eight powered armored vehicles. They did not carry heavy weapons either, after all, their mission was not to completely blow up this agricultural base.

"Breakthrough attack begins!" A red and a green signal flare were launched into the sky. "The armor is equipped with signal devices. When all of them are destroyed, smoke will be released, indicating that we are withdrawing."

Of course, live ammunition couldn't be used in the rehearsal—that would be too exaggerated. However, tactical equipment such as wall-breaking tools were indeed live ammunition. For the attacking side, whose entire personnel were protected by exoskeletons, there was definitely a risk, but it wasn't fatal.

"They're here. They're not scattered. It's a strange formation. Don't fire." Alexander looked at the enemy advancing in four wedge formations and decided to wait and see. After all, in modern warfare, such dense formations are synonymous with sitting ducks.

However, since the locals are using it, it means they must have some means of not being afraid of being shot. So, we decided to move a little closer and let Frostflower's trap create chaos to observe the situation.

The first heavily armored operator stepped into the trap set by Frostflower. "Click!" The latches popped up and locked onto the sides of the power armor boots. Then, the directional Originium bombs detonated, and the powerful pulse threw the operator backward, causing him to fall to the ground.

"My leg!" The power of the directional blast at close range was a bit beyond expectations. The pulse jet pierced through the sole of the power armor's iron boots, and half of the unfortunate man's foot became a bloody mess.

"One person is wounded and deemed incapacitated." The medic pulled down the emergency access lever, dragged the soldier, who was sweating profusely from the armor, out of his armor, and sent him to the rear medical station for treatment.

"The power seems a bit too great, everyone watch your step!" The advance slowed down instantly, but the formation did not become too chaotic. They remained orderly, as if the fallen comrades were just an illusion. This mental fortitude alone was enough to make the four members of the Rainbow Squad look at these people with new respect.

On the battlefield, fear and panic can cause several times more damage than artillery shells. This indifference to life and death and fearlessness indicates that the lower limit of this legion's combat effectiveness is very high. However, the upper limit still depends on the terrain, environment, tactics, equipment, and the technological gap between the two sides.

"There's no other way, fire!" Alex realized he couldn't disrupt the formation, so he could only try to probe with crossfire.

"Rat-a-tat-tat!" Crossfire from the front and both sides covered the dense crowd. Normally, such a dense formation would be a mass slaughter, but Mudrock slammed his hammer down hard, "Everyone, march mode!" The unique technology of the Ursus Shield Guards combined with Originium Arts and their exclusive equipment achieved the desired effect.

The protective field formed by three large shields covered the entire team. Machine gun bullets struck the shields, creating dense sparks. Although a considerable amount of ammunition penetrated the protective field, its lethality was very limited for the outer personnel wearing heavy exoskeletons.

"My God!" Blitzkrieg's face darkened as he watched the enemy team charge into the wall in a standard tortoise formation. What kind of monsters were these? Even if those shields were indeed sturdy, the kinetic energy from the dense barrage of machine gun fire was enough to knock them all over the place.

Not to mention, the anti-personnel rockets that were ordered to be launched did little more than leave the enemy covered in dust after the explosions, as if their equipment was fake.

"Scatter!" The team broke up as soon as they got close to the wall. In Alexander's eyes, this formation and the effect created by Originium Arts were so invincible and shameless. However, Mudrock herself knew that if the two sides had not been using practice shells, but instead using etching shells, she would have had to be prepared to step on the corpses of her companions to get closer to the wall.

The shield array can reduce the lethality of etched bullets, but it will still cause continuous casualties when facing dense bullet rain. Except for units equipped with power armor, other units may be killed or killed.

Even if the leader were anyone other than Mudrock, Alexander's deployment would have resulted in terrible casualties. Of course, other commanders would not have used this breakthrough tactic.

The sledgehammer spun half a turn in Niyan's hand before slamming it into the wall, causing the thick wall to explode outwards with a deafening roar.

"I think I saw a familiar face!"

"Enough talk, prepare for indoor combat. We're abandoning Zone E." Zone E is an open-air planting area, and fighting in such pioneering ground is not an ideal environment. Of course, Alexander's fire coverage continues.

"Take out the firing point!" Both sides have some rockets and similar weapons, but this side doesn't have drones or warlocks, while Mudrock's side does.

Several new guide drones took off, their spell launchers firing at several windows that spewed fire.

"Withdraw, Plan C!" Alexander's gaze swept across the battlefield, and he ordered the firing positions to withdraw. The enemy had attack drones, and staying in place would only be a waste of their ammunition and manpower.

"Snap!" Although the Rainbow Squad did not know the characteristics of the enemy operator, the sniper operator did. A weak stream of flame struck the caster hiding in the drainage ditch, and red smoke immediately popped out.

"You are dead. Exit the battlefield!" The warlock, now declared dead, could only obediently lay down his equipment, let the drone crash into the building, and leave the combat zone, looking utterly frustrated.

After suffering several casualties, Mudrock successfully broke into the building, but the traps set by Ash and Frostflower then caused her a lot of trouble.

The amazing things were the Claymore-like landmines around the corner, the bomb trucks and reconnaissance vehicles made from toy cars, and the unpredictable wall-breaking explosives that were simply plastered over entire walls. What was truly astonishing was that, despite the buildings trembling under the strain, they did not actually collapse.

The firing positions were extremely cunning and treacherous, making them seem like the most honest and straightforward opponents in Letania and the Regent's army compared to them.

Inside the observation post, Yelena nodded, quite satisfied with their performance. "It seems these four people are indeed quite capable. They are experts in hot weapons combat, just as they said. There are many things we can learn from them. Did you record everything?" As for whether the test was won or lost, it was meaningless; she had already gotten what she wanted.

"Especially these improved traps, the tactical arrangements that go with our weapons, and the firing positions—I have to say, they know our equipment better than we do."

"After all, he's from the same hometown as Lao Xia, so I'm about 80% convinced now," Yelena remarked. After all, the Terrans have been accustomed to melee combat and crossbows for too long, along with their habit of various sorcerer spells, which cannot be fully applied to the equipment of the new era.

For example, they see power armor as an enhanced shieldbearer and a frontal combat and protection unit like an ancient knight, but these self-proclaimed Earthlings don't see it that way. They seem to define power armor as a position similar to a special agent, rather than a heavy armor operator.

The most typical example is that there were no powered armored soldiers carrying large shields and halberds on the front lines of the battlefield.

Instead, they either acted as gunners, using weapons that normally required two or three people to operate to provide suppressive fire, or they abandoned their teammates and acted alone, relying on their indestructible armor to repeatedly raid Mudrock's squad inside the building. As a result, Mudrock's casualties and losses increased sharply after entering the building.

As the tug-of-war dragged on, these lone armored soldiers could take turns swapping batteries and make decisions about their combat strategies based on their own circumstances. On the other hand, although Mudrock had a numerical advantage, the powered armored soldiers pinned to the front lines could not freely withdraw from the battlefield to prepare and change equipment. Instead, they were held up by the enemy with various traps, firing positions, and agile squads.

“Watch carefully and learn carefully; these are excellent experiences from another world.”

Not only Yelena was learning, but Alexander and Ash were also learning. After all, Terra's tactics had their merits. Combined with their magical abilities, equipment characteristics, and unique physical qualities, some of their tactics were surprising, giving them great surprises or even shocks.

"Should the test continue?"

"Continue, reinforce both sides with more troops, and force them to reveal more of their true abilities."

Once they entered close combat, Alexander's plan completely fell apart, because on Earth, when it comes to close-quarters combat, people are truly out of ammunition and supplies, leaving no room for maneuver.

However, at this time, Ash and the others discovered that in Terra, the real difficulty of combat and command began when they entered melee mode. These Terra squad members often performed well in melee combat, and even formed their own combat formations without any orders or commands from their superiors.

Furthermore, the performance of the sniper operators and the counter-sniper enemies in long-range combat surprised them quite a bit. Both sides used very skilled sniper hunting tactics, including quickly moving sniper positions, using teammates for cover, calling in fire support, and so on, which were no less than those of snipers on Earth.

"Alright, let's call a halt. Continuing any further would just result in meaningless victories." The test exercise has ended. Judging from the results, Mudrock suffered the greatest losses in mid-range and indoor CQC, but in the melee phase, Alexander's side clearly showed signs of command disorder.

“Very good, your performance was excellent,” Yelena praised generously. “And you successfully defended the facility. These equipment and tactics prove that you were not lying; you are indeed experts in your field.”

In particular, Ash's wall-breaking grenade and Frostblossom's footpad performed exceptionally well after being improved by Terra and Old Xia, especially the latter.

Even power armor was penetrated several times. The dragon fire jet pulse jet at point-blank range was enough to penetrate the weakest point of the armor, the sole of the shoe, and directly injure or even cripple the user's feet or even calves.

If it weren't for Kazdel's highly advanced medical technology, a single exercise would have created a large number of people with leg disabilities, and even then, these wounded would have needed a considerable amount of time to recover.

"So, I approve your hiring, security advisors." Security advisors were positions that Yelena felt these individuals were capable of fulfilling. As for the others, their reliability and credibility were insufficient, and they had not demonstrated any value worthy of recruitment, so she did not mention them for the time being.

"Security consultants? But aren't they experts?"

“She is indeed an expert in security, but in other areas, she hasn’t yet shown the level that makes her worthy of being hired as a technical consultant,” Yelena said, popping a candy into her mouth and wiggling her feet on the coffee table.

"Moreover, they have good experience in counter-terrorism and dealing with bandits. I think we should put them in this position first, and then talk about it when they demonstrate their capabilities in machinery, production and technology."

"Besides, these people are completely confused right now. They need to have a job and eat. It's not something that can be done in a day or two to learn our knowledge from scratch."

"Hmm, you're right." Old Xia thought about it and realized that he had indeed been too impatient. Even if these people were of sound mind, they would still need a considerable amount of time to learn. And during their learning period, they certainly couldn't just sit around doing nothing. A security consultant was indeed a good arrangement.

Moreover, their expertise and knowledge in this area will be even more useful soon, as it is about to be the second polar expedition.

Chapter Forty-Three: Joining the Behemoth

Chapter 43

For the four Ashes, their first day at work was pretty good. As "security consultants" who had been officially hired, they naturally had their own offices and workspaces. They even had their own locker room, which also served as their armory, because they had signed a security employment agreement and agreed to participate in some special operations.

However, the training grounds and showers are shared with the other members of the Yeti Security team, which is a common practice for Rainbow Team members and nothing special.

The only special thing is that their workplace is not the Abbotton-class aircraft carrier they used to work on, but a much larger polar behemoth, and this land-based ship looks more like a warship than the Abbotton.

After the modification, the front of the ship presents a V-shape, with the electromagnetic catapult track recessed in the middle, accounting for about 2/3 of the ship's length. The hangar is actually located on both sides, with a double-layered design. At the end of the runway is the bridge and the connecting garage area. Because the deck directly in front of the runway can be opened to become a ramp, vehicles and aircraft can go ashore via this ramp.

On the "high ground" on both sides are two rows of very powerful naval guns, five groups on each side. Each group includes a twin Originium railgun for bombarding large targets. The lower layer protruding from the hull is a combination of two small multi-barreled rapid-fire close-in weapon systems and a cluster electromagnetic crossbow.

Finally, at the lowest level, which resembles a terraced field on the outer edge, there is a large number of automatic machine guns and thermal pods, used to strafe small targets and clusters of targets at close range.

Even between the fin-shaped protruding gun turret structures on both sides of the hull, there are rectangular bomb launch ports. From the open maintenance hatches, you can see that inside are coiled explosive cords and spherical powered mines—a type of torpedo-like device that, after landing, starts a motor and rolls a long distance before detonating, specifically designed to decommission small land-based ships and the running gear of large land-based ships at close range.

Having absorbed the advanced experience of the Great Yan people in exploring the polar regions, this behemoth looks more like a mobile fortress, reducing the number of large missile and drone cabins, increasing the number of manned aircraft hangars and armored vehicle garages, as well as a dense array of medium and small turrets.

Indeed, in the eyes of the Rainbow Squad, the five sets of ten twin turrets, which were enough to serve as the main guns of a battleship, could only be called "medium turrets" on a behemoth that was just over a kilometer long.

As for the large turrets, those are the castle-like electromagnetic acceleration monsters with a caliber of over 800 mm that you see in the port. It can be said that they are incredibly powerful in terms of artillery.

Missile or rocket launchers were also visible. Since the demons did not have an air force that could fly, and Terra lacked air defense needs, at least not before, missile technology was relatively basic. On both sides of the central island were rocket launchers and a row of large vertically launched rockets at the stern.

"If this thing weren't unarmored, it would give the American carrier fleet a headache, right?" Alexander thought this warship, which smelled like Russia from head to toe, was really too exaggerated, especially since it was a land-based ship. This meant that even if the Americans' subsonic anti-ship missiles could destroy it, they could probably only turn a mobile fortress into a fixed one at most.

Interestingly, the Terrans share the same view on landships: if there's no significant difference in tonnage and yield in artillery battles, they're just turning mobile fortresses into fixed fortresses, continuing to annoy their ground forces. Only boarding and internal demolition can completely solve this problem.

"So, our security consultant's work location is this warship?" Ash frowned and re-examined his contract, confirming that it was not a special operations cooperation agreement signed with a sovereign nation, but rather with a security company called Yeti Security, which belonged to the Xia Group.

"Theoretically speaking, shouldn't we be at the company headquarters or the necessary company building?" Blitzkrieg was also curious about this question. Although being an advisor doesn't necessarily mean sitting in an office, after all, it's not uncommon for military advisors and security advisors to go to the front lines of the battlefield and stay in aircraft carriers or even military bases, but that's usually called "business trips."

The actual office location is still inside the headquarters or branch building of the defense or PMC company where they work.