I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 232 – New London

───Ssssk.

“Is this… really supposed to be a museum? It looks more like a supermax prison or a military base.”

“Fundamentally, it was a military fortress, school, and research facility for the U.S. Army, Navy, and Coast Guard since the colonial era. Two hundred years ago, cannons would have been lined up on that balcony. Now, it looks like it’s filled with medium-to-long-range surface-to-air missile batteries….”

The Thames River divided New London, Connecticut, in half.

I cautiously poked my head above the dark water, which seemed almost 99.9% pure darkness. The air had a faint hint of the sea, as the ocean was only a few kilometers away.

It was undoubtedly the lower reaches of the river.

To the left, from the river eastward, several Zubr-class landing craft were stationed at regular intervals along the riverbank.

According to the briefing, the main naval forces were concentrated at the New Haven port, about 80 kilometers to the west, making this area relatively less significant.

Though, it didn’t seem that way.

I turned my gaze in the opposite direction.

“I heard the security was tight, but this is impressive. The fortifications are complete, and there are three watchtowers up front. There are searchlights, too.”

“It doesn’t seem like a place meant to be hit head-on.”

“Right. Let’s proceed according to the plan we established.”

I nodded once and checked the signals captured by the ICARUS Gear. The source of the signal detected by the previous agents was within a kilometer.

Looking to the right, I saw a building that used to be a museum but had now turned into a military fortress.

There were three watchtowers overlooking the river, each with two personnel. Seeing the cigarette lights flicker, their discipline didn’t seem particularly stringent.

However, with two layers of barbed wire, blocks, and sandbagged barricades, it wasn’t a place one could confidently charge into.

I reviewed the operation plan again.

“Do you remember what to do next?”

“Yes, of course. I’m a bit anxious about splitting up, but we’ll manage.”

“Just do what we’ve been doing.”

I reassured Harmony softly.

The operation had four main stages: infiltration, neutralization of enemy forces and fortifications, rescue, and exfiltration. At this point, we had completed the first stage.

Naturally, everyone was curious about the second stage.

To the left were three Zubr-class landing craft capable of massive firepower, while to the right was a well-armed Russian fortress, once a museum, now almost indistinguishable from ADX Florence or a military base.

Of course, it wasn’t for nothing that this was the ultimate difficulty content, as viewers were going wild in the chat.

-Are you kidding? Just the two of you? Are you insane?????????????????

-True scenario difficulty is off the charts lololololololololol

-Maybe if 8 people crashed in at once, they could have completed the rescue in time.

-Do we even have a solution for this??

-My honest opinion: Crow might as well just die.

Hmm.

While the chat was in an uproar and Harmony was racking her brain, I felt calmer than usual, perhaps because we were underwater.

And naturally, at this point, I knew what the solution was – because I had done this in real life a year ago.

Only back then, there were ten of us.

Even now, I wasn’t too worried. We had more personnel back then to handle contingencies and ensure smooth operations, but if we did what we did then, there shouldn’t be any major issues.

Probably.

But since the die was already cast, I dove back underwater and headed towards the right riverbank using my thrusters.

I carefully placed Crow’s thruster at one end of the dock, then disappeared back into the water to head left.

“See you later.”

“Take care.”

And with that, we split up.

Harmony headed to the far left, while I directed my thruster towards the Zubr-class landing craft on the far right.

Essentially, we were avoiding the craft in the middle.

The distance between each craft was about 500 meters, meaning three landing craft were spread out over a kilometer.

Even underwater, I could speak, so I kindly explained to the viewers why I was heading towards the Zubr-class landing craft.

“The Zubr-class landing craft is equipped with two A-22 Ogon naval multiple rocket launcher systems. The range is 4.5 kilometers, and each system has 22 cylinders capable of launching 140mm rockets. But….”

So, what can we do if we take control of this?

Fire support? Destroy enemy ships? Bombard the fortress? Or create chaos?

The answer was ‘all of the above.’

-Huh? Huh????????????????????

-Are they really planning to do what I think they’re planning????

-Wow, their level of thinking is just different, really lololololololololol

-Here we see the ultimate use of turning one’s weapons against them lol

-Hold tight!!!!! This is going to be epic!!!!!!!

In short, it was very simple.

With just two of us, it was impossible to break through the fortress on the west bank head-on, so we would use the rockets mounted on the landing craft in the east shipyard to obliterate everything, then leisurely enter the fortress where Crow was.

Since I was about 10 meters from my destination, I carefully placed the thruster beside the ship and climbed onto the hovercraft.

The landing point was at the rear of the ship, where three propulsion propellers were mounted.

As always, these were perfect targets for a little sabotage. I opened the multipurpose pouch and generously distributed M112 block explosives, then inserted a remote detonator and a motion sensor trigger for automatic detonation.

This took about 30 seconds.

With the bonus task done,

So, if you’re wondering what I planned to do next,

───Chk.

“I don’t know if the crew on this ship are wearing bulletproof vests, but if they aren’t, that’s rather unfortunate.”

Because they would be crossing the River Styx without much resistance.

I held a silenced pistol filled with hollow-point rounds in my hand. The target was, of course, the bridge.

As the pulse swept over the Zubr-class, the positions of all personnel on board – let’s call it a ship for convenience – were marked.

At the same time, Harmony’s signal of arrival flowed through the comms.

It was time to clean up the ship.

First, the unlucky sailor who had just stepped out of the mast to check the ship fell with a dull thud. Moving instantly while he collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut, I headed inside.

I erased everything I saw after entering the hull.

Unfortunately for them, they had already been exposed by the pulse.

Wandering around the hovercraft without weapons or bulletproof vests meant their survival rate was zero.

It took less than a minute to reach the bridge.

“кто т…!”

“враг на мос, ах!”

With a few soft pops,

I silently dispatched everyone on the bridge.

Engulfed in silence, I activated the ICARUS Gear, and in less than 10 seconds, I gained control of the two A-22 Ogon rocket systems at the stern.

How many seconds had passed? Two bullets shattered the glass of the bridge, instantly sending the two sailors stationed at the stern to the past tense.

I sat in the now cold bridge for a few more seconds.

“-Bridge secured. The enemies have been dealt with cleanly.”

“Good. I’ll attack the hovercraft in the middle, so overturn the fortress defenses.”

Zing.

A series of procedures flashed before my eyes. But all of them passed through the ICARUS Gear, transforming into a very intuitive and clear visual format.

As the two 140mm rocket systems aimed at the Zubr-class hovering about 500 meters ahead, Harmony completed the same procedure.

The rocket trajectories displayed on the UI showed them targeting the enemy. As the chat exploded, I cautiously opened my mouth and gave the command.

“Fire.”

───Bam!

Sixteen rockets fired from the pods on either side of the stern struck the bridge of the enemy hovercraft – the one Harmony wasn’t on.

The result was devastating. In an instant, flames erupted from the center of the abyss.

The time it took for the impact point to be covered in a crater, smoke, and debris was shorter than a human could perceive.

The next launch began.

The time delay was less than a second.

The powerful shockwave and the blinding explosion, although momentary, were indeed beautiful, but there was still work to be done.

I adjusted the firing angle of the pods.

With the bridge completely destroyed, the next target was the main body.

The three propulsion propellers were the first to explode, followed by the main dish. Forty-four rockets disappeared in a matter of seconds.

But that wasn’t the end.

“I’m starting the bombardment.”

Swoosh!

From about a kilometer ahead, several rockets fired from the Zubr-class Harmony was on shot across the Thames River vertically, shattering the watchtower standing firmly on the opposite bank into thousands of pieces.

It was a spectacular firework display.

The Russian army’s communication traffic skyrocketed. It was pandemonium. In the meantime, there was no time for the crew of the Zubr-class to contribute. If I were to guess, they were probably contributing a lot to the volume of conversations in the afterlife.

While watching Harmony’s fireworks, the reloading of both rockets finished, and I launched an additional attack to completely destroy the target.

With the characteristic noise of rockets, the propulsion flames burst out from the pods, delivering a fatal blow to the already engulfed hovercraft’s center.

The original form had already disappeared into

the flames, but the massive explosion that occurred a few seconds later, enveloping the entire hovercraft, was more than enough to erase any lingering worries.

All that remained was the fortress’s defenses.

-[Alert: Recalibrating target. Adjusting angle to 270.]

-[Alert: Selected available fire projection options // A-22 Ogon (X2) // AK-630 (X2) // 122mm Rocket POD (X2)]

-[Alert: Commencing barrage.]

-These guys are insane, lol.

-There are many who play games for fun, but only here do they make history with every broadcast, lololol.

-The operation plans are simple, but why are they always so effective???????? No matter how many times I watch, it’s fascinating.

-I guarantee this isn’t their first time doing this.

-Why is their form never bad? Why is it always fun? What will I do if this broadcast ends? How will I live without this? What am I supposed to do now!!!

The chat was always a mess.

How many seconds had passed since then? After the bombardment ended, leaving behind a scene where it seemed doubtful whether Crow or any intact building would remain, I sent a signal to Harmony to focus on infiltrating the fortress.

As I exited the bridge and jumped into the water, the beautiful display of straight-line fire support from 122mm, 140mm, and 30mm artillery continued unabated. I figured they’d stop once the ammo ran out and activated the thruster waiting.

It was an unusually bright night in Connecticut.

“Four out of five watchtowers have collapsed, all temporary buildings have burned down. The outer walls of the building are severely damaged. Most of the medium-range surface-to-air missiles placed on the walls have been destroyed!”

“From what we understand, 15% of the available combat forces have been wiped out. Considering the firepower of the Ogon multiple rocket launchers, this level of loss is a miracle. We need to come up with a plan quickly. If we don’t respond, we’ll be annihilated soon.”

“The communication cables and antennas have been destroyed beyond repair. The base’s current operational capacity has plummeted to less than 40% of its usual level.”

“What are the unit commanders doing! They need to accurately assess the damage and report it so we can develop a retreat plan and retreat to Niantic!”

Yells and shouts were coming from all directions.

However, actions were faster than ever. Some were busy destroying and burning important operational materials, while others ran around trying to restore the control room’s power, which had suddenly gone out. Retreat had already become a foregone conclusion.

If they had known that the ones bombarding them and soon to retrieve Crow from this base were just two people, their faces would have turned beet-red with embarrassment, but unfortunately for them, the unknown attackers were far scarier than the potential additional rockets that might come their way.

“So, why did those idiots attack us? Did an internal conflict break out? Did they cling to the U.S. military because they had nowhere else to go? Damn bastards!”

“A higher-ranking unit will dispatch troops in a few days. For now, preserving our forces is crucial. Considering the suddenness of the attack, we have enough grounds for mitigation.”

“Of course. If there are no more reports, burn the control room and retreat to the designated retreat point. Bring the incendiary grenades!”

“What about Crow in the detention room?”

That question neatly destroyed the commander’s last shred of rationality.

The ashtray in his hand flew through the air and hit the wall.

“If you’re so concerned about that damn bat bastard, go carry him on your back and retreat! The base is about to blow up, and you’re talking nonsense… Leave him. Let him die under the collapsing building, burn to death, or starve.”

“Understood!”

“Anyone who delays the retreat with unnecessary comments from now on, I’ll shove an incendiary grenade down their throat myself. Get everything sorted and assemble!”

After the storm passed, it didn’t take long for flames to engulf the now-empty command and control room.

And how much time passed after that?

“HQ, this is Viper. We have secured the bat. He looks quite bloated, but we’ll bring him in.”

“…Ha. Some familiar faces have arrived.”

Crow, looking worse for wear, and Yoo Jin and Harmony examining him.

Ironically, what might have been the most difficult and spectacular rescue operation turned out to be not much different from picking up trash off the ground.