NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 233
Chapter 233 – DDP-52
“Drone platform?”
“The official name is Drone Deployment Platform 52, DDP-52. There’s one each in New Haven, Hartford, and Windsor Locks—cities aligned in a straight line across lower, middle, and upper Connecticut. They’re currently the only defense holding back a full-scale war.”
It had been a day since the operation in New London.
After finishing a relatively tidy meal, Crow began the interrogation in a detached tone.
There was no hint of deceit.
While the threat of death via nanomachines implanted in his throat played a part, he had already relinquished many things.
Director Mackenzie continued the interrogation, indifferent to the high-level information spilling out. Harmony and I watched the scene through the glass.
It was practically a cutscene.
“Defense measure, huh. Are they secretly dosing the Russian army with some kind of erectile dysfunction drug via drones?”
“Funny joke. But think of it this way. If you give two people each a knife and blindfold both, would either of them be able to fight comfortably?”
“…You mean the drone deployment platforms blindfold them? How?”
“Radio interference, GPS confusion, terrain data manipulation, coordinate disarray. What’s impossible? But the Russian army is affected too. If both sides get obliterated, the significance of the bat is nullified.”
“So it’s a war deterrent, huh? I’m not sure if that’s fortunate or unfortunate. Anyway, you need to tell us all the specs in detail.”
A brief silence.
Rather than say what could or couldn’t be done, he immediately mentioned what was necessary.
“A laptop with high storage capacity that can connect fingerprint, iris, and voice recognition devices. That’s about it. You need quite a bit to access the Artemis Network.”
“Let’s see if we can manage with just the gear.”
Not even 20 seconds passed before someone brought in a laptop.
A scanning light shot from Mackenzie’s wrist and scanned Crow from head to toe.
The laptop booted up quickly, and he carefully placed his fingers on the keyboard.
After downloading a specific program from the main site and inputting biometric data obtained through the ICARUS gear, it took less than a minute for the Artemis Network to appear on the laptop.
A glance.
In that moment, his gaze turned to his wrist.
“Damn, I want one of those. If I had one of those watches earlier, I wouldn’t have been stuck in the shabby northern New York.”
“That psychological data probably kept you off the reserve operator list, bat.”
“Practicality over justification. Reality over ideals. But ideals and justification turned out to be a real bitch. Who could’ve guessed that those Slavic bastards would fold up cleanly on the mainland?”
Click.
With that, he stopped typing.
As data related to the drone deployment platform gently settled onto the laptop’s storage, the connected ICARUS gear glowed brightly, projecting the data in a hologram.
It took less than a minute for a Mackenzie agent to mutter incredulously.
“These days, drones capable of radio interference, GPS confusion, terrain data manipulation, and coordinate disarray can also self-destruct with an EMP and even shoot guns, huh? Artemis seems to have a knack for creating the worst possible things, I guess. That’s why they participated in developing ICARUS gear skills.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
An absurd response. For a moment, the Mackenzie agent seemed to contemplate whether to hit him or not, but Crow continued.
“As I said, each drone deployment platform is placed at New Haven, Hartford Airport, and Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks. The central control unit is at Windsor Locks. Each platform can conduct reconnaissance and strikes within a radius of at least 100 km.”
“Shut your mouth for a moment, will you?”
She quickly began thinking. And I knew the final answer to this.
An extremely precise reconnaissance drone platform. And the company operating it had colluded with Russia. The central control unit was at Windsor Locks.
So if we could gain operational control of that unit—
“…If we do this right, we could pinpoint the location of all Russian fleets and landing force headquarters near Connecticut.”
“If necessary, I can also provide the locations of Yasen-class, Akula-class, and Oscar-class nuclear submarines. I’ve been through a lot under Russian torture, so giving you a bit of info that helps with your execution fees wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“That’s considerate of you. When you’re hanged later, I’ll make sure the rope is made of a softer material.”
“Damn it, I’m cooperating so I don’t have to see that happen. It’s too harsh for someone who loves life to change the codename from Crow to Hangman.”
– Hahaha
– God Crow, Emperor Crow!
– He’s the best at talking trash hahaha
– Even if he talks like shit, he’s still the top likable character
– Is he really going to die later?
Of course, Crow. There’s a reason why former team members used to joke that even if he was thrown into water, only his mouth would float.
Anyway, the important thing wasn’t that. The drone deployment platform could be a powerful asset, but it wouldn’t deal a decisive blow to the enemy.
To be blunt, the strength of modern military power lies more in equipment than people. Just deploying thousands of drones wouldn’t be enough to destroy airborne tanks, self-propelled artillery, aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, etc.
Unless it’s an airborne unit equipped with railguns.
However, in modern warfare, the direction of using firepower is as important as the firepower itself. The mention of coordinates wasn’t for nothing.
“Let’s blow them all up with cruise missiles.”
“What?”
“The remaining forces of the U.S. Navy are gathering at bases in New Jersey, about 320 km away, and Norfolk, about 800 km away. They probably have at least 100 missiles, at most 350. If we use drones to disrupt Russian radar and provide coordinates to our allies, it could be quite interesting.”
I said it, but it wasn’t really me who said it.
As the cutscene progressed, my mouth opened naturally. If Harmony had been holding the squad leader role, she would’ve spoken the words instead. The irony of the situation was secondary.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie, hearing my voice in the interrogation room through the mic, was deep in thought. Naturally, it wouldn’t be rejected.
Operation Northpierce carried out during my time with Dagger involved this exact plan.
“800 km? The range of Tomahawk missiles is over 1200 km… Damn. It’s quite possible. If we can guide them to the exact coordinates, we could destroy most of the Russian forces in Connecticut in one go.”
“Fireworks, huh? It’s beyond imagination. After wiping out Artemis PMCs at the nuclear power plant with some bizarre method last time, I can see where these ideas come from.”
“Alright. Let’s formulate a new operation plan based on the premise that this plan is feasible.”
Thus began the intense brainstorming session.
The plan that emerged was quite simple, as it had been in the previous missions: fly to Bradley International Airport in a stealth helicopter, retake the central control unit of the airport, and send the coordinates of all enemy forces and areas near the platform to Central Park HQ.
Then, Central Park HQ would relay this information to the naval bases in New Jersey and Norfolk, and the Tomahawk missiles stored there would finally see some action.
Naturally, the moment this draft plan was uploaded to the ICARUS Network, a secret communication arrived within just a minute.
-[ISO: This is, this is truly… astonishing. But if executed as planned, we could completely eliminate the threat in the northeastern U.S. I’ve submitted the plan to the higher-ups, so we should get a response soon.]
-[ISO: Please wait a moment.]
And as expected, within five minutes of ISO’s words, the final approval for Operation Northpierce was granted, as I remembered.
The signature of the current ICARUS director, Adrian B. Solomon, was clearly stamped at the bottom of the document.
Mackenzie called in the pilot of the stealth helicopter. She started getting busy, planning the flight route to Bradley International Airport and gathering all operators active nearby.
By then, the surroundings had changed from the interrogation room to the outside.
Mackenzie clicked off the handcuffs on Crow’s wrists and handed him a thick bulletproof vest, a tactical vest to wear over it, and a rifle.
They exchanged glances filled with incredulity, but there was no room for argument.
“Get to work. With nanomachines implanted in your body, you can’t even dream of attacking us, and if you try to escape, you’ll be stuck on the roadside in an endless nightmare. Since you were once the team leader of a high-level Artemis operation team, let’s see your skills.”
“Am I supposed to earn my own bail money?”
“How many Artemis personnel you recruit or how many enemies you kill will determine what I say later. As a former PMC, you should be good with money.”
“Ha.”
He added with a laugh.
“Like you said, I’m good at earning money. It’s an honor to have such a shitty second chance.”
“Stop yapping and get on the helicopter.”
After that warning, Mackenzie turned to Harmony and me with a gentle look and patted our shoulders.
“If he doesn’t listen, hit him with the butt of the rifle. If I get called to a hearing later, just call me.”
“…We’ll manage.”
“Yeah. Of course you will. I meant you, not him. I was a bit worried when only two of you came, but
you’re both doing an outstanding job. I’ll treat you to something when you return. A decent bartender recently joined the camp. Stay safe.”
Director Mackenzie left a farewell and walked away, and a notification popped up.
-[Notification: To play this mission, a minimum of two additional players is required.]
“Um, what now?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find them soon.”
As he said that, I opened the friends list in the UI.
For some reason, I could see a bear and a shark in my mind.
“Ugh, nice to meet you. I didn’t expect over 100,000 people to be watching our youngest’s broadcast. Just call me Specter.”
“Call me Logan. Don’t bother with anything other than the call sign.”
“Ah, stop pinching my cheek.”
– Who’s pinching Yoo Jin’s cheeks hahaha
– Youngest? I can’t imagine that hahaha
– Wow, those boobs are huge! Is she a polar bear? Crazy haha
– I have so much to say but I don’t know where to start haha
– Logan’s appearance suggests they’re all Yoo Jin’s acquaintances haha
The helicopter was bustling. Of course, the chat was even more chaotic. The perfect Yoo Jin was squeezed between two people, having her cheeks and hands pinched, proving that the two new users were familiar with her.
But that was just the appearance. In reality, countless secret conversations were happening.
The conversation in the secret voice channel between Yoo Jin, Laurentia, and Logan went like this.
“Who would’ve thought we’d follow Operation Northpierce in a game? What have you been up to, Yoo Jin?”
“…Even if you ask me. Still, it’s reassuring to have you both here. It feels like we once infiltrated the international airport with this team.”
“Right. I’ve been waiting for this.”
“I’ve been eagerly waiting. Hehe.”
As they exchanged words, memories of the past became clearer.
Meanwhile, Yoo Jin had set up another secret voice channel.
Naturally, it was connected to Harmony.
“…They’re my former team members.”
“I figured as much. Is it okay to tag along like this?”
“I’ll have to tell them not to overshadow you.”
“No, don’t do that!”
After ending what seemed like either a threat or a consideration, Yoo Jin projected the blueprint of the international airport as a hologram. Harmony looked overwhelmed by the infiltration routes and notable points marked by the Mackenzie agent.
But the three didn’t seem to mind.
They continued discussing how to engage in future battles, using all sorts of jargon.
Unfortunately for Harmony, she would soon be briefed directly by these three current and former operators on a simplified version of their conversation.
The fact that there were three teachers and one student was enough to make her wear an expression that couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry.
How much time had passed?
“We’re landing. Please return safely.”
Thud.
As the side hatch opened, four pairs of eyes glowing faintly in the dim light of night vision, and Crow wearing a four-eye night vision device, exited the stealth Blackhawk.
Under normal circumstances, it should’ve been one of the brightest buildings regardless of the time of day, but now, shrouded in deep darkness, it was so dark that no light source was visible. It looked like a giant coffin.
Meanwhile, Yoo Jin received a signal that the operators nearby were ready to infiltrate.
After taking a deep breath and making a final check of her equipment, she spoke.
“Operation commence. Radio silence.”
There was no need for more words.
The five figures melted into the darkness.