Chapter Nine: A Twisted World

“Mechanic! Mechanic! Oh, Uncle Carl, is that you? Go, open all the sentry cannons! What, only half are operational? Then activate all the ones that work and position them all in front of the city walls! Sergeant Rour, you and your men, assist!”

The aging base mechanic Carl and his assistant Rour went off, bewildered.

“Ina, Ina, why are you making them climb all the way to the top? And standing so close together! Are you lining them up for a firing squad? Crossfire! Didn’t you learn about crossfire and sloped formations? Sergeant Mark, take your men to the outer wall and bring every machine gun you have! And Sergeant Baka, out of the city! Yes, dig a trench outside the gate! I don’t want your opinion; I want mine! If you won’t go, I’ll go myself!”

Yulian was furious, nearly speechless at how this world’s technological development had gone so astray. He had complained many times in his previous life, but back then he was just a lone ranger with little insight, and his active years were decades in the future. In that era, various tactics had been reformed and improved by renowned generals born out of great epochs, so things were much more normal.

But now it was still the year 829, years before that great era would officially arrive.

Sergeant Bear, fierce against the enemy but kind to his own, had no objections. He took several strong soldiers with tools and headed out. Though their tactics were primitive, the portable engineering machines they wielded had futuristic designs and capabilities, so digging a trench was done quickly.

“Ina, go to the wide-angle sentry cannon over there. You don’t need to command the ones on the walls!”

“Where are the monitors? The communicators? Still not working?”

“Uh, there’s been a minor malfunction since yesterday, I…”

“Nine Stars Communications, right? That lousy company’s personal terminals explode on a whim, and yet they still landed military contracts? Tch, I hope you go bankrupt soon and your whole family ends up on the rooftop! What are you standing there for? Fix it immediately! If you can’t, I’ll hang you on the flagpole and generate power!”

“...Y-yes, understood!” The communications soldier was terrified and broke into a sweat as he ran off.

“Yuyu, Yuyu!”

“Ah, yes, Warrant Officer, no, sir, I’m here!”

“Where’s my steak?!”

The sergeant produced a frying pan as if by magic from behind and trotted over happily.

Yulian was shocked to see her still wearing an apron. Without concern for the heat, he snatched the beef away and scolded, “Get lost! Put on your armor and come back to help!”

Everyone felt Yulian’s impatience; everyone knew he was a lunar-born man, a promising “elite among elites”; and most probably knew he was a psychic sensitive. So no matter what curses they muttered internally, no one dared disobey orders. After all, even Lieutenant Mondson, the base’s official commander, hadn’t said a word. Though he wore a helpless, wry smile as if to say, “See? He’s definitely a Moon-born. If a Moon-born didn’t arrogantly seize the nominal commander’s authority, that would be strange,” at least he was smiling.

In fact, the lieutenant was about to say something. He watched Yulian shove the rare half-rare steak, still bloody, into his mouth in a few big bites—he really was hungry—and then quietly approached. “I say, Warrant Officer, aren’t you being a bit… uh… well…”

Yulian swallowed the half-cooked steak and said, “Overreacting? Overly sensitive? Paranoia?”

“Uh, well, I didn’t mean that exactly. Of course, it’s good to keep everyone alert—think of it as an emergency assembly and readiness drill.”

“Sir, I’ve told you, this all feels exactly like testing a bio-weapon! Even if it’s just my paranoia, we can’t afford to gamble!”

“But…”

“Consider it an emergency preparedness exercise! Oh, and bring the armored vehicles out of the garage!”

“Uh, the power packs, that…”

“Drive them to the batteries by the city gate, right? I need the twin Vulcan cannons on their roofs! Baka and the others digging the trench outside the gate are in the most danger. If necessary, we’ll use the armored vehicles to cover them!”

The lieutenant hesitated but ultimately nodded heavily. He didn’t feel threatened—after all, for a Moon-born, this small base was just a transitional post. Once Yulian left, he would be in charge again.

He was more curious about Yulian’s defensive layout. Why deploy forces on two city walls? Why have a trench at the gate? Why not just line up on the highest inner wall for greater firing range?

And why place all the machine guns at the ends of the walls and trench? Wouldn’t positioning them centrally yield greater firepower?

Base 12 was built against the mountain, backed by solid rock, with a gentle slope leading down to a vast wasteland. Two reinforced concrete walls faced forward: the outer wall was five meters high, the inner eight. Between them were the garage, guardroom, and a training ground the size of a basketball court. Behind the inner wall stood the main base buildings, including barracks, warehouse, infirmary, radar, and command center.

Six quad-barreled dual-purpose sentry cannons were mounted across the two walls, but only three were operational now.

A few years ago, the base had a Typhoon missile launcher, but it was removed due to budget cuts. The official explanation: “Who would you shoot with missiles? The local savages? Can they even fly?”

Additionally, the base had a fire support squad with two phase particle cannons, but those too were withdrawn due to costs, with the reasoning: “Energy weapons require highly educated operators. Giving them to you is a waste. Besides, who would you shoot? The locals? Their houses are made of mud!”

Even so, the base’s terrain and fortifications were as solid as a fortress by medieval standards.

If the enemy had heavy firepower—or even equal firepower—there’d be no chance of retreat, Yulian thought.

At least, according to the “history” he knew, the bugs currently lacked heavy firepower. He hoped that his own butterfly effect from reincarnation wouldn’t erase such a major event.

“So, what’s the purpose of this deployment?” the lieutenant finally asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

“This is the arrangement that maximizes firepower. If you studied middle school geometry, you’d understand.”

Having slept through elementary and middle school and barely passed a mediocre sports college, the lieutenant felt wounded deeply and didn’t want to speak. But soon he thought that for a subordinate half his age, he should say something, so he nodded stiffly: “Hmm, that makes sense! On reflection, this setup is foolproof. Very well, Warrant Officer, consider this a new positional warfare training! I support you.”

I wish it were just training, Yulian thought helplessly as he glanced at him.

The stalemate between the two great factions, the discovery of the stargate, and the development of the New Galaxy—or the Andromeda star system—seemed to usher the entire galaxy into a golden age of progress.

Yet no one knew if those new warships, weapons, vast armies, and psychic warriors roaming the stars were truly suited for total war. Even fleet battles in space had devolved into frontal assaults, ambush dogfights, and brutal boarding actions. What hope was there for ground combat?

Both sides wore powered exoskeletons, formed skirmish lines around their heavy weapons, firing while closing in, then drew close and charged with bayonets to brawl.

Yes, yes! Before the transmigration, whether star wars or cosmic sagas, even mighty silicon-based mech lifeforms fought like this. Perhaps that was the aesthetic of the space age!

Thus, crossfire and sloped formations—tactics obsolete by the 20th century—were treated as innovations in the space era.

Indeed, theoretically, two heavy machine guns’ crossfire could cover 500 meters of frontal battlefield. And not only did Yulian have heavy machine guns, but also three autocannons capable of pounding armored vehicles, arranged along sloped terrain. Theoretically, if the enemy were still bugs like jumpers, stingers, or warriors, Yulian was confident they could hold out—perhaps all the way to Turon Harbor.

However, this thinking was already outdated.

Despite the universal misalignment of technological and military development, many civilizations understood that battlefields were never flat. Many had exploited the skies since the cold weapon eras of their homeworlds.

The bugs, naturally, would too!

“Warrant Officer! Targets approaching in the sky!” Ina’s voice came from the highest sentry turret.

Yulian glanced at the distant sky, bright under the blazing sun, but could see nothing clearly. The barren wasteland only revealed dust on the horizon. Yet he trusted Ina’s judgment implicitly. Compared to the radar and detectors made by the Twelve Stars Communications Company, the eyesight of a future interstellar top sniper was more reliable—even if she had yet to awaken or realize she was also a psychic sensitive.

“Prepare for battle!” Yulian naturally bypassed the lieutenant and issued orders himself, then added, “Give me a suit of armor.”

The so-called “armor” was, of course, a powered exoskeleton. Yulian recalled there were seven or eight spare sets in the armory. If those batteries had been sold off too, he was ready to blow the lieutenant’s head off with a shot and report that he had been taken away by a husky.

Fortunately, the lieutenant said the spare exoskeletons were intact, but added, “But, Warrant Officer, your spine is broken. You’re moving now only because of those nanobots. You can’t operate the powered armor.”

“...Then take out all the spines and let everyone else wear them! As many as we can get!”

“Well, the powered armor belongs to the governor’s office. We’re not authorized to deploy it. Besides, most people here aren’t licensed to use it. If we damage it, the report will be a nightmare!”

Yulian snatched a rifle from a passing soldier and loaded a magazine fiercely.

Lieutenant Mondson shuddered, forced a smile, and said, “I’ll go now, right away!” before fleeing hastily.

Yulian fought the urge to shoot him in the backside, then grabbed the bewildered private whose gun he had taken and said, “Come up the wall with me. You’re my loader.”