I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun-Chapter 758: New York (4)

"...Ah, ah. Currently, we have arrived in the small town of Gofstown, located about 11 km west of Manchester. I'll be entering the city while following the river."

Oh my. Did we really just cover 100 km in a little over two days?

"We’ve been running day and night. The mission should be fine, so don’t worry too much. How far behind is the team trailing us?"

The team, led by Owens, is about 30 km behind.

"That’s not much of a problem. I plan to lay the route here, but if we’re late, it might close again, so there’s nothing we can do about that."

Click.

The familiar clank of metal and the heavy feel. Carrying only a sniper rifle with an emphasis on precision, I climbed to the roof of a high school in Gofstown—a town I had never even heard of—and ascended the 50-meter-high spire.

The ladder creaked with every step, making it feel unnervingly unsafe, but I ignored it. Reaching the top, I saw two bodies with their heads blown off. If it weren’t for the Icarus gear, this would be the kind of sight one might see in a nightmare.

As expected, these were snipers. Russian military snipers, watching for any infiltrators in the area. Of course, they were already in the past tense. We took care of them.

Several hours had passed since they were killed, and with their heads blown off, the inside of the small guard post atop the spire was gruesome.

Such sights were nothing new to me. The only way to avoid psychological damage in the face of these horrific situations was to view everything objectively.

I tossed the two headless bodies out, and they fell about 50 meters, hitting the ground with a sound I’d rather not hear.

Now, it was time for us to continue the work they had been doing.

"I’m going to spray oxidizer inside the post and ventilate it, rookie. We’ve got about 5 minutes for prep. The target is the small hydropower plant and transformer station 1 km east... just adjust the up-and-down clicks and leave the rest alone."

"Got it. Here’s the manual and checklist on the wall... looks like it's almost time for the regular check-in. What should we do?"

"I’ll handle that. Don’t worry about it."

In that case...

After pulling out the oxidizer canister, I carefully applied it to the bloody mess inside. It wouldn’t be a place to stay for long, so as long as I could bear the smell for a short while, it was fine.

But it wasn’t without reason to use this place. The entire wall was lined with soundproofing material, and there was even a tripod set up, perfect for sniping. The tripod wasn’t compatible with my rifle, but at least there was somewhere to place the weapon.

I took out various tools, began to dismantle the post's interior, and skillfully set up the equipment from my bag. By now, the strike team was probably moving toward the hydropower station.

The rifle I brought today was the TAC-50. Laurentina would probably call it the Mk.15 Mod.0 SASR with its complicated name. I never understood why the navy uses such different names for guns.

Though I thought about voicing it out loud, I stopped myself to avoid receiving a slap in the face later. I had to focus on the task ahead, after all.

I disposed of the Russian tripod and set up a larger one compatible with a large-caliber sniper rifle, securing it in place with clamps and screws.

I adjusted the up-and-down clicks of my scope to 1 km, and based on the data provided by the SUAV hovering above, I roughly plotted the strike team's route and the enemy's position.

Meanwhile, Olivia fiddled with the equipment and pressed some buttons, then spoke.

"It's done. I delayed the regular communication for two hours. Let’s start preparing."

"...What did you do?"

"I’ve been messing with enemy comms in training a lot. Are our aquatic friends ready?"

You bastard, I’m a bear.

Heh, I know that now. Polar bears live well in the ocean, so I guess that works.

These two were at it again with their banter.

It was time to start. I tore off just enough of the wall for the bullet to pass through. I used a suppressor, but since it wasn't a subsonic round, I had to minimize the noise.

As for how to spot the enemy, the Icarus gear’s visual assist feature allowed the outside view to be projected on the wall as if it were superimposed.

The round was loaded. Thanks to the soundproofing material that the Russians had placed, there was no further concern.

— Clack!

I felt the bullet slide into the chamber and placed the enemy’s position, detected by the reconnaissance drone, in the crosshairs, bracing the rifle against my shoulder. The predicted impact point was marked.

In the meantime, Olivia continued.

"This hydropower station can produce around 11 million kW annually. It’s not much, but for the Allied forces stationed nearby, it’s like a blessing during a drought."

"You won’t destroy it, right?"

"Of course not. If we were planning to destroy everything without care, we’d have already launched ATACMS with nukes. Critical infrastructure like this should be left intact no matter what."

...Of course, I couldn’t tell if that was just a joke based on Dagger Team’s usual image.

Anyway, I got the general idea. It was time to stop joking around. Just as I checked the transformer station nearby, I saw unfamiliar military uniforms for the first time.

Through the comms, Logan’s voice followed.

We can’t let them know we’ve infiltrated, so let’s take out the soldiers roaming the area first. Clean up briefly while moving, and once we’re done, we head to Manchester.

If the Slavs fired short-range ballistic missiles on top of our heads, we’ll need to return the favor. Let’s try to make it happen within the next day or two.

"Sniper support starting now. There are about four people on the roof of the high school, 250 meters ahead. We should be fine as long as we time it right."

I trust you.

That was all I needed to hear.

Earlier, I had set up the rifle manually, but now the up-and-down clicks adjusted automatically with just a thought. The setting shifted from 1 km to 700 meters with a sound.

The projected impact point, the sniper’s heart rate, wind speed, rifle stability, and horizontal level were all displayed. Since I didn’t bring the Titan today, I had to be more ‘traditional’ with the sniper setup.

But since the gear handled the calculations, there were no problems.

How much time had passed? It seemed like the perfect opportunity had arrived.

The four on the roof had positioned themselves in such a way that I could take out the first person’s head and hit the second one as well.

Without needing to say anything, it was time.

"The wind’s pretty strong, shift left... 1 mil. We have 3 seconds to fire."

Back door reached. Moving in.

I released the trigger finger.

Simultaneously, a sharp noise erupted from the rifle—since I let the Icarus gear handle the firing, it prevented even the slightest deviation from happening.

The bullet lazily traveled upward, then veered slightly to the right, crossing the 750-meter distance with precision, and the result was exactly what I’d expected.

The bullet, the size of a human’s index finger, specially designed for sniping and not just a random machine gun round, pierced through the bulletproof armor like it was nothing and exploded the heads and hearts of the two targets.

—!

"Roof cleared. Moving."

There weren’t many inside. This’ll be over soon.

"Take everything you need and get out."

No more words were exchanged. The two agents wreaked havoc inside the high school, destroying everything in sight.

Naturally, it didn’t take long. In less than 3 minutes, the two agents emerged, their gear stained with a bit of blood, and they started moving quickly along the path.

At the end of Mast Road, there was a gas station, a supply shop, and, as I mentioned earlier, a transformer station adjacent to the hydropower plant—this place was guarded by a part of the Russian detachment.

After a brief pause for analysis, the next words followed.

It looks like about a company is stationed here.

"I can’t see much from our recon drone. I’ll hand it over to you to check if there’s a guard post nearby."

Where...

How much time had passed? The enemy’s positions and movements were displayed clearly.

It always feels like the Icarus gear is almost too good to be true. But without it, we wouldn’t even think about retaliation.

I adjusted the up-and-down clicks to 10 mil and zoomed in on the enemy positions on the roof of a nearby physiotherapy clinic. Meanwhile, the two agents waited by a makeshift barbed wire fence, clearly waiting for their moment.

As I mentioned earlier, there was no need to pull the trigger manually anymore.

After hearing the sharp sound, the two on the roof collapsed moments later, scattering blood and bits of things I didn’t want to know.

Got it. Moving in. Deploying comms jamming, wireless silence as of now.

"Just get a good ping. I’m sending WASP."

Whoosh!

At the same time, a drone larger than a person’s torso was assembled and thrown out the door.

The WASP, a sniper drone I’d used briefly in Boston, took off into the air, heading toward the transformer station about 1 km away.

Looking at how things were going, it didn’t seem like we’d be here long either.

"...So. Did some pretty-looking guys destroy all the Slavs and then take a break for about 3 days?"

"Yeah, pretty much. At least we don’t have to worry about dying from those idiots who don’t even speak the same language... but now that we’re free, what should we do?"

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"...Three days should be enough. Just make sure the power to the city center doesn’t go down. If the power cuts out suddenly, the enemy might notice our infiltration."

"Oh, I see. Well, in that case, there’s nothing we can do. But really, just 3 days, nothing more."

And five hours later, Owens’ team finally arrived.

The strike team was fast—too fast.

"You're late. Took a nice break, huh?"

"They probably didn’t think they were going too fast. As for us, it looks like the ones who rested were you guys."

"Well, think of it as a reward for clearing the way. And we didn’t just sit around. We’ve located the mobile platform with the Iskander missiles, along with the precision tracking systems and ground stations with radar. That should be good enough, right?"

"You’ve done so well, I have nothing to say."

70 hours into the operation, on the outskirts of Manchester.

The hideout... well, it wasn’t exactly a hideout. It was a deserted house the Russian forces didn’t care about. It served as our base for prepping, data collection, rest, and meals, and the door opened as the rear team entered.

They had arrived.

The forward team—us, the mutants—had reached the operation zone near Manchester first. After a few hours, Owens’ team arrived as the rear team.

Their boots were covered in mud, and their military boots weren’t in the best condition, so they must’ve been rushing as well. They looked quite exhausted.

I was glad I got a chance to rest since I arrived first.

"So, where were those guys hiding?"

"Well, with a missile brigade, the location is obvious. To reload the missiles, they need a crane, and they can’t carry everything, so they set up in a facility with that kind of equipment."

"Stop beating around the bush, you bastard. Just say it... the FedEx warehouse in the center of the city. Lots of buildings, easy to hide stuff, and good for reloading missiles."

"You’ve made sergeant and still can’t say things plainly."

"Well, I’ve heard that indirect methods are more effective than direct ones. It’s all for your tactical growth, rookie... Ack!"

Is it my fault?

Anyway, I couldn’t argue. I silently thanked Laurentina as she got a bit flustered and began listening to the mission briefing.

As always, Dagger Team’s plan was insane.

"The enemy has been launching UAVs to scout the area nearly every day since the Gloucester military satellite was destroyed. I’ve been looking through their comms, and it seems they’re making gravity maps of the area using the UAV’s gravity sensors."

"So?"

"We can’t let them finish those maps. We’ll need to visit the ground stations once, and we should mess with the Iskander missile platform too."

"We’ll throw one missile at the Boston area, and the other... well, maybe if we blow it up at the warehouse, those idiots will love it. If I were Russian, I’d be terrified."

"..."

At this point, it had become second nature.

The first thought was always how to use the enemy’s equipment, and the second was what crazy thing we could do with it. What made it even worse was that HQ didn’t seem to care much.

To put it precisely, their response was more like "Just go do it. If you can keep up the tempo, we’ll adjust accordingly."

Basically, we were left to handle it, and they’d follow our lead.

As expected, it looked like that was what was going to happen again.

The two apprentices, Icarus operators Carmen Mitchell and Edwin Sirkins, sat down, rubbing their aching heads. They added, with a sigh:

"...What’s the feasibility?"

"Feasibility? There’s no ‘maybe.’ We’re doing it because we think we can. We’ll flatten the city center and do our job, so don’t worry about anything else."

"You're out of your mind..."

"Well, that’s what I said, but the plan is actually doable. Timing-wise, this is the best window. After all, it’s the Russian military that’s rushing now. If they finish that gravity map, they’ll be able to guide their missiles without military satellites."

I said that, but honestly... I just stared at the scene, blankly.

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It might be a bit late to be thinking this now, but we often matched our results to HQ’s grand strategy. And all of this wasn’t driven by excitement.

What was worse was that HQ didn’t care much. They were saying "Just get it done, and we’ll adjust if you can keep up."

And it seemed like that was going to happen again.

After some time, the two operators chuckled and added.

"Alright. Fine... shall we start by hearing what we need to do first?"

Exactly.

Laurentina giggled.

"Well then, shall we go drop a missile on the heads of the allied forces?"