Chapter 1408: Windfall
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Rainystars
On the USS Obama, inside the bridge.
Several men in military uniforms stood in a row with their heads down. A man in a suit stood in front of them. The man’s face was flushed because of anger as he scolded the people in front of him.
“Five hundred and twenty-seven NS-90s, what do you fools even do! And you fu*king told me that you seized air supremacy, and we can pop the champagne and wait for NAC to collapse? FU*K! Tyrese, you fu*king tell me how you lost this war when they lost air supremacy!”
Sean Luke, Honorary Captain of the USS Obama, was also the President of the Federation. However, the current Federation possessed only one aircraft carrier, a few destroyers left from the postwar period, and hundreds of large and small cargo s.h.i.+ps, and a port in Central America.
When Sean learned that they lost the battle, he could hardly believe what he heard from his ears. Because before the start of this war, his people from the Joint Chiefs of Staff had full confidence during the battle evaluation. They stated how long it would take for the “Wings of Freedom” to disintegrate NAC’s air defense force, how long it would take to down the NAC airs.h.i.+p, and then cooperate with the NS-90s that landed to take down the ground force.
But now, the report he received not only told him that the five hundred and twenty-seven NS-90s were completely sc.r.a.pped, but they even lost five F-79s. As for the Airs.h.i.+p Order, they didn’t even manage to make a dent in it.
Five hundred and twenty-seven NS-90s could allow them to run their a.s.sembly line in Panama at maximum production capacity for a whole year! Even in the scenario where they possessed excessive supplies!
The loss of so many dear robots made his heart bleed.
His chest was violently pumping up and down, and Sean’s bloodshot eyes stared at the man named Tyrese while he waited for him to give a reasonable explanation.
“… The first time we invaded the outpost was too smooth, which led to our inadequate judgment of NAC’s strength.” After Tyrese swallowed down the lump in his throat, he cleared his throat and was forced to provide an explanation. “To our surprise, their ground air defense was adequate. And those N-100s… Originally, we thought they were wearing a type of power armor called T-3. Just give me another chance…”
“And let you sc.r.a.p the rest of the NS-90s?” This explanation obviously did not please Sean, and he was so angry that he started to laugh. His eyes were fixated on Tyrese, and he said word by word, “Major Tyrese, your decision has caused a huge loss to the American Revival Plan. I declare in the name of the Federation that you are now suspended.”
“…Yes.”
Tyrese lowered his head and forced out the word.
…
The afterglow near the sunset had completely disappeared, and the sunset on the horizon had returned to calmness again. NAC engineers trotted up to the top of the building with their toolbox and began to repair the damaged electromagnetic anti-aircraft guns and replace the defective parts.
The residents of the colony left the shelter and returned to the surface. When they saw the daunting sh.e.l.l and bullet marks on the walls, they were silent.
The front door of the fortress was open, and the originally flat concrete road was now filled with fragmented concrete blocks and black craters. Medics set up temporary tents. The wounded in bandages were put on stretchers and sent to the medical cabin for tissue repair treatment, while the slightly injured soldiers went to the medical tents alone to receive bandaging and medication.
Sc.r.a.pped NS-90s were scattered everywhere. Occasionally, a few sc.r.a.pped robot soldiers would shake their heads, unwilling to stop functioning. It was not until their nuclear fusion core was removed did they finally stop. Scavengers in chemical protective clothing collected the destroyed nuclear fusion cores and other parts with excessive radiation levels.
After all the parts were collected and gathered together, they were escorted by NAC soldiers to the temporary research inst.i.tute set up, and the researchers who traveled with the Expeditionary Force disa.s.sembled and a.n.a.lyzed the pieces.
Many people did not sleep that night.
The field researchers especially worked tirelessly in the temporary research inst.i.tute as they carried a heavy burden.
The sooner they could identify their enemy’s weakness, the more advantageous it would be for NAC.
Everyone worked hard at their posts. They untiringly surrounded the pile of NS-90 wreckage while they completed different experiments and a.n.a.lyses. However, facts proved the difference between scientific research and manual labor; the input and reward may not always be proportional for research.
“This doesn’t work,” A researcher dropped the cutter aside, squeezed his weary brows, and shook his head. “The combat components and power system are not sophisticated at all, but the digital sensors and identification chips are two things I can’t a.n.a.lyze at all. The environment here is too crude. We can only send the components back to Fallout Shelter 027.”
“Is there no similar technology in Pan-Asia Cooperation?” Jiang Chen slightly frowned.
“Different tactical concepts create different scientific research directions.” The researcher shook his head. “We have always emphasized the importance of humans in the research and development of military technology. A soldier with a kinetic skeleton while working with a drone will only have a better price/performance ratio compared to a pure AI soldier. If it is in the field of kinetic skeletons, tanks, and urban defense systems, our technology is far superior. But in terms of robotics, we lag behind.”
Jiang Chen couldn’t help but smile bitterly after the researcher finished speaking.
Therefore, it was not a big loss for Aurora-20 to achieve such results.
However, whenever he thought about the squadron, he felt pain. Not only because of the cost of the twenty-four Aurora-20s itself but also because of the pilots. Rather, those pilots were the real treasure.
After all, to become a pilot of the Aurora-20, the first requirement was that the first genetic code must be Bullet Time. It was precisely because of the particularity of the hidden genetic code that allowed them to have infinite possibilities beyond electronic pilots.
…
“G.o.d, what happened here while we were away?” Matthew jumped off the truck and dumbfoundedly stared at the bullet marks on the concrete wall, not knowing what to say.
At the front entrance of the fortress, Matthew, who returned to the fallout shelter with the colony’s mercenaries, finally returned to the fortress with a few large trucks of equipment.
Sitting on the edge of the truck, Jessica glanced at the dark explosive marks outside the fortress, and secretly thought of pity, but did not dare to make it too obvious. If the people of NAC were wiped out, she would naturally be free. But in reality, it was just her wishful thinking.
“Your G.o.d is fine, it’s just our fortress that experienced some complications,” Jiang Chen smiled as he walked to Matthew and said in a relaxed tone, “Let’s talk inside.”
On the way, he briefly recounted what had happened to Matthew. From sounding the air defense alarm to the final outcome of the war. Even if Jiang Chen didn’t tell him these things, he would have learned this information when he returned to his compatriots in the refuge.
But what Jiang Chen didn’t expect was that when he heard the name NS-90, Matthew was obviously taken aback.
“NS-90?”
“What? Have you heard of it?” Jiang Chen looked at him with surprise.
“Not only have I heard of it,” Matthew said without hesitation, “The person who designed the NS-90 is in our fallout shelter!”