Chapter 68 02.0068: "Vanguard Partner"

Horatio gestured, pointing to the trench knife pressed against his neck, to let him know that he was out.

Chief Storm snorted helplessly and lay on the ground obediently to show that he was dead.

Horatio looked around and gestured to Louise.

After a brief plan and at the command, the two men raised their Hell Guns and fired rapidly, first hitting the three closest people, and then indiscriminately firing at the sergeant who had his back to the two and was concentrating on counter-attack.

[+Team leader, prioritize fire suppression on the right side! +]

Louise retreated behind the tree and turned to the right.

[+Damn it! Our butt was stolen! Seek cover on the right side immediately and shrink back to counterattack! +] The Storm Sergeants shouted in the channel.

Faced with the sudden attack, several sergeants on the right quickly left their original positions, and the front line retreated to the left in an orderly manner.

If it were an ordinary troop, they would probably have already started thinking about abandoning their position.

But these experienced sergeants immediately began to re-plan their battle positions and calmly analyzed how many people had sneaked up behind them.

[+ Archie, their right wing has shrunk, we need support +]

Horatio changed his position after firing a few shots, trying to interfere with their judgment and contact the 13th team, which was also part of the 15th team.

But even so, the sergeants were still certain that there were only 2-3 attackers.

The four sergeants who had withdrawn from the right wing gestured and prepared for a pincer attack.

After hearing their tactical plan on the communication channel, Louise was nervous. The sergeants had already decided to prioritize encircling and annihilating the two of them. A sneak attack was fine, but a head-on confrontation would probably not stand a chance.

[+Fideo, Leidos, support immediately, we are about to be pincered. +]

【+Received+】

Now it is difficult for the two to switch positions, and no matter which side they are on, they have to leave their backs to their opponents.

[+Team leader, we must pull back and keep some distance from them+] Horatio said as he observed the situation.

[+You retreat first, I'll cover you. +]

Lasers crisscrossed above the bushes, and burned branches kept falling to the ground.

Horatio and Louise took turns covering each other and keeping their distance, but the sergeants still pressed on.

One of the sergeants looked to the left. He heard the sound of hurried running, so he gave up moving forward, leaned against a tree, and aimed his gun.

Two shock lasers flew towards their heads, causing Leidos and Fideo, who were coming back from the side to provide support, to fall to the ground as if they had hit a tree trunk.

As the other three Chiefs drew closer, Louise turned back.

Horatio suppressed the three men, but the man with the gun in the back had already aimed in the direction where Louise might run.

"Hiss!" A shock laser hit Louise's leg armor. The huge impact knocked her off balance and she fell to the ground.

【+Aqi, now is the time! +】

Louise fell to the ground and caught a glimpse of a group of prep students rushing in from the gap in the hedge on the right. She instantly understood why Horatio wanted her to attack the right side first.

Archie's team took advantage of the sergeants' retreating defenses and quickly ducked across the open area to where Leidos and Fideo were originally.

After receiving instructions from Horatio, the five preppy students attempted to squeeze through the gap.

[It turns out that he took the entire Team 13 into account in his tactical considerations...]
Louise, who fell to the ground, felt her own inadequacy. She had been commanding with a team mindset since the beginning of the battle, ignoring the fact that the preparatory students and the Zhongtsugu students had been merged into a tactical team.

Archie, holding the Hell Gun, rushed in first and leaned behind a tree, followed by his two teammates who entered the tactical position.

The sergeant on the left spotted the infiltrating team and immediately opened fire in response, knocking the fourth man who was trying to get through the bushes to the ground. The last man had to quickly lie on the ground to avoid the shooting.

The four people who rushed towards Louise and Horatio noticed the situation behind them, and before they could react...

"Fire!" The three who had successfully infiltrated immediately shot at the four sergeants, forcing them to retreat and knocking down one of them. The sergeants gave up chasing Horatio and tried to change their positions to the left, but Horatio seized the opportunity to shoot down one of them, completely forcing them to completely abandon their current positions and retreat to the other side.

Pfft!
A preppy student was knocked to the ground by a shock laser.

Archie quickly shrank behind the tree, and a laser beam rubbed against the trunk, leaving a cluster of shallow carbonized marks.

When Horatio discovered this, he immediately bent down and used the bushes as cover to quickly move to the left.

Louise provided cover for him, and when the four sergeants were about to rush over from one side, Leidos and Fideo successfully took over and suppressed them, thwarting their plan.

[Being held.] Archie stuck his head out, and was instantly pushed back by a laser beam.

There was a burst of short gunfire, and Archie looked out to see that Horatio and Louise had already knocked the sergeant who was holding him off his position.

Since it was a training session, the sergeants did not make any tactical infiltrations and were generally relatively passive. After being tossed around by Team 13, the entire right wing was crushed and began to shift to the left wing, while several groups led by Henry Harvey also pressed forward.

The ambush had actually been thwarted, and although the sergeants had ten thousand ways to knock down these trainees, the training results had been achieved.

"+The subject has excellent tactical thinking and is expected to be deployed on kill team missions soon+"

Valina snorted coldly, sent the combat record of Team 13 to the Fleet Military Intelligence Command, then jumped down from the tree trunk and made a general call on the open channel.

[+The exercise is over. Be careful from now on. Stay alert no matter where you are. Anything that is shot at you outside will kill you. Now, go and finish the remaining 7 kilometers.+]

With Horatio's help, Louise, whose legs were still numb, struggled to stand up.

"Thanks, uh." Before she could finish her words, she stumbled forward.

Horatio raised his hands to protect her and considerately helped her take off the heavy helmet.

"take a break."

The young woman was supported by Horatio and leaned against the tree. Her red face was covered with sweat. A breath of fresh natural air made her feel relieved.

"Horatio," Louise whispered.

"Ok?"

"This knife is for you."

Louise took out a single-molecule Cadia brass-knuckle trench knife from her waist sheath: "As a gift for you to become a member of our team, it also represents my recognition of your strength."

"then you……"

"Don't worry, I have another one. Take it. It's reliable enough."

"Thank you." Horatio smiled as he took the trench knife and fastened his tactical waistband.

The sound of unsteady footsteps came from the side.

"I thought you would be the first to fall, but I didn't expect you to be the only one standing in the group." Leidos, with a red forehead, walked over with Fideo, holding a helmet.

He was hit twice on the head today and it's already a little red and swollen.

"I shouldn't have underestimated you."

Leidos pursed his lips apologetically and held out the back of his hand: "Welcome, partner."

"Partner." Horatio smiled and clapped his hands.

A tired Fideo also covered it with his hand and forced a smile.

Finally, it was Louise's turn. As the team leader, she looked at Horatio, who had already integrated into the team, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

"partner."

(End of this chapter)