Chapter 580. Kindred Souls

Chapter 580: Chapter 580. Kindred Souls

General Stroud had a few objectives in mind when he asked Alex to help take down the dam. He wanted to eliminate the potential threat and secure a nearby power source while simultaneously getting a read on Alex and his capabilities.

Alex knew this, of course, and intended to use the opportunity to show just enough of his own hand to gain as much leverage as possible in the upcoming negotiations. He also wanted to learn more about the technology the survivors employed to keep themselves safe in this apocalypse. If they had managed to develop effective ways of protecting themselves from the infected machines, Alex wanted to know about them.

So, neither man hesitated. They rushed off toward the hydroelectric power plant, ready to fuck some shit up.

"Come aboard!" General Stroud invited. "She isn’t our fastest or most luxurious, but she’s got the carrying capacity for some serious load."

They boarded a hovercraft roughly the size of four buses and took off, flying at low altitude in near absolute silence. It was quite a speedy and impressive vehicle, but it didn’t pique Alex’s interest. They had similar vehicles back home, and Alex could run faster than they could travel anyway.

Along with the pair of battle-hungry men were a dozen heavily equipped soldiers in black power suits accompanying the general, as well as Captain Reyes’s team of a dozen lightly equipped soldiers in white power suits. Altogether, it was a rather modest force for taking down the hydroelectric power plant. Judging by Captain Reyes’s nervous expression, it was clearly not enough.

"What’s the plan?" Alex asked.

Based on his estimates, it would take some serious firepower to take the power plant with so few soldiers. That meant they would likely have to rely on technology that the virus could potentially target but that would still be able to resist its control.

"Simple," Stroud replied. "We’ll deploy a jamming tower and defend the position until we wipe them out."

Alex thought about it and realized it was probably more than enough. Assuming the virus couldn’t control every unit on the battlefield, there was a high likelihood that they could bring down the standing army through superior tactics and coordination.

Still, it was going to be a rough fight considering the numbers they were up against. Alex estimated there were no fewer than a few thousand robots and quite possibly 200 Future Paradox Pokémon. That was a number he wasn’t confident he could take down without eventually being swarmed, even if their coordination was poor.

Rather than voice his concerns, though, he chose to remain silent. There was likely a reason General Stroud was so confident.

"We’re coming up on the location," Captain Reyes announced as he synced his scouted map with the hovercraft’s navigation system.

"Bring up a map," General Stroud commanded.

A holographic map appeared in the center of the cabin, displaying the surrounding wilderness with the power plant at its center. A river ran through the middle of the area, with the power plant built along its banks. Dense forests stretched across both sides of the river, broken up by a few scattered mountain ranges.

"We’ll be stationing here," General Stroud said, pointing to a location some distance away between a pair of mountains. "It’s a proper defensive position. Far enough from the mountains to avoid getting caught in a landslide, while still being close enough to the power plant to reach the Arclight Cannons."

Alex wanted to point out that there was a dense forest between their position and the power plant, but once again, he chose to remain silent. He was here to fight, not nitpick a plan he didn’t fully understand. It was better to adjust once the battle actually started.

"Based on the numbers we scouted, we don’t have enough firepower, General," Captain Reyes said nervously.

"Nonsense! We have the alien with us. He should at least pull his weight if he wants to trade for military resources," General Stroud replied with a beaming smile.

Captain Reyes sighed and simply gave up. Military men were always hard to deal with, so he might as well shut up and follow along like a good soldier. He was being paid enough to justify participating in a potentially suicidal battle, anyway.

Soon, they landed in a clearing near the designated position, and the soldiers accompanying the general immediately went to work unpacking and deploying their equipment.

They quickly assembled a series of layered fortifications. The first layer consisted of walls with dozens of Arclight Cannons mounted atop them. The second layer housed a battery of artillery roughly equal in number, while the third consisted of a jamming tower. The entire position was designed to provide overlapping fields of fire while keeping the most important equipment protected behind multiple defensive layers. With the mountains serving as natural walls at their flanks, their rear was essentially secured and protected from attack.

Captain Reyes and squad, meanwhile, spread out across the surrounding area. More than half of them climbed into the mountains, where they covered themselves with blankets equipped with active camouflage systems that rendered them completely invisible. The rest positioned themselves along the flanks of the fortifications, sniper rifles at the ready.

"Where do you want me?" Alex asked.

"Anywhere you want. Just stay clear of the Arclight Cannons and artillery."

Alex examined the area and determined that the best position would be just in front of the wall. He had already assessed the fortifications and recognized that the walls themselves were Master ranked. They wouldn’t be easy to destroy or move, even for the Future Paradox Pokémon they were expecting to face. From there, he could guard the front from both ground level and below while sending his flying team into the air to secure their airspace.

"Can you leave a large gap in the center of the wall here?" Alex suggested. "I’d like easy access to both sides."

"A funnel, eh? Sure thing." General Stroud readily agreed.

Once the gap in the wall was opened, Alex finally released his Pokémon. The attack team took up positions at the front, ready to defend against melee attacks, while the defense team stood behind them, prepared to flood the battlefield with energy. Above them, the flying team took to the skies and hovered over the jamming tower. It consisted of Grim’s team of Knight and Hydreigon, along with Ultra Necrozma, Altaria, Frosmoth, Togekiss, and the Chandelure pair.

"Impressive," General Stroud commented.

"You haven’t seen anything yet," Alex replied.

The Pokémon immediately spread out and began placing turrets along the walls between the Arclight Cannons, quickly catching General Stroud’s attention. The turrets were set to automatically fire on any unregistered moving targets, giving them some additional firepower to help thin the incoming army. Their accuracy wouldn’t be guaranteed without Rotom directly controlling them, but sheer volume of fire should still make them useful.

In addition, Alex released the Mauler with Rotom remaining inside. He was betting that the jamming tower would prevent the robot army from interfering with it, ensuring Rotom couldn’t be hacked in the middle of the battle and reducing its combat efficiency.

Finally, Alex released his personal weapon, Stormline, which hummed with power as it prepared to open fire. He then took his position in the middle of his defense team ready for the fight.

General Stroud watched from beside the jamming tower, thoroughly impressed. Seeing the Pokémon and arsenal under Alex’s command, he could only imagine just how formidable Alex’s combat effectiveness must be.

If only the Pokémon in their world could be trained to reach such levels of power consistently, they would have a much easier time dealing with the virus and its robot army. Unfortunately, their only reliable means of reaching that level of power was through technology.

"All units, status report!" General Stroud barked over the comms.

"Seviper Unit in position and ready," Captain Reyes reported.

"Torterra Unit in position and ready," the captain of General Stroud’s personal force added.

"Excellent. Then let’s get this show on the road." General Stroud paused for only a moment before issuing the order. "All units, open fire!"

Immediately, four things happened.

The Arclight Cannons hummed to life before firing concentrated lasers into the trunks of nearby trees, slicing through them with ease and sending them crashing to the ground. It was clear they were trying to clear a line of sight to the power plant.

Next, the artillery battery exploded with power, sending rounds raining down across the perimeter around the power plant, specifically targeting the scouts hidden in the forest. When the shells landed, they exploded with tremendous force, tearing down swathes of trees and damaging the Paradox Pokémon sweeping through the area.

Captain Reyes’s team opened fire with their sniper rifles from atop the mountains, taking out cameras, exposed wires, antennas, and even a few robots that had been caught off guard.

It was a three-pronged assault designed to establish a clear line of sight to the power plant while simultaneously destroying any technology that couldn’t be disabled by the jamming tower because it was connected by wires.

Finally, the jamming tower hummed to life, and electronic systems throughout the area began to sputter as it unleashed a heavy barrage of signals designed to overwhelm the sensors used by the virus. The interference even affected their own communications in the process.

"Haaa~ I love the smell of gunpowder in the morning," General Stroud said, prompting a vicious smile from Alex, who heard him all the way from the front lines.

Alex certainly shared the sentiment. His excitement for the battle had already been building, and now it was reaching its peak.