World Trigger: Genesis
Chapter 34: Raid 1
(Cody POV)
The wind was a nice, moderate breeze at the moment standing on top of the Border Base. Cody was enjoying it as he and the others began to arrive and prepare for the raid on Colsaria. Countless strategic meetings had been held that morning alone, Tora going over their defenses again and again. From what Cody understood, this was going to be a huge undertaking and a huge risk. But allowing this Champion program to go any further was not possible, not with the risk it posed.
Amo was able to take out one champion, but inversely one champion was able to occupy Amo for a long period of time. It was a major threat in that case, and they would only try to upgrade it more and more. If it was allowed to stand, they would surely get overrun sooner or later, and the window to Colsaria was closing.
He looked back at Murasame, his sword and Black Trigger, as he pondered everything. He knew that most likely, at the end of all this, there was a chance of incuring loss. Of losing people. But on the other side, they would lose everything if they didn't. He understood this, even as he sat cross legged on the roof of the base.
"Well well" said a familiar voice, breaking his train of thought. "You doing okay Cody?"
"Yeah, its all good Yuki...just thinking about how many ways this could go badly".
"You know Cody, you could let yourself relax a little".
"Do you?"
At that remark, Yuki could not help but twitch a bit.
"Well unlike you, I am not a natural leader".
"I dare you to say that seriously with a straight face".
"Its true Cody. Sure, my squad looks up to me, and a few others, but I wont be around forever and my squad is just a bit special. People like you are the real natural leaders. They just follow and obsess over me, but you truly can lead people".
"Maybe...but you shouldn't sell yourself short either. A good leader can lead sure, but a great leader continues to lead people even after they are gone. My father can do that, but I don't think I am there yet".
At that note, the two of them looked over at Tora.
"You know you will need to protect him right? And I don't mean about the security or the assault".
"So you noticed it too? He is hiding it well, I don't think Sarah has noticed it yet. Or maybe, she just doesn't want to".
"I think its both. Don't worry, I will make sure to protect his heart and soul, not just his mind. Though...depending on his conviction, I may have to let it happen".
"Yeah...with the shadow holding over him".
Before they could continue the conversation however, the signal was finally let loose. That signal of course being the new modified transport ship rising from the base interior and landing on the roof in front of them. This ship was going to be run by Mimik along with a border higher up. Everyone was waiting in anticipation to see which Border official would be operating it with them to help with that raid. And as the ramp lowered, and he walked out...
Everyone's jaws dropped, because it was Commander Kido.
"Dad?!"
Even Cody was surprised by this.
"Yes. I do have a pilot's liscence after all, and I have experience handling these things. And also, I wouldn't approve of this plan if I wasn't going there personally to show everyone it would be okay".
Surely enough, a lot of the worries and even a few doubts were already cleared the moment Kido appeared in front of them.
"Now, get in. Its time to start this thing and go over the plan one more time".
Cody looked at Yuki, and then they along with everyone else activated their Triggers as they boarded. Each of them went to their designated areas, and secured themselves.
Cody and Yuki ended up sitting in the same area as Temba Squad, Williams Squad, and a few others as they strapped into their seats. They were passing around all sorts of snack foods to everyone.
"Do snack foods even do anything when in Trion Bodies?"
Suzu ended up asking this as she sat down with them.
"Not sure, but we figured it would help calm nerves in any case".
Suzu took one as they said that, a bit impressed.
"You know, its hard to remember sometimes that you three can actually be quite mature and sincere..."
And then she took a bite, and her eyes watered a bit.
"...for so many reasons why".
As she said that, Toby and Take who had already consumed them had their own reactions. Toby seemed okay, but concerned about something and muttered something about a bathroom, while Take was clearly on fire.
"Don't worry, not all of them are spicy".
"Uh huh. Sure".
"Hey, everyone. Hope your strapped in, because we are launching now!"
(Tora POV)
While everyone else was in back, I was in a place I did not expect to be. I was sitting right behind the command pilot's seat, in which Commander Kido occupied. This was supposed to be where his upper echelons sat apparently, or the next highest in command, so I had no idea why I had been placed here.
And once we had finished preparing for launch, one of the Operators that would be here on the ship assisting gave an alert to the rest of them. After that, the ship which had been enlarged and enhanced thanks to me and Mimik quickly but silently took off as a gate appeared in front of us, and we flew through.
"Agent Rokuda, do you know why you are here?"
"Because you still don't trust me and want to keep an eye on me?"
I gave a generic guess.
"No. Cody assured me you would be good. Why do you think he was around you the whole time even though Temba Squad was there?"
"...fair point, its hard to go long term with Temba Squad. They are insane half the time. So then why?"
"There are three reasons. One, I have a vague idea of what you are also planning to do here, and I want to let you know whatever you decide it wont affect your position at Border".
At those words, I gripped my fists. I had not been aware that it was realized, despite me trying to hide it.
"The second is because my own views aside, you are not a typical neighbor...and because you are proof that not all Neighbors are the same, you may need to get more acquainted with the BOrder support staff so you could be one of the faces of change".
"And the third?"
"Because no matter what, this is your op. You got the intel, you made all the plans and said what would be needed where. You pointed out just who and what would be needed and how. So while I might be the Commander of the entire Border Defense Agency, for this mission you are the Operational Leader".
"Wait wait...are you saying I am the second in command?!"
"Thats right. After all, this is your plan after all...arrival in five seconds. I hope you are ready to give the orders you yourself created, Agent Rokuda".
(AN: So this next part I will try to make as clear as possible, but to help let me note here. The next scene involves the plan being executed simultainiously as a flashback occurs where Tora was explaining it to everyone)
I recalled perfectly what was said that day too, with the visual displays from the holo projector.
"SO the moment we arrive, there will be three issues we have to deal with. The first is that the entire facility has a giant regenerative Trion Shield that will prevent anyone unauthorized like us from even entering the airspace of the Lunar Island".
Tora interfaced with the hologram, and brought up the island, the facility on it, and the barrier dome covering the whole thing.
"There will be no landing zone, but we cant equip weapons to the ship either due to the second issue. The massive AA guns attached to the facility. They will constantly fire at us and where we try to evade to. Our pilots will have to do everything they can to not be shot down, and wont be able to fire at the shield to break a section of it open for an opening. However, we also wont be able to land until we destroy the massive shield".
And as the ship arrived, that was shown true as the dome prevented us from getting close, while AA guns had already locked onto us and began firing.
Meanwhile, back in the meeting room, Yumi showed concern.
"Then how will we be able to land?"
I showed a bit of a wry smile, something that seemed unlike me...and drew the concerns of many, fearing Temba Squad had drawn out my pranksterish side.
"Simple, we jump".
And as the ship flew over where land was, the countless agents on the ship jumped with Temba Squad going first and taking the lead.
Which back at the meeting room, shocked everyone initially. Including Cylian.
"Jump? Thats insane! The shield would just deflect us!"
"Not if you open us up a hole Temba Squad, if we utilize a Trigger developed for Tamakoma called Connector with your three Ibis rifles to make one large cannon".
And in the air, Temba Squad followed the plan perfectly. They took out three Ibis rifles, and used connectors to link them all together to synergise. With this, their output would become greater then if all three fired seperately.
And then, as I explained in the meeting room...
"You fire one large shot, and break a massive hole into the barrier for us to dive right through and land on the ground".
"Hold on though, you said there was a third issue?"
"Ah yes...there will be gunships and interceptors coming. They will try to shoot us out of the sky before we land. We cant let htem hit a single one of us, because it wont end at a single one. Thankfully, me and Commander Kido have found...a solution".
And back on the ship just thirty seconds ago...
"Agent Rokuda. Its time. Prepare your second Trigger".
"Understood".
And then in present time, as mentioned those gunships and interceptors that had detected them were flying from the base and heading right towards them. They all looked rather meanacing and problematic...and then, what appeared to be an old fashioned bi-plane emerged from the cargo deck of the modified ship...being piloted by Commander Kido. And at the same time, I activated my Neighborhood Trigger...only this time, not on myself. The ring went over and transformed both Commander Kido and the Bi-Plane, just like I had done on the car during the invasion.
And then, Commander Kido proved both his veteran skills with a Trigger and his pilot's license at the same time.
"That was their plan?! COmmander Kido himself is fighting?!"
"NO wonder he came with us...and why we could bring Operators with us".
And then, I continued pointing out the plan with that settled, directing the focus back to the holo projector.
"Now, the first thing we will need to do is secure a Forward Operations Post. This small base will be to not only house and protect the away ship, but we will also have an artillery piece there to provide us support".
"HOld on, how are we going to manage that?! We don't have anyone who can just poof up a base! We would have to build it!"
At those words and those of many others, I had looked towards the three who remained silent...and looked rather eager as well.
Temba Squad seemed to understand what would happen.
"Oh...oh this sounds really fun. Special Triggers then?"
"Indeed. And so right after you deploy the special built in Trigger for this, the Windbreakers...".
And in realtime, as they got closer to the ground, everyone utilized a new built in Trigger that used up almost no Trion...a parachute that was designed to help provide maximum control once used to where one would land. This allowed the agents to all hone in on a clearing specified in the maps they had where the ship could land and the base be deployed.
Once Temba Squad landed, each one activated a Trigger. First was Yachi, who utilized the special Assault Base Trigger "Assault Base". Using a massive amount of Trion, practically all of one's Trion if their Trion was level 10 in the BBFs, a good sized base suddenly appeared which included trenches, firing holes, blast doors, and barriers that could be regenerated and redeployed.
Next was Roku, who deployed his Assault Base Trigger "Base Defenses", which after scanning the placed Assault Base deployed Turrets, Mines that would respawn in exchange for a Trion Cost, Automated Drones, and even more turrets, along with a Trion Restoration System to anyone left with Temba Squad on defense to restore their own Trion Levels. This would allow them to completely defend the base and the away ship.
And then finally, it was Cylian who used the final Assault Base Trigger "Mega Cannon", a simple and aptly named Trigger that was far more powerful then any other turret. It had the highest Trion Cost of all, but unlike the other defenses which had multiple objects only it would need to be maintained and restored by Cylian. It had high damage and long range. It would be able to destroy a Champion in a single hit along with the surroundings, or any other strategic target they needed. However, they couldn't fire it at everything. While it had a good number of shots, they couldn't just fire it at random.
With all three combined, it would form their Assault Base instantly and would be maintained by Temba Squad.
"...you had all these Triggers built for that purpose?"
"Yep. With this, we have a place to stash our ship, wont have to worry about Champions targeting it, and we even have air support from that one solution. Which means, all you have to do is focus on the ground invasion. That reminds me, we are looking into a way to make that easier as well..."
And back on the ship, I monitored the holo projector showing the battle progress.
"Alright team leaders! I am going on the move and joining my squad along with Cody once we land. Prepare for engagements and defend the base while it forms!"
In the meeting room, that did cause some concern.
"HOld on, how long will it take for the base to form?"
"We expect it will take around fourty five seconds. Any damage to it could seriously damage its final form, or risk depleting a large amount of Trion from Temba Squad. And the moment you all land, the Beasts will come at you".
"Beasts?"
The moment the squads landed, out of hte forest strange creatures that almost looked like Trion Soldiers rushed out and attacked with Trion claws and so on.
"They were created back when they were doing mass live concept testing on animals. The very first, very unstable, and very vicous survivors of the Champion Project. These are the ones that managed to survive and managed to keep control of. And despite the low survival odds at hte start...well, they did a lot of mass tests".
It was made clear to them I had not been joking as they were attacked from all sides by the things. Subaru Squad, Shun, Tamakoma-2, Miwa Squad, Senzai Squad, and many others all were there and worked together to hold them off while the base formed and the away ship came in so it could dock the moment it was done.
"And following the Beasts, which you should put out of their misery quickly...will come the Trion Soldiers. Mainly beast types to start with, Volvers and Tratchens...err...you would recognize them as Wolves and Hawks".
And surely enough they did follow, in huge numbers. This was a large scale battle, just like the invasion. Only this time, they were on the offense.
"But watch your sights, not all will be hostile".
"Wait what?"
And as they emerged, large groups of those Trion Soldiers began attacking the Beasts and other Trion Soldiers.
"After all, I can hack Trion Soldiers. Though usually without good pre-emptive warning like this, and the fact I am familiar with Colsaria Trigger Tech, I would be able to be this effective. Frankly, after the raid it will probably expose my methods, so we should take full advantage of this before they find some patch for my best exploits".
"...you have multiple exploits? You know, your character didn't seem computer geek".
"Well you know, its been confirmed from the start that I could do this. Did no one pay attention to the part where to escape, I hacked into and reprogrammed Mimik?!"
"...oh yeah, it has been there all this time".
And so, with that turn of events and the actions of all the agents, the base finished forming. I predicted that this would be the outcome...I think...
"...why am I the second in command? I have no experience leading people. I barely have real world experience, let alone with people..."
"What was that, Tora-chan? We couldn't hear that over comms cause you mumbled it".
"Nothing! Just considering what countermeasures they might activate first!"
As I said that, once the Away Ship docked I quickly ran out and joined Daisuke, Sarah, and Cody.
"Alright, lets head out".
I was still reflecting back to that day though, making sure I didn't forget a step...I was quite nervous with being a leader.
"After we land, it will still be a long distance from the base. Trion Soldiers and their own defense cannons will try to hit us, but they wont be powered immediately due to them focusing power into the AA guns. That means we should make the most of that opening to close the distance using a special surprise..."
"Now, activate vehicles!"
And with that, all captains used the special vehicle Triggers distributed. We couldn't land closer because then the AA guns would definently hit our away ship, so the distance was unavoidable. That was why we made the use of specialized vehicles. They looked like Pickup Trucks with Trion Shielding, only the backs had seats in them to hold the rest of one's squad and an entire other squad. The people in the back would take out incoming Trion Soldiers so the drivers would only have to focus on getting closer to the base.
"And at this point, we should have absolutely zero losses. If we have taken losses by now, something has gone terribly terrible wrong".
Daisuke looked over ot me as we rode in the back and smiled.
"Wow. I totally expected you to jynx us back then".
"We would be doing better if I was driving. This person is not fast enough. Also, it was never about jynxes or luck. No matter what bad luck we had, there were contingencies in place and leeway given. So I would not celebrate yet".
"Well we are going to see the base any second now!".
And then, I zoomed in the hologram of the base during the meeting.
"Now, once we get close to the base, do not drop your guard. Instead, raise it to maximum. After we avoid these areas, which are filled with highly explosive mines, and get close to the base...that is where the real fight begins...and we start to lose people. We need to get as many people inside as we can".
Yuki looked over at me from the other side of the truck now, and nodded.
"So now its our turn right?"
"Yeah".
At the meeting, I turned towards Yuki next and other Teleport users.
"Once we have the base in view...".
And then me, Yuki, and hte others looked towards the base.
"...we share the data with Cylian, who uses the Mega Turret..."
And then, soon after we heard a loud sonic boom...followed by the large wall of the lab, which had several dozen stories to it, getting blasted open. However, even with the artillery it was only a small hole and only showed access hallways, but it was enough.
"...who gets the advance team an opening to cause havoc inside".
After that, all the teleport users moved in. Only, one member instead of using a normal Teleport, used the experimental Group Teleport to take others in. That included me, Shun, Cody, Daisuke, and Sarah. And a few others from other squads did the same, gaining access to multiple floors and getting us into the facility.
"And this is where the real raid...the real difficulty begins. Because without isolating ourselves, we have to go and cause as much damage and confusion as we can before they realize we are there and rally together".
(Kranz POV)
"Sir! We just got hit! There is a large hole in our base!"
"Excuse me, Doctor...err...Prince...err...we have reports of a white haired boy causing extensive damage on the West Side!"
"Wait...I just got a report! White haired boy on the East Side now! They believe it is the test subject!"
"But...how could he be?"
"He is too fast! He is indiscriminently running around the base destroying anything, firing these explosive Trion cubes!"
"And he is also punching, litterally punching his way through! We have confirmed sightings, an ATS is with him!"
"More intruders filling through the center! And one group is plowing a direct path to the cells!"
As everyone in operations, who lacked experience as they had never had anyone attack or even expected anyone to attack, Dr. Kranz who had experienced real action during the invasion could see what was going on a bit more clearly.
"Alright people, calm down. This is their objective. Keep us confused by attacking everywhere at once. Tora must also be causing all this chaos for his own survival, he doesn't want us to lock onto his location I bet...but, I suspect he will go and assist the squad heading directly towards the holding cells. Deploy a Champion there, and get the other one finished as..."
Kranz was temporarily interrupted though when he saw who was heading towards the holding cells.
"Yes. He is definently headed there. That person would have made him promise to help him find his sister after all. Dont just send a Champion, send other reinforcements as well. I don't want to take the risk".
"But are we really sure? He is moving so fast, its like he is in two places at once".
"Of course. He is afraid of us. He doesn't want us to isolate his location. Any other suspicious movement?"
"There are a few people heading towards the stasis tubes that are holding the recent captures. I think they might even be monitoring the big catch".
"Then intercept them at once! I want to crush little Tora's hopes into dust and shove it in his face!"
"Understood! Deploying defenses!"
AN: I hope you enjoy! The raid has finally begun! And I really did want to have one of those moments where you have tow scenes, the planning scene and the execution scene, play back to back so I hope it was good! Anyways, please leave a review, and if you could answer this question! What did you think about the strategy, and about everyone's roles so far?