Forewords

Well, I've got nothing to talk about in this Forewords section.

Feels just like the old days when I was able to update Fantasy Blitzkrieg once every day.

Ah, nostalgia...


Chapter 7: All-You-Cannot-Eat Lead

Time: 0300 Hour; 31st of December, 2040.

Location: Chinese Wilderness; Approximately 5 Kilometers from Beijing, China.

Trying their best not to get detected by RAP Joint Force troops, the Red Eagles landed their Slug Flyers deep within a mountainside forest.

"Let's leave the Slug Flyers here. The RAPs probably have anti-air defenses set up in the capital." Jenny suggested to her friends.

After doing so and getting out of their Slug Flyers, the Red Eagles proceed to cover up the aircrafts with the surrounding vegetation.

"You know, guys, I felt kind of pissed that we were going to spend New Year's Eve and by extension New Year's Day away on a mission..." Ash points out about the fact.

"Well, what choice do we have, buddy?" Jason tells the chainsaw-totting mercenary. "We either save the world first and celebrate a holiday later, or the other way around. Personally, I'd rather save the world first."

Just as Jason finishes his sentence, he and his friends were forced to duck below the flora to avoid being spotted by a passing-by RAP patrol, which consisted of several Rebel Soldiers, Amadeus Syndicalist, Ptolemaic Guerillas, and of particular note: both Emain Macha tanks.

The Red Eagles emerged from their cover after the patrols have passed by.

"Are those two massive tanks the Emain Macha twins?" Mina took note of the build of the massive twin tanks.

"Yes, and no doubt that these two are more advanced than the versions that Walter and Tyra encountered during their training days." Jenny responds to the Japanese girl.

...

Mission Briefing

Good work on destroying the Secret Weapon Of The Luftwaffe, Red Eagles. Although Morden and Amadeus got away again, we have thrown a massive wrench into the RAP Joint Force's plans.

Your next objective is as follows: find your way into downtown Beijing, and eradicate as many RAP Joint Force troops as you can. HQ has also learned from satellite surveillance that the enemy has apparently built a new version of the massive land battleship called Big Shiee. However, the Big Shiee had somehow disappeared from our radars just a few minutes later, and its last known location was at Tiananmen Square.

After you are done with the RAP troops, attempt to locate Big Shiee and then destroy it with all the firepower you have available. Use the Slug Gunner that is located somewhere near your landing spot if necessary. When you have successfully dealt with Big Shiee, we will be able to mobilize our own troops to clear out any remaining enemies.

That is all. Godspeed...

...

MISSION SIX START!

The first thing the Red Eagles encountered on their trek was an Ammo Box. Upon being broken open, the Ammo Box revealed a Zantetsu Sword.

"A Zantetsu Sword? Not very useful, in my opinion..." Jason comments on the weapon. "I still prefer my Machete."

"And I still prefer my Chainsaw." Ash adds into the comment.

A Ptolemaic Girida-O suddenly appears behind the Red Eagles and fired a volley of shells at them.

Mina was the first to notice the surprise attack. "Look out!" She quickly grabbed the Zantetsu Sword and swung it at the shells which somehow slices them in half without detonating them. Mina then uses the Zantetsu Sword to slice the cannon off the Ptolemaic Girida-O, which effectively destroys it.

All the other Red Eagles stared straight at the Zantetsu Sword for a few seconds.

"On the other hand, this weapons does something that no other can." Jenny remarks. "We should keep it just in case."

The Red Eagles continued with their trek. It wasn't very long until they came across a Ptolemaic Slug that is backed by a Ptolemaic Di-Cokka.

"Mina, you know what to do!" Jason called out.

Mina with the Zantetsu Sword made short work of the Ptolemaic Slug by slicing it in half. The resulting razor wind from the slice was also somehow able to intercept all three shells that the Ptolemaic Di-Cokka soon fires. She proceeds to finish off the Ptolemaic Di-Cokka with a second slice.

"Man, if this is a video game, this weapon is prime candidate for some nerfing..." Ash points out as he realizes how useful the Zantetsu Sword can be.

"A nerf that we specifically don't want." Mina speaks back.

The Red Eagles went on with their objective. Minutes went on without them encountering anything else, until one point where they are forced to hide inside bushes to stay out of sight of the Emain Macha twin tanks which somehow stopped in their tracks alongside a group of Amadeus Syndicalist and Morden Robots.

"What could they be doing here?" Jason whispered to his friends.

"I dunno. Maintenance, maybe?" Jenny whispered back. "Regular Command's reports did say that the original twins have very clunky engines and weapons."

The green Emain Macha tank suddenly fires an incendiary shell at one of the Morden Robots, which triggers the self-destruct in its bazooka (which bloats up in a cartoonish way before exploding), with the small explosion disintegrating the skin and exposing its robotic skeleton.

A Ptolemaic Engineer came out from behind the green tank and tells the Amadeus Syndicalist "Clear!" with a thumb-up.

As the same Morden Robot begins to walk away from the group with a zombie-like gait, the red Emain Macha tank finishes it off with what appears to be a White Phosphorous shell. Said Morden Robot was practically wiped from existence by that White Phosphorous fireball, which left a mid-sized crater and several small batches of flames in said crater.

The Amadeus Syndicalist and Ptolemaic Engineers laughed at the destroyed Morden Robot, until they notices that the Emain Macha twin tanks and intact Morden Robots have took off without them, in which case they hastily follows them.

The Red Eagles waited for the enemy forces to move out of sight before emerging from hiding.

"That... was some serious upgrade in terms of firepower..." Ash makes a soft exclamation at what was demonstrated by the Emain Macha twin tanks.

Mina was at a complete loss of words.

...

The Red Eagles went on with their mission after making sure that the Emain Macha twin tanks have left the vicinity. Again, it wasn't very long until they came across another enemy party. This time, a 3-Ton Utility Truck that is somehow able to fit a Future Girida-O inside. The future mini-tank drove out of the back of the 3-Ton Utility Truck which then drives away from he scene without doing anything else.

"Sometimes you just have to wonder why these transport vehicles can carry a lot more than their size suggest..." Jason hangs a lamp about the occurrence.

A second 3-Ton Utility Truck then appears from behind the Red Eagles. This one is also carrying a Future Girida-O, and it too drove away without doing anything else.

"Okay, that lamp can be hung later..." Jenny deadpans about the current situation.

The Red Eagles had to rely on Mina to deflect the plasma balls with her Zantetsu Sword, due to how accurate both Future Girida-O's were with their shots. Moreover, the Future Girida-O's proved to be quite resistant to the Zantetsu Sword when Mina attempted to slice them in half with it.

"Just what are these things made of?!" Ash calls out furiously as he tries to use his Chainsaw on one Future Girida-O. He has been cutting into said future mini-tank for an entire minute and it only scraped the paint off.

By the time the two Future Girida-O's were destroyed, the Zantetsu Sword had already broken off, making it completely useless from that point.

"Oh well, guess we'll have to be lucky at dodging what the Future Rebels throw at us..." Mina said as she throws the broken sword away.

It wasn't a very long walk before the Red Eagles encountered yet another enemy party. A group of Amadeus Syndicalist in this case.

Because the Syndicalist were standing so close together, it took just a single Grenade from Mina to blow them all up.

"Sayonara, baka!" The Japanese girl called out with satisfaction.

"Wow, I'm glad that Eri Kasamoto is more explosive-happy than Mina is..." Ash makes an offhand comment about the kill.

...

The Red Eagles entered what appeared to be a clearing in the forest that is void of enemy forces. They immediately become suspicious about it.

"Since we mercenaries have been so used to raising figurative flags, I think its safe to assume this is where a sort of boss battle is about to begin..." Jason remarks about it.

Sure enough, Jason's suspicion is confirmed by a large bush being shaken off nearby, revealing the green tank of the Emain Macha twin tanks.

Boss battle: Emain Macha.

"As I was going to say..." The lead mercenary tries not to deadpan about it, as he slowly raises his pistol up. "BATTLESTATIONS!"

The green tank starts off by rapid-firing several incendiary shells at the general direction of the Red Eagles. The shells detonated around the mercenaries, trapping them inside a ring of fire.

"I guess that's why I never liked warm welcomes." Jason finally deadpans about the situation.

That said, the Red Eagles proceed to focus their firepower on the cannon of the upgraded green tank, much like how Walter and Tyra dealt with the original. Unlike the original, this upgraded version fires its three shells in a spread-out pattern rather than landing all three on a single spot, it also has a Ptolemaic Bazooka Guerilla instead of a Rebel Bazooka Soldier serving as backup gunner.

"Will you guys just give up?!" Ash yells out as he takes out the Bazooka Guerilla with his handgun.

The Red Eagles continued firing on the cannon of the green tank while evading the incendiary shells it fires all over the place. The mercenaries suffered many close shaves with the fire pits left by the shells in their wake, but thankfully, the fires don't burn long enough to completely limit their movements.

It took several hundred bullets to take out the green tank's cannon, which caused a chain reaction that proceeds to blow the whole vehicle to pieces.

"Okay, that was tough." Jenny points out, but did not relax just yet. "We still have the red one to deal with."

Yet another large bush has been shaken off to reveal the red tank of the Emain Macha twins. This one has a Future Bazooka Soldier as the backup gunner.

"Careful, guys! The big brother is here!" Jason calls out to the others.

The red tank nonchalantly fires three White Phosphorous shells at the direction of the Red Eagles.

The mercenaries were lucky enough to jump out of the way of the large explosion by a mere inch.

"The Pyro will be proud of the pyrotechnics..." It was Ash who makes the offhand comment.

After the fires caused by the White Phosphorous have burned out, the Red Eagles moved in to shoot at the cannon of the red tank (after taking out the Future Bazooka Soldier).

The red tank fires another burst of three White Phosphorous shells at the Red Eagles. Jenny was almost caught in the explosion caused by the third shell, and had just barely escaped from it.

"That's it! I've had enough of using only the handgun!" Jenny said furiously. She proceeds to take something from her bag and sets it down on the ground. Said object quickly unfolds into what appears to be a full-sized Walking Machine, complete with a Vulcan, which she jumps on and rides. "Now this is what I'm talking about!"

The cyan-haired female mercenary proceeds to use the Walking Machine's Vulcan to shoot up the cannon of the red tank. With such an unexpected firepower, the cannon was shot up to the point of destruction right as it was about to fire another White Phosphorous shell. The cannon exploded with a large fireball that had set the newly-emerging Future Bazooka Soldier on fire, and then with a chain reaction that completely wrecks the rest of the red tank.

Emain Macha defeated.

"You just have to bring one of those 'instant' Walking Machines with you in every mission. Eh, Jenny?" Jason said to Jenny.

The cyan-haired female mercenary dismounted the Walking Machine before responding, "You never know what you'll be coming against, after all."

"So, guys..." Ash decides to cut in. "We've dealt with the Emain Macha twins in the forest, but Regular Command told us that we should deal with the Big Shiee in the city..."

"Big Shiee?!" Mina exclaims at that name. "That land battleship is going to be a lot harder to beat..."

...

Location: Somewhere in Beijing, China.

Two Rebel Soldiers can be seen just standing in the middle of the road, playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with each other while being oblivious to what their comrades were doing elsewhere in the Chinese capital.

That also made them oblivious to an approaching Ptolemaic Landseek, which proceeds to run one over and knock the other several feet away from where he stood.

It is then revealed that the Red Eagles were behind the wheel of that Ptolemaic Landseek, after having somehow hijacked it back in the forest.

"I still prefer our Landseek, which admittedly was left behind in Regular Command after we drove it back from San Francisco..." Jason voices his opinion.

All of a sudden, the Red Eagles are greeted by increasingly stronger localized tremors that is accompanied by the also increasingly louder noise of a massive engine originating from a nearby street. Through the space in between the skyscrapers, the Red Eagles are able to see what is causing the localized tremor and loud noise: the land battleship, Big Shiee.

Big Shiee passed by the Red Eagles without even pointing one of its guns at them. This may be because the mercenaries were standing in the land battleship's blind spot.

"Wow, that thing is so loud and huge that I'm surprised Regular Command actually managed to lose track of it." Jenny hangs a lamp on how the titanic construct had managed to evade detection by the Regular Army so far.

"Well, we're gonna be fighting that big guy sooner or later. I don't think it would've mattered whether Regular Command can detect it or not..." Ash voices his own opinion on the matter.

...

The first thing that tries to attack the Red Eagles in the city is two MV-280B combat jeeps; one up front and one from behind.

"Really? I thought they'll be sending increasingly stronger units after us..." Jason makes a sort-of complain before he completely wrecks the one in front with his Vulcan Chop attack.

"I thought so too..." Ash added in as he wrecks the other MV-280B by cutting into its hood using his Chainsaw.

The first MV-280B had somehow dropped a Rocket Launcher after being destroyed; the second dropped a Shotgun.

"Pretty sure we'll be needing those weapons, so we might as well pick them up now." Jenny suggested to the others regarding the weapons.

The Red Eagles weren't able to make their decision first before a party of Amadeus Syndicalist suddenly dropped down from above them via fast-rope descend.

"We're going to need those weapons fast!" As she was in a hurry, Mina went and picked up the Rocket Launcher without waiting for anyone first.

"Wait up!" The other Red Eagles called out at once. Jason went and picked up the Shotgun to join the fight.

The first Amadeus Syndicalist to step on the ground is swiftly blown to bits by Jason's Shotgun. The next one who decided to let go of the descend rope early and lunge at him with his knife drawn was very soon greeted by Jenny's Taser straight to the face. Another Syndicalist decides that he is better off just sliding down the rope, but promptly gets sliced vertically in half by Mina's Katana as he was landing.

What's funny about this entire sequence is that Ash is just standing under one of the descend ropes, yawning while one Amadeus Syndicalist after another slides straight into the blades of his active Chainsaw; piles of half-corpses were just stacking up next to his feet until there were no more enemies fast-roping down.

A lone Dararin Dara Dara drove slowly into the scene on a skyscraper's service scaffold that is directly above the Red Eagles. Mina proceeds to destroy the modified tank and its cargo with two shots from her Rocket Launcher.

"Baka..." The Japanese girl mocked in her native language.

...

Location: Downtown Beijing, China.

As Big Shiee makes its way slowly toward Tiananmen Square, the Red Eagles gave chase on the land battleship.

"Hold it!" Jason suddenly stopped right in his tracks, prompting the other Red Eagles to do so. "They have definitely given Big Shiee some massive upgrade. We're going to need a Slug vehicle to help us bring that thing down..."

The mercenaries quickly spotted a small group of Ptolemaic Engineers performing some maintenance on a Slug Gunner.

"I think I know just the solution, buddy..." Ash said as he thought of something about the Slug Gunner.

...

"We may have overdone things a bit with those two poor guys, don't you think?" Jenny asked the others while pointing at the two Ptolemaic Engineers whom are currently tied up and dumped inside a dumpster.

"Well, the only other option was to slaughter them without a second thought, of which the Geneva Convention disagrees with on one part..." Mina gives the response.

"Engineers and field medics, regardless of affiliation, are not to be harmed under any circumstances." Jason continues that sentence. "Unless, of course, the engineers or field medics in question were also shooting at you."

With that said, Jenny entered the Slug Gunner, and started the machine up, just as a Di-Cokka and Sarubia - both Rebel variant, drove into the scene.

Under normal circumstances, a Sarubia's attacks can be avoided by jumping over the rolling mines, and the Di-Cokka by simply crouching. But in this case, one has to pretty much rely on luck if not extreme reflexes due to both types of tanks attacking at the same time.

"Now how are we going to avoid being hit by their combined attacks?" Jason took note of the situation and points it out.

"The Slug Gunner can jump higher, so get on and hold on tight!" Jenny calls out from inside the Slug Gunner.

Without thinking of anything else, Jason, Ash and Mina all grabbed tightly onto the exterior of the Slug Gunner as Jenny uses it to jump over the shells fired by the Di-Cokka and Sarubia.

"Eat this!" Just before landing, Jenny fires a single shell from the Slug Gunner's Cannon straight into the gun barrel of the Sarubia, blowing it into pieces.

Whoever's driving that Di-Cokka just sat there without firing another shot, perhaps staring at the wrecked Sarubia with his jaws dropped all the way. A couple of Grenades from the Red Eagles later, and it too is turned into scrap metal.

Another Sarubia/Di-Cokka pair drove in to engage the Red Eagles in battle, this time the Ptolemaic variants.

Although the Ptolemaic Sarubia is smaller, moves and shoot faster, it has a lot less armor than the Rebels' variant, and was quickly destroyed by one Slug Gunner shell going right through it. The Red Eagles simply crouched to avoid the shells fired by the Ptolemaic Di-Cokka while they whale on it with their combined firepower, destroying it in less than a minute.

A third Sarubia/Di-Cokka pair entered the scene. This time the Future Rebels' variant.

"Now that's gonna be a tough one..." Ash deadpanned at the sight of the Futuristic tanks.

The Future Di-Cokka isn't much different than the normal variant (aside from having very tough armor and being AI-controlled), its Plasma Cannon is still very easy to avoid. The Future Sarubia, on the other hand, fired not rolling mines, but four-legged explosive drones, which makes a mad dash towards the Slug Gunner.

The explosive drones fired by the Future Sarubia came so fast that Jenny didn't even see it coming until it exploded against the Slug Gunner, which thankfully is still intact.

"Okay, Regular Command's reports says that the Future Rebels didn't bring any Sarubias with them back during the Garbage Island Incident." Mina complained. "I guess they have learned their lessons about what to use..."

Now that the Red Eagles knew what to expect, they decided to throw every single Grenades they have with them at the Future Sarubia. But the futuristic bombing tank is so tough that even then, it still took several hundred more bullets pumped into it to finally blow it up, which caused a brand new dilemma in the form of it releasing a dozen explosive drones from its wreckage. Which is made more troublesome by the fact that there is a Future Di-Cokka sitting just behind, firing its Plasma Cannon at the same time.

"Oh, come on!" Jenny exclaims as she tries to take out the swarm of explosive drones with the Slug Gunner's Gatling Gun. The last one almost made contact with the bipedal tank before Ash smashed it flat with the sharp end of his Chainsaw.

The Red Eagles proceed to finish off the Future Di-Cokka. This completely uses up the remaining ammunition of the Rocket Launcher and Shotgun.

"The next time I see a Sarubia/Di-Cokka combo..."

...

The next part of the Red Eagles' mission consisted of them running forward without stopping while gunning down any enemies that comes to attack them. At one point they came across a Double-Decker Bus which the Rebels modified to be used as a makeshift stronghold (just like they did with one in the Kowloon District of Hong Kong years ago). Like everything else the RAPs threw at the Red Eagles, the Double-Decker Bus is wrecked after several hundred rounds being emptied into it.

Beyond that Double-Decker Bus, the Red Eagles came across an entire mob of quite possibly every variant of Girida-O's, Di-Cokkas and Bradleys which sometimes even came from behind them. Thanks to Jenny and the Slug Gunner, the mercenaries were able to speed through this mob in a short amount of time.

By the time the Red Eagles reached the end of that street, they have left behind countless tank wreckages and corpses of RAP Joint Forces troops.

"Now that's what I'd call a tank burger!" Jason threw in a joke at the end of it.

...

Location: Tiananmen Square; Beijing, China.

The Red Eagles managed to reach Tiananmen Square without additional challenges from the RAP Joint Forces.

"That's weird..." Ash noticed the surprising silence of the square. "I thought our target will be hanging out around here somewhere..."

Before anyone else can speak another word, the mercenaries are greeted by a series of localized tremors and loud engine noises...

...From directly behind them.

The Red Eagles looked at each other, swallowed hard, before turning around to see what's behind them.

It's the land battleship - Big Shiee.

"Speaks of the devil..." Mina hangs a lamp regarding the sudden appearance of Big Shiee.

"I'm still surprised as to how this thing managed to avoid being detected for so long..." Jenny hangs another lamp on a different subject.

Boss battle: Big Shiee.

Big Shiee didn't wait for the Red Eagles to do anything first as it tries to run them over.

"Look out!" Jason warned his friends loudly just in time for everyone to jump out of the way of the land battleship's tracks.

Seeing how the Red Eagles avoided being ran over, Big Shiee aimed and fired its small cannons at them. This upgraded version fired its guns at a faster rate.

Jason, Ash and Mina were able to easily dodge the energy shells, but Jenny in the Slug Gunner isn't so lucky due to the bipedal tank being a bigger target.

"I don't think the Slug Gunner can take another hit!" Jenny told the others.

"Then we should quickly take out its small guns!" Jason said. "This guy won't reveal its big gun - which is also its weakest point - until all the small guns are down!"

Taking the suggestion into account, the Red Eagles focused their firepower on the double-barreled guns. It took several hundred bullets to destroy those two double-barreled guns (the mercenaries have no Grenades left due to spending them all on the Future Sarubia earlier), and it was no easy feat when every single guns were firing shells like once every three seconds.

Destroying the rest of the small guns turned out to be harder, not easier, due to Big Shiee getting more aggressive with its attacks with each small guns taken out. In fact, the last small gun was firing about three shells every second before being blown up.

Just as Jason said, the land battleship revealed its main cannon as soon as the last small gun went out.

"Look out, guys. This thing definitely packs more punch than its past incarnation." Jason warns his friends.

He was right. Big Shiee's main cannon not only fired shells at a faster rate, the shells were travelling faster as well as being napalm shells.

One of the shells impacted the Slug Gunner directly. The damage to the bipedal tank became so severe, Jenny had to bail out before it explodes.

"Why did they always get the good toys?!" Jenny yells out furiously, as she begins firing on the main cannon with her handgun.

Due to not having any special weapons, Grenades nor Slug vehicles, the Red Eagles had to all fight Big Shiee's main cannon with just their handgun and melee weapons, the latter of which is extremely risky considering that the main cannon fired napalm shells at a fast rate. They pretty much have no strategy other than just whaling on Big Shiee's main cannon while avoiding its shells.

It took the Red Eagles 30 whole minutes to finally bring down Big Shiee's main cannon with their Handguns. When they do, a series of chain reaction blew the land battleship into a complete pile of wreckage.

Big Shiee defeated.

When that is done, the Red Eagles collapsed on the ground due to exhaustion.

"Man, that's the hardest battle we've ever had..." Jason complains about it.

"We can only blame the Regular Army for the failed mission that started everything..." Jenny added in.

"But then we'll never have the job of fighting the Rebels..." So did Ash.

"For now, we can only await being extracted from here by the Regular Army, and be on our way toward the next mission..." As did Mina.

MISSION SIX COMPLETE!


Afterwords

One year of progress... all lost in a second...

I was just playing Metal Slug Defense on my phone, farming MSP from fighting the boss of the Ptolemaic-related event (which is the Sandmarine), when my phone suddenly decides to run out of power as I was starting the level. Upon restarting the game, it forgets me ever even starting it!

Oh God! Over a year worth of progress! All 12 Bonus Stages in the Main Worlds! All Main World stages! All Extra World stages! All Missions! All POWs! All Medals-purchased Units (Black Hound, SV-001 Advanced, Ptolemaic Slug, Special Force APC, Hi-Do, Leona, King, Slug Armor, Double-Decker Bus which is mistakenly named "Morden Bus", and the M-3 Rocket Launch Support Van which is mistakenly named "Parachute Truck")! All upgrades! The Dai-Manji! The Regular Army Helicopter! Over 2000 Medals earned from PVP, Login Bonuses and Events alone (I didn't use my credit cards once on this game)! Over 1 Million MSP! Over 10K PVP Scores! Over one hundred PVP wins! All lost in just a split second!

Even worse! It happened just a few minutes before I continued writing this chapter from where the Red Eagles starts attacking Big Shiee's main cannon!

From now on, Metal Slug Defense is officially uninstalled from my phone, FOREVER!

I'm too heartbroken to write the Shout-out Index and the punchline...