"Alright, that should do it, Boss," the doctor proclaimed as he removed Snake's bandages. Five years in this dimension and he was still amazed by quirks. What would have taken months to recover, was fixed in three days by a medic with a healing quirk. It felt good to breathe well again, as he pulled out a fresh cigar. Was it counterproductive to keep smoking after he had been healed?
Absolutely, but no one was going to convince him to stop. With his cigar lit, he began leaving the medical ward, as the doctor gave him a crisp salute. One Snake returned as he walked outside. Then the crisp sea air filled his lungs, the outside was surprisingly lovely, considering the circumstances.
The reports Miller had brought to his attention were true. The Intel teams weren't sure how many students were on the battlefield, but even the lowest estimates suggested a thousand. His order to halt all offensives couldn't have come at a better time, after all, this was now day four of the battle.
It was common knowledge that a human could survive three days without water, a fact the heroes had been pushing to the limit. And it only made the battle that much worse. Heroes were found dead, not because of bullet wounds or injuries, but by dehydration. Sources of water had been poisoned by the militants, and the MSF's main targets were heroes with water quirks.
While it was effective, Snake couldn't help but regret the tactic now. They could have been killing children out there. Whether it be directly or indirectly it was happening. He could only hope some of them would make it out alive, as he glared out at the surrounding platforms. All this bloodshed, and for what? The heroes weren't fighting for anything, not really. They were told it was to protect the innocent and save lives, but that wasn't what was happening.
It was funny actually. Heroes and soldiers weren't all that different. Both would be thrown away by those above them. Both couldn't picture a life off the field. Both had their bad apples, in war criminals, and money-hungry assholes. Just to inspire and indoctrinate a new bunch to replace them. It had Snake ponder these thoughts before he heard the sound of someone drinking.
He turned, finding Nezu sitting on the platform's railing, a teacup in his hand.
"Where the hell do you even come from?" Snake muttered to himself, before taking a puff from his cigar.
"Now, now, we may be allies, but I can't give away all my secrets," Nezu replied, his tail swaying slightly in the wind, "I believe there are more pressing matters though."
"So, you've heard."
"It's impossible not to. The HPSC has been doing damage control for the last three days." Nezu replied, before turning to face him. He pulled out a phone from one of his suit's pockets and handed it to Snake. Looking down at it, Snake found a news article plastered on the screen.
"Disaster In Nigeria! Ten Thousand Heroes Dead, Thousands More Missing!" Snake read aloud, before scrolling through the rest of the article.
"The HPSCs managed to cover up their involvement, pinning the blame onto the WHA. However, things are not looking good for them."
"I disagree, if anything this might help them."
"How do you mean?" Nezu asked him. Logically the trust in hero society would be shaken immensely. The death of so many heroes, and even the death of children. But Snake could see the alternative.
"Think of it, the biggest defeat heroes have ever taken. If I were a corporate big wig, I'd be shouting to the press that they need more funding."
It made too much sense, to be honest. It wouldn't be the hero's fault, no. It was the shoddily made support equipment, the lack of effective training and schools, and the underpaid heroes in the field. It was a lifeline the HPSC could cling to, and one they were actively holding onto as Snake read through the article.
"Top experts report that faulty support equipment led to forty percent of hero casualties. With this number Syntax, Jupiter Support, and General Equipment are now under investigation for corruption." Snake read aloud to which Nezu became visibly annoyed.
"A shame, sometimes I forget how illogical some humans are," Nezu muttered, before taking another sip of his tea.
"What's your next move?" Nezu asked him.
"As of right now, we might try negotiations. We don't have the leverage for anything drastic," Snake began, before taking a puff of his cigar, "However we might be able to force a ceasefire, possibly end the bloodshed."
Nezu simply nodded before a dissatisfied frown crossed his face.
"They were blaming education as well, correct?"
"They were,"
"Then I'm afraid I must go, I fear the HPSC with use this event as fodder to take control of UA." the rodent replied, before hopping off the railing. Snake handed him his phone, with Nezu gave him a small nod before walking off. Somehow, Snake couldn't help but feel the worst was yet to come.
"Report?" Nagant asked, looking over at the officers assembled. She'd gotten better at this commander thing, at least she hoped she did.
"The Western flank reports a cease in hostilities mam, the heroes there are beginning to surrender."
"The Southern flanks calmed down a bit, however, militant reinforcements have been spotted across the nearby river."
"The Eastern flank's having difficulties with some heroes. Most are with children and have made conventional fighting difficult."
Nagant nodded as the first three officers gave their reports, yet as they did so she spotted the final one looking away. He was focused on his radio, dragging away his attention every few moments until it became his turn. She soon found out why.
"The Northern flanks under heavy assault by Remnant forces. Enemy estimates are currently unknown however several hundred tanks have been spotted on mass. Possible T-72s, T-90s, and T-62s"
"Damn it, keep me posted on the situation. I want men rerouted from the south to the west. Are those B-52s still available?" she asked one of the officers.
"Yes, mam."
"Good, I want them in the skies pronto. Vulture, call the carrier's captain and see if he can spare any support." Nagant ordered.
"On it mam."
"Talon, those paratroopers have been begging to drop for days now, I want them securing logistical hubs behind enemy lines. And someone get me a feed of the front!"
For a split second, Grizzly's life flashed before his eyes. He saw his parents taking care of him, every friend he made, dozens of birthdays, and his first days as a hero. All of it in just a split second, and then nothing for five seconds. In the moments after, he found a shoddily made shell, lodged into the ground and still smoking. And the rest felt natural.
"Get down!"
The girls around him dropped to the ground before he did the same, a second shell soon hitting the ground around them. Unlike the first this one worked, the explosive mechanism detonating loudly. Bits of dirt and metal rained down on top of him before a third shell followed soon after. He looked back up to the girls, finding them near their two wounded. They didn't dare move, with Grizzly hearing faint cries as the shelling continued.
Slowly he crawled over to them, getting close to the wounded. The damage was even worse up close. The wooden piece was lodged close to the stomach, and it might have even pierced it. Yelling out to them, he looked out over the fields behind them.
"Stay low to the ground! Crawl over to the hills, and do not stay close together!"
They sat there nervously for a second before one became brave enough to move. The others soon followed, leaving Grizzly with the two wounded. Back over at the hills, Ape was moving quickly, with the other soldiers in tow.
"Get out there! Move!" he shouted before turning over to the droner operator, "Find those guns! I want counter-battery fire on their asses now!"
"Yes sir!"
"Enemy contact, five hundred meters, and closing!" a soldier called out, ducking as a bullet whizzed by. Ape looking out over the hill found the soldier's warning, as dozens of militants approached their position.
"Where the hell did they come from!?" Eagle called out, as the shelling came to a halt, the enemy not wanting to hit their men.
"Gator, Hornet, cover fire!" Ape ordered as the two machine gunners took position. Their M249s loaded and ready, the two held down the trigger. The 5.56 rounds ripped apart the approaching men, forcing several to duck for cover. There wasn't much to hide behind though, the area in front of the hills was mostly empty. That was until Ape spotted something else approaching.
It was a large vehicle, too far for him to determine what it was, but the aftermath informed him. As an explosion launched the two machine gunners backwards, both dead.
"Tank! Take cover!"
Ape silently swore as the tank fired again, tearing apart four men in the blast. From a far-off distance, he could see Grizzly freeze the tank, but another two came to replace it. For as effective as Grizzly's quirk was against enemy armor, it had one glaring weakness. It provided the enemy with a lot of cover.
"Walkers! Focus on the tanks!" Ape ordered, the drivers of their new weapons moving out. It was odd to see, the two-legged vehicles moving so quickly. In all honesty, Ape thought they'd fare better in an urban environment than out in the open. But you had to deal with the cards dealt, and if those cards had anti-tank weapons, then all the better. The walkers split up into two groups, moving out to the flanks.
The tanks soon noticed this and switched targets. With the tanks distracted, focusing on one side the other would fire their AT missiles. In mere seconds the two tanks were engulfed in flames, while the walkers with miniguns focused on infantry. The sheer quantity of rounds fired turned the enemy militants into a red mist. Yet the more militants they killed, the more seemed to arrive.
Another two tanks drove over, finding the other two destroyed. A walker gear moved to intercept and destroyed the first with an AT missile. But the second moved out of the way, obscuring itself behind its burnt-out ally. It left the walker vulnerable as a second pair of tanks drove up on the other side. In a matter of seconds, the walker was destroyed. It could only be described as chaos, as Ape ducked back behind the hill.
Peeking back over, he fired at an approaching militant squad. He managed to wound three and kill two, before ducking back again. He took a breath as he took note of the situation and attempted to calm his nerves. Just as he did so the drone operator called over to him.
"Enemy artillery's been spotted!"
Moving quickly Ape pulled out his radio as the drone operator ran over to him. Looking over at the screen Ape relayed the gun's coordinates into the radio. The moment he did so a soldier ran up the hill with one of the girls in tow with a second soldier not far behind him. Then miles away the M270s adjusted their aim, as Ape gave them the last target.
With the MLRS ready to fire, Ape turned back over to the field. More soldiers were picking up the girls, as others provided covering fire. Ape soon joined them, as he aimed another squad of militants. He killed the machine gunner first, with a quick three-round burst. The militants surrounding the gunner dove away, making it harder for Ape to shoot them. All the while Grizzly was still focused on the wounded girls.
While he had left behind his M4, he still had his M9 pistol and a knife. He moved to the impaled girl while firing his M9 at an approaching militant. The bullet struck the militant in the face, the man falling over dead. The militant's rifle, a Beretta AR-70, then clattered to the ground, with Grizzly grabbing it and a few extra magazines quickly. After checking the magazine and chamber, he returned his focus to the wounded.
At the moment the only thing keeping the girl alive was the piece of wood jutting out of her. If he removed it, she would bleed out, or worse, her stomach acid would begin corroding her flesh. That was assuming it hadn't started to do so. Knowing they didn't have much time, Grizzly pulled out his knife. Moving carefully, he started to cut the ends of the wood off, allowing him to pick up the girl easier.
With both ends soon cut off, he spotted four militants approaching them. In a split-second Grizzly fired the AR-70, hitting two of them in the gut and chest. The other two reacted quickly and a stone wall appeared in front of them. Grizzly's rounds embedded themselves in the wall, forcing him to use his quirk again. Just as was about to do so a grenade was tossed over the wall.
He tried to freeze it, only to miss it. Expecting it to detonate he moved to shield the wounded girl. Then three seconds passed, and nothing happened. Looking back over he found a golden aura surrounding the grenade. Behind him the girl held out her arm, trying to fight through the pain.
"T-throw i-it!"
Grizzly did so, quickly kicking the grenade back over at the enemy. The girl dropped her arm as the grenade landed and subsequently detonated, with Grizzly hearing the pained screams of the enemy militants. With the four dealt with Grizzly looked over at the second wounded girl. She was passed out by now, most likely from blood loss. Thinking for a moment, he turned back over to the first girl.
"Can you walk?" he asked her, the girl looking deathly afraid.
"I-I think so," she replied.
"Good, I need you to carry your friend over to that hill. I'm going to cover you, ok?" Grizzly told her, as he checked the chamber of his AR-70.
"Ok." the girl replied, slowly working up the courage to move. With a silent nod, the girl stood up. She hobbled over to her friend, while Grizzly spotted another approaching squad. They were damn near endless as he fired into this new squad. His first rounds killed one man, tearing up his chest and right arm. But then his rifle clicked, forcing Grizzly to take cover behind the stone wall.
Rounds struck it hard, launching up bits of rock into the air. In a swift motion, Grizzly removed the empty magazine, before tossing it over the wall.
"Grenade!" a militant shouted, as the men jumped out of the way. They realized too late that it was a trap then when Grizzly aimed over the wall. He killed another man, the quick burst ripping apart a militant's face. Turning over he aimed at a second man before a burning pain shot up through his arm and chest. Falling back behind the wall, he felt a bullet lodged in his left arm.
His chest was fine, the bullets stopped by the body armor, but something had most definitely cracked. Fighting through the pain, he fired at another militant, hitting the man in the legs and gut. Looking back behind him, he saw the girl make it back over to the hill, with her friend being carried off by another soldier. And with it, the sky lit up as the MLRSs launched their missiles at the designated targets.
It was awe-inspiring to see, as explosions soon echoed from far away. Yet the battle didn't seem over, as Grizzly fired at another militant squad.
"One at a time! One at a time please!" the President of the WHA shouted, trying to calm the horde of reporters in front of him. In a far-off room, the President of the HPSC sat by watching the live feed. It was clear several mistakes were made. For one their puppet President for the World Hero's Association had no backbone. They had selected him off on loyalty, and the puppet had expected an easy cushy job.
Now here he was sweating to death on live television, trying to address the biggest failure in heroics ever. That was what Madam President noted as their first mistake. Their second was bringing the media along to Africa. For the most part, the HPSC had kept them relegated to hero-controlled areas. The big two are the Tyrant's fortress and the abandoned factory.
And for the most part, the media was satisfied, a of dangerous radioactive villains captured after a devastating attack. But then, they began to stray into other areas as people questioned why so many heroes had been assembled in Africa. And why three days had passed with families being unable to contact their children on the continent. This could have all been kept quiet, but no, Madam President just had to get money-hungry.
Now the repercussions were being shown live.
"Mr. President, why were so many foreign heroes assembled for this mission? Nigeria after all is ranked fifth in the number of heroes around the world." one reporter asked, as the others finally quieted down.
"Well… the Nigerian government did not believe their heroes were up to international standards, as such they contacted us for assistance against the Nuclear Gang." the President lied, lest the world learn the truth about Africa.
"But why were so many assembled? The team that took the Nuclear Gang down only had a dozen heroes, yet the WHA assembled sixty thousand." The same reporter asked.
"I must admit, that was an oversight on our part and the work of a clerical error." the President again lied. Madam President could already see he was starting to break. By the looks of it, a replacement would be needed quickly.
"Mr. President, how do you respond to reports of fighting all across the country, between an unknown force of villains and heroes?" a new reporter asked.
"Those reports are highly exaggerated. These villains are simply small-time criminals." the President answered.
"The reports state that thousands of refugees have been spotted on mass, fleeing certain sectors of the country."
"Mr. President, is it true an unknown band of mercenaries has begun fighting with local heroes in the area?"
"Well... uh… no."
Madam President sighed as she watched the questions continue. It was going to be hard to cover this up, and it might not even be possible. Sure, blaming support companies worked, but it didn't remove the public's knowledge. It simply gave them something else to point fingers at. That would work less and less, the longer this quagmire continued. And as if God and his angels were listening above, her phone began to ring.
Silently she held hope for Techno calling to inform her that they could shut down the internet for a brief few seconds. Instead, she found an unknown number. She was tempted to hang up when a text message appeared as well. It was a photo of her, from the outside the room. She looked over her shoulder quickly, finding a drone flying close to the window, with an all too familiar skull plaster on it.
She answered the call angrily. If the MSF thought intimidation would scare her, then they were mistaken. The windows of the room were damn near bulletproof, and that little drone wasn't going to accomplish anything.
"What do you want?" She demanded immediately; her eyes still transfixed on the drone.
"I want to make a bargain," Snake replied over the phone.
"You've called to surrender then." Madam President remarked.
"You and I both know that's a lie."
"Oh, I'm sure. What makes you think I would ever make a deal with you? Lest you forget the thousands of heroes engaged with your forces." the President reminded him, as she turned back over to the live broadcast. The puppet president was being escorted off the stage now, the interview seeming to be over.
"Desperation for one. You dug yourself a hole you cannot get out of. So, I'm offering you a solution." Snake told her, as she turned back over to the drone. She wasn't entirely sure, but she assumed the mercenary was currently watching her as they talked.
"That being?" she asked.
"A cease-fire. We'll stand down and allow your heroes safe passage out of the country if you stand down." Snake answered, with the President not trusting a word uttered.
"And let me guess, your demand is for us to leave the country."
"Yes."
"Why should I ever agree?"
"Because right now you don't have any other options. The media is busy tearing you apart right now, and every day that passes gives them more ammunition. So, consider this your only way out."
"I could send All Might down there right now and have him crush what men you have stationed there."
"And what would that accomplish? Another few days of fighting with thousands more dead. May I remind you, that some of these heroes brought interning students with them. How's the media going to react when they learn of their experiences on the front." Snake told her. The President clenched her fist then, silently furious as the man continued to talk.
It led the President to weigh her options. Continuing the fight any longer would only cause more problems. If they could leave now, she might be able to pull some strings to convince the people of a small victory. Nothing major, thousands of heroes were dead after all, but maybe a pyrrhic victory could be created.
It would be a difficult narrative to create, and the people's trust in hero society could be seen fracturing. She had no other options, no way to cover this incident up, lest they actually shut down the internet. Granted that may create more problems than solve. So, with a sigh, she looked straight at the drone's camera.
"You have a deal."