TF Amethyst

On top of north outer wall, 16 Shooters armed with AWM 338 used their rifle scope to observe the leading column of mercenaries.

The mercenaries jogged with a steady step. They didn’t wear body armor or carry a shield. Most likely, they already knew their body armor or shield were useless in this fight. Therefore, they put their bet at speed and number.

Actually, it was decent tactic to counter marksman. But for AWM 338 Shooters it didn't matter at all. As the longest spear tips in the rifle team, their main job was to say the first hello at a range of 1600 meters and nail as many targets as possible, not to nail every single one of them.

Then, radio call suddenly came in. 

[Command to rifle teams, you have green, your target priority is ladder carriers.]

 "..."

[I say again, rifle teams, you clear to engage targets at your designated target area. Your target priority is ladder carriers, Command over and out.]

Without delay, AWM 338 Shooters picked one of ladder carriers and placed the impact point at their center mass. Then, they used their thumb to shift the safety lever before putting their index finger on the tip of trigger.

Bang!  Bang!  B-Ba-ba-ba-baaang!

Loud bangs were suddenly heard alternately. A second later, sixteen .338 Lapua Magnum rounds hit their target and came out of their back along with shred of bone, muscle, or internal organ. Then, it continued to penetrate 3-4 other targets behind the first targets.

Normal people would be petrified when witnessing the destructive power of .338 Lapua Magnum on human body. However, the mercenaries who survived the first salvo calmly took the iron ladders from their fallen comrades and continued the advance.

Of course, the AWM 338 Shooters didn't pay any heed to the mercenaries' reaction.

Klick-clack!!

They swiftly pulled out the bolt to extract the empty casing, and then pushed it back to its place to load a new round into firing chamber. After that, they took aim at their next target before squishing the trigger gently.

Every AWM 338 Shooter needed 3-5 seconds for each shot. It was a remarkable tempo, but it was not enough to stop the ladder carriers. Even so, the AWM 338 Shooters did not panic. They ignored the ladder carriers who manage to slip through their ambush.

At the same time, 43 Shooters armed with HK M110A1 took aim. As soon as ladder carriers in the leading position entered their designated target area at the range of 1000 meters, they fired a salvo almost simultaneously.

Bang!  Bang!  B-Ba-ba-ba-baaang!

In an instant, 43 ladder carriers fell to the ground. However, other mercenaries once again swiftly replaced their downed comrades and the advance continued. Of course, M110A1 Shooters kept releasing salvos, but the number of ladder carriers kept increasing.

In a matter of minutes, the leading ladder carriers reached the designated target area for M240 Gunner, at a distance of 800 meters. Wasting no time, 24 M240 Gunners shifted the safety lever, took aim with the help of 8x magnification MG Optic. Then, they fired an accurate and stable 5-round burst continuously.

This time, the pace of the ladder carriers became a little slower. Each iron ladder only advanced a few steps before its carrier was knocked down. Even so, step by step, the iron ladder continued to move closer to FOC Venom's outer wall. 

---

"Damn."

Colonel Glass whispered as the ladder carriers finally reaching a distance of 200 meters from outer wall. And it was only 40 minutes since the opposing side launched their offensive.

"It seems the opposing side will sacrifice as many ground elements as they can to conquer this camp," Major Kimber flatly said.

"It seems so." Colonel Glass then turned to Analyst Jackson before asking, "Have you complete the headcount?”

Analyst Jackson immediately shook his head. "The computer must separate combatants and non-combatants along the marching route, so it will need a little additional time. For now, the tally is at 500 thousand personnel."

"That's almost half of their total strength." Colonel Glass heaving a deep sighs before asking another question, "How many that riffle teams manage to trim down?”

"About 18-20 thousand," Analyst Jackson calmly replied.

"Not even 10% from their total number.”

"I will ask Castle Lagra to prepare a resupply for our small caliber," Major Kimber calmly said.

“Yeah, we will need it,” Colonel Glass expressed his agreement.

Then, one of radio operators suddenly loudly announced, "We have a warning from radar station at Davy Jones, 60 opposing Riders are approaching our position from west, altitude of 800 meters, speed at 250 km/h."

"Get AA Element to welcome them," Colonel Glass calmly issued an order.

"Aye Sir."

Without delay, Colonel Glass’s order was being relayed to Anti Air Element.

---

As soon as they knew 60 Riders were approaching from west, six Stinger Shooters on west outer wall immediately rushed out of their bunkers. It was very dangerous to let a formation of Riders approaching freely and having time to observe the situation, so they had to break their formation as early as possible.

Wasting no time, Stinger Shooters took a parallel position 4 meters away. After swiftly placing a Stinger tube into launcher gripstock, they then patiently waited. Even though six Stinger Shooters prepare their toy, only three of them would have a chance to fire it. Colonel Glass had determined that for every 10 Riders only one stinger would be fired.

With the limited number of stinger missiles and Battery Coolant Units, the generous welcome of Stinger salvos like in the operation to defend Lagra City, had to be crossed off.

Then, as black dots appeared in the west sky, the leader of Stinger Team immediately gave a loud command, "Mick, Jagger, Thomaso, prepare your BCU. You have two shots, use it well.

"""Sir!"""

"The rest, stand by as back up shooters in case we have a failed launch."

"""Sir!"""

"Wait for my mark!"

A few moments later, the leading Riders entered the Stinger’s range. With his rich experience, the leader of Stinger Team in an instant realized it even before the personnel who had duty to measure the range told him.

The Team Leader immediately shouted, "Nail them!!"

Without delay, the three Stinger Shooters put BCU into grip stock and then took aim. A moment later, three Stingers shot towards the incoming Riders while leaving behind a loud whooshing sound and a long trail of white smoke, followed by three others in an interval of ten seconds.

As six Stingers were approaching their positions rapidly, the opposing Riders immediately scattered in all directions. Some of them even execute a series of extreme maneuvers. Unfortunately, the Stinger Shooters had a very decent luck today.

Each Stingers missile faithfully followed their target. Then, six loud explosions rumbled across the west sky alternately, followed by six Riders who fell and crashed into the ground while leaving a black trail.

The Stinger Shooters then trotted back to their bunker. They already did their job, so now they had to obediently wait for the next incoming Rider.

---

In addition to Stinger Shooters, each outer wall at FOC Venom was also armed with six M1151 Rippers. As soon as opposing Riders who survived from Stinger salvo reached a distance of 3.5 km, six Talon laser-guided rockets immediately welcomed them.

Of course, this time the salvo didn't just stop at the first six victims. Without pause, the Fire Control System on each M1151 Ripper did the sequence of lock and release automatically. As a result, opposing Riders fell from the sky in rapid intervals.

Some Riders executed a tight maneuver, but it was futile. Even if Talon didn't have fire and forget feature so the target had to be painted by targeting laser constantly, it was supported by a fire control system and solid sensor that was able to track flying target with a speed under 2.8 mach.

Meanwhile, Cloud Hawk maximum speed was only 360 km/h, while a Talon fired from M1151 Ripper would be able to intercept far faster target like fighter jets, missiles, and artillery shells.

In short, no matter how tight the turn rate, as long as the Cloud Hawk couldn't avoid the targeting laser, Talon's shaped-charge warhead would inevitably reach and pierced its body before exploding.

Unfortunately, M1151 Ripper only armed with a 7-tube rocket launcher. So, even after the six Rippers fired all of their Talons, there were still 18 Riders left. Two M1151 Rippers immediately reload their rocket launchers while the other four switch to 30 mm M230 Chain Guns.

And as soon as the remaining Riders entered M230's effective range at 1.5 km, salvo of 30 mm Air Burst - Tracer and Armor Piercing - Tracer immediately greeted them. Even so, 18 Riders were too many for four Rippers to wipe them out in one go.

Therefore, eight Riders managed to sneak in up to 500 meters from west outer wall and enter the designated target area for M1151 M2HB, which became the last line of defense against Riders.

*****