(Antarctica 1, Antarctica, April 2134)
The jolt of the cargo plane landing startled Sean awake. After the party, the cadets are then ushered onto a plane the next day, flying for an entire day straight.
On the plane ride, they are returned their personal items. Sean wiped the window, finding to his surprise that they are in a winter wasteland. The entire sky is dark, without a bit of sunlight, forming a stark contrast with the white ice caps.
His eyes darted to the sign at the airbase.
"Antarctica 1," he read, shocked. This is UNSSD's main staging base on Earth.
The cadets marched forward on the ice upon disembarking, turning on their night vision equipment in their Exo-suits.
Carl noticed tanks and artillery being transported into the base. He recognised their unit insignia.
"THE 38TH GROUP ARMY?!" he exclaimed. The 38th Group Army is part of UNSSD's strongest sector army. It is deployed in the Neptune defence ring, Earth's first line of defense facing the Veo Empire.
"What are they doing on Earth?" asked Eddie, shocked.
Nanami ignored their questions, leading them to a clearing, where the commanders of the brigades under the 38th Group Army are waiting.
Nanami left, leaving the cadets.
"Alright chaps, let's see who these muppets are," said a voice in a crisp British accent.
The 12 of them turned, seeing a group of operators in Multicam Black camouflage FROG suits, all decked out and dressed in full combat gear.
Sean looked at their swagger and instantly realised who these guys are.
"Oh, you got to be kidding me…" he muttered. "These guys are f***ing IAO."
"Who's that?" asked Louis.
"Intelligence and Alien Operations," Clara answered Louis' question for him. "UNSSD's answer for the nastier things that harm mankind's livelihoods."
"See, there are 2 special operations pipelines in UNSSD, one belongs to the military forces, which is who we are," Sean explained. "The other belongs to the Administration Division, who are these guys. IAO's elite units are also Tier 1 classified, like the UNSSD SOC that we are aspiring to."
"But why do you see to hate them so much?" Ariel quipped. "I mean we know you are a veteran, so there must be a reason?"
Sean sighed. "Because no one knows what the f*** IAO is up to, not the UNSSD SOC, not the command staff, heck, maybe not even Director Kovac himself. Thess jerks in theory answer to the directorate office."
" "In theory"," Albert said, using his hands to do quotation marks, catching Sean's drift.
"Oi, over here!" their leader said.
The 12 cadets gathered over.
"My name is Richard Williams," said Lieutenant Colonel Richard Williams. "We are here to conduct your final test."
"Your mission is to be embedded with us as OPFOR in our direct-action operations against a sector controlled by heavy combined arms brigade of the 38th Group Army, as well as its Special Recon Brigade, while being hunted by them, the 814th Fighter Brigade, as well as operators from the UNSSD SOC special operation units!"
"What the hell?!"
All of the cadets' minds went blank upon hearing Richard's words.
To put into perspective what they are facing, the 38th Group Army consists of the following: a heavy combined arms brigade, is armed to the teeth with tanks, armoured vehicles, self-propelled and AI-assisted artillery, helicopters, drones and war robots.
As for the Special Recon brigades, while they are neither Tier 1 UNSSD SOC special operation units, or part of the ecosystem of Tier 2 special forces units that all of the 12 cadets who are active UNSSD troops in the selection belong to, they are still formidable specialised infantry units that are considered special operations capable to a limited degree.
As for the 814th Fighter Brigade, it is the unit that Artemis 7 "Vasily", the "star of Earth", is assigned to. Coupled with UNSSD SOC operators chasing them, it's a given that the cadets are screwed big time.
"So, if you muppets want to earn your place," sneered Richard. "It's very straightforward. Just don't getting f***ing "killed", and make it to the evac point before time's up. Sounds easy right?"
Just then, a group of operators marched into the clearing. All of them have the shoulder patch of the UNSSD Special Operations Command, signalling that they are Tier 1 operators. The first group of 12 caught the attention of the cadets.
"Oh my god…" muttered Erika, recognising their unit insignia.
"It's f***ing Squad Artemis," said Clara, looking at UNSSD's most elite unit in admiration. ean looked at his siblings marching in, not sure how to feel.
Artemis 1 "Aya" led them in formation. She still gives off "mommy" vibes, that is, if you can ignore her other vibes that screams "I am going to dominate and kill you."
"Instructors Nanami-San and Maia are from Squad Artemis???" exclaimed Ariel in surprise finding Nanami and Maia in the formation.
Artemis 3 "Nanami" waved at the cadets with a playful grin. Artemis 11 "Maia" kept her smug face.
Sean found Artemis 2 "Frederica" looking about, scanning the cadets. He immediately hid himself behind Louis, not wanting his old partner to find him.
Artemis 4 "Meari" and Artemis 5 "Cameron", the other sniper duo in the squad, do not give a damn about the cadets. They are more interested in getting massages once the drill is done.
Artemis 10 "Ethan" marched forward robotically, holding tightly onto his QJY-201 general purpose machine gun, really enforcing the stereotype of Squad Artemis being "living robots".
Artemis 7 "Vasily" is the only one among them smiling sincerely.
Artemis 8 "Walter" did not even look at the cadets, busy chatting away with Artemis 6 "Liu Zhong", who is also trying to calm down Artemis 12 "Electra" and Artemis 13 "Xiao Yue" tried to join in on Walter's conversation. Electra is arguing with Walter on computer specifics, while Xiao Yue is nagging for Liu Zhong's attention.
"It's a pity that they are 2 men short," commented Carl. "According to the grape vine, one KIA, one retired to god knows where," ironically not realising that Artemis 9 "Sean" is right behind him, and had been training alongside them for 4 months.
Richard activated a holographic map.
"Our objective is to find key installations of the 38th Group Army. Afterwards, guide ground-attack aircraft from the 211th Fighter Brigade to bomb them, and evacuate to the evacuation zone which is already labelled on the map in our Exo-suits."
"Doesn't sound too bad," thought Sean, "it's a typical operation for special forces."
Franz and Jay, who have appeared, laughed, and handed the cadets a MRE each. "This is all of the food you have!" yelled Franz. "If you want to eat anything else, you will have to DIY!"
"Also, the GPS and long-range communication devices in your Exo-suits had been disabled! All you can rely on are compasses and individual radios!"
"The evacuation zone closes 2 days from now, so good luck trying to figure out what day it is when the Sun does not rise here!" joked Franz.
Sean looked at the thin bag of MRE in his hand, sighing. This is barely enough for today's breakfast.
"One more thing," said Jay. "We don't have a "we must take people each year" pressure. No, if none of you make it, then we just pretend this year never happened."
"Though one reminder," said Jay sternly. "Among you guys, be it the 12 of you, or Richard and his men, you are all friendlies to each other. Keep that in mind."
Franz crossed his arms, "Now! we have medical drones and helicopters on 24h standby too! Once you feel like quitting or is in a life-threatening situation kindly pull your yellow smoke dispensers! You will be eliminated of course."
"Confident? " asked Jay, wrapping up.
"WE PROMISE TO COMPLETE THE MISSION!" yelled Clara. The other cadets followed her lead.
"We wish you all the best!" said Franz. The instructors and soldiers, including Richard and his men, all saluted the cadets.
(2 hours later)
The cadets sat in logistics trucks; all dressed in Exo-suits. They are being transported into the "warzone".
"Confident?" asked Richard, looking at the 12 cadets.
"We are in this together," asserted Vera.
The trucks stopped, and they stepped out, alert.
Just as they had moved a while, a whirring caught their attention, and the next thing they knew, a 155mm smart howitzer shell came flying at them. It is designed to target the radiation signals of equipment, making it ideal to take out vehicles, and personnel with large amounts of electronics on them, such as Exo-suits.
The shells landed, taking out many a few IAO operators, and one unfortunate cadet.
"TAKE COVER!" yelled Richard and they split up, hiding in holes and ditches in the ice, securing themselves to the surface with ascension cables if needed, avoiding the shells raining down on them and exploding
The explosions sent huge shock waves and loud booms all over the place, instantly heating up the frozen Antarctica weather around them. Even though the Exo-suits have built-in noise cancellation and shock dampeners, the cadets are still in severe discomfort, some on the verge of being shell-shocked.
They crouched in their ditch, activating the shielding to prevent their radiation signals from being picked up, intending to wait out the bombardment and then move on.
Fortunately, just as they had planned, the bombardment stopped. Sean raised his head from his hole, looking about at the smoking ice and the shallow, blackened craters left behind by the shells.
"Clear," he said. The cadets had all been bombed senseless and are shell-shocked, while the IAO operators shrug it off.
Richard sent a labelled map to them, saying this is where he suspects the main areas in the battlefield are.
"Command centre, logistics hub, airfield, barracks, AA batteries, artillery positions," he said.
Sean looked at the map, comparing the coordinates with their surroundings. "The command centre appears to be the clear-cut answer, but they know it too."
"Hence, I'd say we go for the airfield and artillery positions, these are the most threatening to us given the data chain feedbacks."
Carl studied the map. "Best to go for where Richard suspects to be the artillery position, it's covered by long ice dune and chasm stretches from where we are, hence we can cover our movement, they won't expect us there, and we can throw off any UNSSD SOC tails we may have."
"You 2 are good," commended Richard, taking an interest in these 2 "rookies".
Just as they are about to move, Erika saw something, activating her MANPAD, firing and shooting down a recon drone, which fell from the sky, smashing into a million pieces as it crashed into the ground.
Sean's eyes widened in horror.
"WE NEED TO MOVE, NOW!" he roared, knowing their position is going to be exposed. The cadets immediately packed up, moving off.
"Judging from the speed of the data chain, by now the other recon drones in the area would have sent the coordinates of our camp to the stealth drone bombers, as well as sending our radar configuration data to the AEW aircraft which will then relay this information to other units," thought Sean as they moved rapidly on the frozen wasteland.
"Hence, an ARM missile will be eagerly charging at us with its arms open like a wife running to welcome her husband who had left on a long business trip..." thought Sean.
A loud explosion erupted behind him.
"Now…"
A cluster of ARM missiles obliterated the ice behind them. If they had been one second slower to evacuate, they will all be trying again next year.
Yet little do they know, among a few rocks far away from them, Aya and Squad Artemis are illuminating the moving cadets and IAO using lasers.
(In the air)
Vasily looked at the data chain uploaded into his SU-700 fighter in fighter-bomber configuration.
"Got them," he said to the weapon systems officer behind him.
"Gold 1 copy," replied Captain Harriet Ling, looking at the HUD in the weapon systems seat. She is the leader of Gold Squad.
"Laser-guided," she said, looking at the target coordinates being sent live into their cockpits "This means that there are operators near the cadets now, probably your siblings?"
Vasily laughed.
"Gold Squad remain in surveillance, Gold 1 move to attack, over," she ordered.
"Copy that," said the rest of her squad.
Vasily and Harriet broke off, flying towards the cadets. The night lights of their aircraft blinking brightly in the dark sky.
Once they are in range, they opened the weapon bays, selecting laser-guided missiles, following Squad Artemis' laser guidance.
(On the ground)
4 missiles exploded around them, eliminating some and forcing the rest to take cover.
To make things worse, a mechanized infantry company have arrived to ambush them. The cadets are caught in a 2-way cross fire as the armoured vehicles and soldiers, and Squad Artemis fired at them.
"IT'S TOO HOT IN HERE! FALL BACK!" yelled Clara.
The cadets and IAO operators immediately launched smoke grenades from their Exo-suits. Seizing their chance as the white smoke blurred them, the cadets immediately bolted, heading for the direction of the ice hills behind them, splitting up.
(10 minutes later)
Aya looked at the eliminated OPFORs being rounded up. Among them are 2 cadets.
"Zone B-10 ambush completed," she radioed.
"How many eliminated?" asked Franz on the other side.
"How many?" Aya asked, shouting at Walter allying the numbers. He formed a 20 using his fingers.
"20," reported Aya.
Franz laughed. "Counting the 11 taken out by the howitzers, it's barely midday and close to half of the 80 are gone."
"Keep pursuing," he finished.
"Copy," said Aya. She boarded one of the 3 air-dropped light all terrain vehicles assigned to Squad Artemis. These vehicles are unarmoured, but they are equipped with MANPADs, smart mortars and ATGMs. Such light, quick reacting vehicles with excellent load bearing capabilities and decent firepower are a favourite among Special Forces operators.
Aya noticed a Special Recon soldier rudely pushing an eliminated cadet. She generated a snow ball, throwing it at his head.
"HEY YOU OVER THERE!" she snapped. "BE GENTLE WITH THEM!"
The annoyed soldier turned around, his annoyance instantly fading when seeing the Aya' glare.
Aya unloaded her Noveske N4 rifle, checking the magazine capacity. This high-end AR style rifle is fitted with an Aimpoint Micro T-2 red dot sight, 3x magnifier, NGAL laser, weapon light, Magpul MOE SL carbine stock, and suppressor.
Frederica is not in a mood to check her equipment. Her mind is in a mess. "Where's Sean?" she thought. She had not found him among the 3 eliminated cadets at the clearing.
"Did he get eliminated?"
"Is he in danger?"
"Or...does he simply not want to see me?"
The last thought almost brought her to the point of tears, which she quickly suppressed.