Chapter 813 - 813: Extraction
"Move."
The assault elements immediately formed up on the ground floor inside. Rooftop and backyard teams also joined the stack.
Spirit Fox naturally occupied the outer layers of the formation while militia commandos secured interior positions around the captured general and recovered intelligence materials.
Muzzles pointed outward immediately.
Disciplined and alert.
No one spoke as their eyes tried to observe as much as possible from behind cover.
No relaxation despite the successful assault.
CQB operations rarely ended cleanly during extraction phases. Many veterans died after victory because they relaxed too early.
Tang Ziyi and the girls tonight had no intention of joining that category. Spirit Fox heightened their vigilance even more to safeguard their fragile allied units.
Listening to the distant booms, automatic gunfire, rotor noise, and ground-shaking explosions, the assault team exited the devastated compound carefully after sensing no immediate reaction in the vicinity.
Outside, the night battlefield had transformed completely from the earlier infiltration conditions.
Distant gunfire echoed continuously across the neighborhood.
Smoke drifted between buildings.
Several structures burned dimly from secondary fighting.
Tracers occasionally streaked through the darkness like angry red lines.
The containment teams had done their jobs well.
Too well, perhaps, that the militia commandos still held disbelief at the ease of the operation. Hmm, Ahmin's team might not be included.
The entire area now resembled a warzone.
Each side was responsible for its own pocket of fighting.
Tang Ziyi raised her rifle slightly while scanning rooftops.
"Movement. Second floor, left."
Puff-puff.
A Spirit Fox operator beside her immediately fired two suppressed shots.
A figure collapsed backward into the darkness.
No pause.
The formation continued moving.
Another burst of gunfire erupted farther ahead.
This time from militia commandos covering an alley intersection.
Several terrorists attempted to reposition toward the compound after hearing the earlier explosions.
Too late.
The retreat had already begun.
Puff-puff-puff-puff!
Controlled suppressive fire drove the militants back behind cover.
Tang Ziyi observed briefly. With her eyes and the assisted hologram, she relayed what she knew to Ahmin from Athena's ISR. Of course, Ahmin relayed the same message to her team, translating it. The process took a while but was still much faster than with conventional forces.
"Alternate movement," Tang Ziyi ordered calmly.
No need to pursue.
No need to clear thoroughly.
Just ensure the path was clear enough for everyone to withdraw.
Immediately, one firing element maintained suppression while another displaced forward.
Then they switched.
Vice versa.
Smooth.
Spirit Fox operators performed the movement almost mechanically from sheer repetition and training. Their marksmanship was accurate enough that ammunition consumption remained low.
Even Ahmin's girls adapted quickly after observing them long enough and experiencing coordinated exercises.
When magazines emptied, another shooter instantly replaced the suppressing element without allowing enemy heads to rise.
The reloader moved ahead while her hands never stopped working.
The retreat maintained constant pressure despite movement.
And the movement was fluid.
Tang Ziyi approved silently.
Not bad.
For the first coordinated cooperation between Spirit Fox and the militia commandos, she was satisfied.
The formation passed the containment teams' positions and finally exited the main neighborhood blocks, beginning the climb across rocky uphill terrain toward the designated extraction zone, far from any infrastructure.
The environment changed immediately.
Urban cover disappeared.
Jagged rocks and uneven slopes replaced streets and buildings.
The women moved carefully through defilade positions while maintaining spacing.
Above them—
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
The rhythmic roar of rotor blades dominated the night sky.
Virgin-2 gunships continued circling aggressively overhead.
Their presence alone heavily discouraged militant pursuit and distracted any fanatics.
Every time enemy movement concentrated too heavily—
BRRRRRRT!!
Autocannon fire shredded roads and intersections instantly.
Or—
WHOOSH!! WHOOSH!! WHOOSH!!
Rocket salvos slammed into open terrain with terrifying violence.
The militia commandos occasionally glanced upward with awe.
To them, the helicopter pilots appeared monstrous, especially tonight.
The aircraft maneuvered with near-impossible precision.
Sharp angle changes.
Instantaneous reaction timing.
Perfect firing discipline without any fog of war.
Every movement looked calculated beyond human limits, like godlike invincibility.
Only Spirit Fox guessed—and some knew—that an AI controlled them.
So far, those who had followed Tang Ziyi here and gained access to the submarine understood deeper secrets behind their boss.
A few had noticed discrepancies surrounding Athena and pointed them out, but they remained in the minority.
With neither confirmation nor denial from Ling Qingyu regarding their discussions, only speculation remained so far.
And even they still occasionally felt amazed watching her operate combat platforms directly, lamenting the unfairness of such an existence.
They pitied their fellow Azi and her friend, who might have trouble with their skillsets in the near future.
Of course, they weren't worried their boss would kick them out because a machine replaced them.
Tang Ziyi listened quietly as Athena continuously updated the battlefield feeds.
"Enemy pursuit probability decreasing."
"Containment Team Two beginning withdrawal."
"Several technicals mobilizing from the southern district but delayed by Virgin-2 suppression."
"Estimated enemy coordination remains fragmented."
Good.
Very good. No, it's perfect.
The first containment unit finally disengaged completely and began retreating uphill toward the extraction route, following their cleared route since the aerial units had ensured no noticeable enemies entered that area.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Each movement occurred sequentially under overlapping overwatch.
Nobody rushed.
Nobody panicked.
One team covered while another displaced.
Then they reversed.
A textbook fighting withdrawal. Peeling away gradually under methodical control. Very close to the drill known as react to contact, except that the actual exercise here was company-sized.
Several militants attempted pursuit during one transition phase, happening to exploit a minor loophole by luck.
That mistake lasted approximately four seconds before turning from good to bad.
Virgin-1 gunship immediately unleashed devastating firepower onto the road network below.
BRRRRRRRRTTT!!
Heavy rounds tore apart walls and vehicles alike.
The open street transformed into exploding debris.
No further pursuit followed afterward. Probably frightened by the heavier firepower and the realization that their pursuit made no more sense apart from showing their heroism for future political purposes.
Tang Ziyi narrowed her eyes slightly while observing the devastation.
Honestly, if not for civilian concerns, Athena probably truly would have flattened the entire district without hesitation.
Pure destruction remained the safest tactical solution.
No buildings meant no ambushes.
No surviving threats.
Simple, efficient, and cold.
Tang Ziyi didn't necessarily disagree either.
War rarely rewarded restraint.
Still, political and moral consequences existed for good reasons.
Even Ling Qingyu couldn't ignore such things entirely yet.
Much less on this planet, where the World Government wielded the greatest power.
Plus, Ling Qingyu and her followers disliked killing unrelated personnel.
Pursuing precision was a creed they strove for.
The uphill movement continued steadily.
Sweat mixed with dust and blood across exhausted faces.
Several militia commandos from Ahmin's team stumbled occasionally from fatigue but kept moving through sheer adrenaline.
Twenty-five minutes.
That was all.
Only twenty-five minutes had passed since the operation began.
Yet tonight already felt absurdly long.
Tang Ziyi finally reached a rocky overwatch position and knelt briefly beside a large boulder.
Below, the distant city district still flickered with scattered gunfire and burning structures.
Behind her, the last containment teams continued climbing toward safety.
Then Athena suddenly spoke sharply.
"MANPADS launch detected."
Tang Ziyi instantly snapped her gaze upward.
One of the circling Virgin-2 helicopters suddenly erupted with countermeasure flares.