Chapter 248: Meaning
Though it was late at night, the fifty-meter-tall floodlights at the camp illuminated the area as if it were daytime.
“Captain, while the other units are out fighting, we’re stuck here guarding a pit. It’s so boring,” one of Winter Squad’s members complained. Originally under the direct command of Major General Porter, the squad had been assigned to investigate the disappearance of patrol teams. They remained at this location afterward.
Later, when Major General Porter needed to replenish Lieutenant Colonel Cross’s forces, the entire Winter Squad was reassigned under her command. Overall, this reshuffle was highly beneficial for Cross. She had lost ordinary recruits, but the replacements included a special forces team. Only her doting superiors would orchestrate such a maneuver.
Additionally, the 100-plus personnel rescued from earlier operations were also placed under her command, increasing the size of her forces rather than depleting them.
For this current assault on other nests, Cross had to deploy forces in support. When her base’s neighboring Swarm nest was attacked previously, other factions had lent their aid. Now that others needed assistance, she was duty-bound to reciprocate.
Moreover, one of the nests targeted this time was assigned to her faction as the primary assault force.
However, with only one elite special operations team at her disposal, Cross was reluctant to send them into a situation where command would be temporarily out of her hands. If they were deployed on the front lines and suffered casualties, it would be distressing. Even if they avoided serious injuries, minor harm would still weigh heavily on her.
Thus, she sent out most of her regular troops, along with several gunships and transport ships, while leaving her base’s defenses slightly undermanned. The nest near her base had been devastated and was unlikely to pose a threat in the short term, so the reduced defensive strength wasn’t a major concern.
Winter Squad, meanwhile, was assigned to guard the pit under the pretense that elite personnel were required to oversee such a critical location.