High School Soldier
119. What kind of coincidence is this...!?

The entire rover Squad 1 grumbled after getting a mission that was arguably quite dangerous. Nio appoints his deputy to lead the unit, Sergeant Major Liben. That was what made everyone in this Squad grumble, because the task their Commander had obtained was very easy, and left them with this Sorong Garrison warrior. This made Liben grin, as it was time for him to show his ability to lead.

Nio for today on duty ‘welcome’ arrival 2nd wave Expeditionary Force which in a few hours will be out of the Gate. This task is used well by him to rest or rest the eyes of gunpowder smoke and aroma.

The mission that this unit obtained required them to cross the border between the Yekirnovo State and the Luan Empire, and head for one of the Imperial cities that will be the target of the mission this time. The front-line troops will also assist them in this mission, including several combat vehicles belonging to the 5th and 6th Combat Groups.

However, there was a problem that this Squad had to endure, even Nio himself did not like their existence.

They are not American or Chinese, not even Israeli. They were just a bunch of people carrying cameras, microphones and wearing a vest as the identity of a journalist.

Their identity is part of ‘media’, which contains various information. Yes, some veterans consider information to be the strongest weapon and equivalent of a country's military might, far stronger than the Empire's army and its alliances. Nio deserved to act wary of them.

Nio approached Liben, and held his shoulder while slightly squeezing it to the point of making the Papuan son a little surprised, other than the watchful gaze Nio put on.

“Liben, you're not only leading friends into battle, but also guarding these journalists. Make sure you keep an eye on them, and don't cover anything that makes the Expeditionary Force's reputation go down. Understand!?”

Although Nio said it with a whisper, and quite quietly, but it was enough to make Liben shudder because the task he received from his Command was quite heavy.

“Ready! Understand.”

Nio patted Liben on the shoulder, then twisted his body and walked over to hand over some sheets of paper to the leader of this group of three journalists. They were quite relaxed being on this potential battleground, and were faced with the cynical gazes of the teenage and senior soldiers.

(Note: a potential battlefield is a place or region that has the potential for attack or sudden enemy combat. Correction if wrong, because this is the author's own opinion.)

The press freedom law made them feel like they could cover anything in the Expeditionary Force fortress. Sucipto actually felt hesitant when giving permission to the workplaces of the three journalists, because they could have made bird news about the war, and the state of the troops that ‘concerned’.

Two journalists were seen wandering the area for the Student Army soldiers, and photographing some sides of the territory of the teenage soldier. Even toilets that were installed lined up without barriers were exposed to the camera belonging to the two journalists.

When one journalist photographed dozens of teenage soldiers playing basketball, volleyball and futsal, he planned to write an article about this.

“Look at them, it signifies his useless teenage warrior was here.”

The one who spoke was a journalist who appeared to be in his 38s, while the other journalist looked younger was still in his 25s.

“What do you mean?”

“They squander tax money here, and all they do is play around like that.”

Dozens of soldiers who were playing-or just watching it did look happy, and did not seem to have a heavy task in another world that was full of dangers.

That is the cause of information is a dangerous thing, anyone can make an information even though he did not witness the incident directly, or just do an interview with the source. However, the party that controls the journalists is also no less dangerous.

At this time, money approached the power of the gods, as long as there was money needed by journalists, they were free to order the group to make news that brought down others. Parties that do not have influence in the community will certainly easily fall with fake news made, but the opposite will happen if the target of the fall has a considerable influence in the community. In fact, if the person is very stupid, but has a great influence in the community.

The soldiers were also ordinary citizens who needed legal protection, but the laws protecting them were arguably quite weak, and most only discussed the duties of the soldiers.

In essence, press freedom at this time is not accompanied by honesty and determination of the journalists.

After they got some photos, a short while later ten members of the 1st Cruiser Squad dragged them to immediately set off for the battlefield.

**

Nio's face instantly turned pale, and could only say, “What kind of coincidence is this?”

However, Arunika and Lisa only smiled sweetly in front of Nio who was still putting on a foolish expression.

“What are you guys doing here huh!?”

Then, Arunika took a step forward, and stood beside Nio while rubbing her head on her sister's shoulder.

“Of course volunteer.”

“What?”

“I mean, the Expeditionary Force made an announcement if they needed volunteers to become teachers. The two of us who used to be teachers of course volunteered.”

Nio could only give up on what happened today, and let the military higher ups do what they liked to the troops in the other world.

“Have you forgotten me, Nio..?”

The one who spoke earlier was Herlina, who now occupies the position of deputy Commander of Combat Group 1, and Cruiser Squad 1 is part of that army.

Nio was now in the middle of a worry. She did not know to be grateful for not having to go far with her brother anymore, or he had to complain because there were some people he knew very well sent to this world through the dispatch of the second wave Otherworldly Expeditionary Force.

Then Nio turned his head in the other direction, where Jonathan was waving his hand towards Nio.

Then, Sigiz and some of his soldiers walked up to Nio. This queen was wearing her new battle outfit, which was almost entirely dark in color. He also carried a new spear, which was somehow superior to a machine gun.

Sigiz's brownish hair shimmered after reflecting the bright sunlight during the day.

And as always, the charm of Sigiz is able to see anyone fascinated, Nio is no exception.

Sigiz stood in front of Nio, but with a slightly flushed face.

“Ba-how is my new battle armor?”

**

The expanse of wheat fields that stretched towards the horizon, and the expanse of empty land that looked as beautiful as a painting appeared from the top of the transport helicopter and its escorts.

Then, there was a view of the burning villages, and black smoke billowing high from the source of the fire.

Sergeant Two Chandra of the 1st Cruiser Squad observed the billowing black smoke in the distance. It made him think about the other fire dragon king, and the party that made a huge fire there. However, the blaze was created from the houses of the people, and the harvest supplies were burned.

A large transport helicopter, and its bodyguards flew the rest of the arson under it as it passed through the burning village.

Liben watched the flames beneath him devour the house and its furniture with a hot flame. The fire was accompanied by a loud cracking sound as the fire devoured buildings whose materials were made of wood and other combustible materials.

However, the sound of the flames below was still inferior to the roar of the attack helicopter engines and carriers.

The propellers split a thick cloud of black smoke, and churned the air underneath into a downwash and extinguished the flames beneath.

Several members of Combat Groups 5 and 6 who did not travel very often with the 1st cruiser Squad of Combat Group 1 gave the members of the Squad a ride, and looked silently at the tragic scene below them.

The only one who keeps raving is the news journalist.

Seeing the three journalists doing their job, Sergeant Liben whispered into Sergeant Chandra's ear.

“Peltu Nio ordered us to keep a close eye on these journalists, lest they record anything that lowers the reputation of the Expeditionary Force.”

“Sial, that's why I hate the news. Does it count as reconnaissance work again?”

In fact, the two of them only took out a dagger, so they did not exchange many words. Instead, they looked up and shrugged their shoulders.

“Friends, as you can see, down there is a terrible sight. Our mission is to hunt down the Empire's army and its alliances. We will find the main body of their army and crush them mercilessly. Understood!?”

The Squad members nodded in unison after hearing the loud voice of Sergeant Major Liben.

“We will end this war soon!”

“Good answer, now load each other's weapons!”

The members of the 1st Cruiser Squad took out one of their magazines from the bag attached to their vest. Some members of the Squad tapped the magazine into the helmet, this was to ensure that the magazine actually contained 25 bullets, no less and no more. Ensuring the number of bullets in the magazine is a small thing, but a gun that is jammed because of it is a fatal problem in battle. A soldier must be very careful when he heads to the battlefield, where the line between life and death is very thin.

They installed magazines on the first 20-generation assault rifles in regular motion, then made the rifles in safe mode. Then, the shotgun they were holding ended up becoming a savage killing tool within a few seconds.

“Magasin installed! Weapon safe!”

Even so, the looks of the rifles held by each member of the Squad did not hesitate military hunting dogs. Black metal and some forming parts whose material is stronger than plastic total only weighs 4.5 kilograms. The weapon would obediently spit out a piece of murderous lead towards its target user.

In this case, the soldier is almost the same as the rifle, aka the killing machine.

In a state of peace, soldiers are friends and neighbors who do not get along. They would not be known as warriors once they did not wear uniforms.

Some say, once a group of teenage warriors held a rifle and their ‘’ restraint leash was released, they turned into a pack of ferocious hunting wolves, searching for their prey like starving beasts. They advanced fearlessly to annihilate their enemies, driven by the rifle that the trigger had already been suppressed by them.

Some members of the Squad installed sound absorbers to eliminate noise, and put on sling guns. The top brass of the Student Army had allowed their soldiers to modify their weapons, optical shots made by domestic companies one of them.

The shadow of a large transport helicopter stopped over the land east of the village.

From a distance, the soldier could see two attack helicopters hovering in the air, ready to fire support Team 1 on the ground.

The wire rope was spread to the ground, and the Squad commander lowered his raised hand.

After which, the members of the 1st Cruiser Squad descended using ropes quickly, landing on the ground one after another.

The cameraman recorded the soldiers descending through a wire rope.

Some of the soldiers aimed downwards, guarding against enemies who might attack the descending soldiers.

After the Squad members descended quickly, the transport helicopter retracted the wire rope and went back up to continue the flight.

“Hey, find a place to land. We can't get down on a rope like that Senior High School Warrior!”

Airmen in the cabin appeared to show an annoyed face, but all they could do was smile and reply, “Understood, but we need to make sure that the ground condition is safe before landing.”

“That means we will miss the interesting parts ‘right? Drop us off now!”

The senior journalist managed to get the aviator's head adorned with veins for holding back the upset.

The most dangerous time for a helicopter on the battlefield is during landing or takeoff. Getting off the rope is the fastest and safest way to minimize that risk. This is not something that amateurs (journalists) can do who continue to force these aviators to land helicopters immediately. One of the aviators said, “Dog! they're the civilians I hate the most.”

As the three journalists were already above the ground, the transport helicopter slowly rose to the heights. After the airmen were convinced that they were safe on the ground, the helicopter hovered over the burning village.

**

Squad members split several teams, and immediately spread out in all directions once they landed.

It seemed like they were racing, seeing the way they held weapons and the speed in running. They scanned the surroundings, their wary eyes leading to their respective gun shots.

They looked through the shots towards the door, the tree, any place that could potentially be someone's hiding place. However, they did not find anyone alive. All they saw were people fainting everywhere, some men and women lying on the ground. Their bodies were covered by sword slashes, spear thrusts, or torn from being pounced on by a savage beast.

“Use infrared scanner!”

Obeying the command of the team leader, one of the team members took out a diving glasses-shaped device, and put it on. He looked towards the trees and the dark places nearby.

The device will capture the infrared radiation emitted by the warm-blooded creature, and can find anyone hiding in a dark place.

However, this device is not a standard equipment issued by the TNI, but rather the personal team members. Unfortunately, in the heavily-budget TNI, a soldier is forced to cover personal equipment from private funds.

“No thermal emission everywhere. It is useless.”

The device is good, but the large heat source of the fire has a big impact on the performance of the tool.

“Cih,” the team leader of the rank of Corporal Head screeched.

If the technology is not effective, then they should use their own eyes and ears to monitor the situation.

The ability to observe around and pay attention to unusual things was a core skill for warriors, similar to the battles of antiquity. They have to hone this ability because no matter how advanced the technology is, there are many circumstances where the technology cannot be used, or the enemy equipment hinders or damages the team equipment.

Team members search for survivors among the ruins, as well as for any traces of attackers who might be hiding. However, the crackling of the burning wood made it difficult for them to hear cries for help. Even the creaking of their boots on the ground impeded their ability to sense the presence of enemies, and it made them restless.

Team members calmly control their breathing, and follow the slightest movements. Their eyes moved at a moderate pace, they scanned, examined and searched for people everywhere around them.

Gunshots were suddenly heard throughout the village.

“What happened!?”

Tense sounds filled the communication channels of the team.

The team members were so agitated that their heartbeats were racing fast.

**

(Illustration of Sigiz's new appearance (should have been much larger chest:v) source of pinterest images)