I Became A Mech Soldier After Waking Up in The Future.

Colonel Rajeev stood on the top of the 100-meter city wall with a gloomy face, observing the situation on the drawbridge's deck through the binoculars.

He watched Jeanne Armstrong and a female officer wandering around the drawbridge while his grasp became stronger, nearly breaking the binoculars.

Just a minute ago, the scout under his command told him that the six mantis-shaped predators had all died.

They had prepared as many as six vicious predators, but they still couldn't completely wipe out a squad consisting of just around forty people.

What made him most depressed was that none of the key targets died, while the spy they had planted in the third squadron died inexplicably when she jumped off the bridge! 

Damn it! Who killed Elisa?! 

This action was planned spontaneously, so he felt it was unbelievable that someone could intervene and mess up with their business.

It seemed that it wasn't only them that had placed someone to infiltrate the third squadron, but also other unknown forces outside of his knowledge.

What is so special about this third squadron?

His side had never set their eyes on this squadron before.

Although it was an elite ace division, there were so many ace divisions in the entire federal army that he thought it was nothing special, at least until this accident.

Who knew that this seemingly ordinary squadron would be his jinx at the end of the day?

To make matters worse, the famous prodigy, the jewel of the Armstrong family, Jeanne Armstrong, happened to be in this damned third squadron too.

Rajeev couldn't do anything but curse at his own wretched luck. 

"Scout, are you sure you really didn't see who killed the fifth monster?"

Rajeev asked his appointed scout with a voice so low that the scout in front of him couldn't help but tremble in fright.

"Y-yes, Colonel!" The scout stammered, recounting the event before, "The monster suddenly perished when it entered our blind spot. From the wall, we couldn't see the person's figure at all. We only noticed something was going wrong when we saw the monster suddenly struggling. The battle lasted only about ten seconds. It was too fast to be observed at all." 

"Damn it!"

Caral cursed, slamming the binocular in his hand to the ground. He didn't know how he should proceed next.

Now that all the monsters were dead, he had no excuse for releasing the fire anymore. When the reinforcements arrived, he couldn't continue to stall them.

Moreover, Major Sistine and Captain Amanda weren't people that easy for him to deal with. He was certain that they had been cooking up some plan to force him to let the people outside enter the city.

Should I give up the mission? 

This idea had been lingering in his mind soon after he heard that the predator that attacked Jeanne's car failed to kill her on the spot.

But... his superior had already warned him from the beginning that once the mission began, no matter what happened, he wanted to see these people die outside the city and made sure that he didn't leave any clues or evidence whatsoever that could implicate his superior. 

Rajeev was bitterly aware that he was ready to be sacrificed at any moment by his side if it was to accomplish their goal.

Should he continue to fulfill his loyalty, or should he betray his superior to save himself?

After several evaluations, Rajeev knew that even if he betrayed the commander and let Jeanne and the others enter the city, the matter had already been exposed.

Given the ruthlessness of the Armstrong family's eldest miss, it wouldn't be strange if she immediately retaliated as soon as she was rescued.

If he really betrayed the big guy, he wouldn't only face the wrath of General Armstrong but also his superior.

He hardened his heart and finally made a decision. It was better to carry out the task to the end. Even if he died, the commander would recognize his worth and treat his family well, at least that was what he hoped for.

Suddenly, his bracelet ID rang; a nameless communication channel was trying to get through.

Rajeev irritably answered the incoming call without checking the identity of the caller and yelled to the other end.

"What's wrong?!" 

"Rajeev, it's me."

Caral's pupils shrank when he heard the incoming voice. He was so familiar with the voice that he had heard for almost a decade that he instantly recognized who was the one who made the call.

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and replied meekly.

"Major General..." 

"Do you know what you're doing?"

There was no anger in Frode's voice, instead, it was calm, so frighteningly calm that Rajeev's back began sweating profusely. 

"It's not too late to stop now; I can protect you," Frode said once more.

"..."

Caral was silent. His mouth gaped as if he wanted to say something, but his jaw trembled. In the end, he couldn't say anything. 

"I can get through your ID means that the signal blocker you installed has been removed. The people in the HQ should've known everything about this matter by now. I said I can protect you but I can also destroy you as easily if you make the wrong choice."

"I'm below the city wall right now with Major Sistine and Captain Amanda from the third squadron. I'll give you a minute to think about it, and after that, whether you agree with my proposal or not, I'll take over all the troops under you."

"There is a big difference between when someone has the initiative to give up and when I need to make a move myself. You should consider it carefully."

Without waiting for Rajeev's reply, General Frode immediately hung up the communication.

"FUCK!"

Bang!

Rajeev punched the wall behind him and let out a furious roar as soon as Frode's voice disappeared from his intercom.

Meanwhile, below the city wall, next to an extremely high-end military vehicle, Major General Frode, Captain Amanda, and Major Sistine stood together. 

"Major General, why are you giving him more time?! We should just take him down by force and let Jeanne and the others enter the city quickly..." said Sistine anxiously. 

Frode raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Don't be impatient, I still have a use for Rajeev. His defense will crumble now that he is under heavy pressure. If we used brute force, we couldn't gain anything from him." 

Sistine was thoughtful. Amanda glanced at Sistine silently and shook her head disapprovingly. 

On the top of the city wall, Rajeev was staring at the digital clock displayed on the screen.

The number kept increasing every second, and with only thirty seconds left, he couldn't take it any longer. His hands trembled as he tried to connect Frode's ID to surrender.

At that moment, a harsh alarm rang from the entire city gate area. Colonel Rajeev was shocked and raised his head in reflex and saw that the red warning light above his head was flashing rapidly. 

"Colonel! S-s-swarm… There is a swarm tide coming!!"

A panicked voice from his scout reverberated in his ears.