Story Reader / Main Story / 27 Aeon Reforged / Story
To this day, Ballard still remembers that fateful day.
At first, when the lights went out, communications went silent, and the machines shut down...
People thought it was just a massive power overload or a major electromagnetic interference.
However, when the blue light turned crimson and the rebooted machines bared their fangs, humanity, having finally realized what they were up against, had already missed their chance for self-rescue.
Safety measures became the danger itself, haywire armor turned into coffins for the soldiers, and crazed drones hunted down every living thing within their camera's view.
When Ballard led the security team armed with non-intelligent light weapons and encountered the escaping crowd, they realized the area around the reactor had become a death zone.
The red plague spreading from the reactor core not only drove machines mad but could also dissolve flesh.
Yet more than half of the people hadn't managed to escape; they were either possibly dead, or still hiding in some temporarily safe room where the red plague would eventually come for and devour them.
Wearing the last remaining protective suits, Ballard led the suicide squad into the red zone.
Three hours—this was as much time as they had to save the day.
Because after that, even the protective suits would lose their effectiveness, and the distance one could move before being killed by the red plague had shrunk to just 10 meters, rendering the operation meaningless.
Ballard had to use his remaining three fingers to signal a retreat.
In this rescue, he lost his entire right hand, half of his left hand, and his right calf. Moreover, his vocal cords, respiratory tract, and organs were severely damaged.
Of the 68 members who formed the suicide squad, only 4 survived.
Ironically, they only managed to save four people.
When he was rescued from the brink of death, he learned that his close friend was about to head to the front lines.
He didn't try to dissuade him.
Instructor, they're here.
Got it.
Ballard, breaking from his memories, stands up and walks toward the door.
I'm going to try and talk them out of it.
Watanabe would never forget those days.
On the third day of the communication blackout, Backhaus returned from headquarters with bad news.
It seemed that the communication blackout wasn't just at the Oasis camp—but something that was happening on a global scale.
Worst of all, none of the 240 satellites in orbit were operational, and people believed that something had gone awry when Zero-point energy was initiated.
All training programs paused, everyone went into wartime mode, and supplies came under wartime control.
Defense lines were erected, patrols organized, and potential attacks prepared for.
Through the efforts of the tech soldiers, they finally received the first broadcast from the world outside on a new frequency.
They learned about this new virus called "the Punishing" and what it was capable of.
That day, all high-tech equipment, including functional armor, was destroyed, leaving only non-intelligent light weapons and a few old howitzers for scientific demonstrations.
The camp's defensive capabilities were reduced by over 90%.
Communication was basically restored, establishing stable contact with headquarters and command.
However, during the time without communication, humanity suffered heavy losses fighting on their own.
The corrupted machines devoured human territory at an alarming rate.
Instructor Backhaus was summoned to the Northern Front and never returned.
The Oasis squad received orders to advance to the snowy plains to rescue trapped civilians.
Encountering a large number of Corrupted, the recon team ran out of ammo and all perished.
During the rescue, acting leader Bruce single-handedly held off the Corrupted for six hours and died a hero.
He no longer got the chance to say what he wanted to his father.
The trapped civilians were successfully relocated to City 173.
Acting leader Watanabe determined that with the current manpower and equipment, they could no longer hold the camp, and applied to change course to the nearby City 175 to seek supplies and search for survivors.
The plan was approved.
The Oasis squad arrived at City 175 and began searching for supplies and survivors.
They found a large amount of light weapon supplies, food, and medicine.
After dispatching some members to escort these back to safety, Watanabe continued to lead the remaining members to search for survivors.
To their surprise, they discovered a factory occupied by the Punishing that was pumping out corrupted machines.
They managed to blow up the factory through a stealth operation, but the operation attracted most of the Corrupted in the city.
On the retreat, they came across two survivors, one of whom was a child.
