Chapter 981: First Battle, First Victory

On the third day of arriving in Liberia, as usual, Major Huo Si and his men deployed their entire force to search areas where alien activity had previously been observed.

They were busy until dusk approached, when suddenly, someone operating a small electromagnetic scanning Unmanned Reconnaissance Aircraft designed specifically for Cybertronians discovered something.

Upstream of the St. John River in Liberia, between the small towns of Budu and Tappita, above a small town abandoned during the civil war, an alarm device on one of the drones suddenly began to flash red.

"Commander, signs of suspected alien activity discovered..."

Major Huo Si, who was leaning back in the command vehicle with his eyes closed to rest, opened his eyes immediately upon hearing this news through the communicator worn on his ear.

He hurriedly reached out a hand to press against his ear while issuing orders.

"Confirm the number of targets... Squad One and Squad Two, lead the attack; Squad Three, move to flank and prepare to form a perimeter... Flying Squirrel Squad, provide fire support..."

"Yes, Commander!"

Modified Suburbans with powerful off-road performance and horsepower pulled up rapidly, and squads of Tombwind Squad soldiers quickly disembarked, converging on their respective squad commanders.

Armored vehicles guarded the data reception vehicle and the command vehicle; the anti-aircraft rockets on their roofs had already begun adjusting their positions, and the firing ports on the vehicle bodies were opened, with rifle barrels protruding from them.

Above in the sky, a formation of six armed helicopters began to lower their altitude, circling and patrolling over the area where the reconnaissance drone had detected the anomaly.

Under Major Huo Si's command, the soldiers of Tombwind Squad began to quickly form a circular perimeter according to the combat formations they had practiced countless times, and began to tighten it gradually.

At an altitude of ten to twenty meters, there were a dozen or so drones, slightly longer than an adult's arm, shaped like bees.

This was a type of small drone designed and manufactured by an equipment Laboratory under the CIA, which, after absorbing some researchers from Sector 7 and combining detection technologies previously provided to the United States by the Autobots, could detect and search for Cybertronians.

However, perhaps because the American naming convention differs from that of Xia Country, its code name within Tombwind Squad was "Killer Bee."

This thing was not cheap; the procurement price for each set for Tombwind Squad was around 300,000 US dollars.

Everything else was relatively cheap; it was just the micro-detector inside the drone capable of searching for aliens that was truly expensive.

The perimeter tightened, and soon, guided by the Killer Bee Unmanned Reconnaissance Aircraft, they locked onto a six-story abandoned building in the deserted town.

"Commander, the target is inside this building!"

A prompt came through the communication headset again, and Major Huo Si asked, "Still can't confirm the number of targets?"

"There is an interference source... We suspect that the building where the aliens are hiding was hit by Depleted Uranium Shells during the past war, and there should still be remnants of depleted uranium warheads inside the building..."

Major Huo Si frowned; although the Killer Bee drone was convenient to use, it still had a significant performance gap compared to large-scale detection equipment.

Once it encountered strong electromagnetic or radiation interference, it was indeed impossible to obtain more precise intelligence.

"Let the Killer Bees fly in and lock onto the target's position as accurately as possible... Flying Squirrel Squad, get ready too; we need to lure the aliens out to an open area to fight... We cannot fight them inside this kind of building; once the building collapses, the falling debris will cause us far more damage than the aliens..."

"Yes, Commander!"

Under the control of the Tombwind soldiers, several Killer Bee drones quickly flew into the dilapidated building and began searching everywhere.

The Tombwind Squad soldiers did not rush in, but instead began to guard carefully around the building.

In the air, six armed helicopters circled the building continuously; they would fire Missiles into the building the moment the Killer Bee drones located the targets, forcing the aliens to flee from their hiding spot.

Major Huo Si was fully focused, waiting nervously.

And the operation was clearly even smoother than he had anticipated.

As the Killer Bee drones searched floor by floor, sharp roars soon came from inside the building.

"Target found, Commander... Confirmed the type of aliens as Decepticons, there are two of them..."

"Commander, we lost one Killer Bee..."

"Flying Squirrel!"

Major Huo Si roared into the communication channel: "Force them out!"

"Yes, Commander!"

Two of the six armed helicopters quickly locked onto the fourth floor of the building where the anomaly was detected and began firing four ground-attack Missiles into the building.

"Withdraw the Killer Bees!"

"Fall back! Maintain vigilance!"

The Missiles soon struck the fourth floor of the building; amidst the explosions and fire, large sections of the interior of this building, abandoned for many years, immediately collapsed!

Major Huo Si reached out to shield his face; the dust splashing out from the abandoned building made the surroundings look hazy.

"Hiss..."

With an angry, sharp hiss, two somewhat disheveled figures quickly rushed out from the dust; one of them jumped directly from the fourth floor with great decisiveness, landing straight onto an armored vehicle and kicking the multi-barrel Rocket launcher on the vehicle away with one foot.

As for the other Decepticon, it seemed to have been injured in the previous ground-attack Missile strike.

Although it also jumped directly from the fourth floor, it jumped along the outer wall of the building, reaching out to grab the outer wall of the third floor to reduce the impact as it fell.

"Fire!"

At Major Huo Si's command, over a hundred Tombwind Squad soldiers immediately set up Machine Guns and rifles, spitting out tongues of fire that landed on the two Decepticons.

Many Tombwind soldiers, the moment the Decepticons appeared, pulled Grenade Launcher assemblies from their waists, quickly installed them on their rifles, and began firing Grenades continuously at the thighs, heads, and arms of the two Decepticons.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

From the air, the Rockets fired by the twelve multi-barrel Rocket launchers on the six armed helicopters were also poured crazily onto the two Decepticons on the ground as if they were free.

Major Huo Si was also pulling the trigger continuously, his somewhat handsome face filled with a ferocious expression.

"Hiss..."

The injuries on the Decepticon that had been wounded earlier began to increase rapidly; it held one arm in front of itself to block, while the other hand held a Steel Hammer, charging fiercely toward a pair of Tombwind soldiers who were firing at it.

"Scatter!"

Major Huo Si roared immediately; the vast majority of Tombwind soldiers quickly moved to the side, though their weapons did not stop firing bullets.

However, three or four men were still unable to dodge in time and were all smashed away by the Decepticon's hammer, with two of them having their bodies broken directly into two sections, clearly beyond saving.

"Electromagnetic cannon? How much longer until it's ready!"

Major Huo Si roared, and the answer he received was a blinding blue light.

It was fired from an armored vehicle that had clearly been modified; after hitting the Decepticon's back, it immediately caused a thick plume of white smoke to rise from its body.

The Decepticon also collapsed to the ground immediately after being hit and began to twitch.

"Success!"

Major Huo Si was overjoyed; he immediately turned the muzzle and ordered, "Concentrate fire, take out the next one."