RTS System in the Apocalypse-Chapter 41: The Cost of Failure

The alarm died down and the urban fringe turned silent.

From the rooftops near the bank, a storm slowly brewed.

The warlord surveyed the swarm of zombies. His hands trembled, steam rolling off his head.

"If you weren’t so useful to me," he turned to Yunera, "you’d be dead right now—by my fists, or their claws."

Yunera held her head down, clenching the katana’s hilt.

"I entrusted that katana to you. Now, it’s nothing but scrap. You disappoint me, Yunera."

"Boss," Yunera gripped her hand, "the enemy was too powerful. I couldn’t—"

"Enough." he raised his hand, "Being weak has no excuses, nor will it change what happened."

The warlord swept past her, shaking his head.

A battered corpse sprawled on the concrete. He knelt and gently touched its chin.

"Whoever did this to you," he said, "they will pay a heavy price."

The entire group solemnly stood on the sides, hiding the fear from their faces.

The air suddenly stilled, suffocating their heaving lungs.

The warlord rose.

"I gave you power," he said, "I asked for loyalty."

His gaze swept over them.

"And this is what you offer me?!"

His aura surged outward.

The shockwave cracked the concrete and swooped bodies to the ground. Yunera grunted, enduring the warlord’s outburst.

The sound reverberated across the streets, attracting a group of zombies into their position.

"Kill these bastards," the warlord ordered, "Find out why those soldiers came. And bring me the ones responsible to his death!"

He pointed at the corpse, the trembling fingers about to burst again.

"Do you hear me?!"

"Yes, boss!"

Their loud response thundered as the horde surged forward. With bared teeth and brandished arms, the group charged into battle—fear and devotion driving their core.

The warlord remained behind, watching closely as the chaos unfolded.

This world is already apocalyptic, he thought. So why raid a bank where money has lost value?!

At that moment, his spirit shivered, pulling him out of his stupor. His drooping eyes widened, snapping his body southward.

"Who’s watching me?"

Muscles tightened as his feet gripped on the concrete, intent on pursuing the unknown party. His body launched into the air, sweeping the air aside.

As he landed on an intersection, the watchful sensation vanished.

"Sneaky rat, daring to probe me?!"

His raging shouts echoed dully. Silence filled the air. The warlord, in an already bad mood, punctured the asphalt with his bare fists.

Meanwhile, near the guard post, a pair of man and woman shuddered in fright.

"Kimmy, you didn’t need to do that!" The man took deep breaths, sweat rolling down his face.

"I’m... sorry Clyde," Kimmy stuttered, "Something happened near us. I wanted to check it out."

"Was it the soldiers?" the man hastily asked, "Or the warlord? Please tell me it’s not that warlord."

Kimmy’s silence confirmed Clyde’s horror. He tightened his grip on Kimmy’s thin arms and pulled her to his embrace.

"We need to get out of here, now!"

His eyes locked forward, rushing after the retreating platoon of soldiers two kilometers away.

Beyond further, into the apartment complex—

Hans glimpsed through the window the triumphant return of his soldiers. The armored SUV circled around to the parking lot, leaving his vision.

Seeing all these soldiers marching lively, Hans’s tense body relaxed. On his ear was a newly acquired comm bead, about to be put in use.

"Dmitri, do you copy?" he called out.

"Commander?!" Dmitri asked in surprise.

"It is I." Hans replied, "Take the platoon to rest, gather the haul, and bring it to me. Don’t forget to write a detailed report. I want to confirm something."

"Copy, Commander. We also captured a high-value target." Dmitri added, "Shall I bring him in too?"

"Oh, an HVT?" Hans questioned.

"From the warlord’s faction." Dmitri explained, "He’s rounded up, unwilling to talk."

Hans frowned, not expecting that the platoon captured an enemy during the breaching operation.

"Let the other scouts handle him." he ordered, "Condition him before our meeting."

"Understood, Commander. Dmitri, out."

The transmission died. Hans returned to his desk, reviewing the upgrades after his promotion into a Platoon Leader rank.

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[ Congratulations, Commander! You have been promoted! ]

[ Unlocked Units: Engineer, Medic, Sniper ]

[ Unlocked Logistical Units: Cooks ]

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Commander: Hans Flemmens

Rank: 2 - Platoon Leader

Soldiers: 48 Conscripts, 24 Army Soldiers, 6 Attack Dogs, 6 Scouts, 1 Sniper, 0 Engineer, 0 Medic

Primary Weapon: M16A4 Assault Rifle (5.56mm, 30 rounds per mag, 4 mags).

Sidearm: M9 Pistol (15 rounds, 4 mags)

Melee: Combat Knife (18 cm steel alloy, indestructible)

Commander’s Kit: Personal storage of 8 cubic meters

Commander Vehicle: Motorcycle Side Car (fuel refreshes every 36 hours), Armored SUV (fuel refreshes every 36 hours), Light APC (Armored Personnel Carrier)

Boost: +20% reaction speed, +20% stamina, +30% strength, +10% troop movement speed, Basic Vehicle Usage

Weapon Familiarity: +50% CQC Effectiveness, +20% Weapon Accuracy, +15% reload speed

Medical Support Pack: 4 first aid kits (fully heals any injuries), 3 infection suppressant injections (60% infection rate threshold) - refreshes every 24 hours

Commander’s Rank Promotion Requirement (Company Leader Rank): At least 6 platoons (~300 personnel), 6 Snipers, 12 Machine Gunners, 12 Guardian GIs

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Light Armored Personnel Carrier

Seats: 10 troops, 1 driver, 1 gunner

Mounted Gun: 12.7mm MG Turret, 1000 rounds

Description: Full tactical upgrade. Configurable as troop carrier or mobile command. Has internal comms relay for platoon coordination.

Fuel: Refreshes every 36 hours

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New Functionalities Unlocked: System Tactical Interface

When the Radar is built, displays platoon-level map overlays with individual squad indicators. Generates automatic combat logs for post-engagement review.

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"A bountiful upgrade." Hans muttered.

Unlocking the Engineers and the Snipers was a bonus. What surprised him was the new Commander’s Vehicle—the Light APC.

"Spearhead the assault with the APC," he noted, "and retreat safely when necessary. Its performance will surprise me."

A thousand rounds of 12.7mm ammunition—one could imagine the destruction it would bring.

Hans switched into the Infantry Tab, reviewing the new units that were unlocked.

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[ Engineer - 1000 Gold ]

[ Medic - 500 Gold ]

[ Sniper - 2000 Gold ]

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"Ah, the Engineer. Its twice the cost, twice the utility, yeah?"

Hans contemplated while using training one Engineer unit on the infantry tab.

[ Gold: 1653 (-1000) -> 653 ]

Watching the timer slowly tick down, memories of the Engineer unit struck.

It could capture buildings.

It could repair any structure.

It could transform the IFV into a repair tank.

Hans wondered what changes had the system made to the Engineer. Will it vanish if it captures a building?

Will an overrun nuclear reactor magically restore itself?

"No, that shouldn’t be the case, right? The mechanics should have changed."

Explaining how one person vanished just because they "repaired" a seven-story structure would be too hard to explain to the survivor group.

"That’s it, repair!"

He jumped in place, remembering the blacked-out office building.

"I don’t have to do Coby dirty like that, but maybe I’ll awe him once I have that Engineer in place."

A peculiar smile grew on his face. The slithering eyes landed on the new unit—Medic. This wasn’t a canon troop of the original Red Alert game.

"The mechanics—it shouldn’t be slapping a med bag over the troops?"

He would laugh so hard if that was the system’s Medic mechanics indeed.

"Kidding aside, healing troops during combat—that would be quite nice."

The recent discovery of superhumans increased the risks to his soldiers. Conflicts increased in scale, and in stakes too.

Injuries were no longer preventable, but a sliver of helping hand could retain one more soldier in his army in the direst of days.

Talking about the superhumans, Hans looked toward the Sniper. Expensive, yet it impacted his future progression in a direction he hadn’t expected.

"6000 worth of promotion points," Hans took a deep breath, "Six hundred zombies. No, that’s wrong."

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Name: Zolya Dragunova

Unit: Sniper

Tier: 0

Star Promotion: 0 - 200 / 6000

Primary Weapon: Barrett M82 (.50 BMG—12.7x99mm, 10-round magazine, 2 magazines, 2.5km effective range, ammo refreshes every 24 hours)

Secondary Weapon: Suppressed P226 pistol (9 mm, 15 rounds per magazine, 2 magazines)

Melee: Combat Knife (black coated 18 cm steel blade, indestructible)

Grenades: 1 smoke grenade

Attachment: Variable zoom optic (5x - 25x), Thermal vision module, Rangefinder + wind sensor, Ballistic computer linked to Radar (locked, requires Radar), Bipod with ground-locking spikes, Recoil-dampening shoulder brace

Personal Kit: Lightweight tactical pack, 2-day field ration (refreshes every 8 hours), 1.5-liter polymer flask (refreshes every 8 hours)

Uniform: Lightweight ghillie suit with integrated thermal-dampening mesh, Soft-sole composite leather for minimal movement noise, Ballistic cap with ocular HUD scope link

Auxiliary Gear: Portable camouflage netting, compact radio link and comm bead, 1 microdrone camera (1 hour battery, refreshes every 8 hours), Advanced hearing dampeners, Ballistic eye protection, Reinforced gloves for shock absorption, Laser designator, Multispectral Night Vision Device

Trait: Eagle Eye (+30% accuracy, +20% reaction speed)

Remarks: Lethal and precise units. Unsustainable in prolonged engagements without support. Designed to eliminate threats that infantry weapons cannot reliably damage. Works best with scouts and machine gunners for maximum crowd control and damage. Acts as the army’s only viable answer to heavily armored infected, or superhumans before War Factory deployment.

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"Superhumans or special infected, the Snipers will take care of them." Hans grinned but understood that they weren’t the one-size-fits-all solution.

Powerful as the Snipers were, the limited ammunition restrained them. Their positioning must also be optimal, considering the angle of attack and their distance from the target.

"The microdrone can help," he reviewed the Sniper’s combat loadout, "And the ballistic computer—I need the Radar for that? Doesn’t sound too bad. I can grab the Guardian GI and Machine Gunner along the way."

His fists suddenly thumped on the wooden desk.

"12000 Gold to mee the Sniper requirement," Hans sighed, "I don’t want another 2000 Gold Unit on my plate. May those units cost less than that."

He worried about the next rank’s promotion requirements. The cost it takes to upgrade was too high.

"System, you better hope that War Factory brings me good shit. If not, I’ll tear this entire city down with just my infantry!"

[ Commander, the War Factory will serve you well when it is unlocked and built. ]