Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse With My Military System-Chapter 116 Long Distance Fight Part 2

"What do you mean they can be defeated?" Graves protested, looking for some clarity from his commanding officer. "They just wiped out our missiles, and they detected them despite their Mach 3 speed. These unknowns are on a completely different level. If they get close to the Oriental, there's a good chance we'll be overrun."

As Richard was preparing to answer, their attention was abruptly pulled back to the TPLEX.

The missiles that Seo-Jun had vanished were reappearing, reconstructed by the same pinkish thorns that had destroyed them. They no longer looked like typical missiles; their surface was now pink, with vein-like patterns as though they had taken on an organic form.

With a flick of Seo-Jun's arms, the missiles reignited, their propellants flaring to life with an unnatural pink glow. It was as if the thorns had not only reconstructed the missiles but had somehow fused with them, enhancing them with the same arcane energy that powered Seo-Jun's abilities.

The reformed projectiles turned in the air with eerie precision, now hurtling back toward the Oriental, their trajectories recalculated with deadly accuracy. The Command Center watched in dismay as their own weaponry, turned against them by this unexpected manipulation, became a threat to their very doorstep.

"What the hell! She can do that?!" Mark exclaimed in disbelief. The more they encounter mutated species, the stronger they get. They knew that they were the subordinates of the master. If those minions are subservient to the master, how strong is the master himself?

Richard, maintaining his composure, quickly turned to the defense operator. "Activate the Iron Dome anti-air defense system," he ordered succinctly and continued. "Sara, what's the estimated time of arrival for those missiles?"

Sara's fingers danced over her keyboard as she pulled up the data. "Two minutes until they enter our airspace," she reported, her voice steady despite the urgency.

"Alert the air defense team and prepare to launch counter-missiles," Richard directed, his mind racing through their options. Things are about to get serious—they are about to be tested like never before.

The defense operator confirmed the command. "Iron Dome is online. The air defense team is standing by."

"Fire when the missiles are detected," Richard instructed.

"Copy that Eagle Actual. Six missiles detected, tracking for interception," the defense operator responded.

"Active the early warning system, the survivors must prepare for impact."

"Copy that sir, activating the early warning system now!"

With a push of a button, the horns throughout the Oriental began to blare, their ominous sound resonating across the entire base. The early warning system was meant to alert civilians and soldiers should zombies, mutated or not, have breached the perimeter of the base. They were informed about it in the seminar.

Richard's gaze flickered to the cameras of the Oriental, and they saw civilians acting accordingly. He could see them panicking, thinking that the zombies had entered the Oriental. But what they don't know is that it's not the zombies who are going to attack them but their own missiles turned into enemy weapons.

On another screen, the Iron Dome system's indicators switched from green to red, signifying that the missiles had entered the engagement zone.

"Intercept in three... two... one..." the defense operator counted down.

On command, the Iron Dome launched a series of counter-missiles, their trails lighting up the sky as they raced to meet the incoming threat.

Eyes were locked onto the screens, waiting to see the outcome of this crucial confrontation. There was nothing more to do now but hope that their defenses would hold against this unprecedented assault.

"Time to intercept…one minute."

As the one-minute mark approached, every second felt increasingly heavy with significance. The defense system's tracking was on point, and the team monitored the incoming missiles' signatures.

"Iron Dome reports positive lock on all targets," Sara announced. The command center held its collective breath as the interceptors approached the corrupted missiles.

Sara provided a play-by-play as the seconds ticked down. "Interceptors have reached engagement distance. Proximity fuses are active. Detonation in three, two, one..."

The screens showed bright flashes as the interceptors' proximity fuses detonated their payloads near the corrupted missiles. One by one, the targets disappeared from the radar.

"Direct hits on all targets. No remaining signatures detected," the defense operator confirmed. A wave of tentative relief washed over the room.

"Okay, that girl with green hair is a huge threat if she can do that," Richard said. "Send in the AC-130, I want them blown up to pieces. Let's see if they can react to the 25 mike-mike and 40 mike-mike…

which they'll probably do if they can counter the Brahmos missiles."

***

On the ground, Seo-Jun fell to her knees as she had expended a lot of energy manipulating the missiles. Sweat dripped from her brow, her chest heaved, and her arms trembled from the effort.

"They are surely going to retaliate with more missiles, I need pills," Seo-Jun requested from Violet who simply handed her a red pill extracted from the body of the Alpha Hunter.

"Here you go," Violet said, her voice showing a hint of concern as she gave Seo-Jun the pill. As much as she hates to admit it, Seo-Jun is the only one capable of defending and retaliating against the Oriental's missile assaults. Seo-Jun's eyes, still sharp despite the exhaustion, locked onto Violet's.

"Thanks," she murmured, popping the pill into her mouth. She groaned in pain as her body assimilated with the pill's potent substances. The immediate rush was palpable, surging through her veins like wildfire, revitalizing her fatigued muscles and sharpening her senses once again.

*** 𝘣𝘦𝑑𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝑙．𝑐𝑜𝘮

Back at the command center, Richard and his staff just saw Seo-Jun energized.

"So, just like Andrea, they got tired after spending a lot of energy, but they have ways to boost themselves back up. Like consuming the pills for example,"Richard noted.

"Sir, I have some suggestions," Graves spoke.

"Proceed."

"What if we attack them using cluster munitions?" Graves suggested, squinting at the tactical map. "They may be able to manipulate or rebuild a few missiles, but dealing with a multitude of bomblets might overload their abilities."

Richard considered the proposal. "That might just work, or at least force them to deplete their resources faster," he agreed and turned to Mark. "How quickly can we deploy the cluster munitions?"

"We have a few MLRS units on standby under Excalibur's arsenal; they could be reconfigured for cluster munitions within minutes."

"Okay, get it done. Now where is my AC-130?"

"Preparing for takeoff," Sara quickly responded, her eyes not leaving her monitor. "The AC-130 is loaded and spooling up. They'll be in the air shortly and on station in under ten minutes."

"Good, now keep an eye out for those unknowns. I don't want them running away before we can give them a true taste of freedom rounds."