As the captain had said, the equipment Fred deployed was a temporary network relay device.
Although its internal battery was limited, it could still serve as a temporary relay.
While its effective range was only about a ten-kilometer radius, it was barely sufficient.
After all, the explosion site was only about eight kilometers away.
Fred silently calculated in his mind. Soon after the base station began operating, he started receiving various signals.
Of course, they were all from the internal network.
And Haken's squad came back online.
"Freed!?"
Haken's voice remained calm, though it was intermittent.
Even with noise-canceling communications, Fred could faintly hear the sounds of explosions behind it, perfectly overlapping with the explosions he was hearing now.
No surprise—the troops they had seen being pursued earlier were indeed Haken and the others.
Seeing this, Fred breathed a sigh of relief.
According to the internal signals, none of them had been lost.
Though death was common in war, if possible, Fred didn't want any casualties in the operations he was responsible for.
Of course, this was under the premise that the mission could be completed.
After this brief thought crossed Fred's mind, the young man's expression remained tense.
At the same time, the many team members behind Fred also breathed a sigh of relief, just like the young man.
Especially the young man named Ikeda, who, amidst his inner turmoil, felt so ashamed he wanted to crawl into a hole.
But for now, they all held back from speaking, even the most impulsive and hot-blooded young man staying silent.
Fred's abilities and caution were evident to all, especially his calm tone, which seemed almost magical in its ability to make people strangely composed.
Whether it was due to orders from above or not, they instinctively followed Fred's command completely.
"Yes, I've brought a rescue team."
Fred replied simply.
"Report the situation."
There was no need to ask if they were being pursued, so Fred skipped that question and went straight to the point.
"Understood."
Upon hearing this, Haken continued to skillfully maneuver his Powered Armor to evade the various missiles and Vulcan Cannon fire from the Mistral behind him, while multitasking as he spoke to Fred.
"We encountered a large Blue Cosmos force."
"Their target is likely the research facilities in this area. We happened to run into them as we were leaving."
Hibiki Yamato's research facility was well-known, and naturally, the nearby facilities weren't lacking either.
Even the research facility overseen by Ola was in the vicinity. Like bait, it wasn't surprising that it attracted these piranhas from Blue Cosmos.
Their reason for cutting off communications here was clearly to cover up the attack.
Even Blue Cosmos hadn't expected to run into Haken and his team.
And so, the situation had turned into what it was now.
Fred's mind raced, grasping the cause and effect from just a few sentences.
Suppressing his various thoughts about Ola, Fred quickly followed up.
"How many are there? Location and position? Casualties on both sides?"
Fred was concise, and Haken didn't hesitate in his response.
"The enemy numbers about fifty, with fifteen Mistrals equipped with Vulcan Cannons, five equipped with missiles, and several heavy weapons."
"Location at Z-12.4, R-0.8, θ-255. They are hiding beneath the central highway."
"Three of our team members are lightly injured, but their firepower is too intense. Our batteries won't last much longer!"
"Estimated time until battery depletion is about ten minutes."
As he spoke, Haken's tense mind remained completely unrelaxed.
With a flick of his hand, a throwing knife shot out like a meteor, embedding itself into one of the Mistrals.
Another explosion erupted.
It seemed another Mistral had been eliminated.
Haken's abilities were formidable, and the members of his squad were no less capable.
Moreover, Blue Cosmos' training was clearly lacking—these individuals were even less skilled than ordinary soldiers.
However, Blue Cosmos' firepower was overwhelmingly fierce, preventing them from mounting an effective counterattack.
Although Haken's squad was fully equipped with Powered Armor, they carried minimal weaponry for the sake of covert operations.
Or rather, their Powered Armor was specialized for speed, with only pistols and knives as weapons.
Their batteries were pitifully small, and under the current high-intensity movement, their operational time was dwindling rapidly.
Facing the heavily armed Mistrals was almost like fighting blind.
As for Fred, although he had heavy firepower, he wasn't fully aware of the specific situation. Ultimately, it would be up to Fred to coordinate their actions.
Otherwise, they could only keep evading and searching for opportunities to counterattack, inevitably running out of battery power.
Without a rescue team, these Aces might truly meet their end in Mendel.
"Understood."
Fred responded calmly first.
His mind was racing at this moment.
Amidst the convergence of various pieces of knowledge, the young man silently calculated and looked toward the distant, towering, and complex overpass, far more intricate than in his previous life, faintly illuminated by flickering flames. A vague plan began to form in his mind.
"Director Freed!"
Just as Fred had made his decision, the squad leader's communication came through.
"That bridge."
Suppressing his emotions, the squad leader spoke calmly.
"Yes, I know."
The squad leader's thoughts aligned with Fred's, as this squad leader's abilities had been honed through countless battles.
However, Fred's considerations ran deeper.
Or rather, his computational abilities were simply faster than the squad leader's.
At this critical moment, with time running short, Fred glanced at their heavy weapons and pulled up the bridge's design schematics. After just one look, he continued.
"Listen to my command. Prepare to initiate the rescue operation."
"Yes!"
Under Fred's calm words, everyone responded in unison.
Unlike before, their voices now overlapped almost perfectly. Even the young man pursed his lips tightly, not daring to voice any dissent.
Meanwhile, not far from this small-scale conflict, inside a shelter within one of the research institutes, an older woman with golden hair watched the fiery scene outside through a monitor, a hint of interest on her face.
"Someone still remembers that guy's research. How intriguing."
Ola Maha Haibel let out a light chuckle as she watched the scene.
Beside her, several children around ten years old curiously turned their gaze toward another monitor.
"Mother, are those people the intruders?" asked the leading blond boy with a restrained nod.
"Yes, but I'm afraid those Coordinators won't last much longer."
Ola's smile remained unchanged, as if it didn't matter who won.
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