I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

"Is it really okay to go to Florida at such a critical time?"

"That's why Olivia, Eagle Team, and Owens are staying in New York. It's much better to go with a small elite team for this kind of mission."

"Heh, let's stop with the gloomy talk. Do you even know what kind of place Florida is, kid?"

"Uh, I just know its name and location."

"It’s where the famous Disney World is. There's also the Kennedy Space Center, and the Southern Command is located in Miami."

"Wow."

Vroooom!

A small transport plane flies from New York to Miami, Florida. A considerable distance of 1800 km lies between the two cities, and the landscape slowly passes by beneath the plane’s lower body, as seen through the Icarus Gear.

The contrast between the lush green land and the occasional glimpses of cities was striking. With my limited vocabulary, I couldn’t even begin to describe the vast expanse of the U.S. flowing below us from thousands of meters above.

On the highways connecting cities, there were either no cars at all or thousands of them stopped in place. There was no car moving at all.

Anyway, it was like any peninsula.

Florida, jutting out like the lower half of the U.S., was a popular vacation spot and, by tradition, a place where the Navy held a strong presence.

For that reason, Laurentina seemed to feel a strong sense of familiarity with the place. Logan, on the other hand, looked like he had no particular thoughts about it.

Maybe because of the sharks. It was interesting to learn many things. I guess it was like putting together fragments of information I had picked up somewhere.

At that moment, Logan casually remarked.

"You’re from Vermont, a place with no ocean, and yet you know everything."

"I lived half my life in Vermont, but the other half was spent in the Navy. So, I picked up some unnecessary knowledge along the way... Logan, have you ever been to Florida?"

"The closest I got to Florida was about 250 km. Not sure."

"250 km... come on, that was during special forces training at Fort Moore."

"Then no, never been. But if you want to buy me something as a welcome, I won’t stop you."

"..."

Is this a conversation from a group of people with an average age of 36?

Of course, I kept quiet about that comment, knowing I’d get a smack on the head if I said something. Unfortunately, these two mutants had long surpassed human instincts. Because of that, they immediately caught me.

Even as I faced the consequences—an awkward, yet surprisingly comfortable, penalty of having a Dakimakura placed on me—the conversation continued.

"By the way, wasn’t the West Coast of the U.S. in chaos? I heard there was a massive wildfire in California."

"Yeah, wildfires tend to break out a lot between August and September. I remember from 2020, at least every two years, it was a huge mess. This year, with so many people dying, it’s no different."

"The guys hiding in the mountains probably started a fire with cans and lost control of it, burning everything around."

"That sounds plausible. If the alliance had infiltrated the West Coast during the fire, things would’ve been pretty disastrous..."

"Glad that didn’t happen."

Wildfires.

I actually had something to say about wildfires. Back when I worked in Gangwon-do, I had participated in civil support for wildfire efforts. Thinking about it now... it feels a bit strange.

After a day of support, my military uniform reeked of smoke. By the time I went out in the morning and returned before dinner, my washing machine was in chaos.

But wildfires in the U.S.? Maybe in the past, there was some ability to manage it, but now? I’m not so sure. Occasionally, I hear news about U.S. wildfires, and from what I’ve gathered, they’re on a massive scale.

I just thought it would burn itself out eventually and waited for that to happen.

We were currently passing through a city in Florida called Orlando.

Some might not have heard of it, but as Laurentina mentioned, it's where Disney World is located. I heard it’s different from Disneyland.

Thanks to the Icarus Gear, we could look down from the transport bay and clearly see the enormous Disney World located to the southwest of Orlando International Airport.

Of course, it wasn’t the most pleasant sight.

"…"

"This is a disaster."

Laurentina’s simple remark cut to the core of the situation.

The scene below was something I didn’t really want to describe. There was a massive parking lot, potentially large enough to fit tens of thousands of cars, and along the exit paths, countless abandoned vehicles were scattered.

The nearby safari park didn’t fare much better either. The facilities were abandoned and destroyed, and the animals had either escaped or left only skeletons behind. Given what was visible, one could only imagine what the inside of the animal enclosures looked like.

The fairytale-like buildings, which should have brought dreams and hope, were now desolate, and corpses were scattered throughout the streets.

Logan added another remark as he watched the scene.

"There's really no dream or hope left here."

"Do you think this place will ever return to normal?"

"Who knows. Maybe someday... someday."

A brief silence.

But even as this was going on, the transport plane quickly crossed Orlando, heading for Miami, and the sight of Disney World disappeared far into the distance.

Our final destination was Doral, Florida, home to the U.S. Southern Command. There, we would meet with Army General Howard R. Spencer.

Since the Dagger Team had often operated there, Photon 1—after recovering from the crash—was once again ready for use. We had received a new unit, and now it started to slow down.

As the aircraft descended leisurely hundreds of meters above the Southern Command base, we quickly scanned the area.

The weather was fine, and in the distance, we could see the blue horizon. There were many things to comment on, but among them, the most striking scene was...

"…There are a lot of people."

"At least it’s not cold like New York, where people are freezing to death. Of course, we still need to be careful about the virus when we meet people, but since almost all the hosts have died, the remaining ones are in a better situation."

"Maybe relocating HQ here, instead of the northeastern U.S. with its empty shell, wouldn’t be such a bad idea... but, well, that’s not for us to worry about. Let’s start descending."

There were a lot of people.

Not only the ones walking around the base but also the ones around the vicinity.

Judging by their appearance, there didn’t seem to be any issues with food. I had learned that Florida was full of vast farmlands, and the fact that so many people had survived indicated that there was still work being done in those fields.

Of course, digging deeper might reveal something different, but I wasn’t sure. I’d find out the reason later. For now, we focused on landing.

With a clunk, the tilt-jet engines powered down, and the door opened. The scent of the sea and the hot sun greeted us, a slight contrast from New York.

"It’s been a while since I’ve been here."

"Welcome, Dagger Team. Welcome to Florida. Have you eaten yet?"

"It’s a good time for a snack, but I think we should hear about the current situation first."

"Understood. I’ll brief you on the way. The civilian deputy for the Southern Command will meet you shortly. General Spencer is currently busy with an operation, so his time is... quite limited."

Under the bright sunlight and a sky with no clouds, it felt like a strange conversation, but what could be done? This fact proved that even in perfect weather, war still rages.

As we walked a bit further and entered the base, we were able to meet the deputy commander without any major issues.

A blonde woman reminiscent of the typical American WASP. Her name was Sarah Lynch, and she had built a distinguished career in various programs and agencies under the State Department.

Even someone who could easily be respected in society found themselves diminished by the apocalypse.

She looked to be in her late 40s, despite her official age, and her face was deeply wrinkled, probably from the immense hardship she had endured.

She had already mentioned there was no need for a salute before we even sat down, so we relaxed into our chairs.

"..."

"Let's get straight to the point. These individuals are believed to have passed through Guantanamo to Cuba at least 2 to 3 months ago, and due to the nature of Icarus Gear, it took quite some time for us to realize this."

"Cuba…?"

"While it's not certain, we believe they are trying something through the Chinese military satellite facility in Cuba. We suspect it’s some kind of defection activity."

"But weren’t these operators selected through personality tests?"

"The physical analysis showed that we mainly selected those with the highest compatibility for the gear from the existing primary operatives... However, after further investigation, the command believes there was a problem with the compatibility criteria itself. We're also looking into the motives behind their defection."

"Hmm."

Simultaneously, our eyes met.

Looking at it now, the compatibility was somewhat important, but it shouldn’t have been the primary selection criterion, and we, too, had our doubts about it. Still, there was a strange smell in this unknown criterion. Was it Artemis’ scent?

Logan spoke.

"I have a hunch, but I guess it’s not important right now. Anyway, we'll handle this part."

Swish.

At the same time, Logan waved his hand, and suddenly, a tactical tomahawk appeared in mid-air.

Seeing Sarah Lynch’s jaw drop, Logan quickly dispelled the weapon and spoke.

"I won’t say much. We’ll cut off their wrists within a week."

"The impact was good, but finding each of them in a week won’t be easy. Judging by their appearance, they’re probably still communicating with each other."

"Yeah, if I had known, I would have brought Olivia along."

"...You’re not seriously thinking about having each of us take care of one, are you?"

"..."

"How would the kid even manage that? Damn, this is getting ridiculous."

...

I had a feeling I heard something very unsettling just now.

I briefly thought about it, but anyway, after resolving the lunch issue without major problems, we were assigned a temporary room to stay in while the situation was dealt with. After receiving our various gear and firearms, we all gathered in the briefing room.

We were diligently reviewing the list of people we needed to catch and their details.

"Zekarai Trench, 36. Former Navy SEAL medic. Served for seven years before retiring as a sergeant and then joining the private military company, Titan Corporation... Titan Corporation? They’ve had multiple consortiums with Artemis."

"Gabriel Railey, 35. After tearing his rotator cuff, he quit sports and enlisted in the Army. He’s linked with Artemis through a trouble management program they provided."

"Antares Berger... Why’s his name like that? Anyway, he’s similar. They all have connections to Artemis in some way... Could that be why they betrayed the country?"

"Maybe it's the action devices or whatever... I don't know how Artemis always develops stuff like that."

"We won’t know for sure unless we investigate directly. It’s difficult on all fronts."

Yeah, that’s true.

At this point, the motivations of the people we were focusing on weren’t the most important.

Before we arrived, the Southern Command had already been closely investigating the three missing operators, and based on the results, they likely decided that recovering the Icarus Gear from them was the right choice.

The Dagger Team was also planning to investigate separately, and we’d soon meet face-to-face, so hearing the full story behind their betrayal would have to wait, but...

Either way, there wasn’t much point in dwelling on it here.

To be precise, in this case, we didn’t really have to be overly concerned about the enemy's motivations. Specifically, even if they had been forced to betray us, that wasn’t the issue.@@novelbin@@

After all, the Southern Command prioritized recovering the gear over executing the traitors, so there was a chance—though slim—that we could peacefully recover the gear. Of course, no one really believed that.

If the world were peaceful, there wouldn’t be any war.

Anyway,

"I wonder if these guys realize that Icarus Gear can track other Icarus Gear."

"If they’ve read the manual, which is thicker than an encyclopedia, they’d know. But... if their gear output differs, they probably don’t realize they can still be tracked even if they’ve set up a jamming function."

"Right."

Just as Logan said, we weren’t given this mission for nothing.

But aside from that, I hadn’t really mentioned it, but the Icarus Gear wasn’t exactly a万能 device that could solve every problem. In fact, to be more accurate, it was closer to a shackle.

For me, there was no choice but to accept it, since I had no other option in this strange world. And staying in the U.S. was much better than the alternative, so I stayed.

But if they’d chosen to betray us while wearing the gear, they would have to pay the price.

While the conversation continued,

"Not every mission involves combat, but it’s not like we never expected to have to fight other Icarus Operators. But now that it’s here, it feels strange. I don’t know if the kid is ready. Can you handle it?"

"...I’m of course ready. I’m more afraid of making a mistake than them dying... Plus, the gear filters out strange content, so it’ll be fine. I’m okay."

"Looks like you're gradually adjusting. It’s bittersweet, but it can’t be helped. So..."

A brief silence.

But it didn’t take long for Laurentina to add with a serious expression.

"Since we’re assuming a confrontation, the next step is to fill the gap in practical combat experience and gather new combat data from Icarus Operators who are still at zero status."

"...Isn’t that what we’ve been doing so far?"

"That’s not wrong. But..."

Zing.

At the same time, Laurentina raised her right hand, and the Icarus Gear began to glow.

"If it’s not a combat scenario that’s close to real battle, we won’t gather enough data to use in actual combat. Don’t you think?"

"...This crazy bastard. You don’t mean..."

"Sometimes, you have to step into dangerous situations intentionally."

Swish.

After confirming the availability of a high-quality simulation training facility nearby, Laurentina added:

"So, when should we start?"

The expressions on Logan’s and my faces soured in various ways, but there was nothing we could do.

Our first schedule in Miami was going to involve a kind of mock fragging aimed at our seniors.