RTS System in the Apocalypse: New World

The information panel opened.

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[ Structure Name: Airfield Base ]

[ Structure Category: Primary Structure — Aviation Operations ]

[ Expansion Radius: 800 meters ]

[ Aircraft Capacity ]

[ Fixed-Wing Hangar Slots: 8 ]

[ Helicopter Pads: 16 ]

[ Structural Systems ]

[ Adaptive Hangar Bays ]

Internal service equipment adjusts to the aircraft assigned to each bay. Supports maintenance, refueling, rearming, and system recalibration.

[ Aircraft Maintenance Systems ]

Performs rotor and engine calibration, avionics diagnostics, structural inspection, and aircraft repair between missions.

[ Flight Operations Tower ]

Coordinates flight paths, launch and recovery sequences, landing guidance, and mission-data synchronization.

Flight Controllers have been assigned automatically as permanent facility personnel.

[ Weather and Environmental Sensor Module ]

Monitors local wind conditions, visibility, precipitation, icing, air density, and turbulence affecting flight operations.

[ Runway and Launch Assist System ]

Provides one reinforced runway with connected taxi lanes, aprons, and standing areas for fixed-wing aircraft.

[ Launch and Landing Pads ]

Sixteen reinforced pads support helicopter takeoff, landing, refueling, and rearming.

[ Fuel and Ordnance Depot ]

Generates aviation fuel and aircraft munitions through the System. Resupply lines connect directly to the hangars and landing pads.

[ Remarks ]

Each fixed-wing aircraft occupies one Hangar Slot. Each helicopter occupies one Helicopter Pad.

One Ground Guidance Crew will be generated for every aircraft produced.

Each Aircraft reloads their ammunition stock every 12 hours—12 PM and 12 AM.

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Hans read through the panel twice.

Eight fixed-wing aircraft and sixteen helicopters could operate from the Airfield before he needed to expand it.

Movement had already begun inside the glassed section of the Flight Operations Tower. Several uniformed personnel occupied the consoles while others checked the communications and weather displays surrounding the central work area.

They had appeared with the structure itself.

The landing pads remained empty. The hangars remained sealed.

The ammunition schedule caught his attention.

Unlike his ground units, aircraft received a full replenishment at noon and midnight. And twice a day to boot.

System, you’re being generous this time.

Hans closed the structure information and reopened the aircraft catalog.

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[ Raptor Air Superiority Fighter - 20,000 ][ Falcon Utility Helicopter - 9,500 ][ Apache Heavy Attack Helicopter - 15,000 ][ Valkyrie Airborne Deployment Aircraft - 22,000 ]

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Hans studied each entry.

If he remembered correctly, the Raptor should give him speed and aerial reconnaissance beyond anything his Scouts could manage from the ground. It should also carry enough firepower to destroy isolated threats without committing an entire platoon.

The Apache was meant for direct combat. Its weapons could tear through dense infected groups and larger mutations, although using one over the city would announce its presence to anything within hearing distance.

The Valkyrie was harder to judge. Its name suggested troop deployment, but the current operations remained close enough to Site Three that he had no reason to begin with a larger transport aircraft.

The Falcon was the cheapest, but Hans did not know what the System included under the term Utility Helicopter.

He had no reason to queue several aircraft before learning how one operated.

He selected the Falcon.

------

[ Produce Falcon Utility Helicopter? ]

[ Cost: 9,500 Gold ]

[ Production Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes ]

------

"Confirm."

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[ Falcon Utility Helicopter queued. ]

[ Gold: 46,043 (-9,500) => 36,543 ]

[ ETA: 1 hour and 35 minutes ]

------

One of the empty landing pads lit up.

Guidance lights formed around its edges, while machinery beneath the surface began producing a low mechanical hum.

Hans closed the catalog.

The first aircraft would be ready before the afternoon.

...

An hour and thirty-five minutes later, the sound beneath the landing pad changed.

The low hum deepened until Hans could feel it through the soles of his boots.

Green light spread across the center of the pad.

A dark frame appeared within it.

The helicopter formed from the bottom upward. Reinforced landing gear settled against the concrete first, followed by a broad fuselage built around a long personnel cabin. Its nose narrowed beneath a wide armored canopy, while two engines rose along the upper frame behind the cockpit.

A tail boom extended from the rear.

The main rotor unfolded above the fuselage and locked into place. A smaller tail rotor formed at the end of the boom.

Large sliding doors occupied both sides of the cabin. Weapon mounts rested beside them, though neither carried an active weapon configuration yet. Beneath the fuselage, Hans noticed a reinforced connection point surrounded by several recessed clamps.

The green light faded.

The helicopter remained still at the center of the pad.

------

[ Falcon Utility Helicopter production complete. ]

[ Ground Guidance Crew assigned. ]

------

Several personnel emerged from the nearby support structure.

They wore aviation headsets and high-visibility equipment over their uniforms. Two moved toward the front of the pad while the others approached the helicopter and began checking its exterior.

The side door opened as three more personnel stepped out.

The first two carried flight helmets beneath one arm. The third remained near the cabin and briefly inspected the weapon mounts before joining them.

All three stopped in front of Hans.

"Falcon crew reporting, Commander."

Hans looked past them toward the aircraft and opened its information panel.

------

[ Vehicle Name: Falcon One ]

[ Vehicle Type: Falcon Utility Helicopter ]

[ Crew: 3 ]

[ Passenger Capacity: 18 infantry spaces ]

[ Flight Characteristics ]

High-speed rotary-wing aircraft designed for short-range transport and rapid battlefield repositioning.

Capable of low-to-medium-altitude flight, stable hovering, and confined urban maneuvering.

[ Deployment Systems ]

Supports standard landing, hover deployment, and fast-rope insertion.

[ External Lift System ]

Can transport one Guardian APC, one Field Support Vehicle, or another light vehicle of similar weight.

Flight speed is reduced by forty percent while carrying an external vehicle.

Personnel capacity remains available, but infantry deployment requires the vehicle to be released first.

[ Defensive Armament ]

Supports two door-mounted machine guns, two automatic grenade launchers, or one of each. Weapon configuration may be changed through the Airfield Base.

[ Defensive Systems ]

Infrared countermeasures.

Basic threat-warning receiver.

Four chaff-and-flare deployments every twelve hours.

[ Local Radar ]

Detection Radius: 500 meters. Operates independently of fixed Radar Facility coverage.

[ External Communications ]

Can scan and broadcast through civilian frequencies.

Allows temporary communication with survivors and independent forces outside the System network.

[ Remarks ]

Aircraft ammunition and defensive countermeasures are replenished every twelve hours, at 12:00 PM and 12:00 AM.

------

Hans read through the panel carefully.

The transport capacity was more complicated than the number suggested. A normal infantry squad occupied twelve spaces. Four DASF Units occupied... sixteen by themselves?

System, don’t tell me I can only carry four DASF units this way?

------

[ Note: Each DASF Unit occupies one passenger space. Barracks squad-template spacing follows a separate classification. ]

------

He sighed in relief, then closed the panel and looked toward the waiting crew.

"What does a Utility Helicopter do in practice?"

"Transport, insertion, extraction, casualty evacuation, and battlefield repositioning, Commander. We can carry eighteen personnel or lift one Guardian APC-class vehicle externally."

Hans glanced beneath the fuselage.

"With soldiers still aboard?"

"Yes, Commander. Speed is reduced by forty percent, and the external vehicle must be released before the passengers deploy."

His attention moved toward the door mounts.

"Two machine guns, two automatic grenade launchers, or one of each," the pilot continued.

Hans considered the southern operation.

The Falcon could carry him over the secured route to the platoons instead of forcing him to follow the entire distance on the ground. Its own Radar would also provide limited awareness beyond the fixed facility’s coverage.

Its noise was the problem.

The sound of a helicopter passing over the outer districts would carry much farther than an APC convoy. Infected beneath its route might follow it, while groups inside nearby buildings could move toward the streets.

The first flight would show how much movement the Falcon caused.

Hans opened the command channel.

"Fairy, inform South One and South Two. Falcon One will approach their operational area for aerial observation. Expect increased infected movement from the noise."

"Acknowledged," Matilda replied. "We’ll prepare for it."

Hans turned back toward the pilot.

"Follow the secured route to Site Three. Approach the southern platoons from behind and do not fly beyond their forward positions."

"Yes, Commander."

"Maintain enough altitude to clear the buildings, but remain close enough for observation. If the noise causes movement below us, report it immediately."

"Understood."

Hans contacted the main base afterward.

"Send one DASF squad to the Airfield."

The response came at once.

"Specter Squad is available, Commander."

"Send them."

A little later, the Guardian APC carrying Specter Squad entered the Airfield through the northern approach.

The four DASF Units disembarked and moved toward Falcon One without delay.

Hans and Callum entered after them.

Six of the eighteen available spaces were now occupied.

The crew chief closed the sliding door. Outside, the Ground Guidance Crew moved into position around the pad.

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