1.24.1 Great Conspirator Tara!!

There was nothing that Tarkov hated more than Utena and its followers through the mutant beast that currently tried to climb up the defense walls came close to it.

"Focus fire on the horizon and keep the beast at bay, I will deal with the ones close to the wall," Tarkov ordered, as he jumped down with four magnetic swords floating on his sides. His eyes were focused on bizarre mutated beasts that were barely even graded one but made up for their lack of strength with their quantity.

"I will give you support." Umbrek notified Tarkov on the comm channel as he too followed Tarkov on his journey.

Umbrek, unlike Tarkov, was not someone who fought on the frontline. The mecha he donned was not good at the head-on fight and its only job was to protect Umbrek. But what made Umbrek dangerous was his digitized beasts that lived in his body.

So, as he fell from the top of the wall, countless mechanical beasts digitized on his side. First, they were ten, then twenty, and before long there were around fifty of them. Some capable of flight, some capable of digging, and some capable of surface warfare.

These drones in animal shape were not like the ones that Tarkov once controlled, they felt more real and their gestures and actions made one question if these mechanical beasts were alive.

And unlike Tarkov who couldn't strengthen his drones, Umbrek was capable of just that.

"Will be much appreciated." Tarkov readily agreed to such support.

Landing on the group of mutants that were trying to mount each other to reach their peak, Tarkov turned them into mush in an instant. These beasts were weak, they were fodder used to decrease the artillery resources of the city and everyone on the wall knew this, but in fear a powerful mutant had hidden among the weak ones like a wolf, they couldn't take any chances and had to eliminate all of them.

*Boom...

Tarkov blasted the head of a beast hippo-like mutant that ran toward him after opening his maw as if to gulp him down. Its brain splattered all over the ground as it slid across the ground.

"The start seems good," Umbrek said he was happily floating behind Tarkov, as his beast started to massacre the beast one-sidedly.

"We haven't even begun yet," Tarkov smirked, his swords floating up in the sky and like a fan going through the bodies of mutant beasts that were running toward him, slicing them into pieces.

But as the magnetic swords slashed at a smaller lean beast, it suddenly stopped. The sword couldn't penetrate the hide of the beast completely.

"Looks like the big ones have started to appear," Tarkov said, looking toward the little pangolin mutant beast which had sharp claws.

"Just go and hunt it, I will keep the smaller ones at bay."

And just like that the first day of war began, with Umbrek raking in the most kills in the area. But if someone had to ask who hunted the strongest mutant beast, everyone on the 5th battalion would say it was Tarkov.

*****

"The war has begun, but no one knows of Korus… What is Wilkis doing with him?" Yoshikov, confused and a bit worried, looked toward the administration building where Wilkis Usually stayed and also where Girisia was held in captivity.

"Was that anoman lying?" Yoshikov was sure about one thing at this point, the reason Girisia was kept in captivity is that Wilkis was suspicious of him. Wilkis may have found that Girisia was getting closer to him and in fear of losing this particular important chip. Wilkis placed him under his control under the ruse of life extension operation.

This was why he questioned the validity of the words spoken by that particular anoman. If he had noticed how close Girisia was to her, then the people in the Wilkis's camp should have done too.

Hence the reason why they used her to fool and waste his time.

"No… I still can't be sure what Wilkis will achieve by making me stay here."

"He has nothing to gain by wasting my time. He could have instead given a certain sign that he won't be giving Korus up and I would have left… but there were no signs like that, instead I got a message from that Anoman." Yoshikov was lost in his thoughts.

There were contradictions in the events the more he thought about it. And the only conclusion that he could come to at this point is… What the anoman told him was probably true.

And It seemed his observation was right.

"Uncle Yoshikov, I have a message from Uncle Korus… It's time." A face that Yoshikov was thinking about appeared in his office once again. The cute dimples on the girl brought a bright smile to his face.

"Thanks for informing me, young lady…" He said, jubilant with the news that his mission will be coming to end.

"So is it, true Uncle, that you are going to save uncle Korus?... Can I go with you too?" Tara asked, sincerity flowing from her mouth.

"Of course young lady, you can follow us if you want to. Mister Fedorov is already very fond of you and having you by our side will make the journey of us two old fools a lot more entertaining." Yoshikov accepted the request in a grandiose manner. The young lady in front of him reminded him of his granddaughter, making him somewhat understand why Girisia was fond of the girl.

"Sigh… I almost feel bad for killing you now…" Tara said, in a language that Yoshikov wouldn't understand. But due to no change in her expression, he didn't pick up on the fate that lay ahead for him.

*****

"Now that's done, it's time to inform Captain Tarkov." Leaving Yoshikov's office, StarKillerTara, feeling like a great conspiracist, turned toward the defense wall that had gone silent.

The first day of the war was not that incidental and none of the NPC soldiers died, the only ones to die were the players, and that too was only due to their inexperience and their desire for more experience and merit points.

After asking about the 5th battalion from some soldiers and showing her the ID card that was given to her by Vanras. She was led to the place where Tarkov was currently staying.

But he was not alone, the other two captains were in the room too, talking about strategies.

With a knock on the door, Tara attracted the attention of the three men who, even if a bit tired, were having a serious discussion.

"Who is it?" Umbrek asked, his eyes darting toward Tara in surprise. From her uniform, he can see that Tara was just an anoman. But her uniform seemed a bit too tacky and the weapons on her back were high class too. And rarely do weapons like this appear in the hands of an anoman. Unless of course, they were one of the 'special' ones. And in most cases, they are working under a commander-level figure directly.

"Oh, so it's Tara. I am glad you came back." Though before Tara could give her introduction Tarkov jumped in. "Captain Umbrek and Captain Zeldin. This is StarKillerTara, a very powerful Anoman who joined my team a few days ago… She is also the top crop who had entered grade two," Tarkov explained, a bit relieved after seeing Tara at last.

It meant that he hasn't been forgotten yet.

"Grade two! so fast at that... And it's only been a month since Anoman dropped down on our world. They truly are strong." Umbrek said, his eyes scanning Tara from top to bottom, trying to see what made her so special.

"General was right to recruit them… Even if their existence made our soldiers lazy. It's better to be on their good side." Zeldiim said, feeling a bit depressed by the existence of players.

"No no, not all of them are as capable as her. She is part of a small minority. The majority of the anoman can't fight properly and struggle with most things. She is part of the exception and should be treated as such." Tarkov explained, praising Tara who was just astounded by how many words these captains had to say about her.

But knowing her place, she didn't speak much until the three had their fill.

"Now if you don't mind, I would need to learn why she is here. I will be back in a moment." Tarkov asked for a temporary leave and left Tara to his room.

And after setting up a forcefield that hid him away from prying eyes and ears. He asked.

"What is the message?"

"In Uncle Korus's words, the plan will begin at 3 am tomorrow." THen handing Tarkov a small chip. "The details of the actual plan and the coordinates are in this chip."

Taking the chip, Tarkov read the information which caused his eyes to widen up. He was surprised by the absurd plan Girisia came up with. But not like this plan placed him in danger instead it was Girisia who will be in peril if the plans go awry.

"This is done… Now tell me. What had happened to him and why did it take so long." Tarkov knew that there was not much to talk about the plan to an anoman. But his curiosity over the things that happened that day hasn't dropped down. He still wonders who this "She" was.

"I don't know… all I know is that uncle Korus was seriously harmed after the operation and they needed me to take care of him during that time." Tara thought for a while after answering. She didn't know the details of what kind of operation it was.

"You don't?" It was not like Tarkov expected anything, but he was still disappointed for not getting a proper answer. Maybe, only Girisia or General Wilkis can tell him the truth.

Besides, there is also a chance he doesn't hear any details from them either.

"If there is nothing to tell, then legs go, other captains, will be waiting for me."

Tara, after hearing this started stammering around. "Wait!" She requested.

"I do have a thing to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"Uncle Korus asked me to look for nine other anomans who are good at combat. And knowing you were just fighting before. You must have met some of them… so I just wanted some recommendations." Tara was in a hard place even though she joined a guild, that guild was from another planet. The only thing they provided her was some publicity and monetary support. She still lacked a team or friends on this server. And those that she knew of, were never that capable.

And in response to Tara's request, Tarkov thought for a while and recalled a certain nine-player team showing godly teamwork among each other.

A team whose leader had a peculiar name.

"I do know of one. Go to the anoman quarters and look for the name… I… Spoon... Just look for an anoman by name of Spoon."

Sometimes Tarkov curses himself for having a good memory.