As the defensive lines in all three districts fell one after another, the surviving rebels were forced to abandon the urban ruins and retreat into the more rugged and desolate valley terrain.
The battlefield environment shifted dramatically, transitioning from close-quarters street fighting to siege warfare centered on mountain fortifications.
For the Imperial forces, this seemed like a continuation of their advantage.
They possessed superior artillery support, and the open mountain terrain made it difficult for the rebels' guerrilla tactics to take hold.
The Empire's heavy guns fell like hammers of divine judgment, periodically raining down on rebel-held peaks, blasting rock and fortifications skyward together.
However, the real challenge was only just beginning.
The valley battlefield was divided into three interconnected objectives: A, B, and C, controlling the routes to the final plains.
The terrain here was complex, crisscrossed with ravines and littered with rocks.
Natural caves and man-made tunnels wove together, forming a three-dimensional and deadly maze.
Here, marksmanship was certainly important, but what mattered more was understanding the terrain, judging positions, and possessing that spark of "tactical intuition" on the ever-changing battlefield.
Otherwise, you could be sent to respawn at any moment by a stray shot from some unknown corner.
I Will Carry You found herself in absolute misery.
In the districts, she'd been able to rely on building corners, crumbling walls, and clusters of friendly troops for cover while happily playing "battlefield construction engineer." But in these barren mountains, her good days were over.
Cover was no longer reliable.
Enemy snipers and precise veteran AI could lock onto her from hundreds of meters away through gaps in the rocks.
She'd just pull out her wrench to repair a machine gun nest damaged by artillery fire, only to get headshotted the next second by a laser beam from who-knows-where.
She'd try setting up heavy weapons on what seemed like a safe reverse slope, and the moment she'd get it positioned, a perfectly aimed mortar round would come screaming in...
"Died again?! Are there hackers in this place?!"
I Will Carry You wailed from inside her gaming pod.
Her death frequency skyrocketed. After respawning, she often couldn't last two minutes before dissolving into data streams again.
Her score growth became painfully slow, and the advantages she'd built up in the districts were rapidly depleting.
She felt like a rabbit exposed in open ground with nowhere to hide, liable to be hunted down at any moment.
"Liora's construction empire dreams shattered in the valley."
"Terrain's way too complex, extremely unfriendly to newbies."
"Suggest Liora finds a cave and camps until the game ends."
Even the chat admitted they couldn't help.
Meanwhile, at a vantage point near objective A, Scorchwind was hunting like a ghost.
He lay prone behind a massive boulder, exposing only a sliver of his head and gun barrel.
His lasgun's sights were locked firmly on a hastily constructed sandbag position at the outer edge of objective B in the distance.
The moment a rebel veteran guard peeked out to observe, Scorchwind's precise single shot took his head off.
[Scorchwind defeated Rebel Veteran Guard]
"See that, guys? The key to mountain warfare is controlling high ground and predicting enemy movements."
Scorchwind's voice was calm and confident. "They only have so many routes out of cover. Pre-aim and wait, that's all."
Like a patient hunter, he continuously harvested rebel soldiers attempting to retake control of objective A, his score steadily climbing toward the threshold to summon armored units.
However, in mountain warfare, the roles of hunter and prey could reverse at any moment.
Just as he'd eliminated the third rebel Engineer trying to flank from the side, a rapid and precise burst of laser fire suddenly swept in from his rear flank!
Shhh-shhh-shhh!
The searing beams sent fragments flying from the rock he was hiding behind, pinning him down hard.
"Someone flanked me!"
Scorchwind's heart tensed. He immediately recognized that the shooter's skill was no ordinary AI.
Just as he was about to roll and reposition, a cylindrical frag grenade arced through the air, landing precisely behind his cover!
"Grenade!" Scorchwind reacted instantly, diving forward without hesitation to escape the blast radius.
BOOM!
The grenade detonated violently, shrapnel and shockwaves sweeping through his former position.
Though Scorchwind avoided the direct kill zone, he was still rocked by the blast, his screen edges flashing red to indicate splash damage.
In that instant when his form was unsteady and he hadn't found new cover, a figure burst from the explosion's smoke like a hunting leopard!
It was User114514!
His laser carbine spat deadly fire, bullets seeming to have eyes as they blanketed every possible dodge path Scorchwind could take.
Pew-pew-pew!Several laser beams penetrated Scorchwind's armor, blood spraying.
[User114514 defeated Scorchwind]
"Whoa!"
Scorchwind couldn't help but exclaim as his screen grayed out, but rather than showing annoyance, his face broke into an excited grin.
"This guy's got something! That fast of a reaction, and the timing was spot-on!"
He clearly remembered how his opponent had first used precise suppressing fire to cut off any possibility of returning fire, then unhesitatingly thrown a grenade to force his movement, and finally struck the killing blow at his most vulnerable moment when he had no way to recover.
That combo was smooth as silk, absolutely the work of an expert.
"Hahaha, Wind got outplayed!"
"User114514? This dude's savage!"
"That combo of suppression and grenade, clean execution!"
"Rebels have elite players too! This game keeps getting better!"
The chat erupted over this spectacular showdown. They loved seeing Scorchwind get wrecked, and loved even more seeing experts clash.
Scorchwind narrowed his eyes, looking at that ID in the killcam replay, a combative smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"User114514, huh? I'll remember you. The valley's still plenty big. Let's play."