The Allbright System - A Sci-Fi Progression LitRPG Story

After a moment of surprise at the Lieutenant’s actions, the group of marines quickly marched down towards the western side of the trenches. As they passed through the trenches, squads split off to reinforce locations along the frontlines that required it, while the rest kept moving further towards the westernmost edge of the battlefield.

Thea was glad to be a part of a squad in this situation, as she felt thoroughly out of her depth.

There were easily over a thousand marines in these trenches that she was making her way through, all involved in an apocalyptic battle by her standards.

No matter where she looked, marines were frantically shooting over the top of the trenches, out of pillboxes or lobbing grenades towards the enemy lines.

The sheer volume of the combat around them made it difficult for her to keep a clear head.

Projectiles continuously cracked through the air with supersonic shockwaves, while lasers hit the ground, armour, or flesh, - melting, sizzling, and popping on the hit surface with a violent hiss. Explosions boomed through the trenches, sending deep-seated shockwaves through her bones and easily overpowering the rest of the soundstage of the battlefield.

Thea had thought she had gotten used to the level of intensity on their way towards the frontline, but the actual front itself was several times more intense than she had anticipated.

Her breath became shallower at the continued exertion of keeping up the pace with the rest of the marines, while also trying to keep her head on straight from the constant barrage of audio and visual chaos.

Even as the reinforcement group of marines passed by, nobody paid them any mind, as they were all fully absorbed in the manic killing that was happening outside the trenches. The only times anyone talked to the passing group of marines was when squad leaders of the existing defenders asked for specific squad makeups to help reinforce their positions.

After they had marched through around 300 metres of trenches, one more of these specific requests occurred.

“We need at least three heavies for our location. We lost all of our heavies on the last push, if we don’t have them here, we will be a weak link on the next major push. You guys got anything for us?” requested the squad leader of the present defence.

Heavies, as Thea had started to realise during her time in this simulation, were a vital lynchpin in the UHF marine’s army makeup.

Not only did they provide the highest amount of firepower, when taken at face value, but they could also take an unimaginable beating from the Stellar Republic’s low-tech weaponry, thanks to their thick and heavy armour. This allowed the heavies to be both spear and shield for the rest of the UHF marines, allowing the medium and light armour wearers to better fulfil their own roles in each engagement.

Especially in the fight against the Stellar Republic, heavies seemed to be the preferred type of marine on the battlefield. Every single squad that had been specifically requested to reinforce a location had consisted of at least two heavies.

However, the main drawback was that heavies were the second rarest type of marine overall. The rarest were light armour wearers like Thea, while heavies were slightly more common. By far the most common however, by a factor of roughly 5:1 compared to heavies and lights combined, were the mediums.

They represented the typical grunt-type marine of the UHF, which generally came equipped with all-round weaponry, such as assault-rifles, usually a back-up low-ammo heavy weapon - such as a grenade launcher - as well as whatever utility gear the squad required. They would pretty much always be the ones carrying squad comms units, entrenching gear, drone factories and the like, unless a heavy or light happened to be specialised in the role.

By now, a majority of the heavies from the reinforcement marines had already left and joined the defence with their squad, which Lieutenant Frost had them create at the start of their march.

That left Thea and her squad as one of the only few remaining ones that could fill the specific request for the local squad leader. They had three heavies, one medium and one light armour wearer, after all.

Knowing the urgency of the situation and the importance of having heavies in the right places to make sure no weak links formed in their defences, Thea’s squad quickly nodded at each other, quickly filing out of the group of marines and awaited orders from their new squad leader, as they integrated into the pre-existing defence structure.

As Thea and her squad joined their new comrades, the squad leader, a grizzled veteran with a limp arm dangling on his right shoulder - clearly an injury from the recent attacks, if the fresh blood was anything to go by - looked them over, sizing them up.

"Alright, new blood," he barked, "we're expecting a major push from the Stellar Republic soon-ish, probably in the next 10 or 20 minutes. Our priority is to hold the line and prevent any breaches, as you might imagine. You heavies, stick with me. We'll form the core of our defence, making sure they can't break through. Light and medium, you're on support, covering our flanks and dealing with any surprises the enemy might throw at us."

Thea felt the weight of responsibility settle on her shoulders as she acknowledged her new orders, her heart pounding in anticipation of the coming battle. The squad moved quickly to their assigned positions, each marine mentally preparing for what was to come.

Once they had settled into position, the heavies started unloading their massive firepower into the Stellar Republic’s lines, their broad backs covering a large portion of Thea’s field of view.

She could clearly see the impact of the recoil on their bodies, despite their seemingly superhuman strength and heavy armour providing additional support, as they fought with the heavy weapons they held, that Thea would have sworn were way too large for a normal human to handle before she had entered the simulation.

Two of them had standard issue heavy machine guns, similar to the one Thea had seen the lieutenant casually fling around like a bag of nutrient paste, which just further emphasised the truly ludicrous levels of the lieutenant's physical abilities.

Thea couldn't help but be fascinated by the third heavy's weapon however.

The colossal gun looked to her like an engineering marvel, with intricate details and mechanisms that defied her understanding. Its menacing barrel, almost as long as the heavy was tall, was supported by an array of stabilisers and shock-absorbing systems that allowed the marine to handle the weapon's massive recoil, albeit with visible strain on the marine.

Its appearance was both awe-inspiring and intimidating, with matte-black plating and a few glowing indicators that hinted at the power contained within. Thea could see the weapon's reloading mechanism working tirelessly, feeding the enormous shells into the chamber with mechanical precision, one after another.

Each time the heavy fired, the weapon's energy discharge was nothing short of spectacular. The pressure differentials generated by each shot created an almost tangible force in the air, sending ripples of energy outward from the gun's muzzle. The resulting sound was a deafening pop that echoed through the battlefield, followed by the whistling of the massive shell as it hurtled toward the enemy lines at blistering speeds.

The sheer power of the weapon was evident in the destruction it wrought upon the Stellar Republic's forces.

Each shot tore through their ranks before erupting in a massive implosion as the surrounding air, dirt, smog, and debris were violently pulled towards the centre of the projectile's point of impact. The ground buckled and collapsed under the immense force, leaving a trail of utter devastation in its wake.

The sight of such a weapon in action both thrilled and terrified Thea, as she realised the potential for both salvation and annihilation that it held. She was absolutely certain that there was no way anyone would survive being near the shell when it erupted.

She was ripped out of her admiration for the heavy’s weapon by the rest of the marines opening fire as well, the roar of their weapons filling the air as they unleashed a storm of deadly projectiles and lasers.

As Thea cautiously peered over the top of the trenches for the first time, she was struck by the sight of the Stellar Republic's lines sprawled out approximately 150 to 200 metres away.

Despite the distance, the scene was all too clear and horrifying in its intensity. The enemy lines seemed to stretch out endlessly, with soldiers clad in their distinct rag-covered armour, a stark contrast against the backdrop of the war-torn landscape.

The Stellar Republic's line of trenches and fortifications appeared battered and scarred, with signs of countless assaults and relentless explosions from both sides. Smoke billowed from various points along their positions, a testament to the ferocity of the ongoing battle. The ground between the opposing forces was a gruesome no man's land littered with countless craters and the lifeless bodies of fallen soldiers, which had mounted up to smaller piles in some areas.

Even with the unending casualties they had suffered, the Stellar Republic forces seemed undeterred, continuing to draw from their infinite pool of reinforcements via their weird duplication ability. Wave after wave of duplicated soldiers emerged from their trenches and bunkers, charging bravely into the hailstorm of bullets and explosions. Their sheer numbers and determination to press on, despite the odds, conveyed a chilling message to Thea and her fellow marines: this relentless enemy would not be easily defeated.

The sight of the Stellar Republic's lines, both awe-inspiring and terrifying at the same time, only served to underscore the importance of Thea's mission and the urgency of holding their ground against this seemingly unstoppable adversary. If she wanted to make a difference, she would have to tap into her weird Focus-powered feeling once again and get rid of as many original bodies as possible…!

In her light armour, she moved swiftly and gracefully, taking advantage of her agility to dart between cover and deliver precise shots at any original bodies she could detect.

From her previous experiences, she had learned that moving around between shots was of supreme importance in order to not get pinned down again, as had happened to her in the foxhole just hours prior.

The medium-armoured marine beside her provided covering fire as he tried to keep pace, forcing the enemy's heads down while Thea carefully took aim at each of the high-priority targets her intuition identified. While the marine did not quite understand what Thea was doing or how she was doing it, he could clearly see the impact she had after a few dozen shots, as entire pockets of soldiers on the enemy side simply fell over and ceased to reinforce.

They continued to work as a duo like this until, a couple of minutes into the fighting, Thea's weapon suddenly chimed with an alarm tone that indicated it was about to overheat.

As she went to reload her gun’s energy cell, she finally realised her earlier mistake. "Shit...! I forgot to bring energy cells—!" she cursed, feeling like a complete idiot.

When she had resupplied at the station, she had been so preoccupied with saying the right words and not making a fool of herself that she had completely forgotten to request a new backpack and additional ammunition as well!

Luckily for her, she was using a laser rifle, which could fire even without ammunition as long as it did not overheat, so it had not become a problem instantaneously. However, if she wanted to remain an efficient asset to the defence, she would require energy cells, and fast.

Looking around for some free energy cells, she quickly discerned that there were none just laying in the open. It made sense too, as energy cells were not something you would want to just lay around in the middle of an open warzone. They held an impressive amount of energy inside, after all. A stray bullet or explosion, if it were to hit the energy cells, could rupture them, creating a devastating blast that would send searing flames and razor-sharp shrapnel tearing through the air, an outcome no marine would want to be a part of.

Not finding anything on the quick, she stepped away from her current position at the front of the trench and prepared herself for addressing her new squad leader.

‘Fuck me—! Why does this always happen to me…’ she lamented in her thoughts, as she walked a few metres towards the location of the SL. In the past, Thea had experienced various scenarios where her lacking social abilities had caused similar trouble, and she couldn't help but be reminded of them now.

One instance, in particular, came to mind when she had unintentionally lost several hundred credits that Old Man James had entrusted to her because she didn't speak up about a wrongly priced item at the market. She vividly remembered how he had chewed her out but also laughed at her social ineptitude.

He would often hark back to this instance to tease her and say, "You could likely kill anyone in the Undercity in a straight-up fight without breaking a sweat, yet when you should speak up for yourself about an honest mistake, you fold immediately."

Snapping back to reality from the unwelcome memory, Thea focused on the objective at hand. ‘He’s gonna think I’m a complete idiot— Why did I have to fuck up something so simple?!’

Approaching the grizzled squad leader from behind, she took a deep, steadying breath before addressing him, trying to keep her voice steady and neutral, as if she was reporting a simple fact. “SL, I’m out of energy cells, are there any supplies nearby?”

Thea steeled her heart for the inevitable chewing out that was sure to come. She could understand it, of course. What marine forgot their void-damned ammunition on resupplies?!

Without turning away from the battle in front of him, unrelentingly firing his pistol into the ranks of Stellar Republic soldiers, the squad leader replied, “Energy cells? I got some spares. Can’t use my gun anymore anyway with this useless arm— Oh, and grab the ones on my corpse over there too.” He briefly gestured with his pistol towards the opposite side of the trench.

Thea was flabbergasted by the nonchalant response of the SL, ‘Huh—? That’s it—? Why… Where is the yelling? Why is he not chewing me out?’

Not wanting to give the SL a chance to change his mind, she quickly grabbed the remaining energy cells from the backpack nearby, which he had indicated with a brief gesture of his foot, before turning towards the opposite side of the trench.

Around a dozen UHF corpses had been leaned against the back of the trench here. Thea had slowly gotten used to seeing dead bodies and corpses all over, but she never really had to get close and loot one before, so there was a certain level of apprehension apparent in her movements.

As she squatted down to rifle through the first of the UHF corpses, she suddenly stopped, as the squad leader's words finally registered in her mind.

‘Wait— what? Did he just say “my corpse”?’

She took a closer look at the body that she was about to resupply from and quickly realised that it was indeed the corpse of the squad leader she had just spoken to!

Wide-eyed, she glanced back towards the front of the trench, where she saw the same grizzled man continuously fire his pistol towards the Stellar Republic’s lines, while barking commands every once in a while to the rest of the squad.

Turning back towards the body, she could not help but feel a certain disconnect from reality.

The fact that the squad leader had so nonchalantly told her to loot his own corpse was completely devoid of sanity in her mind, yet the longer she spent inside the simulation, the more ‘normal’ it seemed to become. The UHF marines as a whole seemed to treat death as more of an inconvenience than anything else.

She remembered the "rez-pods" that had been mentioned multiple times throughout the challenge.

Originally, she had thought this was a feature to allow "players" to get multiple attempts at the challenge, but maybe she had been entirely wrong about this all along?

After all, even the "NPCs," like the squad leader in front of her and many of the marines she had joined on her way back to the frontlines, had apparently made use of that feature. She felt like she was still missing a crucial part of this whole puzzle, as she couldn't come up with a reason for the developers of the simulation to allow for this to happen.

If it was simply to counteract the Stellar Republic’s duplication ability, then why include the ability in the first place?

If parity was the goal, then why have disparity to begin with? Just to flavour the challenge?

Add some additional quirkiness to it? Test the challenge-takers for something?

Thea knew she couldn't find an answer to these questions on the fly.

She simply pushed them to the back of her mind, as she had done with the myriad other questions that had arisen throughout the simulation as a whole. She was absolutely going to have to grill Old Man James on all of these questions once she left the simulation!

Picking up the spare backup from the squad leader’s corpse and filling it with all the energy cells she could find, Thea quickly finished her first ever battlefield scavenging and returned to the front of the trenches.

Loading an energy cell into her rifle, she heard a loud hiss come from the exhaust ports, as the stored heat in the gun was explosively vented via the surge of power from the cell.

With a satisfied smile on her face at the successful resupply, without making herself look like a complete fool, she returned to her duties and scanned for original bodies to shoot in the Stellar Republic’s lines.

Thea managed to quickly get back into her previous flow, successfully identifying and killing original bodies every couple of seconds.

She was like a spectre of death, rampaging through the enemy lines and leaving a trail of dead soldiers in her wake. Whenever she aimed and fired, numerous soldiers fell, as if her laser had an invisible, unnoticeable side-effect that simply reaped any nearby soldiers’ life.

In between each of her shots, she quickly repositioned behind the safety of the trenches.

Sometimes, she moved only a couple of metres, while other times she entirely switched sides, using the three heavies as her central fall-back position.

She paid no attention to anything in her surroundings, having completely entered into a state of perfect killing intent.

She didn't catch the incredulous looks the medium-armoured marine gave her continued performance, nor did she see the moment when one of the heavies took a rocket to the chest and was flung twenty metres backward by the resulting explosion.

She didn't even heed the steadily increasing return fire from the Stellar Republic's side.

All that remained in Thea's mind was the cruel calculus of efficient killing: Identify target, confirm target, take aim, fire, switch position, repeat.

Nothing seemed capable of breaking her out of this state until suddenly, a booming voice ripped through her state of mind, like an HMG's explosive round teared through a sheet of plasteel.

"WHICH OF YOU COMPLETE LUNATICS IS KILLING ALL THOSE DUPLICATORS?!"

Returning to her senses as a result of being violently shaken awake by the booming voice, Thea turned toward its origin, only to freeze at the sight of Lieutenant Frost standing mere metres away from her, with a bone-chilling, manic grin on her face…