Chapter 331: Against a Monster - IV

The first spike erupted through the loading dock.

It tore through the concrete beside the overturned Guardian and struck the metal platform above it, bending several support beams before the hardened tip broke apart against the structure.

"Move!"

The Engineers pulled away from the vehicle as another extension burst through the road behind them, while the four DASF operators guarding the approach spread toward the exposed growth.

One jumped over the damaged Guardian and landed near the exposed growth, bringing his monomolecular blade down across the softer section connecting it to the underground network.

The blade went through.

Black fluid sprayed across the pavement as the spike collapsed, while his partner fired several .338 rounds into the opening it left.

The growth underneath contracted and withdrew.

Several enormous spikes erupted around the loading dock, some punching through the pavement while others came out from the damaged walls and foundations. One struck the overturned APC again, rocking the entire vehicle and sending pieces of metal across the road.

"Shit! The crewman’s still inside!"

The western Guardian opened fire, tearing apart an extension reaching toward the recovery team while the Machine Gunners and Riflemen along the perimeter concentrated on the exposed growth.

Farther behind them, the immobilized Vanguard fired another shell into the lower section of the fabrication complex.

The impact tore through the damaged wall and destroyed several biological junctions feeding into the loading dock, causing part of the underground network to disappear from the Radar.

"Western connections down!"

"Not all of them!"

The DASF leader checked the remaining outlines. Several thick tendrils were moving through the foundations on the opposite side, converging toward the same area where the Engineers had been working.

"East team, clear those junctions!"

Grenades exploded along the old service entrance while two HCMARs hammered into the fleshy growth exposed underneath the foundations. Several tendrils recoiled from the impacts, only for another extension to emerge through a nearby wall.

One operator avoided the hardened spike as it shot past his shoulder and tore through the concrete behind him.

"Fucking hell."

He cut across its exposed base while his partner fired into the opening, and the entire extension dropped onto the floor.

The eastern Guardian APC joined the attack, its autocannon tearing through the damaged building and exposing more biological growth wrapped around the buried utility lines.

The first DASF squad returned to the overturned Guardian with the Engineers following close behind.

"How’s the crewman?" the DASF leader asked.

"Conscious, but his leg is pinned. We need to open the compartment."

"Get him out."

The Engineers moved toward the crushed rear section and began working on the damaged frame with their rescue equipment, while the DASF operators spread around the vehicle and kept their attention on the growth moving underneath it.

Inside the compartment, the trapped crewman could hear the cutting equipment working against the metal.

"Can you hear me?" one Engineer called.

"Yeah! I’m here!"

"Keep your head away from the rear frame. We’re opening it!"

"Just get me the fuck out!"

The Engineer adjusted the cutter and resumed working.

A loud crack came from underneath the vehicle.

The nearest DASF operator jumped aside as a black spike erupted through the road and struck the underside of the Guardian.

Its armored hull absorbed the first impact, although the vehicle shifted several centimeters across the broken pavement.

The operator landed beside the exposed extension and fired his HCMAR into its base, while another DASF crossed from the opposite side and cut through the softer tissue before it could strike again.

The spike collapsed.

"Keep working!"

The Engineers continued cutting through the damaged frame as the fighting around them intensified.

Across the northern side of the fabrication complex, the second DASF squad had reached another junction connecting several underground extensions. Their HCMARs tore into the exposed tissue while the nearby Vanguards repeatedly struck the larger concentrations inside the damaged building.

The Lasher responded by withdrawing portions of its network, but every retraction exposed more of the biological growth underneath.

One of the northern operators fired a grenade into an opening beneath the factory floor.

The explosion ripped through the junction and caused several surrounding extensions to stop moving.

"North connection destroyed."

The DASF leader checked the shared picture. Most of the thicker growth surrounding the loading dock had disappeared.

"Good. Keep pressure on the center."

The Engineer working on the Guardian finally broke through the damaged rear frame.

"Opening!"

His partner inserted a hydraulic spreader and forced the crushed section apart, revealing the interior compartment where the crewman remained pinned beneath a collapsed equipment rack.

"Found him!"

The Medic waiting behind the recovery team moved closer while the Engineers worked on the obstruction.

The crewman’s uniform was covered in blood, and one leg was trapped underneath the damaged equipment, although he was conscious enough to help them move his upper body.

"Easy, easy! My fucking leg!"

"We got you. Don’t move it."

The Engineers lifted the rack enough to free him, and the Medic helped pull him through the opening before transferring him onto a stretcher.

"Casualty recovered!"

"Get him out of there."

The recovery team began withdrawing toward the secured road while the four operators covered their movement.

Several thinner tendrils attempted to follow through the broken pavement, but the nearest Guardian immediately swept its autocannon across the exposed growth, destroying the extensions before they could reach the stretcher.

The Engineers reached the perimeter.

The Medic pair took over the casualty and brought him toward a waiting vehicle.

"Vanguard Two-Nine, crewman recovered. He’s alive."

The squad leader looked toward the overturned Guardian.

"Fucking finally!"

He checked the Radar picture once more.

The Lasher’s outer network had pulled back considerably, leaving several routes near the loading dock clear of biological movement.

The main marker remained inside the fabrication complex.

Beneath the central building, the surviving tendrils began pulling inward, abandoning the outer passages they had occupied while Golden Eagle destroyed their junctions.

"Central growth is concentrating."

The western Vanguard adjusted its turret toward the facility while the other armored vehicles acquired the newly exposed junctions.

The DASF leader enlarged the central marker.

"All DASF squads, push toward the target."

A section of the fabrication complex’s floor began rising as the Lasher pulled its remaining growth back toward its body.