Chapter 333: Against A Monster - VI

On the eastern side of Silverpeak, a large section of road was covered in dark green liquid.

An MDC transport truck had been struck near the rear, leaving several holes across the vehicle’s metal body while smoke rose from the damaged compartment. Its driver had escaped, although two soldiers were still helping another man away from the wreckage.

"Get away from that thing! The liquid is eating through the fucking metal!"

A nearby Golden Eagle Army squad covered their withdrawal while several Army Soldiers moved toward the adjoining intersection.

The first projectile came from an old processing facility several hundred meters ahead, where a large infected marker remained concealed behind the industrial structures.

The Advanced Radar showed its position and several smaller infected moving around it, but the Spitter remained behind the industrial structures.

"Another projectile forming!" an Army Soldier reported.

The squad leader checked the marker before looking toward the damaged road.

"Clear that section!"

The remaining MDC soldiers hurried behind a Guardian APC as another mass of green liquid rose from the processing facility.

It travelled in a wide arc over the damaged buildings, crossing the distance before crashing into an abandoned warehouse beside the road.

The liquid splashed across the roof and surrounding walls.

Smoke instantly rose as the affected metal began deteriorating, with several sections of the warehouse’s outer panels breaking apart and falling onto the pavement.

"Target got some strong acid!"

The squad leader watched the chemical material spreading across the street before checking the enemy marker again.

"Southern Command, this is Vanguard Twelve-Five. We have a heavily mutated Spitter inside the processing complex. Its projectiles are damaging vehicles and structures. Requesting precision strike."

"Copy, Vanguard Twelve-Five. Target confirmed. Raptor element is being assigned."

"Roger that, Command."

The Golden Eagle Army formation maintained its positions around the affected area while the Missile Infantry and armored vehicles continued engaging the smaller infected attempting to cross the surrounding roads.

Several Vanguards had firing solutions toward the processing facility, but the creature remained behind thick industrial structures with much of its body concealed underneath the remaining roof.

An artillery strike could destroy the building, although the nearby MDC personnel and the damaged transport had not completely cleared the adjoining section.

...

Several kilometers away, two Raptors changed course.

"Raptor Three-One, new target received."

"Three-Two copies. That’s a big one."

The lead pilot enlarged the contact through his targeting system.

The infected remained inside the processing facility, and unlike the smaller Spitters that the Golden Eagle Army had encountered before, its biological signature was enormous.

"Looks like it’s been eating well."

"Let’s ruin its dinner, One."

"Five shots says it’s my kill."

"My promotion would kick you out of that."

The two fighters separated toward their assigned approach paths as the target picture updated.

Down below, the Spitter was preparing another projectile.

Its body expanded underneath the damaged roof, with a swollen section near its upper torso contracting as the acidic material gathered inside.

The eastern Golden Eagle Army formation saw the movement.

"Another shot incoming!"

The creature launched.

A thick mass of green liquid shot through the damaged roof and travelled toward the road, but the formation was already clear of the projected impact area.

The projectile struck an empty intersection and spread across the pavement, sending smoke upward as the reactive material attacked the surrounding debris.

At the same time, Raptor Three-One reached its release position.

"Three-One, target acquired."

The pilot selected an air-to-ground precision missile.

"Firing."

The missile left the internal bay and accelerated toward the industrial facility while the Raptor turned away from its attack path.

The Spitter remained inside the building. Its next projectile had barely begun forming when the missile struck.

A violent explosion tore through the central section of the processing facility, destroying the roof and several supporting structures while the infected’s enormous body was thrown against the remains of the production machinery.

Part of its torso disappeared beneath the blast.

The surrounding walls collapsed, exposing the creature to the open sky as dark flesh and corrosive material scattered across the ruined floor.

"Three-One, good hit!"

The lead pilot checked the Radar picture.

The marker remained active, but its biological outline had contracted considerably.

"Three-Two, guess that promotion’s yours."

"I’ll gladly take it."

The second Raptor was approaching from a different direction, with its targeting system following the exposed creature as it struggled underneath the wreckage.

The Spitter attempted to move.

Much of its body had been destroyed by the first missile, and the remaining tissue contracted around the damaged torso as it tried to pull itself away from the collapsed machinery.

A small amount of acidic material leaked from its ruined mouth.

The second pilot watched the target.

"Not going anywhere, are you?"

He fired. The missile descended through the opening left by the first strike and hit the center of the infected’s remaining body.

The explosion destroyed the surrounding machinery and tore apart what remained of the creature, scattering biological debris across the damaged facility.

The Radar marker disappeared.

"Southern Command, this is Raptor Three-Two, target has been destroyed."

"Southern Command copies. Return to assigned patrol."

The two fighters turned away from the industrial district.

On the ground, the eastern squad leader watched the final explosion rise above the processing facility while the last of the smaller infected were being eliminated along the adjoining roads.

"Alright, target’s gone! Squad, status check."

Several confirmations echoed right after.

One of the MDC soldiers looked toward the ruined building. He had never seen fighters strike a target with that kind of precision before.

The squad leader returned to the wider Radar picture.

The Spitter was dead, and the eastern advance could resume once Engineers checked the contaminated road and damaged transport.

Elsewhere across Silverpeak, the fighting had not slowed.

More infected were still pouring from the underground routes, while several large markers remained active around the Hive.

One of those contacts was moving toward the surface.

Another large contact began rising toward the surface beneath an old industrial distribution yard several kilometers north of Vanguard Twelve-Five.

Unlike the Spitter, its biological outline was unusually wide, spreading underneath several interconnected buildings as a large mass of flesh began pushing against the structures above it.

A Golden Eagle Army formation holding the northern approach watched the changes through their Advanced Radar.

"Southern Command, we got a large contact rising inside the distribution yard."

"Copy. Threat classification pending. Maintain your positions."

The squad leader enlarged the marker, but something else caught his attention. Thousands of smaller signatures were beginning to appear around it.

"Negative, Command. Target is surrounded by multiple contacts."

He switched channels before speaking again. "Squad, possible horde in front of us. Get back to your previous positions!"

The roof of the distribution yard suddenly broke apart as something dark poured through the opening.

At first, it looked like smoke rising from the damaged building, but the cloud spread against the wind and continued expanding above the surrounding streets.

A soldier looked up.

The black mass thickened as more poured through the shattered roof, forming a cloud that rapidly spread over the industrial district.

Several smaller swarms emerged from adjoining structures, merging into the larger concentration until the sky above the distribution yard was almost completely covered.

"Broodmother!"

The squad leader picked up his communicator.

"Pull back to the anti-swarm spacing! Southern Command, Broodmother confirmed on our location! Massive aerial swarm has been deployed. We need immediate support!"

"Copy. Broodmother confirmed. Maintain spacing and prepare anti-swarm response. Reinforcing elements are being redirected."

The soldiers were already moving.

Riflemen and Army Soldiers tightened around the armored line while Guardian crews adjusted their sectors upward.

Missile Infantry switched to airburst loads, and the Machine Gunners picked the densest concentrations along the edge of the growing cloud rather than wasting fire into the whole mass.

The MDC soldiers behind them looked up in disbelief.

"Shit, what is that?"

"Insects. You better spray on it before it eats you up!"

A thick, rising drone rolled over the northern streets as the swarm shifted above the surrounding buildings.

The cloud broke into several moving concentrations and began angling toward separate Golden Eagle Army positions across the approach, while more insects continued boiling out of the shattered distribution yard.

The squad leader watched the split and swore.

"Destroy those before we get surrounded!"

Beneath the yard, the central marker expanded again as more signatures joined the swarm.

And this time, the first wave was coming straight for them.