Chapter 335: Against a Monster - VIII

A distorted scream echoed from underneath the ruins, loud enough to reach the soldiers along the northern road even through the gunfire and buzzing insects overhead.

“Target is hurt!” one of the Army Soldiers reported.

The squad leader enlarged the Radar picture.

“Shit, it’s moving!”

The Broodmother’s central marker suddenly shifted toward the underground section of the distribution yard.

Several smaller signatures were converging beneath it, moving through the old service passages while the larger biological mass began descending.

“Southern Command, Broodmother is pulling underground! Target is retreating!”

“Contact confirmed. Ground units, maintain containment. Apache section is approaching the engagement area.”

Several thick extensions pulled its body through the damaged lower foundations, while swarms of infected insects poured into the surrounding passages.

The smaller creatures attacked the weakened walls and construction joints, widening sections of the old utility tunnels as the enormous infected forced its way through.

Part of the distribution yard collapsed into the opening behind it.

“Three-One, target descending. No clear shot on the main body!”

The first Raptor adjusted its attack path, but the Broodmother had already moved beneath another layer of concrete and industrial machinery.

The Radar continued tracking its movement through the underground passages, although the aircraft no longer had a direct firing path.

“Three-Two, central contact is underground. Switching to exposed concentrations.”

“Copy.”

Both Raptors returned to attacking the swarms spreading across the northern district.

Below the Raptors, the Broodmother’s remaining insects broke away from the distribution yard, with several enormous groups descending toward the Golden Eagle Army’s forward positions while others attacked the roads leading to the medical and recovery areas.

“Another wave incoming!”

The Machine Gunners opened fire again, their 7.62 mm rounds tearing through the descending insects while Guardian GIs launched grenades against the concentrations gathering along the surrounding rooftops.

A Guardian APC fired several bursts toward a swarm approaching the eastern intersection, scattering the insects before they could reach the infantry.

However, a smaller concentration managed to descend upon an MDC squad moving between two damaged vehicles.

“CONTACT ABOVE!”

Several soldiers fired upward, but dozens of insects had already landed across their uniforms.

One MDC soldier dropped his rifle and fell against the side of a truck while attempting to pull the creatures away from his neck.

The Army Soldiers covering the intersection redirected their fire toward the swarm as two Medics hurried toward the wounded.

“Get those men into cover!”

The Guardian nearest the transport moved across the road, providing protection while the remaining infantry destroyed the insects attempting to follow.

More casualties were being reported from the neighboring formations, although the Broodmother’s insects were suffering enormous losses against the Golden Eagle Army’s prepared defenses.

The enormous swarm was gradually thinning.

Several kilometers away, the approaching Apache section entered its assigned attack corridor.

“Griffon Four-One, swarm concentrations acquired.”

The lead Apache’s gunner selected a dense group moving over an industrial intersection where the ground formations had already cleared the surrounding buildings.

“Rockets away.”

A salvo crossed the distance and struck the intersection, with several explosions tearing through the swarm and scattering burning debris across the empty road.

The second Apache approached another concentration gathering above an old warehouse.

Its 30mm chain gun opened fire.

Explosive rounds tore through the insects passing near the roof and struck the upper portions of the building, breaking apart the concentration before it could descend toward the Army soldiers underneath.

“Griffon Four-Two, good effects. Continuing engagement.”

The Apaches maintained their distance from the thickest swarms while attacking the concentrations threatening the ground formations.

Meanwhile, the squad leader checked the Broodmother’s marker once more.

It had travelled farther underneath the distribution yard, following a network of utility passages toward the central Hive.

The surrounding buildings were collapsing into several of the openings behind it, burying portions of the retreat route underneath concrete and twisted metal.

“Command, target is heading toward the Hive. Underground movement confirmed.”

“Copy. Central contact remains tracked.”

The squad leader watched the enormous marker move deeper into the underground network.

“Can the artillery hit it?”

“Negative firing solution on the main body. The target is beneath multiple structures, and the available impact points do not reach its current position. Surface junctions are being assigned for bombardment.”

“Fuck! This thing is getting away!”

He looked toward the distribution yard, where smoke was rising from the damaged buildings while the remaining insects continued pouring through the streets.

The Broodmother had escaped their immediate reach, although it lost much of its protective flesh during the Raptor strikes while the Army’s formations continued destroying the swarms it left behind.

“All squads, finish off those insects! Don’t let them reach the wounded!”

The Machine Gunners and Guardian GIs continued firing as the Apaches attacked the remaining large concentrations.

One after another, the smaller swarms disappeared from the Radar.

Farther underground, the Broodmother’s enormous marker continued moving toward the Hive.

Unlike the Tank, Leaper, and Lasher that the Golden Eagle Army had encountered earlier, this one chose to abandon the battle before it could be surrounded and destroyed.

“What now, chief?”

An Army Soldier approached the squad leader, breathing hard after the intense encounter.

“Check status and see who’s still operational,” the squad leader replied.

The Army Soldier went to relay the order while Medics continued moving the wounded away from the northern road. Several MDC personnel were being treated for bites, and the damaged transports remained behind the armored line as the last insects were cleared from the area.

At the distribution yard, four DASF operators from one of the reinforcing formations crossed the rubble left by the Raptor strikes. The Broodmother’s route was visible on their shared Radar, but the team had been sent to check what was left of the service entrances before Engineers approached the ruins.

Part of the western wall had collapsed into an old maintenance passage. The entrance was much wider than the original doorway, with fresh marks running along the concrete joints and broken pipework hanging from the ceiling.

One operator crouched near the opening and found several infected insects chewing through the material between two wall sections. More were moving through narrow gaps farther inside, carrying pieces of insulation and loosened debris away from the passage.

“They widened it for her,” he reported.

Two operators went down the broken steps to inspect the lower entrance. They found another opening cut through the adjoining foundation, large enough to connect the old service tunnel to a wider underground route. Insects covered its walls, and several infected stood farther inside, moving between the junctions.

“There’s more than one way through.”

“Yeah. And plenty waiting down there.”

A section of loose concrete fell from the ceiling as insects worked their way through another joint. The two operators backed up the steps, covering the passage until the rest of the team had cleared the opening.

The DASF leader opened the local channel.

“Surface access is compromised. The insects have opened connections between the old utility passages, and there are infected throughout the lower junctions. Broodmother is still heading toward the Hive.”

“Copy. Mark the entrances and pull back. Do not follow the target underground.”

The four operators withdrew toward the secured road while Engineers marked the damaged entrances for the next strike plan. Behind them, insects kept working through the foundations until another section of the maintenance entrance collapsed.

On the Radar, the Broodmother’s marker kept moving toward the central Hive. The Golden Eagle Army could track its retreat, but the routes leading to it were now filled with infected and buried beneath the surrounding buildings.