CHAPTER 1
THE GREEN EYES
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“Butcher one, radioactivity has escalated to Beta-One. More monsters will come out. Stay on your position. Are you copy?”
“Solid.”
The strange soldier returned to his sniper nest after blowing up several monsters. A skull-shaped badge with cross machetes decorated his all-black uniform, a distinctive logo of the DOME, the most elite operator to face any monster head-on. His way of fighting was out of this world. The 8th portal, despite its smallest size as a left-over, kept unleashing huge creatures from another world. Reinforcements hadn't yet arrived. After fighting alone for hours, the DOME guy complained.
“Why did marine guys take so long? Eating crayons? I'm pinned down here.”
“Traffic jam. Refugees are blocking their route to your position.”
“Run their wheels over. No one would bitch around with human right bullshit, anyway. Don't make me wait.”
Turning away from the scope, he rubbed his carrier vest. The DOME guy just realized his mags were empty, and a few bullets remained in the bag. There were 18 BMGs, 14 slugs of 12-gauge, one block of C-4, and one phosphorus grenade remaining.
“Oh, nice! A six-year-old girl can do math with my ammos.”
“60 second. Hold them off.”
“Negative. Low ammo.”
“You won't die, Pretty boy. Keep low profile. I won't let the best dad candidate for my kids become a happy meal.”
“Fuckin‘ hell.”
“What?”
“I got spotted! An Einstein!”
His composure faded away when he saw a five-meter raptor-like monster with a long tassel. Regardless of its smaller size compared to other reptiles, Deinodrake used its brain. It could analyze the situation, learn, and lead other monsters with excellent tactics. The DOME guy had no choice but to drain out his remaining bullets.
Bang!
Challenging a life-or-death situation, his skull mask visors shone a vivid green light. His accuracy became more and more terrifying. He could hit their vital spot without doing math or dealing with miliradian dots. One shot, one down. There were no more BMG rounds. Luckily, Deinodrake died with a popped head. The remaining monsters kept moving in his direction. He left the lightfifyy and grabbed his shotgun for close quarter combat.
“60 seconds have passed, ma'am. Need backup to portal eight! ASAP!”
“Hang on.”
“I got exposed. Do something!”
He shot Anky’s lower jaw with a 12-gauge shot in the point blank. Sometimes he holed their heads with a 50-cal dessert eagle. The number of monsters was ridiculous nonsense. Fighting alone was an impossible mission in the first place. Shockingly, just as he was getting pinned down, the portal showed a nightmare.
“Megan! Damnit! A Meganodrake in visual!”
Meganodrake, a 56-meter-long Komodo dragon with multiple layers of bone-like armor, was an impossible enemy to fight against. The monster had an enormous size, which was longer than five school buses in a row. Not even 200,000 joules kinetic energy from 30mm would penetrate its skin. In a sense, Meganodrake was a damn MBT. And the biological MBT rushed toward his direction with dozens of smaller monsters.
“Give me whatever backup available! Damnit!”
“Cool your head, Sergeant. Act like a real warrior.”
“And your fuckin' real warrior is about to be a meat jerky, Ma'am. Do your fuckin' job!”
“Roger that! Give me a second!”
Situation had gone wrong from worse to FUBAR. He didn't care anymore to spout disrespectful words that could take him to the bluecap. Luckily, when he was about to run away, someone accepted his request.
“2nd Platoon 1st Rocket Battalion, I repeat, 2nd Platoon 1st Rocket Battalion, artillery support to portal eight, Butcher One, do you read?”
The DOME guy didn't answer right away. He lured all the monsters to one spot, including two 56-meter-long meganodrakes, and grabbed a chemical beacon. “Butcher One to Rocket Battalion, monitoring OPFOR. 35 Ankys, four Magnas and two Meganodrakes. They are chasing me out.” He answered while running to a safer place.
“Roger that, coordinates?”
“Copy break!”
Throwing a chemical beacon contained pheromones, he fled with radio on. Luckily, it worked. The odd soldier ran away while dozens of monsters gathered in one spot. Returning to firing position, he read a complicated military map and scribbled on it using a kind of square ruler. The clock was ticking. He had to get a pin-point location before the beacon evaporated and all targets moved away.
“Sierra Mike Delta, 2304 0321, 2532 0348, Alpha Mike Delta Mike.”
“Understood! Package will be sent. Find any shelter, Over!”
***
1st Rocket Artillery Battalion, Army Strategic Reserve
“Target confirmed. SS-400 HET-IMH is ready to launch.”
“Engage!”
30 miles away from the battlefield, six Brazilian-made Tectran trucks lined up on the hill. One of ASTROS II Mk 6 platforms, the most powerful MLRS in the Indonesian military, turned its launching tube following the computerized fire control. Target-pin-pointing processes had been done by AV-UCF platform's radar antenna. Gaining real-time picture on monsters' exact location by a drone, a Tectran's tube launched a rocket as soon as the commander gave the order.
“Fire!”
A burst of smoke erupted when a three-adult-sized rocket shot quickly into the sky. Traveling fast at Mach 0.8, it arrived in just a matter of minutes. A horde of monsters would never know what disaster was approaching. The rocket flew precisely in the middle of the pack, soaring in air temperature when the warhead kissed the ground. Tons of flammable chemical fuel had been released. A second later, the explosion sucked oxygen up into deadly thermoblast zone.
Kaboooooom!
Entire rock monsters were gruesomely massacred. Their bodies were cooked alive from inside by the wide scale of thermobaric effects. Several ankylodrakes were swept away like dry leaves in autumn. Their lung were ruptured. Some of them were torn to shreds after being hit by steel fragments traveling at three times the speed of sound. The shockwave alone could be felt from miles away.
The DOME guy, meanwhile, kept his head away while tapping on the radio.
“Direct ... target ... destroyed.”
***
Flakes of flesh fell like rain with dust and a BBQ smell. The blast radius covered a hectare and burned everything around it, showing how good the SS-150 HET-MH was for a mere $800,000 rocket. The destruction was too severe. Nevertheless, the vacuum bomb had a drawback that made the DOME guy can't see a thing.
“Butcher One, give me the situation. Are you copy?”
“Half of target have been neutralized.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Half?”
“One Megan is barely breathing, Ma'am. Half of its body is torn apart and one of its eyes has been destroyed.”
“Other monsters?”
“Paralized.”
“Got it. Stay on your position. Don't do anything stupid. I mean it. I don't wanna lose a future dad for my kids.”
Hearing a clear command, the masked soldier had a different thought. He crouched to snipping position and reloaded two remaining BMGs. His decision had been made. He depressed Barrett's M82's trigger, and “bang!” Meganodrake floundered in pain. Its remaining eye had been shot. He fired a second round to make sure it could see nothing.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“A clear answer for you, ma'am. I'd rather die than throw myself in a marriage jail. C'mon, can you stop that shit? I am in a damn war! And where the hell are those crayon eaters? Lullabing civilians?”
“15 minutes! They'll arrive in 15 minutes. Don't go anywhere. Wait for reinforcement.”
“Negative. I will deal it myself.” He answered firmly while reloading the remaining slugs at KEL-TEC. Putting the shotgun on his back, the elite soldier grabbed a tactical machete. Despite its modern design, the black machete oddly glowed blue on his hand. “You can't stop me, Ma'am.” He said while looking up in the sky and finding a NAS 322 Super Puma, a large helicopter with various communication devices. It was from there that the female captain led his operation.
“Marine Cavalry Brigade is about to arrive! Stay down, Sergeant! Back to your position!”
The elite soldier didn't care anymore. He took everything from his bag and ran toward the monsters. It was his only chance before they returned to their senses and attacked him. Some Ankylodrakes had been disoriented, while others were paralyzed by the blast. Killing them now was a walk in the park.
“Jakel Varg del Valora, back to your position!” She mentioned his real name, a strange name for an Asian. “Don't forget your identity, naughty boy. Stop jeopardizing your unit! Back off!”
Pip!
There was no longer any conversation after he said,“ over.” Varg, the soldier with a skull mask, slashed the monsters necks over and over. The machete was glowing blue when his visor were glowing green. There was some kind of magical property or something. Despite the monsters‘ skin thickness, especially around their neck bones, he chopped them off easily. All the monsters died like dairy animals in the butcher's shop.
Except for Meganodrake, of course. Varg wasn't stupid enough to approach the huge lizard. He had calculated all his action, knowing well what would happen if the 56-meter-long monster returned to its senses. It turned out that it had a Jacobson organ just like a reptile, so it was able to sense heat signatures even though the eyes were totally blind. Threatened by a single soldier, it spit blobs of corosive fire as big as a family car.
“Wrong move, Gecko.”
Varg's body heat completely disappeared when the surrounding area was on fire. Anti-FLIR material on his combat uniform kicked in. Hiding behind a monster’s carcass, the green lights on his visor shone brighter. He scanned monster's “mana” path, likewise, its anatomical map like an x-ray, and found out a fatal weakness under the neck, merely protected by three layers of 20mm-thick scales. 12-gauges from the point blank would do the job. He took the KEL-TEC and cocked it slowly.
Well, it wasn't that easy.
Crack!
A big tree broke in half with a single flick of the tail. Meganodrake went berserk. It spinning like a Beyblade and destroyed everything around. The huge lizard must be frustrated as its eyes and Jacobson organ were completely disabled. Fireballs fell, launching to the sky and diving like meteor fragments in doomsday movies.
Varg casually hid with something sinister in his hand. When the lizard stopped moving, he released the pin of an illegal weapon. To be precise, a grenade with horrible effects if he threw it towards humans. The opponent wasn't a human, though. Meganodrake was confused when the DOME soldier threw something into its mouth.
“Surprise!”
Boom!
No matter how big the monster was, white phosphorus brought a hell. It activated hideous chemical reaction once it got contact with the air, saliva, and wet membranes all over its mouth. The incendiary grenade burned Megan‘s mouth to the bone and seep into bloodstream. A gigantic lizard cried in agony. The pain caused a shock, draining Meganodrake's power to lift its own head. Its weakness entered the strike zone. As the head got lower, Varg jumped below its neck and fired the shotgun shells.
Bam!
Baam!
First shot, second shot, third shot, and eight shots later, its lower scales fell off. The wound was deep enough to plant something inside. However, the chance had gone. Meganodrake realized that its enemy dig a hole in its neck. The burning pain in its mouth had subsided. Varg moved away when the monster beyond berserk.
“Damnit!”
Rubbing the carrier vest, he took a C-4. Meganodrake swung its tail and spat the fire breaths. The battleground became chaotic. Varg climbed a stone monster's carcass to get its attention.
“Over here, chubby cold-blooded bitch! Wanna bury my ass, huh? Here! Go get my ass!”
Meganodrake stopped struggling. It took Varg's cussing personally. Turning at a Magnaterra's corpse, a human-shaped heat signature caught its interest. Varg clapped his hand to generate vibrations for Megan to receive. His location had been exposed. He took a stance when Megan started running to eat him alive.
“Nice, baby girl. Come to Papa!”
Do or die. His adrenaline pumped up. The DOME guy jumped off Magnaterra's corpse, grabbing the giant lizard's scar and dangling like a monkey. He grabbed his last resort, a composition 4, and connected the explosive to a timer detonator. Meganodrake swung its head when its neck was being fisted. The C-4 had been inserted. Varg jumped off while showing off two middle fingers.
“Poof!”
Booooom!
One explosion determined everything.
***
Dust spread when a gigantic lizard fell down with a huge hole in its neck. Knocked over by the shockwave, Varg's ears kept ringing. A green light on his visor was no more. He was bleeding so badly while crawling away to a safer place.
“Butcher One, how you copy?”
“Solid, cough!”
“Are you wounded, sweetheart?”
Varg coughed blood when his superior acted flirty. “Never feel better, Ma'am. Thanks for your attention. But with all respect, marrying a single mom with three kids is the last thing I wanted.”
“Nice response, pretty boy. Nice response.”
Fresh blood was flowing out of his mask. He must have had an internal injury, while his right foot seemed to be broken. The portal had not disappeared, nevertheless. It released dozens of fresh monsters from another world that adapted themselves to post-dimensional gravity. Glancing at the dome, Varg laid down exhaustingly amidst the smoke and dust from the last battle.
“3rd Platoon 1st Marine Cavalry Brigade is about to arrived.”
“Can see it.” He glanced at the cloud of dust approaching.
“Move over! You're too close to the strike zone.”
“Strike zone, what? Have you told them that I'm here?”
“Well, a broken heart lady forget everything.”
“Damnit!”
The elite soldier took a random stick to help him stand. The female captain had taken his rejection personally by asking the marines to set a preemptive strike. Human females were scary.
“Take your gun.”
“Oh c‘mon!”
“Every single bullet you shot is counted, Pretty Boy. We're tight-assed here. Collect your guns.”
He walked hastily to grab the KEL-TEC KSG that he had thrown before. Luckily, the weapon had not been damaged. With an injured leg, he hopped like a one-legged rabbit when he saw several marines set the mortar. Some PT-76 amphibious tanks took their positions from afar. The time was ticking.
“Move, baby, move. You are now a full-pledged Detachment Of Monster Eradication operator. Enjoy your privilege.”
“Privilege, my ass!”
Boom!
Booooom!
Booooooooom!
A series of explosions rumbled behind him. Varg kept jumping, not far from mortar salvos. Several cannon shells from the marines' cavalry brigade passed him by. The remaining monster was being killed. Reinforcements had arrived. However, several Marines pretended to be blind when they saw what unit Varg was. They didn't even salute him or help him walk. The privilege was too good.
“I feel like a black guy in Arkansas.”
“Nah, you're a good-looking granpa who kept rejecting a perfect woman.”
“I'm 25!”
“Whatever. From now on, you're not allowed to show your face in DOME uniforms. Stop yapping and move your ass.”
Varg walked like a beggar with a stick among regular soldiers. His unit was so notorious that he had to fight alone. The Detachment of Monster Eradication was the epitome of the new military doctrine. They served under the Ministry of Defense and were watched by United Nations Ethereal Management and Security. Their relationship with the Army was like that of the Waffen SS and Wehrmacht. Ignoring their tendency, Varg looked at a Boeing CH-47 Chinook, which was painted all black.
“Butcher One, any report, Boy?” Another person radioed.
“Mission accomplished.”
“Any issue?”
“Negative, Lieutenant Colonel. Out here.”
The twin-bladed helicopter descended to pick him up. Looking at the monster's skull logo on its body, the black Chinook was a special transport for DOME unit. Two masked soldiers went out the door and formed a perimeter. One more came out to help him walk to the fuselage. Putting off his mask, he revealed a handsome face and a pair of beautiful green eyes.
“Ooo Yggdrasil. Finally, I will be back to Valora.” He mumbled in silence.