CHAPTER 15
BIGGER WAVE
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“Blueeehhh! This is horrible!”
“I saw someone dick out there. Dude, every single limbs has torn apart.”
“Will we dismantle velo's belly to get the remains?”
Watching dozens of victims among the piles of carcasses, their mental state was shaken. Some personnel threw up. The wounds on KIAs (Killed in Action) were beyond fatal. Some of them had been eaten alive. Mostly torn to pieces. Velomodrake's attack was so horrible that anti-personnel mine's victims looked clean.
Of course, Varg was also disturbed. He acquainted himself with most of the KIAs and felt like they were trolling each other yesterday. Death would always be one step away from the door. Swayed by emotion, he recalled his mission and responsibility.
“They are died as heroes.” He reprimanded his squad to snap back to reality. “And we are assigned to save on funeral expenses. Move up!”
“Yes sir!”
His royal blood wasn't just a decoration. The Valoran prince's leadership had been honed by special training and modern philosophy. Because of his team, some personnel were able to retreat. They helped the trapped squads get away. The rescue mission was getting more effective. The number of KIAs had been suppressed. For the sake of their lives, Varg advanced to the tower through the hordes of monsters.
”On me! On me! Wounded here!”
“KIA!”
His adrenaline was running high. Sometimes he shot stray velos that pointed their claws. Most of them had died in the killing zone. Their number kept reducing with mortar salvos that resumed fire. The platoon was stuck behind enemy lines. They could die at any time if they did nothing.
“Sir! The dome is gone!” A member saluted.
Varg didn't answer. He watched Sector 1's landscape become seas of monster carcasses. The portal had stopped. There were no more monsters crawling out. The wave of monsters had been eroded by the rifle and cannon fire of the tanks. The wall of vehicles started to jam as the carcasses piled up. But hundreds of velomodrake remnants were roaming around with no purpose. It was only a matter of time before their attention was directed at his platoon.
“Cover me.”
The prince opened a touch-screen device and accessed red zone aerial surveillance. It was his specialty as a combat reconnaissance officer. The drone flew high. It sent a real-time battle condition for the prince to learn. Finding a strategic spot, Varg commanded his team to move.
“2nd Sergeant, you're in charge of waitress team! Open evac route! Carry the wounded.”
“Yes sir!”
“1st Sergeant, you're the chef! Establish ZoE (Zone of Action)! Protect red cross guys and wounded, move!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Their platoon kept firing while advancing. Varg was supported by more soldiers, most of whom were squads that he had just helped. Some came from random, crazy guys who volunteered to bet their lives. His objective was clear. Approaching the side of the tower, he rescued the remaining soldiers.
“Is he a human?” A soldier was amazed when he saw how absurd Varg's accuracy was.
***
Tactical Zone of Action
“Chef to Butcher, we have made a way for medevac. Waiting for command.”
“Stay guard. Exploits waitress guy to do more shits.”
“Waitress to Butcher and Chef, we are ready to do whatever you want, Sir.”
Varg's location was close to the main unit. The pile of carcasses, on the other hand, caused significant difficulties for the evac squad. The mechanized unit was unable to move forward. Remaining velomodrakes were wandering around after their unique species wiped off. Their innate hunger impulses took over once more.
His platoon needed to move as quickly as possible to save the survivors. To make his task easier, he separated the unit into three groups. They were the butcher, the chef, and the waitress, respectively. The butcher's group was the one who helped him on the front lines. The chef team remained on the tactical perimeter to provide medical assistance. And waitress was mobile group that carried the injured back and forth.
“Hostages spotted. 23 wounded, 16 KIAs. Move!” He pointed at the drone not far from the tower.
As a commander, the prince became more adaptable. He ordered some people to retreat while asking others to assist him or pick up munitions in the area. The drones continued their search for survivors. The Butcher Squad, the crew in charge of fighting and searching, went berserk. They were all the most insane members he hand-picked. Their movements were as quick as their platoon commander's, and so was their shooting skill.
”Slay them all!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Craaaww!
Ssttt!
“Man down!”
“Don't mind me! Keep up!”
Sometimes they took ammunition from the fallen soldiers. Sometimes they took their weapons and threw dozens of grenades. Their fear had been swept away by adrenaline. They don't give a damn about sanity anymore. There was even a psychopath who picked up a Carl Gustaf M2 recoilless gun and shot it up close.
“Surprise, bitch!”
Booom!
A deep, orange dusk sky illuminated Sector 1. Butcher squad was running out of bullets after fighting like barbarians. Fortunately, they were getting used to Velomodrake's aggressive behavior. Some were holding off monsters with bayonets and makeshift shields while the others attacked in single-shot mode. Some blasted their heads with a shotgun. Butcher groups were more like party walkers than modern soldiers. Varg even discarded his empty rifle in favor of a machete.
“He slashed velos like nothing!”
“No wonder his body is filled with scars.”
“Uwooo! We win!”
Varg‘s silhouette stood gallantly on the hilltop of the carcass pile. All of his badges were unrecognizable anymore. His uniform was stained with blood when his hands swung his machete to decapitate the remaining velos. He stood in a pile of carcasses after slaughtering dozens of raptor-like creatures. His machete remained clutched in his right hand, while the left strangled a velo's neck. He easily lifted it into the air and showed it to the soldier.
“See? They're bleeding. Show these stupid animals who the fuck is at the top of food chain.”
“Us! Human! Uwoooo!”
“Uwooooo!”
“All hail the Butcher!”
***
“Dude, we are the heroes ...”
“We will transferred to elite unit.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Illuminated by huge LED lamps all over Sector 1, several soldiers stood nervously. The makeshift platoon just realized their heroic deeds were recorded by CCTV and drones. They became idols among another soldier.
“Good job, boys.”
All of them hurriedly saluted when a bare-chested lieutenant colonel with a strange bull mask walked down to the aftermath.
“At ease!”
Step!
Their footsteps echoed noisily as they fixed the march.
“You aren't pussies behind the guns, huh?” said the bullhead while tapping one of them on the shoulder. “Keep up. Make me proud.” He glanced at a place with barbeque griller and boxes of beers. “Enjoy your feast. Dismiss!”
“Sir yes sir!”
Monster waves had completely stopped at night. However, the portal had not closed yet. Sometimes there were skirmishes with a small group of Velomodrake. The attack nonetheless posed no threat to the soldiers who did the clearing. The dome had been guarded by a platoon of 50-cal machine gunners.
“Current status?”
“Decline to Echo Three, Commander.”
“Casualties?”
“309 KIAs, 76 MIAs, 223 heavy wounded, and 345 light wounded, Commander!”
Out of 783 frontline troops and 126 backup personnel, one-third of them had been killed. The bullhead's gesture didn't change much after hearing about the KIAs. He rather observed some heavy-duty vehicles from the engineer unit and several forklifts from the dismantling facility. The cleanup process was ongoing, as was the evacuation of bodies buried in the carcasses of monsters.
“Almost all KIAs are victims of velomodrake, Commander. They are agile and smart. And the most dangerous variant is Deindrodrake. D-ranked, they're good at leading the pack and are adaptable. Some soldiers stated that Deinodrake understood how firearms worked. They avoided the direction of the muzzle. They were also intelligent enough to read the soldiers' gestures when they were loading bullets.”
“We need more sharpshooters as countermeasures. Note it.”
“Commander, 13th platoon combat recon and 2th company raider have arrived. As well as 5th and 7th platoon marine corps amphibious recon.” Another officer gave a report.
The bullhead turned around. His authority was real. Everyone respected him even though his mask was more ridiculous than a clown.
“2nd Lieutenant Agus Dharmana, Commander of 5th platoon amphibious recon, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Pramono Danuarta!” A marine officer saluted.
The bullhead saluted back to the new backups and inspected their gear, which was armed with anti-material sniper rifles, either Barret M82A1, SPR 2, or AX 50. Afterwards, he looked at barracks and said, “Dismiss. Rest in the mess."
Step!
“Sir yes sir!”
Regardless of the casualties, Bullhead seemed satisfied. Reinforcements kept coming from the nearest army base. Sadly, society wasn't yet aware that a bloody war had happened in front of their doors. There was not even any news about the attack whatsoever.
“Commander, council and city government keep refusing to evacuate citizens.”
A vapor of breath emerged from the nose of his stupid mask. The commander was upset. He looked fidgety with his hands behind his waist, grabbing his own junk phone and dialing someone out there.
“Should I burn down the council house?”
“Relax, Dude. I have tried. But the majority won't sound the alarm. They even banned any news leaks to prevent panic,” replied someone who turned out to be a council member. “We're with the police chief right now. They are preparing for the worst.”
The bullhead was well aware of the rules of the game. Political decisions were always based on interest (money, of course). Announcing an attack would cause panic, which would obviously paralyze the economy. That was how the world worked. And for a big city like Surabaya, every minute of paralysis had the potential to eliminate the circulation of millions of dollars. Politicians didn't want to lose money.
“Alright, prepare everything. I trust you.”
“Leave it to me, Pram.”
Hours passed. The small carcasses had been moved to Sector 3, while the big monsters were only shifted to the edge of the wall. The battlefield was cleared to install various barricades. The soldiers also dug trenches for evacuation routes. The situation looked safe at first glance.
However, the bullhead had strong instincts like a beast. Another feeling kicked in. He felt a serious danger while everyone slept soundly.
“Boy, any report?” He approach the only soldier who wasn't born on earth.
“Negative, commander.”
Varg was assigned to stay up all night to read the portal changes. The elven prince was more sensitive than a radioactive sensor. Strangely, he kept saying that nothing was unusual. Varg even guaranteed that the portal wouldn't open at night.
“Aren't reptilians nocturnal? Are they aviant like their earthly counterpart?”
“No. Dragonas are reptilian. But I feel a different mana signature. There is something that makes them go out easily. As if someone had controlled the portal from the other side.”
There was silence for a moment. The topic became sensitive. Bullhead didn't say a word when he saw how relaxed the prince was. Tonight, they were too tired to talk conspiracy stuff.
“I thought a disgusting long-eared vegan like you was a sleepyhead.”
Varg glanced with a squint when his commander suddenly changed the subject.
“Affirmative, commander. Elf sleeps 18 hours a day.”
“Drowsy yet?”
“Negative. I can hold my drowsiness longer than averages human.” The elven prince smiled widely when the commander gave him a beer. He drank the forbidden drink and rubbed his own ears. “I'm a bit special. I eat meat.”
“Which meat.”
“Both. But for now ... I prefer the raw, watery one.”
The bullhead made a disgusted gesture. He knew what meat Varg was talking about. And he was also well aware that the womanizer prince asked for a prize. Varg was the hero, after all. His platoon had rescued 98 soldiers. The commander had no choice but to point in the direction of a harpy's nest.
“Go get your meat.”
***
Random Bathroom, Sector 1
Bzzzzzzzzz!
A well-shaped man shaved his beard in the restroom of the Red Zone. The light was so dim that only his chin could be seen in front of the slightly blurry mirror. The bathroom was quite well maintained, a sign of how well the zone's finances had been lately.
“You looks upset. What's going on?”
A female voice could be heard from the cellphone. Her tone was strangely deep and low without losing its feminine traits. An unusual combination of sexiness, maturity, and dangerous.
“Too many things are testing my patience.”
“What? I thought this realm was the best place for us. No prejudice, no stupid legendary about evil and justice.”
The man placed the shaver next to the sink, right beside the bull-shaped mask. He rubbed his well-shaved jaw and smiled in satisfaction. In the dim light of the restroom, he glance at the cellphone leaning against the sink. The phone’s screen had been cracked to the extent that the other person could only see her lips. And the model was too old.
“Linda, this wave is too large in scale. There's a chance it could reach A-rank. You know the cause?”
“I don't know, the portal from our world is only connected to Ethereal. And the monsters arriving on Earth are just excesses. Maybe someone was messing around with the portal.”
“Messing with the portal?”
“Yes. I can smell Janus‘s disgusting mana from here. The portal is not natural.”
The man was stunned for a moment. He examined his shaved chin once more in the bathroom dimness. The woman, meanwhile, grinned, showing a pair of dark purple, sensual lips that were seen as unnatural. Her light purple skin was also clearly a strange thing on the video call. Maybe the phone was too ancient, or maybe the woman was a little different from the start. A sinister nuance could be felt when she was showing her teeth, all of which were canines.
“Pram, our daughter will be born in 10 months. My belly is getting bigger.”
“She must be as beautiful as her mother.”
“Really? I want her eyes to be like yours. I want our daughter to have a life like a human. I hope other kids will accept her as their friend.”
The phone screen switched places. This time it showed the bright purple skin of her belly, decorated with tribal tattoos. The husband massaged his forehead when he saw his wife's pregnancy.
“Damnit, 61 months to be born.”
“What did you say?”
“Ah, nevermind.”
Woooooooommm!
“I'll call you later.”
Their conversation had ended when a long siren roared. The man wore his stupid looking bull mask and a blood-patterned uniform, an Army Special Forces signature camo. Everything was in order. There were many brevets attached to the uniform, and they were all international. His style had changed to a calm demeanor when someone called him out.
“Commander, radioactivity went up from Echo Five to Charlie Three!”
Bullhead came out of the bathroom without a hint of panic in his gesture. Today's wave would be bigger than before. He even felt an earthquake when the scale was rising. So did the tower, which was visually getting taller. Seriously. The tower was growing dozens of meter.!
Without wasting time, he radioed a living radar.
“Boy, any report?”
“Wyverns, commander! There are thousands of them. Please evacuate the citizens!”