Chapter Forty-Nine – Of Vanguards and Monsters
Chapter Forty-Nine - Of Vanguards and Monsters
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--Blackshot ammunition advertisement, 2036
***
"Ma'am, did you, uh, hear that?" Hatner asked.
It probably took a lot to unnerve someone who had been calm in the middle of several Antithesis attacks and who had witnessed allies die just moments ago.
"I'm working on it," I replied.
We were still in the open, still way, way out from the wall, and still surrounded by recently-bombed terrain. I had every sensor running as hard as they could, and didn't expect another attack so soon.
That sound though...
"Myalis, what in the fuck was that?" I asked as soon as I shut the comms off.
Interesting.
"Yeah, you fucking bet it was interesting, I almost pissed my panties. If I heard that shit in the dead of night my heart would give out. Was that an Antithesis?"
I suspect that it was. The Antithesis frequently develops new mutations. It's what makes them such a threat on the galactic-scale. It's statistically uncommon for them to develop the ability to communicate with non-Antithesis, however.
"Statiscially uncommon? Like, flicking a coin and landing heads twice, or winning the lottery?"
The latter.
"Okay, so what in the fuck was that, exactly?" I asked. "A 'we can scream now' mutation? Because I'd never really spent time thinking about it, but I liked them better when they were all silent."
It's possible that it's just a random mutation, though it's far more likely that the mutation was precipitated by the Antithesis consuming and studying local lifeforms. Judging by the tonal range and discordant intervals, the sound generated was specifically produced to incite fear while also carrying over long distances.
I liked my rather dry lips. "Okay... and they coincidentally found the fucking 'scare you' note?"
Of course not. It's more likely that this particular Antithesis is copying the form of a local animal to produce it, and knows it's effective because they have, in the way that they do, studied their foe.
I took a moment to parse that. "So... what, they ate a few wild animals and evolved the ability to roar real good, then figured out that that specific roar would scare humans?"
They have also likely consumed a great number of humans.
"Oh."
Nope. I did not like that information, not one fucking bit.
Time to get the fuck out of here. "Alright everyone, I'm going to need some hands. Myalis, some shit to salt the earth here, packed into sprayers or whatever. Everyone, grab one and move it into a grid, then get back in your ride."
New Purchase: Single-Use Remote Detonated Anti-Growth Formulation Spreader Devices x10
New Point Total: 17,640
Ten army-green drum-like devices appeared next to the MEOW each one had a big arrow on the side pointing upwards with THIS SIDE UP on it next to a smaller logo that read DANGER: HIGH EXPLOSIVE - CHEMICAL WEAPON - WILL CAUSE CANCER, and a pair of handles for easy grabbing. The metal casing also had two protrusions that looked suspiciously like cat ears, but I chose not to comment on that.
Soldiers rushed out of the ATT and the Wolverines and picked the drums up, then it was just a question of getting them into place. Which wasn't too hard. Each one had a decently large dispersal radius.
I glued my eyes onto the sensor feed from the MEOW while someone with a bit of authority sorted out the positioning so that the drums were spread out more or less evenly across the entire area.
"Contact, north west, big!" someone barked over the comms.
I turned the mecha around to face that direction, then squinted for a moment before I could pick out what they were talking about. One of the hills in the distance was walking. There was a new noise, like a fog-horn way out in the distance, the blast bouncing off of the landscape and being distorted by distance.
"Model... Twenty-Two, I think," I said. A big fucker. Now that I had it in my sights and was able to zoom in, I could see its disturbingly human-like face, stuck in a position that had it looking towards the ground at all times.
The Model Twenty-Two moved one of its long mandibles and grabbed a corpse off the ground, only, no, it wasn't a corpse, that was a Model Three with a snapped spine. It shoved the entire alien into its flat-toothed mouth and started to chew while still walking on all six trunk-like legs.
A large cloaca-looking thing at the back of it shifted, then disgorged a fresh, if slightly smaller, Model Three along with enough placenta-like goop to drown in.
"Paint it, call it in," I said. "If they're bringing things like that up to the front, then we'll make them pay for it."
It was probably going to spot outside of artillery range, but there were probably cruise missiles and shit in Quebec that could hit a target that juicy.
It made that little fog-horn noise again. It wasn't the sound we'd heard earlier, and that bothered me.
If the hive could produce Model Twenty-Twos, then it could make other fucked up shit as well.
I scanned left and right and picked up a second walking hill way off in the distance. Yeah, this was getting to be a bit much.
The moment the last device was in place, I called for the others to get moving. It wasn't long that the Wolverines were rushing ahead, with the ATT trailing just a little behind.
I glanced around one last time, then moved after them at a quick trot. "What's the minimum safe distance for those salt-the-Earth bombs?" I asked.
One hundred and fifty metres. Though at that range, the definition of minimum is stretched.
"Fair enough," I said. "Let's call it three hundred metres, then." I think we soon passed that as we rushed over to the position where Hatner and the two Pikes were waiting.
There was a small bit of a disorganized mess as the two groups melded together, but that was fine.
I glanced back at the river-side hive. It was looking pretty messed up. Several 155mm hits on top of what had to be some forty-odd strikes by 75mm airburst had turned the entire space into a muddy hole.
I eyeballed the distance and decided that we were more than far enough. "Fire in the hole!" I called out.
Pretty sure that wasn't the right call out. Pretty sure any complaints were downed out a second later as I pulled the trigger in my augs and all ten barrels we'd placed around the site went off all at once.
The explosions weren't the usual big fireball fare, but instead ten Earth-shattering blasts aimed more or less downwards. They created these huge balls of expanding smoke, all of it coloured a rather dangerous orange that quickly settled downwards and smothered the entire area.
Well done!
Hive Destroyed!
New Point Total: 17,840
New Token Total: 4
Oh, right, those. Almost forgot they existed.
"Okay, back to the wall boys, girls and machines," I said. "I think I said something about drinks being on me?"
I grinned at the cheer, even as it felt rather bitter-sweet. That was one tiny, offshoot hive, it wasn't the big prize, and honestly, we probably only set the Antithesis back a few dozen hours, at most.
Better than nothing, I supposed.
The strike team started to move, then froze up.
The howl was back. Now that I'd heard it once, I knew what to listen for, beyond the initial shock. The noise was higher pitched than a normal dog's howl, maybe more... wolf-like? I hadn't heard that many wolves, so I was probably wrong. The howl went on for a while, but as it did, it shifted, warbling in a way that felt off.
I couldn't pin why it made my blood go cold and my back stiffen, but it sure as shit did the job.
It also sounded closer.
"Okay, Strike Group Hammer, double time it," I said. "I don't know what the fuck that is, and I don't want to find out. Move!"
The team moved at speed, probably a little too fast, actually, because it was starting to look reckless. I had to keep pace with the slowest, which of course were those two Pikes again. Even they were putting the pedal down, however.
The wall came into view soon enough, and we were making good time.
Which was why I was annoyed when I received an urgent call. The person on the line made me grit my teeth.
"Yes?" I answered.
"That's it! It's close!" Libre said. His voice was weird. Wild and desperate and almost like he was terrified. "I heard it. You're the nearest force. If it's this close, you can reach it!"
"Dude, chill the fuck out and explain," I said.
"The monster that killed her! It's here!"
***
A note from RavensDagger
Yooo, not a shout, but Wuto posted new Metaworld art and...
hehe
Plus it's gay AF