𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔𝟗: 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 (5)
➖ Planet’s atmosphere and orbit have been stabilized.
➖ Requesting ground combat support. Nazar.
‘He’s setting the stage so diligently.’
Black smoke billowed from all over the sprawling city. It was a battlefield filled with gunfire and explosions.
“It’s the Chimeraz. . .!”
“Where?!”
“Look at the sky!”
The soldiers looked up at the blue sky.
Lemegetons, strangely shaking their Organic Pipes, appeared from beyond the clouds.
“Ha, haha. . .!”
“We’re saved! We’re saved!”
Humans rejoiced at the sight of the Chimeraz.
Swoosh!
Drop Cysts carrying life poured down like a meteor shower. Their roar brought hope to some and fear to others.
➖ It’s the Chimeraz!
➖ They’re coming! Call the Colossus!
The Crolr ground forces, air force, and drop ships reacted simultaneously, forming a barrage of fire towards the sky.
Under their storm-like firepower, numerous Drop Cysts exploded, scattering flesh and blood over the city center.
the Chimeraz aboard the Drop Cysts fell to the ground, torn to pieces, and the Crolr on the ground hurriedly moved to pursue them at their respective landing sites.
On one side of such a battlefield, below this complex tower, was a Hyperloop station, a modern underground means of public transportation.
“Captain, the Chimeraz have landed three blocks east. The Colossus and its subordinate unit that we were monitoring are moving in that direction.”
“Then that path will definitely pass right in front of us?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“We could be spotted being here. . .”
Nearby civilians hid in the basement of this building following evacuation orders, while the surviving soldiers were defending the first floor of the building.
Powerful weapons such as tanks, humanoids, war machines, ground battleships, and drone fighters had all been taken out a long time ago. Now, all that remained were a few infantry troops trying to protect underground shelters or crowded areas throughout the city.
“How about we also go underground? The Crolr seem to be focused on the Chimeraz anyway.”
“What about all this stuff we’ve set up in this lobby?”
The surviving soldiers gathered here in their combat suits each took their positions. They had set up makeshift barricades and heavy weapons in advance on the first floor of this building where the Hyperloop station was located.
If there were shield barricades, they would have been easy to set up and dismantle, but those had all been used up long ago. Machine guns could move on their own because they had legs, but the problem was the heavy objects they used as barricades.
There was a shortage of humanoids to quickly move the barricades, and there were naturally no multipurpose war machines. The other option was to use the combat suits’ enhanced strength, but due to the main unit and base being hit, their energy levels were low.
“If a grenade were to go off, the first floor would be completely destroyed. . .”
“The explosion would arouse suspicion from the Crolr.”
The captain gripped the handle of his personal firearm tightly.
“Besides, it’s impossible to defend by going underground. If Crolr firearms are used in such a space, we’ll all perish.”
“But the Colossus and its subordinate unit will definitely pass by here.”
“We can’t help it then.”
“. . . . . .Engage? With the Colossus unit that’s coming now?”
It would be a difficult battle.
However, they could neither hide nor fight right away. Since the Chimeraz were nearby, they might receive support if they held on tenaciously.
They hoped so, but many soldiers would still die.
“I’m sorry to give such an order.”
As the captain said that, the platoon leader smiled bitterly.
“Thinking about what those war-crazy bastards did to my unit, I’m not even afraid. Not just me, I think everyone else feels the same way. After all, we have to protect the civilians underground here, so if we have to do it, I believe everyone will follow.”
“. . . . . .Good. Let’s prepare for combat.”
“Yes. I’ll transmit it through the temporary channel.”
The platoon leader turned on the radio built into his combat suit. Then, he informed the soldiers throughout the building about the situation they would soon face.
🔷🔷🔷
Thanks to the Defaulstellay fleet taking charge of the fleet battle, Nazar was able to focus solely on the ground battle.
‘Modified Crepitus. Target the drop ships first. Cresecters, act as shields moving with the modified Crepitus.’
Designed to fly only once in the atmosphere, the modified Crepitus, slightly smaller than normal Crepitus, drew a curved line from the sky to the ground.
The Cresecter swarm flying with such Crepitus collided with the Crolr air force before they could even bombard the ground.
KABOOOM!!
The modified Crepitus did manage to damage the drop ship. As a result, the Crolr defending the airspace near the drop ship became even more vigilant towards the Cresecter swarm.
Nazar continued to give orders.
‘Second Drop Cyst wave. Cresecters, die in place of the Drop Cysts. Draw their attention by launching plasma bombardments.’
The Crolr had taken over the planet after overwhelming the human forces on this planet.
And now, Nazar was annihilating the Crolr that had spread like a plague on this planet.
‘The scattered Crolr are moving to the drop ships. Ambush them at the choke point.’
He only needed to help with this planet. Once this was over, he could leave when the opportunity arose as they moved to the next planet in the Banished line. Thanks to the humans taking charge of the Crolr fleet, the 30 Lemegetons were all very much intact.
All they had to do was clean up the Crolr on this planet and destroy that pesky drop ship.
‘If I fire the Organic Accelerator Cannon at the drop ship in the city center. . .’
An explosion far greater than what the Crolr Colossus unit had shown would occur in the city center.
That’s why Nazar hesitated.
Somehow, he felt that such a method wouldn’t do.
If his master was watching him right now, he didn’t think his master would recommend such a method. It was just a gut feeling.
‘Lemegetons, each hold your positions.’
Either way, they could win sufficiently even without the orbital bombardment using the Organic Accelerator Cannon of individual Lemegeton warships.
Before he knew it, the second Drop Cyst wave was complete. More Drop Cysts survived than in the first Drop Cyst wave and fell into the city center.
It was then that Nazar detected it.
‘They’re being vigilant on the ground again.’
He saw some Colossus units moving towards the spot where the Drop Cysts had fallen nearby.
‘Let them move. We’ll ignore the Crolr approaching from the outskirts and neutralize the drop ships first. Your mobility is much. . . . . .’
That was what he had in mind, but he couldn’t do that.
Watching the situation in the city center, Nazar was taken aback by the movements of the humans in the city center.
‘What are they doing?’
The remnants of the regular army, which had been well-hidden, appeared on the ground one by one in groups.
They joined the Chimeraz swarm engaged in combat with the Crolr, provided fire support from the windows of tall buildings, or simply attacked the Colossus unit near where the Chimeraz were.
It was as if they had been waiting for the Chimeraz to appear.
‘Those foolish humans. . .! Meddling with my operation on their own!’
They should have just stayed put and pretended to be dead, but they were actually coming out on the battlefield to fight alongside them.
He had planned to neutralize the drop ships first and clean up the remaining Crolr one by one, but now that the humans had suddenly appeared, the scale of the engagement had expanded unnecessarily.
‘Mere infantrymen fighting against the Colossus unit. Do they not know the amount of cost and time invested in their own lives?’
Nazar first moved his children to wherever the fighting was taking place. Targeting the Colossus units before the drop ships was inefficient, but since he would have to deal with the Colossus units eventually, it was better to fight alongside the humans who were throwing away their lives as they pleased.
‘Tritula and Kabana, aim for the Colossus’ legs. It’s the same model as the ones I saw in Warsaw.’
‘Hounz, deal with the Crolr on the ground. Use the alleys and sewers.’
‘Cust, ambush them from above.’
‘Cresecters, take care of the pesky flying objects above the Colossus.’
The sound of the Colossi falling was similar to the sound of a large steel structure collapsing. And whenever such a sound was heard, cheers from humans would occasionally erupt.
Victories began to pile up in the large and small battlefields of the city center.
‘I need to figure out how such output is being generated from that mechanical body.’
‘Retrieve the Crolr’s combat suits and firearms.’
In the meantime, Nazar didn’t forget to collect the spoils of war.
The Colossus units, under the combined attack of the remaining regular army and the Chimeraz, were soon annihilated.
Now, all that remained were a few drop ships and the Crolr gathered at those drop ships.
➖ Leader Nazar, this is the fleet commander.
“Speak.”
➖ Communication with the ground forces has been restored. So, if you have any further plans on the ground, please let me know.
“All we have to do is take care of their ships like we’ve been doing. Just make sure the Crolr fleet doesn’t intervene.”
➖ Understood.
the Chimeraz moved simultaneously at Nazar’s command without even a second of hesitation. They jumped over buildings or surfed waves of broken roads as they moved towards where the drop ships were.
The regular army that had brought down the Colossus units alongside the Chimeraz must have received contact from their headquarters as well, as they each came out of the buildings to regroup. They were counting their numbers, checking their firearms, moving bodies, and carrying the wounded on stretchers.
And the civilians who had not had time to evacuate underground were also coming out of various buildings one by one.
‘Cust, retrieve the fatally wounded children as resources and plant the seed pods.’
In an area where Chimeraz matter was abundantly laid out, injured individuals could recover quickly. However, that was not the case here, so Cust was used in this way to deal with the injured individuals.
THUD!
The Cust swarm devoured their comrades who could no longer fight. They ate the flesh of their dead comrades and the Crolr, and planted seed pods in the dirt of the broken road.
Nazar tried to use resources in such a sparing manner.
‘What are they doing now?’
However, the more he looked at humans, the more he found their behavior incomprehensible.
🔷🔷🔷
The platoon leader, who had barely defended the Hyperloop station building with the support of the Chimeraz, was checking if there were any remaining Crolr in the surrounding blocks.
“Halt.”
He stopped walking while moving through the block with his soldiers.
“What are you doing there?”
Half a dozen people who appeared to be civilians were doing something strange.
Screech. . .
It was a Hounz with tattered hind legs due to gunshot wounds. The civilians were moving such a creature to a commercial building on one side of the road.
“Uh, what?”
“There’s a safe Hyperloop station in the next block. All of you, evacuate there.”
“Haven’t all the Colossus been defeated? All the Crolr around here seem to be dead. . .”
“Even so, evacuate for your safety. Why are you moving that Chimeraz?”
“It’s hurt. Look at its leg.”
The platoon leader was speechless.
He didn’t know how to stop their actions with words.
Or maybe, he had come to the point where he couldn’t even think of a reason why he should stop their actions.
Rattle. . .
The injured Hounz was shivering with its bloody leg.
‘Just a while ago, it was charging towards the Colossus unit like a monster. . .’
The platoon leader’s thoughts stopped there.
‘Like a monster. . . . . .’
Creak. . . Screech. . .
There were more injured Hounz inside the commercial building.
“Someone bring a cutter over here!”
“Did that tough armor get pierced that easily?”
“Bear with the pain. It’ll be over soon.”
“Which one of you is the veterinarian?”
“Those Crolr bastards. . . How many bombs did they drop to give this body burns like this?”
Civilians were bandaging their bodies, removing bullets embedded in their bodies with forceps, and applying drugs that regenerated flesh.
‘Monster. . .’
The word he had unconsciously thought of when he saw the Chimeraz.
The platoon leader and the soldiers with him, of course, were troubled.
Could they really trust the creatures that had ‘harmed many humans in the past’?
Could they fight alongside ‘those things’ in the future against the drop ships that were far away?
Could ‘different species’ and ‘comradeship’ be formed?
Was it right or wrong for them to be treating those injured creatures right now?
It was clear that they had fought alongside those things just a while ago. They were fearsome creatures that seemed like they would never die, never be in pain, or fear their enemies.
Now, those creatures were groaning in pain like this.
What on earth was this feeling that had welled up inside his heart as he looked at those creatures now?
“. . . We’ll just keep moving to the next block. After all, the Colossus unit has been annihilated according to our superiors.”
“Yes, sir.”
The platoon leader ultimately couldn’t stop the civilians’ voluntary act of treatment.
🔷🔷🔷
Nazar thinks.
‘It takes an average of 1 hour for Cust to hatch. It’ll take a little longer in such an urban environment.’
‘Would it be a bit more efficient to leave them to treat the children like that?’
He sees the act of treatment, such as removing bullets surgically and applying a stem cell-based regenerator to repair damaged tissue.
It seemed like it would be a bit faster than killing the injured children and creating new ones.
‘. . . But why?’
Nazar still couldn’t understand.
The beings called humans.
‘Why are they treating my children? Is it the judgment of those non-combatant humans that it is tactically efficient? Before me. . .?’
He couldn’t understand.
Whenever he looked at the humans who were now touching and treating the injured children, he felt a physiological disgust.
And behind that disgust. . .
Maybe somewhere very deep in his head.
It seemed that some judgment was being made in a certain part of his brain’s nervous system that even he wasn’t aware of.
Nazar couldn’t tell what it was.
‘Why are those humans. . . my children. . .’
➖ Nazar, the planet has been successfully recaptured. The drop ships have been destroyed, and our forces will take care of the remaining Crolr on the ground.
‘But. . . humans are supposed to hate Chimeraz, right. . .?”
➖ Nazar? Are you listening?
First, Nazar decided to finish what he was doing, putting aside the unknown agony that had been plaguing his mind.
“I’m listening. I’ll send Lemegeton down to the ground to retrieve my children.”
➖ Understood. Then we’ll proceed with the operation as it is.
All the children and Chimeraz-related structures that had been on the Warsaw satellite had been retrieved, and the children on this planet would also be retrieved soon.
And with the 30 healthy Lemegeton, a ring formation would be established. . .
➖ Oh, by the way, the vice president of the Federation planet you saved asked me to give you his gratitude.
“I don’t need such gratitude.”
With the 30 healthy Lemegeton, establish a ring formation.
➖ Anyway, I relayed his gratitude. We can proceed with the recapture operation to the next planet once we’re ready.
“. . .”
With the 30 healthy Lemegeton.
➖ And even though you said you didn’t need it, as a commander, I have to say this.
➖ Thank you for saving our citizens and soldiers.
➖ I’m counting on you until the next planet too, Nazar.
The 30 Lemegeton were healthy. They could fight more. And the spoils of war obtained from the Crolr could lead to something great. It also seemed like a great opportunity to gain more information on the Crolr’s and humans’ engagements, tactics, and strategies.
It seemed a bit childish to just throw away this operation because he wanted to meet his master right away. It seemed like a hasty judgment.
It also seemed irresponsible to show such a sight as the supposed third-in-command.
There was also a slight feeling of unease that his master wouldn’t like it if he just left them as is and left.
And his actions now would have a considerable impact on the Chimeraz’s reputation among humans.
It was also an undeniable fact that the master had left hope at the species level with the human named Darwin.
He hated the thought of putting his master or his own kind in a difficult position because of him more than death.
And maybe because of that.
Maybe because of that.
“If you still need my strength, shut up and provide more resources, human.”
Nazar decided to finish off Defaulstellay’s Crolr to the end.