38. Can't Hide It Anymore. (3)
...First time seeing one this big. A helicopter like this... Even back in the military, I'd never seen anything like it.
The US commander spoke up. "CH-47 Chinook. This is our transport for hauling weapons from Humphreys Base all the way to the Lincoln nuclear carrier. Length of 51 feet... uh, about 15 meters, with front-to-back propellers spanning... around 30 meters? It can airlift 10 tons of cargo or personnel."
I turned to Seong Ga-yeon. She furrowed her brows and said, "Converting feet to meters is a pain. I just roughly multiplied by three. Why?"
...I hadn't even known there was a unit called feet. I pulled down the corner of my mouth and gave her a thumbs-up. Tearing my gaze from her pursed lips, I looked back up at the Chinook.
Two propellers. End to end, 30 meters. Air transport, 10 tons.
...Fucking massive.
In the hangar where sunlight streamed in squarely onto the floor, four Chinooks sat lined up side by side. No wonder the white building had looked huge even from the sky—this was why. It was housing four of these monsters. Did the white building next door hold fighter jets too?
The US commander said, "We got lucky. A decent number of Chinook pilots survived. We can operate two at a time."
I stared up at the helicopter, murmuring in a groan, "...That's... fortunate."
We could really use one of these. No clue what we'd use it for or where to park it, but damn, it just looked too cool. The sleek, hefty fuselage exuded pure intimidation. Something you'd only see in movies.
...Four Chinooks...
"Got more of these?"
The US commander nodded. "Four more in the next hangar. We have fighters too, but no pilots left to fly them. They all died on D-Day."
I nodded slowly and glanced at Seong Gyu-hyuk. "Don't we have helicopter and plane pilots at Seo Rae Village? Captain Park and Captain Kim."
Seong Gyu-hyuk leaned in close to whisper in my ear. "Chinooks need a crew of three. Captain Park can't handle it alone. The fighters are probably F-35s, but I'm not sure Captain Kim can fly them properly. He got discharged young."
...Hm. Not a circle or an X, but a triangle, huh. Gear's there, but no one to use it...
I smacked my lips and nodded. Four heavy transport helos that could carry 10 tons each at once. With two operational, that's 20 tons per trip. They planned to haul all the small arms and explosives from Pyeongtaek US Military Base with these.
The problem was the people. Max capacity on two Chinooks, crammed tight, would be around 60-70. But we had 400 people. No telling how many round trips it'd take. We didn't even know the Lincoln carrier or its battle group's status. Transporting people would leave the rest exposed to danger, and splitting forces for defense was dicey too. Dispersed firepower would just make them easy pickings for the beasts drawn by the chopper noise—perfect for getting picked off one by one.
I turned to the US commander. "So, how can we help?"
We'd come out here to talk, but even after seeing the transport helos, I had no idea what the Americans were planning. They weren't just hauling cargo, and they wouldn't split people to divide firepower either. Hell, even I'd think of that, so no way a US commander would.
The US commander nodded and beckoned. "The northern mountains and forests of Humphreys Base. Our recon drones' infrared footage shows that's where the beasts are massing for a wave. Sorry, but the monsters you took down yesterday? Barely a fraction."
Figured. I'd killed a cat and run into a dog pack, but that couldn't be all of them. Mountains and forest. Even to the naked eye, it was an enormous area. Probably crawling with them.
I nodded, waiting for him to continue. The US commander said, "We're not sitting around waiting for them to attack. We're forming a special ops team to wipe out the beasts in the forest..."
Seong Ga-yeon trailed off mid-translation.
All our Special Forces guys looked up at the US commander. I was staring too. I could feel my brows knitting together.
...Did he just say wipe out?
"...You mean kill the entire beast wave in those mountains? You know how many are in there?"
The US commander smiled. "That's the goal. There are countless beasts, big and small, crammed into those mountains and woods. We can't kill them all. Our targets are their leaders."
"...Leaders?"
The US commander nodded. "We've identified three. A white-furred monster dog. A wild boar. And bats. They're all huge, but each pack has one standout giant. We call those the leaders."
...Leaders, huh?
The US commander turned and started walking, gesturing for me to follow. As he did, he added, "As you saw with the Chinooks, our transport is air-based. Taking out the dog and boar leaders is key, but that massive bat blocking the skies has to go."
I followed him toward the barracks and asked, "So 'wipe out' doesn't mean the whole horde—just killing those three big ones."
People crowded close to hear the conversation and translate. With the hangar doors closing behind us, I listened to Seong Ga-yeon's interpretation.
"That's about right. Ideally, we'd thin their numbers in the process. Hell, if we could actually exterminate every last beast in those mountains."
The US commander glanced back at me with a smile. "Can't just burn the whole mountain down. Fire spreading to villages would devastate the survivors who've made it this far since D-Day."
I nodded slowly. Then I asked, "I saw the dog leader yesterday."
A massive white-furred dog that must've been a normal Jindo before the end times. Big as a whole house.
"How big are the boar and bat?"
The US commander smiled. "The dog leader showed up at that village yesterday. Because it's the weakest."
"...Weakest?"
That house-sized thing?
The US commander nodded. "Weakest of the leaders. Dog pack... travels in a group, so it's held territory even amid all these beasts ripping each other apart. Pushed down to the mountain base, feeding on human monsters by the river. That's why we saw it yesterday. But the boar's different."
As we climbed the barracks stairs, the US commander continued. "It's at the heart of that beast wave. Like the king of the mountain. If it comes down, it's catastrophe."
...Bigger than the dog, at least. From the sound of it, bigger than a damn elephant. A crazy monster like that holed up in the mountains.
"What about the bat?"
"They're in a cave."
The US commander said that and chuckled. Why laugh?
"No cave that size in the mountains, apparently. The bat swarm clustered in the middle of the range, then burrowed into the earth and made their own. Holed up there. But we've observed it multiple times."
Burrowed their own cave?
I followed the US commander into the briefing room and asked, "The bats are big too?"
The commander glanced at me. "You just saw the Chinook... right?"
Seong Ga-yeon trailed off again. I stopped in my tracks.
...Did he say Chinook?
...The bat?
The US commander sat in a chair. He barked something in English at a white soldier beside him, who headed out. The commander gestured for me to sit, smiling. "Day's hot—sent him for canned Coke from the vending machine. Any drinks you don't like?"
Man, that's not the issue right now.
I pulled up a chair, rested my elbows on the table. My hands clasped together without thinking. Staring at the US commander, I asked, "You said we could take them on. How exactly do you plan to do it?"
The US commander smiled. "We've got SOC-R Riverines. And Humphreys hugs the river."
Seong Ga-yeon's face lit up as she translated, and so did Seong Gyu-hyuk's. Me? No clue what a SOC-R Riverine was or whatever.
What the fuck is that?
Seong Gyu-hyuk caught my expression and whispered, "They're called river gunboats. Armed with nine heavy weapons including a minigun. Crew carries personal and support arms too. Insane firepower for their size."
...Doesn't ring a bell.
The US commander said, "River for Riverine ops means no firepower issues. Problem was getting deep into the mountains."
He looked at me and smiled. "Until you showed up."
...Ah.
Now I got it.
...Form a special ops team. What he's saying is, get me to go into the mountains, lure the leaders down to the river. So their boats can hose them down and finish the job.