Incineration
Tatatatatatata—! The gunship's rotors spun with powerful force, carrying the napalm-laden airframe toward the city. The napalm rockets, crammed to the absolute limit of the takeoff weight, stared down their laser sights, waiting for the moment their targets would appear to be burned.
—Five minutes to the city airspace.—
—Ground forces, deploy.—
Once the gunship pilots announced their arrival time, the radio operators at the comms station issued the deployment order to the fully armed ground troops waiting at the main entrance. The goal was not to rush into the city as quickly as possible, but to eliminate any monsters that fled the flames before they could reach the Ark. Because of this, the soldiers were divided into four groups of 1,500 each. Even so, the faces of the troops gripping their new-model weapons were filled with resolve.
Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!
Red warning lights flashed noisily as the massive main gate began to open. Once it was fully raised, the infantry poured out first, followed by the walkers hauling their heavy frames, and finally the medium trucks bringing up the rear under escort. Oil stains covered the ground beneath the trucks—not from leaks, but from the maintenance crews slathering on excessive lubricant to prevent corpse fragments from jamming the mechanisms.
Rumble—!
The infantry would have preferred to ride in the trucks, but that was impossible. If they did, the walkers would be unable to react quickly enough to monsters charging at high speed. Instead, the infantry advanced on foot, aided by powered exoskeletons. Moreover, since a defensive battle was expected, the trucks' cargo space was already packed with ammunition and medical supplies, leaving no room for passengers anyway.
By the time the outskirts of the city came into view, the commanders signaled a halt with hand gestures. The gunships overhead were already raining napalm; entering the city now risked being caught in the firestorm.
BOOM! KABOOM! FWOOSH—!
If hell had a face, this would be it. Though reduced to ruins, the city still carried the lingering nostalgia of human habitation. Block by block, it was swallowed by flames. Scorching red fireballs exceeding several thousand degrees engulfed the high-rises, and monsters inside, reduced to charred husks, screamed their final death cries before plummeting to their deaths under gravity's pull.
Streetlights that once glowed red, green, and yellow melted and evaporated alongside the asphalt that had already lost its shape under the extreme heat. Even the reinforced concrete buildings could not withstand the inferno; their glass began to run like liquid. What remained of anything that endured were blackened soot and the charred remains of monsters.
When the gunships finally exhausted their ammunition, tens of thousands of monsters—somehow still alive—emerged from the city. Covered in the ash of their incinerated kin, they charged forward through the dying embers, desperate to escape.
From the defensive line at the city's edge, the infantry began to hear the screams of monsters burning alive.
—KREEEEEEE—!
Countless indistinguishable shrieks and roars filled their eardrums with dread, and the sounds were drawing closer. The veterans knew exactly what that meant.
"All units, combat ready!"
"Load one round! Fix bayonets!"
"""Hah!"""
The battle was about to begin—the desperate struggle between monsters fleeing the burning city and the soldiers determined to stop them.
Clack! The walkers leveled their massive bayonets toward the city. Belts of ammunition stretched from their autocannons to the massive drums on their backs. Below them, the infantry established firing positions, spaced evenly like ancient spearmen, their bayonets extended.
Click! Click! Tripods locked into place, and 15mm heavy machine guns were mounted atop them. In the previous battle, mobility had been prioritized with 8mm light machine guns, but this was a static defense. Firepower took precedence, so the heavier weapons had been brought.
Shhhk… After feeding the thick 15x125mm belts into the guns, the soldiers spotted the first monsters bursting from the city. Every single one was on fire, proof they had just fled the inferno still raging behind them.
"Fire! Open fire!"
The commanders bellowed the order until their voices grew hoarse. The soldiers instinctively pulled their triggers. The clatter of spent casings, the screams of monsters, and the infantry's frenzied shouts merged into a deafening roar.
"Mortar teams, commence fire!"
"Number one, fire!"
"Number two, fire!"
Stopping hundreds of thousands of monsters with only 1,500 troops per sector was nearly impossible. That was why the ground forces had produced 120mm mortars and assigned fresh recruits to operate them under veteran supervision. The wisdom of that decision was proven when monsters attempting to flank the line were reduced to chunks of meat.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
—KREEEEE—!
As mortar shells began impacting, the kill zone stretched before the Ark became a scene of utter carnage. Walkers, struggling to reload their depleted drums, engaged massive monsters in brutal melee with their bayonets. Infantry behind sandbags endured acid sprays and bone shards from smaller creatures while burying their heavy machine guns and rifles in spent casings.
"Aim for the mouth! Shove grenades down their throats!"
"Bring more ammo for the machine guns! Hurry!"
"Shit! Where's the spare barrel?! Where is it?!"
Tatatatatata—!
—They're on my legs! I can't move! Someone help!—
—Drum empty! Need reload! Cover me!—
THUD! THUD! THUD!
"Move the ammo faster! Walkers that run dry, drop your drums—we'll handle it!"
"Walkers one, forty-five, thirty-two, and eighty-nine are dry! Begin immediate reload!"
So many monsters surged toward the firing line that it raised the question of why so much napalm had been used in the first place. Radio calls for ammunition and rescue flooded the airwaves, only to dissolve into hollow static. Even so, the gunships continued torching the city.
"The mortar barrels are overheating! If we keep firing, they'll burst!"
"Use your canteens, you idiot! Cool them with water!"
Even mortars built from 22nd-century materials were being temporarily disabled by heat, yet the monsters' assault only grew fiercer. Their homes had been erased, and third-degree burns had pushed their aggression to its peak.
"No! They're breaking through! Fall back! Fall back!"
"Corporal Jamie!!!"
"Forget it! It's too late!"
One by one, soldiers began to fall to tentacles, blades, and teeth.
*
"This is hell."
The words were brief, yet none could better capture what I felt. How many people had once lived in that city? What stories had filled each building? Office workers ordering coffee, part-timers overwhelmed by orders, students scrolling through social media at café tables, shop owners chasing dreams, foodies savoring new restaurants. I was burning it all to ash—the very ground where countless people had built their dreams and loves.
Through the gunships' cameras, through the infantry's radio feeds, the roar of flames reached me from every direction. Even if every last person had died and become monster fodder or worse, my guilt would not lessen. The Ark Controller's purpose was the reconstruction of human civilization. How could torching the very heart of that civilization with napalm serve that goal?
—This is the 3rd Air Squadron. Mission accomplished. Returning for resupply and rearmament.—
But I had no choice. Just as a gunship discards spent rocket pods and mounts autocannons, some things in this world cannot be repaired—they must be remade. The ruined city could no longer serve as humanity's home. It was now nothing more than a breeding ground for monsters and a shameful monument to our defeat—a vast collection of haunted ruins.
This was not slaughter. It was purification. How could the extermination of monsters that had slaughtered humanity be judged on the same scale? The very notion was absurd.
I forced the thought away. My soldiers, the Ark's soldiers, humanity's soldiers, were fulfilling their duty. Killing monsters. Killing them again and again. And when not a single one of those abhorrent creatures remained in humanity's birthplace, their sacred and grueling duty would finally end.