Capture (1)
After countless twists and turns, we finally succeeded in rescuing every last survivor from Sieberstadt. The operation that began at dawn stretched on until the moon pushed the sun from the sky and became the sole source of light overhead. [Current Ark population: 74,240.]
"Hah. After everything, we’re at 7.4 now." We had started with 7,400 and reached 74,000. Exactly ten times the original number. If we could multiply that by ten once more, I would have no complaints.
This operation had yielded significant gains: a replenished population, and most importantly, confirmation that the monsters were drawn to communication signals. I still had no idea how they detected those signals, but we had verified it firsthand. The information was solid.
"Well then… time to put the grunts to work."
The phrasing was crude, but nothing beat using live, intact specimens over mangled corpses for testing. The research wing, once staffed by only three people, now housed hundreds of scientists. It was time to begin proper experiments.
With that thought, I contacted Commander Alfonso.
*
"Sir? You want us to capture the monsters alive? And by company size?"
"That’s right. Direct order from the Controller. As you all know, those things can detect comms signals. That’s a real pain in the ass for us. So we need to dissect them and figure out how they’re doing it."
"In that case…"
"Exactly. Bring them back alive. The air force has had all the fun so far. Time for you ground-pounders to get some exercise, don’t you think?"
Commander Alfonso addressed his regimental commanders. "By the way, the 5th and 6th Regiments are excluded from this operation. You still have the walls to guard, and most of your troops haven’t even finished training."
The commanders of the 5th and 6th Regiments exhaled in relief. Sending raw recruits who had never faced a monster into a live-capture mission was a recipe for annihilation. Yet that also meant the burden would fall entirely on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Armored Regiments. The veteran commanders shot the newcomers with resentful glares, though the order itself remained unchanged.
"One question, sir… How exactly are we supposed to capture them? All we have are lethal weapons. We have no means of effectively subduing them."
Colonel Gerard Miller, newly promoted to regimental command, raised his hand. Even the largest monsters could fit inside a heavy truck’s cargo bed, but these were no puppies to be caged. How were they supposed to restrain creatures that could turn a moment’s carelessness into a dead Walker pilot?
"Don’t worry. Take a look at this first."
"This is…?"
"A net?"
The commander played a pre-apocalypse advertisement. A massive net launched from a moving robot, contracted on impact, and delivered an electric shock through its joints, perfectly immobilizing the target.
"The Controller said the design was stored in the mainframe. No idea why, but this net should be more than capable of subduing the monsters. Even if it looks fragile, it’s made of carbon nanotubes. It won’t break easily."
The three regimental commanders’ expressions eased slightly. The self-contracting property was dubious, but the electric shock seemed promising.
"Distribution has already begun. From now on, suspend regular training and begin specialized drills. Understood?"
"""Yes, sir!"""
With that, Commander Alfonso dismissed them. The commanders left the command center and returned to their units to brief their troops.
"Hah…"
The soldiers’ reactions were exactly what one would expect: they really did not want to do this.
*
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Orders were orders. The troops trained with nets, using Walkers in place of actual monsters. The hydraulically driven Walkers moved far more sluggishly than the nimble creatures, but they made decent moving targets.
"Aim!"
Click!
"Fire!"
Whoosh—!
The net gun, resembling a harpoon launcher, fired. The net enveloped the Walker in an instant. The pilot struggled, trying to tear free, but the resilient mesh only stretched. The electric discharge wasn’t enough to damage the systems, yet it caused constant interference that made precise hydraulic control nearly impossible. Eventually the Walker was fully immobilized and transmitted a "pilot incapacitated" signal.
"Interesting… The performance is quite good. A military Walker subdued that easily."
The net had originally been designed to let civilians and security forces restrain Walkers during coups or rebellions. The soldiers, unaware of that history, simply marveled that civilian tech had bested military hardware.
"What are you standing around for? Remove the net. Performance looks acceptable."
At the regimental commander’s order, the maintenance crew detached the net. Only after it was gone could the Walker stand again. A quick inspection revealed no damage beyond the need to reset the hydraulic control systems.
Once the Walker returned to the hangar, the commander and technicians discussed the net gun’s limitations.
"It works on Walkers, but the range is too short for monsters. Some of them have tentacles. Thirty meters won’t cut it. Get that close and you’ll be skewered before you can fire."
"Hmm… Extending the barrel would increase range, but the net won’t deploy properly. We might manage the smaller ones, but…"
The net gun’s range made it dangerous for infantry, yet lengthening the barrel would add weight, hinder handling, and prevent the net from spreading correctly. Even if a Walker pinned a monster, firing risked netting both, and the creatures certainly wouldn’t cooperate.
"Damn it. In actual combat my body took the beating. Now my head’s doing the suffering. Can’t we just redesign this for Walkers?"
"No way, sir. If we scale it to what a Walker can carry, the net won’t deploy. It’ll just crumple."
The technicians waved off the idea. Even if they kept the barrel and firing mechanism the same and only enlarged the body, a miss would require swapping the entire barrel. Ammunition storage would become cumbersome, and the smaller size would make reloading nearly impossible with a Walker’s massive fingers. Against fast-moving monsters, a single-use net that left the pilot defenseless was an unacceptable risk.
"Wait a second. Does it have to be standalone?"
"Hm?"
One technician’s eyes lit up. "Infantry already use underbarrel grenade launchers, right? We only need to control the barrel and trigger assembly. Mount it under the autocannon. Infantry stay safe, Walkers keep their main weapons, and everyone wins. Think of it as an oversized grenade."
The commander and the other technicians simultaneously smacked their foreheads.
"You’re a goddamn genius. I’ll make sure you get that promotion."
"How did you even come up with that? An oversized grenade…"
"That’s what they mean by thinking outside the box…"
The radical redesign of the net gun passed through the commander to the Controller, who issued a special order promoting the technician who had suggested it to squad leader.