Rescue Operation (3)
The roar —Kwoooaaaar!— sent a wave of primal terror surging through anyone who saw it on the monitors. What in God's name was that thing? Did every monster that devoured a human transform like this? No, there was no time to dwell on it.
"Concentrate all firepower! Walker units, switch to armor-piercing rounds! Gunships, launch rockets!"
-Understood!-
-Commencing fire support!-
The 40mm autocannon shells and anti-tank rockets streaked through the air in a relentless barrage, slamming into the colossal monster. Even a creature of that size had biological limits; chunks of its grotesque flesh tore open, and foul viscera splattered across the rebar. Yet the monster continued its relentless advance, jaws yawning wide as it began vomiting the smaller creatures it had been storing inside its body.
-Shit! They're pouring out from inside it!-
-Infantry, fall back!-
-Aaaagh!-
"Damn it..."
The sight defied belief. Was that hundred-meter frame meant for troop transport? Hundreds of smaller monsters spilled forth, overwhelming the riflemen at the front line and turning them into prey. The infantry were simply outnumbered.
"What are you all doing? Kill that thing before our casualties become catastrophic!"
-Our fire is too dispersed. We can't concentrate enough damage on it!-
"Goddamn it!"
The defensive net had fractured in an instant. To make matters worse, the gunships could no longer risk firing with friendly forces so close to the target. Fortunately, the monster's internal reserves finally ran dry—mass conservation had its limits even for nightmares—and the enraged soldiers poured everything they had into it: rockets, autocannon rounds, grenades, and low-velocity grenades. At last, the colossal beast collapsed.
"...Report casualties."
-Over fifty infantry and four walkers lost. Do we continue?-
"We have no choice but to push through. Are the civilians safe?"
-Yes. The heavy trucks remain undamaged.-
"Then use this window to rearm and reorganize. I'll leave local command to the on-site officers."
-Understood.-
The losses were heavier than anticipated, but retreat was not an option. Night had fallen by the time the exhausted troops finished resupplying, yet they pressed forward in grim silence, opening shelter after shelter and extracting the civilians within.
-This shelter only held 140 people.-
"I see..."
The deeper they pushed into the city, the worse the conditions became. Earlier shelters had housed thousands—some on the verge of internal conflict over dwindling supplies, others filled only with children. The fiercest fighting had shifted from the front to the rear, where the heavy trucks waited. The monsters had realized the trucks carried non-combatants; once night fell, they ignored the forward line and hurled themselves at the convoy, nearly causing disaster.
-Haa... haa...-
"Are you all right?"
-The men are at their limit. The stimulants are keeping them on their feet for now, but if we can't rotate them by tomorrow morning, I don't know how much longer they'll last.-
"Stay strong. Only four shelters remain."
-Yes.-
While the soldiers grew more accustomed to the fighting and casualties decreased, their fatigue mounted in direct proportion. The awakening agents injected through their powered exoskeletons kept them moving, but in this hellish urban battle—where every step demanded another magazine change—human endurance was draining far faster than expected. The civilians inside the trucks fared no better, forced to endure the constant assault while trapped in metal boxes. The elderly and children were the worst off; many had descended into full panic or collapsed unconscious from sheer terror.
One by one the shelters were cleared. At last, every civilian in the western district had been rescued—17,000 souls in total. Each one would become a vital asset to the Ark.
"Just a little farther. Once we return, you'll have time to rest properly."
-I know. Haa... haa... Damn... the side effects are hitting hard.-
"Make it back safely."
The air units could rotate crews regularly and thus avoided the worst of the exhaustion, but the ground forces—now engaged in continuous high-intensity combat for over seventeen hours—were visibly deteriorating. An hour earlier, a fatigued pilot had nearly crushed infantry beneath his walker. The soldiers' voices over the radio were thick with fatigue; their defensive formations grew porous, and the gunships had to plug the gaps.
The heavy trucks themselves had taken little direct damage and continued to function, though the maintenance crews were struggling to clear the monster corpses jammed in the drive shafts. Designed to carry thousands through harsh terrain, they were still not true military vehicles; the debris-strewn streets threatened to strand them at any moment. The combat walkers were holding up mechanically, but the corrosive monster blood and the constant embedding of concrete shards, rebar, and glass into their joints meant they would soon require full servicing. The infantry exoskeletons faced the same problem.
"I never expected resource consumption to be this severe..."
The prediction had become reality, and the implications were staggering. Even if the Ark could sustain itself indefinitely, this level of expenditure meant that after the rescue operation, the military would be forced into a period of total inactivity.
"Gunships, begin rocket bombardment to clear a path for the ground forces."
-Copy. Commencing rocket strikes.-
Somehow the monsters kept regenerating along the route they had already cleared. Yet the anti-air threats had been eliminated earlier, and the remaining ground creatures stood no chance against the deluge of fire from above. They burned to blackened husks on the asphalt.
[Ground forces have crossed half the urban district.]
A sigh escaped me. This city devoured time whether one was entering or leaving. Escorting the slow heavy trucks forced a reduced pace, and the damaged roads required constant detours. Everyone—ground troops, gunship pilots, communications, and myself—was stretched to the breaking point. The radio chatter had devolved into curses and battle cries; the civilians inside the trucks had long since collapsed into exhausted sleep.
When the ground forces finally returned safely, exactly twenty-four hours had passed. My ambitious plan to complete the operation within a single day had succeeded, yet I felt no satisfaction whatsoever.
*
"Please disembark. We have arrived at the Ark."
"Ugh..."
"Careful. Watch your step."
At the main entrance, sprawled soldiers and hollow-eyed civilians formed a stark contrast to the alert police officers standing by. Normally they would have eaten and showered before sleeping, but given the hour and the civilians' extreme exhaustion, rest came first. Once all 17,000 refugees had been assigned quarters, the next problem revealed itself: the soldiers.
Though fewer in number, each man wore full combat load plus powered exoskeleton—over 220 kilograms per person. Without powered assistance, the police could not move them.
"...What do we do?"
"...Good question."
In the end, the soldiers remained where they had fallen until the next morning, when the exoskeletons automatically injected awakening agents and forced them upright. Even then, the aftereffects left them staggering and vomiting bile. Only after removing their gear, eating, and showering did they begin to recover their strength. The true screams of despair, however, came from the technicians tasked with repairing the walkers—every joint corroded, every surface coated in monster remains.