Chapter 370 – Exile (12)
Our appearance boosted the morale of the Russian Allied Forces and at the same time had the effect of stopping Exile.
“In times like this, being an animal helps.”
Although they fall far short of their abnormal ferocity, emotions such as curiosity and embarrassment also exist.
A huge piece of metal floating in the sky making a loud noise. That was enough to steal Exile’s attention and thoughts, even if only for a moment.
It won’t work any better if you learn helicopters in the future.
“All troops stop shooting. Please wait a moment.”
During the melee, some Russian soldiers mixed with Exile attempted to escape for a few precious seconds.
“If they resume their pursuit, fire immediately.”
[It probably doesn’t have much meaning, does it?]
“If only one person could be saved by waiting a few seconds…”
Before I could finish speaking, the helicopters opened fire.
It’s not that Artemis disobeyed orders, but the Exiles resumed their charge.
The cause was artillery fire from Russian armored units.
[What are you doing? Tank commanders, keep shooting!]
The Russian command’s orders spread over the airwaves.
Thanks to this, the Exiles, who had stopped for a while, resumed their battle.
[When I said it was meaningless, I meant this. They don’t seem to care about the safety of their escaping allies.]
“…”
It was a spectacular sight to see the attack helicopters forming a line and firing in unison.
Kwaaaaa!!!
As 11 chain guns fired fire, the seemingly wide battlefield was split in two.
The divided and weakened Russian Allied Forces and Exile trying to attack them.
Between them, a border of yellow bullets was drawn. The Exiles who tried to get by without permission were smashed and left lying around.
“Prepare incendiary bombs.”
[Loading complete.]
I wanted to fire chemical bombs, but if I did that, the Russian military would also get involved.
“Firing! “Let’s start hunting.”
Instead, a bunch of incendiary rockets were launched.
They targeted the outskirts of the Exiles, not the center.
Although it is weaker than the high-explosive bomb series in terms of destructive power, the true value of incendiary bombs lies in their ability to dominate an area.
“Keueeek-!”
The Exiles run to avoid the storm of flames that swirl with tremendous force.
A wall of flames created by dozens of incendiary bombs! There were quite a few that leaked through gaps, but there were many more whose escape route was blocked.
The Russian Allied forces quickly concentrated their firepower on the driven men.
Bang!
Kwaang!
Every time the tanks’ main guns roared, the Exiles were caught in a dilemma, with flames behind them and shells in front.
30 mm chain guns and rockets rained down overhead.
[Descent!]
The stalker unit jumped out of the helicopter.
Their mission is to kill scattered and fleeing entities.
And it is the rescue of survivors who saved their lives in the fighting area.
The tunnel and the Exiles that came out of it had separate owners.
Boo!
When several combat helicopters arrived near the tunnel, they lowered their altitude.
To put it bluntly, it is a height that falls within the attack range of Exile, which has excellent jumping ability.
“Krrrr-!”
In fact, the quick-witted guys were already watching the liver as they prepared to run.
At that time, the purifier that was fastened to the bottom of the combat helicopter was disconnected.
A large object falling diagonally forward due to inertia turns its body round.
Exile, who had just come out of the tunnel, quickly dodged a chunk of metal that flew like an oversized bowling ball.
“Krrrrl?!”
But the guy who came out next had no time to avoid it. I just open my eyes wide and take it in with my body.
Kwaaang!
Exile spews blood and flies like a bowling pin.
On the other hand, the Purifier rolled around and stopped with spikes planted on the ground.
The surrounding Exiles approach the decisive battle weapon, which stands up and enters a battle stance, with ferocious faces.
“Krrrr-.”
“I got a card!”
The way he ran wild even as his colleagues died countless times seemed like faint traces of an infection.
[Kkieeeeek!!!]
But even the Purifier can’t stand the loudness and violence.
With a loud roar, the two six-barrel barrels of the raised arms rotated furiously.
The minigun loaded with high explosive and slug bullets instead of pellets spat out bullets furiously.
The heads of the approaching Exiles break, their limbs fall off, their abdomen explodes and their intestines scatter.
They attempted a siege targeting the flanks and rear, but to no avail.
The Purifier’s waist rotated 360 degrees, turning all enemies in its path into pieces of meat.
After clearing the surroundings, the decisive battle weapon heads to the main target, the tunnel.
Now, the momentum of the Exile hordes coming out has significantly decreased, as if they were close to being annihilated.
Poop!
As soon as a few people put their heads out of the tunnel, slug bullets rained down and destroyed them.
Tung!
Tootong!
Two grenades were fired from both shoulders of the Purifier into the entrance.
Puhwaaaaak!
The sound of tear gas exploding is heard and poisonous gas spreads through the tunnel.
A loud coughing sound was heard, and several animals came out of the burrow and immediately split up.
Meanwhile, stalkers are beginning to infiltrate certain tunnels.
Aside from the tunnel monster opening a passage from the Exile nest to the Russian camp, this is the hole it dug as it escaped.
“He did a great job at the beginning of the battle, but suddenly I’m worried about not being able to see him. “Follow the oysters.”
[Roger.]
A group of two stalkers jumped into the tunnel carrying 12.7 mm combat rifles, which were advantageous for mobility.
The screen is sent to me. Because there were no Exiles inside, rapid forward movement was possible.
“Is the ground soft? “I don’t see any protruding rocks or anything like that.”
[Because it is a good place to dig, they probably used it as a breeding den. Neither ants nor bumblebees build nests in rocky soil.]
“That’s true too.”
[But it is also true that this monster is advantageous when fighting or hunting foreign enemies. Isn’t the site selection taking those aspects into consideration as a whole?]
“I think I’m overestimating them too much, but there’s no harm in being careful.
A drone carrier monitoring the battlefield from a high altitude captured ground vibrations.
[The guy moves.]
“Did you notice what we were chasing?”
Since they are active underground, their eyesight and hearing are unlikely to have been developed, and they would be sensitive to vibration.
However, even a stalker is not inferior in speed, endurance, and sense of darkness.
The one who runs away while digging the tunnel in the first place and the one who chases after him. It is obvious which of the two will have the advantage.
“Even though the ground is soft, it’s amazing speed. “If we can tame it, there will be a revolution in the coal mining industry.”
[What kind of ridiculous joke is this?]
Although he was scolded by Artemis, it is honestly a coveted ability.
I’ve never thought about taming strange mutant infectious agents even as a joke, but that tunnel monster is an exception. Is this the DNA of a sapper?
[I will launch a separate pursuit drone.]
The fleeing tunnel monster and the pursuing stalker are now so far away that it is no longer possible to capture them at a glance with a drone carrier.
“Wait a minute, it seems like I’m losing speed?”
The speed subtly decreased, as if it had encountered solid ground.
[Not yet at a significant level…]
Artemis’ rebuttal was cut off midway. This is because it decreased to almost the speed of a walking person and stopped completely a few seconds later.
“Aren’t they born to be unpredictable?”
After waiting for a while, the stalkers caught up with the tunnel monster.
The tail of a huge, ugly carapace fills up the oyster.
The wriggling thing is clearly alive, but there is no resistance.
[It is an entity that moves in one direction, so if you follow it from behind, you will inevitably be exposed.]
“Oh, there must have been such a weakness.”
I wondered why he ran away so hard despite his huge weight class.
Today’s stalkers are like gut rats that sink their teeth into the soles of people caught in pipes.
“If I shoot a gun like this, will it go from the buttocks through the intestines and reach the brain? “Even if it’s 12.7 mm, it’s still too much for the head.”
[It’s rude…]
Even while making jokes, the tunnel monster still didn’t move.
“Foxtrot No. 4. “Put a few rooms on the outskirts of Gungdungjak.”
Bang bang bang!
Yellow flowers bloomed three times in the dark cave, and blood splattered.
[Grunt-!]
A dull roar rang out and the guy struggled. As a result, dirt falls from the ceiling.
“Even like this, he won’t run away.”
[Could it be that I am tired?]
Foxtrot No. 4 Stalker got closer and stopped right in front.
The body of the tunnel monster was shaking like an athlete after finishing a marathon.
[This is an enormous digging force that is impossible with any existing heavy equipment. No matter how monster he is, it makes no sense to unleash such power indefinitely.]
“Well, infectious agents are also people who follow the rules of reality, such as breathing.”
[Wouldn’t even a tool become a military weapon depending on the situation? I think this monster’s original mission was to build and expand its nest.]
“Maybe so. “If it was an entity born for battle from the beginning, there was no need to replace hundreds of Exiles before it appeared.”
But thinking about it this way gives me even more goosebumps.
This means that in a situation where you are surprised, you can have flexible ideas that utilize existing resources in a different direction.
Chwii!
The stalker lit a flare.
[Grrrr-!]
Even though I burned its bottom here and there with the burning red flames, it only wriggled and did not move forward.
It seems to be true that in a crisis situation in the nest, they were exhausted as they used all their strength to dig the tunnel to its limit.
The stalkers who were chasing other tunnels soon discovered the tail of the tunnel monster that had stopped.
“Shall we capture him alive? These guys seem to have a lot of research to do in many ways.”
[How would you transport a monster bigger than a bus buried under the ground to the laboratory? There is no way to arrest someone of that weight and strength.]
“Then just kill me?”
[Let’s hold off for now. Because dissection is possible in any condition. Even if I kill you when I kill you, I want to keep you alive for a long time.]
“Everyone heard, right? If he tries to run away, put a bullet in him. Just don’t miss it.”
Even though she said that, Artemis also seemed to have some regrets and interests, and the engineering corps carrying the Hercules arrived from the shelter.
Meanwhile, the battle on land is also being resolved.
From the beginning, both the Russian Allied Forces and Exile suffered heavy losses, leading to a war of attrition.
The 11 attack helicopters that intervened there, and the special forces deployed ended the war in one fell swoop.
The barrel of the machine gun on top of the Humvee is bright red. The soldier released the trigger with a trembling hand and fell down on the seat, sobbing.
The tank commanders, with only their upper bodies sticking out from the tank lid, made the sign of the cross, prayed with their hands together, or cupped their faces.
The few remaining Al infantrymen also sat down on the ground, as their legs seemed to have lost their strength. There were many people who were vomiting or sobbing.
The word that comes to their mind now is probably closer to survival than to victory.
Perhaps the PTSD from the terrible infection war may have recurred.
* * *
A secret communication line was opened.
[If I had known this would happen, I would have asked for your help from the beginning.]
General Konstantin, commander of the Allied forces, spoke in a dying voice. Look 10 years older in just a few hours.
The battle in which armor, aviation, and special operations forces combined for the first time since the Infection War was truly overwhelming.
Even though the Allied Forces suffered a heavy blow, the damage would have been much less if they had fought together from the beginning.
At the very least, there was a possibility that helicopters in the air could block the advance of the tunnel bugs by firing missiles at them.
“Since the beginning of history, involving foreign troops has been a taboo of taboos.”
I answered in an ambiguous tone, as if it was comforting or not.
I understand his justification, but war is evaluated by its results.
It is always low-ranking officers and soldiers who die fighting on the front lines.
Now, I wield absolute power, but I can’t look at it kindly because I’ve been shedding blood and sweat for a long time.
[Our military’s operations end here. I want to collect the troops and retreat like this…]
“Even if I can’t escort you on the way home, I will take care of cleaning up this area and destroying the nest.”
[Thank you.]
General Constantine spoke as if he had no shame.
“We can expect cooperation in future activities, right? I don’t want anything very difficult. All we have to do is provide bases and local information for our troops to rest and maintain.”
[We have already reached an agreement with the commanders. Although it is not a large amount, we will also provide oil.]
“I’ll just take your heart. “We use aviation fuel.”
Hehe.]
The general’s smile over the communicator really had a lot of meaning.
Meanwhile, among the Exiles who left the battlefield, those who fled to the west, south, and east were all killed by the chasers.
However, they did not kill those fleeing north. The drone carrier quietly followed behind.
