20 The Attack from Beneath

Toot! A horn sounded from the distance. Anyone who came to planet Alpha for the first time would think that this was a pleasing sound. However, for the 106th Division soldiers who had been fighting for a few days there, the sound instantly got on their nerves because they knew that it signaled the attack of the insectoids.

"There it is!" Qin Hao had quickly found the source of the horn sound using his enhanced vision. It came from a relatively small insectoid, about 50 or 60 centimeters long with a horn-like organ that could emit a clarion sound on its head.

Toot!

Toot!

Horns sounded around High Ground Z3 following the first call. Apparently, the insectoids were starting to attack.

The insectoids' shrieks filled the air as all giant beetles charged toward High Ground Z3.

Gauss Cannons started to bombard the battlefield, blasting hundreds of giant beetles into pieces. But as soon as these giant beetles fell, more came from behind, stepping on their corpses as they charged forward. There were more giant beetles than the Gauss Cannons could kill.

As the insectoids came within shooting range, the 106th Mechanized Infantry Division soldiers started to fire their electromagnetic rifles. The heavy rain of bullets blew the giant beetles into pieces.

"The eastern front has been overwhelmed! Requesting for reinforcements!"

"The southeastern front has been overwhelmed! Requesting for reinforcements!"

...

Since Qin Hao was a bodyguard, he was staying in the command center with James and listening to the calls for help.

As the battle raged on, almost every battlefront was struggling to hold the line. The giant beetles were vulnerable to firepower from the Federation Army, but they were starting to overwhelm the humans with their sheer number. 

"A large number of giant commander beetles are coming from the southeast, Commander! We can't stop them!" James' adjutant had to shout to be heard in front of James because of the ear-shattering shrieks and loud firepower.

"Abandon position and fall back to the second line of defense. Activate the land mines between the first and second lines of defense!" James ordered. He knew how tough the giant commander beetles were, and the rudimentary outer defensive wall was not going to hold up. If his soldiers held on to the first line of defense, it would only cause great casualties on his side.

Right then, James could sacrifice space for a time. Once air reinforcements arrived, he could recapture the lost ground again. All he needed to do was preserve his strength.

At that moment, the command center's bunker shook violently.

"A large number of plasma worms have been detected in the northwest, Sir!" the adjutant shouted.

"Radar lock-on, then blow them to hell with the Gauss Cannons!" James shouted back. Compared with the giant commander beetles, the plasma worms posed an even greater threat as their plasma could kill anyone and destroy anything, including the Gauss Cannons. So, it was crucial that once these bugs were detected, they were destroyed at once.

"Yes, Sir!" The radar quickly locked on the plasma worms' position. The insectoids could learn quickly and always changed their positions after shooting plasma. Nevertheless, their movements were too clumsy, and before they could move out of their original positions, the heavy firepower from the humans had blown them into million pieces.

Just then, the bunker shook again, and the source of the tremor came from underground.

"Damn it! Those bugs are really coming from underground!" James spat. Luckily, they had finished constructing High Ground Z3 and laid 30-centimeter-thick metal alloy flooring. As skilled at boring as the insectoids were, they were not going to bore through the thick metal alloy floor. It was a lesson learned after the Federation Army suffered several surprise attacks from underground.

Qin Hao was sitting on the side and breathing through his mouth. He was not required to go to the battlefield to fight because he was now James' bodyguard, but at the same time, he could not help with anything at the command center.

Yet another violent tremor came as if something was hitting the metal alloy flooring in a frenzy.

Qin Hao had a bad feeling about it. The numb sensation on the back of his neck hit him again—it was his danger intuition.

"It's safe here, Sir!" Qin Hao shouted. He now trusted his intuition more since it had turned out to be accurate during previous battles.

"The metal alloy flooring here is twice as thick as other places. It should be fine, I guess?" James said, apparently having two minds about which to believe: the metal alloy flooring or Qin Hao.

Boom!

Another forceful pounding came, and everyone except Qin Hao was thrown to the ground because flooring had started to bulge. A few female officers were sent flying, and they hit their heads hard on the table.

No matter how solid the metal alloy flooring was, it was not a one-piece construction. As the pounding continued, the rivets that held several pieces of metal alloy flooring together were starting to give way one after another. The floor had not been broken yet, but everyone knew it was no longer safe.

"Get out! Get out of here!" Qin Hao brought James along as they jumped out of the command center at once while the other military officers followed.

"Aim two Gauss Cannons at the command center! Surround this place with three battalions!" James collected himself and quickly prepared for the worse. He knew that if the creature could burst through the metal alloy flooring, ordinary soldiers would not be able to kill it without the Gauss Cannons.

Not long after, Qin Hao and everyone else ran out of the command center bunker. Two counts of loud sounds came from within, and the entire bunker collapsed.

A massive insectoid head burst out of the bunker. The insectoid looked like a snake, earthworm, or something. Its exposed body was seven or eight meters long and around two meters in diameter. It was truly a behemoth.

What was more terrifying was that this insectoid had no eyes, no nose, or any other facial features except for a dozen rows of sharp teeth that looked like a meat grinder. Since it could grind through massive rock, it was not hard to imagine how a person would end up like if he or she got caught in that mouth.

"Fire!" As soon as the insectoid reared its ugly head, two shots of Gauss Cannon hit its body. But this giant worm's skin was too tough for Gauss Cannons. Their shots bounced away and did not explode anywhere near the worm.