19 Attack on Veil Spiders

Seeing there was an army of spiders, the soldiers were alarmed.

Inside the helicopter unit-1, they assessed the spiders with binoculars. Lieutenant Mars was surprised. "Hell, I saw these things in a movie."

They were in disbelief as they sat down and conversed inside the helis. "Looks like we are in an alien world, eh?"

"When the vice-president said that we aren't on earth, she wasn't wrong."

"Lieutenant, let's report to the general."

They reported back to Vesna. They described the spiders in detail based on what they observed. There were three types of spiders. The smallest one was the most numerous, it was the size of a drum. They could crawl fast through the terrain.

The medium-sized ones were only a few but they could leap several feet up. It was a threat to the choppers. And the largest one was visible above the forest. They could see its body in full detail. It was as large as a mansion as it moved through the dense woods.

They had to rely on binoculars to see the smallest one. These were a terrifying enemy.

At least the country was now warned with their report.

For now, a retreat was a better call. The CH-53 wasn't designed to take out an army of enemies. It was a transport vehicle. Though, the military soldiers had assault rifles with them like AR-15, RPG, and M-16. They also brought heavy machine guns with them, like M60 which was connected to the doorway of the chopper.

The uniform of the Vesna Military Forces was wearing camouflage suits.

However, despite the budget, they were given used and old weapons. The newbies conversed with each other. "Hey, wouldn't we get newer ones? There was a big budget this year right?"

"The General told us that the scouts are given low-grade weapons. I'm not sure why."

The Lieutenant butted in. "Think about it. If we're gonna exhaust our weapons, why not use the old stocks?"

"That's a good point, sir."

To their surprise, several spiders were leaping a few feet up into the air. These were jumping spiders. One jumped and barely reached a chopper.

Luckily, they weren't hit. Otherwise, it could have been their doom. "Close call."

"Unit-2, be careful." Lieutenant Mars chided them via radio.

"Sir, yes sir."

Another soldier called. "For now, smaller spider units pose no threat. Just be wary of the jumping units."

The helicopters then ascended slightly to evade the jumping spiders.

They still had their assault rifles with them. They were equipped with scoped AR-15. They opened the doors of the helicopters and locked sight at the spiders.

It was difficult to lock sight at the spiders since the foliages and leaves of the swamp were in the way. They only fired whenever they had a clear view of their targets. It only happened in the gaps of the forest.

Though they couldn't gauge the exact numbers of spiders. There might be even a thousand.

"Permission to fire granted." Said the lieutenant.

As the choppers were returning to Vesna, they planned to cut down the spider's numbers. That could at least help.

They fired at the jumping spiders first, whenever they leap up. They were visible and were like sitting duck in mid-air. Raining the spiders with bullets, it pierced right through their bodies, killing them in an instant.

With rifles, they were easy to kill. Since they collaborated they managed to cut down the jumping spiders. Eventually, there were no longer jumping spiders found on sight. They waited for 5 minutes before they concluded. "Jumping units have been eliminated. Prepare to descend and take out the land units."

They then ascended slowly. They flashed their lights below to reveal the dark swamp. Seeing those creatures below, they were absurdly numerous. They were like annoying pests.

"Gross."

The soldiers readied their weapons and began firing. They were dwindling their numbers.

The M60's wrath was let out to the spiders below. Though most Ammos were wasted on the environment. It still took a lot of them, mostly the smallest spiders. The bullets tattered their bodies and destroyed their legs like twigs.

Since they were on a high up, their aim was a bit off. They have wasted many bullets already. They were even feeling what they were doing was pointless. There was no end to them.

The lieutenant was just observing and giving out orders. Then he received a call.

"Unit-6 reporting, there are civilians 5 o clock from our position, over."

Mars was worried. He called to everyone. "This is to all units, search and rescue is resumed, veer to the left and rescue the civilians. Some will stand by for air support."

"Roger."

"Roger." The rest of the choppers responded. They then curved their paths. In the distance, they could see several people, Vesnian citizens raising their arms for help.

Thus far, these survivors were lucky since they were distant from the spider's march. The giant spiders were just moving on a specific path.

It was not possible to land due to the presence of the branches and trees. The choppers let down their rope ladders. They had to make them climb. Several soldiers came down to assist them. There were about 30 people that needed to be rescued. Their clothes were tattered and they were covered in dirt. They must have been through a lot. There were even children. "Thank god, it's the military!"

The soldiers assisted the children to climb up first. It was taking them time.

On one unit, one child had a fear of heights. She was shivering. "I can't do it, it's too far."

"Calm down, we will assist you." She took a deep breath and grabbed onto the ropes.

"That's it, do it slowly just one after another." Private Mark was consoling her as she started to climb up. Eventually, she had some courage and she even looked back.

"Thank you, soldier." The girl said.

Mark smiled back.

A male survivor was relieved. He looked like an average employee of a firm. "I'm glad the VMF came, I thought it was our doom. Anyway, do you have any idea what happened? When I woke up, I was in the middle of the swamp. I got chased by spiders when I came here. I thought I was having a bad dream."

Private Mark shook his head. "It's also strange for me. I'm new to the army. And I didn't know my first real mission would be to get dispatched for pest control." He laughed. "But seriously we are in another world."

"As I thought."

Then his radio gave out a static noise. An associate called him. "Private Mark, this is urgent. Several spiders are approaching on your location, I repeat."

The citizens have now hurried climbing up. They were in a state of urgency. At some point, almost everyone was now done ascending. Only Private Mark and his team, the unit-6, were left on the ground.

From the distance, drum-sized spiders were crawling to them. They shrilled as they made their way.

Even though they only needed to rescue 3 people they were the slowest compared to the other units. Thus far only the child had made it, the woman began climbing. This one wasn't frightened but her climb was slow.

On the air, the helicopters on standby fired on the incoming spiders. The noise of the rotors must have attracted those creatures. Regardless, the soldiers on land had to hurry with their climb.

"By the way, there are still more survivors." Said the man.

"We need everything you know."

The man pointed at the giant spider. "Below that thing, some of the people are being held captive. You need to hurry."

Private Mark was bothered why this man didn't seem like leaving. The woman was done climbing up. The sergeant from above was calling for them. "Hey, it's only you, you need to move."

Private Mark offered the rope ladder to the last man. "It's your turn."

"I can't be in peace until I find my daughter in here. Before, there were 10 of us. We got separated since we got chased by those creatures. I need to--"

After Mark saw the incoming spiders, he gasped. He then grabbed the man and pushed him to hold the ladder.

There was no space left for him since some VMF soldiers were already holding the rope ladder. "Private, forgive us."

"This is no time to talk. Climb hold and don't look back." Private Mark noticed that the spiders were approaching close.

The helicopter with the man and the VMF ascended. Mark was the only one left on the ground.

Mark then called another chopper and ran away. "Private Mark reporting, I need a lift."

Another chopper threw a rope ladder to him. Though he was having a hard time reaching for the ladder. The helicopter was matching its speed to him.

He was chasing it as a swarm of spiders were on his tail. When he looked back, he winced. "Looks like I have to deal with these otherworldly creatures."

They were closing in fast. To his surprise, there was a wide rock wall in the distance. It was a dead end. He needed to make a quick jump. Upon placing enough force on his legs, he leaped and grabbed hold of the ladder.

He was hanging. Then he called to the chopper. "I'm now secured. We need to leave."

The helicopters began ascending. To Mark's surprise, a creepy spider managed to land on his leg. He felt like his soul was leaving his body. He grabbed his military knife and stabbed it, its gross blood got sprayed on the uniform.

Regardless, he now climbed up. Upon entering the helicopter he was now on a different unit.

Lieutenant Mars saluted to him. "Private, that was commendable."

Private Mark stood firm and saluted back. "Private Mark from the rescue team, unit-6 sir, just doing my duty. But for now, we have a problem. That giant spider held some of the people captive."

"We know, we just received the word."

Then from one of his men, a call was given to Lieutenant Mars. "Sir a word from General Marlow." Mars approached the radio and picked it up.

"Lieutenant, we are now authorized for an airstrike on the enemy. Give the confirmation."

"General, cancel the airstrike. There are still civilians that could get caught in the explosions."

Marlow thought about it. "Then you are given 3 hours to rescue them. Even without your confirmation, we will launch an airstrike. We can't have these creatures to get close to our territory."