Chapter 16: The ambush

The usually silent rides seemed to be different this time. Although the destination was at the front of the line, one of the new androids, with long red hair covering her pelvis and emerald-green eyes, had been humming various tunes since the start of the journey.

No one had even tried to stop her, simply listening to the calm, reassuring melodies she was singing. Her cheerful, reassuring face was in stark contrast to those of the clones, or to the increasingly worried faces of the other androids as a small camp loomed in the distance. She stood in the center of the orange sunset, making the most of the android's singing hair in the midst of this dreamlike landscape.

However, the traces of dried blood on the ground became larger and more common as they approached their destination, a sign of the fierce combat that had taken place here.

* * *

Only the gaze of the wounded clones and partially damaged androids had greeted the group as they entered the camp, marking their eyes with despair. Even the redheaded android who had been singing since their departure remained silent, touched by the same despair.

The camp was a shadow of its former self, its outer defences trampled and destroyed. The buildings were also cracked in places, as if they'd been hit by various battering rams, and the few tents still standing amidst the bloodstains and wounded men on the ground were torn and barely held together, looking as if they might blow away in the slightest gust of wind.

The group then headed into the camp's central building to receive various instructions, quickly joining a small interception group also awaiting instructions. All the members of this group looked exhausted, even the usually impassive clones seemed to be in despair as they waited for the camp commander to speak. He spoke in a firm, slightly tired voice.

"A group of life-forms has been detected to the northeast and is heading straight for our camp. Your objective will be to protect the camp and the wounded. You will be accompanied by newly-arrived reinforcements, our aircraft having been destroyed, their commanders will be your coordinator."

The camp commander didn't say another word, simply waving the two groups out of the room as he touched his ear. He spoke again almost immediately, as the door separating him from the group closed on its own.

The interception group moved silently towards the camp exit. The androids in this same group ate the camp's expired rations, hoping to regain enough battery power to survive the consumption that such an expedition would entail. They hadn't said a word to the group of Alice who had followed them to help out, not even introducing themselves, as if they'd all given up before they'd even left. They were simply waiting for the departure order from their new coordinator: Jhon Shards. He spoke once everyone was ready to leave, his voice crystal-clear.

"I am Jhon Shards, commander of Unit 451, and your coordinator in charge of guiding you through this operation, which begins immediately. It's crucial that this mission is a success."

It was not until the departure order was proclaimed that the leader of the interception group spoke briefly in a tired voice, wearing an exhausted, forced smile. He hid the various visible and damaged metal parts of his left arm, seeking to inspire his group, and instill in them the hope they sorely needed.

"I forbid you to die, boys, or I'll bring you back from the dead just to kill you with my hands."

Hearing their leader's words, the members of the intercept group all took on a resigned smile, responding as best they could by staring at their squad leader, in front of Alice's dumbfounded group.

"Don't worry, leader, we weren't planning on it.

"You'd better watch yourself, leader."

The intercept leader smiled more meaningfully as he heard the responses, speaking again in a weak voice, this time to Alice's group.

"Sorry about all that, and good luck to you."

"Thanks... It must have been hard so far, but we'll do the best we can to help."

Alice replied, in a gentle voice, showing her compassion for her new comrades who had suffered such hardships.

"In that case, I'm counting on you."

Replied the leader of the interception group, sweeping his gaze over Alice's group while retaining his smile. He then began his walk, signaling the group to move as his smile vanished. All he could think about was the potential dystopian future ahead of them, and how to save as many of the members of his squad as possible, whom he had grown to love over the course of his battles.

* * *

After more than ten minutes of walking, Jhon Shards interrupted the group's advance, quickly speaking in a calm tone.

"We have seventeen heat signatures at six o'clock. Intercept their positions."

The group quickened their pace slightly, readying their weapons as many of the androids in Alice's group trembled at the prospect of the forthcoming encounter, only to be interrupted again by their coordinator.

"Split into two groups to ambush them. The interception group goes to the left, unit 451 to the right, open fire on my command."

The soldiers complied accordingly, splitting into two groups before taking up position in the hot desert sand, waiting to see the heat signatures.

After a few minutes of waiting, a group of creatures, all wearing thick collars, appeared on the horizon. The majority were the split-headed creatures encountered by unit 451. However, they were accompanied by two far more imposing creatures, some two and a half meters long and a foot and a half high.

Each had a head similar to a common beetle, with imposing mandibles. Its head was further protected by two thick front legs articulated in the same way as the legs of a praying mantis. However, each of the legs was much thicker and resembled half of an enormous shield that cleverly protected their heads, and a small part of the creature's abdomen. Their necks were also surrounded by an imposing collar, leading to several millipede-like body rings. Each ray concealed tiny holes barely visible when breathing, ending in a final ring about twice the size of the others and flattened to serve as a tail.

Once the group of creatures was fairly close, the coordinator spoke in a concentrated manner.

"Permission to fire granted, target the Clappers first, ignore the colossi for the first salvo."

The interception group remained silent, concentrating on their shots aimed at the small creatures that could almost split their heads in two. However, Alice broke this concentration with a single word.

"Colossus?".

"Don't you know them?"

John Shards replied, before pausing and sighing, taking on an awkward voice.

"Ah, it's true that your group hasn't seen any yet. The imposing creatures in front of Clapeur's group are nicknamed "Arthropod Colossus". They're the ones who almost destroyed the camp where you're staying."

Alice nodded, watching her comrades calibrate their shots. She hurried to do the same to catch up. Everyone carefully aimed their sights at the various targets, before firing in near-synchronization at their respective targets, which dropped like flies.

Only one of the Clappers had been able to dodge the salvo of fire due to Alice's slight delay over her comrades, giving him time to react and charge Alice's position, skilfully avoiding her shot. Seeing this, Alice fired again, this time not missing her target, leaving the dead Clapper to continue his posthumous run in the burning sand as his body was torn apart by the speed and friction of the sand. All Alice's comrades then targeted the colossus closest to their group in order to kill it, but it took the blistering fire, leaving only a light, melted impact on its carapace, as if nothing had happened.

The two colossi separated almost unconsciously, each heading for the spot where they were receiving the most fire. They created an enormous clatter as their countless legs kicked up more and more sand while their slow rhythms quickened, to the point where he was moving as fast as a man running.

"Aim for their legs! The legs!"

Jhon hurriedly shouted to the two groups. On hearing him, everyone tried to target the colossus' legs, but to no avail. They only hit the bottom of the colossus' body rings, their legs being too well protected to allow even the slightest shot to hit its target. Their legs seemed almost untouchable, perfectly intact as the clatter grew heavier and heavier as each colossus came dangerously close to their targets.

Alice targeted the hot sand in the colossus' path, melting it as she fired. The colossus stepped on the sand, digging its paw into the liquid sand without even realizing it. The sand almost melted and cooled with frightening speed on contact with his first left forepaw, which shattered as the colossus continued forward without even paying attention to it, screaming only a deafening shriek. On hearing this, the other colossus responded with a similar cry. However, John Shards was taken by surprise when he looked at his detector, on which he saw numerous heat signatures encircling the two groups, while nothing could be seen on the horizon by the squad.

"It was a trap! More heat signatures encircling both groups, fall back immediately. Regroup if possible and-"

John shouted hurriedly as he realized the situation, but the sentence was suddenly interrupted, startling all the androids as they all looked at each other with panic in their eyes. Smithe then spoke in a loud voice, looking at the confused clones who continued to fire, aiming at the sand as Alice had done. Although Alice herself continued to shoot along with the clones with a calm, inexpressive face. Nothing seemed to be able to trouble her anymore as she tried to clear her mind, weighing down only the fight.

"These... these creatures seem more intelligent than we thought! They've set up a jammer, so all communications with our coordinator or anyone else are now impossible, and even our Internet access has been cut off, so we're isolated."

Matricule 231 then spoke calmly, not letting his emotions get the better of him, staring at Smith as he announced the news.

"How is this possible?"

"I don't know, they've never done anything like this before!"

Smith replied as panic overcame him. This prompted matricule 231 to check the situation, then, affirming the analysis Smith had made, while staring around.

"Everybody listen to me! We're surrounded and isolated, but the colossus is starting to get unbalanced due to damage to three of its left legs. We can ignore him without fear. The priority is to join the other squad and escape the encirclement our coordinator told us about."

"Understood!"

"Affirmative."

All the clones replied, rising to their feet. The androids quickly followed their lead, as the sounds of shifting sand began to be heard from all sides, forcing the group to run with all their might as Matricule 231 yelled at the other squad once close enough, which had almost immobilized their colossus.

"Squad leader of the interception group, we must hurry!"

"I agree with you squad leader 451, but the colossi can regenerate their missing parts if we leave them free for too long. Take a good look at yours in the distance, its shell is already almost as good as new, as if you'd never shot it!"

Hastily replied the leader of the interception group, continuing to fire while ignoring Matricule 231's advice.

"We don't have time to parley, as clones, I'm taking command of your squad, the priority is to get back to camp. We're following the coordinator's orders and falling back, execute!"

"Just because you're a clone and I'm an android doesn't mean you have the power to-"

The leader of the interception squad stopped his words, staring at the sand rising all over the horizon, as if animals were burrowing under the sand and bearing down on them. He then turned, noting the same phenomenon everywhere else, and nodded in the direction of his men, telling them to listen to Matricule 231. However, he froze as a small section of the rising sand accelerated, releasing a small creature that clung to the face of one of the clones under his command. He fired almost instantly, sending the small creature's body flying from the clone's now extremely mutilated face, its skull almost shattered.

"What was that...?"

Said all the soldiers almost simultaneously, staring at the scaly creature's corpse almost completely melted to the ground. They then looked around at the bumps moving under the sand, which was getting closer and closer. Their eyes were filled with confusion, each dreading the possibility of suffering the same fate.