Chapter 30: The Queen and the Herald

In the countryside a distance away from the safety of Fortress Alpha, 230 Phasewalkers marched across the abandoned speedway.

1st Armored Company. 2nd Airborne Company. 4th Motorized Company. Battalion Security Platoon. This was pretty much the bulk of the Phasewalker Corps. The very essence. If this force was wiped out, well, it would take the Phasewalker Battalion quite some time to recover, time that it didn't have.

As the march proceeded, the rumbling of engines was one of the few reassuring factors. 12 M1A2 main battle tanks of the 1st Armored Company formed the vanguard and the rear of the convoy. 60 troops of the 2nd Airborne Company were loaded onto 12 Super Cobra attack choppers, watching over the expedition from the skies. In the middle were the Lav-25s of the 4th Company and the 50 troops of the Battalion Security Platoon. The entire convoy was completely mechanized. Not a single trooper was on foot. The full backing of Earth made sure of that.

The Phasewalkers moved cautiously. All of them were Generation Is. Despite only being in this world for a few weeks, they were well aware of the dangers this realm had to offer. Perhaps there were still traces of the amateurs that they once were in their moves, but at least on the surface and with automatic weapons in their hands, they looked deadly.

Despite electing to take the risks, Caity has done all she could to make sure as many Phasewalkers survive this as possible. All the attack choppers also acted as scouts. Equipped with the most advanced scanners, they were supposed to alert their comrades of any impending threats long before they actually did the damage.

This combination seemed to be working. The Phasewalkers have already come halfway across to their destination and the few Mutated Animals that went after them were immediately gunned down. However, as they moved out of previously cleared zones, danger started to arise.

One of the Lav-25s suddenly experienced some sort of bump. The driver gave out a little frown and turned to the co-driver.

"Did you feel that?"

"What?"

"There was a bump."

"That's called a pothole, you idiot!" The co-driver's eyes were barely open. He couldn't sleep last night, and for the right reason. After learning that there would be a mission today, he invited his girlfriend, a fellow Phasewalker in non-combat roles, over. The two had a passionate embrace that lasted deep into the night.

Caity and the Battalion High Command had no intention of prohibiting such interactions. When someone might die the next day, forbidding them to seek the tiny comfort in their lover's arms was nothing but cruel. In fact, Caity was too busy with Eric.

Almost at the same time as the conversation unfolded on the ground, in an attack chopper in the air, a Phasewalker's eyes widened as he saw what was on a seismic detector. "That's impossible…" He froze for a moment before snapping to the radio. "All units! Seismic activity at the left flank of the convoy! How did it just appear all of a sudden..."

Caity's voice cut in.

"Calm yourself! Private! All vehicles, spread out! What do you mean seismic activity..."

Caity was answered not by the Phasewalker Private, but by what unfolded next.

A giant creature emerged from beneath the ground right under the Lav-25. The rest of its body was still beneath ground, but just its head alone was able to bite straight through the Phasewalker armored vehicle from the middle. With an ear piercing crunching sound, the middle half of the vehicle disappeared in the creature's mouth, along with three Phasewalkers inside.

"Oh god…" Caity's mouth hung open. "it's a fucking Centipede!"

Yep. Centipedes. In the past, these worms were nothing. A single stomp from any child could crush a swarm of them. But the terrible Mutation the Alpha Virus had brought transformed the Centipede to hundreds of times its former size. Each of its hundreds of legs was the size of a man's arm. It dug its way out of the ground and attacked the Phasewalker convoy with all the elements of surprise an ambusher could ever dream of. Even the peak of human technology could barely sense its approach until it was too late.

The attack was a surprise, but the Phasewalkers have grown to be used to dealing with surprises. The attack choppers in the air turned their weapons toward the worm, and so did every single tank and armored vehicle in the region. But the Centipede fell back into the ground almost as quickly as it came.

The scene was silent for a while as a few Phasewalkers moved to look down at the hole in the ground, only to realize it had been filled with new soil.

"Medic! Report on the casualties!" Caity ordered loudly.

The Lav-25 under attack was totaled. Fortunately, six of its nine crew members survived, including both drivers. Three Phasewalkers disappeared in the worm's mouth, along with the center part of the armored vehicle. It was the little silver lining that could be found from the tragic encounter.

Caity sighed and waved her hand. This attack was costly, but she has expected something like this. This is a war, and in wars, people die. "Prepare to move out…"

Just before she could finish, the Centipede dashed out of the ground once again on the right flank of the convoy. Its tiny legs helped it crawl through the dirt at exceptional speed.

This time, it was going for a tank.

And this time, the Phasewalkers were ready.

The teeth of the Centipede crunched down on the sides of the tank, but the M1A2 was much more durable than the Lav-25. The armored plating held its ground for a few seconds, buying the rest of the battalion precious time.

"All units, focus fire on that thing!" Caity screamed. She was about to leave this Centipede alone, but if it was so determined on getting itself killed, then she, Colonel Caity fucking Hunter, would be more than happy to grant it the wish.

With the aerial advantage, the 2nd Company was the first to move. 12 attack choppers turned around toward the worm. Mounting Gatling guns blasted down storms of barriage down on the Centipede. The advanced fire control system made sure almost most of the shots landed on the Mutant. The few bullets that did land on the M2A1 were dangerous, but they were much preferred compared to being devoured alive by the Mutant.

The Centipede was, all of a sudden, overwhelmed by excruciating pain. The impact and the heat of the explosions hurt it alike. Its mouth snapped open, dropping the tank. A few Phasewalkers inside scrambled out of the armored vehicle and got to safety with lightning speed.

Now without the threat of hurting their comrades, all the M2A1 and Lav-25 in the field turned their guns and started unloading their ammunition on the Mutant.

The Centipede knew it was facing a foe different than anything it has encountered before. The worm was a Tier 1 Mutant, and aside from the typical strength and agility, it was focused on another category: rapid regeneration. Ever since it remembered things, the Centipede has been facing weapons that couldn't really threaten it. Defender-I Gauss Rifles hurt, but the bullet wounds healed almost instantly. It was transformed later into the apocalypse, so it never got the chance to take on full units of UEC defense forces or significant hostile firepower.

Until now.

The worm tried to return to the safety of the ground. It was injured, but the Mutant has gained enough intelligence to know it wouldn't take more than a few days for all those wounds to heal. Unfortunately for the worm, the Phasewalker firepower was too strong. The expedition forces might not be able to carry an intercontinental missile, but with the raw power of dozens of vehicle-mounted cannons, it was still a force to be reckoned with.

The worm's shrieks turned into whimpers. It was wise enough to know when to beg for mercy, but the Phasewalkers kept on firing. Even if the worm hadn't devoured three of their comrades, they had no intention of accepting the surrender of a Mutated Worm.

Finally, with a final dying shriek, the Centipede collapsed onto the ground. Just to be safe, Caity had the units fire two more rounds on the Centipede. No need to respect enemy corpses when said enemies were literally eating Phasewalkers alive.

"Go collect some samples." Caity ordered as a medic walked up to the corpse of the Centipede and scooped some organism samples into a glass vial for further research. After that was done, the Phasewalker expedition proceeded to move across the road.

As the sound of engines disappeared, all sorts of creatures started coming out from the wild. Bugs and Worms. Even Wolves, Cats, and Dogs. They approached the worm from all directions, some turning against each other as they crossed paths. The bloodshed continued for nearly an hour until, finally, a gigantic black spider emerged the victor.

Stepping on the skull of a Mutated Dog and cracking it like an egg, the Mutated Spider slowly approached the dead worm. Slowly but methodically, it cut the worm's body apart with its legs before enjoying the feast.

As pieces of worm meat entered its stomach, the spider suddenly felt a new surge of power coursing through its veins. The power came with pain, and the anarchiad was knocked onto the ground, shaking violently. Its bones started to extend. Half a dozen more legs started creeping open from the gaps in the spider's body. Being the final victor of the brawl for the worm corpse, the Mutated Spider was at the peak of Tier 0.

If things went right, the spider would be a Tier 1 Mutant very soon with the additional wave of Mutations.

Things didn't go right. No...things didn't go right at all.

The spider suddenly collapsed. Its legs waved around, grabbing onto whatever source of food within reach and trying to feed on it. Viruses needed a lot of energy intake to foster a Mutation of this scale, and for Mutated Animals, the source of this energy was food.

But it was too late. Within mere moments, all the nutrients inside the spider were exhausted. The transformed insect struggled as its body started to shrink. Legs became lifeless. The black carapace over the spider's body that has shielded it from countless dangers slowly fell off.

Finally, the spider collapsed and died.

Mutants had a glorious future. Even Tier 1 mutants such as Jacob could take down a squad of fully armed elite troopers with ease. There was no telling what terror Tier 2 and Tier 3 mutants could unleash. But this power came with a great risk.

Mutations weren't Evolutions. They could kill you as easily as they could empower you. Billions of Mutants learned that lesson the hard way.

---

Fort Sentinel.

The perimeter of the former UEC fort was surrounded by spiked fences and barbed wires. Its gate was shut, with three layers of roadblocks to further deter any intruders. There were numerous watchtowers and sentry towers across the entrance, but not a single soldier was in sight to man them.

Before the apocalypse, Fort Sentinel was home to the 8,000 men and women of the 20th Armored Division of the United Earth Confederation Army. At the dawn of the apocalypse, when hundreds of other divisions were deployed against the waves of mutation, all contact with the 20th Division was suddenly lost.

The 20th Armored Division had 6 armored regiments. Their tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery units were in the hundreds. Its troopers were professional soldiers, armed to the teeth. In a fair fight, only the Generation Is stood a tiny chance of victory against them with equal numbers, and that was giving the Generation Is a lot of credit. More likely, on equal numbers, UEC troopers could wipe out the Phasewalkers now with a single assault.

Yet, for a whole year, not a single one of the 8,000 UEC soldiers here walked out of the fort's gates.

As Caity stepped off the armored transport, the small fraction of doubt kept on expanding. Something happened to those 8,000 men. Was it the Virus? Was it something else? Whatever it was, chances were it was still inside and alive and kicking. One false move and not a single member of the expedition would see their world again.

Perhaps she was being too reckless when she made the decision...but what other choice did she have? This was the best choice in the bigger scale of the picture. Earth must grow, no matter the price, and it must grow quickly. Right now, the only thing defending Portal Alpha was a handful of teens carrying automatic rifles. That was far from comforting.

All she could do was take care of things tactically as much as possible.

As the ground forces stopped in front of the fort gates, the 2nd Company moved ahead. 12 choppers quickly positioned themselves across the sky of the camp. It didn't take them long to relay a map of the camp back to Caity and the rest of the Phasewalker High Command.

"The choppers aren't seeing anything significant." Captain Blyfield said quietly through the radio. "There's not a single soldier or body in sight, and not just the local garrison. The map said some local survivors entered the fort. I don't see them either. There are just too many buildings. Warehouses. Barracks. And that...thing."

The commander of the 2nd Airborne Company was referring to a giant building that was at the center of the fort. It was completely concrete, and Caity could see a giant flagpole in front of it. The United Earth Confederation flag hung proudly from the top of the pole, a reminder of the human faction's former glory.

"I'd guess it's their command center or something." Caity said quietly. "We need to send a vanguard inside the buildings and find out what happened." She said gravely. She didn't need to be too smart to know marching the entire expedition into the mysterious camp would be a terrible idea.

At the same time, whenever a vanguard was deployed under a situation like this, chances were it wouldn't be returning. It was simply cliche.

Ryan was all too eager to step forward and take the mantle.

"I can take a squad of the Battalion Security Platoon and check things out."

He said quietly, as if he just said he wanted a hot dog for lunch.

Caity bit her lips. She didn't want that to happen, for obvious reasons. Ryan was a good soldier, perhaps even the best among the battalion, but she doubted that would make a difference against whatever creature that was lurking inside the fort. But what could she say? No, let someone else go in and do the dying? A part of her wanted to screw all plannings and just turn around and head home to Fortress Alpha, but the Commander side of her extinguished that idea.

Like Ryan always said, he has made his choice, and she has made hers.

"Stay safe." Caity replied quietly. For a moment, she felt like a queen sending her herald to war, knowing he likely would never return, but her duty kept her from stopping him.

Ryan nodded and walked away. Beside her, Eric frowned.