Chapter Fifty-Five - I Meant To Do That


    Chapter Fifty-Five - I Meant To Do That


    "After the first incursion, the people of the world turned to the scientific community for answers. Samples of the first aliens to make verifiable landfall on Earth were brought to labs across the country, footage was shared, and speculation and hypothesis began.


    On the same day as the Antithesis arrived, a whole new branch of scientific studies was born."


    --MIT Pamphlet on Xenology, 2026


    ***orrah and I hitched a ride in the back of a troop transport.


    Not one of those big armoured ones. This was basically a four-wheel-drive truck, with a low bed filled with twin rows of seats facing each other and an optional tarp roof--currently down.


    It wasn''t fancy, but it was pretty fast. Or the driver was pretty fast in any case, cutting through red lights like it was nothing, the escort of light armoured vehicles probably helped. People tended to slow down when half a dozen cars with turrets on their roofs came rushing down the road, police-lights flashing and sirens wailing the entire time.


    When Gomorrah had outlined the plan, I had expected it to be a little simpler. Gomorrah and I would rock up to the hive, burn and-slash-or explode it up, then head back home for a quick nap.


    Instead, we were heading to the hive with an escort. A full platoon of force recon.


    I glanced at the row of men and a few women next to me. They were serious-faced, probably because their sergeant chewed up the guy who''d dared to whistle when we came in. The lot of them were dressed for war. Thick gambesons to stop bites, armoured collars around their heads and helmets that covered everything but their mouth and nose.


    They had a very standardised kit. Some sort of bullpup assault rifle, a few magazines strapped to their chest. A sidearm at their hip. The same pale green armour all around, with a few highlighter-green bands around their rather ugly helmets.


    The only good thing I could say about their gear, at least as far as looks went, was that it would make Gomorrah and I stand out.


    I got a ping from Gomorrah, and glanced across at her a moment before we were connected for a call. "Stop staring. You''ll make them nervous," I heard over the call. Notably, I couldn''t hear her saying it aloud.


    "I''m not usually this close to the soldiers while sitting in a car with nothing better to do," I said after making sure my voice wouldn''t escape my helmet. "Are these guys good?"


    "Seventy-Seventh recon," Gomorrah said. "They''re pretty much the best. At least as far as normal soldiers go. They''ve cleared out hives without any samurai support before. If we weren''t here, they''d still be rushing over to the hive right now."


    "Huh. Brave of them," I said.


    It took another ten minutes before the entire group came to a stop, this time for real.


    The soldiers stood up, the sergeant in the group making a few quick gestures accompanied by a few clicking noises. Everyone disembarked, and they were going slow, moving so that they didn''t make much noise.


    Some noise was unavoidable, but they were doing what they could to be quiet. "Silent bunch," I muttered.


    "You might learn something from observing them," Gomorrah commented.


    I blinked, then glanced her way. "You okay? You''re testier than usual."


    "Sorry," she replied instantly. "Just... a lot on my mind. I shouldn''t take it out on you."


    "It''s fine. If I couldn''t handle some amount of snark I wouldn''t be able to survive." I patted her on the back. "Would burning some xenos brighten up your mood?" I asked.


    "It would."


    "Alright, then let''s go set some aliens on fire."


    We clambered out of the back of the truck and were met by three sergeants and a guy that had lieutenant stripes. "Miss Gomorrah, Miss Stray Cat. We''re ready to begin the operation."


    "Any details we should know?" Gomorrah asked.


    "Latest satellite scan paints the hive as being within a two kilometre-wide radius of this forest. Mostly on the surface. We''d like to go in quiet, if at all possible," he said.


    The more aliens that died without the others realising, the easier it would be for the soldiers, I figured. "I can do quiet. At least until it''s time for the bombs to go off. I''m not sure how stealthy fire is."


    "It''s bright, but fire doesn''t need to be loud," Gomorrah said. "We can manage. Set your IFFs on. Let''s get to the centre of the hive, then burn it out from within."


    That sounded like a plan to me. A fun one, even. I shouldered my gun, then started off for the forest. "I''ll do a bit of scouting ahead," I said before going invisible.


    It was just in time, too, because I tripped on my next step.


    Fucking muddy fields.


    ***