Chapter 338: Adapting to the Battlefield - III

The soldiers of Vanguard Twelve-Six remained behind their Guardian APCs while the smoke and dust from the earlier bombardment continued spreading across the northern streets.

Several buildings were still burning, while others had lost entire sections of their upper floors. Broken concrete and twisted steel covered much of the road, making it difficult to determine which routes could still accommodate their armored vehicles.

The squad leader was checking the Advanced Radar when another loud cracking sound came from farther ahead.

CRAAAAACK!

A damaged office building began leaning toward the adjoining street before its lower floors gave way.

BOOOOOOM!

The entire structure collapsed, sending another enormous cloud of dust across the surrounding buildings.

“Shit! Another one went down!”

“Probably from the bombardment,” one of the Army Soldiers replied.

The squad leader looked toward the rising dust before returning his attention to the Radar. The building had been damaged during the attack, so its collapse wasn’t particularly surprising.

However, another structure farther ahead suddenly began shaking.

“What the—”

CRAAACK!

Its outer walls split apart before several floors collapsed onto one another, bringing down most of the building.

The soldiers watched as another cloud of dust rose from the streets.

“Wait, are we still bombing those buildings?”

“Thought we were done!”

The squad leader enlarged the area on the Radar. The second building was farther from the earlier bombardment, and he couldn’t see any new rocket impacts around it.

“Southern Command, Twelve-Six. Are Fires still engaging the central buildings? We’ve got more structures collapsing ahead of us.”

“Negative, Twelve-Six. No active fires mission against those locations.”

“Then was that the Raptors?”

“Stand by.”

The squad leader continued watching the damaged streets while several soldiers looked toward the sky.

A moment later, the radio crackled again.

“Raptor Three-One, negative. No weapons released.”

“Griffon Four-One, negative. We’re observing the area. No engagement from our section.”

The squad leader frowned.

“Then what is bringing those buildings down?”

Before anyone could answer, one of the Army Soldiers pointed toward the Radar.

“Chief, look at those contacts!”

The squad leader turned toward him.

“What?”

“They’re moving into that building!”

He enlarged the indicated area and found numerous infected markers converging on another structure farther along the road.

Several groups were entering through the lower floors, while other contacts approached from the adjoining underground passages. Among them were several larger signatures that had previously remained deeper inside the surrounding buildings.

“There’s a lot of them down there.”

“Yeah, but what are they doing this time around?”

The squad leader continued watching as more infected gathered near the building’s lower sections.

They weren’t moving toward the Golden Eagle Army.

Instead, the larger markers began moving repeatedly around several positions inside the structure, while hundreds of ordinary infected continued pouring into the lower floors.

“Southern Command, Twelve-Six. We’ve got infected gathering inside another building. Multiple heavy contacts on the lower floors.”

As he spoke, the building suddenly shook.

One of the soldiers raised his head.

“Fuck! That one’s moving too!”

A deep cracking sound came from the structure, followed by a portion of its lower wall breaking apart.

Then the entire building began leaning.

“Wait, wait! Look!”

CRAAAAAAAAACK!

BOOOOOOOOM!

Several floors collapsed almost simultaneously, bringing the rest of the structure down with them.

The soldiers watched as the building disappeared beneath an enormous cloud of dust, with concrete and steel crashing onto the surrounding streets.

On the Advanced Radar, hundreds of infected markers suddenly vanished.

Most of the larger contacts inside the building disappeared as well, although several remained active beneath the rubble, moving through the underground passages.

“What the fuck…”

The squad leader stared at the Radar.

“Southern Command, Twelve-Six! I think the infected are bringing the buildings down themselves!”

“Explain, Twelve-Six.”

“We just watched hundreds of them enter a building before it collapsed! Multiple heavy contacts were moving around the lower floors, and most of them disappeared when the structure came down!”

Before Southern Command could respond, another report came over the shared channel.

“Griffon Four-One to Southern Command. Confirming additional structural collapses. We can see another building coming down east of the previous impact area.”

…

Above the northern district, the Apache crews watched as another multistory building collapsed between two damaged residential blocks.

There had been no missile impact, nor any artillery explosion.

The lower sections just gave way, bringing the upper floors down onto the streets below.

An enormous cloud of dust rose between the surrounding structures, obscuring much of the area from ordinary sight.

“Goodness me, that’s the fourth one they brought down.”

The Apache pilot adjusted his position, keeping his aircraft away from the unstable buildings while the targeting system followed several large infected signatures moving near another structure.

“Griffon Four-Two, you seeing those contacts?”

“Affirmative. Multiple infected entering the lower floors.”

“Watch that building.”

A few moments later, the crew noticed part of its outer wall breaking apart.

Through the damaged opening, they briefly saw an enormous infected creature striking the concrete supports, while several smaller infected crowded around the damaged section.

Another heavy impact shook the building.

“Tank! Ground floor!”

Before the Apache could line up an attack, the creature struck the support again.

CRAAAAACK!

The lower section buckled, and the upper floors began collapsing inward.

“Building is coming down. Make way, make way!”

The Apache pulled farther away as the building fell, throwing another enormous cloud of dust into the air.

The crew could no longer see the lower streets clearly, although the Advanced Radar continued tracking the surviving infected beneath the wreckage.

“Southern Command, this is Griffon Four-One! We’ve confirmed Tanks are attacking the lower supports of the buildings. They’re bringing the buildings down!”

The pilot looked across the district.

More buildings were beginning to shake farther toward the central Hive.

And on the Radar, numerous infected markers were converging around their lower floors.

“Damn it. They’re doing it to the whole fucking district.”

As another structure fell, Southern Command broke into the shared channel.

“All Air and Fires units, this is Southern Command. Prioritize the infected attacking the buildings! Avoid strikes that’ll bring down more structures. Our ground troops still need those roads!”

“Griffon Four-One, acknowledged! Moving to engage!”

“Raptor Three-One, copy. Acquiring targets!”

The Apache crews selected the larger infected contacts gathering around the buildings, including several Tanks and Throwers moving through the lower floors.

“Four-Two, take the eastern building. There’s a Tank near the exposed section.”

“Copy!”

The second Apache turned toward the building, its targeting system following the large infected as it moved through the damaged ground floor.

The Tank was already attacking another concrete support, with several ordinary infected gathered around the surrounding walls.

“Target acquired!”

The Apache’s thirty-millimeter cannon opened fire.

BRRRRRT!

Numerous rounds struck the exposed section, tearing through the surrounding infected before concentrating on the Tank.

The creature staggered backward as the impacts struck its enormous body, breaking apart sections of its armor while the remaining infected were torn apart.

It attempted to retreat farther inside the building, but the Apache continued firing through the opening until the large infected collapsed.

“Tank down!”

The pilot checked the Radar and found several other large signatures withdrawing from the exposed floors.

“Four-One, they’re moving away from the windows!”

“Copy. Keep hitting anything you can reach!”

Meanwhile, one of the Raptors approached another building where several Throwers had gathered around the damaged lower floors.

The pilot could see an enormous infected creature tearing apart part of the structure, while several others were moving through the surrounding openings.

“Three-One, I’ve got multiple heavies. Engaging!”

The Raptor descended toward its attack corridor before opening fire with its twenty-five-millimeter rotary cannon.

BRRRRRRT!

A stream of rounds struck the lower section, tearing through the exposed infected and forcing the Thrower away from the damaged wall.

Several ordinary infected were killed immediately, while the larger creature attempted to retreat behind the remaining concrete supports.

The pilot broke away before beginning another approach.

“One heavy still active. It’s moved behind the wall.”

“Radar still has it,” the second Raptor replied. “No clear shot from this side.”

“Damn it!”