ALL NOVEL Chapter 122 – Defang the Demons
0127 June 19th, 2020 CE
0843 Sun 49th, 196 AE
Stelport, Mach Imperium
A soldier raised his M4 at the twitching monster humanoid on the ground. The thing had been hit by so many tungsten fragments from the M30A1 rockets but yet was somehow still alive. He let off two shots to what he thought was the monster’s head. The monster stopped moving. The soldier looked around the street and got onto his comms. <<<“Most of the things on this street are dead. Couple monsters still twitching but nothing else.”>>>
Corpses of the monsters littered the pockmarked stone ground. The soldier observed his surroundings closer and realized that everything here had been pockmarked by the tungsten fragments.
50 miles from Stelport, Mach Imperium
The driver of the M270 MLRS nodded his head as he listened to the radio. He looked over to his gunner. “Seems like we didn’t have to resort to a nuclear bomb for this.”
“When the enemy has no means to counter artillery and we don’t have to worry or pay much for the damages, then artillery is truly king. Although this assault felt much much less intense than what I heard was happening in San Francisco.”
“I hope the guys over there are doing okay. Seems like brass doesn’t want to use artillery on our own city unless necessary. They are allowing precision strikes though via aircraft.”
2300 June 18th, 2020 CE
Alemany Boulevard, San Francisco
Humvees poured into the boulevard and soldiers dismounted. Eric momentarily stopped his firing as the new soldiers rushed to their lines in order to help suppress the monsters. “Who you guys with?”
“41st Brigade Combat Team.”
“How ‘bout you”
“I’m with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Although I think at this point, the unit has been put back into the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.”
0200 June 19th, 2020 CE
Washington D.C.
Ronell nearly had his head slam into his desk but he jerked himself up. He really needed sleep at this point. The coffee just wasn’t doing it for him. He was so weary he couldn’t direct a question to anyone so he decided to ask it out loud at random. “How likely is something major going to happen in the next hours?”
Someone responded but Ronell was too tired to care. “Seeing that we have nuked their base of operations, we are hoping that the advance of these beings stops. I have confidence that we are able to hold the line and keep the outer edge of San Francisco.”
Ronell rubbed his eyes. “It is extraordinarily late at night now and I need to sleep. Wake me up four hours from now or if any pressing matters occur beforehand.”
Ronell would have liked more sleep but that was the downside of being President especially with the amount of strange things that have occurred. Why couldn’t I have had a normal Presidency? Dammit.
He slumped his back into the chair and promptly fell asleep. Well if they need anything, they can just wake me up since I’m still in the Situation Room.
Four hours later
Ronell yawned and drank his cup of coffee. He barely got enough sleep but it was better than nothing. It was a bit unsightly to fall asleep in front of everyone in the Situation Room but he didn’t have much choice. He was now awake and directing questions at Cralson. “How’s the situation in San Francisco?”
“The monsters seem to be thinning out and more and more of our men are arriving. The amount of ammunition they are consuming is a minor concern though. We are certain we can keep them supplied but they are burning through it at an amazing rate.”
“I want San Francisco to be retaken if it is possible. Have we been monitoring that island where the monsters have come from?”
“We are pretty certain that everything on that island has been wiped out. However, the satellite imagery is seemingly being disrupted by something in the middle of the island.”
“What is it then?”
“Whatever that is basically confirms our original theory that the gate is where they came from. The island is not large at all. Unless there were more space underground, there would not have been sufficient room at all for this amount of creatures we are facing. We suspect the gate structure was wiped out but the portal still remains. That static and random coloration in the middle of the island is most likely the portal.”
0310 June 19th, 2020 CE
Mission Street, San Francisco
Eric was shaken awake from his brief nap. The sound of gunfire returned to his ears. “Your nap shift is over, soldier. Get to the front.”
Eric thanked the random soldier, grabbed his rifle beside him, and stood up. Sleeping in a gas mask was not the most comfortable thing but he had been beyond tired to even care. He got out his water canteen from his pouch and connected the gas mask’s drinking system to it. The drinking system was basically a tube attached to the gas mask that allowed it to be connected with his issued water canteen. He tilted the water canteen upwards and started gulping in water. He looked to the sky. He hadn’t exactly checked the time but the sky was still dark. He was only a block away from the frontline. With low risk of an enemy breakthrough, logistics was moving in and out of the area dropping off all supplies in order to support those at the front. A HEMTT truck sped past him and came to a sudden halt. Soldiers in gas masks jumped out and seemed to start unloading rounds for the Abram’s 120mm cannon.
Other than attacking them from the roads that directly led into Alemany Boulevard, some of the monsters had climbed up onto the freeway which was basically on a hill in front of the boulevard and were spilling downwards towards them.
A few minutes later
Eric rushed to the hastily constructed sandbag positions and joined the massive firefight. At this point, this was like a defense mission from a video game where one battled an endless horde of enemies. However, from what he heard, the enemies were thinning out. There won’t be anymore in the future since the island where these things came from was obliterated by a nuclear missile.
Orders started coming through the comms. <<<”We are preparing to push forward in order to retake Sagamore Street. This part of the boulevard is hard to defend due to the Southern Freeway blocking the view. We need to take a better position.”
0610 June 19th, 2020 CE
Washington D.C.
Ronell sipped his coffee and tried his best to relax whilst fighting the urge to fall asleep again. It had been confirmed that the retaking of San Francisco was only a matter of hours now. “Since these creatures seemingly all are on land now, I want to test out if the waters are safe. I also want a team to be sent to check out that island. We need to find a way to close that damn portal. I don’t want anymore of those damn things coming from there.”
“How are we supposed to close a portal that withstood a nuclear detonation right on it?”
“Well, let's first check to see if the portal is still functioning and we will go from there.”
0605 Sun 49th, 196 AE
Primopolis, Mach Imperium
Underwood looked up at the Queen of the Magus Imperium. “Although I do not like the amount of damage that was caused. I would like to thank you and your country for providing so much assistance to mine.”
Underwood internally chuckled. She still maintains her pride. At least it's not arrogance. She does want to get off the throne as soon as possible but we are definitely not making it easy for her. She is most definitely upset with that. Oh well, not like I can do anything about it. The CIA really loves someone who doesn’t have the will to care that much.
“We were just doing what had to be done. These creatures were a threat to all humankind and wiping them out is the top priority of my country.”