Well, here it is. The last chapter of this story! (There will be an epilogue chapter after) Still, can't believe how long this has taken! And while it is by no means a perfect story, I had lots of fun writing it and I'm glad many readers got to enjoy it as well. Other than that, not much else to say!
Endgame: Part Three
The Enca Coast. July 19th
Waves battered the allied flotilla, churning white with froth against the steel hulls as the bombardment continued against the locust held island. Impacts bloomed against the beachhead of the former island nation, hopefully killing the hated locust.
A small fireball bloomed upward further inland among the ruins of a small town, but most knew it was a futile effort. The locust could just dig into the earth and wait it out, happy that the humans were wasting munitions against targets deemed acceptable to loss.
Another salvo belched fire from the battleships, cruisers and other vessels of the remaining navies of Earthland, working their way further inland for the coming invasion.
Bisca pulled the binoculars away from her eyes, her sigh of disappointment heavy as the deck of the troop transport pitched in the ocean. Most of the soldiers were ready, already triple checking their equipment as landing craft bobbed in the relatively calm ocean nearby.
Bisca turned to study them, men and women that were hastily pulled from the now defunct offensive against the horde. Cobbled together units and companies from half a dozen countries crowded the deck as the low mumbling of conversations wafted among the air.
A gust of wind blew her emerald locks past her eyes, an updraft as fighters planes took off from one of the two aircraft carriers of the Fiorian navy. Watching them spear into the calm, blue sky of the near equatorial summer, Bisca eyed the churning blotch of Nemacyst hovering above the central portion of the island. Those pilots only had one job right now, and that was clearing the skies of those floating bomb sacs that birthed from the seeders.
Deep down, she wished that the military would just level this damn island with the Etherion cannon, but the news was widespread now.
Queen Myrrah had one last trick up her sleeve, and it was a win-all doomsday weapon that was believed to nullify the genetic code of anybody or anything. It was a nightmare to think about that if they didn't stop the horde today, a simple push of a button would end the human race.
Bisca felt her fists curling in rage. She would not let that happen, not if she had anything to do about it.
"You ready?"
The familiar rumble of Natsu calmed the woman for a moment, but the howling memories of the Earthland hollow…the coming carnage and the fact that most of her sisters were still half a world away fighting horrifying, hungry monsters…
She should be in some mental trauma center, not going into battle once again.
"But then. I think we're all pretty much fucked up at this point"
"Yeah" She nodded, brushing a few strands of her green locks away from her brow as another booming salvo echoed across the waves to smash the beachhead.
"Come on, lets do one last equipment check" Natsu ushered with a hand on her shoulder. Being led across the deck to an assembly point, Bisca saw Cana and Sorano talking with Dimaria. There was a soft ripple of womanly laughter from the three, Cana elbowing the blonde in the side with a smirk.
She knew that Grey, Lucy, Cosmos and Flare were on one of the other troop ships, participating in the landings a few miles from their assault zone. A vehicle transport ship that floated nearby had a tank company led by Laxus, but Bisca hadn't had a chance to talk to any of them.
"Hey Bisca? Are you up for this?"
The gun mage barely heard her boyfriend as he looked at her in concern. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm alright. Not like I can just sit this one out" the female tried to joke and smile, but it was obviously forced.
Cana tugged on Bisca's chestpiece, testing the straps and clasps one final time as the king looked over a datapad outlying the operation.
It was a cobbled together, desperate gamble that essentially called for storming the beach and driving full force toward the Genetic Desolator in the center of Enca's old capital city. Spread across five miles of beach, everybody knew what was at stake here.
"If only we had more time to prepare" Natsu sighed heavily, knowing that thousands of lives had been lost storming the hollow for almost no gain. The only boon had been killing the enemy and this insanely vital piece of information he and Cana had found.
"Three Divisions and one in reserve. That's all we could muster in the few days we had"
Glancing across the waves at one of the aircraft carriers, the flat-top was still hosting several Raven's. Vital helicopters to bring Baird and Delta in once they secured the Desolator. Damon's lone job was to find a way to turn this weapon against the locust, and hopefully the Stabbers as well.
After all, it was believed that this doomsday weapon could target any genetic code, not just humans. At least, they hoped so.
Natsu turned to his squad, a hollowed pit in his stomach as Bisca, Cana and Sorano checked their weapons and loadouts. He loathed that they had to face such horror and bloodshed, but there was nothing he could do at this point.
A klaxon blared among the outgoing barrage of naval shells, piercing and warbling among the troop ships.
It was time.
Moving toward the netting along the side of the bobbing ship, Natsu began to climb down into the landing craft. Landing in the flat hulled boat, it quickly filled with Gears and his three women. For a moment, he wondered when Queen Hisui had approved the construction of these vessels but shook it off as unimportant.
The landing craft pulled away, circling as the navy continued to bombard the shore. Warm ocean spray flew into the boat, dousing half the soldiers in water. But despite how pleasant it felt, most were quiet…and silent with the palpable fear humans felt before battle.
"Remember! Once we hit that beach move low and fast toward the old tidal wall! Natsu shouted over the churning waves and motor while the pilot steered toward the beach. He felt a hand squeeze his, gloved and full of nervousness. There wasn't room to turn his head much, but he knew it was Cana.
"You three stay behind me when the ramp lowers" Natsu told them with a low rasp as the craft dipped into a swell, spraying the soldiers with more ocean water.
A shrieking bomb howled in the air, splashing further away in a harmless fall.
The next…not so much as a landing craft brewed up from a direct hit, the oily black fuel pouring into the sky toward their left.
The howling screams of dying men and women were only interrupted by the steady pings and zips of incoming machine gun rounds peppering the raised raft.
"THIRTY SECONDS!" The pilot screamed out as he drove through another low swell, the assistant gunner next to him pouring tracers toward the locust held beach. It was a thunder of noise and battle, stunning many as the helmeted soldiers gave one last prayer.
More artillery shells landed in the churning surf, one of them nearly tipping Natsu's landing craft as splinters of exploding shell battered the side. The pilot screamed and collapsed, his side flayed with fragments as he lost control of the infantry boat. Churning toward the beach in a half angle, it slewed sideways onto the sandy shore while bullets screamed and flew overhead.
A mortar landed in the back corner, killing the gunner and five soldiers in a blast of shrapnel and shards that sliced through armor and flesh in an instant. Screams of the wounded howled, rising from the throats of others as fresh blood coated the walls.
"OUT!" Natsu yelled in a scream as he hit the release for the ramp. Dropping with a thud, the man ran in a low crouch as machine gun rounds poured into the angled and wounded craft. The surf churned with red as men beside him died in howls of agony and fear. Rushing toward another landing craft burning on its side, the male slammed against the scorched underside as more bullets and bombs raked the beach. Nearly two dozen men and women were crowded behind the burning boat, huddled as more shells burst nearby.
Tracers tacked toward more landing craft, eliciting more hell on the humans as screams rose from countless wounded.
"KEEP MOVING TOWARD THE SEAWALL!" the dragon slayer screamed out as he broke cover and ran in a low crouch.
It did the trick to spurn those near him onward as the humans rushed across bloody sand covered with the dead.
Staying low, Cana simply followed Natsu and Bisca, the crack of rounds whistling past her ears. A woman beside her was stricken down by a long burst, only missing by inches as the brunette felt fresh terror in her guts.
By some miracle, more locust rounds missed her, hitting the sand on her right and between her feet as she poured all her strength into reaching that low seawall.
A locust mortar burst thirty feet away as she ran, vaporizing a man into a bloody mist from a direct hit.
Cana was sure that something landed in her hair, something sticky, warm and wet. Another mortar burst closer, tossing the card mage to the sand like a ragdoll.
"UP!" Sorano screamed as she pulled the stunned mage to her feet and ran, pushing Cana in the back to get her moving through the killing zone.
Diving into a pile of sand at the seawall, Cana breathed deeply, her hands trembling as she looked back at the beach in a wide eyed stare of horror.
More craft burned, some littered with the bodies at the open ramps as the locust concentrated fire into the fresh boats hitting the shore. Beyond, the surf ran red with blood, mixing with floating corpses as cries of medic and howls of pain rose among the wounded scattered in shallow craters and occasional rock formations.
Natsu breathed a sigh of relief, his eye catching the forms of Cana, Bisca and Sorano spread among the tattered squads and platoons that had survived the opening hell. Peering over the seawall, a concrete bunker sitting at the top of the bluff spat more machine gun fire across the beach in a deadly fusillade as supporting bunkers added their own weight of death. Bits and pieces had been torn out of the construction, blasted away by naval shellfire but largely unharmed as the drones inside continued to fire.
For now, the locust couldn't fire directly on those hugging the wall, but it wouldn't be long until those monsters counter-attacked. Eyeing a steep and war-blasted pathway that had probably served beachgoers in the past, Natsu ducked back down.
"Listen up! We have to take out those bunkers! We stay here, they'll begin picking us off! Half of you provide cover, the rest, with me!" Vaulting the seawall as mortars, bullets and artillery rained across the beach, Natsu led a dozen men and women up the pockmarked and pulverized pathway.
Staying low in a hunched walk, the king moved quickly up the rise toward the top of the low bluff. Bullets pierced the air, snapping above his head as the male rolled into a shallow crater in the elevated rise. Scrambling forward, he aimed his rifle over the dirt lip at a connecting trenchline between two bunkers, inhabited by locust drones thirty feet away. Firing as one of the hated monsters exposed its upper head, Natsu killed the beast as Bisca crawled up beside him. Pulling her longshot, the woman ignored the smudges of dirt and grime across her face as a few rounds went high.
"Your life is mine to take" the female whispered lightly before sending a sniper round into the head of another drone. Working the bolt, her face was grim as she pushed her face into the soil while more bullets screamed above her head.
"Tossing smoke!" Natsu yelled out as he flung the canister through the air. It landed near the locust trench line, billowing clouds of white as the man leapt up. Rushing across the pockmarked and cratered ridge, the male staggered as a blind round smashed into his armor. Grunting, Natsu pushed through the heavy blow as soldiers followed on his heels.
Jumping down into the trench behind Natsu, Sorano turned and shot a grub point blank in the face, turning it into a paste of red and ichor. "Spread out and kill them!" She shouted as some helmeted soldiers landed in the trench around her. Ducking into a small alcove near some spilled drums, she leaned out and fired down the length of trench at more of the vile creatures.
Some returned fire, others died as smoke roiled around them, making visibility terrible. A shape charged out of the tendrils of smoke and dust, the churning charge of a lancer screaming.
Cana blasted it with a gnasher, the steel shot tearing through the chest and leathers. Racking another shell, she fired again at another bellowing grub, killing it with the help of some nearby soldiers.
"Bisca! You three with me!" Natsu shouted over the din as he ran up the trench toward the nearest bunker door. Killing a wounded drone with a crushing foot stomp to the head, Natsu's boots came away splashed in gore as the soldiers stacked up beside the heavy blast door. Set in a deep recess and down a few steps, Natsu waved one of the Gears forward.
"Get some charges on that door!"
"Sir!" the helmeted woman shouted over the hellish din of constant combat around them. Holding up a squarish satchel, she attached it onto the door with trained ease.
"Fire in the hole!" the private yelled as she ducked behind some cover with the others, many holding hands to their ears.
'BOOOOM!'
The sound was concussive, threatening to make Natsu and Bisca deaf as the heavy door blew inward off the hinges.
"FRAGS!" Natsu commanded as he took one and pulled the pin, tossing it into the bunker with two others. They blew seconds later, monstrous screams and cries rising from within as the dragon slayer pulled his Scorcher free. Rushing into the doorway as an impromptu group followed, Natsu squeezed the trigger to unleash belching napalm at two rushing drones with hammerbursts.
They screamed like writhing moths in the flame, their flesh cooking like rotting pork as two Gears shot another down with a heavy fusillade of rounds. Pushing along the short hallway, the humans rushed into the main bunker, Natsu spraying a liquid death over the machine gunners who had still been firing mercilessly across the beach below. Plumes of napalm rushed out of the firing slit, scorching the surrounding concrete as the drones writhed and screamed.
One of them howled as flames consumed him, desperately climbing out of the narrow window slit in a pathetic attempt to avoid the agony and fire.
Bisca wrinkled her nose at the vile smell, the stench almost turning her stomach as she entered another short hallway that would lead back outside. A lone drone survivor popped out from the presumable supply room, firing at her in a wide arc. The bullets cracked past her neck, embedding in the bunker wall by a hair's breadth. Bisca instinctively shot him, putting at least ten rounds into the grubs upper chest as the rounds tore through flesh and organs. Collapsing on the floor in a groan, the drone still clung to life as it tried to crawl away, leaving a trail of blood.
"You think you get to live?" She asked harshly, flipping the switch of her lancer before plunging it into the back of this horrid creature. Blood and ichor ripped and splattered the nearby walls and her shin guards as the chainsaw churned, satisfying the gun mage.
"Bisca? You alright?" Natsu asked solemnly, his eyes narrowed in concern.
"I'm fine. He missed. Let's hit the next bunker" she finished simply as the group of Gears exited the fortification. The noise of combat was a dull roar around them as they entered a zigzag trench line that traversed toward a larger blockhouse a few hundred yards away. To her left was the beach, crawling with more men and equipment as more landing craft began to land in increasing numbers.
Still, the bloody sand, surf and beach itself was a hellscape as the locust kept firing from their pillboxes and bunkers, trying to enact as much suffering as possible. The crashing of mortars impacted the beach, killing and maiming a handful of soldiers exiting a landing craft.
"Find those mortars and take them out!" Natsu shouted to several men and women who surged past him down a connecting trench line further to the rear. Waving a hand, the man pulled a dozen soldiers with him along the slit trench. Rushing along the length of impacted dirt and half shattered boards meant to hold up the walls, the path turned at ninety degrees. Coming to a stop at the corner, Natsu peeked as naval shells flew overhead, rumbling the earth with explosive impacts.
Half the trench ahead had collapsed, taking a direct hit during the bombardment earlier in the morning. Pieces of drones lay scattered about, already feasting with flies as a few wretches fed on the dead with monstrous gusto.
"Five wretches" Natsu informed dully as he moved, already firing at the feeding beasts. Taking two down in quick succession, Bisca lent her own weight of lead as her lancer chattered, mowing down the other three before they could unleash their dreadful shrieks. Stepping over the gristle and twitching bodies, another turn zigged to the left as the Gears stacked up behind the mages.
Natsu quickly glanced around the corner, pulling his head back just as fast before a stream of rounds impacted the trench wall nearby.
"Bastards set up a Troika near the bunker door!" Natsu yelled over the all-encompassing noise of combat around them. His ears rang from the nearby staccato of machine gun rounds as Cana tapped his arm.
"Over the top! I'll take three with me!" She bellowed as the nearby Troika continued to fire. Pointing to three nearby soldiers, the brunette backtracked to the collapsed trench section, climbing over the ruined beams to crawl across the dirt. Pushing herself forward, the woman was horribly aware of distant bullets from a secondary trench line tearing above her head.
They would have to be dealt with later. Crawling into another dip of dirt and soil, she almost gagged as she rolled onto another dead drone that had been blown apart. Pulling her hand out of the entrails of the corpse, she continued to crawl across the ridge to the next bunker.
Getting within thirty feet, the female pulled a grenade from her belt. "Frags! Let em' have it!" She ordered as the others copied her movements. Pulling the pins, the four man team tossed them into the trench.
A blast rocked the dirt, spitting shrapnel and death among the locust defenders as Cana sprung to her feet, rushing across the uneven ground as rifle rounds etched the air around her.
One of the men grunted then lay still, a bullet shattering the eye lens in a mortal wound, but the soldiers pressed on before jumping into the trench once more near the Troika.
Blood splashed the dirt while a few drones crawled in helplessness, their agony satisfying to the humans who quickly ended their lives.
Taking a knee, Alberona aimed down yet another connecting trench that formed a slight 'Y' with the locust bunker to her left. Scooting toward a few crates, she eyed movement a hundred feet away.
"Grubs!" the woman hollered out before firing, causing the enemy to take cover as they quickly pulled back.
"Keep em busy! You six! Get up top and lay down fire on any ugly bastard to raise their head! Bisca! Sniper support!" Natsu barked out as he moved toward the heavy blast door of this second bunker. Supported by several other soldiers and Sorano, the male waited as another charge was fixed.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Somebody screamed out before the explosive charge burst, rocking the ground and shaking the nearby trench.
Kicking the warped door inward, Natsu reeved up his chainsaw as a drone charged with its own lancer, its face a contortion of fury and hatred. Clashing teeth churned and spat sparks in a howl, but the duel was short lived as Sorano flanked Dragneel and shot the enemy in the chest point blank. That action was enough to stagger the monster as it howled from churrning teeth tearing into its collarbone and clavicle in a spray of gore and flesh.
"Spread out and kill them! Secure this bunker!" Sorano bellowed, her voice dry and rough from the constant fear. Several Gears surged past, taking a pathway to the right up ahead. Immediately, there were reports of gunfire and yelling as Natsu moved along the narrow hallway toward the front. He switched to the Scorcher again as the constant chattering of machine guns echoed like hammers, a mere addition to this hell. Hugging the corner, the male quickly moved into the main bunker as three locust gunners fired downward at the beach, their pale flesh and leathers covered in dust from near misses of their sanctuary.
One grunted with laughter, enjoying the sight of dead humans as he swiveled to another landing craft.
Natsu unleashed jets of napalm at the abominations, scorching their flesh and tissue as they writhed and burned at their posts. Howling in agony as the king unleashed a second stream of fire, the enemy become like burning matchsticks as their stinking flesh burned.
"I never get sick of smelling the locust burn" the male rumbled with a rough joke, his eyes watching the corpses burn. Taking one more deep inhalation of sizzled locust pork, the Fiorian king knew there were more monsters to kill today.
Bisca felt the longshot slam against her shoulder, killing another drone that had the audacity to raise its head above the trenchline. Laying prone in a shallow crater with another Gear, she scanned the pockmarked and battered field of churned dirt and broken locust defenses. Behind her, a battery of mortars had been destroyed, the locust manning them no more than ruined meat at this point.
"Time to move!" Bisca shouted while she eyed another crater toward her front. Crawling through the churned dirt as the summer heat bore down, she rolled into the shallow pit as war raged around her in the surrounding trenches. She knew Natsu and Cana were pushing forward with Sorano, killing mercilessly as a marching naval bombardment continued to churn up locust concentrations behind the front lines.
Mortars rained down, blowing fresh clumps of dirt onto her as the ground shook and shrapnel flew through the air. One of them landed in the trench behind her, brewing up as advancing soldiers screamed in agony. More of the hellish bombs rained down, pockmarking the field as the locust tried to bring death to their abandoned lines.
"UP!" the sniper screamed out. Picking herself up, Bisca ran across the hellscape as more bullets and shells rained down from the next locust line. Gears were with her, running low and zigzagging in their sprints. Some died, riddled by shrapnel or rounds as the woman jumped down into the trench with her lancer ready.
Bisca screamed as her lancer revved, the blades digging into the closest drone lugging a mortar shell. "DIE!" she howled as blood sprayed across her face and neck, a warm ichor that smelled like tangy copper. Pushing through the vile bits as more Gears jumped down into the firing pit, she shot the next drone point blank, riddling its chest with half a mag.
A random bullet smashed into the center of her armor plate, spinning Bisca around. Gasping as her breathing hitched, she scrambled to a low weapon pit wall. Pain bloomed like a hammering ache, but she really couldn't rest as the nearby drones tried to push the humans back.
"Frag!" the emerald haired beauty screamed out as she threw one to the fourth weapon dug-out. Movement was agonizing as she kneeled at the corner, shooting another of the hated drones dead as it tried to scramble away from the small bomb.
It blew outwards, spreading a red mist of gore and blood.
"Clear this trench and keep moving!" Bisca shouted once more as she picked herself up and followed more Gears into the next connecting trench. Human and drones lay where they died, a carnage of guts, ichor and ghastly wounds.
Gunfire reports only added to the madness of this hell as she pushed out of the labyrinth of trench network. It rose to meet a cratered and pulverized road that led to a bombed out hamlet half a mile away. The small community that once was home to humanity was getting plastered by the navy, a constant drumming of impacts that rumbled the earth.
Despite the heavy bombardment, incoming rifle and machine gun fire came their way, maiming or killing more as the troops hugged the splintered pavement or dirt. Crawling forward, Bisca rolled into the closest crater with relief as Natsu, Cana and Sorano stayed low with a few other Gears.
"This is King Dragneel! Obliterate that damn village! The grubs are dug in and we're taking fire!" he shouted into his radio, his voice raw while specks of blood graced his neck from a shallow cut.
Naval shells picked up in the next few minutes, howling like freight trains as they smashed the remaining structures of the hamlet into crumbing ruins. Locust fire slackened considerably as the king relayed the destruction to the navy offhshore.
"Let's go!" the male waved as he rose from the crater, climbing up the churned dirt and mud. Rushing toward the hamlet, the infantry followed as a few errant rifle cracks made men and women flinch.
Sorano breathed a sigh of relief as she slammed into cover by a broken wall at the hamlet outskirts. Pieces of several Kantus and several drones littered the nearby ground, the fresh stink of blood and shit everywhere. Gears rushed past, pushing along the central road littered with rubble and deep impact craters. Natsu lined up beside her, crouched low before wiping grime and sweat from his brow. Cana and Bisca weren't far behind, grouping together as they momentarily paused.
Natsu peered over the crumbling brick wall at the distant capital, the locust weapon visible like a taunting spire under a blanket of Nemacyst.
Fighting through that city would be hell.
"Remember. If something happens to me, keep on mission, securing that weapon is top priority. It's bigger than my life or a thousand lives"
That statement was not something any of the women wanted to hear, but they knew it was necessary.
"That won't happen. Not if we have anything to say about it" Cana promised, her resolve harsh and cold.
Natsu went silent, not wanting to point out that death could claim him in the next minute.
"It would just ruin their concentration" snorting out a breath, he rose. "Don't bunch up and stay behind me" Rounding the shattered wall, the man advanced with several other Gears, his women immediately following as the attack continued through the bombed out hamlet.
Five Miles Eastward along the coast.
The small resort and marina town must have been beautiful once. An oceanside tourist attraction with beautiful views of the beach and ocean along with a sizable marina to serve the local area.
Most of those people were either dead or refugees as the Jupiter tanks rumbled along the concrete quay of the marina, directly offloading from one of the vehicle landing craft. Several small boats and pleasure craft had partially sunk, settling into the harbor as rust and damage showed their demise.
Laxus's face was grim as his tank rumbled forward onto the beach, the man standing out of the cupula of the armored vehicle. Around him, the burning wrecks of landing craft sizzled and popped along the shoreline, many of them having taken direct hits during the first wave. Bodies of men and women littered the beach, a morbid cost that led into the resort village.
Wounded were being loaded onto working infantry craft, a hellish sight of many missing limbs or suffering from horrid wounds. Still, even as the wounded were taken to several the few hospital ships offshore, more reinforcements landed, disgorging more infantry, equipment and supplies.
Following the tanks before him in the assault line up the narrow roadway to the small town, Laxus had an eyeful of the full destruction that had befallen the defenders.
Essentially, the naval bombardment had leveled the town and the locust strongpoints, collapsing pillboxes, bunkers and other defensive works in the surrounding bluffs.
One lucky hit by an offshore bombardment had angled just right into the firing slit of a blockhouse along the road, blowing it into a collapse of ruin and shattered walls. Tangled corpses of locust were entwined in the tomb as flies began to buzz around them in the summer heat.
Pushing through the ruined town and the crumbling structures, the country side opened up a bit into light rolling hills toward the capital. Grabbing a pair of binoculars, Laxus peered through at another small town that had settled among the rolling hills. Still several miles away, the blonde lightning mage scowled.
Unlike the resort town, this one most likely didn't receive the full bombardment of the navy.
Rumbling and shaking of the earth made the man clutch the rim of the tanks hatch, his instincts flaring as several large E-holes appeared along the main road. Limbs jutted out, digging into the soil as three Corpsers emerged, the beasts unleashing howls of rage as spittle flew from the maws of their razor-sharp teeth. One of them attacked the lead tank, dragging the military vehicle into the earth as the others stomped forward.
Infantry flanking the road fired, many dropping to one knee as they tried to assist. They were soon occupied by a force of locust drones, boomers and Kantus that emerged with the Corpsers, turning the roadway and fields into fresh battle zone.
"Elfman! Armor Piercing!" Laxus roared out as he ducked down, the hatch yanked shut behind him. "Lisanna! All stop! Freed! Mow down those grubs!" Scrambling to the targeting scope, Laxus peered through at the spider-like beast.
His girlfriend slammed on the brakes as thirty tons of steel and machinery clanked to a halt in the same moment as the supporting machine gun at the slopped front chattered in a ripping sound of cloth. Several of the drones outside were bowled over, but they were small fry at the moment.
The turret minutely adjusted, aiming for the Corpser on the left as it advanced toward them in a rumbling march.
"AP loaded!" Elfman shouted as rounds pinged like hail off the armored hull.
Laxus went silent for a moment, double checking the aiming crosshairs were centered on the abomination.
"Fire!"
Elman pressed the button while a shell bloomed out of the main cannon a mere blink later. Flying across half a mile of open field, the round tore through the head of the Corpse in a shattering of brain bits and splashing gore.
It was an instant kill shot while the other nearby tanks hammered the other two monstrous spiders into screaming piles of meat, destroying the main advantage of the attacking horde.
"Elfman! Shot!" the blonde man yelled out. Turning the turret toward the main concentration of drones still advancing across the field.
"Loaded!"
"Fire!"
Another belch of flame erupted from the tanks cannon, spewing an expanding cone of shot to tear into the locust. Beasts were ripped apart, limbs torn away as insides were riddled with deadly balls of lead. Monsters screamed and howled, but the humans didn't care.
"Hit em' again!"
The clattering of a spent shell clattered to the steel floor of the tank, tendrils of smoke rising as the burly man slammed another shot shell into the open breech.
Another cone of steel balls and shot tore apart the locust attack in conjunction with several other tanks and the infantry support. Still, the grubs pressed on despite the casualties.
"One more!"
Belching fire and deadly shards ripped across the field from half a dozen tanks, killing the last efforts of the assault as most died or simply started to run.
The humans mercilessly shot the fleeing grubs in the back, not inclined to show the slightest mercy.
"Lisanna. Drive across the field and avoid those E-holes"
"Sure thing!" his girlfriend shouted from the driver's seat as the tank began to clank forward. Driving onto the churned grass, they were quickly supported by infantry that killed any wounded locust.
Several of the dying and crawling beasts still clung to life in their path, but Lisanna had no qualms about driving over them with thirty tons of steel.
The treads left a trail of blood and sickly gore upon crushing the beasts, causing a few cheers from several infantry nearby. Laxus reopened the turret, standing up as the tank company began to spread across the country in a wide, driving wedge toward the next town.
Passing several abandoned farmhouses, most were gutted by flame or damage, but some could still be used as delaying strongpoints by locust enemies. Sniper rifle began to zip through the air from a dilapidated farmhouse, trying to claim infantry lives. A man screamed as a bullet tore into his leg, spilling him toward the ground.
"Stop!" Laxus bayed into his headset as Lisanna hit the brakes once more. Ducking down, another sniper round pinged off the sloped armor like an angry wasp. "H.E!" Beginning to turn the turret toward the former human dwelling half a mile away, the target soon locked.
"Fire!" the lightning mage shouted as the ringing blast rocked the tank. The shell raced over the earth, blowing a hole into the front of the home, killing the trio of snipers inside. Resetting the turret toward a forward position, they resumed their advance to the next town, no doubt crawling with locust forces.
Lucy stayed crouched behind the half broken wall of brick and mortar, bullets cracking above her head. Currently in the ruins of a post office, the building had seen much better days.
"Hehehe. BOOM!"
The boomshot round burst against her cover, shaking the wall as dust and powder spread out in a cone. Lucy rose from the shattered brick wall, sending several rounds into the behemoth that was slowly reloading. It staggered with a howl as half its arm was mangled into a bloody ruin, dropping the weapon as several drones opened fire with lancers and hammerbursts from the other side of the ruin clogged street. Ducking back down as more bullets smashed into the broken wall, the celestial mage wiped some of the dust choked sweat from her face.
"Reaver!" Gray yelled from nearby, his tone full of exhaustion and fear as the flying beast landed in the middle of the street, supporting the drones. The pilot launched an explosive round at the post office, the charge flying above the head of nearly a dozen humans before smashing into the rear wall, crumbling it into further collapse.
Bullets flew, snapping and cracking with earsplitting noise as the humans and locust exchanged fire. "Lucy! Flare! Cosmos! With me! Rest of you guys cover us!" Fullbuster yelled with a wave of his hand as he ran low along the remains of the post office to a blasted hole in the side of the building. Rushing out into a trash strewn alleyway between buildings, the Gears laid down a heavy fusillade against the drones across the rubble strewn street. Rushing into the next building, the ice mage led the three females to the nearby staircase missing half its guard rail from battle damage. Thundering up the steps to the second floor, they moved into an old bedroom with the bones of several humans picked clean near the bed. The window had been blown out, scattering beams and shards of glass everywhere, but that was normal for most cities and towns these days.
Crouching below the window sill as the stifling heat of the day rose from the street in waves, Gray didn't need to even give a command to his three ladies.
Cosmos pulled her boomshot, a rapid exchange of weapons as the pink haired female aimed downward into the roadway that was still in the throes of battle. The Reaver launched another explosive blast toward the post office, this time earning several screams as soldiers were flayed inside. Squeezing the trigger of the grenade launcher, it was a true hit, impacting the Reaver pilot with a spreading splash of shrapnel and damage.
"Hit it again!" Grey shouted as he poured fire into the wounded Boomer. Bullets rained down on the exposed drones from the squad, two of the monsters quickly withering under fire.
"Sure thing!" Cosmos shouted over the hammering noise of gunfire and battle. Ducking behind the crumbling wall, she popped a fresh round into breech then rapidly rose once more. Firing at the wounded Reaver, the second grenade blast finished the job, blowing the beast apart in an explosion of bits and gore.
"They're retreating into that building!" Lucy warned as the locust drones began to fall back into a three story walk-up. Shooting one of the hated creatures in the back as it turned, the blonde finished it off without mercy as it tried to crawl toward safety.
"Flare! With me! You two keep the pressure on and keep hitting that house!" Fullbuster bellowed over the distant blast of bombs falling from aircraft hitting enemy locations in the hilly town. Rising up with the red-headed mage, the two rushed down the stairs. Stopping at the doorway missing the actual door, Grey peered into the gaping hole of the post office, eyeing three dead Gears laying across the floor. One of the living soldiers looked back as Fullbuster gave hand signals to the remaining men, a silent exchange as locust fire began to pick up from the house.
"Move fast and don't stay in the street. They'll just pick us off otherwise!" the male said loudly before rushing into the road. Bullets cracked past the humans, a few taking hits to the armor as they surged under the cover of Lucy and Cosmos peppering the ruined home. A fresh boomshot round entered a glassless window on the first floor, blowing out shards of brick while the surrounding wall collapsed onto the nearby sidewalk. Howling screams of inhumanity rose from the room beyond as the two slammed their bodies against the exterior wall. Fullbuster pulled a grenade from his belt, tossing it inside.
The former home rocked as the bomb burst inside, flaying another drone and killing the wounded in a mere eyeblink. "GO!" the ice mage yelled as he ran inside, killing a bleeding grub covered with shrapnel wounds in the rubble strewn living room. He took cover at the kitchen entrance, Flare taking up the other side as bullets smashed and splintered the molding. "Flare! Roast em out! You men! Secure the upper floors!" the man shouted as several Gears rushed up the nearby staircase. Weapons fire echoed from above, but he had more direct problems to worry about. The locust had knocked over the refrigerator, one of the old lacrima powered models. With three of them holding the room, they kept up a steady stream of bullets.
Fullbuster blind fired, his lancer chattering as the huddled drones kept low, their grunts of language barely heard.
"Burn! Burn you monsters! HAHAHA!" Flare laughed as she leaned out, unleashing a stream of napalm into the kitchen. It washed over the fallen appliance, roasting skin and flesh as the trio of beasts began to howl in agony.
"Don't shoot them. Let them suffer" the ice mage reasoned as the vile stench of pork filled the house. Locust screams soon faded as they died in consumption, their hide blackened to a horrid char.
Lucy and Cosmos rejoined him a few minutes later, along with more Gears flowing into the house and down the roadway outside. "Collect any ammo you can. We still have to secure this block" bending down to help himself to some ammo, the male grimaced as pieces of charred skin came away from his looting. Simply wiping the gristle away, he didn't really think anything of it anymore.
Machine gun fire ripped through the air from somewhere close, followed by another rumbling explosion…which in turn created a fresh yell of tormented screams. Unfortunately, it was muffled by the building's walls.
"That us or the grubs?" Lucy asked simply, wiping a fresh sheen of sweat from her dirty hair.
"Hopefully grubs" Grey replied as he glanced out the kitchen doorway to the back alley that ran parallel to the front road. Looking back at a few nearby Gears taking a small breather, the mage pointed to the alleyway. "Some of you take the alley. We'll move through these buildings above and clear out any stragglers"
Moving toward the staircase, the clanking rumble of a tank outside momentarily drew his attention. Driving over ruin and debris in the road, the war machine was escorted by several infantry. Dismissing the armor, the mage rushed up to the top floor with his squad and several more helmeted infantry. A gaping hole was in the nearby wall, leading to the next home which was actually missing part of the roof. Walking over broken brick and plaster behind her boyfriend, Lucy couldn't help but feel a sadness for the former country of Enca.
"So few of them made it out…" the blonde told herself before tightening her grip on her rifle. "Yet another reason to hate these monsters" Boots crunching over a layering of dust, another blast boomed as they advanced into the next ruined home via the caved in upper floors.
Movement shifted at the far end of the fifth home, huddled behind a half collapsed bedroom wall.
"Contact!" Lucy yelled out in warning as she rushed into a gutted room nearby. Taking a stance at the doorway, there really wasn't much to the room as most had collapsed to the floor below, leaving only a small corner still hovering above the destruction. In reality, only the main hallway balcony of the third floor was keeping this building standing, acting as a sort of brace between the two sides as the rest had simply been destroyed in the early days of the war.
Bullets began to fly as several drones opened fire, a whizzing of lead and tracers that the humans answered in kind. Lucy turned, ducking low behind the plaster, wood and brick. Rising up seconds later, she fired across the gap at a snarling drone readying a grenade. Bullets tore through its neck and chest, killing the fiend as she returned to cover.
The hand grenade burst a few moments later, flinging hot shards into two nearby drones, blowing off the arm of one as it howled.
"Cosmos! Give them some extra shrapnel!" Grey shouted with a dark grin.
"You got it!" Momentarily popping out as the monsters kept up a steady fire with humans returning a heavier exchange, the woman in question fired another explosive shell, the heavy round tearing above the balcony walkway. Slamming into the flooring next to the enemy, it burst, killing two of them in a splattering of spreading viscera and pieces of bodies.
Fullbuster rushed up, running across the balcony with Lucy and several others. Two of the monstrous enemies were still alive, struggling to live.
Grey stomped one of their heads with his boot, spreading brain matter and gore across the floor as the other was executed with a chainsaw to the guts. Looking down into the road, the tank had stopped, slightly swiveling its long cannon.
A blast of noise rocked the area as it fired, shaking dust and particles loose before beginning to clank forward over a pile of rubble and crushing a ruined magic mobile.
"Fuck that's loud!" Flare yelled as her ears rang, the woman shaking her head to try and clear the ringing.
"Won't disagree about that! Now let's finish clearing these houses!" the male shouted as he traversed the pile of brick and shattered beams of the next walk-up home. Having to descend the stairs to the second floor due to devastation, the men and women quickly advanced through the structures, meeting only token resistance.
Arriving in the last home sitting at the corner of the side road and a larger street, it was a pancaked ruin of collapse, both sides of the façade having long since fallen into the road. Half the second floor was gone, hanging over nothing as Flare and Lucy took cover at the brick lined wall to the edge.
"TROIKA!" Flare screamed out as the recognizable sound of the locust weapon began to spin up from across the intersection. A four story apartment had been converted into a sandbagged strongpoint with two of the machine guns set up on the third and first floors, the walls long missing as several supporting drones began to open fire with hammerbursts. Diagonally across the crossroad was another locust held building of similar defenses, the two story shop having a machine gun mounted on the roof…along with a mortar team.
A stream of bullets began to stitch and shatter the air, tracers smashing and peppering the brickwork. A mortar landed in the debris of the living room below, shaking the structure as Fullbuster took cover below the sill of a window. "Somebody get to the roof and put fire on that mortar!" Popping out, he fired, sending half a magazine across the roadway toward the third story nest. He winged a drone, but not enough to cripple anything. Pulling back as tracers ripped into brickwork, another Gear popped up, firing. A few bullets tore half his head off in a bursting blast of gore, some of it splashing onto Grey's armor and exposed neck.
"Shit" the man whispered, wiping the gore away as the soldiers returned a heavy fusillade of rounds. Exposing himself once more, he lay down fire with his squad. A drone was picked off, but they were simply able to put more rounds into the air, keeping the humans on the defense.
A bellowing explosion rocked the street, hitting the building holding the locust mortar team as the tank fired into the structure. Half of the building collapsed, spilling the drones into the street who were immediately cut down. Clanking into the intersection, the two Troika's swiveled, opening fire on the armor. Bullets pinged and sparked off the heavy plate, but it had no effect as the turret slowly turned to the strongpoint.
The tank belched fire into the second floor at a range of forty feet, blowing apart half the locust inside along with unsustainable damage. The apartment building collapsed in on itself, taking the monsters with it as clouds of dust and noise rose from the destruction.
Lucy wriggled her nose, coughing heavily as the unbelievably vile stench rose. "God! Is that a Seeder?" she gasped as she tried to find the source. Her suspicions were confirmed a minute later as several nemacyst rose from a hidden lot behind the destroyed apartment. The homing gas bags wavered in the air, then began to dive toward the lone tank. The Seeder itself belched more of the bombs, each disgusting noise furthering the rotten stench.
"Cover that tank!" Grey ordered as he stepped out of cover, shooting down two of the aerial bombs. Nearby Gears filled the air as the armor's turret depressed, covering the war machine during those vital seconds.
Another belch of flame shot from the cannon, killing the creature as it blew apart from the impacting munition. Beginning to advance further into the town, the armor began to clank forward once more, its destination the capital and the end of the war.
Fullbuster stooped down, collecting the tags of the fallen soldier nearby. Sighing with exhaustion, the man wished they could stop…but they couldn't. If they did the locust would win. "Come on. Let's get down there. The grubs won't kill themselves" Leaving the ruined row of homes, Grey fell in line with the column, Lucy, Flare and Cosmos spreading out and following as the echoes of battle raged further ahead.
Several hours later. The Enca Capital
The Genetic Desolator loomed above the ruined and cracked skyline of the old capital, rising like a monolith amongst destruction and war. The cloud of Nemecyst still persisted above the massive weapon, but the numbers were dwindling as Seeders were identified and destroyed by the humans pushing into the rubble choked capital of Enca.
Still, the locust only seemed to harden their resolve and ferocity.
Natsu was standing behind cover of a brick wall, bullets constantly smashing the faded and beaten brickwork of the building. A gaping hole nearby led down a mound of rubble onto the main boulevard, half of which had collapsed into a giant E-hole further ahead. Buildings leaned precariously near the opening, some fully collapsed into darkness or across part of the four lane ribbon of concrete.
And it was crawling with locust that had turned it into another defensive line.
"Fight my children! Fight to ensure that our beloved Horde wins this world and destroys the human scourge! Every moment you fight is a moment closer to victory!" Myrrah proclaimed from a loudspeaker system set up throughout the city. Linked through a hardline cable network, the main station was at the right end of the enemy line and held by a hundred of the subterranean bastards.
Several Troika nests bristled with action, creating an interlocking field of fire while mortars rained down onto the main roadway, cratering the pulverized concrete and maiming those that were unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A tank burned outside, acrid smoke stinking with the horrid stench of human flesh, oil and fear.
"Damn. I really wish that bitch would shut the fuck up" Sorano complained as machine gun and rifle rounds flew through the gaping hole of the currently held structure, smashing plaster walls at the back.
"No shit. It's just annoying at this point" Natsu agreed with the woman as several more Gears stacked up behind him, momentarily safe from enemy fire.
Tracers and bullets ripped back and forth across the boulevard, mixed in with cries of pain and guttural monster howls between the two forces. Clanking rumblings of another Jupiter tank rolled up somewhere outside, the beast of armor making sure to stay out of mortar range.
The crew did not want to meet a similar fate.
A blech of fire and concussive blast of ear-rattling noise was a wake-up call to the locust as a high explosive shell ripped apart one of the Troika nests, flinging chunks of bodies and rubble through the air. Still, the grubs kept of a heavy rate of fire, making the expanse between the two forces a killing zone.
"Those Troikas would rip us apart if we tried to take the main road by force" Natsu observed as more mortars fell from a hidden location, crunching and blowing bits of roadway into the humid air. "We're gonna flank em! Let's reroute and hit those assholes from the side!" Pulling back as a stream of tracers and heavy rounds tore thought the gaping wound of the current building, Dragneel knew he made the right call.
A broken doorway led to an alley behind the ruined clothing store, splashes of old blood stains across the flooring and wood, leading to the trash strewn alleyway. Natsu eased himself against the doorframe, his gaze falling on Bisca across from him. She looked exhausted and worn out, the strain of war and looming extinction on all their minds.
"I took a glance, looks deserted…but who knows what nasty traps those grubs have" The emerald haired gun mage informed while she adjusted the cowgirl hat on her head.
The fact she hadn't lost it during the whole invasion was surprising.
Natsu gave a small grunt, not knowing if it was heard over another booming report of the nearby tank, the blast shaking dust loose from the ceiling above. Taking a look himself, the alleyway was covered with piles of rubble and debris, most fallen from nearby buildings damaged by the war.
"Move!" Natsu roared over the constant cacophony of gunfire and war. Rushing into the passage between buildings, the man kept his rifle at the ready, moving swiftly as the humans pushed forward.
The sandbagged nest had been hidden from view further down the alley, resting on the second floor of a building missing most of the roof. A drone gunner pointed with a harsh shout as the humans moved into view, then promptly aimed the turret downward.
"GRUBS! TAKE COVER!" Cana yelled out in terror as heavy rounds tore into the man next to her, a stitching line of tracers the managed to mangle two others in precious moments. Bullets whizzed and snapped by her head as she ran for safety, rushing into the gaping wound of a nearby building on the left. Running toward the nearest wall of the workshop, the woman absently wiped some of the warm blood of the recently dead from her cheeks, the fear of realization trying to push its way into her mind.
Gunfire came from beyond, the locust having fortified the surrounding buildings as well. She exposed herself to danger, opening fire as a drone rushed forward with several galloping wretches. Six well bunched shots kill the charging foot soldier, spilling him to the cement floor. Ducking back as more bullets screamed through the air, Cana simply blindfired around the corner.
Monstrous screeches of agony wailed, the sheer luck of wounding the little beasts surprising her. Bisca and several other helmeted soldiers had gathered in the corner of safety, the thunder of machine gun rounds tearing apart the alleyway.
"Where's Natsu and Sorano!?" Cana yelled as bullets smashed into the supporting wall, splintering brick.
"They made it into another building! I think four dead!" Bisca shot back. Eyeing a large piece of machinery in the middle of the workfloor, the gun mage readied a smoke grenade. "Cover me!" Tossing the cylindrical canister toward the assumed locust position, it began to belch smoke. Rushing low and fast as erratic rounds snapped above her head, the woman reached momentary safety behind the large piece of machinery.
"Keep up the pressure!" Alberona yelled, the armored female leaning out to unleash more rounds at the locust. Gears quickly gave their support, the cracking rounds deafening while unleashing a wall of lead through the swirling smoke.
Bisca leaned around the corner of the large, defunct machinery block. Shifting movement appeared through the dissipating smoke inside the old managers office.
"There you are" Taking out her longshot, she quickly acquired a target. Squeezing the trigger, a drone's head disappeared in a blast of gore and brain matter inside the old office, splattering the nearby wall.
"CANA! They're in the office!" Bisca shouted out as she worked the bolt. Peering through the scope, the woman cursed as the monsters took cover, staying hidden.
"You heard her! Move up!" The brunette yelled before breaking cover. Sprinting forward in a crouch, the loud report of her friend smashed into the wall as a reminder to the beasts to keep their heads down. Sliding into cover against the wall near the room, she simply tossed a fragmentation grenade through one of the broken windows of the interior office.
It boomed with a blast, howls of pain music to her ears as the abominations inside took the brunt of shrapnel. Peeking in, the four drones were down, crawling toward a gaping hole in the exterior wall of the industrial building.
"No wounded" she said harshly a moment later, stomping the head of a monster with a satisfying crunch of bone and flesh. "Ugh…got some grub on my boot" Wiping a few beads of sweat from her forehead, the building was especially humid as the Gears executed the remaining drones. Taking station at the ragged hole in the wall, the woman breathed deeply as Bisca stacked up behind her.
Echoes of gunfire and clashing snarls of chainsaws filtered from outside, but it was muffled by another explosion rocking the area. Peering into the next building, the roof had fallen in halfway through next to a staircase leading towards a second floor. It appeared to be a small storage warehouse or another machine shop, but it was beyond ruined.
"Upstairs. Let's try to get a bead on that grub nest" Cana ordered as she left cover, moving quickly over the piles of broken brick and rising piles of debris to the stairs. Stomping swiftly up the rusting steps of meshed steel, the elevated catwalk led to the defunct control room of a lifting crane which was had fallen in the initial collapse.
Kicking the broken door open with a swift kick, it groaned with agony before flying off and landing on the remains of some unfortunate soul.
The soldiers ignored the bone white remains, instead the ragged hole in the exterior wall drew their attention.
Thundering machine gun and rifle fire assaulted the ears of Bisca and Cana, both women bracing the pockmarked and bullet damaged cinderblock wall.
Bisca peered, the Troika nest of drones now pouring fire into the ravaged ruin of the nearby building next to them across the alleyway. Tracers flew, puffing against brick or splintering wood. Return fire flew back, stitching along several sandbags as the two forces fought.
The distance was only about twenty feet, an easy toss for grenades which Cana ordered with a few hand signals.
Bisca lined up a shot with her sniper rifle, the distance easy while two Gears threw some fragmentation grenades into the sandbagged strongpoint. Flying in a lazy arc, both landed on target while Bisca fired a lone bullet, blowing the side of the Troika gunners head off in an explosion of gore and pasty brain matter.
The drones barely had time to scream as the tiny bombs burst, flaying shrapnel into locust flesh or simply reducing them to flying chunks of meat. One of them appeared stunned, clutching its head in a stupor.
A soldier gunned the beast down without a care, ending its existence.
Natsu appeared half a minute later, cautiously assessing the situation before spotting two of his ladies across the way. Sorano stood near him, ever present as the king's guard while more Gears filtered past into the building. Pressing a hand to his earpiece, the king scowled before pointing further down the alleyway.
"There's heavy radio static which means we have a Seeder in our way. Find it and kill it! We'll push through and clear these buildings, flank those assholes on the main street. Meet up when we can!" His shouting was loud, but then the stunning report of another tank firing nearby was nearly drowned out by the constant surge of gunfire.
Bisca gave a mock salute. "Will do. Don't get killed"
Her boyfriend gave a knowing nod, his face drawn with stress. "Yeah, same for you two" Waving a hand, he moved out of sight through a doorway with Sorano, leaving the two women.
"Let's get moving! We're looking for a Seeder! We knock it out, that brings us one step closer to winning this war!" Cana shouted as another barrage of mortars landed several streets over, vibrating the ground. A loud roar bellowed from somewhere in the city, probably a Brumak, but she couldn't pinpoint it. Leaning out of the gaping building wound, the brunette eyed the doomsday weapon that was realistically, only ten blocks away…yet so far as battle raged all around her.
Scowling, she pressed on with Bisca and the others, intent on killing more monsters.
The Genetic Desolator…three hours later.
Queen Myrrah clenched her fists in unholy fury as her forced continued to dwindle. The human filth was practically at the doorstep to her weapon, less than a city block away. Smoke and fires raged in the embattled capital, mixed in with human airpower dropping bombs on her children while the loud reports of tanks finished the last of her Brumaks in a staggering punishment of cannon fire.
Even the protective canopy of Nemacyst was collapsing as the humans destroyed the Seeders, nullifying reinforcements as more fighter planes stitched across the sky above. One of those planes was thankfully struck by the aerial bombs, a wing sheering off before the craft spun toward the ground and exploding in a plume of fuel and fire.
It made her smile, but the mirth was fleeting as she peered down at the main roadway, the humans surging forward like ants as the main defensive line began to buckle and collapse.
They would reach the base of this tower in minutes.
"HOW MUCH LONGER!" The queen roared at the scrambling locust technicians still frantically working. Several Kantus and battled tested Drones, Butchers and a Boomer stood on the large, elevated platform, protecting their beloved queen as the lower drones worked on the wiring and nearby consoles. Several supporting columns of ugly steel rose from the steel mesh floor, emerging like crooked teeth.
Several other war hardened drones hid behind those columns, waiting to unleash hell upon their enemies.
The cries of a captured human male drew Myrrah's gaze, her disdain for the creature obvious. Having been captured weeks ago, the being was strapped inside a glass cylinder to the left of the main console, alive…yet broken. His mind was gone from the beatings and torture…not that it mattered.
Once the machine was ready, it would read his genetic code and DNA, then pulse out in a planetwide wave to eradicate all of the same species. A true way to end humanity on Earthland…and the worlds beyond.
The lead technician turned, his yellow eyes hidden behind a pair of work goggles. Worn leathers and gray skin sweltered in the summer heat that was beginning to peak near one hundred degrees.
"Half an hour my queen. The weapon will be ready in half an hour"
"That's not good enough!"
"We are worki—gurk!" The worker was hefted up by General Kragg, his gnarled and scarred face unleashing a heavy snarl. "You will work faster, drone. The survival of our species depends on it!" Dropping the small locust, the massive military leader hefted his double staff chainsaw while turning toward the elevator lift that would lower to the ground floor. Sitting next to a descending staircase, both avenues of advance would soon bring humans.
"Kill every human that reaches this platform!" Kragg bellowed before pointing a gnarled finger at one of the Kantus priests. "Descend and lead our forces. Fight floor by floor if you have to"
The priest saluted, rushing down the staircase with a lancer, fluttering robes of black trailing behind him.
"Damn this filth…we will destroy them all…" The locust promised, his fingers tightening around the chainsaw staff as the humans continued to close the ring around this beacon of victory.
"EAT SHIT AND DIE!" Natsu roared out as the blades of his lancer dug into the clavicle of the drone before him. Spreading a spray of warm blood and bits of flesh, the grub came apart into piles of ichor. Rushing forward, the man slid into cover behind a crumbled wall near the elevator and staircase leading to the top of the Desolator. Cana, Bisca, and Sorano fired over the low wall along with dozens of other soldiers, filling the air with a deadly crescendo of lead and shrapnel.
To their credit, the remaining locust didn't falter or flee…but kept on fighting. A grenade sailed from the drones forty feet away behind another crumbling wall, the beasts inclined to kill as many as possible. The grenade landed among some soldiers, blowing them apart with unabashed ferocity as the wounded screamed and howled for their mothers.
"Griinddd…"
More men rushed up under the murderous fusillade, tracers flying down the street. The larger locust was peppered with rifle fire, the hard leathers unable to stand up to the efforts of nearly a dozen men and women. Collapsing in a pile of ruined flesh, a nearby grub tried to retrieve the larger weapon, only to be gunned down himself.
Several Ravens brought needed reinforcements to the battle, setting down in the middle of the wide boulevard among the shattered ruins of buildings and the dead. A few rounds pinged off the vehicles as Delta squad hopped out, rushing low and fast to the line. Dom was earnest, firing over the battered brickwall with a grim satisfaction.
Natsu glanced at Marcus Fenix and the rest of Delta, taking cover nearby as Cole popped up, unleashing another fusillade with a loud whooping laugh.
"Hell yeah! This is the big push baby! No way I'll miss the end of this game!"
Bullets screamed over Natsu's head from a Kantus priest, the gorgon pistol chattering along with its hellish howl.
Marcus shot it in the face, silencing the beast before it could return to cover among the hell of battle.
"I thought I told you to wait!" Natsu yelled out as he blind fired, empty brass casings flying to the ground in a haphazard pile.
"Like hell I'd miss the chance to kill the top bitch!" Fenix shouted back as he dropped down to reload. Peeking above the wall, he grimaced as the elevator burned, destroyed by a drone. Nearby the stairs were open, guarded by several hunkered down Kantus priests behind a hasty pile of sandbags. One rose, the charging sound of a torque bow easily heard by all.
It pinged upon release, embedding in the wall before exploding in a shower of dust and noise.
"GET SOME FRAGS ON THOSE FUCKERS!" Fenix roared out, spraying the position with a full magazine.
Five of the tiny bombs flew through the air, raining down to wrack the position. Three landed behind the piles of sandbags, ripping apart the beasts in a blast of spreading flesh and bloody bits.
"Smoke! Then follow me!" Natsu bellowed as he tossed a cylindrical cannister through the air to toward the remaining locust that continued to pour lead into the air. Ducking down as tracers flew above his head, the king gave a five count as more smoke bombs billowed and wafted in the oppressive heat of summer.
"GO! Get up those stairs!" the dragon slayer shouted as he broke cover and ran the forty feet. Bullets left furrows in the smoke, fired blindly by the locust as they tried to discern targets.
Sorano followed Natsu and Marcus, two bullets cracking past her ear. One pinged off her shoulder armor, stunning the limb. She staggered, but felt herself pushed forward by Bisca. Reaching the rising metal staircase that rose to the top of the Genetic Desolator, her boots clanged as the men and women surged upward above the dwindling battlefield.
A drone waited on the third landing, its snarling maw of teeth a visage of hate as it fired from behind the central supporting pillar of the staircase.
"I don't have time for this shit!" Natsu yelled out as he returned fire. A few bullets sparked off the vertical beam, but one drone against two full squads didn't last long. Fenix simply stepped to the left, getting a proper angle then shot the drone dead.
"Hurry up! That bitch could fire that damn thing at any time!" The man yelled hoarsely as he hurried the pace. Boot falls echoed up the stairs, clanging with reverberations as the humans pushed upward, killing and destroying all those that stood in their way.
Cana looked upward, sweat and grime beading down her face. The top landing was right above them…and victory. But they had momentarily stopped, catching their breath while reloading what they could.
"Myrrah's up there. Probably surrounded by more of her 'children" the brunette reasoned out loud, knowing it would turn out to be true. No way in hell that genocidal bitch would be up there by herself.
"That would be my guess" Baird shrugged. "Oh, and try not to destroy this weapon with all your gunplay? I really don't want to dig bullets out of some console because Natsu was trigger happy and shit"
"Haha! Don't worry baby! I'll throw down so much lead the grubs could walk on it!"
Natsu grunted, his gaze hard. "Let's end this" The king moved fast, rushing up the last flight of metallic stairs to the top of the pillar platform.
"KILL THEM!" Myrrah roared from across the platform, her rage unholy as she fired a Boltok at the Fiorian king. "I WANT NATSU'S HEAD ON A PIKE!"
Dragneel hadn't stopped moving, rushing toward one of the large pillars jutting up from the floor. Finding Cana next to him, his girlfriend gave a light laugh as she tossed a grenade toward one of the charging butchers.
"Ohh…I think she likes you"
"I'll pass" Natsu groused as he leaned out, firing at one of the Kantus. Bullets stitched across the leathers, the beast twitching with impacts before falling.
"DRAGNEEL!" General Kragg roared out, spittle flying from his mouth as his chainsaw staff ripped to life. Charging forward, the battled hardened veteran of years of war swung the staff, the blades cutting through the steel beam in a shriek of sparks and howling metals….inches above Cana and Natsu's heads. It fell with a crash across the platform, ironically giving the humans a better range of cover as Dom, Baird and Fenix rushed forward to lay down fresh fire against the queen's guards. A boomshot grenade splashed against the steel, howling splinters rushing outward. But Delta was on task, laying down a heavy fusillade at the perpetrator who quickly withered under the combined fire.
"Move!" the male roared out, rushing out of cover toward the next pillar. A drone was there, in the middle of a reload. Cana didn't give him a chance to finish, the brunette raising her lancer high as the teeth churned. Screaming as they sank into pale, leathery hide, blood sprayed across her armor and cheeks, a warm nightmare of red.
"I'll deal with the big guy! Just work with the others and secure this weapon!" the king commanded with a shout. Exposing himself to danger as the two sides exchanged fire with tracers flying back and forth, the man growled at the general.
"I will mount your head on my chamber wall…human!" Kragg rasped with extreme bloodlust while raising his voice above the cracking of rifle fire. "Anybody that interferes with my battle will meet their end by my wrath!" A few random bullets cracked past his head, but the general didn't flinch while one of the Butchers fell under the efforts of Sorano and Cole. The blades began to spin and whir, screaming with desire as the locust ran forward. Raising the staff, he brought it down onto Natsu who managed to block with his own lancer, a hail of sparks roaring in the middle of the battlefield. The dragonslayer was being pushed down, his muscles screaming as his own battle rage erupted from his throat.
Pushing back with sheer strength, the two broke the duel, Kragg giving a low laugh. "Your strength is commendable, human. Too bad you die here today" Swinging the chainsaw staff, the spinning teeth churned the air as Dragneel rolled, missing by a hairsbreadth. Coming to a rise, Natsu fired at the general, three bullets winging his side. Kragg roared in hatred at the pain, the staff meeting the king's lancer in another shower of sparks and churning teeth.
Bisca saw her chance, the emerald haired sniper crouched behind the pillar cleaved in half by the general. Pressing the longshot to her shoulder, the woman didn't believe in fair play anymore. Squeezing the trigger, a heavy sniper round snapped through the air, boring through the general's shoulder with a shattering of bone and muscle.
"RRAAARRGHHH!"
Natsu moved with desperate speed, the opportunity to kill before him. Running low inside the guard of General Kragg, Natsu worked the churning teeth across the left knee, ruining the vital bone and sinew with a splatter of gore. Rolling out of the way as the large locust switched weapon hands and swung in a body twisting arc, Dragneel found himself behind the beast. Firing ten rounds into the other knee, the joint basically dissolved into a red mist as the monster howled at the fresh agony of his leg.
"MY QUEEN! IT'S READY!" the lead technician shouted moments before three bullets tore part of his head away. Brain splattered across the platform, the creature collapsing in a pile of leaking blood and chunks of matter.
Myrrah looked around desperately, her guards either dead or dying. Even General Kragg had been defeated, his wounds too much to bear. Firing her Boltok at one of the humans ducked behind a pillar, the vile queen screamed. "NO!" I won't let you win!" Myrrah howled before sprinting toward the central console.
"I can still win! I can still w—" A bullet tore through her leg, tearing part of the calf muscle away. Myrrah fell fifteen feet short, her pistol clattering free of her grip. Trying to crawl, a heavy boot stepped on her back.
"You're going nowhere, Myrrah" Dom hissed as the childhood friend of Marcus stared with unapologetic rage at the genocidal queen. Cradling his lancer, the man was content to grind his boot into the fresh wound.
"AAAAAHHHHHHGGHHHH! STOP!"
"No" Pressing down again, Myrrah howled a second time.
Baird walked up to the console, the technical genius studying the screen…then the imprisoned man in the cylinder. Hitting the release, the glass slid open as the restraints retracted. The nearly dead male collapsed, his nude body a stitchwork of scars and infected wounds.
Sorano knelt by his side, the man simply staring upward with a faraway look. "F..fre..eee" A last gasp took over as death took him, Sorano shaking her head while Damon studied the readouts of nearby screens.
"So that's how it's supposed to work…Hey! Get that big bastard into that pod! We need a live subject!" Baird ordered suddenly.
"NO! Please! My children must live!" Myrrah pleaded, only to have Dom stomp on her calf wound.
"You heard him big guy, you just volunteered" Dragneel smirked as himself, Cole and Marcus lifted up the still struggling Kragg. Dragging him across the platform, they really didn't care about the agony the general was in.
"You…filth"
"Fuck off" Fenix grumbled, pushing the monster into the pod. With a hiss of closing glass and fresh metallic straps, the beast was restrained. Obviously, he howled with enraged fury, promising fresh agony on all humans.
"Get up! You're going to want to watch this!" Dom said almost giddily as he pushed the defeated queen against a pillar, her cries of torment unheard by all.
"So how does this work?" Bisca asked, her curiosity showing even through the horrid fatigue she felt. Baird cocked an eyebrow, one of his hands waving upward in annoyance.
"Really? You want me to explain how this damn thing works now? Fuck, just think of it as purging a specific genetic code from a whole planet. Put in birds, and you destroy birds, or lizards or humans. But it also works against locust genetic coding so long as the subject is alive! Is that good enough?" Baird finished with annoyance.
"Shit. Sorry I asked you dick"
"Whatever, just go stand by your man or something"
Bisca did just that, letting Baird do his thing.
He only needed a minute to figure it out, his grin infectious. "Well…here's to the end of the locust!" Pressing the main button, the gyroscopic rings twenty feet above began to spin, rapidly increasing in speed as an orangish, red light began to crackle and form in the center of the turning rings.
Kragg screamed as the device activated, his genetic code beginning to be picked apart molecule by molecule. Skin and flesh began to flake off, dissipating into clouds of ash as the effect began to move faster and faster, taking more of his body every second.
"Oh, your gonna wanna watch this" Dom grinned as Myrrah cried out, her voice pleading for some miracle.
"BWAHHHOOOM!" The Genetic Desolater fired, pushing up a stunning beam of reddish energy to the upper atmosphere while a secondary and tertiary pulse flowed outward and downward respectively.
"NOOOOO! MY CHILDREN!"
The wave of energy moved fast, flowing through the air, over the ground and into the bowels of Earthland. Reavers fell from the sky…locust drones began to fly apart while the Stabber hordes writhed and shrieked, their flesh literally billowing away into nothingness. From Desertio, Seven and Fiore to the broken empire of Alverez and the shattered remnants of countries across the world, they bore witness to the locust horde dying…vaporizing into particles of dust.
In a few minutes, it was over, Earthland finally secured from the locust horde as the echoes of war and battle faded.
Bisca looked upward, the smile of relief…victory and peace washing over her. The joy in her heart was contagious, those around her smiling with equal mirth. Bringing her gaze level with the king, she saw Natsu smiling at her, a true, warm smile that had been a rare sight for years.
"Natsu…we did it! We won!" Running toward him to give him the biggest kiss she could, a strange glow of orange light began to come off her body. Halting, Bisca was confused as she began to glow brighter while waves of agony began to rise. Howling as her nerves flared like fire, she managed to utter one more word.
"N…Natsu?"
"BISCA!" Natsu roared, running toward one of his loves, but she disappeared in a puff of dust and light, leaving no trace. Managing to grab a handful of particles, it felt like grainy ash between his gloved fingertips. "No…why? Was there a malfunction!? The Desolator should have only targeted locust!" Staring at the spot she had just stood, all Natsu could feel was…hollow.
"HehehehaHAHAHAHA! Even in victory you lose, Dragneel! You won and lost in moments! The suffering for you has only jus—"
Dom stabbed the queen in the gut, wrenching it upward with a sneer as she gasped. "You feel that bitch? That the pain for my wife…my children, and for every person you've killed. Your going to die here today, and your horde will become nothing more than a bad memory" Pulling the blade out, Myrrah fell to her knees, cradling the seeping wound.
"Myrrah…"
She looked up, watching the Fiorian king, Natsu Dragneel approach with a butcher meat cleaver in his right hand. His face was a contortment of rage and anguish, loss and fury from watching Bisca vaporize before him.
"I made a promise to put your head on pike once we beat you and your fucking horde. It's time to collect"
"Please…mercy"
Natsu scoffed as he rose the chopper. "Sorry, no mercy here" Swinging as hard as he could, the blade dug into Myrrah's neck, spraying warm blood over the steel. Gurling as waves of liquid pumped down her neck and dress, Natsu wrenched it free then swung again…and again…and again.
Myrrah's head tumbled free on the fifth chop, the flesh and sinew ragged as Natsu picked up the head by the hair. Looking around, there was a few spare narrow shafts of metal laying discarded nearby.
"That'll work" Picking one up, he embedded the narrow pipe between the mesh slats of the platform near the edge…then pushed Myrrah's head onto it with grim satisfaction. Overlooking the city, the sun blazed as silence took over the planet.
"It's over…" Feeling a hand on his shoulder, the king looked over at Cana, her own face a mixture of loss, joy and everything in between.
"We can rebuild Natsu. We can finally live our lives for all those that…that we lost" the woman began to cry, wiping at the tears. Bisca had been a friend, a sister…somebody she had loved. To lose her right at the end…it was agonizing.
"Yeah…we will. I'll find Wendy, I'll find Erza, Mira, Levy and Kagura to bring them home. And I'll rebuild this broken world for Bisca…for everybody that can't" He clenched a fist, the waves of agony in his heart pushing the desire for peace. Wrapping an arm around Cana, the two just looked out at the ruined city, knowing that the true work was just beginning.
The End
I want to thank everyone who's read this story for your constant support and overall enjoyment with this insane story I crafted. Obviously these characters can still show up in Traveling the Multiverse, the upcoming Epilogue chapter and a new story "Bisca's Isekai Adventure" (Working Title)
Obviously Shifting Through Realities is still going, so expect more insanity from that story! And if you haven't checked out No Hope No Escape or Rising from the Embers of Sera, check them out!
Once again, thank you all very much!