Camp York acted quickly.
As the Phasewalker recruits joined their more experienced brothers and sisters, another convoy arrived at Fortress Alpha. The Tier 1 Mutant leading the way handed Caity a map with detailed tactical information. In exchange, the convoy returned to their home fully loaded with precious commodities.
With the information they required in place, the Phasewalkers had to decide what to do next.
Eight individuals gathered in the Command Center at Fortress Alpha. Colonel in command Caity Hunter and her assistant Eric Hemingway. Battalion Commissar Ryan Carlson. The five Captains of the five Companies were also present. One of them was Captain Blyfield of the 2nd Airborne Company, who took over after the demise of Captain Davis.
As a matter of fact, aside from Blyfield, the other four Company Commanders were all promoted to the rank of Major following the expansion of the Companies under their command. Plus, they fought well recently and deserved the promotion. Blyfield was promised a promotion as well if he showed, with his actions, that he deserved the rank.
"There are over a dozen locations on the map." Caity said as she pointed at the map, which was laid out flat on the table. "Weapon storage warehouses. Research centers. Military bases. It is up to us to choose where to strike first with our limited forces."
Make no mistake. Even if the entire 1st Phasewalker Battalion was made up of qualified units, 800 combatants were nothing against the billions of potential Mutants in World Alpha. Who knew what awaited the Phasewalkers on the way to these destinations, much less at those destinations? And if there were six Tier 1 Mutants in 1,200 Mutated Animals, then how many Tier 1s could be out there? Tier 2s? Maybe even Tier 3s or beyond?
Caity had to choose a single point to devote her available forces.
"If I may ask, Colonel, why are we left to make this decision?" In a sense, Captain Blyfield was just like his predecessor. Stern. By the books. "Shouldn't matters this important be up to General Kennedy and the Section X High Command?"
"Are you saying Colonel Hunter is unqualified?" Eric challenged.
"I am saying this is too big for us to decide for ourselves," Blyfield replied impartially, stating what he thought.
"It's fine." Caity calmed Eric before turning to answer Blyfield's doubts. "General Kennedy has given the choice to me because he can only access the situation here remotely, which will severely hinder his judgment. All he and his analysts will do is provide us advice on the data they have."
Ryan observed the conversation quietly. There was a deeper meaning to Kennedy's decision. Yes. Now, with just a single Phasewalker unit in World Alpha, he could remotely monitor everything without much issue. But sooner or later, if things went according to the plan, there would be multiple Phasewalker units marching and fighting leagues away from the Portal. At that point, Kennedy would have no choice but to trust the fate of the Phasewalker units to the field commanders.
Compared to kicking them into the deep end of the pool all of a sudden, it was wiser to have the Phasewalker Commanders start getting ready now, even if this readiness came at a cost of other Phasewalker lives. Plus, if things went too crazy or General Kennedy decided the decisions Caity made was terrible, Ryan was instructed to intervene.
Now that the legitimacy of the meeting has been settled, the Phasewalkers turned to the matter itself. Ryan was the first to provide his input.
"Here." He pointed at a spot on the map. "A military base is located here. Fort Sentinel. According to what Camp York wrote on the map, following the initial outbreak, the entire base just went silent. Most bases were taken down by swarms of Mutated Animals or Mutated Human, but this one...it just went silent all of a sudden."
"And how is that good for us?" Major Fox asked.
"If the base went down without a fight, then that means most of its weapons and munitions should still be intact." Eric suddenly added, realizing what Ryan was saying. "It will be a huge reward, but the reward is followed by an even larger risk. If something took down an entire base, then what are our chances of surviving there? Here. Scouts of Camp York noticed several groups of survivors entering Fort Sentinel, never to come out again."
Ryan nodded. He wasn't offended or anything by Eric's words. His role was to put forth an idea. That was it. There was a reason he refused to be the Commander: responsibilities suffocate him.
Meanwhile, Eric put forth another suggestion.
"I suggest we steer clear of any movements too risky until further reinforcements arrive. Before that, we can move across the roads and scavenge any technology we can find and bring them back to Earth to be analyzed."
Compared to Ryan's suggestion, Eric's was much more conservative. Would it not result in a single Phasewalker casualty? Probably not. But it was much safer.
���Here." Major Fox put in his advice as well. "Camp York detected some sort of human settlement here, to the West of our position. We can contact them and see what we can get from them."
"We have no idea if they are hostile! We can't risk losing precious units!"
"What can we gain from these human survivors? We should focus on the armories and the advanced weaponry we can gain from them..."
"You are being too conservative! We need to take some risks! This Fort Sentinel offers great reward!"
Soon, the Command Center was filled with the arguments of Phasewalker officers. All of them had a point, but at the same time, all of them were contradicting each other.
Slowly, all eyes turned to Caity. Everyone in the tent knew whatever decision she made, whether it was one of the two or another one of her own origin, would likely decide the fate of not just the Phasewalkers, but also, ultimately, Earth.
One mistake, and countless might die in vain.
Caity closed her eyes. For a moment, she was cursing General Kennedy. He was supposed to be the professional soldier! He was supposed to be the one bearing all this responsibility. Yet, the fact was the burden was placed on her.
She could feel her palms start to sweat.
29 Phasewalkers died under her command for the past two weeks. How many more shall fall this time?
Suddenly, she snapped up.
"Everyone out...except Ryan."
Ryan glanced at Caity before staying right there. As the others left the tent, Caity finally let out a self-mocking smile.
"You must think I'm so weak, Ryan." She said quietly. "As the Commander, I should, well, in your words, my duty is to be decisive. I should be brave. I should be logical. And now here I am, the hero, the Colonel, but I'm unable to make up my fucking mind!"
Ryan stood still.
Caity kept on venting. "Look! If that's what you think, just say it! I'm weak! I'm indecisive! I don't deserve my position! Just say it, Commissar!" She slammed her fist into the table, wrinkling up the paper map. Ryan didn't flinch. He just stood there as Caity finished her venting. Finally, when she went back to silence, he raised his voice.
"Caity. I don't know if you knew this, but you weren't the top candidate to be the Commander. I was."
Caity snapped up in disbelief. "Really? Then how the hell am I in charge?"
"Because I refused the offer." Ryan sighed and pulled a chair over and sat down beside Caity. "As hard as it is to believe, I was a sensitive child..."
"You?" Caity suddenly grinned. "Ryan Carlson? The Battalion Commissar of the 1st Phasewalker Battalion and the model for all Phasewalkers? Sensitive?"
Ryan didn't feel insulted. He merely continued.
"When I was a kid, I would be constantly stressed about everything. Once, I saw a story about someone hanging himself or herself in a room, and from that point on, whenever my mom or dad was in a room for too long without making a sound, I would knock on the door just to make sure they didn't kill themselves. Funny, yeah?"
He added mockingly.
"Well, as I grew up and saw all the horrors of this world, I was distraught. People hurt, torture, attack, and even kill each other for one reason or another. All the pain. All the suffering…it was paralyzing. More importantly, there was not a thing I could do to stop it."
Caity sat there, almost in disbelief. Ryan Carlson opening up to her was something she didn't expect in a million years. She listened to his words carefully.
"Eventually, as a coping mechanism, I adapted."
Ryan's words became smooth. Determined.
"We all have our duties in this world. For a policeman, it is enforcing the law to the best of his abilities. For an IA policeman, it is rooting out police officers who weren't doing their jobs. I don't need to worry about someone being mugged or murdered because it's the duty of the police. As long as everyone in society does their jobs, then everything will be fine."
"I used that as an excuse and focused on my job and my job alone. I told myself that as long as I did what I am supposed to do, everything will be fine. I...I will be safe. I will be protected, and when I eventually die, people will speak about me with words of praises, not those of mocking."
He turned back to Caity.
"You see, that's why I chose to be a Commissar. As a Commissar, I don't have to deal with the overwhelming burden of that of a Commander. It is the responsibility of the Commanders to approach every single situation from a logical perspective, taking severe risks for the greater goal and giving up loyal followers if the situation called for. I can't do that. As the Commissar, all I have to do is enforce the Commander's orders with an objective view and root out anyone that is coming in the way of that. What I have to do is absolute, not subjective. I can't make a mistake."
"In a sense, it's a shield. A cover. Something to keep me from being driven mad by all the feelings constantly rushing through my head."
"This way," Caity realized what Ryan was implying. "it will never be your fault! Even if a mission ended up in a disaster, you will not be the one responsible!"
"Indeed." Ryan paused for a second before admitting. "In a sense, I am a coward. I would rather save my own image of myself than do the right thing." He clenched his fists tightly. What he said hurt him, and a part of him wanted to kill him for giving out information this private. What if Caity used it against him? What if she spread it to the world?
Surprisingly, instead of mocking him, Caity grabbed onto his hand.
"Look. You are Ryan Carlson. You are the first Special Forces major in the Phasewalker program, and you pretty much made me who I am today. You are not a coward."
Ryan gave out a rare smile. "And neither are you." He replied. "Look, I'm not going to fault you if you decide to resign your position or anything. Sometimes, being a Commander in the safety of a Command Center is so much more painful than being a trooper in the front. If you want out, I can make some arrangements..."
"No." Caity shook her head. "I'm not going to back down. Not today." She stood up again. "Ryan, call the others back in. I have made my decision."
As Ryan left the tent, Caity's eyes landed on a single spot on the map. What Ryan said struck her heart.
Being the Commander meant taking risks and making sacrifices for the greater goal, no matter how painful it was.
The Phasewalkers' goal was to protect Earth. For this reason, the vanguard crossed the Portal. For this reason, Hemley and the others gave their lives. For this reason, 900 Phasewalkers left their homes and their parents and came to be stationed at a foreign world, with no sign that they would ever return. The entire mission of the Phasewalkers was established on risks, and there was no reason to be conservative now.
Eric's and Fox's proposal made some sense, and Caity knew if she wanted to not make any mistakes, then that was the best way. Search the surroundings. Move along the roads. There would be fewer casualties, but ultimately, how long would it be before the Phasewalkers could get something substantial from this world?
Ryan's suggestion was risky. One mistake, and Caity would have to live with the guilt of condemning hundreds to their death. Yet, the reward should give a huge boost to the Phasewalkers' powers. For that, Caity was willing to put her fame and conscious at risk.
In a sense, she was much braver than Ryan. If the situation demanded, she would be fine with going down in the history book as a disgrace as long as Earth prospered in the process.
And Ryan...he would rather do the wrong thing and follow the potentially incorrect order than stand up and risk insubordination and damaging his own reputation and potentially doing the wrong thing for the sake of justice.
So who was really the weak one?
When Eric and the others came back in, their Colonel in command pointed at a single spot on the map.
"We're going to Fort Sentinel."
Fort Sentinel. The military base that went dark barely firing any shots. The one that has mercilessly devoured multiple groups of survivors.
Ryan and the others nodded. Eric frowned, but he kept his comments to himself. However, what Caity said next made everyone flinch.
"We are mobilizing all the Generation I Phasewalkers in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Company. The entirety of the 3rd and 5th Company will remain here at Fortress Alpha, along with all the Generation II Phasewalkers."
She paused before adding.
"I will personally lead the operation. The command of Fortress Alpha will be placed on Major Fox."
"That is a bad idea!" Ryan was the first to jump up and complain, not because of Major Fox, but because of who was leading the expedition. "You are the Commander of the entire Battalion! You shouldn't put yourself at risk..."
"If I am sending those under me into danger, then what reason do I have to keep myself in safety? This is the least I can do for those who will put themselves at risk because of my command." Caity's answer was quiet yet unwavering. "Battalion Commissar, that is my order. Unless you think I am unfit for my position, I hope that you can obey it."
Ryan gulped. He could swear he didn't expect this, but that was hardly something he could protest. What could he do? Knock Caity out and replace her for being a brave leader? All he did was lower his head in acknowledgment.
"Pass the order down and send a message back to Earth for the approval of General Kennedy." Caity turned to the others. "We move out tomorrow morning."
In the countryside a distance away from the safety of Fortress Alpha, 230 Phasewalkers marched across the abandoned speedway.
1st Armored Company. 2nd Airborne Company. 4th Motorized Company. Battalion Security Platoon. This was pretty much the bulk of the Phasewalker Corps. The very essence. If this force was wiped out, well, it would take the Phasewalker Battalion quite some time to recover, time that it didn't have.
As the march proceeded, the rumbling of engines was one of the few reassuring factors. 12 M1A2 main battle tanks of the 1st Armored Company formed the vanguard and the rear of the convoy. 60 troops of the 2nd Airborne Company were loaded onto 12 Super Cobra attack choppers, watching over the expedition from the skies. In the middle were the Lav-25s of the 4th Company and the 50 troops of the Battalion Security Platoon. The entire convoy was completely mechanized. Not a single trooper was on foot. The full backing of Earth made sure of that.
The Phasewalkers moved cautiously. All of them were Generation Is. Despite only being in this world for a few weeks, they were well aware of the dangers this realm had to offer. Perhaps there were still traces of the amateurs that they once were in their moves, but at least on the surface and with automatic weapons in their hands, they looked deadly.
Despite electing to take the risks, Caity has done all she could to make sure as many Phasewalkers survive this as possible. All the attack choppers also acted as scouts. Equipped with the most advanced scanners, they were supposed to alert their comrades of any impending threats long before they actually did the damage.
This combination seemed to be working. The Phasewalkers have already come halfway across to their destination and the few Mutated Animals that went after them were immediately gunned down. However, as they moved out of previously cleared zones, danger started to arise.
One of the Lav-25s suddenly experienced some sort of bump. The driver gave out a little frown and turned to the co-driver.
"Did you feel that?"
"What?"
"There was a bump."
"That's called a pothole, you idiot!" The co-driver's eyes were barely open. He couldn't sleep last night, and for the right reason. After learning that there would be a mission today, he invited his girlfriend, a fellow Phasewalker in non-combat roles, over. The two had a passionate embrace that lasted deep into the night.
Caity and the Battalion High Command had no intention of prohibiting such interactions. When someone might die the next day, forbidding them to seek the tiny comfort in their lover's arms was nothing but cruel. In fact, Caity was too busy with Eric.
Almost at the same time as the conversation unfolded on the ground, in an attack chopper in the air, a Phasewalker's eyes widened as he saw what was on a seismic detector. "That's impossible…" He froze for a moment before snapping to the radio. "All units! Seismic activity at the left flank of the convoy! How did it just appear all of a sudden..."
Caity's voice cut in.
"Calm yourself! Private! All vehicles, spread out! What do you mean seismic activity..."
Caity was answered not by the Phasewalker Private, but by what unfolded next.
A giant creature emerged from beneath the ground right under the Lav-25. The rest of its body was still beneath ground, but just its head alone was able to bite straight through the Phasewalker armored vehicle from the middle. With an ear piercing crunching sound, the middle half of the vehicle disappeared in the creature's mouth, along with three Phasewalkers inside.
"Oh god…" Caity's mouth hung open. "it's a fucking Centipede!"
Yep. Centipedes. In the past, these worms were nothing. A single stomp from any child could crush a swarm of them. But the terrible Mutation the Alpha Virus had brought transformed the Centipede to hundreds of times its former size. Each of its hundreds of legs was the size of a man's arm. It dug its way out of the ground and attacked the Phasewalker convoy with all the elements of surprise an ambusher could ever dream of. Even the peak of human technology could barely sense its approach until it was too late.
The attack was a surprise, but the Phasewalkers have grown to be used to dealing with surprises. The attack choppers in the air turned their weapons toward the worm, and so did every single tank and armored vehicle in the region. But the Centipede fell back into the ground almost as quickly as it came.
The scene was silent for a while as a few Phasewalkers moved to look down at the hole in the ground, only to realize it had been filled with new soil.
"Medic! Report on the casualties!" Caity ordered loudly.
The Lav-25 under attack was totaled. Fortunately, six of its nine crew members survived, including both drivers. Three Phasewalkers disappeared in the worm's mouth, along with the center part of the armored vehicle. It was the little silver lining that could be found from the tragic encounter.
Caity sighed and waved her hand. This attack was costly, but she has expected something like this. This is a war, and in wars, people die. "Prepare to move out…"
Just before she could finish, the Centipede dashed out of the ground once again on the right flank of the convoy. Its tiny legs helped it crawl through the dirt at exceptional speed.
This time, it was going for a tank.
And this time, the Phasewalkers were ready.
The teeth of the Centipede crunched down on the sides of the tank, but the M1A2 was much more durable than the Lav-25. The armored plating held its ground for a few seconds, buying the rest of the battalion precious time.
"All units, focus fire on that thing!" Caity screamed. She was about to leave this Centipede alone, but if it was so determined on getting itself killed, then she, Colonel Caity fucking Hunter, would be more than happy to grant it the wish.
With the aerial advantage, the 2nd Company was the first to move. 12 attack choppers turned around toward the worm. Mounting Gatling guns blasted down storms of barriage down on the Centipede. The advanced fire control system made sure almost most of the shots landed on the Mutant. The few bullets that did land on the M2A1 were dangerous, but they were much preferred compared to being devoured alive by the Mutant.
The Centipede was, all of a sudden, overwhelmed by excruciating pain. The impact and the heat of the explosions hurt it alike. Its mouth snapped open, dropping the tank. A few Phasewalkers inside scrambled out of the armored vehicle and got to safety with lightning speed.
Now without the threat of hurting their comrades, all the M2A1 and Lav-25 in the field turned their guns and started unloading their ammunition on the Mutant.
The Centipede knew it was facing a foe different than anything it has encountered before. The worm was a Tier 1 Mutant, and aside from the typical strength and agility, it was focused on another category: rapid regeneration. Ever since it remembered things, the Centipede has been facing weapons that couldn't really threaten it. Defender-I Gauss Rifles hurt, but the bullet wounds healed almost instantly. It was transformed later into the apocalypse, so it never got the chance to take on full units of UEC defense forces or significant hostile firepower.
Until now.
The worm tried to return to the safety of the ground. It was injured, but the Mutant has gained enough intelligence to know it wouldn't take more than a few days for all those wounds to heal. Unfortunately for the worm, the Phasewalker firepower was too strong. The expedition forces might not be able to carry an intercontinental missile, but with the raw power of dozens of vehicle-mounted cannons, it was still a force to be reckoned with.
The worm's shrieks turned into whimpers. It was wise enough to know when to beg for mercy, but the Phasewalkers kept on firing. Even if the worm hadn't devoured three of their comrades, they had no intention of accepting the surrender of a Mutated Worm.
Finally, with a final dying shriek, the Centipede collapsed onto the ground. Just to be safe, Caity had the units fire two more rounds on the Centipede. No need to respect enemy corpses when said enemies were literally eating Phasewalkers alive.
"Go collect some samples." Caity ordered as a medic walked up to the corpse of the Centipede and scooped some organism samples into a glass vial for further research. After that was done, the Phasewalker expedition proceeded to move across the road.
As the sound of engines disappeared, all sorts of creatures started coming out from the wild. Bugs and Worms. Even Wolves, Cats, and Dogs. They approached the worm from all directions, some turning against each other as they crossed paths. The bloodshed continued for nearly an hour until, finally, a gigantic black spider emerged the victor.
Stepping on the skull of a Mutated Dog and cracking it like an egg, the Mutated Spider slowly approached the dead worm. Slowly but methodically, it cut the worm's body apart with its legs before enjoying the feast.
As pieces of worm meat entered its stomach, the spider suddenly felt a new surge of power coursing through its veins. The power came with pain, and the anarchiad was knocked onto the ground, shaking violently. Its bones started to extend. Half a dozen more legs started creeping open from the gaps in the spider's body. Being the final victor of the brawl for the worm corpse, the Mutated Spider was at the peak of Tier 0.
If things went right, the spider would be a Tier 1 Mutant very soon with the additional wave of Mutations.
Things didn't go right. No...things didn't go right at all.
The spider suddenly collapsed. Its legs waved around, grabbing onto whatever source of food within reach and trying to feed on it. Viruses needed a lot of energy intake to foster a Mutation of this scale, and for Mutated Animals, the source of this energy was food.
But it was too late. Within mere moments, all the nutrients inside the spider were exhausted. The transformed insect struggled as its body started to shrink. Legs became lifeless. The black carapace over the spider's body that has shielded it from countless dangers slowly fell off.
Finally, the spider collapsed and died.
Mutants had a glorious future. Even Tier 1 mutants such as Jacob could take down a squad of fully armed elite troopers with ease. There was no telling what terror Tier 2 and Tier 3 mutants could unleash. But this power came with a great risk.
Mutations weren't Evolutions. They could kill you as easily as they could empower you. Billions of Mutants learned that lesson the hard way.
---
Fort Sentinel.
The perimeter of the former UEC fort was surrounded by spiked fences and barbed wires. Its gate was shut, with three layers of roadblocks to further deter any intruders. There were numerous watchtowers and sentry towers across the entrance, but not a single soldier was in sight to man them.
Before the apocalypse, Fort Sentinel was home to the 8,000 men and women of the 20th Armored Division of the United Earth Confederation Army. At the dawn of the apocalypse, when hundreds of other divisions were deployed against the waves of mutation, all contact with the 20th Division was suddenly lost.
The 20th Armored Division had 6 armored regiments. Their tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery units were in the hundreds. Its troopers were professional soldiers, armed to the teeth. In a fair fight, only the Generation Is stood a tiny chance of victory against them with equal numbers, and that was giving the Generation Is a lot of credit. More likely, on equal numbers, UEC troopers could wipe out the Phasewalkers now with a single assault.
Yet, for a whole year, not a single one of the 8,000 UEC soldiers here walked out of the fort's gates.
As Caity stepped off the armored transport, the small fraction of doubt kept on expanding. Something happened to those 8,000 men. Was it the Virus? Was it something else? Whatever it was, chances were it was still inside and alive and kicking. One false move and not a single member of the expedition would see their world again.
Perhaps she was being too reckless when she made the decision...but what other choice did she have? This was the best choice in the bigger scale of the picture. Earth must grow, no matter the price, and it must grow quickly. Right now, the only thing defending Portal Alpha was a handful of teens carrying automatic rifles. That was far from comforting.
All she could do was take care of things tactically as much as possible.
As the ground forces stopped in front of the fort gates, the 2nd Company moved ahead. 12 choppers quickly positioned themselves across the sky of the camp. It didn't take them long to relay a map of the camp back to Caity and the rest of the Phasewalker High Command.
"The choppers aren't seeing anything significant." Captain Blyfield said quietly through the radio. "There's not a single soldier or body in sight, and not just the local garrison. The map said some local survivors entered the fort. I don't see them either. There are just too many buildings. Warehouses. Barracks. And that...thing."
The commander of the 2nd Airborne Company was referring to a giant building that was at the center of the fort. It was completely concrete, and Caity could see a giant flagpole in front of it. The United Earth Confederation flag hung proudly from the top of the pole, a reminder of the human faction's former glory.
"I'd guess it's their command center or something." Caity said quietly. "We need to send a vanguard inside the buildings and find out what happened." She said gravely. She didn't need to be too smart to know marching the entire expedition into the mysterious camp would be a terrible idea.
At the same time, whenever a vanguard was deployed under a situation like this, chances were it wouldn't be returning. It was simply cliche.
Ryan was all too eager to step forward and take the mantle.
"I can take a squad of the Battalion Security Platoon and check things out."
He said quietly, as if he just said he wanted a hot dog for lunch.
Caity bit her lips. She didn't want that to happen, for obvious reasons. Ryan was a good soldier, perhaps even the best among the battalion, but she doubted that would make a difference against whatever creature that was lurking inside the fort. But what could she say? No, let someone else go in and do the dying? A part of her wanted to screw all plannings and just turn around and head home to Fortress Alpha, but the Commander side of her extinguished that idea.
Like Ryan always said, he has made his choice, and she has made hers.
"Stay safe." Caity replied quietly. For a moment, she felt like a queen sending her herald to war, knowing he likely would never return, but her duty kept her from stopping him.
Ryan nodded and walked away. Beside her, Eric frowned.
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