RTS System in the Apocalypse: New World

Specter Squad crossed the southern road.

The eastern contact reached the next intersection before them.

It came through the side of an abandoned loading truck, forcing the rear doors apart as it entered the road. Torn black fabric still covered its shoulders, while the remains of an SAS harness had fused into the tissue across its chest.

The infected did not charge immediately. It moved toward the center of the road and watched the four DASFs approach.

"Contact at ten o’clock," Chancel reported. "Three o’clock is still closing."

Specter lowered his HCMAR.

"Blades."

The squad drew their monomolecular weapons.

Warden moved ahead of Chancel. Harrow separated toward the opposite side, leaving Specter in the center while the ordinary infected continued pouring from the warehouse streets behind them.

The fallen Cell member attacked first.

It crossed the distance fast enough that the surrounding infected seemed stationary beside it. One arm swept toward Warden’s head while the other reached for the weapon held against his side.

Warden stepped inside the first strike.

His blade passed across the infected’s forearm, opening the limb from wrist to elbow. The creature turned with the cut and drove its shoulder toward him instead.

Harrow entered from the side.

The monomolecular edge crossed the back of its knee.

Its leg folded, but the infected caught itself against the road with one hand and swung toward Harrow before its other knee touched the pavement.

Specter intercepted the movement.

His blade entered through the damaged harness and crossed the tissue around the shoulder. The infected twisted free before he could carry the cut deeper.

It backed away, but Warden did not follow.

Hans watched the engagement through Specter’s feed while the wider movement changed across his Virtual Radar.

The ordinary infected pursuing the squad no longer formed one concentration. Several groups continued toward the southern road, while others turned into the adjoining blocks and began moving parallel to the withdrawal route.

The western enhanced contact followed one of those groups. Another movement started farther east, around the Hive.

The concentrations closest to the Hive shifted first. The movement spread through the rest of the million-strong mass seconds later.

Matilda enlarged the section around the Hive.

"The Hive is moving the outer concentrations."

Hans followed the routes.

They were not chasing the DASFs. They were widening around the First Mobile Company.

Inside Bastion One, Kimmy gripped the edge of her seat.

Two patterns became clear inside the mass.

The connection she recognized from Highcross moved through the fallen Cell and the nearby enhanced infected. Its signals were sharper and changed quickly, directing individual contacts around Specter Squad.

Another pressure passed through the wider concentration.

It carried no separate instructions she could understand. Whenever it changed, however, the Broodmother’s network adjusted after it.

"Hans."

"What is it?"

"There are two of them."

"Two Broodmothers?"

"No. I meant two different connections."

She turned toward Ironford.

"The Broodmother is controlling the Cell, but something else is moving the rest. Whenever the larger one changes direction, the Broodmother follows it."

Hans looked toward the mass surrounding the Hive.

"The Hive is giving the broader command."

Matilda tracked the routes spreading around both firing lanes.

"And the Broodmother is handling everything closer to Specter."

The western Cell member reached the southern road.

Unlike the first, it did not confront the squad directly. It moved between the abandoned vehicles ahead of them, choosing the same route that led toward South One’s line.

The wounded contact rose behind Specter Squad.

The cut leg supported its weight again, though blood continued running through the torn clothing.

"They’re coordinating," Hans muttered.

The Hive moved the mass, while the Broodmother positioned the Cell inside it.

Specter glanced between the two enhanced contacts.

"Both sides."

Warden faced north. Harrow turned toward the road ahead. Chancel kept moving between them.

The squad had drawn the response they wanted.

"Six o’clock closing," Chancel reported. "Twelve o’clock is holding the road."

The two fallen Cell members moved together.

The one ahead lowered its body and charged Harrow. The wounded contact came from behind at the same moment, forcing Warden to turn before it reached Chancel.

Neither attacked the person closest to them. They had chosen opposite sides of the formation.

Warden caught the wounded contact’s wrist before its hand reached him. The infected twisted against his grip and struck with its damaged arm, driving the exposed bone toward his throat.

He moved his head aside. The broken limb passed across his shoulder, followed by his blade entering through the creature’s ribs.

Warden pulled the weapon upward.

The monomolecular edge opened the torso almost to the sternum, but the infected locked both arms around him before he could step away.

Chancel entered from behind. Her blade crossed the back of its neck.

The cut went deep enough to expose the spine, though the fallen Cell member remained standing. It released Warden and turned toward her instead.

Warden struck again.

The second cut severed the damaged section of its neck. Its head fell against the road. The body remained upright for less than a second before collapsing beside it.

"One enhanced eliminated," Chancel reported.

Ahead of them, Harrow met the second contact alone.

The infected drove both hands toward his chest. Harrow turned between them, letting the first pass across his vest before cutting through the opposite wrist.

The detached hand struck the pavement. The fallen Cell member did not react.

Its remaining arm caught Harrow by the shoulder and threw him against an abandoned car. The impact crushed part of the door inward, but Harrow landed on his feet and kept hold of his blade.

Specter entered before the infected could reach Harrow.

His first cut opened the creature’s thigh. The second passed through the fused harness and entered the tissue below its shoulder.

The contact stepped away from both attacks. Its severed wrist was already closing around the exposed bone.

"Regeneration confirmed," Specter reported.

The ordinary infected were drawing closer from behind.

Several entered the southern road while others forced themselves between the trucks and service buildings surrounding the intersection. The first rows had not reached the squad yet, but the space separating them continued shrinking.

Chancel looked past the remaining Cell member.

"Main group at six o’clock. Twenty seconds."

Specter shifted his blade.

"Finish it."

Harrow left the damaged car.

The fallen Cell member faced him, then turned toward Specter when he approached from the other side. It moved between them without committing, keeping both DASFs in front of it while its leg continued closing.

Warden joined from the rear.

The contact changed immediately.

It abandoned Harrow and struck toward Warden’s injured side, forcing him to stop before reaching its back. Specter entered through the opening, but the infected twisted away from his blade and crossed toward the adjoining street.

It was not trying to defeat them anymore. It was buying time.

Hans saw the wider movement change at the same moment.

The concentrations spreading around Ironford stopped approaching the prepared roads. Several groups shifted toward the outer sides of the First Mobile Company, while another mass began filling the streets between Specter Squad and South One.

Inside Bastion One, Kimmy felt the larger connection pass through them. The Broodmother’s signals paused.

A moment later, the surviving Cell member abandoned its position between Specter and Harrow. It crossed toward the adjoining street while the ordinary infected closest to it began dividing between two routes.

"The Hive changed the order," Kimmy reported. "The Broodmother is following it."

Hans kept the stationary contact marked.

The Broodmother remained inside the same building while the Hive moved the larger concentrations around the company.

"Commit the air package. Kill the Broodmother."

Matilda transferred the target to Flight Operations.

"Raptor flight to Ironford. Strikers remain with the company."

The six Raptors acknowledged together.

Flight Operations combined Hans’s biological marker with Falcon One’s earlier recording of the building, then distributed the target package across the flight. The pilots separated into their own approach routes while the ten Strikers shifted with the company’s exposed sides.

Two Apache sections moved toward South One’s ten o’clock. Two more covered South Two’s two o’clock, leaving the fifth section near Specter Squad’s withdrawal route.

Specter Squad continued south.

The surviving Cell member moved into the adjoining street while the ordinary infected divided behind it. Chancel tracked both the enhanced contact and the group closing from six o’clock.

"Main group, fifteen seconds."

"Keep moving," Specter answered.

Six aircraft markers left the Airfield and spread apart before reaching Ironford.

Raptor One and Raptor Two approached from different sides of the district. Raptor Three and Raptor Four followed on delayed routes, while the remaining pair stayed higher and watched the roads surrounding the target.

Raptor One released its ordnance.

The precision missile crossed the industrial blocks and entered the lower section of the marked building. The explosion opened the outer wall and threw part of the floor into the adjoining road.

The Broodmother’s marker shifted inside the structure but remained active.

Raptor Two’s missile arrived before the debris even fell.

It entered through the opening created by the first strike and destroyed another section of the lower floor. The biological contact dropped several meters as the center of the building collapsed around it, but remained active on the Radar.

Raptor Three and Raptor Four instantly followed.

Their missiles approached from separate headings and struck within seconds of one another. One entered through the exposed interior, while the other passed through the remaining side of the structure and detonated close to the marker.

The Broodmother’s marker disappeared.

Kimmy recoiled inside Bastion One.

The sharper connection running through the fallen Cell and the nearby infected vanished at once. For several seconds, those contacts continued moving without assisted command from the Broodmother.

"The Broodmother is dead." Kimmy followed the change. "The Hive is taking full control and—"

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