The freight complex remained several blocks ahead.
South One and South Two took the wider roads leading into the inner industrial blocks, while Third and Fourth Platoons shifted with them along the outside approaches. Fifth Platoon remained farther behind with the Armored Command Truck and the artillery route.
The Hellhammers continued firing ahead.
Six shells crossed over the advancing formation and disappeared into Ironford. Several seconds later, explosions rolled across the buildings surrounding the freight complex, throwing dust above the warehouses and freight yards before another salvo followed toward the concentrations gathering farther along the route.
Hans watched the markers shift through his Virtual Radar.
The bombardment forced thousands out from damaged structures, though the movement around the marked complex remained heavier than anywhere else inside the two-kilometer ring around the Hive. Groups poured through nearby roads and loading yards, while more contacts continued gathering below the surrounding buildings.
Raptors One and Two stayed over the complex.
Three and Four continued attacking the active breaches farther out. Five and Six held the upper air, leaving the Missile Infantry and Guardian APCs to handle anything gliding low enough to threaten the company.
Two more friendly markers entered the western side of Hans’s Radar.
Raptor Seven and Raptor Eight had arrived. They climbed toward the higher contacts gathering over Ironford and joined Five and Six across the upper air.
The ground formation continued forward. Another psychic wave passed through the district.
South One passed through another intersection, its lead tanks pushing abandoned vehicles aside while the Guardian APCs covered the upper windows and adjoining streets.
"Right side opening," Anton warned.
The squads adjusted inside their own sectors.
Machine Gunners shifted toward the approaching road. Army Soldiers spread behind the vehicles, while the Guardian GI closest to the intersection planted his shield and brought the MK19 around before the infected reached the corner.
The first group entered the street.
Forty-millimeter grenades struck beyond the vehicles, breaking apart the front before the Machine Gunners opened through what remained.
South One kept moving.
Inside Bastion One, Kimmy pressed her fingers against the side of her forehead.
The two Medics remained close enough to watch her condition without crowding her. Yunera sat beside her, one hand resting against Kimmy’s arm whenever another vibration moved through the APC.
The pressure faded.
Kimmy released a breath.
Then her expression changed.
"Sister?"
"It’s coming again."
Yunera looked toward her. The next wave reached them before Kimmy had completely recovered from the first. Her shoulders tightened.
The Medics felt it as well. One stopped for a moment with the bio-scanner against his leg, while the other narrowed his eyes until the pressure passed.
Kimmy leaned back against the seat.
"They’re getting closer together."
Hans heard her through Bastion One’s channel.
"The waves?"
"Yes." Kimmy swallowed. "The last one started before the previous one completely faded."
Yunera tightened her hand around Kimmy’s arm.
"Should we go away, sister?"
"I can take it. I... I’m already getting the hang of it."
"Okay. Don’t push yourself if it’s already hard."
"I will tell you. Don’t worry, sister."
Meanwhile, Matilda checked the reports arriving from the platoons.
"The interval is shortening, Commander."
Hans kept his attention on the freight complex. Another cluster of underground markers moved below it.
"They know we’re coming."
Matilda was already adjusting the company advance around the roads still usable after the bombardment.
"South One and South Two, maintain forward movement. Third and Fourth, close with them. Fifth stays on the support route."
The platoon leaders acknowledged and handled their formations from there.
Another Hellhammer salvo passed overhead. The freight complex disappeared behind several explosions.
One shell struck a warehouse along the outer side of the compound and drove most of the roof inward. Another landed in the freight yard, scattering containers and tearing a section of pavement open.
Raptor One crossed through the smoke several seconds later.
"One. Outer warehouse is open."
His camera passed across the damage.
The building had lost most of one wall. Steel supports leaned into the interior, surrounded by broken concrete and collapsed sections of roof.
Dark flesh remained between them. It wrapped around the lower columns in layers thick enough that the first artillery impact had only torn open the outer surface. More continued through the cracked floor and disappeared below the warehouse.
Raptor Two crossed the opposite side.
"Two. Growth is still active on the eastern structures."
Hans enlarged both feeds. Another pulse crossed Ironford before the previous effects had fully cleared.
The infected reacted almost immediately. Markers poured from the roads around the freight complex. More climbed from the damaged structures. Others began moving below the surrounding freight yards, joining the concentrations already gathered near the center.
Hans watched the distance between the company and the marked site continue shrinking. The Hive was increasing the pressure as they approached.
Up in the air, Raptor One crossed the freight complex again.
The smoke from the last artillery impacts still covered half of the central warehouse, but the western wall was open enough for his camera to look deeper inside.
"Command. I have more growth behind the first layer."
Hans shifted the feed forward.
The flesh surrounding the columns did not end at the damaged wall. It continued through the warehouse interior, filling the spaces between loading platforms and wrapping around the steel supports until some of them were barely visible.
Raptor Two approached from the opposite side.
"Same on the east. The floor is covered."
His camera caught one of the loading bays where the concrete had collapsed. Black tissue filled the opening below it and continued farther underground.
Hans looked toward Matilda.
"Open the complex."
She understood the objective.
"Hellhammers, shift fire onto the central freight site. Raptors One and Two, support the strike."
The artillery crews answered first.
"Six solutions received."
"Battery ready."
Raptor One widened his circuit while Raptor Two climbed away from the eastern side. Both pilots watched the artillery zones settle across the compound before selecting separate approaches.
The first Hellhammer fired. Five more reports followed across the artillery channel.
Their shells crossed Ironford in a loose sequence rather than reaching the target together.
The first struck the warehouse roof.
A section several stories wide folded inward. The next landed between the loading platforms and tore through the concrete yard, followed by another shell striking the adjoining distribution building.
The fourth impact went inside the warehouse itself.
The explosion pushed through the openings created by the earlier hits and threw pieces of steel siding across the freight yard.
Raptor One entered immediately afterward. The aircraft’s internal bay opened.
"One. Weapon away."
The missile dropped from the fighter and accelerated toward the exposed western section.
It entered through what remained of the warehouse wall. The blast tore another portion of the structure apart.
Raptor Two followed from the east.
"Two. Weapon away."
His missile struck lower, where the biological growth disappeared through the damaged loading floor.
Concrete lifted around the impact. The loading platform broke across its center and collapsed into the space below.
The remaining Hellhammer shells arrived before the dust could settle.
One struck the neighboring warehouse. Another landed across the freight tracks behind it. The last hit near the center of the complex and sent a heavy tremor through the surrounding buildings.
For several seconds, the aircraft feeds showed little except dust.
Then Raptor One crossed through the edge of the cloud.
Hans leaned closer inside the Armored Command Truck.
"Raptor One, assess the target."
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