I was stunned for a bit before coming to my senses. "Mount the turrets! Shoot that thing down—whatever it is!" I shouted.
The crew scrambled. Twenty-odd guns opened up, bullets stitching the sky. The thing was fast—only two or three hits landed. Each one that fell shattered into a strange black web. We'd never seen anything like it before. It was unnerving.
Then the meteor slammed down, two kilometers out. The ground shook. There was no time to waste. I grabbed two hundred troops, one tank, and kept the mech on standby for heavy support.
We quickly arrived at the crash site, everyone ready for combat. The crash site was a cratered. A strange black vine-like thing was moving through the soil slowly. Is it was alive? Then the first creature emerged: a shapeless blob of black liquid at first, then it stretched, hardened, and took a rough humanoid shape. Is it mimicking us? Another followed, doing the same. They just stood there, watching.
I couldn't take any chances. I shot at one of them. One bullet was all it took. The creature died and started to lose its shape. Seeing this, the other creature stopped for a bit but then it shrieked. The sound cut through the battlefield, piercing, unnatural. A war cry.
And then they poured out—thousands of them, streaming from the meteoroids like a living tide. We quickly started shooting towards them, bullets flying, cannon shells exploding all around. The creatures were dropping like flies, but they were many in number. They quickly got into melee range, we all pulled out our weapons to fight close range. They were weak, same as the heretics, my blade slicing through their liquid-like bodies. We held our ground, assessing the situation, then I noticed the creature from before. It was not charging. It was observing us. This was unsettling. I raised my pistol quickly to shoot towards it, but before I could, I felt it—a pain in my hand. Puzzled, I looked. I had been wounded. Blood?
Before I could think, another shot was fired. I quickly shielded myself and looked to see a creature that had a rifle for a hand. What was this? I quickly shot it and dealt with it, but now there were more. The others were being pushed back by other creatures that were bigger, claws that were actually piercing our skin. They had changed. I quickly commanded to fight back and maintain formation. Then I saw it again, the same creature staring back.
I quickly ordered for the flamer unit. Some of the paladins quickly rushed towards the tank, compartments opening to equip them with flamers. We pushed forward. The swarm was finally being pushed back again. We used the flamers and tank shells to cover for us while advancing. Slowly, we were advancing. The creatures that died from a swing of my sword were now bigger and stronger. It was starting to become more difficult to hold them back.
Gunshots from both sides rang through the air. Some pierced me, but not fatal—I endured. The normal creatures were stronger, but could still only scratch my skin. We just needed to push. The flamers were doing the most work, burning those creatures effectively before they could close the gap.
Then I saw more creatures coming. They were even bigger, with bigger claws. I commanded a flamer to focus on it. He covered the creature in flames. Thinking nothing of it, I looked forward until I heard a scream. It was not dead. How? I saw the scene of the creature pierce and lift the soldier with its big claws while its outer armor was melting slowly. We quickly dealt with it, but one thing was clear. The creatures were evolving rapidly.
I quickly stepped back and scanned the location of the multiple meteoroids. They were mostly in close proximity, so I ordered the artillery strike on them. The mech readied, aligned itself, then fired the shells. Nine shells were fired in succession—seventeen targets. I held my breath. Then the explosion came. Sixteen were destroyed instantly. With the only one left, we started advancing forward, determined to destroy the last one.
The same creature was there in the last base, watching us. Then I saw it. It looked at another creature, gesturing. What did it say? I couldn't take the risk. I ordered focused fire towards that location while maintaining defense. Bullets flew. Explosions erupted. The creature had taken a fast form, running on four legs. It quickly got to the middle of the battlefield, then it stopped. What was it doing? I shot at it, but other creatures defended it. Shortly after, it took a weird form, almost like a cannon facing upwards, then it shot its head towards the sky, leaving a black web-like structure behind. After reaching a certain height, its head exploded, creating a flower-like structure. It was bizarre. What was the point of this? It almost looked like a tower of sorts.
The tank quickly shot it down, but it was too late. We just didn't know it yet. We had killed almost all of those creatures. They were tough. We had about twelve casualties. But this was going to be our victory.
We marched forward—but how foolish. A defining crash sounded from our rear. I quickly looked to see that more of those meteoroids had come forth. I looked up to see ten more descending towards us. At that moment, I realized the earlier action. It wasn't random. It was a call for reinforcement. I quickly ordered my men to split and defend both fronts. We had finally killed five thousand of them, but now another five thousand more showed up. The numbers were less than before, but it was evident they were stronger. The mech still needed time to reload from the first barrage.
The battle now was not as before. They were stronger than before, adapting to our attacks, with most of the soldiers falling in battle. I quickly commanded for reinforcement while we held our ground. The battle was brutal. Now surrounded from both sides, our defense started to falter. I killed as many as I could. I could hear the screams and yells of my brothers and sisters, but I could not help.
Our bullets finally emptied, and we used the tank as cover to avoid enemy shots while defending our ground. From twelve casualties, it had now risen to one hundred and thirty. Our chance of winning was less than ideal. It felt like a never-ending swarm.
With that in mind, I quickly came up with a plan. I ordered everyone to hold the line as I drove the tank towards the meteor to cripple the enemy as much as I could. It was suicidal, but it was the best we could do—outnumbered and outgunned. I quickly hopped on and drove the tank straight through the horde. Many of them clung to the treads, some to the sides. I did not stop.
Right before me was the meteoroid. I sped up even more, and before crashing, I quickly got out while leaving some grenades behind. On impact, the tank exploded with a golden light. The blast threw me back a little, and the entire battlefield was in flames.
I was concussed for a bit, still laying in the dirt, then I saw it. Just a shadow the flames at first, but then one of those creatures slowly came towards me through the flames. It was even bigger before, its outer armor melting in the fire, standing taller, with raptor-like legs, a wolf-like head, and gigantic singular blades. It evolved.
It walked towards me slowly while it's outer armor melted off slowly in hot red, it looked directly at me while raising its blades as it got closer. I was ready for death. I grabbed my sword, still dizzy from the explosion. I steadied my legs and stood my ground. It looked at me one final time before lunging towards me, but before it could reach—bang. The creature's head was blown off clean.
I looked back to see that the reinforcements had finally arrived. I could hear artillery shells exploding in the distance. The battle was finally tipping to our side. I tried to walk, but was still weak from before. Then Oser quickly came to my side to support me.
"What happened here? What are those things?" he asked.
"I don't know. But they're dangerous. We need to quickly kill them before more arrive."
I quickly got a hold of myself and charged with the new reinforcement to finally end this battle. With the meteoroids destroyed, the enemy had started to slow down. My theory was correct. Somehow, the meteor was making them stronger, making them adapt. But now only a couple hundred were left. We quickly pushed forward, killing what was left of their thousand-strong army.
In the distance, I set my eye on that one creature. It was the reason for our loss. Enraged, I sprinted towards it. It looked at me, then started moving the other way. Before I could stop it, the rest of the remaining army charged towards me, stopping me on my path. I could do nothing but watch as it started to transform. Its form dissolved, then created a cannon-like structure. It was the same as before. I quickly ordered my men to shoot at it, but it was too late. A circular blob was shot up towards the sky. But it was different. Instead of exploding, it kept going up until it was out of view.
We quickly dispatched the final remaining creatures. I grabbed one in my hand. It looked and acted like some form of liquid, yet its body was solid and moved around, as if it could control every part of itself. It tried to change shape, but failed. I quickly smashed it into the ground and ordered my troops to ready formation again. I anticipated another reinforcement. But nothing came. After a while, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It was brutal. What was once an easy task turned into a massacre. Out of the two hundred that had come with me, only thirteen survived. I was also wounded. We quickly gathered all the men and headed back to base to recover as much as we could. In just two hours, two hundred and sixty-seven died. Was this the real test? I couldn't even tell.
We finally got back to base, all of the wounded being treated quickly, no one being able to tell what was happening. After recovering a bit, I quickly went to the command post to report to the higher-ups what had happened. Everyone was confused as to what we had encountered. It was the first time these creatures were sighted. All I could do was recall what had happened. The higher-ups were silent at the thought of an intelligent creature coming from the sky. They still decided to keep the test going with the remaining soldiers.
The comms ended. I sat back in my chair, thinking of the next step, when a soldier burst in again.
"Sir… it's an urgent report," he said, panting.
"What is it? Speak."
"Heretics have been sighted heading towards us. They're around twenty thousand, sir."
How? We had hidden our presence perfectly. Then how did they know? Perhaps they followed the meteor.
"Quickly gather all able men. Prepare for battle," I commanded.
After such devastating loss, another fight was in sight.