BXBX NOVEL Chapter 54 Tactical Action and Hypothesis
Chapter 54 Tactical Action and Hypothesis
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To cripple the vital North-South Metro Manila bridges, Richard moved swiftly into action. He got down on the ground, and with a swift hand gesture, he summoned the M142 HIMARS he\'d acquired through the system.
The M142 HIMARS materialized from the magic circle, its crew already in position and ready for duty. They snapped to attention, saluting Richard as he approached.
Satisfied with the readiness of his team, Richard keyed his earpiece and initiated communication.
"Eagle Actual to Blackwatch," Richard\'s voice crackled over the radio.
"This is Blackwatch, send traffic," came the swift response.
"Additional units for Excalibur have been deployed, provide them with the coordinates, over," Richard relayed efficiently.
"Copy that, Eagle Actual. Stand by for coordinates."
While awaiting the critical coordinates, Richard\'s sharp eyes surveyed his crew.
"Why are you all still standing around? Get inside your units," he ordered crisply, prompting the HIMARS crew to immediately spring into action, knowing that they had a mission to execute.
The HIMARS crew members wasted no time in following Richard\'s orders. They hustled to their assigned positions.
Richard maintained a watchful eye on the operation. He wondered how the M142 HIMARS fired its missile. He hasn\'t seen it in action, not even on YouTube. Maybe he\'ll find out later.
As the crew members settled into their positions within the M142 HIMARS, Richard\'s earpiece buzzed with incoming transmission.
"Eagle Actual coordinates have been sent to Excalibur. I repeat, coordinates have been sent to Excalibur."
"Eagle Actual to Excalibur, can you confirm receipt of coordinates, over?" Richard inquired, his voice steady.
"Excalibur to Eagle Actual. Coordinates received and confirmed. We are ready to execute, over," a different voice responded from the other end.
Richard nodded to himself, reassured by the professionalism of his team.
He took a step back, far away from the M142 HIMARS to see it in action but not too close that it would endanger his life.
"Excalibur, you are a go for launch," Richard ordered.
The HIMARS crew members inside the launch vehicle made their final preparations, fingers poised over controls, minds focused on the task at hand.
"Roger that, Eagle Actual. Firing sequence initiated," came the response from Excalibur, followed by a hissed of the hydraulics as the missile tubes of the M142 HIMARS tilted skyward, pointing toward their designated targets.
"Fire when ready," Richard commanded.
The crew inside Excalibur acknowledged his order.
Then, with a thunderous roar and a plume of smoke, the missiles erupted from their launch tubes, streaking toward the bridges at incredible speed. Richard could only watch as the projectiles raced through the sky.
"Shit that\'s beautiful," Richard remarked, his hands gripping his head in amazement.
After satiating his curiosity, Richard went back to the command center.
Panting, he went over to the station, his eyes scanning the television screen mounted on the wall.
"Direct hit sir," Mark announced as Sara brought up the images of the destroyed bridges along the Pasig River.
"Bad news is, we can\'t fire on the Goliath," Graves added. With its shield held in front, we won\'t be able to scratch. The best thing we can do is to let the Goliath come near the Oriental and use all our air and ground assets to terminate it."
"I agree with Graves\'s assessment," Richard concurred.
Richard clicked his tongue in frustration, acknowledging the challenge that the Goliath presented.
"I envisioned Blackwatch to be the beacon of hope for all humanity around the world. If we fail here, humanity\'s chance of survival diminishes significantly," Richard declared. "Of course, we can\'t let that happen. Goliath is the main threat, I really hope that we can kill it before midnight—"
Richard paused, as he realized something. Wait, if they were to kill the Goliath before it arrived at Oriental, would that mean the wave would end? Or is that Goliath just part of the wave where survivors have to kill all infected within a specific period of time? Or do the survivors have to kill all the infected down to the last man?
He opened his system again and checked the mission tab:
[Emergency Mission:]
[A Wave is about to begin tomorrow July 28th, 2023. Ready your forces, and survive the hordes of mutated zombies!]
It just told him to prepare and survive. Not one of his questions had been answered. Frustration welled up within him as he grappled with the uncertainty of their situation.
Just as he was fighting an inner turmoil, a voice snapped him out of his reverie.
"Sir, the subject, it\'s talking again," Sara announced, increasing the volume of the and immediately the room was enveloped in the sound of Andrea\'s heavy breathing.
"Uhh~! Argh~! I can feel it! Master~! I can feel you~! Ahh!"
Everyone in the command room cringed at the heavy, alluring tone of Andrea\'s voice, which had taken a disturbing turn.
"Okay, I\'ll go down and talk to her," Richard said.
***
Ten minutes later, Richard and Mark entered the containment room. Inside was Andrea with all of her limbs locked in place. She continued moaning in a disturbing, seductive manner. Her eyes were wild and unfocused, and she didn\'t seem to register their presence.
Richard approached cautiously.
Andrea\'s head twitched, and her gaze slowly focused on him, though her expression remained twisted.
"Master~.Master, I need you. Release me! Wait—you\'re not my master."
Richard ignored her, instead, flicked his finger, beckoning the doctor who was running the test on her.
"Found anything conclusive about her?" Richard asked.
"We have done an x-ray test on her sternum using the x-ray machine that we pulled out from the hospital. This is the result,"
The doctor showed him the X-ray image displayed on a nearby screen. It revealed a shadowy, irregular mass near Andrea\'s sternum, something that definitely didn\'t belong there in a healthy human body.
Richard\'s brow furrowed as he examined the image. "What is that?"
The doctor sighed, his expression grave. "I can\'t say for certain, but it appears to be a foreign object of some kind. It might be responsible for her condition."
"How big is it?" he asked, seeking more details.
The doctor glanced at the measurements displayed on the screen. "It\'s approximately 2.54 centimeters in length and 1.50 centimeters in width. It\'s quite small, like a pill or a pebble."
"Like a pill?" Richard tilted his head to the size, remembering the events when they first saw her eating a pill-size object. Could it be the one that she had eaten or is it part of her?
Richard\'s concern deepened. "Is it possible to remove it?"
"We can sir—"
The doctor\'s voice was interrupted by Andrea\'s sudden lurching, the restraints that were keeping her limbs in place groaned under her sudden movement.
"You won\'t do such a thing!" Andrea growled.
"Hoh?" Richard mused, wondering what flipped a switch inside her. "The pill inside your body, I wonder what it is? Is it your life source?"
Andrea remained silent, not wanting to give them hints. But her silence alone was an answer to Richard.
"Look, Andrea. Here is the thing, we are not the monsters here, your master is. The reason why you are in those restraints is because you are uncontrollable, only acting upon impulse. You won\'t hesitate to kill any humans and zombies alike. We want to understand you. And based on our observation, it seems that you are obsessed with your master. No, you are forced to obsess over him.
Your master might be the one responsible for why the Goliath is heading towards us."
"Goliath? Ahh~! Master is really coming for me~! Just thinking about him makes me wet~!"
Richard and Mark exchanged glances. This girl is beyond help. A clear indication of brainwashing. He wondered if he could appeal to her human side if there was an iota of it left.
Richard took a deep breath, attempting a different approach. "Andrea, I know you have a life before all of this, before your obsession with your so-called master. You were a great artist, known internationally. Think about the people who care about you, your family, your friends. They deserve to have you back."
"My sole existence is to serve my master," Andrea said.
"Mark, bring me the tablet."
"Here you go sir," Mark handed him the tablet and Richard quickly opened an app and turned it to show the screen to Andrea.
"Look at this video, this is the survivors that we are protecting," Richard said. "They are men, women, and children, heck even newborn infants. They are innocent people. They don\'t have to die over the pathetic fantasy dream your master has, He is not a God!"
Andrea only snickered, her eyes still clouded with the remnants of her brainwashed state.
"Once the Goliath arrives here, and destroys all of those working under you, I will kill you first, and then your family."
"Is that so?" Richard\'s face turned grim. "In that case, you have left me with no choice. If we are not going to survive this wave, so will you."
With that, Richard pulled out a tactical knife and stabbed her in her sternum.
"Sir?" Mark and the doctor intoned.
Richard ignored their shocked reactions as he pulled down the knife, making an incision. Andrea screamed in agony and she tried to break free from the restraints.
Once the incision had been made, Richard put his hands inside and pulled the pill out of her body.
Andrea gasped, before losing consciousness.
Richard scanned the pill, it was pulsating and glowing. He threw it on the ground, and stomped on it with his boot, destroying the strange, pulsating object. Now time for the hypothesis, did she live or die?
Richard turned his head, facing Andrea and his eyes widened at the sight of her flesh knitting together, closing the wound as if it had never been there.
Seconds later, her eyes opened.
"Huh…where am I?"