Parallel: United Front

Chapter 12: Extermination

Bang!

Raines clucked her tongue at the smoking hole inches away from her face. Damn it all, these assholes were getting more accurate! Her rifle swiveled to the lucky man whose shot almost hit her head. A vengeful squeeze of the trigger sent that vorg to meet his ancestors. Raines did not even get a chance to celebrate as another bullet came agonizingly close to hitting her. "Eli" she barked, clearly frustrated. "I can't hold on for much longer!"

"Almost done!" Eli replied as he carefully placed the last set of charges around the base of the 30m missile. Once he was done, Eli pulled up a holographic map of the chamber which showed the position of his teammates and all the explosives he had prepared. Two dots on the periphery of the map caused him to shrink the map so as to show other sections of the underground networks.

Hmm? Eli's eyes lit up in surprise when he noticed Arthur and Dayle rushing towards their position from a nearby tunnel. If they made it out, they would be just to the left of the missile silo, which would put them right next to the troops that were shooting at Raines. Judging by their rate of movement, Eli estimated it would take the duo about five minutes to reach their position.

Could Raines last that long? An involuntary tirade of curses through his headset answered that question.

Eli enlarged the holographic map so it once again focused on the chamber. He then enlarged it further at the center where a few explosives were densely packed. Making up his mind, he called, "Raines, back up a bit, I'll set up a distraction."

Raines did not bother to ask what type of distraction Eli had in mind. Once she saw her chance, she bolted into the 'service tunnel' then shut the door behind her. She pushed away from the door as it shook as if hammered endlessly by the gods. Panting, she placed her hand to her ear out of habit, "I'm through. What's your distraction?"

Eli pressed all the clustered explosive markers in quick succession.

At the center of the cavern, several red dots lit up in succession at the base of the queen wasp's prison/tube. Violent explosions rocked the cavern as the devices detonated one after the other, the chain reaction giving rise to an even greater yield.

Everything in a thirty meter radius was instantly blown apart by systematic reactions of fire and steel, the shockwaves travelling several meters more.

Raines braced against the wall as the earth trembled beneath her feet. The tremors soon passed, but she was surprised to find that the hail of bullets that initially pounded against the door had stopped. Raines hesitated as she placed her hand on the door. The shooting could have stopped for one of two reasons. Either the explosions had warranted the vorgs' full attention, or they had begun peeling forward towards her position.

Raines slightly opened the door, just enough so she could peer through a tiny crack. Her eyes went wide in shock at the sight that greeted her. That Eli really knew the meaning of chaos!

The bullets had stopped hammering against the door because the vorgs had been forced to redirect all their attention to the thirty-forty meter wasp that had burst out of the exploding tube completely unscathed. What's more, the vorgs seemed to have lost their control over the Nadea Wasps in general. Shrill, wrathful screams rung out from both sides as they focused their rage at each other, each party seeking the total annihilation of the other.

The Queen wasp fumbled on the ground, still groggy from the drugs that had kept it in a dormant state for years. All sorts of laser and metal projectiles ricocheted off its tough, furry carapace, but it did not seem to pay them any heed. That was, until it inadvertently got struck in its left eye. Its fur swiftly changed to bloody red as it began to emit radiation so concentrated, it was visible to the human eye as a reddish glow.