The forward outpost braced for annihilation. Dust clouds swirled in the air, choking the sky until sunlight dimmed. Burrow eruptions ripped across the no-man's-land, vomiting Hivebugs into the open. Their shrieks carried like thunder, drowning out the alarms and orders shouted across the battlements.
This wasn't just another wave. This was the largest Hivebug push in three decades of war.
Inside the FAWS command room, Sirius Blake leaned over his console, eyes flicking between dozens of feeds. The room hummed with tension, officers and technicians hunched over displays, every second a calculation of survival. ARI's voice whispered calmly in his mind.
> "Threat assessment: extreme. Probability of breach without coordinated defense: 94%. Recommend deployment of all automated turrets, synchronized with infantry Carbine X output."
Sirius exhaled, tightening his grip on the controls. "Then we give them everything."
---
The first swarms surged forward—hundreds of Hivebugs sprinting low and fast. Carbine X rifles barked to life across the lines, soldiers firing without hesitation. Auto-eject Micro Mags clattered onto the ground, instantly replaced with fresh ones. There was no panic reload, no wasted seconds. Continuous streams of fire cut into the tide.
"Keep them down!" Lieutenant Carver's voice rang through the comms. "The new mags are holding—don't let the swarm close!"
On Sirius' monitors, overlapping fields of fire glowed bright. Soldiers stood their ground instead of buckling. Even turrets filled gaps seamlessly, their barrels tracking with ARI's predictive overlays.
For a fleeting moment, it looked like humanity might hold.
Then the ground shook differently.
---
The swarm split as something massive forced its way through. A Hivebug unlike anything in the archives rose from a fresh burrow, soil cascading down its carapace. Its body was a living fortress—six meters long, with layered armor plates glistening like volcanic rock. Two trunk-like forelimbs slammed into the earth, each strike reverberating like artillery.
The room fell silent as officers stared at the feed.
"My god," Colonel Maren whispered. "It's a tank."
The monster reared back and roared, the sound vibrating across the battlefield and rattling human chests even through armor. Soldiers froze, instincts screaming.
"Command—new variant!" Carver shouted over comms. "It's… it's shrugging off fire!"
Carbine X bullets ricocheted like sparks off its armor. Turrets peppered its flanks, but the beast advanced unhindered, each step pounding the ground like a siege engine.
Sirius' jaw clenched. "ARI, give me weak points. Now."
> "Analyzing… vulnerability detected: ventral joints and undercarriage. Probability of successful penetration by Carbine X: <10%. Heavy ordnance required."
"Figures," Sirius muttered. "Infantry doesn't have heavies in place yet. We stall."
---
The Hivebug Tank charged straight into the center line. Barricades splintered under its weight. A turret emplacement vanished in an explosion of sparks as the beast crushed it beneath one claw.
"Hold the line!" Carver shouted. "Focus fire on the legs! Slow it down!"
Carbine X rifles hammered the joints. Micro Mags auto-ejected in a rhythmic cascade, soldiers slamming new ones in without pause. For the first time in history, infantry fire sounded like mechanized gunnery—endless, seamless, furious.
The Tank staggered, but only slightly. With a roar, it swung a claw the size of a small car, swiping half a trench into ruin.
Sirius adjusted frantically from FAWS. "Redirect turret Delta to sector nine! ARI, sync fire with Carver's squad—cover their flanks!"
> "Adjustment complete. Probability of squad survival increased by 27%."
On the screens, redirected turrets opened fire, chewing into the lesser Hivebugs swarming alongside the Tank. Infantry pressed forward, desperate, but the monster remained.
---
"Mechanized support inbound!" a voice shouted across the comms.
Bear Ivanov's squad lumbered into view—hulking bipedal exo-mechs armed with autocannons and hydraulic fists. The ground shook as their heavy feet pounded forward.
"About time," Sirius muttered, watching Bear's mech brace its cannons.
Autocannons roared, hurling streams of high-caliber rounds into the Tank's flank. Armor plates cracked and chipped, black ichor spraying into the dirt. The beast shrieked, staggering sideways under the bombardment.
"Ha! It bleeds!" Bear's booming laugh cut through the comms. "Light it up, boys!"
The mech squad pressed their advantage, autocannons hammering relentlessly. But the Tank wasn't done. It swung both claws forward, smashing one mech square in the chest. Metal screamed as the machine crumpled backward, sparks and smoke pouring from ruptured joints.
"Mech three is down!"
Bear roared in fury, charging forward, fists glowing from power surges. His mech slammed a punch into the Tank's head, staggering it further.
---
Stone Varga's Heavy Infantry advanced next, shoulder-mounted cannons and RPG launchers firing in thunderous unison. Explosions tore into the Tank's carapace, blasting chunks of armor free. Soldiers cheered as the beast howled, its hide finally cracking.
"Keep pressure on the joints!" Stone barked. "Don't let it recover!"
The battlefield became a storm of firepower—Carbine X rifles spitting endless streams, turrets swiveling to suppress Hivebug flanks, mech autocannons roaring, heavy cannons booming. The Tank staggered, bellowed, and fought back, smashing another mech aside and showering soldiers with debris.
Sirius' console lit up with error reports and damage feeds.
"ARI, reroute turret Charlie's fire onto the Tank's exposed joint. Mechs cover the flank. Heavies, keep hammering—"
He stopped, realizing no one else could hear ARI. He was just muttering to himself, eyes burning as he tracked every detail.
> "Optimization complete. Probability of breach reduced to 41%."
"Not good enough," Sirius growled, fingers flying over inputs.
---
The coordinated assault intensified. Infantry rifles, mechs, heavies, and turrets formed a wall of lead and fire. Slowly, the Tank faltered. Its front leg buckled, riddled with concentrated fire.
Bear's mech tackled the monster sideways, driving it into a crater left by artillery. Stone's heavies unleashed everything they had, detonating round after round into its cracked carapace.
Finally, with a guttural roar that shook the earth, the Hivebug Tank collapsed. Its armored shell split, ichor spilling like oil across the battlefield.
For a moment, silence fell. Then cheers erupted across comms.
"It's down! The Tank is down!"
Sirius sagged back in his chair, sweat trickling down his temple. His hands trembled, but a faint grin tugged at his lips.
> "Mission update: Hivebug Tank neutralized. Casualty rates reduced by 39% compared to predicted models."
ARI's voice was calm, but Sirius heard the unspoken truth: the Hivebugs would adapt again.
---
Colonel Maren exhaled sharply, gripping the railing in the command room. She turned to Sirius, eyes filled with awe.
"Blake… without your weapons, without those reload systems and turrets—" She shook her head. "We would've been annihilated. You bought us the time for heavies and mechs to finish the job."
Sirius gave a tired shrug. "Bought them time. That's all."
> "Correction," ARI whispered. "Your systems preserved the frontline. Without them, the Hivebug Tank would have reached the command bunker."
Sirius didn't answer. His eyes lingered on the screens—the battered soldiers, the damaged mechs, the crumpled Tank steaming in its crater.
"Guess we'll need something stronger next time," he muttered.
The war had shifted again. Humanity had stood its ground, but only just. And Sirius knew this was only the beginning.