Chapter 19: |Forward Operation Base: 2|
"Mark."
Once the radio fizzled out after the order was given.
Complete silence enveloped the world.
It wasn't a natural silence, where one could find peace and relax themselves.
No this silence was oppressive, suffocating everything in existence.
Then, moments later; like a needle to a balloon, it burst apart.
Streaks of pure energy covered the skies, blasting holes into the clouds around them.
A moment later a shockwave shattered the ocean around them, pushing the whole fleet around.
Lagging behind, a deafening boom broke the silence, shattering the oppressive air.
In the flagship's Center of Information Control(CIC) a small holographic 3d map tracked the shell trajectory as they sailed across the sky.
"Time to splash is 1 minute and 27 seconds."
"Received. Once shells land, work with air recon for follow up shots and suppression. Send me a sitrep once everything is done." Risperton told the officer as he left.
"Understood. Recon this is CIC requesting evaluation over."
"CIC, Recon -"
As Risperton came back to the bridge, he took a look at the landing ships behind them and spoke to the helms man.
"Quarter speed, notify the rest of the fleet. Tell the landing ships to pull back a little. They aren't made to withstand the blasts from guns of this type."
"Roger sir, relaying orders."
After watching the landing ships fall behind before matching speed a kilometer out, Risperton nodded to himself before going below deck to his quarters.
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"-Roger, visual confirmation of shells acquired. Initiating remote guidance."
Scream reported to the CIC as she connected to the terminal computers within the shells.
"Veper, lower altitude, the clouds are interfering with the designator."
"Roger, lowering altitude."
As the jet broke through the clouds, a vast marsh land appeared below them. The view would have serene if it weren't for the hideous looking animals covering the land.
Taking pictures and videos for later observation and analysis, Scream tutted in disgust.
"Man, nature sure knows how to express to both extreme spectrums."
"What do you mean?" Veper asked as he stabilized the jet.
"Look below us for a second. It would be an amazing landscape to just look at if it weren't for those 'animals'. If we can call them that."
"Huh, you're right. The beauty of the landscape combined with the ugliness of the animals. Quite the contrast isn't it? Take a widescreen picture. I wanna show this to my kid." Veper muttered in wonder as he returned his attention to his instruments.
"Hey don't say that." Scream rebuked. "That's a death flag right there."
"So? I have you here with me." Veper retorted, laughing to himself.
"Well I don't want to die with you. Other than me, who else has that kid bonded with?" Scream shot back. "I think the only thing he picks up on his fathers antisocial nature."
"HEY! I'm social enough."
"Says the guy who locks himself in his room to look at data sheets and simulations." Scream shot again. "Heads up, 20 seconds to impact."
"This isn't the end." Veper grumbled as the both of them focused on the objective at hand.
"10 seconds. No 'unusual' movement detected. Those things are in for a big surprise." Scream muttered in anticipation of the visual 'spectacle' that was about to begin.
"5, 4, 3, 2," Scream counted down in a whisper while they both looked down.
"Splash..."
A flash of pure blue light engulfed the universe for a split second.
The blast wave pulsing out, breaking the sound barrier multiple times.
The few clouds that hugged the ground dispersed, following the blast wave.
Silence.
The two pilots heard nothing for a moment. No sound came from the explosion, no rumble of the jets engine, no soft whirring from the instruments around them.
They sat in total silence until a loud radio signal broadcasted from their helmets.
"CIC to recon, requesting sitrep over."
Shaking herself out of her daze, Scream slowly responded.
"Recon, Total destruction. No need for follow up bombardment. RTB. Over."
"CIC to recon, affirm. Objective accomplished, good job. Over and out."
Silence returned to the cockpit. They slowly flew in orbit over the devastation.
The land below them was completely flattened. Small craters were the only indication that the destruction below belonged to them.
Nothing but dried earth was present near the crater. As you moved out, you could see the details of how much damage was done.
First were small rocks. Beyond them were bigger rocks and small pieces of charcoal. The further out you went, the bigger they got. Finally, at what could be described as the end of it all, were steaming pieces of meat, leftovers of what presumably were the animals that left ruin behind them.
"Hey Veper."
"... Yeah?"
"What kind of shells did they use?"
"Let me check..." Veper replied as he opened up his personal terminal. "Airburst type. Pure energy shells. Stored stable energy produced by the carriers reactor, Once destabilized, it produces a destructive reaction. Almost like antimatter, but at the same time, it's not anti matter."
"...Holy shit."
"Holy shit indeed. Did you capture everything? This could be said to be the first utilization of these rounds outside of simulations."
"Y-yeah, captured everything."
"Good. Once we back and CIC watches it over, lets hope that these things will be used sparingly. After all, Didn't we join to prevent the usage of weapons of mass destruction in the first place?"
"Afirm."
Taking a last couple of pictures and videos, Veper turned the jet around and set a course back to the carrier.
This was the first and last time these shells, dubbed "Leios", were ever used with total agreement from all branches.
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