Chapter 57 – Expedition
= Two days later =
Volunteers and mechs from Zeris, Balam, and Tautog squad assembled on the wasteland in front of their base's secret entrance.
The Balam squadron possessed a standard five-mech team and fifty support infantry soldiers. Their mechs were painted in blue, and their symbol was a three-headed demon. One head was the head of a man, the second was a ram, and the third head was a bull.
This squadron was a part of the main force of this base. Because of the abundant resources that they gained from this privilege, their soldiers and their mech's equipment were on par with the local government's military.
The Tautog squad's captain was the bald man, who had given Misha a yellowfin tuna. He cast away his former human name and changed it to Dolphin.
Tautog team was a 12-mech team, which was the largest expedition team among all squads. The support infantry soldiers consisted of 100 men and women with the age range of 19 to 40. The insignia of this squad was as its name, the tautog fish.
However, this team was nicknamed by other main teams as "The Lizardmen Squadron" as all members in his squad had scales as skins. Furthermore, the Tautog members and Balam squad did not seem to be that friendly with each other. The eyes of the "Lizardmen" glared at the Balam team with hatred while several of the Balam members smirked at the Tautogs.
Thorn and his repaired robot remained on the elevator bridge, getting the last check-up before the deployment. This Zeris team was known among his pilot colleagues as the one-man-squad as Thorn did not need a wingman to maim any of the local government's mech team.
No one dared to mock this weed-addicted pilot as all soldiers in the base considered his skills as one among the best.
Crystal also joined this expedition, but she stayed behind in her truck.
At the front bullet seat beside Crystal, Misha sat there, blinking and fidgeting.
Seeing Misha's nervousness, Crystal laughed, "Take it easy. Since this is your first time, I'll let you observe what the others do before you can get out there for real."
Misha nodded and gulped.
The windshield of Crystal's truck had seven monitors embedded into the glass. As Misha looked at the monitor, she could see the position of all infantries and the mechs.
A satellite map displayed the geography of the wasteland in real-time. Misha could even see the bases of Mafdet Federation from Crystal's front monitor.
Crystal adjusted the speaker on the front console and began giving commands.
"Attention, all units. We have two objectives today. First, we have located a matured queen egg 154km east of our location. Balam squad will escort the harvester division into the queen's mouth. As for Zeris and Tautog squadrons, you will have to protect the queen egg from the Mafdet Army. Be warned that otherworlders are getting actives these days. If you find one, light a flare and retreat. Balam Squad will be in charge of fighting the otherworlders in this scenario."
"Aye, Sir!"
"Aye, Boss!"
"Affirmative!"
The squad captains replied. At the same time, their facecam revealed their cockpit and their face on Crystal's monitor, which confirmed their status.
The captains could also see the face of Crystal and Misha, who sat beside her.
Seeing Misha's face, Dolphin flinched.
'That girl from the market? What is she doing over there with the chief?'
Curious, Dolphin coughed and pressed the mic button.
"Sir, do you mind if I ask something out of the mission?"
"Ask away."
"Who is the girl beside you?"
"A new member of Zeris squad. I put her here to observe your performance as a part of her training. Be sure to give her a good impression of your performance. I don't want any of you to reveal your derpiness in front of a newbie."
Thorn and Balam captain laughed, but Crystal and Misha could not hear the laughter as they did not press the communication button.
Dolphin had a wry smile on his face. He thought that Misha was an unfortunate girl without enough gels to buy fishes for her partner. He scratched his bald head and chuckled.
'Well. I guess treating a newbie a tuna isn't half-bad either. She should have gotten stronger with that fish. Even if my men or I had eaten that fish, it would have been only a normal meal.'
Dolphin shrugged. He did not take the matter to heart.
"Alright, chief. Please tell the girl, if she becomes rich, please pay me back later."
Hearing the comment of her subordinate, Crystal turned to Misha. She did not forget to turn off the mic.
"Did you do something to him?"
"A-Ahaha. I went to the market, and he gave me a tuna. He thought that I didn't have enough gels to buy a fish for Tama."
*Mew!* (He's a good dude! Me like!)
Crystal burst into laughter and patted Misha's head, "Did you seduce him or what? Are you looking for a sugar daddy?"
Misha wanted to retort that she did not interest in men because her real gender was male, but she could not say it out loud. Instead, Misha's face reddened from the embarrassment and helplessness. Because of her reaction, Crystal's laughter intensified.
"Okay, Misha. I know that you're young, but that's something you should not be hasty. Unfortunately, you can't have him since he already has a wife. If you are still looking for a good man, I can introduce you to a couple of good-looking hunks. But that has to wait after the mission, alright?"
Crystal winked.
Misha widened her eyes in shock. That was a misunderstanding!
As much as Misha wanted to retort, she was afraid that her two-body secret might expose. In the end, she flustered and waved her hands around like a mental patient without speaking a word.
'It's vexing, but shutting my mouth is the best action here.'
…
All mechs departed from the base as the vanguard while the convoy of foot soldiers sat inside their vehicles, following after the robots.
Two hours after the departure, everyone arrived at the 12-meter-tall queen egg. Just like the queen that ate Misha, this one also attracted a thousand of zombies around it.
However, this one did not rest in a crater. Instead, it stood tall on the open field.
Crystal pressed the speaker, "Balam squad. Take the harvesters getting on top of the queen. Zeris and Tautog. Secure the perimeter. I don't want to see a surprise attack from Mafdet or wandering mutants. No matter what happens, do not provoke the zombies around the queen."
20 Members of the harvester division got out of their vehicles. Each of the men had a parachute on their back. Strangely, they only wore old underwear, but they carried a pistol, which was enveloped with a bag made of their intestines. Their tentacle partners shoved the bag inside their stomach to avoid the digestive fluid from the queen and waited for their turns.
Five Balam mechs carried the twenty men on their palms. They leaped over the queen without harming it, and the 20 harvesters jumped off the mechs.
All of them activated their parachutes, as well as their [Pheromone] skills.
The queen noticed the smell and opened its mouth. Tentacle tongues extended and grabbed all of the harvesters into the egg.
Misha could see everything from the beginning to the end from the monitors inside the truck.
Looking at the tasks of these harvesters, Misha gasped.
"Have they been eaten? Wait, they …"
Crystal grinned, "They're the harvesters. Their job is to infiltrate into the queen's wombs and gather the gels that she produces for her offspring. They will also have to kill all alpha eggs inside before the queen spit them out."
"But won't they be in danger? The last time I was inside, the queen launched me to the sky."
"They'll be fine. All of the harvesters can self-regen, and they're trained to handle the fall damage. We'll also provide them support when the cocoon lands, so none of them will be in danger. The only worries they can have is that they might get killed inside the wombs because they will have to survive alone."
…
The group surrounded the queen for half a day without provoking the monsters and the thousand green zombies. Dolphin's team and Thorn patrolled the area as they killed all the monsters they found.
The sky darkened, and the moon became visible.
It was already 9 PM.
The queen trembled and opened her mouth.
*PU*
*PU*
*PU*
Many cocoons flew out of the monster's mouth in succession.
Crystal widened her eyes and pressed the speaker button, "All units. Assist the harvesters! They're coming out!"
Zeris and Balam mech units rushed to the possible landing areas while the infantries checked their gears on last time. All soldiers put on their night goggles, getting ready for possible night combat.
*PU*
*PU*
*PU*
Misha had been counting. The queen had shot 19th cocoon out of her mouth.
*PU*
The 20th cocoon came out.
The egg monster closed her mouth and stopped moving, returning to sleep and allowing itself to be nibbled by green zombies.
Misha exclaimed, "Amazing. Are they all our harvesters?"
Crystal stared at the satellite map with a frown, "I hope so."
"Eh? What's wrong?"
"All queens usually send out two to five eggs at a time. This one shot out 20," Crystal glared at the gigantic egg queen, "Misha, you might have to fight today."
While Misha was puzzled by Crystal's serious tone, Dolphin's face appeared in the monitor.
"Chief. We've got a company."
On the edge of the broadcasting satellite map, black dots were moving toward them at a speed of 150km/hour.
Crystal zoomed in the get a better night-time visual. As she had expected, they were the Mafdet soldiers.