The brown branch, as if sensing the sound, snapped around, only to be shot in two by Eric's Defender-II. As the straw fell, Eric ran to the crippled Phasewalker. The other Phasewalkers checked on the rest of the squad.
"They're all dead. Every single one of them." One of the Stasis Troopers quietly reported, glancing at the wreckage of a Predator II tank to the side.
It was unfortunate, but it was also expected. Eric sighed and turned to the man on the ground.
"Can you move?" Eric asked.
"No. They broke my spine or something."
"I understand. You'll be fine." Eric was about to call over another Stasis Trooper to carry the wounded when the entire building suddenly started roaring. All the artificial lighting in the building has been long gone, but with the sunlight from the opening, Eric could see countless tiny, sharp branches creeping forward, thirsty for blood.
The Armored Trooper on the ground took a small breath of relief. At least the same methods that slaughtered his squad couldn't be used here. Nonetheless, the situation was desperate.
"You have to go!" He demanded. "Leave me! It's over for me!"
He knew no one here could carry him and still move at a sufficient speed to survive this. There was no way he would let himself lead to the death of even more comrades. He quickly removed the USB drive on his helmet and handed it to Eric.
Eric looked at him in disbelief. "I…"
"I will not be taken alive." The trooper stared into Eric's eyes, his face covered by his helmet's face shield.
Suddenly, looking at his own reflection in the face shield, Eric knew what he had to do. But could he really do it? Kill one of his own? Yes, it would be mercy kill, but...how could he face the trooper's family? His friends?
This man marched across the Portal. He survived the countless battles the Phasewalker Corps has gone through. But now, instead of being slain by a Mutated Animal or a hostile human, he would die in the hand of one of his own.
Everything came down to one question. Was he willing to do what Ryan did, do the difficult but, ultimately, correct thing.
The answer was disappointing. He couldn't.
Eric sighed and turned to a Stasis Trooper beside him.
Without another word, that Stasis Trooper raised his Defender-II and shot the crippled comrade in the head, saving him from the miserable fate of a slow death.
That seemed to have pissed off whatever Mutant was lurking in the building. The hundreds of tiny branches moved at once, simultaneously striking down on the Stasis Troopers.
"Move! Get out of here!" Eric screamed, running and shooting his weapon at the same time. The nine other Stasis Troopers did a similar thing. Two of the troopers sent incendiary grenades flying to the corners of the buildings. The flames scorched away many of the branches. Gauss bullets stopped even more.
Suddenly, one of the Stasis Troopers screamed as a branch struck him in the back, knocking him off his feet. Before anyone could try to save him, three more branches wrapped themselves around his body. Knowing his time was up, that trooper pulled out a High Explosive grenade.
"Long live the Corps!"
With the explosion as cover, the rest of the Stasis Troopers have reached the entrance. One of the troopers was the first to escape the building, and he was the first to be whipped into a mist of blood and flesh by a giant branch several times the size of the branches Eric saw inside the building.
As soon as Eric and the others entered the building, the whole office building started shaking. The two Stasis Troopers outside watched in horror as bits and pieces of the building collapsed, revealing what had been hiding underneath.
A Tier 3 Mutated Tree as tall as the skyscraper itself.
Eric and the others were inside the Tree itself, which limited the methods the Mutated Tree could use to strike them down. But the two Stasis Troopers outside didn't have the luxury. Without even the opportunity to call it in, they were crushed by the giant tree branches.
Eric was the second one out of the building. Seeing the fate that befell the first trooper, he reacted quickly, dodging to the side without even thinking. This saved his life. A giant branch crashed down on where he was just moments ago, splitting the earth.
"Split up! Report this back!"
Eric screamed. He knew there was no chance a couple of Stasis Troopers with machine guns and hand grenades could take care of this behemoth. They needed firepower, and to do that they needed to contact the Phasewalker High Command.
The nine Phasewalkers left started dashing like their lives depended on it. Eric ran in a zig-zag pattern. If he said he wasn't afraid, he would be outright lying, but what he was able to do was turn that fear into adrenaline to make himself move even faster. The wind blew by all around him.
A scream came out from behind. A Stasis Trooper was gutted by the Mutated Tree like a defenseless lamb.
Another scream exploded. Another trooper was whipped into a bloody mist.
Suddenly, Eric felt something piercing air behind him. Without even thinking, he jumped forward with all his strength. That was when he realized his mistake. He should've dodged to the side, but in the end, his fear took a hold of him.
As he was in mid-air, Eric could feel an unspeakable dread creeping into his heart.
Was this it? Was this as far as he would go?
Suddenly, the man felt pain on his knees. He opened his eyes, almost not believing what he saw. He was still alive!
The Stasis Trooper turned around and quickly saw what happened. Even mutated, trees were still trees, and this Mutated Tree in particular didn't have tree branches that were infinite in length, nor was it mobile. With that final leap, Eric moved out of the tree's reach.
But many of his comrades weren't so lucky. At the end of the day, out of the squad of 12 elite Phasewalker Stasis Troopers, only 5 survived, including Eric. Thankfully, Austin was among the living as well.
But that was worth it. Now, the Phasewalkers knew what they were dealing with. The Mutated Tree had its schemes. It was hoping to hide its identity. Without the manpower to sweep every building, the Phasewalkers had no idea this building was any different from the others. If Eric waited a little longer, the tree might've been able to hide the evidence of its crimes against the Phasewalkers a little better.
And it was sucking the brains of Phasewalkers...who knows what information it has collected, and how much more it could've collected if he didn't intervene?
None of that would matter much now. Eric thought so as he quickly picked up his satellite phone. The Mutated Tree has had its fun. Now it was the Phasewalkers' turn.
---
The smell of scorched wood could be sensed miles away.
What used to be an Arbiter X sat quietly a distance away from the reach of the Mutated Tree's branches. Its pilots made the mistake of getting too close to the branches, and they paid the price with their lives. It was a testament to the Mutated Tree's resistance.
Unfortunately, that was the only testament.
When Eric reported in the presence of a hostile Mutant of extreme threat, most of the 1st Phasewalker Regiment's resources were utilized. Across the rest of the city, the advances of the Phasewalker lines were put on hold. The bulk of the 1st Armored Battalion, the 2nd Airborne Battalion, and the 3rd Artillery Battalion turned their attention to the Mutated Tree.
When it became obvious the Mutated Tree couldn't move and had no real ranged means of attack, the Phasewalkers started unloading on the unfortunate being with all they've got. "Terminator" missile pods circled the Mutated Tree from all 360 degrees, constantly raining down hellfire. Artillery units a safe distance away sent incendiary rounds crashing into the tree.
Even the pair of F-22s came over for a few bombing runs. After all, why not?
The Arbiter X that was brought down was unfortunate, but all it did was warn the rest of the Arbiter X pilots to maintain their distance. Aside from that, it was a free for all.
Honestly, what was happening with the Mutated Tree was really sad. Within the reach of its branches, it was practically invincible to the Phasewalkers. Even the walking fortresses that were Predator II would find its armored plating crushed within just seconds. Even if the Tree wasn't as powerful as Apollo, it was still a huge threat. Even the god of the sun himself couldn't step into the reach of its branches and hope to emerge victorious and unscathed.
But the tree went through a set of mutations, not a set of evolutions. The Mutations made it an invincible creature of death. Only weakness? It couldn't walk…
This meant that even if the Tree could technically roll over everything the Phasewalkers had, it simply couldn't do it. It was literally incapable of punishing the countless cannons and missiles and tanks that were constantly shelling down on him.
Finally, with a final screech, the Mutated Tree that was dozens of stories tall came crashing down, burying beneath it entire complexes of buildings.
But as the foot soldiers cheered, Caity was hardly as satisfied. Inside the Command Center, she voiced her concern to her trusted second in command Ryan.
"I'd say that's a Tier 3 Mutant. If it took us this much firepower to take down an immobile Tier 3 Mutant, then how difficult will it be for us to kill Apollo, if or when we come into conflict?" She wondered. "Apollo isn't going to sit there for hours and take our bombardment head-on."
Before the Mutated Tree, the Phasewalkers had no real experience with fighting Tier 3 Mutants. All they could do was take the power of Tier 2 Mutants, amplify every aspect, and then work from there. Caity thought a few F-22s should be enough to subdue Apollo. She realized she couldn't be more wrong. Two F-22s could empty their entire arsenal on that Mutated Tree back there and see little accomplished.
If the Phasewalkers had to face Apollo, Caity feared it would be a massacre.
Ryan paused. It was obvious he wanted to say something, but for some reason, even the ruthless Regiment Commissar was being a little hesitant. Caity frowned. What could Ryan have in mind that he couldn't bear to bring up?
"What is it?" She asked.
Ryan bit his lips. "The Mutated Ants."
"Yeah, what about them?"
Fortress Alpha has never underestimated the horde of Mutated Ants that engulfed Camp Rebirth. Even after the Corps' scouts discovered the Ants moving to the West, after the satellite came online, Caity still devoted a portion of its resources spent on constantly keeping an eye on where the horde was. It seemed like they had set their eyes on another human settlement.
Unfortunately for them, that settlement was too far away for the Phasewalkers to save. Chances were, they would all be devoured soon. If there were survivors, it would be a handful of the most powerful Mutants.
"Past experience has suggested we can use our choppers to somewhat guide the movement of these Ants. If we try, maybe we can identify more effective methods." Ryan reminded before putting forth a suggestion. "Last we checked, the horde is numbered in the tens of thousands. All Tier 0 Mutants with a decent structure of command that move and fight like a single army. It is a mighty force."
"Mighty, perhaps, but we can't control them," Caity noted. The Phasewalkers have tried capturing individual Mutated Animals and training them like one would train tigers and lions in circuses. None of that ended well.
"We don't need to control them." Ryan froze, giving this one last thought before getting to his point. "Our concern is that Apollo and his Mutants will be too powerful for us to handle. Our strength is limited, so all we can do is weaken them."
"You...you are suggesting we direct the Mutated Ants to Camp York?" Caity exclaimed in shock as she finally realized what Ryan was getting at. "But…"
"From what we saw recently through the satellite photos, after spotting a human settlement, the Ants would first surround the settlement before converging for a combined attack. Chances are Apollo will never see it coming. When he sees the attack, it'll be too late."
Tens of thousands of Mutated Ants. Even a Tier 3 Mutant would have trouble slaughtering them all, and the nature of Mutated Animals meant they wouldn't stop until everyone in front of them was dead.
"And the people? The thousands of survivors in Camp York? Have you thought about them?"
Mutated Ants would never take prisoners. They would never show mercy. Sending them to Camp York would be signing the death sentence of every single one of its occupants.
Ryan's eyes were cold. "Our priority is Earth. Our Earth. Our people. I don't care about ordinary survivors and neither should you."
Caity bit her lips. Of course she understood the reasoning, but...she shook her head.
"It's too risky. If this gets exposed, Camp York will stop at nothing to take us down. No need to risk breaking our alliance now. And if they know we are using the Mutated Animals, all four Support Battalions may rebel. They are all locals, after all. Even for our own people...it won't be good for morale."
Ryan nodded slowly. "You are the Commander, Colonel Hunter, but I truly hope you are making your decision with the best interest of our world in mind, not that of World Alpha and the locals here."
I truly hope so, Caity, because if you aren't, then you are no longer fit for your position...