The first fresh formations were still passing through the secured western streets when the Hive struck back.
A Rifleman near the front felt it first where his next step landed wrong.
For a moment, the road tilted underneath him and the buildings on both sides seemed to move farther away. The rifle slipped against his shoulder before he caught it with both hands.
The pressure hit the rest of the street.
Several soldiers stopped at once.
One Army Soldier reached for the side of a Guardian APC. Another Rifleman dropped onto one knee with his head lowered, teeth clenched while a high ringing filled both ears.
The effect passed through the System troops in seconds.
The MDC personnel beside them were not as fortunate.
One soldier stumbled into the side of the APC hard enough that he lost his rifle. Another collapsed beside the curb and pressed both hands against his helmet.
"What the hell—Ahhhh!!!"
A second MDC soldier dropped beside him and vomited across the pavement.
The squad leader leaned against the Guardian until his vision cleared, then pushed himself upright.
"Check our attachments."
The Medic pair moving with the formation was already doing it. One crossed toward the nearest MDC soldier while the other caught a man who nearly fell face-first onto the road. Neither waited for another instruction.
Farther down the street, a DASF squad kept walking.
The four operators moved through the pressure without breaking formation.
The DASF nearest him turned his head.
"Careful. Are you good?"
"Not yet, but I’ll be."
"Stay up if you can. Something’s coming."
The Rifleman forced himself back onto his feet.
Around them, the rest of the formation recovered.
Engines continued running. Guardian turrets moved through their assigned sectors. A Vanguard farther behind the line stopped and waited for its crew to confirm the infantry around it before rolling again.
The MDC soldiers took longer.
Some remained seated against the buildings while the Medics checked them. Several others returned to their feet with pale faces and shaking hands.
The pressure wave returned.
The Rifleman caught himself before falling, but the road disappeared from his attention for a second.
The sound around him faded, while his stomach turned.
Something pushed against the inside of his head so hard that he forgot where he was looking.
A moment later, everything returned at once. The gunfire and the humming engines blasted his ears.
"Fuck."
Behind him, one of the MDC men screamed. The sound ended when he collapsed.
The Medic closest to him rushed over, while the squad leader looked toward his tactical display.
Unlike the people around him, the picture remained clear. Red contacts were still moving around the city.
There were thousands of them, no longer scattered like before.
"Southern Command, the hive is releasing psychic waves. Requesting immediate air support! We need that Hive settled down!"
Similar reports flooded across the advancing formation.
Just as his voice died down, several loud booms echoed behind them.
Precision missiles cut across the sky and descended toward the Hive. A loud explosion followed, rumbling across a huge area.
Shockwaves rolled through the area, stirring up dust and debris. The Golden Eagle soldiers took cover, while the others dragged the downed MDC soldiers to safety.
"All units, Hive activity has increased. Check your sectors."
The squad leader checked his Radar picture again. Indeed, the red markers had now moved significantly over that short period of time.
Groups from different underground sections changed direction at the same time, merging through freight passages, drainage systems, utility corridors and tunnels beneath the surrounding industrial blocks.
The concentrations kept growing.
"Squad, underground movement! Move into positions!"
The Riflemen nearest the Guardian shifted farther from the center of the road. The Machine Gunner settled behind the concrete barrier and pulled the GPMG tighter against his shoulder.
The MDC soldier wiped the blood beneath his nose and looked between them.
"What does that mean?"
The first impact came from beneath the intersection. A second blow shook loose dust from the side of a damaged warehouse.
Everyone turned toward the road.
A crack appeared near the opposite curb, running several meters before it stopped.
A section near the center lifted slightly, settled, then rose again as something pushed from underneath.
The Army Soldiers near the building entrances changed their angles toward the street. One of the Riflemen stepped behind the Guardian’s front quarter.
Another impact came from below, splitting the crack wider.
Concrete broke along the edge while an abandoned sedan beside the road shifted several centimeters on its suspension.
"Back from the opening," the squad leader said.
The MDC personnel moved with the infantry, watching as the road bulged upward.
A length of buried pipe tore through the pavement first. Dark tissue covered most of the metal.
It tightened around the pipe and the broken concrete surrounding it, pulling everything upward until the road finally gave way.
The rupture threw chunks of asphalt across the intersection.
The Guardian took the smaller pieces against its armor. One struck the Machine Gunner’s barrier and broke apart.
The opening underneath widened, and not long after, something climbed through.
A Runner reached the surface on all fours and threw itself toward the nearest Rifleman.
Three rifles fired against it, dropping it dead before it could clear the broken pavement.
Several Runners followed, but the Guardian’s autocannon was already locked toward the opening.
"Clear the way!"
The infantry shifted away from its firing line before it opened fire. Chunks of flesh and concrete burst from the rupture as the first group disappeared beneath the rounds.
The MDC soldier stared at the hole and realized that there was more movement coming from underneath.
The ground behind them shook as another crack spread through the road they had crossed only minutes earlier.
A third appeared near the machine shop.
The MDC soldier’s face lost what little color remained.
"Are we being surrounded? Should we not fall back?"
The Machine Gunner looked over his shoulder. "Stop blabbering and gun them down."
The second rupture burst open. Infected climbed from it before the concrete finished falling.
The Army Soldiers near the machine shop opened fire from the side while the Machine Gunner swept his GPMG across the new opening.
The street was soon filled with overlapping gunfire.
As the corpses piled up at the entrances, another psychic wave pressed through the district.
The MDC soldier staggered, but he realized that the Riflemen and the rest weren’t as affected anymore.
"What—"
"Stay down and don’t fuck up the defense!" The squad leader moved over and covered his position.
His eyes settled on the Radar picture, ignoring the rocking ground.
This time, the movement spread beneath several buildings at once. Windows rattled and broke into pieces. Loose metal fell from an old loading platform.
A line of cracks appeared across the warehouse yard ahead.
"More incoming! Straight from that yard!"
It seemed that the first missile strike against the Hive had not stopped them.
Another precision strike landed somewhere deeper toward the center, its explosion rolling across the district several seconds later.
The psychic pressure weakened for a moment, but the underground movement continued.
The MDC soldier looked toward the distant smoke rising over the buildings.
"How come that thing has not yet died?"
"Don’t fucking know. Keep your eyes on your target, soldier!"
The ground rocked for a moment, lifting them off their feet.
"What the heck is it now?"
A heavy impact lifted part of the warehouse yard.
It caused the ground to split, followed by a wider collapse across the affected section.
Flesh-covered supports pushed between broken concrete and steel reinforcement, dragging sections of the buried freight route with them.
The opening widened until the entire yard seemed to tear apart.
And when it was done, infected poured through like a tide unleashed. Rows of them climbed over one another as soon as the passage opened.
From Tier 0s to Tier 1s.
The squad leader saw the heavier outlines immediately.
"Heavy contacts mixed in. Prepare solutions!"
The Missile Infantryman shifted his launcher toward the yard while the Guardian beside him opened fire.
Its autocannon tore through the front of the wave, but the opening kept producing more.
Machine-gun fire joined from both sides of the street.
The Riflemen fired from behind the armored line while the Army Soldiers concentrated on anything that crossed through the gaps.
The MDC soldier finally joined the fire with them.
For several seconds, the entire intersection disappeared behind muzzle flashes, dust and fragments of concrete.
However, another rupture opened somewhere beyond the warehouse.
The squad leader realized that they were about to be sealed off and immediately called in.
"Vanguard Four-Six to Southern Command. We have multiple simultaneous breaches at our position. Requesting reinforcements, over!"
A response came back through the command network.
"Copy. All elements report the same. Hold your assigned sectors. Reinforcements are coming in. Air and Fires are also being redirected."
The squad leader looked toward the warehouse yard where the first heavy contact had already made its way out of the ground.
"Understood, but we don’t have much time, Southern Command!"
The Missile Infantryman adjusted his launcher. The DASF squad farther down the road began moving toward them.
The MDC soldier saw them coming and looked back at the hole.
"Shit, that thing’s huge. Can we kill it?"
"About to, soldier!"