Chapter 1: Trench by Trench

“Push up!” Simmons yelled, his voice rising above the muffled sound of battle inside Evan’s helmet. “We have to get that fucking trench cleared!”

The squad rushed up the muddy embankment, weaving between the shattered tree stumps, glowing bolts of plasma punching through the smoke that choked the air. Evan could scarcely see two hundred meters in any direction, having to rely almost entirely on the ad-hoc network to pick out shared targets on his HUD, red outlines and objective markers filling his field of view. He felt like he was playing a goddamned VR game.

“Good fuckin’ job they torched the place from orbit before we set down,” Hernandez panted, jogging along beside him to his right. “Wouldn’t wanna deal with all these bunkers and trenches if the critters still had cover.”

“Oh, they still have plenty of cover!” Jade added as he ducked behind a tree stump to Evan’s left. She lifted her XMR over the cracked bark, laying down some suppressive fire on the red outlines atop the hill. “These surface defenses are just the tip of the iceberg. How do you think so many of them survived the bombing?”

“Sarge, we ain’t getting anywhere near that trench until someone deals with that pillbox!” Foster added as he dove into cover nearby.

At the top of the incline, some fifty meters away, was a dome-shaped mound of dirt that was visible through the felled trees. Like all of the other Bug structures, it was made from packed earth that had been covered over with clear resin to render it as hard as concrete, the insects inside spewing automatic plasma fire through the openings in its walls. It was part of a larger network of trenches and fortifications that created a winding network throughout the blasted forest, slowing the Coalition forces as they made their approach towards the base of the Ant Hill. The Bugs were dug-in, well-prepared, but they clearly hadn’t anticipated the fleet’s capacity for mass destruction. The battalions had pushed out from the landing zones and were slowly tightening the noose, clearing out the Bug defenses as they went, encircling the Queen’s stronghold.

“I’ve called it in!” Simmons replied, bringing up the rear with the rest of the squad. Everyone was present save for McKay, who had been evacuated to the carrier after being injured. Tatzi had returned with a new pressure suit, and the pair of Borealans were back in action again, the loud cracks of their long rifles echoing across the battlefield. Aster and Cardinal flanked the sergeant, the rest of the Marines moving up behind him.

Evan’s HUD alerted him of an approaching vehicle, the giant hull of a Kodiak rolling out of the airborne dust off to their left. The angular tank smashed through a carbonized tree stump, then jerked to a stop, its long cannon turning on the pillbox. The Bugs inside concentrated their fire on it, a brilliant light show forcing Evan’s visor to darken, the superheated gas leaving red-hot patches on its ceramic armor where they found their mark. The main gun fired, recoil shaking the vehicle, the barrel sending a sabot screaming up the hill. It punched straight through the dirt and resin, a plasma payload igniting the interior, flames shooting out of the windows as the space was filled with ionized gas.

With the bunker now silenced, the tank turned its many guns on the trench beside the flaming structure, where Drones were popping out of cover to fire their rifles down the incline at the approaching troops. Simmons ordered them to move up as it suppressed the enemy line with mortars and a stream of shells from its cheek-mounted gun pod, the IFV joining in as it trundled along behind them, the thirty-mill on its blister barking.

Evan was at the head of the pack, pausing to fire through the burnt husks of the trees. Few were more than three or four meters tall, cut down like blades of grass by the orbital bombardment. As he darted forward, he felt someone grab his rucksack, jolting him to a stop.

“Wait!” Jade warned, her eyes scanning the hill ahead of them through her visor. “Monofilament wire!”

“Fuck,” Evan panted, giving her a grateful pat on the shoulder as she passed him. Now that he was looking for them, he could see the network of shimmering fibers, as thin as hairs. They were strung up between what was left of the trees, only visible when what light that made it through the choking ash clouds caught them at the right angle. A few steps more, and he might have been diced like those poor Marines who had been caught in the Red King’s trap.

“Sergeant, there are monofilament wires all over the place,” Jade warned as she took a knee beside a stump. Despite the suppressive fire from the tank, the Bugs in the trench were still taking every opportunity to fire back, the whole squad ducking as plasma bolts sizzled over their heads. “I don’t see a way around. There are probably more of those mines, too.”

“I’m not taking any chances with those things,” Simmons growled. “Hang tight – I’m calling in the engineers. We’ll put a line charge straight through to the trench.”

“Remember, the fuckers hide those mines on the trees,” Foster added.

“Yeah, well that isn’t gonna be an issue if there are no trees,” Simmons replied.

A few minutes later, the ground began to shake, another Kodiak variant with a stubby turret and a massive prow bulldozing its way out of the dust clouds to their rear. It fought its way up the hill towards them, uprooting stumps like they were no more than weeds, shrugging off the plasma fire that came its way.

It fired a rocket from a launcher that was mounted on the side of its turret, a long spool of what looked like rope uncoiling with a puff of smoke, draping itself over the landscape. After a brief delay, it detonated, an explosion ripping along its length. It was powerful enough to topple the weakened trees, throwing up a torrent of dirt. Jade’s suspicions were confirmed as Evan noticed shimmering fibers descending from the sky, likely from detonated mines.

“Push through and clear us a path!” Simmons said, speaking to the tank’s commander. “I’ll let fifteen and sixteen know that we have a way through. Move up behind the Crocodile, people!”

They formed a column behind the vehicle as it struggled its way up the incline, the serrated teeth on its prow churning up the loose soil, creating a safe route for the infantry. The nearby Kodiak shadowed it, its engine roaring, Evan and his squad following behind. Their IFV brought up the rear, its blister still firing, its eight wheels spinning in the ash-caked earth.

The Crocodile punched a hole in the enemy defenses, crashing through the trench to the left of the burning bunker, caving some of it in. The hardy vehicle didn’t falter, continuing on, its blister depressing as far as it could to fire down over the side of the turret.

Evan took point, sliding down into the partially collapsed trench as the Kodiak rolled over it, his boots skidding in the dirt. The Drones were only around five feet tall, so the trench was a little more shallow than one might expect, but it still rose above Evan’s head. The walls were made of packed dirt that had been covered over with a layer of hard, transparent resin, which was apparently strong enough that the structure didn’t require any supports. Facing out towards the advancing Coalition troops were little letterbox-like slots that had been cut into the wall, allowing the Drones to fire from relative safety, and there was a subtly raised lip where they would have stood to reach. The whole trench was built in an organic, twisting pattern, probably designed to diminish the effects of any explosives that landed inside. Behind him, the trench terminated at the bunker, the glow of flames still visible through the primitive doorway. There was a dead Drone lying halfway out of the building, its carapace charred black, wisps of smoke rising from the breaks in its joints.

The rest of the squad piled inside after him, the two Borealans having to duck to avoid exposing their heads. Evan aimed his rifle down the trench, seeing a couple more dead Drones lying inside it, the nearest corner blocking his view of what might be beyond.

“Tatzi, Borzka,” Simmons began as he gestured down the trench. “You have point.”

The two aliens exchanged a glance, then leveled their bayonets, moving to the front of the group. Evan had no idea what the Bugs might have in store for them, but anyone who found themselves on the wrong side of a Borealan bayonet charge was going to have a bad day.

“Watch for more mines,” Aster warned as she moved up behind them, her antennae waving in the air. “They may be chemically triggered.”

The squad moved down the trench, the Borealans leaning around the nearest bend before advancing. Evan heard the crack of XMR fire, turning the same corner to see that a pair of freshly-killed Drones had joined their dead comrades that were lying in the dirt.

“Looks like the vehicles got most of ‘em,” Hernandez muttered, giving a nearby body a swift kick. It had been perforated with shrapnel, probably from the MGL fire that the IFV had poured into the area.

“Fleetcom wants us collapsing any tunnels we find,” Simmons ordered as he waded through the dead Bugs. “If you see a hole, drop a ‘nade down there. There’s probably a whole network of passages under our feet, but we don’t have the resources to clear them all one by one. All we need to do is make sure the critters can’t come up behind us.”

“Just like killin’ gophers back on the family farm,” Hernandez chuckled.

“I don’t want to know why your family has access to grenades,” Evan grumbled as he pushed a listless Drone aside with his boot. Most of its head was gone – probably a victim of the thirty-mill.

“They’re both varmints, ain’t they?” Hernandez replied.

There was a flurry of movement ahead, a Drone coming charging around the next corner, a pair of long blades clutched in its upper hands. It scrabbled low to the ground, avoiding a shot from Tatzi’s rifle, the slug shattering the resin directly behind it like glass.

Borzka stepped in to meet it, letting out a bellow that Evan could hear through his helmet, driving his bayonet into its torso. He put enough force into the blow to skewer the thing, the serrated blade protruding from the squirming Drone’s back. It flailed its limbs as he drove it into the dirt, pinning it to the bottom of the trench like an entomologist mounting a fresh specimen to his wall. The creature’s chitin swords sparked off the rifle’s long barrel, but it was hopelessly out of reach. Tatzi stepped in to finish the job, firing a round that exploded its head like a melon, Borzka using his boot to slide its body off his XMR.

“I smell a Bug hole,” Cardinal warned, gesturing ahead.

They followed her around the next corner, soon coming across an opening in the right wall that looked just large enough for a Drone to squeeze through. Just looking at it gave Evan a wave of claustrophobia.

“Glad I’m not a Trog,” Hernandez said, mirroring his sentiment.

“Stand back,” Jade said, moving over to the ominous opening. She leaned inside, giving it a brief sweep with her flashlight, then primed a grenade from her belt. She rolled it into the hole like she was playing a game of skee ball, then moved aside. After a moment, an explosion shook the ground, a puff of dust and debris erupting from the opening.

“That’ll do it,” Jade said, appraising her work. “A Worker could dig that out again if it had the time, but I doubt they can dispatch teams to repair the damage faster than we can plug the holes.”

“Without more specialized gear, it’s all we can do,” Simmons said. “Our priority is making it to the foot of that mountain. If we can kill the Queen, it’s not going to matter. Keep moving,” he added, nodding down the narrow walkway. “Let’s get the rest of them.”

Unlike the trenches favored by humans, the Bug equivalents were separated into above-ground sections that were flanked by bunkers, connected to the larger network via tunnels. That made the prospect of clearing them a little easier, though the squad still encountered resistance.

They found a couple more survivors, cutting them down swiftly with bursts of XMR fire. Another Drone ambushed them from one of the narrow tunnels, but in its disadvantaged position, it was quickly dispatched. By the time they had accomplished their task, the two companies that were following behind them had caught up, and they formed a larger force as they made their way out onto level ground again.

The two other mechanized companies spread out in a line, covering as much ground as possible as they advanced across an open plain that had probably once been grassland, the trees slowly vanishing. The wind was even more apparent here, whipping across the ground, creating miniature dust devils in the carpet of ash.

Evan could feel the wind battering his pressure suit, the rumble of the formation of armored vehicles that flanked him to the left and right shaking the ground as they trundled along, extending into the distance in both directions. The ash was finally starting to clear now, and although the sky was still an opaque ceiling of roiling dust clouds, he was able to see a lot further.

Simmons relayed an order to halt from the company commander, the nearby Kodiaks jolting to a stop, the squad taking a knee beside their IFV.

“I don’t like this open ground,” Simmons muttered, scanning the horizon. “We got reports of another line of trenches ahead, and there’s no cover here. Mount up.”

The IFV’s ramp descended, and they piled into its troop bay, securing themselves into their seats as the larger Borealans stood in the aisle. The vehicle rocked as it took off again, driving across the flat terrain at a brisk pace. Evan tapped into the external cameras, the armored hull melting away to reveal the landscape outside. The Kodiaks were racing along beside them, kicking up dust clouds behind their treads, their stabilized turrets remaining paradoxically level even as they bounced through craters and potholes left by the bombardment.

“We’re about halfway to the hill,” Garcia said as he checked the display on his wrist. He was sitting opposite Evan, bouncing in his seat as they rolled over another hole. “Sarge, are you seeing these weird radio signals? There’s something out there.”

“Fleetcom has been picking them up,” Simmons replied with a nod. “They think the Bugs are moving radio-emitters around the battlefield to keep their troops in contact with the Queen and avoid detection. They’re priority-one targets.”

“Are we chasing one?” Garcia asked, glancing up from his computer.

“Maybe,” the sergeant said with a shrug. “They don’t tell me everything.”

“Heads up,” Brooks warned. “You guys see those pillboxes in the distance?”

Evan followed his gaze, looking through the cab of the IFV to see a row of fortifications rising conspicuously from the flat terrain in the distance. A few moments later, the company ground to a halt again, their IFV braking.

“Driving into a killing field isn’t very wise, so the artillery company is going to soften up that line for us,” Simmons explained. “Get ready for some fireworks.”

Evan waited, a couple of minutes passing with only the low rumble of the engine to break the silence. Finally, there was a flash in the distance, a line of explosions erupting along the entire length of the Bug fortifications. From the company’s vantage point, it looked as if the entire horizon had been set on fire. The artillery barrage walked its way backwards, pulverizing the defenses with consecutive volleys of shells, fired all the way from the LZ half a day’s drive behind them. The range of those railguns was incredible.

Only after several minutes of non-stop bombardment did the company commander order them to continue on, the IFV lurching to life again.

“I don’t see how any of the critters could have survived that,” Hernandez said. “Do you reckon any of them are still alive?”

“Some will be,” Jade replied. “I wouldn’t expect them to be that easy to uproot. You can blast the surface, but most of them will be taking cover far below ground where you’d need a bunker-buster or an orbital strike to reach them.”

As they neared the Bug trenches, those bunkers rose up to loom over the plain. They were far larger than the ones the company had encountered previously, like giant grain silos made of soil and resin, maybe two storeys tall. Evan could make out four of them spaced out at intervals, probably flanking trenches. They were clearly designed to give the occupants a clear view across the flat landscape. One of them had taken a direct hit from an artillery shell, which had blown apart its domed roof, exposing the upper level. It was still smoking, and Evan could pick out what looked like a damaged cannon that was leaning precariously over the side of the structure. It reminded him of the tri-barreled design used on the Scuttler turrets, but it was much larger.

Metal glinted as the turrets on the remaining towers rotated to point down at the company, protruding from narrow slats beneath the domes, now maybe two kilometers away. Evan felt the IFV speed up, its engine roaring. Hernandez tightened his safety harness, the Borealans bracing themselves as they gripped the handholds on the ceiling. They must have been doing about eighty klicks now, the formation of armored vehicles racing across the plain, the ground a blur. At these speeds, it would only take them a couple of minutes to close the distance.

“Here we go!” Simmons warned, gripping the armrests of his seat tightly.

The three remaining towers began to fire, their cannons reciprocating into the shadowy recesses of the domes, glowing bolts of plasma racing across the plain towards the oncoming vehicles. They were like tiny suns, so bright that their emerald light reflected off the ground beneath them, their heat creating trails of ionized air behind them. One of the projectiles splashed into the ground some distance ahead of the formation, erupting into an explosion as its magnetic field collapsed, far larger and more powerful than those fired by the Scuttlers. The company’s vehicles split apart, avoiding the burning crater that it had left in its wake.

“They’re bringin’ out the big guns now!” Hernandez said. “Fuck, are those the same kind of weapons they use on frigates?”

“The Kodiaks need to take those things out before we get picked off!” Brooks added.

Off to the left of the IFV, a unit of four tanks was racing across the dusty ground, their turrets rotating in the direction of the bunkers. Even at these speeds, the stabilization systems could keep those cannons on-target, their computers churning through the ballistic data to calculate the perfect shot. The four vehicles fired almost in tandem, the recoil making their seventy-ton hulls shudder.

A moment later, the rounds impacted one of the towers, pulverizing the resin armor and releasing torrents of the soil that was contained beneath. They looked like pebbles splashing in loose sand. More shots followed, dozens of them finding their mark all along the line, the three towers erupting into explosions of dirt and flame. One of them succumbed to a volley of shots, pieces of its structural resin crumbling away, what must have been hundreds of tons of dirt pouring to the ground as it started to collapse into its own footprint. The domed roof caved in, the heavy cannon contained within plunging through the floor, tearing down more of the structure as it tumbled. In only a few seconds, the tower had been reduced to a pile of rubble.

The two remaining towers were still standing despite the holes that had been punched in their facades, their guns firing again. One of those powerful projectiles found its mark, impacting just ahead of a tank unit off to Evan’s right, striking the ground like a bolt of green lightning. The resulting release of energy created an explosion that tossed one of the seventy-ton tanks off its treads, throwing it like a toy. It landed upside-down, its weight crushing the blisters and comms equipment on its turret, bending its cannon like a piece of rebar. The vehicle skidded along in the dust until its hull caught on something that tipped it over again, pieces of armor paneling and segments of shredded track thrown from the wreck as it tumbled end over end. Evan watched with wide eyes as the formation left it in the dust, its ruined chassis settling.

“Holy shit!” Foster exclaimed. “You think those guys are alright?”

“Fuck no, they aren’t!” Hernandez replied.

The three remaining tanks in the unit closed ranks again, having no option but to keep going. Slowing down right now was a death sentence. The companies and the towers were still exchanging fire, another of the structures succumbing to a hail of sabots, listing sideways as a well-placed shot took out a chunk of resin at its base. It collapsed into the trench beside it, Evan watching a cloud of debris rise into the sky.

Another bolt from one of the towers lanced past to the IFV’s left, practically vaporizing a Kodiak some hundred meters down the line. It was there one moment, then gone the next, the burning husk of what remained of its hull coming rolling out of the dust cloud. One of its neighbors threw a track, grinding to a stop beside it, an IFV having to swerve to avoid them.

They were about halfway across the plain now, a network of smaller bunkers that were spaced out along the trenches coming into view. A wave of plasma fire spewed from them almost in tandem, but as alarming as it was, it posed little threat to the vehicles. The projectiles carried far less energy, what bolts that even made it to the company splashing off their ceramic armor harmlessly.

The last tower finally succumbed, the Kodiaks focusing their fire on those smaller bunkers now, plasma shells and HE bursting them wide open. The tanks pulled ahead, the Crocodiles taking the lead, starting to lower their plows now in anticipation of clearing mines and tank traps.

“Almost there!” Simmons announced. “Be ready to pile out as soon as we come to a stop. Our job is going to be mopping up whatever’s left alive in those trenches!”

Evan lay his XMR in his lap, pulling some shells from his belt, loading them into the rotating cylinder on his underbarrel shotgun one by one.

As he glanced ahead of the formation, watching the burning towers grow closer, one of the lead tanks simply dropped. He did a double-take, then called out in alarm, the other occupants of the troop bay following his gaze.

The ground beneath one of the Crocodiles had cracked open like the crust of a crème brûlée, plunging the heavy vehicle beneath its surface, bringing it to a jarring halt. It seemed to bob there, like it was floating on something thicker than water, its prow starting to sink deeper.

The nearby vehicles slammed on the brakes, but a few were already too close, another Kodiak starting to drift sideways as it skidded on what must be very smooth ground. Just like the Crocodile, the surface gave out beneath it, causing the tank to list as it succumbed to the same fate. From this distance, it almost looked like a bog or some kind of quicksand, slowly consuming the metal beasts. Even under fire from the row of defensive bunkers, the prospect of being entombed in their vehicle had the tank’s crew scrambling out of the two hatches on the turret. One of them was hit by a stray bolt, sent toppling down onto the hull, while the two others made it to firm ground. Evan could see the jagged hole where the vehicle had broken through, sharp, translucent fragments jutting into the air like shattered ice. No, it couldn’t be ice – that was resin.

“It’s a tank trap!” he exclaimed. Some of his squadmates who hadn’t figured it out yet gave him a confused glance, but Jade and Foster nodded along in agreement.

“The Bugs must have put down a layer of resin over some kind of marsh or bog,” Jade confirmed, rising from her seat to get a better look. “Their vehicles don’t weigh half of what ours do. Maybe they set it up to only give out when our tanks rolled over it?”

“How the hell would that survive the bombardment?” Hernandez asked incredulously.

“It must be more recent,” Jade explained. “They must have ... irrigated or disturbed the ground somehow.”

The tanks were still firing, taking long-range potshots at the smaller bunkers, but they could advance no further. One of them sent a line charge shooting off towards the sinking Crocodile, the explosive draping itself over the vehicle’s partially submerged hull. The three-man crew climbed out of the hatch on the turret, using the line of explosives like a rope, pulling themselves through the wet mud. As long as the detonator wasn’t triggered, it should be safe enough. Quick thinking in a pinch on the part of the Kodiak crew.

“How the fuck are we supposed to get across this?” Hernandez wondered. “Do we go around?”

“Looks like Fleetcom is still debating what to do,” Simmons replied. “Several other battalions have encountered the same obstacle. Stand by.”

“Can’t they just land some dropships over there?” Collins asked.

“Not before we clear out any AA emplacements,” Foster replied, leaning forward in his seat. “They’d be sitting ducks. The plan was that we were supposed to clear the fortifications as we went, which would allow airborne units from the carriers to land and secure them behind us to ensure they didn’t get recaptured.”

“What if we just drive around it?” Brooks suggested with a shrug.

“Because it’ll waste a ton of time,” Foster said, turning his helmeted head to glance at him. “We’re supposed to be making one concerted push towards the Ant Hill – we can’t afford to waste hours going around. Splitting up the battalions and isolating them is exactly what the Bugs want. Same reason we can’t wait around for the engineers to build a bridge.”

“What options does that leave on the table?” Brooks asked.

Evan glanced out through the hull, watching as a trio of Marines approached the edge of the bog. One of them took a few steps forward, then began to jump up and down on the resin.

“I have some idea,” Evan muttered.

“Okay, new plan,” Simmons announced after a few minutes of waiting around. “We’re going to lay down artillery and indirect fire on the trenches to keep them suppressed, put down smoke across the obstacle, and charge across it.”

“Charge across it!?” Collins exclaimed.

“The Kodiaks have taken out the pillboxes and cannons, so as long as we force the Drones in the trenches to keep their heads down, we should be alright. We’re getting some support from the Jarilans, too. They’re dropping in some heavy infantry right on top of the enemy emplacements. Fleetcom says to keep an eye out for friendly IFFs.”

“I thought we had to clear the anti-air defenses first?” Foster asked.

“The Warriors!” Jade gasped. “The Coalition must have finally given us permission to deploy them.”

“Warriors?” Hernandez asked. “Like, friendly Warriors?”

“They’ll be deploying directly from our carriers,” she replied with a nod. “Their drop pods probably come in too hot for conventional SAM systems to bring down.”

“How far do you reckon we are from the trenches?” Garcia asked. “I’d say maybe half a klick. That’s ... what, three minutes at a jog?”

“Can you guys keep up?” Hernandez asked, directing his question at Tatzi.

“We will manage,” she replied, Borzka nodding in silent agreement.

“Apparently, the Valbarans aren’t having any trouble,” Simmons continued as he checked his display. “Their vehicles are light enough to drive right across.”

“Shame we don’t have any of those,” Hernandez sighed.

“You wouldn’t fit in them,” Evan chuckled.

The ground began to shake as the artillery strikes resumed, hammering the enemy trenches with renewed ferocity. Evan could hear the grenade launcher on the IFV’s roof firing, puffs of obscuring, white smoke starting to drift across the flat terrain ahead of them.

“Get ready,” Simmons warned as he rose from his seat, heading to the back of the bay. “As soon as that ramp lowers, you run, and you don’t stop until you reach cover. Try to stay together.”

“If I was fighting on the other side, I’d try to break the resin with mortars ahead of our advance,” Aster warned as she checked her PDW.

“The artillery will hopefully prevent that,” Simmons replied.

“Hopefully?” Hernandez repeated over the private channel, giving Evan a sideways glance through his helmet.

“If you do fall through the resin, just hang tight,” Simmons added as the warning light above the ramp began to flash red. It cracked open, the dull, hazy light that made it through the ash clouds bleeding through the growing gap. “You’ll be safe as long as your suit’s oxygen supply lasts, and someone will come pick you up eventually.”

“This idea is sounding worse and worse all the time,” Hernandez grumbled.

“Go, go!” Simmons yelled as the ramp hit the ground. The squad piled out after him, turning to face the enemy. Before them was an open field carpeted in a drifting, white haze, the hulk of the sinking Crocodile still partially visible as it jutted from the mud some distance ahead of them. The gunfire was constant and uninterrupted, every vehicle in sight pouring grenades and mortars into the enemy positions, the rumble of artillery so powerful that Evan feared it might crack the resin. All around them, more squads were emerging from their IFVs, beginning their mad dash across the plain.