CHAPTER 16

WINGED BEASTS

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Evacuate the residents?

“Pram, they keep debating. The other factions have not agreed to evacuate the residents. They won't do anything without Walker Association's feedback.”

“What? Walker what?”

“Well, you know, 25% of our representatives are walkers. 25% other are politicians who enjoy their money. This is democracy, Pram. Everyone could be a policy maker as long as they were popular.”

“Democracy my ass! Popular my ass! Just ask them to turn on the damn siren!”

”But—

“Take note of the politicians who refuse! Take note of those who are obviously delaying! Wiretap them!”

“Wiretapping is illegal.”

“I would make it legal the hard way if you didn't do your fuckin’ job, my friend.” The bullhead was too furious that he spoke with a calm voice.

“Alright, give me a chance.”

The local government had not yet sounded the city alarm because council members' opinions hadn't yet met. Meanwhile, there were so many political factions that waiting for their debate was definitely wasting time. On the other side, the Red Zone‘s sirens had been sounding since 8am. The vortex was getting bigger for thousands of ferocious monsters. Things were getting tense. Some officers panicked when the radar flickered.

“Commander, radioactivity is rising to Charlie Two! And keep climbing!”

The bullhead composed himself. He took another look at the vortex, which was now almost half the diameter of a football field. The dome had not yet formed. But the radioactivity would not stop.

“Charlie One, Commander! The scale has gone up to Charlie One! We only have two hour!”

That was definitely bad news. C-1 means most monsters were C-ranked, exactly according to Varg's report. Moreover, he said there would be thousands of wyverns. Some officers were getting tense as they looked at the list of monsters on the official code-naming website.

“Commander, Wyvern is the strongest C-rank monster. And their alpha is in the lower B-rank. They're flying monsters! High possibility they will attack civilian.”

Yeah, the bullhead knew that Wyverns were small versions of dragons. Still, regardless of the ‘small’ word, they were roughly the size of a World War II fighter. That species also had hands connected to bat-like wings. They were definitely dangerous because their speed was almost equal to that of a World War II piston airplane. And to make matters worse, the Red Zone was not prepared for airborne monsters.

“Winged monsters have been rare in the past 25 years, Commander. Even if they exist, they are mostly insect monsters. They usually die on their own once they leave the portal. The oxygen level is too low on Earth for insects that breathe through their trachea.”

“That's why the Air Defense Unit is not deeply involved, Commander. Our available weapons are also leftovers from the Cold War. Almost never used anymore. And 30mm ammos for IFV are—

“Stop being a wet blanket. Ask Regional command. Use helicopter to get those damn ammos! Do it!” The lieutenant colonel didn't care. He put on his radio and asked for a quick report. “AAs?”

“Four RH202s from Air Defense and two M55s donated from Special Air Force. Installation is process, Commander!”

Uggghhh, that wasn't enough. But the bullhead had no time to complain. He sighed for a moment and gave a firm order. “Engineer boy, quickly finish AA installation on top of the wall. Air Defense platoon, up!” He pointed at the top of the wall.

“Yes sir!”

Tapping the radio, he turned to the elite troops brought in last night from Infantry Battalion Raider 500 and Surabaya Marine Headquarters.

“You red-dot guys and lightfifty, move your ass to upper perimeter.”

“As your command, Sir!”

Marines special unit and Raiders darted quickly to each side of the wall. Some carried anti-materials, while others carried shotguns to protect the snipers as well as the Air Defense personnel from close-range attacks.

“Cavalry, footmen and mechanized, standby in perimeter one. Big puncher, stand by 40mm. S&T, prepare all ammunition from the warehouse. Engineer, radio guys, do your job. Move!”

“Yes sir!”

***

Anti aerial formation, Sector 1

Atop a 20-meter-high wall, double-barreled cannons took aim for the sky. They were German-made 20mm RH202s that were placed at five points like a pentagram. Plus two three-barreled cannons on the sidelines of the formation. Although they were completely obsolete, thankfully, the Indonesian Ethereal Management and Security Commanding General  was too perfectionistic about maintenance and inspection.

“Be a hero! Give your kids a brave story to tell their friends! Slaughter our enemy!”

”Uwoooooo!”

Sniper rifles were ready. They crouched calmly, even though the portal was pulsating. Some combat vehicles were neatly arranged beneath them after they got ammo supplies. Four Marder IFVs with a 30mm chain gun lined up, anti-aerial vehicles with the most advanced fire control in the Red Zone. Raider Mechanized Infantry was also equipped with a Komodo armored car with short-range AA missiles as well as two new backup Pandur IFVs, each armed with an Ares UT30MK2, a 30mm cannon that was almost as powerful as the Rheinmetal 30 HE in the Marder's turret.

Were they enough?

No!

Among them, 40mm Bofors were repurposed as anti-aircraft guns. As well as field artillery to ward off ground monsters. There were 10 of them. Infantry soldiers were also equipped with the SPM2, a 7.62x51mm machine gun better known as the FN MAG. Some use the M60 of the same caliber. Others use the 50cal. M2 Browing and M134 miniguns.

It could be said that millions of bullets were ready to be scattered in just a few hours.

“Wyvern needs a few seconds on the ground before it can fly. A few seconds of flying low to adapt to post dimensional gravity. Use that opportunity. Don't let them escape the Zone!"

“Uwooooo!”

As the atmosphere grew tense, a loud roar echoed violently, followed by the release of winged monsters, a dangerous species that rarely appears. It was last seen 25 years ago. The number was large enough for the officer to swallow.

“Fire! Fire at will!”

Dratatatatatatatat!

Dab! Dab! Dab! Dab!

Barraging bullets from machine guns rained down on the low-flying wyverns. 7.62mm projectiles were quite effective, although more fire was needed. 30mm, on the other hand, totally gave them nightmare. It only took a few shots to finish off a wyvern. As a result, hundreds of flying pests died in front of the portal.

Some managed to escape.

The upper perimeter opened fire when wyverns passed through the wall's height.

“Tear them all! Make them kiss the ground!”

20-mm rounds danced for the higher-altitude wyverns. Following pinpoint shots from an anti-material rifle, more wyverns met their end. Wyvern's body was too fragile against modern weapons, which were designed to beat steel airplanes. The winged monsters fell like flies. Some were destroyed by remote-guided SHORAR (Short Range Air Defense) Mistral missiles, leaving a red haze and dense smoke above the air.

In a matter of minutes, kiloliters of the wyvern’s blood fell like rain.

***

Indonesian Armed Forces HQ, Jakarta

In the lobby of the headquarters, a man with sharp eyes stepped out of an armored car. Occasionally, he glanced over his own uniform, which was filled with various brevets. So did the brigadier general's insignia on his shoulder, making sure it was always neat. He finished the inspection by wearing a red beret with the logo of the Army Special Forces.

He was Brigadier General Jimmy, the Indonesian Ethereal Management and Security Commanding General, who just arrived from the United States.

“Brigadier General, the meeting will be held in ten minutes. Commander is waiting.”

Jimmy stopped walking when a lieutenant greeted him. Responding with a salute, he followed the lieutenant to a room filled with high-ranking officers. The atmosphere was quite tense.

“Ethereal Management and Security Commanding General, Brigadier General Jimmy Prasetyo to the Commander in Chief!” The man saluted the only four-star high-ranking officer in meeting room.

The Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces replied with a small nod. He asked Jimmy to wait for a moment. There were other topics he had discussed with other high-ranking officers, all of which were about portal mitigation in the biggest red zone in Indonesia.

Jimmy, meanwhile, stood in an ‘at ease’ position on the spot. His gaze was straight ahead. Not even a glance. He only moved when everyone were leaving the room.

“All branches under Brawijaya V regional military command have been mobilized.”

“Indonesian House of Representatives?” Jimmy asked to the point.

“Commission One has approved a national-scale military operation. Other commissions are against martial law. We don't have time for pointless debates about human rights with them.”

The topic was so heavy that Jimmy held his breath. As the one who was responsible for 28 Red Throughout Indonesia, he was summoned back from the United States. His eyes squinted from jet lag. His diplomatic mission with the US Armed Forces had to be delayed. They didn't even talked about crystal harvesting cooperation that would change Indonesia's geopolitical foothold.

“Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and all nearby nations have mobilized their military just in case. We have to repel monster attacks before they become international issues.”

Behind his expressionless face, Jimmy felt depressed. Political systems in Indonesia were so complicated that a presidential mandate wasn't absolute. The president had to talk with representatives of so many political parties just to implement martial law. It was wasting time, and the clock was ticking.

“Don't worry. Commission One and Commission Four have approved the president's proposal for National Resource Management for National Defense. And the United Nations of Ethereal Management and Security has given us permission to dispatch DOME unit.” The Indonesian Armed Forces Commander gave him a solemn look. 

Jimmy didn't delay in doing his job. He put aside his dissatisfaction with political matters that had gotten worse since Walker's involvement in the House of Representatives. However, when he was about to return to his office, an Armed Forces managerial staff member reported a bad situation.

“Sir! Aerial monsters are attacking!”

Both Jimmy and the commander stood in shock. Aerial attacks were the worst possibility they thought about. Winged monsters would definitely generate international issues if they left Indonesian airspace. To make matters worse, the local government had not even turned on the alarm. Surabaya citizens kept doing their activities like nothing had happened. Watching a real-time situation in the Surabaya Red Zone on a huge monitor, the commander gave a firm command.

“Call all branches' commanders in chief! Dispatch all air superiority and anti-aerial assets! Now!”

***

4th tactical AA, Sector 1

Bam! Bam! Bam!

A crowd of brown-beretted soldiers fired 40-mm Bofors L/70 cannons, a dinosaur-age weapon purchased under Indonesia's first president 70 years ago. The weapon was so obsolete that just being able to operate it was not bad. Nevertheless, ME 40mm anti-aircraft HE-canister was a nightmare for the swarm of wyverns. The shell would explode in the air and send hundreds of pieces of shrapnel around it.

Brigadier General Jimmy wasn't a compromiser. He retrofitted all the defense equipment using surplus funds in the Red Zone. Replacing their fire control with a more sophisticated system, he turned the Granpa-era field gun into an executor against flying targets. Everything was computerized. Brigadier General overhauled Red Zone's armaments, even though many argued that air defense would be rarely used.

Who said?

The Ethereal Management and Security Commanding General didn't mind being labeled a ‘paranoid’ person. He was a man who was familiar with all possibilities. It was heard that even the bullhead was present as an ace card in case something bad happened when the Brigadier General was in United State. In the end, his ‘paranoia’ had been proven. The bullhead was a capable field commander. He made no stiff movements at all when he observed the battlefield while firing an M2 Browning at the edge of the wall.

“Is he a human? He's carrying Ma Deuce like he's holding a baby.” An officer whispered.

Bullhead‘s accuracy was not human, regardless of how everyone looked at him. He slaughtered flying monsters using ‘one shot, one kill’, punching holes in the heads of the surrounding wyverns like nothing. He broke the rule of weapon accuracy percentage as if he knew where the stray projectiles would land. So absurd. Nobody knew how strong that man was or how M2 could stabilize.

In fact, the M2 Browning weighed 58 kg with the tripod, traverse, and elevation mechanisms, and its weight was more ridiculous with a hundred of 50 cal, and three of those magazines weighed more than one kilo.

The recoil was no joke.

“Mothefucker!”

Bam!

He bare-handedly punched a Wyvern that tried to attack him up close.

“Tsk! This gun is older than this country.”

The gun was jammed with a glowing red on the muzzle. He put down the M2 Browning and asked an officer to replace the barrel. At the same time, he asked for a knife. It seemed that the crazy commander was agitated to carry out an absurd action.

“Commander, do you want to throw it?”

“Yeah, more exciting than puny firearms. Gimme you knife.”

“Ah, yes sir!”

He pinched the tip of the knife and swung his hand. The movement was ridiculously fast. He threw the knife, and there was a slight sonic boom effect, a blatant indication that the knife was thrown faster than sound. The wyvern's head instantly shattered like a pinata being hit by the knife handle.

“Tsk! Missed.”

The wyvern's mitigation was quite effective. Two perimeters were able to ward off most of the monsters. Thousands of carcasses lay lifeless in Sector 1 and its surroundings. The soldiers‘ casualties were only a dozen because the Wyverns were less interested in fighting them.

The beasts were quite smart. 

They knew fighting soldiers was not a good idea.

Unfortunately, there were thousands of them. And air defense was limited by the friction effect. The cannon barrels were overheated and must be cooled or replaced. So did the machine guns. And Wyvern used the opportunity to escape outside the zone.

“Oh no, we're fucked!”

“Code red! Code reeeed! The citizens are in danger!”

***

Somewhere in Crowded Area

Surabaya, oh sweet Surabaya, was the second-largest city in Indonesia. It had the second-largest population, and its economic scale was second only to Jakarta. Millions of civilians were doing their usual activities in the morning. Adults went to work, children went to school, and girls dressed sexily to twerk for TicToc.

There was nothing unusual. Everything was normal. At least, until some people saw a silhouette in the sky.

“It's a bird? It's a plane?”

Pedestrians stopped walking. Motorcyclists paused at an unfamiliar sight. Of course, as modern humans, the citizens pulled out their cellphones. Some were creating content, and the girls kept twerking as the creatures drew closer.

Crawwwww!

“Kyaaaaaa!” They screamed when they realized the monster was bigger than a car.

Furious wyverns killed a number of pedestrians and ate them. Some people fainted on the spot upon seeing the intestines spilling out of the monster's victims. Everyone sprinted around in fear. All road users stepped on the pedals and drove as far as they could.

“Huwaaaa! I don't wanna die!”

“Move over!”

Crash!

“Woaaa! The truck run them over!”

The true nature of human beings was revealed when their lives were at stake. The number of accident victims exceeded the breakfast menu of winged monsters. Car drivers mindlessly ran over pedestrians. Motorcyclists turned their handlebars as hard as they could for fear of becoming prey. Blood and meat splattered everywhere, and the city siren sounded after it was far too late.

Woooooooom!

“Guys! There are so many monsters, Guys! Don't forget to subscribe!” said the content creator before being torn apart by a wyvern.