Chapter 410: Spacetime Turbulence
However, with ten seconds left on the countdown, the energy flow within the teleportation channel abruptly turned violent.
Countless chaotic color patches and black lightning exploded within the originally stable deep blue light. The violent tremors caused the entire squad to experience brief loss-of-balance warnings.
"Warning: Encountering unknown spacetime turbulence. Coordinate lock failed," Pilar suddenly reported loudly.
Maine immediately issued a command: "Everyone, hold steady! Iron Guards, activate stabilizing anchors!"
The Iron Guards piloted by Valerie and Jackie immediately fired several physical anchor cables from their backs, stabbing deeply into the energy flow beneath their feet—if it could still be called the "ground"—in an attempt to secure the squad.
But the tremors were too fierce, and the flowing lights in their vision completely twisted into an unparseable chaos.
When the violent shaking and blinding light finally subsided, Maine's squad found themselves in a completely unfamiliar environment.
The sky was leaden-gray, covered by thick smoke and low-hanging dark clouds.
The air was permeated with a pungent mixture of gunsmoke, ozone, and the smell of scorched organic matter.
They stood on an incredibly muddy coastline littered with craters, with a dark green sea churning with murky waves in the distance. Nearby, the burning wreckage of armored vehicles and collapsed concrete fortifications could be seen everywhere. Some human corpses wearing khaki military uniforms were scattered in the muddy water, clearly having just experienced a tragic battle.
Faint explosions and dense gunfire could be heard in the background.
"Positioning failed, not within any known database coordinates," Falco quickly reported, his sensor vision filled with unfamiliar environmental parameters.
Pilar had already thrown out his multi-functional environmental sensor spheres. Several small probes scattered like spiders, beginning to collect data on air composition, radiation levels, and background noise: "Atmospheric composition is breathable, nitrogen-oxygen ratio is close to standard human habitability. Background radiation is slightly elevated. Detected high-intensity electromagnetic interference, source unknown."
"High-speed movement signals detected! Non-human identification codes!" Lucy suddenly spoke up. The quadrupedal reconnaissance automaton she controlled had just deployed, and its sensors caught the anomaly. Almost at the same time, the optical lenses of Maine and the other squad members also locked onto the targets.
From behind the mist and wreckage of the coastline, a swarm of indescribable creatures surged out.
Their method of movement was extremely bizarre, sliding like liquid metal yet possessing the swiftness of arthropods.
Their main bodies were a dull iron-gray, composed of countless spinning, flailing sharp metallic tentacles, without obvious heads or sensory organs, possessing only a flickering dim light at the center.
"Contact with enemy!" Maine's synthesized voice showed no fluctuation. "Fire at will, clear the threats."
The battle erupted instantly.
Rebecca was the first to react.
The heavy weapon mount on her shoulder rotated smoothly, and the thick barrel of the plasma bombardment cannon began to condense dangerous, blazing white energy.
"Get out of the way, scum!" she roared in excitement. A half-meter-diameter stream of plasma howled out, accurately hitting the densest area of the Mimics.
The violent explosion blew a three-meter-diameter crater in the muddy ground. The five Mimics within the radius were instantly vaporized by temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees, even their metallic remains sublimating in an instant.
Almost simultaneously, Dorio moved.
The enhanced muscle fibers in her legs contracted and released instantly, launching her entire body forward like a cannonball.
Without using any ranged weapons, her fists covered in ceramite power gauntlets smashed directly towards the nearest Mimic with the sound of breaking air.
The instant her fist hit the target, the miniature volkite energy generator integrated inside the gauntlet was triggered. With a muffled explosion, not only was the Mimic smashed to pieces by the immense force, but its splattering remains were also enveloped in viscous white flames, burning fiercely on the ground with crackling sounds.
"Three on the right, intersecting movement trajectories," Sasha's calm voice rang out in the squad's communication channel. Her cybernetic eyes flickered with pale blue data streams as her hands quickly operated a portable tactical terminal.
Just as she called out the positions, Kiwi had already completed a preliminary analysis of the battlefield's electromagnetic signals.
"Anomalous data exchange patterns detected. There is high-frequency quantum communication between these organisms." As she spoke, she activated the electronic warfare equipment she carried, attempting to jam this communication stream.
The promethium flamer on Pilar's back emitted a low roar at the right moment. The blazing white tongues of fire accurately swept across the positions Sasha indicated, completely covering the three Mimics attempting a coordinated attack.
The high temperature caused their metallic outer shells to rapidly turn red and melt, emitting piercing shrieks. At the same time, Kiwi's jamming seemed to have taken effect, as their movements experienced a brief moment of chaos.
Falco did not participate in direct attacks; his main task was to protect the technical members and monitor the overall situation.
Utilizing his upgraded perception system, he continuously called out threat locations in the comms channel: "Two back-left, approaching using the wreckage as cover. David, watch your three o'clock."
Maine turned his body steadily, the volkite blaster integrated into his left arm tracking his gaze.
A concentrated thermal ray precisely hit the target Falco called out. That Mimic instantly burned violently and caused a small-scale explosion, like grease thrown into a steel-making furnace. Its splattering, burning bodily fluids ignited its nearby companions as well.
"Signal jamming is effective, but duration is limited," Kiwi quickly reported. "They are switching communication frequency bands."
"Continue jamming, prioritize disrupting their coordination," Maine ordered while firing a second burst with his volkite blaster.
David and Lucy maintained their tactical positions in the center of the squad.
Lucy focused on controlling her quadrupedal automaton, using its equipped heavy machine guns to accurately pick off any stragglers, while recording combat data through the automaton's multiple sensor arrays.
"Targets have low resistance to conventional kinetic weapons," she reported in real-time, "but their movement trajectories are difficult to predict."
David, taking advantage of the gaps created by Rebecca's explosions, quickly collected a sample of Mimic remains shattered by a shockwave and placed it into a portable analyzer.
"Biological structure does not match any known species," he quickly analyzed the data. "The proportion of metallic components is abnormally high."
The Iron Guards piloted by Valerie and Jackie maintained a tactical standby state throughout.
At Maine's signal, the heavy bolters and autocannons on their shoulders fired several precise short bursts, completely leveling distant covers that might hide enemies, cutting off the Mimics' possible reinforcement routes.
"Communication jamming rate reached seventy percent," Sasha reported, her fingers gliding rapidly over the virtual keyboard. "Their coordination efficiency has dropped significantly."
Under the dual suppression of overwhelming firepower and electronic warfare, this first wave of dozens of Mimics was thoroughly wiped out in less than a minute, leaving only a field of burning, molten wreckage and crackling combustible fluids.
The battle concluded, the air filled with the pungent smell of scorch and molten metal.
(End of Chapter)