The easy pickings had vanished, but the Aud remained unsatisfied. When there were no more immediate targets to drag down, those behind spurred them upward. The mid-tiers led the charge in their loose vanguard.
They tore through the exterior-embedded emplacements, demolishing them with little effort. They punctured and trampled surface modules as they climbed higher. With each meter they breached, the tremors from their assault reverberated through the wall-inlaid scutumsteel compartments. Inside, techs and officers could feel the faint vibrations passing through the thick metal.
The relentless pursuit continued—an effort to push the retreating stoner pilots higher, to capture one last victim, and tear them to pieces before they reached the safety of the First's ranks awaiting them on the walls' walkways.
But the closer the Aud's green, yellow, and orange furs came to the edge, the more their numbers were whittled down. Wall-grade emplacements still fired in sporadic bursts, and the heavy WAV pilots had finally received their first command: move closer to the edge and unleash the opening salvos.
The front ranks were secured with cables, preventing them from being dragged over the edge too quickly, giving the servicemen at their sides time to pull them back. Teams of engineers completed the final inspections before gathering up the articles of their work and retreating.
The heavies outfitted for melee combat endured the wait in silence, each pilot grappling with a mixture of dread and controlled fear as the Aud's mass surged ever closer. Some counted in their heads, mentally preparing for the inevitable. Others communicated privately with comrades—officers typically disapproved of it, but it became a necessary distraction in the face of impending violence.
Meanwhile, the ranged WAVs had no such need for diversion. Their focus was split between the constant orders buzzing in one ear and the critical data feeds flashing across their HUDs. Sonics, electrics, and smaller cylinders—launched in uncountable numbers—clotted the view for a moment.
The Aud recoiled beneath the kinetic impacts and thermal blasts, only to surge back upward, every member determined to claim their share of human flesh before being put down.
The ranged WAVs fell back behind the melee ranks as the last, fragile seconds of defense disappeared under a wave of fur and fangs. The shielding cores within the heavy armors flared to life, creating a dull, luminescent layer of protection over the plating. They shuddered as the first strikes landed, but the armor held.
The heavies were equipped with thicker, more numerous battery cores, providing them with an advantage humanity hadn't often relied upon—staying power. In an attrition war, the Aud would win nine times out of ten. But this wasn't an ordinary battlefield.
Here, humanity fought on its own soil, with a level of coordination and cooperation the Aud couldn't match. With no artillery support and facing numerous obstacles on their side, this could be that rare one-in-ten chance for victory.
Or perhaps not. The military's analysts, working frantically to process data, believed the Aud momentum had largely exhausted itself. The green, yellow, and orange furs were fewer in number, and many had been reduced to little more than meat shields, carried forward by increasingly weaker brethren.
Yet the remaining Aud, bolstered by the fresh clusters of white-furred reinforcements, showed no signs of slowing. The heavies, despite their advantages, found themselves ceding ground as the Aud's stronger ranks forced their way forward. Soon, the fighting was on the edge of the walkways.
"The servicemen are reporting a pattern," Four told the Prime Beacon, motioning for him to come over. Two had already moved elsewhere to address another emergent crisis. "I wish I could say it's good news, sir, but…"
"What is it?" The Prime Beacon's voice was tight.
"The techs trying to monitor the Aud origin frequency wavelengths—" Four swiped, sending a clearly rushed report to his superior's screen, "—they detected a new one. Not sure they needed to, though. Our servicemen caught on pretty quickly what it does."
The Prime Beacon didn't need to read past the opening lines. Four could see the frustration in his eyes. He'd been hoping for good news, any kind of reprieve. The relatively low casualty count didn't help—it was only low in comparison to humanity's overall military strength.
Even so, every lost life still weighed heavily, and there was little chance the death toll would remain this low once the Aud gained a foothold. "I understand," the Prime Beacon muttered, rubbing his temple. "Do we have any countermeasures?"
"The Jackal can't be everywhere, sir. Some positions are going to suffer more than others."
The Prime Beacon bit his cheek. "The Jackal can't be the only neurochemical distribution platform or weapon we have at our disposal. Find something. Anything. Leaving this unaddressed is a mistake."
On the eastern wall, a WAV pilot drove a pairing blade into an Aud's eye socket. The creature snarled, jerking its head back to headbutt the pilot with brutal force. The soldier was knocked away, sent stumbling into the WAVs behind him. Three of his comrades caught him, two stabilizing him, while a third took his place.
As the injured pilot's HUD scanned for damage, he already knew there were broken ribs, based on the throbbing. Before he could do much, the replacement moved forward to continue the fight. The next moment, the replacement was partially trampled, flailing helplessly and being slammed into the walkway.
The rest of the team pressed forward to patch the hole in the line. They pierced through the Aud's thick fur, but their rescue attempt failed. The body and armor were left behind as the Aud swarmed over them, tearing them apart.
The pilot cursed under his breath and retreated with the others, heart heavy with the realization that he could've been that serviceman. But as he took a step back, something wasn't adding up. They should've gotten that pilot back.
A chilling suspicion crept in. Testing it, he unleashed both electrics mounted on his wrists into an Aud's side. The creature didn't even flinch, though the slight charring of its fur showed his strike had landed.
He hailed his officer. When they connected, he reported in a breathless tone, "Sir, they're not reacting to pain anymore."