RTS System in the Apocalypse: New World

The bomber moved onto the centerline while the Hellhammers and renewed MLRS batteries kept the Tree occupied below.

”Raptors, keep working the upper growth.”

”Been doing that for a while now, Command. Got something new?”

Raptor Two came around from the east as Phantom Four approached from much higher above.

Inside the bomber, the Mission Systems and Weapons Officer checked the release solution against the fixed coordinate.

There was only one weapon to manage.

”Target line confirmed.”

The bomb bay opened.

Instead of rows of five-hundred-kilogram bombs, a single massive weapon occupied the internal bay.

”Ordnance ready.”

The pilot held the aircraft steady. Below them, the Tree was still trying to pull what remained of its branches back across the center.

Another Raptor missile struck, followed by another Hellhammer round farther down. Several branches whipped upward toward the falling fire while rockets continued breaking across the roots around the trunk.

Phantom Four reached the release point.

”Weapon away.”

The twelve-tonne bomb dropped free, falling straight into the occupied Tree.

Branches twisted upward from different sides, but there were fewer of them now and too many other things demanding their attention. One swung across the bomb’s path before a rocket exploded near its base and tore most of it away.

Another branch reached farther, but it hit a projectile and broke apart.

The bomb continued down. The center of the Tree was already open.

”That’s one hell of a way to finish the job. How heavy is this one?”

”About twelve tonnes.”

Johannes looked toward the bomber’s approach again but said nothing.

The bomb disappeared into what remained of the upper growth.

A moment later, the center of Grefort erupted.

The first thing visible from the tower was the expansion.

A dense wall of dust and pulverized material pushed outward from the central block, swallowing the Tree and the buildings around it before rolling into the neighboring streets.

Closer to the impact, the blast tore through structures that had already spent weeks surviving artillery and the Tree itself.

Windows disappeared across several blocks. Exterior walls broke away from damaged towers, exposing floors for an instant before sections of them folded inward.

One building beside the Tree lost most of its lower facade and began collapsing through itself, while another leaned into the dust as several compromised floors gave way.

The streets around the trunk vanished underneath debris.

Roots that had been wrapped through intersections were thrown clear of the pavement or buried under pieces of the buildings they had occupied. Several of the thickest sections near the center broke apart completely, leaving their outer lengths separated from whatever remained underneath the cloud.

The blast reached farther through the already ruined district than any single impact before it.

Loose masonry came down from buildings well outside the central block. Old signs, shattered glass and sections of damaged roofing were thrown into the streets as the pressure moved outward.

From twenty kilometers away, Hans saw was the middle of the Core disappear.

The skyline around the Tree blurred behind a rapidly rising mass of dust, and several familiar building shapes were simply gone when the cloud expanded past them.

The sound arrived much later.

A deep concussion rolled across Cinderrow and reached the observation tower nearly a minute after the flash, rattling the repaired windows in their frames.

Johannes looked out across the city. ”Did it kill that?”

Hans held his breath. ”Let’s find out.”

He brought up the Radar.

The biological concentration was still there. Smaller than before, and badly distorted, but not gone.

Through the Raptor feeds, movement was already appearing inside the dust.

”Command, Raptor Three. We have visual.”

The aircraft passed along the southern edge of the Core while its systems worked through the debris cloud.

Most of the upper trunk was gone.

What remained had split unevenly around the center, exposing darker material several stories deep into the growth.

Entire sections of the root network had been ripped away from it, and the few surviving branches nearby were either broken across the ruins or moving in short, violent swings through the dust.

Raptor Four came around from the other side.

”Western roots are severed. Movement is concentrated around the center now.”

Another section shifted underneath the debris.

Fresh growth was trying to close the largest opening, but it came slowly compared to before. One damaged branch pulled itself across the exposed trunk, only to sag halfway into place.

Raptor Two whistled over the channel.

”Command, I think Four took a pretty big bite out of it.”

Matilda was already changing channels.

”All fires, keep the center covered. Don’t give it time to close.”

The Hellhammers answered first. Their next shells were already in the air.

”Salvo batteries, fire as soon as you’re ready. Launcher batteries, continue precision fire on the remaining central mass.”

Acknowledgments overlapped through the fires net while another Hellhammer impact disappeared into the dust around the Tree.

Matilda switched back to aviation.

”Raptor One through Four, keep striking exposed growth. Same standoff.”

”Here we go again.”

The fighters separated again.

Above them, Phantom One through Three were already clearing their first attack lanes with their bomb bays closed.

”Phantom flight, cycle your reserve loads and come around for another pass.”

”Phantom One copies.”

”Two copies.”

”Three copies.”

Phantom Four had nothing left to cycle, but its twelve-hour aircraft refresh was approaching

”Four, clear the strike lanes and hold.”

”Phantom Four copies.”

The first renewed MLRS salvo crossed Grefort before the bombers had completed their turn.

Through the thinning dust, the Tree dragged what remained of one massive root toward the center. Its broken hum rolled out across the Core again.

Hans watched the Radar marker contract.

”This biological fortress is still alive.”

The bombardment continued, and there was little reason to distinguish one firing cycle from the next.

Rockets, artillery shells and precision missiles kept striking what remained while Phantom One through Three returned with their reserve bombs.

The Tree’s regeneration slowed until it could no longer keep pace.

Through the Radar, Hans watched the broad biological concentration contract around the center. What had once covered several blocks became a much smaller mass among the ruins, then broke into scattered returns as more of the trunk and roots disappeared under the bombardment.

Another precision strike landed, followed by the largest marker on the map vanishing into the void.

Matilda kept the fire mission going.

For another minute, shells and rockets continued falling into the same area while the Raptors circled outside the Core and watched through the settling dust.

Nothing was rebuilt, nor reached upward again.

”Command, Raptor Three. I see no movement.”

Matilda waited a little longer. The faintest red marker disappeared from her Radar.

”Cease fire.”

Across Grefort, the guns finally went quiet. Hans looked toward Matilda.

”Get Tyrus from the laboratory. Tell him I brought have a surprise gift.”

”Do you want to give that thing to Tyrus, Commander?” Johannes was surprised.

”If he can handle it,” Hans smirked. ”Interested in the corpse, agent?”

Johannes looked toward the Core again.

”I’ll pass. I’ve spent enough time around Tyrus’s psychic test sites.”

Hans couldn’t fault him for that. The System had stopped psychic pressure from settling into his own head before, but Johannes and the others did not have the same protection.

”Matilda, keep everyone out of the center until Tyrus checks it.”