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Ishtar had a sly smile on her muzzle as she watched a human child sleep. He remained nestled in her open palms with the equivalent of a clean washcloth acting as a blanket. His tiny body emitted an absurd amount of heat, warming both her hands and heart, while her tail happily swayed side to side.
She used a clawed finger to caress his back. "I will name you… Suko. Unfortunately, I do not know your true name, so it will have to do."
The child shuffled in his sleep before burying his face in some synthetic fabric. It made the battlemaster slightly chortle as her smile grew even wider. She delicately used a finger to feel the little tuft of brown fur on his head before bringing it away. "Do not tell the others since they will think my scales are going soft, but I think humans can be so cute! All of them are so small and adorable! Perhaps things will not have to be this way once humanity gets properly assimilated into the Hegemony…"
Her smile disappeared once she heard the communication device within her helmet activating. Soon, a masculine voice filled the air.
"Ishtar."
The zenari woman in question slowly wrapped the human in the washcloth and gently placed him in the sink. Combined with the voice emitting from her helmet, the child woke up with a yawn and stretched his little arms, making her heart melt a little. Her mind was put at ease by the knowledge that he couldn't climb out of it, and she proceeded to pick up her helmet before placing it on her head.
"Battlemaster Ishtar?"
"Yes?" she hissed through a microphone.
"Human military forces have been spotted near the deployment zone. Take care of it."
"...Is the fleet not able to bomb them from orbit?"
"Currently, no." he answered with a low growl. "Our worst fears have been realized. A Joraxian fleet is currently having a standoff with our own and demanding our withdrawal, but hostilities have not escalated yet. So, orbital support is unavailable. A bombardment would be too close to the deployment zone anyway, which means our infantry must deal with the problem directly."
"Fair enough... but our fleets should strike those Joraxian cowards first!"
There was silence on the other end for a few moments. "Perhaps not. That would only escalate this conflict into yet another war between us. Nobody wants that."
"Yet, the Hegemony fought their coalition to a standstill last time." retorted the woman with a sneer. "I doubt they would risk that again over this planet, and we could eventually win a war of attrition. Especially against weaklings that depend on unconventional tactics."
"That may be true, battlemaster, but their involvement would jeopardize this entire operation. Speaking of which, do not make me repeat myself. Have your warpack deal with the humans and refrain from questioning my orders in the future."
"Fine!" she said while cocking her head. "Consider it done."
"Then we have come to a mutual understanding. Out."
With that, Ishtar removed her helmet once more. She spotted the young human trying to peek over the sink at her in a fashion she couldn't help but find cute. Suko had these swirly round ears like all the other humans, a cowlick making his hair stand up a little, and a smile on his face. The zenari woman lowered her head to where the boy awaited her presence before allowing him to touch her sensitive snout, essentially booping the snoot, and she created what humans called a blep.
"Sorry, little Suko." Ishtar kissed the boy by flicking her tongue, making him giggle. "Mommy has to leave for a while. I have to…" The woman paused and looked elsewhere. "...Do my job." Again, the battlemaster stopped talking for the sake of pulling herself away and putting on her helmet. In response, the boy frowned and gave her a pair of puppy dog eyes, causing her to blow air from her nostrils. "Do not worry, my little Suko, mommy will be back soon, and I will make sure my hatchling gets a real room!" From there, Ishtar used a finger to caress his chest and forced him to sit on his washcloth. "I love you!"
Despite hesitation plaguing her mind, Ishtar left the tiny human behind. She made sure the door was closed on her way out, where a baffled soldier awaited her. He awkwardly held up his hand, indicating that he was about to knock on the door before the battlemaster barged out of it, then transformed it into a salute by clenching the hand into a fist and holding it over his torso.
"Ah… greetings, battlemaster! A member of your warpack asked me to bring you your gear!"
He cocked his head towards a plasma rifle leaning against a wall accompanied by a stray gauntlet. Ishtar ignored him as she retrieved her gauntlet, sealed it into its proper place, then grabbed her weapon… which showed signs of extensive tinkering and modifications. Activating its power core caused a whine to fill the air as various components of the rifle glowed orange, which included an electronic sight reticle resting at the top.
Mentally, a switch of sorts flipped for Ishtar. The pupils of her unblinking eyes narrowed as she mentally prepared herself for combat. Consequently, she became less of a loving caretaker and more of a monster as purely predatory instincts replaced maternal one. Such was the duality of zenari femininity…
The soldier reeled a bit from witnessing her general reaction. "Are you well, madame?"
"I want you to guard this door." she growled with an augmented and booming voice. "Do not let anyone inside until I return."
"As you wish, battlemaster, but may I ask why?"
Ishtar gripped her plasma rifle with both hands and gave the soldier a death stare. "That is irrelevant. Simply do as you are told, scion."
"Of course, of course... I meant no offense, madame!"
"It matters not." said Ishtar as she started walking away. "Now, excuse me while I gather my warpack and exterminate some more vermin."
The soldier sheepishly nodded as the battlemaster moved towards her warpack, which was waiting for further orders as they surrounded their troop transport.
~~~~~
Sasha's T-90 approached a city called Volgograd.
Once, it was a fortress. A place that used to be known as Stalingrad. In the distance past, it stood defiant in the face of great evil and ultimately stopped an invasion in its tracks. Now, it was a city under siege, occupied by living violations of nature that could be seen from miles away due to their monstrous size, and some similarly massive fortifications joined them.
The cramped interior of the tank made driving a challenge for Sasha. Snowfall obscured her already limited vision, and she only had the lights of the city itself to serve as a landmark. Other various tanks and BMPs accompanied her own, infantry armed with RPGs lurked in a nearby forest, and hind attack helicopters hovered overhead for the sake of combined arms warfare.
"Contact!" announced the tank commander. "Prishelets spotted roughly a kilometer away."
"Affirmative." replied the gunner as the tank turret shifted its 125mm cannon.
Sasha allowed actions to speak louder than words by steadying the vehicle, resulting in the tank moving in a perfectly straight line towards Volgograd's outskirts. A handful of others joined it, whether it be variants of the T-90, older T-72s, or even some more ancient ones as they all moved in a formation. Fortunately, the terrain was almost entirely flat. A snow-blanketed forest bordered them, and some abandoned buildings littered the vicinity. She looked through her panoramic cameras, which provided a three hundred sixty degree view of everything outside her war machine, and only saw a dozen tanks converging on Volgograd at most.
"That city was supposed to be our rallying point!" said Sasha with her face scrunching up. "Now what?"
Her commander sighed. "The plan stays the same. There might be other remnants converging on the area. Worst case scenario, we flee to the Urals, but I'll be damned if we don't go down without a fight against these fucking things. Prepare to engage!"
"Wonderful..." muttered Sasha to nobody in particular.
Suddenly, machine guns firing screamed orders on their own. Tracer rounds surging from the vehicles highlighted half a dozen enormous creatures approaching their positions, while flares lighting up the night sky revealed their alien forms. By all means, the so-called prishelets resembled sixty to seventy-foot tall avians, making them titans towering over almost everything else. The glowing components of their energy weapons made them easier to spot among the snowfall obscuring everything, although camouflaged armor concealed them somewhat.
"Fire at will!"
The commander's words weren't even necessary due to an ear-piercing bang filling the air. Afterward, the T-90's autoloader went to work as it ejected an empty casing and loaded another shell. Mere moments later, the weapon was ready to fire again. Consequently, an additional tank shell surged towards the alien invaders, and the vehicle slightly shifted from the sheer recoil.
Chills went down Sasha's spine every time it fired. She could also see and hear a chorus of tanks shooting countless rounds at the giants, striking one down as multiple tank shells penetrated armor, sunk into skin, and exploded with gore streaking in all directions. It was like a miniature earthquake when a giant finally fell to the ground. In retaliation, the other aliens sent a hailstorm of laser beams and massive plasma bolts in their general direction, and a T-72 struck by a lucky bolt turned into a fireball.
Sasha recoiled at the sight of the T-72 bursting right next to her war machine. As if that wasn't enough, what remained of its reactive armor slowly snapped, crackled, and popped as plasma practically melted it. She promptly maneuvered her tank away from the one in flames, throwing off the gunner's aim as he lobbed yet another shell at a distant alien silhouette.
"We only have half a dozen shells left." said the gunner.
Sasha shook her head. "Then make them count, Boris."
"Will do."
With that, he fired yet another shell. However, plasma projectiles that missed their mark set the ground in front of them on fire, creating a smokescreen. A slurry of laser beams blotted out the skyline. All Sasha could see from that point revolved around hind attack helicopters flying in formation as they fired their machine guns and missiles. Focusing on more important matters, her heart raced as she tried to do a mix of keeping the tank steady and avoiding enemy fire.
She knew that staying stationary was a deathwish, after all.
What gave her pause came in the form of a large, floating object appearing on a camera. The object's absurd size overshadowed its surroundings. She recognized the alien vehicle as a troop transport, making her eyes go wide since it was flanking their positions. "More prishelets on our six!"
"Christ!" exclaimed the commander, "They're going to be swarming us in a few moments… Sasha, get us the hell out of here!"
"Way ahead of you!"
After saying this, Sasha frantically looked for an ideal way out. Yet… there was none. Enemies surrounded her tank on two sides while a forest blocked another avenue of escape. Now, she faced the dilemma of either moving to a forest where friendly forces awaited or attempting to flee through open ground. Only one word could accurately summarize her feelings about the situation...
"Blyat."
Thinking quickly, she maneuvered her T-90 towards the awaiting woods. A tank tread kicked up plenty of snow and dirt as it forced the tank shift in place, then the engine roared as they scurried away.
"Why the forest?" asked the commander.
"The tank is almost out of fuel and ammo," answered Sasha, "So, I think we should abandon the damned thing and flee into the forest. It could easily become a deathtrap if we don't."
She peeked through a camera and saw the other tanks pulling back too. They kept exchanging fire with prishelets, while other aliens in the distance were rapidly disembarking the gargantuan transport. During this commotion, her commander resumed speaking.
"That sounds like a great way to freeze and starve to death."
Sasha scoffed at his words. "Better than…"
Suddenly, an unholy hybrid of screeching and hissing cut Sasha off. This apparent war cry sent shivers down her spine and drowned out the noise of a battle unfolding. When she looked at her camera systems again, her jaw almost became agape, and she spotted a particularly massive and reptilian prishelet that stood at over a hundred feet tall. This alien was at the front and center of an arrowhead formation containing an assortment of prishelet soldiers, which were in the process of charging towards the Russian forces.
"Shit, they're behind us!" said the gunner as he began rotating their turret. Other tanks did a mix of firing at the aliens defending the city outskirts and trying to intercept the hostile squad flanking them. Sasha couldn't help but notice that the abnormally massive soldier, their apparent sergeant, moved with a certain degree of catlike grace compared to the other aliens carelessly trampling the ground with their heavy footsteps. There was something simultaneously mesmerizing and terrifying about their sergeant's presence… mostly due to their fluid, fast, yet gentle movements completely unbefitting of such a massive creature.
"Aim for the big one!" shouted Sasha as the aliens quickly approached their positions.
"They're all big!"
"No, Boris, the one leading the others! I think it's their sergeant or…"
The cannon going off interrupted her once more. However, it missed the massive aliens entirely and exploded in the far distance. Witnessing this failure made Sasha practically facepalm. "Damn it, Boris!"
"One shell left." he said nonchalantly.
Meanwhile, the alien sergeant stopped in place. They looked towards where the tank shell originated and calmly aimed their plasma rifle. The sergeant squeezed their trigger three times, sending a trio of plasma projectiles towards the human forces, while the troops accompanying them followed suit and unleashed a barrage. Every single one of the sergeant's bolts struck a tank with pinpoint accuracy, eviscerating three vehicles within mere moments as they erupted into balls of plasma and flames. Meanwhile, the other aliens mostly missed their marks. Despite this, their barrage set parts of the battlefield ablaze while occasionally destroying stray infantry and vehicles.
The mere sight sent Sasha into a state of complete shock. Not even the snowfall could stop the all-consuming fires suddenly erupting all around her. Meanwhile, her tank's turret kept shifting and trying to elevate its cannon as high as possible, but it was hard to spot, much less aim at aliens among some newly formed smoke.
"Now would be a good time to bail out." said the commander.
"Not until I get my last shot off!" replied Boris with a growl.
Sasha scoffed at these words. "Your funeral, pal."
Without further delay, Sasha used a latch to open a cupola. The night sky greeted her. Whatever warmth dwelled within the tank was almost immediately replaced by the bone-chilling cold. Nonetheless, Sasha made short work of climbing out, where she found herself at the front of the tank… a place where she could see the full extent of the ongoing carnage.
The alien projectiles had an odd way of making the ice and snow instantly evaporate. Whatever glowing discharge that remained flickered between several colors shades before giving way to an orange inferno. Then there was the screaming. Human forms caught within plasma blasts almost instantly disappeared, while others were simply set on fire, and their vehicles suffered a similar fate. As gunfire echoed around the vicinity, Sasha maneuvered her way to the ground. She slipped, but fortunately, the snow managed to break her fall. When the woman looked upwards, she saw once abundant flares in the sky becoming sparse, just to be replaced by a massive enemy soldier coming increasingly closer to her position.
It was none other than the titanic sergeant. Heavy white armor enveloped the entirety of their scaly form as their massive and scaly tail swayed side to side. Seeing it inspired Sasha to retrieve a Makarov pistol strapped to her waist swiftly. With a shaky aim and rapid breaths fogging up the cold air, she aimed at the leviathan and backed away, putting some distance between herself and the tank over time.
Just in case.
Fortunately, the prishelet's attention was focused elsewhere. A trio of attack helicopters was moving directly towards the sergeant while firing their machine guns. As bullets rattled against the alien's armor, they aimed their plasma rifle and squeezed off a snapshot. The night sky momentarily flared up. A hind helicopter leading the others was struck by a plasma bolt, instantaneously exploding, causing the two remaining ones to split away at the last possible moment.
Almost immediately, the prishelet carefully aimed their plasma rifle and unleashed another bolt, which proceeded to destroy one of the remaining hind helicopters retreating from the battlefield. With that, what remained of local human air support was nearly eliminated within a matter of moments. The alien resumed moving with a certain degree of casualness as if they just finished swatting down a few flies and crushing a few insects.
"What are you waiting for! RUN! Get to the forest!"
Before Sasha could respond, her commander sprinted past her. Yet... the woman found herself in a trance as she watched the sergeant effortlessly dealing death and destruction to all that opposed them. She flinched upon hearing her tank cannon going off once more, but to her confusion, the shell simply struck a far off alien soldier rather than the one nearby. It also caught the attention of the prishelet sergeant. They retaliated with a single plasma bolt, rupturing and melting the T-90, while Sasha was forced to follow her commander as they scrambled towards the woodlands and away from the plasma discharge consuming their tank.
What stopped Sasha in her tracks came in the form of countless rockets erupting from the forest. With a gasp, she dived to the ground. The missiles streaked over her head and swirled towards the leviathan, but only a few rockets met their mark as they detonated against alien armor. It aroused a venomous hiss from the sergeant as they blindly fired at the trees, eviscerating RPG armed soldiers and silencing the fruitless rattle of Kalashnikovs with deadly plasma.
From there, everything became hell on Earth.
The bone-chilling cold replaced heat radiating against Sasha's exposed skin. She stood up, just to find an inferno in almost every direction. Additionally, she could hear her commander screaming for several seconds before it abruptly stopped.
From there, everything became harder for Sasha to see. She could hear her heart thumping in her ears, and smoke flooded into her lungs every time she inhaled. Adding on to this, the random rumble of autocannons and machine guns continued to rattle in her eardrums. The human mustered what remained of her courage as she followed the source of the gunfire and made her way through the few areas not covered by either plasma discharge or various fires.
Her heart swelled with relief upon seeing friendly forces. A BMP was firing their weapon while some accompanying soldiers rapidly backed away from it. Sasha quickly found out why when an armor-clad foot slowly descended upon the vehicle and progressively crushed it, causing a few of the human soldiers to shout and scream.
During this, Sasha made the mistake of looking up, where she saw the alien sergeant once more. The sergeant lifted their clawed foot, revealing a heavily deformed BMP that was now partially crushed and cleaved. With what Sasha could have sworn was a hint of disgust, the alien made what sounded like a sneer as they watched what remained of the nearby human infantry fleeing from their overwhelming presence. Afterward, the prishelet turned their head and looked down at Sasha, who was all by herself, with something paradoxically cold and warm in their barely visible amber eyes.
The two weren't that far apart from each other, either. Then the alien began walking towards Sasha. She screamed as she sprinted in the exact opposite direction to find that the flames were now cutting off her only feasible routes of escape. Worse yet, the smoke started causing her to cough profusely. She could also hear some heavy footsteps until the noise abruptly stopped, making her heart skip a beat.
After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Sasha saw and felt giant metal fingers wrapping around her body. Her fight or flight instincts went haywire from that point, and it only worsened when the alien lifted her into the air, where her fear of heights kicked in. Nonetheless, eventually being held fifty feet in the sky allowed her to see the full extent of the battlefield. Destroyed tanks littered the vicinity, flames streaked across the whole area, and aliens were advancing upon retreating human forces. Meanwhile, a brightly lit city taunted Sasha in the distance, and snow indifferently dusted everything in sight as nightfall thoroughly swept over her surroundings.
The only advantage for Sasha was that she was no longer suffocating. Fresh air filled her lungs. This brief respite didn't mean much when the sergeant brought Sasha to her helmet, where they finally came face to face. Underneath the helmet's glass, two unblinking and reptilian eyes curiously stared at her petrified body. The eyes then narrowed as they focused on a Makarov pistol that the human was still holding in a free hand, albeit in a shaky vice grip.
In defiance, Sasha aimed her weapon.
She squeezed the trigger several times. Each one sent the slide racking back as ammo casings fell to the distant ground. However, the bullets ricocheted or crumpled against the alien's helmet at best. Soon, the handgun ran out of ammo with a mechanical click, arousing a growl from the sergeant that reverberated in the air. Sasha realized how helpless she was upon seeing small dents, scratches, and other signs of conventional human weapons that harmlessly struck the gigantic creature's armor, making her efforts to resist a complete farce in comparison. Worse yet, all it took was a light flick of a clawed thumb to disarm her, sending the pistol descending towards the dirt.
It became painfully apparent to Sasha that she was entirely at the prishelet sergeant's mercy…
...And all she could do was scream.
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Ishtar had a sly smile on her muzzle as she watched a human child sleep. He remained nestled in her open palms with the equivalent of a clean washcloth acting as a blanket. His tiny body emitted an absurd amount of heat, warming both her hands and heart, while her tail happily swayed side to side.
She used a clawed finger to caress his back. "I will name you… Suko. Unfortunately, I do not know your true name, so it will have to do."
The child shuffled in his sleep before burying his face in some synthetic fabric. It made the battlemaster slightly chortle as her smile grew even wider. She delicately used a finger to feel the little tuft of brown fur on his head before bringing it away. "Do not tell the others since they will think my scales are going soft, but I think humans can be so cute! All of them are so small and adorable! Perhaps things will not have to be this way once humanity gets properly assimilated into the Hegemony…"
Her smile disappeared once she heard the communication device within her helmet activating. Soon, a masculine voice filled the air.
"Ishtar."
The zenari woman in question slowly wrapped the human in the washcloth and gently placed him in the sink. Combined with the voice emitting from her helmet, the child woke up with a yawn and stretched his little arms, making her heart melt a little. Her mind was put at ease by the knowledge that he couldn't climb out of it, and she proceeded to pick up her helmet before placing it on her head.
"Battlemaster Ishtar?"
"Yes?" she hissed through a microphone.
"Human military forces have been spotted near the deployment zone. Take care of it."
"...Is the fleet not able to bomb them from orbit?"
"Currently, no." he answered with a low growl. "Our worst fears have been realized. A Joraxian fleet is currently having a standoff with our own and demanding our withdrawal, but hostilities have not escalated yet. So, orbital support is unavailable. A bombardment would be too close to the deployment zone anyway, which means our infantry must deal with the problem directly."
"Fair enough... but our fleets should strike those Joraxian cowards first!"
There was silence on the other end for a few moments. "Perhaps not. That would only escalate this conflict into yet another war between us. Nobody wants that."
"Yet, the Hegemony fought their coalition to a standstill last time." retorted the woman with a sneer. "I doubt they would risk that again over this planet, and we could eventually win a war of attrition. Especially against weaklings that depend on unconventional tactics."
"That may be true, battlemaster, but their involvement would jeopardize this entire operation. Speaking of which, do not make me repeat myself. Have your warpack deal with the humans and refrain from questioning my orders in the future."
"Fine!" she said while cocking her head. "Consider it done."
"Then we have come to a mutual understanding. Out."
With that, Ishtar removed her helmet once more. She spotted the young human trying to peek over the sink at her in a fashion she couldn't help but find cute. Suko had these swirly round ears like all the other humans, a cowlick making his hair stand up a little, and a smile on his face. The zenari woman lowered her head to where the boy awaited her presence before allowing him to touch her sensitive snout, essentially booping the snoot, and she created what humans called a blep.
"Sorry, little Suko." Ishtar kissed the boy by flicking her tongue, making him giggle. "Mommy has to leave for a while. I have to…" The woman paused and looked elsewhere. "...Do my job." Again, the battlemaster stopped talking for the sake of pulling herself away and putting on her helmet. In response, the boy frowned and gave her a pair of puppy dog eyes, causing her to blow air from her nostrils. "Do not worry, my little Suko, mommy will be back soon, and I will make sure my hatchling gets a real room!" From there, Ishtar used a finger to caress his chest and forced him to sit on his washcloth. "I love you!"
Despite hesitation plaguing her mind, Ishtar left the tiny human behind. She made sure the door was closed on her way out, where a baffled soldier awaited her. He awkwardly held up his hand, indicating that he was about to knock on the door before the battlemaster barged out of it, then transformed it into a salute by clenching the hand into a fist and holding it over his torso.
"Ah… greetings, battlemaster! A member of your warpack asked me to bring you your gear!"
He cocked his head towards a plasma rifle leaning against a wall accompanied by a stray gauntlet. Ishtar ignored him as she retrieved her gauntlet, sealed it into its proper place, then grabbed her weapon… which showed signs of extensive tinkering and modifications. Activating its power core caused a whine to fill the air as various components of the rifle glowed orange, which included an electronic sight reticle resting at the top.
Mentally, a switch of sorts flipped for Ishtar. The pupils of her unblinking eyes narrowed as she mentally prepared herself for combat. Consequently, she became less of a loving caretaker and more of a monster as purely predatory instincts replaced maternal one. Such was the duality of zenari femininity…
The soldier reeled a bit from witnessing her general reaction. "Are you well, madame?"
"I want you to guard this door." she growled with an augmented and booming voice. "Do not let anyone inside until I return."
"As you wish, battlemaster, but may I ask why?"
Ishtar gripped her plasma rifle with both hands and gave the soldier a death stare. "That is irrelevant. Simply do as you are told, scion."
"Of course, of course... I meant no offense, madame!"
"It matters not." said Ishtar as she started walking away. "Now, excuse me while I gather my warpack and exterminate some more vermin."
The soldier sheepishly nodded as the battlemaster moved towards her warpack, which was waiting for further orders as they surrounded their troop transport.
~~~~~
Sasha's T-90 approached a city called Volgograd.
Once, it was a fortress. A place that used to be known as Stalingrad. In the distance past, it stood defiant in the face of great evil and ultimately stopped an invasion in its tracks. Now, it was a city under siege, occupied by living violations of nature that could be seen from miles away due to their monstrous size, and some similarly massive fortifications joined them.
The cramped interior of the tank made driving a challenge for Sasha. Snowfall obscured her already limited vision, and she only had the lights of the city itself to serve as a landmark. Other various tanks and BMPs accompanied her own, infantry armed with RPGs lurked in a nearby forest, and hind attack helicopters hovered overhead for the sake of combined arms warfare.
"Contact!" announced the tank commander. "Prishelets spotted roughly a kilometer away."
"Affirmative." replied the gunner as the tank turret shifted its 125mm cannon.
Sasha allowed actions to speak louder than words by steadying the vehicle, resulting in the tank moving in a perfectly straight line towards Volgograd's outskirts. A handful of others joined it, whether it be variants of the T-90, older T-72s, or even some more ancient ones as they all moved in a formation. Fortunately, the terrain was almost entirely flat. A snow-blanketed forest bordered them, and some abandoned buildings littered the vicinity. She looked through her panoramic cameras, which provided a three hundred sixty degree view of everything outside her war machine, and only saw a dozen tanks converging on Volgograd at most.
"That city was supposed to be our rallying point!" said Sasha with her face scrunching up. "Now what?"
Her commander sighed. "The plan stays the same. There might be other remnants converging on the area. Worst case scenario, we flee to the Urals, but I'll be damned if we don't go down without a fight against these fucking things. Prepare to engage!"
"Wonderful..." muttered Sasha to nobody in particular.
Suddenly, machine guns firing screamed orders on their own. Tracer rounds surging from the vehicles highlighted half a dozen enormous creatures approaching their positions, while flares lighting up the night sky revealed their alien forms. By all means, the so-called prishelets resembled sixty to seventy-foot tall avians, making them titans towering over almost everything else. The glowing components of their energy weapons made them easier to spot among the snowfall obscuring everything, although camouflaged armor concealed them somewhat.
"Fire at will!"
The commander's words weren't even necessary due to an ear-piercing bang filling the air. Afterward, the T-90's autoloader went to work as it ejected an empty casing and loaded another shell. Mere moments later, the weapon was ready to fire again. Consequently, an additional tank shell surged towards the alien invaders, and the vehicle slightly shifted from the sheer recoil.
Chills went down Sasha's spine every time it fired. She could also see and hear a chorus of tanks shooting countless rounds at the giants, striking one down as multiple tank shells penetrated armor, sunk into skin, and exploded with gore streaking in all directions. It was like a miniature earthquake when a giant finally fell to the ground. In retaliation, the other aliens sent a hailstorm of laser beams and massive plasma bolts in their general direction, and a T-72 struck by a lucky bolt turned into a fireball.
Sasha recoiled at the sight of the T-72 bursting right next to her war machine. As if that wasn't enough, what remained of its reactive armor slowly snapped, crackled, and popped as plasma practically melted it. She promptly maneuvered her tank away from the one in flames, throwing off the gunner's aim as he lobbed yet another shell at a distant alien silhouette.
"We only have half a dozen shells left." said the gunner.
Sasha shook her head. "Then make them count, Boris."
"Will do."
With that, he fired yet another shell. However, plasma projectiles that missed their mark set the ground in front of them on fire, creating a smokescreen. A slurry of laser beams blotted out the skyline. All Sasha could see from that point revolved around hind attack helicopters flying in formation as they fired their machine guns and missiles. Focusing on more important matters, her heart raced as she tried to do a mix of keeping the tank steady and avoiding enemy fire.
She knew that staying stationary was a deathwish, after all.
What gave her pause came in the form of a large, floating object appearing on a camera. The object's absurd size overshadowed its surroundings. She recognized the alien vehicle as a troop transport, making her eyes go wide since it was flanking their positions. "More prishelets on our six!"
"Christ!" exclaimed the commander, "They're going to be swarming us in a few moments… Sasha, get us the hell out of here!"
"Way ahead of you!"
After saying this, Sasha frantically looked for an ideal way out. Yet… there was none. Enemies surrounded her tank on two sides while a forest blocked another avenue of escape. Now, she faced the dilemma of either moving to a forest where friendly forces awaited or attempting to flee through open ground. Only one word could accurately summarize her feelings about the situation...
"Blyat."
Thinking quickly, she maneuvered her T-90 towards the awaiting woods. A tank tread kicked up plenty of snow and dirt as it forced the tank shift in place, then the engine roared as they scurried away.
"Why the forest?" asked the commander.
"The tank is almost out of fuel and ammo," answered Sasha, "So, I think we should abandon the damned thing and flee into the forest. It could easily become a deathtrap if we don't."
She peeked through a camera and saw the other tanks pulling back too. They kept exchanging fire with prishelets, while other aliens in the distance were rapidly disembarking the gargantuan transport. During this commotion, her commander resumed speaking.
"That sounds like a great way to freeze and starve to death."
Sasha scoffed at his words. "Better than…"
Suddenly, an unholy hybrid of screeching and hissing cut Sasha off. This apparent war cry sent shivers down her spine and drowned out the noise of a battle unfolding. When she looked at her camera systems again, her jaw almost became agape, and she spotted a particularly massive and reptilian prishelet that stood at over a hundred feet tall. This alien was at the front and center of an arrowhead formation containing an assortment of prishelet soldiers, which were in the process of charging towards the Russian forces.
"Shit, they're behind us!" said the gunner as he began rotating their turret. Other tanks did a mix of firing at the aliens defending the city outskirts and trying to intercept the hostile squad flanking them. Sasha couldn't help but notice that the abnormally massive soldier, their apparent sergeant, moved with a certain degree of catlike grace compared to the other aliens carelessly trampling the ground with their heavy footsteps. There was something simultaneously mesmerizing and terrifying about their sergeant's presence… mostly due to their fluid, fast, yet gentle movements completely unbefitting of such a massive creature.
"Aim for the big one!" shouted Sasha as the aliens quickly approached their positions.
"They're all big!"
"No, Boris, the one leading the others! I think it's their sergeant or…"
The cannon going off interrupted her once more. However, it missed the massive aliens entirely and exploded in the far distance. Witnessing this failure made Sasha practically facepalm. "Damn it, Boris!"
"One shell left." he said nonchalantly.
Meanwhile, the alien sergeant stopped in place. They looked towards where the tank shell originated and calmly aimed their plasma rifle. The sergeant squeezed their trigger three times, sending a trio of plasma projectiles towards the human forces, while the troops accompanying them followed suit and unleashed a barrage. Every single one of the sergeant's bolts struck a tank with pinpoint accuracy, eviscerating three vehicles within mere moments as they erupted into balls of plasma and flames. Meanwhile, the other aliens mostly missed their marks. Despite this, their barrage set parts of the battlefield ablaze while occasionally destroying stray infantry and vehicles.
The mere sight sent Sasha into a state of complete shock. Not even the snowfall could stop the all-consuming fires suddenly erupting all around her. Meanwhile, her tank's turret kept shifting and trying to elevate its cannon as high as possible, but it was hard to spot, much less aim at aliens among some newly formed smoke.
"Now would be a good time to bail out." said the commander.
"Not until I get my last shot off!" replied Boris with a growl.
Sasha scoffed at these words. "Your funeral, pal."
Without further delay, Sasha used a latch to open a cupola. The night sky greeted her. Whatever warmth dwelled within the tank was almost immediately replaced by the bone-chilling cold. Nonetheless, Sasha made short work of climbing out, where she found herself at the front of the tank… a place where she could see the full extent of the ongoing carnage.
The alien projectiles had an odd way of making the ice and snow instantly evaporate. Whatever glowing discharge that remained flickered between several colors shades before giving way to an orange inferno. Then there was the screaming. Human forms caught within plasma blasts almost instantly disappeared, while others were simply set on fire, and their vehicles suffered a similar fate. As gunfire echoed around the vicinity, Sasha maneuvered her way to the ground. She slipped, but fortunately, the snow managed to break her fall. When the woman looked upwards, she saw once abundant flares in the sky becoming sparse, just to be replaced by a massive enemy soldier coming increasingly closer to her position.
It was none other than the titanic sergeant. Heavy white armor enveloped the entirety of their scaly form as their massive and scaly tail swayed side to side. Seeing it inspired Sasha to retrieve a Makarov pistol strapped to her waist swiftly. With a shaky aim and rapid breaths fogging up the cold air, she aimed at the leviathan and backed away, putting some distance between herself and the tank over time.
Just in case.
Fortunately, the prishelet's attention was focused elsewhere. A trio of attack helicopters was moving directly towards the sergeant while firing their machine guns. As bullets rattled against the alien's armor, they aimed their plasma rifle and squeezed off a snapshot. The night sky momentarily flared up. A hind helicopter leading the others was struck by a plasma bolt, instantaneously exploding, causing the two remaining ones to split away at the last possible moment.
Almost immediately, the prishelet carefully aimed their plasma rifle and unleashed another bolt, which proceeded to destroy one of the remaining hind helicopters retreating from the battlefield. With that, what remained of local human air support was nearly eliminated within a matter of moments. The alien resumed moving with a certain degree of casualness as if they just finished swatting down a few flies and crushing a few insects.
"What are you waiting for! RUN! Get to the forest!"
Before Sasha could respond, her commander sprinted past her. Yet... the woman found herself in a trance as she watched the sergeant effortlessly dealing death and destruction to all that opposed them. She flinched upon hearing her tank cannon going off once more, but to her confusion, the shell simply struck a far off alien soldier rather than the one nearby. It also caught the attention of the prishelet sergeant. They retaliated with a single plasma bolt, rupturing and melting the T-90, while Sasha was forced to follow her commander as they scrambled towards the woodlands and away from the plasma discharge consuming their tank.
What stopped Sasha in her tracks came in the form of countless rockets erupting from the forest. With a gasp, she dived to the ground. The missiles streaked over her head and swirled towards the leviathan, but only a few rockets met their mark as they detonated against alien armor. It aroused a venomous hiss from the sergeant as they blindly fired at the trees, eviscerating RPG armed soldiers and silencing the fruitless rattle of Kalashnikovs with deadly plasma.
From there, everything became hell on Earth.
The bone-chilling cold replaced heat radiating against Sasha's exposed skin. She stood up, just to find an inferno in almost every direction. Additionally, she could hear her commander screaming for several seconds before it abruptly stopped.
From there, everything became harder for Sasha to see. She could hear her heart thumping in her ears, and smoke flooded into her lungs every time she inhaled. Adding on to this, the random rumble of autocannons and machine guns continued to rattle in her eardrums. The human mustered what remained of her courage as she followed the source of the gunfire and made her way through the few areas not covered by either plasma discharge or various fires.
Her heart swelled with relief upon seeing friendly forces. A BMP was firing their weapon while some accompanying soldiers rapidly backed away from it. Sasha quickly found out why when an armor-clad foot slowly descended upon the vehicle and progressively crushed it, causing a few of the human soldiers to shout and scream.
During this, Sasha made the mistake of looking up, where she saw the alien sergeant once more. The sergeant lifted their clawed foot, revealing a heavily deformed BMP that was now partially crushed and cleaved. With what Sasha could have sworn was a hint of disgust, the alien made what sounded like a sneer as they watched what remained of the nearby human infantry fleeing from their overwhelming presence. Afterward, the prishelet turned their head and looked down at Sasha, who was all by herself, with something paradoxically cold and warm in their barely visible amber eyes.
The two weren't that far apart from each other, either. Then the alien began walking towards Sasha. She screamed as she sprinted in the exact opposite direction to find that the flames were now cutting off her only feasible routes of escape. Worse yet, the smoke started causing her to cough profusely. She could also hear some heavy footsteps until the noise abruptly stopped, making her heart skip a beat.
After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Sasha saw and felt giant metal fingers wrapping around her body. Her fight or flight instincts went haywire from that point, and it only worsened when the alien lifted her into the air, where her fear of heights kicked in. Nonetheless, eventually being held fifty feet in the sky allowed her to see the full extent of the battlefield. Destroyed tanks littered the vicinity, flames streaked across the whole area, and aliens were advancing upon retreating human forces. Meanwhile, a brightly lit city taunted Sasha in the distance, and snow indifferently dusted everything in sight as nightfall thoroughly swept over her surroundings.
The only advantage for Sasha was that she was no longer suffocating. Fresh air filled her lungs. This brief respite didn't mean much when the sergeant brought Sasha to her helmet, where they finally came face to face. Underneath the helmet's glass, two unblinking and reptilian eyes curiously stared at her petrified body. The eyes then narrowed as they focused on a Makarov pistol that the human was still holding in a free hand, albeit in a shaky vice grip.
In defiance, Sasha aimed her weapon.
She squeezed the trigger several times. Each one sent the slide racking back as ammo casings fell to the distant ground. However, the bullets ricocheted or crumpled against the alien's helmet at best. Soon, the handgun ran out of ammo with a mechanical click, arousing a growl from the sergeant that reverberated in the air. Sasha realized how helpless she was upon seeing small dents, scratches, and other signs of conventional human weapons that harmlessly struck the gigantic creature's armor, making her efforts to resist a complete farce in comparison. Worse yet, all it took was a light flick of a clawed thumb to disarm her, sending the pistol descending towards the dirt.
It became painfully apparent to Sasha that she was entirely at the prishelet sergeant's mercy…
...And all she could do was scream.
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Category Story / Macro / Micro
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