I was terrified for Para and Roll. “Guys, there are too many, get out of there.”
Para motioned for Roll to step back. She sprinted, gained moment, and then leaped into the air with an inverted Para version of a flying side kick. The bug sprang to meet her, abdomen curved around with stinger extended, serrated claws grasping. I heard the crash over the comms as Para extended her kick on impact. Yellowish gore covered the ground. Roll dived to the side as something awful whipped past him, the sting still twitching in a death spasm. A bug head sailed off to the left and rolled to a stop.
Para threw what remained at the bug spectators, knocking one to the ground. She ran into the crowd, grabbing the nearest bug and put a boot into its thorax with a front kick. A push kick then sent it careening, knocking over two more bugs in the process. A bug front claw swung in close to Para’s face but she grabbed it. Her follow through sent the bug up and over her head to a hard impact with the ground. Then it was flying forward, knocking more bugs to the ground.
I was screaming frantically. “There’s one coming with a gun!”
Para was oblivious. Roll ran up to her, grabbed her around the waist, and ported.
I was about to give Para a piece of my mind, but she was having a heated discussion with Roll. They ported back out without receiving clearance. Bugs were pouring out of the ship. That was probably a good thing. If they started moving back into the ship it would be a clear sign for us to leave the area. Flies or fire from the ship would follow.
But these bugs were loaded down with weapons. “Team One, guys, get out!”
They ported right away, evidently only wanting to drop off a satchel charge. Good thing too. A bug weapon discharged a fireball of energy. The energy blast took out several bugs in the field of fire. No doubt the shooter bug would be in big trouble. Or, maybe not, since the satchel charge exploded a moment later.
Roll and Para were certainly in some serious trouble. With me! No unauthorized porting!
The bugs that had been roaming the grounds when we first showed up were extremely agitated. They were definitely looking for a fight. But those coming out of the ship were cautious, and loaded down with weapons. They kept to smaller groups. At least some bugs can keep their wits about them when angry. Me, I was starting to get, I don’t know, even more jittery. It was time to call the operation a success and leave. The weapons had come out. In fact, a bug squad was setting up a large weapon and pointing it toward the White House.
I heard a .50 cal. going off outside. Who might that be? I looked behind me. Mr. T and Rock had ported to an area with some minimal cover and opened fire on the bug squad that was going to trash the White House.
I couldn’t focus well. Muncle punched me in the shoulder and pointed. I looked but couldn’t see what he was seeing. Stupid binoculars, I couldn’t see what he was seeing.
Muncle jumped on the comms. “Team Two to base. Move. Move. Move.”
Destructive energy was pouring into the area near Mr. T and Rock. I was a mess. “Grandad? Rock?”
They were right behind me, safe and sound. “We’re fine. It’s getting too hot to continue with this course of action. We have one more tactic to try on these guys before we move on. No, let’s try two. Rock and Roll, let’s have you port in with some of those satchel charge nets. After that, we can try a cloak walk.”
Rock and Roll ported in and out a few times, moving fast, with timed satchel charges attached to netting. They would port to the cover of a large dirt mound. Then they would throw the netting over a group of bugs and port away. Bugs get so tangled up in netting.
But Roll was getting reckless. He ported to a mound of dirt near a group of bugs not yet exposed to our carnage. Those had remained at their post. Sentries. Unarmed. Roll took the time to hand his last satchel charge to a bug and say, “Would you please hang onto this for me? Thanks.” Then he ported.
Seriously, the bug had this curious look. I could hear Roll over the comms and see just fine with my optics. I think the bug was curious. Or, maybe something was wrong with his bug brain. He cocked his head with a curious look on his face and gently took the satchel charge from Roll. He ran off with it toward the ship. The poor bug didn’t get far before one of his armed comrades from the ship gunned him down.
We had used timers to rig the satchel charges to go off at the same time. It’s not as though the bugs hadn’t figured out the satchel bags contained explosives. A lot of bugs still tried to help their comrades get untangled from the webbing. The timers clicked. The satchels blew, adding to the mess. A lot of bugs died. It would have been worse without the low yield explosives. Still, I felt a little sad. I was even feeling a little ... guilty. It almost felt as though we were becoming more like them. The curious bug was bugging me.
The team was all together in the monument, my cloak field extended and intact. We ported to the ship. It was nice of them to leave the door open. It was a simple matter to wander inside and have a nice look around. Take some videos. Bugs walked right by us. They
