Spectre of the Sinner - Zetro Translation

POV: An Nguyễn, 1013 UTC -03:00, somewhere in South America

“Five, four, three, two, one. FIRE IN THE HOLE!”

With several deep rumbles, the compound’s Eastern entry was breached, leaving behind a humongous gap the size of an airliner, in its wake. Not even waiting for the dust to clear, the host already anxiously let the welcome party begin, as a tsunami of lead poured out. Of course, our side was already familiar with this kind of courtesy, thus our reply to them was also as splendid as ever: a committee of UGVs of all sizes, ranging from trolley sized to tankette size, neatly lined up into a solid row, kindly returned the favor with their arsenal of weapons. Further bolstering their rank was another row of automatic machine gun emplacements, covering any potential blind spots.

“Good for us that they haven’t learned the lesson… otherwise we’d have a hard time doing this.”

“Let’s get this done quickly. Those bots won’t be able to keep those bastards’ heads down for much longer.”

Along with a couple of operatives, all had the optical camouflage engaged, I steadily descended downward in an inverted rappelling stance, with my Kalashnikov readied. As soon as the lineup cleared the upper frame of the entrance, a scenic ceremony worthy of praise from the [High Patriarch] had they have been corporeal: streams of colorful tracers were hurled back and forth, illuminating the defender side as they all hugged their dear barricades for their dear life. Rows of entrenched men desperately use every firearm at their disposal to oppose the rows of drones and bots outside, all the while having to do so with barely any anti-tank ordinances. Yet, it seemed that they were rather oblivious to the danger hanging just above them, boxing them in a pincer of death. A twang of pity arose in my bosom, for their fate would be sealed in the next moment.

“[Able Bloodhound Zero One], this is [Able Bloodhound Zero Two]. [Bloodhound Pack One Two] in position.”

“Copy that, [Able Bloodhound One Two]. Proceed to engage hostiles.”

With that single command line, a hail of lead from above was unleashed on the unsuspecting sods. The ensuing chaos was yet another gift to the blood ritual: the unsuspecting party, having been pinned down by the storm of autocannon caliber lead storm, found themselves swallowed up by the devastating automatic fire.

“Confirming kill order!”

“Kill confirmed!”

I slightly frowned a little at my second-in-command’s working buzzsaw, as its loud echo greatly startled both sides of the trenches. Not to be outdone by my diligent squad mates, I also put in the required work with my Kalashnikov. A courageous child was spotted, scrambling in a somewhat secluded corner of the maze of barricades, who despite being pinned down by our actions, still working to control the chaos that was gripping the enemy lines. I silently commend him, as I put an end to his flash of bravery with a serving of 6.5 Grendel, sending his posture crumbling against the cold floor, ending his tragedy of having to face a superior army with little support. I silently prayed that his next life would be spared from this madness of a blood ritual.

“All clear, proceed to move in! Move your damn lazy arses!”

Soon the entrance was cleared of any remaining resistance, with most of them mowed down. The lucky few who somehow made it through the carnage were quickly taken into custody by the advancing friendly forces. A quick skimming through the radio chatter revealed that the other cardinal entrances were also successfully secured, albeit with much worse casualties compared to the Eastern entrance. Of course, our only casualties were the drones, and yet it seemed that practically no drones assigned to the Eastern entrance suffered any substantial damage.
As for our unit, we descended and regrouped at the predetermined position at the tail end of the hangar-like space. A cursory glance at the regulars revealed that they were at the end of the post-battle assessment, as such their presence became thinner every moment that drifted by. After all, their official role ended here, with the 3 other entrances also starting to get working. Yet, none of them were to be related to our unit’s real objective from this point onward.

“We’re on our own from this point onward. This piece of info is not included in the debrief at the HQ, so listen carefully.”

A solemn atmosphere enveloped the gathering, with everyone practically withholding their breath at the revelations that I was about to spill. Even the senior member of the unit also frowned somewhat at my incoming words, as if they were bracing for the inevitable.

“The true reason for our deployment here”, some members of the unit gawked as I produced several wand-like objects from my [Armory], “well, aside from the hidden basement of nasties, is that they have some other nasty tricks in store, waiting for us to walk in like an idiot. And I’m ain’t a rude nor heartless fellow who let his friends die to such stupid excuses, so I’m responding in kind… by using this.”