Chapter 63: Consolidation – I

“Go…”

A hollow voice called out in the void.

“Go… and…proliferate”

“Go…”

“…”

It repeated, followed by the sound of something moving.

Images flashed—countless large rocks whistling across the space, skies burning brightly in the day, and indescribable screams that filled one’s ears.

It was nothing short of insanity.

Nothing short of confusion.

And then—

“Haa!”

Hans jolted out of bed, heaving deeply. His hands gripped on the soft cloth, ripping parts of it open.

What dream was that?

He clutched his head, feeling the sweat stick on his hands. The bright rays of sunlight shone upon his face, blinding him momentarily.

After a brief pause, his sight recovered, blurring into clarity.

Bed, I’m home.

Or so he thought. He looked around, finding the room familiar.

Oh, I’m in the fortress. Right.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly integrating the memories in his mind. Just now, he felt that he didn’t know who he was, where he was, and why he was here.

Time passed and Hans recovered.

“The operation succeeded,” he muttered, looking at his containment system interface. “But the fight doesn’t stop here.”

There was still Pandora District, and the journey into it.

There was still the War Factory, and the immense wealth he required to unlock it.

There was still the growing threat of the hives, and the meteorite shards scattered around the city and the world.

He had taken the smallest of the steps, and more distance to cover.

“The Pandora District plan must be set off,” he contemplated. “But there are things that I must cater to first.”

He got off his bed and prepped for the day.

The world had truly become backward without electricity.

Inside the shower room, Hans squinted trying to find the bucket of pail.

As he prepared breakfast, pouring water from a large container annoyed him.

If not for the timely arrival of his two bodyguards, Alexei and Selene, he would have become insane. Every single day.

“Is there something you want to say?”

He turned to Alexei.

“Commander, reports of the operation have been piled on your desk,” Alexei replied. “Nurse Clara included hers too.”

Hans nodded, “What about the residents?”

“The council has sought for a meeting,” Selene added. “There are things they wish to discuss to you, Commander.”

“Sounds like its time,” Hans muttered. “Alexei, call Dmitri over to my office. Selene, tell the Council I will be ready by tomorrow. You two are dismissed.”

The two of them saluted before leaving Hans.

He walked to his office, enjoying the slight warmth of the sun. Inside, he plunged straight into the couch.

The stench of sweat and oldness assaulted his nose, thinking of it better than the disgusting smell of the hive.

The installation… he wondered.

The young engineer Coby has been dealing with the solar panel installations for a while now, yet the recent incident pushed it back.

Without the help from the veteran old Walter, Coby would have to deal against the installation problems with Walter’s younger workmates and his Engineers.

As his mind dwelled into the problem, at the corner of his eyes, he caught stacks of papers lying on the desk.

The generators, right…

It was supposedly his main idea of venturing east, but the hive’s sudden appearance made him forgo of such matters.

Hans picked one and read through the contents.

“Survivor sightings nearby?” He mused.

The outer patrols have noticed a recent increase of survivor sightings around the area. Mostly friendly. And for those hostile to his army were soon met with a hail of bullets.

“There’re a few residential areas up north,” he said while pulling the map closer to him. “The gunfire must have alerted these people. No, my soldiers’ recent activities may have startled them too.”

Breaching secured banks.

Scavenging resources from malls.

Walking from one point to another.

Each action left a trail of human presence—whether by the dead bodies of the zombies, or the mere sightings from a secluded area.

Nevertheless, Hans wasn’t too picky when it came to accepting survivors into his enclave. A little discipline from his soldiers would curb any ulterior motives they gathered.

Overall, to him, the phenomena was quite ironic. Rather than zombies, he pulled survivors instead.

The thought lingered on his mind for a while. Hans skimmed past the report and went on to the next.

“3 casualties, at least 10 severely wounded, a few infections,” he muttered, his eyes trailing the beautiful calligraphy of the report. “Good thing we destroyed it quickly then.”

The infection reports stemmed from the presence of the spores, not only making his soldiers susceptible to psychic influences from the meteorite shard, but the hive’s infectious virus as well.

This discovery made him wary of them; especially on how resilient a single hive could be.

“Tanks can make the difference,” Hans frowned.

Should he have acquired one of them during the operation, exploding that hive’s skin would be easier than relying on the Guardian GI’s MK19.

Even the hive’s regeneration ability may not have kept up, but a what if—that was what it was all about.

“The War Factory must be quickly put in place,” he massaged his temples.

The objective was too simple—to train more troops and then promote. Yet for some reason, he couldn’t manage to accomplish this simple task.

If his tankless situation continued for a while, he doubted if he could still handle another hive situation.

“Worst comes to worst, the road to Pandora District is covered with hives,” he sighed. “We’ll keep destroying one after the other.”

One could imagine how much of a delay to his progress that would be.

Searching in the inner city? Hans felt it was an impossible task.

Going west for the commercial districts? Even more impossible.

The meteorite’s trajectory remained unknown to him. Was it a global airburst of meteorite shards?

Or was Grefort City the unlucky one? Or maybe Ashington Country?

The Western Continent?

“If the Radar could pick up these shard’s signals, I could just…”

The door to his office was knocked. Twice.

“Commander, Dmitri reporting. I have received your summons.”

“Come in.”

The door creaked open, followed by Dmitri lightly stepping onto the cemented floor.

His usual tactical pack vanished from his back. What was left of his equipment was the trusty silenced pistol, combat knife, and grenade belts.

“You look new,” Hans remarked. “How’s our soldiers faring?”

“The wounded has been taken care of, Commander,” Dmitri replied. “Casualties may have been incurred in the operation, but the morale remains as high as ever.”

“Not surprising,” Hans smiled, not underestimating his system’s almost flawless products. “I heard the residents ended the day with a buffet yesterday?”

“They were grateful despite our setbacks,” Dmitri shook his head. “Commander, I can only hope that the rest of these people were as—”

Hans raised his hand, gesturing for Dmitri to pause.

“We cannot control these people to an absolute, Dmitri. If they want to show us goodwill, then they will. If not, our patrol teams know what to do.”

“I was careless, Commander.”

“You don’t have to feel sorry for that,” Hans sighed. “Enough about this. What about the generators?”

“Most of the generators were flooded with the decayed flesh of the hive. Only a few will be usable by the colony.”

“That is more than enough,” Hans tapped his fingers on the table. “Where are those generators now?”

“On their way now, Commander,” Dmitri replied. “It should arrive in the colony within today, or tomorrow.”

“That’s great then. Make sure to inform Coby of this.”

“I will, Commander.”

“Has Adrian scouted farther to the east?” Hans furrowed his brows.

“He awaits your orders, Commander.”

“Then set him on a short journey—to return before tomorrow morning.”

Hans wanted Adrian to test the waters first.

Are the areas clear? Continue with his initial plans.

Infested with hives? Time for Plan B.

“I shall relay your words to Adrian, Commander.”

“You can go now,” Hans waved his hands, followed by a jolt as he remembered something. “Also, don’t forget to join me in tomorrow’s Council meeting. I need you to showcase the reports on our operation. The Council will be in dire need of some great news.”

Dmitri nodded, slipping out of the room in silence. If not for the knob turning, Hans felt that he would have been visited by a ghost.

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