In District Twelve of the Underhive, more than thirty thousand soldiers under Stinger's command had gathered. They were all the survivors of the Dimensional Teleport attack.
Communications had been cut off after Stinger used the ritual to create interference, but these survivors were still overjoyed. They no longer had to worry about enemies crawling out of every nook and cranny.
"Now! Retreat!"
"Kill all the wounded! Don't leave the enemy any chance to interrogate them for intelligence!"
Under the officers' direction, the survivors carried out their tasks in utter chaos. Some were assigned to retreat, while others were forced to stay behind and execute the wounded.
When most of them had poured out of the block and rushed toward the edge of District Twelve, those left behind to execute the wounded could no longer stand it. They abandoned the idea of using rifles to give them quick deaths and chose the only weapon they had that could kill a group at once—incendiary bombs.
Even after the wounded had been dealt with and everyone set out to retreat, things were no more orderly. Some soldiers were tricked by officers into taking paths completely opposite to the retreat route, while some officers were deceived by their own soldiers into remaining behind to cover the rear.
No matter what, these people left District Twelve and walked along the route from the Underhive to the upper hive. As hope of escape drew closer, smiles gradually appeared on the soldiers' faces.
Until a Recon Drone suddenly flew above them all.
"Aircraft! Aircraft!"
"We're finished!"
Miserable cries erupted through the ranks until someone bellowed through a loudspeaker, "The teleportation has been disrupted! There's no way they can catch up to us so quickly!"
That voice reassured quite a few people, and everyone continued onward.
Until they