These Aether entities, covered from head to toe in herpes-like sores and fleshy tentacles and reeking of disease and filth, were vast in number, seemingly endless. If Aether creatures had not left behind only ash and pus after being banished, the fortifications built by the Gene-modded Warriors and Mortal Soldiers would surely have been piled high with corpses. Even so, the Mortal Soldiers on defensive lines D-1, D-2, and D-3 found that spent shell casings and drained laser batteries had already risen past their ankles.
Within the winding defensive lines formed from prefabricated fortifications, dark gold alloy shell casings flowed like a river. Every step taken by the blast-resistant tactical boots of a Void Combat Suit made the mountainous piles of casings ring crisply. The Gene-modded Warriors' rapid strike units swept through the low air above the defensive lines, their hover bike engines giving off a deep hum as they rained lethal explosive fire and missiles down like ground-attack aircraft—though as exceptionally advanced attack craft, the atmospheric attack vehicles used by the Gene-modded Warriors, such as hover bikes, were far more complex than modern ground-attack aircraft. When these vehicles were deployed to the battlefield as anti-armor firepower, several secret combat operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East had proven their excellent low-altitude penetration capabilities. They could readily handle armored vehicles such as M1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, as well as bunkers used to conceal nuclear weapons.
Whenever the Gene-modded Warriors' rapid strike units appeared where the defenses were weak, they could repel the ever-increasing Aether entities at the fastest speed, even plowing deep ravines filled with ash and death across the Star Fortress deck. Upon receiving their orders, they detached a squadron to fly along the logistical supply passages, slowing down to clear every obstruction along the way with autocannons.