A new Power is Rising (11/13)
Author's Notes:
I will now abbreviate Earth Defense Force as EDF from time to time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[DAY 80]
As the battle between the Horde and the military outpost began, Neo slipped into the ranks of the soldiers in the shadows of the night.
He secretly eliminated an officer and slipped into his dark green military uniform, which has two light green stripes on the right shoulder.
The two green light stripes mean that the soldier was a pilot and thereby had a low rank, probably he was an insignificant secondary pilot or gunner in a Hovertank, accordingly nobody should miss him and jeopardize Neo's camouflage.
After Neo put on the military uniform and took the soldier's assault rifle in both hands, he headed down to the next larger tent that looks like the military hospital of the outpost.
Meanwhile, the entire outpost was in constant motion. Countless regiments of soldiers were running along the paths towards the defense and many others were shouting or carrying crates of ammunition back and forth.
Every now and then a Hovertank would drive along the streets and Neo could see two military Mechs in the distance guarding three huge Howitzers.
It didn't take long and Neo arrived in front of the entrance to the hospital and one could already smell the blood and the thick air from inside. He entered the tent and was immediately greeted by screams of injured people.
All over the tent lay injured soldiers, missing an arm, a leg, had bullet wounds in their shoulders or stomachs and even in the head.
For Neo, who has fought in a war as a soldier and performed autopsies himself as a scientist, this image is nothing new or alien.
He has attended countless operations and sometimes had to help out in the hospital in the war when there was a shortage of personnel.
It's funny how mankind's weapons and armor have improved over the centuries, yet medicine is still so backward at times.
Yes, hereditary diseases and some major diseases that existed on Earth in the past do count to the past, because of the advances in genetic research that have allowed the human gene pool to be modified. But gunshot wounds, amputations, severe burns and many other injuries still require the use of needle and thread, and the scarce supply of medication does not make the whole treatment any easier.
Small operations took place everywhere in the tent, which the medics in gray uniforms, which meanwhile have bloody spots everywhere, performed them.
Here an arm was severed, elsewhere a bullet was taken from the leg and on a larger operating table further away a soldier's stomach was opened and its innards rummaged through.
Neo looked around the tent with a cold look and took a good look at everything inside.
"Pilot, what are you doing here? Are you injured or do you have new orders?" asked a soldier with three purple stripes on his dark green uniform standing guard in the hospital.
"Can I talk to you privately for a moment, I have something to tell you." answered Neo, with a downcast look.
"Sigh, ok let's go out the back for a moment, but if it's nothing important you will have some real problems! I'm from the military police, so be warned!" said the soldier as he pointed a finger at Neo.
Neo just nodded and both then walked between the wounded patients and after a few seconds reached the end of the tent and left outside.
Neo and the soldier from the military police were now outside, but not on the main road, but arrived on a small side road.
The soldier looked at Neo as they came out, but before he even knew what was happening, Neo suddenly grabbed his head and everything went dark for the soldier.
It took Neo less than half a minute to absorb the Soul and insert a small Soul Shard into the Soulless, and the soldier rose anew as a Soulless of the Myriad.
Neo then looked around in the side alley and found not far away two other soldiers smoking and watching the fight in the distance.
At Neo's command, the new Soulless set out to knock out one of the soldiers while Neo took over the other.
Following this, Neo absorbed the Souls of both soldiers and afterwards two Soulless joined his Myriad too.
After that, Neo ordered his new Soulless to stand guard outside the infirmary and not let anyone in while he himself entered the infirmary again.
After the tents were closed, Neo's Miasma then spread and formed a space inside the tent, isolating the sound, after which Neo used his telekinesis to remove all air from the room, leaving only him to breathe.
It didn't take long for the medics and patients to realize what was happening, they were screaming for help and some soldiers raised their weapons and shot at the Miasma without leaving any dent in the dark Miasma wall.
In the end, all the humans in the room fell unconscious on the floor one by one, but before they died, Neo brought the air back into the room and started creating Soulless ones, one unconscious person on the floor after another were losing their Souls without even realizing what was happening.
It didn't take more than 10 minutes and every 500 or so patients, soldiers and medics in the infirmary, joined the Myriad, recognizable by the purple eyes that couldn't be seen very well thanks to the darkness of the night.
Then one after the other, even some injured who could still walk, went out of the tent on Neo's orders and went to different positions that their Master gave them.
Following this, Neo also left the tent in a new dark green military uniform that has two yellow stripes on the right shoulder.
Usually this is the uniform of mechanics, but also of artillery troops and maintenance workers.
After that, Neo, with some of his Soulless behind them, made their way to the three large Howitzers he had seen in the distance earlier.
On the side, he gave some of his blood to some of his Soulless and sent them to different parts of the outpost to create some Undead in the shadows, which he then ordered to keep quiet and wait for now.
In the meantime, Neo could see countless soldiers on the main street of the outpost, all of whom were marching in the direction of the defense line.
Some of the Hovertanks were also floating in the same direction, and on top of them were a few soldiers who were just getting their weapons ready and checking their magazines.
"Where are you going? The front is on the other side!" suddenly yelled an officer in gray military armor, who was riding on a Hovertank floating past Neo and his Soulless.
"I have to go to the Artillery, Sergeant Major! They've been expecting me there since 2330, Sir!" Neo replied as he straightened and saluted.
"Ah, well go on. However, the rest of you, to the front with you, In formation, if you please!" the officer yelled afterwards and the Hovertank continued to hover in the direction of the defense line.
Neo ordered his few Soulless that followed him to follow the Hovertank, but if the opportunity presented itself, sneak away and use the blood he gave them to create some Undead.
At the end, only 5 Soulless, who also had yellow stripes on their right shoulder, accompanied Neo in the direction of the Howitzers.
...
[DAY 81]
After about 10 minutes Neo reached the Howitzer positions, which are already being fired.
The Howitzers were so loud that the soldiers operating them had to wear earplugs to prevent their hearing from bursting open.
"BOOOOOOOM!"
"BOOOOOOOM!"
"BOOOOOOOM!"
Did it one after the other as the three huge Howitzers fired in the direction of the Horde, which is now much smaller then initially.
But soon his 1,000 Soulless who are outside the battlefield will arrive with a new 40,000 Undead, which they will lure with their blood toward the already attacking Horde.
Otherwise the Horde, which has been reduced to less than 20,000 so far, would be annihilated in the next half hour.
The Artillery is one of the main reasons why the Undead Horde has been decimated so far, with their huge shells that shake the earth on impact, they wipe out countless Undead in a very short time.
This is also the reason why Neo has to destroy those Howitzers first, otherwise they would make short work of the attacking Horde and Neo wouldn't have enough time to take the outpost from the inside.
Neo went with some Soulless to the ammo dump, which was in a larger tent next to the Howitzer.
Arriving at the ammo storage room, a few hundred boxes full of grenades and explosives were stacked inside, but there were also some guards who wanted to ask Neo and his Soulless what they were doing here when they entered the storage room.
However, before they could ask, Neo's Miasma spread throughout the tent and Neo leaped into action, knocking out the first few guards and then quickly absorbing their Souls and inserted a Soul Shard into them.
After that, with the help of his other Soulless, he attacked one soldier after another. As the combat was melee, especially since firing guns carries the risk of blowing up everything here, including yourself, of course, none of the soldiers were Neo's opponents and after less than 3 minutes, 100 Soulless soldiers joined Neo's Myriad.
Neo's Miasma then disappeared again and he and his Soulless left the tent. Neo again gave some blood to his Soulless, who then all distributed themselves among the soldiers at the Artillery.
In the shadow of the night, the Soulless then killed one soldier after another.
The soldiers all had a surprised expression on their faces as they died, unable to believe that they were being betrayed and attacked by their own comrades, but no one could raise a voice as the soulless cut their throats and left a small cloth with blood on them stuff the throat.
After some time, the first victims rose as the Legion's Undead and the Soulless then used them to infect and transform more soldiers from the shadows.
Meanwhile, Neo transformed a few more soldiers to his left and right, and after about half an hour, most of the soldiers in the artillery position were either transformed into Undead, whom Neo ordered to behave quietly and hide in tents, or into Soulless ones, who joined the ranks of their former ones remaining comrades made.
The biggest problem for Neo are the two Mechs that continue to stand guard near the Howitzers ahead. There he couldn't transform the few soldiers still standing there for fear the mechs would notice.
However, in the end, Neo came up with a solution to his problem and focused on both Mechs. It wasn't long before the oxygen that normally goes into the closed pilot's cabin in the chest stopped coming.
The pilots suddenly began to ventilate and climbed out of the pilot's cabin, before it was too late and they suffocated to death.
Outside the cabin, however, they were greeted by Neo, who grabbed both soldiers by their heads and turned them into his Soulless, while the Undead in the background infected the remaining soldiers.
In the end, Neo took the entire artillery position and about 3,000 Undead and around 2,000 Soulless joined Neo's Legion.
Furthermore, Neo's Soulless created countless more Undead throughout the outpost and it won't be long before the Legion numbers in the outpost outnumber the Undead outside.
With all the reinforcements the Undead Horde has received, they are now more than 30,000 and with the artillery emplacement in his possession, the number will fall at a much slower rate.
Neo distributed more Soulless in the outpost and also ordered some to sneak into the neighboring outposts and scout there in secret.
After that, Neo headed to the outpost's hanger along with some of his Legion.
...
Neo wasn't stopped on the way to the hangar and the main street had now much less active soldiers, all running back and forth.
Arriving at the hangar there were still 5 Mechs and 3 Hovertanks packed there inactive.
A few mechanics and technicians could be seen throughout the camp and Neo ordered his Soulless to capture all the technicians while he closed the hangar doors.
Following his will, the Soulless drew their weapons and began threatening the technicians one by one, shooting a few.
The technicians were completely surprised and at the same time frightened when the soldiers threatened them and therefore followed their orders to lay down all weapons.
The Soulless then gathered all the technicians in a circle and knelt them down.
Neo then came over to them and touched one head after the other, turning the technicians into his Soulless in no time.
It didn't take long for the more than 200 technicians to join Neo's Myriad.
"All right, let's move on to the next phase, I think the time has come." Neo said as he looked at the Hovertanks and Mechs with a demonic smile...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNDEAD LEGION & SOULLESS MYRIAD STRENGTH:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEGIONNAIRES: 1,654,109 -> 1,701,323
UNDEAD LEGION COUNT: 371,026 -> 414,080
SOULLESS COUNT: 1,283,083 -> 1,287,243
COHORTS: 419
CENTURIONS : 135
LEGATES: 21
PREFECT: 1 (Aaron)
BATTLE EQUIPMENT:
MECHS: 6 -> 13
HOVERTANKS: 13 -> 16