The 568 Commander is warming up.

The army marched directly into a position almost face-to-face with the Bug hive.

The fungal mat laid down by the Bug Race extended all the way there, the ecology atop it starkly different from the heavily bombed land outside, the border between them visibly clear.

The distant army began deploying their lines, as the enemy's Bug hive also started to spew out large and small bugs from all around, readying themselves for a tight defense.

Under the command of higher-tier bugs acting as node commanders, even those bugs crazed by the scent of flesh and blood were held firmly in place, vainly flashing their teeth and claws.

Two members of the messenger squad, granted permission by the Blackwater City high command, swept past the city's front, middle, and rear armies before finally returning to an armored vehicle at the very rear.

The returned squad members of the messengers had a strange look about them.