Chapter 421: 421 Subject Acquired

With Max holding the Behemoths in place, the reinforcements for this location were proving to be no issue for the Regiment to deal with. The First Battalion had adjusted their position to cover the flanks and rear of the force while the other four battalions led the charge through the mining town, eliminating the last of the resistance as they reached the far side.

[Commander, we have cleared the village. No signs of life on the surface, but it's impossible to tell underground due to the magma from the Fusion Flamers.] Major Miller reported.

[Got it. The Behemoths will be down in under a minute] Max replied, charging the last two of the enormous Klem, killing one with a point-blank with the Disruptors and splitting the other in half with his sword, the first time that it had actually been used in combat, thanks to the ranged capability of the Titan Class Mecha.

With the Behemoths dead, Max took to the air, gaining altitude so that he could drop an orbital strike on the mine shafts.

[Everyone, keep moving toward the coast. I will finish up here once you are out of range.] Max ordered.

The Regiment was only a few kilometers from the location at the moment, not nearly far enough to be safe with even a limited ground penetrating strike that would collapse the mines. Max had to admit, the Disruptors were incredible pieces of technology, with multiple modes for dispersion and penetration as well as output, unlike most weapons in this class, which were only capable of a single mode: Mass Destruction.

When the Regiment made it to the ten-kilometer mark, Max initiated the strike, letting the Disruptors penetrate the ground to a depth of five hundred meters, destabilizing the mine shaft, and collapsing it into a pile of rubble that let the compressed magma that had run to the bottom of the shaft flow to the surface, forming a superheated plug over the former Klem breeding colony.

[Well, that should do it. I have word from the nearby continent. It doesn't make any sense, though.] Nico reported as Max watched the rock slowly cool, watching for survivors.

*Alien visitors, please note that you have entered from an indigenous protection quarantine area. Please exit the continent to orbit with all reasonable haste.*

[They're saying that the Klem destroyed continent is an indigenous protection quarantine area? I have read the data on the planet, and the Klem are definitely not indigenous.] Max asked.

[That's why it makes no sense, but it is possible that it is what they have been telling the locals to hide the Klem presence. The strange thing is that all of the life signs show signs of Klem DNA, though they appear mostly human.

I am working on a definitive scan, but I didn't want to abduct anyone before consulting you.] Nico informed him.

[Sorry to interrupt, Commander, but what are the chances that the modifications that we saw in that lab were turned into a bioweapon that backfired and infected the planet with a portion of the Klem genome, which stopped the invasion, thinking that the planet had been conquered?] Admiral Drake asked.

[You're thinking that it is human intervention that has made this planet so strange? Why wouldn't they have dealt with the Klem if they had pacified them this way? A hostile response to attacks by what the Klem thought was their own forces?]

The idea had merit, given what they had seen so far. A famous scientist had once said that only two things were limitless, the Universe and Human Stupidity, but he might be wrong about the Universe. It was clear from their data that the supersoldier experiments were against this planet's ethics laws, so it wouldn't be likely that the whole planet had received similar modifications, but some forms of Klem poisons were viral in nature, so it might have been a vaccine experiment gone horribly wrong.

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[Nico, how subtle can you be about abducting someone? I need you to analyze one of the random civilians so that we can see what is going on. If they're cognizant and reasonable, interrogate them. If not, dissect them and tell me what happened.] Max ordered.

[I knew you couldn't bear to bully me forever. I will have your answers soon.]

Nico's answer made Max consider rephrasing his request to have someone else do the work, but Nico would probably be the most efficient one at the job, so he would only be making his own life harder if he ruined her fun.

Within minutes, Max's sensors detected a drone returning to Terminus, even before he had time to rejoin the Regiment.

They marched until dark, when Max ordered a halt in a small valley, keeping the light from their Mecha and equipment out of sight. It was more difficult to move by night, as the number of sensors they could navigate by was limited, and the support vehicles had very limited sensor capabilities, navigating mostly by sight unless there was a need for other sensors.

[Set a perimeter. Let the Light Mecha out to stretch their legs and get a hot meal. I'm sure they're sick of compressed ration bars and a cramped cockpit by now.] Max ordered.

Terminus was directly overhead and didn't show any signs of Klem in the immediate vicinity, so they had a few hours to relax in relative safety.

Just before dawn, Nico had the report from her captured civilian.

[Sir, Subject four has been interrogated. She has no memories that are more than three months old. All the surviving subjects honestly seem to believe that they are fully human and that their appearance is normal for humans. They realize that they have chitin armor and thermal vision, but they don't know that's not normal for humans.

They know nothing of technology and call all the technological devices on the planet Ancient Relics. Even though they're mostly still operational, the residents don't use them or understand how to use them.

Examinations suggest an intelligence level of around 50 standard points, on par with a small child.

The analysis of Subject Three determined that they were originally human, and this change is due to a mutagenic virus that was released on the planet roughly four months ago.

More samples will be needed to determine the spread pattern and origin location, but the number of random variances between subjects has determined that it was not near the quarantine zone.]

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