Overwatch Ridge - Sniper team No.2
The ridge was cold beneath their stomachs, the broken shale biting through their combat uniforms as they lay prone, rifles braced on rocks slick with mist. The steam fog rolled in waves across the basin below, briefly parting to reveal the chaos unfolding near the center.
Flashes of muzzle fire burst like fireflies in the gloom, the shadows of Yatzuls flickering in and out of view as they lunged, retreated, and lunged again, bodies twisting unnaturally as gunfire tore into them. The air was thick with the echo of screeches and the distant roar of automatic weapons.
Rifle scopes tracked movement, lenses glinting dully.
'One-fifty meters, moving between that broken pipeline—two of them,' Kado muttered, breath fogging the glass. His finger squeezed the trigger, the suppressed shot cracking with a muted cough. Below, a Yatzul jerked as its neck snapped sideways, tumbling into the water before being trampled by another.
Beside him, Haru exhaled slowly, shifting her scope left. 'Another pair—no, three—coming out of the east tunnel. Shit, they're not stopping.'
The third sniper, Oji, glanced away from his scope, eyes tense beneath his helmet. 'They just keep coming.'
They watched as more Yatzuls emerged from the broken tunnel, the glow of their ember-lit veins like hot coals in the mist, spindly limbs folding and unfolding as they joined the others in the basin's center, drawn to the noise and the scent of blood.
'Count so far?' Kado asked, adjusting the dial on his scope.
'Forty-six… fifty-three…' Haru's voice dropped, 'Sixty-four…'
Oji's eyes widened. 'We've got more than what command said. Much more.'
He flicked on his comms, static crackling as he tuned to Wachisaka's channel.
'Wachisaka, come in. This is Overwatch Team Two. We have eyes on the basin.'
The line buzzed before Wachisaka's steady voice answered, the faint sounds of people moving in the background. 'Go ahead, Overwatch.'
Oji swallowed, watching as another cluster of Yatzuls slithered out from the fog, joining the fray. 'It's not forty-five to sixty, sir. It's already over sixty-four and still counting. We've got more crawling out of the caves east and south. It could be double the original estimate.'
There was a long silence on the line before Wachisaka's voice returned, lower, tighter. 'Are you certain?'
'Positive. They're stacking in groups, moving in packs, bigger ones too. They're attracted to the noise. We're seeing at least a hundred if they keep coming at this pace.'
Kado shifted, firing another precise shot, a Yatzul dropping as it tried to scale the rocks toward Nishihara's squad. 'If we don't pull back or change the plan, they'll overrun the perimeter within the hour. Could get out to Eisu.'
Haru kept her eye on the scope, tracking a massive silhouette moving behind the pack - a larger Yatzul, shoulders high, glowing veins brighter than the others. 'We're seeing alphas too, sir. At least two, maybe three. Confirming multiple heat signatures bigger than standard.'
On the other end, Wachisaka's breath could be heard over the channel. Then:
'Understood. Keep eyes on the movement. Mark clusters, prioritize alphas. Relay to the ground teams if they breach the outer perimeter. I'm trying to patch into the captain, but we're not getting anything back, try to reach him if you can.'
'Copy that, sir,' Oji said, exhaling, the tightness in his chest easing for a moment.
Haru clicked her tongue, tracking the alphas' slow, deliberate movements. 'This is gonna to be a bloodbath if we're not careful.'
Kado fired again, racking the bolt as he watched another body hit the water. 'We hold here, give them as much overwatch as we can.'
Below them, the basin was alive with the shrieks of the Yatzuls, the fog flashing with gunfire, the chaos spreading as more shadows slipped from the tunnels to join the carnage.
Oji's hand hovered over the comms dial, switching frequencies to Yanagi's team channel as the wind shifted, carrying faint, distant screams through the fog below.
'Patching in to cap's team now,' he muttered, adjusting the gain.
Static crackled in their ears, washing over the three snipers as they remained prone, eyes on their scopes. For a moment, there was nothing but the hiss of white noise and the soft thud of Kado's next shot.
Then—
'—fall back, fall back—God, get it off him—'
A sharp, wet gurgling shriek cut through, followed by the heavy crunch of something snapping, like bones breaking and crunching.
'Anyone, do you copy!?' Oji tried again, voice low but urgent. 'Captain's team, this is Overwatch Ridge. What's your status?'
More static, a brief hiss of someone breathing hard, a distant scream, then another voice, half-choked with panic.
'—they're coming from all around, in the fog—no, no, no—'
A rattle of gunfire popped through the channel, muffled and echoing, followed by a sound like claws dragging across metal before the comms devolved into static again.
Haru flinched, pulling her eyes from the scope for just a moment, her jaw tight. 'Shit.'
Oji exhaled, turning the dial down. 'No contact with Yanagi's team. We're getting screams and partial comms only. They're either overrun or cut off.'
Kado's eye stayed glued to the scope, voice clipped. 'Mark their last known on the map. We may need to redirect the other teams to clear the area for backup.'
Below, the basin continued to churn with the glow of moving bodies, the fog swirling around the shapes of Yatzuls now gathering with unsettling intent, the noise of the fight a constant, hungry hum.
'Copy,' Oji said, tapping in the coordinates. 'God help them.'
They lowered themselves back to the scopes, silent, the last echoes of those screams clinging to the cold mist around them.
Until, a soft click of loose rock rang out behind them.
Haru's eyes snapped wide, head whipping around as a low, rattling exhale shivered through the cold mist at their backs.
'Move!' she hissed.
A Yatzul lunged over the ridge, limbs folding and unfolding like knives, its whip-thin body glowing in dull pulses as it pounced low toward Oji.
Kado swung his rifle, the barrel cracking against the creature's jaw just as it lunged, snapping the shot off in the same motion. The bullet tore through its throat with a wet pop, making the creature stagger, claws slicing a gouge in Oji's arm as it shrieked, collapsing in a twitching heap, its glow flickering before it stilled.
Oji clutched his bleeding arm, teeth gritted, adrenaline spiking. 'Fuck—thanks—'
They barely had time to breathe.
From the side, another wet rustle of limbs against stone.
'Shit—second one—!' Haru yelled, bringing her rifle up, but it was too late.
The second Yatzul lunged, having climbed the full slope unseen, its maw of jagged, bony protrusions opening wide as it chomped down on Kado's shoulder and neck in one crushing bite.
Kado screamed, blood spraying across the cold rock as the Yatzul dragged him backwards, its claws scraping deep furrows into the slope as it scurried back down toward the fog, Kado's boots kicking, his rifle clattering away.
Oji lunged forward, grabbing for Kado's hand, but it slipped free, coated in blood.
'Kado—Kado—!' Haru screamed, firing twice, rounds tearing into the creature's back, but it didn't even flinch, disappearing over the edge with Kado's still-twitching body as his screams echoed, growing distant, then suddenly silenced by a wet crunch.
The ridge fell quiet except for the heavy, ragged breathing of Haru and Oji, the soft drip of Kado's blood spattering onto the stone where they knelt.
Below, the basin remained alive with the glow of Yatzuls gathering, a reminder of the endless, patient hunger moving within the mist.
Oji wiped blood from his cheek, eyes dead ahead. 'We need to reposition. Now.'
Haru's hands shook as she reloaded, but her eyes hardened, locking back onto her scope.
They slid down from the ridge, where the first Yatzul attacked, eyes flicking constantly behind them now, the fear settling into cold readiness.
The ridge where Kado's blood still dripped lay quiet, a soft breeze catching the faint scent of iron as it drifted across the rocks.
Below, the basin roared with Yatzuls, and the occasional muffled burst of gunfire flickered in the gloom.
Above, a figure climbed steadily up the slope, as if having waited for the snipers to leave.
They moved with a deliberate, almost graceful gait, boots quiet against the blood-slick stone. A heavy, dark cloak draped over their shoulders, its fabric catching the cold wind, obscuring the shape of their upper body in shifting shadows.
As they reached the top of the ridge, the cloak shifted, revealing a smooth, pale mask reflecting the dim light—a featureless surface save for narrow eye slits, dark and watchful, the rest of the face hidden completely.
The figure crouched, gloved fingers brushing across the fresh blood on the stone, smearing it slowly before lifting it to the mask, as if tasting the moment.
A soft exhale fogged briefly from beneath the mask, before the figure tilted its head, gaze lifting toward the basin below.
Watching. Waiting. Listening to the chaos of the hunt.
Then, in a fluid motion, the figure rose and stepped forward, moving down the slope in silence, cloak trailing behind like smoke, slipping into the mist without a sound as the next screams rose from the basin below.
Chapter 46 - end