Chapter 277: The herd retreats.
Sunshine looked at the screen which showed the watchers twenty four hours a day like they were participants in a reality tv show, living on an island. There they were, throwing bones to the ground. They were in a loafing position, just like cats that were relaxed, feeling secure in their surroundings.
Sunshine’s jaw tightened, indeed the watchers seemed to be having a good time. Is our suffering a thrill to them? If they sent the herd, what are they hoping to learn? Sunshine asked herself quietly.
Truly, they were infuriating birds. All this while, she thought they had made peace and reached an understanding. How wrong she was!
"Let them enjoy it, I will never waste a single fish on those birds again." Sunshine said decisively.
Lisha snapped her fingers. "That is right Suni, a deal is a deal_ fish in exchange for peace. They broke the deal first."
Everyone stared at Lisha, wondering when they had struck a deal with the watchers. It was their side that started offering fish in the hopes of getting peace. The watchers made no promises to them.
"If this goes to court, I a pretty sure the watchers are winning the case." Hadrian told her.
Lisha scoffed.
The ground vibrated again like a geokinetic had struck it somewhere. It reminded everyone of the bigger issue they were facing, a herd of cattle trying to break down their wall and stomp into the base.
"Why is Carson taking so long?" Sunshine rested her hands on the console and let out a loud breath. She wanted the herd dealt with permanently without exposing all of the walls secrets to the watchers. It was not a coincidence that fire resistant cows and bulls had come from the mist and knew where the dragonoids were positioned in the wall. "No more fish." She snapped and slapped the table.
Others were startled.
"And nobody should smile or wave at them anymore." She added.
Hades placed his hands on her shoulders, urging her to breathe in and out. Once again, the room fell into a nervous tension. They could still hear the distant metal vibrations from the mutant herd outside. The animals were not just using their horns anymore; they were throwing themselves at the barrier!
It was insane.
"They are bloody insane." Warren whispered. Some of them were bleeding but still throwing themselves at the wall anyway. A few had cracked or broken horns and they were ramming the barrier with their heads.
The actions made Hades wonder if they could play some of those lullabies which calmed the sheep down
Suddenly Carson burst into the room like something was chasing him outside. "Ma’am I am sorry....."
"No time, where is she?" Sunshine cut in, her eyes searching beyond him.
Professor Chloe rushed into the room with her team, boots rubbing against the floor. Sunshine’s eyes snapped to her immediately. "Status?" She demanded an answer, her tone sharp.
Professor Chloe steadied her breathing, glancing over her shoulder at the others. "Ma’am, we have brought samples although I have to say that these are all test objects and some haven’t been tested. Of course, I believe that at least one of them will do the job."
Carson was on one knee, carefully lifting the sleek dark items from the lab bag. Some were gleaming faintly under the light reflecting and eerie blue hue at the center.
Sunshine nodded once, signaling that she understood. "Go ahead," she said. "Tell me what they can do."
Chloe took a deep breath. "First," she said, lifting ones of the riffles. "We have the PT3 tranquilizer dart launcher. The tranquilizer gel is concentrated and has been made from a component we named Siger 1 that comes from the phasium alloy. One single dose is potent enough to incapacitate both humans and mutated animals. We tested it on a base specimen..."
"Humans?" Lisha threw in her eyes widening.
The Professor’s brows narrowed. "Of course not, I am talking about the mutated sheep."
"Continue we have little time." Sunshine ordered.
Chloe nodded. "Like I was saying, the target weakens quickly.....their bones soften and become useless for at least three hours."
Murmurs ran through the room, some people skeptical.
"These are mutants though, will they work? Mutated sheep were once ordinary by human standards. These things are from the mist." Morris reminded them. "They may not even be cattle at all."
Sunshine looked at him. "Do you have a better idea?"
He shook his head. He wanted to volunteer and go out to fight because he was confident in his gigantic ability. But he was just one man and that was an entire herd.
The murmurs died down and the Professor revealed the second weapon.
"This is the electro-taser riffle. It emits a high voltage electromagnetic pulse that can cause neuromuscular disruption. If these creatures have functioning neural pathways, they will be incapacitated completely." She said fidgeting with her fingers.
"What is it? Spill it all." Dwayne ordered.
"The battery life only works for two hours....but even a short burst should allow us to regain control of the situation and capture some of the animals."
"Then we should make it count," Sunshine said. "We are going to combine both weapons. I will also provide a more potent tranquilizer we can use. Neems, we need the sniper team now."
Nimo rushed out of the command center, yelling into her walkie-talkie.
A few moments later, Sunshine watched from the observation desk as teams armed with the weapons took positions. The small openings in the front outer wall were covered by armed men ready to shoot to save their home and loved ones. Elio, the super sniper was at the helm, taking up center position.
Her voice crackled over the radios. "All teams in position shoot as soon as you hear my signal." The barrier was lowered. Then she barked, "NOW!"
The air erupted into chaos. Dart riffles hissed, tasers snapped with arcs of blue electricity, and the first shots met their marks. Some darts missed, bouncing harmlessly off the snow, and a few tasers discharged into the empty air. But several animals were hit squarely.
The results were immediately almost surreal. Targets began to rotate in place, their heads hung low like they were heavy. They staggered like drunken sailors along the cost, searching for a place to sleep.
"Good hits," Professor Chloe jubilated.
The teams adjusted, corrected and shot again. One by one, the affected cows and bulls slowed down and collapsed into the snow with a groaning thud. Their breaths came in ragged, steaming puffs.
Others started to retreat, running back into the mist where they had come from. Those were the ones Philip targeted, striking them down. In his case, death was immediate.
For the first time, Sunshine allowed herself to breath.
"It actually worked." She turned to face Chloe. "Good job Professor."
She could hear the men shouting in jubilation as the last of the herd vanished. Outside, some were hugging each other. The war was over before it even began.
The watchers however remained seated, watching with interest, under normal circumstances Pink would fly off furious but it was still there, lounging like it was at the beach, with a fish tail in its beak.
"We need samples of the mutated animals; there is so much we can learn." Professor Chloe said. "And we can create weapons basing on such new information."
"Wait." Sunshine answered, she raised the radio to her mouth. "Do not open the gate. Give it at least one hour. Continue shooting the tranquilizers just to be safe. Remember, these beasts are smart. They could be playing pretend."