A glowing translucent screen floated into view in front of his eyes. It projected no light to the room. No sound. Just the calm silence of the Weapon System he had co to rely on since Day One of the outbreak.
He ntally navigated the main nu.
[Tactical Armants] > [Strategic-Class Weaponry]
Imdiately, a long list unfolded—real-world warheads, all with nation-of-origin flags beside them.
RS-24 Yars (Russia) – 500kt, MIRV
Trident II D5 (USA) – 475kt SLBM
B61 Mod 12 (USA) – Adjustable yield: 0.3–50kt
AGM-86B ALCM (USA) – 150kt Air-Launched Cruise Missile
W76-2 (USA) – Low-yield, 6–8kt SLBM warhead
WE.177 (UK) – Decommissioned, 10kt
He scrolled past the Russian ones, skipping anything too large. A gaton-range warhead was overkill—it would glass the entire region. Civilians lived less than thirty kiloters from the expected detonation zone.
He paused on one entry.
[W76-2 Tactical Nuclear Warhead — USA]
Type: Low-Yield, Thermonuclear
Estimated Yield: 6–8 kilotons
Deploynt thod: SLBM, Retrofit-Compatible for Cruise Delivery
Cost: 500,000 Blood Coins
Thomas focused on it.
A 3D model of the warhead rotated in front of his screen. Stats blinked beside it—blast radius, effective damage zone, radiation spread, ideal altitude for airburst. Everything he needed.
[Confirm Purchase?]
He pressed YES.
[500,000 Blood Coins deducted.]
[W76-2 added to Inventory.]
Then the system asked him how to deliver it.
[Compatible Delivery thods]
AGM-158 JASSM-ER (U.S. Air-Launched Stealth Missile – 926km range)
Tomahawk Block IV (Ship- or Ground-Launched Cruise Missile – 1,600km)
Modified HIMARS MLRS Pod (Ground-Launched, Short Range – Experintal)
He picked the AGM-158 JASSM-ER. It was stealthy, precise, and more importantly—Overwatch had reverse-engineered parts for it months ago when they raided Clark Air Base.
[JASSM-ER selected. 300,000 Blood Coins deducted.]
[Warhead installed: W76-2]
[Final System: JASSM-ER (Nuclear Payload) – Status: READY]
Thomas took a breath. The nuke was now real. Assembled. Stored sowhere in his private system-bound inventory—a physical, summonable weapon. The interface faded with a final prompt.
[Deploy? Y/N]
Not yet. He still needed ground clearance.
1:47 PM — MOA Complex, War Room
Thomas returned to the command center, expression unreadable.
Phillip and Marcus turned to him imdiately.
"We just got new drone footage. The Goliath's slowed, but it's still moving. Tagaytay Ridge in two hours—max," Phillip reported.
"We have fallback units digging in behind Cavite," Marcus added. "But they won't hold long."
Thomas nodded slowly, then faced them.
"I've authorized the use of a nuclear strike."
Both n went still.
Phillip's eyes widened. "Okay, we are getting serious now."
"Hail to the System."
Marcus looked between them. "You finally acquired one huh."
Thomas nodded. "I purchased a W76-2 tactical nuke—low yield. No larger than Hiroshima. Precision target. Clean airburst. It'll destroy the Goliath without leveling Tagaytay."
Phillip processed that for a mont. "Delivery?"
"AGM-158. I can deploy it from here. It'll cruise low, pop up, detonate above the Goliath. It's fast and quiet. No way the thing sees it coming."
"You've run projections?" Marcus asked.
"Yes. Blast radius will be lethal to anything in a two-kiloter bubble. The Goliath's vitals are exposed. If we center the burst 300 ters above the creature—no debris, no contamination. Just heat and shock."
Phillip stepped forward. "And civilians?"
Thomas pointed at the map. "Everyone within the hot zone already evacuated. Forward scouts confird no non-combatants remain. Echo Team's 14 clicks outside the fire line."
Marcus looked impressed. "You've had this planned."
"I hoped I'd never need it," Thomas admitted. "But here we are."
2:13 PM — MOA Launch Control Deck
Thomas stood before a reinforced firing console built deep in Hangar 3. The missile had been materialized—summoned from the System—inside an Overwatch launch platform modified for multi-purpose deploynt. A separate team of Overwatch engineers, oblivious to the true origin of the payload, had calibrated it as a "deep-strike payload."
Only Thomas knew what was inside.
He inserted a biotric keycard.
[COMMAND OVERRIDE — ESTARIS ALPHA]
[MISSILE: JASSM-ER]
[PAYLOAD: W76-2 Tactical Nuclear Device]
[Status: Locked On Target]
A drone hovering above Tagaytay fed live coordinates.
Target Lock: Goliath Entity
Coordinates: 14.0861° N, 121.0230° E
"Final confirmations, Commander," said the operator beside him.
Thomas stared at the screen.
"This ends now."
He flipped the red cover.
Pressed the button.
[MISSILE LAUNCHED]
2:14 PM — Above Southern Luzon
The missile erupted from its cradle, roaring skyward like a black spearhead. Once at altitude, its wings unfolded and engine cooled—its stealth systems activating.
At 1,000 ters, it banked and flew nap-of-the-earth across the forested region, invisible to radar, skimming less than 30 ters above terrain. Its final climb began just outside the caldera of Tagaytay Ridge.
2:17 PM — Detonation
The Goliath, now halfway through a broken rice paddy near the ridge, froze. Its head turned slowly.
Then the missile struck.
Not on it—but above.
The warhead detonated 300 ters over its chest.
A silent flash. Blinding white.
The air split. Thunder cracked. A pressure wave roared out like the scream of a thousand cannons.
A column of energy vaporized everything below it—leaves, Bloom growths, dirt, even stone. The Goliath didn't scream.
It simply... ceased.
Its upper half vaporized.
Its lower half crumpled, burning.
The shockwave rolled for kiloters, flattening trees and rupturing nearby nests. The Bloom infection in the soil blackened instantly—lifeless.
Then ca silence.
2:25 PM — MOA Command
Reaper drone feeds stabilized.
The crater was deep, perfectly round, and white-hot at the center. No movent.
"Confird kill," Phillip said. "Goliath's gone."
Thomas exhaled.
Marcus clapped his shoulder. "That's one hell of a final answer."
Thomas smiled as it was also confird by the system.
[Target Terminated: Goliath Alpha]
[ 750,000 Blood Coins Awarded]
"Prep the cleanup crews," he said calmly. "And reroute Echo Team to verify ground zero—no contamination, no spores."
Phillip nodded and relayed the orders. Marcus leaned back in his chair, arms folded, eyes still glued to the screen.
"You think that's the last of 'em?" he asked quietly.
Thomas didn't answer right away. He turned to the map—scanning the quiet zones around Luzon.
"No," he finally said. "There will be more, but I already know the effective way of clearing the zombies out."
"Which is?"
"Nuking them of course."
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