"Full suppression."

The order came out clear, loud enough to cut through the noise inside the helicopter.

The gunner did not answer. He did not need to. His hands were already locked on the weapon, finger tight on the trigger as the M134 minigun spun up into a high-pitched scream. The barrels blurred as they reached full speed, and in the next second, a solid stream of rounds poured downward like a metal waterfall.

The entire side of the helicopter vibrated with the force. It was not a sharp recoil like a rifle. It was constant, heavy, like the machine itself was alive and pushing back.

Below them, the tree monster took the hit.

Rounds slammed into its upper body without pause. Bark exploded outward in chunks, splinters flew in all directions, and deep holes punched into its surface. Pieces of it broke apart violently, raining down through the forest canopy.

But it did not fall.

It did not even slow down.

Instead, it moved.

Marcus saw it first. A shift in the branches, subtle for a second, then sudden. Multiple limbs shot upward at once, not just one, not random either. They moved with purpose, twisting and stretching as they reached for the helicopter.

"Multiple contacts!" the co-pilot shouted, his voice tight. "It’s not just one limb!"

"Bank left!" Marcus ordered.

The pilot reacted right away. His hands moved fast on the controls, and the helicopter tilted hard. The horizon outside the window shifted as they veered away from the rising branches.

One of them sliced through the air where they had just been.

It passed so close that Marcus felt it, a sharp rush of displaced air that made his chest tighten.

"Keep distance!" Marcus said, gripping the side of his seat.

"I’m trying!" the pilot shot back. "It’s reaching higher!"

Marcus looked down again.

The creature was not just standing anymore. More of its body forced upward from the ground, roots tearing free like they had no hold on it anymore. The forest around it collapsed inward as it rose, swallowed by its size.

This was not just a tree.

It was something built. Something alive. A mass of wood and roots held together by something that should not exist.

"Gunner, adjust! Center mass!" Marcus called out.

"Copy!"

The gunfire shifted. The stream of rounds moved from the branches down into the main trunk. The sound changed slightly, deeper, heavier, like the bullets were hitting something thicker beneath the bark.

Splinters flew again, but this time cracks formed. Real ones. Deep enough that Marcus could see sections of the trunk starting to give.

"Yeah, that’s doing something!" the co-pilot said, a bit of hope in his voice.

Marcus leaned forward, eyes fixed on the impact point.

"Keep it there," he said.

The gunner held the trigger down. The minigun roared without stopping, chewing into the same spot over and over. The trunk began to cave inward slightly, pieces breaking off in larger chunks.

For a moment, it looked like they had found a weak point.

Then the creature stopped reacting.

Not the gunfire. Not the damage.

The creature itself.

Its hollow eyes stayed locked on them, unmoving.

Marcus felt something tighten in his chest.

"Something’s off," he said quietly.

"Yeah... I don’t like that," the pilot muttered.

Then the trunk moved.

Not from the impact. Not from the bullets.

From inside.

The damaged section shifted. Wood pulled inward, compressed, and began to close. It was slow, but clear.

It was healing.

"...No way," the co-pilot whispered.

Marcus’s jaw tightened.

"Keep firing!" he snapped. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The gunner did not hesitate, but it was already too late. The rounds still hit. They still tore pieces away. But the damage did not stay.

The creature was adapting.

And then it attacked again.

This time, it was not random.

Three branches shot up together, one from the left, one from the right, and one from directly below.

"Break! Break!" Marcus shouted.

The pilot pulled hard. The helicopter dropped suddenly before rolling to the side. The branches missed by meters, but one of them clipped the airframe.

A loud thud echoed through the cabin.

"Contact!" the pilot yelled.

"Tail’s clear?" Marcus asked immediately.

"Still responding!"

Another branch came up from below.

"Climb!" Marcus ordered.

The engines roared louder as the helicopter surged upward. The branch missed again, but barely.

"Ammo count?" Marcus asked.

"Burning fast!" the gunner replied.

"How much left?"

"Thirty percent!"

Marcus clenched his jaw.

They had thrown everything at it, and it was still coming.

"Switch sides," he ordered. "Alternate fire. Don’t overheat!"

The second gunner on the opposite side moved quickly, bringing his own M134 online.

"Engaging!"

Now both sides opened up. Streams of fire crossed over each other, pouring into the creature from two angles. Tracers filled the air, lighting up the space between them and the target.

The creature took all of it.

Wood shattered. Large chunks broke off. Entire sections collapsed.

But it did not fall.

It kept rising.

"...Sir, it’s gaining on us," the co-pilot said, voice tense.

Marcus looked down.

The upper part of the creature was now far above the canopy, reaching higher with every second.

Altitude was no longer enough.

"Pilot, full climb!" Marcus ordered.

"We’ll lose stability!"

"Do it!"

The pilot pushed harder. The helicopter climbed higher, engines straining but holding.

The distance increased.

But the creature followed.

"Ammo at ten percent!" the gunner shouted.

Marcus ran through options in his head.

None of them worked.

This was not something a minigun could kill.

"Last burst," Marcus said. "Make it count."

Both gunners held the triggers down again.

The final streams of rounds poured into the creature, targeting the damaged sections again and again. The noise filled the cabin, overwhelming everything.

Then the first gun clicked empty.

"Out!"

A second later, the other one followed.

"Second gun dry!"

The gunfire stopped.

The sudden silence felt heavy. Only the sound of the rotors remained, loud but not enough to fill the space the gunfire had left behind.

Marcus looked down.

The creature was still there.

Damaged, yes. Shredded in places. But standing.

Its hollow eyes stayed locked on them.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me," the co-pilot said under his breath.

The creature moved again, slower this time, but controlled. Its branches spread wide, not attacking right away.

Watching.

Waiting.

Marcus let out a slow breath.

Then he reached for the radio.

"Yeah... we’re not doing this alone," he said.

He keyed the comms.

"Base, this is Atlas One. Do you copy?"

Static filled the line for a second.

Then a voice came through.

"Atlas One, this is Base. We read you."

Marcus did not waste time.

"We have a large hostile contact inside the Forest of No Return. Engaged with rotary weapons. Negative effect."

There was a short pause.

"Define large."

Marcus looked down again at the massive thing rising from the forest.

"Big enough that miniguns aren’t doing anything," he said.

Silence followed.

Then the reply came back.

"Copy that."

Marcus tightened his grip on the radio.

"I need air support."

"What type?"

Marcus did not hesitate.

"A-10."

Another pause, shorter this time.

"Confirmed. A-10 Warthog on standby. Scramble in progress."

Marcus leaned back slightly in his seat.

Finally.

He looked down at the creature again.

Still watching.

Still standing.

"Good," he muttered quietly.

"Because this time, we’re not holding back."