The battlefield trembled under Asura's rampage. Alien shrieks cut through the smoke, bodies fell in heaps, plasma fire streaked in every direction. He blink-stepped from target to target like death incarnate, blades and rifle a blur no eye could follow.
The Rust Wolves and Captain Remirez watched in awe, but the Captain's voice cut through, iron-hard:
"Don't just stand there with your mouths open! The UNE leaves no one behind. I don't care if he doesn't need us — we fight together, or we die alone. COVER ASURA!"
His words hit like thunder. Fear didn't vanish, but discipline snapped back into place.
⸻
The Rust Wolves' Charge
Woo Jin gritted his teeth and rose from cover, firing bursts to Asura's flanks. "On him! Don't let those bastards corner him!"
Jerome shouted, "Got your six!" and laid down heavy suppressive fire, his rifle glowing from the heat.
Min-seo called out enemy positions through his HUD, voice shaking but steady: "Left flank—three incoming—NOW!"
John said nothing, but blink-stepped forward, his shots surgical, cutting down enemies that tried to take Asura from behind.
Even Raul — who moments before was frozen in awe — roared as he let loose, firing wildly but forcing enemies to keep their heads down. "Let's go, Wolves! LET'S HUNT!"
⸻
The Line Holds
Together, they formed a protective arc around Asura's chaos. They weren't killing ten per second. They weren't flawless. They weren't prodigies. But they were soldiers now.
Each plasma bolt they caught, each alien they forced to ground, made Asura's dance of death even more unstoppable.
Woo Jin realized it in the midst of the storm: This isn't about keeping him alive. It's about proving we stand together.
⸻
Remirez's Roar
Captain Remirez himself stepped into the line, rifle blazing, voice cutting through the storm:
"THIS is UNE! We do not abandon! We do not hesitate! We do not falter! You fight not as one soldier, but as ONE LEGION! Hold the line, Marines — HOLD IT!"
His words bled fire into their hearts. Even the stim-healed wounded rose again, rejoining the fray, their voices echoing:
"UNE! UNE! UNE!"
The chant rose even as blood sprayed, even as aliens screamed, even as the sky burned.
⸻
Asura Khan blink-stepped through another wave, his blade dripping with ichor, his movements calm and merciless. Yet for the first time, he wasn't alone. Behind him, the Rust Wolves covered his flanks, Captain Remirez leading the charge.
For a fleeting moment in the inferno of war, they weren't panicked recruits anymore.
They were UNE Marines.
And together, they were unstoppable.
-
The plasma storm raged, but Captain Remirez's voice cut through the chaos like steel:
"Marines! The objective is the skyscraper on 42nd Block! We clear the area, get to the top, and fire the flare for Command to know this section is secure! MOVE FORWARD!"
Another volley of explosions rocked the streets, dust and fire scattering. Civilians screamed, trapped behind rubble and overturned transports.
"Priority TWO—evacuate civilians! Get them to cover, get them to safety! We don't just fight, we SAVE. Now MOVE!"
⸻
The Push
The Rust Wolves surged from cover.
• Woo Jin dashed ahead, shouldering aside debris and dragging out a family of three hiding under collapsed concrete. "This way! Stay low!"
• Jerome hauled a wounded worker over his back, gritting his teeth under the weight. "Don't you quit on me, man—UNE's got you!"
• Min-seo used his HUD, scanning through walls, pointing recruits toward trapped civilians. "There! Apartment level two, life signs confirmed!"
• John silently covered the group, suppressing snipers on balconies with eerie precision.
• Raul stumbled at first, but found himself helping a crying child, his trembling hands surprisingly gentle.
And then there was Asura Khan—not just slaughtering the invaders, but clearing paths for the Wolves and the other recruit squads. With surgical blink-steps, he crushed enemies blocking evacuation routes, his presence like a blade splitting chaos into order.
⸻
Street by Street
The UNE column advanced block by block. Aliens spilled from alleyways, chittering and firing bursts of green plasma.
"CONTACT LEFT!" Min-seo shouted.
Woo Jin and Jerome flanked, rifles hot, while Remirez barked:
"Suppress! Suppress! Don't give them time to dig in—MOVE!"
The Wolves fought like they had trained for months, even though it had only been weeks. Every stim-shot given, every scream answered, every civilian guided to safe zones—it hardened them.
⸻
The Spire's Shadow
At last, the skyscraper loomed, scarred by smoke and bombardment. Its steel skeleton towered above the burning city. On the rooftop, the flare would tell all UNE forces that this section stood secured.
But the plaza before it was a kill zone. Alien artillery fire had reduced it to molten craters, and enemy squads entrenched themselves behind wrecked vehicles and barricades.
Remirez slammed a fresh mag into his rifle, sweat dripping under his helmet.
"This is it, Marines!. Clear that plaza, climb that spire, and fire that flare. Hold this ground so the rest of Eryndor doesn't burn. UNE NEVER FALLS!"
⸻
The recruits were shaking, exhausted, terrified. But when they looked at one another—bloodied, bruised, and still standing—they remembered the creed.
Woo Jin gripped his rifle, heart pounding. Family's here. Failure's not an option.
And in that moment, the Rust Wolves surged forward, charging into the plaza under a storm of fire.
-
The advance became a storm of gunfire and screams.
Rounds cracked past, green plasma bolts ripping soldiers apart mid-stride. One recruit was torn in half by a cannon blast, yet the Wolves still pressed forward, boots slamming into the ash-streaked ground. Every step forward was bought in blood.
And then — time seemed to slow.
⸻
The Heroic Push
• Woo Jin sprinted through the chaos, grabbing a wounded civilian from under a burning vehicle. His HUD screamed critical vitals, but he jammed a stim-shot into the man's chest. In seconds, the wounds closed, color rushing back to his pale skin.
• Jerome charged through shrapnel bursts, dragging two kids by the hands. "Stay behind me! Don't stop running!" he roared, shielding them with his own body.
• Raul knelt beside a bleeding soldier, hands shaking as he injected the stim and whispered, "You're not dying today, hermano..."
• Min-seo gave cover fire, calculating perfect suppressing angles. His rifle cracked like thunder as aliens ducked back.
• John moved silent, calm, taking precise shots that cleared paths through the storm.
And Asura Khan—he was everywhere. Blink-step. Slash. Crush. One second, an alien squad was ready to cut down civilians; the next, their bodies hit the ground in a synchronized heap, Asura standing in the smoke like a phantom.
⸻
Remirez's Voice
Even as soldiers fell around him, Captain Remirez's voice thundered through comms and open air alike:
"Don't lose your morality, Marines! The UNE fights with discipline! These aliens are living beings—if they surrender, DO NOT KILL THEM! Show them UNE honor!"
One alien dropped its weapon, trembling, mandibles clicking in fear. A UNE recruit raised his rifle in rage, but Woo Jin grabbed the barrel and shoved it down. "Orders. If he surrenders, he lives." The alien was cuffed, not executed.
That single act—mercy amidst carnage—rippled through the squad, grounding them.
⸻
The Final Push to the Spire
With civilians pulled from rubble, with wounded saved by stim-shots, the Wolves regrouped under a rain of fire.
Remirez raised his rifle, face hard but eyes blazing with pride.
"MARINES! This is our ground, our city, OUR PEOPLE! Push to the spire, NOW!"
And in a storm of bullets, screams, and fire, the Rust soldiers charged—heroism written in every step as they carved a path to the skyscraper's shadow.
Looking up at the sky, they see huge interstellar ships and fighter jets storming everywhere, explosions and plasma fires and beams echoing above them.
But right now, they must focus on the mission, and get to the skyscraper asap!
-
The plaza burned with fire and screams as the Wolves fought tooth and nail toward the skyscraper. Plasma bolts rained down from entrenched aliens, every meter of ground paid for in blood.
Then Captain Remirez reached into his belt and pulled out a matte-black capsule. His visor flickered, tone harsh and calm at once.
"You think we fight alone? Watch and learn, recruits."
He thumbed the activator and slammed it onto the ground.
The capsule hissed, splitting open with a blinding pulse of light. In seconds, ten UNE battle droids emerged — each one armored like a soldier, glowing crimson optics, carrying rifles that hummed with suppressed fury.
They didn't hesitate.
"UNIT DEPLOYED. COMBAT PROTOCOL: VETERAN TEMPLATE. ENGAGING."
The droids stormed forward in perfect synchronization, moving with the precision and ferocity of veteran UNE Marines. Cover fire erupted as they shredded alien squads, suppressing nests that had pinned the Wolves for minutes.
⸻
The Giants Arrive
Then the ground shook.
At first it was distant — heavy thuds echoing through the ruined city. Then the sound grew sharper, faster, like thunder moving on legs.
Out of the smoke, they came.
UNE combat mechs, 15 meters tall, each one a towering juggernaut of blackened steel and glowing blue optics. But unlike any machine Woo Jin had ever imagined, they didn't lumber. They blurred.
In a single step, they crossed entire streets.
Their rifles — the size of aircraft cannons — thundered with FTL+ velocity rounds, each shot punching holes through armored aliens like paper.
The air trembled with sonic booms as they moved faster than the eye could track, vaulting over skyscraper rubble, landing with earth-shaking force.
One mech tore through an enemy formation with a sweep of its arm, scattering alien bodies like leaves. Another planted itself beside the Wolves' position, shielding them with walls of kinetic fire.
⸻
Absolute Chaos
The battlefield turned into pure madness.
• Civilians screamed as alien artillery collapsed nearby towers.
• UNE soldiers cheered as the droids pushed the line, cutting enemies down with ruthless precision.
• The mechs blurred in and out of sight, sonic cracks echoing as they ripped through the enemy like avatars of war itself.
Woo Jin staggered, eyes wide, struggling to even process what he was seeing. "That's... that's not even real..."
Jerome shouted over the chaos: "This is UNE firepower, baby! Holy shit—look at them GO!"
Even Raul, frozen in awe, muttered: "We're ants compared to those things..."
And through it all, Asura Khan moved like the war was his natural state — blink-stepping between mechs, slaughtering stragglers before they could regroup. For the first time, even the UNE war machines seemed to fight with him.
⸻
Remirez's Roar
Captain Remirez slammed a fresh mag into his rifle, visor gleaming with firelight.
"This is UNE doctrine, recruits! Infantry, droids, mechs — we are one machine! No invader survives when humanity marches! Now push! TAKE THAT SPIRE AND FIRE THE DAMN FLARE!"
The UNE Soldiers roared in unison, hearts pounding, fear drowned out by adrenaline and awe.
And under the storm of chaos, they surged once more toward the skyscraper — their destiny waiting at its peak.
-
The skyscraper loomed like a blackened giant over the ruined city, its glass façade shattered, its steel frame glowing with fire.
The squad and UNE forces pressed forward — only to be met with a hellstorm of fire.
Plasma bolts rained down from every window and balcony. Entire squads were cut down before they could dive for cover. Men screamed as armor cracked, some dropping instantly, others crawling before another shot finished them.
"DOWN! COVER, NOW!" Remirez bellowed.
The plaza turned into a meat grinder. Soldiers hunkered behind rubble, firing blindly upward. Woo Jin flinched as a bolt scorched past his helmet, the heat singeing his cheek. Jerome yanked a recruit into cover, blood spraying across his armor as another soldier's torso disintegrated beside them.
⸻
The Grenade Push
"FRAGS OUT!" Raul shouted, fumbling with shaking hands before hurling a grenade through a blown window. The explosion shook the frame, alien shrieks echoing. More soldiers followed, grenades arcing into the kill zones, detonating with thunder.
For twenty minutes, the Wolves and their comrades fought block by block, crawling forward under relentless fire. Every meter claimed cost lives. Finally, the withering barrage weakened. Smoke poured from shattered floors, alien bodies tumbled from windows.
Remirez roared, voice like a war drum:
"AREA CLEAR ENOUGH! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! INTO THE SPIRE, NOW!"
⸻
Inside the Tower
The soldiers and survivors stormed into the skyscraper's gutted lobby. The sight hit harder than the firefight.
Bodies — human and alien alike — were everywhere. Civilians who had never escaped lay burned across marble floors. Soldiers slumped against broken pillars. The smell of blood and charred flesh suffocated the air.
And then — gunfire.
Alien defenders inside the spire opened up with suppressive fire from overturned desks and stairwells. The lobby lit with death again, sparks and plasma flashing like lightning.
"CONTACT INSIDE!" Jerome yelled, ducking behind a collapsed support beam.
"Push them back! Clear the lobby!" Remirez thundered.
The soldiers spread out. Woo Jin's rifle barked as he fired in short, desperate bursts, covering Min-seo as he scanned targets through his HUD. John blink-stepped ahead, flanking the defenders in silence, taking them apart with clean shots. Raul hurled another grenade — this one bouncing off a wall before erupting, silencing an entire nest.
⸻
The Climb
At last, the lobby fell silent save for the moans of the wounded. The Wolves regrouped, hearts hammering. The stairwell yawned open ahead — dark, narrow, crawling with danger.
"Quiet," Remirez ordered. "Stairwell's a choke point. Keep it tight."
They moved upward, boots crunching glass, rifles raised. Each step felt like walking into a grave. Shadows danced on the walls.
At the 10th floor landing, Asura raised a fist — signal. Enemies ahead.
"Flashbang," Woo Jin whispered, pulling the pin. He lobbed it around the corner.
BANG!
The stairwell erupted in white light and thunder. The Wolves surged forward before the echoes died.
Aliens staggered, blinded, their screeches high and disoriented. The Wolves fired in unison, cutting them down in seconds.
The stairwell was theirs. For now.
⸻
The Climb Continues
They pressed upward, floor by floor, firefights exploding on every landing. Each room was chaos — overturned offices turned into trenches, conference halls soaked in blood, aliens ambushing from behind shattered walls. Every fight was slower, harder, bloodier.
And still, the soldiers climbed.
Because the flare had to be fired.
Because if the spire didn't fall, the city wouldn't stand.
-
The soldiers burst out onto the rooftop — smoke, fire, and chaos waiting for them under the blood-red sky. The city stretched out in ruins below, towers burning, streets crawling with UNE soldiers and alien bodies alike.
But there was no time to take it in.
A deafening roar shook the rooftop as two alien attack airships swooped in low, plasma cannons blazing.
"DOWN! TAKE COVER!" Remirez shouted, diving behind shattered concrete. Beams of molten fire carved trenches across the rooftop, soldiers screaming as they were ripped apart.
Remirez's visor snapped to Woo Jin, who was crouched with wide eyes, rifle clutched tight.
"YOU ! ROCKET LAUNCHER! NOW!"
Woo Jin's heart stopped. "M-me?!"
"DO IT, MARINE!"
⸻
The First Shot
Woo Jin scrambled to the weapons crate, yanking free the heavy launcher. His hands shook as he shouldered it, HUD flashing with targeting data.
The first airship screamed past, cannons spitting fire. Woo Jin squeezed the trigger.
FWOOOSH!
The rocket cut through the sky—too wide, missing by meters. The explosion rattled uselessly against the tower beside them.
"DAMN IT, MARINE, STEADY YOUR BREATH!" Remirez roared. "CALM YOUR MIND, MARINE!"
Woo Jin grit his teeth, lungs burning. Don't think of fear. Don't think of missing again. Just... aim.
⸻
The Second Shot
He reloaded, shoulders screaming under the weapon's weight. The second airship banked for another pass, cannons glowing with death.
Woo Jin exhaled slowly. His visor locked.
Now.
He fired.
FWOOOSH!
The rocket slammed into the airship's side. A blinding fireball erupted as the vessel spun out, tearing apart in a shower of debris that rained over the city below.
The rooftop erupted with cheers. But Remirez's voice cut sharp:
"OTHER SIDE, MARINE! TAKE THE SECOND ONE!"
⸻
The Final Shot
The last airship bore down, cannons already firing. Soldiers ducked, debris and ash flying as the rooftop crumbled.
Woo Jin roared, slamming in the third rocket. He raised the launcher, every muscle burning.
FWOOOSH!
The rocket streaked true, smashing straight into the cockpit. The airship disintegrated in a thunderclap, chunks of burning wreckage raining down into the city streets.
For a moment — silence. Then cheers exploded from every soldier on the rooftop.
⸻
The Flare
Captain Remirez stepped forward, breathing heavy, pulling a red signal flare gun from his belt. He raised it high, aimed into the smoke-choked sky, and fired.
FWSSSHHH!
The flare arced upward, exploding into a brilliant red star.
The soldiers and every soldier on the rooftop watched as, across the ruined skyline, other flares lit the heavens. Dozens. Hundreds. Each one signaling another section cleared, another victory seized by UNE hands.
The city had survived.
The soldiers roared in triumph, chants of "UNE! UNE! UNE!" echoing through the burning skyline. Woo Jin dropped to his knees, exhausted, tears mixing with sweat inside his helmet. He had done it. They had all done it.
Remirez looked at Jin, and praised him for his good shots. "What's your name Marine?"
Jin loooed at him then spoke out , "I'm Woo Jin sir! Recruit straight out of camp sir!" As he saluted too.
Remirez gave a nod of respect.
⸻
The Voice of Command
Remirez tapped his helmet, comms clicking alive.
"Monarch, this is Genesis Actual. Spire secured, flare fired, sector clear. Requesting pickup for wounded and evac for civilians. Copy over."
The reply came — calm, authoritative, cutting through the storm like the voice of God.
"Genesis Actual, this is Monarch. Solid copy. Flare confirmed. All units report green across the board. Eryndor Prime stands. Extraction inbound. Good work, Marines. Monarch out."
The Soldiers looked at one another. Exhausted. Bloodied. Shaking.
But victorious.
Remirez looked at them and said "alright boys we're going home! 5 minutes!"
5 minutes later the VTOL came and pick them all up, civilians first. As they're launching up then going down their way... they were met with 1 enemy attack airship!
"Shit! JIN TAKE THE MINI GUN AND BLAST THAT BITCH DOWN!!!"
Jin wasted no time and took it. "Yes sir!"
Jin shot the enemy air ship down, but it was a hard aim due to the VTOL moving and buildings on the way. VTOL took a little damage but it was alright.
"This captain Remirez speaking over, we successfully defended the civilians and are ok."
"This is Monarch speaking. Excellent work marines. Heading back to base now over. Monarch out."
Jin looked at the cities down all in ruins. "Damn... I hope my family is ok..."
The scene switch to the scenery where UNE VTOL's are heading back to base as the sun set almost sets.
-
The VTOLs touched down at Camp Genesis under the pale glow of Eryndor Prime's battered sky. Engines whined to silence. Hatches opened.
Not a single recruit cheered.
The soldiers and the other survivors shuffled down the ramps like ghosts, armor scorched, visors dimmed. Some leaned on comrades, others carried stretchers. Medics rushed to meet them, the smell of blood and burned plating filling the air.
For the first time since the battle began, there was no shouting, no orders, no thunder of guns. Only silence.
⸻
The Showers
Inside the barracks, the recruits stripped off their ruined armor in numb silence. The once-proud exosuits clanged to the floor like discarded shells, scarred with plasma burns and dried gore.
Woo Jin stood under the steaming water, head bowed. Blood swirled down the drain, some his, most not. He scrubbed until his skin burned, but he couldn't wash off the image of a soldier's body exploding beside him... or the alien he shot point-blank, its body jerking before collapsing in a pool of ichor.
His hands trembled.
He had killed.
Even if they were aliens — he had taken lives.
⸻
The Aftermath
Across the barracks, Raul sat on his bunk, helmet in his lap, whispering to himself over and over: "We made it... we made it..." as if trying to convince his own mind.
Min-seo stared blankly at a wall, glasses fogged, his hands shaking too badly to write notes as he always did.
Jerome leaned forward, face buried in his palms, shoulders trembling.
John sat silent, eyes shut, but his fists clenched so tight his knuckles bled.
Other recruits cried quietly, some screamed into their bunks, some stared into nothing. A few couldn't stop shaking. PTSD wasn't a theory anymore — it was there, raw, visible on every young face.
⸻
Woo Jin's Quiet
Woo Jin lay back on his bunk after cleaning up, eyes staring into the dim ceiling. He didn't speak. He didn't cry. He didn't sleep.
His mind replayed every moment — the rocket launcher in his hands, the screams over the comms, the civilians clinging to him, the alien's face before he pulled the trigger.
The cheering victory on the rooftop felt a lifetime away.
Now there was only silence.
⸻
Captain Remirez
Later, Captain Remirez walked through the barracks. His armor was still blackened from battle, his face grim. He didn't yell. He didn't bark orders. He just walked, pausing at each bunk, looking at his recruits not as soldiers, but as children who had survived hell.
Finally, his voice broke the silence, low and steady:
"What you feel now... is normal. The blood. The screams. The weight. Welcome to war. But remember this—UNE does not fight for conquest. We fight to protect. You saved lives today. You held the line. And that's what separates us from the monsters out there. Never forget it."
He left them with that.
⸻
Woo Jin turned onto his side, shutting his eyes tight. But the screams, the fire, and the faces of the dead followed him into the darkness.
The soldiers had survived their first war. But none of them would ever be the same.
-
The barracks were dark, quiet, filled with the low hum of exhausted breathing. Some recruits sat staring into space, some wept quietly, others lay rigid on their bunks as though sleep might never come again. The smell of burned armor and stim fluid still clung to the air.
Then the door hissed open.
The drill sergeant stepped in, not in his usual thunderous march but slow, steady, deliberate. His helmet was tucked under one arm, his scarred face softened in a way none of them had seen before.
He looked over the room — not at soldiers, but at boys and girls who had survived their baptism of fire.
He cleared his throat, his voice calm, low, but carrying enough weight for all to hear.
⸻
The Speech
"Marines... you did great today."
The words stunned them. For six months, his voice had been nothing but fire and fury, tearing them down, molding them into something harder. Now, his tone carried something else — respect.
He stepped forward, glancing at Woo Jin, Jerome, Raul, Min-seo, John, and then across the barracks.
"What you saw out there... the blood, the chaos, the screams — that's war. And it's not easy. It will never be easy. You'll carry it with you, every day. But listen to me... you did not fail. You fought. You saved lives. And for that, you should hold your heads high."
His voice grew heavier, almost fatherly.
"Don't let the nightmares make you forget why you're here. You are UNE Marines. You don't fight for glory, or conquest. You fight so others can live to see tomorrow. That is what makes you different from the monsters we face."
He set his helmet down on a nearby bunk, eyes scanning the room.
"You're not just recruits anymore. Today, you proved you are brothers. Sisters. A family. And you carried one another through the fire. God bless every one of you."
⸻
The Moment
For the first time since returning, some of the recruits straightened. Raul sniffled, Jerome's trembling slowed, Min-seo finally exhaled, John opened his eyes.
Woo Jin felt his chest tighten. His throat burned, but for once, it wasn't just fear. It was pride.
The sergeant gave them one last nod, voice steady as a prayer:
"Rest easy tonight. Tomorrow, the fight continues. But tonight... you've earned your peace."
And with that, he left them in silence again — only now, it was a silence filled not with despair, but with the faint, fragile warmth of hope.
————————————
To be continued...