The Blimp lurched as another volley of bombs detonated across its burning hull. Sirens wailed. Metal screamed. Smoke rolled through the upper decks in churning black waves.
Netoshka burst through the shattered bulkhead first, boots sliding across scorched plating—just in time for a shadow to drop from the rafters.
Krane Stratos.
The Captain of the Sawtooth Razors landed with a thunderous stomp, serrated gauntlets clashing together as sparks dripped from the metal. His cracked visor reflected the flames—and Netoshka standing defiant within them.
"You're outmatched, Aberration," Krane growled, voice modulated into a grinding snarl. "Your squad is dying below. Your ship is breaking apart. And you—"
Netoshka didn't wait.
She lunged.
Steel clashed with steel as Krane blocked her dagger, his other hand swinging in a brutal downward arc. The impact cracked the deck where she'd stood a second earlier. Flames roared around them as the two fought in a blur—blades flashing, gauntlets crushing, boots skidding across glowing red metal.
Krane grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the bulkhead hard enough to dent it.
"You should've stayed buried in Cascadia."
Netoshka drove her knee into his ribs, twisted, and slashed across his helmet, leaving a deep molten scar. He roared, staggered—just long enough for her to strike again—
But Krane pivoted, tricking her—pretending to stumble.
His gauntlet shot out like a bear trap—
CRUNCH.
It closed around her ribs and lifted her off the ground.
"Predictable," he hissed.
He hurled her through a console, sparks bursting across the deck as Netoshka coughed, wiped blood from her mouth, and pushed herself up—
—but Krane was already rushing her.
The engine bay behind them pulsed with roaring turbines… and a rising cloud of smoke.
Netoshka's eyes narrowed.
She vanished into the haze.
Krane swung blindly—
"COME OUT AND—"
Netoshka erupted from the smoke with a scream that cut through the alarms.
She grabbed his helmet and slammed his head straight into the spinning engine gear.
GRRRRRAAAAAAHHHH—!!
Metal and flesh exploded together. The gear shredded half his visor, tearing through the side of his face. Krane shrieked, staggered—
His left arm got sucked into the rotating turbine.
CRUNCH—SHRRRK—BOOM.
The engine seized. His arm detonated in a burst of blood, metal, and sparks. His leg tore at the knee when the torque twisted him sideways.
Krane collapsed, twitching, one arm and one leg gone, screaming in raw animal agony, before he was to then be blown away from the engines, presumably falling to his death.
Netoshka didn't look back.
"Rot in Hell," she spat, stepping past him.
She sprinted out the upper deck, leaving Krane to die inside the choking firestorm.
SHIFT POV — GENRIHK'S TEAM | LOWER DECKS
The reinforced corridors shook as explosions rippled through the ship. Genrihk's revolvers barked lightning, illuminating the chaos as he and the remaining members of Inferius Squad carved through Sawtooth units.
Alev redirected a burning bomber drone using his magnetic tether, slamming it into a pillar. Twila moved behind him, knives flashing in precise arcs. Zopi swept fire across the far hall to block reinforcements. Raine's suppressive cover crackled with photonic pulse rounds.
They weren't just surviving—
They were turning the tide.
Until the two enemy commanders descended the stairwell.
Gorik — flames rippling across his twin cleavers.
Varkesh — armored like a walking furnace, steam hissing from vents.
Genrihk chambered a round.
"Two targets," he muttered. "We take one fast."
Alev nodded. "Preferably the uglier one."
Gorik smiled, revealing metal teeth.
"Skull-head first."
The hall collapsed into violence.
Twila and Raine darted around Gorik in synchronized strikes while Genrihk blasted holes through Varkesh's armor. Alev's tether coiled one of Varkesh's mechanical limbs, forcing him down long enough for Zopi to drop a thermal charge at his feet—
BOOM.
Armor shattered. Varkesh fell to one knee. Genrihk seized the moment, drove his blade through the heat vents of Varkesh's helm—
And Varkesh collapsed, steam pouring from his corpse.
One commander down.
Gorik froze—eyes widening.
"No… no, no—Captain Stratos will—"
He didn't finish.
The Sawtooth line behind him began to break, soldiers stumbling back as panic rippled through them. Harvey, the nervous lieutenant, bolted backward through the smoke.
"KRANE!! KRANE, WHERE ARE YOU!? WE'RE LOSING—!!"
He disappeared into the flames.
Inferius Squad advanced.
They were winning.
RETURN POV — NETOSHKA
She slammed through a final hatch and dropped down onto the lower deck platform.
The others were regrouping, bloodied, exhausted, but standing over Varkesh's ruin.
Netoshka wiped soot from her face.
"Let's Move," she ordered. "Krane's finished. The Razors are breaking. End this fast."
Genrihk's eyes widened. "You killed Stratos?"
"His head met an engine," she said flatly. "He's Dead, i'm sure of it."
Zopi laughed breathlessly.
Alev smirked.
"Knew you'd make him scream."
Twila flicked blood off her knives.
"So… finishing blow?"
Netoshka pointed toward the retreating Sawtooths.
"Push through them all. Leave No survivors. Understand?."
Inferius Squad reloaded in unison.
And they charged.