Bluescale Hub 2: Battle Simulation Room
The squad stood in their training suits, surrounded by sleek simulation pods glowing with soft green light. Gilbert adjusted the sling on his newly reattached arm as Anastasia finished inputting their armor specs into the nearby console.
"Okay, guys," Gilbert began, "I know we're not at full throttle yet, but we need to get used to space combat—especially in battlefield types we're not familiar with. So let's do this."
"Someone's showing off," Kean quipped, cracking his neck. "Gonna fight with one arm, huh?"
"Just so you know," Anastasia cut in, stepping back from the console. The simulation pods can simulate injuries—or ignore them. Gilbert'll have both arms functional on the inside."
Gilbert gave her a curt nod. "Alright, let's go."
The squad climbed into their pods. Anastasia remained outside, watching as the pods' hatches sealed shut. A helmet apparatus descended, locking into place over each of their heads. Thin injectors interfaced directly with their neural circuits. As the pods filled with a translucent green solution, their eyes slowly closed.
Their consciousness drifted.
Gilbert opened his eyes to find himself seated in a moving spacecraft. Around him, his squad sat ready—fully armored. Other knights filled the dropship, though their faces were unknown.
He examined his armor. It had undergone small but meaningful upgrades.
The frame was bulkier, now completely sealed.
A new air recycling system is integrated with his breathing unit.
Vents—two were added at his flight unit—making it seem like he had six boosters.
His shoulder-mounted assault rifle had been upgraded to the Serpent Type IV Power Rifle, a heavier variant linked to his cooling system for sustained fire.
His pistols were replaced entirely: now dual Fang II Rail Pistols, their squarish barrels snapping forward thirty degrees to reload with compact, 20-round magazines.
His swords remained the same.
The others in his squad took a moment to check their suits and weapons, cycling through the upgraded systems. Power levels, magnetic recoil compensators, shield calibration—all tested in silence. The simulated craft rumbled as it neared the drop zone. The sound of the simulation AI rang in their minds.
Location: Mars-Earth Ring—Orbital Transfer Hub, Red354
Condition: Zero-G overrun by Styx
Objective: Secure Landing Bay C, disable Hub defenses, and reach Central Control.
Rumble of thrusters shook the dropcraft. The internal lights flashed red as proximity alarms rang.
"Ten seconds to breach," the AI chimed in their helmets.
Gilbert stood at the front, dual pistols magnetically locked to his thighs, both swords sheathed across his back. His Serpent V power rifle twitched, syncing with his neural feed.
"Line up and prepare for zero-g boarding," he ordered. "Kean, lead recon sweep. Adam, set overwatch the moment we breach. Vivian, you're with me on suppression. William, shield up."
"Always," William muttered, planting his feet. His new shield extended to its full size with a sharp whumph, locking magnetically in place to his arm as his spear pulsed with heat.
Anastasia handed out final ammo canisters, her gloved hands moving fast.
"Armor seals good. Ammo synced. Meds prepped. You're green." she said, stepping back beside Chen Mei.
The side doors exploded inward with a whoomp of decompression. The squad shot forward activating their flight units entering a spinning corridor bathed in red lights. Debris drifted through the vacuum as their magnetic boots kept them grounded.
"Kean. Mark targets."
"Already on it," Kean called, his scouting module pinging hostiles down the main corridor. "Three automated drones up ahead—light plating. Turrets to the right wall."
"Adam—disable them."
The sniper floated backward, planting himself against the outer hull of the corridor wall. His visor flickered with data as his rifle shifted into sniper mode. A deep breath. The three shots in quick succession.
Each drone crumpled in silence.
"Vivian— we are on point. William, intercept anything coming left. Mei, Ana, stay center."
The advanced, Vivian igniting one flamethrower, blue flames roaring as it curled along the wall to flush out motionless sentries. The hallway flared with light and heat as she fired a concussive round into an enemy barricade scattering armor plating like confetti.
Suddenly, a breach hatch opened above.
"Top vent!" Gilbert barked, firing his pistols upward, One bot dropped—then two. He activated his electro sword, electricity dancing down the length as he shot upward, slicing a bot clean through the midsection before kicking off a bulkhead landing in a crouch.
William rotated beside him, catching another drone on his kite shield before plunging his spear through the gap.
"Holding left! They're rerouting down this vent—Gilbert, watch your rear!"
Gilbert twisted. Another drone—then a humanoid Styx drone emerged, larger in scaled plating.
"Armor type confirmed—Styx hybrid drone."
He holstered his pistol, drawing his other blade, glowing orange. With two quick slashes, he disarmed it then ran his blade through the core grease and some other fluid seeping through the wound as it fell.
"Clear for now," Kean said, scanning forward. "I see a security door fifty meters ahead— we may need a manual override."
"Ana. Vivian, cover her. Kean, scout past that door when it's open. Adam, hold the rear."
The mechanic floated up beside the locked hatch, magnetic boots anchoring her in place.
"Give me ten seconds."
Gilbert hovered behind her, pistols at the ready.
"Eight," she said.
"Six," Vivian said, spraying flame into a side passage where a turret began to spin.
"Got it!" The door hissed open.
Kean darted forward, his blade humming to life. He dashed into a side chamber, cutting down two sentry drones before they could power up. "Room clear. Data port here."
The squad moved into formation covering the entire chamber.
"We've secured Landing Bay C. Objective one complete," Gilbert said as he connected to the data port. "Next objective central command."
Using the information he got from the Landing Bay Gilbert led his squad forward as other AI squads moved past them using the there secured area.
The corridor ahead flickered with unstable lighting. Sparks rained from a broken power conduit, bathing the space in an eerie strobe.
Kean's voice crackled over the squad comms.
"Thermal signatures up ahead—non-hostile. Looks like civilians."
A group of twelve civilians, dressed in scattered uniforms and rags, huddled near an airlock—scared, dirty, and malnourished. Several had children with them. A man with a torn ID badge stepped forward.
"Please—you're Knights, right? You have to help us. They've taken over the upper decks. Everyone else is gone…"
Gilbert hesitated.
Chen Mei immediately moved to them, checking for injuries.
"Low oxygen saturation. Some trauma. Minor lacerations."
"We can't leave them," she said firmly.
William looked at Gilbert.
"Sir. Orders?"
Before Gilbert could speak, the lights cut out completely.
Then came the sound: a wet, metallic growl that reverberated through the bulkhead.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A ventilation shaft above burst open—metal shrieking.
The first Styx beast-class hybrid dropped resembling a grotesque hyena. Ten feet tall, it was a twisted fusion of organic flesh and metallic grafts—three eyes gleaming, limbs elongated and ending in spike-driven appendages. Tubes ran down its spine, pumping black ichor into its body.
It let out a low-frequency screech that vibrated their armor systems.
"Contact! Beast-class!" Gilbert shouted, drawing both pistols.
"Move the civilians behind the junction wall!" Vivian yelled, flames roaring to life from her vambraces.
The beast lunged. William caught its swipe with his shield, but was thrown back—slamming into a wall hard enough to dent the plating.
Gilbert opened fire—his pistols unleashing railgun bursts that shredded armor, but barely slowed the creature. His shoulder rifle kicked in, bursting into a focused stream that seared part of the creature's limb.
Kean blink-jetted behind it, slashing deep with his heatblade—molten sparks flew. Adam, from the far end of the corridor, shifted his rifle into, magnetic acceleration mode (mag mode), his rifle glowed light blue channeling a high-voltage shot into the beast's center mass. It staggered—but didn't fall.
Vivian's shotgun roared, point-blank into the thing's leg, causing it to drop.
Then Gilbert leapt, drawing his electro sword and plunging it into the base of the creature's neck. The beast spasmed—shrieked—and finally fell
"That was one," Kean said, breathing hard. "More inbound. Four signatures. Bigger. Faster."
Gilbert made a snap call.
"Mei, Ana—move the civilians to Bay C and lock the blast door. Now!"
"But—" Anastasia started.
"Go!"
The two took off, guiding the civilians back the way they came as the rest of the squad advanced down the corridor.
The squad carved through beast-class Styx as they pushed forward. Strange growls reverberating through the metallic walls many from deeper within.
They reached the inner defense control station, but the door was sealed. Gilbert moved to slice it open manually.
Then a voice cracked through all channels.
"White Horn Squad 7B1 to all units. Command override. You've exceeded the mission window. Bastion Echo will be cleansed in T-minus 90 seconds. Clear out or burn with it."
Gilbert's blood ran cold.
"Say again?"
"We've rigged the fusion core. Central Command authorized bringing down the hub. You took too long. Out."
Kean muttered, "That's suicide. We're still in the blast zone."
"We're not leaving those civilians," Anastasia snapped across the comms.
"There's no time to reach the core," William added grimly. "We can't stop it."
Gilbert stared at the control panel.
They had been so close.
The countdown ticked in their HUDs: T-minus 72 seconds.
He released a long sigh.
"Fall back," Gilbert ordered, every word sharp and bitter. "Ana, Mei—prepare evac route. Get everyone to the dropcraftnow."
"Copy—double-timing it," Mei said, her voice tight.
The team turned, running as the lights flickered again. More beast-class hybrids were swarming behind them—drawn by the energy surge of the impending meltdown.
They fought their way back through fire and blood. Gilbert carved through a second hybrid, his heat blade glowing white-hot. Vivian's flames filled corridors. Kean covered their flank with suppressive fire. Adam collapsed one section of the hallway with an explosive shot to buy them time.
At last—they reached Bay C.
Anastasia had the dropcraft powered up and hovering.
"Get on! GET ON!"
The ship's bay doors sealed as the outer wall began to glow white—radiation buildup.
"Everyone in," Mei confirmed.
Gilbert was last aboard. He turned once, watching the station corridor behind them dissolve into blinding blue light.
Then Red354 detonated.
The simulation ended.
Mission Result: Failure- Primary Objective incomplete
Survivors: Squad 5A9 and 12 Civilians
Fatalities: Squad 7B1, Unconfirmed Civilian Total
The simulation AI sounded wrenching the knife of their failure as a last blow.