"Get up, and fight! Do you still have a rifle? Shoot! Do you have no ammunition? Use your bayonet! Do you still have your fist? Punch! Do you still have your nails? Slash them with it! Do you only have your teeth? Bite back! Until you are dead—to give up is unacceptable!"

- General Frank von Stauffer, Arcane Wars

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West Kusari

Near Rampur City

March 18, 2026

"AT! I need AT!" shouted Oakley as he ducked underneath his turret. Below, he watched as the shellshocked Timmy disengaged from the side door, lowering his rifle, before moving.

Oakley on the other hand noticed a group of soldiers coming out of the rubble ahead of them. In seconds, he rose, grabbing the trigger of his machine gun, and spraying at them as he screamed. One of them sent a rocket straight at them, but a split-second shot managed to nail the shaped charge, and it exploded a few meters away from him.

Gunfire from his machine gun intensified, forcing all the enemy Kusari soldiers into hiding before his eyes switched back to that massive, eight-legged monster—named aptly as 'Enforcers' by their enemies.

Freya…

"AT! I need AT!" he shouted again, as he lowered himself. On the other hand, Timmy, still shaking, finally handed him something. It was a case containing machine gun rounds. "AT! I said AT!"

Timmy stared at Oakley blankly, his ears shot up by that explosion earlier. Even Oakley could barely hear himself, his screams overpowered by that eternal white noise that rang through his ears.

"Damn it! Is there—?"

"Keep shooting them!" Timmy shouted, as he forcefully handed the case of ammo at Oakley. "They're going to get to us!"

Gunshots began nailing their HMLV, and Oakley, having no choice, rose back up, placing the case of ammo to his side, before turning his turret, and grabbing his machine gun again. He fired every last bullet he had, straight at the soldiers trying to assault their position.

Another boom came from that singular eight-legged mech. Its massive gun was aimed straight at the tanks used by Captain Henrietta's H Company. He already knew earlier that it attacked a tank that had her insignia on it.

It was the same tank that the gunner lady she always talked with was on.

He couldn't accept it. He couldn't even see her tank anymore. And this thing, it kept firing that damned gun in their direction. Was she dead? Was she alive and injured?

Damn it all! I need to take its attention, somehow!

He looked down at Timmy, he seemed to be hard at work shooting people. Their driver, on the other hand, was injured and had his head planted on the wheel. Sergeant Higgs said he still had a pulse, but he was knocked unconscious.

The sergeant on the other hand…he too was injured, lying on the rubble at a nearby house, his face bandaged from the HE shot earlier that nicked their position. It seemed that the medic who treated him left him there for now.

They couldn't exactly pull back anymore either. They were already being slowly surrounded, and one of their tires was flat, shot by one of those drones' autocannons. The only reason Timmy and Oakley were here was to man the gun on the HMLV and use it for its meager protection.

Come on, think!

As his machine gun ran out of ammo, he forcefully removed the empty case, before slamming in the new one that Timmy gave him. Right then, he went down to their vehicle and began searching frantically for an armed tube.

"Oakley? What the hell are you doing?!" Timmy barked at him.

"Searching for AT," Oakley replied, as he checked each recoilless rifle and MANPAT that they had sitting on the floor of their HMLV. He soon found a single, unguided recoilless gun, the RCL-4. It was a simple, disposable, shoulder-fired weapon with a 90mm HEAT projectile.

"W-what? Are you going to try to shoot that thing?!" Timmy screeched, terrified.

"It's firing its gun at those Royal Guard tanks," Oakley climbed up into the turret, holding it cautiously. "I need to hit its side."

"We don't know if that can even penetrate it!"

"So? Do we just let those girls die? They're pinned by that thing!"

Oakley readied himself, standing straight until he could peek out of his turret's ballistic shields. Checking if his back was clear, he steadied himself and aimed the recoilless gun straight at the enemy drone mech.

You damned drone bastard.

He took a deep breath.

Take this!

With the backblast clear, he opened fire, sending the HEAT warhead straight at the enemy drone. It quickly struck the side of its turret, causing a minor explosion that stopped it for a second.

Three more four-legged drones appeared on the battlefield—which they now started to call 'Couriers' based on the name given by captured CFN soldiers. Gunfire from the marines hidden on the various destroyed buildings and houses began to nail the lighter drones.

In response, they opened fire with their autocannons, literally tearing through multiple buildings around Oakley. He on the other hand threw the empty tube, taking his machine gun again to open fire at the courier drones.

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He didn't know how long it took, as he screamed while firing everything he had, his ears and mind turning numb as his heavy machine gun tore through scores of enemies.

They weren't exactly the most sturdy opponents. While it was hard for most to kill them, as one had to shoot them at the right places, they were penetrable by heavy machine guns, and Oakley had been fighting these things for a while now. He was getting used to it, aiming for their weak spots: the engines, their sensors, their ammunition, and even their ammunition racks.

Before he knew it, the battlefield was silent. Timmy below breathed raggedly before he collapsed on his seat and placed his hands on his face. His ammunition must be out already. When Oakley looked down, there was not a single belt or case of ammunition for him either.

They had been holding this position for hours now, ever since they were surrounded by this sudden counterattack. This town…this damned town would be their coffin soon.

"It's still twitching," Oakley said, his voice turning anxious, as he watched the enforcer drone move on the road ahead of them languidly much like how an injured animal would. It limped backward, while its turret slowly turned to their direction. "Fuck! Timmy, grab Jerry, take cover, and keep watch. I'm going to search for an AT tube!"

He jumped out of their HMLV, rifle at hand, while Timmy limped out of their vehicle, carrying Jerry, their driver, over his shoulder. The two went straight into the building where Sergeant Higgs was on, while Oakley ran around the battered streets.

There was very little movement by this point. The few marines left hiding prone on the rubble barely responded to him when he asked for any remaining AT weapons. There weren't very many officers left either, and the bodies were too many to count.

Soon, he saw the corpse of a marine that held an RCL-4. Rushing, he grabbed it and ran back to his earlier position. By the time he reached it, he saw that the enemy drone, the enforcer, was still ahead of their HMLV. It seemed to have ignored their vehicle now that it stopped firing at it.

Or was it a malfunction—he didn't know. What he did know was that it was turning its turret again to the currently disabled tank used by Captain Henrietta, and Oakley wasn't going to let it get another shot in. Kneeling, he placed his RCL-4 over his shoulder and aimed it at the enemy drone.

Then, he opened fire again, destroying it with a brilliant detonation when he struck its ammunition rack.

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Blood.

Freya struggled to breathe inside of their tank, as she felt smoke filling each breath she took. Their fuel tank caught fire earlier when it was nailed badly by a shot that penetrated their armor. They were barely even saved by their automatic fire control system.

Still, the smoke remained and stifled her lungs, and the headache only made it worse. She struggled to even look at her targeting sights, her blood splattered on the screen.

I don't care. I have to keep fighting.

She already fired this gun the fifth time on that 'Enforcer' drone, but each time, she couldn't penetrate it because of its damned armor. She had to test its weak spot again and again.

Luckily, something nicked its side earlier. Must be those Marines.

She even wondered if it was that guy, Oakley, who did it.

"APFSDS in!" shouted Linze behind Freya, as she painfully loaded another round inside the barrel. "Come on, shoot it now!"

"I'm trying," Freya said, wiping the blood that dripped near her eyes. "Is the Captain awake?"

"She's still knocked unconscious…don't worry. She's fine! Just take the shot!"

"I'm on it. I'm just searching for its weakness…"

She gritted her teeth. The enforcer drone now already nearly had its main gun aimed at her tank. She began to aim at its turret ring, though she knew with her heart that it would take so much luck to even connect a shot on such a difficult target.

Still…

As she was about to press her finger on the trigger, suddenly, the enemy drone exploded brutally.

"W-what…" Linze gasped behind Freya. "Someone shot it?"

"...There's no tank from that direction," Freya said, frowning. "Must be those marines."

Suddenly, out of the corner of her sight, a courier drone appeared. Its guns turned in the direction where the warhead that killed the enforcer came from. It began to open fire, and just as it did—Freya's heart constricted painfully.

Her memories flashed in front of her eyes. That guy, who had been helping her for many weeks now.

Oakley!

Quickly, she aimed the gun at the drone and opened fire. That quickly destroyed it, yet her panic remained.

"Jeanne! Can we still not move this thing?" Freya asked, angry.

"Afraid not! The engine's still not budging. Damn it!"

"Keep calm…everyone," Henrietta breathed out from the top, her hands shaking. "I…already called for help."

"Linze, can you help her now? It's clear for now!" Freya shouted.

"R-right. Captain, stay still, I'll use my magic now—wait, Freya?"

"This tank is stuck and we can't communicate with the marines because of the enemy's jamming," Freya curled her fist as she took her arcano rifle. With her wand tucked and ready too, she climbed up into the hatch. "I need to take a look around us to see if more enemies are coming, or we'll die."

"Hey, wait! It's dangerous outside!"

"And this tank will be our coffin if we're sitting ducks in here!"

Freya closed her hatch, before jumping off her tank. With her gun ready, she rushed through the tight, constricted, and damaged streets. Another courier drone appeared in front of her, but she aimed her gun at it. With a squeeze on the trigger, she let out a dozen glowing bullets, each one tearing chunks off the drone before it could fire a single shot.

Then, it collapsed to the ground.

"Is there anyone out there?!" Freya shouted as she continued running. "Marines? Anyone? Please! We need help—"

"Freya! Get the fuck down!" a shout took her attention to the left. It was his familiar face. He was alive! Elated, she was about to rush to him, until she realized something.

He was holding a tube AT weapon on his shoulder.

"There's a drone behind you!" he continued.

A hail of bullets nearly nailed Freya, but she ducked as ordered, planting her face on the ground.

Oakley on the other hand fired his weapon, sending it straight into another courier drone behind Freya. The drone exploded, right when it sent a missile just a few meters on top of Oakley.

The drone's destruction must have caused its guidance system to go off-course, and instead of hitting Oakley, the building near him exploded. The detonation sent a hundred debris flying in all directions, and before Freya could save him, a piece of steel shot through his shoulder.

Oakley managed to escape before the building collapsed behind him, but Freya watched as he limped close to her, his eyes wide, as blood pooled out of the piece of steel, probably from the foundations of the building, which protruded from his shoulder.

"O-Oakley?"

He fell on his knees in front of her, his mouth hanging empty. His eyes, it was filled with horror, before he spoke painfully.

"...Freya. I don't want to die."

Then, he collapsed in front of her.

"Oakley!"

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