"KEEP FIRING!" Samuel's voice cut through the chaos like a battle horn. His Havok Mk-V siege cannon roared, each shot slamming into the Steel Knight's exposed joints, sparking but barely slowing the behemoth.

Outside, the Steel Knight let out a guttural, metallic roar, clawing at the twisted blast doors. Its frame was too massive to enter outright, but with each strike, the gap in the barricade widened, exposing the grotesque horde behind it—Polaris soldiers with pulsating, flesh-like claws swarmed in its shadow, their unnatural howls piercing the air.

"Fall back to secondary positions!" Samuel bellowed.

The soldiers scrambled to comply, firing suppressive shots as they retreated. Amid the chaos, Corporal Reed tripped, struggling to regain his footing.

"Move, Reed!" someone yelled.

Before he could rise, a massive claw smashed through the barricade and caught him mid-sprint.

"AHHHHH!" Reed's scream tore through the air as the Steel Knight dragged him, thrashing, into the rubble. His cries ended in a sickening crunch of bone and armor.

"Reed! NO!" a soldier tried to rush forward but was yanked back by Samuel.

"KEEP SHOOTING!" Samuel roared, his voice heavy with a mixture of desperation and fury. "Make them pay for every inch!"

Private Dawson manned the turret, his hands trembling as he tried to steady his aim. A bone-chilling shriek froze him in place. From the shadows, a Polaris abomination lunged, its grotesque limbs sinking into his flesh.

"AH! GET OFF ME!" Dawson screamed, thrashing violently.

The men around him reacted quickly, unloading their weapons into the creature until it slumped, lifeless. But Dawson collapsed with it, blood pooling beneath him.

"MAN THE TURRE—" Captain Jones's order was abruptly silenced by a stray bullet that struck him clean in the forehead. He crumpled to the floor without another word, his command dying on his lips.

Samuel gritted his teeth, his heart hammering against his ribcage. The losses were mounting faster than he could count. He couldn't falter. Not now.

"HOLD THE LINE!" Samuel bellowed, his voice a rallying cry over the chaos.

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"FOR THE SPEAR OF DEFIANCE! FOR THE SOLAR CORE!"

The remaining soldiers found renewed strength in his words, firing relentlessly even as the Steel Knight unleashed another devastating blow.

With an earsplitting screech, the Steel Knight drove its claws into the barricade and tore it apart. The doors wrenched open, revealing the full enormity of the beast. The Knight loomed in the gaping breach, its crimson eyes burning with malevolence. Its shoulders scraped the edges of the Thermus walls, and the very ground trembled beneath its monstrous weight.

"God help us," someone whispered, trembling and crying.

Samuel raised his Havok cannon and fired. The shot hit the Steel Knight square in the chest, making it recoil slightly, but it pressed forward, unrelenting. Its glowing eyes locked onto Samuel, identifying him as the leader and a priority target.

"FALL BACK!" Samuel shouted. "REGROUP TOWARD THE LOWER FLOORS!"

The men scrambled to obey, but the Steel Knight's massive claw plunged into their escape route, blocking it with a thunderous crash.

"NO!" Samuel roared, pivoting to fire again.

The battle descended into utter chaos. Polaris abominations swarmed the remaining soldiers. Private Klein was the next to fall,"No NOOO—"overwhelmed by three of the horde. His desperate gunfire was the last sound before he was dragged down into the sea of grotesque bodies.

Lieutenant Harris followed moments later,"ACK Ah..."impaled by a claw that lifted him like a broken doll. His bloodied figure hung limp as the creature tossed him aside.

"Hold together!" Samuel shouted, though his voice cracked under the weight of his own despair.

One by one, the men fell—another, and another, and another.

By the time the dust settled, Samuel stood alone.

The Steel Knight loomed over him, its massive form blotting out what little light remained. The horde circled him now acting more feral than sane , their howls reaching a fever pitch.

Samuel's breath came in shallow gasps, his armor scorched, cracked, and smeared with blood. Yet, his grip on the Havok cannon remained unyielding. His knuckles were white, his hands trembling, but he refused to let go.

"Come on," he muttered, his voice rasping. He looked like a dead man walking, but his spirit refused to bow.

"Let's... finish this," he whispered, though his parched throat turned the words into barely audible gasps.

He glanced down at his weapon. Empty. A bitter laugh escaped his lips as he rummaged through his pouch and pulled out a single, battered cartridge.

Sliding it into the chamber, he paused for a fleeting moment, the thought crossing his mind. Should I end it here?

A faint smile crept onto his bloodied face.

"Nobu's gonna kill me if I give up now," he chuckled, his voice hoarse.

The Steel Knight's claw surged toward him, ready to crush him. Samuel raised his rifle and aimed for the massive hand. As he pulled the trigger, the Knight's arm jerked back violently, as if yanked by an unseen force.

"What the hell?" Samuel muttered, squinting through the haze.

Through the smoke and fire, a towering mech appeared, its polished surface gleaming in the dim light. It slammed into the Steel Knight, locking it in a brutal grapple.

"Seraphim?" Samuel whispered, his voice laced with disbelief.

"SAMUEL, HOLD ON!" Azerl's voice thundered from the mech's comms as more units from the Seraphim battalion descended onto the battlefield. Their towering machines joined the fight, focusing fire on the Steel Knight.

Samuel's heart swelled with a flicker of hope as the mechs engaged the monstrosity, buying him a moment to breathe.

But that hope was short-lived.

The ground beneath Samuel groaned ominously, cracks as it cracks through the floor.

"Ah, shit," he muttered, bracing himself.

In his mind, he had one last thought

"If this is it... at least I gave them hell."With a deafening crash, the ground gave way, and Samuel plummeted into the darkness below. The world spun as rubble and debris followed him into the crumbling lower levels of the Thermus.