Location: FOB Echo Point – Command Center
Time: 05:47 | Day 9 of Infection Collapse
The cold hit harder than usual. Logan's boots echoed across the metal floor as the first rays of dawn sliced through the reinforced windows.
The message had come in an hour ago. Short. Jagged.
> "Iron Shield surrounded. Under siege. Fuel low. Ammo critical. Civilians trapped. Need extraction. God help us."
Logan didn't hesitate. He issued the order.
> [DEPLOYMENT ORDER CONFIRMED]
[MISSION OBJECTIVE: EXTRACT IRON SHIELD / ESCORT TO FOB ECHO POINT]
[PRIMARY VEHICLES: CV90-30 x2, M1128 Stryker x1]
[INFANTRY DEPLOYED: Hunter-1 + Petrescu's Fireteam + Wraith + Reaper One]
[TOTAL WAR CREDITS AVAILABLE: 544.4]
[SUPPORT UNITS: MED-EVAC VAN (Non-combat), FIELD REPAIR KIT]
He opened the map. Distance to Roman: 47 kilometers of forested highway and backroads.
Enemy presence: High.
He closed the system and looked at the team assembled in the motor pool.
"This isn't a supply run," Logan said. "It's a gauntlet. We punch through, grab our allies, and we bring them back. No glory. Just survival."
---
Location: FOB Echo Point – Motor Pool
Time: 06:12
The CV90s—Lynx-1 and Lynx-2—rumbled to life, engines low and ready. The recovered Stalker-1 Stryker followed, repaired and eager.
Behind them, a modified med-evac van idled. Two civilian volunteers—Marcel and Cristian—loaded stretchers and ration packs.
Wraith checked his optics. Reaper slammed an ammo crate shut. Petrescu adjusted the grip on his rifle.
> [CONVOY FORMATION CONFIRMED]
[LYNX-1 (Lead) | STALKER-1 (Center) | LYNX-2 (Rear Overwatch)]
At Logan's signal, the gate opened.
> [CONVOY DEPLOYED – OBJECTIVE: IRON SHIELD]
---
Location: Route 28A – 13km from Echo Point
Time: 07:23
They hit their first contact.
Sprinters poured out of the woods—dozens. Then came shamblers, then twisted forms in shredded camo with tactical gear still clinging to their bodies.
> [INFECTED CLASS: DELTA]
[REPORTED MOVEMENT: FLANKING BEHAVIOR / PACK COORDINATION]
"Contact left!" Wraith shouted from Lynx-1.
Stalker-1's 105mm cannon roared, vaporizing a cluster.
Lynx-2 swept right with its 30mm autocannon, cutting down advancing waves like tall grass.
> [WAR CREDITS EARNED: +174]
Reaper fired from the hatch, dropping a crawler mid-lunge.
Petrescu's team dismounted, forming a defensive arc around the med-evac van.
"Hunter-1, secure the ditch!" Logan ordered.
Gunfire echoed like thunder through the trees.
---
POV: Reaper One – Convoy Center
Shell casings clinked against the roof.
He fired short bursts, tracking fast movers ducking between wrecked cars.
"Bastards are coordinating now," he muttered. "Like they've got radios."
A bloated infected charged the van.
Reaper dropped it with three slugs to the spine.
> [+22 WAR CREDITS]
He shouted to Cristian inside the evac van. "Keep your head down!"
Cristian gave a shaky thumbs up.
---
Location: Route 28A – Halfway to Roman
Time: 08:06
> [INFECTED NEUTRALIZED: 202]
[TEAM STATUS: 1 MINOR INJURY | NO CASUALTIES]
The road cleared. Bodies smoldered in the cold wind.
Logan looked out over the burned trees.
"Push on," he said. "They'll be worse up ahead."
---
Location: Iron Shield Defensive Line – Roman Outskirts
Time: 08:43
Smoke curled into the sky. Craters lined the street. Dead infected littered the barricades.
And they were still coming.
The convoy crested the hill just as another wave crashed into Iron Shield's final checkpoint.
> [VISUAL CONFIRMED – IRON SHIELD UNDER ACTIVE SIEGE]
[ENEMY COUNT: 300+ INFECTED]
[DEFENSE LINE BREACHED: EAST SECTOR]
Logan grabbed the radio.
"This is Echo Point Convoy to Iron Shield. We're on-site. Hold your perimeter—we're coming in hot."
> "Copy that! We're down to three BTRs and one tank. Holding west and south. East is collapsing. Civilians are boxed in near the cathedral!"
"Then we fight east first."
---
POV: Lynx-1 Gunner – Iron Shield Siege
The 30mm autocannon opened fire. Target-rich environment. Tight alleyways turned into kill corridors.
"AP burst—five rounds!"
Flesh and bone vaporized. The infantry team dismounted and moved to clear nearby buildings.
Hunter-1 followed, stacking up on doorframes. Breach. Clear. Kill. Repeat.
> [WAR CREDITS EARNED: +212]
---
POV: Sofia (via drone feed at Echo Point)
Time: 09:00
Sofia watched from the tower, her eyes locked on the drone relay.
She gripped the railing.
"They're surrounded," she whispered. "God… they're surrounded."
Marcel nodded. "But they're breaking through."
---
Location: Roman Cathedral – Extraction Point
Time: 09:13
"Civilians located!" Petrescu shouted over comms. "North vestibule—behind makeshift barricade. Twenty-plus. Medicals, kids, wounded."
Reaper and Wraith advanced with the team, clearing corridors with brutal efficiency.
Cristian moved with Marcel, directing evac toward the waiting van.
A Delta-class infected broke through a stained-glass window.
Reaper put it down with a sidearm to the jaw.
---
Location: Convoy Retreat Route
Time: 09:45
> [INFECTED NEUTRALIZED DURING EXTRACTION: 314]
[IRON SHIELD PERSONNEL RECOVERED: 28 (6 KIA DURING RETREAT)]
[CIVILIAN SURVIVORS EVACUATED: 19]
The convoy rolled back into the woods, engines whining.
Stalker-1 trailed smoke from a glancing hit.
Hunter-1 rode on the armor plating, weapons ready.
The infected followed—packs chasing into the hills.
---
Location: Route 28A – RTB En Route
Time: 10:32
Another ambush. Sprinters from the ravine.
Logan called it early.
"Lynx-2, suppress left side. Hunter-1, dismount. Cut a path."
> [WAR CREDITS EARNED DURING RTB: +276]
Bodies fell. Trees burned. But they kept rolling.
---
Location: FOB Echo Point – Arrival Gate
Time: 11:17
The gate opened to the returning convoy.
Iron Shield's battered personnel stepped out, eyes wide at the base.
Dumitrescu met Logan at the gate.
"You actually came," she said, voice hoarse.
"We said we would," Logan replied.
He looked at the Command Log:
> [TOTAL INFECTED ELIMINATED: 792]
[WAR CREDITS EARNED: +662]
[BONUS – CONVOY INTEGRITY (+100), CIVILIAN EXTRACTION (+75), MINIMAL FRIENDLY LOSSES (+65)]
[NEW BALANCE: 1,446.4 WAR CREDITS]
---
Location: Medbay – Triage Zone
Time: 12:40
Dr. Moraru worked fast, aided by two new Iron Shield medics.
"Some of these wounds are surgical," she whispered. "These infected aren't random."
She looked at one infected corpse retrieved by Hunter-1. Dog tags still around its neck. Bulletproof vest cut open.
Shot groups tight. Like it had trained for CQB.
---
Location: Command Center – Secondary Console
Time: 13:00
The system pulsed again.
> [PROJECT SENTINEL – OBSERVATION LOG EXPANDED]
[BEHAVIORAL METRIC: "TACTICAL ADAPTATION" DETECTED IN NODE ALPHA]
[AI INTERFACE RESPONSE: RE-CLASSIFYING MISSION PARAMETERS…]
Logan closed the terminal.
"Something's watching," he said under his breath. "And it's learning."