The Marines braced behind shattered barricades, explosions ripping across the line. Enemy artillery smashed into UNE tanks, mechs crashed down in smoking heaps, and Marines screamed as stims hissed into ruined armor.
Raul shouted, "We can't hold this much longer!"
Carla gritted her teeth. "Hold! You hold this line or the swarm breaks through!"
Then Hunter's voice boomed across the comms.
"JIN! CALL IN THE STEALTH BOMBER!!"
Woo Jin froze for half a second, heart pounding. Then he slapped the right side of his helmet. His visor flickered, HUD bringing up the Tactical Request Interface. His voice shook at first — then steadied.
"This is Squad Wolves! Target coordinates locked — central swarm clusters, grid 7A to 14D. Requesting immediate stealth bomber strike!"
"Confirmed. Five minutes ETA. Hold your lines."
⸻
Five Minutes of Hell
The Wolves dug in.
The enemy surged harder, as if sensing the strike call. Typonian infantry flooded the trenches in waves, shrieking as they clawed against UNE armor. Beams ripped the sky as alien artillery pounded the crater.
Carla fired point-blank into a beast's maw, shoving it back with a grenade. Hudson kept precision fire on commanders directing enemy squads. Marco dragged two wounded Marines behind cover while Min-seo screamed warnings, eyes darting, catching flanks before they closed in.
Reaper flickered through the lines, cutting down ambushers before they could strike. Asura was everywhere, Blink-Stepping between bursts, slashing enemies apart with blinding precision.
Jerome panted, firing wildly. "WHERE'S OUR BIRD, JIN?!"
Woo shouted, "Two minutes!"
The line almost broke. Marines screamed as the Typonian mechs pushed forward, crushing tanks beneath their feet. One Juggernaut was ripped apart in front of them, its armor scattered like toys.
Raul yelled, "WE'RE GONNA GET WIPED!"
Hunter just laughed grimly, reloading. "Nah... wait for it."
⸻
Stealth Bomber Strike
Then the sky split.
From orbit, a squadron of UNE stealth bombers decloaked — sleek black titans cutting through the storm clouds. Their undersides glowed with veins of cosmic energy.
Woo's HUD pinged. "Strike inbound."
The bombers dropped their payload.
FWOOOOM! FWOOOOM! FWOOOOM!
Cosmic energy bombs rained from the heavens, detonating in brilliant spheres of annihilation. Entire swarm clusters vanished, erased in white-blue infernos. Typonian mechs crumbled like toys, their twisted frames ripped apart in shockwaves that melted the ground itself.
The battlefield turned into a sea of fire. The storm clouds above cracked open, lightning dancing with the bombardment.
Every UNE Marine cheered in unison, voices echoing across the comms.
Raul whooped. "OH-HO-HO! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!"
Jerome screamed, "THANK YOU!"
Min-seo's voice cracked, but he shouted too, "We're still alive!"
Carla gave Woo a sharp nod. "Good call, Private."
Hudson murmured, "Lines are clear. At least for now."
Reaper rasped, cloak rippling in the firelight.
"The Queen will feel that."
⸻
The soldiers stood tall among the flames, the sky still raining sparks from the stealth bomber's wrath. They survived five minutes of hell—
And bought the UNE a chance to strike the throne.
-
The battlefield smoldered after the stealth bomber strike. Marines dragged the wounded into lines, stims hissed into torn bodies, and ammo crates snapped open as rifles were slammed with fresh mags.
Woo Jin reloaded with trembling hands, exhaling through his teeth. Across from him, Min-seo patched his shoulder armor with quickfix gel, muttering, "You'll hold. We'll all hold."
Carla's voice cut across the squad. "Five minutes prep. Then we move. This isn't over — it's only begun."
⸻
The Hive Looms
Five minutes later, they stood before it.
The Central Hive entrance.
It wasn't a doorway. It was a gaping abyss, a cavern large enough to swallow starships whole. Veins of alien energy pulsed around its edges like arteries, pumping with a rhythm that made the ground quake. The storm bent around it, lightning pulled inward as though the sky itself bowed before the Queen.
Every helmet pinged red static.
⚠️ SCAN FAILURE. NO READINGS AVAILABLE.
Woo frowned. "...Why can't the AI detect anything?"
Hudson's voice was flat. "Because she's jamming it. The Queen wants us blind."
Reaper rasped quietly. "...Which means she's waiting."
⸻
The Climb
The order came down from the captains, voices carrying over billions of helmets at once.
"UNE Marines — Ascend. Entry at the maw. Use all movement tactics. Do not falter."
Veterans leapt first.
Thousands of soldiers ignited Air Step Tactic, sprinting up invisible stairs through the storm — bounding across midair like titans climbing toward heaven.
But rookies? Rookies had no such luxury.
Carla barked at the Wolves, "Privates — wall run! NOW!"
Woo gritted his teeth, slammed his boots against the hive wall, and pushed upward. His UNE armor thrummed, carrying him higher and higher. Around him, rookies by the billions dug their fingers and boots into the living alloy, sprinting up the endless wall. The hive groaned beneath them, but they didn't stop.
The view was madness — millions Air-Stepping across the void, millions more wall-running up the endless living tower, all rising together like a tide of humanity storming the gates of Hell.
⸻
The Scale of War
Overhead, juggernauts used boosters to scale, their heavy frames slamming into place on the wall. Mechs used grappling cannons to hoist themselves upward, clanking higher with each pull. Battle droids zipped along the vertical ascent in rigid precision.
The Wolves ran together, their visors fogging with exertion. Raul cursed between breaths. "WHY—DOES—IT—HAVE—TO—BE—SO—DAMN—HIGH?!"
Hunter, running with them instead of Air-Stepping, just laughed. "Welcome to the UNE gym, kid!"
Min-seo muttered prayers with every stride. Jerome panted, "My legs—my LEGS—"
Woo growled, pushing forward. "Don't stop—just keep moving!"
⸻
The Maw
At last, after what felt like an eternity of climbing, they reached it.
The Wolves hauled themselves over the lip, boots hitting alien ground. The maw of the hive yawned before them — dark, pulsing, wide enough to fit mountains. The air stank of ichor and burned ozone.
Behind them, the horizon glowed — billions of UNE soldiers, captains at their head, surging into the maw of the Queen. The storm howled, the ground shook, and for a moment, Woo felt like they weren't just soldiers...
They were a flood.
And the Queen was about to drown.
-
The Wolves stood in silence at the lip of the maw.
The inside of the central hive stretched like an endless cathedral — walls of bone and alloy, glowing veins that pulsed with every beat of the Queen's heart. The stench of ichor and ozone thickened, choking the air. Even with their helmets filtering toxins, every Marine felt it pressing on their soul.
No HUD readings. No tactical overlays. Just black static and error codes.
Woo whispered, "It's... quiet."
Reaper rasped back, "Too quiet."
Then their helmets lit in unison.
Monarch's voice.
But this time, it wasn't the clipped tone of a commander issuing orders. His voice was slow, low, each word deliberate, as if carved into their very bones.
"Marines... tread carefully. You have entered a place unlike any other. This is not an ordinary enemy. This is not war as you know it."
The Wolves froze, listening. Every soldier in the cavern stopped moving, the silence becoming a living thing.
"The Queen of the central hive is not flesh, nor metal, nor even concept as you understand it. She is the embodiment of recursion, unpredictability, and hunger. She will fight with powers that cross dimensions, powers that laugh at your instincts and twist your perception."
Min-seo shivered, his voice tight. "...He means she's beyond us."
Hudson murmured, "No. He means she's beyond most. Not us."
Monarch continued, voice heavy like thunder.
"Remember: she will resurrect no matter how you strike her. Only Existence Erasure can end her. Do not waver. Do not falter. If you hesitate, she will return, stronger than before."
The words hung in the suffocating dark.
Raul swallowed hard. "...Then we can't miss."
Carla reloaded with a snap, visor glowing bright. "Then we won't."
Reaper tilted his head, his voice rasping like steel on stone.
"Monarch has spoken. Now we walk into her truth."
The Wolves tightened formation.
The endless hive yawned deeper, pulsing with alien light.
The war was no longer just a battle for survival —
It was a walk into the impossible.
-
The UNE flood surged into the hive. Billions of boots pounded, Juggernauts thundered, mechs climbed.
Then it happened.
The air bent.
Walls dissolved like smoke. The floor cracked into glass. The entire hive shook once—then shattered like a mirror.
Silence.
Woo Jin blinked—suddenly the Wolves were gone. Raul, Jerome, Min-seo, Carla, Asura... everyone. His HUD screamed with static. NO SIGNAL. NO SQUAD LINK. NO MONARCH FEED.
He was alone.
⸻
Across the Hive
It wasn't just him.
Ten billion UNE Marines were ripped apart into fragments, thrown into separate domains.
Some found themselves in vast crimson wastelands, others in endless black corridors, some floating in seas of ichor where gravity failed. Every Marine knew instantly: this was the Queen's power.
Captains growled over half-dead comms:
"Pocket realms—her doing! Stay alive! Counter where you can!"
But most rookies didn't even have time to react.
⸻
The Death of the Lost
In one realm, a platoon of 50 Marines stood confused in an empty white void. Then shadows slithered from every angle—slender, faceless entities with claws of glass. Screams tore through the silence as the squad fired wildly. Rifles blazed—but the bullets bent around their foes like illusions.
Within minutes, the platoon was gone. Limbs fell into nothingness, their souls dragged screaming as the void sealed shut.
In another, a squad of 200 was swarmed by grotesque droids made of bone and alloy. Soldiers fought tooth and nail, stim injectors glowing as they patched missing arms and legs in the middle of battle. One by one, they fell, until only their captain remained—standing on a mound of bodies, roaring as he unleashed—
"Conceptual Tactic: Reverse Cause!"
The droids froze, their own attacks rebounding backwards into themselves. For a moment, the captain stood victorious, blood dripping from his armor. But even he vanished in a storm of shrieking forms.
⸻
The Survival of the Strong
Not all died.
In one realm, Captain Dae-Hyun of the 17th led his squad of 300. Faceless horrors surged endlessly. His men broke, some begging, some screaming.
Dae-Hyun planted his feet, raised his rifle high, and roared:
"Conceptual Tactic: Immutable Flame!"
Fire not of physics, but of principle, burned across the void. His men steadied, their courage igniting with him. They fought, holding ground. Against endless odds, they survived.
Across another realm, Captain Elvira and her squad were swarmed by psychic erasure waves. She simply smirked.
"Conceptual Tactic: Timeline Split."
The realm bent, creating after-images of her squad—hundreds more of her soldiers suddenly flanking the enemy, fighting alongside their originals. Her pocket realm filled with phantom battalions, turning slaughter into stalemate.
⸻
The Wolves
Meanwhile, Woo Jin gripped his rifle, chest heaving. The silence around him pulsed with alien whispers.
Then a voice slithered into his mind.
"Little spark. You are mine, now."
The floor beneath him split open. Shadows poured forward.
Woo steadied himself, whispering a prayer under his breath. His finger tightened on the trigger.
Somewhere else in the hive, Raul screamed into the dark.
Min-seo knelt, trembling but alive.
Carla stood alone, visor glowing.
Reaper walked through a silent void like death incarnate.
And Asura... simply smiled.
The Queen had split the army.
Now it was survival of the chosen.
-
The hive fractured like a mirror. The Wolves shouted for each other—then the light bent, the floor collapsed, and they were gone.
When the world re-formed... they were scattered.
⸻
Woo Jin's Group
Woo landed hard, rolling into a corridor of pulsating walls. His visor scrambled, static filling his HUD. He snapped his rifle up—only to see a figure land beside him with perfect control.
Captain Tanks, a veteran with silver markings on his armor, stood tall.
"You're with me now, kid. Stay close. This hive doesn't play fair."
Before Woo could answer, the walls shuddered and birthed grotesque drones that hissed as they scuttled forward.
Havel raised his rifle, calm as stone.
"Conceptual Tactic: Perfect Recall."
The air shimmered—suddenly, Havel was moving before the drones attacked, as though he'd already fought this fight once before. His bullets cut them down with surgical precision.
Woo's jaw dropped. "...What—how did—"
Havel smirked. "Lesson one, rookie. The best way to survive a maze is to already know the way."
⸻
Raul's Group
Raul blinked into existence in a vast chamber filled with black fog. He coughed, visor struggling to filter the air.
"Hello?! Anybody—"
A gauntlet grabbed him by the shoulder. Olivia, the infamous "Phantom Captain," pulled him down just as a massive shadow claw ripped overhead.
"Keep your head down, loudmouth," she hissed.
Raul stammered, "Wh-what the hell is that?!"
Olivia visor glowed violet.
"Conceptual Tactic: Timeline Split."
Suddenly, dozens of Olivia appeared, each firing from a different angle. The shadow claw froze, confused by overlapping realities, before being torn apart in a storm of bullets.
Raul just muttered, wide-eyed. "...This is way above my pay grade."
⸻
Min-seo's Group
Min-seo materialized in a dripping corridor, ichor dripping from walls like rain. His knees shook—but a massive armored figure landed beside him.
Captain Zhang.
The captain's voice rumbled. "Scared?"
Min-seo nodded, ashamed. "...Y-yeah."
Dae-Hyun chambered his rifle.
"Good. Fear keeps you sharp. Just don't freeze."
From the shadows, faceless horrors emerged, shrieking. Min-seo panicked, nearly dropping his rifle—but Zhang stepped forward.
"Conceptual Tactic: Immutable Flame."
A wall of fire roared to life, burning across the corridor, consuming the horrors as they screamed.
Min-seo's visor reflected the blaze. His hands shook, but he raised his rifle anyway. For the first time, he fired steady.
⸻
Asura's Group
Asura Khan landed in silence. His eyes adjusted instantly, rifle steady.
Captain Yuri landed with him—a cold man with a scarred visor.
They didn't exchange words. They didn't need to.
From the walls, elite Typonian guards erupted—heavily armed, charging at inhuman speeds.
Asura blurred forward—Blink Step, 10 meters, 20 meters, 30— snapping off bursts that tore through armor.
Rourke followed, calm and brutal, every shot a kill.
For a moment, the impossible was simple: two predators working in silence, dismantling everything in their way.
⸻
Carla's Group / Hudson's / Reaper's / Jerome's / Marco's...
Each Wolf had landed with a different captain. Some were dropped into safe halls, regrouping carefully. Others materialized into near-death, only saved by their captain's mastery of conceptual tactics.
Every group knew one truth: the hive was a labyrinth of death, and they were scattered across it like seeds.
Some were safe.
Some were fighting tooth and nail.
And some... no one knew.
⸻
The Wolves were no longer one pack.
They were fragments, scattered across the Queen's endless domain—
and the only way out was forward.
-
For two hours, the hive was chaos.
Marines fought through illusions, traps, and endless waves of entities. Some never reappeared. Some were ripped apart in silence, their screams echoing only through dead comms. Some squads clawed their way back by following their captains' conceptual tactics, dragging rookies to safety through hell itself.
When the fragments rejoined... only 3.5 billion UNE soldiers stood together.
Billions lost. Billions more gone silent, signals crushed under the Queen's interference.
But those left alive burned brighter.
⸻
The Wolves Regroup
Woo Jin stumbled into the gathering formation, helmet cracked, armor smeared in ichor.
"Woo!" Jerome shouted, grabbing him in relief. Behind him, Min-seo and John emerged, both battered but alive.
Hunter clapped Woo on the shoulder. "Thought we lost you, kid."
Hudson nodded. "You four stick close. This is no place for strays."
Carla checked her mag, visor glowing. "Good. We've got most of the pack."
But Asura... Raul... Marco... gone.
No signals. No trace.
And Reaper? Vanished into the maze.
Woo clenched his fists. "...They'll make it. They have to."
Carla's voice was sharp but steady. "We can't wait. Focus on the mission. If she grows angrier, stronger, none of us will make it out."
⸻
The Rally
The surviving 3.5 billion gathered in a vast atrium within the hive. A chamber so massive it stretched for miles, its walls glowing like arteries, pulsing with the Queen's heartbeat.
Juggernauts stood at the front lines, their armor scarred but unbroken. Mechs towered over the formation, weapons humming with FTL+ charge. Captains lined their squads, barking orders, steadying panicked rookies.
The Wolves stood in their place among billions, their breaths syncing with the thunder of boots, their rifles primed.
Then Monarch's voice came through again, heavy as iron.
"Marines — you have endured the storm. You are 3.5 billion strong. And you must strike now. Every moment you hesitate, the Queen grows stronger. Every second you waste, her power multiplies."
The atrium trembled, as if the Queen was listening, laughing.
"Do not give her time. Do not give her peace. Push forward. Enter the sanctum. Erasure must be absolute."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Then the captains raised their weapons.
"MOVE!"
⸻
The Push
The chamber erupted in motion.
3.5 billion Marines surged forward. Tanks rolled. Mechs clanked into formation. Juggernauts marched like moving bunkers. Battle droids swarmed alongside infantry.
The Wolves gritted their teeth and ran with the tide, their armor boosting them to supersonic bursts. Woo's heart pounded in his chest. Jerome muttered prayers between breaths. John kept his head low, rifle tight. Min-seo whispered, "Please, God... keep us alive."
Hunter's laughter cut through the storm. "Now this is war!"
Hudson chambered his rifle with perfect calm.
Carla muttered, "Keep moving forward. Always forward."
The central sanctum loomed ahead, glowing like a furnace of blood and fire.
The Queen was waiting.
And this time... she was ready.
——————————————
To be continued...