Ain’t no light. Ain’t no sound ‘cept the wind screamin’ through the valley. I grip my rifle tight—tight like my life hangin’ off it, knuckles goin’ white. Min-Joon walkin’ beside me, same way, same grip, both our boots pressin’ into the dirt that barely show itself. This storm eat the world whole, swallows it till it ain't nothin’ left but blackness. You only see when the sky split open with lightning, flashin’ quick, givin’ you a glimpse at the terrain before snatchin’ it back like it never happened.
The wind howlin’ through the rock, but up ahead? A maw. A great, gaping mouth in the land. A cave. And inside, we know what’s lurkin’.
"Vortex," Min-Joon say, voice barely cuttin’ through the storm. "Even if we get there, what are we gonna do? The elites are in Argov. We’re just regular."
I glance at him. "Then we gon’ do what we can."
He exhale, like he already knew I’d say that. But he keep walkin’ anyway.
We step inside, outta the storm, but it don’t get better. The dark here? Different. It ain’t just the absence of light. It’s smotherin’. No echoes. No whispers. Just, squash, quench, click, us walking on different shit. Rifle up. Safety off.
Then—
I stumble.
Both our guns snap down like reflex. Aim. Finger on the trigger.
But it ain’t no livin’ thing.
It’s dead.
A Navorian corpse.
Even in the dark, I can see how big it is. Them scales slick, glintin’ under Min-Joon’s flashlight. Its face? Gone. Blown clean off. Black blood still leakin’, spillin’ into the cracks like the earth itself is drinkin’ it up.
I stare, takin’ it all in.
Damn.
The Argov armor work. These elites? They the real deal.
Min-Joon taps me, whisperin’. "Look ahead."
I follow his light—
More bodies. Dozens. A whole graveyard of Navorians layin’ in heaps.
My breath come slow. "Sheesh."
We step forward, movin’ through the slaughter, but then—then the bodies change.
Ain’t just Navorians no more.
It’s humans.
Torn apart. Bodies mangled so bad you can’t even tell who they were. Blood sprayed across the cave walls. Some of ‘em still holdin’ their weapons.
Min-Joon’s flashlight hit somethin’ ahead—somethin’ movin’. A body twitchin’ in the dark.
"Someone alive," he murmur.
We move, fast but careful. Closer. And there he is, layin’ in a pool of blood. The Argov armor thick, chunky, but light ‘cause of the energy system runnin’ through it. His chest barely rises, barely falls.
He coughs, voice crackin’ over the comms. "Help..."
Min-Joon and I glance at each other. No hesitation. We rush him, grabbin’ to lift—
Then we freeze.
This ain’t just any elite.
This Korin.
His visor? Shattered. His head? Bleedin’. His body? Bruised.
Min-Joon don’t waste time. He bolt off, lookin’ for a replacement visor. Me? I hold Korin up, settin’ him against the rock. "We gon’ get you help."
Korin look at me, wincin’, breathin’ slow. Then, a weak chuckle. "I won’t forget this."
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I grip him tighter.
This man got the best chance—rockin’ the damn Argov suit. And what did he do? He threw it away. Failed.
It pisses me off.
I know I would do better.
Min-Joon return, replacin’ the visor. The seal click, and Korin inhale deep, like life just got pumped back into him. He groan, pushin’ himself up, still dizzy. His head turn toward the pit.
"Don’t go down there," he mutter. "You’ll die."
Min-Joon and I exchange a look.
I tilt my head. "Where you goin’ then?"
Korin shake his head. "Out of here." He start walkin’.
Nah.
"Yo." My voice cut through the dark. "Give me the suit."
He pause. Then turn.
Towerin’ over me in that armor.
"You are serious?" He chuckles, “Don't be stupid. You are no Elite.”
I don’t hesitate. "If you ain’t goin’ back in, give me the suit."
He laugh. Sharp. Mean. "You think you'll make a difference?"
I glare. "Least I ain’t runnin’ with my tail tucked."
That hit.
His laugh drop.
His whole body tense, the Argov hummin’ as he step forward, ready to kill—
But Min-Joon move first.
Fast. Precise.
He rip off the visor.
Air rush Korin’s face. The raw, toxic air of this battlefield.
He gasps. Hands claw at his throat. Eyes wild. Desperate. He stumbles, drops to his knees, fingers stretchin’ for the visor—just inches away.
I don’t move.
He locks eyes with me, somethin’ like rage—like disbelief—dyin’ away in the dark. He can’t believe I did this to him.
But I do.
He collapses. His body jerks, shudders—gasping, straining—before finally going still.
Face-first into the dirt.
And I step right over him.
Minjoon take the suit outta him. He shakes his head at it, “Come on, what are you waiting for?”
I walk to it. It ain’t just a suit. This is my chance.
The suit don’t wanna obey. Soon as my fingers touch it, the plating bites—needles jammin’ into my wrist, testin’ my blood like it’s decidin’ if I’m worth the oxygen. I grit my teeth, shove my arm deeper.
Error: User Not Recognized.
Then—
A sound like a bone snap. The suit breaks somethin’ inside itself. Maybe inside me.
Suddenly, it fits.
Heat floods my veins. My vision sharpens, the cave bright as noon. Every scar on my knuckles, every stutter in Min-Joon’s breath—crystal.
I flex. The suit flexes harder.
The energy system kicks in, a heat crawlin’ up my spine, tinglin’ under my skin. The weight shift—like it ain’t even heavy no more.
I roll my shoulders. Damn. So this what power feel like?
Ain’t no limits no more. Ain’t no excuses.
I crack my neck.
Now let’s show ‘em what a real soldier look like.
But when we get there, there ain’t no time to think. Ain’t no time to breathe. Just war.
We posted up on the cave’s edge, starin’ down into hell. The whole battlefield stretched out below, a mess of bodies, smoke, and gunfire. Navorians movin’ like demons, fast, tearin’ through our people like they ain’t nothin’ but paper. And the elites? They hunkered down behind wreckage, takin’ shots, every trigger pull droppin’ another beast. Some got rifles, sendin’ out them air bullets—sharp, precise, strippin’ scales clean off. Others? They burnin’ ‘em down, sendin’ compressed heat straight through. But it ain’t enough.
Them Navorians? They closin’ in.
They don’t stop. Don’t hesitate. They rush in packs, weapons spinnin’, stabbin’ through armor like it’s just cloth. Some poor bastard in Argov gear swing wild, but he too slow. A spear run through his chest, twist, and he drop. Dead.
But the real problem ain’t them fast ones.
Nah.
It’s them damn tanks.
Not scaled. Shelled. Big, armored, cranky lookin’ things, movin’ slow, blockin’ every shot like they ain’t even feel it.
Jrake warned us about ‘em in the presentation, but hearin’ about ‘em and seein’ ‘em in action? Two different things. These beasts? They built for war. Ain’t no air bullet piercin’ them, ain’t no heat burnin’ through. They takin’ hits and marchin’ forward, pushin’ through bodies like bulldozer. Some poor soldier unload his whole mag, right at the thing’s head.
Not a dent.
Then it moves. One step. Two. The third? Soldier gone. Crushed like he ain’t nothin’.
Behind ‘em, more Navs. Cowards hidin’ behind the shattered pillars of the facility, loadin’ long rifles with these jagged-ass shards. And when they fire? Ain’t no dodgin’ that. Shards move at light speed. No duckin’, no divin’. You see it? You already dead. One shot rip through three soldiers at once, their bodies goin’ limp before they even realize they got hit.
And the facility? It’s screamin’. Flashin’ red and black, alarms wailin’ through the halls like it know the end comin’.
Ain’t long before Min-Joon tap me on the shoulder.
"What's the plan?"
I don’t answer right away. My grip tightens. My breath slow.
This suit… I don’t know what it can do. Not fully. But the interface flashin’ across my vision tell me a lot. Hella lot. Some functions? Useless. Others? I like.
One says kinetic burst—a dash so fast I’d cut through the field like a bullet.
Another? Explosive ignition. Sends a fire blast out, burnin’ everythin’ near me.
And the third? That one real nice. Berserk state. Three seconds of raw speed, power, pure destruction.
I exhale slow.
I see it.
I already know.
I smirk.
"This how we gon’ do it…"
focus.
Where others see the blood and bodies and turn back, he sees the gap in the line—
and steps forward to fill it.
and without hesitation, he answered it.
Just one quiet truth echoing through his bones:
“If not me… then who?”
focus.
Where others see the blood and bodies and turn back, he sees the gap in the line—
and steps forward to fill it.
and without hesitation, he answered it.
Just one quiet truth echoing through his bones:
“If not me… then who?”
You Walk Into the Cave. What’s Your First Move?
