EP 1 - Desperate Defence
Location: Outer Defense Line – Node 7870
Artillery screams across the sky.
Explosions tear through shattered buildings.
Human soldiers scramble through the ruins as Kazan infantry advance steadily through the smoke.
Portable artillery launches another barrage.
A blast throws a young human soldier against a wall.
He coughs, struggling to breathe.
His radio crackles.
RADIO: “Hold the line! Reinforcements are coming!”
The soldier slowly lifts his head.
Across the street, Kazan troops advance in calm, organized formations.
Not rushing.
Not shouting.
Just moving forward.
Methodically.
Another explosion shakes the street.
The soldier stares at the burning skyline.
SOLDIER (quietly):…”They're breaking through.”
Scene switches to command and Control Center – Node 7870
The underground command bunker is in chaos.
Officers shout over each other while holographic maps flicker violently.
Red enemy markers spread across the city grid.
A relay officer rushes to the command table.
RELAY OFFICER: “Sir! The center has collapsed. Kazan forces are breaking through the central district!”
Lieutenant General Thyris slams his fist onto the table.
THYRIS: “Redirect all available artillery, armor, and infantry to the center! THE CENTER SHALL NOT FALL!”
Across the room, an injured infantryman slowly looks up.
Part of the best out of the best defenders, hand picked for the defence of the commander.
His uniform is torn.
Combat suit heavily damaged.
Blood stains his sleeve.
has been silent this entire time.
Watching.
Listening.
Every order.
Every report.
Every mistake.
The same order again.
"Send more soldiers into the center."
The same place where the last battalion disappeared.
His jaw tightens.
face burning with anger.
He asks--
INFANTRYMAN: “How?”
The room quiets slightly.
INFANTRYMAN: “Just how many times are you going to repeat the same mistake?”
Thyris turns slowly.
THYRIS: “Who are you?”
INFANTRYMAN: “How many men will you sacrifice in useless counterattacks?”
THYRIS: “Do you not know how to address a superior officer?”
He slowly pushes himself to his feet.
INFANTRYMAN: “Do you know how to command an army against a competent enemy?”
The command room freezes.
THYRIS: “That's enough.”
Two guards move toward the man.
THYRIS: “Take this human out and put him out of his misery.”
The guards step forward.
Suddenly—
The infantryman kicks a tactical console.
Lights flicker.
Before anyone reacts—
Steel flashes.
His blade presses against Thyris's throat.
Blood slowly trickles down the general's collar.
The guards raise their weapons instantly.
Then something unexpected happens.
Several human soldiers inside the room
Some just as injured as the mysterious man
Some healthier than other
Raise their rifles
Not at the attacker.
But at the guards.
The tension becomes suffocating.
MAN: “Surrender command. Or you die here”
The blade presses slightly deeper.
Thyris calculates the room.
Half the soldiers are aiming at him.
THYRIS: “Alright… alright!”
He slowly raises his hands.
THYRIS: “You have my authority. Just let me go.”
The soldiers quickly disarm him.
Non-human officers are stripped of command access.
The man steps forward.
MAN: “I, Kael Blackstone, assume command of all military and security forces previously under Lieutenant General Thyris.”
He scans the room.
MAN: “Any objections?”
Silence.
No one speaks.
Kael turns to the tactical display.
KAEL: “Status of the front.?”
RELAY OFFICER: “Army Groups East and West intact. Army Group Center destroyed.
Remaining manpower approximately seven hundred soldiers.
Armor strength two hundred forty combat capable units.”
KAEL: ‘Enemy?”
RELAY OFFICER: “Estimated twelve hundred enemy infantry, equipped with portable artillery.
No armored support detected.”
KAEL: “Distance?”
RELAY OFFICER: “Five thousand yards.”
Kael studies the map for several seconds.
Then speaks.
KAEL: “Cease artillery fire.”
The room freezes.
RELAY OFFICER: “if we stop firing they'll advance.”
KAEL: Yeah… That's kinda the whole point you know.
A junior officer whispers nervously.
OFFICER: “We're surrendering the city?”
Kael shakes his head.
KAEL: “No. We're inviting them in.”
He begins issuing orders quickly.
KAEL: “Pull maneuver units back to 1100–1700 yards.
Hide them in rubble.
Heavy armor behind light armor.
Move infantry into the narrow corridors along the flanks.
Terrain masking.
Reduce radio chatter.
Make it look like we're abandoning the city.”
The relay officer hesitates.
RELAY OFFICER: “Understood.”
Orders are transmitted.
Across the city, human forces quietly withdraw.
Scene switches to Kazan Side – Outside the City
Two Kazan soldiers observe the silent skyline.
KS1: “Why did their artillery stop?”
KS2 shrugs.
KS2: “Maybe they finally learned after eleven defeats.”
KS1 squints.
KS1: “Look! Their armor is pulling back."
KS2 raises an eyebrow.
KS2: “They're retreating?”
KS1: “Looks like it.”
KS2 smirks.
KS2: “About time.”
KS1 glances at her.
KS1: “You sound disappointed.”
KS2: “I am.”
KS1: “Why?”
KS2 taps the side of her helmet.
KS2: “Eleven battles in this campaign.”
KS1 nods.
KS1: “And?”
KS2: “I was hoping they'd finally learn something.”
KS1 snorts quietly.
KS1: “pharons learning tactics? That would be historic.”
KS2 watches the withdrawing units carefully.
Her smile fades slightly.
KS2: “Still…”
KS1: “Still what?”
KS2 narrows her eyes.
KS2: “Something about this feels wrong.”
Kazan Mobile Command
Commander Serin studies the city projection.
SERIN (internal): “Interesting… This time they won't even put up a fight?”
She activates her command channel.
SERIN: “First battalion and eleventh brigade form up.
Ninth and eleventh brigades attack the flanks.
Second and fifth advance through the center.
Destroy their command structure.”
Scene switches to human Command Center
RELAY OFFICER: Enemy advancing. Arrival in seven minutes.
ERWIN (Kael’s friend): “Yo do something!”
KAEL: “Wait.”
RELAY OFFICER: “Two thousand yards.”
ERWIN: “Kael!”
KAEL: “Wait.”
RELAY OFFICER: “Fifteen hundred yards!”
Tension fills the room.
Some officers exchange worried looks.
RELAY OFFICER: “Twelve hundred yards!”
ERWIN: “Nga stop aura farming and DO SOMETHING!”
KAEL: Now.
Kael uploads his battle plan directly into the mission computer.
Artillery fires instantly.
Seconds later—
Explosions erupt behind the advancing Kazan formations.
Rear units vanish in fire.
Confusion spreads instantly.
Then—
The rubble moves.
Hidden armor units rise from the ruins.
Autocannons roar.
Kazan front formations collapse under sudden fire.
Infantry hidden behind the armor join the attack.
Kazan Response
SERIN: “Disperse!”
Portable artillery teams fire while retreating.
Smoke floods the battlefield.
Kazan units break into smaller cells instead of running blindly.
Human Command
RELAY OFFICER: “Enemy retreating! Estimated casualties - high. Pursuit window is three minutes.”
ERWIN: “This is it! Send the armor!”
Kael watches the battlefield display.
Kazan units fragment… but remain organized.
KAEL: “They're not panicking.
They're reorganizing.”
ERWIN: “So?!”
KAEL: “Look at that brigade.”
ERWIN: “It's retreating.”
KAEL: “Too organized.”
ERWIN: “Bait?”
KAEL: “Maybe.”
ERWIN: “TF you mean Maybe?!”
KAEL: “Yesn't.”
ERWIN: “What?!”
KAEL: “Tactics win battles.
Logistics win wars.”
Hold position.
The Kazans withdraw.
Kazan ground command smoke blankets the battlefield during withdrawal.
Serin studies the city grid.
DATA OFFICER: “Forward brigades suffered heavy losses. Enemy armor not pursuing.”
Serin narrows her eyes.
SERIN: “They're not chasing?”
DATA OFFICER: “Negative.”
Serin zooms into the map.
The kill corridors she prepared.
Unused.
SERIN: “He saw it. Or he feared it. Either way— He didn't take the bait.”
She studies the artillery timing.
Rear disruption first.
Armor second.
Perfect synchronization.
Her eyes sharpen.
No trace of preloaded commands
SERIN: He
delayed uploading the plan…
The room goes quiet.
SERIN: “He suspected the datalink was compromised.”
She smiles faintly.
SERIN: “Interesting.”
STAFF OFFICER: “Orders?”
SERIN: “Withdraw beyond their artillery range.
Regroup.
And begin electronic sweeps of their command network.”
She turns away from the table.
SERIN: “Next time…
We won't just attack the flanks.”
