Tear of Diasporex, Habitation Sector C Outer Perimeter.
The dim, sickly yellow emergency lights cast fractured shadows against the metal bulkheads. The faint metallic tang of blood and cordite hung in the air.
In the distance, the muffled thunder of bolter fire echoed endlessly.
Leon crouched behind a barricade. Over three hundred Loyalist players in silver-grey makeshift power armor were scattered across the corridor, waiting for his next call.
He hadn't just Leeroy Jenkins'd his way in.
His time in the military had taught him one absolute truth...
On the battlefield, the reckless ones always died first.
He turned his head, locking eyes with a young player beside him.
He recognized the face. [Three Spoons of Sugar].
"Go scout ahead."
Leon's voice was low but crystal clear.
"Stay sharp. If anything feels off, bug out immediately."
[Three Spoons of Sugar] nodded without a second of hesitation.
He stood up from cover, leveled his bolter, and crept down the dimly lit hallway.
His silver-grey makeshift power armor flickered in and out of the shadows.
It was a long corridor.
About three hundred meters.
He made it roughly halfway before reaching a fork.
To the left was a narrower maintenance tunnel; to the right, he could faintly make out a wide-open staging area...
That was the main entrance to Habitation Sector C.
[Three Spoons of Sugar] took a deep breath and peeked around the right corner.
In the very next second, a massive wall of muzzle flashes erupted simultaneously.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!!!
The deafening roar of mass-reactive rounds detonated inside the confined space.
[Three Spoons of Sugar] only had time to register a sea of vicious smirks and dozens of flaming muzzles before a catastrophic wave of agony ripped through his chest.
His vision immediately started spinning.
He watched his own body crumple to the deck. He saw the players in tattered uniforms laying down fully automatic suppressive fire. He saw his makeshift power armor blown full of fist-sized craters.
In his absolute final second before respawning, he burned the last of his energy to scream into the regional chat:
"It's an ambush!! Several hundred of 'em at least!!!"
[Regional Channel (Light of the Emperor)]
[Three Spoons of Sugar]'s ID instantly grayed out.
Reading the message, Leon's pupils contracted slightly.
But there wasn't a trace of panic on his face.
So that's the play...
He thought to himself.
Those Chaos players hadn't won that epic faction quest on Laeran by sheer luck.
Setting up a preemptive choke point. Smart move.
He raised his head, peering deep into the corridor.
Under the sickly yellow lights, countless figures were slowly stepping out from the shadows.
They were wearing light power armor painted in all sorts of chaotic color schemes. Just from a glance, it was obvious their gear was high-tier—way more expensive than the Loyalists' budget makeshift armor.
And every single one of them was packing a bolter.
The guy leading the pack wore a shit-eating grin that you just couldn't quite put your finger on.
His gaze crossed the three-hundred-meter gap, locking dead onto Leon and his silver-grey squad.
"Not bad."
The guy's voice echoed down the hall, laced with a mocking, yet approving tone.
"I honestly thought you guys were just gonna unga-bunga sprint in here and feed us free kills."
He paused before continuing:
"Didn't expect the Loyalist Iron Hands players to actually have a brain."
Leon slowly stood up from behind the barricade.
His silver-grey makeshift power armor gleamed faintly under the dim lights.
He met the guy's gaze dead on.
Two pairs of eyes locked onto each other across a three-hundred-meter hallway choked with gunsmoke.
He read the black ID floating above the guy's head.
"So you're [Blue Pigeon Knows Nothing]?"
Leon's voice was dead calm. Not a hint of panic.
"I've heard about you on the forums."
"Word is you're a hell of an actor. They call you the Chaos faction's Oscar winner."
[Blue Pigeon Knows Nothing] chuckled.
There was something complicated in that smile.
"Takes one to know one."
He pointed a thumb at the five hundred heavily armed Chaos players behind him, then gestured at Leon's three hundred silver-grey troopers.
"Five hundred against three hundred. The math is on my side."
"Plus, we've got the positional advantage."
"If you rush us now, you're just feeding."
"And if you're thinking about flanking? Forget it."
"This hallway is the only route to the bridge. It's a total choke point."
"So, what's your play?"
A playful taunt crept into his voice.
"You guys just gonna hit surrender?"
"Or are you gonna run it down mid and die?"
Leon didn't answer immediately.
He just stood there in silence, taking in the Chaos players, the sea of black muzzles, and the cocky grins plastered across their faces.
Leon didn't need much time to think.
He slowly raised his hand.
It was an incredibly simple gesture.
His left index finger slowly extended, pointing straight past them to the heavy metal doors at the end of the hall—the doors leading to the bridge.
His voice was terrifyingly calm.
"Soldiers."
Over three hundred pairs of eyes instantly locked onto him.
"This fight, there is no stepping back."
"The only thing we accept is victory."
His voice echoed powerfully across the regional channel:
"We push through, we clear the quest."
"We die here, we respawn and run it back."
"We've been farming Imperial Coins for ages, and now it's finally time to blow it all."
"This isn't modern warfare; we don't have to overthink it."
"Here, balls matter more than brains."
He paused, a smirk suddenly curling the corner of his lips:
"Besides..."
"It's not like we haven't died before."
[Two-Faced Turtle] was the first to let out a laugh.
[I am the Living Dragon] racked his bolter, gripping it tight.
[Metal Garurumon Beast Girl] took a deep breath, battle lust igniting in her eyes.
Over three hundred silver-grey figures simultaneously shifted into a charging stance.
On the other side, the smug grin on [Blue Pigeon Knows Nothing]'s face slowly faded.
He raised his hand...
Over five hundred bolters simultaneously leveled at the far end of the corridor.
"Kill them all. Drain their Imperial Coins."
"Make them understand exactly why we steamrolled that epic faction quest earlier."
In the very next second...
The deafening roar of bolters shattered the silence of Habitation Sector C.