SICARII

As dawn broke over Heaven's Garden, the vast expanse before them revealed the haunting landscape of war. The battlefield stretched out like a desolate wasteland, scarred by trenches, craters, and the ruins of structures that once marked a thriving region. Smoke billowed in thick columns across the horizon, and the cacophony of war was unrelenting—explosions roaring in the distance, the crackling of gunfire, and the agonized cries of the fallen echoing through the morning air.

Unit 7 and Unit 8 were tasked with a perilous advance through No Man's Land, a deadly expanse separating Kirkian and Winko forces. It was a stretch of uneven terrain riddled with jagged rocks, barbed wire, and massive potholes caused by constant bombardment. The ground was a muddy mix of dirt and blood, the latter pooling in craters where soldiers had fallen.

Under the grim haze of smoke and distant screams, Taizen and Mionara pressed forward with Unit 8, their boots sinking into the uneven, blood-soaked terrain of No Man's Land. The battlefield was a twisted expanse of shattered earth, cratered by relentless artillery fire. Scorched scraps of armor and jagged shards of metal jutted from the ground like a macabre garden, and the stench of charred flesh mingled with the sharp bite of gunpowder in the air.

Officer Carran's voice thundered over the chaos, cutting through the rattle of gunfire. "Keep moving! Don't stop for anything! The other side isn't far!"

Taizen's chest heaved as he sprinted, his legs burning with every step. His heart pounded like a war drum, each beat a reminder that death could strike at any moment. He glanced at Mionara, who was running beside him, his face pale but resolute.

"Do you think this is what war always feels like?" Mionara asked, his voice trembling but still audible over the cacophony.

Taizen didn't have an answer. He barely had time to think. "I—I don't know!" he shouted back, ducking instinctively as a mortar shell whistled overhead before exploding behind them, throwing dirt and screams into the air.

"Eyes forward!" Carran barked, his tone as sharp as the crack of a rifle. "If you stop, you die! If you hesitate, you die! Now move!"

They sprinted past a group of soldiers dragging a wounded comrade through the mud. One of the men slipped, crying out as he was swallowed by a crater filled with murky water. The others tried to pull him free, but another explosion sent all three flying, their bodies vanishing into the haze.

Taizen winced, the sight searing itself into his mind. "This is insane!" he shouted to no one in particular, his voice cracking with desperation.

"Focus!" Carran roared, glancing back at them. His dual pistols gleamed even in the grim light, ready to fire. "You've survived worse—both of you! Trust your instincts and keep your heads down!"

Gunfire tore through the air, the sound like an angry swarm of bees. Taizen ducked low, his boots slipping on the wet, churned ground. Mionara grabbed his arm, steadying him, but his eyes betrayed the same fear that gripped Taizen.

Ahead, another Kirkian soldier fell, clutching his throat as blood poured through his fingers. Taizen's stomach churned, but he forced himself to keep running. He couldn't stop. Not now.

A sudden explosion erupted to their right, the shockwave hurling chunks of earth and metal into the air. Shrapnel sliced through a nearby soldier, severing his arm. He screamed, collapsing as medics dragged him away, leaving a trail of blood in their wake.

The battlefield was chaos incarnate as Taizen, Mionara, and the rest of Unit 8 sprinted across No Man's Land, dodging gunfire and explosions that ripped through the air with deafening ferocity. The ground beneath them trembled with each blast, the soil churned into a thick, muddy paste that clung to their boots. Craters and wreckage littered the landscape, and the stench of death hung heavy in the air.

Just as they were nearing the halfway point, a shrill horn pierced through the cacophony of war. Emerging from the smoke, Winko soldiers charged toward them, their battle cries mingling with the screams of the wounded. The enemy moved in waves, some firing wildly with rifles while others closed the distance with blades raised high.

"Contact!" Officer Carran roared. "Unit 8, engage! Stay together!"

Taizen's katana sang as he unsheathed it, its blade gleaming even in the grim light. A Winko soldier lunged at him, a serrated blade aimed for his chest, but Taizen sidestepped, his movements fluid and precise. With a single, powerful swing, he cleaved the soldier across the torso, blood spraying into the air as the enemy fell lifeless to the ground.

Mionara was beside him, his twin short katanas moving in a blur as he met two Winko soldiers head-on. He parried their strikes with swift, calculated precision before countering with lethal slashes to their throats. Their bodies crumpled to the dirt as Mionara pushed forward, his expression hard but focused.

Gunfire erupted all around them, the sharp crack of rifles interspersed with the deeper boom of grenades. A Winko soldier to their left fired blindly, the bullets ricocheting off a fallen vehicle. Taizen dashed toward him, weaving through the chaos. He brought his katana down in a diagonal slash, cutting through the soldier's weapon and chest in a single motion.

"They're everywhere!" Mionara shouted, his voice strained but unwavering.

"Then cut them down!" Taizen growled, his adrenaline surging as another enemy approached.

Behind them, Carran's pistols barked as he gunned down two Winko soldiers attempting to flank their unit. "Keep moving! Don't let them pin you down!" he yelled, his commanding presence driving the soldiers of Unit 8 forward.

The clash between the two forces was a brutal, bloody dance. Kirkian soldiers fought valiantly, their rifles blazing and bayonets stabbing through the enemy ranks. Some were struck down mid-charge, their bodies collapsing into the mud, but those still standing pressed on with unrelenting determination.

A mortar shell detonated nearby, the blast sending several Winko soldiers flying. Taizen shielded his eyes from the debris before spotting another enemy rushing toward Mionara.

"Mionara! Six o'clock!" Taizen shouted.

Mionara spun just in time, his short katanas slicing upward in a deadly arc. The Winko soldier froze mid-step before falling backward, blood pooling beneath him.

"Thanks!" Mionara called, his voice sharp but steady.

"Don't slow down!" Taizen replied, cutting down another enemy with a clean, horizontal strike.

The ground was slick with blood and littered with the bodies of the fallen as Unit 8 pushed forward, inching closer to their objective. Taizen could feel the strain in his arms from wielding his katana, but he refused to falter.

"Carran, what's the play?!" Taizen yelled over the chaos, noticing that the enemy's numbers weren't thinning.

"We fight our way through!" Carran barked, his pistols firing in quick succession. "Unit 8 doesn't stop until we're on the other side!"

A sudden explosion rocked the earth ahead of them, and a rain of dirt and metal shards fell over the unit. Taizen barely had time to register the blast before another Winko soldier lunged at him, a bayonet aimed for his ribs. He deflected the strike with his katana, pivoting smoothly before driving the blade through the enemy's chest.

The battle was pure chaos, and yet Taizen and Mionara fought as if possessed. Each swing of their blades was calculated and lethal, their movements honed through years of training. But even so, the weight of the carnage around them was impossible to ignore.

Winko soldiers continued to pour out of the haze, their sheer numbers threatening to overwhelm. Despite the chaos, Carran's voice rang out once more, his unyielding presence keeping Unit 8 together.

"Keep moving forward! No one stops, no one falls behind!" he commanded, his pistols never ceasing.

Taizen and Mionara exchanged a brief glance, the unspoken understanding between them clear. They were in the heart of hell, and there was no way out but forward.

The battlefield stretched on, each step taking them closer to their goal but deeper into the fray. Explosions illuminated the night like deadly fireworks, and the screams of the dying mingled with the relentless roar of gunfire. There was no time to think, no time to fear—only time to fight.