The North-East Iron Wall loomed like a dead god stretched across the horizon, endless iron plates riveted together, slick with rain, humming with the low, miserable grind of ancient gears. Steam hissed from vents embedded deep in the metal, rising into the black sky like exhausted breath.
Soldiers sat stationed along the wall's edge, cannons locked in place, unmoving silhouettes against floodlights and storm clouds. Their armor was heavy. Their eyes heavier.
Mira's head dipped.
MIRA
Just for a second.
"Hey, newbie!"
ARELL
Captain Arell's voice cracked like a whip through the rain.
"No sleeping on the job unless you're itching for five hundred push-ups."
Mira jolted upright, heart slamming into her ribs. Rainwater streamed down her helmet as she snapped to attention.
"Yes, sir!"
Arell's sharp eyes lingered on her a moment longer before turning back toward the city below.
Another soldier Ulice leaned against the railing, peering down at the Iron Wall Dragon Hive. Rows of dim lights stretched into the distance, orderly and quiet.
"It's peaceful at night," he muttered then turned to Mira. "Wish I could be in bed instead of babysitting for stupid parasites. They never come anymore. Haven't shown up in months."
ULICE
Mira swallowed. "Maybe they're going on a diet."
A sharp clang rang out as a blade struck metal.
Odon stepped forward, rain sliding off the lacquered plates of his samurai armor. His hand rested calmly on the hilt of his sword.
ODON THE SAMURAI
"You two better focus," he said evenly. "The moment you believe the enemy has eased up is when they return ten times more aggressive than before, parasites are always hungry."
Thunder rolled low and distant.
Then, "PARASITES!"
The shout came from the west flank.
Mira's stomach dropped.
She rushed to the edge and looked down.
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They were there.
Onyx, multi-legged shapes crawled up the iron like insects, dozens, then hundreds, claws scraping, bodies twisting unnaturally as they climbed.
Captain Arell didn't hesitate.
"Prepare to fire!"
Cannons groaned as soldiers moved in unison, lowering the massive barrels toward the wall's exterior.
"All cannons ready, sir!" Mira shouted, forcing her fear down.
"Fire."
The night exploded.
Cannon rounds thundered outward, some detonating mid-impact, shredding clusters of parasites into pale fragments that rained down into the darkness. The Iron Wall held firm, not even denting.
Mira stared in awe. "It's just like the manuals... the wall doesn't break."
Odon leaned over the edge.
His eyes narrowed.
"There are thousands."
He drew his sword.
In a single fluid motion, Odon vaulted down the wall, boots striking iron as he ran vertically along its face. His blade flashed silver in the rain, slicing through parasite bodies with surgical precision. Limbs fell. Heads split. White ichor sprayed against the wall like paint.
The cannons continued firing.
Then....
SNAP.
A grapple-line cracked.
A scream cut through the chaos as a soldier was yanked screaming into the darkness below, disappearing instantly.
Panic rippled across the line.
It towered right above Mira. A second Parasite climbed up the wall beside the first.
Mira "Oh shit."
Ulice pointing his Laser gun "MIRA RUN!"
A grenade detonated near the center flank, blasting two massive Crawlers free from the wall,
but instead of falling outward, it tumbled inward.
The creatures vanished into the rooftops of the civilian sector.
Silence.
Just for a heartbeat.
Then shouting.
"Multiple soldiers grabbed!"
Mira turned, a parasite lunged.
Cold claws wrapped around her waist, ripping her from the cannon platform.
"HELP!"
A sharp red beam sliced through the rain.
Captain Arell's laser pistol punched clean through the parasite's skull. The creature collapsed, releasing Mira as it fell apart in twitching pieces.
She hit the metal hard, gasping.
"Get up!" Arell barked. "Stay focused!"
Odon was already back atop the wall, his arm lost from battle but his was blade dripping, bodies piled around him like discarded shells.
The cannons slowed.
Then stopped.
A soldier leaned over the edge, face pale beneath his helmet.
"It's... it's loose in the District."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Lock the gates."
Arell's jaw tightened.
"Contact ground forces immediately. A parasite has breached the wall. I repeat, a parasite has breached the wall."
From below, gunfire erupted.
Screams echoed up from the streets.
The massive Crawlers, tore through soldiers with terrifying ease, its claws slicing rifles in half, its jaws snapping bodies up like cookies. Each bite made it grow, swelling, thickening, adapting.
Arell watched Odon finish off the remaining parasites on the wall.
"...Odon truly is amazing."
Then he turned to Mira.
"Newbie. Gather the others. Get to the ground. Support the troops and intercept that parasite before it reaches the civilian population."
Mira swallowed hard.
"Yes, sir."
She and the remaining soldiers grabbed the ropes and slid down into the rain-soaked night.
Below them, chaos spread.
And with every soldier the parasite consumed, it grew larger.