Attack to the barrier (1)

Sergeant Raveena was tall and slender with a lean body structure similar to athletes. Her skin tone was dark, as if she was used to sunbathing often. Her hairs were dark brown, but her eyes were green like emeralds or jade stones.

She took a sip of coffee while looking out over the forest. A gentle breeze blew across her face and passed through the open window behind her. In the distance, nothing was visible except the trees growing thickly everywhere in front of her.

She took another sip of her coffee and looked up at Roma as she remembered some sad moments. Roma was opposite to the woman she was talking to; she was white like a ghost. Her hair was black, and she wore a pair of glasses.

Both of them were stationed at the city's edge, in a military building made to deploy troops fast in case of attacks. There were several such buildings scattered across the city's perimeter.

Sergeant Raveena had just returned after spending some days off duty in town. And now that she had returned to work, she found out that her friend Roma had also started working at the border.

They spent some time talking about war, and she told her about how Thaids had attacked a nearby city three weeks prior.

"Luckily, there weren't civilian casualties," Raveena said, "but five of our comrades died protecting the city."

The thaid situation was becoming more and more difficult since the number of attacks increased in the last months.

Most recently, a platoon of twenty-five soldiers went missing during an attack by what appeared to have been thousands of these monsters. Their bodies weren't found, leaving the Military to wonder what had happened to them.

They both sat on the room's couch and continued drinking. After half an hour or so, a knock came on the door, followed by footsteps approaching quickly towards their room.

A soldier wearing full combat gear entered without waiting for permission. He stopped right beside his superiors' table and saluted. His helmet covered most of the side of his head, making him appear bald.

He spoke clearly: "We got reports of a group of Thaids heading our way!" he announced.

His voice echoed inside the small quarters. Both officers stared at the man, trying not to show emotion. They knew exactly what would happen if either showed less than absolute confidence.

"How many?" Raveena asked calmly.

"Thousands at least, ma'am!"

She nodded slightly and ordered, "Get your squad ready and inform Colonel Tiwana immediately."

She walked toward the door, still holding the cup of hot liquid between her hands. Roma followed suit.

The hallway outside the room was full of soldiers scurrying left and right, carrying weapons and armor. She could see a few men running past them and entering the elevator from the end of the hall.

At the same time, the doors opened, and people exited them. One of the men walking out said something loud enough for everyone to hear.

"The Thaids are close to the city!"

As soon as he finished yelling, the soldiers reacted; they grabbed their weapons and headed out of the building, going in position over the building's defensive positions.

Everyone rushed forward and began climbing the stairs. They moved like a well-oiled machine.

Roma and Raveena went to the bottom floor. When they did, they noticed a couple of soldiers standing guard at the entrance to the corridor.

One of them stepped aside and waved them in. Soon afterward, she and Roma arrived at the colonel's office.

Roma knocked twice before receiving permission to enter. The inside of the room was neat, everything neatly arranged in its place.

A large desk dominated the center of the space, behind which was seated Colonel Mirko Tiwana. He was tall and blond and was wearing a light gray uniform.

The man rose from his chair when she saw Raveena and Roma walk through the door. The two women made a salute and then bowed politely.

Tiwana didn't waste time. He looked at them and said, "As you probably know, a problem arose." Both women nodded.

"Our forces reported that a group of thaids is approaching this building. I want Roma to lead a squad on the east side while Raveena the north side."

At the mention of those words, Roma felt herself tensing up. She wasn't new in commanding squads, yet fighting Thaids was never simple, and having lives depend on her decisions was a significant burden. Raveena was in the same situation too.

"Yes, sir! Understood!" both the women replied in unison while standing straighter.

Tiwana explained the plan to the two women. They turned after saluting the Colonel and started walking toward the exit.

Colonel Tiwana watched the two leave the room. He sighed deeply once he was alone. Thaids attacks were increasing a lot in the past months, greatly disturbing him.

At the same time, the two women went to the meeting room; eight people were waiting for them there, standing by the walls. These individuals had ranks above private and most likely held higher ranks than that.

None of them appeared worried or anxious. Instead, they were looking relaxed, almost bored.

They waited patiently for the two women to arrive, and once they entered the room, silence fell upon the gathering. The soldiers made a military salute at the two officers and waited for them to speak.

"I'm Sergeant Raveena Greene, and this is Sergeant Roma Sinclair," Raveena said. "You have been assigned to be part of our squads," she added. They stared at her silently.

"You, you, you, and you will come with me," Raveena said. "The rest will go with Sergeant Sinclair. Is it clear?"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!"

All these men and women were powerful and trained; their specialty was melee fighting.

A small briefing ensued, in which they explained the battle strategies and formations.

The teams left the building together and headed toward their respective defensive positions.

Roma observed the team's weapons. Some had laser rifles, and others wielded pistols, but all had at least a melee weapon since they were trained to use them in military school.

In addition, many of them wore armor plates over their bodies. It seemed all the equipment needed to defend themselves against the thaids' attacks was here. It was true that they mostly used their brain crystal powers to fight, but not all of them had powers that allowed them to attack from a distance, which was necessary for some situations and was the safest option.

The two groups were tasked to stop the thaids from approaching the building. They had to fight melee, mainly since the soldiers over the roof of the building, and many other defensive positions, were already there with their weapons drawn, waiting for the enemy.

After reaching the designated location, the first thing Roma did was give orders to her squad.

"Take position! Do not let any Thaid enter the building!" the woman shouted.

"Yes, sir!" they replied in unison.

It was then that the soldiers started hearing something. They couldn't discern what it was, but logically it could only be one thing. Thaids footsteps.

A few minutes later, the sound got louder and more distinct. Soon enough, the noise came closer, and soon after that. The two squads found themselves face-to-face with the enemy.

"Stand in position!" Roma said to her soldiers at the east side of the building. Raveena did the same in the north. It was then that the sound of rifles started echoing through the air.