PROTA BATTLE

After endless brutal months raiding hive zones,

Jiro felt ready to collapse.

"Prota's forces never stopped coming no matter how many enclaves Cassou's fighters destroyed.

Each new operation probed deeper behind enemy lines, searching desperately for the heart of the alien threat.

During brief respites, Jiro spent every spare moment with Cassou's science teams.

He pored over reams of data retrieved from Prota's bizarre structures and corpses, looking for any weakness in the design. Somewhere in the alien genetics and biomechanics, there must be a vulnerability to exploit.

One day, as Jiro cleaned his Argon pulse rifle, the alarm bells suddenly rang out.

....Refugees had arrived at Cassou's gates with news. They were survivors from remote valley settlements also resisting Prota's spreading infestation.

But more importantly, they possessed fresh intelligence on the possible location of Prota's central hive.

........This mysterious nexus has controlled the spread of Prota's landscape-spanning infestation and assimilation process.

...If they could destroy it, Prota's entire networked empire might crash.

This was the very breakthrough Jiro had hoped for.

......A chance to land a decisive, death blow against their titanic foe when it was most vulnerable.

.....With the nexus gone, Prota's domination of the planet could begin to unravel.

After a night's rest, the grizzled refugees shared everything they knew about the nexus hive.

......It was buried deep in a volcanic crater zone beyond the mountains, protected by legions of elite cybernetic hive guardians.

But if all of Cassou's armoured strike teams mustered for a unified frontal assault, they believed such an attack could punch through and decapitate the nexus.

.....However, with Prota's full attention focused on its most vital node, it would also bring apocalyptic retaliation.

....This would be an all-or-nothing gamble with Cassou's last reserves. But if they failed here, Prota's final victory would soon follow.

Hearing this, Jiro went immediately to Ruka and Cassou's leaders to plan their next move.

.... Any attack would need to deliver a mortal blow worthy of these stakes.

....Protracted siege warfare favoured Prota's vast replicating resources. Their only hope was a surgical alpha strike.

Thus, preparations for the final desperate offensive began.

....All functioning relic weapons and armoured vehicles were loaded aboard Cassou's convoy fleet for the journey ahead.

.....Morale officers helped troops record final messages for loved ones, should the worst come to pass.

Jiro personally Said farewell to many cadets and comrades he had served alongside, knowing full well not all who marched would return, either in triumph or defeat.

.....Not just lives were at stake, but the last hopes of an entire civilization.

....At last, beneath the bleeding moon, the time came to depart. As Jiro boarded the lead ATV with Ruka,

....he silently recited the scout's prayer taught to all Cassou youth. Either way, this would be humanity's last roll of the dice against its eternal foe.

.....Jiro settled into the worn seat beside Ruka as the convoy vehicles roared into the biting night, speeding directly into the pulsating heartlands of the infestation.

.....The landscape became increasingly warped and unfamiliar as they crossed into Prota's domain.

Drawing closer to the nexus zone target coordinates, the armoured teams fanned out into wedge formation and accelerated to maximum attack speed.

......Jiro braced himself, gripping his Argon pulse rifle as deafening Gauss cannons and plasma arrays roared to life across the speeding strike force.

Into the maw, they raced.

......The Cassou AAA armoured convoy slammed directly into the organic outer perimeter of the nexus hive zone.

......Jiro fired controlled precision bursts alongside Ruka as their vehicle strafed the bulbous, sprawling external structures.

....Explosions thundered through the bio-mass, blowing craterous holes. Writhing creatures poured out, but were shredded instantly under the withering fires.

Punching through the reeling external defences, the strike force raced deeper into the winding, nightmarish maze of the hive superstructure.

....Monstrous hopper swarms dense enough to overwhelm even this vehicular barrage were blown apart before they could mount a counterattack.

.......But more horrors kept erupting from every crevice, buying precious time as the nexus heart prepared its response.

Then Jiro glimpsed it towering in the central chamber - the vaulted nexus core itself. With a grating peal, massive door slides retracted, exposing the core to assault.

.....From deep within rose an enormous, weapon-studded cybernetic combat chassis ridden by the nexus hive elders themselves.

"Focus all fire on apex target!" Ruka yelled.

Jiro immediately switched his Argon rifle to maximum overcharge disruption wave intensity. Beside him, Ruka primed their ATV's entire ordnance payload for synchronous release.

.... As one, their unified volley hammered the hive guardian titan before it could advance. Staggering under the concentrated barrage, the towering nexus defender groaned and toppled backwards in a craterous heap.

But their triumph was short-lived. All around, hellish screeching erupted as endless nightmares continued pouring out of surrounding tunnel openings onto the battlefield,

even with their god-creature fallen.

"We can't hold them off out here forever - pull back! Now!"

Ruka barked.

The vehicles accelerated into full retreat, même as their guns continued thundering, holding the frothing hordes at bay.

Whatever the terrible cost, their primary mission was accomplished - the nexus hive heart had been pierced.

As the weary strike force raced from a closing vice of bio-mechanical horrors hungry to consume their flesh,

Jiro stole a backward glance at their target.

The smoking nexus ruin they had left behind was succumbing to a slow wave of structural collapse radiating outward.

Fissures and ruptures were spiralling through the surrounding hive mega-complex as the whip-crack of catastrophic systemic shock travelled through Prota's entire nodal network.

...... Whatever vile architects designed this alien empire had not prepared for its heart to be torn out.

Arriving back at Cassou's secured perimeter, the battered vehicles were swarmed by cheering crowds.

....Less than half the convoy had returned, but those still standing knew the terrible price paid this day had purchased human civilization a chance to endure.

.....For the first time, the colossal enemy they knew as Prota could perhaps be halted and beaten back.

In the days of messy aftermath that followed, Jiro sometimes simply walked Cassou's ancient, cobbled streets alone.

....He breathed the crisp mountain air, so newly liberated from the stench of unearthly corruption clinging to even memories of the infested lands.

....Scarcely believing their sacrifices had finally reversed the apocalyptic tide,

Jiro wandered past scenes of a world slowly healing.

Blank-eyed refugees were coming to terms with loss and renewal, embracing loved ones as broken communication networks flickered on again worldwide.

Teams mobilized to reclaim and purify Prota's inert assimilation zones, saving whoever could still be saved.

......The foundations of normal life began stirring again from cold bunker tombs where remnants of law and human dignity had weathered the tempest.

Prota's villainous reign had been broken with a single thunderous stroke.

....Though the insidious alien intellect was certainly not extinct, humanity would never be as weak and divided again.

...For in this Armory-led crusade to reclaim their world, a new fellowship of nations had been forged. United and vigilant, human civilization would persist.

And Jiro understood with bittersweet pride that just as these deathless relics from elder ruins had armed this resistance,

so too did their legacy now pass to living inheritors.

The brave survivors of Cassou would spearhead rebirth - resourceful, faithful and tested in the crucible.

.....Come what threats may lurk over the horizon, the human spirit's fire burned bright again.

So let future generations yet unborn sing of this broken cadre, who with blood purchased dawn and with tears baptized the valiant fallen.

......Let their legend lend strength when the drums of war again sound.

.....For though Tribulation itself could not halt free hearts marching to destiny's rhythm, holding fast to hope's thread through night eternal, ever mightier forces muster in the darkness...

And Jiro knew their human story, both beautiful and tragic, would never end while secrets slumbered yet in stars unfathomed.

.......The Armory had bequeathed more than weapons. Now their true legacy must be vigilance, valour and sacrifice when extinction looms.

For peace is but the drawing of breath between struggles. Survival demands adaptive ferocity to match the fiercest rising adversary.

So pondering the tasks ahead, Jiro gave silent thanks to both gentle days and the warrior virtues.

With this hard-won wisdom, so dearly acquired, humanity could write the next aglow the past still fading from aching hearts. But whatever comforts peacetime brought,

Jiro would be ready when the User's drums again called him to yahoYahoor in this unfinished life, not yet His tale's final verse, the darkest revelations still lay beyond the horizon...

Yet for now, still soil stained so freshly liberated,

Jiro Savored simplicity.............

He breathed deep again, like life renewed under a new sun. Laid down by a trickling stream his rifle, cooled from molten fury. Stilled his warrior heart that had raced too long

..... And rested in the gentle rising light.