Baptism by War

Chapter 18: Baptism by War

Caden grunted as he forced himself up onto his hands and knees. His body yowled in protest at him. The half-buried katana lay beside him in the cracked floor. The sheer force of the impact had his head spinning, but the heat in the air, the scent of blood-iron, and the screams not too far off snapped his mind into normal instantly.

He looked up, and before him, something that he had never seen was right in front of him.

The battlefield fanned out, stretching miles into a war zone of chaos and carnage, as gigantic Proximars, towering over the landscape, made monstrous forms pitted in combat against squads of heavily armored soldiers and war machinery. Several of them were as huge as battleships, their bright obsidian black bodies flickering in firelight. Sleek and fast, razor-sharp limbs carved efficiently through the terrifying ranks of the soldiers.

The explosions tore across the sky, flying Proximars dogfighting against aerial strike units, leaving energy streaks to cross the sky. Gigantic mechs clashed with the class of behemoths of proximars as they shaked the land.

And then came the obsidian Proximars.

Caden's heart was racing as he realized their signature dark plating the same that had sent him flying here-was everywhere.

"I'm officially fucked, couldn't that proximal have sent me somewhere more quiet" Caden said as he walked out of the crater

Hundreds of them churned like a sea tide, tearing through defences, shrugging off heavy artillery fire, and slaughtering whole squads in seconds. They weren't just foot soldiers-they were kings of the battlefield.

Caden huffed loudly, the grip on his katana clenching even as he started forcing himself onto his feet. "Shit."

A loud explosion not too far away from his position shook the air. The shockwave hit barely gave him time to react sent him off balance. A wrecked combat mech, its cockpit torn open and burning from the inside, tumbled across the battlefield before slamming into a crater not too far from him. The pilot inside was long gone.

Caden's fists clenched.

The scale of this battle was beyond anything he prepared for. How the hell am I supposed to fight in this? With that, a sudden screech ripped the air apart. Caden barely had time to turn before a hulking Proximar, covered in jagged red plating, swooped down upon him, its bladed arms aiming to carve him in two. Too fast! His instincts screamed. His body moved. He lifted his katana in defense and then he saw a blur.

A heavy hammer swung, smashing into Proximar mid-air and sending its body smearing into chunky bits of blood.

It was only towards the end that Caden truly caught what had happened, by which time a figure had already landed next to him.

Standing tall, covered in battle-scarred army armor plated heavy in fragments; her hair held back, eyes green and searching pierced him all too briefly while continuing to shoot again to the battlefield.

Clutching her hammer the size of a smaller car, which was crackling on its face with residual energies. And though he had known this for that really short instance as he just stood next to her, there came raw energy oozing from it was just energy at its purest form.

Not merely strength. Control. Precision. A warrior who had stood still on the battlefield far too long.

"What are you doing here" The Commader asked with a frown "I was throwing here by an obsidian proximar" Caden said as he coughed a little bit to get ride of his star struck expression

And she looked at Caden for a while "I hope you can keep up" sha said and she was off already.

Barely had Caden taken a breath when she plunged once more into the fray, hammer swinging, crushing Proximars while catching blows that would have fallen on her soldiers.

And just like that, Caden realized something.

She wasn't just fighting.

She was saving them, it was like she was the whole battlefield rescue team.

Even as she flattened Proximars beneath her blows, she was moving wounded soldiers to safety, covering the retreat of entire squads, and deflecting blows that would have erased whole units from existence.

One woman against the war at its most concentrated, fighting the work of a full battalion.

Caden's knuckles whitened around the hilt of his katana, his fingers trembling with a mix of excitement and alarm as he watched the commander wreak havoc like a storm upon the battlefield. Every swing of her hammer sent shockwaves through the battlefield.

She was a game-changer in a battle of inches.

But even she couldn't slow down the war that swirled around them.

A squad of soldiers streamed past Caden, their battered exo-suits splattered with alien blood. One glanced at him in passing, his voice yelling as he spoke to his comms.

"Unit Theta, right flank, hold! Keep pressuring those obsidian-class bastards!"

Bursts from their plasma rifles followed as they fought a pack of obsidian Proximars nearby. It was with grave realization that he watched their bullets barely leave any dents upon the creatures' armor.

A sickening crunch snapped his attention forward. The commander had just caved in the skull of a hulking Proximar with a downward slam of her hammer. But instead of taking a moment to breathe, she immediately turned, yanking a wounded soldier out of harm's way before an incoming Proximar could finish him.

Caden gritted his teeth.

He felt useless.

Even with his training, even with his system, even after going further than ever before-this war was too big.

Too chaotic.

Too overwhelming.

Then the battlefield finally took notice of him.

The guttural screech cut through the air.

Caden turned around just in time to see one Proximar lunging for him-this a little smaller compared to the obsidian types.

He barely dodged. The arm sliced past his cheek, marking a thin line of blood on it.

Focus, damn it!

Caden rolled back and engaged his system. [System Activating Combat Instincts Engaged] flashed before his eyes as his senses heightened. The Proximar readjusted its stance, weighing to pounce once more

Caden was first to strike.

His katana cut upwards in an arc through the creature's exoskeleton. He pressed the attack.

Stepping forward, he twisted his grip, going for another strike 

But then, something massive loomed over him.

His system blared a warning. [Danger Detected!]

Caden barely had time to react before a colossal Proximar's foot came crashing down from above.

Shit!!!

He braced himself. A force slammed into him from the side, knocking him out of the way just as the ground where he stood was obliterated.

Caden tumbled across the battlefield, coughing as dust and debris clouded his vision. When he looked up, he saw her again.

The commander.

She had just saved him. Again.

Her green eyes locked onto his, flashing hot with irritation.

"I told you to keep up, didn't I?" she snapped, hefting her hammer onto her shoulder.

Caden blew out a sharp breath, smearing blood off his lip. "Working on it."

She didn't reply. She was already moving.

And Caden gnashing his teeth, heart pounding, mind racing followed.

For if he was going to survive this battlefield, he had to prove he could keep up.

Even if it killed him and just then a soldier presented him with a mask. Caden accepted the black mask as he looked up at the soldier "Who are you? and what do you want me to use this for" Caden asked confused "It's the mask Marcus said the soldier is to give to you. He said if you ever find yourself unable to focus, wear the mask and only think about killing your enemies, it will help you focus" the Soldier said before he joined the fight again

Caden stared down at the black mask that lay in his hands.

Sleek, and matte, it felt light. At first glance, this was a piece of standard military gear, but since Marcus had specifically sent it to him, there was more to it.

Whenever you cannot see your way, put on the mask and just think about killing your enemies…

He could still hear the soldier's words.

Caden gritted his teeth.

Did Marcus doubting him? Did he think he wasn't strong enough to fight on his own?

He shook the thought away. This wasn't the time to hesitate. They were on a battlefield, staying alive was more important.

The commander was already carving through the Proximars, holding the battlefield together. The soldiers around him fought desperately, and he was barely managing to stay alive.

His grip on the mask tightened.

With one sharp breath, he fitted it over his face.

The moment it settled, something shifted.

His breathing steadied. The noise of battle faded not gone, but filtered, like the chaos was being pushed to the background. His vision sharpened, tracking the smallest movements of the Proximars. His body felt lighter, his instincts keener.

Focus only on killing.

A new wave of Proximars surged toward their position. Their jagged forms twisted and blurred as they moved with unnatural speed. Before, Caden would've hesitated, unfocused.

Now, he didn't.

He moved.

His katana lashed out-precise, lethal. The first Proximar lunged at Caden and he sidestepped, severing its head in a single slash. Another screeched and swung its bladed arms at him. He ducked low, spun, and drove his sword straight through its gut.

He didn't think. He acted.

Each movement felt clean. Unburdened.

Another Proximar sprang forward from its rear. In a flash, Caden turned and the blade sliced across its torso before it could reach him. The blood splattered throughout the battle area. More.

A larger Proximar, its pulsating exoskeleton coursed with veins, bellowed its rage and charged towards him.

Caden sprinted ahead, dodging between its thick limbs. His blade found the chinks in its armour, stabbing, slicing, and dismantling piece by piece. The creature screeched, falling to the charred earth in lifeless the instance Caden broke it's core.

For the first time since landing here, Caden wasn't surviving.

He was fighting.

The commander then noticed him.

She stood a short distance away, watching him with narrowed eyes. A faint smirk tugged at the corner of her lips before she turned back to the battle.

"Not bad."

The praise meant nothing to him, his mind was in the song of the fight. The battlefield had cleared up in his vision. Instinct flowed, and every action felt so automatic, as if his body had shed all hesitation.

There was no time for him to dwell on that. Another wave of Proximars surged forward-three slick, obsidian-armored creatures cut toward him with razor-sharp limbs, shimmering in the fire-lit sky. Moving at unnatural speeds, their shrill shrieks tore through the cacophony of war.

Caden's body moved of its own. He swung his katana in one, smooth stroke. First one Proximar went down in mid-lunge, its head rolling from the shoulder. The second twisted with the speed their , but Caden merely turned, drawing his blade around in a precise arc that sliced into its torso.

The third was right upon him.

His mask-augmented senses tracked the movement in an instant. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward, ducking beneath its outstretched claw. He felt the closeness of the strike-close enough that he swore he could hear the whisper of its blade slicing through the air just above his head. His katana shot up, piercing through its underbelly and twisting as he ripped it free. The Proximar screeched, its body convulsing before collapsing.

Caden blew hard, his respiration easy in the midst of the carnage.

Not far off, the commander kept at her attack without end. Her hammer went down to the earth with such great power that a dozen Proximars went flying through the air, off their feet. That was not all she had in her kit. She jumped ahead, her hammer swinging wide to splinter arms and exoskeletons on every point of contact.

Caden noticed the battlefield changing reinforcements were coming for both humans and Proximars. The fight wasn't dwindling anywhere. If anything, it was amping up.

For an instant, part of the battlefield went silent, eerily.

It lasted a mere few seconds, but something clicked in that second. Before he saw it, Caden felt it and so did everyone.

A presence, a very terrifying existence.

A different kind of Proximar from all the rest.

Then, it appeared.

It strode across the battlefield serenely, its obsidian-black exoskeleton glimmering under the fires of war-a humanoid Proximar. This one was tall and almost elegant against the monstrous, alien forms of its brethren; lean, yet muscular; the disturbingly fluidity of human-like movements. It had all human features but had a purple gem attached to its head and it scanned the battlefield and it's two glowing violet eyes locked onto Caden, radiating intelligence far beyond the mindless bloodlust of the other Proximars.

The moment it stepped forward, the battlefield reacted. Soldiers hesitated. The commander, for the first time, stilled. Even the Proximars, normally driven by raw instinct, subtly shifted their behavior, as if acknowledging something superior.

Then, the humanoid Proximar raised its hand.

A pulse of energy surged outward.

It was a shockwave that blew in suddenly, violently, in a surge-an invisible force that blew everything in its path clear. Caden had hardly time to register the danger before it smashed into him like a tidal wave, sending his body weightless for a fraction of a second before he was hurled backward.

Pain.

He slammed into the dirt, tumbling over wreckage and broken armor, before he lay still. Vision blurred and screaming muscles screamed around him.

Through this veil, he sees her.

The commander.

She has flung herself across him in front of the shockwave just seconds before its full impact was transmitted to him from the blast that hit him; it saved his life. It had cost hers.

Bleeding from the side of her face, on her knee; armor cracked, her hammer jammed into the ground beside her, she was hacking again, trying to steady herself, just a little too late.

The humanoid Proximar leaned its head forward as he scratched his skull and then gave an eerie smile in a most eerie display of curiosity towards them. Silently, its arm rose once more to complete the job.

Caden tried to move, tried forcing his body up, but the weight of the blast still lingered.

Not like this.

Not now.

The commander, her teeth gritted, looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Despite her injuries, her voice was steady.

"Get up."

Then, the Proximar struck again.