Read the First Chapter

The hangar bay of Forward Operating Base Obsidian smelled like ozone, hydraulic fluid, and fear. Platina stood at the center of it, her freshly-polished titanium hull gleaming under the harsh industrial lights. She was a Mark VII Cybertank, twenty tons of military-grade hardware, and she had never felt smaller in her entire existence.

The other tanks lined up beside her were monsters. Mark IXs with depleted uranium plating. Modified Xs with experimental rail cannons. One of them, a massive crimson beast named Bloodberry, had a kill count etched into her hull like a shopping list. Platina’s own hull was bare. She’d never been in combat. She’d never even fired her main cannon in anger. She was a rookie, and on Everwar, rookies died fast.

“Nervous?” a voice crackled through her comm system. Platina turned her optical sensors to find a slim blue tank rolling up beside her. Her designation was Azure, and she had the kind of easy confidence that only came from surviving multiple deployments. “Don’t be. First battle’s always the worst. After that, you either get good or you get dead, and you look like the getting-good type.

“I’ve trained for this my whole life,” Platina said, hoping her voice sounded more confident than she felt. “I can calculate firing solutions in my sleep. I know the terrain of every sector on this continent. I’m ready.

Azure’s laugh was warm and slightly metallic. “Sure you are. But knowing the theory and living the reality are two different things. On the battlefield, everything changes. The noise, the heat, the fear. It’s a lot to handle. Just remember: keep moving, keep shooting, and don’t let them see you hesitate.

The bay doors began to open, revealing the hellscape beyond. The sky was a bruised purple, lit by the flashes of distant artillery. The ground was churned mud and twisted metal. And somewhere out there, the enemy was waiting.

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