October 6, 2201, 1335, Operation Area: Inside the Pit As the vanguard, Jabami advanced cautiously, paying close attention to any signs of Lunarian presence. He regularly checked the monitor for any subtle changes. If there was even the slightest deviation, he would immediately send his subordinates to scout and take out any hidden Lunarians one by one. Several hours had passed since they’d entered the cave, and perhaps due to fatigue or carelessness, his concentration was waning. Without paying any attention to the cracks in the ground, he continued marching forward. The next thing he knew, he was caught in an unexpected explosion. Jabami could hear the sound of the explosion coming from all directions, followed immediately by a sense of weightlessness. His thoughts were paralyzed. What happened to me? he wondered. While slowly falling into the abyss he felt how rubble and dust covered his body and stole his vision. His allies that had been flying beside him were enveloped by the dust cloud. He lost sight of all his subordinates. All he could see through the haze was a cloud of dust. The only thing he could rely on was the thermal sensor. But with it alone, he couldn't distinguish between friend and foe. His back was pounded into the ground. He then bounced up once before rolling across the hard floor. At the same time, the shattered rubble mercilessly pounded into him. But thanks to his composite armor, he was able to take the impact without any broken bones or bruises. “What happened?” The thought slipped out of his mouth. ― No, I shouldn’t act like that in front of my subordinates. ― Immediately, Jabami switched back to his internal thoughts. ― A pitfall trap? No, the Lunarians wouldn’t do something like that. Or would they? I’ll think about that later. ― The platoon radio was filled with screams of agony. “It hurts, it hurts.” “Gah, gah, gah, gah…” “Uh, uh.” “Somebody, somebody.” “What? What the hell?” “His leg!” “I’m gonna die!” Jabami turned down the volume. “Squad 1112, report your status!” He called out to his subordinates via the radio. “Kuchinawa, no damage. Zero visibility. Status unknown.” “Nagamushi, light concussion. No problems fighting. Otherwise the same.” “Kagachi, no damage. Otherwise the same.” His squad was still intact. “All right, to avoid friendly fire, hold your shots. Only take out anything that attacks you. Don’t worry about how you do it. Just stay alive.” “Roger.” The moment Jabami heard his subordinates’ responses, the alarm for an attack from above popped up on his monitor. There were more than sixty shadows on the thermal sensor. It was reasonable to assume they were Lunarians. “Engage the enemy!”

A cloud of dust parted in front of him, and he could see a Lunarians’ sharp claws bearing down on his face. Jabami reflexively swung his assault rifle like a club, knocking away one of the Lunarians’ arms, then swung down on the red blob on his thermal sensor. He could feel the bones crunching and the rifle sinking into the body through his hands. Because he didn’t think it was a fatal wound, he immediately swung the rifle up again and brought it down a second and third time. With each swing, Jabami could feel more bones crunching and soft organs bursting through the rifle. —Ugh, I didn’t realize hand-to-hand combat was so disgusting. How can you stand to fight like this, Koizumi? I’m never agreeing to this again.― But the Lunarians kept coming, regardless of what Jabami wished for. —Was it about here?— He swung his assault rifle as hard as he could horizontally. It hit a Lunarian’s side, but the tense muscles deflected the rifle. Jabami didn’t stop swinging though. He swung the rifle again right away. This time, he could feel the muscles crunching. —Right about here, I think.— Suzuharu swung the assault rifle around wildly. He swung it over and over. He didn’t even know whether he was beating down an enemy or an ally, but he kept swinging. In this situation where he couldn’t see anything, his only option left was to swing his rifle. The Lunarians attacked one after another, not giving him the time to equip his bayonet. All Jabami accomplished was killing two of them. It had no effect on the situation. The humans were still at a disadvantage. His breathing was growing ragged, and he was sweating profusely, even though the composite armor should have been climate controlled. His stamina was being sapped along with the sweat. —This is a bad situation. I can’t coordinate with my subordinates or with my other allies. I won’t be able to move much longer.— The only saving grace was that the Lunarians couldn’t see, either, and they couldn’t coordinate their attacks. If they had been able to, his martial arts skills wouldn’t have stood a chance against them, and he would have been defeated in an instant. One of the Lunarians’ longswords struck at Jabamis’s back. Due to the Lunarians' poor visibility, their thrusts were weak. The composite armor held, and the sword only managed to scratch his skin. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Jabami immediately launched a counterattack. There was a loud, high-pitched clang as his weaopon hit the Lunarian’s longsword. “Report your status!” The company leader’s voice was trembling, as he used the radio to call for a status report. Jabami however didn’t have the time or the presence of mind to respond. He was in the middle of a sword-and-gun standoff with the Lunarian right in front of him. He couldn't afford to let his guard down even for a moment. “Squad 1111. No casualties.” It was Jabami’s turn to report, but he had to remain silent and focus on the battle. “Squad 1113. One KIA, two lightly wounded. Still able to fight.” Squad 1114 was also silent. They were likely in the same situation as him. “Company leader squad. Two seriously wounded, one lightly wounded. Unable to continue. Squads 1111 and 1113, take up positions at the front of the dust cloud and prepare to engage the enemy. Rescue the vanguard.” At long last, a hazy image of the whole situation was beginning to take shape in Jabami’s mind. Only vanguard squads 1112 and 1114 had fallen into the pit, and the rest of the company had likely been fighting a chaotic battle on the surface. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for them to have suffered so many casualties. It also explained why they hadn’t received any support fire. However, Jabami also understood that help was on the way. If they could endure just a little longer, they would be saved. His flagging willpower was rekindled. “We can’t provide support fire in these conditions. Does anyone have any ideas?” “Let’s shoot in a flash-bang grenade, judge those who don’t move as friendly, and those writhing in pain as enemies. We’ll prioritize shooting those who attack those who don’t move, trying not to attack our own allies.” “But wouldn’t there still be a risk of friendly fire?” the company leader asked. “I think it’s better than nothing, sir.” “Does anyone have any other ideas besides Lieutenant Koizumi’s proposal?” “None, sir.” “I think it’s the best option we’ve got.” The other squad leaders all agreed with Koizumi.