"Second wave, incoming!!!" I screamed, watching as double the number of troops from the first wave came storming towards our border. They ran over the corpses of Angels and Invidians alike. "Fuck! That's Ninth's entire infantry down! A hundred men, dead!!" A migraine began to settle in as I realized how many lives we'd lost in only a matter of seconds.
"This is bad…" Tenth began to worry.
"It's fine! I'll keep them contested as much as I can! You guys hold down the perimeter, and try to come up with something about that tank!" Sixth sent in half his infantry, imbued with his kinetic energized Fractal fueled solely by his excitement for the battle. They began a sprint that exceeded the speed effect of Ninth's Fractal, and they prepared to fight using energy that amplified their strength. This choice left the defensive formation even more scarce than before. The original plan consisted of starting the fight with 580 Angels to defend the border, with 10 from both Ninth and Sixth's Infantries to contest the waves at the frontlines, followed by additional 10's from each as the battle went on. Right now, while only on the second wave, our defensive perimeter has already been cut to only 450 Angels with the crucial eradication of Ninth's infantry.
"This is all Ninth's fault!" Seventh yelled. "If he had just stuck to the plan, we'd still be good in numbers right now!"
"But at the cost of his infantry, we can now assume that every Invidian is strapped with an explosive," Eighth pointed out.
"That's why I'll get my Angels to eliminate them before they can activate any explosives!" Sixth got more excited. In turn, he transformed the sentiment into an excretion of energy for his Angels, fueling specifically their speed. The faster he could kill all the Invidians in the second wave, the lesser of a chance that they could activate their bombs in time. As it happened, Invidians were dropping left and right, and it continued to fuel Sixth's excitement, which only increased his Angel's speed. The battle was an exponential massacre.
"There's something weird about this…" Tenth said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Earlier, when I used my Fractal to detect the heat signatures for the explosions, they only came from the ground. Not the ones standing and fighting…"
"The ground…? You mean like… the corpses?"
"Wait…" Tenth went silent.
"SIXTH! GET YOUR ANGELS OUT OF THERE, NOW!!!"
Tenth's sudden scream startled all of us. Sixth was confused. He'd nearly wiped out the entire second wave of Invidians and his infantry was surrounded with their corpses.
"Why? I'm killing them off quickly before they activate their bombs! There's only a few left!"
"NO, THAT'S EXACTLY IT! THE CORPSES EXPLODE! NOT THE LIVING ONES!"
Sixth's heart stopped. For a moment, he took a glimpse at the half of his infantry that was far out in the field, surrounded by piles upon piles of Invidian corpses that he'd just recently killed. His Angels sat dead in the center of a minefield, except every mine had already been activated. The fate had been sealed for fifty lives.
BOOM—! BOOM—! BOOM—!!!
Explosion upon explosion. Blasts threw dust, blood, and bones up from the ground. It scattered everywhere, and Sixth's Angels were all caught in the middle of it.
"Fuck—!" Sixth suddenly cut out. Tenth began to panic. "Oh my god… I should have realized sooner! I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry—!"
"Incoming high again, Seventh!!!" Eighth suddenly called out. It caught her by surprise, but she reacted in time. "Harden!!!" She yelled as her Angels withstood the incoming tank bullet with their formation, disassembling and falling to the floor. There was too much happening all at once, in chaotic, consecutive, order. Half of Sixth's infantry had just been wiped off the field, and although a successful defensive block of the tank shot, Seventh's formation had just been reset and our border was slightly compromised. If anything we didn't anticipate were to happen in this moment, we could fall to Invidan. For a moment, the field between us and the Invidians was empty, filled with nothing but the dead. I knew a third wave would commence soon, especially with Seventh currently occupied by the rebuilding of her formation. I looked at our options, and tried to discuss with the others hoping their morale wasn't broken. "It's okay guys, we've survived the second wave."
"But at the cost of half of Sixth's units! What are we going to do about the bombs?! We don't use ranged weapons!" Eighth said.
"I know. Tenth, you said that only the corpses explode, right?" I asked him. There was no reply. "Tenth?"
"Yeah…" He mumbled, barely audible. "I-I shouldn't be here…"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"I should have spoken sooner. It's because of me that Sixth lost half his men… It's my fault."
"Why are you even blaming yourself?" I was so confused. "You recovered a useful piece of information!"
"That I withheld!" Tenth raised his voice. "I had the gut feeling even before Sixth sent out his Angels. But I wasn't confident about it, so I didn't say anything…"
"Tenth… It doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter right now. At least we still have the other half of his infantry, right, Sixth?"
No response.
"Sixth?"
"See? He's definitely mad at me! Fuck, I can't do this anymore!" Bzzt—! Tenth left the frequency.
"No." I was dumbfounded. "WHAT!?"
"He left?! Why?!?" Eighth was just as surprised.
"Sixth?!" I called out to him again. Still no response. "Why aren't you responding? Hello?!"
"Sixth! Answer!" Seventh joined in. "It's because of you that Tenth left! At least respond to us!"
Things were beginning to spiral. I looked at Sixth's infantry's direction through one of my Angels, and saw that the remaining fifty were still in formation, yet their hands weren't raised anymore. Some of them had even been previously kneeling, but now, they all stood with their hands down at their sides.
"What are they doing…? Why are they just standing there?" I was really starting to get desperate. "Sixth, what are you doing? Why are your Angels just standing still? Command them to get back in formation!"
There was still no response from him, or the Angels.
"What the hell…? Tenth's infantry is doing the same thing…" Seventh stole my attention. I looked at Tenth's infantry now, and just like Sixth's, his Angels stood still, docile.
"What is happening?" Eighth asked. I wished I knew, because now was not the time for Sixth and Tenth to pull something like this.
"RESPOND, GODDAMMIT!" I now yelled, my patience boiling over.
"Fifth," Seventh called out to me. "I don't think either of them are even present right now…"
"Not present…?"
"I think they disconnected from their hive minds…?"
My heart began to pick up pace. "In the middle of a battle, like this? With Melysia's borders on our shoulders…?" I began to remember the things General Michael said: the threat that us Lower Six of the Tenfold were not even needed—that the Upper Four alone were more than enough, and that we were finally responsible for defending Melysia's honor with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It all came crashing down. Ninth had already done us injustice by throwing out his entire infantry to die when unecessary. Now, Sixth and Tenth had apparently disconnected from their hive minds, leaving their Angels with no communications to orchestrate formations. All that was left was me, Seventh, and Eighth's infantries. 300 men, plus 150 who haven't a clue what to do. The Angels were never trained to perform without command. As much as they could do from a combat perspective independently, they'd be nothing but a flock of flies without a commander to tell them what to do. But the way the Angels acted was completely out of the ordinary. Without Sixth or Tenth connected to the hive minds, the Angels should have been at least doing something to fend for themselves, maybe even act frantic or whatnot. But the Angels stood there, lifeless, as if they haven't a soul in their bodies. There was only one reason I could come up with for why they were like this.
Sixth and Tenth commanded their Angels to do this.
"They're not sabotaging us, are they?" My head hurt immensely. "They wouldn't do that… Why would they do that…? Why are their infantries just standing there?!?"
"I don't know! But it's useless to keep watching in awe, especially when the third wave is on its way!"
I looked ahead off of what Seventh said. Sure enough, Invidan had sent in its third wave across the field. This time, the numbers were triple that of the previous.
"Shit, shit, shit," my mind was beginning to spiral. I tried to contain my thoughts. I tried to stay calm. But with the weight on our shoulders, it was nearly impossible.
"Fifth! Get it together!" Seventh was now done rebuilding her Angels' formation. "We've got Angels, remember?"
"Yeah…"
"We still have the advantage, even if it's not in numbers!"
I took a deep breath, and took in what Seventh said. She was right. Melysia's technology was years ahead of everyone else, including Invidan. We were the titans to be feared in this battle, so we had to keep up that image. I couldn't let myself crumble under the pressure after I'd been waiting for this moment my whole life. Now was the time to prove my worth and merit. With all the risks currently at stake, and with the corner we'd already drawn ourselves into, this was the best moment to show General Michael what I was made of. That's when Eighth made the call that drew things into action.
"I see it! I can see it!" He called out.
"What is it?"
"The tank! I can see the tank now! They positioned it further up! It's at N-230!"
My heart was racing wildly. With this crucial piece of information, I had to come up with a plan. Something, an idea, that could put me on the map. The General was watching, and so too were the other Overseers most likely. They must have been observing us this entire time. What could I do to stand out as a commander without a Fractal? What jaw-dropping plan could I execute in this moment of crucial decision to prove to the Overseers that I belonged in the Tenfold? Up until now, the others had shown their merit through the efficient use of their Fractals. It's only been my infantry that hasn't had much effect on the battle.
I was being overshadowed. I couldn't allow myself to fall behind.
"Seventh, Eighth!" I called out to them.
"This is the plan for the third wave."