Part 1: Emjay's Team – A Moment of Reflection
The air inside Emjay's base was unusually still. No blaring alarms, no sudden calls to arms—just the quiet hum of machinery and the muffled sounds of life continuing inside the walls.
Inside the lounge, the core members of Emjay's team sat together in a rare moment of peace. The dim overhead lights cast long shadows as they leaned against the worn-out couches, the tension from past battles lingering like ghosts.
Kai leaned back, balancing his chair on two legs, arms crossed. "We've been fighting for so long, I forgot what a normal day even feels like."
Leon, sharpening a combat knife absentmindedly, smirked. "What's normal anymore? Waking up without wondering if today's the day you die?"
Nami, sitting with her legs curled beneath her, exhaled slowly. "Do you guys ever wonder... how much longer we can keep going?"
Yano looked up from where she was seated beside her, her hands folded in her lap. "I do. All the time." Her voice was soft but edged with something deeper. "I think about how much we've lost. How much more we will lose. And I hate it."
Silence settled in, heavy and suffocating.
Then Emjay spoke, his voice calm but firm. "We keep going because there's no other choice. We're here because we believe in something bigger than ourselves."
Kai snorted, shifting in his seat. "That's great and all, but belief doesn't stop bullets, Emjay."
Emjay met his gaze evenly. "No, but it gives us a reason to dodge them."
Part 2: Kazuki's Struggles – A Fragile Mind
Kazuki sat in his isolated room, his hands gripping the edges of the bed. His wrists were still marked from where they had restrained him the last time he lost control.
His breathing was shallow. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw them—visions, twisted images, the echoes of people he'd fought, people he'd lost.
He wasn't better.
The medication they used to suppress his episodes was only delaying the inevitable. He could feel it—a storm brewing inside his mind, waiting for the moment he'd slip and let it consume him.
Yano entered quietly, her presence gentle, as if afraid to startle him. "How are you feeling?"
Kazuki let out a low, humorless laugh. "Like I'm stuck inside my own damn head, and I hate every second of it."
She sat beside him but kept her distance, watching him carefully. "You're still you, Kazuki."
His fingers twitched. "Am I?" His voice was sharp, almost bitter. "Because I don't feel like it. I feel like I'm unraveling."
Yano hesitated before speaking. "Then let us help you hold on."
Kazuki closed his eyes for a moment before shaking his head. "You shouldn't have to."
But she didn't move. She just stayed, letting the silence stretch between them.
For now, that was enough.
Part 3: Conversations Under the Stars
That night, the team gathered outside near the abandoned outpost they had fortified as a temporary base. The sky stretched above them, dark and vast, scattered with faint stars.
Leon leaned against a crate, staring at the sky. "Haven't looked at the stars in a long time."
Nami sat on the ground, knees to her chest. "Feels like they don't belong to us anymore."
Kai, sitting cross-legged with a slice of stale ration bread in his hand, chuckled. "You're getting way too poetic, Nami."
She smirked. "Maybe, but tell me I'm wrong."
Emjay sat with them, his arms resting on his knees. "You're not. We've spent so long fighting that the world outside this war feels... distant."
Leon glanced at him. "And when the war's over? What then?"
Emjay exhaled, considering. "Then we figure out how to live again."
Kai snorted. "Easier said than done."
Yano spoke up, her voice quiet but resolute. "Then we'll learn. Together."
No one had anything to say after that.
For the first time in what felt like forever, they simply sat in silence, letting the weight of everything settle around them.
Part 4: The Enemy's Stronghold – Cracks in the Foundation
The war room inside the enemy stronghold was dimly lit, a map of the battlefield stretched across the table. The red and blue markers were slowly dwindling, representing the soldiers lost on both sides.
Evena stood near the table, arms crossed, staring at the numbers that continued to drop.
Lester sat across from her, fingers steepled in thought. His expression was unreadable, his sharp eyes scanning every inch of the data before him.
"This isn't working," Evena finally said.
Lester didn't look up. "Elaborate."
Evena let out a breath, pacing slightly. "We're not winning, Lester. And neither are they. We're just... bleeding each other dry."
Lester leaned back in his chair. "That's war."
She stopped pacing, turning to face him. "No. War has a purpose. A goal. But look at this." She gestured to the board. "What's the point of this? We take ground, they take it back. We lose people, they lose people. Over and over again."
Lester finally met her gaze, something unreadable flickering in his expression. "Are you saying you want to stop fighting?"
Evena hesitated. "I'm saying... I don't know what we're fighting for anymore."
The air between them grew tense.
Lester's voice was measured, but there was something almost dangerous beneath it. "You knew what you were getting into, Evena."
She exhaled. "I did. And I believed in it. But belief doesn't stop bullets, Lester."
Evena stepped closer to the table, her voice lower. "How long until we have nothing left? No soldiers, no war, just... ruins?"
Lester remained silent.
Evena turned away, staring at the darkened window. "I don't want to be here when that happens."
Lester's gaze sharpened. "Are you thinking of leaving?"
She didn't answer right away. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.
"I'm thinking... of surviving."
Lester watched her carefully. Evena had always been loyal. Always been steady. But now, he could see it—doubt.
A dangerous thing to have in a war like this.
She turned toward the door but paused. "Think about it, Lester. What happens when there's no one left to fight?"
She left without another word.
Lester remained seated, his fingers tapping against the table. His gaze drifted back to the board, to the shrinking markers on both sides.
For the first time in a long while, he found himself wondering the same thing.
Part 5: Evena's Crossroads
Outside, Evena walked toward the edge of the base, her footsteps echoing in the cold night air.
She looked up at the sky—the same stars that Emjay's team had been watching at that very moment.
She inhaled deeply, her hands clenched at her sides.
She wasn't sure yet.
But for the first time since the war began... she was thinking about leaving.
And that alone changed everything.