Inside the commanding office
"How many units did we lose?"
No one answered immediatly
A screen flickered
Numbers kept going up
"Arthur, give me the report."
"Yes sir. Twenty pilots dead. Only Michael survived."
Silence.
"Michael huh? Lucky. Bastard he volunteered and survived.
we should give him a medal to congrulate him for surviving with that junk scrap metal mecha"
Laughter erupted among officers
Only Arthur didnt laugh
Director Vance cleared his throat
Beep beep
Vance answered the call
"Director Vance we have good news the unknown retreated"
Vance smirked and laughed
"Why did they retreat Jack what did you do this time?"
"well we threw some humans as baits and they left with the bodies that were still alive"
Arthur didn't look at the screen.
He was already thinking about how to explain this to Michael.
If he ever had to.
"Jack what the hell Humans as baits interesting dont tell me they were from 1st district?"
"No of course not sir they were from 3rd , 4th, 5th, 6th and ,7th districts"
Vance leaned back in his chair.
"Mark them as acceptable losses."
The screen updated.
Green text.
Approved.
Michael woke up screaming inside the cockpit.
He saw visions of his comrades dying
"Please dont tell me the visions are true please hurry up get me off this thing"
Michael got off the mecha and ran towards the first wall
Huff huff
"Please god someone tell me its not true"
He ran and ran even though he was exhausted
Beep beep
"Michael slow down where are you running off to?"
"Arthur no Sir im going to check on my comrades"
"They must be alive they arent that weak i know i trained them Sophia , Oskari, Alex , evelyn etc"
"Michael they all died in the battle."
Michael stopped running.
His legs gave out.
"No no that cant be true they all promised we would survive this together."
Michael stayed on the ground.
His hands were shaking
Tears coming through his eyes
He couldnt stop crying
The ground was cold too cold
He tried to stand his legs refused
Static crackled in his ear.
"Michael…"
Arthur's voice sounded tired.
Not angry.
Just empty.
"They were declared KIA."
Killed in action.
A clean word.
Too clean.
Michael laughed.
Once.
It sounded wrong.
"No… you're wrong."
"They always come back."
"Sophia always comes back."
Silence.
Someone nearby was crying.
Another pilot.
Or maybe a technician.
Michael didn't look.
A stretcher passed by.
Covered in black fabric.
Then another.
Then another.
He turned his head away.
The smell hit him late.
Burnt metal.
Oil.
Something else he didn't want to name.
His mech stood behind him.
Silent.
Scratched.
Alive.
Why am I alive?
That thought scared him more than the battle.
A warning light blinked on his wrist display.
Low hydration.
Elevated heart rate.
The machine didn't care.
Orders came through the comms.
Cold.
Fast.
"All surviving units report for debrief."
"Repeat. Immediate debrief."
Michael closed his eyes.
Debrief.
Reports.
Numbers.
They'll turn them into numbers.
Sophia wasn't a number.
Alex wasn't a number.
Evelyn wasn't a number.
He pressed his helmet against the ground.
"I didn't even get to say goodbye."
No one answered.
Far away, sirens wailed.
Medical teams moved fast.
Too fast.
The wall still stood.
Everything else was gone.