Helios opens his eyes to find Tina peering down at him. "Why are you sweating so much?" Tina asks, her gaze fixed on him with concern.
"Nothing," Helios gasps, struggling for air as he reaches for his gas mask.
"What are you doing, Leader?" Tina asks, standing up and peering over the edge of the trench.
"Wear your mask!" Helios commands, thrusting her gas mask into her hands. She quickly pulls it on and joins Helios in looking over the parapet.
"Why are we—" Tina begins, but her voice cuts off. Nearby, another soldier starts gasping for air, his eyes beginning to bleed. "Help me..." the soldier chokes out, blood foaming from his mouth.
"Enemy gas attack!" Tina shouts, her eyes widening behind the glass of her mask as she levels her rifle toward the distance. The trench erupts into chaos; soldiers scramble from their sleep, fumbling for their masks and rushing to their positions.
"Get ready for an enemy attack!" Radnor bellows, his voice muffled but authoritative, as the line of soldiers points their weapons into the gloom. Helios suddenly catches a rhythmic thrumming from above. He looks up, his pupils dilating as he spots aircraft cutting through the clouds. He dives into the muddy floor of the trench.
"Bombs!"
The explosives whistle down, slamming into the trench line. "Get down!" Radnor commands. Explosions rock the earth, sending plumes of acrid dust and debris into the air. Through the haze, enemy infantry appears, opening fire.
"Shoot back!" Radnor screams, his rifle kicking against his shoulder as he snipes an advancing enemy. Helios begins firing, his movements mechanical as he drops an attacker. Beside him, Tina's rifle cracks, claiming another life. To Helios's left, a soldier is struck in the head; his body collapses instantly into the churned, bloody mud.
More aircraft scream overhead, dropping a second payload, but the enemy infantry suddenly begins to pull back.
"It seems like they were just checking if we were off guard," Tina says, her shoulders dropping as she lets out a heavy, ragged sigh.
"It seems so," Helios replies grimly. Radnor calls out to him from down the line. Helios begins wading through the mud toward the sergeant, but before he can reach him, a stray shell shrieks through the air. It impacts directly where Tina is standing. The blast wave sends Helios flying backwards, slamming him into the freezing trench water.
"Tank!" a soldier screams frantically. A massive, greenish-brown hull emerges from the dust clouds. Small arms fire pings harmlessly off its thick armour, the ricochets striking several soldiers behind the line. "The enemies are using the tank for cover!"
Helios forced his eyes open, his ears ringing with a high-pitched whine from the explosion. "Why is this hallucination so realistic?" he mutters to himself, his teeth gritted in pain as he grabs his fallen rifle and struggles to his feet.
Radnor skids to his side, grabbing his arm. "Use the machine guns!" he shouts over the din. "Go and tell the Trench Captain we need artillery fire! Move!" He hauls Helios up.
"More tanks are appearing!" Ashley screams, her face contorted with desperation as she reloads her rifle and resumes firing.
Helios scrambles out of the immediate combat zone, sprinting toward the Captain's tent. Grey clouds have completely swallowed the moon, and a cold rain begins to pour. He runs through the muck, water splashing against his boots.
Why am I doing this? Helios questions himself, his chest burning. This is just a fake world. What if they all die? They are just hallucinations. He breathes heavily, his mind racing. They don't have real families. I still need to go and see Luna and Sara.
He bursts into the Captain's tent, water dripping from his sodden uniform. "Captain! Sergeant Radnor told me to tell you we need artillery fire!"
The Captain doesn't look up immediately; he is staring at a map covered in blue and red markers. "The artillery squad will take four minutes to get into position," he says, his voice tight.
"But Sir, we don't have that much time!" Helios says, snapping into a stiff, desperate salute. "The soldiers won't last that long!" His voice cracks with rare emotion.
"Soldier, do you think I don't know that?" the Captain snaps, his face etched with frustration and exhaustion.
"No, Sir," Helios answers quietly.
"In war, sacrifices are necessary, no matter how big or small," the Captain says, finally looking Helios in the eye.
Another soldier sprints into the tent, drenched and breathless. "Captain! Two sergeants have fallen! We need replacements!"
"The names?" the Captain demands.
"Sergeant Radnor and Zoe, Sir."
The Captain's expression flickers with anxiety. He turns his gaze back to Helios. "It seems Radnor gave you a high review last time. I hope you can lead."
"I can, Sir," Helios says, his expression turning stony.
"Good. The artillery should be ready by now." The Captain sighs, gesturing for Helios to lead the way back out into the torrential rain.
Helios reaches the artillery line where the crews are waiting. "Who are you?" a soldier asks sceptically.
"I will be the one leading you," Helios says, his voice eerily calm.
"We were told that—" a man starts to protest, but Helios cuts him off.
"The order has changed. You follow me now."
"We still need orders from the Captain to change the protocol," another crewman insists, eyeing Helios's rank.
"We don't have time right now! You can check after the enemy stops attacking!" Helios shouts, his voice rising.
"But we have orders to—"
"I'm the one giving the orders now," Helios says in a cold, piercing tone. "And my orders are: start moving! Do you understand, soldiers?" His voice carries an undeniable authority.
"Yes, Sir!" the soldiers shout in unison, beginning to heave the heavy artillery pieces forward.
Back at the front, the situation is dire. "It seems like we are going to die today," Ashley says to Lilley, her voice trembling as she fires into the gloom.
"The tanks are getting closer," Lilley replies, standing up to fire as the rain intensifies. A shell explodes on the far side of the trench; enemy fire grows move intense as infantry closes the gap behind the armour. "See you in the afterlife, Lilley."
"FIRE!"
Helios's voice echoes across the field as he stands before the seven artillery pieces. A shell screams through the air, slamming into the lead tank. It erupts in a massive fireball, incinerating the infantry huddled behind it.
"Four, advance!" Helios commands. The men push the weapons forward through the mud. "Two left, fire!"
The crews behind him unleash another volley, tearing into the enemy ranks.
"Stop advancing!" Helios shouts, walking to the centre of the artillery formation. "Fire!"
Another explosion ripples through the enemy line, shattering the remaining tanks.
"Thank God the new leader made it in time," Ashley says, leaning against the trench wall and sighing with relief.
"Keep firing!" Helios shouts, marching toward the edge of the trench. He walks up to the trench, looking down at the weary men. "Soldiers, get ready to advance!"
The men look up, bewildered. "Who are you?" one asks, his face caked in mud.
"I'm the person that's going to be leading you all," Helios says, his eyes fixed on the retreating enemy. "Tell the people who can't hear to get ready to advance!" He stands tall above the trench, a silhouette against the grey sky.
I'm lucky I haven't been shot yet, Helios thinks, though his face remains a mask of cold, emotionless determination. "Get ready to advance in five... four... three... two... one... GO!"
As one, the soldiers surge out of the muddy trenches, charging toward the enemy.