The scent of antiseptic clung to the air, sharp and cold. Somewhere in the distance, a soft humming could be heard...machines whirring quietly, robots moving swiftly between rows of cots. Elbro's eyes slowly blinked open, his vision blurred with dryness and pain. White light flooded his pupils, and for a moment, he couldn't remember where he was. Then the memories hit him like an avalanche.
The roar of the Drake-class Hemengo. The crash of the door. His mother's scream. The blood. His father being torn apart. His mother devoured. And the eyes...green, glowing eyes filled with hunger. His breathing quickened. Panic clawed at his chest as he tried to sit up, only to wince in pain. A firm pressure held him down...his head, wrapped in thick white bandages, throbbed like it was on fire.
His left cheek stung with a searing burn. He reached up instinctively and felt the rough texture of gauze. The claw mark. The Hemengo's claw. It's real.
Elbro squeezed his eyes shut, but tears forced their way out from beneath his lids. He turned his head to the side and cried silently, shoulders trembling. Grief stormed through him...raw, red-hot, and relentless. Every second felt like a memory stabbing into him. He had no family now. Nothing left.
Through the haze of mourning, a different fire started to rise inside him...a fire far darker and more dangerous. Rage. Cold and controlled. A rage that sat deep in his stomach and began to boil upward.
I will kill them all. Every last Hemengo.
He clenched the sheet under him, knuckles white with fury.
The medical camp stretched out across a wide section of Sector 8, where the buildings had collapsed and the streets were riddled with ash and dust. Rows of white tents fluttered under the artificial lighting system deployed by the HNO. Floating drones and walking medbots moved through the area, assisting human doctors and soldiers.
Inside the camp, survivors filled the makeshift hospital beds...some moaning in pain, others silent in their grief.
Elbro sat on his cot, observing everything with empty eyes. To his right, a boy no older than ten had lost his left arm. His face was pale, mouth slightly open, eyes wide in shock, as if he still hadn't accepted it.
On another bed, a girl of about thirteen or fourteen lay with both legs crushed and pinned. Robotic arms hovered above her, gently cleaning her wounds and reconstructing her broken bones with nano-healing foam. She whimpered softly as her mother clutched her hand and whispered soothing words through trembling lips.
An elderly man sat at the far end of the tent, staring blankly at a bloodstained family photo. His body was mostly unharmed...but his soul was shattered.
Some survivors were screaming. Others were just… quiet. Too quiet.
Nurses...both human and synthetic...moved between them, applying medicines, changing dressings, and injecting sedatives. One robot paused beside Elbro's bed, scanned his vitals, and emitted a soft tone of approval before moving on.
A pair of soldiers walked down the aisle, talking in hushed voices "The entire east block was gone when they arrived," one said. "Damn monsters flattened it." "Sector 9 was worse," the other replied. "We pulled six bodies out of a school…kids. Just kids…"
Elbro looked away.
Suddenly, the curtain at the end of the room opened, and a medical officer stepped in. She was in her mid-thirties, wearing a white lab coat with the HNO insignia glowing on her shoulder. Her name tag read: Dr. Reina Dallin.
"Elbro?" she called gently, holding a tablet. "You're awake. That's good." He didn't answer. She came closer, kneeling beside him and placing a hand gently on his shoulder. " You suffered a laceration on your face and mild internal bruising, but nothing life-threatening. You're lucky, Elbro."
Elbro's voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. "I saw them. They killed my parents."
Dr. Reina's expression softened. She sat down on the stool beside him, her eyes heavy with sympathy. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "You're not alone in that pain. Many here have lost everything."
He looked into her eyes, and she could see something burning deep within his. "I want to fight them," he said, voice shaking. "I want to kill every single Hemengo."
Reina looked at him for a long moment, then placed her hand on his bandaged arm. "I've seen people like you before. People who survive when they shouldn't. Who carry pain that most can't imagine. But Elbro… don't let your rage consume you. Use it. Control it. That's what makes you different."
He clenched his fists. "How do I join the HNO?"
Outside the tent, the camp continued its grim work.
Families that survived intact were being escorted to armored transport shuttles, ready to relocate them to safer cities. Children sobbed into their parents' arms. People clutched whatever few belongings they could save...burned photo frames, a favorite book, a broken necklace. Most had nothing.
A large holo-board stood at the center of the camp, displaying lists of names...Confirmed Dead, Missing, Rescued. People gathered around it, some praying, others sobbing, others scanning for familiar names with trembling fingers.
From above, the camp looked like a wounded heart still beating, trying to survive after the blow.
Elbro was moved to a recovery tent later that night. He sat quietly on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The rage inside him hadn't cooled...it was focused now. He didn't feel like a helpless kid anymore. He felt like something new was growing inside him. A purpose.
Somewhere far away, Astria had already returned to HNO Headquarters after clearing her sector. She never saw Elbro again after rescuing him. But the image of her, fearless and deadly, remained etched in his mind. He remembered her calm in chaos, her speed, her precision. She had saved his life.
And now, he would follow in her footsteps.
The war had taken everything from him.
Four months passed.
The cold air hung heavy in the early morning as Elbro stirred from sleep, the familiar scent of metal and medicine still lingering in his nostrils. He blinked his eyes open slowly. The small room he now shared with three other boys came into focus...simple bunk beds, metal lockers, and a dim light shining through the frosted window. He rubbed his eyes, sitting up.
He touched the side of his face instinctively. The claw scar that the Drake-class Hemengo left on him was still there, running diagonally from the top of his left eyebrow to the bottom of his cheek. It would never go away. It was the only thing he saw when he looked in the mirror. And it was the only reminder he needed.
As he stood up, the automated door hissed softly and slid open with a light touch. A gust of freezing wind slipped into the room. It was 5 a.m., but the sky outside was as dark as midnight. The training facility was nestled deep within the mountains...hidden from plain sight and protected by nature and technology alike. Temperatures barely rose above zero degrees Celsius.
This was no ordinary place. This was the official HNO Training Grounds. A facility designed to train the next generation of Hemengo Neutralizers.
Elbro stepped out into the hallway, his footsteps soft on the metal flooring. The place was silent save for the low hum of heating systems and the occasional click of automatic doors opening and closing. He reached the locker room and pressed his hand against the smooth scanner. With a light beep, the locker slid open. Elbro stepped inside the changing pod, and moments later, emerged dressed in the standard HNO trainee suit...skin-tight black material layered for mobility and protection, a white "T" printed boldly on the back.
As he walked out into the corridor, he was greeted by a calm voice."Morning, Elbro."
It was Lit Frin...his roommate and first friend since arriving here. Lit was a quiet and intelligent boy with soft brown hair, neatly combed, and piercing gray eyes. He carried himself with a grace and confidence that made others listen when he spoke. He was the opposite of Elbro...calm, calculating, composed. While Elbro often tried his best but panicked under pressure, Lit was the one who always found solutions.
"Morning," Elbro replied, his voice low but friendly. "Did you sleep?" "A little. You?" Elbro shrugged. "Not much."
They walked side-by-side down the long corridor, passing dozens of other kids their age, and some older...14, 15, maybe even 16 years old. Most wore the same trainee uniform, and their footsteps all headed toward the same place.
At the end of the corridor, they entered a massive training hall...so large it could fit between seventy to a hundred thousand people. The ceiling stretched so high it disappeared into shadows, lit by an artificial sky dome replicating a gloomy dawn.
Everyone stood in silence as a raised platform at the front of the hall lit up. The main instructor stepped forward. He was a tall man...at least 6'5...his presence alone commanding the attention of thousands. His face was stern, with deep lines and sharp eyes. He wore a red uniform, marking him as a high-ranking officer. On his back was a bold white "E"...Elite.
Two soldiers flanked him on either side, both in grey combat suits, glasses hiding their eyes, the letter "G" stamped across their backs. Around the edges of the hall stood tall, humanoid robots...the Guard Units...equipped with scanning visors and reinforced steel armor.
The instructor's voice echoed across the hall without needing a mic. "Welcome to the Hemengo Neutralizer Training Program. From today onward, your lives will be dedicated to one purpose...protecting humanity from extinction. You are not children anymore. You are warriors in training."
Elbro felt a chill run through his spine. The magnitude of what he had stepped into was overwhelming.
The instructor continued, "Each of you has been chosen based on potential, survival, and strength. Many of you have lost families. Many of you have seen death. That makes you dangerous. That makes you valuable. That makes you ready."
Elbro looked around. Hundreds of eyes stared forward...some determined, some afraid, some lost.
The instructor pointed toward the large doors behind them. "This hall will be your training ground. You will be pushed to your limit physically, mentally, and emotionally. Failure means being sent home. Or worse...being assigned without preparation."
Lit leaned over to Elbro and whispered, "They don't mean 'home'. There is no home anymore." Elbro nodded slowly.
The instructor raised his arm. "Your first test begins in 10 minutes. Prepare."
The hall filled with nervous energy as the students began to move. Elbro stood still for a moment, his hand unconsciously drifting toward the scar on his face. His blood boiled. His mind flashed with images of his family...the way his mother screamed, the helplessness in his father's eyes, and the sound of his sister crying before everything went dark.
He clenched his fists. I will kill them all, he thought. Every last one of them.
Far beyond the atmosphere of Earth, where silence swallowed all sound and stars blinked like scattered embers, a corridor floated within the vastness of space. Cold, metallic, and carved from alien design, it echoed with the voice of a deep, gravelly old man. "Mars… what are you planning to do?"
A silhouette emerged from the glowing console ahead, his physique broad and posture calm. Yet his face remained in darkness, shielded from view. "We are going to attack… and retrieve Deimos's core," the man said simply, power resonating in every word.
Another voice joined, sharp and burning with vengeance. "Yes, of course. I will get my brother back...Deimos belongs with us, not the humans."
"Very well, Phobos," Mars replied.
A quiet hum of engines activated around the space corridor, the prelude to war beginning to unfold among the stars.
Back on Earth – HNO Training Grounds
The scene returned to the deep mountain-valley base of the HNO Training Facility. The air was still frozen, the morning light dim under thick clouds. It was the day of the first trial, and inside the colossal domed hall that could hold nearly a hundred thousand, tension had woven itself into every breath.
Trainees gathered from every corridor and hallway, kids aged from 10 to 17, all dressed in black body suits marked with the white letter T. Elbro stood beside Lit Frin, his new companion, both of them unsure of what awaited.
Voices whispered and echoed among the nervous young crowd.
"Do you know what the test is going to be?"
"No idea… but the way everyone's talking, it won't be easy."
"They said one of the previous batches had kids who never returned. Is that true?"
"Man, my hands are shaking… this place is insane."
"I just want to survive. That's all."
Lit looked to Elbro. "You, okay?" Elbro clenched his jaw, the scar on his face barely hidden under the faint glow of the dome lights. "No. But I'll do it anyway."
Suddenly, the instructor stepped forward. His red uniform burned against the steel surroundings; the letter E stamped boldly on his back. Two guards in grey suits flanked him, their faces hidden behind shaded visors, the letters G marked on their backs.
He raised his voice. "Your test begins… now."
A mechanical grind followed his words, and the roof of the massive dome slowly opened. A gust of freezing air rushed down, slicing into every trainee like a cold blade. The sky above was still dark, almost otherworldly, and snow began to drift downward.
"You have six hours to retrieve the core of an artificial mindless Hemengo," the instructor declared, his voice sharp and unwavering. "They are placed outside the dome, spread across the frozen testing grounds."
Everyone listened in stunned silence. "You may help each other… or sabotage each other. It's your decision. Just remember: it is possible to die in this test. After six hours, the dome will close. Anyone still outside will be left behind to starve or freeze."
Gasps spread like wildfire. A chill that had nothing to do with the temperature ran through every trainee. Someone shouted, "This is insane! We can't do this...it's too dangerous!"
"We don't even know how to kill a Hemengo yet! How are we supposed to get its core?!"
The instructor's eyes narrowed. "You're the ones who asked to become Neutralizers," he snapped. "You chose this path. Special weapons have been issued to you...non-lethal against anything else, but fully capable of killing artificial Hemengos. This is your trial."
A countdown appeared on the holoscreen above:
3… 2… 1…
"GO!"
The gates at the end of the dome opened.
At first, no one moved. Then someone charged forward. Then another. Then a flood of black-suited trainees surged into the open, snowy world beyond.
Lit glanced at Elbro. "Let's go. Stick together."
Elbro nodded.
And then, they ran.
Into the frost. Into the dark. Into their first step toward becoming Hemengo Neutralizers.