Unbreakable Resolve
The footsteps of Verso as he walked alone down the hospital corridor felt heavy, yet his eyes burned with unyielding fire.
‘Damn it... Only I get to survive like this.’
He loosened the bandages wrapped around his body and discarded them carelessly, walking straight as if the wounds had never existed.
Finally reaching his destination, he stood before Commander Luker’s office.
Luker, without tearing his gaze from the holographic screen, remained silent for a moment before finally speaking.
“Shouldn’t you rest more, Verso?”
Luker’s voice held a note of disappointment rather than outright rebuke, though he kept his eyes fixed on the screen.
“I can’t rest. I have to avenge Kai Lieutenant and my comrades!”
Verso’s voice rose in anger.
Only then did Luker turn his full attention to him.
“Revenge... Emotional responses have no place on the battlefield.”
“He’s beyond normal understanding. No ordinary method can defeat him...”
Verso clenched his fist so tightly that blood seemed ready to ooze. The tremor was unmistakable.
To end that monster, he had to surpass human limits.
“I’ve made up my mind. Please authorize the enhanced human surgery for me.”
Luker let out a disbelieving laugh at the words.
“Enhanced human surgery? Are you serious?”
“You know I’m an orphan from the war, right?”
Deep in thought, Luker’s brows furrowed.
“I’ve already lost everyone I had. Even if I die here, it doesn’t matter.”
“I understand your resolve, but I can’t recommend it. Maybe you should see the bigger picture?”
Luker spoke gently, trying to persuade him.
“My will is absolute.”
“Even if the surgery kills me?”
The enhanced human surgery usually resulted in death after unbearable side effects if the body couldn’t endure it. Even if miraculously successful, the pilot would become a living corpse sustained by nutrient tubes for the rest of their life.
The only gain would be overwhelming mecha control, nothing else.
Knowing the horrific price, Luker genuinely wanted to dissuade him.
‘He’s still young. There’s no need to throw away his life like this...’
Unfortunately, Verso’s eyes showed no wavering.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll pay any price. And... if the surgery succeeds, won’t it benefit the company?”
Verso stated coldly, refusing any compromise and even mentioning the practical advantage.
After a long silence, Luker slowly turned, pulled a thick bundle of documents from his desk drawer.
“This is the enhanced human surgery consent and related documents.”
He placed the bundle on the table in front of Verso and continued.
“Read every item carefully and make your decision. Once you choose this path, there’s no going back.”
Verso picked up the bundle without hesitation.
The dozens of pages of consent forms listed the risks, side effects, and countless things to give up as a human, but he didn’t read a single line.
‘It’s already decided.’
He had sworn it after returning alone, leaving behind burning comrades’ mechas.
Verso signed every page with his name and handed it to Commander Luker.
“Won’t you regret it?”
Luker’s final question.
“Regret is nothing but an excuse from the defeated.”
Luker let out a small sigh and picked up the communicator.
His fingers hesitated in the air for a moment.
“Connect to the medical bay. Initiate enhanced human surgery protocol with the highest priority. Subject... Vice Lieutenant Verso.”
The formal psychological counseling procedure finished, and Verso walked to the surgery room without the slightest hesitation.
Lying on the cold metal bed, the bright white lights of the surgery room flooded his vision intensely.
Amid the fogging of all senses, only one thought remained crystal clear in his mind.
‘I will... do it with my own hands.’
*****
[It’s Kai Lieutenant’s revenge, you damn bastard!]
A piercing scream filled with hatred echoed as he dove into a steep dive and charged forward.
‘Perfect timing for an attack.’
The pile bunker was firmly secured after completing the deployment.
The overheating alarm of the reactor was blaring annoyingly, but he decided to ignore it at this moment.
The moment the enemy aircraft was sucked into the attack range, he fired without hesitation.
KRRRACK! KUUUAAANG-!!
Because he had used it multiple times, the gravity damper hadn’t fully absorbed the recoil.
A brutal vibration that hadn’t been felt before traveled through the cockpit and shook his entire body.
[Grk!!]
The enemy’s panicked voice erupted over the communicator.
‘Still alive? No way!’
No matter how many enhanced human surgeries he had undergone, surviving that attack didn’t make sense.
But soon, seeing the blue energy shield in front of him, understanding dawned.
It looked like the pile bunker’s direct hit had barely been blocked amid violent sparks, but the impact hadn’t been completely nullified.
KWDUDUK-!
With the sound of the energy shield shattering like glass, the enemy aircraft crumpled like paper and was thrown back dozens of meters before slamming tragically into the building debris.
He had dodged the direct hit, but he must have taken significant damage.
[You! I’ll definitely kill you with my own hands!]
Pushing off the crushed building debris, the enemy brandished energy blades in both hands. The head sensor of the enemy aircraft flashed with eerie red light.
‘A nasty bastard.’
The pile bunker required time for re-deployment.
He aimed the acceleration rifle in his left hand, but the enemy, refusing to allow it, sprayed maximum booster output and closed the distance in an instant.
[Die! Die!]
The voice sounded strangely excited.
The enemy’s energy blades flew at fierce speed toward Asura’s head.
[Kinetic Flow activated. Reactor load 200%]
The rising system message indicated that Asura’s condition wasn’t great.
He leaned his upper body back and barely dodged the attack.
Swoosh!
The energy blade grazed right in front of the cockpit with a chilling sonic boom.
Sweat trickled down his back.
The bastard immediately pressed the attack even harder after missing.
He swung the energy blades with no openings, and sometimes collided directly with the heavy weight of the mecha.
KRRANG! CLANG! ZZZIP!
The two mechas tangled, tearing each other’s armor and damaging parts in a desperate brawl.
The particle acceleration rifle had become cumbersome and been abandoned long ago.
Now, the only things he could rely on were the pile bunker’s cooldown time, his combat instincts, and the basic frame of Asura enhanced by Scarlet.
[You’re not a monster after all! Your movements are slow!]
With a laugh, the enemy drove an energy blade deep into the left shoulder armor of Asura.
“Ghk!”
Along with the intense shock, the system warning window flashed madly.
His vision flashed red for a moment. He tried to counter by striking the side, but it was useless.
Whoosh-!
Suddenly, the bastard pulled back and floated up into the sky.
‘What? Trying to run?’
[Die.]
A misunderstanding.
Two massive beam cannons mounted on the enemy’s shoulder armament began deploying.
A blue light seeped from the muzzles, giving a bad omen.
‘Damn it! I have to dodge!’
[Reactor overheating warning! Warning!]
‘Shut up! If I hit that, I’ll burn to death on the spot!’
ZIIIIIIING-! KWAANNG!
At the moment the beam cannons fired, he launched a last-resort missile as a desperate counter, but the missile crumbled without a trace and exploded amid the light beam.
‘I dodged!’
The narrow escape was too close to celebrate.
ZIIIIIIING-!
The muzzles of the two beam cannons were now condensing bright energy.
[Take your best shot, I’ll keep firing until I hit!]
KWAANNG-!
BOOM-!
KWAANNG-!
He dodged the continuous light beams with all his strength, but the result was tragic.
“Damn...”
A curse slipped out.
[Is it over?]
The beam cannons retracted as the bastard descended leisurely from the sky, the aura of assured victory clear.
[Warning! Left arm main frame damaged!]
[Warning! Multiple armor breaches! Internal frame exposed!]
[Warning! Energy conductivity dropped sharply!]
The system messages floated endlessly.
Asura no longer moved according to his will, its left arm and some armor torn off, standing in ruins.
The enemy pulled out the energy blade and approached slowly.
‘Damn... vision is blurry.’
He must have hit his head from the shock, blood flowing from his forehead completely obscuring his view.
It was dizzy.
‘Am I dying like this?’
He panted heavily. The pain felt like his lungs were burning.
[See you later]
The energy blade flew toward Asura’s cockpit as if piercing it.
‘I can’t die like this.’
He squeezed out the remaining energy and activated the booster, launching backward instantly.
A grinding sound came from the mecha as vibrations shook his body.
[What? There was still energy left?]
Confusion flashed in the enemy’s voice.
KRRACK-!
“Yeah, this is still left.”
He deployed the pile bunker.
[Trying to go out with a bang? Pointless!]
The enemy seemed to have consumed quite a bit of energy from the repeated beam cannon use.
Seeing him no longer trying to evade but hastily deploying a shield confirmed it.
Pierce or not pierce. Now it was just the fight.
Whoosh-! Pshwoosh!
The booster’s roar thundered as he used every attack option available.
He bet everything remaining on this one shot.
[Kinetic Flow activated.]
[Precision strike assistance system activated.]
KUUUAAANG-!
The steel stake of the pile bunker charged toward the enemy aircraft’s shield with a flash.
Crack-!
‘Damn...!’
The energy shield shattered like glass at the same moment the metal stake precisely penetrated near the enemy’s reactor core.
[How is this... Even this, I couldn’t beat... Vice Lieutenant Kai, I have... no face left...]
The enemy’s voice faintly came out alongside the explosion.
Pukwaang-!
Normally, he should have immediately escaped the blast wave, but the mecha didn’t listen.
“Grr... ugh!”
The shattered debris of the enemy aircraft dug into Asura’s armor as if making a final desperate lunge.
“Haa... haa...”
Panting heavily, he leaned his forehead on the control stick. All senses in his body faded.
Asura was in such a terrible state that it should have been scrapped immediately.
Red warning lights flashed desperately in every part.
[Special objective achieved.]
[Nesis Corporation special enhanced mecha destroyed.]
[Item: Skill enhancement token x1 acquired]
The system message announced the victory coldly.
“Should have upgraded it properly... damn.”
A dry chuckle escaped him.
It felt like he was about to die, but there was still work left to do.
He pulled out the pistol Scarlet had prepared for emergency use and struggled to exit the cockpit.
“Haa... damn...”
The moment his feet touched the ground, his legs wobbled.
Seeing Asura, a total wreck before his eyes, he finally realized.
How reckless his choice had been.
‘At least I should have brought another weapon.’
He had been too arrogant. He had overestimated his abilities and strength.
Taking a deep breath, he tapped the communicator.
The recipient was Scarlet.
[Jinwoo! What’s going on? Hic... your face, why does it look like that? Are you dying? What the hell happened?!]
Scarlet, who appeared on the hologram, was drenched in sweat, likely still working.
“Scarlet, please do one thing. Could you send a transport ship? As you can see... the mecha isn’t in good shape.”
He tried to sound calm, but the voice shaking was unavoidable.
[Transport ship and all! What’s that blood on your face, and the mecha is...! Damn it, you crazy bastard! What the hell did you do?!]
Her voice mixed confusion with urgency and sadness.
[Wa-wait! I’ll come right away! Send the coordinates quickly!]
“Yeah, thanks. I thought of you first.”
The words were sincere.
[Stop talking nonsense and stay put! Got it?!]
The urgent communication cut off.
“Huu...”
He let out a short sigh of relief. He had considered contacting Yuna, but Scarlet, the closest here, was the right choice.
“Anyway, let’s go.”
The surroundings were eerily quiet.
Nesis Corporation’s mechas were nowhere to be seen.
‘Why?’
A question arose, but it wasn’t the time to mull it over.
The request wasn’t finished yet.