Time: 7 hours later — 00:47 HoursLocation: Stützpunkt Eisen (Forward Base Iron) – Team Forty / Squad 38Status: Defensive Position – Active Contact Imminent
The moons hovered high.
One full and cold, the other distant and warped — both staring down through a tangled canopy of black limbs and pale fog. No wind moved. No birds called. Only the slow drip of moisture from leaves onto moss, and the occasional whisper of boots shifting in shallow trenches.
Stützpunkt Eisen sat in silence.
Six tents. Two repeater nests. A dirt wall shaped from logs and stone. Lanterns burned low along the inner line, casting soft amber rings into the dark — like glowing targets.
Leon stood on the ridgepost. Ochs stood beside him, hunched and quiet.
The men were halfway through rest rotation. Half asleep. Half awake.
No one was relaxed.
The radio crackled.
[Radio: Zentrale] – "Eisen, come in. Final status check for Sector Nord."
Leon clicked the receiver. "Eisen Base. Holding perimeter. No contact. All teams operational."
[Radio: Zentrale] – "Copy.Stützpunkt Grimm, Stützpunkt Morgen, Stützpunkt Klinge, and Stützpunkt Asche — all fully established. No hostiles reported.Next check-in at dawn.Zentrale out."
Leon lowered the radio.
Ochs exhaled. "Guess we're the quiet edge of the forest."
Leon didn't answer.
Then — something shifted.
A branch cracked.
Ochs snapped his head toward the east line.
Another crack.Then a low shuffle.Then silence again.
"Something's moving."
Leon stepped to the parapet.
A shape darted between two trees.
Then two more.
Then stillness again.
A picket guard's voice cut the dark.
"KONTAKT!"
Lanterns flared. The horn was struck once.
Boots hit mud. Men snapped up rifles.
"North side! Movement in the trees—lots of it!"
Leon raised his rifle and sprinted toward the forward wall. His boots landed on soaked timber. His eyes caught the tree line.
Eyes.
Dozens of them.
Low to the ground at first — then rising. Slowly. Standing.
Figures emerged — gaunt and massive. Wolf-bodied, but stretched with age and power. Bipedal beasts — jaws wide open, limbs dragging, spines arched like war bows. Behind them, a sea of smaller quadrupeds slinked from the vines — all growling, all watching.
Seventy, maybe more.
Leon raised his voice.
"OPEN FIRE!"
The first shots cut the dark like lightning.
The repeater barked — BRAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT—
Rifles cracked. Lanterns shattered.
Beasts screamed.
One of the large wolves charged the wall, took four rounds to the chest, and collapsed in a heap — steam rising off its corpse.
Another leapt over the barricade.
"GET IT DOWN!"
Three men turned. Two fired. One screamed.
The thing dragged a soldier ten meters before crashing into a supply crate — blood spraying across the logs.
[Radio: Stützpunkt Grimm] – "Zentrale! We're hearing fire from Eisen! Do they need support!?"
[Radio: Zentrale] – "Eisen, respond. Status!"
Leon keyed his mic one-handed while reloading.
"Eisen Base! Full contact — seventy-plus hostiles — multiple bipedal types — we are holding but surrounded! Request immediate support!"
The radio hissed.[Radio: Zentrale] – "Understood. Reserve squads en route. Hold your ground!"
"LEFT FLANK'S BREAKING!" someone shouted.
"RELOADING!"
"MEDIC!"
One of the repeaters jammed.
Leon kicked a crate open, grabbed another belt, and slammed it into the receiver. "Feed it through! NOW!"
Ochs fired twice — one of the tall wolves fell from the wall mid-leap.
"THEY'RE IN THE WIRE!"
Another soldier was pulled back into the dark — no scream. Just gone.
Leon turned, blood on his gloves.
"Anyone not bleeding, grab a shovel or a barrel and reinforce the left. If that side folds, we lose the heart!"
Fire lit the sky for a split second — a flare launched from behind the ridge.
It cast everything in white.
Dozens of beasts.
Paws. Claws. Teeth.And worse — organization.
They weren't charging blind.
They were coordinating.
[Radio: Zentrale] – "Reinforcements three minutes out. Hold, Eisen. Hold."
Leon slammed another shell into his sidearm.
"We're not falling here," he muttered.
Another growl came from the treeline. Deeper. Louder.
Ochs gritted his teeth. "Something bigger's coming."
Leon didn't answer.
He just stepped forward — and raised his rifle again.