The morning after the Cyber‑Body selection, the Academy buzzed like a hive about to swarm.
Rumors pulsed through every corridor—about the lower‑born who had dared to wear an Omega frame and lived. Some said the machine had glitched. Some whispered that I'd made a deal with the devil.
Let them talk.
I don't give a damd.
Because Today was the day the real battle begins.
---
We assembled in the central amphitheater—cadets standing in perfect rows under the cold arc‑lights. Above us, three massive holographic boards flared to life, streaming endless combinations of ranks, sigils, and statistics.
Commander Zack's voice rolled across the hall, amplified and casual. "Cadets, welcome to the dawn of your first real fight.
Murmurs swept through the crowd. Even the upper‑borns shifted uneasily.
Commander Zack gestured to the light‑boards. "You all know the ranking system, but since memory seems to decay under fear or dearth, I'll refresh you.
"The letter rank—D through S— measures technical efficiency. That's how well you sync with your Cyber Body and the tactical grid. Numbers one through one hundred define team formation priority. The higher your number, the closer to command. The lower you are…" he let the pause hang "…the closer to the front line."
A collective breath. Everyone knew what that meant: the front line teams were fodder.
Command Zack continued, voice turning sharp. "This year's total cadets: one thousand. Split into one hundred ‑unit squads. Twenty percent lower‑born. Eighty percent upper. During preliminary runs, those ratios leaned the other way."
Somebody snorted behind me.
"Because the rats keep dying."
Laughter followed.
Commander Zack ignored it. "The team distribution algorithm favors diversity of rank and proven survival instinct." He scrolled the lists. Names flickered like cards being drawn.
Each team number glowed as cadets were placed. The top ten filled quickly—every one of them headed by upper‑borns from the elite sectors. Team 1,2,3,4,Team5—Lucy's name blazed across Crimson Ascendancy. Lily and Linder with two others followed soon after, commanding Team 5was Lucy.
Then the board kept spinning.
Row after row.
My fingers twitched against the cold railing.
When it finally stopped, my designation blinked into existence near the bottom. Team 100!!.
Team Name: SUICIDE SQUAD.
And somehow, beside "Leader," it read DM‑446.
A ripple of low laughter coursed through the amphitheater.
Commander Zack's smirk was audible. "And there you have it. Our final entry—a collective of lower‑borns with nothing left to lose. befitting name."
A few of the upper‑borns snickered. "well we have to feed the infected something haha."
I stared at the board until the edges of the world blurred. Leader. They'd actually made me the leader. Maybe it was a joke. Maybe some commander wanted to see how far a rat could crawl before breaking.
---
In the prep hangar, I met my team.
Five of us total—each as scrappy and scarred as the ghosts in my memories all from the lower colonies thatbr refused to die.
DM336 shes tiny, sharp‑tongued mechanic from the mine colonies I would be lying if I said I didn't knowt them.
DM899—mass‑built brawler with half a lung of steel and a grin made of bad decisions.
DM112—silent hacker, eyes lost in datastream overlays and know to be a nut job.
DM660—Shes a former med‑tech, nervous hands and too‑soft eyes for this place.
And me DM446—lower‑born survivor with a machine whispering in my head.
It would be hard saying there names so this are what I call them tiny, muscles, crazy,and nurse
Out of nowhere muscles spat out his energy chew and grinned. "So the Academy gave us the death slot, huh? Figures. Suicide Squad. Not bad right"
" yeah speak for yourself" I muttered, adjusting the Omega‑frame servos along my spine.
Tiny got on her knees and said. "Ho great beader of the lower born it's an honor."
I shot her a look. " the fuck!! Get up."
She smiled and stud.
Crazy finally spoke, voice twitching. "ffFront‑line operations
I don't wanna die!!
I don't wanna die!!
Nurse spoke swallowed hard. "ho great lord of earth please protect me— ii mean us"
I finally spoke. "survive That's all that matters."
Silence, broken only by the hiss of exosuits charging.
---
An alarm rippled through the hangar. The holo‑board above flashed
MISSION BRIEFING START.
The image of Commander Zack appeared again, larger than life.
"The objective is simple. Gate Sector C‑13 has gone dark for forty‑three hours. We've lost three supply convoys in that zone. objective take back the sector, before dusk."
Team 100 set for deployment you are set for recon!!!.
The hangar shuddered as Deployment Craft Delta‑Six descended—sleek black hull, engines burning white fire. Hydraulic doors groaned open, revealing six drop‑pods inside and two autonomous drones chained above like hounds straining for release.
Our pilot was barely visible behind reinforced glass—a blur of silver hair and mirrored lenses. "Team 100, load up," came the rasping broadcast. "You're first in. Command wants live eyes and ears inside the blackout before main assault."
Muscles whistled. "Guess we're the bait."
Crazy chuckled. "dont wanna die!!."
A voice ran across our armor frequencies. "All units linked. Do notnstray beyond forty meters. The interference levels are off the charts"
Then rebooted.
I eyed the ceiling. "The blackout's already bleeding in."
Somewhere deep in my Omega suit, the whisper flickered.
Host unstable
I swallowed hard. "Alright, Suicide Squad. You heard the command. Mount up."
---
The craft roared through the sky minutes later. Below, endless stretches of ruined city rolled by—a graveyard of steel veins and silence. Drones hung beneath the fuselage, ready for free‑fall reconnaissance.
Inside the troop bay, red lights pulsed in slow warning intervals. The rhythmic hum of engines blurred into my heartbeat.
Tiny adjusted her exo‑rifle, trying to look casual. "Hey, boss," she muttered over comms, "what's the plan once we land?"
"Simple," I said. "We sweep, we scan, we don't die!!."
Muscles grunted. "And if we run into whatever killed the other teams?"
"Then we kill it back."
He laughed, low and delighted. "Now that's my language."
Crazy voice trembled but held. "Command says recon only. No crossfire."
Tiny winked. " I'll follow you till the depths of hell boss!!."
That earned a few chuckles.
The pilot's voice crackled through the speaker, sharp and metallic. "Approaching drop zone. Wind shear heavy, discharges unstable. Drone release in sixty seconds."
Through the side viewport, the sector appeared—a cratered district split open by unknown force. Buildings leaned like skeletal teeth. Electric storms flickered across the skyline, ribbons of violet lightning slashing the clouds.
Even from this height, the dead city screamed. You could feel it in your jawbone.
Tiny cracked her knuckles. " beautiful!!."
Host whispered the voice in my head. The interference matches pre‑collapse coordinates.
"Pre‑collapse?" I murmured.
No answer.
---
Below us, both recon drones armed their rotors, engines howling. They were massive—each one a hovering disc bristling with scanners and twin guns for defense.
"Thirty seconds," called the pilot.
Muscles checked his harness, grin painted across his scars. "set to die, huh? The rat squad sent to hell I like it!!."
"stop speaking nonsense," I said.
The rear ramp dropped open with a violent hiss.
Wind tore through the cabin. The city spread beneath—black streets webbed with lightning veins, the center a spiral of flame and static.
Ruth let out a wild laugh. "Well, boys and girl—time to make history the messy way!"
The countdown began!!.
"Ten!"
Vibrations roared through me, feeling like a shock!!.
"Nine!"
Crazy kept mumbling I don't wanna die.
"Eight!"
Nurse crossed herself, whispering to a god that never visited the lower colonies. God help me!!!
"Seven!"
The drones broke free, plunging ahead into the storm, their lights painting the mist in ghost colors.
"Six!"
My Omega frame flared awake, armor seams glowing the color of crimson.
"Five!"
"Remember," I said, voice steady, " don't die!!."
"Four!"
Muscles said: "Then let's fall like heroes!"
"Three!"
The wind screamed; the city waited.
"Two!"
Tiny winked at me. "See you in hell, boss."
"One!"
The jump signal blared—blinding red.
We leapt.