By the second night, the command center was a mess of torn uniforms, half-drained mana batteries, and exhausted field medics stabilizing their own staff.
One aide passed out mid-report, another threw up into a bin and kept typing.
No one left the room and no one slept.
"We've neutralized seventy-two percent of beast activity in Central Command sectors," reported a grim-faced strategist at hour thirty. "But reinforcements are depleted. We're losing mechs faster than we can cycle replacements."
"How many S-Rankers are alive?" asked General Riki, voice low, shoulders singed.
"Forty-three reporting in. Of them, fewer than half are combat-capable. We have nineteen viable for redeployment."
President Jiang turned to him. "How long until we suppress the core beast threat?"
"If we can hold the eastern perimeter for another five hours, we can sweep the central corridor and reroute surviving units to stabilize the west."
"Do it."
