The Pentagon unease had grown into a quiet, dangerous tension. Kane's victories—improbable, chaotic, and increasingly legendary—had caught the attention of top military and political leaders. Some quietly celebrated him. Others whispered in fear: a twenty-nine-year-old general was becoming too influential, too uncontrollable. Loyalty to Kane was spreading among multinational troops faster than any bureaucracy could manage, and his survival against impossible odds was feeding a myth that Washington could neither ignore nor fully contain.
The new mission reflected that anxiety: infiltrate the enemy's central command hub in the Riverfall Archipelago, cripple supply chains, drone networks, and communications, and survive. Success was optional. Containment of Kane's influence was the hidden goal.
The Team and the Setup
The strike force was a mix of Americans, Japanese, Koreans, and Taiwanese soldiers. But these were undertrained and exhausted troops. Most had seen months of near-continuous deployment; many were barely trained for real combat. Even the American SEALs and Delta operators were worn down from long rotations and wary of Kane's reputation for defying reason and logic.
Equipment was battered. Morale was fragile. Fear was thick in the ranks. Kane didn't care. He didn't want fame, nor did he want influence. He only wanted the war to end. Washington, however, wanted him contained, tested, and—if possible—broken.
The Head-On Assault
Kane's plan was reckless: a full-frontal assault, relying on chaos rather than precision. The enemy had orbital drones, mechanized patrols, automated turrets, and predictive AI defenses. His orders to the exhausted soldiers sounded insane:
"Charge! Split left and right! Draw fire to the center corridor! Forward! Retreat! Left flank! Don't wait for cover!"
The undertrained squad froze, hesitated, then followed.
Explosions set by trembling demolition specialists misfired, severing power lines and collapsing catwalks in perfect bottlenecks.
Rookie tech operators accidentally triggered network loops, temporarily blinding the hub's AI.
Enemy drones collided midair.
Automated turrets fired into empty corridors, misinterpreting chaotic movement as phantom threats.
Each step seemed more suicidal than the last. Yet every misstep, every improvisation, and every accidental advantage aligned to keep the squad alive.
The Core and Extraction
At the central hub, Kane directed charges at weak structural points. Exhausted soldiers struggled with placement, fumbling with unfamiliar wiring and detonators. The sequence—though improvised—triggered cascading failures:
Artillery misfired, striking enemy positions.
Drone coordination collapsed.
Supply lines were paralyzed.
The retreat was no less chaotic. Kane led his soldiers through debris-strewn corridors, across collapsed bridges, and through smoke-choked streets. Panic, fatigue, and undertraining became tools of improvisation: each stumble, shout, and flinch inadvertently disrupted the enemy's response. Against all logic, the team escaped intact.
Cosmic Reactions
Far above, unseen, the cosmic spectators reacted in varied ways:
One laughed at the absurdity of a head-on assault succeeding with exhausted, undertrained soldiers.
Another groaned in frustration: "Again, annihilation was impossible, and yet he survives. Fate is mocking us."
A third silently studied the accidental chain reactions, fascinated by chaos forming improbable order.
A fourth tilted forward, quietly wagering on what impossible event Kane would survive next.
Kane remained oblivious. To him, it was chaos, luck, and chance bending around him.
Aftermath and Washington's Concern
The hub lay crippled, the squad alive, and Kane's reputation solidified. Washington received reports with mixed reactions: tactical success was undeniable, yet the young general's growing influence remained unsettling. He had survived, succeeded, and built loyalty beyond their control. Containment had failed.
"I didn't plan this… I didn't want to succeed… and somehow, it's done anyway," Kane muttered, watching smoke rise into the dawn sky.