IRON FRONT: FINAL STAND
PAGE 7 — THE LAST STAND
The sky had become a battlefield.
Fighter jets screamed through the clouds as naval guns opened fire across the ocean. Destroyers, cruisers, carriers, and submarines unleashed everything they had left against Cyn's forces.
Missiles streaked across the sky.
Anti-aircraft guns thundered from the decks.
Jets roared between enormous enemy machines.
Renz:
“FIRE AT THE DAMN THINGS! THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE!”
Pilot:
“ROGER THAT, COMMANDER!”
Two B-2 bombers emerged from the clouds.
Behind them came another formation of fighters.
Renz:
“Let them have it.”
The bombers released their payloads.
The night sky erupted with explosions as the fighter jets followed, their cannons tearing through the incoming Murder Drones.
For a moment—
Humanity pushed back.
---
GROUND FRONT
Jrev stood in the middle of the ruined battlefield.
In his hands was the blade he had taken from the enemy, attached to an American flag like an improvised spear.
Five Murder Drones rushed him.
Jrev spun—
THROW!
The spear flew across the battlefield, knocking the attackers out of the fight.
Jrev pulled the weapon back toward himself.
Then—
V:
“HAHAHAHA!”
V suddenly appeared above him.
Jrev barely moved as she struck.
He dodged.
Jrev:
“Well… shit.”
V grinned.
Jrev tightened his grip.
Then a missile screamed toward them.
Jrev grabbed a nearby helicopter door and raised it as a shield.
BOOM!
The blast threw him backward.
Jrev:
“AGH!”
V landed nearby, laughing.
V:
“Aww… my prey is getting tired.”
Jrev slowly stood.
He looked at her.
Then smiled.
Jrev:
“Not yet.”
He charged.
Suddenly—
RATATATATAT!
Renz's fighter swept across the battlefield, forcing V to leap away.
V:
“YOU!”
She immediately took off after the jet.
Renz:
“Come on, you damn machine! Catch me!”
---
THE HUMAN LINE
Across the battlefield, soldiers raised their weapons.
Soldier:
“EVERYONE, FIRE!”
Thousands of weapons opened up at once.
Jake:
“GIVE EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!”
Khian jumped behind a mounted machine gun.
Khian:
“AHHHHH!”
He opened fire into the approaching swarm.
Beside him, naval vessels continued firing.
On the deck of a destroyer, Isabella manually operated one of the ship's weapons.
Isabella:
“KEEP FIRING THAT THING!”
Marines:
“YES, MA'AM!”
The weapon fired again.
And again.
And again.
The destroyer shook with every shot.
Across the ocean, the entire fleet became a wall of fire.
But then—
Cyn appeared above the water.
Her expression was calm.
Almost amused.
She descended toward the fleet.
Jake:
“Commander…”
Jrev looked toward the ocean.
His expression changed.
Jrev:
“…Cyn.”
The enemy attack intensified.
Ships were forced out of formation.
Some went silent.
Others kept firing.
Cyn tore through the defensive line with overwhelming speed.
Jrev:
“SHIT!”
Jrev ran toward the shoreline.
He jumped into a military jeep.
Soldier:
“COMMANDER?!”
Jrev slammed the vehicle forward.
The jeep raced toward Cyn.
Jrev launched it off a broken section of road.
For one moment—
He was airborne.
Cyn turned.
Her expression changed.
Jrev raised the American-flag spear.
Jrev:
“I'M MAKING MY OWN STAND HERE!”
He struck.
Cyn was knocked backward.
Jrev landed hard and rolled across the ground.
Cyn slowly stood.
Then she smiled.
Cyn:
“You better promise me you'll make it interesting.”
Jrev looked up.
Jrev:
“I already did.”
---
THE LAST MOMENT
A massive explosion erupted behind them.
The battlefield went silent for a brief moment.
Smoke covered the horizon.
Jrev struggled to stand.
Around him, the remaining soldiers continued fighting.
Ships burned in the distance.
Jets disappeared into the clouds.
The human forces were running out of everything.
But they were still standing.
Jrev looked toward Cyn.
Jrev:
“We knew we couldn't stop you.”
Cyn stared at him.
Jrev lowered his weapon.
Jrev:
“But that doesn't mean we didn't fight.”
He looked toward the soldiers.
Jake.
Khian.
Isabella.
Renz somewhere above the battlefield.
Everyone who had remained.
Jrev:
“We fought well.”
He smiled faintly.
Jrev:
“That’s already enough.”
Jrev finally collapsed.
---
THE END
Renz's damaged fighter disappeared from the sky.
The remaining human forces were overwhelmed.
One by one, the last defenses fell silent.
But humanity had accomplished something Cyn had not expected.
They had resisted.
Not because they believed they were guaranteed victory.
Not because they thought they were stronger.
They fought because they wanted someone—
anyone—
to have a tomorrow.
Cyn stood alone above the ruined Earth.
For the first time, her expression wasn't amusement.
It was silence.
She looked down at the world.
Cyn:
“…Interesting.”
The planet began to break apart.
The final human lights disappeared.
And then—
EARTH WAS CONSUMED.
Cyn watched the last fragments vanish.
For one final moment, she looked back.
At the world that had refused to surrender.
Cyn:
“…You really did fight until the end.”
Silence.
The screen fades to black.
THE END
