00:52.
The city is no longer at peace. Alarm sirens blare from every ward, every station, every public broadcast tower. Red lights spin atop fire towers, sweeping across corners still chilled by night mist.
Under the flames on the horizon, convoys of armored vehicles thunder forward, the ground trembling as though hundreds of steel hearts were beating at once.
"Mechanized units, assemble at Defense Line 3!"
"Recon UAVs 1, 2, 3launch!"
"Air Defense Unit 5deploy artillery positions!"
On each soldier's shoulder, the red flag with a yellow star snaps violently in the wind, its crimson glowing as if burning with them.
Ministry of Defense Headquarters.
An electronic map glows across the great wall. The Hoa Lac region blazes red with the mark "AREA OUT OF CONTROL." Lieutenant General Lê Quang Dự stands before the command table. The light reflects in his weary eyes, but they do not waver.
"Commence Operation Steel Cannon."
"All mechanized forces, artillery, air defense missiles, UAVs form ranks to encircle Hoa Lac!"
"Do not allow a single creature to escape the zone."
The order barely ends before the western sky erupts. Anti aircraft guns roar. Surface to air missiles streak upward, leaving trails like falling stars in reverse. Each impact blooms smoke like newborn volcanoes.
Hoa Lac frontline. Smoke, fire, and steel.
The Van Sinh creatures race on all fours along abandoned rails. Metal claws gouge deep into iron, sparks flying. They hurl armored cars like toys, pierce concrete walls as if through paper.
"Target 7 eliminated!"
"Number 3 advancing toward residential zone!"
"Recon Unit 4, hold the perimeter!"
Soldiers' voices merge with gunfire and cannon blasts. Amid the inferno, the words "For the People. For the Fatherland!" blaze across the battlefield's electronic boards.
On a hill a few kilometers away. Cold wind. Red smoke from Hoa Lac rolls like a storm of fire sand. Trung stands beside Professor An, eyes fixed through an electronic scope.
"They've unleashed failed hybrids…" An whispers, voice choking. "My God… they're conducting field trials."
"But why here?" Trung asks, gaze locked on the battlefield.
"Because they want you to appear or they want to buy time, Trung!"
A stray shell crashes nearby, earth and stone scattering. Firelight casts across Trung's face, his eyes glowing azure, reflecting war.
"We must help them."
"If you go down there, your identity will be exposed."
"If we don't stop this… this country will become hell."
Without waiting, Trung leaps from the hillside. His inner system activates. Steel joints grind. Blue energy veins surge along his arms, piercing flesh. He dives into the inferno, cutting through smoke.
Gunfire, metal, human cries swirl into a storm. A creature lunges to tear apart a soldier. Trung's steel arm seizes its metallic jaw.
"This thing does not deserve the human form."
He squeezes. The sound of shattering steel echoes like breaking bones. The monster jerks back, body splitting, alloy fragments scattering like falling stars. The soldier below stares wide eyed:
"You… who are you?"
"Doesn't matter. Just see me as an ally."
Without pause, Trung charges into the advancing horde. His system roars, artificial muscles tightening like cables, his hand glowing faint blue. The second punch. Then the third. Each strike cracks the ground beneath. Each impact makes the air quake like thunder.
Above, recon drones record everything. Images stream straight to headquarters. Officers stand frozen before the screens. Lieutenant General Dự's eyes harden.
"That is… combat cloning technology?"
"Unclear, sir."
"Doesn't matter. If it protects civilians, it's one of ours."
Hoa Lac, 01:07.
Forty rocket artillery launchers fire in unison. The sound shakes the heavens. A wall of fire rises around the city's perimeter red flames, black smoke like a circle of hell.
"Encirclement complete!"
"Eliminate all Class S targets still inside!"
Soldiers shout, voices merging with cannon thunder:
"For the People! For the Fatherland!"
In the inferno, the figure of the Vietnamese soldier still charges forward, eyes unblinking, hands never releasing the rifle. Amid ash, Trung stands. His armor torn by bullets. His mechanical arm scorched, blue energy tubes flickering.
Ash from burning towers drifts in the wind, clinging to his hair, his shoulders. Far away, civilians are evacuated into ambulances, yellow lights shining on tears and tangled hair. A mother clutches her son, trembling, yet her eyes remain fixed on the flag flying above.
Professor An speaks through the radio, voice hoarse but firm:
"Do you see? Technology, weapons, artificial intelligence… Van Sinh has it all. But there is one thing they cannot replicate."
Trung asks, "Humanity?"
"No." An smiles faintly. "It is humans for each other."
The wind blows. The city still burns. The flag still flies. Trung lifts his gaze to the fire red sky.
"And that… is why I am still human."