Chapter 42: The Students Panic

The Zerg tide flooded across the western training field like a living black ocean.

Thousands of armored bodies surged over the shattered terrain, climbing across collapsed structures and tearing through reinforced barriers with their razor claws. Their shrill cries merged into one deafening, reverberating roar that shook the academy’s remaining buildings.

Cadets scattered in every direction, their unorganized lines breaking under the assault.

"Fall back immediately!" a cadet screamed, dropping his primary weapon into the dust.

"Don’t break formation!" another student shouted back, clutching his trembling energy rifle.

"Where are the evacuation transports?" a noble girl sobbed, looking wildly toward the empty sky.

"There is no signal on any channel!" a squad leader yelled, hammering his wrist display.

The academy instructors shouted conflicting orders as the defensive network continued collapsing around them. A senior tactical officer slammed his hand heavily against his communication console.

"Establish an external channel with the regional hub!" he barked.

The operator desperately attempted to connect with planetary command, his fingers blurring over the interface. Nothing answered his frantic requests. He tried again, bypassing the standard firewalls.

[CONNECTION FAILED.]

"Military headquarters, do you read us?" the officer yelled into his comm-link.

[NO RESPONSE.]

"Try the orbital fleet!" the senior instructor commanded.

[SIGNAL UNAVAILABLE.]

The operator’s face turned ash-white as he slowly looked up from his board. "We’ve been cut off entirely," he whispered.

The military academy was completely isolated. Whatever intelligence was controlling the Zerg had disrupted far more than just the surface defense grid. Communication systems across the entire military district were actively being drowned beneath an unknown, high-density interference field.

A chief instructor immediately activated the base-wide evacuation protocol, his voice booming through the emergency speakers. "All cadets! Proceed to the fortified eastern shelters immediately! Move!"

The frightened students surged toward the designated eastern evacuation corridors in a chaotic mob. However, the ground beneath the eastern route suddenly shook violently.

BOOM!

A giant Zerg burst through the reinforced deck plates directly ahead of their path. The leading cadets screamed in terror and scattered backward into one another.

"Get back!" a student shrieked.

"There is another one breaking through!" another boy yelled, pointing at the fracturing ground.

"Where do we go now?" a noble girl cried, falling onto her knees.

Panic spread through the ranks far faster than the Zerg could advance. The instructors struggled desperately to regain control of the terrified crowd.

"STOP RUNNING!" a senior instructor bellowed, raising his sidearm.

"Form tactical squads!" another officer ordered, pulling cadets by their collars.

"Listen to your commanders!" a third instructor shouted over the blaring sirens.

However, many students were simply too frightened to obey standard orders. These were elite military cadets who had trained for high-intensity combat their entire lives.

Yet, none of their academic simulations had prepared them for millions of real Zerg emerging simultaneously beneath their feet.

A young Sentinel dropped his weapon into the dirt, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

"We’re all going to die here," he whimpered.

Another cadet grabbed his shoulder, shaking him forcefully. "Pick your rifle up!"

"We can’t win against a swarm this size!" the boy yelled back.

"We don’t need to win!" an instructor shouted, firing a plasma bolt over the advancing horde. "We only need to survive!"

Then, a familiar, clear voice cut through the deafening chaos.

"Everyone, stop," the voice commanded.

It was not loud or shouted in panic. It did not need to be. The exact moment Rhaevia spoke through the localized command channel, several nearby cadets instinctively froze in place, their bodies reacting before their minds could process why.

She stood tall on an elevated upper platform overlooking the burning battlefield. Her dark hair moved gently in the turbulent, hot air, while a faint blue light continued shimmering within her eyes.

Raevor stood several steps behind her, his posture rigid and alert.

"You need to evacuate to the inner core," he said quietly.

Rhaevia shook her head without turning.

"No," she replied flatly.

Raevor’s dark eyes hardened into sharp slits.

"Rhaevia," he warned.

"The eastern evacuation route is completely compromised," she explained, pointing toward the fractured terrain. "Those Zerg are already moving around the perimeter in a flanking maneuver. If everyone retreats there, they will be completely trapped in a bottleneck."

Raevor looked toward the tactical layout of the battlefield. She was entirely right.

Rhaevia’s eyes moved rapidly across the landscape, analyzing data at lightning speed. She was not looking at the Zerg as individual monsters, but as tactical variables on a grid.

She calculated distances, structural terrain, defensive cover, weapon ranges, enemy movement vectors, and viable escape routes. Her mind automatically reconstructed the battlefield in the exact same manner it had during her past life in the apocalypse.

She turned her sharp gaze toward the nearest group of trembling cadets.

"You," she called out, pointing directly at a male student.

The young Sentinel startled, pointing at his own chest. "Me?"

"You’re an offensive-type Sentinel," Rhaevia noted smoothly. "Take twelve people right now and form a tight spear formation on the right flank."

He immediately straightened his spine, responding on pure instinct. "Yes!"

Rhaevia pointed toward another cadet. "You, defensive type. Take twenty people, protect the wounded cadets, and maintain the western energy barrier."

"Understood!" the cadet shouted, already gathering his squad.

"Everyone with long-range plasma weapons, get onto the elevated platforms immediately," she ordered over the open channel.

The surrounding cadets stared at her in utter astonishment, moving before they could even think to question her. However, a senior field instructor stepped forward, frowning.

"Cadet Rythundeir, you are ordering military formations without proper authorization," he barked.

Rhaevia turned her dark eyes to look directly into his.

"Then authorize me," she stated flatly.

The instructor hesitated, caught off guard by her absolute, commander-like authority.

A massive Zerg suddenly slammed its armored body against the outer energy barrier nearby.

BOOM!

The blue shield flickered violently under the shockwave. The senior instructor gritted his teeth, realizing the grim reality of their situation.

"All units!" his voice thundered across the localized frequency. "Follow Cadet Rythundeir’s formation orders immediately!"

The students moved with renewed purpose. Within minutes, scattered, panicking cadets transformed into organized combat squads.

Defensive units established overlapping energy shields, holding the lines. Long-range Sentinels positioned themselves along elevated platforms, laying down precise suppression fire.

Close-combat fighters formed rotating assault groups to clear the breaches. Medical teams gathered behind protected structures to treat the injured.

The overwhelming panic began to recede from the campus. This was not because the Zerg had become any less terrifying, but because the students finally had a clear, unshakeable command to follow.

Rhaevia stepped directly to the edge of the high platform. Her sharp eyes scanned the vast, chaotic battlefield spread out before her.

The ground was covered with shattered concrete and dark alien blood. Multiple administrative buildings burned, casting orange light against the smoke-filled sky. Energy weapons flashed continuously across the perimeter.

Zerg swarms continued to pour from enormous underground fissures, shrieking into the night. Thousands of cadets stood firmly behind hastily assembled defensive lines, holding the choke points she had designated.

High above them in orbit, imperial warships struggled against the interference to establish targeting locks.

It was total, absolute chaos.

Raevor approached her side, his dark eyes watching her calm demeanor.

"You’ve done this before," he observed quietly.

Rhaevia did not look back at him, her gaze fixed on the front lines.

"Something similar," she admitted softly.

"Where?" Raevor pressed, his raspy voice private.

She remained completely silent, offering no verbal answer.

Deep within her mind, her suppressed memories returned briefly in a vivid rush. She saw a ruined Earth, burning human cities, and millions of infected, walking nightmares surging across fractured streets.

She saw human survivors fighting desperately with broken weapons, and a terrifying Zombie King standing at the absolute end of the world.

Rhaevia’s pale lips slowly curved upward into an icy, unbothered smirk. She looked across the violent, monster-infested battlefield with steady eyes.

Then, she smiled.

"I’ve seen worse," she murmured softly to the wind.