The prelude to war began with a ball of plasma like the sun. That deadly blaze punched through the racetrack wall, and liquid fire burned a deep crater into the ground.
With a roar like the fall of an entire city, one whole wall of the racetrack collapsed. The air filled with dust and flame, while shattered stone fragments flew in every direction like blades.
Some boyz who failed to dodge in time melted beneath the searing bombardment, while others died under mountain-sized heaps of rubble.
Kaoreish dropped to his knees on the spiral stairs leading to the racetrack's upper levels, as choking ash and scorching winds swirled around him.
He clawed his way upward, fully aware that in that instant alone, at least dozens of the finest Kommandoz had already perished.
The enemy troops forming the encirclement outside were utterly silent. Against that stark contrast, the thunderous collapse and howls from within the racetrack seemed all the more terrifying.
Suddenly, a corpse fell past him. Kaoreish recognized him—a boy who had been exceptionally good with bombs—but enemy fire shelling the roof had blown off his arm.
"Get to the roof!"
Not far away, Ur shouted the order, though Kaoreish had no idea whether anyone could hear him over the roar of the massive guns.
"Abandon the entrance!"
Kaoreish struggled into the long corridor that ran through the racetrack and found it packed with boyz, their faces unrecognizable beneath dust and blood.
But such distinctions no longer mattered. Kaoreish realized that, like them, he was one of the same warriors fighting for the same goal.
The roof was directly above this level, and Kaoreish found Sergeant Ur.
"Boss Ur!"
Ur raised his head from the window. He was aiming his gun at the enemy. A stray round had struck the