THE DAWN OF ZORYA (A Short Story from the Steel Requiem Universe)

Year 2502. The human colony of New Gaia, also known as Kepler-442b-once a paradise of photosynthetic jungles and crystalline towers-is now a hellscape of pulsating flesh. The Y'Zharin, an alien race previously unknown to humanity, who sculpt and worship flesh, have launched their first large-scale invasion into human space, annihilating one of its most prosperous outer colonies. The UCC (Unified Colonies Commonwealth) Seventh Fleet arrives too late: cities burn, civilians are hunted, and corpses rise as puppets of infected sinew.

Amid the chaos, the 211th Armored TWF Squadron "Zorya" is deployed from the destroyer UCCS Weil der Stadt with an impossible mission: protect the last evacuation ship as the planet collapses. Piloting TWF Mark-III "Zhuravlik" mechs, Lieutenant Erika Reinhardt and her comrades fight street by street through Veridian, a city transformed into an organic deathtrap. But the Y'Zharin learn. They adapt. And every fallen soldier joins their swarm.

With just 38 minutes until orbital bombardment, Zorya isn't fighting for victory.
They're fighting for time.