The Allbright System - A Sci-Fi Progression LitRPG Story

“The Freak Problem”

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Private Nash Harkins:

“Thing about the Freaks is… you never really kill them.

You drop one, he hits the mud, and you feel good for—what—three seconds? Then there he is again, same damn face, same damn gun, coming at you like you didn’t just burn half a mag putting him down; except now he knows where you are.

First time I fought ‘em, I thought my sights were off. Sure, they tell you in GalPol101, but… It’s different when you’re there, y’know?

Second time, I realized my brain just didn’t wanna really process it.

By the third engagement, I stopped caring if it was the same guy or not. You just shoot ‘til they stop moving and pray they stay stopped long enough for you to move up.”

Private Raul Avarin:

“You can’t flank ‘em.

You think you got an angle, you think you’re clever—and then another full squad just exists there now, right where you wanted to push.

They don’t even have to be good shots; they just have too many barrels on you.

And when you’re pinned like that, your brain starts doing the math on how much ammo’s left in your mag, and how much is left in your whole pack, and you start wondering if it’s even worth burning it on the ones you can see...”

Private Brick Holten:

"My first op against the Freaks? Four hours in, we’d burned through two-thirds of our ammo and my squad leader just kept muttering about the resupply never making it through.

I didn’t get why until later: You can’t win when the other guy can just keep pressing the attack with fresh bodies and fresh guns.

They don’t need to hold ground—they just need to keep you from moving forward.

And, unfortunately, they’re damn good at that."

Private Emeka Dorn:

"The armor helps, sure. You can chew through a few more before they overwhelm you.

But the real problem is the ammo.

Our squadron had to abandon an assault last month because we just… ran out.

Couldn’t clear the sector, not without more resupplies.

They were still coming in waves when we pulled out. That’s the thing—if you can’t find the Duplicator, the clones just don’t stop.

It’s like trying to seal a hull-breach with cotton."

Lieutenant Verren Shin:

“I’ve commanded over thirty platoons against the Stellar Republic.

The tactical problem is one thing—you plan around infinite numbers, you ration ammunition like it’s the most precious commodity, and you accept you’ll never get a clean wipe on the field.

But the morale problem? That’s what really kills.

Marines need to feel like they can win.

Against the Freaks, all they see are their brothers and sisters falling while the enemy never seems to truly lose anyone, as they just keep coming.

It eats at them.

You can see it—the fight draining out of their eyes after the third or fourth time they put down the same target.

We’ve made progress now and then—new scanners, improved tracking, even entire squads dedicated to hunting Duplicators, or special roles in each squad purposefully designed to find them—but they adapt just as fast as we do.

Sometimes faster.

Every battle resets the board, and we’re right back where we started.

You ask me? The war’s not even about winning ground anymore.

It’s about surviving long enough to fight them again tomorrow...”

Closing Note – Lera Han:

"From the greenest Private to the most seasoned officer, one truth apparently always stays the same: Fighting the Freaks isn’t a battle of muscle or firepower alone.

It’s a war of will.

Every duplicate that steps back onto the field is a reminder that this fight isn’t fair, and it never will be.

But fairness doesn’t win wars—persistence does.

The Stellar Republic can throw a thousand copies at our Marines, but they’ll still have to face the one reality that they can’t clone: A Marine never backs down from a fight."

“You can’t drown a Marine in bodies—we just learn to swim faster.”

—Common UHFMC saying when facing Stellar Republic forces