It Needed Rank, Not Rage, to Kill Us | Military Sci-Fi Infantry Story for Sleep

Above a gas giant, a failing orbital station is tumbling toward atmospheric burn-up with its decks overrun by the Slick, a colonial biofilm spread through fuel, condensation, blood, and rebreather vapor. Twenty-four orbital salvage marines and engineers board because the cruiser needs the antimatter bottle secured inside Reactor Four. They breach the forward airlock and move through the habitation ring toward the reactor, using dry catwalks, plasma cutters, and mag-clamps to avoid the deepest pools.The Slick eats suit seals, weapon lubricants, and fuel, turning every contaminated passage into a fire trap. Worse, it leaves infected crewmen coherent and trusted, quietly bending their judgment until engineers, medics, and officers direct entire squads into saturated compartments. It does not need rage. It needs rank.This is "The Slick" by Sascha Schmidt