Gunfire from the Out Law side thundered across the ruined battlefield. Hundreds of rounds tore through the air in a relentless barrage, crashing into Unit 23's position. Several soldiers dropped instantly, their bodies ripped apart by the sheer force of weapons built without mercy. Screams of pain tangled with the roar of explosions, pushing the tension to its absolute limit.
"Shit!"
23 cursed as he yanked himself behind the remains of a concrete wall. In the brief glance he stole, he saw several of his men sprawled across the road, lying in pools of blood.
"If you've got a shot, take it! Don't wait for orders!"
His voice cut through the chaos.
The surviving soldiers seized whatever split-second openings they could, popping out from cover to return fire. Their rifles, the government's latest assault models equipped with advanced targeting systems and minimal recoil, performed flawlessly. And yet... even when their shots landed clean, they did nothing more than spark faint flashes against the Out Law's advancing armored trucks, rolling forward like moving fortresses.
"Rifles aren't doing anything to them!"
One soldier shouted over the gunfire.
"Their armor's too thick!"
The massive armored vehicles continued their slow, crushing advance, as if they intended to grind everything in their path into dust. The heavy machine gun mounted on top began to spin, unleashing high-caliber rounds that shredded 23's cover. Concrete exploded into fragments, forcing them to duck so low they could barely move.
"Damn it... so we take out the truck."
23 muttered to himself. His voice sounded irritated, but his eyes remained calm and focused. He shifted smoothly between bursts of gunfire, then switched to a specialized sidearm loaded with tracking rounds.
He broke out from cover for just a split second, steadying his aim in the middle of a bullet storm. Then he pulled the trigger, sending a tracking device straight into the front armor of the massive truck, where it latched on tight.
"Lloyd, you hear me?!"
23 shouted into his comms.
"Yeah."
Lloyd's voice came through, laced with the sharp howl of wind from high above.
"Don't worry about getting a clear visual. Switch to GPS sensor mode and follow the signal on your screen. Wherever it shows, take the shot. I've already tagged that damn truck!"
23 ordered.
From a distant rooftop, Lloyd smirked. He instantly adjusted his sniper mask, and the smoke-choked battlefield vanished from view, replaced by a clean thermal map with a blinking red marker pinpointing the target. The electromagnetic rifle in his hands let out a low hum as it charged, building up lethal force for the shot.
"Now that's more like it. Guess Pierce's plan paid off, giving us those GPS rounds."
Lloyd muttered with a cold, savage grin, his grip tightening as he braced the rifle against his shoulder.
His fingers moved quickly, switching modes on his tactical mask. It had been set to a 3D mapping system, scanning and reconstructing the surrounding environment, but at this distance, the sensors barely reached. The moment he switched to signal-based targeting, everything became instantly clearer. No more straining to see through layers of toxic dust and haze. All he had to do was focus on the blinking red dot on his display… the mark that spelled death for whatever stood ahead.
"Got a clear lock… firing in 3… 2… 1."
The moment the cold countdown ended, his finger squeezed the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
A tungsten round, propelled by electromagnetic force, tore through the air in a straight line toward the marked coordinate at extreme speed.
Boom!
The sheer impact shattered the silence, but the explosion of sparks and debris didn't come from the armored truck itself. The tracker 23 had been planted and attached near the rear of the vehicle, and in that split second, the truck had already pushed forward. The shot slammed into the ruins behind it instead.
Even though the shot missed, it wasn't a complete waste. The violent shockwave and collapsing debris crashing down behind the truck disrupted the Out Law formation, throwing their advance slightly off balance under the sudden pressure.
"Missed it! Take another shot, it barely slipped past!"
23 shouted into the comms, his voice tight as he ducked under the return fire pouring back at him.
"...Got it."
Lloyd replied, his tone calmer than before. He began reloading another round into the chamber. The cooling system of the electromagnetic rifle let out a low hum as it charged, a process that would take a full ten seconds.
He kept his eyes locked on the red marker as it swayed across the display of his mask. Slow, deep breaths filled his lungs, completely ignoring the toxic dust he was inhaling. In that moment, everything else faded. His awareness of the world around him collapsed into a single point of focus, fixed entirely on that blinking red dot. To him, everything else seemed to slow down.
The charge is completed. The next round was ready. Lloyd drew in one more breath, then held it steady. His finger slipped lightly onto the trigger, waiting for the exact moment the target stilled for just a fraction of a second.
Bang!!
The tungsten round launched at high velocity, just like before. This time, it struck dead center on the tracking sensor 23 had planted at the rear of the armored truck.
Boommmmm!
The sheer force of impact sent the massive vehicle spiraling out of control, flipping over and skidding across the ground. Metal screamed against concrete as the reinforced undercarriage shattered into pieces. The heavy machine gun turret that had once poured out lethal fire was now nothing more than twisted scrap buried beneath the wreck.
"Time to hit back... move in and wipe them out."
The moment 23 gave the order, his unit burst out from cover, unleashing a relentless barrage at the shaken Out Law forces, who were still reeling from the overturned truck.
…..
On Sophie's side, Unit 2 heated up instantly the moment their sensors picked up dense movement. Emerging through the dust was Drago, Project 29. The second she saw that towering frame, Sophie didn't hesitate.
"Target confirmed! Open fire!"
At her command, her unit unleashed a relentless barrage at Drago. Dozens, then hundreds of rounds tore into his body, ripping through flesh and muscle. But the horrifying part was what came next. The wounds shifted, closing almost instantly. Bullets that should have killed an ordinary man only lodged for a moment before his muscles forced them out, clattering uselessly to the ground. Drago kept walking forward, unfazed, as if the storm of bullets hitting him was nothing more than rain.
But the pressure didn't come from the front alone. From the left flank, Jenkins opened fire on Unit 2 as well. His weapon might not have had overwhelming firepower, but the sheer volume of shots, combined with pinpoint accuracy on critical points, was enough to disrupt Sophie's unit. Their focus broke, forcing them to split their attention as their formation began to fall apart.
On the right side of the battlefield, Edward emerged from the dust, riding in on his signature Rocket Bike. The familiar roar of its engine carried across the field with overwhelming force. He hadn't fired a single shot yet, but the moment Sophie saw that machine, a wave of terrible memories slammed into her mind.
The image of the masked man with the scarred mark, the one who had utterly crushed her before, overlapped with what she was seeing now. Fear took hold, drowning out the simple truth of who was actually riding that bike.
"Fall back! Everyone, fall back!"
Sophie shouted, her voice shaking beyond her control.
"Get into the subway station, now!"
Her small unit began retreating from the open ground, pulling back into the darkness of the underground station under her command. Some of the soldiers hesitated, unease creeping in as they realized they might be walking straight into the same kind of explosive trap that had just wiped out Lewis's unit. But in the chaos, they had no choice but to follow Sophie's orders, leaving Drago, Jenkins, and Edward in control of the field outside.
"Are we going after them?"
Jenkins asked, his eyes fixed on Unit 2 as they disappeared into the darkness of the subway station.
Originally, Zenos's plan was for the three of them to apply pressure and force Sophie's team to retreat from the area, widening the gap and buying time so other units couldn't circle in to support them. The goal was to split the three forces apart so they couldn't coordinate. But Sophie's decision to fall back into the abandoned station was slightly outside what they had anticipated.
"Yeah. Let's go in and finish this... at the very least, stall them until Zenos wraps up his plan."
Drago replied, his tone sharp and aggressive, before adding a warning.
"But be careful. From what I know, Sophie's the real deal when it comes to mind control."
The moment the warning left his mouth, both Edward and Jenkins immediately adjusted their mask settings. Motion sensors, sonar pulses, and thermal detection systems all came online at full capacity, compensating for the tight, pitch-dark tunnels ahead. They would have to stay on high alert to deal with the most dangerous kind of threat of all... an attack on the mind, invisible to the naked eye.