Harvey tried to get out of the car. But he couldn't. Because the car had flipped over, the door was dented, the seatbelt was stuck, and there was no apparent way to escape. However, since the cars were electric, the risk of explosion was much lower.
He then pulled on the seatbelt until his face turned as red as an apple, until he tore the belt apart in one go.
He curled up and kicked the door with his right leg. He kicked, kicked, and kicked until he finally loosened the door slightly. Then, using his shoulders, he pushed the door to create a small opening.
He shrank himself and tried to squeeze his legs through first. First, he tried to get his left leg out, then the right. When he finally got both legs free, he took a deep breath and tried to force the door open a bit more with his shoulders.
Cassandra and Stjarna ran from the cars straight to the trunks, looking for weapons. They broke the lock using a rock they found on the ground. However, there was nothing in either car.
Burton, however, was luckier. By forcing the lock, he managed to open the trunk.
H.K. also checked, but found nothing. Curiously, though, Harvey did. He jumped off the top of the building (which, by the way, was low—its larger extension was underground) into a small grassy garden, clutching two plasma pistols in his left hand and tossing an electric cannon before jumping.
Burton took the same set of pistols as Harvey and grabbed five EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) bombs.
Everything lasted around 7.5 minutes, including Harvey escaping the car.
By the time they gathered, armed, in front of the building, several police officers had assembled inside the station—some hidden behind a counter, others behind the walls.
And the rain continued...
They then threw two EMP bombs directly inside and ran, hoping to disable the police's electric weapons—such as their plasma guns—without disabling their own.
A loud blast echoed through the air. The electric pulse was so strong that it shattered the remaining windows, already broken earlier by Cassandra.
Cassandra was the first to move forward. She had a sharp combat sense, having been instructed by Smith for a short period, in addition to her natural talent and extensive training. However, she usually didn't show it out of fear. But now, hatred consumed her heart, just like the others.
She started running immediately after the explosion. She quickly shot three officers hiding to the left of the entrance wall and blindly fired eight shots at the counter, hoping to take down more.
Moments later, the rest of the group began to follow her.
Inside, there was a small lobby with a counter on the opposite side of the entrance. To the left corner, a decline gradually revealed itself.
It was a ramp.
They stopped and took cover against the wall. Cassandra and H.K. gestured for Harvey to proceed with the fire cannon.
He was already prepared.
At that moment, several cyborg officers in uniform arrived—only to be met with gunfire.
Right behind them came a squad of officers in black chrome-plated chest armor. They charged in, firing nonstop.
KABOOM!
A powerful explosion erupted.
The twelve officers on the ramp were vaporized in the blast, and those behind them were violently thrown back.
The four were also pushed backward, as they had been too close to Harvey and the bomb. They ended up with minor bruises on their backs and elbows.
After being thrown back, H.K. noticed—right there on the ground—that the rain had stopped. But it was still so cloudy that it looked like nighttime.
Harvey rushed down the ramp, swiftly shooting the seven officers who had been thrown down.
The place was an empty, spacious base, like a small underground parking lot. At the far end, there was a corridor.
Cassandra and H.K. ran through the corridors to check ahead. On both sides were prison cells, all empty. Inside them were only gray walls, a bed, and a toilet.
The corridor stretched for about 250 meters before turning right, where a door stood. However, before Cassandra and H.K. reached it, they noticed the silence and stepped back.
"It could be a trap, H.K.," she whispered, then attached two EMP bombs to the door. This time, however, she activated them manually instead of just throwing them. She set a 40-second timer and ran with H.K. back to the group.
They heard the bomb activating and sprinted as fast as they could. Along the way, they hoped it had disabled as much as possible—including the door.
Before they got closer, Harvey shouted, laughing:
"They're inexperienced! They haven't done anything big in a long time! HAHAHA! THIS WILL BE A PIECE OF CAKE!"
Before they could reach it, Cassandra rushed ahead and started shooting, hitting her targets precisely the moment the officers came running out. She shot five of them in the chest but took two bullets in the shoulder, which only infuriated her further—especially since she had already been healing.
They charged forward in pairs, with Harvey trailing behind alone.
H.K. and Cassandra, at the front, fired continuously, and when they reached another turn in the corridor, they increased the power of their pistols to the max.
The area ahead was completely open, revealing a large, dark room.
Several EMP bombs were launched.
Several cyborgs emerged from one door, while other officers came from another. In the middle of the room, there was a glass screen, and inside a completely white room, a man lay sleeping on the floor.
They didn't hesitate and kept shooting at whoever came at them, dropping them like dominoes.
Until a mature, commanding voice broke through a radio from somewhere in the vast room, and the cyborgs and officers abruptly stopped.
"You were deceived... To be revolutionaries, shouldn't you be smarter? All the figures you killed, thinking they were officers, were nothing more than lifeless, emotionless androids. Didn't you notice the lack of blood?"
But they showed no reaction.
"Well... Whatever. I haven't had real humans working for me in ages—aside from that idiot Hans and his subordinates. After all... How hypocritical is it for a group that shelters mercenaries to have police officers?! HAHAHA! I expected you to be even dumber and die more easily, but I see you handled these stupid prototypes quite well! Well... No matter. Take that worthless troublemaker out of here. I wanted to cut funding to the station and didn't know how... You guys destroyed my best prototype on your own, so I don't care anymore! HAHAHA! But be warned! You will be reported to EVERY government and emperor across the cosmos as outlaws and disruptors of the peace, and you will be hunted down. But look at that! I'm feeling generous today, and I'm in a good mood—not to mention I don't want to deal with any more hassle—so I'll let you go. You can even take the ship behind the station (if you haven't already destroyed it), but it won't make much difference... You'll be caught in a few days—or maybe even hours! HAHAHA! GOODBYE AND NEVER COME BACK, BRATS!"
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"
"WHO CARES, LET'S JUST GET OUT OF HERE! THAT OLD MAN MUST BE CRAZY!"
"I'M TALKING ABOUT MR. SMITH DEAD IN THERE!"
"TO HELL WITH THE OLD MAN TOO! HE NEVER CARED ABOUT US, H.K.!"
They started running to escape, but H.K. wanted to get him out of there and began banging on the glass. Cassandra pulled him by the arm, but he didn't resist—he simply started running too.
They ran as fast as they could, circled the structure, and found a large landing base behind the station with a ship much bigger than the one they had taken before.
It was definitely larger than the small police station.
"Weird people..."
Harvey thought. Lost in thought, he stumbled into a puddle of water. Everything was still wet from the rain, and the sky remained cloudy.
H.K. unlocked the ship's wing door (a standard for common small ships like the Facilis and mid-sized ships like this one), and at that exact moment, it started raining again.
The ramp lowered, and their clothes and hair were quickly soaked.
H.K. was the first to enter. He jumped into the ship before the ramp had fully opened, ran without even glancing at the interior, and went straight to the control panel to start the ship.
Seconds later, the rest of the group ran inside.
But before stepping in, Harvey spat on the ground and muttered:
"SCUM."
"GET YOUR ASS IN THE SHIP, YOU IDIOT!"
He ran and jumped in just as the ship took off, the ramp closing behind him.
"H.K.! I almost got left behind!"
He didn't answer. And Harvey didn't say anything else either. The group simply remained silent—at least until they left the planet.
Everyone was melancholic. They had been humiliated, betrayed, and deceived multiple times. Their gazes turned slightly colder, and their faces were pale—but not because of the rain.
No... It was because today, a small part of their humanity...
H.K. found himself thinking about it again...
"Find peace in chaos... Maybe I've found mine... But just maybe..."
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