Zenithar – Restricted Military Zone
The rain didn't stop.
Neither lo did the blood.
Raiga stood among twisted wreckage and broken bodies, breathing hard. Crimson streaks ran down his jacket, mixing with rainwater in rivers of violence. Around him, the last embers of fire hissed out in puddles.
The battlefield was silent.
For a moment.
Then—
"Damn…" he muttered, lifting his eyes toward the sky. "She's going to kill me."
"You're damn right I am!!"
Liara's voice erupted in his ear, full of rage and panic. "What the hell was that, Raiga?! You think this is a one-man war?! You think—"
He didn't answer.
Because he already knew what was coming next.
He felt it.
Like a shift in the air.
Like being watched by a predator too patient to pounce.
Raiga turned slowly.
Across the clearing, through the mist of smoke and steam, they emerged—ten figures, walking in formation. Perfectly spaced. Perfectly silent.
Their black armor gleamed like oil. Not a single emblem, not a single word. Helmets seamless, visors glowing crimson like slits carved into death itself.
And in the center of them…
stood one man taller than the rest.
Still.
Motionless.
His coat flared gently in the wind. A thin data-visor glowed blood-red across his eyes.
He said nothing.
He didn't need to.
"Cyber Legion," Raiga growled.
"Yeah," Liara whispered, her voice suddenly cold. "But not the bottom-feeders. These are elite."
The squad moved like a hive mind.
No orders. No signals.
Just cold, surgical purpose.
They didn't raise their weapons.
They studied him.
"They're analyzing me," Raiga realized aloud. "Measuring variables. Running simulations."
His jaw clenched.
"Let's give them something they didn't account for."
He moved.
Fast.
But not fast enough.
CRACK.
The bullet hit him in the shoulder.
Sniper fire.
Raiga stumbled, spun, crashed onto the wet pavement. His katana clanged beside him, slipping from his fingers.
"RAIGA!"
Liara's scream rattled in his earpiece. "Sniper! You're hit!"
Another shot rang out.
This time, it hit low—just above the ribs.
He felt something tear.
Pain exploded through his body like electricity, white-hot and blinding.
His vision spun.
He tried to stand.
His legs didn't respond.
Everything slowed.
Sound turned to static.
The rain stung. His pulse echoed. His fingers twitched helplessly on the ground.
"No," he gasped. "Not like this…"
Figures approached through the haze. Boots splashing in shallow water.
The Legion closed in.
"Raiga, answer me! Come on—just say something!"
Liara's voice cracked. "Please…"
He couldn't.
Not anymore.
Then the visors surrounded him.
He saw hands reaching—cold, gloved, coordinated.
They weren't killing him.
They were capturing him.
"No no no—"
Liara's panic exploded.
"Override protocol!"
Her fingers slammed the console.
[VULTURE UNITS: DEPLOYED]
From across the district, the sky lit up.
Six sleek drones burst from hidden launchers, screaming toward the battlefield like silver arrows. Targeting locked. Engines roaring.
They struck like gods of war.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Explosions rocked the perimeter.
One Legion soldier's head burst in a flash of plasma. Another was shredded by a high-caliber round before he even turned.
Raiga gasped, lungs struggling to fill.
The soldiers fell back—not in panic, but in recalibration. Their helmets flickered. Their visors shifted frequency.
They were… adapting.
"Not fast enough," Liara muttered.
[HACKER UNITS: DEPLOYED]
Three small drones zipped overhead and landed near the convoy's control systems. Thin tendrils of code spread into the digital feed. Glitches sparked across the Legion's HUDs.
The soldiers flinched.
But only for a second.
"They're switching to manual targeting," Liara growled. "How the hell—?!"
The Legion countered.
Tiny quad-legged machines—war-spiders—crawled from their exosuits and began shredding the hacker drones mid-hack.
Two Vultures exploded in a cascade of fire.
Raiga was still down.
Coughing blood.
Then—
[EVAC INCOMING]
Liara's voice, low and commanding:
"I'm sending the Titan. You move, Raiga. Or I swear I'll come drag you myself."
From the horizon, a massive drone roared into view—dark gray, armed, with open side doors and magnetic claws ready to pull him out.
Raiga gritted his teeth.
His arm wouldn't move.
He forced it.
Every step was a scream through his spine.
But he stood.
He staggered.
He walked.
The Titan hovered overhead.
"Come on," Liara begged.
He was almost there—then turned.
The convoy.
The case.
"No!" she shouted. "Don't—!"
Too late.
Raiga turned and sprinted.
He ran through gunfire, through smoke, through blood.
He slid under a burst of plasma, rolled, grabbed the case, and vaulted back just as a round missed his spine by centimeters.
He launched himself into the Titan's bay.
BAM.
The doors sealed.
The drone lifted, engines screaming.
Raiga collapsed against the wall, the case tight in his arms.
Zenithar shrank below.
But it wasn't over.
Not for Liara.
⸻
Zenithar – Resistance Outpost
Liara's entire rig vibrated from strain.
"Come on, come on…"
The last Hacker Unit sparked out.
Only one Vulture left. The battlefield was swarming.
The Legion moved in formation again. Unstoppable. Unyielding.
Liara tapped into emergency channels.
"This is Liara-07! I need support! Now!"
Only static.
Until—
"…You really did it this time, didn't you?"
A voice.
Gruff. Old. Familiar.
Garret.
"I swear," he continued, "I take my eyes off you two for ten minutes and Zenithar turns into a warzone."
Liara's eyes welled with relief.
"Garret…"
"We're coming," he said, cutting through the tension with pure steel.
"Hold the line."
⸻
[To be continued.]