"Game Over Man, GAME OVER!!"
Nash angrily ripped off the rest of his pants, as if they were the thing holding him back, not caring at all that he was now running around completely naked.
The drugs were still stimulating his nerves, leaving him in a confused state of excitement, frustration, and fear—a feeling that could almost be described as madness. Among the Wraiths, though, Nash was just considered a little off.
"Bowen—they're coming for us! Their firepower is insane, they wiped out all my men in one shot!"
"They don't seem low on supplies at all—I thought Militech was coming to shut us up!"
"Bowen?!"
"To hell with this!"
Their car sped down the abandoned road toward Stone Ridge Mountain, heading for an old tunnel. Nash and his remaining men were all gathered at this location.
The unfinished road was a mess, full of potholes and concrete barriers.
High on drugs, Nash floored the gas, while his mind raced to get in contact with his boss, Bowen—
But there was no response!
Bang!
The car smashed into a concrete barrier, sending it spinning sideways before it crashed again, this time flipping into the air.
At the far end of the tunnel, in an abandoned construction camp, a low-level Wraith soldier was lazily lounging in a chair, one eye half-closed—
Boom—
The noise startled the lookout, who woke with a jolt, grabbing his gun and looking toward the tunnel entrance.
"What the hell... circus performance? Did they get too high?"
"The hell they did—wake everyone up, NOW!"
Nash, still naked, climbed out of the wreckage. He fired his gun, nearly shooting his own subordinate in the head.
The guy flinched, then yelled, "Enemies!"
Boom!
As soon as he shouted, a rocket hit the building behind him. The cave shook, and massive rocks fell, scaring the Wraiths so badly they nearly wet themselves!
Two machine-gun pickups and two Ragnar armored vehicles arrived on the scene, raining bullets down on the cave!
Nash, covering his head, activated his cyber-enhancements, but the barrage was so intense that even he couldn't avoid all of it.
Stray bullets hit his body, some deflecting off his subdermal armor, but others struck unprotected areas.
Despite his high-end cyberware, Nash barely managed to get out of the line of fire, while his men, who had just drawn their guns, were mowed down.
The cave was a slaughterhouse, with blood and body parts everywhere.
The Wraiths might have been crazy, but they weren't stupid. They hid behind the buildings, trembling in fear.
"Leo," Cedric ordered, "get out of the vehicles—this cave is no place for explosives."
"Got it."
Navi and his team disembarked from their armored cars, stepping onto a ground now soaked in blood and littered with flesh.
The brutal attack had left everyone feeling queasy—
But Cedric showed no discomfort. Coldly, he said, "These bastards deserve this. Hold your guns tight, and make sure they're all dead."
The younger soldiers swallowed hard—they'd never seen Cedric like this before.
It was as if this kind of scene was nothing new to him.
As they advanced, there were no cries for help, only dead bodies.
Instead, they could hear the labored, shaky breaths of the Wraiths hiding behind buildings and cover.
Cedric gave a nod to Navi.
Navi signaled to his men, and a group armed with Ajax rifles quietly flanked the buildings—
He then raised his Sadala rifle and fired.
Bang!
The bullet pierced the building's thin metal walls, sending a spray of blood out from the other side!
The Wraiths inside panicked and tried to return fire, but they were quickly cut down by the Ajax rifles.
Maine's team was also disembarking from their vehicles—
Their movements were faster. They immediately took out the sniper in the control room.
"Damn, this place stinks," Rebecca pinched her nose with a frown. "Without all this shooting, I can't imagine how bad it would smell."
Pilar loaded a shell into his shotgun, saying, "Maybe it's the bullets turning them into minced meat that makes it stink so much. Whatever blood these freaks are using smells awful. I'd love to capture one and interrogate them, see how to avoid this mess."
Kiwi connected to the control room's system—
"We've got intel. This place is bigger than we thought."
The Ragnar vehicle slowly entered the tunnel, heading deeper into the camp—
It really was a large place. The construction site was embedded in the mountain, and they had only seen a small part of it.
The Wraiths were hiding in the buildings, too scared to show their faces.
Their already weak collective bonds were shattered by fear.
The obedient ones had already been torn apart in the first wave of gunfire.
The remaining ones were the rebellious Wraiths, who completely ignored Nash's orders over the radio, waiting for someone else to take the lead.
Occasionally, someone tried to resist, but all they got in return were more bullets.
Leo quickly processed all the surveillance data, marking the positions of the remaining Wraiths in the camp and uploading the information to the combat network.
Now for the last target—Nash.
He was moving fast, running deeper into the tunnel. He seemed to have lost his mind, or maybe he was trying to find backup.
But the tunnel had an end.
Leo saw that Nash had been hit by a bullet, but he was still moving quickly, crawling on all fours in a pitiful and grotesque way.
Leo got out of the car, reloaded his Yinglong gun, and V followed behind him. Jackie appeared on the edge of a two-story building, giving a thumbs-up to signal that his area was clear.
Nash, now at the end of the tunnel, was slinking between pieces of construction equipment.
"Nash—I see you. The NCPD has put a good price on your head."
"NCPD? Screw them! I'm working for Militech now. They won't let you get away with this!"
"Do all Wraiths have such a sense of humor?"
Bang!
The sniper's bullet blew through a piece of equipment, piercing Nash's subdermal armor!
The bullet lodged itself inside Nash's body, the impact force throwing him out from behind cover!
Out in the open, Nash saw Leo aiming his gun—smart bullets connected like a trail of light, striking the exact spot Nash had been hit before!
Nash activated his cyber-enhancements, raising his hands to block the bullets as he tried to crawl backward—
In doing so, he failed to notice that he was still in a construction site.
Even though it was an abandoned one.
Suddenly, a crane behind him moved, and a concrete block fell!
Boom—
Dust flew everywhere.
Nash's head sparked with electricity as blood, electrolyte fluid, and synthetic blood poured out and mixed together, creating a terrible stench.
A large chunk of his head was missing, and his jaw was dislocated. He trembled, using his last breath to plead:
"Spare me... I know where Bowen is..."
Leo covered his nose and said, "Why do you think your boss isn't answering your calls? To end up like this... how pathetic."
Szz!
Electrolyte fluid leaked from Nash's broken cyber-eye. He twitched a few more times before finally going still.
Leo glanced at the Achilles rifle lying in the pool of blood next to Nash's body, grimacing as he pulled out a pair of gloves and picked it up. Then, he called out to Jackie, who was standing nearby.
"Jackie—this one's yours."
"Me?"
"Good stuff, I swear, just a bit dirty—you trust me, right?"
"Well... this is your idea of 'good stuff'?"
"Be patient. The good part's coming."
Jackie reluctantly took the gun and ran toward the vehicle—maybe after a good cleaning, it would actually be decent?
Just then, the lookout outside the tunnel reported back:
Saul: "Militech forces incoming—armored cars, drones, and a full tactical squad."
Leo: "Good news—don't make me tell you what to do, okay?"
Saul: "Uh... maybe we don't need a direct fight. Panam, what are you doing?!"
Panam: "Opening fire!"
(Chapter End)