Even for the elite guards, conducting a series of operations within the vast Upper Nest proved to be a laborious undertaking, requiring at least a day and night to complete. As his comrades devoted themselves wholeheartedly to their respective tasks, Grey, unencumbered by the weight of powered armor, navigated through the darkness to conduct reconnaissance.
Upon hearing Andrada's assertion that their operations needed to hasten so they could launch a full-scale assault by the following day, Grey deemed such urgency impossible. "Let's not rush, brother. The Upper Nest is far more immense than we imagine; the troops cannot possibly initiate their attack until the day after tomorrow."
"I must admit, my impatience may stem from being in enemy territory," Andrada conceded.
Grey pressed on through the shadows, seeking what he deemed more valuable enemy targets—such as the command center or the locations of high-ranking officers. The destruction wrought by his fellow soldiers on critical military facilities provided excellent cover for his reconnaissance.
The incessant crack of laser shotguns echoed through the air, the beams piercing through buildings, followed by the sounds of explosions. The frantic shouts of nearby patrols punctuated the din, while the sporadic blasts illuminated the half of the "sky" above him. Unfortunately, only small patches of sky were visible; much of the area retained an oppressive indoor atmosphere.
After traversing for over fifty minutes, Grey arrived at a structure resembling a formidable wall. This wall spanned the heart of the district.
As Grey scanned the edifice, the data revealed it to be a square structure measuring twenty kilometers on each side, standing for at least eleven centuries, with only a single entrance seven hundred meters ahead of him. Within the wall were many people, a fact that did not necessarily imply anything significant, as he had recorded numerous encounters with people throughout his journey.
"The Wall of Koi." Though Grey had never set foot in the Upper Nest, he recognized this colossal structure at first glance. In the Lower Nest, this wall was a name known to all.
Legend had it that a thousand years ago, during ancient times, the governor of the capital city of Talon Nest, Koi, faced a major rebellion. A gladiatorial slave led many in a fierce battle, vowing to behead the governor. Anticipating the insurrection, the governor commanded the construction of the Wall of Koi. His forces entrenched themselves within the wall until troops from Talon II arrived, obliterating the "rebels" in their entirety. The name of that slave gladiator was renowned—the Champion of Valor.
Grey had thought this tale merely a fabrication, but upon witnessing the immense wall before him, he recognized its truth. From the perspective of a commander entrenched within the Upper Nest and the tower, what could be more suitable as a command post than the interior of the Wall of Koi?
Having come to this realization, Grey resolved to verify his hypothesis through reconnaissance. After a swift glance around, he spotted a spire five hundred meters to his left and hurried towards it.
The path from the Wall of Koi to the spire was littered with patrols, yet Grey effortlessly evaded their detection. It was not so much evasion as it was advancing through their blind spots, either slipping into rooms or climbing rooftops, until he ultimately approached the location of the spire.
The base of the spire was encircled by towering walls, housing over fifty infantry and a tank inside, while numerous patrols and guards swarmed the exterior.
"Something feels off," Grey mused, puzzled by the need for heightened defenses around the spire. Even as distant explosions echoed in the air, the guards remained indifferent, their anxious faces reflecting their tense vigil.
Grey directed his gaze upward toward the spire's pinnacle, enhancing his vision until he could discern its summit with exquisite clarity. There, more than a dozen missile launchers were mounted, the specific model of the missiles unknown, yet they emanated an overwhelming aura of menace.
Grey determined that his first course of action should be to neutralize those missile launchers before utilizing the spire to ascertain whether the Wall of Koi served as the enemy's command center.
With a plan swiftly formulated, Grey slipped inside the high walls, concealing himself behind a stone carving, ready to strike.
Inside the walls, over fifty infantry had gathered around the tank, their eyes fixed on the horizon, captivated by the distant explosions.
As they watched, entranced like spectators of fireworks, fear began to manifest on their faces.
"Brothers, we might have a problem. I suspect the enemy has already teleported in to engage us."
"Their teleportation technology is truly grotesque. I heard a psionic say he witnessed an entire battalion arrive at our company, and in an instant, they wiped out those poor souls."
"Or it could be those flashy-powered armor bastards of the enemy launching a surprise attack. Regardless, our mission is to secure the Whirlwind missiles."
Amid their idle chatter, no one noticed the daggers hanging from at least half their legs begin to levitate.
As the floating daggers slowly moved backward, aligning with the throats of at least half of them, Grey promptly commanded the blades to strike with swiftness.
Under the control of the telekinetic device, the speed and force of the daggers far exceeded what any person could achieve, piercing the necks of those targeted in less than a second.
Yet, in Grey's perception, altered by the activation of Bullet Time, the daggers moved at an agonizingly slow pace; even the soldiers' speech elongated in his ears.
His neural connections had geometrically enhanced his reaction time.
"Wha...at...?"
Grey was already behind the soldiers, and as the telekinetically guided daggers punctured the throats of half the soldiers, he could distinctly hear the drawn-out sound of steel piercing flesh as he brushed past them.
As the sensation of pain transmitted through the soldiers' nerves to their brains, Grey's bionic arm had already unfurled, revealing the barrel that extended outward to unleash ten rapid shots, each bullet traversing the air with disorienting slowness.
Grey dashed behind the remaining targets, methodically twisting their necks.
As the crack of the final enemy soldier's neck reverberated, the ten bullets found their marks, obliterating the brains within those unfortunate skulls, causing their bodies to collapse, lifelessly contorting in grotesque poses.
The faint sounds of this chaos were drowned beneath the far-off explosions of the military facilities detonated by his comrades, while the crew within the tank remained blissfully unaware that all their comrades outside had perished.
Until another explosion thundered in the distance.
Grey's bionic arm pierced through the armor of the tank's turret, extending inward to dispatch all within.
The micro-bullets stored in his arm were now completely expended.
Withdrawing his arm from the turret, Grey stood and advanced into the spire. The enemies inside remained oblivious to the impending doom that awaited them.