At the same time, the black-clad soldiers arrived on the outskirts of Tribeca. A thermal drone buzzed overhead, scanning the area. "No guards detected," one soldier reported. "Two heat signatures inside the Mansion. One should be the target."
The team leader smirked. "Perfect. Let's move."
Their only obstacle was a three-meter-high community wall, which seemed insignificant to the trained operatives. However, evenly spaced along the wall were strange half-meter-long metal rods. "Looks like an alarm system," one soldier guessed.
"Hyena, check it out," the leader ordered.
Without hesitation, a wiry man nicknamed Hyena sprinted toward the wall. He moved like a shadow, leaping into the air with practiced ease. His jump cleared nearly five meters, easily surpassing the height of the fence and rods. Just as he neared the wall, a concealed camera locked onto him.
Bzzz!
The rods hummed ominously as they charged. When Hyena crossed the invisible threshold, arcs of electricity shot out like lightning, striking him mid-air.
Crack! With a sickening thud, Hyena's charred body hit the grass. Smoke curled off his scorched skin.
"Damn it!" the leader hissed. "Shoot those things down! Now!"
Gunfire erupted, shattering the silence of the night. One by one, the voltage rods were destroyed under the barrage of bullets.
In the basement of Mansion No. 9, a soft hum broke the stillness. Four dormant spider-like machines powered on, their red eyes glowing ominously. Tarantula, Annie's half-assembled spider robot, activated as well. The mechanical creatures sprang to life, entering combat mode. With a series of sharp clicks and metallic whirs, the steel predators surged out of the Mansion, ready to defend their territory.
Sophia heard the gunshots outside and her expression shifted instantly. Glancing at Annie, who was still sound asleep, she didn't waste a second. Ignoring her injuries, she bolted to the basement, suited up in MV-01, and sprinted out of the Mansion.
Outside the community, a man in black with sharp perception suddenly shouted, "Something's coming! Fast!"
He sensed several highly dangerous entities closing in on them from within the community.
"Damn it! Who used the drone?" the commander barked furiously. "Didn't you say there were no guards?"
"It was me, sir," a soldier stammered. "But I used a thermal drone to scan the area, and I swear, I didn't detect any guards!"
The commander was about to respond when Tarantula and the spiders appeared, and everything became crystal clear. Now they understood why the heat-sensing drone had failed—it hadn't detected the guards because they weren't human. They were machines. Tarantula, a towering machine over three meters tall, was the first to appear.
As Tarantula approached the perimeter, the voltage rods on the wall recognized her as friendly and didn't activate the electric barrier. With a thunderous boom!!, it leaped over the wall effortlessly, landing with a shockwave that rattled the ground. Upon landing, it arm blades extended with a mechanical hiss, and it mood light switched to an ominous red. She wasted no time charging at the closest soldier in black.
"Ah! Stop her!" one of the soldiers shouted as they opened fire. Bullets ricocheted off Tarantula's armor, clinking harmlessly to the ground. Only a few shots aimed at it joints managed to slow it movements slightly.
Tarantula didn't care. Swinging it arm blades in a lethal arc, it sliced through the soldier in front of her, cleaving him into four pieces in a grotesque display. Without missing a beat, it spun around, lifting one of her sharp mechanical legs, and impaled another soldier who had been trying to flank her. As the soldiers reeled in shock, four spiders climbed over the wall, skittering into the fray. The machines moved with terrifying speed and precision. Unlike Tarantula, they had simpler AI and relied on straightforward programming to overwhelm enemies in close combat.
"These things aren't human!" one of the soldiers shouted, panicking as the realization sank in.
"Fire! Use grenades!" the commander yelled, regaining his composure.
Half the team focused their firepower on Tarantula's joints, while the other half launched grenades from their rifles. Tarantula's sensors immediately picked up the incoming grenades. With surprising agility for it massive frame, she dodged them effortlessly. In AI mode, it adopted a quadrupedal stance, crawling like a spider to increase her mobility. Though her movements weren't as fluid as Annie's when manually piloting the suit, for an autonomous machine, it was an impressive display of adaptability.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rocked the area, but none of the grenades hit Tarantula directly. Shrapnel and shockwaves washed over her without leaving a scratch. The spiders weren't so lucky. Lacking the advanced evasion protocols of Tarantula, two were caught in the blasts. Their legs were blown off, leaving them immobilized. The other two sustained severe damage but managed to stay operational, albeit sluggishly.
Seeing this, the commander felt a glimmer of hope. "They're not invincible! Take them down!"
Just as he finished speaking, the sound of heavy gunfire erupted from the direction of the community gate. Large-caliber bullets tore through the night, mowing down several soldiers. The ones hit by the heavy rounds were left with gaping holes in their torsos, their deaths horrific and immediate.
The commander spun around to see a figure in humanoid armor standing at the gate, wielding a heavy machine gun. The MV-01 armor's reflective surface glinted under the dim light as bullets fired by the soldiers bounced harmlessly off its surface.
"It's the target!" the commander shouted, his eyes lighting up. "Concentrate fire! Kill her!"
Three soldiers behind him tore off their coats, revealing bulging muscles that looked almost inhuman. Without hesitation, they charged at Sophia, moving with superhuman speed.
"Mutants?" Sophia muttered inside the armor, her eyes widening in shock.
Thanks to Erza, she'd learned about people in this world who possessed extraordinary abilities. But such individuals were supposed to be one in a million. Yet here, she was facing not one but three. Unbeknownst to her, there were more mutants in the squad. The electrocuted hyenas and the soldier with enhanced perception—both were mutants too. Out of the twenty-soldier team, five were genetically altered, far more than Sophia could have guessed.
As the three mutants closed the distance, Sophia steadied her nerves and unleashed a barrage of firepower. The heavy machine gun spat bullets at them, but their muscles absorbed most of the impact. Although blood sprayed from their wounds, the bullets didn't penetrate deeply enough to stop them.
"Spread out!" one of the mutants roared, signaling the others.
Sophia hesitated, her hands clenching the controls of the MV-01 suit as she watched the three attackers split up and rush toward her from different directions. "Damn it!" she muttered, panic flickering in her eyes.
The MV-01 armor was powerful and durable, perfect for close combat. But Sophia had a glaring disadvantage—she had no combat experience. She was a complete novice when it came to fighting, and the reality of the situation was sinking in fast. Not far away, Tarantula's AI noticed Sophia's predicament and instantly switched to rescue mode. Zack had programmed a hidden directive into all his AI units: prioritize the safety of personnel above all else, no matter the cost.