The ruins trembled under the weight of battle. The Syndicate reinforcements had arrived in full force, and Kade and Lyra were running out of options.
Blaster fire rained down from the rooftops as heavily armored soldiers advanced through the rubble. Kade slashed through two operatives with a precise arc of his plasma blade, but more took their place immediately.
"We're getting pinned down!" Lyra shouted, ducking behind a crumbling wall as a railgun blast tore through the air above her.
Kade gritted his teeth. "Rey better hurry the hell up."
A deafening explosion erupted nearby, and for a split second, Kade thought their backup had arrived. But instead of Rey and his fighters, a towering, mechanical monstrosity stepped into view.
A Syndicate Warden.
Ten feet tall, its armored frame gleamed under the neon sky, massive hydraulic limbs armed with rotating energy cannons. Its glowing red visor scanned the battlefield before locking onto them.
"Target acquired," a cold, artificial voice declared.
"Of course they sent a damn war machine," Kade muttered.
The Warden opened fire, and Kade barely yanked Lyra out of the way before a burst of plasma reduced their cover to molten slag.
"We can't take that thing head-on," Lyra panted.
"Didn't plan to." Kade's cybernetic eye flickered as he scanned the Warden's chassis. Weak points: energy core exposed between plating during cooldown.
Lyra caught his look. "You've got a plan, don't you?"
He smirked. "I stab it. You shoot it."
She rolled her eyes. "Brilliant strategy, genius."
The Warden's cannons spun up again.
Kade sprinted forward. He dodged incoming fire with split-second reflexes, rolling under a burst of plasma before leaping onto a fallen beam. The Warden turned to track him, but Lyra took advantage of the distraction.
She fired a precise shot at the servos in its leg joints. Sparks flew, and the machine staggered.
Kade took his chance. He launched himself through the air, gripping his plasma blade in both hands. The Warden's core was exposed—just for a moment.
A single, perfect strike.
The blade sank deep into the machine's core, and the Warden howled, its systems going into overload.
Kade barely had time to jump clear before the explosion sent a shockwave across the battlefield.
When the dust settled, all that remained of the Warden was smoldering wreckage.
Kade coughed and pulled himself up. Lyra extended a hand, smirking. "Not bad, Ronin."
Before he could reply, a sharp whistle echoed through the ruins.
They turned to see Rey, flanked by at least twenty battle-hardened rebels, armed to the teeth.
"Now that's an entrance," Kade said, smirking.
Rey crossed his arms. "I told you I'd be back."
Lyra eyed the group warily. "Is this all of them?"
Rey's face darkened. "It's all that's left. The Syndicate wiped out half our base before we could regroup."
Kade's jaw clenched. "Then we hit back harder."
Rey nodded. "That's the plan." He looked at Kade. "But before we make our next move… there's something you need to know. About the Syndicate. About your past."
Kade frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Rey exhaled. "I found someone. Someone who knows the truth."
From the shadows, a cloaked figure stepped forward.
Kade's heart stopped. He had seen this man in old data logs, in classified Syndicate files he was never meant to access.
The figure removed his hood, revealing a face Kade never expected to see again.
His father.
"Kade," the man said, his voice low, filled with years of regret.
Kade's breath hitched.
"…No."
To be continued…