The convoy came in silent—wheels off the ground, gliding on stabilized mag-thrust like ghosts in formation. Seven black Syndicate interceptors, no plates, no markings. A drone carrier loomed overhead like a thundercloud made of chrome.
Inside his Skyline, Marcel didn't blink.
He'd seen this maneuver before.It was the same deployment they used on Adrian.
But that time, no one fought back.
This time?
The engine roared to life. The road cracked beneath him.
Zero Shift Mode flickered red on his dash. Locked.
RAVYN: "System still recalibrating. Riftline drift not available. You're running raw."
"Good," Marcel muttered. "Let's see how fast I really am without cheating."
Outside – 3.7 KM from Dreadwall Post
Ayaka's Spectra-Silvia broke formation from the cargo rig and cut through the salt flats, kicking up blazing clouds of ash. She wasn't just evading—she was flanking.
"Three coming your way, Vega. I'll take the drones."
"Keep them busy. I'm about to make a line they won't cross."
Inside the lead Syndicate car
A synthetic voice echoed through the helmets of the driver squad.
"Target: Marcel Vega. Authorization: Break Line Protocol.Do not disable. Erase."
The cars split formation, building a pincer pattern, perfectly spaced—predictive drift targeting in place.
But none of them accounted for what came next.
Marcel's Move
He didn't dodge.
He charged.
Straight at the lead car.
The Skyline drifted not around, but through—clipping the edge with such ferocity that sparks erupted like fireworks. A second later, he activated manual underflow cut—dropping the ride just enough to grind beneath the second car's drift arc.
The result?
A cross-interceptor collision.
Two Syndicate cars obliterated themselves trying to adjust.Smoke. Steel. Failure.
RAVYN: "You just cost them $3.8 million in hardware."
"Not enough."
Ayaka dove past from the flank, taking out the drone signal booster with a side-swipe EMP grenade launched mid-drift.
"They're blind now," she shouted. "Light 'em up!"
Marcel engaged Bloodshift Override—surging all torque into a hairpin drift that sent shockwaves across the flats.
The last three cars swerved to avoid him.
Big mistake.
Marcel hit the brakes.Then the gas.Then released the handbrake mid-reverse.
The Skyline spun in a 720-degree cyclone drift, tearing through the final interceptors like a blade.
Silence.
Only the hiss of cooling engines and broken metal crackling in the sand.
Ayaka pulled up beside him.
"That was impossible."
"So was silence from the Syndicate."
He looked down at the still-glowing chip embedded in his dash.
Adrian's voice whispered from inside it.
"They never understood the drift wasn't about control…"
"It's about letting go."