The rain fell heavily over the field, as if the sky were trying to erase what was left of the world.
The Sigma Laboratory Yard was a cemetery of iron and flesh — armored vehicles smoldered, broken drones blinked dying lights, and blood slowly trickled through clogged drains.
Each explosion made the ground shake, spitting fire, mud, and metallic debris. The remaining droplets sounded like bullets falling onto the soaked ground.
In the middle of this hell, a man moved with almost mechanical precision."Kayler Dantis Carvalho."Spectral Unit.Designation: Operator Zero.
Veteran of twenty-three campaigns, thirty-seven infiltration operations. No recorded failures.
Now, he walked alone through what was left of City-9, the epicenter of an orbital strike that wiped out half the continent.
Around him, steel towers fell like skeletons, and broken drones hung from power lines like dead fruit.
The helmet visor projected real-time data: temperature, humidity, electromagnetic noise. The radiation level was in red. None of that shook him. The protocol was simple: reach and destroy the Sigma-4 Data Core before it fell into enemy hands.
Dantis stopped behind what remained of an armored transport, watching the horizon.
The wind carried a metallic smell and burnt ozone, and the distant whisper of automated voices — security systems repeating commands with no one left to hear them.
The radio crackled.
[Central Command] — Zero, this is Tower-One. Biometric reading confirmed. Are you still within the Dead Zone perimeter?[Zero] — Confirmed. Coordinates 37.8, the storm is interfering with telemetry.— Copy. Sigma-4 detected beneath Sector Delta, sublevel three. The site is collapsing. You have fifteen minutes before everything goes to hell.— Plenty of time.
He inhaled. The air tasted like burned iron. As he advanced, the rain intensified, heavy as liquid stones. Each impact distorted the HUD.
Visibility dropped to thirty meters, but Zero moved as if he could see in the dark. A metallic crack to the right. He turned, Kral T9 firm.
Between twisted columns, a mechanical arm fell, releasing sparks. Remains of a repair drone had been thrown far away by the orbital explosion. Nothing hostile. Only the world dying.
Zero continued. The ground alternated between mud, incandescent metal and broken concrete. At each step, the environment seemed to lament.
A world spitting wounded technology. An orange flash cut the sky. Maybe thunder, maybe a tower collapsing in the western zone.
Then: micro-explosion. Zero crouched. Incandescent fragments passed where his head had been seconds before.
If they hit the helmet, they would melt the inner part in three seconds. He stood up and wiped the visor. Still breathing.
A shadow ahead. Zero crouched behind a cracked wall and held his breath. One second. Two. Ten.
Three recovery exoskeletons emerged. Quadrupeds by default, bipeds by defect. Misaligned movements, whipping cables, blades locking in interrupted cycles.
Automation had been compromised. They moved in the same direction as him. Not hostile, just dangerous.
Zero emerged at the exact moment the machine on the left tilted its torso. He aimed, calculated. First shot: hydraulic hose.
Second: optical sensor. Third: cooling unit. The machine fell.
The others advanced, attracted by the noise. Zero stepped back, holstered the Kral and raised the PX-90. Three shots per second, focusing on weak points.
Small explosions destroyed mechanical joints. The first collapsed. The second hit the wall and turned into scrap.
[Tower One] — Hostile contact?— Corrupted exoskeletons. Situation under control.— Your radiation level is high. Avoid prolonged combat.— I've been in worse places.— Zero, repeat. Your signal is failing.— Doesn't matter. Proceeding with the mission.
He advanced. Every muscle burned faster.
A broken walkway appeared. Zero climbed. Charred bodies of technicians, still strapped to safety harnesses, hung like burned marionettes.
He did not avert his gaze. At the top, a crooked sign swayed in the wind: CENTRAL LABORATORY – SIGMA SECTION.
Zero went down the stairs. Rifle positioned. PX-90 in the other hand. The templar knife always within reach.
The narrow corridor felt like a dark tube. Blue sparks ran across the ceiling. The floor vibrated.
The air felt like metallic smoke. The rain did not reach there. Silence reigned.
Then, metallic footsteps. Not dragged. Rhythmic. Precise.
Zero aimed into the darkness. A figure advanced. Humanoid machine from the Atlas division, featureless silver mask, three pulsating lenses.
Units of class Rho, advanced tactical support of Dantis's own coalition. According to recent reports, some had been compromised. A traitor.
Zero brought the radio to his mouth.
— Visual confirmed. Hostile Rho unit.
— Zero, repeating, Rho is allied. Do not shoot until…
Rho opened fire. A rain of piercing projectiles hit the corridor.
Zero rolled to the side. Sparks exploded above him. He rose in a fluid movement, firing short bursts.
Rho dodged with mathematical precision, advancing while blocking the impacts. Zero holstered the Kral. Advanced along the side.
For an ordinary soldier, suicide. For him, calculation.
Rho tried to lock the aim. Zero slid across the floor, gained momentum and spun, kicking the side sensor.
The lenses trembled. He pressed forward. PX-90 in automatic mode.
Precise shots: joint, shoulder, opening in the torso. Rho attacked with absurd speed.
Zero tilted his body fifteen centimeters. The fist grazed past.
The templar knife appeared in his hand. Short blade, perfect for cuts.
Zero spun his body. Drove the blade between the cervical plates. Rho vibrated, trying to continue the fight.
Zero struck the metallic chest with his knee, twisted the knife and opened the gap. Sparks burst.
The machine tried to grab him. Zero escaped by millimeters.
He drew the PX-90. Three shots. All into the exposed core.
Rho fell.— Zero, be careful. Rho's core was destroyed, but the chassis is still unstable. Maintain mission priority.
— Understood.
The heat increased. The visor emitted alerts. But none of that mattered.
At the end of the corridor, a partially melted door gave access to the sublevel where Sigma-4 awaited. Zero placed his hand on the panel.
"Identity confirmed. Access granted." The door rotated. A blue glow escaped through the cracks.
The mission had just begun.