The shockwave from the localized grid burst didn't produce a sound, but the sudden absence of electronic frequency left a high-pitched ring in Elara's ears. Across the dark limestone ridge, the sharp metallic cracks of the Imperial rifles cut out instantly. A heavy, stunned silence descended upon the quarry, broken only by the steady hiss of freezing drizzle hitting the black marsh water.
Beside her in the ditch, Bastian didn't wait for the smoke to clear. He surged upward, his boots finding traction on the slick clay as he scrambled toward the rocks. Without their digital targeting optics and pneumatic firing pins, the Western regular troops up top were nothing more than men holding useless clubs of steel and molded plastic.
