The corridor in Sector Alpha had transformed into a tunnel of screaming metal and flashing light. Strider pressed his back against a concrete pillar while bullets chewed away the edge of his cover. Dust and pulverized cement polluted the space with a choking gray haze.

  Across the hall, the enemy advanced with mechanical precision. They were a wall of dark uniformity. They wore matching matte-black armor that absorbed the dim emergency lighting, and their faces were hidden behind sleek, featureless helmets.

  Strider snapped his rifle around the pillar and fired a three-round burst.

  Bang. Bang. Bang.

  The bullets struck the lead soldier in the chest, but they did not penetrate. A shimmer of blue energy rippled across the impact point. The kinetic force dissipated instantly against the energy shield.

  "Dammit!"

  Strider pulled back as a return volley shredded the concrete near his ear.

  "Their shields are too strong! We can't punch through with standard rounds!"

  Further down the line, Harlan ducked behind an overturned transport cart. He swapped a fresh magazine into his rifle with trembling hands.

  "We need to get close! If we can get within the shield radius, the Chainblades will tear them apart!"

  Strider looked at the narrow hallway. It was a kill zone.

  "Negative! If we charge them in this corridor, they will cut us down before we take two steps. Maintain fire!"

  He rolled across the gap to a stack of crates. He fired again to suppress the advancing squad.

  Two Galvanizers on the left flank popped up to shoot.

  Thwip-thwip.

  Silenced rounds from the elite troops took them in the throats. They gargled blood and collapsed to the floor.

  A young Galvanizer named Tolen screamed from his cover.

  "They are dropping us like flies! We are being overwhelmed, Strider!"

  Strider gritted his teeth. He knew the kid was right.

  "Fall back! Retreat by sections! Section A, lay down cover fire! Section B, move! We need to buy time for the other units to arrive!"

  The Galvanizers obeyed. They fired wildly to force the black-armored soldiers to pause, then scrambled backward to the next defensive line.

  While they exchanged bullets, Tolen slid in next to Strider. He wiped sweat and grime from his eyes.

  "How did they find us so quick? The desert is vast. I thought the desert covered our tracks."

  Strider checked his ammo counter. It blinked low.

  "I'm not sure. But these aren't scavengers. They have tech we haven't seen before. They probably tracked a thermal signature or a residual signal we missed. It doesn't matter now. They are here, and we need to survive."

  Strider scanned the enemy line. He saw one of the elite troops reach to his belt. The soldier pulled a small, spherical object and primed it.

  "Flash bomb! Eyes away!"

  He shouted the warning and buried his face in his arm.

  The soldier tossed the sphere. It arced through the smoky air and landed in the center of the Galvanizer position.

  Ping.

  FLASH.

  A brilliant, blinding white light detonated. It seared the retinas of anyone who hadn't looked away fast enough. A high-pitched ringing pierced their ears. Strider squeezed his eyes shut, but the afterimage burned red in his vision. He stumbled. His equilibrium vanished.

  "I can't see!" Tolen screamed.

  The enemy seized the advantage. They moved forward with disciplined speed. Gunfire erupted, closer this time. The screams of dying Galvanizers echoed in the tunnel.

  Strider reached for his gun while he struggled to find his footing. He blinked tears from his eyes to clear the white spots.

  A shadow loomed over him. An elite soldier stood there with a rifle pointed at Strider’s chest.

  Strider froze.

  Rat-a-tat-tat.

  Bullets suddenly sparked against the elite soldier’s armor. The impacts were heavy enough to knock the man sideways. The shield flickered and died.

  "Boss! Get down!"

  Nicardo slid into view from the intersecting hallway. A squad of fresh reinforcements followed him. They unleashed a torrent of lead that forced the elite troops to seek cover.

  Nicardo grabbed a detonator from his belt.

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  "Fire in the hole!"

  He slammed his thumb on the button.

  BOOM.

  Charges planted on the ceiling beams detonated. The tunnel roof collapsed in a cascade of rubble and rebar. A wall of debris slammed down between the Galvanizers and the hostile force. It sealed the corridor with a choking cloud of dust.

  Strider coughed and waved the smoke away. He leaned against the wall to steady himself.

  "You cut that close, Nicardo."

  Nicardo slung his rifle and offered Strider a hand.

  "I try to be punctual. Are you hit?"

  "Just my pride. Is Leik safe? Did she make it to the evacuation zone?"

  Nicardo nodded firmly.

  "She should have evacuated to Sector Frior with Sophie and Divento by now. Gustov was leading that group."

  Strider let out a breath he had been holding since the first alarm.

  "Good. That is good."

  He looked at the blocked tunnel. Dust still drifted from the cracks.

  "But this wall won't hold them for long. They have explosives too. They will blast their way through any moment now."

  He turned to a man crouched by a portable console. The man tapped furiously on a PCT.

  "Status report. How is the evacuation going?"

  The man looked up. His face was pale in the glow of the screen.

  "There are still a few Sectors where evacuations are underway. We sent a few people to free the prisoners from the holding area, as per protocol. But it's chaotic."

  He swiped a finger across the screen.

  "I'm tapping into the internal surveillance. The commotion is too loud. The sensors are picking up tremors outside. This noise will definitely attract Rusters. If they breach the outer shell while people are evacuating..."

  Strider didn't need him to finish the sentence. A Ruster swarm inside the tunnels would be a massacre.

  "What about the defensive measures? The charges?"

  The man nodded.

  "Most of the charges are set across the main support pillars in Sector Beta and Alpha. But our people are still in the blast radius. We can't detonate yet. We need to evacuate first."

  Strider understood the grim math.

  "We hold the line here as long as we can. Then we fall back to Sector Gamma. The space is narrower there. We can use the choke points to take out more hostiles and slow them down."

  CRASH.

  The debris wall behind them shuddered. A massive hole blasted outward. Chunks of concrete flew like shrapnel.

  "They're through! Move! Fall back to Gamma!"

  Strider’s team scrambled down the passage while they fired blindly into the dust cloud to discourage pursuit.

  …

  Reiner Klitz sat in the corner of his holding cell. He stared at the metal door. The muffled sounds of gunfire and explosions vibrated through the floor.

  "Finally."

  He smirked.

  "The Cloud 9 Elite Corps. Took those bastards long enough. I've been sending out the signal for days."

  He rubbed his thumb. The bionic implant beneath the skin throbbed with a low heat.

  "If it weren't for those constant EMP cuts interrupting the signal, they would have found me yesterday. I've suffered enough in this hole."

  He looked at the food tray on the table. It contained a bowl of cold, gray gruel.

  With a snarl of anger, he swiped the tray off the table.

  Clatter.

  "Garbage! All of it!"

  He ducked low as a fresh wave of gunshots erupted close by. Heavy boots dashed across the passage outside.

  Click.

  The lock on his door disengaged.

  Reiner retreated into the shadows of the corner. He composed his face into a mask of fear.

  The door swung open. A Galvanizer with a bloodstained bandage on his head rushed in. He held a knife.

  "Get up! We are releasing all captives."

  The Galvanizer hurried over and slashed the zip-ties on Reiner’s wrists.

  "Our Biome is under attack. Everyone needs to evacuate to Sector Frior. Follow the others. Go!"

  Reiner rubbed his wrists. He looked at the man with wide, innocent eyes.

  "Under attack? Oh god. Thank you for saving me."

  He acted compliant and rushed toward the door.

  Internally, a devious smile spread across his mind.

  'Run, rats. Run so my colleagues can shoot you in the back. This entire Biome should be annihilated for making me eat slime.'

  The Galvanizer turned to check the next cell.

  Reiner exited the room. He took two steps into the hallway.

  Thwip-thwip-thwip.

  Bullets tore through the air.

  The Galvanizer who had just freed him jerked violently as three rounds punched through his chest. He collapsed without a sound. Further down the hall, two other fleeing prisoners were cut down mid-stride.

  Reiner gasped and threw himself back into his cell. He pressed his back against the wall just as bullets chipped the doorframe.

  "Those idiots! They almost killed me!"

  He peeked cautiously around the edge of the doorframe.

  At the end of the hall, a squad of soldiers advanced. They wore the dark armor he recognized. The emblem of a stylized white cloud was emblazoned on their shoulder pauldrons.

  "Cloud 9 Elite Corps."

  Reiner stayed hidden and shouted down the hall.

  "Cease fire! Do not shoot!"

  The soldiers paused but kept their weapons trained on the door.

  "I am a captive! My name is Reiner Klitz! I am from the Zinc Citadel! I was kidnapped during a transport run to Cloud 9!"

  A voice echoed back, mechanically amplified.

  "Show yourself. Slowly. Or we frag the room."

  Reiner took a deep breath.

  "I am coming out! Don't shoot! I can prove my identity!"

  He poked his head out. He raised his hands high in surrender.

  "Check your scanners! I am the beacon!"

  One of the elite members moved closer. His weapon never wavered from Reiner’s head.

  "Verify," the soldier commanded his squad mate.

  Reiner quickly explained.

  "I am the one who sent the distress signal. Look."

  He twisted his thumb at the unnatural angle again.

  "The bionic implant. It's broadcasting right now."

  The second soldier checked a wrist-mounted device. A green light pulsed in sync with Reiner’s thumb.

  "Confirmed. Signal matches the retrieval frequency."

  The lead soldier lowered his gun.

  "You're the asset."

  Reiner stepped out fully. He brushed the dust from his pants.

  "Asset? Is that what I am? You almost turned your asset into Swiss cheese."

  He looked at the dead Galvanizer on the floor and kicked the body aside.

  "Where is my cargo? And my gear? These thieving rats took my Adamantine armor and my sword."

  The soldier checked the time on his HUD.

  "We aren't entirely sure of the specific location of the cargo. But the scanners indicate high-density materials in the lower sectors. It is somewhere in this Biome. We just need to capture the right person and make them talk."

  Reiner nodded.

  "I want my sword back. And I want to watch this place burn."

  The soldier pulled a sidearm from his holster and handed it to Reiner.

  "Here. Stay close. We have to complete this operation fast."

  Reiner checked the magazine.

  "Why the rush? We have them on the run."

  The soldier looked at the ceiling as if he could see the sky.

  "It's getting dark outside. And the weather reports just came in. Atmospheric pressure is dropping rapidly. It might rain."

  Reiner froze. The gun nearly slipped from his sweaty palm.

  "Rain?"

  His voice cracked.

  "You mean... water from the sky?"

  "Heavy precipitation expected within the hour."

  Reiner was extremely shocked. He looked around the cramped, underground hallway. If it rained, the Oxidizers would wake up. The Rust would frenzy.

  "I sure hope it doesn't. I do not want to spend another day trapped inside this hell hole with the monsters knocking at the door."

  He gripped the pistol tighter.

  "Where is your unit commander? We need to finish this now."

  The soldier pointed toward the upper levels.

  "He is with the main force. They are currently engaged with a resistance group led by a man named Strider. They are pushing toward Sector Gamma."

  Reiner’s eyes narrowed.

  "Strider. That's the one who interrogated me. I owe him a bullet."

  He racked the slide of the pistol.

  "Let's move. I want off this rock before the first drop falls."

  They moved out, stepping over the bodies of the dead to join the slaughter.