Central Frontline.
Nebraska — Grand Island–Norfolk–Omaha tropolitan Belt.
...
The blazing sun scorched the wasteland.
Sand and dust roared through the wind as gunfire and explosions filled the air. The heat shimred, heavy with the stench of scorched flesh and rot.
"Fucking Song So Mi! Fucking Myers! Fucking Arasaka...!"
Among the ruins of a shattered city, at the broken mouth of an abandoned drainage tunnel ripped open by explosions—boom!—concrete dust fell as a Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA) agent lowered his helt brim, chewing on an energy bar and cursing furiously between bites.
This man's na was Daniel Kim.
Korean-Arican. Senior field agent of the FIA Headquarters. Forr White House communications officer. Once a close colleague and confidant of the President's beloved agent—Songbird.
Emphasis on forr.
Clearly, Mr. Kim hadn't done his job well enough. Agent Songbird had defected—worse, in the most catastrophic, dangerous way imaginable.
And as her so-called colleague and friend, Daniel was now useless. The bla fell on him. His title stripped, his post demoted, and he was reassigned to the front lines.
Then the Fifth Corporate War broke out.
Barely a few days into his new Central States posting, Arasaka and the Free States ca crashing in. Perfect timing.
Effective imdiately—he was drafted. Attempting to flee? Instant court-martial. Execution. All privileges revoked and clawed back.
They'd destroyed his career, his prospects, and soon, maybe his life.
How could he not hate them?
She was the netrunner. He was the supportive "Korean brother." They both served the President. It worked fine.
But now? Forget it.
BOOM! A massive blast shook the underground base—a retrofitted stormwater reservoir turned into a New Arican Army stronghold.
By 2077, climate change had beco full-blown climate disaster. For the people of the Central States, drought was normal; soda was cheaper than water. Old-world infrastructure like this was long obsolete.
"Cough—cough—pft!"
Spitting dust, Daniel wiped his mouth. Damn it. He couldn't die here. He needed a plan to escape.
Sure, command was screaming about reinforcents being "just minutes away," but what, Arasaka didn't have reinforcents too?
At the war's start, both sides were out for blood—fighting like demons. No matter who won, the casualties were guaranteed to be astronomical. Daniel wasn't about to beco one of those numbers.
Then—
"Arasaka bastards are pushing up again!"
That was the base's netrunner yelling.
Daniel stuffed the rest of his energy bar into his mouth, grabbed his rifle, and downed an entire can of electrolyte drink in one gulp. Tossing it aside, he lowered his visor—click!—and called for his squad. They moved quickly.
Clack! Clack!
The tallic chorus of charging handles and locking bolts filled the air.
He might want to run, but years of FIA training didn't just disappear. Even disgraced, he still had the instincts of a professional.
After all, the enforcers weren't amateurs.
Before leaving, he glanced at a hulking heavy trooper clad in a camo cloak, hefting a Model-31 heavy machine gun over his shoulder.
Whoosh—
Wind, heat, explosions.
Through the half-collapsed tunnel, Daniel led his team topside.
The first thing they saw was the corpse of a Militech soldier.
The man's helt had been pierced clean through, leaving a face frozen in tornt.
"Damn unlucky."
Daniel muttered, signaling for the squad to form a defensive periter.
Around them: shattered buildings, pocked with bullet holes.
Fires burned everywhere. The bodies of friend and foe alike littered the ruins. Smoke choked the air.
RATATATATA! Gunfire erupted.
"Drone!"
A New United States soldier fired his smart rifle, caseless tracking rounds curling through the air to blow apart an Arasaka attack drone overhead.
But before Daniel could ask for a status update, the squad's netrunner suddenly shouted:
"Multi-legged ch incoming!"
BOOM! Across the street, the cracked wall of a ruined building exploded as a massive, bull-sized machine burst through.
It moved like a hellish cross between a dog and a spider—four main limbs, several auxiliary ones, each jointed and clicking with terrifying precision.
In a flash, the ch's enormous claws embedded deep into the wall—clang!—tal and concrete colliding in a thunderous crash.
Within seconds, it scaled to the third floor, crashing through the defensive line. Gunfire and screams erupted from above.
Rumble... rumble...
The entire building trembled violently.
"Focus fire on that thing! Fire team—are the Centaur and Full-Centaur systems up yet?!"
Daniel Kim spun toward the netrunner, his tone urgent and quick: "Do we have any friendly power armor units nearby? Request reinforcents now—I've got a bad feeling, damn it! That ch-dog's interference pattern—Arasaka's main assault might be hitting our sector!"
"I'm hacking into their network!" the netrunner shouted back. "Support request transmitted!"
Boom! The rooftop battle escalated into carnage.
The multi-legged ch moved with horrifying agility—its auxiliary limbs raised, palm-mounted rapid-fire guns spewing bullets into the stairwell. Blood sprayed. Subdermal armor shattered. Cybernetic limbs tore free. Its bladed forelimbs whirred, thermal edges screaming as they carved through flesh and half-deployed chs alike.
But this was war.
Bzzzt—!
Just as its claws lunged toward a soldier cornered against the wall, a pulse of electromagnetic energy hit—it froze mid-strike. The N.U.S. troopers imdiately focused fire. Rounds ripped into its scarred armor shell, shredding its processors. A single EM slug and a grenade launcher blast finished the job, sending sparks and smoke bursting outward.
The surviving soldiers didn't cheer.
They moved with grim precision—checking the wounded, resetting defenses, scanning their surroundings.
As expected, another ch-dog signature appeared on sensors.
Three rockets struck, staggering it. Then, a humanoid-type power armor trooper—non-standard model—charged in and drove a massive blade through its core.
All across the frontline, chaos surged.
Gunfire intensified. Overhead, Militech and Arasaka drones clashed violently, dueling for control of the low skies.
Before Daniel could even thank their ally—
The world detonated.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM! Missile explosions rolled across the city like war drums, hamring the ground in rhythmic destruction.
Daniel Kim's instincts scread—this was it. The infiltration was over.
Arasaka's main assault force had arrived.
Before he could react, the power armor trooper in front of him ignited his thrusters—plasma exhaust blazing as he shot upward.
Then, from the low clouds, Arasaka's armored division descended first—streaks of fire and steel raining down like teors.
They crashed into the ruins, and the world beca chaos.
Blood and tal filled the air. Screaming shockwaves tore through shattered walls. The battlefield convulsed under the pressure of collapsing steel and roaring explosions.
The storm had begun.
—
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