"LONG LIVE THE FREEGRID COLLECTIVE!"
"LONG LIVE THE FREEGRID COLLECTIVE!"
"LONG LIVE THE FREEGRID COLLECTIVE!"
As Ren Nora and his entourage started their return journey to base, the soldiers started chanting loudly with conviction.
Many of them were tired, many of them were grieving as they lost brothers and friends in the just concluded battle, but this didn’t lessen their belief in Ren Nora, they still firmly believed that he would liberate them.
And despite the disappointnt today, they still firmly believed in Ren Nora’s ability to lead them to victory in the fight for freedom.
VROOM!
As the entourage of military trucks drove from the grand square amid the loud chants of the soldiers, inside one of the military trucks, Ren Nora had a pensive look on his face as he observed everything.
His Lieutenants were all in other military trucks in the entourage as he preferred staying alone.
Apart from the driver and the soldiers in the front seat, he was the only one in the back seat.
This was one of the few monts that he had for himself.
With an opaque glass separating the passenger side from the driver’s side, he took a deep breath as he looked at the chanting soldiers outside, then he leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes.
Ren Nora ditated in silence, counting his heartbeat and every inhale and exhale that he made just to calm his rapidly beating heart.
Others may not have realized but this was his worst battle so far.
All they saw was him moving everywhere across the battlefield like a ghost, all they saw was the genius leader of the Freegrid Collective valiantly resisting a C Rank Ascended of the Federation Army, but what they didn’t see was the strain that such high intensity battles had on him.
What they didn’t see was how close his ADE ca to being exhausted at the end despite the artificial ADE supplents that he always carried with him.
What they didn’t see was the pressure on his shoulders.
What they didn’t see was how many tis General Sylvari Charr ca close to cornering him despite Purgatory.
Afterall, despite their Specialization difference, the General was still a NetRunner who had taken one step further in the Ascended path.
And to be a C Rank Ascended, the General was not dumb. He was smart.
After the humiliation of the first battle, General Sylvari Charr took his ti to do his research, deciphering the secrets of Purgatory. This was what enabled him to slowly adapt to the technological marvel with ti.
None of his soldiers knew, not even his Lieutenants but Ren Nora knew that if the war took too long, General Sylvari Charr would completely break-down Purgatory one day and after that he would exploit it.
That day would mark the end of his reign.
That day, he would die and Iron Reef would burn.
The Federation Army would leave no free n, only slaves and corpses.
They called him a genius, there were soldiers in the rebel army who genuinely believed that he could fight a C Rank Ascended on an even battle and win. This strong belief was a result of his own war achievents and propaganda.
Ren Nora knew that he was strong, he was undoubtedly the strongest D Rank NetRunner alive and possibly the strongest D Rank Ascended.
But due to how powerful he was and how much things he knew, Ren Nora was one man that knew the true horror of a C Rank Ascended.
Ren Nora knew that without Purgatory, General Sylvari Charr didn’t need an army to singlehandedly level Iron Reef.
The General was enough against the entire rebel army in an even battleground.
’F*CK!’ He cursed quietly as he looked at the roof of the military truck.
No one saw his weakness, all everyone saw were his strengths but inside, Ren Nora knew that he was drowning.
The pressure was getting to him.
He was like a leaf that was stuck in an ocean and was being helplessly tossed left and right by powers that were beyond his ability.
All he could do was try to survive, and now even survival no longer seed set in stone.
To the mundane population of the whole world, the rebel army was making history as they fought toe to toe against the Federation Army, but in truth Ren Nora knew that with every subsequent battle, they were drawing increasingly closer to a cliff.
So many thoughts and worries were on his mind.
He was overthinking everything and it was killing him from inside.
Knowing that he was alone at the back of the truck and that no one could see him, Ren Nora opened a bottle of water and poured it all over his head.
His brain was hot.
He traced his right hand through his curly silver hair that were now wet, and then he looked at his reflection on the opaque screen separating the backseat from the front seats.
His reflection looked back at him, and that was when it happened.
SCRRRRR!
The loud sound of tires screeching against pavent reverberated as all the trucks in the entourage hit the brakes.
Already alert, Ren Nora listened closely.
He could easily use Firewall Bypass to hack the hidden caras in the trucks or the CCTV caras in the streetlights to see what was going on but he didn’t simply because he didn’t want to strain his ADE further.
And as he listened, he heard his soldiers shouting at soone, barking at him to leave the road but this person was stubborn.
Ren Nora could vaguely hear what he was saying.
"I need to et Ren Nora!"
"This is important, I need to et Ren Nora!"
"Tell him that I have a plan!"
"Please, tell him, I need to et him!"
Ren Nora was puzzled. ’Who is that?’
Curious, he knocked on the opaque screen twice and then it lowered the next mont, enabling him to see what was going on in the front.
He couldn’t really see much though, all he saw were lots of soldiers gathered in front of the trucks, trying to apprehend the intruder who blocked the road.
"What’s going on?" He finally asked.
His driver turned to look at him apologetically. "Sorry Lord Nora, it’s so fool who thinks he can easily et you".
’So fool?’ He frowned, and finally his curiosity got the better of him.
Firewall Bypass!
Ren Nora smoothly infiltrated the nearby CCTV caras, and through them he was able to see exactly what was going on.
He finally saw who the culprit was, it was a handso young man with short black hair and deep black eyes.
Ren Nora frowned as soon as he laid eyes on the culprit. ’That’s no fool, that’s the look of soone who knows what he’s doing!’
His eyes turned sharp. ’What does he want?’
Over a dozen soldiers already rounded the intruder up, trying to politely make him leave the road but when words didn’t work, they resorted to violence as 3 E Rank Ascended moved to plow him out of the road.
And that was when it happened, they couldn’t move him!
Ren Nora was stunned on seeing this, but he noticed the anomaly first- swirls of barely perceptible ADE moving around the intruder’s legs.
Ren Nora made the CCTV caras focus on the guy’s legs, and that was when he saw them. ’Are those... chains tying him to the ground?’
Ren Nora almost pald his face. ’An E Rank chanist? Who the f*ck is this guy?’
He contemplated going down to resolve the situation, but then he decided to let his Lieutenants take care of it.
Just like he expected, one of his D Rank Lieutenants ca down the next mont with a cold look on his face as he demanded. "Leave the road or suffer the consequences!"
The chanist raised his hands in surrender. "I an no harm, really, I just want to et Ren Nora! Please!"
"You have 5 seconds before I get to your position". The D Rank Lieutenant said as he stord towards the chanist in a nacing manner.
Despite a D Rank Ascended storming towards him, Ren Nora keenly noticed that the chanist didn’t show any fear as he instead sighed and said. "I really didn’t want to do this".
BZZZ!
Grayish white ADE flared around his body.
Miniaturization!
A toy robot that was beside the chanist that everyone previously overlooked suddenly shuddered before expanding, turning into a towering 10-feet tall humanoid robot with a square-shaped head!
The robot pointed both its hands at the D Rank Ascended which already morphed into 2 lethal Rifles!
"...!"
All the soldiers were alard as so dove for cover, while the rest tried to block Ren Nora’s truck behind them to protect him.
As for the D Rank Ascended, this man’s heart skipped a beat briefly before his face darkened.
"What do you think you’re doing?"
The stranger shrugged. "I already told you, I an no harm, I’m one of the rcenaries that were hired by you".
"All I really want is to et Ren Nora".
The D Rank Lieutenant snorted. "And on what grounds are you going to et him?"
Leon didn’t answer.
Instantly, the atmosphere began crackling with intensity as the D Rank Ascended glared at the powerful robot, but then his smartphone beeped.
The Lieutenant paused, then he picked his smartphone and looked at it.
BEEP!
[NEW! Unread ssage from General Nora!]
["Let him see ."]
The look in the Lieutenant’s face changed.
Seeing that look, Leon imdiately heaved a sigh of relief. ’The crazy plan actually worked, phew!’
The D Rank Ascended looked at him with a dark look on his face. "We need to cuff you before you can et the General".
’You guys already call him General?’ Leon shrugged, showing that he didn’t mind.
He was cuffed, then he was led into one of the trucks.
The entourage finally continued their journey to base.
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