Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-one


Thursday, April 5th, 0012 NE

0325 hours



Atami, Japan

One week later



“NATTIE.”

Natalie’s eyes opened, the hushed call of Logan waking her from her slumber. As she blinked groggily, she could see that he was wearing a full set of tactical armor, complete with assault rifle slung over his back.

“It’s time.”

“It’s…” She looked at him strangely. It felt like the middle of the night. A look at the clock confirmed it. “Time for what?”

Behind Logan, the lights in the suite’s living room turned on. Ikeda-kai lackeys, all armed and outfitted, were hustling about. “It’s time to move,” he answered.

Beside her, Esther stirred, rolling her head around to look at Logan. The scout moved her hands up to rub tiredly at her eyes. “What do you mean?” the scout asked.

“The Nightmen are en route to the city. They’re ready to make the trade.”

And just like that, Natalie’s drowsiness vanished.

“We’re going home?” Esther proclaimed as she sat upright, her voice as animated as it’d been all week.

“Trade?” asked Natalie with a raised eyebrow.

Logan gestured to the living room. “They’re waking everyone up now. Get your gear on.” Without another word, he stepped out of the room.


The next ten minutes were surreal. After tossing on a plain white T-shirt, Natalie soon found herself throwing on a bulletproof vest and light tactical armor that looked straight from the police force. With Nobu’s reach likely everywhere, it just might have been.

All around, the survivors of the forest battle geared up in eerie silence, their sparse comments completely contextual…someone asking if anyone needed a clip, or offering to help with a back strap, or requesting that someone swap boot sizes. Despite the windowless walls that protected them from the outside world, every word spoken was a hushed one, as if at any second, some unseen enemy might overhear them.

After tying her hair into a ponytail, Natalie holstered her pistol—the lone form of weapon the survivors were given, sans Logan, who was packing an assault rifle—and observed her surroundings. There were about a dozen Ikeda-kai present, Youko included. The expression she saw on the punk princess’s face was the most focused she’d seen on the woman, which for her, said something. Everyone was finding their zone. As Logan approached Natalie to claim a pistol for himself, she asked, “What’s the plan?”

The Australian’s eyes were shifting everywhere. She’d seen him like that before. It meant he was nervous. “All we have are coordinates near the docks. I presume when we get there, we’ll find out what’s next.”

And that explained his nervousness. Logan was not a man who liked to wing things. He was among the most meticulous and organized planners Natalie knew—very much like her, in that regard. He wanted to know every turn, every anticipated enemy. For him, a situation like this was a nightmare. “Near the docks? Are we leaving on a boat?”

“I have no idea.”

“I mean, they couldn’t be flying in? Not with the level of EDEN presence in the city, right?”

Tiredly, he looked at her. “I said I have no idea.”

Nagoya was on high alert in the event that the outlaws made an appearance, and there were numerous patrol teams, comprised both of EDEN and local law enforcement, making constant rounds on the city streets, day in and day out. One of those units was Vector Squad. The thought of the Nightmen trying to fly in wasn’t just ludicrous, it seemed logistically impossible. The only operational aircraft left at Northern Forge was the Pariah, and it was busted up beyond operability. That same uneasy vibe that Logan was feeling was hitting Natalie. By the look of it, it was hitting everyone. “I need to address them.”

“No you don’t,” Logan said, taking a step toward the crowd just as Natalie looked at him. “Listen up, people. Task is simple. We have two coordinate paths. First brings us to the Ithini and Lisa Tiffin. Second takes us to the Nightmen. That’s all we know. I presume that after a transfer of custody, the Nightmen will exfil us to wherever it is they intend us to go.”

“Exfil us how?” Tom asked. “We ain’t gonna fly out…”

It was the same question on Natalie’s mind. “We don’t know the answer to that,” she said. “We just have to trust.”

Tom’s eyes widened briefly, then he whistled and shook his head. “Whatever you say, Vee.”

Logan spoke again. “There’s a dense fog out, so that’ll provide a measure of cover. Not much, but it might be enough.”

Natalie loved a plan with a good might.

“Clock is ticking, so let’s get a move on.”


As eerie as it’d been gearing up in Nobu’s suite, the trek through the empty dance club was even more so. The first time Natalie had been escorted through it, the music was so loud, it hurt. Now she could have heard a pin drop.

Leading the pack was Logan himself, flanked by Youko, Natalie, and Esther, who had quickened her pace to take to Natalie’s side. Bringing up the rear, behind the rest of the Nightmen and Falcons, were Mark Remington and Jakob Reinhardt, the former assisting the latter along the way. Jakob had been in pain all week long, but at Natalie’s request, had been prepping himself both mentally and physically to move if need be. Though the burn gels had done wonders for him, he was far from one hundred percent. She only hoped he’d be able to conjure the strength to run or fight if the situation arose.

As Logan had claimed, the fog outside was horrendous. It blanketed the streets in a cold stickiness. The streets were devoid of people—so far as she could see. Vector was out there, somewhere. According to the local news, they were making around-the-clock patrols of the city along with everyone else, splitting into shifts to make it possible. She didn’t want to think about what might happen if the group ran into them.

It wasn’t long until a minivan approached the curb. The driver rolled down the window and engaged in a brief dialog with Logan and Youko before the door was slid open and the punk princess beckoned Natalie and Esther to enter. “They’re staggering vehicles so as not to arouse suspicion,” Logan said. “More will come for the rest of them. Right now we’re to get in here to rendezvous with the team that has Tiffin and the alien.”

Natalie motioned to her mocha-skinned counterpart. “Hop in, Esther.” The scout complied, and after offering a brief explanation to the rest of her team, Natalie climbed aboard, too. Logan and Youko were the last two aboard, Youko riding shotgun to their nameless driver. In a vehicle that looked capable of carrying eight, there were five on board. That left room for Lisa, Ju`bajai, and one other soul. As the vehicle pulled away, Natalie cast a glance behind her at the rest of her team, all of whom were waiting by the curb and watching them drive away. A horrible feeling formed in the pit of her stomach. “Just trust,” she whispered to herself, the hushed words only loud enough to be picked up by Esther, who looked at her. Natalie caught the woman’s look and offered a faint, albeit wary smile. After a short span of silence, Natalie whispered to her, “What do you think the Nightmen’s plan is?”

Esther brushed her hand back through her bob. “I think…”

The pause that ensued was long enough to make Natalie wonder if the scout knew something she didn’t.

“…we should be prepared.”

“For what?”

Esther’s expression was unchanged. “For anything.”

Eyes narrowing, Natalie asked, “Do you know something?” When the scout didn’t reply, she said, “Esther…”

Voice lowering, Esther leaned her head closer. “I have no idea what’s coming, but I know that if the Nightmen are on their way, there’s a proper plan in place. Even if it’s not one we’re going to like.”

That didn’t help ease Natalie’s nerves at all. The all-too-familiar feeling of wool being pulled over Natalie’s eyes was there again. As to what extent Esther could possibly know more than her about this situation, she had no idea. Just the same, the scout was radiating a sense of privileged information.

Esther seemed to pick up on the suspicion. “If there’s one thing I can tell you, it’s never underestimate a Nightman plan,” she said. “It’s never what you think…and it usually works.”

The best Natalie could do was hope she was right. Sighing, she asked, “You gonna be okay with Tiffin in here? I know there was some kind of bad blood between you.”

Much to Natalie’s surprise, Esther opted to be forthcoming. “We were in scout training together, though she was ahead of me. When she flunked out, I mocked her relentlessly for it. I told her she was garbage.”

“What would possess you to do that?”

Shrugging, Esther answered, “I didn’t like her.”

“Did she do something to you?”

“No.”

This girl was perplexing. “Why didn’t you like her?”

“I like who I like and I don’t who I don’t.”

Sheesh. Natalie looked off to the side. “I’m glad we’re friends.”

Looking casually the other way, Esther said, “We’re not.” Though neither could see it, both women smirked.



* * *



“ALL RIGHT, y’all, get in,” Javon said, motioning for his comrades to board the second vehicle—a much larger van—as it drew to a stop at the curb and the side door slid open.

The operatives complied, filing into the vehicle as Javon and Feliks waited last to board. With more people crammed into the van than it was intended for, its occupants had to sit on the floor and atop each other to make room.

“How you feelin’ about this?” Javon asked Feliks as they climbed inside with barely enough room to slide the door shut.

The ginger-haired slayer shook his head. “Probably the same as you.”

“That good, huh?”

With a single, humorless chuckle, Feliks placed his hand against the door to steady himself. The van pulled away through the fog.



* * *



WITHIN MINUTES of leaving the nightclub, Natalie’s minivan was pulling up to the same building she’d visited Ju`bajai and Lisa at. Though their forms were barely distinguishable through the fog, Natalie could make out two individuals standing by the front door of the building. Ikeda-kai lackeys.

In the passenger seat, Youko rattled off something in Japanese. Logan leaned toward Natalie and Esther. “We’re picking them up here.”

The minivan door slid open. Natalie finally saw Lisa and Ju`bajai being led from the building. Though Ju`bajai wasn’t handcuffed or restrained in any way, Lisa’s hands were cuffed behind her back. Looking up, the ponytailed Vector caught sight of Natalie and Esther and glared.

This was going to be an interesting little ride. Just stay quiet, Esther. For once, just stay quiet. Thankfully, the scout did, and within a matter of seconds, Lisa and Ju`bajai were being moved into the rear row of the minivan, along with another armed Ikeda-kai. With the minivan fully loaded, the door was slid shut and the vehicle once again pulled away.

The mental prick of Ju`bajai’s connection emerged seconds later. Another awareness—Esther’s—could also be felt. She was linking all three of them. We are reunited, was all Ju`bajai said, as if any such statement was needed.

Natalie was still wrapping her mind around the conversation she’d had with Ju`bajai’s ponytailed Esther doppelganger. The alien seemed to take on two entirely different personas depending on whether she was in construct form or not. It was perplexing, to say the very least.

I am pleased to see you, Esther.

Glancing in Esther’s direction, Natalie searched for any reaction on the scout’s face. Esther only stared ahead. Whatever relationship these two had, she could scarcely comprehend it. At long last, Esther’s voice emerged telepathically through the connection. It’s good to see you, too.

The SUV turned down a small side street, its headlights cutting through the dense fog that blanketed the city. Youko snapped a sharp glare the driver’s way, and a torrent of angry Japanese spewed from her lips. The driver, answering quickly and on the defensive, pointed in front of the vehicle. Eyes narrowing in confusion, Natalie looked at Logan. “What’s going on?”

The Australian leaned toward her. “He knows a shortcut. She doesn’t want him to take it.”

Natalie didn’t care what route they took, so long as it got them there. She redirected her mental focus to Ju`bajai. Have you been able to learn anything new?

Even before the Ithini answered, a swell of negativity made itself apparent. I have not. Very few have visited me while I was confined, beyond supplying me with the basics of food and water.

Natalie wondered if she’d tried her hand at reading Logan’s mind since arriving in the vehicle with him—a curiosity the alien apparently picked up on.

Much like Lisa, Logan has had anti-connection training. It is impossible for me to siphon anything beyond base level information without my efforts being detected. I have calculated that it is not worth the risk.

This anti-connection training, whatever it was, seemed incredibly beneficial for the purpose of keeping information hidden from prying alien minds. She had to figure out how to tap into it. The same sentiment was detected from Esther.

Once more, Ju`bajai was on it. I am happy to provide such resistance training to both of you.

Glancing sidelong at Lisa, Natalie saw that the Vector was still glaring ahead in silence. Apparently, Logan had worked alongside Vector Squad for some time before turning on them in the woods. How awkward it must have been for Logan to have Lisa sitting in that back seat now, surely stewing about everything that had gone down.

The vehicle slowed. Craning her neck, Natalie peered through the fog, where the silhouette of a man appeared in the middle of the street. Holding his hand out, he indicated for the SUV to stop.

Must be our contact, Natalie thought.

Turning her head to the driver, Youko spewed off a slew of Japanese—her voice fast and breathy. The driver’s response was equally jittered.

Uh oh…

The man in the street drew closer, the forms of several others emerging from the fog behind him. The silhouettes of combat armor and E-35 assault rifles appeared shortly after.

This was an EDEN patrol.

“Bloody hell,” Logan murmured, shifting in his chair as he reached down for his firearm. “So much for his bloody shortcut. Stick to the plan, stick to the plan, stick to the plan.” Before Natalie realized it, Logan’s pistol was withdrawn and pointed at Lisa.

“Hey!” said Natalie.

The Australian was already keyed in. “You say one word,” he said to Lisa, “you make one bloody sound, and your ride ends right here.”

Heart racing, Natalie swapped a look with Esther. Both women watched as the soldier at the front of the patrol approached them. The van driver slowly rolled his window down. There was nothing else he could do. Next to Natalie, Logan lowered the weapon, concealing it. The soldier—the emblem of Japan plainly visible under his nameplate—addressed the driver in Japanese. Back and forth, the three of them spoke: the soldier, the driver, and Youko. If the driver leaned in—if he turned his head to any degree and peered through the driver’s side window…

Please don’t let him. God, for his sake, please don’t let him…

The soldier lifted his hand. A tiny flashlight was flicked on. He shone the beam toward the back seat. Right…on…

…Ju`bajai.

The soldier’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth and shouted. From the passenger seat, Youko withdrew her sidearm.

The seconds that followed seemed to go in slow motion. The barrel of Youko’s pistol flashed orange. The soldier’s face rocked backward. Natalie saw the EDEN soldiers reach for their weapons. The next thing she registered was Logan yelling at the top of his lungs. “Engage!”

The sensation of slowing time came to a blurring end. Bullets shattered the windshield as Youko dove into the middle row. Blood erupted across the chest of the driver who’d been sitting next to her. Logan leapt over Natalie to jerk the van’s sliding door open while everyone frantically ducked for cover. Bullets tore through the van, shattering windows and blowing stuffing out of seats. Natalie’s instincts told her to fire back—to raise her pistol and lay down suppression—but she was completely suppressed herself. With a torrent of bullets tearing through the van and all of its occupants hugging the floorboard, there was nothing any of them could do.

Except Logan.

With momentum already behind him, the Australian burst from the open sliding door and ran for the building nearest them on the side of the street, breaking through the windowed storefront with weapon raised to shield his face from shards of glass. Natalie barely had a second to catch a glimpse of him, but in the second she did, she saw the Australian take position around the corner of the storefront and raise his weapon. The next sound she registered was his return fire. For the most fleeting of moments, the attackers relented.

Pouring out of the van by both its side and rear doors, its occupants quickly traded the cover of seat cushions for the vehicle’s metal frame. Only Natalie went another direction, making a beeline straight for Logan by the shattered storefront window. Dashing behind a column, she poked her head around to see how EDEN had positioned themselves. She saw only fog.

Raising his assault rifle and peering through the scope, Logan stalked back toward the street. “Counted six before they scattered!” A split second later, the Australian squeezed the trigger, a pair of quick tat-tats erupting from his weapon barrel. “Make that five!”

Natalie’s focus shifted to her team, all of whom were clustered behind the van. Esther and Youko were leaning around the vehicle’s sides, exchanging fire with whoever they could see through the fog. In between them, Lisa and Ju`bajai took cover from the bullets. There was no doubt in Natalie’s mind that had Lisa’s hands not been handcuffed, she’d have made her move against them already.

Natalie saw the body of another fallen Ikeda-kai member sprawled out on the concrete. Two down. The only able warriors left were herself, Logan, Esther, and Youko. By this point, there was no doubt the EDEN soldiers had radioed in. The entire city’s worth of EDEN and law enforcement was about to converge on top of them. “Fall back!” she shouted over the weapons fire. “Everybody, fall back now!”

And it was right then—at the worst of all possible times—that Lisa made her move. Just as Esther and Youko averted their attention to Natalie, the Vector slid to the ground, entwining her legs around Esther’s and twisting hard, sending the scout toppling forward to the street. A second later, Youko was on Lisa, swinging the butt of her weapon around to hit the Vector in the back of the head, only to miss as Lisa released Esther and rolled to the side. Spinning around on her back, Lisa—somehow—managed to twist all the way up to her feet. The next thing Natalie saw was Lisa’s heel smacking Youko square in the face. In the span of about three seconds, both Esther and the punk princess were on the ground.

Veck!

Tensing her legs to bolt for the van, Natalie was stopped as the eruption of weapons fire emerged from the fog. The Japanese EDEN soldiers had taken up a new position. The attack was more focused now; it was coming from more directions. They were being surrounded. Both Natalie and Logan were forced back into the storefront to avoid getting mowed down.

Suddenly, Lisa let loose a blood-curdling shriek. Upon whipping her head in the Vector’s direction, Natalie saw her drop to her knees, hands clutching her head as she lowered it and screamed. Still covering behind the van, the dark, oval eyes of Ju`bajai were fixated on their target. It was a mental attack—just like the Ithini had done to Natalie in Cairo.

Under her breath, Natalie uttered, “Atta girl.” Seconds later, Esther and Youko were back on their feet. With the back of the van under control, Natalie’s attention returned to their EDEN assailants.

They’re innocent. We can’t engage them. They’re just doing their jobs.

No. It was that line of thinking that’d prompted her to pack rubber bullets on the train hijack mission. It was that line of thinking that could get them killed right then and there.

God, forgive us.

Raising her pistol as she saw the silhouette of an EDEN soldier moving through the fog, Natalie targeted the soldier’s neck. Holding her breath, she pulled the trigger. The double-pop of an impact resounded through the gunfight. The EDEN soldier toppled and fell. She’d just killed a man.

She was about to kill another.

“Change of plan! Engage, engage!” she yelled, dashing back toward the van. Using its side as cover, she and Logan fired at will. As they did, Esther dashed off into the fog, out of sight.

Whipping her head toward Logan, Natalie shouted, “Cover me!” The Australian changed his positioning as Natalie’s eyes beaded in on the EDEN soldier she’d just felled. The man’s body was ten meters away. So was his assault rifle. There was no time to waste. Trust Esther, trust Logan. Now go get that weapon. Natalie burst from the cover of the van and through the fog toward the body. She made it halfway before the first shots were fired at her. As they zinged past her head, all she could do was hope Logan would adjust his focus. He did. Bullets streaked from behind the van at a whole new angle, and the assault on Natalie was stopped. In a single, fluid motion, Natalie slid to the ground, bracing herself with one hand while the other snatched the abandoned E-35. From the ground, she aimed toward the EDEN weapons fire and pulled the trigger.

Natalie had no idea if she was hitting any of her targets. The combination of fog and weapon exhaust was too dense to see through. All she knew was that, for at least the time that she and Logan were pulling their triggers, the bullets from EDEN stopped firing. The suppression might have only granted her seconds—but they were seconds she would use. Reaching for the EDEN soldier’s body, she quickly snagged a spare magazine. And just like that, she was bolting for the cover of the van. She reached it just as EDEN’s weapons fire found her again.

“How many did we take down?” Natalie asked.

Logan shook his head. “One, two maybe! Hard to tell!”

Upon moving her comm to her lips, she shouted through the channel to her comrades—both there and in the other van. “Esther, give me a bead on your position! Javon and Feliks, we are engaged, I repeat, we are engaged!”



* * *



“WHOA, WHOA!” JAVON said as Natalie’s words came through, and he reached forward to slap the driver of his van on the shoulder. “Slow it down! Y’all hearing this?”

As the driver applied the brakes, Esther’s voice crackled through. “I’ve got position on the hostiles! Counting three.”

Nobu’s voice emerged on the line, addressing his lackeys in Japanese as he was obviously listening in on the situation. The van’s driver hit the accelerator, spinning the wheel wildly to about-face in the center of the street.

“The hell is goin’ on, man?” Tom asked from the back row, where he, Jakob, Mark, and Pyotr were flung against the side of the vehicle amid the 180-degree maneuver.

From the passenger seat, the lone English speaker among the Ikeda-kai—a slender, clean-cut man by the name of Haruki—shouted back to the survivors, “EDEN just sent out an alert for all units to converge on the other van’s position! We have been ordered to continue to the rendezvous by a different route.”

“Like hell we’re divertin’!” Javon said. “If they’re in trouble, we’re going after them.”

“Nightmen, prepare for combat,” said Feliks from next to Javon. Pyotr, Paul, and Bedrich withdrew their pistols.

Haruki looked back and said, “Our orders stand.”

After withdrawing his own pistol, Tom pointed it at Haruki from the back seat. “How you like your orders now?”

The van skidded to a halt, its brakes applied in full mere seconds after it’d reached cruising speed. Jolted again, the van’s occupants collided against the seatbacks in front of them then stared ahead through the van’s front window. Facing them from the next corner up the street was a Grizzly APC. For several seconds, both vehicles, clearly not having expected to come face to face with each other, sat at idle. The collective focus of the van zeroed in on the only visible soldier from the APC—a man manning the mounted gun atop the Grizzly itself.

He was wearing purple and white.

“Chikushō,” the driver muttered. He slammed the van into reverse, whirled the wheel around, and floored the accelerator, sending the van flying in the opposite direction. A second later, the Grizzly’s own massive wheels surged forward in pursuit.

Wide-eyed and frantic, Javon raised his comm to his lips as he held on for dear life. “Vee, we just hit the wrong people at the wrong time!”



* * *



“WE GOT VECTOR hot on our six!” Javon’s voice crackled through the static on the Ikeda-kai channel.

Cursing, Natalie rose from behind the van to fire another volley at the EDEN soldiers.

In the minutes that the firefight had been ongoing, Natalie, Logan, and Youko had all shifted to the side of the van opposite from where EDEN had repositioned. Youko was working furiously, with one hand firing her pistol while the other held Lisa at bay. Ju`bajai, weakened from her mental strike on the telepathically resistant Vector, was kneeling beside Youko in exhaustion.

A bullet dinged against the van’s hood, mere inches from Logan’s face. The Australian dropped down and reloaded. “One of these days, Nattie, this luck of yours has to change!”

Ponytail flying as she whipped her head toward Ju`bajai, Natalie shouted, “Ju`bajai, can you connect all of us?” Like her or not, Youko was now a part of the team. They needed to be able to coordinate.

I am weakened, the Ithini relayed, the mere statement confirmed by the faintness of the transmission. The strike on Lisa has drained my energy.

“Well, muster up some more of it! Right now, we need you!”

Though subtle, a feeling of irritation swelled from the alien. Mustering.

“I don’t want the alien in my head,” said Logan.

“I don’t care what you want, let her in!” Natalie shot right back to him.

Snarling, Logan rose to fire off another round.

Another burst of weapons fire emerged, this time from behind the EDEN operatives. It was Esther. Though Natalie couldn’t see the scout through the fog, there was no doubt the new attack had come from her. And just like that, the EDEN soldiers were surrounded. “Press in!” Natalie shouted. Morality staved off in this fight to the death, she emerged from the cover of the van to fire at the soldiers just as they turned to find Esther. Logan and Youko joined her, and within seconds, the three remaining EDEN warriors were overwhelmed. Bullets tore through the weak points in their armor as one by one, they were dropped to the ground. In almost the same instant as the last soldier fell, the flashing blue and red lights of the Atami City Police Department appeared down the street. Sirens blaring, the police cars streaked toward them.

Oh, come on! Natalie’s shoulders sank. Not this! In her mind, there came a sudden burst of clarity—as if half a dozen doorways had just opened. The rush of thoughts, motives, and emotions was unmistakable. Ju`bajai had done it.

We are connected, the Ithini said.

Shrieking in horror, Youko spun around and looked in every direction. “What the hell!”

Natalie turned to look at the punk princess, her Japanese words unscrambled as if they’d been spoken in plain English. “New contacts! New contacts!” Natalie said, pointing at the approaching police cars.

Esther’s voice emerged, this time through the link. We can’t engage these people!

“Agreed.”

Once more, Youko screamed, “What the hell is going on?”

“It’s an Ithini connection,” Natalie yelled as she bolted toward the back of the bullet-riddled van. “You’ll get used to it! We’ve got to move!” Technically, there was no ethical difference between shooting an innocent EDEN soldier and an innocent police officer—but be it an equivalence or not, firing on a police officer felt worse. “Defensive positions! Fire and fall back!” All they had to do was stop those cars. There were only two of them. Once the police officers were on foot, Natalie was confident her team could outrun them. “Kitty, grab the Vector!”

There came no response.

“I mean—Youko, grab the Vector!” Turning Youko’s way, Natalie saw her buckling over and upchucking all over the ground. Fan-vecking-tastic. “Ju`bajai, can you move?” Leaning around the corner of the van, Natalie fired a few shots toward the approaching cars. As she’d hoped, the ricochets on their hoods prompted both cars to skid to a stop.

I may not be able to match your speed, answered the Ithini.

“I bet you can with bullets behind you!” Natalie loaded her only remaining magazine. “Logan, take Lisa. Esther, help Ju`bajai. I’ve got Kita.” Marching to Youko, Natalie pulled the punk princess to her feet. After wiping her sleeve against her mouth, Youko moaned. It looked like she was going to throw up again. “The longer you stay connected, the better you’ll feel!” A little placebo now and then never hurt anyone. “Let’s get moving!”

Falling back into the fog, Natalie and company made their exit with the police officers in pursuit.



* * *



MEANWHILE, THE VAN carrying Javon and the other survivors was rocketing through Atami’s streets, Vector’s Grizzly APC hot on its heels. Just before the van was about to make another hairpin turn at an intersection, there was a loud pop as one of its tires burst, a shot from the mounted gun blowing it out. The van’s occupants held on as the vehicle skidded, then spun and slammed into a metal pole. The hit, not hard enough to injure any of the passengers, was nonetheless enough to stop the vehicle.

Javon and his crewmates unstrapped and abandoned the van. The Grizzly roared toward the intersection. The mounted gun came to life, its bullets shattering the van’s frame as the survivors used it for what little cover it was good for.

Rearing back, Feliks kicked in the door to the building directly behind them, dislodging it from its frame as it swung open. It took no command for the crew to dash inside, though Feliks beckoned them to do so just the same. The building appeared to be a corporate office.

Javon, the last to go through, looked at Feliks. “What’s the plan, man?”

Looking past them at Haruki, who was running with everyone else, Feliks answered, “We cannot rely on the Ikeda-kai to save us. This is not their fight.”

Their brief dialogue was interrupted as a barrage of chaos rounds blew apart the concrete wall of the building. Ducking down side by side, Javon and Feliks fell back with the rest of their comrades. “You gotta call your people!” Javon shouted above the weapons fire. “I could care less about using a Nightman comm channel—we need to know what to do!”

Reaching up instinctively for a helmet comm that wasn’t there, Feliks muttered and grabbed an Ikeda-kai comm from his belt. With his focus between the comm face and where he was running, the ginger-haired slayer adjusted its frequency.


JUST OUTSIDE THE building where the outlaws had taken refuge, a foursome of purple-and-white-clad warriors skidded behind cover. Behind their tinted visors, the stoic and battle-focused gazes of Vincent Hill, Dieter Albrecht, Marty Breaux, and Pablo Quintana zeroed in on their targets.

Vincent, Vector’s combat medic and second in command, spoke into his helmet comm. “Quintana, launch the twins,” he said, his British accent thick.

“I am already on it!” replied Vector’s technician. Reaching to his belt, Pablo retrieved two small, spherical objects. He pressed a large red button atop each of them then tossed them into the air. Seams around the centers of the spheres widened, and pairs of small propeller rotors extended outward. A second later, the spheres streaked upward. Behind his visor, the Spaniard watched as two small camera feeds appeared in the peripherals of his visor HUD. “Twins away!”

Reaching the very doorway the outlaws had just fallen back from, Marty raised his chaos rifle and peered through the scope, barely catching a glimpse of an outlaw disappearing around a turn at the other end of the building. “Got a visual, chief!” said the Cajun. “Kinda-sorta.”

Next to him, Dieter took a similar position. “You see them kinda, you take the shot,” the Austrian said.

“It was more a sorta than a kinda.”

Behind the Vectors, a squad of EDEN supplements from the APC took covering positions. Vincent’s voice crackled through the comm. “Marty, Dieter, you have free reign. Pablo, stay back and give us eyes. I’ve got Delta command.”

“Aye-aye, commander.” Marty motioned to the building with a head nod as he looked at Dieter. “Let’s roll some heads.” Raising their chaos rifles, they emerged from cover and moved into the building.



* * *



NATALIE’S TEAM WAS halfway down an adjacent street when Nobu’s voice emerged over the channel. The oyabun sounded breathless—a far cry from the calm and collected exterior he’d presented before. “The Nightmen have changed the rendezvous point!” he said in English, apparently for Natalie and her friends’ benefit. “I am sending you the new coordinates now.”

To be perfectly honest, Natalie was surprised that the Nightmen were still coming at all.

“EDEN and police units have been dispatched from all over the city,” Nobu continued, “and a call has been put out to Vector Squad. Wherever you all are, you must be vigilant!”

That a call had been put out to Vector meant the team of Vectors Javon ran into must have just been a patrol group. Looking back as she helped Youko along, she said, “Pick up the pace, guys.”

Ding!

Barely a foot from Natalie’s head, a bullet from the pursuing police struck a light post. Logan spun around, slung Lisa behind a vehicle, and raised his weapon. He took aim down the street and fired; the attacking policeman fell.

Releasing Youko, Natalie grabbed Logan by the back of the collar and tried to jerk him out of the fight. Before she could, he fired another shot, dropping the second police officer. “Stop it!” With both pursuing officers down, the street fell quiet.

Snarling at Natalie, Logan said, “This is life or death, Nattie!”

“It doesn’t have to be death for them!”

“Okay, sure,” Logan said. “New plan, everyone! Instead of returning fire, voice your strong disapproval.”

She scowled. “The police are not the enemy. Do you all understand that? If you can evade, evade. If you can’t, you incapacitate. That goes for me, too.”

Storming to her, Logan pointed at her chest. “This was your choice. I was happy to turn ourselves in, to succumb to the mercy of the courts, or to run away and let this ride over. You’re the one who forced us down this road.”

Her hands were shaking. She wanted to wrap them around his throat.

“Guys,” said Esther, “I appreciate the spirit of this chat, but we need to move.” She pointed to her comm, where the new rendezvous point for the Nightman extraction had appeared.

Esther was right. This talk could, and would, resume later. But right now, they needed to get back to business. If they didn’t escape, then those police officers had just died in vain. “Let’s go,” she said, shouldering her E-35 and turning down the street.



* * *



EMERGING FULL SPEED out the back door of the office building, Tom found himself scampering onto a foggy street. Unlike the street whence they’d come, this one had no parked vehicles to provide cover. Turning around, he motioned to Haruki, the sole Ikeda-kai member he could understand. “Which way do we go, man?”

Haruki shook his head frantically as Pyotr, Mark, and Jakob emerged next, the younger Remington helping the pilot along as best he was able. Inside the building echoed a fierce exchange of weapons fire. After readying his pistol, Tom slid to the side of the exterior office door just as Paul and Bedrich dashed out. Poking his head around, Tom watched as Javon and Feliks brought up the rear, both men firing backward as the walls around them were peppered with bullets. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!”

In the same instant that Javon and Feliks burst onto the street, a pair of Vectors appeared at the end of the hallway, leaning around to fire their chaos rifles at the fleeing survivors. Tom ducked his head back before squinting and firing through the dust and debris. Across from him, Bedrich took a firing position, as well.

“Y’all, we can’t stay here!” said Javon.

There came a roar from down the street, prompting everyone to turn its direction. Rounding the corner was the Grizzly APC.

“Y’all, y’all, y’all!” Javon pointed frantically in its direction. “Tom, Bedrich, fall back! Grizzly comin’ down the street!”

Tapping Javon on the shoulder, Feliks motioned to his fellow slayers. “We will hold this position. The rest of you, go.”

“You ain’t holdin’ nothing. We’re in this together!” No sooner had Javon spoken than the sounds of sirens emerged from the opposite direction. Police. With no cover to take, they were sitting ducks. Searching frantically, Javon’s eyes locked onto an alleyway on the opposite side of the street. “Hey! There’s an alley across the street, let’s move!” Almost in tune with his words, the mounted gun atop the grizzly erupted with fury. All of the fleeing survivors abandoned their firing efforts to retreat toward the alley. Halfway there, the first victims of the firefight fell, as bullets tore through the bodies of Paul and one of the Ikeda-kai. For the most splitting of seconds, Feliks looked back and hesitated.

It was Bedrich whose tug snapped him out of it. “We can’t help him!” The two men rejoined their comrades.


Javon was halfway down the alleyway when the group’s comm channel crackled. Over the entire frequency, the guttural resonance of a Russian voice emerged. “Attention, all survivors in Atami. This is Colonel Saretok of the Fulcrum Elite. We are approaching the city with an extraction team. Please send a locator prompt at once.”

Slowing to a half-trot, Javon fiddled with the comm until the prompt was sent. A prompt by Natalie’s team went through, too, followed immediately by her voice. “Be aware, extraction team, the ground here is hot! I repeat, the ground here is hot!”

“It is not of concern. We will contact you soon when a suitable landing zone has been established. Saretok out.”

“Not of concern?” Javon asked in disbelief. “I don’t think he sees what we seein’!”

Far behind them, the Grizzly screeched to a halt at the front of the alley. As EDEN operatives and at least one Vector poured out, they fired down the alleyway toward the escapees. A second Ikeda-kai was struck—the driver—leaving only Haruki standing among Nobu’s men.

There was no doubt that Mark and Jakob were moving slower than the rest of the group, prompting Jakob to shove Mark out of the way in an attempt to move faster on his own. Grunting through pain, the burned pilot was able to run on two feet, his hindrances overcome by sheer survival instinct. If there was another upside to this, it was that Mark was theoretically freed up to help fight—though “help” might have been pushing it. The cadet fired wildly behind him as he ran, occasionally taking out a brick or trash can. But he was trying.

As soon as Javon emerged on the other side of the alley, he, Feliks, and the Nightmen turned to provide cover for those bringing up the rear. Seconds later, they were all onto the next street. Unlike the prior street, this one had parked cars alongside it, providing actual cover. The fog was still heavy, veiling much of everyone’s view. If they moved quickly, they might just disappear before the soldiers in the alleyway reached them. Pointing down the street away from the pursuers, Javon waved his teammates to follow him. Bolting, the group abandoned the alley to escape.



* * *



DESPITE THE POLICE sirens everywhere, Natalie and her team had managed to avoid further conflict by ducking in and out of alleyways as they awaited the new landing coordinates. Though Natalie wanted badly to comm the other team to find out where they were, she knew they were in a battle with Vector. She had to trust that between Javon and Feliks, they would manage to stave off their attackers until the Nightmen arrived.

As they ducked into an alleyway to avoid yet another patrol, Natalie crouched and looked at Esther. “So, who is this Saretok guy?”

She made a face, indicating she was unimpressed. “A holdover from Thoor. A real cretin. Don’t expect much hospitality if we get out of here.”

“I’d like to know what the hell kind of support they think they’ll be dropping,” said Logan. “Nagoya is liable to have an entire fleet en route as we speak. The Nightmen can’t have much of an army left.”

“Well, they’ve obviously amassed some kind of force,” Natalie said. “They must have to try something this brazen.”

Above, low-flying aircraft streaked past, the angry squeal of their engines identifying them as Superwolves. Logan grimaced as he looked up. “Speak of the devil.”

“Come on,” Natalie said, stepping out into the street now that the police were gone. “The faster we get to the landing zone, the better.” The Nightmen were going through all of this to retrieve them, but there was no guarantee they’d stick around if the survivors took too long to arrive. Weapons ready, Natalie and her teammates once again trotted through the fog.



* * *



“SUPERWOLVES,” SAID Tom, pointing upward as the streaking fighters flew past.

Javon and the rest of his men were sprinting away from the alleyway they’d traversed to escape EDEN and the Vectors.

There was a loud mechanical roar from the intersection ahead. The group froze, as the massive Grizzly APC—the same one that’d been after them since the beginning—rounded the corner again. Javon’s eyes widened as he stared down the vehicle. “You gotta be kidding me!”

“How the hell they findin’ us, man?” Tom asked.

“Take cover!” Javon said as he waved his team toward the few cars that were there. “Get in one of these buildings!”

More weapons fire emerged from behind them—from the direction of the alleyway. As bullets zinged past them from both directions, they charged into the nearest storefront to take cover. For a second time, Javon found himself snagged from behind by Feliks. “Let us hold this point. You and your friends need to run.”

“Man, you ain’t holdin’ nothing! They’re gonna tear through you like a hot knife. You know that!”

After hesitating briefly, Feliks nodded his head. “I know.”

“You ain’t gonna do that. I ain’t gonna let you.”

“If you want anyone to survive, then you do not have a choice. Go! Bedrich, Pyotr, and I will hold this point for as long as we can.” From beside Feliks, Bedrich turned the ginger-haired slayer’s way. “Go!” Chaos rounds and shots fired from law enforcement streaked into the store, forcing all of the men to duck back for cover. For a second time as he fired a return volley, Feliks said, “Get out of here, now!”

After moving his comm to his lips while Feliks and Bedrich provided cover fire, Javon said, “Everyone, fall back with me!”

“Zima, Alkaev, you two stay with me!” Feliks yelled. Bedrich, within earshot of the entire conversation, was already engaged. From farther back in the room, Pyotr whipped his head around, wide-eyed.

“I always wanted to take a shot at Vector,” Bedrich said. As a half-terrified Pyotr joined them, the approaching soldiers from Vector, EDEN, and the Atami Police Department prepared to move in.


FROM HIS POSITION outside the Grizzly, Pablo knelt and observed the dual camera feeds streaming into his visor. Inputting several keystrokes into a small pad on his wrist, he directed one of them to the back of the building, where a cluster of yellow, pulsating dots were moving. “The group has split,” said the Spaniard. “Three remained to suppress, the rest are moving toward the rear of the building.”

Vincent’s voice emerged over Vector’s channel. “Breaux and Albrecht, break away and maneuver around to the back of the alley. We’ll take care of the cover team. Quintana, send one of them a feed.”


At the front of the store where he’d engaged the outlaws, Marty ducked back and focused on his visor, where a camera feed appeared in his peripherals. Pablo’s voice emerged. “Route coming up.” After several seconds, a yellow navigation point appeared in front of the escaping outlaws with a line of varying twists and turns connecting Marty and Dieter’s position to theirs. “If you can run, you can catch them.”

“We can run,” said Marty, casting a look toward Dieter. Withdrawing from the fight, the two Vectors made their way toward their plotted course.


KICKING THE DOOR open at the back of the store, Javon found himself once again entering a back alley. As the rest of his team appeared behind him, he quickly motioned for them to follow. “Let’s move!”

Javon’s team now consisted of five people: himself, Tom, Mark, Jakob, and Haruki—hardly a fighting force. Running as fast as they collectively could up the alley, the group found themselves emerging onto a smaller side street. Though they’d made relatively little progress toward the landing zone coordinates, at least they had put themselves in a position where EDEN was no longer between it and them.

A shot rang out, the firing of a nearby chaos round standing out against the backdrop of combat. Mere feet away from Javon, Haruki’s head rocked sideways, the projectile emerging with a puff of red on the other side. The rest of the team ducked back into the alley, from which they’d scarcely taken a step.

Again, man?” said Tom.

Javon’s eyes focused on the fallen Ikeda-kai. Staring in disbelief, it took him a moment to get his head back in the present—just long enough for an amplified voice to emerge from the street.

“We got y’all blocked in!” decried the voice, one of the Vectors who’d taken down Haruki. “Hands up, come on out!”

There was nothing for Javon and his escapees to do. There was nowhere left for them to go. Above them, Superwolf fighters were streaking past and circling the city. Behind them, Feliks and his brethren were fighting a losing battle. If anyone in Javon’s team tried to make a break for it in the open street, they would meet a fate like Haruki’s. Javon held his breath before saying with resignation, “I think this is it, guys.”

Ka-pow!

Everyone in the alley jumped as one of the Superwolves that was streaking past exploded into a fireball, its remnants plummeting toward the city streets in the distance. Seconds later, a trio of jet fighters whizzed by, the sound of their thrusters markedly different to Javon and his crew. Eyes widening, Jakob Reinhardt took a step toward the street, his awed gaze skyward as the fighters arced out of view. “Omegas,” he said breathlessly.

Staring up in wonderment, Javon and his team watched a second pair of the strange, angular fighters buzz the city, their shrill whine unmistakably different than that of the Superwolves’. The Nightman comm channel crackled, as Saretok’s gruff voice reemerged. “Gagarin Wing is holding off EDEN’s fighters. Prepare for ground reinforcements to arrive.”

“Holding off EDEN’s fighters with what?” asked Tom.

“Those are Kru-21’s,” Jakob answered. “A Soviet design that was never used.”

Javon shot a look skyward. “Sure as hell look like they bein’ used now!”

Tom leaned around the corner with his pistol, firing several shots in the distracted Vectors’ direction. Though none connected, they did force the elite warriors back into cover. Shooting a glance at Javon, Tom said, “Whatever’s going on in the sky ain’t our problem. We got enough down here to deal with!”

Javon nodded. “I hear that.” Looking back at Mark and Jakob, he said, “Lock and load, fellas! We about to have some help.” Whipping out his comm as the two engaged, he sent a message Feliks’ way. “Y’all might want to think about gettin’ over here. Looks like the Nightmen bringin’ the heat!”

“Acknowledged,” answered Feliks, the sound of heavy weapons fire clear through the channel. “We are heavily outnumbered but will try to regroup.”

“Good luck, fellas. We’ll see y’all soon.”



* * *



FROM THE OTHER side of the city, Natalie too had watched a pair of Superwolves fall prey to the Omegas. Much like Javon’s team, they found themselves staring in wonderment at the sight of EDEN’s most lethal fighter being caught off guard—and outmaneuvered—by something altogether different. Even Lisa, in all her disgruntled angst, wasn’t immune to the moment.

The Kru-21 Omega Fighter. Natalie, being the military history buff that she was, knew the design well. For decades before the New Soviet Union rose to prominence, Krupin was a premier aircraft designer for the Russian Federation. Specializing in air superiority fighter interceptors, it was a name steeped in legacy. For enemies of the Russian Federation, it was one draped in fear. As the Russian Federation began its transition into the NSU, Krupin began to show its age. Air superiority fighters were giving way to more multipurpose designs, which were in turn fading away in light of the prospect of world unification and peace. The hope in a “world as one,” as politicians called it, wasn’t enough to cause the militaries of the world to disband, but it certainly lowered the supply for advanced weaponry.

Then came the aliens.

When the need for the ultimate fighter arose, a plethora of contractors threw their hats in the ring. Ultimately, EDEN chose the design of an American company called Miller Avionics. The design eventually became EDEN’s first Advanced Defensive Fighter, or the ADF-1 Vindicator. But among the many companies that’d been turned down was Krupin, a designer that’d all but faded into obsolescence. The Omega Fighter was considered their last-ditch attempt at relevance. Ultimately, it was an attempt that failed. The Omega Fighter, while an exceptional interceptor, was more apt to take on human combatants than the advanced technology of extraterrestrials. It didn’t even make the final five. In a final spat of stubbornness, the NSU—eager to commemorate the achievements of the Russian Federation—put in an order for its own small fleet of Omega Fighters, despite the fact that they would likely never be flown outside of training exercises specifically tailored for the NSU’s military. A novelty fleet.

Until apparently now.

Logan marveled. “Where the hell did they get Omega Fighters?”

“Where the hell did they get sodding pilots?” asked Esther.

Sirens blared behind them, their pulsating resonance emerging through the fog from an intersection a block and a half away. Whipping her head in its direction, Natalie watched as a pair of police cars beaded toward them. There was no way to duck back in the alley quickly enough to avoid detection—the immediate slowing of the vehicles proved the outlaws were busted. These police officers were preparing to pursue on foot. “Run!” Turning around and hoping to catch the next street over, Natalie froze when a second pair of police cars appeared from that very direction. They were getting boxed in.

Back into the alley she fled, company in tow with Logan shoving Lisa forward violently all the while. Lisa was playing along, but there was no doubt in Natalie’s mind that the Vector was biding her time. She’d already seen what Lisa could do, even handcuffed, against Esther and Youko. Whatever shortcomings the woman had had in Philadelphia were insignificant now. All Natalie could do was hope that when Lisa’s strike came, she and her friends would be ready for it. With police shouting behind them, the escapees ran as fast as they could.

The alley was long, its only cover coming in the form of dumpsters and door frames, neither of which were permanent solutions—but at least they were something. Sliding around the corner of a dumpster, Natalie eased around with her E-35 and, for the tiniest of moments, actually took aim at a policeman.

You can’t do this.

Whatever restraint she showed as it pertained to gunning down policemen, her comrades had no trouble tossing it to the wind. Weapons fire erupted all around her as Logan, Esther, and Youko all took shots at the approaching officers. One of the bullets found their target, the officer toppling sideways and screaming on the ground. The other three took cover and returned fire. Even shooting wildly, the police were coming close to their marks, prompting all of the escapees to duck back at some point to avoid getting hit. There was no question about it: despite what Natalie felt, despite what everything in her heart and soul screamed foul about, she had to fire back. Taking careful aim not to hit the targets, she fired a brief volley that ricocheted off the alley’s brick walls. The three police officers that remained stayed down.

“Logan, go! Esther and Ju`bajai, go!” Natalie yelled, signaling for them to continue their retreat. She leaned out from cover and once again fired suppression shots. Looking at Youko, she signaled for her to do the same. “Cover them!” Sparing a glance behind her, Natalie saw that her other comrades had escaped the alley. It was time for Natalie and Youko to move. Holding her breath, Natalie leaned around the corner of the dumpster and laid down one final burst.

Click-click-click-click-click-click.

Out of ammunition! Natalie threw her weapon aside then withdrew her pistol. Looking across the alley at Youko, who had to be getting close to running on empty herself, Natalie shouted, “You ready to move back?”

Still joined by the Ithini connection, Youko snapped back, “No, let’s stay, this is fun!”

Sarcastic little twit. “Let’s go! I cover you, you cover me!” The two of them would never be able to stave off the police officers on their own, but between them, they might have enough ammo to buy an escape. “Go, now!”

Youko hurried down the fire escape and took off toward the next bit of cover—a small car that looked like it could fit in the back of a pickup truck. Just as Natalie had intended, Youko stopped right then, turned around, and provided careful suppression fire so that Natalie could make a break from the dumpster. Though bullets zinged past her, none connected.

The back and forth worked like a charm, and it wasn’t long until the two women indeed found themselves close enough to Logan and Esther to gain the benefit of their added suppression fire.

“I’m almost running on empty!” Esther said, still firing into the alley.

Scanning the area, Natalie saw that the street they were on ran into an outdoor pavilion area. There was certainly enough cover there to protect them, provided they could reach it—and that no other pursuers showed up from the opposite direction. “There!” she shouted, pointing. The group collectively abandoned the alley’s exit for new cover.

Halfway through their run, Colonel Saretok emerged over the comm channel. “Captain Rockwell, we have a team on the ground and en route to you. Please stand by for contact.”

“Oh, we’re standin’!” she said back to him in mid-sprint. She could hear the police officers emerge from the alley behind them. Once more, the escapees were forced to turn around and engage.

The results could not have been worse.

“I’m out!” cried Esther.

“I’m out!” said Logan a split second later.

The only choice the escapees had was to dive for the cover of the various trees, garbage cans, and vendor booths. Police were converging, ammunition was depleting, and help, while on the way, certainly wasn’t there yet.

Just inside of her peripheral vision, Natalie saw Lisa wrap her legs around Logan’s. In a sudden twist and a jerk, she sent the Australian toppling backward. No time was wasted trying to fight anyone else. Lisa scampered to her feet without the help of her hands and began running at top speed toward the end of the pavilion. Before Natalie could shout a command, Youko raised her handgun, took aim at the fleeing Vector, and pulled the trigger. Natalie’s eyes widened.

There came from Lisa a scream of pain as the bullet struck her in the back of the shoulder. Falling awkwardly forward, she landed into a roll that took her right into a tree. Rearing her head back against the ground, the Vector shrieked in agony.

Well…all right, then. Natalie shot an impressed look to Youko. “Nice shot! How you doing on ammo?”

“That was my last bullet!”

Holy smokes. Unsure if that was more impressive or terrifying, Natalie quickly counted her own shots left. Though she wasn’t sure of an exact figure, she estimated that she had four to five remaining, tops. As the police officers drew closer, Natalie realized she was the only one left who could stop them.

Her mind swirling, she tried her best to rationalize the only course of action that seemed viable. No more time could be wasted missing the police officers intentionally. Suppression was not going to work.

The only way to get away from these police officers was to kill them. Of all the ways she could have chosen for this to end, this was the worst. These innocent people. These men and women who’d dedicated their lives to protecting and serving. She was about to gun them down like a cop killer.

Unless she chose not to.

Natalie rose from her cover and lifted her hands, one of which held the pistol. Immediately, the police officers aimed their weapons and shouted. “Don’t shoot!” she said.

Across the way, Logan and Youko looked at her wide-eyed. “What the hell are you doing, Nattie?”

“Youko, tell them they need to get out of here,” Natalie said, eyes on the shouting policemen as she addressed her Japanese comrade.

“Shoot them, you idiot!” Youko hollered back.

No—that was a line she was not going to cross. “Tell them what I said! Tell them they need to run. The Nightmen are coming and things are going to get ugly fast!” When Youko opened her mouth once more to object, Natalie cut her off. “Tell them!”

Still ducked behind cover, Youko shouted, “She says to leave! The Nightmen are coming and they’re going to kill you!”

Close enough.

One of the policemen spoke back, his voice shaking even though Natalie couldn’t understand him. Youko translated. “He says all of us need to surrender our weapons.”

“We can’t do that,” Natalie said, waiting for Youko to translate, which she did. “Tell them this is their one chance to walk away!” Once more, the punk princess spouted off the translation in Japanese.

This wasn’t going to work. There was no way these officers would back down—not with outlaws right there for the taking.

Suddenly, something moved to Natalie’s right, from far down the foggy street. A black blur, followed by another, cutting through the fog and beading straight for the police. Her eyes locked on them. They moved on all fours, galloping in long strides like predators zeroing in on their kills. Her heart nearly stopped as the forms leapt from the ground. Their claws outstretched; their fangs glistened in the streetlight.

Oh my God…

Eyes opening wide, Natalie opened her mouth to shout—to warn the policemen. But she wasn’t fast enough. Before she could even raise her hands, necrilids collided into the officers with primal ferocity. The officers never knew what hit them. Knocked off their feet and with their weapons flying, they screamed in horror as the monsters clutched them in their gaping maws. Within seconds, two were dragged into the darkness.

A third police officer spun around, raising his weapon to fire. Then he, too, was struck from behind. He was flung to the other side of the street, where yet another necrilid leapt down from the building. Then another. Then another. Natalie froze in shock as the police officers shrieked in torment—as the pack tore the three men apart.

One of the monsters saw her. Upon lifting its jaws from its still-hot meal, it growled lowly then stalked Natalie’s way. None of the necrilids she’d ever encountered looked like this pitch-black abomination. Its head, while still flat like a bonnethead shark’s, was wider than any she’d seen, and its fangs were excessively elongated. Though large for a necrilid, it still bore that terrible emaciated shape. But the most terrifying thing about this particular necrilid was its glowing eyes—or more accurately, its eye. It only had one.

She had four bullets left. Five at best. Even if she hit every single one of them, there was no chance that anything but a clean headshot would take them down. Frozen and staring into its shining, yellow eyes, Natalie grimaced as her stomach threatened to upheave. They were about to be eaten alive.

Then she noticed it. A collar clasped around the necrilid’s neck with a vibrant red light flashing upon it. Snarling a single time at Natalie, the necrilid slowly took a step back from her.

Gunfire erupted! From far to the left, the tatter of E-35 assault rifles emerged, tearing through the pack of necrilids, striking some while the others dispersed. Natalie averted her attention to the street, where a small platoon of EDEN soldiers were taking position. Heart pounding, she turned around and signaled to her team. “EDEN, ten o’clock!”

Almost instantly, Logan and Esther emerged from cover and sprinted to the fallen police officers. Bullets from the EDEN soldiers popped and pinged all around them as they claimed the officers’ pistols.

“Locked and loaded!” Logan shouted as soon as he ran behind cover.

By Natalie’s best estimate, there were about a dozen EDEN soldiers firing at them, though half of their bullets seemed to be directed at the street corners and alleys. At the necrilids. Rising from cover, Natalie took aim at one of the EDEN soldiers and pulled the trigger. Though the bullet missed its mark, it pushed the soldier back into cover. Behind Natalie, Logan and Esther joined in. Even as she fired, Natalie could see the dark shadows of the necrilids darting about the city streets, weaving in and out of sight as they disappeared into alleyways and scaled walls. The EDEN soldiers were more focused on them than the outlaws.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The sound came from the far right—in the opposite direction of the EDEN squad. Whipping her head that direction, Natalie looked to see if they’d just been surrounded. There, on the edge of the curb nearest them, a pair of Nightman warriors emerged from the fog—a fulcrum and a slayer.

Whatever ineffectiveness Natalie and her teammates might have had popping away with pistols, the Nightmen experienced no such thing. Their shots immediately found their targets—downing at least three in quick bursts before EDEN fell back.

The necrilids made their move. In the same instant that the EDEN soldiers were focused on the Nightmen, the necrilids struck, leaping from building tops and darkened alleys to pummel the nearby soldiers. The pile-on was frenzied—the sounds that came from it horrifying. Natalie would surely never forget the screams she was hearing. More weapons fire emerged from the left—more EDEN troops were arriving on scene. But how many? Retuning their focus, the pack of necrilids abandoned the corpses to reengage.

Over Natalie’s comm, a Russian voice emerged. “Captain Rockwell, we are here to assist. Please remain in cover. We will take care of EDEN.”

“Be my guest,” she said, ducking back and signaling for her comrades to do the same.

“Do you have injured?”

Natalie looked in Lisa’s direction. “Yes, our Vector hostage.” Hostage—a word she never thought she’d use in quite this way.

“I am sending a medic.”

As Natalie poked her head around the corner of her cover, she saw the form of a third person sprinting toward them—a woman. Natalie emerged to meet her halfway, behind a row of hedges that while offering no true protection, at least concealed the two women from EDEN’s view.

The medic was wearing tactical combat armor similar to the kind Natalie had been given at Northern Forge. “Where is the wounded?” she asked, her high-pitched Russian accent thick.

“Right over there.” Natalie pointed to the injured Lisa, who’d been watching everything unfold from the ground. “I’ll get someone to help you—that Vector’s feisty.” Turning her head in Esther’s direction, she shouted, “Esther, can you watch Lisa while their medic works on her?”

Blinking, the medic said, “Esther?

Looking back at the medic, Natalie said, “Yeah, Esther Brooking.” Timmons, whatever. “You know her?”

A second later, Esther appeared on the scene. When she looked at the medic, her eyes widened. “Varya!”

Slapping Esther on the shoulder, Natalie said, “Glad you two know each other—go with her, I’m getting back in the fight.” She looked at the woman, Varya. “Do you have a weapon?” The medic pulled out a sidearm, which Natalie eyed lustily. “Mind?”

“No, take it.”

It was time for Natalie to get back to where she could be of use. Leaving Esther and her friend to tend to Lisa, Natalie dashed back to her original cover, pivoting around to survey the battlefield once more. Her gaze was drawn to the two Nightman warriors. When she focused on the fulcrum, her emerald eyes grew wider.

He moved like flowing water. In one second, he was rolling behind the cover of a parked vehicle. In the next, he was flipping up his E-35 and opening fire in a single motion. Every duck, every cover, every reload, every volley, was like part of choreographed formwork. There was no rigidity to any of it; every attack—every move—glided effortlessly into the next.

This was nothing like the adrenaline-fueled style of Scott Remington. This was pure elegance. One EDEN soldier fell. Then another, then another. If there hadn’t been the need to assist, Natalie could have watched the dark warrior all fight long.

But she needed to help.

Turning the corner, she raised her weapon and fired several shots. With the two-man Nightman army and the necrilids to keep EDEN busy, the escapees had become an afterthought. The soldier Natalie targeted hadn’t even seen her aiming at him. Her shots rang true, and he dropped like a brick.

And just like that, the tide had completely turned. EDEN’s forces dropped until their squad became outnumbered. By the time they seemed to realize that escape was their only option, it was too late. The necrilids converged, leaping buildings and alleys right on top of the soldiers. All weapons fire stopped as screams and the gnashing of teeth became the only sounds in the street.

Moments later, all was still.

Exhaling, Natalie knelt down and allowed herself to catch her breath. The fulcrum stepped into the street. “Psoglav!” he yelled. From the place where the EDEN soldiers had fallen appeared the collective red flashing of the necrilids’ collars. The pack bounded in the fulcrum’s direction.

Natalie arched an eyebrow. Psoglav?

As the pack drew nearer, Natalie could see that the large, one-eyed necrilid she’d encountered earlier was leading it.

“Do not be afraid!” the fulcrum said, holding his hand out. “Let them come around and sniff you.”

Let them come around and…what? Natalie watched as the necrilids stalked toward the escapees. Turning to her comrades, she registered the alarm on their faces—none more so than Youko. Pale as a ghost and with her mouth hanging open, the young Japanese woman stood motionless out of what looked more like horror than deliberate effort.

As the pack moved through them, the fulcrum approached. “Natalie Rockwell?” Behind the fulcrum, the considerably larger slayer stood at ready.

“Right here,” she answered, gaze shifting to the fulcrum from the necrilids.

The Nightman extended a hand. “I am Yuri Dostoevsky.”

As she neared the group with Lisa and the medic, Esther called out to the fulcrum. “Yuri!”

Dostoevsky turned her direction, almost flinching when he saw her. “Esther?”

“Oh my sodding God, is it good to see you!” Esther’s focus shifted to the necrilids around them. “What in the world is this?”

“I’ll fill you in on everything later. Right now, I need you to come. All of you.” He motioned to the group. “We need to get moving.”

Glancing at Logan briefly, Natalie saw him give her an, I don’t like this, look. She couldn’t blame him. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined herself as a criminal on the run, being escorted through the streets of Japan by Nightmen and a pack of necrilids. But there she was. There they all were.

Briefly, her eyes turned to the three dead police officers and the collection of dead EDEN soldiers in the streets. She could only stand to look at their mangled corpses for a second before closing her eyes and turning away. She was as culpable for what’d just occurred as anyone. After allowing herself the briefest of reflections for the fallen, Natalie holstered her pistol and followed Dostoevsky up the street.



* * *



JAVON AND HIS comrades were still embroiled in an intense, long-distance firefight with the two Vectors when Saretok’s voice emerged over their channel. “Second ground team, a transport is nearing your position with your escort. He will drop near you momentarily.”

“Wait, wait, wait, ‘he’ as in singular?” Javon asked, chaos rounds exploding the bricks around him as he popped back into cover. “Look, man, I don’t think you understand what we facin’ over here!”

“Move to the rendezvous once he engages. Saretok out.”

Tom gave Javon a horrified look. “One dude? They serious?”

After shaking his head and swallowing, Javon said, “All I know is that had better be one big—”

Boom!

The ground rumbled beneath both men’s feet. Behind them, Mark and Jakob held their defense efforts to stare. The boom—that earth-shaking tremor—wasn’t from an explosion. It was like someone just air-dropped a tank.

“…dude,” Javon said, his sentiment finally finished.


WHEN MARTY FELT the vibration, the Vector ducked back into cover and stared at Dieter across the street. The other Vector was already staring back. “What the hell was dat?” Marty asked. Slowly, both men gazed up the street, past the alley where the outlaws had been pinned, right where the sound had originated. Slowly, through the dense fog that hovered over the streets, something emerged.

Clad in black, full-plate armor, the monstrosity lumbered forward step after terrible step as if marching in slow motion. The dark contours of its armor, unmistakably Nightman in design, gleamed in what sparse streetlight was able to penetrate the fog. Its thighs were the size of oaks; its robust frame was that of a war machine. Atop its head, jutting above its armored horns and bone frill, was a red, sagittal plume—like a Roman warrior’s.

Eyes widening, Marty uttered, “Holy—”

Spreading its arms out widely, the armored, prehistoric behemoth roared.


FROM THE PRECIPICE of the alleyway and with mouths hanging, Javon, Tom, Mark, and Jakob slowly stepped back.


“PLEASE TELL ME dat ain’t what I think it is,” said Marty, the Cajun slowly back-stepping in the opposite direction. “Please tell me dat ain’t what I think it is!”

Dieter was already on the comm. “Commander, we have a problem.”

“A pretty big veckin’ problem!” added Marty.

The massive creature surged forward. With a gait the length of a car, it closed the gap between it and the Vectors in seconds.

“Light him up!” Swinging up his chaos rifle, Marty laid down on the trigger opposite Dieter. Chaos rounds clanked against the armor of the beast, ricocheting in every direction making nary a dent. “How much armor this thing got on?” screamed Marty.

Lunging forward, the beast launched itself straight though the air, closed fists raised like an enraged brawler. Marty dove out of the way just as the fists pounded the ground right where he’d stood, concrete chunks from the street flying into the air.

Marty rolled along the ground then popped up to a knee, eyes locking on the creature’s faceless helmet. Above him, one of Pablo’s drones dropped in.

“What in God Almighty’s name is that?” asked Vincent over the comm. “Is that a bloody Ceratopian?”

“It’s a bad day’s what it is!” For a second time, Marty dove out of the way as the creature charged him. This time, the beast’s reach was too great. Marty was snagged in one of its massive claws, then flung across the street where Dieter was firing. Hitting the ground, then the curb, then the side of a building, Marty rolled slowly on his back and groaned. “Gahhh!”

The comm channel crackled. “We’re on our way!” said Vincent.

Dusting himself off as he rose to his feet, Marty wiped his mouth and said, “Bring bazookas.”


“LET’S MOVE!” said Javon, waving the others on as they took to the street.

“What is that thing, man?” asked Tom.

Already running full speed toward the direction of the landing zone, Javon answered, “Remember that Ceratopian they had in the med-bay?”

“For real?”

“Either that, or one of Scott’s boys been bulkin’ up!” He got on the comm. “Feliks, now’s the time. Get y’all’s rears in gear, we got a path out!”

Feliks’s reply came immediately. “Moving out now!”


WITHIN A MINUTE, Vincent and Pablo were rounding the corner where their two comrades were battling the Ceratopian. Both men froze and stared. “All—all right,” Vincent said, shaking his head as if to snap himself out of it. “Dieter, get height and set up for a kill shot! The rest of us will distract. Are bullets having any effect?”

“Yeah!” Marty answered. “They tickin’ him off!”

“Well, let’s hope he has a weak point under the neck!”

Slinking out of the fight while the beast was focused on Marty, Dieter made his way toward a stairwell and began to ascend.

Chaos rounds tattered the Ceratopian’s body as Vincent and Pablo joined the fight. Though the rounds struck the alien hard, none were penetrating. After turning his horned, plumed head in the two newcomers’ direction, the beast reared his head back and bellowed.

From the other side of the street where he’d put distance between himself and the alien, Marty yelled, “What’chu gonna do now, huh? You can’t attack all of us at once!”

Turning slowly toward Marty, the Ceratopian cocked his arms back and then jolted them forward. Emerging from where they’d been stowed in hidden compartments, two massive neutron rifles slid out, one attached to each forearm.

The Cajun’s shoulders sank. “Yeah, I didn’t think dat would happen.”

Aiming one rifle at Marty and the other at Vincent and Pablo, the monstrosity pulled the triggers. Flashes of neon red energy streaked in the Vectors’ directions, ray after ray as the men dove for cover. Struck cars went flipping end over end. Garbage cans were obliterated. Entire corners of buildings were blasted into oblivion. The catastrophic recklessness had the Vectors scrambling like headless chickens.

Then came the hit. As Vincent darted across the street, a neutron ray slammed into his torso, sending him hurtling backward through the air until he smacked into a building. The back of Vincent’s head rocked against the brick, and then he dropped.

“Vince!” Screaming from behind cover, Marty rose to his feet and unleashed a volley at the Ceratopian. The bullets careened off the armor like pebbles.

Pablo was scrambling toward Vincent. “I am on him!”

Dieter’s voice emerged. “In position.”

“Take that lizard down!” yelled Marty.

Hollering “Hey!” at the top of his lungs, Dieter raised his chaos rifle and waited for the Ceratopian to notice him. The plumed war beast spun his head around, lifted it, and looked the Austrian’s way. Dieter drew in a breath, aimed for the alien’s neck, and pulled the trigger.

Ping!

The chaos round struck the Ceratopian right in the spot Dieter had aimed for. The alien stutter-stepped backward, the bright red plume on his helmet whipping to and fro as—for a moment—he seemed stunned. Then he planted his foot. After turning his head back in Dieter’s direction, the Ceratopian let out a low, dangerous growl.

Lowering his chaos rifle, Dieter said, “The neck is reinforced.”

Slinging up his arm and without a second’s pause, the Ceratopian aimed his neutron rifle at the stairwell and pulled the trigger, sending a neon red ray screaming toward the Austrian. As the ray struck the stairwell, Dieter was blasted off the building.

Marty raised his chaos rifle and then unloaded on the beast with everything he had left. It did nothing. “Fall back!” he yelled, voice shaking with emotion. “We gotta fall back!”

His earpiece crackled as Chiumbo Okayo, Vector’s top lieutenant, addressed him. “We are arriving in the city now,” said the thick-accented Tanzanian. “Breaux, what is your position?”

“Negative!” Marty answered, ducking into a building as the Ceratopian charged once again. “Do not proceed, I repeat, do not proceed to our position!”

“What is your status?”

Barreling through the building until he emerged out the other side, Marty took off running. Behind him, the circumvented alien turned his head to find him. After a roar, his massive feet tromped ahead again.

“We got Hill and Albrecht down! Engaged with a heavily armed and heavily armored Ceratopian. The armor’s thick enough so that chaos rounds don’t penetrate!”

Pablo’s voice broke through. “Hill is in critical condition.”

“Copy. We are preparing a medevac. We are having difficulty sending units into the city—there is heavy Omega Fighter presence. All Superwolves in the area have been destroyed or forced to retreat.”

Marty ducked into the alley with the Ceratopian on his heels, until all of a sudden, the beast slid to a stop. As Marty looked back, he saw the behemoth huff a loud breath, step backward, then turn to fall back himself. Above, where they’d been patrolling the skies since the fracas began, Nightman Omega Fighters streaked past. Focus shifting to where his comrade, Dieter, had fallen, the Cajun charged back into the street. “Can anyone tell me how the Nightmen we supposedly annihilated managed to get hold of a squadron of Omegas?” Ahead of him, Dieter twisted on the ground. Marty knelt beside him; the fallen Austrian groaned. “Hey, bro,” Marty said, pressing his hands against the soldier’s chest to keep him still. “We got someone comin’, just keep tight.”

The comm crackled as Chiumbo answered, “We do not yet know.”

Coughing, Dieter said, “The neutron ray did not hit me. I am all right.”

“Like hell you all right—stop squirmin’.” His focus was averted to the soft whir of one of Pablo’s drones behind him. Turning around, he watched the small craft hovering in the air. An idea seemed to strike him. “Pablo, what you doin’ with the twins?”

A second passed before the Spaniard replied. “I have one shadowing each of us for situational awareness. For the medevac.”

Marty paused as Dieter settled down. He rose to his feet and turned to the drone. “You up for doin’ something a little different? I think I got a plan.”



* * *



THERE WERE TWO transports waiting for Natalie’s team at the landing zone—both Vultures. The Nightmen there waved Natalie’s team toward them.

“Everyone in!” Dostoevsky said, stepping to the side to allow Natalie’s team in first.

As soon as Natalie was inside, she got on the comm. “Javon, what’s your status? We just made it to the transports!” As she spoke, the occupants of the troop bay, which was crammed to the brim with Nightmen and necrilids, strapped into their harnesses. The creatures seemed to know the drill, settling back into hunched down positions in the corners. While Natalie waited for Javon to reply, Dostoevsky motioned for her to strap in herself.

Javon’s voice emerged. “We’re almost there!”

“I don’t think we’re waiting up,” Natalie said. “There’s another Vulture waiting to take you guys up right behind us.”

“No problem!”

She almost didn’t want to ask. “How are you guys looking?”

“We lost Paul—he was the only one.”

Natalie exhaled a breath. Losing one was a terrible thing, but it could have gone so much worse. She was about to let her shoulders relax when the sound of Youko’s yipping caught her ears. With the Ithini connection broken, there was no way for her to hear what the punk princess was saying. But she certainly seemed to be “telling it like it was” to some poor Nightman sap. Squinting, Natalie scrutinized the Nightman in question. He was a fulcrum, and with his helmet off she could clearly see a short mohawk on his head. Compared to the others, he looked massive. Powerful. Is that Saretok? At long last, after the back-and-forth reached a crescendo, the Nightman pressed something into Youko’s hand. Some kind of small box. What in the world is that?

As Youko left the scene—presumably never to be seen by Natalie and her comrades again—the fulcrum spared a glance in the troop bay’s direction. Very briefly, his callous eyes locked onto Natalie’s. Then he picked up a faceless, crimson-streaked helmet, slid it down over his head, and turned to walk away. In the following seconds, the troop bay door of Natalie’s Vulture rose. Allowing herself a sigh of relief—and a moment to take in the fact that they were actually leaving Japan—Natalie closed her eyes, leaned her head back, and waited to dust off.



* * *



“HURRY!” SHOUTED a fulcrum who was waiting for Javon and his comrades at the landing zone. After waving his arm to them, he lifted his own assault rifle to fire at some of the EDEN pursuers.

With their heads lowered, the escapees charged into the troop bay, Centurion romping in behind them.

“Strap in!” the fulcrum shouted as he and his brethren held the line. The escapees complied, jerking down their harnesses and clicking their restraints in place. Despite being in the safety of a troop bay bound for Northern Forge, it seemed as frantic now as it had when Vector was in hot pursuit. Bullets were dinging everywhere.

So attuned to the chaos was everyone that none of them—not the escapees, not the Nightmen, not Centurion—noticed the intruder. Tucking in its rotor wings in midflight, the small, spherical ball struck the ground mere meters in front of the troop bay. With an impressive hop against the concrete, it bounded up the ramp. Rolling across the troop bay floor, it became hidden in the equipment that was strewn about.

Waving his hand, Saretok motioned for his Nightmen to fall back. “Prepare for liftoff! All parties are onboard.” After he and his fulcrums were up the ramp, it began to whine shut.

Tugging on his harness, Javon blew out a breath and looked across the troop bay, where Feliks was seated. The two men locked eyes with each other, before a laugh that harkened to both joy and disbelief escaped them. No words were spoken—none needed to be. The two men were just glad to be alive.

As soon as the bay door was up, the Vulture lifted off the ground and swung its nose to the northwest. With a full Omega Fighter escort, it joined the other Vulture on the long flight home.


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