Silence follows. His order stuck, at least for now. Hecontinues around the block, finally spotting Wren’s team zipping on HOV bikes overhead. They have speed and positioning on their side, but not Viper’s level of discipline. Or so he tells himself as more Natural Order enforcers slip through the gap, vanishing between the buildings.
Three of them dart past. Kane freezes, tracking their movements in his visor before ultimately forcing himself to stand down. Fixing the border takes priority. Instead, he dashes between buildings, barking new orders to Viper’s unit.
A horde of his best enforcers are there when Kane reaches the breach. Except it’s too late. The enemy outnumbers them two to one.
In a flash, metal clashes against carbon fiber as pulsefire slashes through smog. Enemy tags flare across Kane’s HUD as his commlink explodes with overlapping transmissions.
He stalks toward Viper, waiting for his team to disperse. Then, without breaking stride, Kane calls out, “Viper, call in reinforcements! I shouldn’t have to tell you that!”
Viper’s shoulders tense. He turns away, issuing an order for backup.
Kane raps against his visor. “Coda!”
“I know,” he chimes in. “We’re working on getting both walls back up. But with your assignment from yesterday, we’re stretched thin.”
His fingers curl to a fist. He expected Viper to make mistakes. But Coda doesn’t even miss a comma.
“Then switch assignments! I can’t believe—”
A blast cuts him off. The street ahead flares under pulsefire as Viper’s enforcers drop the remaining invaders with lethal rounds, their last resort. Kane slings the rifle into his arms, gritting his teeth. If he had a moment, maybe he could findanother way. Only there’s no time.
“Sir?” Coda’s voice echoes in his ear.
“Get the wall backup.”
The line goes silent as Kane shifts back to the fight, barking orders between striking down enemies himself.
By the time reinforcements arrive, the street is quiet except for the hiss of cooling metal and the distant crackle of fires. The holowall is stable but barely. Their territory is secure, though at a cost. Half a dozen are wounded with the enemy’s blood on their hands.
If only the lieutenants had done their damn jobs. If security had been tighter—
Kane’s hand flexes at his side as he surveys the ruined street before turning away. He’ll oversee the new assignments himself, reinforce every checkpoint, strengthen their defenses.
“Baron.”
Viper stands at his side, armor spattered with blood and cyberoptic eye whirring. “Wren’s crew caught someone. A Natural Order ‘Brother’ trying to slip out during their retreat.”
An almost-smile tugs at Kane’s lips. Finally, some answers. “Take me to him.”
With a nod, Viper guides him around the rubble to what’s left of the crumbling old convenience store, a logo he doesn’t recognize faded above the door.
Inside the shop, a captured Natural Order zealot kneels between two enforcers, his robes torn and wrists bound together. Unlike the others they’ve taken, this one doesn’t thrash or scream. He kneels motionless on cracked tile, hair falling across his face.
“We were about to start the interrogation, but I know you prefer to handle these—” Viper begins.
Kane marches up to the prisoner, silencing him. “Who’s your new leader?”
The prisoner lifts his head with unnerving calm. “She said you’d come yourself…” His lips curl into a smirk. “TheChrome Baron—too proud to delegate, even for a simple interrogation.”
A chill shoots down Kane’s spine. Grabbing the prisoner by the collar, he hauls the man upright. “Who?” His voice drops lower. “Who’s your leader?”
The room falls silent until a cackle bubbles from the prisoner’s throat.
“Our leader is the Sovereign of Purity,” he declares. “The one who will cleanse this corrupted world!”
“Their. Full. Name.” Kane’s grip hardens with each word.
The man’s head tilts. “I believe you knew her as…” His eyes narrow. “…Athena.”