Hearing the weight in V’s voice, Arthur drew Achilles from the holster at his side.
“Should we take them down?”
“Then you’d better hold that gun steady!”
V’s lips curved into a grin as she shifted gears up several notches with one hand and slammed his foot onto the accelerator.
Power roared like wildfire from the engine below, CHOOH₂ fuel surging through the coupling lines with a furious hiss. Arthur could almost hear the pistons hammering against the cylinder walls.
Achilles snapped shut in his grip, vibrating faintly with a low electric hum. He thrust the barrel out through the open side window.
Across the swaying wheat stalks, a blue spark flashed like a falling star.
From the darkness ahead, clusters of sparks flared, then tumbled into the fields below.
Three Drones—destroyed in the span of three electromagnetic charges.
“Woohoo! Arthur, your aim really is something else.”
Still driving the beast of a truck hard, V caught the sight from the corner of her eye and praised without holding back.
“Woman, looks like the Drones are gathering.”
Rebecca called out from the back.
“No worries, kid—we’ve arrived!”
Up ahead loomed a wall nearly level with the truck. V didn’t hesitate for a second—she floored the accelerator.
Her long black braid whipped behind her as she flashed a bold, reckless smile.
Arthur gripped the handle tight.
“BOOM!!”
The wall shattered instantly under the impact. Debris and steel bars rained down like an avalanche, scraping and pounding the truck’s front end.
Through the deafening chaos, the windshield and reinforced plating absorbed the punishment.
It was obvious V had prepared the truck for this. If they’d been driving yesterday’s rig, they’d all be dead.
The jolt hurled Arthur forward, but his arms braced against it, catching Rebecca before she could be thrown.
The truck plowed through the broken wall, shoving rubble aside before grinding to a halt.
Dust settled. Silence crept back in.
Rebecca clutched her head, eyes shut, then slowly blinked them open.
Her cheeks puffed in anger as she glared at the glass just inches from her face, then shot a look at V.
Still in Arthur’s grip, she flailed wildly at her.
“You damn woman! Driving like that without a warning?!”
“Little sister, you should be calling me big sister!”
V slung the rifle from the seat onto her shoulder and swung open the door.
“Damn it, Arthur! Put me down!”
Only then did Rebecca realize she was still being carried. She kicked and flailed her short arms.
Jackie’s crew had it easier—slipping in through the hole the truck had smashed open.
Arthur jumped down first, scanning the vast surroundings.
The factory was huge, its outer yard a wide-open expanse.
In the distance, massive circular fermentation tanks rose—larger even than the ones he’d seen in Northside Industrial District.
“Hey, Arthur.”
V rounded the truck, slapping his arm.
“Cover me. I’m going to fire up our secret weapon.”
“I hear them...”
Arthur’s eyes shifted toward the breach. Several Drones were already closing in.
Meanwhile, Rebecca was still stuck on the truck’s steps, her short legs dangling awkwardly as she searched for footing.
“Rebecca, keep your eyes on the deeper part of the factory.”
Arthur sighed, lifting his hands helplessly.
“Alright.”
Muttering to himself, he shouted up,
“Right here—just jump! I’ll catch you!”
He set Rebecca down onto the ground with a scowl.
“Guess I’m qualified to be a kindergarten teacher now. Art class, maybe.”
“You bastard, Arthur! I’m nearly twenty already!”
Rebecca stomped in fury, rifle in hand, storming toward the truck’s front.
At the rear, Jackie and his crew were locked in heavy fire with incoming Drones. The small machines spat out unexpected firepower, shredding their off-road Badlands into swiss cheese.
Lucy crouched behind the wreck, but a Pterodrone locked onto her through the cover.
Arthur fired first, dropping it cleanly.
“Get behind me—use the truck for cover.”
The raspy command reached Lucy, and she instinctively pulled back.
Achilles’ clustered energy rounds tore through the Drones with ease, the heated charge punching straight through their defenses. In truth, it was just as effective against anything else.
David, moving with Sandevistan, kept pace against the sluggish machines.
But the pressure didn’t let up. More drones swarmed from every direction, tracer fire streaking across the sky like a storm.
“Hey!”
Rebecca’s voice rang from the front of the truck.
“Vehicles coming in from that way—we’d better hurry!”
Behind them, the drones’ fire converged into a deadly net, pinning Jackie’s team down.
Then—David blurred forward, slipping through the net with Sandevistan speed, spraying rounds into the swarm to draw their fire.
Arthur saw it instantly—he understood the play. Achilles thrummed with power as he leaned out during the gap in fire.
He blasted a Drone hovering over Jackie’s head.
“Jackie, fall back to the truck!”
With that Drone gone, the barrage faltered for a heartbeat. Jackie seized the moment and sprinted to cover.
“What about V? She’s still in the cargo hold!”
They’d been using the Badlands vehicle to shield her work inside. Giving it up now would leave her vulnerable.
“No choice. Enemies up front—we hold here.”
Arthur kept firing at the Pterodrones closing in, while more poured from the distance.
Gunfire cracked from the truck’s front—the factory’s security reinforcements.
“This is bad. We’re boxed in.”
Inside the cargo hold, V’s data cable linked from her wrist to a miniature terminal.
She was arming the device.
Because of the electromagnetic amplifier’s quirks, she couldn’t pre-ignite the bomb’s components. Doing so would drain the Electrofusion Battery and cripple its power.
Outside, the firefight raged. V’s neural link worked frantically.
The device was crude—something she had cobbled together overnight. She couldn’t expect perfection.
Finally, the last command was keyed in. V hastily sealed the exposed ports on her wrist and neck, curling herself tight.
In the carriage’s corner, the wardrobe-sized Electrofusion Battery began to boil. Blue viscous fluid surged through A45 couplings into a disc-shaped core.
Like molten rock, it swelled into bubbles that burst with slow pops.
Cables quivered. A faint smell of scorched plastic filled the air.
Then, the massive sphere flared, blue light spilling from its emission vents.
“Wooooo...”
A deafening ring—a spherical wave burst out at light speed, sweeping across the yard.
V slid down the wall, limp, collapsing onto the floor as silence consumed her world.
Outside, the drones dropped from the sky like flies in a storm, one after another.
Arthur and the others staggered, heads spinning, shaking it off together.
Arthur picked Achilles up off the ground first. Its scope displayed only corrupted code.
The twin electromagnetic rails sat shut, powerless—like a helpless girl curled up tight.
He slung it onto his back with a sigh, drawing his trusty revolver, Prelude, from his waist.
Step by step, he moved toward the truck’s front.
There, he saw three Badlands vehicles parked—and a dozen bodies sprawled across the ground.
All wore green uniforms, their weapons scattered at their sides.
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