Chapter 27

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Zero, along with the Pandera, soldiers and knights, rushed to the source of the explosion. Civilians were coming towards them in panic. Many of them were injured and Zero and the others could already hear the screams of the Infected. The Pandera bypassed the crowds by jumping from vehicle to vehicle, while Zero and the others struggled through the panicked masses.

Please be all right! Zero thought as he squeezed past the fleeing civilians, careful not to hurt anyone with his sword. He had left Sora with the priest, but in doing so he had to assure him that Sora was harmless. Which was unexpectedly easy.

"My name is Amery, by the way." The priest called after Zero as he followed the Pandera.

"Thank you, Amery." Zero said to himself, as the mass of fleeing people was already diminishing. But some Infected were already coming towards them. While the soldiers had some trouble, the Knights and Pandera, as well as Zero, took down the Infected effortlessly and so it wasn't long before they reached the source of the explosion.

Everything was on fire, with wounded lying everywhere among the dust and debris. Zero looked around frantically. One of the transporters had crashed, probably hitting one of the hospital ships that was also trying to escape. The ship in which Zero had left Asagi, Carol and Rika had also crashed into the Guardian several hundred meters away, which didn't seem to have a scratch on it. Remains of some Infected lay everywhere, already beginning to dissolve into dust. The tents that had been set up for first aid were tattered. Soldiers and medics everywhere were trying to recover the wounded while the Knights tended to the panicked survivors. Hovercrafts and ATBS swarmed the area at some distance, and even one of the frigates seemed to be cautiously approaching the scene.

Zero did not know how many civilians were still in the square and could only guess how many casualties there had been. Panic spread through him.

"I need help here!" He heard a medic shout, who had two survivors with him.

"Asagi! Rika!" Zero recognized them immediately and rushed to the medic.

"Zero..." He heard Asagi's soft voice. She had lost consciousness, but otherwise seemed fine. In stark contrast to Rika. She was bleeding heavily from her chest and abdomen.

"What's wrong with her?" Zero asked the paramedic.

"Can't say for sure, probably multiple shrapnel hits." He told Zero, who was wearing a medic's bandage, easily identifying him.

"I need a medic!" Sounded from another corner.

"Go." Zero told the paramedic.

"Can I leave her with you?" Asked the paramedic.

"Sure!" Replied Zero and immediately began Rika's treatment.

A paramedic robot was with Zero and assisted him with materials, there was also a canister of military biofoam used for emergency wound care. Zero had managed to remove most of the splinters together with the robot and was filling Rika's wounds with the biofoam when Asagi woke up.

"Hmmm... Zero?" She looked at him in wonder as everything seemed to come back to her. "Oh no Rika!" She knelt next to Zero over Rika, "How is she?" She asked Zero directly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"She's stable." Zero tried to reassure Asagi. "Can you help me put the bandages on?" Zero handed her one of the bandages.

"Zero you're bleeding!" Shuddered Asagi when she saw his right arm completely covered in blood.

"It's nothing, don't worry." He assured her.

"What happened?" Zero asked Asagi as the two bandaged Rika. Asagi held Rika's upper body in a way that Zero could bandage it. "Where's Carol?"

"We were just evacuated when something exploded. Rika was standing next to me, protecting me. Carol was still in the hospital ship then." Said Asagi with embarrassment in her voice as they placed Rika on a sheet. "If I had activated my shield, Rika wouldn't have been...", Asagi started crying, holding her hands in front of her eyes, her fingertips full of Rika's blood.

"This isn't your fault." Zero looked at Asagi while pressing a compress on a smaller wound in Rika's stomach. Zero looked worriedly at the hospital ship, from which they had already begun to retrieve people, when Rika suddenly stirred.

"It's okay Asagi...", said Rika in a low voice.

"Rika!" Asagi cringed and reached for her hand. "I'm so sorry!" She apologized to Rika, who tried to smile.

"I was trying to protect my first friends after all." Said Rika as the strength was apparently already leaving her.

"You need to rest Rika!" Zero helped her lie back down and wiped the blood off her that he had spread on her cheek. Rika nodded, the fear and shock clear in her eyes. "I'll get Carol and then everything will be okay!" Zero assured her, before closing her eyes again. "I promise..."

Then a warning signal sounded from the robot; Rika's heartbeat had stopped.

"Rika? Rika!" Shuddered Zero and Asagi also knew what was going on.

Immediately Zero began to revive Rika with chest compressions while the robot gave Rika a shot. Immediately the white bandages filled with Rika's and Zero's blood. The robot began to prepare the defibrillator. The sound of the machine rang out while Asagi's tears ran down.

"Asagi, can you give her some of your magic?" Zero turned to her, to which she nodded.

⬢

At the same time in the city.

The girl in black was sitting on the ledge of a large skyscraper that overlooked the entire city. The view reached over to the Guardian, who was sticking out of the ground like a white nail. Behind her stood a man, the two of them looking in the Guardian's direction.

"I'm sorry...", the girl said suddenly.

A tear ran down her cheek.

⬢

Three transporters were on their way to the Guardian with escorts. Two of them were Zane and Stephen's teams, while the third white transporter took the Shelter team toward the Guardian.

"How much longer do we need?" Zane nervously asked the pilot. Several holograms were visible in the center of the transporter, showing the operators of each team and their leaders.

"Five more minutes." Replied the pilot.

"Damn it." Zane punched the wall sourly.

"Multiple Pandera teams are there." The leader of the Shelter team tried to reassure Zane.

"Just like in Nyada." Remarked Nathan.

"I hope Zero and the others are okay." Zane looked out of the window. "What are those things?" He suddenly saw small objects flying through the air.

"The Guardian has released drones." Explained their operator, hovering next to the hologram of Shelter troops. Just moments after the Rift, the Guardian seemed to have activated itself, generating its own column of light. Zane and his team could clearly see the light while they were still in the process of climbing into their transporter. Unlike the faint light the Guardian usually emitted, the pillar of light was massive. "They were probably only active at the Guardian itself at first, now they're spreading all over the city."

"Are they dangerous?" Nathan inquired.

"We suspect not, but still better keep your distance."

"They are repair drones; they even do some of the disinfection work." Added the leader of the Shelter team. "But presumably the Guardian has also activated combat troops to protect itself."

"I see. What is the situation with the Guardian?" Zane inquired further. His nervousness was evident. 736 and Cara were also in the ship re-equipping. 736 reloaded new ammunition while Cara provisionally grabbed a rifle.

"The evacuation has been canceled." Announced the operator of the other team, shocking those present.

"Despite the combat troops?" Wondered the communications officer on Stephen's team.

"What about the civilians?" Zane asked.

"Most of them have been evacuated. Meanwhile, the defense line has been moved to the third ring and the outer bases." He continued.

"You will be dropped off at Base 5." Explained Zane's operator on how to proceed. "The situation is unclear, the levels are still massively high, but we can't give any specifics on the situation. The leadership and the Church have given Shelter command of the operation at the Guardian, your task is to support our troops at the bases."

"Understood." Replied Zane, looking anxiously at the Guardian.

"What do we know about the origin of the Rift?" Nathan inquired.

"After the attacks on the celebration at the Guardian, an Infected is said to have appeared. It is believed to have triggered the Rift." Reported the operator further.

"An Infected? Here?" Shuddered Zane as the transporter approached the outer city area.

⬢

"That was the last one." An Infected-Colossus fell on the ground in front of Erwa and began to disintegrate.

"Command, we have secured the sector." Reported Haruna to her operator.

"Roger that, good work. A transporter is on its way to you." Replied her operator.

"Roger that, we are on standby." Said Haruna as her eyes fell on Aki. "Are you OK Aki?" She inquired.

"I'm worried." She stared gloomily in the Guardian's direction.

"You were at the Guardian's party?" Hans asked her. The reports about the Rift had already gotten through to them, but due to the Infected present, they could not rush directly to the meeting place and were delayed.

Suddenly, Aki's hair stood up as Erwa focused everyone's attention on a shadow behind them. "Who's that?" He asked.

They were to the west near Base 4. The part of town they were in had been affected by the fighting. There was fire everywhere, the sky had darkened, and debris lined the streets. In between, a large outline moved toward them. The person wore a dark gray raincoat, with another even larger raincoat hanging loosely over the first. The hood of the second raincoat was pulled across the person's head, covering the entire left half of the face. Furthermore, black bandages hung all over the coat, which seemed to be wrapped around some parts of the raincoat. The person's face was hidden deep inside the hood of the coat, from which more bandages hung loosely around the head.

"A survivor?" Asked one of the soldiers.

"That's not what a survivor looks like..." Said Hans and rushed to the soldiers who were running towards the person.

"We have to get out of here now!" Trembled Aki.

"Aki?" Wondered Haruna what was going on with her, when suddenly the operator's voice rang out.

"Guys what's going on? The ratings are going through the roof!"

"Damn!" They heard one of the soldiers shout. Erwa and the others turned back toward the soldiers as two of the front soldiers already collapsed. In the next moment, a hail of bullets descended on the person. The bandages and raincoat fluttered in the hail of bullets before the person took a few steps and they fell to the ground.

"What happened?" Erwa asked, rushing with the others to Hans and the soldiers.

"This thing..." One of the soldiers shivered.

"It's an Infected..." Hans stared at the person lying motionless in front of them with a blank look.

"Is it a New Blood?" Haruna inquired immediately.

Then something began to stir under the person's raincoat, and the next moment it jumped up and ran away from them.

"Whatever it is, let's redeem it." Erwa grabbed the massive axe he was carrying. In terms of its workmanship, it was very reminiscent of the large blade Cara was using. Both weapons were from the Samenka company, which provided most of the more specialized equipment for the Alliance.

"We're going to pursuit." Announced Haruna as she chased after the cloak with Erwa and Aki. Hans rushed to the soldiers who had collapsed.

"Damn it's fast!" Aki cursed, who ran after the coat among the rubble. Erwa was close behind her, barely slowed down despite his massive axe.

"Haruna, you're up!" Announced Erwa.

"Roger that." Replied Haruna, who was further behind. Haruna was flying in the air, since last time she had gotten new equipment - a "glider suit". A lightweight, fully mechanical combat suit that allowed her to carry heavy loads and supported her body - similar to the military's Exo-suit. However, hers was a lot lighter and more advanced. In addition, the mechanical wings on her back enabled her to fly. Two large-caliber rifles hung from her hips and she even had a few missiles at her disposal.

The two guns began to charge. A holographic display appeared in front of Haruna depicting a 3D model of the entire housing complex. "It's rushing toward the Guardian." She reported.

""Copy that."" Replied Aki and Erwa.

The person under the cloak kept hurrying towards the Guardian, when suddenly two ATBS came shooting out of a side alley and opened fire on it.

Again, the person was riddled with holes and the large calibers of the rifles threw it back several meters, but again it did not seem to have been seriously hit. The person continued to run, always in the direction of the Guardian. Then a beam of energy from the direction it had come from hit it in the arm. The beam shredded the person's jacket, which was torn backwards and landed on the ground again. But one more time it straightened up and held the rest of its arm. The person tried to escape again.

"You stay here!" Shouted a voice suddenly from above as Aki raced down on the person with her leg extended upward. Aki swung her heel at the person, but the person jumped back. Her heel rammed into the ground below her and several feet of concrete burst open, flying through the area, some of which hit the person, who stumbled but did not fall. "It didn't even look at me..." Aki wondered how it dodged her when Erwa was already there.

"Well done Aki!" He ran toward the person and lashed out with his axe. This rammed the person directly in the chest area, sending it flying. The person crashed into several larger pieces of debris, which it seemed to hang on to briefly before lying motionless on the ground.

Immediately, the ATBS surrounded the person and Haruna joined them along with a transporter, which had the other soldiers and Hans inside.

"Did we take it out?" Aki asked as Hans rappelled down from the transporter along with the soldiers.

"I don't feel like I actually hit it, it felt too easy..." Said Erwa, who was examining his axe.

"The levels are still elevated." Reported their operator, as one of the soldiers cried out.

"It's moving!"

Immediately, everyone opened fire on the person.

"Did we get it?"

"Argh..." Aki suddenly got a stinging headache and pressed a hand to her head.

Then, Hans was cut in half.

Erwa lost his legs.

Haruna crashed, covered in blood.

Everything was burning, the soldiers were dead, the ATBS destroyed.

Akis saw Erwa's bloodied hand in front of him, he seemed to want to reach for something. His look full of hate and despair. His other arm was missing.

Haruna was crying, the lifeless body of Erwa in her arms.

"Aki, are you all right?" Haruna asked her. 

"Something's different." Said Aki nervously, all her hair standing up again. What was that just now?

"Damn it's tough." Said Hans as the smoke already started to clear and the person appeared.

It was holding her head with its right hand, while in the other it suddenly held a big scythe.

By now they had arrived on one of the main streets, several large roads and bridges winding through a large canyon of houses on several levels.

"What the...?" Erwa starteled.

"Blow it away!" Shouted one of the soldiers and again they opened fire on the person.

"Reinforcements are already on their way." Announced their operator.

The person weaved like a shadow through the bullets fired at it and dodged them. Even the ones that hit it seemed to cause no damage, as before.

"DAMN...!" Shouted one of the soldiers as the person already reached him.

In the next instant, the man fell to the side, a clear cut across his body. The person did not stop, however. Quick as a flash, it made its way to the next soldier, taking his legs. More and more of the soldiers fell victim to it as the person reached one of the ATBS and cut off one of its arms with the scythe while simply jumping past it.

"It still wants to go to the Guardian!" Reported Aki.

"Pro Scutum!" Suddenly Hans cast a spell, whereupon the person's movements seemed to suddenly freeze. It could no longer move.

"Erwa! Now!" Shouted Hans, who must have put all his strength into his spell.

"OK!" Erwa came running with his axe, using a piece of debris to push himself off. Erwa wrapped his massive axe in some sort of magic and lunged at the person. "Ani Delere!"

The person was stuck, Erwa lunged at it, the remaining soldiers already setting out to fire at it. That's when the bandages began to twitch, and the raincoat opened a little wider. Hans stared into the cloak and instantly froze, his spell dissipating. The person ran toward Hans as Erwa slammed his axe into the spot where he had been standing just moments later.

"Stay here!" Pursued Erwa as the person continued to head towards Hans. Aki and Haruna had also made their way.

Haruna headed straight for Hans while Aki aimed at the person.

Erwa swung his axe with all his might from the right, in front of him the person's expansive cloak, which had grown wider since it opened it. Aki, meanwhile, came from the left. Erwa knew the person would have to keep some distance from Hans if he wanted to catch it with the scythe, Erwa would wait for that exact moment.

"Now!" Shouted Erwa and his axe raced forward. Aki arrived at the same time, her fist ready to smack the person. "Gotcha!" Sensed Erwa, his fist had hit something inside the cloak.

Then, for some incomprehensible reason, the coat even moved upward in an anticlockwise direction. Erwa's eyes widened. The tip of his axe penetrated Hans.

The person had spun around just in front of Erwa and slammed its leg into Aki, who was catapulted upward.

"Damn!" Haruna cursed as Aki flew towards her while the person rolled over Erwa's axe. Haruna had to dodge while Aki tried to catch herself again.

The person landed to Erwa's right and lashed out with the scythe, heading for Erwa and Hans from behind.

"You won't!" Generated Erwa a shield behind Hans, who slowly sank to the ground.

The scythe approached the shield and immediately Erwa sensed it would not be enough. With all his strength, he continued to pull the axe, which had completely passed Hans. He let go of it with his right hand and with all his strength brought it around him with his left, where he took it again with his right.

Erwa's axe and the person's scythe collided just in front of Hans' neck. Hans fell into Erwa's arms, who continued to spin his axe and deflect the scythe. Erwa ducked and shouted for Haruna.

Immediately, a beam of energy followed from their rifles pointing at the person, who fought them off with the scythe, but was thrown back in the process. Again, Aki attacked the person, who flinched back.

"Hans! Hans!" Erwa held him in his arms, his axe had gone halfway through him. A deep wound gaped in his chest.

"I'm sorry...Erwa," Hans coughed. "I wasn't much help to you..."

"No! That's not true!" Erwa tried to do something as the blood continued to pour out of Hans' chest. Hans coughed up even more blood. "Does anyone here know healing magic? Or does anyone have a biofoam?" Erwa asked frantically as Haruna landed next to them.

"Here!" She handed him a canister.

"Thanks!" Immediately Erwa began to fill Han's wound with the foam.

"...Erwa..." Started Hans softly. "You have to..."

"Stay calm Hans, I'll get you out of here!"

"You have to fulfill our promise." Said Hans.

"We'll fulfill it together!"

"I'm sorry Erwa...," Hans coughed up blood again. "I know you'll make it..."

"Hans!" Erwa worried, who had tears in his eyes. "Doesn't anyone here have healing magic?" He shouted to the crowd, while gunfire could be heard everywhere.

"You'll find it... I know it..." Hans' eyes started going blank.

"I promise you Hans, I promise! But stay with me!" Shouted Erwa as Hans smiled before closing his eyes. "HAANNNNSS!" Screamed Erwa across the square.

Erwa put Hans' lifeless body aside and straightened up. With his face contorted with anger, he grabbed his axe, which had been quirked since the fight with the person.

"You damned...!" Erwa ran toward the person as he jerked to a halt. Sweat trickled down his forehead and he began to tremble.

It was a scene like something out of a nightmare.

There was fire at every corner. Several ATBS lay destroyed on the street, even hovercrafts seemed to have crashed. Men were lying all over the place. Some had vomited, others were holding their heads, but most were dead and in the middle was this person standing on a broken part of the bridge. Their coat ripped open, several red lights, like eyes, shone from under the coat while black bandages seemed to wrap around the person.

Desperation took hold.

⬢

Zane and his team had arrived in the south of the city at Military Base 5. It was already late noon, and the sun was beginning to set. Smoke from the fighting had turned the sky blood red and jet-black clouds hung over the city. Military Base 5 was one of five bases in New Comound, while Base 1, the main base, was located in the north, the other four were distributed in strategic locations around the city. Base 5 was located in the far south a few kilometers from Guardian. Each of the bases was a separate Armored City. Armored Cities were piled like the Layered Cities. Like a skyscraper except that each floor could encompass an entire city. The lower parts were rather massive, while the tops, the "penthouses", were again reminiscent of normal cities. Except for the fact that they were several hundred meters above the ground. The main difference from Layered Cities was that this was a mostly military city. The lower floors were heavily armored and were more reminiscent of bunkers than industrial facilities like those found in the other Layered Cities. In addition, Armored Cities had massive walls that provided extra protection and heavy stationary weapons like railguns or rocket launchers that could knock entire battleships out of the sky.

Zane and his team landed on the top level, where there were several large landing zones, while the shelter transporter continued on toward Guardian.

Tents were everywhere, hospital ships and transporters were scattered across the plaza. The transports were taking civilians and wounded to the bunkers and to the city for supplies. Heavy artillery and ATBS were stationed at every point. The skies were monitored by ships and hovercrafts. Every now and then a jet could be seen flying by. In the distance, the Guardian could be seen as well, while the forest and agricultural area in between was on fire. Several ships had positioned themselves there and were bombarding the surface.

Zane's Team Three and Stephen's Team One were following a drone that was guiding them in the right direction when an officer approached them.

"Are you Unit One and Three?"

"Leader Unit One, Stephen Teberg." He saluted.

"Leader Unit Three, Zane Seranis." Replied Zane.

"Follow me, please." The officer led them to a building.

"Welcome." The base commander greeted them. They were standing in a briefing room with a table in the middle that projected a map. The two teams stood together on one side of the table. On the other three sides were various soldiers, including Tyler and part of the sixth Anti-Aku Unit, who were there with their ATBS. Cara and Ilana had already huddled together shortly after getting out and were discussing the whole way to the command base. "Now that you're assembled, here's a situation report." The commander started to report. "This is a class three Outbreak. We have detected several thousand Akuryuma in area around the Rift, but they are leaving the Guardian area and heading north toward the city center." The map showed the Guardian and the area up to Base 5, with a Shelter logo hovering over the Guardian accompanied by a smaller Architect Church logo. Shelter's ships were also visible on the highly detailed map. A swarm of red dots could be seen between the base and the Guardian, moving toward the city in an animation. "Shelter and the Architect Church are holding the area around the Guardian and taking care of the Rift and the Aku that are still there. Meanwhile, we're here trying to stop the storm on the capital." He explained further and a red line between Base 4 and 5 appeared on the hologram.

"Sir. What about the civilians?" Zane raised his hand. He had written a message to Zero, but he didn't know if it had been delivered because of the attack, and he hadn't heard back from Zero or the others since.

"Most of the civilians have been evacuated from the Guardian and have been distributed to the individual bases." Explained an officer.

"The offshore areas should be evacuated but...", added the commander.

"Sir. What about the Infected?" Asked 736.

"We don't have any information on that. We suspect that it has already disintegrated. But we also can't rule out the possibility that she is either still with the Rift, or she is moving with the Aku toward the city. Because of our territorial claims, Shelter has given us operational authority in the city area while they take over the Guardian. This is where you come in." Turning directly to the Anti-Aku Unit, he gave the floor to the operator.

That's when the operators, who were tuned in on the screens behind the table, intervened.

"Your job is to support the troops here but should any of the Eyes or the Infected appear you are instructed to pursue them immediately, with priority given to the Infected. Your task is to prevent another Rift at all costs. If possible, try to capture them, if not lethal force is authorized."

"Roger that!" Confirmed the Anti-Aku Unit.

"Stop a Rift...how are we going to do that?" Wondered Cara, inspecting her rifle.

"Zero said Infected would only trigger Rifts to protect themselves and that they wouldn't do it willingly..." Noted Zane.

"That may be so." Agreed Ilana.

"In the end, though, they Infected." Countered the communications member of Stephen's unit.

"True...", said Cara a bit thoughtfully.

"Don't worry, she's not like Sora." Smiled Zane, trying to allay the worries.

"But how do we prevent another Rift if we can't attack her?" Inquired Ilana, sitting next to Cara and attending to her massive rifle. Cara, meanwhile, looked back and forth between Ilana's rifle and hers, somewhat disappointed.

"Simple." Said the cyborg. "We'll get her before she can trigger a Rift." He slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand. "We and the fifth unit have enough firepower to level a city block."

"It didn't do us much good with the New Blood, though." Replied Cara, to which the cyborg shrugged a bit.

"An Infected is not a New Blood." Interjected the communications member. "They're weak. They're just little kids who are already decaying." He analyzed.

Zane listened to the conversation as a cold shiver ran down his spine.

"Are you all right Zane?" Nathan asked him.

"Everything OK." Nodded the latter, but Nathan continued to look at him scrutinizingly.

"Didn't think I'd get to support you guys in the field so soon." Tyler stomped to them.

"Hey Tyler, so you're in too?" Zane asked him.

"We've got your backs. We'll shoot anything that breaks through, anything that gets past us is yours." Laughed Tyler.

"Here comes the support unit." Said Stephen suddenly as a group approached them. There were six people. Two were already in Exo-suits the other four appeared to be medics, with the body of one of the four appearing to be mostly prosthetics.

"Zero!" Zane immediately recognized one of the four medics and rushed towards him along with Nathan.

"Hey Zane, sorry for not getting back to you." Zero greeted him.

"No worries, glad you're okay. Are you coming with us?" Zane inquired further.

"Yeah." Nodded Zero.

"You here too, Zero?" Entered Tyler the conversation, who looked at Zero in confusion.

"Yeah, I can't leave Zane alone after all," Zero smiled, somewhat weirdly.

"The transporters are here!" Announced a soldier.

"OK, let's move out, people." Ordered Stephen and everyone started moving.

"Let's talk more in the transporter." Zane rushed to the landing pad with the others.

"Zero." Tyler called after him. "Let me know if anything comes up." He pointed to the promise he had made to Ben.

"Will do." Zero replied curtly before following Zane and the others.

⬢

"What about Team Two?" Asked the cyborg, who was connected via a hologram in Zane's transporter. The two teams had been spread out three each on the transporters with of the support team.

"Apparently they are still engaged in combat." Explained the communications member.

"Can't they handle the Infected?" Laughed the cyborg.

"Maybe they've encountered a New Blood," Nathan added, at which point the cyborg went quiet. The silence from the operators was further unsettling, as they gave no update on Erwa's unit.

"How are Carol and the others?" Zane asked Zero, to which he became agitated. "They're okay, right?" Zane asked again.

"Rika had a cardiac arrest...", Zero said.

"What!? How so?" Shuddered Zane. Nathan and Cara, who were following the conversation, shrugged.

"There was an attack right at the Guardian... Asagi and Rika were just evacuated. Rika threw herself in front of them...", Zero explained.

"We heard about it...", Nathan said affected.

"It happened when we were evacuating everyone... just after the Rift. We were able to reanimate Rika, but she hasn't woken up since."

"Oh no...," Cara said dejectedly.

"Weren't you going to stay with her?" Asked Nathan.

"I'm just a paramedic, I'm afraid I can't do much. It's better if I leave it to the professionals." Explained Zero. "Besides, Asagi is with her."

"That's good..." reflected Zane. "What about...", Zane started when he was interrupted by the pilot.

"We'll be at the front in a minute."

Immediately, everyone looked out the windows and doors of the transporter.

 A ring of fire opened up in front of them where the Akuryuma met the defensive positions. The defensive position was in front of the first levels of one of the districts of New Comound, with the Layered City rising like a wall from the ground. Part of the outer city area was already in ruins, the bombardment having leveled most of it. Soldiers were stationed on top of the buildings, from where they fired on the onrushing Aku. ATBS and hovercraft were out in the street canyons taking over most of the fighting, while further back tanks and artillery rained a hail of bullets on the Aku. Even some mechs could be seen on the road. The massive machines resembled the ATBS but were a lot more cumbersome. Practically, they were massive weapons platforms that could hold heavy armament, mostly used for sieges or anti-spacecraft battles. Battleships, cruisers and frigates fired incessantly at the onrushing masses.

"What's the situation?" Stephen asked the operator.

"A few thousand must have broken through the first line of defense." Explained one of the operators, while a holographic display documented the onslaught. A massive crowd of red symbols rushed toward the defensive positions. Again and again, some disappeared into a circular area, but it was replenished relatively quickly. "They have already entered the outskirts, with the buildings pulling the fighting apart." Reported the operator.

"Shelter and the church are holding out at Guardian. The Rift has closed again but new Aku keep showing up." Added Zane's operator.

"Has the dimensional boundary become unstable?" Nathan wondered.

"Dimensional boundary?" Cara inquired.

"It is believed that the Akuryuma, like the Mytics, are actually native to another dimension." Nathan began to explain briefly.

"Infected can rip those open." Added Zero.

"If too big a hole is torn in the barrier it can cause the borders to become unstable in a large area. You can compare it to throwing a small stone into a pond. The ripples it causes are only visible for a short time. With a large lump, on the other hand, it takes longer for the surface to settle down."

"So it must have been a larger Rift." Pondered Zane.

"There's been a breakthrough!" Announced the operator suddenly.

"Roger that!" Replied the pilot, heading straight for the coordinates.

"Several raptors have slipped through the defensive positions." Reported the operator from Unit One.

"Get ready!" Ordered Zane. "The backup team will stay behind until we secure the LZ!"