Cheaters

That was a disappointment, but I can't expect the Fabricators to always make things that are enough to change the tide of battle completely. We were lucky enough with our current arsenal, so I can't really complain about that front. A barrier-bypassing Hammer shell indeed sounds nice on paper, but we don't have the technology to pull it off properly at the moment.

We could probably turn the prototype into something more serviceable if we dedicated more resources to our R&D program. But having the extensive research we had before during wartime is idiotic. Our limited production capabilities cannot sustain both our wartime ammo requirement and a lot of research. History has also shown that nations with limited industrial capacity who waste their time with "wonder-weapons" usually lose the war.

The skeleton crew we have dedicated to research is already more than enough. I'm also honestly considering if all our research endeavors shouldn't be put on hold until this war is won.

If I knew that I couldn't really die anymore, then I would think that stress was going to kill me. The Order is always teetering on the edge of destruction, and we're one bad loss away from crumbling into nothingness. The pressure on the Order is indeed lesser than other factions since we are not occupying territory yet. But I know it's not always going to be the case.

And, as if it wasn't enough, our numerous enemies are all making moves in the shadows. Some of them are targeting us; some are trying to eliminate each other. I also bet that there are numerous powerhouses who have yet to play their hand.

In the end, we can only wait as time moves forward... or backward in case I'm not satisfied with the situation.

...Alison's PoV...

Sweat rolls on my cheek as a thin lance of flames erupts from my hand and ends the life of the last fleeing enemy. I barely register as he, along with his expensive three-piece suit, burns to a crisp. I would usually leave nothing behind, but Adam instructed me to leave a message to the ones opposing the Organization.

I look over the battlefield littered with charred corpses. What was once a trendy electronics store is now a warzone, and I can already hear the police sirens. I turn towards a short-haired blond who looks exhausted. It pains me to ask more of her, but we have no other choice.

"Eva, let's evacuate before the police get here," I say to her and the rest of my squad. Each of them looks at the carnage in front of them with complete indifference, even the usually cheery Carla is now a shadow of her former self; her smile is gone, and she acts like she's dead inside.

I can't help but clench my fist, that radical change in our squad is the consequence of the punishment that Adam decided we deserved for utterly failing our mission. According to him, Eva's Object.Coordinate.Edit() has somehow been hijacked, and we ended up on some unknown planet. Our retrieval nearly destroyed a server, an unacceptable cost for rookies like us.

Adam decided that it was all our faults for being such incompetents, so he chose one of the worse punishment he had at his disposal. Each night, our five senses would be cut off from our brain while the pain center would be overly stimulated... That torture lasted for two weeks before the Director deemed that we learned our lesson.

But let's stop thinking about it; just the memories of that part of my life is almost enough to turn me into a sobbing mess. No wonder that some of us lost their minds after that.

We regroup around Eva before she closes her eyes and furrows her brows. The world shifts around us in an instant, and we are back into the Organization's compound. The poor Eva collapses as soon as w arrive, and it takes two of us in our tired state to prop her up.

Adam's underlings, who are all wearing a black form-fitting outfit along with a device camouflaged as sunglasses eyes us with a piercing gaze as we limp out of the white and spotless room. One of the grunts as he presents his massive palm towards me. I stifle a grunt as I hand him back the device that allows us to connect to the Organization's System.

"Her too." The massive bald man gesture towards the unconscious Eva.

I grit my teeth, can't they see that she's injured? At least let her rest!

Lucas is also someone who shares my anger and lashes out at the faceless grunt, "How dare you! Can't you see that she's-"

However, his outburst is silenced by a slap so strong that I felt the shockwave through my stomach. Lucas is sent flying through the room as leaves a trail of blood behind him.

I want to help him; I really do. But I know that we can't resist the shade-wearing men in front of us, so we can only lay low and endure the abuse in silence.

The laser-wielder spits a broken tooth with bewildered eyes and limps towards us under the grinning henchmen.

We have to stick together. At least we still retain our personality, unlike the sunglasses-wearing men. They are barely people anymore; they only exist to obey the Director's orders.

I barely suppress a sigh; if only we weren't such failures, then Adam wouldn't have to do this.

...Riley's PoV...

"Alright, fire now!" I say as I fire my weapon. Those mysterious artifacts are still way beyond what my decent, or at least I think it is, knowledge of enchanting can comprehend. The cylinders barely vibrate in our hands as they steadily hum. And, just like that, our targets are dead with a hole where their hearts used to be.

It dawns on me. We wiped out an entire officer corps without leaving our run-down warehouse. And, as if this feat wasn't ridiculous enough, the devices didn't emit a single strand of mana, which means that we are undetectable.

How ridiculous is this? How are we supposed to handle this much power? How are we going to not fall into the errors of our predecessors with such force at our disposal? It would be so easy to wipe out most of the Imperial troops, or at least those who aren't too powerful to scramble the weapon, without leaving our base of operations.

It makes my mind race with all the possibilities the cylinders offers us. We indeed need line of sight for most of the Imperial bases, the ones we can reach are just small outposts that are barely in the range of the instant-kill device. It might not win us the war, but it will still make it a lot easier for us to infiltrate bases and destroy them from the inside while the Empire is none the wiser about our actions.

Of course, it could also make us over-confident and make us bite more than we can chew.

Decisions, decisions. Leading a rebellion that was doomed back to glory isn't going to be easy, but I think I can do it.