Chapter 25

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Zero had used up everything he had. The water they had brought and even many of the medicines he always carried in his small medical bag. But Carol would not get any better. The Spirits stood and hovered around her, also seeming concerned for Carol with whom they had been playing earlier.

"What's going on outside...?" Rika looked out the window anxiously. Smoke clouds had risen over the city and battle sounds could be clearly heard. Everyone was hanging onto their PDIs and trying to track the situation on Galaxy-Net, but there seemed to be an information blackout in effect.

Zero was looking at the evacuation orders on his PDI, which he had used earlier to transmit the stream for Sora, when the priest came to him.

"How is she?" Asked the priest. The situation in the tower had relaxed somewhat, the guards and priests had made it clear to the visitors that it was safe in the Guardian. Also, the fact that Zero turned out to be a military evacuation worker seemed to calm the visitors somewhat. Meanwhile, another guide had arrived in the room and the priests had discussed what to do next. Now everyone seemed to be waiting for something.

Zero was clear on what.

"Unchanged...", said Zero anxiously. "The drugs should have kicked in by now..."

"It's my fault..." Asagi said suddenly.

The priest, Rika and Zero looked at her in confusion.

"Last week, Carol already fainted once." She explained. "I should have told you Zero. But Carol didn't want you to worry." She burst into tears.

"It's OK." She suddenly felt Zero's hand on her head. "It's not your fault. It's mine for not noticing." He stroked his hand through her hair.

"Could it be from touching the Guardian?" Rika interjected, and immediately she felt the priest's evil stare. "Sorry...", she said sheepishly.

"I don't think so." Reflected Zero, while putting a cloth, which he moistened with a water bottle, on Carol's head. "She has been to the hospital many times before; however, I don't know what they did there. I had no authority to look at her records."

"Can't you do anything?" Rika asked worriedly.

"Unfortunately not, I'm just a paramedic and not a good one at that... She needs a real doctor." Zero squeezed, pissed at himself, his clasped hands together before leaning backwards.

Carol was still on his lap as he looked at his arm and the bracelet that was now attached to it. The priest had returned to the others, probably to report on Carol's condition..

"Excuse me." The priest came to Zero again. "We would be ready to evacuate."

"I see." Zero nodded and looked at Carol, whose condition did not seem to be improving.

"Can she be transported then?" Asked the priest, a boxy robot behind him.

"She's stable." Assured Zero, before the robot began to unfold in the middle, creating a stretcher.

"We're ready." The priest waved to the others after Zero placed Carol on the robot's stretcher.

The two guides, along with the priests, held close to 50 people, who were now slowly making their way down. The Architect Church, with the approval of the Alliance administration, had suggested the inner ring of the Guardian as an evacuation site. Despite the proximity of the events, it seemed the best way to get a large crowd to safety in a hurry. The great walls of the rings were perfect for this.

Asagi, Rika and Zero walked together with Carol, who was on the stretcher, at the back of the group. Zero was watching her the whole time when his eyes once again fell on the bracelet that had wrapped itself around his mechanical arm. Zero had already tried to take it off, but to no avail.

"It chose you." Said the priest suddenly, walking with them.

The three looked at the priest in confusion.

"What is this anyway?" Zero asked as he examined the bracelet.

"A gift from the Architect." Began the priest somewhat cryptically as they all looked at him in wonder. "An Architect weapon." He clarified. "As I mentioned, during the tour, the Architect left many artifacts behind to protect us. Many of them were discovered within its facilities. Most of them were weapons that gave enormous power to their bearers. I assume yours is one of them."

Zero looked at the bracelet. It bore no resemblance to a weapon, more of an ornament. If it was a weapon, how did he use it?

"Unfortunately, most of the weapons have disappeared over the years, but the most famous are probably the sacred weapons of the armored cities and the Pandera." Narrated the priest further. "Yours is similar to that of a Pandera I would say." He looked at the bracelet. "Unfortunately, the current situation does not allow it, but I invite you to visit us later and then we can get to the bottom of your gift with pleasure." Said the priest.

"Protect...", Zero thought and looked at the bracelet, the evacuation order on his PDI was still active. A rally point was indicated for Zero to meet up at. He turned to Asagi and Rika, who were walking anxiously behind him. Carol was still unresponsive and breathing heavily. He was lost in thought. Zane, Aki, Nathan, and Gerard were out on a mission. Tyler probably was as well. Sora and Deadra were in the bar, probably afraid. Zero remembered back to Nyada, as the others probably did as well. Of the attack, the panic, the powerlessness, and the loss. An image of Ben flashed through Zero's mind, clenching his fist angrily.

"...protect...", whispered Zero.

The square in front of the Guardian was full, people were spread out everywhere. Some had sat down on the ground, others seemed to be restlessly walking around, still others were taking care of children or elders. Priests kept standing between them, trying to calm the crowd. Soldiers and Exo-Armor had spread out across the square and even some ATBS had taken up positions. The bridge connecting the Guardian to the entrance was clear, but soldiers had taken up positions at both ends. Buses and military vehicles kept driving along the bridge, bringing new civilians into the secured area. In another cordoned-off area, vans could be seen landing and taking off, seeming to fly out some civilians and bring soldiers into the square. Nearby was a building that had not been there before; it was a mobile infirmary. Tents and couches had been set up around the building. Smoke could still be seen billowing from behind the wall and sounds of fighting resounded throughout the square.

As soon as they arrived at the Guardian's exit, priests and soldiers rushed to the lead group around Zero.

"Sir, I'm supposed to report to the evacuation leadership." Zero immediately addressed the first ranking soldier he found. "Private Zero, medical trainee." Zero introduced himself.

"We can use all the help we can get, I'll let commando know." Nodded the supervisor curtly.

"We have a medical emergency in the group." Said Zero, pointing to the gurney robot with Carol on it.

"A doctor." Waved the supervisor in the direction of the square and immediately a medical team arrived to take care of Carol.

"She's stable so far, but her condition is not improving." Zero told the doctors. "I've given her...," Zero began to enumerate the list of medications he had given her.

"All right we'll take her to the infirmary." Decided the leading doctor immediately. A ship flew over the Guardian. A large red cross was visible on the mostly white cowling and smaller transporters kept flying up. The ship itself had several docked compartments that provided functional sick care themselves and could be disconnected. The sickbay in the square was one of them.

"Zero right?" Inquired the supervisor. "Here are your orders."

"There are multiple outbreaks and explosions throughout the city." Reported the operator as Aki, Nathan and Zane flew over the city in a transporter.

Smoke and the sound of sirens were everywhere. The sky was crowded. From drones to battleships, everything had taken to the air. The big battleships had positioned themselves on the outskirts of the city, while frigates and sanitation ships were trying to sort out the situation in the city. ATBS and jets shot through the air. The sheer scale of troop strength made it clear that New Comound was truly the Alliance's skin city on Nykara.

A holographic map of New Comound floated in the center of the transporter, with Aki, Nathan, Zane, and several soldiers clinging to its sides. The sides of the transporter were open, allowing the occupants to look outside at the chaos while holding onto straps. The map showed more than 80 incidents, which appeared as red markers in the blue hologram. There were many small to medium sized dots spread across the city, but a few spots had massive markings and it was to just such a place that Zane and his team were headed.

"The adjacent cities are also affected, but most of it is concentrated in the capital." Reported the operator further.

"What is the situation?" Inquired Nathan.

"There have been several explosions on relevant infrastructure. The government district and the military sector were also attacked." He reported. "The military sector is secure, but we don't know how violent it is in the government district. The rest of the attacks have been aimed against the festival..."

"Do we know who did it?" Zane asked sourly.

"Not yet, the MIS, the Military Intelligence Service, is in the process of evaluating the surveillance." Replied the operator. "But it confirms the leadership's suspicions..."

"Someone is deliberately causing Outbreaks." Zane clenched his fist sourly, remembering back to Nyada. The image of Infected and the pleading man at the hospital, clearly before his eyes.

"Exactly." Confirmed the operator. "Shelter has already been notified."

"Shelter is coming?"

"They don't think we can do it on our own?" Sounded Cara's voice, who was also in the transmission.

"Due to the scale and volume, a formal request for assistance has been sent to Shelter. Your mission is therefore to support the ground troops and evacuation forces as a strike force until Shelter arrives."

Cara could be heard grumbling, but obviously understanding the situation, Zane felt the same way. He had nothing against Shelter. He hadn't buried his dream of joining Shelter yet either, but the command from leadership sounded at first like they couldn't do it themselves. As if they had no confidence in Zane and the others.

"You have permission to attack, but if you're not sure, pull back. Evacuation takes priority."

"Understood." Replied Nathan, as if to make sure of that.

"T minus two." Sounded the pilot's voice.

"Get ready!" Ordered the platoon leader of his unit, who was with Zane and his team.

Zane and Nathan jumped out of the van along with the soldiers.

"Good luck Zane, Nathan." Shouted Aki to them as the transporter was already taking off again, bringing Aki to her team.

Immediately they rushed to the command post, which was simply under a tent. There they met Cara and 736, the latter already in his battle gear, while Cara, like Zane and Nathan, had probably been at the festival. The government district opened up before them. Buildings with hundreds of floors connected by levels opened up before them. Smoke was everywhere and sounds of fighting could be heard through the street canyons.

"You're the task force?" The commander inquired.

⬢

"What happened here?" Zane looked down into a massive crater.

They were standing on one of the levels that connected the buildings in the narrow high-rise complex. In front of them was a massive chasm that easily stretched 100 levels into the depths. But not only downward, also upward and to the side. A spherical hole emblazoned the government circle. It was as if a scoop of ice cream had been scraped out of a new container. Parts of buildings as well as an entire block of houses were missing, with the top of the missing building having fallen into the hole. Drones, along with transports, flew through the crater searching for survivors.

"Impressive isn't it?" A familiar voice suddenly sounded. Immediately, everyone turned around. Sitting on a ledge was the man they had met that day in the shopping mall. "A little over the top, but it serves the purpose...", he surveyed the crater. The next moment a volley of 736 pelted him, but he jumped aside and landed on Zane's plane.

"You did this?!" Zane shouted at the man.

"That's not very polite, trying to pick one off right away." Complained the man. "But yeah, we're responsible for that...", he seemed a bit surprised himself as he surveyed the crater.

"What are you doing! Was it you guys who caused the Outbreaks?" Was Zane about to rush forward when he felt Nathan's hand on his shoulder.

"Wait Zane."

"Try to figure out what he wants." Said the operator.

"You want to know what I want?"

He heard that? Wondered Nathan. "You're with the Evolved right?"

"The Evolved?" Looked Zane at Nathan.

"You've been informed. I think it's time to introduce myself. I am one of the Four Eyes of the Evolved." At that, the man's irises suddenly turned red.

A shiver ran down Zane's spine, but he didn't let it show. Questions flooded his mind, but he pushed them aside for the moment.

"The Four Eyes?" Wondered the operator, who heard everything through the bodycam.

"This is a declaration of war on the Alliance and all other occupants." Announced the Eye with its arms stretched out.

"What are you trying to accomplish with this?" Zane inquired.

"We want the same right as you!" He said angrily. "We will take back Nykara and free ourselves from the tyranny of you lowly beings!"

"You can't think you can go against all parties, against the whole universe." Argued Nathan. He's strong as hell... Nathan could detect a magical outburst in his counterpart.

"Thousands will die!" Objected Zane.

"How many of us have died? Innocent!" He retorted. "But enough of that." He raised his arms, two New Bloods emerged from the distortions that had appeared beside him.

"New Bloods?!" Startled, Cara held her sword at the ready and 736 also readied his rifle and appeared to change ammunition.

"I guess he's fighting with reinforcements this time." Remarked 736.

"Well, have fun with those two. I have something else to do." The Eye jumped to a piece of debris further back. "Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but your deaths will be excellent for adding emphasis to our statement."

"Are you going to run away again?" Shouted Zane after him.

"See you soon Seranis." He waved at Zane and jumped over the rubble into the distance before the two New Bloods rushed to Zane's team in the next moment.

A fight broke out between the two New Bloods and Zane's team. While Cara and 736 took care of one, Zane and Nathan tried to defeat the second.

Cara lunged with her sword and activated the booster of her blade. Immediately, her sword accelerated and raced towards the New Blood, who seemed to have learned from the previous attacks and made a leap upwards. But then an explosive projectile from 736, who was holding a large caliber rifle, hit it. With a tremendous bang, the New Blood was hurled through the air before slamming into one of the piles of debris.

"I only have four rounds left." Announced Cara over the holographic chat that opened up before Zane's eye as her blade recharged and she raced toward the New Blood.

"Cara, wait!" Nathan yelled over to her as debris was already flying towards her. Cara fended off the pieces with her sword just before a fist came flying at her. Cara's blade drilled into the fist, but it stuck and the force of the attack still hit her. Cara was thrown back several feet, but just before she slammed into a wall, a water ball caught her. The New Blood had already extricated itself from the rubble, its fist still extended forward from the blow, and was already beginning to regenerate.

"Thanks Nathan!"

"Reinforcements are already on their way." Reported the operator.

Meanwhile, the second New Blood kept charging at Zane, who kept throwing ice pillars in its way time after time. The ice pillars burst as the New Blood continued to close in on Zane. At the same time, Zane kept creating new pillars. What is this...? Zane wondered, jumping further and further back when the New Blood was already right in front of him. It lunged for a punch, but it crashed into a wall of ice that appeared out of nowhere in front of it. Zane had used his foot to create a magic circle on the ground. Before the New Blood could even wonder, if it was even capable to do so in the first place. Zane pressed his palms against the ice wall and a massive ice pillar shot out of the wall, throwing the New Blood into the middle of the icy wasteland he had left behind.

But no sooner had the New Blood landed in the sea of debris than the ice began to melt and turn around it, before it was trapped in a sphere of water the next moment.

"You help Cara and Three Six! I'll keep this one at bay!" Said Nathan, focusing all his magic on the water cage.

"OK!" Zane stormed to the others.

Cara and 736 did their best to keep the New Blood at bay, but that was all. Keep it in check. Cara's blade and 736's bullets just bounced off the New Blood, and even if they hurt him, he seemed to heal right back up.

"I've got two more charges!" Shouted Cara to 736.

My caliber isn't enough to puncture him and the blast bullets only have a superficial effect... thought 736 as he saw Zane in the corner of his eye.

"Cara, Three Six, I'll help you!" Zane came running.

The New Blood, who had once again landed in the distance, saw Zane and immediately jumped towards that one. But before it could get near Zane, one of 736's blaster rounds caught it and knocked it back.

"Have you defeated the other one yet?" Cara asked, confused.

"No, Nathan has him locked up, but it won't last long." Zane feared. "Let's hurry."

"My projectiles aren't working and Cara's blade isn't penetrating." Reported 736.

"Then we'll make sure it penetrates." Said Zane and took off running. The New Blood was back on a direct path to them and ran to Zane, who fired ice spikes at it. The small spikes bounced off the New Blood's skin, which didn't seem to slow down. Zane clapped his hands together and a larger circle formed in front of them. A large lance of ice suddenly shot out of the circle and raced toward the New Blood. It stopped and smashed the lance with its fist, shattering it into a thousand splinters.

"Three Six! Go!" Zane jumped to the side.

Immediately, 736 fired his explosive projectiles at the New Blood. The temperature difference created a rush of air that Zane immediately incorporated into his wind spell. Greenish circles had appeared in front of Zane's palms, which he seemed to swirl wildly. Immediately, the wind began to move and in moments Zane had created a whirlwind that spun around the New Blood.

"Again!" Shouted Zane, exhaustion written all over his face.

736 fired his explosive projectiles at the New Blood once again, but this time they exploded into the whirlwind, turning it into a vortex of fire. 736 understood what Zane was up to and fired more projectiles into the vortex. The fire vortex was so strong that by the time 736 told Zane he had no more projectiles, the ground beneath him was already beginning to deform.

"Cara. I'll push him up, you hit from above!"

"Roger that!" Cara jumped up the turrets to get as high as possible.

"Cara now!" Shouted Zane as the swirl of fire subsided, revealing the burned New Blood. Its skin was singed and torn open in many places, the mixture of fire, the shrapnel from the ground and the projectiles had taken a toll on its regenerative ability. But before the New Blood could even begin to move and the flames had dissipated, the ground beneath its feet began to lift. Zane lifted the concrete beneath the New Blood into the air with the help of an ice pillar, and he did so with such speed that the flames instantly disappeared.

"Cara, put in everything you've got!" Shouted Zane.

"You don't have to tell me." Cara already jumped off and held her blade behind her. In the next moment, she activated the two remaining booster charges she had and slammed her blade into the approaching New Blood.

The attack cleaved across the New Blood's ribcage as well as the base plate.

Zane sank to one knee before 736 Cara snapped out of the air and the New Blood's lifeless body hit the ground moments later along with the remains of the floor.

"Crap, this one is gone...", Cara looked at her sword. It had broken at an angle in the attack, cables and electrics peeking out from the back of the sword.

"We did it!" Zane rejoiced, totally exhausted. "Quick, we have to get to Nath...!" Zane started to say, when the second New Blood was already coming towards them. Did it take out Nathan...? Zane felt a chill run down his spine.

"Look out!" Shouted Nathan, who was right behind the New Blood.

"That's enough!" Complained Cara, moving into position with her broken sword. 736, meanwhile, reached for his second weapon, a rather small-caliber rifle.

Zane prepared his ice spell, however, when the New Blood simply leapt between them. Right toward the fallen New Blood.

As soon as it landed on the corpse of the other New Blood, it rammed its teeth into its body. The blood that had poured out of the New Blood began to move toward the other New Blood, who suddenly seemed to grow.

"Crap!" Screamed Nathan. "Stop it."

Immediately, 736 and Cara opened fire on the New Blood. Zane activated his spell and created a new ice lance that flew toward the New Blood.

However, all of the attacks bounced off of some sort of black membrane that had formed around the New Blood.

"What's going on?" Wondered Cara, who had emptied her pistol.

"The readings are going up!" 736 reported back, who had his eye on the Corrutin ratings.

"Operator, what's going on?!" Nathan inquired.

"Retreat!" Ordered the operator frantically, who must have seen the ratings as well, when the diaphragm ripped open, and a mechanical roar sounded.

Zane recognized the sound immediately; it was similar to Deadra's as he already saw a tail whirling through the air. The New Blood was gone, its white skin had given way to a dark gray and its muscular body had transformed into that of a lizard-like creature about ten meters long.

"This can't be..." Cara whispered to herself. "An Aku?!"

In front of them stood an Akuryuma.

"Withdraw immediately! It's an Akuryuma!" The operator ordered them as the beast was already attacking.

The Aku leapt toward Zane and swiped at him with its claw. Zane dodged before the claw slammed into the exact spot where he had been standing a moment before. A crater appeared where the Aku's hand had slammed into the ground, and splinters flew through the air. Immediately, everyone followed Zane's example and took their distance from the beast.

"Quickly to the higher ground!" Nathan said, and everyone leapt at the rubble, or in Zane's case, directly through an opening to the level above.

"Hell!" Cara cursed as the Aku gave chase.

"Keep going!" Shouted Nathan.

"Pull back. Shelter will take care of it." Announced the operator again as they continued to flee upward. Fear had gripped them, the infamous enemy was right behind them. The scratching and squealing of the beast's claws as it rammed them into the pillars and walls time after time, coupled with the shrill screech it emitted, sent a shiver down their spines. Zane had seen an Aku before, but Deadra was no match for the beast that stood before him, they had nothing in common.

"Everyone in front of me!" Zane commanded as they were about to jump through another opening in a park, the Aku close behind them. Zane began casting a spell and just as Cara passed the opening, Zane activated it and launched an ice pillar at the Aku. The pillar hit the Aku in the shoulder and threw it off balance, if nothing else. Zane seized the moment and activated a second spell. He threw his hands against the ground at the opening, and blasted those with a thick coat of ice. They were standing in the square of a garden area, suspended between two buildings like the other levels.

"Quick!" Nathan waved everyone into a nearby office building as the beast broke through the ice wall and landed on the plaza.

"What do we do now?" Nathan asked. The team had been hiding in the office building. 736 surveyed the Aku via a hologram sent to him by one of the drones.

"What's your situation?" Nathan tried to consult the situation.

"My sword is broken." Cara said pointing to the stump she was still carrying.

"Ran out of ammo." 736 shook his head.

"What about you Zane?" Inquired Nathan.

"..." Zane seemed to hesitate. "Well...", he stared at the Akuryuma.

"So it's the same for you then." Nathan seemed alluded to something.

"Withdraw." Repeated the operator a third time. "I've already sent you the escape route." Immediately, a holographic map appeared in front of everyone, showing the escape route. Zane hesitated, his team seemed to be waiting for his order.

"If we retreat..." Zane began. "...this thing will tear apart the evac teams and the civilians." Argued Zane, mustering all his courage. "So far it's still focused on us, we're keeping this thing at bay until Shelter gets here! That's our job as an Anti-Aku Unit."

Zane looked around, everyone nodded at him, only the operator remained silent.

"Alright, I've relayed your position to Shelter, it shouldn't be long now." The operator reported back as the Aku trudged across the square. No sooner had the operator finished his sentence than a ship jumped into the airspace above the government quarter.

A white ship with the Shelter logo hovered over them. Immediately, the ship seemed to drop small transporters that scattered to the winds. The Aku turned to the sky and seemed to be watching the ship.

"There's Shelter!" Zane rejoiced, looking up at the sky. "Let's buy them some time." He turned to his team.

The Aku was still trudging searchingly through the square when suddenly something was thrown out of the window of an office building.

The Aku was chasing the object when it heard a gunshot coming from the same direction. Shortly after, the first object exploded in midair. A hail of shrapnel descended on the Aku, who screamed at the blast, unfazed. As quickly as the flames had appeared, they were extinguished again by the rain that suddenly pelted from the sky. But it was not normal rain, it was water from a pipe that ran below the level above and was used for watering the gardens, as well as for the water supply of the buildings. Several thousand liters poured down on the square as the water suddenly began to move. Instinctively, the Aku seemed to want to free itself from the ever-increasing waterspout. It was about to jump out of the spout when ice pillars appeared and prevented it from doing so. Its legs were also frozen in place.

Zane and Nathan had positioned themselves around the Aku, who was distracted by the explosion, and were now casting their spells.

The masses of water from above barely subsided, allowing Nathan to set a massive amount of water in motion. Meanwhile, Zane held the Aku in the core of the water spiral. The Aku tried frantically to free itself but was stopped time after time by ice pillars and the like. It smashed the ice, but this became more and more of a problem, because the ice splinters mixed with the water vortex, which kept building up around it. Shortly thereafter, the Aku was completely enclosed in a waterspout, which was now filling with water on the inside as well. The Aku tried to swim out of the waterspout, but the current Nathan had created was so strong that it could barely get out. Instead, it began to take off and float in the middle of the whirlpool of water.

"Go Zane!"

"Already on it! Glaciare!" Replied Zane after Nathan's prompting, and in the next moment the whirlpool with Aku in it froze into ice. The entire water in the area froze. The spell worked in such a large radius that even the pipes above the plant were frozen to ice. Within a few minutes, a strange icy landscape had been created, with a massive frozen ice whirlpool standing in its center.

"Did we make it?" Zane sat down on the floor, exhausted. 736 and Cara immediately began reporting to the operator.

"I don't know." Gasped Nathan, exhausted as well. "So you have that much magic too?" He looked at Zane, who didn't seem particularly worn out despite the huge amount of magic he had used.

"Yeah... since we got here." Zane turned to the crater. "What the hell happened here?"

"Way to go guys!" Cara and 736 came over to them.

"Will this contain it?" Wondered 736.

"We have so much mag...", began Zane to explain, when suddenly he heard a crack. "You've got to be kidding me!" Zane cursed, as in the next instant the ice vortex was already breaking up.

"Damn it!" Scolded Cara, pointing her pistol at the Aku.

"Can we even win?" Nathan asked in exasperation, looking to Zane, who was also looking perplexed at the Aku.

"You're the task force?" Sounded a voice from above Zane's team. Immediately, everyone looked up, even the Aku.

On the level above them, a transporter from Shelter had almost silently moved into position, with several people now standing beneath it. They all wore white armor, though they differed greatly. While one appeared to be wearing a similar battle suit to Zane and the others, another wore armor reminiscent of 736. Other equipment seemed to be very individual as well. One wore a cowl over his gear, while another had spiked his armor with paint. The only thing that united them was the basic white color and the Shelter logo, which they all wore somewhere clearly visible on their bodies. But one in particular stood out to Zane, as his armor was reminiscent of that of a knight.

"You guys look pretty beat up." Said one of the Shelter people.

"Enough of that, let's get going." Said the man in the knight's armor and raised his hand, indicating the attack.

Immediately four of the five jumped down on the Aku from above. The one with armor like 736 immediately began firing at the Aku with a rifle that resembled a smaller version of Ilana's gun.

The Aku began to roar. The hits seemed to actually cause him damage. But not only that. The wounds did not seem to heal immediately either. However, there was no respite for the Aku as the remaining three began attacking him with swords. The Aku lashed out, but they kept blocking his attacks. His rod lashed out at each of the soldiers, but they kept dodging. Their movements were superior to those of Zane's team in both speed and strength. Suddenly, the knight stood in front of the Aku, his hand on the hilt of his blade still in its scabbard. The Aku turned to face the man as he pulled out his blade. An arc of light followed the blade, cutting through the Aku from bottom to top as if it were made of paper.

"May the light cleanse you." The knight recited a prayer of sorts before putting his blade away and turning to Zane and the others.

"Wow...", Zane looked at the Shelter troops, his eyes literally glittering.

"Are you all unharmed?" The knight asked them, seeming to pay special attention to Cara.

"We're fine, thanks for the help!" Zane thanked him effusively.

"Glad to hear." Replied the knight as his team rallied around him. "Can you tell me what happened here?"

That's when the operator joined in, appearing on a hologram next to Zane. "I am the operator of this team, thank you for your help." Greeted the operator to the Shelter troops.

"I am Zane Seranis. Leader of Team Three." Joined Zane, who had forgotten to introduce himself due to excitement.

"Seranis?" A murmur went through the Shelter troops, and everyone looked at Zane. Even the knight seemed surprised for a moment before introducing himself as well.

"I am Keiko Shuma, leader of the 14th X-Unit, the Flaming Knights."

The operator and Zane began to tell what had happened.

"I see. Good work." Nodded Shuma and turned to his team. "At least one of the Four Eyes is here." He was seemingly talking to his own operator.

Zane turned to his own team. Meanwhile, a transporter had arrived with reinforcements, including some of the sixth unit. They were wearing full-body protective suits, which again made clear to everyone the situation they were in. They had fought Infected, New Bloods, and an Akuryuma. Immediately, the sixth squad, along with support troops, joined Zane's team and examined them. They checked their equipment for defects, if they were wounded, and checked the Corrutin ratings of each member. Despite the hard fight, none of them had been harmed. No sooner had they assured themselves of this than the Sixth turned to the Akuryuma lying lifeless on the platform.

Zane looked sharply at the Aku and the Sixth, as if waiting for something. But nothing happened. Unsure, he turned back to his team.

"Where do we go from here?" Nathan asked.

"I'm still waiting for more reports, but now that Shelter is here, you're probably needed more urgently elsewhere." Reported the operator. "But good work so far!" He praised his team.

"Thanks." Said Zane when the operator' hologram was gone.

"We're apparently not the only ones who have been attacked, either. The MIS reports attacks on all the major settlements. New Sumena, Planner, New Horizon, Neo Edo II even the Shelter base seems to have been attacked." He enumerated some of the most prominent locations.

"What?!" Shuddered Zane.

"What are they up to?" Wondered 736, who had been getting ammunition.

"Are they trying to cause a Third Outbreak?" Zane interjected. Immediately, silence fell for a moment as the operator interjected.

"It's possible, but rather unlikely, that they'll be able to do so."

"Moreover, the Eye said they want to recapture Nykara. I don't see how a Third Outbreak would help them do that." Considered Cara.

"Whatever it is, he put us here on purpose. He knew we wouldn't retreat, or the New Bloods would have attacked the evacuation teams." Said Nathan. "If all they cared about was causing as much damage as possible, then he didn't have to show his face here."

"You've encountered him before?" Cara inquired.

"A while back in this department store." Confirmed 736.

"He had a New Blood with him, too." Reflected Zane.

"Two out of three times he was there when you encountered a New Blood." Reported the operator.

"Are you saying that...," Zane inquired.

"That he was around the first time, too?" Added Nathan.

"It wouldn't be unthinkable." Considered 736. "After all, the first time he said he didn't want to wait until we got reinforcements."

"Five units would probably have been too much for him." Added Cara

"The other teams didn't encounter any New Bloods." Reported the operator.

"Last time he took something, I couldn't tell what it was." Started 736 looking in his video feed.

"He said he had something else to do..." Zane continued thinking. "Oh no!" Zane suddenly said.

"What's wrong Zane?" Asked Nathan.

"What's the situation at the bar?" Zane asked the operator and immediately Nathan also understood what Zane meant.

"The team was pulled out, but the cameras are broken." Reported the operator.

"Were there attacks there, too?" Nathan inquired.

But before the operator could answer, he seemed to receive a new message. Things seemed to be hectic in the control room.

"I'm sorry, but I have new orders for you." Said the operator, just as Shuma rejoined them.

"A Rift has appeared at the Guardian."