Cyberpunk: Arasaka Secret Son

Having been stripped of his weapons, fitted with a Cyberware blocker on his right arm, and placed in reinforced handcuffs and shackles, one of the agents infiltrated in Shadow Mosses was being escorted by more than thirty soldiers of Libertas Sans Frontières.

Their heavy boots echoed against the metal of the half-constructed corridor. The security systems buzzed in the corners, silent witnesses to the procession.

The group emerged into a vast two-level hall. The space, cold and functional, was lined with narrow rooms that resembled makeshift cells. From inside, pale and hollow-eyed faces of trapped civilians —families and other loved ones of personnel forced to work against their will— watched silently, their eyes dulled by fear at the overwhelming number of soldiers and the presence of one of the Captains.

The fluorescent lights flickered intermittently, adding a sense of fragility to the already oppressive environment. At the center of the hall stood the imposing figure of Sundown, highlighted under the light.

The soldier carrying the bag containing Sora's weapons stepped away from the group, and roughly threw it in front of the captain. Prompting Sora to complain, warn, or perhaps even threaten him, "Oi, be careful with them, yeah? They're more personal belongings than weapons."

Captain Sundown lowered his gaze to inspect the bag. Beneath his enormous black trench coat, the glint of advanced technological armor could be seen. And his bald head gleamed under the cold artificial light, "like a beacon of authority..." Sora thought, half-jokingly.

When the soldier returned to his position, he muttered under his breath, "When I escape, you'll be the first I will kill."

The soldier, glancing at the chains binding Sora's hands and feet, smirked with a mix of mockery and defiance. Then, he raised his hand, clenching his fist, ready to put the prisoner in his place.

But the blow never landed...

The soldier froze, his arm suspended mid-air, trembling. All that he could see was bright blue eyes in Sora's face, due to the his panic from the overwhelming murderous intent concentrated on him.

Feeling it as well, the rest of the soldiers took a step back and, visibly nervous, pointed their weapons toward the source of that massive murderous intent with trembling hands.

Before the most nervous of his men could fire the first shot—which seemed inevitable—Captain Sundown intervened.

"Enough!" His voice echoed like a thunderclap. As the soldiers lowered their weapons, he added in a cold, dry tone, "Don't worry, Mr. Inazuka. We will take good care of them."

Sora shrugged, unconcerned that they knew his identity, and responded in a dismissive tone. "Nah, I don't want to bother. I'll get them back soon enough."

Although they were connected to Militech, that relationship at this point was more of a major liability for the giant corporation. When the disaster involving the terrorist group they accidentally funded came to light, they might even give him a medal. Or at the very least, a pat on the shoulder.

The Captain's laugh was brief—more of a programmed reflex than a genuine reaction.

"I've heard about your sense of humor," he said, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "It seems the information is accurate: you enjoy jokes."

Sora raised an eyebrow, amused. "And who doesn't, baldy?"

A cutting silence fell over the room. Some soldiers stepped forward, tense, but the Captain raised a hand, stopping them. He stepped closer, shortening the distance between himself and Sora.

"I must admit, I'm a little disappointed," the Captain continued, ignoring the insult. "The legend who took down Adam Smasher... surrendering without resistance. I thought I'd need to threaten these families to break you, but it seems that won't be necessary."

Sora's face remained expressionless as he briefly glanced over the frightened faces staring back at him from their cells. He let a moment pass before responding to Sundown, a dangerous glint flickering in his eyes.

"That wouldn't have worked either," he said, his tone laced with an almost lazy irritation. "Haven't you read my psych profile? According to the shrinks, I've got strong psychopathic tendencies..." Turning to the same soldier who had said he would kill him, Sora raised both his hands—bound together by the shackles—and, asking for a high five, said, "Nerds, I'm right?"

Lowering his hands in disappointment due to the lack of response from the soldier, who didn't even dare to look at him, Sora turned back to Sundown and, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, concluded: "Funny, isn't it? But... that would explain why I couldn't care less if you killed them."

Although his tone was light, every word fell like a sharp blow on the frightened families in their cells, leaving them unable to stop their trembling. Even some soldiers exchanged uneasy glances. The Captain's smile slowly faded, replaced by an expression of caution thinly veiled as disdain.

"Then... let's put it to the test. Restrain him," Sundown ordered with a gesture, prompting the half-hundred soldiers present to aim their weapons at Sora.

With a voice dripping malice, Sundown turned his head slightly and added, "Bring them."

From behind the formation, two figures were shoved forward. A woman and a teenager stumbled as they were forced to kneel before the Captain. Their hands trembled as soldiers kept their weapons trained on them.

Without taking his eyes off Sora, Sundown activated the base's PA system. The signal buzzed with static, resonating through every corner of the complex.

["Dr. Helios,"] announced Sundown, his voice echoing with implacable coldness through every loudspeaker in Shadow Moses. ["We know that you and the others are hiding in one of the escape pods in sector D-113. I'll give you ten seconds to surrender. If you don't, I will slowly kill your wife and daughter. And you... you will hear every one of their screams."]

A soldier yanked the older woman's hair, forcing her to lift her face. Her voice, broken by fear for her daughter, filled the air: "Honey, please..."

The teenager, tears streaming down her cheeks, sobbed as she resisted as best she could. "Dad... don't listen to them!"

["10."] Sundown announced, his eyes remaining fixed on Sora, searching for a crack in his façade. He found only... ["9."] an eerily indifferent calm as Sora yawned.

["8."]

["7."]

["6."]

["5."]

["4."]

["3."]

["2."]

["1."]

Then, as Sundown had promised, the room filled with the sound of gunfire.

-

At the same time...

["10"]

Inside the rescue pod, the air was thick with panic. The scientists shouted at each other, their voices ricocheting off the steel walls. At the center of the chaos, Dr. Helios struggled to open the sealed hatch, slamming the control panel with trembling hands.

One of his colleagues blocked him with their body, fear and determination reflected in their eyes. "You can't go! They'll kill you too! Don't you see you're no longer useful to them?"

Dr. Helios shoved him aside. "They'll kill your families too! Let me out!" he pleaded, his voice cracking under the weight of despair.

["9"]

Sundown's voice echoed through the loudspeakers, the countdown relentless. Dr. Helios, powerless, pounded the metal wall with all his strength, feeling his skin break against the cold steel.

"Please!" he shouted again, his voice bouncing off the confined space.

["8"]

"Think about what you're doing!" another scientist yelled, trying to calm him, though the tension in their voice betrayed their own fear.

Dr. Helios collapsed to his knees, knowing there wouldn't be enough time to repair the terminal they had sabotaged to avoid capture. His shoulders trembled under the weight of guilt and helplessness. He looked up, his eyes bloodshot. "This is all because of those damned Agents! If we had refused... if we hadn't escaped... our-"

["7"]

Suddenly, a deep, slightly distorted voice interrupted him. ["Stop insulting me, old man..."]

Dr. Helios and the others jumped as the screens in the capsule flickered to life, revealing a strange figure: a wolf's head composed of irregular polygons, glowing in an electric blue hue. Its geometric eyes emitted a cold, indifferent light.

"Who... who are you?" Helios asked nervously, as the sound of the countdown continued to pierce the air.

["6"]

The polygonal figure tilted its head slightly, as if assessing the occupants. ["I'm the 'damned agent' dealing with the mess of saving your families,"] it replied, its voice echoing in the cramped space.

Before anyone could respond, the voice continued, dry and direct: ["You're surrounded. Don't even think about opening the capsule. Activate it and head to these coordinates."]

Beneath the avatar, a series of numbers appeared projected on the screen: precise coordinates. As it spoke, the tone of its voice made it clear there was no room for negotiation. ["The first troops should already be gathering outside the island's perimeter."]

["5"]

"What about our families?" Helios shouted, his voice heavy with skepticism.

["You'll meet them there,"] the avatar replied without hesitation.

["4"]

With just a few seconds left in Sundown's countdown, Dr. Helios gritted his teeth, his body trembling as anger and fear wrestled for control. "Don't lie! I'm sick of the Lazarus Agents' lies! There's no way you'll make it in time!"

The wolf's head tilted slightly, as if scrutinizing him with boredom. Then, with an icy tone, it replied, threatening: ["I'm standing right in front of them. If you don't want them to die, do exactly as I say."]

["3"]

A flicker of hope sparked in Helios's bloodshot eyes as he looked up at the polygonal figure on the screen. "A-All right..." he stammered, his voice breaking as he clenched his bloodied fists at his sides. "Please... save them."

["That's the plan..."] replied Sora's wolf avatar on the screen.

["2"]

Then it disappeared.

["1"]

Immediately, all communications were flooded with a deafening ["#@¿?!%@|@€?¿!"], saturating the channels.

The interference was so intense that Dr. Helios and the other scientists in the capsule screamed, clutching their hands to their ears in a futile attempt to block out the noise. Outside the capsule, the soldiers wearing headsets fared no better; the amplified cacophony reverberated with such force that many stumbled, disoriented, some falling to the ground as they tried to regain their balance.

Then, through the still-open transmission, amidst the echoes of interference, gunfire began to filter through. The sharp cracks of the shots broke through like hammer blows, followed by pained groans that, to the horror of the listeners, belonged to a familiar voice: Captain Sundown's.

Immediately afterward, all communications were once again flooded with an ear-splitting ["#@¿?!%@|@€?¿!"], interference saturating every frequency.

The noise was so loud that it made Dr. Helios and the other scientists in the capsule cry out in pain. However, their suffering paled in comparison to that of the soldiers wearing headsets close to their ears.

They screamed in agony, dropping their weapons or stumbling from the disorientation. Some fell to their knees, desperately removing their helmets as they struggled to steady themselves.

Suddenly, amidst the chaos of the interference, something else cut through the still-open transmission. Gunshots, sharp and definitive, were followed by groans of pain unmistakably belonging to the same voice that had performed the dramatic countdown: Captain Sundown's.

(UPDATE 2)

-

["#@¿?!%@|@€?¿!"]

When the interference roared like a metallic demon, saturating every speaker in the base, the soldiers present in the room, along with Captain Sundown, could not escape it—not even by throwing off their helmets.

The deafening noise continued to resonate inside their skulls, chasing them even into their IDNs. It made them scream in pain and collapse to their knees, disoriented.

Being both witness and victim, Captain Sundown didn't waste a second and activated his Sandervista implant. However, someone else moved within that world frozen in time, snatching away his chance to deliberate on his actions.

Before his incredulous eyes, he saw Sora raise his arms and, with a violent shake, the reinforced shackles and manacles immobilizing him began to fracture, like glass under invisible pressure.

A nearly imperceptible black mist snaked around Sora's limbs: voracious nanobots devouring the metal.

Sundown's cybernetic brain processed the threat in milliseconds. Without hesitation, he raised his right arm and deployed the heavy weapon concealed in the forearm of his armor. A high-caliber cannon slid out from the sleeve of his trench coat with a mechanical snap. Bullets roared, spat in a barrage that would have turned any human into a cloud of flesh and bones.

In that world where time seemed frozen for everyone but them, Sora moved, leaving ephemeral trails in his wake as he briefly positioned himself behind the soldiers surrounding him, putting them between himself and his captain's gunfire.

Who watch impassively; how his own bullets—designed to pierce heavy armor—tore through his men. Arms and legs flew at grotesque angles, torsos split in crimson explosions, and heads, still encased in armored helmets, burst like overripe fruit.

Amid the chaos, Sora without ceremony caught a Militech M251s Ajax rifle spinning slowly in the air. After slipping from the hands of its owner, who was slowly falling to the ground with a fist-sized hole in his chest.

As he grabbed the weapon, Sundown's combat software reacted instantly. Alarms blared in his visual interface, flooding it with danger warnings: "TARGET ARMED. IMMEDIATE COUNTERMEASURES RECOMMENDED."

However, to the surprise of both the software and Sundown himself, Sora didn't shoot at them. Instead, he charged toward them.

Sundown gritted his teeth and intensified the barrage of gunfire, managing to make Sora's advance a deadly challenge with every step. The gunfire struck corpses, walls, and the air around him, but none found their mark.

A sense of unease began to creep over Sundown as he failed to halt the eerie blue eyes zigzagging toward him, leaving blurry trails in their wake. As if they were locked onto him, treating him like prey.

Suddenly, the deafening sound of the gunfire stopped.

Sundown cursed under his breath as he scrambled to reload. Simultaneously, he raised his left arm, deploying a second cannon. Yet the brief moment when the bullets stopped whizzing around him, was all Sora needed.

Disabling his Sandervista, he positioned himself in front of one of the few soldiers still alive—the same one who, just moments earlier, threw his weapons to the ground.

The soldier, kneeling and disoriented from the interference and the sudden combat, found himself surrounded by the corpses of his comrades—men who, just seconds ago, had been alive.

Seeing a pair of black boots appear in front of him, he followed them with his gaze until he was face-to-face with Sora. Free, without the shackles that should have immobilized him, and holding a rifle pointed directly at his head. The sight made him remember his warning-threat, that he had dismissed as a joke.

"When I escape, you'll be the first I will kill."

He kept his word. The trigger gave way with a dry click. The bullet pierced the soldier's head, ending his life swiftly, leaving him no time to react. His body slumped to the ground with a dull thud, joining his fallen comrades around him.

Just before a barrage of bullets could tear through his back, Sora instinctively activated his 'Sandervista,' or at least the nanobots in his spine and the tattoos on his back that functioned as one

Without hesitation, he threw himself to the side, the bullets slicing through the ephemeral trails he left behind as he rolled and repositioned himself. One knee on the ground, his Ajax rifle ready to fire.

His breathing was rapid, but his hands moved with unshakable calm. He aligned the barrel of his rifle with Sundown's massive frame—a physique designed to intimidate but now proving to be a fatal disadvantage, making him an all-too-easy target

Although his enhanced reflexes and the rest of his Cyberware allowed him to initiate an evasive maneuver, Sora was already one step ahead.

The burst erupted from the rifle with a deafening roar, filling the air with a metallic echo. Sundown moved swiftly, dodging the first bullets, but not the last. That final shot was unlike the others. It was the result of thousands of simulations that Sora had conducted in Cyberspace within fractions of a second, analyzing every possible evasive route Sundown might take.

Every previous shot he dodged had merely been a means to narrow the probabilities, guiding him toward one single, determined... outcome. Even so, Sora clicked his tongue in annoyance, muttering a displeased "Tch" when, instead of piercing Sundown's head, the projectile struck his left shoulder.

Flesh, cables, and cybernetic plating were torn apart in a burst of blood and sparks. Sundown's Sandervista deactivated, leaving him standing in a world that returned to its normal speed.

Sundown came to an abrupt halt, staggering from the impact. A guttural growl escaped his throat, leaking through his open radio as his wounded arm hung limply at his side.

Then... a scream of horror erupted among the families taking refuge in their cells, as they struggled to process the clash that had claimed dozens of lives in mere seconds.

When the screams faded away, leaving behind a silence as heavy as a slab of stone, the remaining soldiers, still standing behind their wounded captain, couldn't help it—a single intrusive thought crept into their minds. They looked at the bodies of their fallen comrades, their faces frozen in expressions of horror and pain. The killer was there, right in front of them. For a moment, they all shared the same impulse: to raise their weapons and finish him off.

But they were interrupted by the very person who furiously commanded them: "SHOOT HIM!"

Sundown's order rang out, harsh and laced with rage, as he clutched his bleeding shoulder. Yet instead of obeying, the soldiers remained still. Their fingers trembled over the triggers, their gazes shifting between their captain and the man they were supposed to execute.

Who met their stares with a cold, piercing look. Not a single muscle on his face moved. The stillness he projected was more menacing than any gunshot. He didn't flinch, didn't show any emotion.

The silence that followed the command was deafening. No one dared to raise their weapons.

Sundown, panting, turned his head toward his men in disbelief. "I said, shoot him!" he roared again, with the same result.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Sora seized the opportunity. Without breaking his gaze from the soldiers, he raised his metalic arm. A snap shattered the air as the hook on his wrist shot toward the bag that held his weapons. The cable tightened as it latched on, and in an instant, the bag flew across the room toward him.

As he recovered his beloved Malorian 3516 pistols, returning them to their rightful place under his arms, Sora stepped toward Sundown. Upon reaching him, he slowly drew Getsuda, the blade catching the pale light of the blood-stained room.

"Seems like they hate you too much…" He said with a crooked smile, glancing at the resentful looks the soldiers cast toward their captain. "Since you were so disappointed in me, let me change your opinion, baldy. How about we settle this without you having to take out more of your own men?"

Sundown didn't respond immediately. He gritted his teeth, struggling to suppress the boiling emotions bubbling beneath the surface. His gaze hardened as his fingers tightened around a small metallic vial containing a faintly glowing white-and-gray liquid, which he pulled from under his coat.

Without breaking eye contact with Sora, he injected it into the base of his neck with a sharp hiss. His breathing grew heavy and deep as he slowly removed his coat, revealing his imposing armor.

With a guttural growl, Sundown drew the twin blades at his hips, the metallic echo reverberating through the room. His complexion began to pale, and dark, vein-like lines spread across his face and bald head.

The wound on his shoulder, which had been oozing blood just moments ago, began to close. Flesh, skin, and fragments of his armor seemed to fuse together, the grotesque process of repair accompanied by wet, mechanical sounds.

Faced with the gruesome sight, "Microbots, huh?" Sora remarked, tilting his head with a mixture of curiosity and disdain. He recognized the peculiar gleam on Sundown's skin and the changes starting to make him look more brutal, almost monstrous—reminiscent of the Husk.

Sundown smiled, a grimace that revealed teeth stained with a grayish substance. "This is the future of our organization… and of our men. This is what happens when you tame the 'virus.'"

As if to give weight to his words, a side door slid open with a hydraulic hiss, and a group of ten figures marched in formation. They were different. Their black armor covered every inch of their bodies, their movements precise, almost mechanical. When one of them spoke, their distorted voice was so cryptic it was nearly incomprehensible.

Sundown slowly turned his head toward the remaining soldiers, those who had hesitated to shoot earlier.

"Eliminate all the weak-minded," he commanded, his voice cold and sharp, leaving no room for argument.

The soldiers glanced at one another in confusion. "W-what… what does that mean?" one murmured, gripping his weapon nervously. But the newcomers in black understood perfectly.

Without hesitation, they activated their cyber-implants. The first lunged at an unsuspecting soldier, deploying Mantis Blades that pierced his chest in a single swift motion. Another activated a Monowire, a thin lethal filament that shimmered as it sliced cleanly through the leg of its victim, sending him collapsing to the floor in screams of agony. To the side, a third—this one a woman—extended her Rippers, razor-sharp claws, and with a swift, precise motion, slit her target's throat.

Amid the screams that filled the room, Sora watched, unfazed. His gaze drifted from the bodies collapsing to the floor to Sundown, who stared at him intently, as if savoring every second of the chaos he had unleashed. 

"What a great captain…" Sora remarked with a blend of disgust and sarcasm, as he reversed his grip on Getsuda. 

Sundown responded with a guttural roar that reverberated through the room and lunged at him, wielding both machetes with the raw instinct of a ravenous beast.

His machetes, enhanced with high-density technology, sliced through the air with a metallic hiss, leaving trails of red light in their wake.

Sora defended himself using Getsuda, which, to counter Sundown's weapons, began to emit electrical discharges. The first clash was a spectacle of sparks. Getsuda intercepted the machetes in a flawless arc, and the crossing of energies sent flashes that illuminated the bloodstained room. Sundown attacked like an uncontrollable beast, his movements aggressive and destructive, with the force of a battering ram and the ferocity of a wild animal.

Sora dodged with acrobatic grace, spinning on his heel, sliding under horizontal swings, and leaping over vertical strikes. Each of his movements seemed like a dance—fluid, unpredictable, designed to keep him out of Sundown's devastating reach.

One machete shattered a nearby pillar, disintegrating the concrete in an explosion of dust and debris. Sundown spun on his axis, his black veins throbbing with fury as he continued his relentless assault.

"Stay still!" roared Sundown, his eyes glowing with an inhuman light, the dark veins on his face pulsating with restrained rage.

"Sure thing, man..." Sora quipped with his characteristic sarcasm, a crooked smile curling his lips as he deftly evaded a thrust that left a burning gouge in the ground. Stepping back, balancing on one foot as Getsuda rose slightly in front of him, he added "In return, let me cut off your head. Deal?"

Not waiting for a answer. In an instant, Sora surged forward, his arm crossing his chest in a motion that resembled a restrained embrace but concealed the true attack. With a fluid movement, he unleashed the blade in a simple yet powerful vertical slash, Getsuda's electric vibration filling the air with a sharp hum. The energy released in a violent discharge crackled upon contact with the ground, leaving deep burn marks in its wake.

Sundown, forced to react, arched his back and head away to avoid the deadly blade, but he couldn't evade the discharges that leaped from it, searing his face and neck. A growl of pain escaped his lips, his skin now marked with blackened, smoking scars.

The battle continued, an explosion of speed beyond human perception. They vanished from sight, leaving behind only the echoes of each clash between Getsuda and the machetes—a spectacle of sparks accompanied by a thunderous sound that reverberated throughout the room.

Sora, taking advantage of his agility, leapt toward a column, propelling himself upward with an acrobatic twist. From above, he descended in a dive, wielding Getsuda in a vertical slash aimed at Sundown's shoulder.

Sundown raised one of his machetes to block, the impact rattling its reinforced structure. But the attack didn't end there. Sora used the momentum of the clash to spin around Getsuda's hilt, launching a direct kick to Sundown's jaw.

With his jaw broken and hanging, the captain staggered but didn't fall. Instead, he swung a horizontal slash with renewed force. Sora barely had time to push himself backward, the blade grazing his chest and slicing through part of his tactical poncho.

Too close… Sora thought, landing with a slight skid.

Sundown growled, raising one of his machetes. His armor seemed to have fully integrated with his body, repairing his jaw, while the black veins now radiated a faint crimson glow. His movements were more erratic but also more brutal.

"I'm going to crush you, boy," he growled, his voice guttural and almost unrecognizable.

"Try me, chrome dome," Sora retorted with the same disdain. However, before they could launch themselves at each other again...

One of the few soldiers still alive. The man, wounded and gasping a few meters from where Sora had stopped, with fear etched into his eyes, raised a trembling hand toward him.

"Please…" he begged the one who should have been his enemy, his voice broken and weak. "Help…"

Sora didn't respond, nor did he even glance at him. He remained motionless, his posture relaxed, as if the screams of agony around him were nothing more than distant noise. His indifference weighed heavier than any words.

Then, he dashed toward Sundown, activating his Sandervista, and his speed once again made him vanish from the desperate soldier's sight. The air exploded once more with the clash of sparks and flashes, the echoes of their battle reverberating through every corner of the room.

The soldier's last hope crumbled as the metallic sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention. One of the black-clad figures advanced toward him, the glowing eyes of its mask casting an eerie, menacing presence. Its Mantis Blades, smeared with the blood of his comrades—and his own—reflected the crimson hue of the blood that covered them under the flickering light of the room.

The soldier tried to crawl backward, but his strength and injuries betrayed him. He knew this was the end. The black-clad soldier stopped beside its victim, raising the Mantis Blades above its head, ready for the final strike. The wounded soldier closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

And then, the sharp sound of something tearing filled the air.

A moment later, the black-clad soldier's body wavered. Its head hit the floor with a dull thud, followed by its body collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut. Thick, oil-like gray blood began to seep from the severed head and neck, pooling beneath the lifeless remains.

Sora suddenly appeared right beside him, gasping for air, his shoulders rising and falling with effort. A cut on his eyebrow dripped a thin stream of blood that traced its way down his face, mixing with sweat.

Still not recovered from the battle with his brothers, Sora pushed the nanobots in his back and spine to the limit, yet he hadn't managed to emerge completely unscathed from Sundown's devastating range.

At least he had managed to stop it for a few seconds.

The soldier, surprised and disoriented, opened his mouth to speak, perhaps to offer thanks. But Sora interrupted him without even looking at him. He tossed him a stim that rolled across the floor, stopping at the soldier's feet.

His gaze was fixed on Dr. Helios's wife and daughter, who remained frozen in fear in the middle of the room. "If you want to repay me…" Sora said, his voice slightly broken but charged with determination. "Get them out of here."

The soldier, hesitant, grabbed the stim and injected it without hesitation. Instantly, a wave of relief coursed through his body, the pain of his wounds giving way to the drug's effect. But when he looked at his comrades, who were still struggling to survive, his relief turned into unease.

"And what about the others? They still..."

Before he could finish, Sora interrupted him again, this time with a tone so cold it left no room for argument. "Don't worry about them..."

Anticipating what Sundown would order next, Sora got into position, his muscles tensing.

With a guttural growl, Sundown tore the knife embedded in his chest free. The blade came out with a spray of thick, grayish blood, but what should have been a fatal wound was already starting to close before their eyes.

Sundown glanced at the blood-stained knife before letting it fall to the ground with a metallic clatter. His furious eyes locked first onto the lifeless head of one of the elite soldiers, then onto the surviving traitor standing behind Sora.

"Since you were the one who dragged them into this..." Sundown growled, his voice dripping with venom and a chilling darkness that froze the blood. He turned to the remaining elite unit and commanded with unyielding authority:

"Change of target. Help me neutralize him."

The elite soldiers, like obedient machines, nodded in perfect unison, ceasing their assault on the few surviving soldiers still trying to defend themselves.

Their implants glowed with an ominous light as they recalibrated their focus on Sora. The room was engulfed in an unsettling stillness, broken only by the hum of the implants and his labored breathing.

Yet without a single word, he still managed to astonish everyone present. They couldn't quite comprehend how—after shifting Getsuda to his left hand—he was able, with his black hand, to grab the dark smoke released by his metallic arm and materialize it between his fingers into the shape of another black sword.

His poncho billowed as he assumed a dual-wielding Tsume-ryū stance, gripping one of the Getsudas in a reverse hold while flexing his arms and legs.

Sundown let out a savage roar, and the eleven elite soldiers charged alongside him, forming a torrent of death and destruction hurtling toward Sora. Mantis Blades hummed, Monowires crackled, and machetes gleamed with a red, ominous glow as they closed in on him.

Sora didn't move. He stood motionless, his gaze fixed and emotionless, like a rock in the middle of a river.

From one side of the room, the wounded soldiers that he had saved watched with a mixture of awe and terror. They saw Sundown and his squadron descend upon him in an unstoppable charge. Yet just before Sora disappeared behind a wall of bodies and brutal attacks, they all swore they saw it.

For an instant, his skin took on a reddish hue, as though something within him had ignited, warping and distorting the air around him.

Before they could finish processing what they had seen, a sudden and violent blast of unnatural air tore through the sealed room, whipping across their faces and shaking their hair.

Preceding the windstorm that erupted.

-

At the same time...

"Are you sure this is the way?" Jack asked, his tone dry, as he moved through the dark corridors of the base.

"Do you think I'd lie to you… given the circumstances?" replied a voice that seemed to come from the head hanging at his hip, tied with an improvised strap made of cables.

Jack raised an eyebrow without stopping. "You tell me."

"No… I wouldn't," the head replied, with a tone of indignation that was barely convincing.

"Good."

The unusual duo continued forward, entering a side wing that seemed barely used. The lights flickered intermittently, casting long, twisting shadows on the metallic walls with each step.

"Tell me, shouldn't you be trying to stop the deployment of the Gears?" the head asked suddenly, with a hint of complaint in its voice, as if questioning his judgment.

"You're the one who said it would take a couple of hours for them to reach the surface." Jack stopped abruptly, grabbed the head firmly with one hand, and lifted it until they were face to face. His piercing gaze bore into his peculiar companion's eyes.

"You didn't lie, did you?" he snapped, his tone menacing.

"I already told you, I don't!" the head replied, visibly exasperated by Jack's suspicions, though they were understandable. "The hangar where they were built is in the safest part under the island. Do you have any idea what it takes to move hundreds of tons to the surface? It takes time!"

Jack held his gaze for a moment longer, assessing the truth of the response. Finally, he let out a sigh and returned the head to his hip before continuing to walk.

"Even if I tried to stop them, I wouldn't know how. The best I can do is gather information about..." he paused, as if considering how to phrase it, before continuing, his tone heavier. "The Cyberplague you've loaded into their intercontinental missiles."

Each word dripped with murderous intent toward the sick mind willing to use such methods—and its collaborators, like the one hanging from his hip, who finally fell silent.

At least for a few seconds.

"Aren't you even a little curious about the interference from earlier?" the head asked after a brief silence, trying to draw another reaction out of him.

"No," Jack responded flatly, almost regretting saying it.

"No?" it echoed, with a hint of theatrical surprise. "Huh, your lack of curiosity is an answer in itself, you know? You broke into the base's communications, didn't you? Maybe your partner used it as a way to ask for your help."

Jack didn't respond immediately. He wasn't about to grant any information to an enemy, even if it was a talking head.

"I highly doubt he needs my help," he finally said, his tone neutral but laced with certainty.

The head let out a sound somewhere between a snort and a mocking laugh. "Even against Sundown? He's our best fighter, you know? He had the nerve to face Smasher head-on. According to him, he might have even won. Me? I'd just be happy to walk away alive from something like that, hahaha!"

Anyone else might have been startled by such a claim, but Jack remained unmoved. The idea that his companion's opponent was on par with Adam Smasher didn't faze him. After all, he was the one who had killed Smasher.

"I doubt he'll have any trouble," Jack replied calmly, as if the matter wasn't worth further discussion.

"Oh, is he that strong?" the head asked, genuine curiosity in its voice.

Jack briefly recalled the short but intense sparring matches he'd had with Sora over the last four years at Lazarus. That single memory was enough to give him a clear answer.

"Yes."

"Stronger than you?"

Jack was silent for a moment, avoiding a response. But to Zephyr—the head dangling at his side, belonging to one of the three captains—that silence spoke louder than any words.

"Oh! So he is stronger than you, huh?" Zephyr exclaimed, surprised. Then, after a moment of reflection, he added with a mocking tone, "Even when you unleash all your bloodlust and use that deep, sexy voice of yours?"

Jack frowned, caught off guard by both the mention of his deadliest side and the unexpected descriptor. He turned his head slightly toward the voice, his discomfort obvious.

"Sexy? You're..."

Zephyr let out a heavy sigh, mildly annoyed by Jack's reaction. "What's the matter? Can't I assume what a woman might find sexy without you pigeonholing me as someone who 'swings that way'? That's a pretty narrow way of thinking, don't you think?"

Jack didn't respond. He opted to keep walking, cursing himself internally for even acknowledging his words. But Zephyr, dangling by his side, didn't seem inclined to fall silent anytime soon.

"So, who sent you? Militech? I highly doubt Lazarus sends their best agents for free." He paused, as if something had just occurred to him, and added, visibly surprised, "Don't tell me this is about the deaths of the scientific team. I told Cain he shouldn't give such harsh orders to those mercenaries... But you know how things are... the 'Patron' insisted."

Jack, upon hearing that mention, turned his head slightly, his tone now more attentive. "Patron?"

"Oh? Now you're the curious one?" Zephyr let out a harsh laugh. "Fine, I'll tell you something about him, but first, you need to answer my questions. What do you say?"

Jack let out a long sigh, tired of the conversation and of Zephyr. "Ahmmmm..."

The unusual duo finally stopped in front of a heavy-looking door, reinforced with shiny metal panels covered in hazard and warning markings.

Jack reached out to the control panel, and using Zephyr's ID, the door opened with a mechanical hiss.

The room that unfolded before him looked like something out of a technologically advanced nightmare. It was filled with metallic columns, each connected to an intricate network of cables and conduits that snaked along the walls and ceiling like mechanical veins. From each column emerged horizontal cylinders, aligned in endless rows that stretched beyond what his eyes could take in.

Jack took a step forward, frowning, his metal jaw tense as he studied the contents of the cylinders. At first, it was hard to make out the details. Each one held a shape tightly wrapped in bandages, with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of cables deeply embedded in them. The connections flickered with red and green lights, as if those cylinders contained living machinery.

When his brain finally processed what he was seeing, Jack froze, a mix of disbelief and horror etched onto his face. His eyes scanned the room, taking in the thousands of identical cylinders, each with its own wrapped and connected lump.

"They can't be..." he murmured, unable to finish the sentence as he recalled the "extraction" that had occurred with the infected soldier in the abandoned village on the island.

Zephyr's calm voice finished it for him. "Human brains? Yes, all of them."

Jack clenched his fists, his mind struggling to grasp the scope of what he was witnessing. The room vibrated with a low hum, barely perceptible but present enough to make his metallic skin metaphorically crawl. There was something profoundly unnatural about this place, something that surpassed even the technological monstrosities he knew and had endured.

And then, a new sound shattered the eerie silence.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

A slow, deliberate clap echoed and faded across the vast room. Jack quickly lifted his gaze, his eyes tracing the sound until he pinpointed its source. Ahead of him, on the same walkway he was crossing, a figure emerged from the shadows, bathed in the faint glow of flickering screens.

"Jackie boy," said the figure, his tone warm and marked by a strong Portuguese accent as he continued clapping. "I've been looking forward to meeting you again since the funeral. I hope Sora Inazuka is here as well..." Unsheathing a crimson blade from its scabbard, he added, "I'd very much like to... cross swords with him, too."

Jack, unmoving, regarded the swordsman calmly. "The senator Armstrong's bodyguard," he finally said, his tone cold, though his words carried undeniable weight as he finally realized who the 'Patron' was.

Sam lowered his hand indifferently. "Oh, please, let's drop the formalities," he replied, shaking his head with feigned modesty, betrayed only by his sharp eyes gleaming with latent hunger. "Call me Sam."

The silence between them grew heavy with tension. Jack let out a brief smile, just as confident as his opponent's. Their eyes locked, and though neither had taken another step, the battle had already begun...

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