Senjuro, Kyrin, and Aureva
made their way through the quiet, wind-swept corridors of an abandoned
skyscraper on the outskirts of Lumina Spire. The structure groaned with age,
its walls cracked and hollow, a stark contrast to the gleaming skyline in the
distance. As they moved cautiously through the shadowed halls, Kyrin broke the
silence.
"Aureva," he asked,
keeping his voice low, "you said you left the Vanguard because of the upper
council… but what exactly is happening here?"
Aureva slowed her pace,
her expression tightening. "I'm thirty-six now. When I first joined the
Vanguard, I was just a rookie—eager, loyal, and blind to what really went on
behind the scenes. Back then, units were tightly knit. My squad… it had two of
the most powerful Vanguards in all of Celestia."
She paused.
"One of them was Vorenth.
The other was—"
Her sentence was abruptly
cut off as gunfire erupted from outside the building. The sharp crack of
bullets echoed through the walls. In an instant, Kyrin swung his sniper from
his back, dropped to one knee by a broken window frame, and returned fire. His
shots were precise, each one finding its target with unerring accuracy.
The first wave of
attackers—Vanguards, judging by their armor and formation—charged through the
lower levels of the building. Before they could ascend, Senjuro reached into
his side pouch, pulled out an EMP Radiance Satchet, and hurled it down the
stairwell. It detonated with a pulse of golden light, knocking the first group
flat as their systems overloaded and shut down.
From the other side of the
building, a second team moved into position, attempting to flank them. But
Kyrin, already scanning the environment, adjusted the trajectory of his next
round. The bullet twisted mid-flight—guided by microflux manipulation—and struck
two of the hidden assailants in quick succession, sending them tumbling out of
cover.
Before anyone could
regroup, a third group launched a sudden ambush from the rear corridor. Aureva
turned, eyes narrowing.
"I'll handle them," she
said quickly.
Without hesitation, she
drew a medium-length katana from her back. The blade gleamed with a golden-blue
radiance—pure Auralis Flux coursing through its edge. She
darted forward, a blur of motion.
The ambushing Vanguards
surrounded her, blades drawn, but Aureva weaved between them with precise,
fluid movements. For several tense minutes, she evaded every strike, her
footwork impeccable. She blocked, parried, and rolled, studying their patterns.
Then she saw it—an opening.
With one graceful arc of
her blade, she struck. Her katana flashed once—then again—and in the space of a
breath, all five of her opponents collapsed. Each one disabled, unconscious,
and alive, though completely out of the fight.
Breathing heavily but
composed, Aureva turned back to the others. "They found our position," she said
sharply. "We need to move. Now."
Senjuro nodded, retrieving
his blade and motioning for Kyrin. The three of them slipped back into the
shadows, disappearing through a shattered service exit as the building's upper
floors began to stir with reinforcements.
Time was running out—and
their path to the Vaults was only going to get more dangerous.
They burst into the
basement without hesitation, the sounds of distant sirens already growing
louder above. Without wasting a second, they jumped into Aureva's reinforced
jeep—a rugged, flux-modified vehicle built for both speed and endurance.
Senjuro slid into the
driver's seat, his hands moving quickly across the ignition panel. The engine
roared to life, and without waiting for a signal, he slammed the pedal down,
sending the jeep screeching out of the underground passage and onto the neon-lit
roads of Lumina Spire.
Kyrin gripped the handle
of the door as Senjuro weaved through traffic at breakneck speed. "The main
way's blocked!" Kyrin shouted over the roar of the engine. "Only chance is to
let them chase us through the entire district and somehow escape."
Aureva, seated in the back
with her katana resting across her lap, nodded grimly. "He's right. We won't
shake them off easily."
Senjuro gave a sharp grin.
"Then let's give them a chase they'll never forget."
The jeep tore through the
avenues, neon lights flashing across their faces. In the rearview mirror, three
armored vehicles loomed—Celestial Vanguards, heavily armed and clearly ready
for a full pursuit. From the back of the lead vehicle, a Vanguard officer spoke
rapidly into a comm-link.
"Lumina Spire Warfare
Intruders have escaped. Initiate Protocol D7."
Within minutes, the
landscape of Lumina Spire changed. Barricades folded away, redirecting
civilians out of the area. Streets once bustling with life became eerily
vacant. Patrols doubled, and drones zipped through the air scanning every
corner. What was once a shining beacon of Celestian life had turned into a
hidden warzone.
Despite the increasing
danger, Senjuro didn't slow. He maneuvered the jeep skillfully, dodging drone
spotlights, slipping into tunnels, and cutting through alleys, trying to create
as much unpredictability as possible.
"We're heading toward the
city center!" Kyrin called out, glancing at the map flickering on his
wristband.
"That's the plan!" Senjuro
replied, tires screeching as he drifted around a sharp corner.
Behind them, the forces
multiplied. What started with three vehicles turned into an endless chase.
Sirens echoed across the skyline, and armored troops began positioning
themselves at key checkpoints.
Kyrin's eyes widened as he
noticed something strange. The vehicles that had been pursuing them suddenly
halted when they crossed into a different zone of the city. But almost
immediately, a new set of forces began the chase.
"Game over?" Kyrin said,
hopeful.
Senjuro's grip tightened
on the wheel. "No. Not yet."
As they sped forward, more
Vanguards began pouring into the roads from multiple districts.
Senjuro's mind raced. He
was starting to see the pattern.
"Aureva!" he barked. "How
many areas are there in this district?"
Aureva leaned forward
between the seats. "Fifty-four."
Senjuro's jaw clenched. "I
thought so. They've set up a Split Formation. Two hundred seventy forces
deployed—five teams per area. Their orders are simple: only chase when the
target is in their designated zone. Once we cross over, the next group picks up
pursuit."
Kyrin looked baffled. "Why
not just have everyone chase us at once?"
Senjuro nodded grimly.
"Because if they all chased at once, we could manipulate them—use diversions,
traps, escape routes. This way, we're always under constant pressure but never
overwhelmed. They're cutting off every escape path. It's a foolproof formation
unless—"
"Unless what?" Kyrin
demanded.
Senjuro's eyes gleamed.
"Unless we don't follow the surface routes at all."
Realization flickered in
Aureva's eyes. "You're thinking of the old tunnel systems, aren't you?"
"Exactly," Senjuro said.
"There's no patrol underground, no designated zones. If we move through the
hidden passages, we can keep crossing districts without alerting the area
forces."
Aureva quickly activated a
small holographic device on her wrist. A glowing map of Lumina Spire's
underlayers bloomed between them, revealing the tangled web of maintenance
tunnels, forgotten subway routes, and old supply corridors. A
"This is every tunnel and
passage underneath the district," Aureva said.
Kyrin stared at the map,
still puzzled. "I get the idea, but... I don't see how that helps us escape.
Won't they figure it out?"
Senjuro shot him a sharp
look. "We're not just running underground. We'll fake our
movements. Pop out briefly in one district, make them think we've moved, then
vanish into another tunnel. Pop out somewhere else—disappear again. Force them
into a Multi-Split Formation."
Kyrin shook his head,
still trying to keep up. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Senjuro's voice was
razor-sharp. "Right now, they're calm. Organized. But if they can't predict
where we'll pop up next, panic will start to spread. Their forces will
fragment, start searching random sectors. In that chaos, we'll find an
opening—and that's when we escape."
Aureva glanced sideways at
Senjuro. "You're betting everything on human psychology?"
Senjuro gave a brief, cold
smile. "That's the flaw in every perfect system. No matter how well it's
designed, it's still operated by people. And people panic."
Aureva narrowed her eyes
thoughtfully. "You really believe confusion alone can crack a Vanguard
formation?"
Senjuro answered without
hesitation. "When a situation stops following expected patterns, even the
strongest soldiers fall back on instinct. And instinct isn't strategic. It's
desperate."
Kyrin stared at him, half
in awe. "Are you sure you're not an assassin or a psychologist?"
Senjuro smirked. "Both. To
beat your enemy, you have to know their moves before they do. To do that—you
have to know them. Mind and body."
Kyrin nodded, a fierce
grin spreading across his face. "Then let's initiate this insane plan."
Senjuro slammed his palm
against a concealed panel on the dashboard, revealing a hidden control pad
linked to the jeep's onboard AI. With a few rapid taps, he initiated a pulse
command to scramble the jeep's signature, buying them a few precious minutes to
maneuver unseen.
"First tunnel's two blocks
ahead," Aureva instructed, overlaying the route on the windshield.
Senjuro gunned the engine,
veering off the main boulevard and diving into a deserted service alley. The
pursuing Vanguards, momentarily thrown off, struggled to match their sudden
change in direction.
At the end of the alley,
Senjuro spotted the entrance—a half-collapsed loading dock, camouflaged by
debris. Without slowing down, he drove the jeep straight into it, the vehicle
plunging into darkness.
The air grew cold and damp
as the neon lights of the surface faded away. Below them, the world of Lumina
Spire was completely different: ancient, rusted, and forgotten. Echoes of the
distant chase above still trembled through the steel framework, but down here,
it was a different battlefield.
Senjuro checked the map
glowing faintly on the dashboard. "Alright. Pop up at Section D-17, make them
think we've crossed north."
"Then?" Kyrin asked
eagerly.
Senjuro grinned. "Then we
vanish again. And again. And again—until they don't know left from right."
The real chase had just
begun.
And this time, it was their rules.