8:56 PM – Ghostline Southern Ridge Safehouse
The alarms didn't trigger.
They screamed.
Ryoji was already moving, his boot slamming the emergency vault seal shut as tremors echoed through the mountain. Outside, something massive and hot had hit the outer perimeter.
"They've arrived," Miura confirmed from the overwatch platform, her thermal scope flaring with movement. "Kraken Burn Unit. They're not sneaking in. They're painting the forest."
Cut to – 8:57 PM – Tree Line, South Perimeter
Flames rolled down the slope like liquid lightning. The lead Kraken burner, his soot-caked mask hissing with filtered air, grinned as he hurled a napalm pod through the air.
The tree exploded—igniting branches, vaporizing moss, setting the mountain's skin on fire.
Behind him, the modified fire-truck war rig belched out clouds of gel-fog. The air burned to breathe.
"Thermal smog wall's in place," one of them called out. "They won't see us. But they'll smell us."
"Good," their leader said. "That's the point."
Cut to – 8:58 PM – Interior Ridge Hallway
Ryoji slammed a sensor mine into the tunnel wall and yanked Aiko back.
"They're driving the heat up. The fog will jam most of the motion sensors."
Aiko's eyes glowed faintly violet. "But not me. I can see the shape of their thoughts."
She reached into the fog—metaphorically—her palm flaring like a neural pulse.
"There's more than one group now," she whispered. "I see seven patterns. No—eight."
Miura looked up sharply. "You said five earlier."
"I know," Aiko said. "The others are just watching. Waiting. Like—"
The wall detonated.
Concrete rained like shrapnel as fire surged into the corridor. A pressure wave knocked Miura backward.
From the smoke stepped two figures—Kraken Burners. One carried an acid hose. The other dragged a rotary flamethrower on a spiked belt.
Ryoji raised his Vulcan-GX and fired.
The corridor turned into a killbox.
Cut to – 9:00 PM – Division Zero Control Theater, Unknown Location
Dozens of screens showed overlapping data: thermal scans, SEED signal anomalies, casualty reports.
The Director watched silently, eyes rimmed with frost.
"She's activating unconsciously now," said a technician. "The Seal is coordinating defensive reactions based on thought vectors."
"She's not defending," the Director corrected. "She's learning to counterstrike."
He turned to a separate monitor—showing GODTHREAD holding position above the second ridge, invisible to the naked eye.
"Do not engage," he ordered.
"They'll do more damage by watching."
Cut to – 9:02 PM – Overwatch Nest, Upper Ridge
Miura bled from one shoulder but still held her rifle steady.
"Northwest flank—movement. Silent, low heat signatures. Not Kraken. Might be SK Units."
Ryoji didn't flinch. "Tell me if they go airborne."
Aiko, now crouched in a defensive node surrounded by signal beacons, pressed her palm to the ground.
She closed her eyes.
"I see one of them already. It moves between the moments."
"Between the—what?"
"Never mind," she said. "Just trust me. It's hunting me."
Cut to – 9:03 PM – Shadow Kinetic POV
A barely-visible blur moved between trees, cloaked in distortion. The rail pistol whined softly, then silenced. The kinetic tracker blinked once—target locked on bio-signal: Seed Core.
"Moving to mark," the SK operative whispered.
Then—he froze.
In his retina HUD, a glyph appeared—Aiko's Seal. It blinked once, then burned through the screen.
The SK operative screamed, veering wildly into the trees. His cloak flickered. Blood trailed behind.
Back inside – 9:04 PM
Aiko gasped, eyes snapping open. "I reflected one of their signals. I didn't mean to—he was inside my head."
Ryoji looked at her. "Whatever you just did, do it again. Just don't lose yourself."
She nodded slowly, the Seal dimming to a low pulse. "I think… I think I can sever their target lock before they fire. But not forever."
Cut to – 9:05 PM – Mid-Ridge Tunnel
More burn units closed in, flamethrowers scalding the air. Ryoji led a counteroffensive—gas mines, trip wires, concussive charges.
He fought like a machine. No wasted movement. Bone-crunching blows and precise shots. He crushed one attacker's faceplate with a shotgun elbow strike, then used the body as a shield to block acid fire.
Cut to – 9:07 PM – The Mountain Above
The trees twisted in the smoke as the Serrated Sisterhood's convoy arrived.
Their sirens still screamed.
Inside, the women sang lullabies—distorted and overlapping.
One held a cracked screen with Aiko's face paused mid-blink.
"She's awake now," the Sister whispered.
Another replied, licking the blade of her vibro-scalpel: "Then we can begin."
Final Moments – 9:08 PM
Inside the ridge, the fire was closing in. But so were the others.
Ryoji knew it now.
This wasn't a raid.
It was a convergence.
And Aiko—eyes glowing, Seal burning, heart steady—stood at the center.
The first wave had broken.
But the mountain would bleed again.
Soon.
To be continued in Chapter 62.....