Time: 5:41 AM — En Route to Edge Sector
The armored rig thundered through the ruins, tires eating pavement like wolves on a fresh kill. Ash rose in their wake. Fires still flickered across the skyline—remnants of the uprising that hadn't ended, just gone quiet.
Miura's eyes stayed locked on the road, hands steady on the rig's controls. Her voice came low.
"We're crossing into the dead zone. Eyes up."
Aiko sat upright. Ryoji tightened the strap around his arm where the Exo had cracked bone. Miura's words echoed in his mind:
They're converging.
He glanced at the nav screen. A red boundary pulsed across it like a wound.
EDGE SECTOR: CORE ZONE ACCESS — RESTRICTED
"This place used to be a financial hub," Miura muttered. "Then Division Zero turned it into a ghost sector. You know what that means?"
Aiko answered quietly. "Cover for something they buried."
"Not buried," Miura said grimly. "Contained."
Suddenly, the rig's sensors spiked.
ALERT: UNIDENTIFIED SIGNALS DETECTED — MULTIPLE
"Contact?" Ryoji asked.
"Not Division Zero," Miura said. "Something else. Scrambled encryption, global protocols... Iranian, maybe Russian. Mercenary traffic."
Aiko's fingers curled unconsciously. "They're already here."
Ryoji looked out the narrow viewport. Shapes flickered in the mist ahead—motionless figures lining rooftops, marked with foreign emblems, faces hidden behind smart-shields and armor not made in Japan.
"They're not just watching," he said.
"They're hunting," Miura finished.
5:48 AM — Edge Sector Outskirts
The rig came to a halt beside an old tech exchange building, cracked open like a split ribcage. Miura killed the engine.
"Time to meet the crew," she said.
Metal hissed. The back hatch dropped.
Waiting inside the ruined structure were five figures—Miura's original squad.
Each one stepped into the light, armed and ready.
• Kane: Ex-UN spec ops, built like a war tank, twin plasma axes strapped to his back. Said nothing. Watched everything.
• Yuki: Miura's former cyber-intelligence officer. Pale-eyed, calm, fingers already flicking through a portable deck. "Signals confirm six incoming squads. Not local. They're triangulating us."
• Rafiq: Drone specialist. Middle Eastern accent, sharp wit. He tossed Ryoji a mini-detector. "Welcome to the party. Hope you brought something that bleeds."
• Zhenya: Ex-Russian GRU sniper. "I count four countries in the last twelve hours. Division Zero has global reach now."
• Maru: Engineer. Youngest. Nervous smile. "But none of them expected her," he said, nodding to Aiko.
She stared back at them, silent.
Miura turned. "This is who I trust. This is who's coming with us to the Core."
Ryoji raised an eyebrow. "What's in the Core?"
Miura's expression hardened.
"Something they buried even deeper than Helix."
She looked at Aiko.
"And it's waking up."
To be continued...41