Miyra's team moves silently through the night in Ignama. Miyra, Boz, Lera, and the rest of the troops inside of the van are suiting up and preparing.

Miyra hands Boz and Lera two pairs of clip-on shades for their glasses. She says to them “Put these on. They're a set of high-definition night vision lenses. From what I told you earlier, you can understand why we are going to need these.”

Boz puts his on, along with Lera putting hers on a second after him. Miyra says to them as they are attempting to activate them “It's the small button in the middle of the glasses. Just feel it out.”

A few seconds later and Miyra hears the distinctive noise of the night vision lenses activating. She says to them “Alright, we don't have much time before we get there, so we need to activate your decoy devices as fast as we can. Press the touch screen, go to 'cloaking menu' and press option one. It's as simple as that.”

The two Sentient Society members do exactly as Miyra has suggested, and soon disappear in a cloud of white smoke and reappear as someone else. Lera and Boz look like entirely different people now, but retain the same height and weight that they previously had.

“Alright, looks like we're almost ready to go.” Miyra says, attaching the belt-fed magazine from her backpack to her minigun . “Do you guy's remember the plan?”

Boz speaks first, stating “Me, you, and all of the other soldiers here are going to storm straight through the gates of the station-”

Lera continues Boz's sentence, saying “-While I go around the back and cut the power to the station. Once the power is out, we'll be using our night vision to see our way through and make our way to the mind-control emitter, killing or incapacitating any Sigil Head we see along the way. I hope that all my training will be enough for this....”

“Don't worry, it will be.” Miyra says back to her, confidence in her voice. “If the power is out and you use what Raphael has taught you, you'll be just plain peachy.” Miyra revves her minigun once and then pushes herself into a stance near the door. “Get ready, we'll be there any second.”

The van comes to a stop a few seconds later, and Miyra looks towards Lera and says “We're at your stop. Get out and get to the power generator. We'll keep them distracted while your doing your job.”

Lera nods her head and says “Don't worry, I'm a ninja!” with a giggle before opening the other side door and getting out of the van. Boz watches her as she leaves through the window of the door and sees her disappear down an alleyway.

“That's my girl.... Are we getting out here or-” Boz says and then asks Miyra right before the van continues driving.

“Nah, we still have a bit of a way to go. I have a few things to say though before we get there. They have an automatic gate there that will block us from getting inside along with floodlights. From what my recon has shown, the floodlights and the gate are connected to the main generator for the antenna station, so once those are cut the floodlights will turn off and the gate will open like any other gate. Now, get ready!”

Boz gauges a shell into his shotgun and gets ready to move through the doorway along with the rest of the soldiers. His heart is beating quickly and his breathing is heavy. He's been in a firefight once before, but his love for the person who was in danger at the time made him ignore all of the danger around him. This is a different matter.

They arrive a few second later at the antenna station, to which Miyra yells “We're here! Get ready for a fight!” and leaps out of the van door, followed by some of her troops. Boz opens the door on his side and rushes out along with the rest. Gunfire erupts a split second before they rush out, with the Sigil Heads opening fire on them from inside of the antenna station.

As Boz rushes to cover behind a parked car, he notices the front gates of the antenna station have shut rather quickly. He can see one of the Sigil Heads behind the fence shutting the gate with a switch and firing at them with a handgun. Boz draws a heavy breath as he brings his shotgun up for a shot. This being his first time actually firing this gun at a live target, he feels a little uneasy. Nonetheless, he fires off the shot.

The blasts grazes the Sigil Head for the most part, but puts a few crystal shards into the man's left forearm and side. He grits in pain and brings his handgun up to fire at Boz. Luckily for Boz, however, a UMA trooper appears beside him and fires a three-round burst into the Sigil Head, all of them hitting their target and the man falling to the ground.

The trooper puts a hand on Boz's shoulder and mutters “Don't worry, we got your back.” and then begins firing into the Sigil Heads that are pouring in from the antenna station.

Miyra is on the other side of the street firing her minigun over a car roof at the Sigil Heads. She nails a few of them, but she can't aim that well from where she is at.

As Boz is firing down the line at the Sigil Heads, he sees someone moving from the side of the property over top of the fence and over to the back of the building knows the figure is Lera.

She leaps and dashes past the enemies with grace, seeming like a mirage to all those that see her. She moves through the shadows, and finally makes her way to the back of the antenna station. She sees the generator in clear view, and she knows exactly what to do. Taking out her ninjato, she goes up to the generator.

A Sigil Head from inside the building exits through the backdoor and notices her. He opens fire on her with an automatic rifle, but she dashes to the side in time and throws a shuriken at him. It flies by his neck and hits one of his gluten cords. Blood spews out of his neck as he screams in pain, making Lera realize that she doesn't have much time.

As the Sigil Head falls to the ground, Lera rushes back over to the generator and slashes at the electrical cords, leading to the generator shutting off.

The lights inside of the antenna station begin to slowly turn off, along with the floodlights out front powering down and the front gates having force holding them shut. Miyra yells to her soldiers and Boz “Rush the front!” and begins running forward, firing off her minigun the entire way.

Boz sees the other soldiers rushing forward and follows along. He puts his shotgun away and pulls out his force katana as he goes, following the mass of soldiers.

Miyra moves to the front, yelling back to her soldiers “Keep me covered!” as she rushes up to the front gates, pulling them apart with her bare hands. The soldiers open fire, hitting any Sigil Head they can find within their sights.

The gates are opened within only a few seconds, to which the remaining soldiers and Boz rush through, swarming the remaining Sigil Heads like locusts. The front area of the antenna station is cleared in the matter of only a few moments.

From inside of the antenna station Boz and Miyra see flashlights turning on through the windows. “Doesn't matter, we still need to stop the signal and fast!” Miyra yells out as she orders the soldiers into the building with a wave of her arm, but Boz rushes in ahead of them.

He slashes open the front door with a cross-slash of his force katana, not only sending a sharp shockwave through the door but also killing the Sigil Head waiting on the other side. He kicks in the door a moment later, doing a roll into the room as he does and landing right next to a Sigil Head with a saber.

The Sigil Head does a downward slash on him, but Boz has just enough time to block it with his katana. He hears movement to his left, along with a gunshot that hits him in his thigh. He nearly doubles over in pain and loses his strength, but the nanobots heal him quickly enough that he gets his strength back in less than a moment.

Miyra rushes into the room a moment later, using her body to block any more attacks on Boz and blasting the other Sigil Head with a small barrage of minigun fire. Boz gets his wits about him during that and pulls one of his hands free to punch the Sigil Head he's fighting in the gut. The punch is powerful enough to knock the wind out of the Sigil Head and make him stagger back, to which Boz knocks the saber out of the Sigil Head's hands and he swings a second later with a slash across the chest.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

As the Sigil Head is falling to the ground, Boz turns to Miyra and says “We should continue.” and sees her nod her head in agreement. They continue forward to the next room, but hear the door to the room burst open along with the gauging of a shotgun. Miyra shoves Boz to the side a moment before the shell is fired, hitting her in the shoulder.

A couple of the soldiers open fire at the Sigil Head, hitting him ten times before he hits the ground. Getting to his feet, Boz asks Miyra “Did he hit you?”

She rubs her shoulder in slight pain, saying “Yeah... but don't worry, I'm fine. Barely even hurts anymore. I'll lead the way, so let's go.” before revving her minigun and advancing into the room, firing a few rounds off as she goes and connecting with a Sigil Head rushing out of the room.

Before getting to the room, Miyra does a sweeping attack on the outer walls, hoping to hit a few Sigil Heads that are inside. After her rounds have stopped firing, Boz leaps in front of her and rushes into the room. He gets inside of the room and activates his force katana, then doing a swirling motion that sends out a shockwave throughout the room, killing all that are left inside.

Miyra rushes in a second later, and scans the room to make sure that no enemies are left. She looks back at the other soldiers and says “Clear out the rest of the first floor, we're moving up to the second.” and puts her minigun away, pulling out her bastard sword a moment later.

“Lera's supposed to meet us by the stairs, right?” Boz asks Miyra, katana still at the ready.

“That's the plan. Now, let's move on.” she says back to him, moving over to the doorway on the other side of the room and shoulder-bashing it open.

She rushes into the room after she bashes open the door with Boz following closely behind her. Using their shades, they immediately can tell that they are in the room with the stairs going up and that there are a few Sigil Heads in the room. They both see Lera in the room, leaping back and forth between Sigil Heads and striking them down one after another. Some of the remaining Sigil Heads in the room turn to face Miyra and Boz and open fire on them, but they have just enough time to dodge out of the way in opposite directions.

Boz leaps to his feet after the roll, along with Miyra and they both rush head-long straight towards the enemies. They are all dead within the matter of only a few seconds.

After all of the enemies have been dealt with, Lera goes up to the group, cleaning the blood off of her ninjato in the process. “That's my girl! A lean, mean, killing machine!” Boz says, proud to call Lera his girlfriend.

Ignoring Boz for the time being, Lera asks “Where is the device at again?” to Miyra while reversing her grip on his ninjato.

“It's hooked up on the roof, specifically the antenna relay. But the one problem is all of the Sigil Heads that are blocking the way....” Miyra says, shifting her bastard sword onto her shoulder with ease.

“Ah, a few Sigil Heads won't be a problem for all three of us! Come on Miyra, let's go kick some ass!” Boz says, walking forward while patting Miyra on her back.

A grin appears on Miyra's lips as Boz says that. “That kind of over-confidence is going ta get you killed someday.... Heh, yeah, we should continue.” she says before rushing forward behind Boz and taking a position in front of Lera.

They rush up the stairs, but there is a Sigil Head at the top of the staircase who opens fire on them. Boz dodges and parries bullets as he rushes up the stairs while Miyra uses her large bastard sword as a shield. Boz plows into the Sigil Head, knocking him and the Sigil Head onto the ground. He then proceeds to stab him through the chest as quickly as he can. Miyra rushes up a second later and moves into the room, seeing that there are a few Sigil Heads inside. She slams her blade into one of them, killing it before it even knew she was there.

Lera leaps into the room a second after Miyra, jumping over top of the banister of the stairs and throwing three shurikens at once. They fly forward, hitting a Sigil Head at the end of the room in the arm, making it drop it's firearm, hitting another one in between his ribcage and right into his heart, and cutting straight into the last's throat.

Boz leaps to his feet a second later and rushes over to the nearest Sigil Head, who turns his flashlight on just to see Boz doing a drop-kick right into his chest, knocking him across the room, to the floor, and making him drop his flashlight. Getting back to his feet in a second, Boz rushes over to the Sigil Head right as he begins firing off his weapon around the room in desperation. One of the stray bullets hit's a Sigil Head on the other side of the room right in it's left lungs, immobilizing and nearly killing it for the time being.

Without skipping a beat, Boz runs over and swings for it's head with his katana, hitting it clean in it's Sigil.

Miyra runs over to the side of the room, dodging the flashlight of the only one left in the said room. The last thing it sees is Miyra's bastard sword before it collides with it's chest. It fires one bullet, which strikes Lera in her ankle, making her yelp in pain.

Boz hears this and rushes to her side while screaming her name in fear, but fortunately the nanobots heal her wound almost immediately. By the time he gets to her side, she is already back on her feet, stating “I'm fine, don't worry. We need to keep moving, Boz.”

With a look of stoicism on his face, he agrees and goes to the only door in the room and slices the door hinges off with his katana. He kicks in the door and leaps through, dodging a shotgun blast aimed for where he was a second ago and fires a shell towards where the Sigil Head was that had just attempted to shot him. Miyra rushes in a second later, along with Lera.

The room is filled with flashlights, but thankfully they don't react to Miyra or Lera in time to see them coming through the door. Miyra goes to the right of the room, dodging flashlights and stabbing a Sigil Head in the stomach with her bastard sword who wasn't being watched by the others, killing him instantly.

Lera charges into the room, leaping into the air and dive-kicking a Sigil Head onto the ground while simultaneously driving her ninjato through his chest. She draws out two shurikens upon landing on him and throws them towards two Sigil Heads that have just looked in her direction, shattering their flashlight lenses.

With that, there is only one flashlight-user left in the room. Boz goes around the sides of the room and hits the madman from behind. He strikes him across the back of his head with his shotgun, knocking him out.

With the two remaining Sigil Heads in the room not sure what to do, they begin firing where they last saw Lera at, but she has moved from that position. She moves in from the side and does a jumping sweep kick into one of their heads, hitting him with so much force that she knocks his head into the other one's, knocking them both out.

With the room clear, the group of three turn towards the staircase leading up to the roof. Miyra, making her way to the way up, motions for Boz and Lera “The amplifier should be up there. We're on the home-run stretch, let's end this!” she says back to them before making her way to the roof with them both in tow.

Miyra, realizing in a moment that the roof access isn't locked, cautiously opens the door, making sure that no Sigil Heads are waiting for them. There is no one there, she soon finds out. She motions for the two others to follow as she makes her way to the amplifier.

“I'll set the explosives, you two watch for any Sigil Heads or otherwise.” she says while walking towards the antenna array. Boz and Lera agree with her, and take cover behind air conditioner units and providing cover.

Miyra is at the amplifier a few moments after she gives those orders. She takes out a package of E2 explosive charges and sets them on the amplifier. After working through a few more options with the detonator, everything is set. Miyra turns towards the Boz and Lera, stating “We're set. Let's get out of here, don't want to be on the roof before the charge goes off.”

With an agreement from both of them. They leave through the building from the way they came, meeting back up with the soldiers on the bottom floor as they exit.

Once all of assault team has left the premises of the antenna station, Miyra triggers the E2 charge, yelling to Lera and Boz to shield their ears as she does. The explosion can be heard from more than a mile away.

The team is in the van and driving down the road afterward. Miyra high-fives Boz and Lera individually, stating “Damn fine job, both of you! Ya have a ton of potential to be generals!”

Boz chuckles, stating with a grin on his face “Really? That was only one battle! How can ya tell just from that?”

“It's because you seemed so... focused, is one way of putting it. You barely lost sight of what you were doing. You only deviated from the plan a few times, but it was when you needed to. That's what makes a general, the knowledge to stick with a plan, but the cunning to know when it needs to be freelanced.” Miyra says with a smile on her face.

“Well, I guess that makes us general material then!” Lera says, a large smile on her lips.

“Maybe. It's all determined by Raphael, in the end. Either way, the important thing is we came out of this alive. Always remember that, especially if you join the JB. War ain't a game, so it's important to remember that you only have one life and not to waste it.” Miyra says, speaking seriously for a few moments.

“One life....” Boz mutters to himself. The van falls silent for a few minutes, both Boz and Lera seeming to give serious thought to the matter.

Miyra, noticing the silence, keeps hers as well. She knows this is a serious matter, and they need to think it over themselves.

As time goes on, the van arrives at the staging area. Miyra, upon the vehicle stopping, get up from her seat and opens the back door. She looks over at them, saying “We're here. Time to get out.” before exiting.

Boz and Lera leave the van in silence, Miyra's words seeming to still affect them.

They walk inside of the repurposed warehouse, and see that Jian is hunkered down in his seat, and seems to be panicking.

Boz walks over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder “Jian, what's wrong?”

“She won't respond...!”