Kazin

“How did the Kargu forces in the Kyando neighborhood know of our ambush?” Mugen demands angrily. “You said the Yamda had jammed the communication lines of this building.”

“They did,” I answer. “I’m as much in the dark as you are.” I can scarcely meet Mugen’s gaze. “The Yamda did not betray you.”

Mugen spits onto the ground. “Screw this building. You Yamda can stay and guard it if you’d like, but the Seven Star Mob is leaving to defend our home.”

“The Yamda have no qualms in that regard,” Kala says. “Without Royang, there can be no alliance. The Yamda will fight with you.”

The four of us—Jin, Mugen, Kala, and myself—run back to the loading bay, directing our members to gather there through our comms. Kala decides to leave a contingent force of Yamda at the building to alert us of any potential Kargu movements into the area. The rest of us board our transport vans and rush off into the night, towards Royang.

Kala makes contact with Kenji once more.

“Yeah. Got it.” She hangs up and turns to Mugen and Jin. “The Yamda are reinforcing us with as many as they can spare.”

Mugen nods gravely as the van speeds through the hoverlanes. Jin can hardly keep his hands still, and I can see his anger boiling beneath the surface. His eyes are restless, and his legs are fidgety; I catch a viperous glance cast in my direction.

When finally the van nears Royang, we all absorb the scene that we had dreaded to be truth—the Kargu have broken through the Yamda defensive lines and placed Royang under siege. Not only that, but Royang is in flames. The Kargu have fallen upon the neighborhood with a vengeance. A heavy blanket of smoke is caught beneath the steel canopy that extends across the whole of Royang—plumes of smoke streak from the sides into the night sky like writhing tentacles. Royang blazes beneath and screams wrack the sky.

“Lower the car!” Mugen commands.

My heart is pounding as I grip the handle of my newly obtained ionBlade. A train of transport vans follows us as we lower our altitude. Scores of hoverBikes surge forth before us like a vanguard cavalry. We descend upon Royang, slide beneath the canopy, and barely hurtle our way into the main center plaza, the very same place where I had first run into the Seven Star Mob.

Mugen and Jin rush through the doors before they’ve fully lifted. Kala and I trail close behind. There is a whirring buzz beside me as Kala’s energyShield is activated.

“Keep close to Mugen!” she tells me. “We might lose Royang, but Mugen’s the only one who can keep the Mob united. Don’t let him come to harm!”

I nod.

Royang has crumbled into chaos. The once lively and vintage neighborhood is a forest of fire. The air is filled with the cacophony of old buildings crashing beneath the weight of the flames. Tongues of fire lick at us as we rush through the streets. The Yamda and the Mob have scattered—some are aiding civilians in escaping the carnage and chaos, while still others desperately attempt to repel the relentless Kargu.

Mugen slides his crackler into a Kargu’s stomach and kicks the corpse away. When he notices Kala and myself approaching, he yanks me by my shirt.

“Take as many of the civilians as you can to the plaza! Direct the transports to the Royang Shopping Center. We might be able to last a short siege until Kenji's reinforcements arrive!”

“Mugen,” Kala says. “The Kargu will lack an energyTower in the area. They are likely to have brought with them the transportable kind. It’s imperative we find these if we are to have any hope of driving them back.”

bioEnhancements used lightly may at most last a couple of days; but lacking a power source, bioEnhancements utilized with the energy required during the heat of battle might last only several hours. It is vital, therefore, that these portable sources of power be found and destroyed in order to sever the Kargu from their source of strength. Once their bioEnhancements were rendered useless, they would stand no chance against our own clanmembers, as no normal human can hope to outlast a bioEnhanced fighter. The Yamda, thankfully, had set up their own energyTower within the Royang Shopping Center several days prior; the Seven Star Mob, who usually charged their bioEnhancements at need, had been calibrated to the new tower as well. In this single factor, we still hold an advantage, and it is important we press it.

Mugen understands this. “We’ll find them.” He hesitates. “In the event that we fail to, how long will the Kargu’s transportable towers last?”

“A day or two, maybe,” Kala answers. “Too long. Royang will fall then.”

Mugen nods resolutely. “Royang Shopping Center!” he reminds us. He ducks beneath a Kargu’s blue flameSword, then crowbars his crackler into the Kargu’s knee. The man's joints crumple unnaturally—as he screams, Mugen’s crackler passes through his mouth, instantly burning the man’s head through to the core. His eyes roll back into his head as he drops like a rock.

I relay Mugen’s command through our comms to the rest of the Yamda. The Royang Shopping Center is unmistakable—the building is a wide, cylindrical tower at the center of the plaza from which hang several neon billboards and signs. Only four entrances lead into the building, making it an ideal and easily defensible location.

Mugen, Jin, Kala, and I dive behind a dumpster thrust into the middle of the road as Kargu charge towards us with green beamShot. The low kinetic energy of the shot decreases its individual accuracy; but with the Kargu’s greater numbers, the peppering of green serves a perilous obstacle in which each step is a treacherous gamble.

“Any idea where the Kargu might have set up a defensible location?” Kala yells. Several Yamda fall to the green beamShot, their limbs rapidly rotting from the radiation.

Mugen scowls. “Within Royang, there are only four places which come to mind.” He counts off his fingers. “Royang Shopping Center. There are three other spots. Royang Radio Tower, the headquarters of Royang Broadcasting Corporation, and the Spine.”

“The Spine?” Kala says in bewilderment.

“It’s a wall,” Jin replies. “It separates Royang from the Underbelly.”

“Which one is closest?” I ask.

“No,” Kala interjects. “We’ll send our other guys to the closest ones. The four of us will go, unnoticed, to the one that’s hardest to reach. Where the Kargu are least expecting us.”

Mugen nods. “Then that would be the Spine.”

“Then that’s where we head,” Kala says.

The townspeople of Royang likewise have taken up arms in defense of their beloved neighborhood. From windows of upper stories, people are hurling burning bottles of alcohol at the invading Kargu. The street blossoms with countless fiery explosions. From rooftops, men and women shoot into the rabble with aged blastRifles. The scene is as surreal as a frenzied dream. Kargu lit ablaze run through the streets like human torches; the air is streaked with colorful beamShot and peppered by the white, circular discharge of blastRifles. It is a fevered hallucination, chaotic, with not a singular place I can rest my gaze to feel at peace.

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The level of camaraderie and community these people have with the Seven Star Mob astounds me. They are united against the invading Kargu in defense of their home—their refuge away from the mayhem and turmoil of the rest of the neon jungle. It is a worthy cause, worth fighting for.

The air splits with the shriek of unrestrained energy as a wave of Yamda and Mobsters unleash their energyShields and rush towards the Kargu who assail us. It allows us a short spell in which we might slip away into the dark alleys.

I follow closely behind Jin, who trails Mugen. Kala keeps the rearguard, prepared to activate her energyShield if the need were to arise. The darkness of the crevices between rows of buildings is a welcome respite from the chaos without. Far to our rear, we can still hear the rumor of battle wafting through the night, but we have left the greater bulk of it behind.

We traverse between leaning brown buildings and looming ones of brick. The air seems more stifling the farther we drift from the center of Royang. Soon, I can smell the traces of a foul odor leaking from far ahead of us.

“You smell that?” Jin whispers. “That’s the Underbelly. Don’t want to end up there.”

"Why?" I ask.

"They eat people in the Underbelly," Jin says snidely.

I push him away.

We shake off the cluttered areas of Royang like how one bursts through the surface of water—immediately we are confronted by a span of open ground and then a wall of heavy shadow.

“The Spine,” Mugen remarks.

It is a thick wall of rusted steel, running left and right as far as the eye can see. A trapezoidal turret or a base, the size of a two-story house, crowns the section of wall looming before us. It is fairly obvious, then, where this energyTower is located.

Mugen augments his eyes and peers at the wall. “We’ve found it alright. Ten Kargu guards standing outside, at the top of the wall. I don’t know how many more are inside of the building.”

Kala has already taken out her waveReader. “Yup. Ultra-high frequency waves emitting from that building.”

“Let’s go then,” Mugen says.

“You know a way in?” Kala asks.

“That place used to be a Mob outpost when it was first formed,” Mugen says with a small smile. “Every commander since knows the secret way in.”

Jin gives an incredulous scoff.

Mugen leads us into a building just across the wall. It is an unassuming eatery, serving dumplings and skewers from the pictures hanging above the register. The place is tiny, the sort of establishment where you would expect the only guests to be of the regular kind.

He takes us through the tiny kitchen, at the end of which is a steel door leading into a freezer the size of a small closet. The walls are of shining aluminum. Racks line each wall, bulging with packs of meat and vegetables and dumpling skins.

Jin and I haul the rack against the right wall out of the freezer. Mugen knocks on an aluminum plate nailed to the plaster, then nods. He grips the aluminum plate. His arms light up with a dim yellow glow, and he tears the plate from the wall. In place of the aluminum is now the entrance to a dark tunnel.

Mugen leads the way—his head disappears below the shadows. Jin follows, then Kala, then me. A ladder leads into a basement. Mugen turns on his crackler to light our path. The low hum of the electricity fills the tight air.

We shuffle through the stuffy corridor, barely wide enough to fit a single person—I am forced to sidestep to fit comfortably. Jin is the only one who can walk normally. I am tempted to crack a joke at him, but decide to hold my tongue for the greater good of the group. A whining shrimp might get us caught.

Finally, I can see the end of the path. It is here that Mugen stops us.

“That door leads directly into a bathroom. If there’s someone there, we have to take them out. Immediately.”

We nod solemnly. We walk the rest of the distance, and Mugen halts before the door. He counts off his fingers: 3...2...1...

He bursts through the wood and we pummel after him. I find myself in a medium-sized bathroom: a bathtub and shower are nestled against the far wall, a toilet sits just beside it, and a sink to our right, on top of which…

The standing man and the leaning woman stare at us in a moment of sheer disbelief, as do we.

“Nice,” Jin whispers with a wide grin.

Before they can cry out to signal our presence, Kala thrusts her blade through the man’s back and into the woman, connecting them with more than just one sword. She unsheathes her blade from the two, and they crumple to the ground. Till death do us part, I guess. Kala gives us a look of vexation.

“Too distracted?”

“Hey, I was too far away,” Mugen says indignantly.

Jin and I smile sheepishly at one another. Despite all the seriousness of Joryoku affairs, I suppose we are both just teenage boys underneath.

Mugen quietly opens the door and peers out into a dark corridor. He shuts the door once more and whispers to us. “The house is three stories, including the basement. How should we do this?”

“We should split into two teams, Yamda and Mobster each,” Kala says.

Mugen nods. “Good idea. Jin, you and Kazin go check the second story and roof. Kala and I will check the basement and first floor. There’s a side stair that leads to all three levels. Use that.”

Jin and I nod. Mugen opens the door—he and Kala head out to the right to clear the rest of the basement. Jin and I make our way to the left, where the stair is. We climb the steps as quietly as we can. We make our way to the second floor. The Kargu guards don’t seem to have expected much company. Soon, five bodies are decorating the floorboards. We climb the steps to the roof next.

“And there the fuck it is,” Jin whispers as we peer over the trapdoor.

The roof is flat. It is surrounded by a waist-high steel parapet. The transportable energyTower stands in the center. Though it is unlike in appearance to our own energyTower, crowned by many more antennas and metal rods, it is unmistakably the object of our search. Four Kargu guards are looking out past the fortifications, down at the city below them for any potential enemies.

“You take the two on the east and north,” I say to Jin. “I’ll take the ones on the west and south.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jin agrees.

As we creep up the steps, preparing to bioCharge our legs to propel us towards the guards before they can realize what is happening, the building trembles from an explosion on the first floor.

Our cover is blown.

Jin vaults towards the eastern guard, and I lunge at the southern one. Jin’s white flameSword whips in an upward arc, cutting the Kargu from bowels to brains. I thrust my ionBlade at the Kargu’s chest—the polycarbonate armor holds out—but I bioCharge my legs once more, smashing the Kargu against the wall. The resistance allows me to push the point of my blade straight through him.

Before I can unsheathe my blade, the other Kargu is upon me.

The green beamShot narrowly misses me—that’s the thing with low kinetic energy levels. They are less stable and more prone to missing their target, even at close range. I haul the Kargu I just impaled around to use as a human shield, and I slowly approach the second Kargu. Seeing that her photonBlaster is no longer useful, she throws it aside and draws twin cracklers from her belt. The sight of it enrages me as I think of their heinous act against Kala.

I throw my meat shield to the side and lunge at the Kargu. She dodges, then swipes at me with her crackler. I leap back—the blue lightning only narrowly misses me. My movements are slowing. Does our energyTower at Royang Shopping Center not reach this far? I reach to the back of my neck to power down my inhibitor.

My enemy leaps at me with a bioCharged lunge, then swings with her cracklers from opposite directions. I throw myself backwards, then roll on the ground as I fall from a misstep.

What is happening to me? I think with dread at my disadvantage compared to other fighters. My limbs grow heavier, and my movements become as if I am wading through water.

I pant from the exertion of lifting my blade now. I look up at the Kargu, but my eyes sting from the dripping sweat. The Kargu brandishes her cracklers, readying herself for a final attack. I no longer have the energy to defend myself. I don’t think our energyTower reaches this distance; and when I run out of juice, I am unlike the others, who can still move as they normally do. My spinalChip will power down. Easy pickings.

Jin comes to my rescue. I see a small blur on the right as he crashes into the Kargu with his shoulder. She gives a surprised shout as she hurtles to the ground. Jin renders her unconscious with a quick elbow to the head.

He makes his way towards me. Both his right and left arms are smoldering now from overuse and overheating.

“We’re really going to need to get you a Healer,” I remark.

Jin smirks. “You’re looking a bit tired yourself, Kazin.”

“Your inhibitor good?” I ask worriedly.

“Turned it off for now,” Jin answers as he saunters over to the energyTower. With a few taps on the touchscreen, the tower powers down.

I sheathe my ionBlade onto my back, lacking the strength to hold it any longer. I curse under my breath.

“Do I have to carry widdle Kazin?” Jin coos. When I stumble back against the wall, he peers at me more seriously. “Woah, be careful. You fall down there, and you’ll fall right into the Underbelly on that side.” He takes my arm. “You alright?”

“My spinalChip,” I pant. “I think it’s powering down. We have to find Kala. She knows code—she can recalibrate the energyTower for us.”

“Okay,” Jin says. “That explosion though—I hope Kala and Mugen are alright.” He puts my arm across his shoulders. “Let’s go, Kazin.”

We hear a low groan from the opposite side of the roof. We both look up. The Kargu is mumbling. She meets our gaze.

“Oh no,” Jin hisses.

She grabs the photonBlaster that she had tossed to the side before our fight. She aims it at us, and fires off two rounds of green beamShot.

If the shot even grazes us, we are as good as dead.

Jin reacts from the shock of seeing green beamShot hurtling towards us. With the weight of the both of us on his shoulders, he stumbles backwards.

We tip over the parapet and plunge into the abyss.