The explosion tore through the air with a deafening roar. Kovacs barely had time to react before the shockwave hit, slamming him to the ground with bone-rattling force. His vision blurred as dust and debris clouded the air, and the taste of blood filled his mouth. Everything was a chaotic mess of fire, smoke, and noise for a moment as if the world had suddenly been thrown into a nightmare.

"Get down!" Prentis screamed, yanking Kovacs by the arm and dragging him behind the twisted remains of a fallen billboard. Metal groaned under the heat, and flames licked at the edges of their cover.

Kovacs struggled to his knees, his ears ringing from the blast. His heart pounded in his chest, a wild, frantic beat that drowned out the distant sounds of artillery fire. He coughed, spitting out blood and grit, his body shaking from the impact.

"What the hell just happened?" Prentis gasped, wide-eyed and panting, crouched beside him. His face was smeared with dirt, and sweat dripped down his forehead as he peeked over the rubble's edge.

"I don’t know," Kovacs muttered, wincing as pain shot up his leg. His limp had been a liability all day, but now it was unbearable. "It was supposed to be clear. No one said anything about this."

Ahead of them, the industrial district was in chaos. Once looming over the surrounding buildings, a factory was now a flaming wreck. Chunks of metal and concrete littered the streets, and the acrid stench of burning chemicals filled the air. Smoke rose in thick, dark plumes, casting the entire area in an orange glow as the sun began to set.

Prentis shook his head. "This was no accident. That was a setup."

Kovacs felt a cold knot form in his stomach. "Who?"

"Does it matter?" Prentis snapped, still catching his breath. "Someone didn’t want us moving through here. And now we’re in the middle of their damned kill zone."

Kovacs pulled himself up to a crouch, his eyes scanning the destruction. His mind raced, trying to piece together what had gone wrong. The factory had been part of their route to the extraction point. Nothing special—just another burned-out shell in this ruined city. But now... now it looked like the heart of a battlefield.

"Get ready," Kovacs said, his voice low but steady. "If they rigged this place to blow, they’re not done. We’re sitting ducks out here."

The distant rumble of mechs reached their ears as if on cue, the unmistakable sound of heavy metal feet crushing the ground. Kovacs’ chest tightened. The enemy was on the move.

"We need to get out of here," Prentis said, glancing nervously at the approaching sound. "Now."

Kovacs nodded. "Stay low. We can’t risk the streets. We’ll cut through the side alleys."

They moved quickly, ducking through the narrow spaces between crumbling buildings. Every step was fraught with danger. The ground was littered with debris—twisted metal, shattered glass, and chunks of concrete that threatened to trip them at every turn. The thick smoke made it hard to breathe, and the heat from the fires was suffocating. But they had no choice. Staying out in the open meant certain death.

Another explosion rocked the area behind them, closer this time, followed by rapid detonations. Kovacs’ instincts screamed at him to move faster. Whoever had set this trap wasn’t finished. The blast had been just the beginning.

"What are they trying to do?" Prentis hissed as they ducked into a partially collapsed building. "Blow up half the damn district?"

"Looks like it," Kovacs muttered, glancing around the interior of the building. It had once been an office, but now it was a skeletal ruin. Desks and chairs lay overturned, covered in dust and ash. Broken windows let in the flickering light of the fires outside.

Prentis leaned against a wall, catching his breath. "Who the hell is out there?"

"I don’t know," Kovacs said, peering through the broken windows. "But we need to keep moving."

Before Prentis could respond, a loud roar filled the air—a mech’s engine, closer than either of them had anticipated. Kovacs’ heart raced. Through the smoke, he could make out the silhouette of a massive machine moving through the ruins. Its hulking frame glinted in the firelight, and its weapons bristled with deadly intent.

"They’re here," Prentis whispered, his voice barely audible over the mech’s footsteps.

Kovacs clenched his jaw. "Stay quiet."

The mech passed by, its towering form disappearing into the haze. Kovacs exhaled slowly, his muscles tense. They had to move. The enemy wasn’t just passing through—they were hunting.

"We’ll head toward the fuel dump," Kovacs said after a moment. "If we can get there, we might be able to use it to our advantage."

Prentis gave him a sharp look. "You’re talking about blowing it up, aren’t you?"

Kovacs didn’t hesitate. "It’s our best shot. We can’t take on those mechs head-to-head. But if we can lure them to the dump, we might be able to take them out in one go."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Prentis ran a hand through his hair, his eyes wide with fear and disbelief. "That’s insane."

"Yeah," Kovacs agreed, "but it’s better than getting gunned down in the open."

Prentis didn’t argue. He pushed off the wall, nodding. "Alright, let’s do it."

They crept out of the building, staying low and moving as quietly as possible. The sound of the enemy mechs was all around them now, echoing through the ruins. Kovacs could feel his pulse pounding in his ears. The tension was unbearable, and every step felt like it could be their last.

Finally, they reached the edge of the fuel dump. The area was a sprawling complex of rusting storage tanks, some half-collapsed, others still intact. The ground was slick with oil, and the stench of fuel hung heavy in the air.

Kovacs glanced at Prentis. "We need to set it off remotely. If we’re too close when it goes, we’re dead."

Prentis nodded grimly. "How do we—"

Before he could finish, the unmistakable hum of a mech’s targeting system cut through the air. Kovacs looked up, his heart dropping into his stomach. One of the enemy mechs had spotted them, its weapons already primed and ready to fire.

"Move!" Kovacs shouted, grabbing Prentis and diving for cover.

The mech’s weapons lit up the night, a barrage of energy blasts and missiles raining down on the fuel dump. Kovacs barely had time to hit the ground before the entire complex erupted in a massive explosion, the shockwave sending him and Prentis flying through the air.

***

The factory was a wreck, its once imposing structure now a husk of twisted metal and broken windows. Jackie Stewart crouched near the skeletal remains of an assembly line, scanning the area for any signs of danger. Her Chimera stood guard nearby, its dull gray armor camouflaged against the industrial ruins, the pilot seat empty as the mech ran on standby. She and her squad were here for one thing: equipment.

"We're not going to find much in this mess," Sergeant Wu muttered, kicking aside a piece of rusted machinery. "Looks like this place was picked clean before the bombing started."

"Keep looking," Jackie ordered her voice firm. She could feel the weight of exhaustion pulling at her, but she refused to show it. The past few weeks had been grueling—more scavenging runs than real combat. It wasn’t what she signed up for. "We need those parts. Command wants any power cells or functional components we can salvage."

Wu nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow before motioning for the rest of the squad to spread out.

Corporal Ivan moved with a silent efficiency that Jackie appreciated, rifling through a pile of debris with practiced precision. The rest of the team wasn’t far behind, each used to this type of operation by now. It had become routine. Pick through what was left, gather what they could, and move on.

But this time, something felt off. Jackie could sense it—a heaviness in the air that had nothing to do with the thick smoke still rising from the distant fires. Her hand rested on the grip of her sidearm, her eyes darting toward the shadows cast by the jagged ruins. They were alone here, officially, but she knew better.

A faint sound echoed from the far side of the factory, barely audible above the creaks of the settling building and the distant hum of machinery.

"Stewart!" Wu called out suddenly, his voice tense. "We've got company."

Jackie turned sharply, her instincts kicking in. A small group of civilians emerged from the shadows, haggard and worn. Their clothes were ragged, and the desperation in their eyes was unmistakable. They were dirty, thin, and afraid.

A woman, her arms wrapped protectively around a child, stepped forward. "Please… you have to help us."

Jackie tightened her grip on her sidearm but didn’t draw it. "We’re not here for aid distribution," she said cautiously. "What do you need?"

The woman’s eyes darted between Jackie and the Chimera looming in the background, hope battling fear in her expression. "We need… food, water, anything you can spare. We’ve been hiding for days, and the soldiers… the soldiers will return soon."

Behind her, the child whimpered, clinging tighter to the woman’s leg. Two other men, one elderly and the other barely a teenager hovered nervously at the edge of the group.

"We don’t have supplies," Sergeant Wu said flatly, stepping forward. "We're not here to distribute relief. We're military personnel, and we’ve got orders. You need to move along."

"Please!" the woman cried out, her voice cracking. "We don’t have anywhere else to go. The camps—" She swallowed hard. "They won’t take us in."

Jackie felt a knot tighten in her stomach. She knew what the camps were like—the overcrowding, the neglect. She had seen enough civilians caught in the crossfire to know that these people had nowhere else to turn. She sighed, looking away momentarily, trying to keep her emotions in check.

"Ma'am," Ivan's voice cut through, low but clear. He had moved closer to the civilians, his gaze steady but hard. "We can’t just leave them here."

Jackie glanced at Ivan, then back at the group. The child was coughing now, a thin, rasping sound that made her wince.

"We don’t have much," Jackie said finally, taking a step toward the woman. "But if you stay out of the way while we finish our job, we’ll see what we can spare."

The relief on the woman’s face was palpable, but Jackie raised a hand to stop her from speaking. "No promises," she added sharply. "We’re here for a reason; if you jeopardize that, you’re on your own."

The woman nodded quickly, tears welling up in her eyes. "Thank you, thank you so much. We won’t get in the way, I swear."

Wu gave Jackie a sidelong glance, his mouth a tight line. "You're too soft, Stewart. You know we barely have enough for ourselves, and the brass won’t give a damn about these people."

"I know," Jackie muttered under her breath. "But I’m not leaving a kid to starve if I can help it."

Sergeant Wu opened his mouth to protest, but the sound of movement from behind the wreckage cut him off. More civilians were emerging now, slowly and cautiously. The small group had swelled into something larger—men, women, children—dirty, bruised, and broken by the conflict. Jackie’s heart sank as she realized there were far more than she initially thought.

"They're going to overrun us if we’re not careful," Ivan said quietly, his hand on his rifle.

"Stay alert," Jackie ordered, her voice tense. She couldn’t afford to let this situation spiral out of control. One wrong move, one miscalculation, and they could find themselves caught between desperate civilians and hostile forces.

Behind them, Lieutenant Danner in her Chimera stood tall, a silent sentinel in the fading light. The civilians kept their distance from the machine, fearful of its hulking presence but drawn to the soldiers who might represent a slim hope of survival.

Jackie felt the weight of responsibility settle heavily on her shoulders. "Let’s finish what we came for," she said, glancing at her squad. "We’ll figure out the rest later."