PolTech-IV Innovation Park, August 18, 2049, 12:49 AM
Deep within the storage corridor, an oppressive silence hung in the air. The last embers of scorched webbing had long since faded, leaving only charred remains. But if the air filters were turned off, the sharp stench of smoke and burned flesh would brutally remind the team of what it took to get here.
A few minutes ago, Alisa had finished the squad’s first group meditation since unlocking the “Synergy Conduit” attribute. It took almost an hour, but she had fully replenished Maksim, Dasha, and Nikola’s energy reserves.
Just some final checks, and they could begin the assault. Maksim halted behind a low concrete partition, running a final diagnostic scan through his interface. The team still had plenty of ammo, but several drones had nearly depleted their reserves — some down to less than thirty percent.
A quick rotation was necessary. Max moved forward the machines with the most remaining firepower and topped off both flamethrower robodogs. Thankfully, they were ready for this, since extra canisters of fire mix had been packed. The harsh chemical scent of the incendiary mixture added another layer to the thick, smoke-laced air.
“Stay sharp,” Maksim said quietly, his gaze sweeping over the team. “I have no doubt — this thing is gonna be the worst we’ve ever faced.”
He turned to Nikola, who stood slightly apart, running quick pre-battle checks on her “Berserker Commando” cybernetic suit. The light-gray urban camouflage plates moved fluidly, while the synthetic muscle framework, kinetic boosters, and joint stabilizers performed without a hitch. No damage to the armor’s reinforced components.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
Redhead flexed her shoulder, testing the range of motion in her right arm — TACTA nanobots had done their job, restoring full mobility. The tests had shown no issues either; the armor was fully combat-ready, including overdrive and Berserk mode.
“All systems nominal. Suit’s solid. Cyber-core link is stable, diagnostics are clean — no faults.” She nodded and flashed a thumbs-up. “And yeah, I get it. No reckless moves. No charging in headfirst. Loud and clear.”
“Alright,” Maksim said, then turned to the squad. “With any luck, we can overwhelm it with fire and kamikaze drones — no need to step into the kill zone ourselves. The mission never said anything about keeping the warehouse intact.”
Alisa brought up the tactical map, marking the planned routes across the squad’s interfaces.
“Got a live feed from inside. Target confirmed.”
A secondary window popped open, showing a video feed from one of the stealth drones. The Guardian was a massive hybrid abomination, seemingly plant-animal in nature.
Its towering, thick stalk-like torso was entwined with countless pulsating thorn-covered vines. At the top loomed an enormous, grotesque bud, sealed shut. This was no delicate bloom — its “petals” were thick, chitinous plates, forming an armored shell that completely obscured whatever lay within. This monstrous flower was tightly gripped by sepals, each tipped with elongated, bioluminescent spines.
Four massive, root-like legs anchored the creature in place. A tangle of tentacle-like appendages extended from them, sinking deep into the thick layer of biomass smothering the warehouse floor.
//SYSTEM
# No records of this entity found in the TACTA database.
# Preliminary threat assessment:
* Significant electromagnetic activity detected around the “bud” spikes.
* Root system deeply embedded in biomass, which has not only overtaken the floor but also spread across storage racks, infiltrating all sports nutrition containers. Given the sheer volume of high-quality organic matter, rapid or even explosive regeneration is highly likely.
* Morphological cross-analysis of similar shaiszu suggests potential abilities: teleportation or levitation.
# Recommended attack strategy:…ready.
“Based on this data,” Alisa murmured, “we have enough kamikaze drones and munitions to take it down.”
“That’s if there are no nasty surprises, yeah,” Dasha muttered grimly. “But… ” she hesitated.
Her voice faltered, and she shut her eyes for a moment. The relentless strain of this mission was finally taking its toll. The constant death, the alien monstrosities, the explosions, the gunfire — this never-ending sprint through hell. It was all wearing the girl down and terrified her.
Dasha’s fingers instinctively went to the pocket of her tactical vest, brushing against the familiar shape of her vape. A small comfort. Something to ground her.
But Maksim’s hand came to rest gently on her forearm.
“Not now, WonderKid,” he said, his voice low and steady. “We’re too close to the Guardian. You can’t afford to break the seal now.”
“I know… I get it.” She withdrew her hand, exhaling sharply. “It’s just… this whole thing is so scary.”
“We can do this.” Maksim nodded, sliding a fresh mag of armor-piercing needles into his rifle. “We have Synergy Conduit, flamethrowers… and, above all, teamwork.”
“Damn right,” Nikola added, waving a hand in encouragement.
“Just think about all the hardware we’re about to score for the System,” Alisa said with a grin. “With stakes like that, failure is not an option.”
“Alright.” The Ghosts’ leader took a steady breath and triggered the attack sequence. “Time to move!”
Dasha and Alisa pulled back behind the deployed shields of the “Sleipnir” combat platform. Maksim and Nikola took cover. The flamethrower robodogs and two squads of five Hornets were poised to storm the area. The rest of the drones hovered in formation just behind them, awaiting orders.
At the front, the combat android E-1 moved into position, assault rifle at the ready.
It wrenched the doors open, lowered itself into a combat stance, and cautiously advanced into the vast, dimly lit warehouse. The floor was just as predicted — a thick, grotesque mat of biomass, a tangled mess of writhing tendrils, moss, viscous slime, and twitching feelers. In some areas, the organic mass had built up into dense, uneven layers, reaching nearly half a foot thick.
The two flamethrower robodogs prowled through the shadows, flanking the Guardian, inching closer to strike range. The drones, sticking to the System’s strategy, remained idle, luring the Shaiszu into making the first move — maybe even revealing a weak spot.
And the plan was working. At first, the Guardian seemed completely indifferent to the android, as if it were nothing more than a passing nuisance. But the instant E-1 moved into position and raised its rifle, targeting the vulnerable underside of the bud, the creature responded with a dreadful, wet crack as its chitinous petals began to part.
A deep, swirling violet glow bled through the gaps, and in an instant, the air inside the warehouse began to warp. It shimmered and wavered, like heatwaves rising from blistering asphalt.
“Max, something’s… wrong with the visuals!” Dasha shouted.
Through her scope, the image flickered with heavy interference — static, warping, like a digital glitch — and worst of all, the Nest Guardian had shifted. Her robotic sniper bot had already moved through the doorway and perched atop a storage rack, feeding her a clear line of sight — until the distortion took over.
“Attention!” Alisa cut in sharply, sending the flamethrower robodogs into firing position. “This isn’t just optical distortion — lidar and sensor feeds are scrambling too. And none of it lines up! This is its defense… or rather its attack!”
The android’s cameras drowned in static, leaving it unable to aim properly. With no other choice, it unleashed a long burst in the target’s direction. The creature reacted instantly. A huge appendage snapped forward — interwoven, barbed vines, writhing like something alive. Mid-strike, the whip twisted and stretched unnaturally, bypassing the android entirely — its true target was the right-side robodog, the one armed with napalm.
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System flashed an alert, confirming that the Guardian had locked onto its primary target.
A biomass tendrils coiled around the robodog’s rear, yanking it toward the thick sludge. Maksim immediately commanded the second hound to attack. It spat a stream of fire, but the interference sent it veering a full meter to the left, igniting instead a towering storage rack shrouded in webbing and moss. Flames roared to life, but the Shaiszu remained unscathed.
E-1 pivoted sharply, attempting to assist the struggling bot, unleashing three-round bursts into the coiling tendrils — but the distortions twisted its aim, sending shots wide. Before it could adjust, the Guardian’s whip snapped downward, slamming into the robodog. The impact ripped through its flamethrower, rupturing the fuel tank — triggering a chain reaction as liquid fire gushed out, catching in an instant.
Napalm ignited in a blinding flash, a tidal wave of fire swallowing the robodog, the whip, and a massive chunk of biomass in seconds.
Both Hornet swarms surged forward, unloading a concentrated barrage into the Guardian’s bud — only for every single round to miss, vanishing into nothing.
//SYSTEM
# Threat update: This entity is capable of teleportation, evading incoming fire. Estimated teleportation range: at least ten meters.
“I’m taking the shot, okay?” Dasha shouted, briefly switching to manual control of the last remaining flamethrower robodog.
Guided by raw instinct, sharpened by her passive Foresight attribute, she waited. The two drone squads regrouped for another attack run, unleashing another barrage.
Then, she felt it.
Now.
Without even looking through the scope, she unleashed a searing jet of fire —
— straight into the bud of the newly teleported Nest Guardian! The flames, though standard mix rather than napalm, bit deep into the sepals, clawing their way toward the core of the massive bloom. Alisa followed up instantly, using E-1’s targeting system to land a tight burst right next to the roaring fire.
The creature shrieked — higher than ultrasound, beyond the threshold of human perception. It was like a red-hot needle stabbing straight through their helmets, sending waves of piercing pain through their skulls. Even though the team was still outside the room, they instinctively clenched their teeth, fighting through the agony.
//SYSTEM
# Threat update: Mental attack detected. Threat level raised to Critical. Battle plan updated.
Suddenly, the piercing wail of a fire alarm joined the monstrous screech. By now, the warehouse was choked with thick smoke and blazing pockets of fire, the air swirling with heat and ash. It seemed the early detection systems – those meant to respond to smoke and flames – had been disabled earlier. But as the temperature hit a critical threshold, the failsafes finally kicked in, triggering the long-overdue emergency protocols.
A network of ceiling sprinklers activated, drenching the flames in a heavy downpour. The Guardian seized the opportunity, teleporting out just as it was about to be pinned under the combined assault from the flamethrower, the android, and the Hornets. But at least the mind-ripping psi-attack had ceased.
Then, the entire warehouse exploded with blinding violet light. The sepals and the bud fully unfurled, and from within, an endless stream of glowing spirals burst forth.
The Shaiszu Nest Guardian — an entirely unknown entity. Presumed to be its ultimate form.
The air trembled and warped. A surge of distortions rippled outward, interwoven with countless whispers and moans that slashed through their minds.
“Did it just speed up?!” Maksim shouted as the massive bud blinked out of existence, as if swallowed by the floor. An instant later, the Guardian flickered back — now in three places at once. Three identical figures near the shelves, a fourth in the main passage, and a fifth by the doorway — all completely indistinguishable.
“It’s teleporting and spawning illusions!” Dasha yelled, struggling to lock onto a target. Even in augmented reality, all she could see were flickering phantoms. And worse — they kept multiplying.
Then the situation escalated. One of the “phantom Guardians” didn’t just flicker—it grabbed a falling shelf and hurled it aside, while another struck with a whip-like tendril, slicing E-1 clean in half. The poor bot didn’t survive its first battle.
Seventeen copies now blazed to life, their buds pulsing with eerie light. There was no escape. The Shaiszu knew exactly where its main enemies were. And running away from a teleporting monster was utterly impossible.
“It’s about to launch a massive mind attack!” Alisa exclaimed.
“I’m engaging Neural Surge — sync with me, let’s run Synergy. Fight!”
Alisa linked with Maksim into a high-speed tactical exchange within his accelerated mind. At the same time, she triggered Nikola and Dasha’s abilities through System, coordinating target priorities in the combat HUD with her brother.
First, activate Dasha’s Glimpse into the Future — no way they could handle an army of illusions without it. Next, Berserk…
“Max, this is a tough call. Technically, Nikola has access to Berserk Level 5, but it’s hard-capped at Level 2 because Earth-built implants just can’t take the strain.”
“Damn it, no time to dig through specs! Just give me the short version — what do Levels 3, 4, and 5 do, and what’s the risk?”
“Level 3 boosts combat effectiveness. Level 4 improves biomechanical sync and cooling efficiency. Downside? She might lose control and attack everything in sight — including us. Level 5 reinforces bones and connective tissue, maxing out biomechanical efficiency. Higher rage risk. That’s the rundown.”
“Shit. That’s really a tough call. I remember we discussed a ‘hard shutdown’ in case of uncontrolled rage. Dasha said the code was ready. Can we use it if Redhead doesn’t snap out of it after the fight?”
“We don’t have the full pharma kit, but we can make do. Worst case, she blacks out for a while.”
“Got it. Dasha will be running on acceleration — I’ll explain it to her. We’ll try to pull back under Sleipnir’s cover, and I’ll have WonderKid’s back. What other risks?”
“Her cyber-limbs will likely need major repairs — or be totaled. But the TACTA armor will hold. It’s rated for Level 5.”
“Understood. For her ‘paws,’ as she calls them, we’ll just buy new ones. These are obsolete anyway. Bring her up to Level 5, keep the medkit ready, and let’s go.”
“Roger that.”
The already familiar surge of Glimpse into the Future hit Nikola, and she instantly cranked her Implant Overdrive and Berserker to level five. With force-enhanced leaps, she launched herself into the hall. Thanks to her precognition, no explanations were needed — she already knew the plan. Don’t let the clones or the Guardian breach the corridor. Locate the original. Kill it.
Dasha, too, felt something shift — like the world had frozen around her. In her AR feed, Max materialized, quickly outlining the battle plan, warning her about Nikola’s potential rampage and the Synergy backlash that could hit them all.
And then battle erupted!
The first two Guardian illusions lunged forward, their thorned whips slicing through the air, but Redhead had already seen it coming. Their strikes clashed harmlessly away from her, missing by a split second. Meanwhile, another pair of clones disintegrated under a relentless barrage from the Hornets, manually guided by Alisa, who had pushed the drones into “Unrestricted Overdrive” mode.
Linked through Neural Surge, Max and Dasha zeroed in on the real Guardian — the clones couldn’t teleport. System assisted, locking onto the true target in a virtual crosshair.
Dasha pushed her sniper rig to its limit, launching into a ruthless hunt. Every time the creature flickered into existence after teleporting, a high-caliber round was already waiting. Its armor held at first, but two direct hits shattered chunks of its chitinous petals.
Four Guardian copies swarmed Redhead, trying to break through to the corridor. But she held them off just long enough for Maksim to deploy a trio of Hornets. Together, they wiped out the fakes.
Meanwhile, Dasha landed two more shots on the bud. Then, her fifth bullet tore through — breaking past the shell at last.
The creature let out a piercing wail and dove down, seeking to absorb biomass for regeneration.
“Alisa, Tonbos at its feet! Now!”
Twenty of Alisa’s drones, plus ten more under Maksim’s control, accelerated toward the Guardian, who was now lashing out with four tendrils at speeds just shy of breaking the sound barrier.
Breaking through was brutal. Even with Maksim’s acceleration and Dasha’s frantic efforts to highlight trajectories in the augmented display, dodging those whips was extremely hard.
At last, three Tonbo drones forced their way through by unwavering team effort. The first bomb detonated at the juncture of a leg and pulsating biomass. The second exploded higher, blasting apart a chitin plate. And the third tore straight into the exposed core of the bud!
The creature’s screech filled the warehouse, sharp and unnatural, as it began teleporting erratically. Time to finish it off. Dasha steadied her aim, knowing she was down to her last three rounds. She saw it — just a fraction of a second before the Shaiszu would reappear.
Now. She fired — miss!
Another teleport.
Another shot. Bullseye!
A heavy-caliber round from the Lynx X12 punched clean through the “throat” of the monstrous bloom, shredding the vital channels that kept it alive.
“Almost there!” Nikola roared, her berserker rage burning at full throttle. The last defenders of the Guardian lashed out in a frenzied assault, but with Glimpse into the Future, she was always a step ahead. Her strikes blurred into a relentless whirlwind, a monstrous meat grinder ripping through the wall of shaiszu in her path.
Another strike! And another! One last, unstoppable charge! Like a cybernetic war demon, she tore through the smoke and plunged her cutlass into the throbbing core.
The creature shuddered in agony. The bud twisted inside out, shredded petals clinging to it as caustic fluids erupted in a violent spray. Its final, desperate attempt to teleport failed mid-phase — cut short by a withering salvo from Max and the Hornets.
Explosive rounds shredded its remaining roots, and two final Tonbo detonations obliterated what was left. A massive chunk of the monster’s body was ripped apart, and with nothing left to hold it together, the Guardian crumbled, buried under the weight of its own broken husk.
For what felt like an eternity, the battlefield was nothing but swirling smoke, the stench of burning chitin, and the sickly splatter of bio-fluids.
Nikola, panting hard, staggered back, bracing herself on her cutlass, her boots slipping on the slick pools of steaming slime. Alisa swiftly engaged “stasis mode,” cutting off the mass Synergy — keeping it active any longer would be fatal.
Max, already feeling the backlash creeping in, still had his rifle raised on nothing but raw instinct and stubborn resolve. Dasha, blinking away sweat and tears, held her sniper scope steady on the gnarled remains of the stalk — her last bullet still chambered.
“Is it… dead?” Redhead rasped.
Alisa’s interface flickered with the final scan — no life signatures detected. The circulatory network was shredded. Neural centers silent. System verified — the threat neutralized.
“That’s it, I suppose,” Max exhaled, letting his rifle drop to its sling. “Good work, Ghosts.”
The only sounds left were the distant crackle of dying flames and the slow trickle of emergency fire suppression. The surviving drones hovered in formation, motionless, their optics fixed on the grotesque carcass of the fallen Guardian.
Three out of four fighters finally allowed themselves to breathe.
The battle was over.