Miro had allocated Maksim’s team a maintenance bay near one of his smuggling depots, deep beneath the Kyiv polis. Judging by the tools, equipment, and the excellent lighting, his smuggling business had been thriving before the invasion.
Max and Nikola had already appreciated the infrastructure earlier when they’d spent the day prepping their off-road truck for the escape. Now, everything, including Moira, was loaded up. The only tasks left were transferring the newly acquired supplies from the platform, connecting the TACTA equipment — and they’d be ready to start off.
Max and Nikola had already appreciated the convenience of the infrastructure earlier in the day when they were preparing their off-road truck for the escape. Now, everything was nearly ready. All that was left was to unload the roboplatform and connect the TACTA equipment.
[I’m back!] Alisa’s reboot finally completed, and she rejoined the chat.
[Yay!] Dasha exclaimed excitedly, then sheepishly looked down and asked tentatively, [Max, um… can I… you know… just for a bit?]
[Sorry, WonderKid, but no. Vaping’s too risky right now. The shaiszu might still be nearby, and we don’t know how sharp their sense of smell is. Plus, you’d have to lift your visor. What if there are Protectorate spy microbots around? Or Miro’s hidden cameras that could get compromised? I know it’s important to you, but please hold off for now. We’ll figure something out once we’re in the truck.]
Disappointed, Dasha let out a quiet huff, but she couldn’t argue with his reasoning.
By this time, Alisa had gotten off the cart and joined the team.
[Max, while I was… uh, out, I dreamed up a way to upgrade my android body to prevent these shutdowns in the future. I’m guessing we’ll be in a lot more battles soon.]
[I’ll be sure to listen to all your ideas,] her brother replied. [But only after we’ve left Kyiv.]
[Understand,] Alisa smiled. [Let me help with the equipment loading while you focus on installing the stealth module.]
[Thanks,] he nodded. [We should be able to finish quickly. Everything’s prepped and rehearsed.]
Indeed, unloading the cart was no trouble at all — Miro’s bay had a solid overhead crane, and Maksim had already positioned the loading robot. Plus, he and Redhead had practiced installing the reactor into the truck earlier, using a life-sized plywood mock-up.
Despite her frustration about the vape ban, Dasha threw herself into the work, helping set up Moira’s switching to an independent power source and fine-tuning the electronic warfare system. Specifically, she was preparing a program so that the System could efficiently manage it.
Truth be told, Vasilevskaya had noticed the whole block of notifications that appeared during her strange “premonition” before taking that sniper shot. But, contrary to her naturally curious personality, she forbade herself from even glancing at them. The girl had only confirmed that they were personal messages unrelated to the management and operating of the System. And that’s it — no further investigation for now! The priority was to help the team escape Kyiv as fast as possible.
Time was running short. Soon, the crucial part of the plan would begin, and, per their agreement with Miro, no one would wait for Maksim’s team. The operation would start at the precise scheduled time, whether they were ready or not. So, the final preparations for their exit under stealth were carried out at a breakneck pace.
Max hooked the reactor to the loader’s manipulator and carefully guided it into the truck through the fully opened rear doors. Inside, Nika secured it, locking the holder mechanisms into place.
[All set, it’s locked in!] Redhead reported tersely.
[Great, come on out. I’ll take over and start it up.]
Technically, the term “start it up” was a bit misleading. Unlike much of the TACTA equipment, which is often assembled right on site, this reactor was delivered by Drone in a fully operational state. Not only operational – already running. There were no controls on this device; it was designed to run continuously for its entire twenty-five-year lifespan without stopping.
For convenience, you could order it the needed configuration — everything would be set up, with plenty of options to choose from.
Everything would be already pre-configured for compatibility with terrestrial standards, and you must select which option to order: high voltage, three-phase voltage 380 Volts, standard single-phase 220, combined three-phase/single-phase.
Maksim opted for with the “combined” option in the end. It came with a configurator, allowing flexible control over the power outputs.
Alisa, working remotely, took over controlling the loading robot, and along with Nika handled unloading the rest of the equipment. Meanwhile, the guy squeezed through the narrow passage to the reactor inside the truck.
[Dasha, the reactor is ready. Redirecting power to Moira, keep an eye on it!]
[In position, go ahead!] she responded almost instantly.
[Connecting the main power line and control cables.]
Four thick cables with three-phase plugs went to power the quantum core, Moira’s cooling system, and the truck itself. Plus, another line would feed into the cab, where Maksim had installed charging stations for Alisa and Nikola.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Each plug securely locked into place.
Done!
Six cables were used to power Moira’s numerous modules, with a few left to spare — it’d be good to have extra outlets in the truck cab, just in case.
[Starting it up!] Maksim announced, as he finished his work. His fingers danced almost instinctively over the safety switches, flipping them all to “on” position.
At the same moment, Daria saw the energy flow on the automatic power switch display. The device, following the command, began switching Moira from external power to the internal source.
[Transitioning in three… two… one!] Dasha said, her eyes locked on the indicators, ready to abort the process if anything went wrong.
But there was no need. The screen flashed green, confirming a successful operation. The smooth transferring went off without a hitch.
[Max, the power switching’s done. Everything’s clean, no issues with Moira,] Dasha reported, finally allowing her shoulders to relax.
With that, Maksim and Daria moved on to setting up the stealth system, while Nikola and Alisa handled the installation of the cooling — or rather, heat absorption — system.
It was a hectic scramble. Connecting and configuring everything was a complicated task, and time was running out. The team’s nerves were wearing thin — after all, their lives were on the line.
Maksim had it the hardest. Either the painkillers were wearing off, or the wound was deeper and more serious than they had thought. On top of that, he had several dizzy spells and waves of weakness.
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“Now’s not the time to stop. Gotta push through. But later, I’ll definitely need to check if that damn shaiszu infected me with something…”
[We’re all set!] Alisa announced once the heat absorber was finally up and running, and the first storage cartridge clicked into place. Thanks to this device, no “thermal signature” would be left behind, preventing the truck from being given away — especially critical while passing between the Watch Towers, where every available scanning system would be working at maximum capacity.
[Max, we’ve got enough resources for three days of continuous operation in maximum load mode, no less,] she added after double-checking the readings. [After that, we’ll need to stop and dump the heat. Hopefully, by then we’ll be in Rzeszów — stopping before that is the last thing we need.]
[Rzeszów?] Maxim asked in surprise. [I thought we hadn’t decided on what we’re doing once we leave the polis?]
[Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to tell you. I have info on our route from some reliable source. Let’s discuss everything once we’re out, okay? Call me superstitious if you want.]
“Alisa and Superstitions. Uh-huh, right. Sounds iffy, but whatever,” Max thought, wondering if he really knew his sister as well as he thought.
[Alright, sis. Rzeszów it is. No reason to argue. We’ll go over the details as soon as we’re outside the perimeter. Now, pack up the external cooling units and close up the cargo bay. Double-check that nothing’s left behind and everything’s loaded. Then take your seats in the cab, we’re heading out.]
After positioning the last modules, he gestured for Nikola to head to the cab, and quickly started up the device himself.
[Cloaking’s up and running perfectly,] Max reported with satisfaction, deliberately stepping back to watch as the large, fully loaded truck seemed to vanish into thin air. [And… yep, power consumption is within the documented range. Well, ladies, praise Her Holy Brightness, everything’s fine. Let’s roll!]
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The truck crawled slowly through the narrow tunnel, inching along to avoid scraping the walls or ceiling with the cargo strapped outside, which wouldn’t fit inside the truck. Alisa was at the wheel — her reaction time was far better than that of the “organics” in the cab, even combined all together.
“That must be the exit,” Max said quietly, squinting at the barely visible metal doors ahead. With everything now loaded up, he had allowed them to speak freely and even lift their helmet visors — but not remove them. Who knew what might happen next?
“How do we open it?” Dasha asked curiously.
“I’ve got a remote,” the guy smiled, pulling out a simple digital radio from his tactical vest. He typed a six-digit code and pressed the transmit button. The doors shuddered and slid apart, revealing the passageway.
“Alisa, hold on for a moment. The cargo light platform will come down. Once it’s in place, drive onto it and stop in the center.”
“Got it, waiting.”
A few seconds later, the platform descended and came to a stop below. The truck rolled forward and carefully parked on it. Maksim entered another code, and they began to ascend. A short ride took them up into a large warehouse. Oddly enough, the exit was blocked by barriers and warning signs.
“Alisa, just nudge them aside with the bumper. Miro wouldn’t care about keeping things discreet anymore.”
“Discreet?” Dasha and Nikola asked, confused.
“Yeah,” Max chuckled. “Take a closer look at the signs.”
“Caution!”, “Warning! Maintenance in progress!”, “Out of order”, “Lift malfunction.”
“Oh damn, that’s the Cunning Fox for you,” Nikola laughed. “Look up there, the elevator to the second level is really broken. No one suspects that this platform actually works below. Cleverly hidden.”
“If you want to hide something, leave it in plain sight,” Maksim nodded. “Alright, let’s move. The hard part’s still ahead.”
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Industrial Zone, Western outskirts of Kyiv, 04:41 AM.
There were only seven minutes left before the key stage of their escape — the coordinated distraction to draw the Protectorate’s attention away from the Watch Towers the renouncers’ teams were targeting.
The truck, cloaked in invisibility, had already approached the remnants of the former ring road. The Watch Towers loomed ahead — tall, menacing, packed with weapons, electronics, and sensors designed to detect even the slightest movement.
The space between them, once a road, now had turned into a massive construction site. Old Earth machinery was visible, apparently used to expand and level the area. Alongside them stood Protectorate machines, robots, containers, some metal constructs, and massive blocks of raw material concentrate.
The good news? It was navigable if they were careful. It wasn’t an obstacle course, after all, just a worksite — albeit a colossal one.
“It’s strange we don’t see a protective field,” Nikola mused, her eyes fixed on the Watch Towers in the augmented reality. “I thought for sure they’d activate it once they realized there was a breach.”
“That’s to our advantage. There’s already enough trouble without it,” Maksim muttered grimly. “I wasn’t expecting this many drones. We can’t make it through if they’re buzzing all over — they’ll crash right into us and blow our cover. Hopefully, Miro’s taking care of them. We wait.”
Alisa had disconnected earlier, focusing to aid Moira all of her processing power, which had significantly increased after the TACTA upgrade. Even her primary thread “Consciousness” was involved, controlling one of the key units. This was no ordinary skirmish — Miro was sending in his top-tier drones, high-end military-corporate models, each controlled individually, not via swarm sync.
Both Moira and the Linkers’ AI would soon have their hands full, so every bit of extra processing power would be needed.
Minutes passed in tense silence.
“It’s time,” Maksim said curtly.
A feed came from one of the four drones — showing a massive bomb being hoisted from a hidden warehouse near the shattered Factory. The aerial units were moving at full throttle, not giving the Protectorate time to react.
“Max, what is that behemoth?” Dasha asked, eyes glued to the screen.
“That’s an Intelli-Fury-type air-deployed AI-driven thermobaric bomb, also called an aerosol bomb. It was used a lot during the last war,” he explained. “It’s about to enter controlled descent, using its own engine for extra thrust.”
“This thing even has an engine?” Nikola asked, surprised — she wasn’t familiar with this type of ordnance.
“Yep,” Maks nodded. “And I don’t get why the Protectorate isn’t trying to shoot it down yet. Once it locks onto the target, it’ll be much harder to stop. It can even perform evasive maneuvers. Okay, let’s see what happens.”
Seconds ticked by without any Protectorate response as the drones gained altitude.
“Here comes the reaction,” Max said quickly, sharing the feed from another reconnaissance flying unit. “But they’re too slow!”
On the new screen, three wings of Protectorate patrol drones sharply altered course and shot upward. But they didn’t get far.
The renouncers had sent in their reserves. Their best military-corporate units, launched via high-speed catapults from a nearby warehouse, engaged. Miro had anticipated artillery strikes and the destruction of his territory, so he had preemptively moved his bombs and drones out of harm’s way.
The Earth-side combat machines opened fire with high-speed autocannons, forcing the Protectorate drones into a fast-paced positional battle. The invaders retaliated with laser shooting and guided micromissiles.
Both sides’ agile machines, moving at inhuman speeds, began their deadly dance, darting and diving through the air. Tracer rounds from the rebels’ warfare lit up the pre-dawn sky, creating a chaotic but dazzling spectacle of aerial clash.
“The protes are sending more drones,” Nikola said tensely, watching the screens. “Looks like they know what’s up!”
Suddenly, new targets appeared on the tactical map Moira was generating for them using data from the remaining airborne units. The Protectorate had launched anti-air missiles, each one speeding toward Miro’s bomb at supersonic velocity.
“Missiles incoming!” Max shouted, focused completely on the impending collision.
But by then, Miro’s bomb had already entered its boost phase. A fiery trail streaked behind it as it roared toward the ground at breakneck speed. The Protectorate’s missiles, programmed to target standard ballistic threats, missed. The entire salvo failed to adjust to the bomb’s erratic maneuvers.
“Holy shit! Yes!” the guy jumped up, nearly hitting his head on the truck’s ceiling. “It worked!”
Then everything happened too fast to fully register.
The bomb closed in on its target. Under pressure, explosive gas was dispersed, while micro-drones were ejected to act as detonators. In mere fractions of a second, the configuration and density of the gas cloud met the pre-set parameters, and the command “detonate” was given.
What followed was a massive, directed explosion, tearing precisely through the base of the Watch Tower.
In the next moment, a colossal fireball erupted in the sky, lighting up the area like it was midday.
The blast was so powerful that it shredded the outer armored layers of the Tower, seriously compromising its structural integrity and overloading its defense systems. Somehow, it didn’t collapse, but the upper sections began to lean, and equipment on various platforms exploded from internal overheating. Radar systems and gun emplacements were torn from their mounts and crashed to the ground, sending up clouds of dust and sparks.
At that moment, six more groups of renouncers’ drones took to the sky, each carrying another bomb. The Protectorate could no longer ignore this provocation. Almost all the aerial units around the perimeter of the Wall’s construction site went into afterburner, rushing toward the now-destroyed Factory — the Protectorate couldn’t let the insolent rebels obliterate everything around them.
Forced to react, they pulled in nearly all available airborne forces to the Factory, unsure how many bombs or other weapons the renegades might have left.
Max, on a high of adrenaline and disbelief, grabbed both Dasha and Nikola at once in a tight embrace.
“Girls, I can’t believe it! It worked! It fucking worked! Miro only had one bomb this powerful; the rest are much weaker. But the Protectorate took the bait and sent almost all their drones to intercept. This is our chance — the way is clear, let’s get the hell out of here!”