Chapter 159 - Reckoning of Ulut (1)

Far above Ulut...

"Are you sure this is safe?!" Culo shouted over the whistling roar of air rushing past, mixed with the surge of pellets whizzing through the clouds as he steadied himself in the cargo cabin of an Aurtla plane, his cold gloved hands clasping around a supporting rope strung along the sides. He watched as dummy coffin pods were slowly released one by one, the plane sailing far above the clouds with only the peaks of the mountain range visible below.

"Sure thing. Kyle added shock absorbers to the base. Even got a glass window for you to see where you're falling!" Hayden yelled back, rasping her knuckles against a tempered glass slit that was barely a foot wide.

"But I can't control where I'm falling towards, right?"

"Yes, but better to die with eyes wide open. Now get in, you're going with the next wave. I'm running out of pods!" Hayden urged, tugging Culo by his armor over to the nearest open coffin pod. Two other Ghosts working as the crew strapped him in, their instructions barely audible over the din of the Aurtla engines surging in harmonic waves, arcia trace lines running all long the interior.

"Remember, feet first! And try not to get hit!" Hayden leaned over the rim of the coffin, giving Culo a thumbs up.

"HOW?!" Culo's anger was subdued by the sealing of the coffin's door, leaving him with the foot-long slit to see out. He felt the pod lurch forward, hooked onto a chain before being slid out with rapidly increasing speed until he was clear of the cabin, freefalling straight down towards the sea of clouds. The coffin shuddered violently as it was buffeted by the wind streams that blew in all directions, but its weight and inertia kept it steady, falling in a vertical line right into the thick of a massive aerial battle.

Dozens upon dozens of Aurtla fighters swooped in and around the hundreds of similar coffin pods falling through the sky, the Ghost fighters forming a protective layer to prevent Harrison's fighters from getting near the bombers. Culo could see Jaden's squadron fighting at a high altitude, diving in and out of the clouds with the agile mineral ants while gas masks were strapped tightly to the rider's faces, enabling them to breathe properly as they swerved and juked enemy fighters. Swarms of arcia bolts and pellets blasted past in a thunderous flurry, some of the pellets cracking against Culo's coffin pod harmlessly as they lost their kinetic energy to gravity.

He kept his breathing steady, watching the pod descend into the depths of the cloud, only seeing flashes of explosions, fighters sliced apart, and engines erupting, their demise masked by a thick volume of suspended water vapor that swirled past him in a flash. Within seconds, his pod burst out from the clouds, falling towards a city rife with spiraling trails of smoke and burning buildings. Culo watched in horror as he watched one of the dummy pods next to him get shredded by the anti-air emplacements, the pellets ripping the thin pod apart. "Holy shit, I'm going to die!"

[Relax, the dummy pods have less armor than yours - you'll be fine!]

"THEN WHY DIDN'T WE ARMOR THE BOMBERS LIKE THIS AND BE DONE WITH IT?!" Culo roared over the radio.

[Because we need to fly, while you only need to drop! By my estimate, you should be hitting the ground soon.]

Culo's words were stuck in his throat as the air density increased, the pod's vibration intensifying as he fell alongside the face of the mountain, its sharp peaks and glaring crevices zooming past his view before it was finally replaced by Harrison's towering castle flashing past. Culo braced himself as his coffin pod slammed into an unknown building, crashing into wood and stone alike before coming to a jarring halt, his mind dizzy from the landing but still far more intact than he had expected.

He fumbled about the pod, grabbing a repeater that had been strapped down to the side of the pod, unhooking and preparing to disengage the door. He placed his hands against an interior groove, arcia energy triggering a fuse that ticked down before exploding the door forwards violently, Culo leaping out of the pod in one swift motion, repeater ready. He found himself in an evacuated apartment of sorts, the ceiling featuring a large gaping hole from which the pod had crashed through, the daylight streaming through.

Culo moved quickly to a shattered window, checking his corners and peering out onto the street, where he could see a squad of Nest guards already approaching his location. "Division 1, this is Culo, landed in Sector A8. All nearby dropped Ghosts to converge on my location."

Before the Nest squad could reach the foot of the apartment complex Culo was in, Culo propped his repeater up onto the window sill, barrel aimed down right at down and letting loose. The hailstorm of pellets caught the squad off-guard, killing one on the spot while the rest sprinted to cover nearby, some hiding under loose rubble while others hid behind crushed wagons. Culo ducked too as the surviving Nest guards returned fire in his general direction, the pellets embedding themselves in the thin walls.

Culo moved back to the pod, retrieving the packed supplies without. He slung a railgun on his back while strapping a belt of potions and explosive grenades to his waist, preparing to descend the collapsed stairwell. Leaping over crumbling rubble and half-broken steps, Culo made his way down as other landed Ghosts began to report it one by one, all of them starting to group up on his location. The Nest guards were still wary of any potential ambush from the windows, hiding behind cover even as Culo reached the street level. Culo braced himself against a broken wall, using it as his own cover as he inched forward towards the main street, peering out only to earn a suppressing pellet that chipped off his cover.

"Five Nest guards on Sector A8, out on the street behind the wagons," Culo reported.

[Confirmed, commander. Squad D on the opposite side of the street, near the cafe sign.]

Culo peeked out through a small gap, eyeing a neon arctech sign beyond the guards where three Ghosts were waiting, one of them waving his hands at Culo with repeating hand signs. "Three five nine confirmed. I'm at the base of the walls. We pincer in three. Two. One. NOW!"

Culo immediately swung his repeater to bear, poking out from cover to fire at the Nest guards, forcing them to cover. However, their cover was exposed from the back, making them sitting ducks for the three Ghosts. The Ghosts immediately rushed forward, gunning the guards down easily without much resistance. Culo stepped out from cover and joined the three Ghosts, inspecting the Nest guards' equipment. He didn't see anything out of the norm, most of the gear the standard issue that he had been dealing with in Ocra.

"Hey, I was expecting some stronger firepower." One of the Ghosts remarked as he checked a standard-issue Versian rifle over in the guard's hand. "Didn't the boss say there would be some crazy relics in use?"

Culo didn't reply, not that he could when a sudden violent tremor rocked the district, the ground visibly shaking off a layer of loose dust and dirt as an anti-air emplacement fired into the clouds. "If they aren't using any relics, that makes it easier. Our job is to take down as many of the emplacements as possible to let the bombers in - lets move!"

They continued their mission, regrouping with other dropped men until they had formed a two dozen strong group before targeting the nearest emplacement. It was a strange structure like nothing they had seen before, the foundation of the five-story high pillar extending deep below the ground, while it was heavily defended by a platoon of Nest guards who were continuously resupplying the emplacement with pellets. Culo motioned for the two dozen Ghosts under him to spread out, encircling the defenses and launching an all-out assault, Culo using his own railgun to blast open one of the barricades.

The Ghosts struck as swiftly as they could, catching the guards by surprise. Mounted arctech repeaters were taken out while the Ghosts stormed the defense with vigor, easily slaughtering the less armored guards one by one and clearing out the emplacement. The moment the guards were all killed or captured, one of the Ghosts placed an explosive charge at the very base of the pillar, igniting it from a safe distance.

The explosion took out a chunk of the pillar in a dazzling surge of flame, the air rumbling slightly as the five-storey high emplacement began to tilt over, crashing into a nearby building and resting there precariously, loose rocks and rubble dropping onto the street. Culo and his Ghosts did not waste any more time, moving quickly to the next emplacement.

Outside the walls of Ulut, the Versian Army and the Ghosts approached in force, pushing up with armored wagons that bore the brunt of mounted repeaters wielded by the Nest guards. Artillery and mortar were slung overhead, intercepted by lancing green arcia bolts and even some of the anti-air emplacements. The Ghosts tried to launch decoy mortars to weaken the point defense systems, but the wide pellet firing arcs of the emplacements neutralized them easily, forcing Culo to work from within to take them out one by one.

The battle raged for an hour in both the sky and the ground, Ghosts and Nest soldiers clashing for control over the various districts of the outer ring. Unfortunately, the Nest guards were certainly not prepared for the unique strategy of the drop pods, resulting in their chain of command slowly breaking apart. It took another hour before Culo had finally gotten his men to disable or destroy every emplacement on his side of the outer ring. "All thirty emplacements taken down!"

[Thirty emplacements taken down here too! Outer ring cleared - we need to clear the walls!] Lisa's voice came over the radio, her division having cleared the other half of the outer ring as well.

With the emplacements in the outer ring fully destroyed, the walls on the outer ring were now pinned from both the outside and the inside, allowing the Ghosts to storm the walls from inside the city, slaughtering the panicking Nest guards easily. Within a single hour, the main gate of the outer ring was already opened, the bulk of the Ghosts and the Versian forces already charging in, armored wagons rushing up through the devastated buildings to the inner ring.

However, as the first armored wagon raced towards the barricaded gates of the inner ring, a sudden blazing blob of energy shot out from the top of the walls, the blob easily ripping through the wagon like a hot ball of lead melting through ice. The wagon instantly exploded, the arcia fuel ignited by the intense heat, reducing the cabin and its passengers into a smoldering husk and forcing the rest of the army to halt. Culo saw it with his own eyes, recalling the plasma burn mark in the firing range at Tenar. Shit, they have upgraded cannons?

Sure enough, there was a strange-looking relic cannon on the walls, though it didn't seem to be able to fire rapidly, Culo spotted a few crew members frantically running to and fro. "They can't fire that fast, charge the walls and take down the relic cannons!" Culo roared, prompting for the Ghosts to surge ahead, using the buildings as cover as they approached in the inner walls. Yet their approach was stifled by intense firepower, forcing them to take refuge in the half-collapsed buildings nearest to the inner walls, Ghost squads spreading out through the outer ring and taking potshots at the Nest guards at the top of the walls.

Any armored wagon that tried to breach the gates was immediately focused upon by dozens of standard cannons and the relic cannons, preventing the troops from approaching. "Use the railguns, take out the relic cannon now!" Culo ordered, himself aiming his own railgun at the crew of the relic cannon. He fired a bunker buster right at them, the deadly projectile zipping through the air.

Just before the projectile could hit the flinching crew, a sudden bubble of arcia appeared all around the wall, a sort of defensive shield that caused the projectile to slow down tremendously as if it had entered a ballistic gel. The projectile clattered to the ground harmlessly, the Nest guard's morale rising significantly as they let out a cheer of relief. The fighting only intensified all along the wall, the Ghosts and Versian soldiers starting to take more casualties.

Despite the presence of the bubble shield, small pellets could still make it through, the shield only stopping the larger projectiles. Ghost and Nest soldiers traded suppressing fire, ducking and cowering behind stones that were pockmarked with pellet holes. Culo tried to figure out the source of the shield, but he couldn't tell how to disable it. "Hit the shield with a salvo! Now!" Culo grasped at every possible solution, getting all the Ghost squads to fire their railguns in tandem.

Unfortunately, none of the projectiles had the desired effect, dropping harmlessly before they could reach their intended targets. "Lisa, any ideas?"

[Not that I know of. If only we could get behind the walls...]

"By dropping?"

[We're out of pods already, we dropped in the outer ring to reduce potential casualties!]

"Dammit." Culo glanced around the battlefield from his position, spotting a crumbling seven-story building near the inner walls that was on the verge of collapse. He sprinted up to a nearby Ghost squad, patting them on the shoulder. "Over there, let's use the building and smash it against the shield!"

The squad and Culo flitered through the back streets, running to the base of the building and locating the foundation. With a well placed explosive charge, the building creaked forward from the force, the seven stories falling with gravity while frightened Nest guards scampered out of range. The bubble shield activated again, wrapping around the building and slowing its force. It landed gently against the walls, the main structure of the building still intact.

"NOW! ALL GHOSTS NEARBY, CHARGE!" Culo yelled at the top of his lungs, motioning for the squads to charge up the makeshift ramp that allowed them to scale the walls easily. The Ghosts clambered through the slanted building, carving holes through the various floors while Nest guards also swarmed in from the top, the firefight in the middle intense. Other Ghosts scaled from the top, only to be targeted by other Nest guards and mounted repeater, exposed too much on the surface.

Culo could already feel his entire back drenched in sweat clinging to the cold metal of his armor as he pushed up the building with his division, scaling on rickety furniture and abandoned paintings, all while his eyes were continuously looking up for the sign of a Nest guard peeking out. Despite the makeshift bridge, it was nearly impossible to push through, not without another distraction.

On the other side of the outer ring, Lisa had also followed suit, collapsing two more buildings and creating more battlefronts, but it was still far from enough. Artillery and mortar fire were still being hindered by the bubble shield, rendering it nigh impossible. Culo was still racking his brains for solutions when he saw a lone armored man step up to the gate, undeterred by the suppressing fire that was aimed at him. Only a single spear in his hand traced along the rugged road leading to the gate, the man's eyes locked on the relic cannon at the top of the walls. Kyle!

Electromagnetic arcs leaped across the conduits of the relic cannon as it fired at Kyle, yet Kyle barely shifted, only using the acceleration engravings on the side of his spear to shift him to the sight. The blob of plasma sizzled past harmlessly, dissipating on the floor and turning whatever was there into a smoldering pile of ash. Breaking into a sprint, Kyle charged towards the gate alone, the armor fending off the small arms fire while he easily dodged the incoming cannon fire like it was nothing. He pulled his spear arm back, preparing to thrust as the shaft of the spear lit up like a sun, the crystals all glistening with dazzling brilliance before cracking and being ejected out of the spear.

With a roar, Kyle slammed the spear as hard as he could toward the gate, forcing the bubble shield to appear once more to slow him down. Instead of his spear's thrusting speed being reduced, cracks along the shield began to appear instead, fanning out like a spiderweb that arced all along the length of the wall. Kyle flicked his spear back, twirling it into a ready state as he took one step backward from the bubble shield.

The cracks intensified in number along the shield, before a sudden ball as intense as the sun erupted at the spot where the spear had hit the shield, fully shattering the shield into a billion fragments. The explosion blew the very foundation of the wall's gate off the ground, the set stone pillars disintegrating from the resulting shockwave. The tremor was felt all the way through the city, reaching even the logistical supply wagons waiting outside the city, the grass in the open field flitting violently.

Culo could barely see anything in the resulting cloud of soot and dust that wafted up from the immense blast, yet he knew for sure that the gate was no longer intact. True enough, as the smoke settled, all that was left of the gate was a pile of ruined stones, mangled Nest guard bodies and a wide open street leading straight into Harrison's castle.

"Forward," Kyle spoke clearly into his own radio, Spear of Defiance aimed at Harrison's castle as the invigorated Ghosts charged forward, their confidence resting in the sheer display of strength that Kyle had shown off. Culo immediately exited the building he was trying to scale, regrouping with Kyle and Lisa in the middle.

"I will attack Harrison head-on. You two are to find Jakub and bring him to me. Any other scientist or research material is to be captured alive as well. Understood?" Kyle ordered as he pulled out replacement crystals from a slot in his exosuit armor, refilling the discharged slots in the Spear of Defiance.

"Yes, sir, we'll focus on the research comple-" Lisa's words were interrupted as a sudden unison of screams and shouts erupted from the first Ghosts charging into the inner city.

"Goddess alive, what the hell is that?!" A Ghost exclaimed as he watched a disfigured man step out from between buildings, the man's head dangling by the side while the arms were twisted into deformed spiky tentacles. Before anyone could react, the man suddenly lunged forward, his chest splitting apart to reveal a row of teeth that emitted a ghastly scream. The spiky tentacles slammed into the first Ghost with the force of a swinging tree, sending the Ghost crashing into a wall.

Kyle's face grew stern as he watched more and more of the transformed humans stepped out, each of them featuring their own unique defects. Lisa and Culo both knew what they had to do, but they were still rooted to the spot, their minds still processing the reality of what was seen beyond them.

"Find Jakub. NOW!" Kyle barked, shaking the both of them out of their stupor. "I'll handle them easily here. Sasha, kill them!"

The Ghosts quickly recovered from the initial shock, fighting back against the new enemies. Surprisingly, the transformed humans were able to work alongside the surviving Nest guards, making it even more difficult for the Ghosts to push through. Sasha and Kyle worked to clear a path for Lisa and Culo, the latter pair taking three dozen Ghosts to storm right up to the research complex next to Harrison's castle. However, the sloped street that led up there was already barricaded by makeshift fortifications - sandbags and wooden palisades guarded by Nest guards armed to the teeth.

The fighting was brutal, Culo fighting tooth and nail through narrow streets and collapsed archways, pushing hard against heavy resistance as transformed humans lashed out from seemingly every direction. Pellets were hardly enough to stem the incoming tide, forcing Culo to expend railgun shots one after the other. The gruesome nature of the transformation drove fear into the hearts of the attacking Ghosts, but their training and experience of war kicked into overdrive, helping to stay focused and alert.

Culo ducked under cover as a spiked tentacle lashed out, his railgun swiveling upwards to fire a deadly bunker buster at the attacking transformed human, the explosion carving a gaping hole in the chest and incinerating it from within. Flames and pellets surged all over, the battle intensifying as more and more Ghosts joined the push, forcing the Nest guards and transforming humans back. Thankfully, the transformed humans had no sense of strategy, mindlessly charging the well-trained formations of the Ghosts who laid down covering fire, reducing casualties. Bit by bit they fought for every inch of ground, clawing their way up to the research complex slowly through withering barrages sent from high above the sloping streets.

The bodies of dead Ghosts slid down the slopes while Culo gritted his teeth, his mind running in overdrive as he shot down entrenched repeater fortifications one after the other, focused solely on the goal already now in sight - the research complex. He could see the same distinctive glass dome, daylight reflecting off its transparent panels while the path there was blocked by shrieking transformed humans and grim-faced Nest guards. "PUSH! We're almost there!" Culo bellowed with all his might, picking up a broken wagon door and using it as a temporary shield, charging forward. The pellets immediately converged on him, rattling the door and turning his arm numb, while his thighs continued to scale the uneven cobblestone street, each step causing his muscles to cry out for rest.

The sight of their own division commander leading the charge caused a surge in morale among the supporting Ghosts, a rallying cry from them in unison shocking the defending Nest guards. A hailstorm of pellets was exchanged in all directions, Culo leading the charge as he held the temporary shield firmly with one arm, the other wielding a repeater and firing at anything that got too close. The repeater barrel glowed red hot as the crystal embedded began to disintegrate, Culo overcharging the pellets to blow off the limbs of any transformed humans who got too close.

As soon as he reached the top of the sloped street, he hurled the temporary shield at the mounted repeater, the door slamming into the Nest guard operator while he clambered over the barricades, pulling out a knife from his belt and slashing away furiously at the nearest Nest guard. The slice found a Nest guard's neck, the serrated blade gouging through the tendons and severing the major arteries as blood spurted out. Culo didn't stand around idly, immediately rolling out of the way as other Nest guards tried to aim at him.

With alacrity, Culo arm-locked a stunned Nest guard, using him as a human shield to soak the incoming pellets while he wrestled for the repeater from the guard's hand, snapping his wrist. As the guard was pierced by dozens of pellets, Culo returned fire with the captured repeater, his shots precise and finding each of their heads one by one. More Nest guards poured out from the research complex, trying to reclaim control of the makeshift fortifications protecting the gate, but the Ghosts were already scaling the other fortifications, pushing the Nest guards back.

"Seal the gate! Hold them off!" A Nest guard captain yelled, motioning for more metal barricades to shore up the defences of the research complex's compound. Yet his orders were far too late, a trio of railgun projectiles blowing through the fences and grills of the front gate, the shockwave sending multiple Nest guards flying in all directions. Without hesitation, the Ghosts stormed in with courage, annihilating the stunned Nest guards and chasing the survivors who began to flee into the glass domes.

"Culo! We need to find Jakub!" Lisa ran up, waving at Culo, who nodded back in response.

"Sweep the whole compound - check every glass dome!" Culo ordered, motioning for the other veteran Ghosts to fan out. Some took out explosive charges, blowing out more breach holes in the glass dome to prevent being funneled. However, the defenders had the advantage, occupying the tight spaces inside each of the domes and gunning down anything that tried to enter the breach points. While the Ghosts fought to enter the domes, Culo and Lisa were already running ahead with a squad of Ghosts, searching for the department that Jakub would be in.

"There, chemicals!" Lisa motioned to a sign plastered on one of the glass domes further back in the research compound, the entrance to it seemingly undefended. Instead of entering through the front door immediately, Culo gestured for the squad to spread out, placing four explosive breaches on the exterior glass walls.

"Enter in three. Two. One - NOW!" Culo instinctively flinched from the explosive breaches blowing out and shattering the glass into a thousand million fragments in a waterfall. The Ghosts burst into the dome before the fragments had even finished clattering onto the ground, only to find the research dome entirely vacant, devoid of any researchers nor any guards. "Fuck, did we miss them again?!"

"No, they just left!" Lisa pointed to the personal belongings of scientists still on the desks, their papers and research work clearly abandoned in haste. "They have to be nearby."

"Search the whole dome!" Culo barked at the other Ghosts while he and Lisa exchanged a knowing look, heading deeper into the dome. They immediately spotted a staircase leading deeper underground, a simple label above stating where the experimental labs were. The two descended into the depths of the research labs, navigating the dark and tight hallways that only had the red glow of emergency arctech lighting. Activating their flashlights, they could see a cramped trail of countless footprints heading down the corridor. Rooms upon rooms of strange chemical mixtures and gas tanks were unoccupied, their doors unsealed as Culo and Lisa continued to search for signs of life.

As they turned a corner at the end of the hallway, they suddenly spotted a lone armored human slumped against the ground, the head lolling to one side in a clear state of unconsciousness. Lisa was about to approach, but Culo held her back. "That's exosuit armor! Don't forget what we saw. Everything with caution. Shoot first - ask questions later."

Lisa nodded with understanding, raising her repeater to target the legs. Just as her finger was about to pull the trigger, the armored human suddenly lurched forward, crawling on all fours like a demonic spider toward Lisa. Culo immediately fired, but the pellets harmlessly ricochetted off the dense armor. Lisa fired too, but it was far too late, her leg being grabbed by the spider-like human.

Without much effort, the armored human clasped both hands onto Lisa's captive leg and swung her against the hallway, her back smashing into the concrete underground wall with a violent shudder. Lisa was too disorientated to react, but Culo immediately charged forward, jamming his repeater and firing pellets into the seams of the armor around the armored human's neck. The pellets drilled into the flesh, bursting out the other side of the body to leave dents in the armor from within. Despite the clearly lethal damage, the armored human continued to swing Lisa, this time slamming her into Culo, the both of them tumbling into a mess in the collapsed hallway.

Culo grunted as he felt the wind knocked out of his chest, collapsing onto the floor while Lisa rolled away and recovered into a fighting posture just as the armored human tried to stomp on her. Drawing an arctech knife from her belt, the engravings glistened blue as Lisa lunged straight at the armored human. She dropped down and slid on the floor of the dark hallway, narrowly dodging a swipe from the armored human's hand while performing a spinning slash, the arctech blade sparking against the exosuit armor as blood gushed out from the ankles.

Lisa half expected the armored human to keel over in pain, but instead, the armored human attempted to dash towards her, only to snap his ankles at a wretched angle, causing him to topple over. Despite the brutal fall, the armored human still tried to claw his way toward Lisa, his bloodshot eyes hellbent on killing her. "What the fuck is wrong with this guy?" Lisa exclaimed in shock.

The armored human tried to reach out one last time, only to have its head stomped into the ground by Culo, Culo jamming the barrel into the back of the helmet and firing with abandon. The armored human's body writhed as pellet after pellet turned its head into a sickening sludge of blood, brain matter and flesh that oozed out from the gaps. Culo and Lisa heaved and panted, trying to catch their breath while Culo quickly radioed the other Ghosts. "I need two squads in the basement at the ‘Chemicals’ department now. Project Guryi discovered!"

Within minutes, the Ghosts were already flooding the hallway, their flashlights illuminating the cramped hallway as some of them shuddered at the mutilated corpse of the armored human. The armor was clearly a tier above theirs, being far more dense and heavier. Two of the Ghosts tried to drag the corpse out back to the ground floor, their arms struggling under the sheer weight. "How can one man even move with this much armor?"

"Find the shelter, quickl-" Culo was about to order the rest when he suddenly spotted a lone scientist standing at the very far end of the hallway, flanked by two other armored humans. The scientist wore an strange gauntlet that contrasted with his lab coat, but Culo was far more concerned with the scientist's face, his eyes widening in recognition. "JAKUB!"

The scientist was startled. ".... Culo?"

Culo edged his way to the front of the Ghosts, who all had their repeaters raised at Jakub, ready to fire at a moment's notice. Culo stepped forward carefully, placing his rifle down and removing his helmet to show himself to his brother. "Jakub, finally! We're here to rescue you!"

"Rescue... me...?" Jakub wore a shocked expression on his face, his eyes darting back and forth as if he were trying to figure out if this was an illusion or not.

"Yes, Lisa told me you were in Tenar. I tried to find you, but I heard you were kidnapped by Harrison Industries. We can get you out!" Culo lied through his teeth, motioning for Lisa to join him, Lisa also doing the same and revealing her face.

"Jakub, we can go home now, the battle will be over soon!" Lisa chimed in, wearing a fake smile. Deep inside, the two of them knew Jakub was behind the monstrosties and the armored human, but they played along, trying to talk Jakub down.

"Go home...? Go home to where?" Jakub mumbled. "Go home to the wreck that is our village? The refugee camp in Ocra? The famine-stricken Tenar?"

"Brother, the war will be over soon. There's no need to fight anymore." Culo took one step forward, only for Jakub to yell and raise his gauntlet, aiming at them head-on.

"No need to fight? No NEED TO FIGHT?! Tell me you're not with the Ghosts, Culo. How could you join them?" Jakub shouted at the top of his lungs. "Are you working with them? Or are you also captured by them?"

"The Ghosts are working to liberate Versia!" Lisa tried to assuage Jakub, taking one step forward too only for Jakub to aim his gauntlet at them as well.

"Liberate Versia? You're the ones who brought Versia to ruin! I worked my heart out to climb the ladder, to find a way for you, Lisa. For you and the other villagers to get a refugee slot in Tenar! Instead the Ghosts only made the situation worse! They ruined the plan, they ruined the plan!"

"The other villagers are safe, they are doing fine." Culo lied again. In truth, the villagers were still left in Ocra, no doubt still suffering from the fallout of the siege. He didn't do much with them, even though he had originally accepted Kyle's offer so that he could enrich them. However, after the betrayal, Culo barely even put them into consideration, only caring for Wez and Lisa.

"Jakub, we don't have to fight. We're all on the same side, nobody needs to get hurt." Lisa spoke in a calm and gentle tone, but it only enraged Jakub further.

"Nobody needs to get hurt? THEN WHY DID THE GHOSTS KILL LUCY? WHY DID THEY KILL BONI? They were minutes away from evacuating to safety, but you killed them! YOU!"

Culo and Lisa were taken aback by the revelation and the accusation, while Jakub went on a rage-filled rant. "I spent months working for Harrison, trying to forge a path. And just when I was close to fulfilling everything, when I was THIS CLOSE TO SAFETY, THE GHOSTS RUINED IT ALL! Where the hell is your ring, Culo? You know, the one that our parents left us before they died?"

Culo stiffened up, recalling the ring that had been stolen from him by the other union members. He never had the chance to find it again, but he knew saying all of that to Jakub was useless now.

"Guess you didn't really care about them after all." Jakub continued. "You went to Raktor, pretending like you were working for us. I didn't even see a single rakel come back. Did you pawn the ring off to feed your vices? At least I've been here doing real work that helps people!"

"Harrison has been using you, Jakub! Don't you see what you have been doing? You used to be a village arctech technician, the one everyone would go to for help with their farming tools!" Lisa tried to convince Jakub. "Now you're experimenting on humans, using them as weapons of war. Have you seen what the humans have been transformed into? Don't do this, Jakub!"

"They? They can't even be considered humans! Mere slouches, homeless beggars content to ride on the coattails of those who strive for greatness, stealing and mugging, unable to rationalize the concept of hard work. Harrison and I will make it right - only those who are deserving shall be at the top. And for those who are useless... I will make them more useful!" Jakub yelled. "And how can you even doubt me, Lisa, after everything I've done for you? Did you even stop to think why Culo was with the Ghosts?"

Lisa opened her mouth to retort, but she realized she hadn't heard why Culo was with the Ghosts. Before she could ask anything, Culo took one step further, his hands still raised out in surrender. That single step was enough for the strange armored humans behind Jakub to raise their hands into a fighting stance.

"You are no longer my brother, Culo. You have joined the weak, killing those who truly wanted to see Versia stronger, to see Versia better. Now surrender. Or my subjects will slaughter you!" Jakub warned.

"JAKUB!" Lisa shouted, grasping at straws while Culo gave a hand sign to the Ghosts behind, railguns being brought to the front to bear. "Think of all the times we've spent together at the village! Our childhood, years together! Please, for our sake, you don't have to do this!"

"Memories and nostalgia are mere burdens to the progress of science. You never once pushed me to be who I truly am, nor did you ever recognize my true skill. But Harrison does, Harrison knows just what I am capable of. And now you too will know!" Jakub glared with fury in his eyes. "Kill them all."

The two subjects leaped forward in the blink of an eye, but the Ghosts were prepared, firing two railguns at the subjects at point-blank range. The force of the shockwave rippled through the cramped hallway, blowing everyone backward as the two subjects were thrown off their feet while the others were left with ears ringing. The armor on the subjects was blackened by the intense heat, while Jakub was slammed back into the wall, hitting his head and falling unconscious.

Culo ignored the dizziness of his head, pulling up his own railgun to aim at the collapsed subjects who were struggling to stand up. Before they could return to a standing posture, Culo fired again, the bunker buster this time penetrating the weakened armor and blowing up the subject from within in a sizzling shower of hot blood and meat. "Capture him, now!"

The Ghosts immediately surged forward, intent on suppressing the last remaining subject while Jakub groaned on the ground. Just as Culo rushed to restrain Jakub before he could stand up, he noticed a sudden ripple from the corner of his eye, an arcia-empowered fist striking him right on the cheek and sending him sprawling. The world shook violently as he crashed against the hallway, his vision flickering as the other Ghosts were all also hit by a rapidly teleporting fist, small portals opening right next to them and knocking them out cold. Culo tried to stagger to his feet, but he could barely move, the shock too intense. He could only watch as a human-size rift tore the space apart next to Jakub, two hands lunging out and yanking Jakub's unconscious body through the rift. The shimmering ripple disappeared as fast as it had appeared, leaving only the groaning Ghosts all rolling on the floor.

It took a few minutes for Culo to recover his senses before he finally managed to activate his radio. "Reporting in, we lost Jakub! There's a mage on the battlefield. He can teleport!"