Inside the Lab Sector, the red glow of the energy dome cast everything in a hellish light.
"What the hell is that?!" Zopi yelled, slamming a Plasmagheist soldier against a wall.
Taran looked up, a grimace on his face. "That's our deadline. He's locked us in. Ron, get that final valve turned now!"
The team fought with renewed desperation. They were no longer just securing an objective; they were fighting for a way out of a tomb.
---
Underground – The Sewers
The air in the sewers was thick and cold. Rue led the way, with a sullen Zev trailing behind.
"We just left them while they are fighting " Rue muttered, her voice echoing in the damp tunnel.
"You didn't even tell anyone we were splitting off."
Zev's guilt finally boiled over.
"I'm not gonna stand there and get blown to pieces for a stupid plan that's clearly falling apart! This isn't what I signed up for, Rue. We're not soldiers like Taran or Netoshka."
Rue spun around, her eyes flashing with anger. "We're Inferius. The best of the best, the most wanted Terrorist group in the world. That's all that matters out here. If we bail now, we're not just cowards—we're dead weight. We're alone."
A soft, lantern light pierced the gloom ahead. Figures emerged from a side passage: Genrihk, his necromancer's staff clicking on the stone, followed by the silent Cirke, Serah, and Battery.
Genrihk's pale eyes assessed them.
"You two look like you've seen a ghost. Or perhaps made a poor decision."
"We thought we were the only ones down here," Zev stammered.
Ginny, leaning against a wall and exhaling a plume of smoke, cut in.
"Welcome to the real party. We're heading for the old rail tunnels. Lucretia's orders. There's a VTOL transport, call-sign 'Bloodhawk,' prepped at a hidden turbine station. It's our only exfil now."
Rue looked from Ginny to Zev, a new resolve hardening her features.
"We go with them. We regroup, we get that transport, and we come back for our team. We don't leave them in that cage."
After a tense moment, Zev nodded.
"Fine. But we're coming back. I'm not running forever like a coward."
---
Aboveground – The Killing Field
Netoshka wove through the ruins of the outer town, a speck of black against the crimson dome. Plasmageist descended like a vengeful god, the ground cracking under his ethereal presence.
"Your blood will be the catalyst for a new world, Aberration!"
"You recycle your lines more than your failed experiments," Netoshka shot back, her body screaming in protest. She was bruised, bleeding, and running on fumes. She rolled under a collapsing scaffold, using the debris as cover from a storm of red lightning.
Her comms crackled. Taran's voice was a lifeline. "The trap is primed! We're ready! Just get him to the main entrance! Do you copy?"
Netoshka dodged another blast, her glitching field sputtering weakly. "I'm working on it!" she yelled, pouring on the last of her speed.
She led him on a final, desperate sprint, a deadly parade of two through the streets of Grimshire. Above, below, and in the spaces between, the scattered pieces of Inferius Squad moved against impossible odds. They were broken, bleeding, and hunted, but the mission was still alive. And so were they.