PolTech-IV Innovation Park, August 18, 2049, 14:13 PM

  //SYSTEM

  #Team status report

  Nikola Kowalski

  Damage Diagnostics:

  * Combat jump boosters are fully depleted; executed emergency ejection of used modules.

  * Right cyber-arm: critical overheating and severe damage to the power lines; only minimal mobility remains. Further damage may trigger automatic limb shutdown to protect the right shoulder connector.

  * “Berserker Commando” – class combat suit: significant damage on chestplate and multiple armor plates — replacement required. All control systems require inspection and a full recalibration post-repair.

  Side effect of Synergy: nausea, weakness, severe headache, blurred vision. Consciousness stable.

  Medical module response:

  * Administered a combination of medical drugs to counteract the negative effects from Synergy.

  * ‘Overdrive’ and ‘Berserk’ modes are locked. Cyber-limb speed reduced by 30%. Cyber-core switched to ‘Safe Mode.’

  * Medical intervention and technical servicing recommended.

  Daria Vasilevskaya

  Combat damage: no physical injuries, armor intact.

  Side effect of Synergy: uncontrollable panic attack, escalating into a hysterical episode.

  Medical module response: sedative and sleeping agent administered automatically; subject placed in a monitored, peaceful sleep.

  Maksim Chernykh

  Combat damage: no physical injuries, armor intact. Overall fatigue: 86% (Warning! Critical level!).

  Side effect of Synergy: severe dizziness, partial coordination issues.

  Medical module response: administered a combination of medical drugs to counteract the side effects of Synergy, along with a stimulant to sustain alertness.

  Alisa Chernykh

  Current status: no physical injuries, armor intact, stable condition. Special Energy reserve: 18.346%.

  Side effect of Synergy: not detected.

  All told, the whole team got pretty roughed up, but considering the enemy’s caliber, it could’ve been a lot worse. Most importantly, it was over, and the Nest Guardian was definitely dead.

  Nikola was basically functional, though she barely stayed on her feet and her hardware had overheated like crazy. It got so bad that her systems were pushing their cooling to the limit, trying to vent the excess heat. Luckily, her cyber-suit had been designed for that.

  Redhead stepped aside so she wouldn’t bother anyone. She stood there, wobbling a bit, while blasts of scorching air escaped through the wide-open radiator vents amid the roar of cooling fans.

  Damn… that right arm was probably a goner. There was even a warning in her interface saying that if it took any more damage, it would be automatically ejected to avoid critical harm to the shoulder connector. Honestly, that poor limb barely moved now, and the damage display was so lit up in red that ditching it might be easier than trying to fix it.

  Nikola cautiously tried wiggling her “right front paw,” which apparently proved to be the last straw — the single remaining power line on her diagnostics flared bright red. A short, piercing beep sounded, and a “Right Arm Emergency Detach” mediaglyph flickered into view.

  Because Nika was still jacked into her combat suit, the entire procedure was fully synchronized with it. The suit handled the ejection of the damaged limb after it disconnected from the body, and also jettisoned its own “external arm plating”.

  It all happened in a flash.

  With an almost instant unlock of the retention pins, and a small piston sharply shoved her lifeless arm a couple of dozen centimeters away from her body. The metal limb, no longer tethered by power or sensory cables, thumped onto the concrete floor along with the suit’s sleeve, clattering as it rolled aside.

  Redhead just gave an annoyed snort and, hobbling to the nearest chunk of concrete, sighed and eased herself down, using her intact left arm for support.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “I’m okay, even if System says it’s serious, and I need to rest up. How’s Dasha?”

  “She had a Synergy crash, went into severe, uncontrollable hysterics, so the med module sedated her,” Alisa replied. “She’ll be under for a couple hours. I can see your vitals on the monitor — just sit tight. I’ll get everything set up and take care of it.”

  Meanwhile, Maksim stepped over and picked Nikola’s arm up off the floor.

  “We’ll head back to Rzeszów and see what can be done.”

  “Thanks,” Nikola exhaled and closed her eyes.

  Sleipnir extended its medical stretcher arms for casualty transport. Maksim carefully lifted Dasha onto them, securing her in place with straps and clamps. Meanwhile, Nikola, limping and swaying, forced herself to make it over on her own.

  Alisa readied the medical bot to tend to Redhead. At the same time, she launched all recon and combat drones, including reserve “Hornets.” The fight might be over, but the PolTech park was huge — better confirm that any remaining creatures didn’t set up new ambushes. More importantly, she needed to make sure nothing on the scale of that “Scorpion” was still running around.

  Most of the drones fanned out across the area, patrolling the roads and doing flyovers of the park’s numerous buildings and facilities. The rest headed to scout the destroyed Nest and the surrounding chambers.

  Ten minutes later, with distant gunfire echoing in the background, a situation report popped up in their augmented reality feed.

  //SYSTEM

  #Report on the situation:

  The Nest Guardian has been destroyed; incubator development is halted.

  Numerous smaller shaiszu specimens have been detected throughout the tech hub territory, each with a danger rating no higher than 2-A. All units have lost centralized control and are now roaming aimlessly.

  Drones have been switched to automatic search-and-destroy mode to eliminate any remaining threats.

  The Accelion Labs warehouses and production facilities were unharmed during the battle; no shaiszu were detected within the building.

  A survey of the remaining structures and facilities on site is ongoing.

  “Well, shall we call this mission done?” Maksim closed the System report and glanced over at Redhead, who was currently being tended to by Alisa and a VitaGuard M3 mobile medical bot.

  “Sure,” Nikola gave a slow nod. “We’re done fighting, but we got the job done. The drones can mop up the small fry or let Rzeszów’s people handle the rest of this mess.”

  “Max, call the City,” his sister agreed. “By the time they arrive, the drones will have finished. We’ll have a bit of time to poke around the warehouses and through Accelion Labs’ servers.”

  @Call, Free Rzeszów, contact line, mission ID transferred.

  @Caller: Maksim Chernykh speaking, the Ghosts of the Future clan. The main goal is completed, the object is under control. We are clearing the territory of the remaining Shaiszu. Expecting a battle group of the City.

  They didn’t wait long for an answer. A calm, confident dispatcher’s voice thanked them for the notification and confirmed that a “joint rapid-response detachment” was gearing up to deploy. Estimated arrival: two and a half hours.

  “Two hours to crash, nice,” Nikola muttered, shutting her tired eyes. “Just enough to pull myself together, yeah.”

  “Exactly,” Maksim said with a grin. “Just don’t pass out for good, or you’ll miss all the fun.”

  “Relax, I’ll be fine. Just need a quick breather,” Redhead said confidently – though that didn’t stop her from dozing off within minutes…

  The ‘patients’ were carried outside and settled in a cozy patch of shade, breathing in fresh air, while safely covered by a Hurricane and three wings of strike drones –five Hornets in each.

  Before leaving the battlefield, Maksim took Big One, the flamethrower-dog, plus five Hornets for protection, and jogged through the fight zone and adjacent rooms. He had a solid reason: out of the four of their team, two and a half were still ‘organics.’ Meanwhile, these warehouses — despite the carnage, fires, flooding, and havoc — held plenty of prime goods: vitamin-mineral blends, extreme-sports supplements, protein concentrates.

  Some of the containers and barrels were still intact. The City had no claim on the food supplies — meaning they were fair game. All they’d have to do later was pay the resource tax; the rest would belong to the clan. Never hurts to have a stockpile, and if any of it turned out to be surplus, the stuff was good quality and easy to sell.

  Under mission terms, all AI-related equipment would belong to the City. The Ghosts got priority purchase rights at a special price — but only after Rzeszów cart away the hardware, inspect it and put it up for auction.

  So, while Nika and Dasha dozed off, healing up, and his sister got all giddy ripping the data out of Accelion Labs’ servers, Maksim turned into a one-man loading crew. He pulled up both pickups and the truck, did some calculations for the cargo space freed up by all the drones lost in combat, and then got to work hauling crates.

  The plan was simple: pack every cubic meter with sports nutrition and workout pharma. Fortunately, he knew exactly how to pick the good stuff from the warehouse inventory.

  Three hours later, by the time the sun was sliding into late afternoon and hinting at evening, the Rzeszów convoy rolled in. A string of armored trucks bristling with turret guns, heavy assault drones circling overhead, “Boxer” combat vehicles, and the “Wild Cats” cyborg squad — quite the formidable show of force.

  Tearing himself away from the loot-collection, Maksim called for Alisa, and they headed over to greet them.

  The command and control vehicle screeched to a halt on a small open lot near the entrance. A door swung open, and a tall man in TACTA combat armor with a blue-and-white crest on his chest jumped onto the sun-scorched asphalt. His visor, much like Alisa’s and Maksim’s, was considerately flipped up.

  “Familiar faces,” Maksim chuckled.

  “Mm-hmm,” his sister nodded.

  The man strode over confidently.

  “Joint Rapid Response Unit, Rzeszów-Four. Captain Rafal Murawski,” he introduced himself, raising a clenched right fist in greeting. “Good to see you and your team again, Pan Maksim.”

  Max smiled and returned the fist bump, the standard battlefield greeting. They’d crossed paths before, back at the tail end of the “Helios” mission, when the Ghosts first proved their worth and earned the right to be called an independent TACTA partner combat group.

  “Maksim Chernykh, Ghosts of the Future,” he said. “Likewise, Captain Rafal. Mission complete: the Nest Guardian’s down, all remaining shaiszu neutralized. The target warehouses and production facilities are under control.”

  “Alisa Chernykh, Ghosts of the Future,” the ex-android echoed the greeting. “I’ve put together an overall analysis on Accelion Labs’ warehouses for the City — already sent it to our coordinator. Both the labs and storage facilities are intact, untouched by the shaiszu. Oh, and I hacked their security system. Figured you might find that useful.”

  “Outstanding work, Ghosts. It’s always a damn pleasure doing business with you. My team will handle the rest. Final mission results and payment will be sorted out by tomorrow. Pan Maksim, you already know the Colonel wants to see you tomorrow, 4:20 PM?”

  “Yeah, I saw the message. I confirmed it.”

  “Excellent,” Murawski said with a smile. “If you need it, I’m authorized to give you part of the mission payment right now as an advance. I can send four hundred thousand grants, fully cleared with the Colonel, and the City’s on board with it.”

  “Hard to say no to that,” the Ghosts’ leader answered without hesitation. They still had a laundry list of tasks to knock out before tomorrow’s big System rollout — payment for the new connections wouldn’t arrive until the job was officially done, so every grant helped.

  Maksim completed the necessary formalities, pressing his thumb on the tablet’s sensor pad to confirm receipt of the partial payout. Captain Murawski headed off to direct City troops and engineers, while the Chernykh siblings returned to their pickups and truck.

  Dasha was still asleep, but Nikola had just woken up and was even trying to stand, bracing herself with her one remaining arm.

  “Easy there, Redhead,” Max called out the second he noticed. “No more heroics. We just handed the mission off; I’ve packed the trucks with all the goodies we need. Next, we’ll pick up any surviving drones and roll out. So chill and pull yourself together. We’ve got it covered.”

  “Nika, we also snagged an advance of four hundred thousand grants,” Alisa added. “Plus, we had a decent chunk left in our account. We’ll figure out what to do about your cyber-limbs — repairs, upgrades, or brand-new TACTA devices. Whatever’s best for you, that’s what we’ll do. It’s all good!”

  “Great,” Maksim concluded. “All right, let’s load up, we’re heading back to Rzeszów!”

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