The air in Access Tunnel Theta-9 was thick with the stench of discharged energy weapons and fear.
Emergency lights cast a hellish red glow on the scene of brutal, efficient UGF assault.
Heavy plasteel barricades, once part of the Crows' defensive network, were twisted, smoking ruins.
The UGF wasn't just knocking; they were kicking the door down with explosive charges and plasma cutters.
Kai moved like a phantom through the chaos, his Stealth Core rendering him a blur, directing his Crows with curt hand signals and clipped comms commands.
They were outnumbered, outgunned. UGF Enforcers, disciplined and heavily armed, pushed relentlessly forward, their white armor stark against the grime of the Warrens.
Alex, Voss, and Lena were positioned further back, at a fallback chokepoint Kai had designated.
Voss was tense, her energy pistol held ready. Lena, eyes closed in concentration, her Mind Core pulsing erratically, relayed UGF movements.
"Three more hostiles, heavy armor, advancing west corridor! They're trying to flank!"
Alex felt a knot of ice in his stomach. This was beyond anything he'd experienced. The riot, the bounty hunters – those were skirmishes.
This was war.
The Enforcer's combat Echoes were a confusing jumble of tactical jargon and adrenaline that wasn't entirely his own, making him feel both hyper-aware and disoriented.
The faint Stealth sensation he'd brushed from Kai was all but gone, useless in this maelstrom.
A plasma bolt shrieked past, searing the wall uncomfortably close. Alex flinched, the heat washing over his face.
"They're pushing too fast!" one of the Crows yelled before a UGF pacifier round sent him sprawling, stunned.
Kai's voice cut through the comms, strained but level. "Hold the line at Junction-C! Lena, any sign of their commander?"
"Negative. Seems to be a standard saturation force… but well-equipped. High-grade Energy Cores, some Kinetic Dampeners," Lena reported, sweat beading on her forehead.
Alex knew he had to do something. He couldn't just hide. He was the reason for this. He focused on the thrumming energies within him – the raw Strength, the crackling Static. What could he do? He wasn't a soldier.
Then, an opportunity, born of desperation. A UGF Enforcer, bolder than the others, broke from cover, laying down suppressing fire with a pulse repeater. He was momentarily exposed.
Acting on pure instinct, fueled by the Enforcer's aggressive Echoes and a desperate surge of his own will, Alex moved.
He channeled the Static energy into his palm, visualizing not a mere spark, but a focused jolt.
It was still weak, but it was his. He slapped his hand against a nearby plasteel support pillar just as the Enforcer took cover behind it.
A visible arc of blue electricity, far more potent than his previous attempts, crackled up the pillar.
The UGF Enforcer convulsed, his weapon clattering to the ground as the unexpected shock bypassed his armor's insulation. He wasn't out, but he was definitely dazed.
"Nice shot, rookie!" Kai's voice, surprisingly close, startled Alex. The rebel leader materialized beside him, firing a disruptor pistol that sent another Enforcer scrambling. "But parlor tricks won't hold them for long."
Suddenly, a new UGF soldier, larger than the others, wearing slightly more customized armor, strode into view, a heavy plasma cannon in his hands. A Lieutenant, by the markings. He scanned the chokepoint, his visor fixing on Kai.
"Target acquired. Neutralize the cell leader," the Lieutenant's amplified voice boomed.
The plasma cannon whined, charging.
There was no time. Kai was too exposed, caught between targets.
Alex didn't think. He moved. He lunged towards the Lieutenant, not with any plan, just a primal urge to intercept.
He slammed into the UGF officer's side, a tangle of limbs. The plasma cannon discharged wildly, blasting a hole in the ceiling.
The impact was jarring. Pain shot through Alex's already battered ribs. But as their bodies collided, as his hand instinctively gripped the Lieutenant's cannon arm to stop another shot, Alex felt an intense, searing connection.
A torrent of energy flooded him – hot, volatile, almost overwhelming. This wasn't a faint echo. This was a direct, powerful tap.
The Lieutenant had a potent Energy Core, focused on plasma generation.
Alex felt its blueprint, its fiery essence, searing itself into his senses.
Then came the Echoes – not just emotions this time, but tactical knowledge.
Plasma weapon schematics. Firing solutions. A brutal, practiced efficiency. It was too much, too fast. Alex's head spun. Overload. Migraine stabbed behind his eyes.
He stumbled back, gasping, as Kai capitalized on the momentary chaos, driving the Lieutenant back with a flurry of precise shots.
But Alex felt different. The plasma energy, once alien, now felt… accessible. Latent, yes, but there. He could feel it, a warm thrum deep within him.
The UGF forces were pressing their advantage again, regrouping. The Crows were taking losses, being pushed back. They were almost surrounded.
"We're pinned!" Lena cried out, her voice tight with panic as a plasma bolt struck near her position. "They're bringing up something… heavy."
This was it. Fight or die.
Alex looked at his hands. Strength. Static. And now… Plasma. Could he? Combine them? The thought was terrifying, exhilarating. Voss's words about synergy echoed in his mind.
He took a deep breath, trying to push past the pain and the disorienting Echoes. He focused on the Strength Core's energy, channeling it into his fist. Then, he reached for the newly absorbed Plasma Core's essence, visualizing it not as a projectile, but as an enhancement.
A faint orange glow began to envelop his fist. It flickered, unstable. He gritted his teeth, pouring his will into it.
"Alex, what are you—?" Voss began, her eyes wide.
A squad of UGF Enforcers chose that moment to charge their shrinking perimeter.
There was no more time for finesse. Alex roared, a sound raw and desperate, and threw a punch. Not at an Enforcer, but at the already damaged plasteel wall beside the charging squad.
His fist, wreathed in faint, shimmering plasma, connected with the metal.
The result was beyond anything he'd imagined. Not just a dent, but an explosion. The Strength amplified the impact, and the Plasma superheated the point of contact, causing the metal to buckle and then detonate outwards in a shower of molten slag and superheated shrapnel.
BOOM!
The concussive force threw the charging Enforcers sideways, their disciplined formation shattering. The heat was intense. Alex himself was thrown back by the recoil, landing hard, his arm screaming in protest from the unfamiliar strain.
Silence descended for a stunned moment, broken only by the hiss of cooling metal and the groans of downed UGF soldiers.
The tide, in their small section of the battle, had momentarily, violently, turned.
Kai stared, his usual cynicism momentarily wiped from his face. Lena was speechless, her Mind Core pulsing wildly as she processed the raw energy Alex had just unleashed. Voss was already kneeling by Alex, checking him, a look of awed trepidation on her face.
"That… that was a Strength-Energy fusion," she breathed. "Unstable, but… gods, Alex, the raw power."
The UGF forces, stunned by the unexpected ferocity and the sheer destructive power of Alex's attack, hesitated. It was the opening Kai needed.
"Crows! Disengage! Fall back to Epsilon point! Now!"
They scrambled, using the confusion to break contact, dragging their wounded. Alex, supported by Voss, stumbled after them, his head reeling, his arm feeling like it was on fire, but a grim satisfaction settled within him. He'd done it. He'd protected them. He'd fought.
They made it to Epsilon Point, a deeper, more heavily fortified hideout within the Warrens. Losses were counted, wounds tended. The atmosphere was grim, but threaded with a new, reluctant respect as glances were thrown Alex's way.
Kai approached Alex, who was slumped against a bulkhead, Voss examining his strained arm. The rebel leader's face was unreadable, but the hardness in his eyes had softened, replaced by a complex mix of disbelief and calculation.
"You're a walking disaster, Ren," Kai said, his voice rough. "But… you saved my Crows. You saved Lena." He paused, then met Alex's gaze directly. "You're not just a weapon, Ren. You're a goddamn miracle or a curse. Either way," a ghost of a smile touched his lips, "the Crows fly with you now. For better or worse."
Voss, having finished her ministrations, looked at Alex, her eyes shining with scientific excitement and something akin to fear. "What you just did… that synergy… it's not like any recorded Core interaction the UGF ever documented.
It's exponentially more powerful than simple addition." She leaned closer, her voice dropping. "They suppressed all research into the Absorber Gene, Alex, because it's more than human. It's something… other."
As she spoke, Alex felt a strange, piercing coldness sweep through him, unrelated to the battle. His vision flickered. For a horrifying instant, he wasn't in the grimy Warrens hideout. He was somewhere else entirely…
A vast, crystalline cityscape under a sky of twin purple suns… geometric structures humming with unimaginable power… an ancient, sorrowful consciousness reaching out…
He blinked, the vision vanishing as quickly as it came, leaving him breathless and shaken. He looked at Voss, a new, terrifying understanding dawning in his eyes.
What was he?