The ground shook violently beneath them as Reo sprinted through the collapsing corridors, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Sirens blared overhead, red emergency lights flashing in dizzying patterns. Every corner of the facility groaned and cracked under the force of the detonations triggered by The Sun Coil.
They wanted to bury the truth with them.
Not today.
"Move, move!" Reo barked, hoisting Kaito's semi-conscious body over his shoulder with a grunt. Arisa and the others formed a tight wedge around him, weapons drawn, eyes sharp.
The air was thick with smoke and the bitter sting of burning metal. Overhead, the ceiling crumbled in places, heavy slabs crashing to the ground just seconds after they passed. Every step was a gamble between life and death.
Boom!
Another explosion rocked the complex. The walls split open, revealing steel support beams that twisted like melted wax. Heat and dust stung their eyes, but they pressed on.
"We're almost there!" Arisa shouted, pointing toward a loading bay at the end of the corridor. Through the smoke, they could see the faint outline of a transport ship — their ticket out.
But between them and freedom stood a final squad of Sun Coil soldiers, armored and waiting.
A trap.
Reo didn't hesitate.
"Cover me!" he yelled, tossing Kaito to Arisa. "Get him on the ship! I'll clear the way!"
Before anyone could argue, he charged forward.
---
Baptism by Fire
Bullets ripped through the air.
Reo weaved between the hail of gunfire, his movements sharp and precise. Years of training — of survival — honed into every muscle, every instinct.
He dropped low, sliding across the floor, firing as he moved. Two soldiers went down immediately, clutching their throats.
Another came at him from the side, rifle raised.
Too slow.
Reo twisted, grabbing the barrel of the weapon and wrenching it aside. His elbow crashed into the man's nose with a sickening crunch, and he shoved him backward into a collapsing pillar.
Still more came. Shadows in the smoke. Ghosts of a dying empire.
They fought with desperation — they fought with fear.
But Reo fought with something far stronger: purpose.
He wasn't here to survive.
He was here to win.
One by one, he carved a path through the enemy. No hesitation. No mercy.
By the time Arisa and the others reached the ship, Reo stood bloodied but victorious, the last of the soldiers crumpled around him.
"GO!" he roared, waving them toward the loading ramp as another blast shook the ground beneath them.
---
A Choice Amidst the Flames
As they scrambled aboard, Reo paused at the entrance, glancing back into the heart of the collapsing facility.
He could hear the servers crashing. The walls caving in. The death throes of a beast that had ruled from the shadows for too long.
He could end it here.
Set the charges manually. Make sure nothing was left. Die with it, if he had to.
But then he remembered Kaito's words.
"It doesn't end with me."
This wasn't the final battle.
Not yet.
The real war was still ahead.
He turned his back on the flames, sprinting up the ramp.
Arisa hit the controls, and the ship's engines roared to life.
As they blasted out of the crumbling facility, Reo stood in the open hatch, watching the world below them disintegrate into smoke and ruin.
It was a funeral pyre.
And from the ashes, something new would rise.
He would make sure of it.
---
A Price Paid
Inside the ship, the mood was grim.
Wounded were being tended to. Kaito lay shackled in a corner, barely conscious, but still alive. His betrayal would cost him — Reo would see to that.
But for now, survival was victory enough.
Reo slumped into a seat, exhaustion finally catching up to him. His body screamed with pain from cuts and bruises he hadn't even noticed in the heat of battle.
Arisa sat down across from him, silent for a moment.
"You did good," she said quietly.
Reo gave a humorless chuckle. "Good doesn't win wars."
Arisa nodded, understanding the weight behind his words.
They had struck a blow today — a powerful one. But the Sun Coil was bigger than a single facility. Bigger than any one man.
Reo closed his eyes for a moment, letting the hum of the ship lull his racing heart.
He thought of the ones they had lost. Of the friends who hadn't made it out.
He thought of the girl he had once loved — stolen from him by the very forces he now fought.
And he made a silent promise:
No more running. No more hiding. The Sun Coil would fall — even if it cost him everything.
---