Klaarrr-boom!

A secondary electromagnetic pulse slammed into the subterranean hideout's ceiling with brutal force, raining chunks of concrete and thick dust down upon the now-shattered archive room. Gray smoke billowed thick, blending with the acrid stench of scorched circuit wiring. Outside the main gate, the low drone of corporate unmanned aerial drone blades echoed low, matching the feral howls of mutant troopers pressing their assault.

"Move! Secure the decode documents and get the civilians out through the evacuation tunnel!" Captain Danu commanded in a voice that boomed across the chamber, though he still panted heavily through the throbbing ache in his left ribcage. He racked his rifle, standing tall before a collapsed roof breach to unleash covering plasma fire toward the upper corridor.

Zulfa bolted to the main console table, snatching up his backpack stuffed with the artery valve blueprints and Colonel Hendra's classified documents. He glanced toward Naya, who was helping three civilians—including small children—rise and slip on emergency oxygen masks.

"Naya, you and the evacuation team have to head out through the western utility route right now! Don't look back!" Zulfa shouted over the chorus of crossfire.

Naya shook her head fiercely, gripping Zulfa's jacket sleeve tight with tear-filled, resolute eyes. "No, Zul! We get out together! I'm not leaving you here surrounded by those mutants!"

"Naya, this isn't the time to argue!" Zulfa cut in with a voice firm yet laden with tenderness, locking eyes with her. "Your job is to make sure those documents reach the safe sector resistance cells. If we both get pinned down here, our plan to stop the tower ritual fails completely. Trust me, I'll catch up to you!"

Naya bit her lip, holding back a sob before nodding fast. "Alright... promise me you'll survive, Engineer. Don't make me wait too long at the evacuation point!"

"I promise," Zulfa answered briefly. He clenched his fist, then spun around to assist Captain Danu in holding back the enemy wave at the gate.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

Bang!

The lightning-fast breakout battle erupted in full scale. Corporate mutant troopers swarmed through the collapsed ceiling, flashing razor-sharp crystal claws amid the hideout's gloom. Captain Danu and Zulfa fought shoulder-to-shoulder, firing Aether-Tech-powered hybrid rounds to blast several mutants apart into dust.

Yet the enemy numbers were overwhelming. The aerial drones outside kept raining plasma grenades down upon the hideout's corridors, forging a wall of fire that cut off their primary escape route.

"Captain, the main gate's collapsed completely! We can't hold this line much longer!" shouted Roni, a guerrilla guard, firing at mutants scrambling close.

Captain Danu glanced back briefly, ensuring Naya and the civilian party had successfully boarded the armored evacuation truck parked at the mouth of the exit tunnel. Seeing the vehicle's headlights cut through the gloom, Danu clapped Roni and the remaining loyal fighters on the shoulder.

"Listen up, kids," Captain Danu said with the calm, reassuring smile of a true war veteran. "Our job here is making sure that evacuation truck reaches the surface. Get Zulfa out of here right now."

Zulfa froze, grasping the commander's intent. "Wait, Captain... What are you planning?"

"Someone has to hold this gate so those mutants don't chase Naya's truck," Danu stated firmly, shifting his gaze back toward the smoke-choked entry corridor. He handed his remaining plasma ammo clips over to Zulfa. "Go, Zulfa. Stop the grand architect at the highest tower. That's my final order as your commander."

"Captain—!" Zulfa cried out, but Roni and the other soldiers hauled Zulfa backward toward the evacuation truck.

With a staggering act of heroic self-sacrifice, Captain Danu hurled his remaining electromagnetic grenades into the thick of the mutant horde, then fired his rifle into the hideout's primary support pillar, sealing the corridor behind a wall of thick concrete rubble to safeguard the civilians.

Minutes later, the armored evacuation truck piloted by Roni tore at high speed out of the exit tunnel, breaking onto the asphalt surface of the city's Central District. Zulfa sat in the passenger seat up front, breathing hard, his heart heavy with grief and anxiety over Captain Danu's sacrifice left behind.

Naya sat in the middle row, hugging her knees with wet eyes, checking on the children and civilians safely huddled in the back.

"Zul... how's it looking back there? Is Captain Danu...?" Naya asked raspy, staring up at Zulfa's face with dread.

"He held the main gate to protect us..." Zulfa answered heavily, clenching his fist against his thigh. "We have to make sure his sacrifice wasn't in vain. We need to reach the western sector safe zone immediately."

"Understood, Engineer!" Roni called out from behind the wheel, driving the truck at top speed as he yanked the steering wheel hard to clear a commercial street blockade.

Yet barely had the armored truck cleared the final turn toward the concrete bridge spanning the central district canal when Roni slammed hard on the brakes, the truck's tires screeching violently across the asphalt.

Screeech—!

Zulfa and Naya lurched forward, nearly crashing into the vehicle dashboard.

"Roni! Why'd you slam the brakes?!" Naya gasped in shock, grabbing the door handle.

Roni didn't answer. The young guerrilla driver stared blankly through the truck's front windshield, his face draining white as bone. "Zul... Naya... look ahead. We can't cross that bridge."

Zulfa raised his head, squinting through the thin night fog.

Right at the edge of the central district bridge—the sole arterial link heading toward the western sector—the ambient air rippled strangely. A colossal translucent anomaly forcefield dome, radiating a shimmering purple glare, had locked down the entire bridge access point completely.

Their primary evacuation vehicle was now trapped mid-street, boxed in before an invisible dimensional barrier impervious to bullets or standard transport.