When the rain falling from the open sky can melt the paint right off your armored plating in a matter of seconds, you know Mother Nature decided to join the war on the wrong side and brought her own caustic tools to ruin everyone's night. Asher crouched low behind a rusted, bullet scarred shipping container, pulling the heavy rubber hood of his tactical cloak tighter over his head as a vicious gust of wind whipped stinging drops of acid rain across the vast, dark loading courtyard. The storm was loud enough to drown out the sound of their heavy boots splashing in the toxic puddles, but it also cut visibility down to barely ten feet, turning the entire industrial landscape into a murky gray blur where danger could hide just an arm length away. Around him, three members of the strike team melted effortlessly into the deep shadows of Voss's forward operating base, their assault rifles held tight against their chests with safety switches flicked off and fingers resting lightly on the tr

The blast of energy came from nowhere. It erupted from the steel panels with a deafening crack that shook the air right out of Asher’s lungs and left his ears ringing like struck bells. Thick pillars of humming electricity shot upward from the floor in a perfect, blinding circle, locking together overhead with a sound like tearing metal. The barrier sealed with a final, resonant snap, forming an unbreakable cage of pure, searing light. Asher hit the transparent wall with his shoulder on pure instinct. A brutal shockwave threw him backward onto the concrete before he could even register the impact. His teeth clacked together. The taste of copper flooded his mouth. “Asher!” Jaren’s voice cracked across the room. He lunged forward with his rifle already raised, finger tightening on the trigger, ready to pour rounds into the glowing barrier. The electric current bit into the soles of his boots the instant he crossed the threshold of the circle’s outer edge. Blue arcs crawled up h