Chapter 62: Ambush on the Catwalk"Dorian, talk to me," Seraphine snapped, her eyes locked on the twisting labyrinth of rusted metal walkways stretching out above the surging black swells. "Are we walking into a crossfire, or are these just ghosts?""I don't have a clean ping," Dorian gasped, hunching over his flickering data-deck as a fresh spasm of static hissed from the small speakers. "The local network architecture is flooded with junk data. Someone’s looping a dummy signal to mask active transceivers. We are flying blind.""Corporate clean-up units love dummy loops," Vance growled, his face twisted in a grimace of pure agony as he shifted his weight away from his injured shoulder. He reached beneath his heavy coat and pulled out a heavy-caliber sidearm, his thumb clicking the safety off with a sharp, metallic clack. "It’s standard procedure. Trap the perimeter, choke the exits, and wait for the rats to panic."Kenji raised a fist, signaling a hard freeze as the wind howled throu

Chapter 64: Into the Belly of the Beast"Push the door! Push it, Kenji, they're reloading!" Vance bellowed, his voice cracking as he slammed his back against the vibrating bulkhead.A fresh volley of corporate rounds tore through the outer aluminum skin of the bunker entrance, sending a terrifying spray of jagged metal shards whistling through the narrow corridor. Kenji threw his entire weight against the rusted pneumatic release wheel, his muscles straining until the veins in his neck stood out like thick cords. With a deafening screech of long-dead gears and tearing rubber seals, the heavy blast door finally gave way, sliding inward six agonizing inches."Dorian, get in! Now!" Kenji snarled, grabbing the technician by the back of his jacket and shoving him bodily through the gap.Dorian stumbled over the raised threshold, his data-deck clattering across the concrete floor before he hit the ground hard. He scrambled frantically after it, clutching the smoking device to his chest as S

Chapter 66: The Traitor’s Price"I'm in," Dorian gasped, his trembling fingers frantically dancing across the glowing glass interface of the legacy terminal as the outer steel bulkhead groaned under a fresh, violent barrage of corporate fire. "The local area network is completely unlocked. I’m routing the sub-level overrides right now.""Forget the network routing!" Kenji barked, his face stark pale under the harsh flicker of the emergency lighting. He threw his entire weight against the jammed manual crank of the inner hatch, his boots slipping on the slick, grease-stained floor. "The pneumatic seal is completely warped. We can't hold this inner threshold manually if they drop an explosive charge on the outer plating.""Give me three seconds!" Dorian yelled, his voice cracking as a fresh spike of feedback from his illegal shunt tore through his nervous system, making his left eye twitch uncontrollably. "I'm executing the sector-wide lockdown command. It’s the only way to seal the bla

Chapter 68: Echoes in the TunnelThick, dark exhaust spewed from the side vents, choking the stale air of the tunnel as the industrial rail car lurched forward with a bone-jarring jolt.Dorian tumbled backward, his datadeck flying from his grip and clattering loudly against the corrugated metal floor. "My rig! Watch my rig!" he shrieked, scrambling on hands and knees to retrieve the shattered casing before the heavy iron wheels could crush it."Stop hyperventilating, Dorian, or you won't need a datadeck," Seraphine barked, not taking her eyes off the rear of the car. She braced her boots against a rusted bulkhead, tracking the faint, dying glow of corporate flashlights piercing the fading dust cloud far back down the track. "They're clearing the rubble. Faster, Kenji.""I'm giving you everything this bucket of bolts has got!" Kenji shouted back, his teeth gritted as he kept his bare hands clamped over the two stripped copper wires. The makeshift splice was holding, but the naked metal

Chapter 70: Sparks and Dead ReckoningThe impact shockwave threw Dorian hard against the rusted side-ribs of the car, his datadeck clattering across the iron-plated floor with a sharp, metallic screech that was instantly swallowed by the echoing roar of the bedrock tunnel."The splice is holding!" Kenji screamed over the deafening mechanical wail of the overloaded motor, his voice strained and raw as he hauled back on the manual brake lever with both arms. "Keep your heads down! We're still moving too fast!"Seraphine didn’t waste a breath. She swung her rifle around, dropping to one knee on the vibrating steel deck as she tracked the rear aperture, her eyes locked on the twisting darkness they had just torn through."They're right behind us," Seraphine said, her voice dropping an octave, cold and flat as she watched the distant pinpricks of corporate flashlights dancing against the rising wall of grey dust. "Cleaners cleared the bulkhead breach three seconds behind our smoke. They ar