Ch59: Religious Devotion

Sergeant Lim led his squadron into Sector C3. The Wolf's Coil, a monumental electromagnetic ring structure built around Mars' equator to create Mars' magnetic field as well as generate gravity in close proximity, was divided into a total of twelve sectors.

Each sector consisted of a differing number of districts, based on the needs of the workers and specialized nature of the sector. The number of divisions ranged from twelve up to twenty-four.

Conquering Sector C completely would equate to consolidating half of the ring. Assuming that the other forces of the Earth Fed, in the other direction from the City of Romulus, conquered Sector L, then K and J.

As for Sector C3, this was a denser population area. Sector C3 was designed to be a residential and entertainment district, a place for the workers to relax their minds, a place for reprieve.

These workers belonged to many important industries that made Mars tick. Of course, there are the personnel maintaining the Wolf's Coil. Then, there are the workers of energy production-- every sector and district requires these engineers.

Then, there are the industries necessary for human survival, such as food, manufacturing and more hidden throughout the Wolf's Coil.

Sergeant Lim was therefore incredibly apprehensive as he led his squadron into Sector C3. With such a variety of Martians, there are sure to be many hidden Kasvallian cyborgs as well as sympathizers hidden within, he figured.

Private Murray was currently expressing his dissatisfaction with the higher-ups. He had been doing so repeatedly for some time.

"Sergeant. I still cannot believe why the higher-ups have not given us different orders," Private Murray grumbled. "If these Kasvallian bastards are targeting our female soldiers, surely we can at least use that to our advantage. Set a trap using these female soldiers as bait."

"That's been considered," Sergeant Lim replied as he sighed. "But Private-- you are mistaken. The Kasvallian Republic have only opportunistically targetted our female soldiers."

"Opportunistically…?" Private Murray was confused. What did that even mean, really?

Sergeant Lim, having spoken to Colonel Fritz, was privy to more details.

"Meaning, the Kasvallian Republic in terms of their overall strategy, placement of their military personnel, do not, in fact, target our female soldiers. Only when…" Sergeant Lim frowned. "Only when a clear opportunity presents itself."

Sergeant Lim's words only caused Private Murray to be further confused.

"Plus… it would not bode well for us to use our female soldiers as bait," Lim stated. To do so would lead to public condemnation, no doubt.

Private Murray sank into silence. He knew Lim's words to be true, but he was also frustrated with their current state of play.

"Begin the operation," Colonel Fritz commanded through their comms.

"Yes, sir!" Sergeant Lim prepared his squadron. Sergeant Cenkova and her squadron shared the same objective as Lim's, but the plan was for their squadron to approach from another entryway to limit the possibility of being detected. There was also the second all-male squadron led by Sergeant Abdul, but they had been assigned a different objective.

Also, their platoon was not the only one assigned objectives in City C3. A few others were as well.

Their objective had long been identified. Chancellor Boateng, having sided with the Earth Feds, provided critical assistance. City C3, a district bustling with life, contained many eyes belonging to Chancellor Boateng. The issue, though, was that the Kasvallian Republic, having long evaded detection, had established a number of bases in City C3.

Another problem is that there are currently many Kasvallian sympathizers and historical dissatisfaction within the Martians.

Sergeant Lim led his squadron down a stairwell to an emergency exit. Except, they were on the outside of said emergency exit. Sergeant Lim gave a signal, and two of his squadron's members activated a few neuro gadgets that soon wrenched open these emergency doors from the exterior of City C3.

The squad entered into an underground city, a city of permanent neon flashing lights in the ever dark underground.

Sector B also had a city, but in terms of size, was no comparison to the sprawling cityscape in front of Sergeant Lim's eyes. This was why multiple platoons were assigned tasks here.

Perhaps one might wonder how the Earth Feds might maintain control over this city. The reality is that they had no intention to. That was Chancellor Boateng's task, and the Earth Feds simply needed to rid the city of the Kasvallian Republic so that Chancellor Boateng's people could take control.

"Map," Lim said within his exosuit.

An overlay of the whole of City C3 was shown on his visor, with a flashing red X marking the target, as well as green dots marking their position.

"Path."

The visor screen marked a path for Sergeant Lim's squadron to follow, and as Lim turned his head, that path shifted across his visor, staying glued to the image of the environment relative to Lim's eyes.

"Confirm our digital security," Sergeant Lim said.

"Cybersecurity protection confirmed," a robotic voice replied. This is, in fact, Denys. However, in an attempt to maintain an image of non-interference, Denys' presence was intentionally obscured from the typical soldier in a variety of ways.

"All members of the squadron. Activate your cloak. Stay sharp," Lim commanded.

The nine men's exosuit slowly became translucent as if they faded into non-existence. Their presence was only revealed by the occasional odd oily-warped air that was hard to notice if one wasn't looking out for.

As Sergeant Lim zigzagged through the streets and alleyways, he found himself rather entranced by the city itself. Every building was made of a carbon fiber material, allowing structures to have unique and artistic shapes.

The black and grey carbon fiber material would be quite dour by itself. However, they were decorated by many vibrant neon lights that lit up signs and symbols, offering a blinding contrast that carried a unique beauty. There was light and dark, dark then light.

Their squadron carefully avoided a street where a crowd of flashily-dressed Martians lined up to enter a bar within a building made of carbon fiber strands swirling into the false sky of stars.

Soon, they arrived at a rather normally dome-shaped building.

"Sergeant Cenkova. Your eta?" Lim communicated.

"Twenty seconds," was the reply of a sharp voice.

Sergeant Lim waited patiently alongside the other eight members of the squadron at the ready, remaining in their invisibility cloaks.

"We've arrived," Cenkova soon stated. "We can begin."

Sergeant Lim led his squadron into the building. His squadron had been assigned to enter this dome abode that housed a few Kasvallian cyborgs and sympathizers, while Cenkova's was to surround and catch any rat that managed to slip away.

Lim and his underlings activated their neuro gadgets as they entered. Lim's senses sharpened as he gained assistance from his various sensory gadgets. A device imitated a dog's nose, providing augmented smell to Lim's brain. Another provided thermal vision. These are only two unique gadgets of many.

As they moved down a long corridor, Sergeant Lim suddenly raised his hand in signal. The eight men behind also had their gadgets out, allowing them to understand why Lim raised his hand.

The nine men simultaneously separated into two teams as a hooded cyborg pulverized a wall, landing in the gap created by Lim's men.

Their gadgets had, of course, detected this cyborg's activities just in time.

No further words were needed. The nine men all had neural-weaponized gadgets. These began firing various types of projectiles. Some fired bullets, others lasers, as well as plasma. They carefully aimed these at an angle to avoid striking their own allies on the other side.

The cloaked cyborg, initially hoping to ambush the nine men, was now inundated in a shower of projectiles. Its cloak was soon shred to bits, and the flesh upon its body melted in the heat. However, its internal structure of a durable metal compound was only scratched as the cyborg heavily punched down on the floor.

The ground opened up as the cyborg dropped down to the lower basement. At the same time, a number of spherical objects shot out at Lim's men.

"Back!" Lim commanded.

The nine men, separated into four and five on two sides, immediately leaped backwards as the spherical objects exploded, causing a ringing in their ears alongside a blinding brightness despite their exosuit's special functions.

When the brightness faded, Lim confirmed the status of his men. They were luckily all unharmed. However, one man surnamed Van Der Beek had his exosuit badly damaged by the shrapnel from one of the bombs.

"The x-armor plates of my exosuit have been invaded by shrapnels. Over ninety percent compromised. Nanobot auto-repair will take some time," Private Van Der Beek notified his superior officer.

"Take a more supportive back position in future encounters," Sergeant Lim decided. Their path was one of no retreat. If he sent Van Der Beek back out the dome, the man would be alone and most likely ambushed midway.

"Should we pursue, sir?" Private Murray asked.

"No," Sergeant Lim replied. "The cyborgs' durability and endurance are much too high. We secure the non-cyborg members first."

They continued forward as the men at the back leapt across the hole smashed into the floor by the escaping cyborg.

"Nanobot-stunguns. With exception to Murray and Van Der Beek. The two of you are to cover for potential unexpected danger with shotguns," Lim ordered.

They moved forward carefully as they turned into a room, covering one another. These modern nanobot-stunguns carried the unique function of injecting nanobots into the target's body to immobilize said potential captive, traveling through the bloodstream to the brain.

When it comes to captives, these nanobots are also useful in detecting whether their targets are cyborgs or not. After all, a human is of real flesh and bones, in stark contrast to a metallic body. In theory, these nanobots can also interfere with the connection between the brain and a neuro circlet.

Sergeant Lim reached a corner and a number of his neuro gadgets flew in to first scout out the area. One of the gadgets was immediately knocked out of the air by a bullet. However, that small window was enough for Sergeant Lim to confirm the positions of their enemy through his other gadgets.

This information was transmitted to the others, and their neuro gadgets flew forth into the room and began firing their many different projectiles to provide suppressive cover.

The truth was that if the Earth Federations wished for it, Sergeant Lim would have made short work of these enemies. He could have easily controlled the gadgets to position at varying different angles in the room, making it impossible for the sympathizers to hide behind furniture. However, his orders were to capture these men and obtain information from their minds.

Thus, he now needed to use these neuro gadgets to lock their enemies in place until they could neutralize them without taking their lives. These sympathizers hid themselves behind various furniture and walls while Sergeant Lim and his men rushed in with their nanobot-stunguns raised.

The neuro gadgets continued their suppressive fire uncontested. These men weren't cyborgs, only sympathizers. As such, they weren't well-equipped, considering the general poor state of Mars.

Sergeant Lim and his men kept a close eye on the potential approach of a cyborg lifeform as they began incapacitating their targets. Under the suppressive fire of their gadgets, they would not be hit by multiple shots in a row, and as such had no worries that they might sustain an injury, protected by their exosuits as they were.

The neuro gadgets were expertly controlled to keep the five enemies pinned while creating an open path for Sergeant Lim and his men.

They rounded a sofa, and Lim fired his nanobot-stungun, immediately sending a man onto the ground, unconscious. Nanobots were injected into the man.

Then, they rounded a doorway. Bam! Another man crumpled onto the ground with his eyes dazed. Soon enough, five men were captured, and the suppressive fire from the hovering gadgets ceased.

"Any news, Sergeant Cenkova?" Lim asked.

"We detect no additional lifeforms in the upper floors. We have also captured a few escaping individuals, but none were cyborgs. Please descend deeper as we provide outside cover," Cenkova informed Lim.

"Roger that."

Sergeant Lim paused as he considered their next step.

"Set the trap," he finally decided after a few seconds of consideration.

The others nodded and a few men removed packs from the back of their exosuits. From these packs, they withdrew a total of four half-spherical devices with a magnetic harpoon that could be shot forth.

They opened a compartment from the back and confirmed the e-cube within supplying power to the devices. They then secured these devices to various surfaces surrounding the five incapacitated bodies that had now been piled together.

Van Der Beek and another two men were assigned to 'guard' these five captives while the other six checked the basement.

A gesture of the hand and Lim led his other five men down towards the basement of the building. Lim frowned to himself as his gadgets' sensory functions flickered, not providing much of a clear image of the basement. How troublesome.

"Care."

The other five men nodded and they no longer relied on their hovering gadgets as heavily, opting to slowly crouch forward in cover of one another.

Lim then paused as he considered their position.

"Switch to plasma shotguns," he commanded. The other five men widened their eyes within their visors, now feeling somewhat anxious. The plasma shotguns are meant to be most effective against cyborgs in close range.

As they descended downwards, the six men discovered themselves surrounded by a smokey haze that alarmed their minds. 

"This haze… something within interferes with our various sensory gadgets…" Sergeant Lim muttered.

"Sir. It must be a combination of chemicals that interferes with the different types of sensors," a man replied.

That man stepped forward and his foot suddenly sunk into the ground. Luckily, Sergeant Lim reacted quick enough to pull the man backwards as a blade suddenly spun through the man's previous position.

"This whole place is booby-trapped. We will sacrifice our gadgets. Also, send out the steamroller," Lim commanded.

The other five men nodded. Private Murray removed a blocky object from his pack with treads for wheels. This is the steamroller, a block made of incredibly durable material to imitate human weight despite its small size. Though on treads, it had quick movement speed.

This device was sent forth, and it sped across many different areas of the ground, setting off many weight-based traps, sending bullets and blades flying across the hallway before their eyes.

Meanwhile, the men's gadgets flew to and fro, firing at random structures in a bid to raze down any potential traps.

"Enemy cyborg, Sir!" Van Der Beek's voice abruptly interrupted their cleanout operation.

On the ground level, a cloaked cyborg was attempting to free the five captured sympathizers. Yet as he approached the five captives, four magnetic harpoons shot out and stuck into his body.

Then, he discovered his body malfunctioning as electrical shocks were delivered through the four harpoons into his body!

As for the three men supposedly guarding these five captives? They were occupied by a cyborg who's surface flesh had already been shredded. This cyborg had somehow cut a hole and climbed up from the basement.

Van Der Beek fired his plasma shotgun, and the cyborg was sent stumbling as the surface of his body sizzled with energy. However, it was far from being able to disable the cyborg, for when the other two soldiers attempted to land their plasma shots as well, the cyborg easily dodged backwards.

Sergeant Lim dashed back upwards with his five men to provide assistance. He had decided to set a trap, but did not actually expect the Kasvallian Republic to bite. That only meant one thing-- at least one of the five Kasvallian sympathizers must have valuable information. A slight miscalculation on his part.

"Do not allow them to kill the captives," Sergeant Lim urged his team.

It was not long before Sergeant Lim returned to the other five men, coming upon the cyborg who had lost its fleshy appearance. That cyborg no longer bothered upon Lim's return and brutally crashed through another wall before disappearing back down into the chemically-hazed basement.

Meanwhile, the cyborg magnetically harpooned by the four dome-like devices almightily struggled and finally dislodged one of the devices, loosening the wire connecting the harpoon. With a roar, that device was destroyed and the cyborg now found it easier to move.

It raised an arm and his finger opened up to point at a captive, a man of flat blonde hair with crescent eyebrows and a sharp nose. Only to suddenly find his mind losing focus as Sergeant Lim fired a plasma cluster at his back.

With the cyborg still trapped by the three electrifying wires, Sergeant Lim easily fired a few more plasma clusters directly at the cyborg's body unimpeded.

"Assist me," Lim said, and three of his men pressed the belt on their exosuits as they pulled out a connecting cord. Lim withdrew a high intensity laser gun, which the other three men attached their cords to, providing increased power from the energy source of their exosuits.

Sergeant Lim pressed the head of the laser gun against the kneeling and dazed cyborg's head as he pulled the trigger.

This is the only way to destroy these cyborgs. The presence of Syned within the systems of their bodies, makes it impossible to infiltrate and disable their bodies through other means.

A most fearsome aspect of these cyborgs was that they had multiple controlling centers throughout their bodies. Meaning, a headless body could still somewhat function, much like a zombie, under Syned's control.

As such, Lim needed to thoroughly melt down the metallic body of the cyborg with this high-intensity laser gun.

First he targeted the head. It did not take long for the immobilized cyborg's head to grow red hot as it deformed under the fiery heat of the laser. Lim then shifted the laser gun lower and began to melt the torso of the cyborg.

Fearing the cyborg's potential struggles, he did not even detach the harpoon systems as those harpoons now also became damaged by the heat of the laser gun.

Soon enough, only the cyborg's limbs remain, and Lim proceeded to also break down these body parts as well.

When they returned to the basement, the chemical haze had disappeared, revealing a secret escape tunnel. They could only accept that some had gotten away.

Sergeant Lim felt relieved that the operation had ended with no casualties to his side. Private Van Der Beek might have had a close shave, but his exosuit was not penetrated. Any potential transmitted blunt injuries should be light within.

They dragged their five captives outside. Sergeant Cenkova was waiting patiently outside with her arms crossed, standing before a huddled group of ten captives.

"Bit disappointing, aren't ya, Lim?" Cenkova bantered at seeing Lim's five captives.

"Melted down a cyborg, we did," Private Murray countered with pride. The two squadrons were all smiles.

An armored transportation truck had already arrived, arranged by Chancellor Boateng, overseen by Sergeant Cenkova's squadron.

"Screen them," Cenkova ordered her people to check on Lim's five captives as they were led towards the armored truck. Many devices analyzed these captives and to detect any potential anomalies.

The blonde-haired man with crescent eyebrows trudged along with his head lowered initially. Upon noticing the three female soldiers surrounding him and controlling their multiple gadgets to closely analyze his body, he suddenly grinned in derision.

"Anomaly detected."

The two closer female soldiers were alarmed to hear this, but by then it was too late to react as that blonde man suddenly regained control of his body and dashed forth, wrapping his arms around a female soldier.

"Lana!" the other soldier screamed.

As for the female soldier named Lana, she struggled to comprehend the current situation. The nanobots inserted into the man's body should have kept the man compliant.

The inserted nanobots could only be disabled by a far-advanced AI, such as Syned, who required the presence of key components to express its strength-- the body of a cyborg. The blonde-haired man, by analysis, was no cyborg. Yet struggle as she could, her exosuit's strength was not able to unravel the blonde man's arms.

The other female soldier raised a plasma shotgun and sent a cluster into the blonde man's body. The blonde man's body immediately melted under her fire, demonstrating he certainly was no cyborg.

But then, the man's body began to glow and inundate. He screamed with a crazed expression, "For Syned Vezna!" before self-detonating like an exploding sun.

This event occurred so rapidly that the other Earth Federation soldiers had no time to even respond.

When they did, it was already too late for the two female soldiers, whose exosuits were pierced by metal shards. In such close proximity to the blast, their exosuits' defenses were overwhelmed.

Sergeant Cenkova was the quickest to act and check on her two subordinates, and she could only shake her head in sorrow. The two exosuits had clearly been penetrated and blood flowed out from within.

Private Murray was shell shocked. But he finally understood what opportunistically targeting the female soldiers meant. This kamikaze attack could have been directed towards their male squadron, yet the blonde man only chose to move at those two female soldiers. As that shock gradually dissipated, he only felt hatred within his soul.

Before Lim could stop him, Murray had raised a gun and pulled the trigger at one of the captives to satiate his own rage.

This was not an isolated incident. The other Earth Federation forces operating across the Sectors faced similar situations. Of a captive, not detected to be a cyborg, using kamikaze attacks, usually when in range of female soldiers.

It was truly a sinister move by the Kasvallian Republic and Syned Vezna. And it did not end here.

More and more supposed civilians-in-appearance would suddenly use such attacks against the Earth Fed's soldiers.

It was only after some time that the Earth Feds gained a better understanding of the situation.

________________________________________________________

Earth Federation Lunar Base, the Moon.

"Have you discerned any useful information, Flemming?" President Mitsui said in a low tone. He was partly bewildered, but also angered by their current situation.

"Yes, sir," A bald man with a gray mustache and round head in a lab coat replied. President Mitsui followed the bald researcher into a white room. These white rooms are used for holographic simulations and replays.

Fleming brought a hand to his neuro circlet to activate a simulation.

"Luckily, we managed to collate key data. As you understand, the blasts usually blind the sensory gadgets of our soldiers," Fleming said as a simulation began. "However, we have pieced together vital clues after combining the many similar occurrences."

"I believe it to be a sort of… partial cyborgization. Well…" Fleming paused as he forehead creased, considering how to best explain his thoughts.

"Our analysis of the Kasvallian's cyborgs, thus far, allowed us to understand that their cyborgs are made of a human brain combined with biomechanical technologies."

"The brain remains human, but is augmented with chips and other neural connections. The rest of the body is replaced, such as artificial muscle capable of generating far more force-- you know of this unique material also used in the musculature of the nexarms."

"This allows many mechanical weapons to be attached as well as form-shifting capabilities for various terrains."

"We Earth Federation never delved into cyborgization because there is one major weakness-- the body becomes vulnerable to hacking, a fear we still hold due to the infamous digital wars of a past age."

"Now, we have always assumed that cyborgization to be a complete process. After all, it should be far too complex for a human body to be in a state of partial cyborgization. Take, for example…the many organs each have a specific function. We cannot replace one without disrupting the balance within the body. Only limbs can be replaced with minor disruption, but the trunk of the body will remain human and vulnerable."

"Thus, it has been our belief that the Kasvallians simply build a cyborg body based on a man or woman's personal parameters, before implanting the brain."

The simulation of a kamikaze attack began running as three dimensional holographic images combined and flickered as Fleming attempted to remove the blinding light using predictive technologies in combination with effects modification.

"Now, the only possibility for these events is that only a specific part of said human was transformed. Some place in the skull or the chest. Or both. Our nanobots disrupt the human mind by blocking outside interference in the brain, but if there are implanted chips supporting Syned within… Or self-detonation energy core through the chest…perhaps the heart."

"Why the heart?" Mitsui questioned Fleming's hypothesis.

"The heart with its rhythmic beating is most likely effective in hiding detonation or any anomaly detection, is my belief. Though our systems fail to identify the deep minute modifications of the Kasvallians, they do sense something to be off prior to these Kasvallian sympathizers' self-detonation."

"Syned Vezna…" Mitsui narrowed his eyes. "How vicious. However, humanity' creativity in viciousness is… and will always remain, unmatched."

These words of his signaled of the cruelty to come. And none would stand in Mitsui's way. Certainly not the soldiers who had been on the receiving end of Syned Vezna's vicious tactics.