Siege of Fort Valor
March 14, 2042 – 6 Hours Until the Horizon Strike
The clock was ticking.
Six hours until Project Horizon's strike team arrived.
Six hours to transform Fort Valor from an abandoned relic into a kill zone.
I spread my notebooks and blueprints across the workbench and grabbed a marker. [Hypermind] surged into overdrive as I mapped out the defenses.Fort Valor Defense Plan
Phase One: Perimeter Traps
Ultrasonic Emitters: Deploy around the fence line to disorient mutants and enemies.
EMP Mines: Plant near entrance points to disable enemy comms and drones.
Pressure-Triggered Spike Traps: Improvised from steel rebar and hydraulic pistons.
Phase Two: Choke Points
Turret Placement: Two automated M249 turrets at the entrance.
Bottleneck Corridors: Barricade side hallways with welded scrap metal.
Electric Floor Grid: Rig shock plates along the central hallway.
Phase Three: Counterattack Systems
Plasma Turret Prototype: Convert the plasma rifle into a stationary turret.
Remote-Detonated Explosives: Hide pipe bombs near structural weak points.
Kill Zones: Create overlapping fields of fire at the main entrance.
I tapped the pen against the table.
Horizon's operatives use military tactics.
They'd send drones first, followed by assault teams, and heavy reinforcements if things got messy.
I needed to hit hard early and force them to lose cohesion.
I carried the ultrasonic emitters out to the fence line and mounted them to rusted light posts.
The emitters could produce a high-frequency soundwave between 18 and 35 kHz, which would cause:
Disorientation for humans.Intense pain for mutants.Short-range sensor disruption for drones.
I wired them to a remote trigger synced to my watch display.
Done.
Next, I planted EMP mines near the front gate and service road.
Each mine had a copper coil core and industrial capacitors, capable of shorting any electronics within 20 meters.
Finally, I laid out pressure-triggered spike traps—hydraulically powered metal rods that would shoot upward at 300 km/h if stepped on.
Inside the facility, I welded steel plates across hallway entrances, forcing attackers to bottle-neck through narrow corridors.
I mounted the M249 turrets on tripods near the command center and linked them to the motion-detection grid.
The electric floor grid was trickier.
I ran high-voltage wiring beneath the floor plates, linked to an industrial-grade capacitor bank.
One command from my tablet, and the hallway floor would turn into a 100,000-volt death trap.
The last task was converting my Plasma Rifle Mk II into a turret system.
I mounted the weapon on a salvaged security turret frame, connected it to a thermal-tracking camera, and calibrated its firing system.
The coolant tank was improvised from an old water filtration unit, but it should keep the plasma stable for at least five shots before overheating.
By the time I finished, sweat poured down my face.
I checked the clock.
02:00 a.m.
Four hours left.
I opened the Project Horizon laptop again, scanning for recent communications.
A message appeared:
Sender: Cmdr. Riker – Omega CellRecipient: All Strike Teams
Orders:Fort Valor confirmed compromised. Target is high-priority engineer with advanced weapon systems.
Assets required:
4 Recon Drones2 Assault Teams (6 operatives each)1 Heavy Support Unit
Mission Objective:Secure or eliminate the target.Recover all advanced tech.
ETA: 04:00 a.m.
Two assault teams, drones, and heavy support.
This wasn't a simple cleanup.
They were sending a proper kill squad.
As I worked, low-frequency growls echoed from the forest beyond the fence.
The mutation wave was intensifying.
Through the thermal cameras, I saw:
Six mutated dogs circling the fence line.A large humanoid figure crouching near the southern treeline.Two Stalkers pacing near the east gate.
The creatures were becoming more organized.
And they were watching me.
I activated the ultrasonic emitters.
A high-pitched screech filled the air.
The creatures staggered backward, heads jerking violently. The Stalkers fled immediately, but the large humanoid just tilted its head and stared at the camera.
It's adapting.
The longer this goes on, the smarter and stronger they'll become.
03:30 a.m. – 30 Minutes to Impact
The drone feed on my screen flared to life.
Four heat signatures appeared at the northern tree line—moving in a diamond formation.
Recon drones.
Behind them, twelve soldiers advanced through the undergrowth, moving with practiced precision.
The heavy support unit was last—a massive armored vehicle equipped with a rotating autocannon turret.
I adjusted my headset and gripped the plasma turret controls.
03:59 a.m. – The Siege Begins
The drones approached the perimeter fence, their infrared cameras sweeping the area.
I tapped the EMP mine trigger.
BZZZZZT!
The mines detonated with sharp electromagnetic pulses.
All four drones fell from the sky, crashing into the ground. Their cameras flickered and died.
The soldiers hesitated.
Mistake.
I activated the ultrasonic emitters.
The high-pitched frequency flooded the area.
The soldiers staggered, clutching their helmets.
I fired the plasma turret.
THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!
The blue plasma bolts tore through the foliage, melting armor and flesh alike.
Three soldiers died instantly—chests vaporized.
The others recovered, taking cover behind rocks and fallen logs.
The heavy support unit rumbled forward, autocannon turret spinning up.
04:05 a.m. – The Counterattack
The autocannon opened fire, shells hammering the concrete barriers near the entrance.
Chunks of reinforced walls shattered, sending dust and shrapnel flying.
I crouched behind the turret, checked the heat levels, and aimed for the vehicle's front axle.
THOOM!
The plasma bolt melted through the armored plating, hitting the hydraulic line.
The vehicle lurched sideways, its cannon spinning wildly.
The soldiers seized the distraction to rush the gate.
04:10 a.m. – Close-Quarters Battle
The first six-man assault team hit the fence line and used breaching charges to blast through.
I switched to the turret's manual mode and opened fire.
The M249 barrels roared, cutting down two soldiers immediately.
The others tossed smoke grenades and rushed through the breach.
I grabbed my plasma rifle and moved into the corridor, waiting near the electric floor trap.
Footsteps approached.
I triggered the switch.
BZZZZZT!
The floor lit up with blue arcs of electricity.
Two soldiers convulsed violently, smoke rising from their charred bodies.
The last three operatives breached the side door.
I fired the plasma rifle point-blank.
The bolt hit the lead soldier's torso, melting through armor and organs.
The second soldier swung his rifle around.
I activated the shock gauntlet and punched him in the throat.
CRACK.
His larynx collapsed, and he fell gasping.
The third soldier fired his sidearm, grazing my left arm.
I lunged forward, grabbed his vest, and slammed his head into the concrete wall.
Blood splattered across the tiles.
04:30 a.m. – The Heavy Unit Advances
The heavy support vehicle had recovered, its autocannon aiming directly at the command center's front door.
I sprinted back to the control room and armed the remote explosives.
The vehicle fired, shredding the building's exterior.
Come on… a little closer…
The vehicle rolled over the last mine.
I pressed the detonator.
BOOOOOM!
The explosion flipped the armored vehicle onto its side, sending metal debris and flames into the air.
The remaining three soldiers tried to retreat.
I emerged from the smoke, firing the plasma rifle in rapid succession.
The first soldier's chest disintegrated.
The second tried to surrender.
I shot him anyway.
The last one turned to run.
I drew my Glock 19 and fired.
BANG! BANG!
Both rounds hit the back of his skull, splattering brain matter across the gravel.
04:45 a.m. – Aftermath
The battlefield was silent.
Burning metal crackled in the cold air. Bodies littered the yard—charred, broken, lifeless.
I stood there, the plasma rifle barrel glowing faintly red, scanning for survivors.
None.
The Project Horizon strike team had been annihilated.
But they'd send more.
Back in the command center, I checked the laptop logs.
The strike team had been deployed from Horizon Site 3, located in an abandoned power plant on the city's west side.