The Metro Authority Offensive

March 14, 2042 – 3 Hours Until Awakening

The Skyreach Spire burned behind me, its upper floors collapsed in a ruin of flaming glass and shattered steel.

The resonance antenna—Project Horizon's key to controlling the mutant hordes—was nothing but twisted wreckage.

But the battle wasn't over.

The last technician's words echoed in my head:

"Captain Riker... Downtown command center... old Metro Authority Building..."

Riker.

The architect of this hell.

He was still alive—and he'd be preparing Phase Two.

I wouldn't let him finish it.

I parked the SUV in a half-collapsed parking structure a block away from the Metro Authority Building.

The building stood tall—an art deco monolith, once a hub for public transport oversight. Now, it was a fortress.

I scanned with my thermal binoculars:

External Defenses:

4 Recon Drones circling the building, each equipped with 30mm rotary cannons.Two rooftop snipers covering the approach.Automated sentry turrets guarding the main entrance.

Personnel Count: Estimated 20 Horizon operatives—combat specialists with heavy armor and military-grade rifles.

Command Hub: Likely located on the top floor, where the broadcast antennas were mounted.

✔ Airborne Threats: Drones with advanced targeting systems.✔ Interior Kill Zones: Horizon would have set choke points and barricades.✔ Riker's Security Detail: Riker wasn't a fool. He'd have personal guards and fallback defenses.

I checked the clock.

2 hours, 58 minutes until midnight.

I deployed the Sky Reaper Gauss Rifle, setting it on a tripod mount from my SUV's roof.

The drones circled in a staggered formation, with a 20-second overlap on their scan routes.

I watched for the pattern.

One… two… there.

PHWOOOOM!

The first shot punched through a drone's optical core, sending it crashing into the pavement.

The second drone immediately shifted course, aiming its rotary cannon at my position.

I fired again.

PHWOOOOM!

The projectile tore through the right-side rotor, and the drone spiraled into the building, detonating in a fireball.

The third drone opened fire—30mm rounds smashed through the SUV's hood, tearing the engine block apart.

Shit!

I dove for cover behind a concrete pillar.

The drone banked left, lining up another pass.

I raised the Sky Reaper, aimed, and fired.

PHWOOOOM!

The flechette hit the ammo pod, and the drone exploded mid-air, raining flaming debris over the street.

The final drone tried to retreat upward—likely to signal reinforcements.

I switched to burst-fire mode and pulled the trigger.

PHWOOOOM! PHWOOOOM!

Both shots hit.

The drone's frame shattered, and it plummeted into a burning bus wreck.

With the drones down, I sprinted toward the building.

The entrance was guarded by two sentry turrets, their barrels tracking me.

I slid behind a delivery van, planted an EMP mine, and lobbed it toward the entrance.

BZZZZZT!

The turrets short-circuited, their barrels locking mid-rotation.

I charged forward and fired my plasma rifle, melting through their armored housings, ensuring they were completely disabled.

The lobby was eerily silent—polished floors smeared with old blood, vending machines shattered, and a reception desk overturned as cover.

I spotted six Horizon operatives, entrenched behind the barricades.

"Intruder in the lobby!" one shouted.

I didn't waste time.

I deployed my Screamer sonic disruptor and fired a 30-second continuous pulse into the room.

The soundwave tore through the air—glass panels shattered, and the operatives collapsed, clutching their heads.

I rushed in, plasma rifle on wide-beam mode.

THOOM!

The bolt swept across the barricades, melting armor and flesh. Three men died instantly, their bodies blackened and smoldering.

One of the survivors, a lieutenant, crawled toward his rifle.

I stomped on his hand, cracking the bones, and aimed my Arc Baton at his face.

"Where's Riker?" I demanded.

The man's face twisted in pain. "Screw you—"

I hit him with the Arc Baton.

BZZZZT!

His body arched violently, veins bulging, teeth cracking from the seizure.

I stopped just before it killed him.

"Last chance."

"...T-top floor... Broadcast center..." he gasped.

I crushed his throat with my boot.

I bypassed the elevator security panel with my frequency disruptor, overriding the biometric lock.

The doors opened, and I stepped inside.

Level 105 – Command Center.

I knew Horizon would expect me to take the elevator directly up.

So I didn't.

I stopped at Level 98 and pried open the doors, stepping into the maintenance shaft.

The elevator continued upward, and moments later—

BOOOOOM!

Claymore mines detonated inside the elevator car, shredding it in a storm of steel and fire.

Nice try, Riker.

I climbed the shaft using the service ladder, forcing open the access panel on Level 105.

The hallway was a trap—I could see it immediately:

✔ Automated defense nodes built into the walls.✔ Infrared trip lasers crossing the corridor.✔ Claymores wired to proximity sensors.

I smiled.

Horizon had built their traps with predictable logic—linear defense grids, efficient but inflexible.

I deployed the Jammer signal disruptor, flooding their internal sensors with a tri-band interference wave.

The infrared lasers blinked out.

The defense nodes spun aimlessly, their targeting corrupted.

I sprinted forward, avoiding the still-active pressure triggers on the floor.

The command center doors were blast-reinforced, but I had come prepared.

I placed my last two C4 charges on the hinges and detonated.

The doors buckled and collapsed inward.

Inside, the command center was lined with monitors streaming footage from across the collapsing city.

Mutants, riots, burning buildings—New Vale was in its death throes.

And at the center stood Captain Riker, flanked by two heavily armored guards.

Riker smiled coldly. "You're persistent. I'll give you that."

I raised my plasma rifle, but his guards were faster—they opened fire immediately.

I dove behind a control console, bullets sparking off the metal surface.

I rolled to the side and activated the Screamer, sending a sonic burst into the room.

The guards faltered, their helmets rattling from the soundwave.

I took the opening:

I slid low, firing the plasma rifle.

THOOM!

The first guard's armor melted through, his torso vaporized in an instant.

The second guard recovered and rushed me, swinging a combat blade reinforced with vibranium plating—designed to cut through power armor.

I caught his arm mid-swing and discharged my shock gauntlet.

BZZZZZT!

The electricity surged through his body, but his armor insulated him—he barely staggered.

He headbutted me—my visor cracked, and I hit the ground hard.

As he raised the blade for a finishing blow, I activated the plasma rifle and fired point-blank into his chest.

THOOM!

The blast blew a molten hole through him, and he collapsed, smoke rising from his core.

I turned to Riker.

He stood by the primary command console, his pistol raised but unfired.

"You've destroyed so much progress," he said coolly. "But it doesn't matter."

The monitor behind him flashed:

Operation Echelon – Activation: 00:05:23

The countdown was still running.

"You're out of time," Riker said. "The city belongs to us now."

Riker lunged, and I realized:

He wasn't fully human anymore.

His movements were too fast, his eyes glowing faintly red.

He's an Enhanced.

He swung—his augmented strength sent me slamming into the control console, sparks flying from broken circuits.

I rolled to my feet, switching the plasma rifle to narrow-beam mode and fired.

Riker dodged with inhuman agility, the bolt searing past his face, melting the wall behind him.

He closed the distance—his fist impacted my chest armor, and I felt the plating crack as I hit the ground hard, gasping for air.

I coughed, spitting blood, and activated my Screamer disruptor, but this time—I altered the frequency.

I synced it to the resonance band used by his implants.

"W-wait—" Riker's expression twisted, his eyes flickering violently.

I pressed the trigger.

WHEEEEEEEEE!

The custom frequency fried his neural augmentations, and Riker screamed, clutching his skull.

Blood poured from his nose, ears, and eyes as the implants short-circuited inside his brain.

He dropped to his knees, body convulsing uncontrollably.

I approached him, bruised and battered.

"This is for the city."

I activated my Arc Baton and jammed it into his chest.

BZZZZZT!

His body seized violently, and he collapsed, lifeless.

The console flashed:

Echelon Activation: 00:01:10

I limped to the main console.

The system was locked—biometric override required.

I grabbed Riker's severed hand, placed it on the scanner, and bypassed the security protocols.

The screen flashed:

EMERGENCY ABORT CODE: ACCEPTED.

The countdown stopped.

The neural control signals ceased, and across the city, the mutants lost cohesion, wandering aimlessly without Horizon's commands.

The survivors of New Vale had a fighting chance.

I collapsed to the floor, body broken but alive.

The city was still burning.

But Riker was dead.

And Horizon's weapon had been destroyed.

The awakening event would still come—powers would emerge, and new threats would rise.