Chapter 4 – The Hunt Begins

The roar of engines filled the night air.

Gunships—sleek, twin-rotor Hellion attack crafts—cut through the smoke-choked sky like steel vultures. Their spotlights swept across the battlefield, hunting.

Hunting him.

Ryo gritted his teeth, heart hammering. The realization still churned in his gut—the Hellions knew about him. And if they were sending elite operatives and air support just to retrieve one random soldier, that meant one of two things.

Either they thought he was dangerous.

Or they thought he was valuable.

> "Either way, rookie, you're screwed."

No time for panic. No time to freeze.

"Move!" Vos barked. "We need to get to the underground tunnels!"

Underground? That sounded like a great idea. Staying out in the open with Hellion gunships bearing down on them was a quick way to get shredded.

The remaining soldiers—those who hadn't been cut down in the sniper attack—tore through the trenches, following Vos. Ryo sprinted after them, lungs burning, mud sticking to his uniform.

A sharp whine filled the air.

Then—

BOOM!

A missile slammed into the trench behind them, detonating in a fireball of metal and dirt. The shockwave sent Ryo sprawling, his ears ringing as heat seared his back.

"Shit!" He gasped, scrambling up. His uniform was smoking. He barely had time to process before bullets tore through the trench wall, forcing him to hit the ground again.

> "You enjoying this little light show, dumbass? Because I guarantee they aren't stopping until you're full of holes."

Ryo crawled forward, gunfire rattling overhead.

A hand grabbed his arm.

He nearly panicked—until he saw Karin pulling him up.

"Keep moving!" she yelled, shoving him forward. "The tunnels are just ahead!"

Ryo forced his legs to work, sprinting again as another explosion rocked the battlefield.

Ahead, Vos and the others reached a half-buried steel hatch, its surface scarred from old battles. Vos wrenched it open.

"Inside, now!"

The soldiers poured into the darkness. Ryo and Karin were the last ones through, diving inside just as a flood of bullets riddled the trench behind them.

Vos slammed the hatch shut.

For the first time in what felt like hours, there was silence.

The Ghost Roads

Ryo sucked in a deep breath. His entire body was on fire, muscles aching from the relentless running.

They were alive.

For now.

He blinked, adjusting to the dim light. They were in a massive tunnel, its steel walls lined with rusting pipes and old cables. The air smelled of oil and damp earth.

"Where… are we?" Ryo panted.

Vos exhaled. "The Ghost Roads."

Ryo frowned. "That sounds… incredibly ominous."

Karin let out a short, bitter laugh. "You have no idea."

Vos knelt, lighting a small hand-lamp that cast flickering shadows. "These tunnels were built before the war. Abandoned transit lines, old supply routes. Half of them collapsed years ago, but the ones that remain…" He glanced down the dark passage. "Let's just say the Hellions don't come down here."

Ryo swallowed. "Why?"

A beat of silence.

Then Vos muttered, "Because they disappear."

> "Oh, fantastic. You just escaped flying death machines, and now you're running straight into haunted murder tunnels. Brilliant choices all around."

Ryo rubbed his temples. "You know, system, you could be just a little helpful instead of constantly roasting me."

> "Nah. This is way more fun."

Vos stood. "We keep moving. The tunnels will take us to Fort Daedalus. It's the closest stronghold where we can regroup and figure out why the hell the Hellions are after you."

That still wasn't sitting right with Ryo. Why him? Was it because of the Ironclad System? Did the Hellions somehow know about it?

Or was it something else entirely?

He shook the thought away. One problem at a time.

The group pressed forward, boots echoing against the steel floor. The deeper they went, the colder it got. The air grew thick, heavy with something that made Ryo's skin crawl.

It wasn't just damp. It wasn't just stale air.

Something was watching them.

The Forgotten Ones

Thirty minutes passed in tense silence.

Then Ryo noticed something wrong.

"…Where are the bodies?"

Vos stopped. "What?"

Ryo gestured around. "You said these tunnels were used during the war. That means people fought down here, right?"

A cold realization settled over the group.

No bodies.

No bones.

Just emptiness.

Karin tightened her grip on her rifle. "I don't like this."

Vos exhaled. "We're almost to the station. Let's—"

CLANG.

The sound echoed through the tunnel.

Not metal settling.

Something moving.

Ryo froze. "Tell me that was one of you."

Silence.

Then—

The lights flickered.

And a low, distorted whisper filled the air.

> "You shouldn't be here."

Ryo's blood turned to ice.

The soldiers raised their rifles. "Form up!" Vos barked.

The darkness shifted.

Something stepped forward.

Not Hellion soldiers. Not drones.

Something else.

Ryo's breath hitched.

They were human-shaped.

But wrong.

Twisted figures wrapped in rusted metal, their eyes glowing with a dull, mechanical light. Some had wires stitched into their skin, their bodies humming with a sound too deep to be natural.

> [WARNING: UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED]

Designation: The Forgotten Ones

Karin took a step back. "What… the fuck?"

One of the creatures twitched, its voice a garbled mess of static.

> "We… were left behind… we were… repurposed… we were… abandoned…"

Then its head snapped toward them.

> "Now, you join us."

RUN.

"FIRE!" Vos roared.

The tunnel exploded with gunfire.

Ryo didn't think—he just moved.

Bullets ripped into the creatures, but they kept coming. One soldier screamed as metallic tendrils shot from the darkness, wrapping around his throat and yanking him into the abyss.

> "Oh yeah, rookie. You're fucked."

"RUN!" Vos bellowed.

No argument there.

Ryo bolted, adrenaline surging. The tunnel shook, the walls groaning as more figures crawled from the shadows.

Then—

Ahead, a faint light.

The exit.

Ryo pushed his legs harder, lungs burning. Behind him, the Forgotten Ones shrieked, their voices a cacophony of pain and metal.

They burst into the next chamber just as Vos slammed a control lever.

A thick blast door began to descend.

Half a second too slow.

One of the creatures lunged through.

Ryo reacted on instinct.

He grabbed a fallen crowbar and swung.

The blunt metal crunched into the creature's skull, sending it staggering back.

With a final THUD, the blast door sealed shut.

Silence.

Ryo collapsed to his knees, gasping.

Vos wiped his brow. "What the hell were those things?"

> "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll find out."

Ryo exhaled, shaking.

This war just got a whole lot more complicated.