Megabase 024.

CRACKKKKKKKKKKK!

The city-wide energy shield suddenly shattered!

WOM! WOM! WOM!

In the backdrop of the city-wide energy shield disintegrating, warning alarms rang across the massive interior of the Megabase but of all the thousands of soldiers supposed to be stationed inside, no one responded.

This was because they were all dead!

Inside the biggest chamber of Megabase 024 where dozens of NetRunners and Mechanists were supposed to be at work, monitoring the hardware infrastructure of the city-wide energy shield, all the soldiers were dead.

Captain Tank was also dead.

All the soldiers were covered in blackened scorch marks like they died from an explosion.

The only being who stood in this chamber was someone who didn't belong here, a towering female Synth with silvery smooth mechanical body and long black hair, a soldier of the Federation Army, an enemy!

Currently, only 2 D Rank Ascended from the Federation Army were fighting the most intense battle in the city in Megabase 023 against the city's military leaders, but that was just a deliberate distraction to facilitate this Synth's infiltration.

Leviathan Quay was fooled.

This Synth who was the only person still standing in Megabase 024 was the 3rd Commander of the Invasion Army, a D Rank NetRunner.

But unlike her counterpart who was currently fighting against Colonel Bam-Bam who was a D Rank NetRunner of the Mindbreaker Specialization, she was a D Rank NetRunner of the Code Phantom Specialization.

She infiltrated quiet and unseen like a virus.

By the time that Captain Tank realized that something was wrong, it was already too late and the entire Megabase was already compromised.

D Rank NetRunners of the Code Phantom Specialization center their powers on infiltration and stealth.

They can merge with datastreams and travel unseen, they can control chips, they can easily control sensors of all types so long it was computerized. They can even control the implant inside a genetically modified Geneform to control the Geneform like a slave!

Most importantly though, D Rank NetRunners of the Code Phantom Specialization are notoriously insidious.

They're known as 'glitches' in the System.

Their hacking and infiltration abilities are god-tier, and with the ability- [Code Worm], they can create a malicious software designed to endlessly self-replicate and multiply across networks, corrupting entire databases and digital ecosystems!

Once she infiltrated, this D Rank NetRunner used Code Worm and then she played the patient game.

40 minutes was more than enough time for her malicious software to endlessly self-replicate, infiltrating all the thousands of smartphones and systems used by the soldiers in the Megabase, including the city-wide energy shield's hardware systems.

Once this was complete, she used another ability.

Lithium Overload!

More commonly known as battery overload, this ability enables a Code Phantom NetRunner to overload systems and batteries, forcefully pushing them past safe limits in a violent chemical reaction that causes internal heating, gas buildup, swelling, and an electrolyte breakdown that leads to an explosion.

Within 2 seconds after she activated the ability, all the smartphones in this Megabase plus the super computers, including the heavy-duty hardware supporting the city-wide energy shield detonated in a violent conflagration!

KABOOM!

That was all it took to destroy the energy shield from inside out!

The Megabase's fire alarm triggered as water sprayed everywhere, quenching the fire but the damage was already done.

Over 2000 soldiers died instantly!

And most importantly, after losing the support of the powerful heavy-duty hardware anchoring it, the energy shield instantly lost all integrity.

CRACKKKKKKKKKKK!

The city-wide energy shield shattered!

She was the only living being left standing inside Megabase 024.

Looking outside and admiring the result of her work as the shield shattered, she finally showed emotion as her lips curled up slightly, revealing a delighted expression on her face.

She giggled in joy.

Then her eyes turned playful as she looked outside at the skirmish currently ongoing between the Federation airforce and Leviathan Quay's airforce. She took a step forward, then…

BZZZ!

Her eyes glowed green as her body erupted with neon green ADE as simultaneously, she activated another ability.

Ghost-in-the-Machine!

This NetRunner disappeared as if she was erased from the world.

This was the core ability of D Rank NetRunners of the Code Phantom Specialization, the ability to merge with datastreams and travel unseen, infiltrating everywhere and anywhere, just like a 'glitch'.

The ability that at C Rank makes the entire world their home ground.

The moment the shield shattered, the warships and war transports above Megabase 024 beyond the energy shield finally broke through and then they joined the assault against the local airforce above the megabase.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Amid the violent battle in the air for aerial superiority, a towering female Synth that looked like a giant suddenly appeared in a ghostly ethereal form among the formations of Gene Army transports.

Before they could even realize what just happened, she already attacked.

Neural Hack!

Compared to a Mindbreaker's Neural Hack, the Neural Hack of a Code Phantom was far more powerful as she instantly took control of almost 30 transports!

The transports instantly turned their weapons against each other against the pilots' wishes, and then they opened fire.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The transports exploded into oblivion, and as they did she disappeared again like she was erased from the world.

Ghost-in-the-Machine was still active!

It was a rule in faction wars that never let a D Rank Ascended loose on a battlefield without a direct counter. And now, the Gene Army in Leviathan Quay just made this mistake.

She singlehandedly turned the once even and tight battle into a one-sided massacre above the silent Megabase 024!

…

The battle against the Category 3 Beast Tide in the Southern Wall was just as intense as usual as the beasts willingly died just to deal more damage to the energy shield, and that was when it happened unexpectedly.

CRACKKKKKKKKKKK!

The city-wide energy shield suddenly shattered!

For a brief moment, the battle stalled as the Neon Beasts and the soldiers watched with stunned looks on their faces, but this lasted only a second.

The next second, the violence erupted again as the frenzied Neon Beasts charged and collided into the towering wall of Leviathan Quay.

BOOM!

The sound of collision of thousands of Neon Beasts colliding against the metallic rust-colored reinforced wall reverberated like thunder.

The soldiers couldn't react, but their Commander did.

"Don't fear!" The Commander roared. "We must stop the Beasts right here, we can't allow them inside the city, SHOOT!!!"

The timely reaction of their Commander emboldened the soldiers manning the towers and observation posts in the wall as the ten thousand soldiers stationed on the wall aimed again, then they unleashed hell on the beasts.

Tutututututututututu!

The sound of bullets wheezing through the air, slamming into flesh, plus the raw rampaging sound of the stampeding beasts combined to create a chaotic symphony of blood and death.

But then, the situation turned for the worse as with the energy shield preventing it since gone, the humungous Rhino-like Neon Beast bellowed.

BZZZZZZ!

The titanic ADE presence of the mighty D Rank Neon Beast exploded out again as it took a step forward, then it rammed its armored horn against the wall.

KABOOMMMMMM!

The very foundations of the Southern Wall were shaken!

Vibrations rippled through the wall like a disturbance in water, rattling the observation posts as some unfortunate soldiers were thrown forward into the tide of beasts where they were devoured in seconds.

"Focus fire on the Rhino!" The Commander on the wall bellowed.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

They focused fire on the massive Neon Beast but their attacks were like friendly pats on the overlapping plates of armor like city buses that covered this Behemoth.

The Rhino bellowed loudly again, then it moved backward slightly to gain momentum and rammed its horn against the wall again.

KABOOM!

This time, the Southern Wall showed cracks!

The soldiers were alarmed, and then the situation turned worse when they heard a familiar screeching sound.

BZZZZ!

They felt the titanic immensity of its presence!

The bipedal Neon Beast like an Ostrich but with the face of a Monkey erupted on a sprint from a great distance, charging towards the wall with unstoppable momentum, aiming at one of the pressure points that cracked on the wall.

The soldiers shot at it even as the wall-mounted weapons kept on retaliating but of their attacks only few touched this swift D Rank predator.

BOOM!

It broke the sound barrier in a few seconds!

And when it was close enough, it jumped, putting all its momentum and power into its powerful claws as it violently attacked the wall.

BOOM! CRACK!

With a loud sound, the crack on the wall widened and multiplied into countless cracks that now snaked across its surface.

Seeing this, the D Rank Neon Beast showed a delighted expression on its face then it resolutely head-butted the center of the cracks with its oversized Monkey head.

BOOM!

That did it.

This Neon Beast burst a 3 meter-tall opening on the wall!

It became the first Neon Beast of the Category 3 Neon Beast tide to infiltrate Leviathan Quay, but it wasn't the last.

Emboldened by the opening on the wall, the humungous Rhino-like Neon Beast moved back for leverage again then it plunged its armored horn at the wall one final time.

And this time, the wall finally succumbed.

A tirade of vibrations spread across the gigantic wall, shaking and destabilizing the very foundations of the entire Southern Wall!

The wall swayed, then it started falling back towards the city even as it crumbled!

The Commander of the force at the wall was a Captain, an E Rank Gene Augur. As the wall collapsed, he moved to save his life, intent on jumping off the wall and that was when he saw a shadow swiftly approach him from behind.

Before he could react, he heard a loud screech that burrowed into his ear.

SKRRRRRRRRR!

The loud sound briefly disoriented him, and that was what did him in as before he could react the talons of an Eagle, a new D Rank Neon Beast stabbed into his back!

BAM!

The Eagle screeched again and raised its talons up, showcasing the E Rank Gene Augur like a trophy.

The Captain groggily opened his eyes as the pain stimulated him awake. He was alarmed, but it was in that moment that the Eagle's massive beak stabbed towards his head with speed!

The Eagle opened its beak wide, then…

CRUNCH!

The massive Eagle directly covered the Captain's head with its beak, crunching and forcefully separating his head from his body in a violent manner!

It squeezed the head with its powerful beak into a paste of bloody juice and flesh, then it swallowed.

After swallowing, it screeched loudly again as it flapped its wings in a triumphant manner while levitating in the air just above the still-collapsing wall.

Still trapped in its talons, the Captain's headless body twitched violently a few times in its final throes of death before finally going still in death!

And that was when the wall finally hit the ground.

KABOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!

The sound was like a cacophony of rolling thunderclaps!

The impact was like the dawn of the apocalypse even as the foundations of the first Upper District was flattened from the sheer force of impact, making the Upper District sink below into the Lower District!

Over 3000 soldiers died in that single impact!

Thousands more were injured, barely hanging on to their lives and now, an endless tide of tens of thousands of Neon Beasts climbed above the countless corpses of their brothers who died during the earlier siege for 40 minutes.

They climbed over the corpses and invaded the city!

Leviathan Quay was exposed!

…

Megabase 023.

CRACKKKKKKKKKKK!

The moment the energy shield cracked, though they didn't know exactly what happened, the 3 leaders of Leviathan Quay instantly realized that something significant happened to have caused this.

And with the shield gone, what followed it was hundreds of more Federation war transports invading directly above Megabase 023!

Instantly, the defenders became vastly outnumbered!

In that moment, the 3 leaders of Leviathan Quay realized that they could no longer hold anything back or else there would be no city to defend.

Major Agakin and Roshfield were already in their best state.

As for the Colonel though, the moment he saw this, he calmly disengaged from the enemy Commander and tore his abdomen open before retrieving a single vial of a golden liquid that he previously hid there.

Colonel Bam-Bam took a deep breath, then he drank the content of the vial of golden liquid.

Instantly, his body became extremely hot with steam rising off his skin as his ADE signature began rising like steam.

His eyes glowed brown, then his ADE detonated.

Mutation- King of Skull Island!

BZZZ!

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