Electricity crackled in the air, making the world flicker before your eyes. A firewall appeared before your eyes, then a warning that someone was trying to hack you for a position.

Six nipped the attempt in the bud and sent back a mirror reflection. Somewhere in the distance, someone screamed, followed by the sound of neurons burning through flesh and nerves.

"One down.", Kurt sounded pleased.

You smirked.

Four's algorithm opened a window before your eyes. A map moved and small dots appeared on it. Enemies.

"We're massively outnumbered.", you noted with amusement.

"Challenges.", Kurt said. "Ain't that what you like?"

You grinned. He seemed to be beginning to understand how you worked. And he liked it.

"Oh, I love a good massacre.", as he sought shelter behind a ruined wall you nestled against his back from behind.

Chrome and muscle pressed against your chest, sending a lightning bolt through your body and making the cells sing. His eyes briefly travelled over his shoulder to look at you.

Then his attention returned to the field of the stadium. No turf had been laid at the time of the task. Only bare benches and dusty floor had been destroyed under the weight of the ship. Maybe it was better that way, because otherwise the whole field would be on fire now.

The ship had broken in two when it crashed, containers and bodies scattered about. Blood seeped into the ground, soaking the earth.

A kingdom for a tyrant. How amusing this idea was.

How much ammunition and toys would be in there?

Greed made the metal fingertips of yours itched.

"The fire will do the work for us.", relaxed Kurt leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

Brown strands stuck to his sweaty forehead. You gently stroked them away with your fingertips, leant forward and kissed his cheek. One corner of his mouth twitched. He gave you a smirk.

"Tame.", he remarked teasingly.

You smiled. And the next moment you had your claws were around his neck. With gentle pressure, you reminded him who you were.

"Careful, Colonel.", you breathed. "I don't like it when people make fun of me. It ends fatally. And that would be a shame for such a promising man as yourself."

His eyes met yours. There was no fear on his face. Just a playful challenge.

And again, you thought you were falling a little in love with him.

"We both know I would never do that.", he put an arm around your waist and pulled you into his lap.

Smooth as a cat, you complied with his invitation, let your head fall against his shoulder and sighed. The warmth of the fire made you sweat.

The analysis finished and a situation report appeared before your eyes. A discontented growl escaped you.

The report showed that the cargo ship was equipped with a nuclear reactor. Strange, considering that Militech had wanted to pass it off as a civilian cargo ship. Such equipment was too obvious for that.

However, that wasn't the problem. It was the fire. The heat was straining the stability of the reactor and threatened to cause a meltdown.

The ship had to be cooled as quickly as possible or it would blow up, taking everything around Pacifica with it. The radiation load would have been devastating.

Your eyes wandered to the sky. Clouds had gathered and darkened everything. The level of acid in the air had increased. Soon it would rain.

Until then, there was nothing to do but hope.

Militech engineers were clever enough to protect the nuclear reactor with several layers of fireproof steel. A cooling system had been activated by the emergency power. Should a critical state be reached, sprinkler systems would stabilise the temperature.

And yet the imminent prospect of a meltdown made the hairs on the back of your neck prickle.

Again, a window opened before your eyes. A warning.

Kurt noticed your eyebrows furrowing, glanced over his shoulder down to the field and moved. Carefully, his hand wandered back to his rifle, which he had leant against the wall next to you.

The heat of the fire had drenched him, dripping with sweat and smelling of salt. Your sensors informed you that it was recommended to drink water to make up for the loss of fluids.

But there was something else. Again the warning came to the fore. Your eyes jumped around. Debris and ash obscured his vision, interfering with sensors and analyses.

Suddenly the connection to your dogs flickered. The beat of your heart quickened. Something was wrong, tugging at your connection of the neutral network.

Actually, that couldn't be possible. The connection to your dogs was flawless, nothing and nobody was able to penetrate it. Unless the chairs were being tampered with manually.

Someone was trying to manipulate you.

But why?

Who?!

A shiver ran down your spine. This time the warning wasn't from your systems, not picked up by cyberware or tech. It was simply instinct, deeply ingrained in the components of your DNA.

Sharply sucking in the stuffy air, you glanced up at Kurt. He had his eyes fixed on the burning ship, gun in one hand as his grip on your waist tightened. He felt it too.

Something was different.

All at once, a human tumbled from the flames of the bridge and leapt over the edge of the ship. The impact on the ground was muffled and all that remained was a puddle of deep red.

Scepticism crackled in the back of your mind. With a hand on his thigh, you slipped off his lap. Your eyes glowed red.

"You feelin' it?", he asked with a grim expression.

His eyes narrowed intently, he raised his weapon and tried to get a clear picture of the interior of the ship with the digital sight.

"He didn't try to get out of the flames.", you said. "He was running from something."

As if the words had conjured up an evil omen, the ground suddenly trembled beneath your feet. Goose bumps crawled all over your body.

A red light scanned the shadows.

And the next moment a rocket hit.