The dust and dirt still hadn’t cleared yet as countless spotlights from the main Fort’s building focused on the broken wall. A large crowd was rushing outwards.

Deep in the rushing crowd stood two people. Somehow, people were avoiding them despite the chaotic rush and stampede, none of the rushing people would bump to these two individuals. As if they knew that they should avoid these two.

On the outside of the wall, the rockets that once paraded the entrance started zooming and hitting other directions. Tanks, Exoskeletons and the appearance of Armors were busy avoiding these rockets and even the falling grenades.

Suddenly a pair of rockets suddenly appeared from the dust and rushed just overhead of the rushing crowd.

Arthur and Meryl stood ready for the passing missile. As it zoomed by, Meryl and Arthur used their extreme perception to immediately unlock the lock which held the package.

Two cylindrical bluish tubes were received along with a smaller cylindrical object which was their extendable blades.

Back in the main command room of the Australian army, Garland was very angry. He was the assigned general to hold the Fort and yet, it was broken through. The implications of their poor defense could make the world see that this Fort wasn’t as impregnable as they once believed.

“Sir! Multiple platoons have reported to being under fire!”

“Two BOC’s have triggered the alarm, Sir! They are being attacked!”

“There’s another salvo of incoming rockets! Some may breach through the entrance!”

“Fire the Light Breaker!” Garland roared.

The soldiers in the command room were all shocked.

“Sir… We don’t have permission-”

“Permission?! This country is under a full-scale invasion! New Birth Forth has been breached! Are you saying that we need permission to protect our country? Fire it NOW!”

The soldiers immediately shuffled to active Light Breaker.

Up in infinite space beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, one of the satellites that continued to circle the Earth has already repositioned itself, aiming for New Birth City. A large satellite dish on the hull of the satellite started glowing with a reddish hue.

Suddenly a shockwave was released from the dish and it zoomed down towards the Earth. It was as if the space around it was bending. Several of the satellites which circulated nearby suddenly lost all power and some were sent crashing on towards each other while others plummeted down the Earth.

Back down in New Birth City, the powerful shockwave enveloped the entire city. The city itself began to shake from the sudden blast and all electronic devices, gadgets and even wireless signals were lost.

The once bright city turned dark. All that could be seen were the burning buildings and fires spreading throughout the city. The flying rockets soon died down and tumbled to the ground.

The remote-controlled rocket which just passed by Meryl lost all forms of power and smashed towards the wall of the building. No explosions followed afterward.

The attacks that came from all directions ceased almost instantly. The sudden change in the situation resulted in silence. Though they felt a strange force pressing on to them, none were hurt. After a few seconds, chaos returned as the civilians started panicking.

“Switch to Source Power!” Garland ordered.

The dead fortress suddenly lit up. Spotlights started appearing one after the other. The tanks, Exoskeletons, and Armors that seemed to have lost power suddenly sprung to life with all its technical capabilities brought back to full power.

“Trace the source of the attacks and finish them! Use historical heat-tracking to learn the paths of the rockets and trace it back to the source!” Garland ordered.

On the main road of the city, a platoon of soldiers was frantically switching to source power. Several of their companions were already dead as three convoys and one tank suddenly exploded due to a surprise attack of grenades, missiles, and planted bombs. The few survivors were then met with a torrent of bullets.

At the firing of the Light Breaker, the attacks stopped and the soldiers managed to regroup.

“Move now! Their rockets are ineffective and they have to switch to manual control to use their guns! We kill them before they regroup!” The Captain angrily ordered as he gathered the survivors of his platoon and rushed towards the building which was the source of the attacks.

The team of soldiers did not act slowly and used thermal detectors to locate the enemy easily. Without the thermal jammers, hiding was now pointless.

This scenario played on the various locations of the city where a sudden attack against the Australian army occurred causing severe death tolls. But after Light Breaker was activated, the attack followed by a total turning of the tide. The rockets which were used to halt soldiers from recklessly diving into the open fields were gone thanks to the EMP attacks.

All over the city, the Australian’s finally managed to make their first kills. None of the Pangean soldiers they faced survived or even managed to escape.

The Captain led his team through the stairs. As they reached the floor where the Pangean soldiers were reported to be hiding, he signaled the team and a soldier threw in one magnetic bomb.

This bomb “exploded” releasing pulses of electrical arcs which shot at any metallic object the room had. The room became a web of lighting and various mini-explosions sounded out as even the bullets inside the guns started exploding as their gunpowder was heated. Soon, even several grenades exploded.

The Australian team rushed in and started shooting at any moving enemy.

“Pseudo-Skeletons!” The Captain growled.

“To think they’ve had such gear with them!”

The soldiers in the room wore suits that made them look like robotic astronauts. They had a thick black glass visor which protected their face and thick heavy metal armors which could prevent even armor piercing rounds.

However, the magnetic bomb had stunned all the soldiers in the room and even disarmed them. In such a scenario, the Australian forces, easily shot at them one by one, aiming for the glass visor.

The thick armor and helmet could not prevent the obvious display of fear that the last Pangean soldier had as the Captain shot him several times in the face.

“Open up their helmets and scan their faces. If our intel is right, they should be Pangean natives who are Australian citizens.” The Captain coldly ordered.

The soldiers did as command and stripped of the helmets and visors which these enemy soldiers wore. “SIR!” An alarmed cry was heard and the Captain immediately turned to the crying soldier.

“This is Nathan! He was serving under Captain Lawsons! He’s not a Pangean native!”

A shocked look surfaced on the Captain’s face. The soldiers they had just unmasked were all gagged and their arms seemed to have been broken.

Suddenly, shots coming from the ground below penetrated through and killed all the soldiers in the room. The floor was made of both concrete and steel yet bullets pierced through it.

The Captain managed to evade by rushing out but several shots pierced through him maiming his legs.

The Captain reached for his communicator but another shot pierced through his heart.

“Rail guns?” The bewildered Captain stared as he identified the attacks. The attack came from behind the wall.

The thick should have been able to withstand even armor piercing rounds. But these attacks pierced through it like it was paper.

The Captain could make out person silhouette as his vision started to fail him. But he could clearly see, the soldier wearing thermal visors as well as a thermal jammer. All of which, shouldn’t be working because of the Light Breaker.

The silhouette aimed his gun at the Captain and a bluish light became the last sight the Captain beheld.

The instant massacre of several platoons was left unnoticed by the majority. The soldiers in the city had no time to do a roll call as they have their hands full.

Back in Gate 3, the soldiers were now trying to reorganize and capture the Pangean natives that escaped. However, the series of explosions outside were exploding on very precise locations that allowed the citizens to escape unhindered.

This cover of fire hindered the ground forces while the flying Exoskeletons had settled on the top of the wall in order to switch to Source Energy. By the time they could lift off, most of them ignored the running civilians as they immediately sought out the enemy in the area.

Unnoticed to them, all the soldiers inside who stood near the gate and survived the explosions, were now dead.

“Meryl. You’re up. Get ready.” Arthur ordered as he was removing a bloodied blade which pierced through an Exoskeleton.”

“Amazing. This sword’s pretty sharp.”

“It’s not sharp. It just applies Eradicating technology.” Arthur casually responded.

“Then why aren’t more of this made?”

“What can a sword do against guns? Not everyone’s like us Meryl.”

“Oh right…”

“Soldiers coming. Move into position.”

A group of soldiers came running inside to check the area and was surprised at the deaths of their fellow men.

“Search for the enemy! And be on full alert!” The commanding officer shouted as the soldiers from the outside sprinted inside.

“Sir! We’ve confirmed it! These are Pangean made weapons!” A soldier reported as he stooped down to retrieve the missile which almost blew apart the main doors leading to the main building.

“Those damned Pangeans!” Another soldier cursed.

“Relax Corporal. The Light Breaker has been activated. Whatever army they have here should be dead within minutes. Without their tech, they won’t stand a chance.”

“Report! Is the Sector clear?” A voice spoke through the Comm device.

“Sir, Yes sir! No incoming attacks seem to be reaching this area.”

Immediately, the large door behind them started to roll up. The entire metal gate was about two meters thick.

A large number of soldiers wearing Exoskeletons and Pseudo-Skeletons marched out.

“So Evening came huh?” The soldier holding the rocket grumbled.

“The Morning light wasn’t enough to win this battle. It’s time for the Darkness to have a shot at the enemy. An Evening commander greeted the grumbling soldier.

The Morning soldier offered a salute.

The Evening commander approached the soldier and took a look at the rocket on the soldier’s hand. It had several dents on its warhead and even some parts of it were badly bent.

“Pangean Remote rockets? To think that this little thing here could make Australia send the Night.”

“Sir! Look! A Pangean native!” A soldier pointed to the open field.

Meryl stood at the center of the field. She walked as if she was wounded and limped closer towards the gate.

“Should we shoot her?” The soldier asked.

“Don’t be too heartless. Hey little girl! Come here!” The Evening soldier beckoned.

Meryl sighed.

“Just as Arthur predicted.” She mumbled as she limped closer.

The soldiers around did nothing to this poor Pangean girl as their commander had called her out.

“This should be close enough.” Meryl then stopped her approach and stood on the field.

“Hey, little girl! What are you doing?” The Evening commander asked.

“Waiting for the signal!” Meryl shouted back.

Before the confused look of the commander appeared on his face, a series of strange beeps could be heard.

The soldiers by the gate then searched for the source of the sudden beeps. It was coming from the small rocket in the hands of the Morning soldier.

BOOM!

The rocket exploded.

The sudden explosion created panic as all the surrounding soldiers immediately rushed towards the explosion to check on their comrades.

As the soldiers approached a loud crackling sound echoed loudly, distorting the soldiers nearby and then a bright light blazed forth blinding everyone.

The light wasn’t just an ordinary flash bang but it was one of Pangean’s special-grade, light-blinding explosives designed to provide longer blinding effects for the enemy. The Ever Bright.

Meryl easily entered the through the main door and rushed deep into the facility. She was now wearing an Australian soldier’s attire and had several bloodied parts on her body.

It wasn’t long in her rush inside that she noticed two women and a man blocking her path.

Meryl slowed down on her pace and walked as if she was limping.

"Help me... Please." Meryl pleaded with a saddened expression.

“Meryl, I presume?” The taller woman asked.

Meryl had a surprised look.

“Harker’s Programmed Slaves! I didn't expect to meet you so soon! Thanks for all your help.” Meryl gave a courteous bow.