Gaston was already expecting questions from Ayumi after this. Nonetheless, that could wait after they evade or defeat the corvette-class firing at them. He was dodging their plasma shells.

“They are firing at us!”

Miss Ayumi was stating the obvious. He narrowly dodged a plasma beam. Gaston's bioelectricity-clad exoskeleton, shielding them from that plasma. Beyond the breakers, the soldiers, and the mercenaries of the world. He was one of the many naturales. A natural superhuman born of a tragedy. He was an Exemplar. But that didn’t stop him from being careful on staying alive while chased by a split-realm ship.

Exemplars were natural breakers. If the breakers needed a tube to become what they are. Exemplars became like this because of their natural aptitude to the ichor that flowed in their body. But to become a Breaker one must survive the harshest process of being turned by the formula. However, there was no Exemplar in the world that has not been molded by tragedy. Perhaps, it is because of this pain of the natural transformation that Exemplars were able to become what they are. Superhumans didn’t have to rely on the feeding of ichorirum like the Breakers.

A plasma beam came. Gaston’s bioshield generator shattered. Fortunately, his natural shielding managed to parry the beam. His legs have not stopped moving. He was dodging and making use of the buildings to get away from their much more dangerous blasts.

“Incoming.”

Another shot tried to drill a hole on his back. Gaston raised his natural shielding to maximum and blocked it. Although he was an exemplar, he was still human to his core. Not to mention that there was a need to keep the Overwatch of the Branch of Japan safe. He could not go all out. It was taking too long and the gut feeling churning his stomach was telling him that they were gathering the attention of the biomass entities the longer they keep this up

“Miss Ayumi. Can you give me five minutes?”

“I don’t think so. That corvette should be equipped with thermal and sonar scanners. I doubt I could hide without being torn to shreds. The beacon’s with me so I am glowing.”

Gaston’s option here was limited. He thought to himself that it was idiotic to hold back. So he took cover. Ayumi hugged the thick concrete wall as her curious eyes checked on him. He breathed out. Then clenched his hand before he started being clad in dark-red electricity. He concentrated on his right palm. Gaston’s bioelectricity formed a hiltless sword that hummed and vibrated and held on to it, Ayumi didn’t question. Gaston didn’t waste time. He rushed at full speed. Avoided the blasts coming from the corvette-class. He raised his left palm and made a square-shaped shield that blocked every blast. He felt his body being siphoned of any bioenergy. One inhale filled his drained body with the needed energy. He made a mighty leap and slashed his hiltless sword on the head of the corvette-class shield. He tore through the shielding. Smashed his leg on the cockpit and fired a concentrated beam of lightning on their heads. He didn’t stop in the cockpit. He murdered his way through their body. His fist sank into their bodies so easily. There were some breakers in their company. Most of them were pretty well-equipped. But the UEDF didn’t keep Gaston and Janna because they were cheap employees. There was a good reason why they were keeping them as employees. Gaston’s hiltless sword tore through their shielding. His limbs pierced through their flesh. It was a violent display of prowess.

There was nothing beautiful about such violence. With his mind working full time. he abandoned himself to this carnage. After a few seconds, he was in the back of their corvette-class ship. There was a hoverbike on their cargo bay so he lifted the bike, broke the cargo hold doors, and landed on the same building where Ayumi was.

The landing buried his legs on the concrete. Gaston had to pull them out before he placed the hoverbike in front of Ayumi. She looked at him with her mouth hanging. He retracted the exoskeleton around his arms and checked on the bike. He made a quick scan of the software and tried to access the security. Unfortunately, it seems that they were using bootleg software to run the systems of the bike.

He gotta hand it to them. They were meticulous about their security. But if he knew anything about programming lately is that there are idiots who always generate a soft-deletion code on their software. It has become a trend after a fool tried to copyright his own lines of code. So he thrust his fingers in the hoverbike, and tore the memory chipset and the multi-media card inserted into the bike.

“I thought we’re going to ride it.”

“Not quite. I don’t mind carrying you around, Ayumi.”

“Are you sure? That was quite an action. Are you not tired?”

“I just need a breather.”

Gaston inhaled. The bioenergy that was missing from his body surged in. He opened and closed his hands before pocketing the multi-media card and the chipset in his pockets.

“The beacon is compromised. Right now I think we should seek shelter and get out of Neo-Tokyo. Find the Babaika Lions and have you secured.”

“Is the city doomed?”

“I don’t know. A beyond storming event like this is rarer. There are only a few and all I know is that the unprotected are probably dead. How is your shield generator?”

Ayumi checked her bracer’s condition.

“It’s functioning. But I don’t have time as well.”

“If you stay in this area for too long then you’re going to turn into a breaker and if you are fortunate you’d become an exemplar. The worst case scenario is that you become a mutate.”

“I don’t understand anything.”

“Things are different. Our enemies are not known for reasoning. The best we can do is calmly get out of here.”

“You have been calmer than me.”

“I can say the same, Ms. Ayumi. I guess they don’t hand the Overwatch controls to just anyone.”

Her composure was astounding. Anyone being chased by a corvette-class would have been unable to move. Not to mention that she had stayed resolute while he carried her around.

There was no time waste so they moved on. Gaston didn’t dare to traverse the alleyways and the streets. He made use of the rooftops and his ability to leap over the buildings to cross great distances to keep them hidden. Ayumi was constantly worried about his stamina, but comparing what happened here to the Golden Gate event made this place feel like paradise for Gaston.

They continued traversing the buildings until they got out of the perimeter. Ayumi knew of service tunnels and routes so they used them without stopping for anything other than fuel. Most of the streets were filled with biomass entities ranging from T1’s to T4’s. Most of the automatic defense system was working, gunning down the entities, however, there was a horde of them, and the turrets protecting every grid of the city were starting to collapse.

Their bracers didn’t have any signals. Most of the time the emergency lines were static and from the looks of it there were disturbances. He thought of them as jammers at first, but the defense systems' targeting functions were still tearing through the monsters of the split-realm. Going inside the shelters was not safe as well since we might expose the residents into danger. From the branch of the consortium, we traveled to the outskirts of Neo-Tokyo. Ayumi wanted to come in contact with the government, but Gaston advised against it. The best chance of protection that they have was the Babaika Lions. Gaston told her bluntly that there was a chance that the government had many of the cultists in their ranks. There was also a chance that the Babaika Lions had their own cultists. But it was better to contact them. Gaston was counting on Lady Romanov’s rumored hatred for these cultists to keep them in line.

The emptied streets. The pitter patter of rain and the water on the gutters. The abandoned cars. The bare wind passing by. Ayumi continued walking while making sure she was not in the open. Although they have escaped Neo-Tokyo. There was clear exhaustion on her face. Even the equipment that was keeping her was starting to groan at the exertion. It was only when they were a few miles away from the Neo-Tokyo branch that he commandeered a civilian vehicle. He drove the vehicle from Neo-Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, and finally to Hammatsu.

Gaston drove carefully while avoiding open roads and making use of alternate routes. It usually takes three hours to reach Hammatsu, but since they took the alternate route. It took them five hours to reach Hammatsu. They regularly take ten minutes breaks, and collect batteries from abandoned vehicles to keep us going. He avoided most of the open battles. There were secure locations but it was better to keep the Overwatch from any sight. If there was anything that he’d learned was that the Cult had eyes and ears everywhere. Avoiding their line of sight and hearing was his top priority as they drove. Meanwhile, Ayumi manipulated the automated grid systems. Because she didn’t have the control panel. She had to enter augmented reality mode to keep the defenses on.

They made sure to keep the radio silent. Broadcasting their location was not ideal when there was a storming event happening all over the nation. When they reached Hamamatsu City. Gaston drove immediately to the branch office of the Babaika Company. Before they could reach the entrance they were surrounded by the Babaika Lions who demanded them to step out. Once he showed his identification code. The two were allowed in.

Gaston contacted the Rook Squad first. Boris, who was on stand-by with his squad approached Gaston with a questioning look. He explained the situation and by the end of it, Boris had the whole branch in full alert. After all, the Babaika Branch located in Hamamatsu just became a lamp in the dark. The cultists looking to end the world were probably heading their way. As long as the defense grid is online, and the controller, still in Ayumi’s hands. They were going to make losses

Ayumi was guarded by Yumina and Jin as their bodyguard while he went to the command center to discuss this problem with Lady Romanov. It was an urgent problem.

“So you got the Overwatch out. I know that you are capable. We heard what happened in the Consortium Branch. It’s safe to say that there are only a few members of the Earthside Consortium Branch left. And you only have dust and a little dirt on you. I was right about you.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, there are only a few of your kind so I was wondering what makes us so different. Good job, Adjutant Hardy. You’ve proven yourself useful to me.”

He leaned forward. “Did you come into an agreement with Janna?”

She smiled, “And what if I have?”

“I want an answer, Lady Romanov. I don’t fight battles. I was never a fighter. I will never be one again.”

“Janna warned me about this. She has a much more skillful mouth than you. Tell me are you her friend or are you her dog?”

“Do you intend to skirt around? I only want an answer. Answer me now.”

“Do you think that you can ask me this?”

“Right now I am going beyond my paygrade. I was only asked to become an Adjutant for your company. My debt? Who cares? Do you think that shit debt would cause me to back down? Right now, I am angry. And I only ask one thing from you, Lady Romanov. Did you or did you not have an agreement with Janna?”

Lady Romanov glared. The silence she gave would have rattled anyone. But right now he wasn’t the calmest. He was patient. She knows what he would do if she doesn’t answer him.

“I have. Janna will retire from the UEDF after her mission and she will be assigned as a second adjutant to my company. Do you understand now?”

He didn’t reply. Gaston calmed himself and threw his emotions into the back of his head. His face was still colder than a sheet of ice. She seemed to like the look on his face.

“I assure you that you will be part of the Red Planet’s Branch. We are thinking of expanding after getting our products out. But you must understand how important the events are happening here. You saw it yourself. And right now there are many who would like to find a good way to end their life on this planet and move on to the next one.”

“So you’re part of the End Seekers, Madam.”

“Not quite, Adjutant Hardy. I may love money. But I will never be so stupid enough to throw away our mother planet as well. Earth is our home and despite the easier ways to go on about this. I still want to see it get through this age.”

“Is that so?”

“I understand I may sound like an idealist. But what’s important to me right now is acquiring pieces that would benefit me. The price on you two are quite large, so please don’t disappoint me, Adjutant Hardy. Right now, I want you to act the same. Janna will see you soon so don’t worry.”

The line was disconnected. Gaston got out of the command center to find some alone time. He couldn’t understand what Janna was planning and how things had come to this. No wonder they wanted him to deliver the message from CERN. He should have known that there was something fishy going on.