Oliver aying attention to the ships that appeared above them. Each looked like leviathans of steel and iron, with a grotesque and disordered structure that was simultaneously imposing.

  Isabe, Katherine, and An had not yet realized what was happening, but as soon as they noticed Oliver gging behind, the trio grew ed and looked toward where he was gazing.

  The three stood agape, paralyzed before the ships. The main ship closest to the city seemed to be made entirely ur steel ptes, glued and hammered together without any symmetry or desigrangely, it seemed to fun. Red lights fshed in various parts of the ship, firihat flew toward the city.

  They could see several hatches on the ship's opening, and finally, a salvo of missiles was unched. If that hit them, the city would be over. However, the missiles exploded a few kilometers before hitting any of the buildings, revealing an aura of energy that protected the city.

  "Z-Crystal Barrier," Oliver recalled having one in New San Francisco. "This won't st, not against those ships."

  "Don't stop; we must get into the city and use the teleporter. Evacuate as quickly as possible," Oliver shouted.

  As he spoke, the wind from the explosion finally reached the four of them, blinding them with the amount of snow expelled. They had difficulty tinuing forward, but they khe dire of the city.

  UARRK!

  They heard the cries of Orks advang through the blizzard.

  The noise was the signal o reawaken the group, who dashed forward despite the gale ahead.

  Even with their helmets proteg their faces, seeing more than a few inches ahead was difficult.

  BOOM BOOM BOOM

  Another barrage struck the city's defenses.

  "Damn, damn," Oliver thought as he ran.

  Finally, the snow settled, and the wind helped the four see this time. They were no longer he geyser areas but at the base of the hill leading to the security gates. However, this time, there were not only recruits mapping the region.

  In front of them y a vast battlefield. Soldiers and officers frohe Orks to try to give the recruits a ce to escape. However, the battle was unfair; there were four Orks for every soldier on the field.

  Not to mention the differences in power. Each officer had at most their Artificial Armor and a Ranger on, while the Orks were rger and stronger. Although their skins were still gray, Oliver could tell they were not Pawn-level oppos. There was a horde of Orks, and all of them must be at least Knight-level. It was obvious that this battle would soon be lost.

  Throughout the field, they could see hundreds of bodies on the ground, some human, others Orks. But the most frightenihe smaller bodies. There were too many of them. All those who had fallen were wearing Academy uniforms—they were mere recruits who had not stood a ce against their enemies.

  ‘Please, let Astrid be okay,’ Isabe hoped she wouldn't find the red-haired girl lying otlefield.

  "Try not to etack, create distance, and move forward," Oliver expined.

  They didn't he orders; however, the boy also spoke to vince himself.

  Oliver and the group moved to the left side of the battlefield, trying to avoid entering the ter of the fight. Luckily for them, many Orks had their backs turo them, allowing them to hinder several before being noticed. However, they couldn't keep taking advantage of the surprise forever.

  As they ventured further into the bat zone, some Orks began to spot them. Oliver always aimed to shoot at their legs or faces; his shots often weren't enough to elimihem but incapacitated and removed them from bat. However, when it was a Knight-level Ork, he he support of Katherine, Isabe, and An to take it down.

  They were close to reag the middle of the field when a new bst drew their attention.

  PTIU BOOOM

  The group looked toward the city's defenses; however, no explosion was ing from there. Instead, the ship above them seemed to have take. An tapped Oliver's shoulder, pointing to the mountains.

  Six Titanbound Mechas were positioned, each firing missiles and sers at the ship closest to the city.

  The ship started to suffer from the hits as soon as their firing began. Initially, some steel ptes began to loosen and fall off; then, it ossible to see a small fire starting on the ship until it pletely lost lift.

  "It's not going to fall here, is it?" Isabe asked, slightly desperate.

  "Seems like it will!" An replied.

  The enormous ship began to lose altitude; however, instead of nding, it nosedived straight to the ground, right onto the battlefield.

  "Run!" Oliver and Katherine shouted. They broke away from their oppos without a sed thought and tinued running toward the base entranoheless, the falling ship created even more chaos, with soldiers, officers, and Orks scrambling to escape the impact.

  Oliver felt custrophobic with the number of people trying to squeeze through to advand escape the impact.

  THUMP

  The ship hit the ground without exploding; however, it dragged along the ground where it nded, destroying everything in its path. Dozens of soldiers and officers, as well as hundreds of Orks, were crushed instantly. It tinued scraping along the ground until it reached the bottom of the hill.

  However, there was no time to catch their breath. As soon as one ship fell from the sky, another approached, and anyone looking above the city could see that several others were approag the battlefield.

  As Oliver, Katherine, Isabe, and An squeezed through the soldiers to get past, some soldiers and officers begaurning to the front lihey k wasn't over yet—they o hold the front a little longer.

  When the group finally mao escape from the crowd, they were on one of the narrower side streets.

  "Do you remember where the teleport ter is?" Oliver asked the others.

  "It was—it ast the main square; going straight, you see the bunker with the teleporters," Katherine replied while trying to catch her breath.

  "It will be crowded; if the soldiers are still trying to hold the adva means they 't escape yet," An ented.

  "It doesn't matter for us. If we stay here, we'll only get in their way," Oliver remarked. "What are the ces of us receiving support?"

  He asked everyone, but Isabe and An looked at Katherine. He didn't uand why they were waiting for her to answer.

  "It depends; the NEA will act as a defense anization. In this case, they'll start deploying soldiers and Rangers into bat. In theory, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes," Katherine expined. "But the entire army, including the Great Houses, may take longer since a See is needed."

  "We're talking about what—an hour? Two?" Oliver asked.

  "Well, we're talking about the attack being only here," An expined. "If it's happening on more than one front, it could take longer."

  "Fuck," the boy excimed. "Alright, let's at least head to the teleport building."

  As soon as the grained some breath, they resumed running, but they were just in time to withe first disaster.

  BOOM

  There was another barrage of missiles, but only one exploded against the barrier this time. The ot through. The four were looking up when two missiles hit two buildings a few blocks away from them.

  "My God," Isabe said upon seeing the two buildings colpse from the explosion.

  They could hear screams ing from the city entrance. With the barrier finally down, Orks begaering the city streets. Several recruits te in some buildings—some trying to hide, others not knowing how they would make it to the teleport area.

  As the group moved from oreet to ahey could hear the exges between several recruits.

  "Let's hide; reinforts should arrive soon."

  "Yes, yes, we'll be saved."

  "Don't listen to him; we o flee. We have to run to the teleporter."

  "They're overloaded; there's no way to evacuate everyone."

  The versation among them frightehe four; there might be o escape. However, they had finally returo the main square without stopping to think.

  "Just a little further ahead," Oliver said among them.

  When he finished speaking, another rain of missiles hit several buildings hem, creating a massive cloud of dust and snoread across the square.

  Some minor skirmishes were throughout the square, with Orks, recruits, and officers fighting on all sides. Even so, they hadn't given up advang, but before Oliver could take the step—

  "Watch out!"

  GCLopes