/ 

Haseul and Sooyoung left Afterlife in a flash. But in a controlled manner, of course. Sprinting out of the club would surely be suspicious and they didn’t need to raise any eyebrows now. Not after Jinsoul’s urgent message. 

Their feet hit the streets and the two raced towards the shuttle area. 

The rest of the squad met them halfway there, all of them convening at the nearest shuttle. Haseul called for Hyejoo to man the Kodiak, rattling off the coordinates for Gozu District. 

Vivi huffed out as she leaned back in her seat. They did just run all the way from the Omega Market. “We just got the message from Jinsoul! What’s going on?” 

Sooyoung had one hand on a handrail and the other held her assault rifle. That prompted the others to equip their own weapons. 

“Jinsoul’s team went ahead to Kima District. That was after the fact that we confirmed our intel about Cerberus’s presence here.” 

Haseul squeezed the grip on her assault rifle. She frowned, “And then she just sent that message… I don’t know what the numbers are either…” 

Vivi placed a hand on her Captain’s shoulder. She gave her a reassuring nod as they stared at each other. “Don’t worry. We’ll reach them in time.” 

Haseul blinked. There was some sort of bubbling in her chest as she continued to stare at Vivi. She was about to say something else when a patch of turbulence hit the Kodiak. 

The shuttle jerked before coming to an abrupt stop at a dock. Hyejoo had left the pilot seat. “We’re here.” 

Sooyoung opened the hatch and jumped off. “Let’s move!” 

The squad filed out of the shuttle. Haseul’s combat boots clanked on the dock platform as she brought up the rear. 

A quick glance around presented the soldiers with the residential areas of Gozu District. Haseul explained that Kima District was shut down due to an “electrical maintenance notice”. No doubt the work of Cerberus. 

Fortunately, Gozu District bordered the Doru and Kima Districts, presenting an alternate route to their isolated teammates. 

Haseul took the lead as she began running forward. The squad kept up in a zig-zag formation behind her. 

“Sooyoung, take the Wolf Pack with you. Me and Vivi will use the tunnel entrance by the lower levels to bypass the bridge. We’ll need a distraction — that’s where you guys come in.” 

The squad passed the District’s central plaza. There wasn’t much going on, just neon-lit signs and closed shops. 

“We’ll meet up with Jinsoul’s team. After we make contact, we can use a pincer maneuver to trap Cerberus; us from the north end and you guys from the south end of the bridge.” 

A fork in the district was soon approaching. 

“Got it. Good luck!” Sooyoung nodded as she leaned on the left path. “Wolf Pack! With me!” 

Haseul and Vivi went down the right path. Just a few yards down, Haseul turned left into a dead-end alley. She slammed a button on the wall which slid open an access panel on the ground. 

The metal shutter revealed a ladder underneath. 

The two paused to let the shutter finish retracting. Feeling Vivi’s curious look on her, Haseul sheepishly shrugged. “We’ve had a few skirmishes on Omega before.” 

The shutter clanked against itself, a signal that it was finished. 

“C’mon, this leads to the lower level tunnels I mentioned.” 

Haseul swiftly slid down the ladder. Once she reached the bottom, she scanned the area before shouting a clear! A thump came from Vivi’s boots as she jumped off the last ladder rung. The two soldiers dashed forward once again; the tunnel’s path was a straight-away that led to a garage. Climb a few floors and then they’ll be in the building where Jinsoul’s team is in.  

Hopefully, they weren’t too late. 

/ 

“Quick! Duck!” 

“...Jinsoul... we’re inside a building.” 

Jinsoul was currently ducked under the windowsill. She peeked out of the blinds. Several teams of Cerberus soldiers were stationed in the empty plaza that was across the bridge. She counted at least 3 armed patrolling units. And that was only counting the ones she could see. 

“Shhh! They still might be able to see us.” 

Jungeun stared at her Commander in silence, “...we’re on the second floor.” 

“Hey, look!” Jiwoo crouched next to the blonde commander, their armored shoulders quietly clanked when they bumped together. She mimicked Jinsoul’s action of peeking out the blinds. 

“Oh for crying out loud…” Jungeun threw her hands up. She shuffled over to Jinsoul’s unoccupied side. If you can’t beat ‘em, join them. 

“Is that Sooyoung?” 

Jinsoul asked “where?” as she scanned the perimeter. She let out a small gasp when she saw Sooyoung in a crouch as she sneaked by an unsuspecting Cerberus patrol unit. Even Jiwoo let out a gasp when she saw the Wolf Pack diligently trailing behind the Commander. 

The Alliance team sneaked right under the noses of another patrol unit. Using the various ammo containers and empty vendor stalls as cover, they made it across the plaza and ducked into a deserted shop. Jaz’s Spare Parts and Storage, the turned-off neon sign read. 

They watched the Cerberus patrols meander about cluelessly. If Jiwoo didn’t point out their teammates, they probably wouldn’t have known that they were even there. 

Jungeun openly gaped, “What is she—?!” 

Sooyoung had propped herself on the shop’s counter, assault rifle loaded and aiming. But she didn’t take any shots. It looked like she was waiting. And then Hyunjin quickly stood over her shoulder and launched a flaming red grenade. 

An incendiary grenade, Jinsoul’s brain supplied helpfully. 

The projectile sailed through the air in the middle of the plaza courtyard. The muzzle of Sooyoung’s rifle tracked it before she pulled the trigger, inciting a great big boom of fire. 

Jinsoul felt the blast even from their hiding place upstairs! 

A sizable scorch mark was left in the middle of the plaza’s courtyard, a few Cerberus soldiers laid down for the count. The remaining enemy numbers were scrambling left and right. Eventually, they located the source of the attack. 

Jinsoul watched as a firefight broke out. Their teammates were well-defended in their hiding spot but they were still outnumbered and cornered. A double-edged sword. 

The Commander stood to her full height as she equipped her assault rifle. With a press of a button, the window frame slid open halfway. 

“Let’s give them some cover fire, yeah?” 

Jinsoul folded herself against the wall as she took aim… and fired! A Cerberus operative went down, his teammate next to him whipped his head in alarm. 

Jiwoo and Jungeun followed their Commander’s lead eagerly. They propped themselves against the windowsill with their weapons already drawn, each taking turns to gun down a Cerberus agent. 

Jinsoul’s eyes methodically tracked a Cerberus soldier behind cover before taking her shot. Another one down. They weren’t on the front lines like the rest of their team was. But they could sure as hell provide some firing support! 

/