Siren's Elegy Volume 1: Orphans of Ashen Earth

Chapter 9: Unseen Threat

June 14, 4021 8:00 [Zìyóugǎng- Central Plaza]

Debris hailed upon Central Plaza, breaking up the paved concrete. Stray chunks of building and street flew into nearby shops and pedestrians, painting the ground a dark red. Wet splatters of blood and viscera coated Cecil's shoes as he whipped around attempting to identify the source of the explosion. He looked up, processing the trajectory and flight path of the shrapnel traveling in their direction. "Blixtskydd!" he bellowed, an arc shield manifesting over their heads, shattering the oncoming projectiles. The others, momentarily shocked by the carnage, snapped into action. Akula wrinkled his nose, drawing upon the blood trails to identify the source of the disruption, the oldest exposed blood would allow him to pinpoint the origin of the blast.

"There!" He pointed in the direction of the Vechnaya Merzlota Embassy, a red trail leading to the ruined building amongst the other damaged skyscrapers in his mind's eye.

"Everyone! Move, now!" Cecil yelled, barking orders at the rest as they ran after him, ducking under his arc shield. "Mirai! Aisha! Protect those two! Akula, come with me! We need to subdue and neutralize the threat immediately!"

Cecil rustled through his pockets and threw a small device at Mirai before running towards the embassy with Akula following closely behind. In the corner of his eye, he observed Mirai activating the device, a mechanism surrounding the four that remained in the plaza. Cecil plugged an earbud into his left ear, tapping it in a specific sequence to match Indra's own frequency. Akula followed suit mimicking Cecil.

"Testing, testing, can you guys hear me alright?" Indra asked over the intercom.

"Loud and clear. We're near the embassy, we'll rendezvous with special forces and evacuate any injured civilians in the blast radius," responded Cecil. "Akula will be my guide through the rubble."

"Sounds good, I've got eyes on your position; Mirai and Aisha are aiding civilians in the plaza as we speak so just focus on your area," Indra directed.

Cecil heard a light whir above his head, glancing upwards to see an owl-shaped drone hovering high above their location.

"Looks like Vivian's drone came in handy," smirked Akula.

"Its name is Uluka!" Vivian shouted over Indra's line.

"Vivi! Give that back! This is serious!" Indra took back the device from the enthusiastic researcher.

"Sorry about that. Special forces are en route to your position now. There's another ID; it's Kǔ Shén's forces. They're encircling the building as we speak," he explained.

"Any idea of what could have caused the explosion?" questioned Cecil as he reached ground zero of the embassy. A sign on the ground labeled 'Consulate General of Vechnaya Merzlota' lay caked in dust.

"Intel is still unclear, but we're operating under the assumption that this is foul play. The building in question was recently reviewed for structural code, nothing came up as a red flag," Indra answered.

"So keep an eye out for unfriendlies, yeah?" Akula summarized.

Cecil peeled his eyes straining his vision for signs of enemies hiding in the billowing smoke and ashes. He spotted Kǔ Shén's cavalry, covered in sleek black body armor, a jade dragon etched on the backs of their bullet-proof suits, under an insignia reading "JSS". They carried an array of weaponry, riot shields aptly protecting their entire persons, sleek helmets in the shape of an owl's head masked their visage, while Virya rifles and shotguns remained unholstered. Snipers lined opposing buildings, their hidden sights trained on the exit points of the embassy. Strangely, there were no civilians, living or dead amongst the mountains of debris...