[07:03pm]

One moment, Iron Reef was calm and quiet, a city crackling with subtle tension. And the next moment, the calm exploded and gave way to chaos.

The invasion began suddenly.

High above the city, beyond cloud cover and sensor range, hidden within the neon storms in the sky, the Omnicore Federation's fleet arrived without ceremony.

They tried to catch the rebels off-guard.

There was no warning broadcast, no declaration, just the sudden distortion of the upper atmosphere as stealth carriers de-cloaked like silent gods, their hulls reflecting nothing, not even starlight as they descended on the city.

Then the sky fractured.

BZZZT!

Compared to Leviathan Quay's aerial defense grid, even without a large city-wide energy shield, Iron Reef's defense grid was far more responsive as the atmosphere above the city instantly reacted and crackled with static.

The Federation's use of specialized stealth carriers didn't matter because the rebel city had been on high alert all day since Ren Nora's speech.

They had been waiting all day for the attack.

The moment the stealth vessels emerged, the city defense grid reacted.

Instantly, orbital relays ignited, burning thin blue lines through the clouds as targeting systems jolted to life.

Iron Reef itself came to life.

From different corners of this city, pre-installed A.I-controlled automatic aiming weapons came to life- Laser Turrets, Plasma Cannons, Railguns, Gatling Guns, and even robotic drones as they all aimed at the sky.

There were thousands upon thousands of them around the city, and together, they comprised Iron Reef's city defense grid.

Communication satellites sent the will of Ren Nora through the thousands of A.I-controlled turrets in the city as instantly raw destruction ignited in Iron Reef's airspace.

KABOOM!

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The surface to air aerial bombardment started immediately!

In response, all the Federation vessels triggered their energy shields to defend but not all of them could survive the surface to air bombardment.

BOOM!

Dozens of war vessels, especially the thin-hulled stealth carriers exploded in a violent conflagration in the air!

The invading red-themed war vessels of the Omnicore Federation didn't take this quietly as they retaliated, bombarding Iron Reef's surface but then, every single building in the city ignited with a bluish green light.

Every building in the city had a miniaturized energy matrix!

Most buildings survived the retaliatory bombardment from the invaders, and though some succumbed the damage resulted in 0 casualties because all the civilians were already evacuated underground.

This was where Iron Reef was different from other conventional cities.

This was not a high-end city like Leviathan Quay with countless high-rise buildings and infrastructure to protect, this was a down-to-earth rebel city with modest reinforced buildings built to resist shock damage like turtle shells.

Unlike major populated and developed cities, the current Iron Reef was literally a massive war camp built exactly for wars like this.

Iron Reef was built for war.

The initial skirmish between the defense grid and the invaders only lasted a few seconds before the first-response squads of the rebel army took to the skies.

Hundreds of black and green-themed war vessels around the city instantly took to the sky, flying the banners of the Freegrid Collective.

But unlike the strategy used by Leviathan Quay's airforce, these war vessels didn't approach the Federation army to engage in an aerial dogfight.

They ascended in orderly geometric formations.

Instead of closing in for a dogfight, in their formations, they kept their distance for the first 2 minutes of the aerial battle as they unleashed hell in an intense long-ranged bombardment.

The aerial defense grid of the city comprising thousands of turrets gave them the advantage in a long-range battle like this.

A battle for aerial superiority instantly ignited above the city as the rebel flight vessels clashed against the hundreds of red-themed war transports of the Omnicore Federation!

But in a battle of this scale, it was impossible to maintain order for a long time and keep the distance of the Federation vessels.

The Federation flight vessels closed the distance to the city's airspace, and finally, an aerial dogfight erupted!

The rebels didn't cower from it though, they embraced it with open hands and that was when the rest of the army of rebels and mercenaries in the city surface finally joined the battle.

…

KABOOM!

The moment the aerial war started, the tens of thousands of rebel soldiers and mercenaries that responded to Ren Nora's summons in Iron Reef's surface stirred.

These rebels and mercenaries gathered in droves like a flock of birds, rapidly converging on the roofs of buildings around the city as they got prepared to join the battle.

The Order of Iron mercenary squad was part of this contingent.

The moment the battle started and as war horns blared across the entire rebel city, all the mercenaries in the large 1-story building stirred, converging towards the roof of the building as they got set for war.

Leon was one of them.

With a solemn look on his face, with his backpack and a toy-sized robot tied to his back, he held his Terra Nova 71 Rifle on his right hand and approached the roof of the building.

On top the building, Leon got first-row seat to witness the ongoing battle.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The atmosphere burned as oxygen ignited like fuel!

Observing the destruction in the sky, his pulse raced and his heartbeat accelerated, pounding against his chest even as his adrenaline levels spiked.

And the moment the long-range aerial battle turned into a dogfight, all the mercenaries and rebels participated as those with long-range weapons like Leon aimed with their Rifles at the sky- at the Federation flight vessels.

Then they unleashed hell!

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Amid a storm of bullets and energy beams crisscrossing through the sky, Leon stayed anxious as this current situation reminded him of the chaotic battle of Leviathan Quay.

He knew that in a battle of this scale, a single E Rank Ascended was just like a speck of dust in a desert, his singular influence in this battle was tiny.

Thankfully the rebel army seemed to have the numbers advantage but Leon was still anxious. 'What is Ren Nora's counterplan for this?'

His brain was on overdrive like a super computer, analyzing ideas and trying to predict Ren Nora's intentions.

He was trying his absolute best to decipher Ren Nora's ploy and read his game plan. He felt like he was close, but he was not quite there yet.

And then, suddenly, he felt it.

BZZZZZ!

The D Rank Ascended powerhouses among the invading force finally made their debut as they entered the battle with bombastic flair.

4 D Rank Ascended made their presence known instantly!

On top the roof, Leon quivered as he felt the powerful wave of ADE wash across the sky like a tsunami.

But Iron Reef didn't stand watching.

The moment the invaders revealed their D Rank Ascended powerhouses, Iron Reef responded in kind as the rebels went band for band!

BZZZZZ!

Leon felt an eruption of 6 extremely dense ADE signatures!

Despite the pressure and his rapidly beating heart, Leon's brain reacted fast the moment he felt the 6 dense ADE signatures. '6 D Rank Ascended? That means Ren Nora is still around?'

'He's not started his Trial yet?'

Of the 6 D Rank energy signatures that emerged from the rebel army, 3 of them were D Rank NetRunners, 2 were D Rank Cyber Gladiators, while the last of them was a D Rank Gene Augur.

Among the NetRunners was Ren Nora himself.

When Ren Nora and his 6 Lieutenants appeared, staring at them floating with anti-gravity gear in the sky, Leon suddenly had a hunch that the rebel leader had a plan and he was right.

The moment they emerged, the 2 rebel D Rank Cyber Gladiators and the D Rank Gene Augur let their ADE loose, attracting all the attention as the 4 Federation D Rank Ascended were forced to focus on them.

Of the Federation D Rank Ascended, 2 of them were NetRunners and of the remaining 2, 1 was a D Rank Cyber Gladiator while the last was a D Rank Quantum Shaper.

Regarded as the strongest and most talented D Rank NetRunner of the Code Phantom Specialization alive, Ren Nora already hacked and infiltrated the Federation airforce long ago before they attacked and learned their full force composition.

He knew who the 4 D Rank Ascended sent by the Federation were, he knew their Class composition, and he also knew that they were not the Commanders of the Invasion Force.

This time, the Director-Prime was clearly not holding back.

Ren Nora was flattered by the special treatment he was receiving by the Director-Prime, but this did not stop him from devising a devious plan to give his enemies a perfect welcome gift.

With his D Rank Cyber Gladiator and Gene Augur Lieutenants attracting all the attention with their ADE eruption, Ren Nora alongside his 2 D Rank NetRunner Lieutenants slipped into the psionic network and disappeared.

Neural Projection!

Before the enemies knew what was happening, a squad of 3 NetRunners led by Ren Nora himself emerged out of mid-air, isolating 1 of the 2 D Rank NetRunners of the Federation Army.

This was not just a physical ambush and isolation, they directly cut off the NetRunner's access to the psionic network, isolating the LAN!

"…!" The D Rank NetRunner was shocked.

Everything after that happened extremely fast and he never had a chance to react.

Overclock Mind!

Data Lash!

Psionic Assault!

Mind Distortion!

Neural Burn!

Even for a D Rank NetRunner of the Mindbreaker Specialization, a sudden unexpected assault of 3 enemy D Rank NetRunners was lethal.

Even at D Rank, the truth remained that with their access to the psionic network cut off, preventing them from switching to their psionic ghost state, NetRunners were still a paper Class.

The Federation D Rank NetRunner's eyes glazed over, his brain was fried and in extension his body became paralyzed!

The LAN isolation finally lifted, and then…

Neural Projection!

Ren Nora hopped into the Federation soldier's smartphone.

Through that single hop, he closed the distance to the paralyzed D Rank NetRunner like a cyber-assassin with a black dagger on his right hand.

The moment he materialized back in reality, he attacked even as violent neon green ADE curled around his body, converging on the black blade on his right hand.

Whoosh!

The enemy only saw him once.

BAM!

Spurt!

Blood sprayed in the air like rain, and a D Rank NetRunner lost his head!

Within 2 seconds of their emergence, Ren Nora led an assassination against a D Rank Ascended of the Omnicore Federation and succeeded!

This was his welcome gift.

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