Chapter 21: Three Seconds to Make You Someone I Know

In the Greater Bay Area, inside a computer laboratory.

Once the others had mostly cleared out, a computer operator cautiously crept into the data retrieval zone. This was an area the team leader had strictly forbidden her from entering. According to intelligence, this was where the orbital data for the lunar rocket was being calculated.

"Hmph, 'orbital data'—with this in hand, I can finally leave this wretched place for good," the operator sneered. She produced a disk, intending to copy the intermediate orbital data.

The moment she inserted the disk into the machine, the lights in the entire room suddenly flickered on. Chen Linong stepped out from the shadows, followed by several National Security agents who surged forward and tackled the operator to the ground.

"Heh, so you’re leaving this 'wretched place,' are you?" Chen Linong scoffed. "Your crimes are enough to earn you a life sentence, without the possibility of parole. I’m afraid you’re going to be staying in this place you hate so much for the rest of your life."

Chen Linong had no patience for her desperate excuses or post-arrest regrets; he was sick of hearing them. Betrayal was betrayal. He had no interest in anyone who would turn their back on their own country and their own people. "Take her away," he commanded. "Now, we just wait for the results from the Senior Colonel's end."

Capturing this spy had been simple. The entire Greater Bay Area facility had been nothing more than bait. As soon as the first signs of tampering were detected, the real data had been transferred to the Military Academy of Sciences for processing—a location that was absolutely secure due to its specialized protocols. He hadn't expected the catch to be so significant, though; they had even managed to lure out armed militants.

...

In a van parked in the Greater Bay Area, Aikes had been waiting for an hour, watching as the people around the facility slowly vanished.

"What’s going on? Where did everyone go?" he asked, a sense of panic dawning on him.

"Don't be nervous. They probably just went to work; it’s Tuesday, and it’s already nine o'clock," his companion muttered, forcing a smile.

"Ding-dong!"

As they spoke, Aikes’s communication device chirped. He looked down, his expression shifting violently. "Everyone," he whispered, "the spy didn't report the data at the scheduled time. The mission has failed. We have to move now. Our target is the sixth-floor data center. Move out!"

Eight men poured out of the small van. They moved with practiced coordination, weapons drawn, advancing toward the computer center complex. Yet, the further they went, the more unsettled Aikes felt. It was too quiet. The area was unnervingly, deathly silent. They maintained their tactical formations, but the lack of movement was bizarre—even if the place were empty, one would expect to see someone, somewhere.

"Something's wrong. Stay alert!" Aikes signaled.

Just as he spoke, a dull gunshot rang out from behind a concrete barrier in the distance. *Bang!* A companion next to Aikes collapsed instantly.

"Sniper! Take cover! We've been compromised!"

The remaining seven scrambled for cover behind vehicles and stone pillars. Aikes couldn't believe they had been discovered. "Damn it, how many of them are there?"

"I don't know," replied the man hiding beside him. He shifted his position, peeked out, and his pupils constricted. "What... what the hell is that? Are those armored suits?"

"What?" Aikes frowned, confused. He leaned out to look, and his breath hitched.

A short distance away, three enemies stood openly in the middle of the plaza. They were clad in bulky, full-coverage exoskeleton suits. They were advancing steadily, rifles leveled.

"Fire! Open fire and see what happens!" Aikes ordered. *What kind of monsters are these?*

His companion peaked out and emptied an entire magazine from his AK. The bullets struck the exoskeletons with a sharp, metallic clatter, but the armor didn't even dent—there were only a few minor scratches.

"Damn it! How could they have this kind of equipment?!" Aikes’s heart sank. How were they supposed to fight this?

"Aikes, there are more of these monsters coming from the left and right! What do we do?"

As Aikes hesitated, six more identical exoskeletons emerged from the flanks, closing the pincer. They were trapped.

"RPG! Get the RPG! I don't believe these things can withstand a rocket!" Aikes shouted, cold sweat beading on his forehead. In all his years as a mercenary, he had never faced such a nightmare. When had China started mass-producing this kind of tech?

"Coming through! RPG!" A comrade grabbed the weapon, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

*Whoosh!* The rocket left a trail of white smoke, hurtling straight toward the leading exoskeleton. Aikes gripped his hands together. *This is it.*

It took only a second for the rocket to reach its target. But what happened next left Aikes paralyzed with terror. A small tube on the back of the steel behemoth flicked open, and with a *whoosh*, a miniature rocket launched, intercepting the RPG mid-air. *Active defense!* The exoskeleton actually had an active protection system.

*BOOM!* The rocket detonated, sending shrapnel spraying across the armor. The sound of metal hitting metal was rhythmic and crisp—to Aikes, it sounded like the whispers of Satan.

The full-coverage exoskeleton, Army modified edition, had arrived.

"Monsters! They're monsters!" his companion shrieked. It was a man-sized tank. How were they, mere flesh and blood, supposed to defeat this?

*Thump.* A dull sound echoed as a square box extended from the back of the armor. Aikes squinted. It was a rotating box, facing them directly. *Wait, why are there eight holes on it?*

"No! It's an eight-cell rocket launcher! Scatter!" Aikes screamed, diving to the ground. A wave of profound dread washed over him. The firepower was insane—was this thing built by some kind of "firepower supremacy" fanatic? An eight-cell launcher, just to wipe them out?

As Aikes trembled in terror, three explosions rocked the area outside the Greater Bay Area. The three blasts signaled the permanent end for Aikes and his crew. The incendiary rounds ensured that they, and their ambitions, were completely incinerated.