Free Web NovelChapter 95: Calm Before The Storm Part 3
Francis read the headline twice. Not because the words were unclear, but because his mind had already started picking it apart like a puzzle waiting to be solve.
His steps continued at the same pace while his attention drifted far ahead.
’Are they really capable of bombing the whole city? If they are, then why hasn’t anyone found the bombs yet?’
His gaze turned toward the exhausted soldiers stationed along the street.
None of them looked good. Their eyes stayed restless, constantly scanning their surroundings as if expecting an explosion to happen beside them.
Fear had already worn them down.
Not just from the bomb threats, but from the uncertainty.
His attack the previous night only made it worse.
That massacre planted another kind of fear deep into their minds. freewebnovёl.ƈom
’It feels like all of this is just a distraction.’
Every unit sent to protect a station was a unit removed from the important zones.
He continued down the street and tilted his head slightly as a helicopter crossed above him again.
His eyes narrowed a little.
’Forty-eight hours...’
That number felt off. It sounded like a lie announced to the public on purpose.
’If they were going to strike, they wouldn’t wait that long. If my guess is right, they’ll probably do it tonight.’
Instead of hunting, he headed to another location to train his new abilities for the incoming attack.
What he needed now was better synergy to strengthen his overall combat power.
’If I played my cards right, I could come out as the biggest winner here and reach Category Five in one go.’
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.
.
Time moved forward across the city. Fear followed as the countdown drew closer.
Still, citizens continued going to work. They knew that if fear took over, the city’s entire system would collapse.
The government understood this too, so it avoided a full lockdown, trying to show that everything was still under control.
With the capital situation still unresolved, they could not afford to appear weak.
Then night came.
Curfew followed shortly after.
Streetlights stayed on, but movement dropped. Windows glowed from apartments stacked above empty roads. The city looked awake but restrained.
Inside a white van parked far from main traffic routes, silence settled over everyone.
A group in dark robes prepared without speaking. freёweɓnovel.com
Weapons were checked one final time.
They did not look like standard military gear. The shapes were too organic. Like something grown instead of built.
Hard surfaces curved in ways that reminded anyone of muscles under strain. Not metal.
Aris opened her eyes.
The clock on her wrist read 23:59.00
One minute.
No one spoke.
Aris slowly looked across the van.
Harlan sat near the back door, elbows resting on his knees.
Leah sat opposite him, fingers resting on her weapon. It looked like a whip made of interlocking spinal cords. Her grip was light.
Nathan leaned back with his arms folded, eyes half open, watching the ceiling.
He looked the most relaxed. He always did. It was not performance — it was simply how he processed things that other people burned energy worrying about.
The others held their weapons across their laps and stared at nothing.
They were prepared.
They were also aware of the truth.
Most of them would not return.
Casualties weren’t something to avoid anymore. They were already accounted for
Aris did not look away.
She checked the clock again.
23:59:50.
A small change in posture moved through the group.
23:59:55.
Her hand moved slightly. She touched the handle of her scythe.
23:59:57.
A breath left someone’s mouth too slowly.
23:59:58.
The van felt smaller.
23:59:59.
Everything stretched.
Then it ended.
BOOM!
The first explosion came from the northeast.
A beat of silence followed—so thin it barely existed.
BOOM!
The second came from the west.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Three more followed in quick succession. Different directions.
Sirens woke up late, then rose very fast.
The was the go signal.
"LET’S GO!" Harlan’s voice cracked through the silence like another explosion.
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.
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The capitol access road was wide and straight — a design choice meant to project authority and make the building visible from a distance.
The military prepared well. It seemed they had also predicted this would happen.
Thirty Gatling gun emplacements had been positioned in a staggered line across the boulevard, each one mounted on a reinforced platform and operated by a two-person crew.
Behind them, ten main battle tanks sat in a shallow wedge formation, their turrets tracking movement.
These were not standard military vehicles. The hulls were reinforced, the armor plating three layers thick, and the ammunition loaded inside them was not standard issue.
Concrete barriers lined both sides of the boulevard route, staggered in rows so that no single point of the line could be flanked.
And above it all, on the rooftops flanking the boulevard on both sides, snipers lay prone at every third window, their weapons already dialed.
The defensive commander stood inside the capitol, watching through a scope mounted on a tripod.
His name was Colonel Matthew.
Tonight, he brought more than enough snipers to stop even high-level Special Categories from getting close. They would be dead before they could even reach the first line of defense.
Or so he believed.
"CONTACTS CONFIRMED — OPEN FIRE!"
The Gatling guns responded first.
BRRRRRRRRRT—
At the same moment, the rooftop snipers opened fire.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Down on the ground, the place turned into a battlefield in an instant, as Covenant soldiers opened fire and launched RPGs.
The first wave of rockets hit.
A tank at the left flank disappeared in a burst of fire and smoke. The shockwave rolled across the boulevard and shook the concrete barriers loose from their bolts.
"LEFT SIDE DOWN!" someone shouted over the radio.
The Gatling line did not stop.
BRRRRRRRRRT—
Bullets carved through smoke, tearing into the advancing individuals.
Bodies dropped, but the gap behind them closed almost immediately.
More Covenant soldiers stepped over the fallen bodies and returned fire.
