Aurora Over a Dead World

"..." I enter through one of the factory’s restricted access points, activating my communicator to speak with Cecilia.

"Cecilia, I’m seeing suspicious movement. Just as we suspected, they’re criminals. They’re mainly stealing shielding materials and weapons. Fortunately, they seem incapable of taking anything too big, so the engines are safe," I report quickly, moving cautiously.

"[Be careful, Commander Nadir. I have a bad feeling about this place, and I’m not even there,]" she says as I look around. I locate the control room and approach silently.

Once inside, I spot a few criminals on the security monitors and several devices altering the camera feeds in real time. Because of that, the cameras didn’t pick me up.

"..." I deliver silent strikes to each of them, knocking them out. Just to be safe, I break each of their legs. I won’t kill them, but I can’t let them escape, so I did what I judged to be most efficient.

"Five criminals successfully neutralized. It looks like they’re using the outer side of the factory to escape faster. Call in containment vehicles to cordon off the streets behind the factory so no one can get away," I order her while yanking all the cables from their devices, disabling them.

"[It’s very good to see you here, Commander Nadir,]" Nexus appears on the screens, speaking to me.

"You were disabled?"

"[Yes. It seems to be some kind of complex interference device, likely something bought from illegal markets, since as far as I can tell, these thugs barely know how to use more than the basics of the device.]"

"What’s good about it?" I ask, holding the box where all the wires converge.

"[With it, it would be possible to launch an interference wave capable of disabling any non-vector or semi-vector device. It would be enough to shut down more than half of all technology within a one-kilometer radius of the machine.]"

"...Should I destroy it?"

"[Yes. I’ve already analyzed the device. Keeping it intact is a risk.]" As soon as he says that, I crush the box in my hands.

"How long to recover the cameras?"

"[I’m sorry, but it won’t be possible to recover the cameras. External chips were placed on each one, so even if the footage stops being manipulated, the cameras won’t be able to capture anything.]" When he says that, I leave the room, returning to what matters.

’All this preparation... why?’ I understand that robbing these factories requires preparation, but they over-prepared, yet didn’t even bring machines to steal the engines and heavier items.

They’re manually carrying only armor parts, reinforced material, and weapons—nothing beyond that, which shows the heist might not have been as well-planned as it seems.

"Maybe there’s an extra variable..." I quicken my pace, climbing onto the ceiling beams and breaking through a section to get on top of the factory roof. I run up here, searching for exactly where they are.

And I manage to find the exact exit they’re using. I see several criminals loading things into multiple trucks with fake company logos to pass unnoticed.

’There are logos from various companies, and even the style of the trucks is similar. They’d pass through multiple checkpoints without issue if no one inspected them properly...’

"Cecilia, I found the source of the problem." I grab the communicator and activate recording mode, positioning the camera for Cecilia to see.

"[Commander Nadir, it’s good that they’re just ordinary criminals, right? Now we know you can handle this alone. Just be careful. As soon as you show yourself to them—]" Before Cecilia finishes, something slams hard beneath me, throwing me upward.

"!!!" I spin in the air, unfortunately landing on top of a truck, which gives away my position.

"...TROUBLE!!!" someone shouts, alerting everyone and ruining the element of surprise.

’I knew I should have brought some bombs... but blowing up parts of the factory would be problematic...’ I look around, drawing my weapon. But to my surprise, instead of fighting, everyone runs into the factory.

"...?" From inside the factory emerges a girl with an irritated expression. I think she’s the one who knocked me down, because I see something metal in her hand that looks like it was ripped from the ceiling.

"Another one... you?" The girl seems to recognize me. I’m confused, having never seen her before, until I notice the teeth on her dress. In that moment, my whole body gets chills.

"You!!!" I say, alarmed. The girl freezes before breaking into a terribly wide smile—inhumanly wide. She starts laughing like a maniac, collapsing to the ground while touching her own face, unable to contain her euphoria.

Her entire body deforms with an unpleasant sound of flesh and bones twisting and crushing before she assumes her new form—a form I know well.

Having the appearance of a young, fragile girl dressed in a golden Victorian-style outfit with large black details, she has long blonde hair and red eyes. On the edges of her "dress," you can see teeth, and on the inside, I’m sure you’d see eyes everywhere. She’s mimicking the appearance of a young girl of about 160 centimeters.

"Nightmare..." I say the name they use for her. This abomination is here? Working with humans.

"Nadir!! What luck, what luck!! So much luck!! I’m the luckiest girl of all!!" She leaps extremely fast, kicking the truck I’m on so violently that it goes flying. I jump off it and start shooting at this abomination.

"I’ve been looking for you, ’Commander Nadir.’ You have no idea how happy I am to see you here! I’ll finally get to shred your body and devour it." The maniacal grin on her face is revolting.

"What’s an abomination like you doing working with bottom-tier criminals?" I ask as the bullets I fired don’t even have an effect.

"Does that matter? Come on, it’s our reunion, our rematch!! My chance to prove I’m the strongest. This time, my love will fully reach your flesh until it turns into ground meat."

"You know, it’s been twelve years since I defeated you in the past and you fled with your tail between your legs. Shouldn’t you have gotten over it by now? What a spiteful little abomination you are," I say mockingly, rolling my eyes, which irritates her.

"NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! IT WASN’T FAIR!!!! I’M STRONGER THAN YOU!!!" She remains as unhinged as ever—an abomination that, no matter how hard she tries to imitate humans, will never be able to understand us.

"Whatever." I don’t give her the attention she so desperately wants. This maniacal psychopath is too big a problem for me anyway.

’If I run, she’ll chase me, and if I fight without preparation, I’ll probably lose... what a huge problem...’

"Look at me!! LOOK AT ME!!! PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!!" She gets furious at the lack of attention, but I just look around. Judging by the criminals’ reaction, she isn’t exactly an ally.

’Did they team up for mutual reasons?’ I walk up to a truck and kick it toward Nightmare, who is distracted screaming at me. The truck hits her, pushing and crushing her against a wall.

"You talk too much. Seriously, your voice annoys me and you’re disgusting," I provoke her, because her extremely temperamental behavior is one of the best weapons against her.

"Come on, Nadir!! Maybe this appearance excites you more in a girl." The deformed flesh emerges from beneath the truck, taking the shape of Zenith, but without prosthetics, because Nightmare can’t replicate the metallic parts of Zenith’s body.

’...’ Seeing this irritates me. She copied Zenith’s appearance—the same blue hair as her, the same physique as her—but deliberately left off clothes. The only parts covered are her arms and legs.

They have some kind of gloves and thigh-highs, with the flesh gloves reaching just past the elbow and the flesh stockings reaching mid-thigh, like a pathetic attempt to copy Zenith’s prosthetics.

"Enchanting, don’t you think?"

"Wow, you managed to get even uglier. I didn’t think that was possible." This thing doesn’t carry even one percent of Zenith’s beauty.

"!!!" Her face distorts into an irritated grimace as she lunges toward me, forming an immense flesh axe. I hurl one of my two knives directly into her eye, making her falter. I use this tiny mistake to land a kick to her chin, completely shattering her jaw.

Spinning my body, I touch the ground with both hands and land a side kick with my right leg, throwing her against the floor. Grabbing the second knife, I drive it directly into her head, using my powers to make it so hot that her flesh instantly fries, the knife fusing with the flesh as her entire body convulses.

Every cell of her body seems to writhe with the heat, but she manages to recover, kicking me. I dodge, putting distance between us as she stares at me with pure hatred.

"You’re terrible, hitting a girl like that. Don’t you have a heart?"

"My heart pumps blood. If it meant feeling pity for monsters like you, I’d rather rip it out of my chest."

"BASTARD!" Her entire body deforms as she shifts shape, becoming a wave of flesh surging toward me. I leap onto a truck, then jump onto the factory fence and start running, trying to lure her to a more empty location.

"Cecilia, call another squad to help!!" I shout into the communicator, making a hand signal for Cecilia to see on the camera.

’This is going to be tough...’

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