Chapter 4: The Hammer in the Dark
The machine room was submerged in a tomb-like darkness. After the EMP-01 detonated, a one-second flash devoured all light and sound, only to spit out an even deeper silence. Now, the only things Logan could hear were the harsh, terrified breaths of three men.
"Ugh… vision… I have no visual!"
"Damn it, my optical sensors are fried! I can't see a thing!"
The darkness was punctuated by panicked curses and the faint pzzk... tik... of sparking, useless cybernetics. But Logan was perfectly calm. For him, the darkness didn't exist. Even with the power out, [Master Blueprint] was rendering the machine room's entire structure in his mind as a 3D wireframe. The massive turbine, three meters to his right. The coolant pipe valve, five meters ahead. And seven meters away, three red figures, huddled together in terror. This wasn't darkness to him. This was his territory, perfectly understood and with all variables under control. He drew the heavy steel hammer from his belt. It was the only weapon he'd brought from Fort Jericho, and the tool most familiar to his grip. His hand tightened around the handle. He began to move without a sound. It was time to hunt.
***
Eva could see nothing. The EMP flash had temporarily blinded her as well. But her senses were still S-Class. Mana Exhaustion kept her body immobilized, but her super-human hearing soaked up every sound in the machine room like a sponge. She heard it all. Heartbeats. Thump… thump… thump… Three hearts, pounding wildly in terror. Scraping. Shhk… shhk… The sound of combat boots dragging anxiously on the floor. Shouts.
"Damn it, I have no visual!"
"Spark! Jogg! On me! Stick to me!"
'Iron Eye' Havek's urgent command. Emptiness.
Tik, tik, tik…
One of the subordinates, panicking, pulled his trigger. But with the power out, the plasma cannon only spat out a hollow, mechanical click. And amidst all that chaos, Eva detected a fourth sound. Footsteps. Utterly calm, utterly silent footsteps. Step, by step. A sound as light as treading on fallen leaves, yet moving through the darkness with an unwavering rhythm. Logan Miller. His heart was beating with mechanical regularity, without a trace of agitation.
Thump- thump- thump-
A shiver ran down Eva's spine. Those were not the footsteps of a man in danger. He wasn't hiding. He wasn't running. He was strolling through the darkness, calmly selecting his prey.
Did he… want this?
This darkness, this silence. This very moment where all their equipment was useless. He must have designed it from the start.
***
"Damn it, get a light! Spark! Get your manual igniter out!"
Havek's subordinate, 'Spark,' yelled frantically. His voice pinpointed his location. The red figure on the far left of Logan's 3D vision. Logan needed to separate them. He used the tip of his boot to kick a loose piece of pipe on the floor.
KA-LANG!
The metallic clang echoed off the far wall, twenty meters away.
"There!"
'Spark' reacted instinctively, spinning toward the sound. He aimed his useless plasma cannon in that direction. Havek and 'Jogg' also focused their attention that way. A perfect decoy. The instant the sound echoed, Logan was already moving silently toward Spark's back. His footsteps were perfectly masked by the faint whir of the turbine's old, decaying fan. Finally, the distance between the red figure in his 3D vision and the real 'Spark' became zero. Logan's method of combat wasn't swordsmanship or martial arts. It was deconstruction. His [Master Blueprint] analyzed even the enemy's body as just another schematic.
[Target: 'Spark' (Pursuit Squad)]
[Vulnerability Identified: 3rd Cervical Vertebra. Main Power Junction between organic spine and cybernetic augmentation.]
[Projected Impact Effect: 98% probability of immediate system shutdown and cessation of vital functions.]
He did not hesitate. The steel hammer, gripped in both hands, drew a silent arc through the darkness. THWACK! A dull, wet thud. It wasn't the sound of metal hitting metal. It was the horrific sound of solid bone and even harder wiring being crushed together, along with the soft flesh in between.
"Krhk... Huk...!"
'Spark' couldn't even scream. As his body slumped, Logan caught it with his left arm and lowered it silently to the floor. First one, done.
***
She heard it.
KA-LANG!
A metallic sound, drawing their attention. And a moment later.
THWACK!
Her S-Class senses analyzed the sound and transmitted the data to her brain. The sound of a hard object striking the joint of a skull or spine. The sound of bone shattering and metal components breaking. A short groan as the last puff of air was forced from a pair of lungs. And finally, the sound of a heavy body, easily over 100kg, being placed on the floor as gently as a feather. Eva held her breath. Her heart felt like it was freezing. This wasn't a fight. It was different from any S-Class assassination technique she had ever known. This was a process, executed without a single flaw. A cold, efficient task, like a machine identifying and disposing of a defective part. She had been in thousands of battles, but she had never felt a killing intent so pure and dense. Logan Miller. She had thought she was being rescued. But now, in this darkness, she realized the truth. He hadn't rescued her. He was simply controlling the 'variables' and eliminating the 'threats' that had entered his territory. She was in the den of a predator more terrifying than any monster.
***
"Spark? Spark! Answer me, you bastard!"
The remaining subordinate, 'Jogg,' screamed in panic. Terrified, he began to swing his weapon wildly in the dark.
"Sir! They got Spark! Something's here, something invisible...!"
"Shut up and get on me! Don't separate!"
Havek's voice was now thick with his own panic. Logan listened to their voices and chose his next target.
Shhheeee... zzz...
From Havek's position, Logan heard the faint sound of the vibrating blade trying to activate manually. That would be annoying if it got working. Take out the panicked one first. Logan once again threw an empty magazine he'd taken from Spark to the opposite side of the room. Tang! Tunk- tunk-
"There! It's over there!"
'Jogg' shrieked and charged toward the sound. It was the perfect moment of separation from Havek.
"Don't go, you idiot!"
Havek yelled, but it was too late. Logan closed in on Jogg's flank.
[Target: 'Jogg' (Pursuit Squad)]
[Vulnerability Identified: Right Knee Joint (Prosthetic). No armor.]
The hammer drew a low arc.
KRA-ACK!
"AAGGHHH! My leg!"
With the sickening sound of a metal joint shattering, 'Jogg' tumbled to the floor. Logan winced at the scream and, without hesitation, brought the hammer down on his head. Thud. The screaming stopped. Second one, done. Only Havek was left.
"You... It was you!"
Havek had pinpointed Logan's general location from the death of his comrade. VMMMMMMM-! The manually-activated vibrating blade finally hummed to life, cutting through the darkness with an unpleasant sound.
"You rat bastard! Come out and fight me!"
Growling like a blind beast, Havek began to indiscriminately slash at the 360-degree space around him. The vibrating blade left blue afterimages as it cut through nearby pipes and iron railings like tofu. Logan had zero intention of fighting him head-on. That was a meaningless waste of energy. He silently climbed the metal stairs behind Havek. His 3D vision gave him a clear view of the machine room's upper level.
It's time.
Five meters directly above Havek's head, an old, rusted chain block, used during the dam's construction, hung from the ceiling. It looked to weigh at least a ton. Logan looked down at Havek, who was still swinging his blade wildly below. Logan used [Master Blueprint] to identify the location of the old bolts holding the chain block in place. He swung his hammer, striking the weakest point of the supporting bracket.
KWANG!
"What the!"
The moment Havek heard the sound and looked up.
SKREEEEE-! CH-CH-CH-CHAIN-!! KRA-SHOOM!!!
Dozens of meters of heavy chain and the massive steel block cascaded down on top of Havek like a waterfall.
"Kugh...!"
Havek tried to parry it with his vibrating blade, but he couldn't deflect a ton of falling steel. He was slammed to the floor, buried under the pile of chains, and the vibrating blade was knocked from his grasp, skittering far away. Everything went quiet again. Logan slowly descended the stairs. He stood before Havek, who was groaning beneath the pile of chains. He looked impassively at the red mechanical eye on Havek's face, now completely dark and lifeless. The hunt was over.
***
Logan bound Havek's arms and legs with thick cable ties. He dragged him over and dumped him next to Eva, who was still staring in stunned confusion. Without a word, Logan walked to the dam's emergency power panel. Confirming that the effects of the EMP had dissipated, he threw the main breaker. Clack. Fzzt... After a few sparks, several yellow emergency lights in the machine room ceiling flickered weakly to life. The space that had been absolute darkness moments before now revealed its carnage under a faint, sickly yellow light. Eva gasped. The scene before her was a vision of hell. The corpse of 'Jogg,' his joints bent in the wrong direction, his head crushed. The corpse of 'Spark,' his neck caved in, dead in a grotesque posture. And standing in the middle of it all, looking down at her, was Logan, a blood-soaked steel hammer resting on his shoulder. Not a single drop of blood had stained his work clothes. It had been a perfect job. Logan ignored her stare, opened his military canteen, and handed it to her.
"Drink. You need to clear your head."
Eva glanced from the hammer to the canteen, then succumbed to her primal thirst and accepted it. The sensation of cold water running down her throat finally brought her back to reality.
"Two neutralized,"
Logan said, motioning to the bodies with his chin.
"One captured."
He pointed to Havek, who was trussed up at his feet.
"Now, we begin the interrogation."
Eva was too stunned to even reply to his declaration. Logan paid her no more attention. He walked over to Spark's body and crouched down. Without hesitation, he used the claw end of his hammer to pry open the shattered cybernetic junction at the spine. A system message appeared in his vision.
[Target: 'Scrapyard' Combat Cybernetics (Severely Damaged)] [Analysis: Combination of old-world technology and monster-derived biomatter.]
[Begin Reverse-Engineering?]
Logan placed his hand on the metal components, filthy with blood and oil. He had no interest in dignity for the dead or the afterglow of battle. All of this was just another precious resource for building 'New Hope.'
"Begin."