Chapter 28: Welcome to Hell, Drinks Are on Me

The armored transport rattled over the jagged border gates of Outpost 79, the desperate, wind-battered heart of Sector Seven.

Calling it a base was generous. It was a rusted steel fortress built inside an ancient impact crater, surrounded by towering electric fences that flickered and sparked every time a gust of desert wind blew through.

The ramp lowered, and Squad Outcast stepped down into the dust.

Standing at the staging pad was a tall, sharp-featured woman in a battered combat coat, her long dark hair tied up in a messy braid. She had a tactical sniper rifle slung over her shoulder, a jagged scar running across her left collarbone, and a pair of cold, emerald-green eyes that immediately tracked Phoenix’s movements.

Beside her stood a squad of heavily scarred, grim-faced frontline veterans, their weapons held at low ready.

"You're the reinforcement from the Academy?" the woman asked, her voice like cracked ice as she stepped forward, looking down at Phoenix’s uniform. Her eyes flicked to the badge on Phoenix’s chest and narrowed in pure disgust. "An F-rank Guide? An E-rank tech kid? Is Sterling out of his fucking mind? He sent us dead weight!"

Killian immediately shifted his massive frame, stepping in front of Phoenix with a low, dangerous rumble in his chest, his hand hovering over his greatsword. "Watch your mouth, sniper."

"Stand down, big guy," the woman growled, resting her hand on her sidearm. "I'm Captain Valerie Vane, Commander of Outpost 79. My people are dying out here fighting Level-4 Abyssal Beasts, and the Board sends me a circus act. I don't give a shit who your daddy is or what shiny seals you won in the plaza—if you can't kill beasts, you're corpse bait."

Phoenix didn't flinch. She casually stepped around Killian, leaning into Valerie’s personal space with a smirk that was entirely too sharp for comfort.

"Nice speech, Captain," Phoenix purred, her eyes scanning Valerie’s tactical rig and picking up the subtle, high-grade mana signature humming in her chest. "S-rank Marksman, right? High-velocity wind affinity, three confirmed beast-lord kills, currently running on three hours of sleep and cheap stimulants."

Valerie froze, her emerald eyes widening slightly. "How the hell—"

"I don't care if you think we're a circus," Phoenix cut in, blowing a trail of smoke right past Valerie’s ear. "What I care about is who's running the black market arms route through this crater, because your perimeter fences are running on 30% power, and those aren't claw marks on your northern wall—those are plasma breaches."

Before Valerie could respond, a siren blared across the outpost with an ear-splitting shriek. Red emergency lights bathed the dusty compound in blood.

"ALERT! SECTOR FOUR WALL BREACH! TIER-4 VOID STALKER INBOUND!"

The heavy iron gates at the far end of the courtyard buckled inward with a sickening screech of metal. A massive, six-legged creature encased in obsidian armor burst into the base, its triple-jawed mouth snapping shut on a defense turret and tearing it off its mountings like paper.

"All squads, fall back!" Valerie screamed, unclipping her heavy anti-materiel sniper rifle in one fluid motion and dropping to one knee. "Cover the civilians! Fall back to the inner bunker!"

The base guards panicked, scattering as the beast let out a deafening, sonic roar that shattered every glass window in sight.

"Fall back?" Phoenix laughed, unslinging her star-iron spear with a wicked spin. "We just got here!"

Valerie didn't even get time to chamber a round.

Phoenix vanished in a blur of crimson speed. She reappeared directly above the Tier-4 monster, driving her boot down onto its massive snout with the weight of an anvil.

BOOM!

The beast’s head smashed into the concrete floor, cratering the ground for twenty feet in every direction.

"Killian! Lock its legs!" Phoenix barked.

"On it, Boss!" Killian roared. His SS-rank aura erupted in a blinding golden flare as he tackled the monster's left side, grabbing two of its armored legs with his bare hands and twisting them until the bone-plates snapped with a thunderous CRACK.

Toby didn't even wait for orders. He slapped three anti-gravity mines onto his handcart, whipped out a prototype plasma cannon, and lit up the beast's underbelly with a stream of blinding blue laser fire. "Eat light, you ugly bastard!"

Valerie stared from her knees, her jaw practically on the dusty floor. Her sniper rifle hung limply in her hands as she watched an F-rank Guide, a giant tank, and an E-rank tech kid turn a Tier-4 nightmare into raw meat in less than fifteen seconds flat.

Phoenix landed lightly on her feet beside the twitching carcass, flicking black monster blood off her spear point. She turned back to Valerie with a sly wink.

"So," Phoenix grinned, dusting off her shoulders. "Still think we're dead weight, Captain?"

Valerie slowly pushed herself up, looking from the dead beast to Phoenix’s smiling face. A slow, dangerous grin split the sniper's lips, revealing a sharp canine.

"Fuck me," Valerie muttered, slinging her rifle over her back and extending a hand to Phoenix. "I stand corrected. Welcome to Hell, Grand Commander. Drinks are on me."