Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 9 Triggering the Alarm
Without a second thought, Rebecca ducked and slipped into the hole in the corner of the wall, moving as fast as a startled sand lizard. Pila followed closely behind, first pushing the heavy tool bag and the nearly empty ammunition box inside with a thud as the box scraped against the concrete edge.

Pila had just squeezed half her body into the opening and was struggling to move into the darkness inside the garage when a rough shout suddenly rang out:

"Over there! In the corner! Fire!"

Bullets whizzed past like a sudden downpour, pelting the walls and ground around them. The hot bullets gnawed at the bricks and stones, sending up a spray of debris and dust, filling the air with the smell of gunpowder and plaster.

"Hurry! Pila!" Rebecca, who was already hiding in the garage, was frantic. Ignoring the danger of stray bullets, she turned around abruptly, grabbed Pila's arms tightly with both hands, and pulled her in with all her might.

Her prosthetic arm emitted a soft yet powerful hum, displaying a strength disproportionate to her petite frame.

Using her strength, Pila kicked the broken wall behind her with the leg that was still sticking out, finally rolling completely into the dark garage and crashing onto the cold, rough ground with a thud.

Almost simultaneously, a series of bullets struck precisely where he had been stuck, leaving a row of smoking bullet holes at the edge of the breach, and a blast of hot air carrying metal fragments rushed in.

The brother and sister collapsed onto the cold, dusty ground, their chests heaving violently as they gasped for breath, their hearts pounding like drums.

In the darkness, all that could be heard was the other person's heavy breathing, and the increasingly close shouts and chaotic footsteps of the Chaotic Blade Society members outside.

For now, they are safe.

But just a wall separates them from the fierce pursuers outside.

The place they hid in was pitch black, almost completely dark, with the air filled with the smell of old engine oil, dust, and a faint trace of ozone and the distinctive smell of burnt metal, as if some high-energy activity had just taken place there.

They had no idea that they were not the only "living things" here.

Their intrusion was like a stone thrown into calm water, waking the sleeping guards.

Less than three meters above their heads, a pale, bone-like, metallic-looking human skull hung silently.

It gleamed with an unnatural faint light in the darkness.

The faint, dormant blue scanning beams in those empty eye sockets suddenly changed the moment they entered—the light became sharp and stable, turning into cold, unchanging scarlet dots, resembling two highly focused sensor lenses.

A faint, almost inaudible servo motor hum vibrated slightly in the muffled air.

The skull rotated slowly with a completely gravity-defying stability, and the metal jaw opened and closed silently once, as if accurately collecting and analyzing the unfamiliar biological scents, sweat, and traces of adrenaline in the air.

The high-precision multispectral sensor array inside was fully operational, and the cold logic core was rapidly processing the incoming data: two life signs, carbon-based humans, physiological state showing high tension/fear, carrying low-tech live ammunition and simple tools, no signals of advanced cybernetic modifications, no known identification code for their own people, illegally trespassing into the safe zone... Data cross-comparison, threat model quickly established.

"Unauthorized biological entity detected." The internal processor made a completely rational, silent electronic judgment: "Security protocol Lambda-7 activated. Threat level assessment: Potentially hostile. Initiate surveillance and self-defense response procedures." As this judgment was generated, a well-camouflaged armor plate on the side of the skull silently slid open, revealing a delicately structured, gleaming miniature laser emitter.

The calibration ring at the front of the transmitter glowed a faint blue light, and it began efficiently searching for potential targets.

The steady yet deadly crosshair silently swept across the two intruders below, who had just thought they were safe and were completely unaware of what was happening, in the almost complete darkness.

The scorching sun baked the abandoned town, and the air was filled with the dry smell of death, dust, and radioactive dust.

Rebecca and Pila pressed themselves against the cold wall of the dimly lit garage, their hearts still pounding, listening intently to the sounds outside.

The boorish shouts, the sounds of kicking and shoving debris, and the lawless destruction of the pursuers from the Chaotic Blade Society spread like wildfire through the streets, shattering the deathly silence.

"Search! Search every inch of this place! Those two little rats must be hiding in this pile of junk!" a hoarse voice roared, followed by a violent crash and shattering sound—a wooden door that was already rickety was kicked to pieces: "Hey! This place looks alright! Tear down what's usable, clear out a space, and it'll be our new stronghold for the Chaotic Blade Society!"

More laughter, cheers, and even more frenzied destruction erupted.

This group of lawless thugs treated the deserted town as a spoil of war that they could dispose of at will.

They smashed the remaining windowpanes with gun butts, chopped open all the rotten boxes and cabinets where people might be hiding with machetes and iron bars, rummaged through anything that might still have some value, and at the same time hurled all sorts of rude threats and shouts at Rebecca and Pila, who might be hiding.

"Bang—crash!"

A particularly piercing sound of metal twisting and breaking rang out, temporarily drowning out the other noises.

A member of the Chaotic Blade Society discovered several solar panels that Chen Yu had set up and that were connected to the town's microgrid.

Perhaps he thought they were in the way, or perhaps he simply wanted to cause damage, he swung the heavy iron bar and smashed it down hard.

The moment the solar panel shattered and twisted, simple passive motion sensors and vibration detectors hidden in various corners of the town—under broken eaves, under abandoned vehicle chassis, and in the gaps between piles of rubble—were triggered.

A silent, encrypted alarm pulse traveled along a pre-buried, almost invisible wire, instantly back to the garage in the center of town, which had been converted into a temporary workshop, and directly connected to the processor of the servo skull suspended in the air, in a state of alert.
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A few kilometers away, Chen Yu, who was carrying heavy batteries and the "materials" for three future mechs on his back, suddenly saw a bright red warning sign flashing violently in the lower right corner of his visual interface. At the same time, a priority vibration feedback that only he could feel also came through.

[WARNING: Security perimeter breached by multiple targets. Multiple unauthorized intrusions and property damage detected. Energy node A-7 (Southeast Quadrant Solar Array) severely damaged. Output power reduced by 15%. Threat assessment: Organized armed raiders. Behavioral pattern analysis: Low discipline, highly destructive.]

Chen Yu frowned, feeling a surge of displeasure. These troublesome fellows had not only barged into his newly established base but were also recklessly damaging the energy equipment he had painstakingly repaired.

Without much hesitation, he issued a string of concise binary commands via encrypted data link to the remaining server skull: "Activate autonomous defense protocol. Prioritize efficient threat elimination. Minimize further losses. Ensure key infrastructure remains intact." He unconsciously quickened his pace as he walked back.

(End of this chapter)