**
The VTOL screamed through the storm, its wings slicing through rain like blades. Below them, Neo-Tokyo burned—not with real fire, but with the pulsing neon glow of police drones swarming like angry hornets.
**[ALERT: POLICE LOCK-ON DETECTED]**
Ren's grip tightened on his seat as the cockpit alarms shrieked.
**"Missiles!"** the pilot barked.
Aunt Mei didn't flinch. **"Evasive maneuvers. Activate countermeasures."**
The VTOL lurched violently as flares burst from its hull, spiraling into the night. Two streaks of fire veered off course—but a third missile clipped their left wing.
The world spun.
Ren's stomach dropped as the VTOL became a falling coffin, alarms howling, metal screeching. Mei grabbed his arm, her nails digging in.
**"Brace for impact!"**
---
### **GROUND ZERO**
The crash was a symphony of shattering steel.
Ren's vision swam as he kicked open the mangled door, rolling onto rain-slick pavement. They'd gone down in the industrial district—warehouses lined the streets like tombstones.
Mei was already up, barking orders into her comms. **"Wolfpack, regroup at Echo Point. We're on foot."**
Ren spat blood. **"They really don't want us leaving."**
Mei's smile was all teeth. **"Oh, you haven't seen *fierce* yet."**
Behind them, the wreckage of the VTOL exploded, casting hellish light over the first wave of police cruisers skidding around the corner.
**[SYSTEM ANALYSIS: 12 UNITS, ARMORED VEHICLES. HEAVY FIREPOWER DETECTED.]**
Ren's HUD lit up with hostile markers.
Then—**engines roared.**
From the shadows between warehouses, motorcycles erupted in a deafening snarl. Riders clad in Wolfpack armor weaved through gunfire, their bikes spitting suppression fire.
**"Get on!"** A masked operative shoved a bike's handles into Ren's grip.
Mei was already mounted, gunning her engine. **"Keep up, nephew."**
The chase was on.
---
### **NEON GHOSTS**
The streets became a lethal dance.
Police drones dive-bombed from above, miniguns whirring. Ren swerved as asphalt erupted in bullet geysers beside him.
**[COMBAT MODE ENGAGED: REFLEX BOOST ACTIVE]**
Time seemed to slow. Ren's fingers found the bike's hidden triggers—**twin micro-missile pods deployed.** He fired blind over his shoulder.
The explosion lit up the night, sending a cruiser flipping end-over-end into a drone swarm.
Mei's laugh crackled through his earpiece. **"That's Kuroda blood for you!"**
But the cops weren't the only hunters.
A new alert blared:
**[WARNING: SPECIAL FORCES SIGNATURE DETECTED. CODENAME: "HANAKO TEAM"]**
From side alleys, black-clad figures rappelled down—**Police Flower's elite.** Their armor gleamed with sakura petal patterns, visors glowing blood-red.
One landed directly in Ren's path, katana humming to life with plasma edge.
**"Die quietly, heir."**
Ren yanked the bike sideways, barely avoiding the blade's kiss. The System screamed:
**[CRITICAL THREAT: NANOFIBER MUSCLE AUGS DETECTED]**
These weren't normal cops.
They were *augmented*.
---
### **BLOOD IN THE RAIN**
Mei's voice cut through the chaos: **"Wolfpack! Scatter pattern Delta!"**
The bikes split like a bursting star. Ren followed his aunt's lead into a narrow overpass—straight into an ambush.
Three Hanako operatives dropped from above.
Ren barely had time to draw his pistol before the first strike came—a kick that would've shattered ribs without System-enhanced reflexes. He returned fire, rounds sparking off augmented armor.
Mei moved like liquid death. Her trench coat flared as she drew twin pistols, each shot precisely severing enemy augmentations at the joints. One operative collapsed screaming as his neural-linked arm sparked uselessly.
**"Ren! The bridge!"**
He turned just as a police gunship rose over the overpass, its rotary cannon spinning up.
**[CALCULATING SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 3.7%]**
Then—**a new signal.**
Familiar. Brutal.
**Shadow Guard.**
From the rooftops, black-armored figures rained hell. Railgun rounds punched through the gunship's cockpit, sending it careening into the river below.
Mei grinned. **"Took them long enough."**
Ren's comms crackled—the lead Shadow Guard's voice: **"Sir. Extraction in 90 seconds. Prepare for hot evac."**
But as Ren turned to run, the System flashed red:
**[ALERT: BIOMETRIC LOCK DETECTED. HANAKO LEADER APPROACHING.]**
The rain seemed to part for her.
Inspector Hasegawa—now clad in full Police Flower combat gear, her once-pristine uniform replaced by armored plating lined with glowing crimson circuits. Her left eye pulsed with mechanical light.
**"No more running, Kuroda."** She raised a hand—and every police drone in the district froze, reorienting toward Ren. **"This city buries its ghosts."**
Mei stepped between them, pistols raised. **"Ren. Go."**
The VTOL's engines screamed overhead.
**[DECISION POINT: RETREAT OR STAND?]**
Ren Kuroda bared his teeth.
**"Wolfpack doesn't run."**
The System's response was instantaneous:
**[COMBAT OVERDRIVE ACTIVATED. LEGACY PROTOCOL UNLEASHED.]**
The night erupted in gunfire and blood.
---
**TO BE CONTINUED…**