Long before Ren Nora and the Freegrid Collective became a thing, the Extremist Movement was.

They were one of the oldest movements in the world. Though they were never prominent as the major headliners in history, their influence and terrorism was felt across history, hidden between the details.

And in the West that was previously abandoned and underdeveloped before the rise of the Freegrid Collective, filled with helpless Waste Communities and Towns, this was a territory which the terrorist movement claimed and thrived.

More than 131 years ago, the Extremist Movement were the most dominant force in the West till Ren Nora rose to power.

The Extremist Movement was deeply entrenched in the wastelands in the West. And when Dhruv Laden came to the West, all the countless terrorist bases in the wastelands and their leaders were informed.

Afterall, Dhruv Laden was not just one of the leaders of the Extremist Movement, he was one of the founders.

Besides, no matter the organization and faction in the world, D Rank Ascended were seen as one of the strongest Ascended in the world.

In the Extremist Movement it meant even more because D Rank Ascended was the absolute limit of power in the terrorist organization, and Dhruv Laden stood right at this peak of power.

Before Garak started attempting his Trial, Dhruv already gave directives to all the terrorist bases in the vicinity and their leaders to be on alert for his special SOS signal or his emergency signal flare in the case of danger.

He never intended to use it, he had never used it before today, he only kept it as a contingency measure because of habits that he built after decades of being a terrorist and being on the run from authorities.

Afterall, he didn’t know when he’ll run into a C Rank Ascended.

Today, he was forced to use it.

And now, his red signal flare permeated the sky in a mostly uniform wasteland where people who were observant and watching could see for miles.

They may have not seen or noticed the battle ongoing because of how short it lasted so far and how far away it was, but the watchers of all the terrorist bases in the vicinity saw the vivid red flare in the sky.

They knew what it meant, and without hesitation they responded.

...

BAM!

Dhruv Laden sent the signal flare into the sky.

Seeing it spread, the veteran exhaled inside his Knight Exosuit and finally embraced the grind, focusing on defense completely.

He had no more worries, his confidence returned.

Armor Amplification!

The red flare spread across the sky, docile and harmless. And for half a second, the world held its breath.

Then everything moved.

It felt like they had been waiting for this signal all along to mobilize.

VROOM!

Engines that hadn’t turned in months coughed to life in the dim evening lighting in the backdrop of the neon skylines. Headlights flickered on across the horizon like a constellation being born- one, then dozens, then hundreds!

Rust-eaten bikes shuddered awake, brand new bikes growled to life for the first time, while armored trucks belched black smoke into the poisoned sky.

Men and women snapped upright from their sleep, from deals, some from mid-sex, and from violence mid-act, all of them receiving the same signal.

’War. Now!’

Across the wasteland, the terrorists surged.

They came out of scrapyard fortresses that were stitched together from aircraft carcasses, they came out of hidden underground bases, and they tore out of tunnel networks that were hidden beneath dead cities.

They poured down from ridgelines where watchers had waited for hours after the directives from Lord Dhruv Laden.

Every direction, every hidden artery of the desert, all of it suddenly came alive. And they all drove toward one point, fast!

WHOOSH...!

The ground began to tremble, not from a single force but from the force of thousands stampeding across the wasteland.

Tires clawed at ash, brown, and bone-dry earth. Chains rattled, engines screamed past their limits as the terrorists responded to the call of their leader, going at full speed.

Some trucks fell apart as they accelerated, shedding metal like skin, but the riders didn’t stop. They leapt, rolled, and climbed onto others to keep moving. Momentum was everything, time was limited.

Their leader needed them!

Above and behind them, the sky turned into a low ceiling of dust that was kicked up so violently it blocked the neon skylines above.

From the North, East, South, and West, terrorists pulled out in an endless wave as the horizon blurred into a single, advancing wall of smoke, light, and violent motion. And they were moving fast.

They all advanced towards the center where an enemy D Rank Warmachine Specialist clashed against their leader.

...

BZZZT!

The sound of static echoed in the background, then a female voice pierced through the interference like a knife.

"Leon, emergency!" Talia screamed into the comm. "Thousands of terrorist vehicles are coming our way!"

"We can’t count them all!"

"They’re everywhere!"

...

BZZZT!

"Leon, we need to abort the mission!"

"We need to leave, now!"

"We’re being surrounded!"

"Leon, LEON...!"

...

Organic Weaponry!

Blood Manipulation!

BOOM!

After one last attack, Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq finally dealt with the Ratel Knight Exosuit that Dhruv Laden left behind to keep him company.

Due to the nature of his powers, he was a bad match against a heavily-armored target like a Knight Exosuit.

The only reason why he even defeated it so easily was because this was an unmanned Knight Exosuit. If Dhruv was here and was personally piloting the Knight Exosuit, the battle would have lasted much longer.

He simply didn’t have the means to deal devastating damage to a heavily armored target without accumulation time.

By the time he completed his battle though, he felt the ground shaking and rumbling like an earthquake was imminent, and all he could hear was the screams of the female NetRunner in the comm.

What was her name again, Talia?

’Thousands of terrorists?’ His eyes narrowed into slits.

Umar didn’t need to think hard to realize what was going on. ’That bastard!’ He understood what was happening, he just didn’t know the scale.

He knew that he couldn’t stay still anymore though and without hesitation, he turned towards the Gun Drone that Leon left behind. Part of the reason why he was able to take down the Ratel Knight Exosuit so quickly was because of this war machine.

"Uh, can you fly...?"

A few seconds later, the Sentry-IV Autocannon Drone launched into the air and began flying rapidly towards the direction of the distant battle with Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq riding on its back.

The wind whipped hard against his face.

And as he moved, he finally saw exactly what was going on.

When Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq saw the scale of reinforcement that was coming for Dhruv Laden, he sucked in a cold breath, then his face turned cold.

...

Drone Control Matrix!

The moment Leon felt the ground shaking and rumbling like an earthquake was ravaging across the wasteland, his first instinct was to use Drone Control Matrix and instantly, he saw what was going on.

The invisible C5 Drones in the sky gave him HD quality footage of the surrounding terrain, and he saw the Exodus of terrorists that were swarming towards him.

Entrenched inside the Bulwark MK.II Titan Frame while still bombarding the terrorist leader, Leon’s brain whirred as he saw this.

His first instinct was to instruct the Zerphyr-7 Stealth Reconnaissance UAV.

"Go pick up Daren and Talia".

...

[Please, to those who read the previous 2 Chapters yesterday, please re-read. I made significant edits to both Chapters.]

[Also, Katcan20, thanks for the gesture yesterday. I appreciate it.]