The first missile split midair, not one projectile, six. Micro-cluster fragmentation.
“They’re using adaptive scatter!” Kael shouted.
The replicas moved before the missiles finished dividing. Not identical movements, not mirrored, each calculated independently. One shoved Selara backward, another tackled Kael. Two leapt in opposite directions, forcing the drone’s targeting grid to fracture. The first explosion hit asphalt instead of flesh, shockwave, heat. Metal screamed as debris tore across the yard.
Selara hit the ground hard, ears ringing. Smoke swallowed everything in choking gray.
“Status!” Hale’s voice roared somewhere to the left.
Federal units fired upward blindly, continuum operatives scrambled for anti-drone countermeasures. The second wave of micro-missiles deployed, close
