The massive steel barrel of the laboratory combat tank flashed with a blinding, concussive burst of fire that sliced directly through the freezing mountain rain. A high-velocity anti-abomination shell tore through the misty atmosphere, its specialized chemical payload designed explicitly to destabilize and disintegrate the cellular structure of modified beings. Zeven reacted purely on raw predator instinct, launching his heavy frame sideways onto the sharp, uneven stones of the open field just as the projectile vaporized the patch of mud where his feet had been planted a microsecond prior. The sound of the initial blast was absolutely deafening, a loud metallic roar that echoed violently against the high concrete walls of the nearby industrial military complex. The pungent stench of combus
