[ Runessa's apartment, Western Mid-Childa / September 22, 0078 10:45 ]

Subaru sensed the danger two moments before it hit. First, her mechanic eyes detected a dark shadow behind an open window across the street. The second moment, she was already moving.

Just like in the Walder temple, time slowed down as she reached out to grab Teana's shoulder and spun her around, shielding her with her own body, praying that she was fast enough.

She was. She didn't see shot but heard its booming sound even across the street. It punched her hard in the back, throwing her against Tea. Both of them landed on the ground. Subaru tried standing up but a wave of pain flushed over her and her hands refused to hold.

Instead, Tea crawled from underneath her first, aiming the gun at the window. Then she saw the wound on her back.

"Oh God, Subaru…"

She felt herself being dragged across the floor to another room, outside the line of fire, but she couldn't focus her eyes on anything. It was bad. With the Linker Core containment chamber damaged, the self-repair protocols didn't have enough mana…

"Captain Lanster calling on all Ground Forces in my vicinity! I have an officer down, I repeat, officer down! Requesting immediate medical assistance on my location…"