Steam and Heart.

Jack was afraid, how could he not be afraid when faced with the purest example of what human technology could offer? Even when he had faced those alien beings, he had never felt that emotion as strongly as he did now. 

But he had to fight, not only for the sake of the task before him but also for the sake of his companions. Even if they were not in the same branch of the army, they were soldiers of the same country, they were compatriots.

Watching them get torn apart by a madman who was probably up to his eyebrows in military drugs was not something he would just stand by and watch. Then, under the pounding of his heart, an invisible fluctuation appeared from his heart along with a beat. 

Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ommmmm...! 

His Pneuma covered his legs and the dagger he held in his right hand and a silver revolver in his left. He was ready, even in fear. It didn't matter that his forehead was beaded with sweat, that his breathing was a little ragged, and that his hands were trembling with nervousness.

This was not a sparring match or a battlefield fight where he could die from a stray bullet, which made him think less of death. He could suffer, end up badly wounded, or worse, maimed to death.

But with all that fear and dread, a smile came to his face. Because man's advantage to survive in this terrible world has never been personal power, but...

Bang! A bullet traced its path through the air like a shooting star and slammed into the Juggernaut's chest, stopping its wild charge for the first time in its rampage. 

That was a signal to Jack, who charged at his enemy with one purpose in mind. He wasn't going to pit his strength against the most advanced steam armor, his task was simple, to wear it down to death, and for that, he trusted in the basic human advantage. 

Companions. 

The sound of the shell hitting the ground was like music to her, her purple eyes peering through the magnified scope as she methodically loaded another bullet into her weapon, a sniper. 

Lisa was one of the members of the small Special Ops team that Jack and Alexis belonged to. She was in charge of reconnaissance, long-range assassination, and support, and was one of the key points in this very complicated battle. 

"They've improved their technology, I hardly notice a scratch," Lisa said quietly as she pulled the trigger again.

Bang! The bullet seemed to hit the back of Jack's head. Was it a mistake or a deliberate action? Well, the shaking of her partner's head and his reaction to the Juggernaut's actions after resisting the shot indicated that it was the second option. 

Only Lisa had the confidence to take those shots, and only Jack had the obscenely developed sixth sense to use that action as part of his strategy. 

This was simply a microcosm of the camaraderie and familiarity between them. Jack took the opportunity to aim his revolver at the Juggernaut's face and quickly pulled the trigger. 

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! 

Six well-placed shots partially dented the helmet of the Juggernaut, who pulled himself together and now seemed much wary of Lisa's accurate shots.

But that did not matter to the woman. She would always look for the opportunity, she always did, besides... she wouldn't be nicknamed "Ghost Bullet" if her shots were so easy to predict. 

Meanwhile, Jack used his Pneuma-covered legs not only to increase his speed and agility, but also to kick the Juggernaut, and while it did little, it constantly interrupted the armored soldier's rhythm. 

"You, impure bastard, can you only jump and kick?" complained the armored man, who tried to shoot Jack with the pistol built into his right arm.

Sensing the imminent threat, Jack simply made an evasive move, the real threat never being the steam-powered hot bolts, but the thermal sword in the enemy's left hand. 

His dagger, covered by his invisible power, collided with the crimson blade from the immense heat, knowing that if that thing touched his body, the strength of the armor would be enough to barely feel the high temperature, he would simply be split in two and die. 

The sizzling sound lasted only a moment before Jack stepped back to dampen the mammoth force that was pouring into his body. As he stepped back, he reloaded the bullets in his revolver and fired at the dark barrel embedded in the armor's wrist, preventing it from firing at him. 

"Looks like the armor's making up for something, huh? " Jack joked, trying to throw his opponent off balance psychologically, but all he got was a cold snort. 

The battle went on like this, the surrounding soldiers firing sporadically, but they could hardly do any damage to the steam armor, they had left many scratches and even tiny dents. 

On the other hand, Jack kept circling the Juggernaut like a predator, his dagger full of holes, some of which even looked melted. 

Although his Pneuma strengthened his weapon, it was not omnipotent, but the enemy's thermal sword was not unscathed as the sophisticated weapon was not made for such frequent clashes and was almost scrapped.

On the other hand, the bullets in Jack's body had run out, but he managed to damage the trigger of the armor, so he didn't have to worry about suddenly becoming a sieve. 

But the real threat of steam armor was not its weapons, but its wearer. Realizing that he couldn't quickly defeat the pesky "bug" that was Jack, the man inside the armor simply decided to use his best weapon. 

The armor itself. Even if the human could rise to superhuman levels because of the Pneuma that came from his heart, there was a limit and a price. 

Jack was breathing hard as if he could barely get any air into his lungs, his body was bruised because even though he could dissipate the energy from the Juggernaut's attacks, he was still taking damage. 

His right hand was really hurt at this point, and he even felt like he had a few broken fingers and a nasty bruise on his wrist, but even those waves of pain didn't deter Jack, he simply discarded his ruined dagger and holstered his revolver. 

Even though he had a rifle on his back, it wasn't exactly optimal for use in a battle of this caliber, and he knew he was about to face the true terror of steam armor. 

The armor came at him like a speeding train, white steam billowing from its back and the sound of a locomotive was perfectly audible, along with the unrestrained laughter of its user. 

Choo! Choo!

"Boy, I'm going to crush you!" the wearer, maddened by the increased power he received from the armor, took the armor to new heights. 

His movements became faster, more agile, lighter, but the weight of it never changed, so the ground trembled as the two-and-a-half-meter-tall hulk ran rampant toward him. 

The metallic claws hit Jack hard, who used his gauntlet on his left hand to parry the attack, but it only sent him sliding back a few feet.

Boom!

But before he could advance any further, an explosion interrupted the Juggernaut's flow of movement, and Jack, his left hand slightly sore, released a metal ring. 

"Alexis' grenades are still so over the top," Jack said as the Pneuma in his body began to build up in his left hand.

Click! Click! Click! Ommmmmmm...! 

He was already very tired and this only increased his exhaustion, he couldn't even cover his legs with Pneuma anymore, but he had to resist rather than move, after all, he was good at resisting. 

"HAHAHA! Just little sparks," the man in armor sneered, and then a strange fluctuation came out of him, making Jack's pupils dilate. 

"Shit..." he could only see a blur before he felt his body fly away and then hit the war-torn earth, but years of training made him stand up even though his whole body was protesting.

"Reinforcement! Can you reinforce yourself? But vapor armor interferes with the natural biological field of humans, making it almost impossible," Jack said, staggering, maybe one of his ribs was broken, he didn't know for sure. 

If he hadn't used his sixth sense to partially react, he would have with worse damage, but now he only got a "light" wound in such an intense fight, so his reaction was really good. 

"Who knows, a dead man doesn't need answers," the soot-covered armor appeared in front of Jack again, but he reacted quickly. 

Just as he felt the imminent attack, he struck forward with his Pneuma-covered fist, and this time he simply stepped back a few steps, feeling like his body was about to break completely, but with a smile on his face. 

"Oh? That trick won't work again," the Juggernaut said, holding a grenade in his hand.

Boom! The explosion was contained by the metal hand of the Steam Armor, which showed a few scratches. Jack swore that his sixth sense told him that the man in front of him had a sneer on his face.

"You're too sneaky, impure enough," the Juggernaut said maliciously before lunging at Jack again, this time his metal claws weren't able to push him away. 

The cold metal fingers were aimed at his head and neck, there were no more games, no more hesitation, but Jack's survival instinct was quite high.

If he couldn't think because the armor was fast, he would let his body, which had been trained and suffered battles against unspeakable things, make the best choice. 

Jack knew he was a little different from others, not only because he carried Pneuma, but because of his sixth sense. Many people had it, but he was developed to a level that bordered on the supernatural. 

From a young age he had been trained to integrate his actions with his sixth sense, he would not be a person who relied on it, for there were ways to fool it, no sense was infallible.

And although he knew people who were much more special than him, like Lisa with her purple eyes, Irina with her terrifying fighting talent, or that strange guy who was able to understand animals, he had his peculiarities, or his family did. 

His family had a technique that allowed them to "listen" to the instincts in his body, all the instincts engraved in his DNA, all his reflexive actions, and his muscle memory. That's why he was able to stand out and work for the government to solve the strange things that often happened. 

The sixth sense was nothing more than a different interpretation of everything around us and everything we perceive with all our available senses, uniquely interpreted by the brain, if that was so, why not bypass the brain and let the instincts in his bodywork?

However, this technique was not so easy to perform, and it came at a cost, for as Jack's body dodged the Juggernaut's onslaught, a wave of terrible pain coursed through his being. 

His limbs were bleeding, his muscles ached, and he even felt as if there were new fractures in his body. Everything has a price, not only was his Pneuma over, but allowing his body to act without explicit orders from his brain caused him to injure himself. 

The brain limits what the body can do to avoid damage like this, but in a life-or-death moment, Jack would rather be completely broken than die, this technique was made for desperate times like now. 

After all, his teammate could restore him to an optimal state without any after-effects after a long period of rest, as long as he wasn't dead or with severed parts. 

Even though this recovery would mean being at the mercy of that terrible woman, it was preferable to death. But now, severely wounded and with no extra Pneuma to resist, he might as well be dead.

That is if he were alone. 

Something hit one of the tubes in the rear, causing a large steam leak, but the odd thing was that there was no sound of impact or the characteristic sound of a large-caliber gun. 

"And there's the chance. I'll try to get Laria to go easy on you, Jack," whispered Lisa, who had directly shattered part of the steam armor's power source. 

Her biological force field or Pneuma was projection oriented. It was capable of projecting projectiles that he could manipulate at will. He could attach them to projectiles, fire them alone with a gun, or control them for medium-range combat. 

But her eyes were special and gave her a supernatural vision that was perfect for her duty as a sniper, so she was usually not exposed to open combat, she was always the one supporting behind with a precise shot. 

The damage to one of those tubes made the user feel the full weight of the armor, and while she could still exert some power, it wasn't as overwhelming as before, and she couldn't move like before either. 

"Ah, Irina, you took too long," Jack said suddenly, and little time passed before something cut the other tube that sent power to the armor mechanism. 

"Damn, what happened!!!" the Juggernaut complained, feeling like he was about to be crushed to death by the armor he was handling, as he no longer had the power to move or hold himself up. 

"Excuse me, Jack, but I don't know what's wrong with the enemies, they became extremely wild when I was walking here," a female voice said, and soon a woman appeared next to Jack, handing him a bottle with red-colored contents. 

"Ah, it won't do much good, but at least I'll be able to walk..." Jack mumbled before drinking the liquid in the bottle.

His body didn't heal magically, but it stopped bleeding and the waves of pain he was suffering from subsided to the point where he could move again without complaining. 

"Laria will have fun with you, that's for sure," said the woman, with black hair, Asian features, slim but athletic body, and wearing a combat uniform similar to Jack's. 

Her black eyes looked around, noticing that the soldiers who had sporadically supported Jack during his fight were approaching, and she even saw Alexis approaching them. 

"You took too long," the man complained, brazenly approaching the inert steam armor and examining it with glowing eyes.

"Weirdos showed up, man-eating wolves, it was terrible. Laria had to stay behind to treat those bitten by those things to prevent an outbreak of something worse," Irina said with a grimace.

"Looks like I won't be able to rest... by the way, give me my weapon," Jack asked and let Irina hand him an object, an axe.

The weapon was quite long for a normal axe, the handle was brown, blackish, and with some curves along the body. At the opposite end was a copper ornament with a small chain that swung in the wind. 

The important part, the blade, was divided into two parts by a mechanism made of brass that seemed to contain a piece of glass. The two parts were different sizes, the larger one was crescent-shaped, with some purple lines and patterns carved into the metal that gradually extended into the device, as if feeding from it. 

While the back part was smaller, with patterns similar to the first one, it had an additional detail, a pattern formed by a silver rose full of thorns with two cross-shaped spears behind the flower, all of this joined together quite harmoniously. 

This weapon felt quite comfortable in Jack's hands, and even though it was heavy to carry, it felt like a feather in his hands, perhaps because he was so used to using it, though with his injuries, using it to fight again would be a dream. 

Even though his hands were temporarily incapable of fighting, the contact with his weapon brought him peace of mind at the moment, distracting him from his body's current situation, being injured so severely during an armed conflict was undoubtedly stressful, but he was good at getting back up, after all, he fought ferociously and didn't die.

Catching his breath, Jack felt a tingling sensation between his eyebrows, so he looked up, searching for the source of what he had already categorized as the malevolent gaze of someone or something.

Finding no trace, he kept the doubt in his mind while acting as if nothing had happened. He had experienced similar situations since he was 15 years old, sometimes it was indeed people or oddities, but there was always a special case. 

He did not know what it was that seemed to be watching him, but he could never find the source of that feeling, but in his mind, he always kept those situations in mind, he did not want to confuse them with something temporary or a doubt because he trusted his sixth sense.