With a creased map in hand, Percival trekked alongside Soren to a nearby abandoned mine.

At the mine's entrance, they stumbled upon a covert mark of White Tiger etched into the rock face, its meaning unclear yet undeniably significant. And there, scattered nearby, lay a cache of critical documents belonging to CK.

"Base, this is Soren. We've found the mark," Soren hollered into his headset.

A different voice crackled back, not Micah's as expected, but that of the HQ commander. "Copy that. Proceed underground."

Exchanging a glance, Percival and Soren strapped on their oxygen masks and descended into the bowels of the earth.

Markers bearing White Tiger's emblem appeared sporadically along the mine's tunnels-faded, but a trail they could follow nonetheless.

As they ventured deeper, the air grew thin, and a faint, metallic scent of blood wafted from the depths.

Suddenly, a clod of earth tumbled from directly above Percival.

"Run!" Percival barked, his eyes dark with urgency.

With lightning reflexes, Soren signaled to the team behind them, and the third squad retreated in a disciplined dash toward the exit.

Then, a thunderous collapse echoed from behind Soren.

"Captain!" He yelled.

"Get out of here. That's an order!" Percival's voice crackled through the headset as Soren could only glimpse his silhouette through the narrowing gaps in the debris.

"Captain, I'll get you out!" Soren halted along with a few others.

Percival's voice was icy. "Get lost. After you're out, find Vivienne!"

Leopold and Thomas, sensing the gravity of the situation, called out, "Captain, report your status!"

"Mine... Collapse... Get out..."

faded

However, before they could get close, a helicopter buzzed overhead, raining down bullets like a hailstorm. Leopold and Thomas fought back while retreating to HQ. But unfamiliar with the terrain, the front squad often stumbled into collapsing tunnels, with some members

boosted their firepower

mic, "Wolf, unidentified forces are attacking from above.

his useless headset, shouting to Soren, "Comms are jammed. There's a

the battle above, Soren knew staying

chance was to escape and return

"Captain, wait for

escaped the mine, though not without injuries-broken limbs and,

back to life with Micah's

teeth, Soren radioed, "HQ, Wolf's comms are down. Send me the coordinates of the

was no time to consider the consequences. They had to down the helicopters to cut off the attack and minimize

cursed and relayed the

ended the fight, downing two helicopters, while

casualties

Percival's location to Leopold,

on, his voice a mix of anger

follow, dizziness from

"Go back to report and heal. Or the

over, nearly collapsing.

still in there!" Leopold roared,

who grew up with him. There was no way he would let Percival be buried down there

stakes but stood firm. "Look at your men. They're heavily wounded, and their lives matter, too. Back to base,

and took Soren from Thomas. "Get him treated, then document

news. "Deputy director, it's

handset.

you to wait for satellite confirmation before proceeding. Do you not understand 'stand by"?"

enter the mine. When were we told to stand by?" Soren

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