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 into
bullets like a hailstorm. Leopold and Thomas fought back while retreating to HQ. But unfamiliar with the terrain, the front squad often stumbled
Thomas, Leopold boosted their
"Wolf, unidentified forces are attacking from
tossed aside his useless headset, shouting to Soren, "Comms are jammed. There's
the battle above, Soren knew
to escape and return with
"Captain, wait for
though not without injuries-broken
back to life with Micah's voice urging Wolf
radioed, "HQ, Wolf's comms are down.
to consider the consequences. They had to down
and relayed
fight, downing two
casualties among them,
bandaged, relayed Percival's location to Leopold,
and strapped them on, his voice a mix of anger and resolve. "First
to follow, dizziness from
him. "Go back to report and heal. Or the
over, nearly collapsing. "Everyone, back to base
there!" Leopold roared,
dear friend who grew up with him. There was no way he
men. They're heavily wounded, and their lives matter,
Thomas. "Get him treated, then document
news. "Deputy director, it's the HQ
grabbed the handset. "This
to wait for satellite confirmation before proceeding. Do you
from HQ to enter the mine. When were we told
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