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..."

voice faded into

known location. 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,

Leopold boosted their firepower and

into the mic, "Wolf, unidentified forces are

tossed aside his useless headset, shouting to Soren, "Comms are jammed. There's a signal blocker somewhere. Go support

above, Soren knew staying meant

chance was to escape and

streaming, Soren vowed, "Captain, wait for

narrowly escaped the mine, though not without injuries-broken limbs and, for Soren, a gashed

crackled back to life with Micah's voice urging Wolf

"HQ, Wolf's comms are down. Send me the coordinates of the hostile fire.

to down the helicopters to cut off the

and

the fight, downing

at the rendezvous point, with casualties among them, they

his head hastily bandaged, relayed Percival's location to Leopold,

rifles from the other members and strapped them on, his voice a mix of anger and resolve. "First squad,

turned to follow, dizziness from blood loss nearly

report and

over,

in there!" Leopold

not only his captain but his dear friend who grew up with him.

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

Thomas. "Get him treated, then document everything about the mine. Hand it

approached with urgent news. "Deputy director, it's the

the handset. "This is

you to wait for satellite confirmation before proceeding.

to enter the mine. When were we told to

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