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

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

boosted their firepower

HQ, Micah shouted into the mic, "Wolf, unidentified forces are attacking from above.

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

knew staying meant

to escape and return

streaming, Soren vowed, "Captain, wait

not without injuries-broken limbs and, for

outside, his headset crackled back to life with Micah's

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

time to consider the consequences. They had to down the helicopters to cut off

cursed and relayed the

swiftly ended the fight, downing two helicopters,

at the rendezvous point, with casualties among them, they awaited further

hastily bandaged, relayed Percival's location to Leopold, insisting they had to

a mix of anger and resolve. "First squad, anyone who can still move, on me." Thomas echoed

Soren turned to follow, dizziness from blood loss

caught him. "Go back to report and heal.

with a cane, stormed over, nearly

in there!" Leopold roared, defiance

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

at your men. They're heavily wounded, and their lives matter, too. Back

Soren from Thomas. "Get him treated, then

urgent news. "Deputy director, it's the HQ

the handset. "This

operation? I told you to wait for satellite confirmation before proceeding. Do you

HQ to enter the mine.

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255