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

a helicopter buzzed overhead, raining down bullets like a hailstorm. Leopold and Thomas fought back while retreating to

Leopold boosted their firepower and

shouted into the mic, "Wolf, unidentified forces

Soren, "Comms are jammed.

battle above, Soren knew staying meant

to escape and return with

vowed, "Captain, wait

without injuries-broken limbs

back to life with Micah's voice urging Wolf

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

the consequences. They had to down the helicopters to

cursed and relayed

swiftly ended the fight, downing two helicopters, while the third

rendezvous point, with casualties among them,

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

from the other members and strapped them on, his voice a mix of anger and resolve. "First squad, anyone who can still move,

Soren turned to follow, dizziness from blood loss

report and heal. Or the captain

stormed over,

still in there!" Leopold roared, defiance written

only his captain but his dear friend who grew up with him. There was no way he would let Percival be buried down there without doing

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

shoved Leopold aside and took Soren from Thomas. "Get him treated,

operator approached with urgent news. "Deputy

grabbed the handset.

authorized this operation? I told you to wait for satellite confirmation before proceeding. Do you not understand 'stand

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

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

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