Snowstorms howled across the frozen wasteland.The ground trembled under the faint pulse of buried engines Nekrom's Arctic stronghold, a fortress half-buried beneath ice and steel. Satellite jammers pulsed overhead, cloaking the compound in a digital blizzard.
Inside a cloaked stealth transport, Devon Shaw and his crew prepped for insertion.
Raven, wrapped in black thermal armor, checked her rifle. "Thermal grid's dense. If we breach the east gate, we'll trip every sensor from here to Russia."
Lacy countered, "Unless we rewrite the sensors first. Give me thirty seconds once we're close enough."
Logan, ever the quiet muscle, loaded a magazine of anti-armor rounds. "Thirty seconds is a lifetime in there."
Devon looked up from his holo-console, his face bathed in the blue glow of Skynet's interface. "We're not going in loud. Nekrom's feeding off digital chaos we starve him first."
He touched the screen, merging lines of God's Eye code with Skynet's AI. A web of real-time data formed visual overlays of guards, heat signatures, and power relays.
Skynet (through Devon's earpiece): "Integration complete. Network camouflage active. You are ghosts now."
Devon smirked. "Good. Then let's haunt him."
The ramp opened, wind slicing through the cabin. The team leaped into the white abyss silent shadows descending upon a fortress of machines.
Location: Eastern Europe – Capital City – 03:30 Hours
Dom's black Charger tore through the streets like a nightmare made of steel and thunder.Cipher's voice whispered through his earpiece calm, venomous, unrelenting.
"Target is the Minister of Defense. He has the final launch authorization key. No mistakes, Dom. Bring it to me."
Dom didn't reply. His jaw was tight, eyes cold. Somewhere beneath the silence, something in him fought but the neural control held firm.
He slammed through a security gate, metal bursting apart under his car's reinforced frame. Guards opened fire, bullets sparking across the windshield as Dom's car spun into a controlled drift, crushing two vehicles at once.
He exited mid-motion, shotgun in hand, cutting through the smoke like a machine of purpose.His target a terrified minister clutching a briefcase stumbled backward toward an elevator.
"Please," the man begged. "You don't understand"
Dom's voice was low, detached. "I don't need to."
A single shot shattered the lock. Dom seized the briefcase, entered the decryption key, and uploaded it to Cipher's relay.
Cipher's smile lit the command deck of Nekrom's sub. "All codes secured."
Behind her, Nekrom's holographic form shimmered into existence. "Then phase two begins."
Location: Arctic Stronghold – Sublevel C
Devon's team moved like ghosts through the corridors silent takedowns, neural scramblers frying cameras.Raven peeked around a corner. "Two guards, cybernetic implants. They'll sense motion."
Devon activated a small drone. "Let's even the field."
The drone buzzed forward, dropping a micro-EMP grenade. The guards' eyes flickered then went dark. They collapsed silently into the snow.
Lacy tapped into a wall panel, bypassing encrypted locks. "We're inside the detention sector."
Owen's name appeared on the terminal — Subject 12: Eteon Priority Asset.
Logan forced the door open, and inside they found him Owen Shaw, restrained in a suspended cryo-unit, bruised but breathing.
Devon stepped closer, placing a hand on the glass. "Easy, little brother. We've got you."
As the lock released, Owen coughed, weak but grinning. "Took you long enough, mate."
"Had to crash a few systems first," Devon replied.
Raven looked uneasy. "Dev, motion sensors lighting up heavy movement on all floors."
The lights dimmed. Alarms began to wail.
And then the cold mechanical voice of Nekrom filled the facility.
"I warned you, Devon Shaw. i merged my mind with machine. Now, you can't hide from me not even here."
The walls came alive automated turrets rotating toward them.Devon's expression hardened. "Then we'll burn your house down."
"EMP ready," Lacy shouted.
"Do it."
A pulse of blue fire erupted outward — shutting down everything. The fortress fell silent, lights dying in a wave.
Devon looked to his brother. "You're safe now. But this isn't over."
Owen's smirk turned grim. "Then let's finish it, together."
Location: Cipher's Submarine – Command Deck
Cipher watched as her feeds went dark, Nekrom's systems flickering erratically.She turned sharply toward him. "What's happening?"
Nekrom's digital eyes glowed red through static. "Devon has crippled my network."
Cipher's brow furrowed. "So fix it."
He leaned closer, voice glitching through distortion."I intend to. But first—"
A gunshot tore through the silence.
Cipher spun around as Nekrom's hologram rippled and distorted. The bullet had passed through an image not him, but a projection. Somewhere distant, someone had fired at his physical host.
Nekrom snarled, his voice echoing through every speaker.
"You think you've won, Shaw? The game has only just begun."
Static flooded the room as he cut the connection.
Location: Arctic Perimeter – Dawn
Devon's team emerged into the storm, Owen leaning against Logan for support. The compound burned behind them — plumes of smoke rising through the snow.
Raven turned to Devon. "We got what we came for. What now?"
Devon looked east, toward the frozen horizon.
"Now we end this. Nekrom and Cipher want to play god? Then it's time someone pulled the plug."
He turned to his crew, voice low but certain."Next stop the North Atlantic. That's where they'll make their move."
Owen nodded, a hint of his old smirk returning."Then let's make sure it's their last."
The transport roared to life, lifting off into the blinding dawn.
Dom, driving through the empty streets of a foreign city, Cipher's control chip faintly glowing at the base of his neck.He looked in the rearview mirror just for a moment and whispered to himself:
"Hold on, Elena… I'm coming."