The transport truck rattled over the broken asphalt, its suspension groaning.
Leo sat in the back with Ava and Jack, the three of them dressed in black tactical gear. The air inside was heavy, not just from the smell of oil and gunmetal, but from the unspoken knowledge that this mission was different.
Eleanor's warning from the supply room echoed in Leo's head: You won't be coming back to report.
The mission briefing had been deliberately vague — "eliminate a rogue asset and retrieve stolen intel." But the target location was a fortified complex in the industrial outskirts, and the intel… well, Leo had the feeling it wasn't meant to be retrieved.
---
They arrived just after dusk. The complex loomed like a sleeping beast, its chain-link fences topped with razor wire, floodlights sweeping the yard.
Jack adjusted the sight on his rifle. "We breach from the west wall, cut through the security post, and get to the intel room. Quick in and out."
Ava scanned the area through binoculars. "Two guards at the gate. More on the roof. This isn't a rogue asset hideout — it's a kill zone."
Leo's gut twisted. "You think they know we're coming?"
Ava lowered the binoculars. "No. I think they brought us here."
---
They moved in anyway — silently, skillfully, like the assassins the academy had made them.
Leo cut the power to the floodlights while Jack took out the gate guards with suppressed shots. Ava led the way through the yard until they reached the main building.
Inside, the air was stale. Their footsteps echoed in the narrow hallways. They reached the intel room — but instead of computers and files, it was empty.
Jack cursed under his breath. "There's nothing here."
Leo's eyes darted to the far wall — where a small red light blinked above a mounted camera.
Ava's voice was sharp. "We need to go. Now."
---
Too late.
Doors slammed shut around them with the heavy clang of reinforced steel. Footsteps thundered in the corridor outside. Voices barked orders — not in a language Leo recognized.
The first flashbang exploded through the doorway. The world went white.
Leo stumbled, ears ringing, as masked figures poured in. Jack fired until his magazine was empty, then used the rifle as a club. Ava grabbed Leo by the arm, dragging him toward a maintenance hatch in the corner.
"Go!" she shouted, shoving him through.
They crawled through the narrow ventilation shaft, the sound of boots and gunfire fading behind them. The hatch spat them out onto the roof of a lower building.
---
The rain-slick rooftop stretched out to the street beyond. But between them and freedom was a squad of armed men.
Jack swore. "We'll never make it down without getting shredded."
Ava's eyes flicked to the opposite rooftop — a three-meter jump over an alley. "We don't need the stairs."
Leo's stomach dropped, but he nodded. "Go."
Ava went first, landing in a crouch on the far roof. Jack followed, barely making it. Leo took the jump last, his boots slipping on the wet surface — but Jack's hand shot out, gripping his wrist and hauling him up.
They kept moving, leaping from rooftop to rooftop until the complex was far behind.
---
They didn't stop running until they reached a narrow drainage tunnel beneath the city. There, soaked and panting, they finally spoke.
"They were trying to kill us," Leo said, the truth settling like lead in his chest.
Ava wiped rain from her face. "No. They were trying to erase us. Clean up their mistakes."
Jack looked between them, his usual arrogance gone. "Then we hit back. Hard."
Leo glanced at Ava, then at Jack. For the first time, the three of them were aligned — not as rivals, not as reluctant partners, but as a team.