The first silenced gunshot shattered the tension, snapping Kane into motion. He hit the ground just as bullets tore through the crates behind him, splintering wood and sending tools clattering to the floor.

The Red Hand didn't speak. They didn't shout orders. They moved with ruthless precision—shadows with guns, trained to kill without hesitation.

Ghost dropped another intruder with a single shot between the eyes, but more were already flooding into the warehouse.

"Back door, now!" Kane barked, rolling behind a metal workbench. He fired three shots into the chest of a soldier moving in from the side. The Red Hand operative barely made a sound as he crumpled to the floor.

Viper grabbed Masek by the collar and shoved him toward the rear exit. "You got another way out of here?"

Masek, still shaken, pointed. "Service tunnels! Under the floor!"

Sledge grinned. "Now we're talking."

Then the grenades came.

A pair of small, black cylinders hit the ground, rolling to a stop near the center of the room.

"FLASHBANG!" Doc shouted, shielding his eyes.

Kane barely had time to brace before the room erupted in white light and concussive force. His vision blurred, ears ringing. They were moving in for the kill.

Through the haze, a Red Hand soldier lunged toward him—knife drawn.

Too close.

Kane reacted on instinct. He caught the soldier's wrist, twisting hard. The knife dropped, but the attacker was fast—a knee slammed into Kane's ribs, driving the air from his lungs. He staggered back, vision still swimming. The Red Hand operative drew a pistol—

Ghost shot him through the temple.

Kane barely heard the thwip of the silencer before the body collapsed at his feet. Ghost yanked him up by the vest. "Get your head back in the game!"

He shook off the dizziness and refocused.

Sledge had pinned another soldier to the wall, his massive forearm crushing the man's windpipe. With a brutal twist, he snapped the operative's neck and let the body slump to the ground.

"Less dancing, more running!" Sledge growled.

Kane pushed forward. "Everyone into the tunnels, NOW!"

Viper and Masek had already pulled open a rusted floor hatch, revealing a dark passage leading into the old metro system beneath the city. Doc jumped down first, rifle up.

One by one, Specter dropped into the darkness.

Kane turned to cover their retreat—just as a bullet tore through his shoulder.

Pain lanced through him, hot and sharp. He staggered but kept his grip on his weapon. Another shot would finish him—

Ghost yanked him down through the hatch.

The last thing he saw before the door slammed shut was a dozen Red Hand soldiers flooding into the warehouse, their faces unreadable behind their masks.

Then, Kane hit the cold concrete floor below.

And the world went dark.

Kane's world was pain.

His breath came in short, ragged gasps as he pressed a hand against his wounded shoulder. The bullet had gone clean through—painful, but not fatal. Doc was already beside him, tearing open a medkit.

"Stay still," Doc muttered, working fast. "It missed the artery, but you're bleeding like hell."

Above them, the warehouse shook with gunfire. The Red Hand was clearing the building, but they wouldn't take long to figure out where Specter had gone.

"We need to move," Viper hissed, pistol raised as he scanned the dark tunnel ahead. "Now."

Ghost knelt beside Kane, gripping his uninjured arm. "Can you walk?"

Kane exhaled sharply as Doc tightened the bandage. "I don't have a choice."

She nodded and pulled him to his feet.

Masek, still breathing hard, grabbed a rusted flashlight from the wall and clicked it on. The dim beam revealed a long, decaying tunnel stretching deep beneath Valmara.

"The metro hasn't been used in years," Masek whispered. "Old emergency exits lead to different parts of the city. If we follow the right path, we can lose them."

Sledge let out a low chuckle. "Yeah? And if we pick the wrong one?"

Masek gave him a grim look. "Then we're trapped down here like rats."

A loud thud echoed from above.

Ghost tensed. "They found the hatch."

Kane forced himself to push past the pain. "Then we don't have time for a debate. Move."

They hurried into the tunnel, boots splashing in shallow puddles as they weaved past rusted train cars and broken-down maintenance stations. The further they went, the darker it became—only Masek's flashlight and the faint glow of emergency exit signs guided them.

Then they heard it.

A single, deliberate footstep behind them.

Ghost froze. That wasn't an echo.

Viper turned, raising his rifle. Nothing but darkness.

Then—another step.

They weren't alone.

Sledge whispered. "They followed us."

A voice, low and mocking, drifted from the darkness.

"You can run."

A second voice, closer.

"But you can't hide."

Then the tunnel erupted in gunfire.

The tunnel erupted in muzzle flashes. The tight space amplified the gunfire, turning every shot into an ear-shattering explosion. Specter dove for cover as bullets chewed through rusted metal and concrete.

They were surrounded.

Ghost dropped to one knee, rifle steady, and took out the nearest Red Hand soldier with a shot to the throat. The operative collapsed without a sound, but more shadows moved in from behind, their footsteps silent on the damp concrete.

Kane's arm was on fire. His vision swam, pain lancing through his shoulder, but he gritted his teeth and raised his weapon.

Then came the floodlights.

A brilliant white light blasted from the tunnel ahead, cutting through the darkness like a knife. Shadows stretched long behind them, the darkness no longer their ally. The blinding glow outlined a wall of armored soldiers marching toward them.

Masek swore. "That's not just the Red Hand."

Kane's heart pounded. Velkan's forces had arrived.

The radio clipped to a fallen Red Hand soldier crackled to life.

A voice, deep and calm.

"This is General Velkan."

Kane stiffened. That bastard was speaking directly to them.

"Your efforts are commendable, but futile. You have nowhere to run."

The floodlights advanced, shadows twisting and shrinking. Boots stomped in perfect unison, their march slow and methodical. They weren't rushing in. They knew they had Specter cornered.

"Surrender now, and I may grant you a swift death."

Sledge let out a humorless laugh. "Yeah? And if we don't?"

Velkan's voice didn't change.

"Then you will beg for one."

Then came the gas.

Metal canisters clanked against the concrete, hissing thick clouds of green smoke into the tunnel.

Ghost cursed. "Nerve agent!"

Doc grabbed a rebreather from his belt, slamming it over Kane's face before pulling on his own. Ghost did the same, but Masek—Masek didn't have one.

He staggered, choking, as the gas spread.

Viper caught him before he collapsed. "Stay with me, damn it!"

Masek's eyes rolled, his body convulsing. He was dying.

Kane's mind raced. They had seconds before the gas filled the tunnel. Seconds before it would tear into their lungs, shutting their bodies down one organ at a time.

He turned to Ghost.

"We blow the tunnel."

Ghost didn't hesitate. She reached into her pack, pulled out two bricks of C4, and slapped them against the closest support beam. They weren't escaping through the tunnel anymore.

They were burying themselves alive.

Sledge grabbed Masek, hauling the half-conscious smuggler over his shoulder.

Ghost looked at Kane. "Say the word."

The gas was everywhere now. Kane's vision blurred. Velkan's soldiers were steps away.

He took one last look at the approaching enemy.

And said, "Do it."

Ghost pressed the detonator.

The world erupted in fire and stone.

The tunnel erupted in fire and stone, the explosion ripping through rusted support beams. The force hit Kane like a freight train, throwing him backward as the ceiling caved in.

A shockwave of dust and shattered concrete rushed through the tunnel, swallowing the Red Hand operatives and Velkan's advancing soldiers. Screams were lost in the deafening roar as the underground passage collapsed in on itself.

Then came the silence.

Kane coughed violently, choking on dust. His ears rang, his vision blurred, but he was alive.

He tried to move—pain lanced through his wounded shoulder, but he ignored it. His mind snapped back to the mission. Where was the team?

A faint glow flickered through the settling dust. Ghost's flashlight.

"Kane?" Her voice was hoarse but steady.

"I'm here," he rasped.

One by one, the others emerged from the rubble.

Ghost, covered in dust but unharmed.Sledge, blood trickling from his forehead but still carrying Masek's limp form.Doc, shaking off debris as he checked his gear.Viper, coughing as he pulled himself up from a pile of rubble.

They were alive. Barely.

Masek groaned weakly. He was still breathing, but the nerve gas had nearly killed him.

"We need to move," Ghost whispered, scanning the wreckage. "The explosion bought us time, but they'll send another team."

Viper pointed ahead. "There's an emergency exit two klicks east—if it's not buried."

No one hesitated. They ran.

Valmara - Safehouse

An hour later, Specter finally stopped running.

They emerged from a maintenance tunnel into a desolate backstreet, hidden between abandoned buildings. The city felt different now—on edge, restless. Velkan's forces were out in full force, sirens howling in the distance.

The safehouse was an old mechanic's shop, long since abandoned. Viper led them inside, locking the doors behind them.

The moment the bolts slid into place, Kane's body gave out.

His knees buckled, and he hit the floor hard.

Ghost was there in an instant, grabbing him before he collapsed completely.

"Doc!" she barked.

Doc was already moving. He ripped open Kane's blood-soaked jacket, his hands steady despite the urgency. "You tore the wound open running," he muttered. "I need to—"

A low groan cut him off.

Masek.

He lay slumped against the wall, his breathing shallow. The nerve agent had nearly killed him, and without proper treatment, he wouldn't last the night.

Sledge wiped blood from his face. "We just crawled through hell, and we're not even close to done."

Viper grimaced. "Velkan knows we're in the city now. He's throwing everything at us."

Kane forced himself to sit up, pain ripping through him like fire.

"He's scared," Kane said through clenched teeth. "And that means we hit him harder."

Silence filled the room.

Then Ghost spoke.

"We'll need weapons. Supplies." She looked at Masek. "And intel."

Masek let out a weak chuckle. "You people are insane."

Kane managed a smirk. "You're just figuring that out?"

Outside, the city braced for war.

Specter was still alive.

And Velkan's time was running out.