Soon the violence inside the headquarters died down, becoming more of a game of cat and mouse than a firefight.

The corpses of the employees and security guards littered the facility’s corridors; Lionel’s men had been thoroughly ruthless and reduced them all, filling them with lead. However, the closest they approached to the main building and Darius’ office, from all angles and floors inside the complex, more of Lionel’s men were killed.

Strangled, drowned, gunned down, burned, cut and executed, Lionel’s task force was being reduced in number, just like they did with all of their victims.

The last remaining agent in basement four managed to retreat to a vent where he could find some oxygen to survive. The entire area had been flooded by the base’s water supply.

He had no escape and the communications were completely cut. He was hoping for someone to find a way to filter the water by opening the emergency shuttles, which were away from his reach.

He hid in a shadowy corner, hoping that The Chain wouldn’t find him. He knew that boy was still there, swimming underwater, looking for him; for all he knew, he could hold his breath for hours, maybe for all eternity, he was like a shark stalking its prey. No matter what, he wouldn’t leave the safety of that vent.

Meanwhile, a squad advanced towards the main building, they advanced in formation, keeping an eye out on any potential threats or targets to be eliminated.

They advanced through the northern corridor towards the main lobby, there they found an uncommon and unsettling sight. They found the bodies of the missing squad team that was supposed to neutralize Darius at the beginning of the operation. They were all standing still around the place, holding onto their weapons apathetically and hanging their heads low, as if they were in deep meditation.

The squad leader approached one of them, and on a closer look he found out that they were actually dead. Somehow, they had all died on their feet, completely rigid; an unexplainable phenomenon.

Some of them had their throats slit by some kind of blade, while others had broken necks. None of them showed signs of struggle, their rifle muzzles were also completely cold; they had been caught completely by surprise, and maybe they didn’t even know they were under attack until it was too late.

They kept their guns up, terrified of the thought that whoever did this to them was still at large, somewhere in that dreary facility full of blood and death.

One of the soldiers then approached another body, the one that seemed to be the only woman in the squad, which was weird, since that team wasn’t supposed to have a female member.

That’s when the captain noticed the naked body hidden under the secretary’s desk. – “Wait, she’s the…!”- But he didn’t manage to alert his teammate in time. The female soldier suddenly came back to life and slit his throat with a small curved blade she was hiding under her collar, then she quickly drew out her silenced pistol and terminated the remaining three combatants.

The soldier took off her mask and showed her face to the one agent that was still lingering on. He had been fooled and methodically suppressed by none other than The Reaper, though he had no way of knowing that, since field agents were never aware of the existence of Darius’ personal troop of assassins.

She called Darius through her intercom. – “Another squad has been wiped out. They keep on coming, I wonder how long it’ll take them to change strategy.”

“They won’t have enough men to afford that. Soon enough they’ll just retreat.”

“As long as they get that, we’ll be able to finish their little attempt at a takeover.”

“I don’t think it will be that easy…” -Darius was looking at his personal computer, sending the new instructions to the operators in charge of the database to protect the information at all cost.

“I have worked with Lionel long enough to know that he likes to have many plans and tactics on hold, just in case the main one doesn’t work. If we repel his men’s attack, he’ll probably attack the next most vulnerable thing.”

“Hmph…” – Reaper sat over the secretary’s desk and checked her gear. – “Well, if it is what I think it is, it’s up to the nerds to defend the fort next.”

“I have high hopes on them, just like I do with Eyler.”

Suddenly the power returned, someone had managed to activate the emergency grid. Reaper assumed that it was probably Alquist since he was the only one that wasn’t actually defending something, so he could be free to go to the offense.

Reaper exhaled looking at all the blood and death she had sprayed around that room, she looked at the corpses and squinted her eyes, drawing a little and modest smile on her face. – “I’m not going to sugarcoat it, Darius, you lost a lot of people today.” -She said through the intercom. – “Lionel may not be able to take it over, but he sure as hell did an excellent job trying to dissolve it.”

“Do not worry.” -He said. – “It’s in a pretty rough shape right now. But just like Lionel, I know how to make my plans. I’ll make sure to put it all back together.”

“I sure hope so.”

Meanwhile, Sword went down to basement five and used the valves in the boiler room in order to open the emergency shuttles and get rid of the water in basement four. Alquist had told her to go find Chain so he could join the offensive against the enemy forces regrouping in the administrative building, so she was done with her part of the defense as soon as possible.

Sword went down the elevator to basement four, there she found the corpses of the rogue agents that didn’t manage to escape in time. There were no signs of Chain to be found, maybe he had been flushed out through the shuttles by accident.

Suddenly she heard the safe of a gun being pulled off. She turned around to meet the last soldier standing in the basement, barely on his feet because of a wounded knee and a cut on his forehead blinding his vision; when he saw the water going down, he thought that was his chance to escape, but he wouldn’t have it easy.

“You…you are Sword, aren’t you?” -He said. – “Out of all fucking people to come…”

Jules showed him her hands. – “Don’t do anything crazy, agent. It’s over, you’ve been left for dead.”

“Do you think I care? Heh…this was supposed to be just a simple job, and the first thing that happens is I get trapped in a room with a freak that can breath under water…!” – He coughed. – “He killed everyone, but he didn’t get to kill me, I suppose I’m blessed.”

“You have nowhere to go.” -She argued. – “You should give up now, you are in no condition to fight.”

“Give up!? Nah, I ain’t giving up, I’m not gonna be thrown in a cell to be tortured by the likes of you, I’m out of here…and you are going to get me out of here.”

“You gonna use me as a hostage?” -She asked, arching her eyebrows, looking beyond him.

“Of course. What are you, stupid? No one would dare shoot one of their own.” – He stepped aside. Lead the way, take me to the heliport, if you take a detour I’m shooting you in the back.”

But Jules didn’t move an inch. Instead, she crossed her arms and kept looking somewhere else.

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“What the fuck are you waiting for!? Move!” -He demanded.

“I’m afraid that won’t work.” -She said.

“What!?”

“You are one bad move away from dying…I’ll pray for you.”

“What the fuck are you talking…!?” -The mercenary took a step forward, and the moment his boot touched the ground, a sudden and intense air stream rushed past him, slicing his body in half like mere butter.

In his last moments of conscience, he watched as he was suddenly spinning around in the air for no reason. At one point he spotted the lower half of his body as it kneeled and then dropped to the ground. The massive amount of endorphins produced by his brain protected him from the pain - if there was any – and from reality itself.

“Ahh…this is surreaaaaal…” – He whispered as he flied until his head impacted the ground, lights out.

Jules saw a chain elevate from the ground, coiling and curling, emerging from the darkness. At the end of this chain there was a small axe, but its edge could cut through an oak with enough strength applied to it.

The chain returned to the shadows. If Jules was not certain of what had happened, she would be preparing to fight right there and then, but that was not the case.

“Arthur. You survived!” -She said.

From the shadows emerged a young man, many would mistake him for the reincarnation of Adam. His blue eyes shined like emeralds, but just like Alicia’s, they contained an intense savagery behind them. He wore many chains tied around his waist, and from them dangled a handful of different weapons and tools, though in the eyes of Jules, those tools could be his best weapons.

“Mr. Alquist is looking for you, we need to support him in the counterattack.”

“Their attempt at a conquest was misguided…” -He said. – “They knew this was death’s abode, yet they still intruded, intending to make it a home of their own... Have the others been crushed?” – Arthur searched around until he found his jacket and put it on, even if it was soaking wet.

“Not yet, the enemy is falling back to the administrative building. Alquist wants you spearhead the attack.”

“I shall cull them myself.” -He said. – “No one else must be hurt, not if I can help it.”

He rushed out of the room into the elevator, Jules followed him.

She called Alquist through the radio. – “Alquist, I found Arthur, we are heading your way.”

“Don’t take too much time, Sword, I think we are gonna have a problem here…”

John’s men had set up a perimeter in front of the building, making sure to stay in cover. Misha, or rather Silencer, was overlooking the building from a safe spot with her rifle, she had already managed to eliminate four enemies peeking out behind the walls or from the windows, but now they were facing a more critical problem.

Emilia had been captured, her hiding spot wasn’t good enough, and worse yet, the enemies had a rogue assassin on their side. He was currently holding her hostage right in front of everyone at the other side of the bridge, but just at the right angle to make sure Silencer didn’t have a clear shot on him.

Even in that dire situation, Emilia was not amused in the slightest, in fact, she seemed to be quite pissed about the whole thing, if she was just a little bit as skillful as the assassins she had to manage, she wouldn’t think twice about trying to decapitate the man holding her against her will.

Regardless of that, while she allowed the situation to unfold, Emilia couldn’t help but wonder how Kirsten was doing, hoping he wasn’t caught in an ambush set by the traitors. She also knew for a fact that they surely had something special prepared for Butcher but doubted they would be able to put her down.

Either way, she couldn’t envision a future where the Men of the World could recover from an incident such as this.

Kirsten tried to reach out to Alicia again, but she wouldn’t pick up the phone. While he stubbornly kept on dialing her number, he received a report from one of the operators at the hideout.

“We got new information sir. The plane in which the Butcher was extracted, it crashed somewhere around Washington.”

Kirsten sighed, hanging his head low and sinking his hands into his hair. Fate laughed and puffed her chest.

“Come on, Kirsten, you don’t have to worry so much.” -She said. – “I’m sure she’ll be fine. If she’s really the Butcher, she must’ve survived the crash, one way or the other.”

“They must’ve prepared it all to make sure she wouldn’t make it out alive.” -He said. – “Lionel has made it quite clear that he aims to eliminate all assassins employed by the organization, making an emphasis on the ones I hired.”

“So that includes me? huh…maybe Jeremy was trying to set me up after all…” -She raised her hand to her chin and chuckled; her convictions had been validated once again. – “Thanks to your honesty, I was capable of discerning between an honest agreement and a mischievous conspiracy.”

“Don’t give me so much credit.” -He said, his voice almost fading to a whisper. – “You are a clever girl; I already knew as much by reading your file.”

“Sometimes stories can be deceiving, but thanks for the flattery.” -She laughed. From time to time, Kirsten would forget that Charlie was supposed to be a legendary assassin. Her face, her lexicon, her mannerisms, all of them weren’t proper of a killer, or maybe Kirsten had gotten too used to talking with those that were far away from the norm.

Later on Kirsten would regain his strength to get back up, and just as he was walking out of the room, he was approached by another operator.

“Sir, we’ve got a new report from the HQ, they managed to get the power grid back on and push back against the traitors.”

“That’s good, that’s very good.” -He looked at the operator in the eyes. – “But I assume that Lionel isn’t taking this lying down.”

“You are right, sir. They’ve got their own group of operators trying to hack into the organization’s database. We think that he’s trying to pull a salted earth tactic to cripple the foundations of the group as a whole.”

“I figured as much. Can we do something about it?”

“Darius’ team is taking care of it, so we must not interfere. However, it’s very likely they’ll turn off the power again soon, just to be sure.” – The operator raised a finger. – “Also, the rebels are currently making a last stand in the administrative building, they’ve got an assassin on their side, I think it is Mitchell Reagan. Alquist and his team are taking care of the situation.”

“I see. Well, I guess I have no role to play in this fight.” -Said Kirsten, feeling his body becoming heavier. – “Any news on the plane crash?”

“We haven’t heard anything new since the crash. In my opinion sir, I think it’s appropriate to declare Butcher KIA.”

“No…no, that’s not happening.” -He said. – “There’s gotta be a way to make sure, to be absolutely sure. I’ll go there myself if it’s necessary!”

“With all due respect sir, leaving this outpost under these circumstances would be very imprudent, you cannot risk yourself out in the open as long as Lionel has men to spare.”

“…Damn…” -Kirsten’s brain was completely blank. It was the first time in months that he couldn’t come up with a solution to a predicament, and it aggravated him, given that they were in the middle of a very critical situation.

Suddenly, one of the people in charge of the computers spoke up. – “Sir, the news channels are talking about the plane crash!”

“Put it on the screen!” – Commanded Kirsten. The map disappeared and soon after they could see the news broadcast live. They were broadcasting from Oregon, near the Henry Hagg County Park.

“An unexpected accident occurred a few hours ago near the Henry Hagg County Park. Multiple witnesses reported watching as a plane crashed behind the mountains.”

They proceeded to interview one of the witnesses. –“It was big, you know? There was a lot of smoke coming out from it, maybe something exploded inside! It kept falling until we heard the crash and then an explosion, I don’t think anyone survived.”

“And no one survived indeed. After receiving the call, a group of police officers, ambulances and the park rangers were dispatched to the crash site in order to put out the fire and determine the number of casualties.”

“it’s a complete an utter mess.” – Said the chief of police on the scene, his name was Liam Thompson. – “My men are on the scene, so far they’ve found around twenty corpses on the scene, and we are afraid that many more came out flying from the plane due to the explosion. We haven’t found any signs of possible survivors either.”

“What can you tell us about the casualties, sir?” -Asked the journalist.

“So far we haven’t been able to identify the victims, their bodies are gravely damaged, all we can say at a glance is that most of them were adult males and some adult women, and from what we can determine, they carried military grade weaponry and equipment with them.”

“Were they terrorists?”

“Like I said, we can’t be sure, at least for now, we must conduct a thorough investigation on the matter, and that might take a while.”

Afterwards, they went on to talk about other unrelated news, but that is all they needed to know. The chances were slim, very slim, but Kirsten wanted to cling to that small possibility that Butcher was still alive.

“We have to hurry up. Get in touch with the outpost in Washington, we have to find her and rescue her before it’s too late.” -Kirsten went to get prepared for the journey. – “I’ll meet up with them when it’s time to proceed.”

“Sir, it’s just like I told you, it’s too risky to go out in the open right now! You must not put yourself in harm’s way.” -Said the lead operator.

“I know, I know…but right now, the last thing I want is to take a backseat from the action.” -replied Kirsten. – “Lionel messed with me, messed with all of us, and I want to make sure I’m close enough to see him fall when the time is right. And for that, I must contribute to the cause, personally.”

At that moment, the operator longed for those days where his word and common sense meant anything to those above him.

Kirsten prepared some clothes for the journey while ordering the operators to prepare a fake ID for him to roam through the states safely, the CIA was still looking for him after all those years.

His years of experience as an agent were coming back to him, his body felt lighter and mind sharper, in a way he had managed to reconcile his actual self with his past self. Knowing this, he thought he would be capable of finding and extracting Alicia out of the country, or at least out of that state, without making a fuss; it had to be a swift and discreet escape under the law’s nose.

He hoped that Alicia would be in a stable enough condition for that.