"We are not out of it yet" reported Rhino grimly. The night air around the shipyard was unnaturally still, but his instincts screamed danger.
Falcon's eyes narrowed. "Movement - 3 o clock".
"They are tracing you somehow" crackled Lumina's voice through the intercom. " I cannot determine the source - not without comparing to the old data from the base which we just deleted."
"Lumina, disengage. Exit channels closed - we can't have it traced through comms. Team, ground zero. Over and Out". Static filled the air. And then silence.
Falcon made a spilt second decision. He had just ordered his entire team to go off grid to avoid getting tracked.
Because they didn't know the leak still, they stuck to their original intention and protected the kid. Now, they were on their own and had to fight or trick their way out.
Neither Rhino nor Falcon were the least fazed by this. As seasoned soldiers, this was what they had trained for. Standing back to back, they traded punches and kicks, falling into a rhythm trained in their souls.
Slowly they made a way through the assassins. However there were just too many. And despite their best efforts, their strength was waning. "Watch out" Rhino cried and pulled Falcon back - a knife cut through the air where his shoulder was.
Falcon tipped back, covered Rhino and swept out his legs in a flying kick. The assassin behind him caught it in his chest and crashed against the one who had thrown the knife, both falling like puppets.
Panting with the effort, they each retrieved their army knives - the last resort.
Just as 4 more assassins closed in, they heard a roar in the night.
A motorcycle blazed through, the figure riding it shooting at the assassins with deadly precision. All his enemies heard was a whisper, before it hit them at a vital point.
Aegis was back. He unhesitatingly made his way to his team - and covered their exit.
His knife danced, his bullets hit bullseye every single time. Once an assassin met his attack, they did not get up - he struck to kill.
There was a reason Aegis was the most powerful operative the division had ever seen. Two days back he was almost at death's door, struggling from multiple gunshot wounds. Today, he was his team's shield and sword, impenetrable as a mountain - he guarded their back, just as they had guarded his countless times.
With renewed vigor, Rhino and Falcon joined the fight again. With Aegis as their defense, the assassins didn't stand a chance.
The battlefield wasn't a place for emotions though. As one, they carved a path for themselves and moved out.
As they turned the corner, they saw Viper, with Ghostwire driving shotgun in a military grade suv. They had clearly wrested it from the enemy. "Couldn't let you have all the fun" grinned Lin Ke.
"If you are done catching up, can we leave" came Aegis' hoarse voice. He looked like death - eyes blazing and sharp, body honed to be a weapon that did not reveal an inch of his fatigue.
"City C is not secure anymore. We move out to the capital. Now". He barked.
Without hesitation, his team floored the accelerator and drove to an abandoned school yard. At the back was parked an old military jet - the kind used to deploy soldiers. Lin Ke gaped.
"I knew a guy who owed me favors" said Aegis nonchalantly and the team got on and roared away into the night.
"We were so close" complained Lin Ke. "We had our team - had we waited to execute the plan they would've fallen. We would've smoked out the spy" he whined . No one corrected him.
Falcon turned to Aegis with a worried look. What Lin Ke hadn't put together, he had realized the minute their safehouse was compromised - that alone was enough to identify the spy.
This time their location was known only by the Grand Commander General. All that Command knew was that they were on a break.
If the Black Lotus could still find them, how deep did it's roots run? Was even the Commander General…
He met Aegis' eyes and swallowed his questions. Aegis had thought of it too, he realized.
"When did you know?" he blurted out.
Aegis smirked. "I guessed when he wanted me to come back to meet "Family" he scoffed.
There was a tense silence in the plane. They were the only people in the world who knew Aegis' special identity - Huo Shen. The youngest prodigy of the Huo family, the last son of the Great Commander General himself. However, despite being the youngest, he was not the most beloved - he was the black sheep and considered a black hearted ruthless devil.
His team would agree with most of it - their boss was indeed a ruthless devil. The past operation was the perfect example. He had suspected his own family and had calmly used himself as bait to smoke them out.
But the world was wrong thought Falcon fiercely. Huo Shen's heart was higher than the skies. It held a loyalty that wouldn't break under the sharpest knife or the deadliest bullets.
The blind Huo family didn't know what they were missing! His skills rivalled the best of geniuses, yet he was not allowed to shine.
Did his own father sell him out?
"We don't know if Commander General Huo was in on it - or whether his office was just bugged" continued Huo Shen evenly, as though talking about the enormity of betrayal by family was not related to him.
He didn't look away from the flight he was flying. "It could be someone close to him whom he trusts or cannot bring himself to suspect" he finished.
The team did not speak. This matter was beyond their control. At this point, it involved high stakes politics they didn't feel equipped to handle. They trusted Huo Shen to lead them well - and resolved to guard his back. It's not like his family is doing it anyway.
"Lin Ke" he called out suddenly. "What's the status of the hostage?".
"He goes by Boss Qin and has adapted well to his new identity." reported Lin Ke. "He seems to like running the shop and is happy giving meals to the students nearby." They had hidden the hostage as a noodle breakfast shopkeeper in plain sight. "He would not contact or come out of hiding without explicit initiation from our team".
"Hmm. Then let's see what the capital has for us. We become regular soldiers now and wait for the next mission in a month. Get your affairs in order by then" said Huo Shen, his face all hard angles and planes.
The past few hours had taken a toll on him however, and his skin shone with a pale pallor. Viper knew, without having to check that he must have torn his wounds and was bleeding.
He had just patched up Rhino with the emergency kit in the jet. "Boss, can I…"
"Falcon take over" he ordered and quietly allowed Viper to fix him up. "Use the remaining blood" he blurted out suddenly.
Viper gave him an odd look. Why the sudden change? He didn't know. But it worked for them. Huo Shen was so weak, the blood left by the benefactor would help him.
As Huo Shen watched her blood slowly empty from the bag, the reluctance in his heart listened to reality. Did he really imagine a different ending? The interlude at City C gave him a memory to cherish - a dream he could long for maybe in another life. But duty called and he had to answer.
Take care of yourself little kid. Leaving behind City C and his impossible longing, Huo Shen buried a bit more of his heart and looked ahead - the sky looked as bleak as he felt. Just perfect.