The desert held its breath.
Five Helix soldiers guarded the steel crate below.
Mantis watched from the dune, silent and predatory.
The wind was the only sound—until Maya whispered:
"Positions. Now."
Rafael vanished into the left flank like smoke.
Maya moved right, silent as a ghost.
Jack stayed low behind the ridge, heart pounding like a drum inside a coffin.
Maya's voice came through his comm—steady, commanding, grounding him.
"Jack, stay put until I say move."
Jack felt nausea churn.
Mantis tilted her head toward the Helix squad.
Then toward Jack.
Rafael's voice exploded in the comm:
"CONTACT INBOUND!"
The Helix soldiers sprinted forward.
Unnaturally fast.
Inhumanly coordinated.
Straight toward them.
"GO!" Maya roared.
The Ambush
Rafael emerged from the left flank, firing controlled bursts.
Two shots hit a soldier's helmet—sparks flying.
No damage.
"They're armored beyond normal specs!" Rafael yelled.
Maya sprang from the right, sliding under a soldier's outstretched arm and slashing his thigh joint with her blade.
He stumbled—just a fraction—before swinging his rifle at her head like a club.
Maya ducked, spun, and slammed her elbow into his knee.
Jack watched in awe and terror.
Maya moved like water—fluid, deadly, precise.
"Jack!" she shouted. "Move to cover behind the crate!"
Jack dashed forward, sand kicking behind him.
He barely reached the crate before a soldier turned, rifle aimed at him.
Jack froze.
The world narrowed.
The muzzle glowed blue.
"Jack, DOWN!" Maya snapped.
Jack dropped flat.
The rifle beam seared over his head, hitting the crate with a metallic scream.
Maya tackled the soldier from behind, smashing her knife into the gap in his shoulder armor.
Electric sparks burst out.
The soldier spasmed.
Maya finished him with a brutal palm strike to the helmet.
He collapsed.
Jack stared.
"I—I can't do that," he whispered.
"Yes, you can!" Maya yelled. "You're not helpless!"
But Jack wasn't convinced.
Not until another soldier charged at him.
This one was fast.
Too fast.
Jack barely reacted before Maya blocked the blow—her forearm taking the full impact.
She grunted in pain.
"Maya!" Jack shouted.
"I'm fine," she hissed. "Stay behind me!"
Jack's chest tightened.
No.
Not this time.
Not again.
Not like the simulation.
Not like the nightmares.
Something in him snapped.
A spark.
A fire.
A forgotten instinct.
Jack surged forward.
"Jack, WAIT—!" Maya yelled.
But it was already too late.
Jack's First Fight
The Helix soldier swung toward him.
Jack ducked, dropped low, and drove the stun baton upward into the soldier's exposed ribs.
A crackling surge burst out.
The soldier jerked backward.
Jack followed the blow, instinct taking over—
Pivot left. Strike under the arm. Block with shoulder. Balance. Don't overthink.
Moves he had never learned but somehow… remembered.
The soldier staggered.
Jack struck again, hard enough to dent the armor.
Rafael blinked from across the battlefield.
"Maya… was that him?!"
Maya didn't answer.
She was too shocked.
Too focused on Jack's sudden transformation.
With a final surge of adrenaline, Jack slammed the baton into the soldier's visor.
The lens shattered.
The soldier collapsed in the sand.
Jack panted, chest heaving.
"I… I did that?"
Maya stared at him.
Eyes wide.
Soft.
Something intense burning within.
"Yes," she whispered. "You did."
Rafael's Counterattack
Rafael engaged one head-on, firing controlled bursts.
This time, he aimed for joints.
"Elbow… knee… shoulder—GOT HIM!"
One bullet hit the soldier's knee joint.
The armor cracked.
The soldier stumbled.
Rafael lunged and kicked him backward into the sand, pinning him with his boot.
He fired point-blank into the exposed joint again.
The soldier fell, sparks erupting from his suit.
Maya glanced over.
"One left!"
Jack turned—
But froze.
Because the last soldier wasn't attacking.
He was walking toward Mantis.
Mantis stared at Jack.
Her green eyes glowed brighter.
She raised two fingers.
Like a conductor leading an orchestra.
The soldier turned and sprinted at Jack.
Fast.
Too fast.
"Jack, MOVE!" Maya screamed.
Jack tried.
But the soldier was already upon him.
A metal fist smashed into his chest.
Jack flew backward, hitting the ground hard.
Pain shot through his ribs.
He gasped.
The soldier approached—
—and Maya intervened with a roar.
She slammed into him like a hurricane, blade flashing.
Her eyes burned with fury.
"No one touches him!"
Her blade sliced clean through the soldier's shoulder actuator.
The armor sparked.
The soldier swung his rifle.
Maya ducked, rolled, and drove her knife into the exposed wiring.
The soldier convulsed and fell.
Dust settled.
Silence returned.
Jack panted on the ground.
Maya kneeled beside him, pulling off her glove and pressing her bare hand to his cheek.
"Jack—Jack, look at me."
He forced his eyes open.
She exhaled shakily.
"You're okay," she whispered. "You're okay."
Rafael jogged over, gun still raised. "We clear?"
Maya checked the perimeter.
"Clear."
Rafael nodded, then grinned. "Not bad for your first battle, kid."
Jack wheezed, "I think I died twice."
"You didn't," Maya said softly.
Jack looked around.
Dead Helix soldiers lay in the sand, their glowing visors shattered. The crate still sat in the center of the clearing.
"What's… inside?" Jack asked.
Rafael approached the crate, pulled out a tool, and sliced the security seal.
The lid cracked open with a hiss.
Inside:
Hard drives.
Vials.
A tablet.
And—
A photograph.
Maya picked it up.
Her breath caught.
Jack saw her expression shift.
"What is it?" he asked.
Maya handed him the photo.
It was a lab.
A sterile crib.
A baby connected to wires.
A tiny wrist tag that said:
ALPHA-01
Jack (6 months)
Jack froze.
No breath.
No heartbeat.
No reality.
His past stared back at him in black and white.
"It's you," Maya whispered.
He felt faint.
Rafael rummaged through the crate and retrieved a tablet.
"Oh damn…"
Maya looked sharply at him. "What is it?"
Rafael tapped the screen and turned it so she could see.
On it was a live transmission window.
And in the center of that window—
Mercer's face.
Smiling.
"Hello, Alpha."
Jack went ice-cold.
Mercer continued:
"I trust you liked my little welcome party."
Maya hissed under her breath, "He knew we'd come…"
Mercer's eyes gleamed.
"Oh, I knew much more than that."
He leaned forward.
"I knew you'd survive."
Jack stepped back.
Mercer's gaze followed him.
"You're growing. Learning. Becoming."
Jack's throat tightened.
"Stay away from me," he whispered.
Mercer's smile sharpened.
"I can't, Alpha. You are mine."
Maya slammed her fist into the crate. "He's not yours!"
Mercer's eyes flicked to her.
"So protective. How… predictable."
Jack clenched his fists, anger boiling.
"You won't control me."
Mercer chuckled.
"Oh, Alpha… you already feel the changes. Don't you?"
Jack stiffened.
Mercer whispered:
"Your instincts waking up. Your reflexes sharpening. Your mind clearing."
Jack stepped back again.
"No…"
Mercer smiled like a god admiring his creation.
"Yes."
His image flickered.
"Until we meet again."
The screen went black.
Silence.
Jack stood frozen, breathing too fast.
Maya touched his arm.
He didn't respond.
Rafael checked the perimeter.
"We need to move. Now."
Jack stared at the photo still in his hand.
A tiny baby.
A tag.
A lie he lived his whole life.
Maya stepped closer.
"Jack…"
He finally looked at her.
His voice cracked.
"Who… am I?"
She took the photo from his shaking hands.
"You're Jack Williams," she said fiercely. "Not Mercer's Alpha. Not Helix's experiment. Not their weapon."
She touched his chest.
"You're here. With us."
He swallowed hard.
"And we're not done yet," Rafael added, grabbing the drives. "We need to get back to Astra before Helix sends reinforcements."
Maya nodded.
"Jack? Can you move?"
He took a slow breath.
Looked at her.
Then at Rafael.
Then at the dead soldiers.
Then at the desert they still had to cross.
Finally, he whispered:
"Yes."
Maya squeezed his arm.
"Good. Let's go home."
Jack didn't know what home meant anymore.
But he knew one thing:
Wherever Maya and Rafael were…
wherever the fight against Helix led…
He wouldn't run.
Not anymore.