They exited their hiding spot, following the shortest route toward the extraction lift, diverting only when the distant echoes of Styx or the clash of battle forced them to reroute. Hours passed silently, tensely, each step a gamble. As the countdown neared the final two hours, hope began to stir.
Gilbert, now walking at the center of the formation, kept checking his HUD. With every map update, he prayed they'd make it without incident. But fate was not kind.
At a narrow choke point—one they had to pass through to reach the lift—they saw him.
The rogue knight stood motionless in the center of the tunnel, waiting. Sword lowered, visor dark.
As if he'd always known they would come.
The squad froze.
Before anyone could move, more rogue knights emerged from the darkness behind them, sealing off their escape. Cold metal footsteps echoed against stone, the sound of a noose tightening."Damn thing's like a tick under the skin," Kean muttered, drawing his short sword and leveling it toward the leader. His usual humor was strained, stretched thin by fear and fury
Then the rogue knight at the front—tall, unmoving, calm as still water—spoke.
"How about I make you all a deal?"
Kean scoffed. "And again with the talking. Don't you ever shut up?
The leader ignored him. "We are willing to let you all go," he said evenly. "Under one condition."
"If it's supplies you want, you moron, you already stole all of it," Kean snapped, eyes darting to check their flanks.
"We never wanted your supplies," the leader replied, voice calm, almost gentle.
He took a step forward, and though his visor concealed his face, Gilbert could feel the man's gaze lock onto him.
"We'll release the rest of you," the leader said. "As long as Gilbert stays behind."
Silence crashed over them like thunder.
For a moment, no one moved. No one breathed.
No one noticed the glance exchanged between Gilbert and Adam when they heard the knight's words.
"Oy," Kean barked, stepping forward. "Is this some kind of joke? We may not be able to beat you, but I swear to every god left, we'll rip a few of you apart before we fall."
His voice trembled, for once it contained only a single emotion, rage.
Silence. Then Gilbert stepped forward, his boots crunching softly over fractured stone. He moved past his squad, bumping each on the shoulder as he moved past, William's tense stance, Kean's clenched fists, until he stood at the front—face to face with the rogue leader.
"Why would I trust you?" Gilbert asked, his voice quiet but firm.
The leader tilted his head slightly, unreadable behind his cracked visor.
"Because," he said, "out of all your choices… this is the best one.
Simply words yet they weighed heavily on Gilbert's mind.
Behind Gilbert, the others watched, weapons gripped tightly, the air taut with unshed fury and fear. Even Kean was silent now, jaw locked. Adam's finger hovered near the trigger of his rifle, heart visibly pounding in his throat.
Gilbert took a deep breath, casting a slow glance over his squad.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "But I'm trying to learn how to be a man of my promises—and I made one I plan to keep."
He raised his sword, leveling the blade at the rogue leader's visor using the fuller grove as a scope to stare at him.
The leader gave a slow shake of his head, disappointed. "Wrong choice.
The air shifted—tense, swollen with menace.
Then came the rumble.
"TAKE COVER!" Gilbert shouted.
They all moved at once, converging instinctively as Gilbert and William surged forward armors flaring. Gilbert squeezed his last bit of radion energy he could afford to activate his shielding module, while William braced with his physical shield as they tried to cover the others.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
Mines hidden in the stone detonated in a chain reaction. Rock and debris exploded upward, before raining down around them in a deafening hail. The ground shook violently as the dust filled the air.
When the tremors faded, they found themselves boxed in—walls of rubble sealing them off.
Above, on the shattered high ground, rogue knights stood with weapons drawn, a full circle of enemies encasing them. The leader stepped forward, his presence dark, framed by the chaos.
"Break out!" Gilbert roared, the command tearing from his throat like a war drum.
The squad didn't hesitate.
William surged forward, gauntlets blazing with fresh charge, slamming them into the ground. The energy burst caused several knights to fall from their perch, the resulting shockwave cracking the stone underfoot. Vivian swung wide to the flank, flames roaring from her gauntlet, turning three rogue knights into screaming silhouettes before they hit the floor.
Kean was already moving—blades flashing in both hands, ducking low under a swing, then vaulting off a chunk of debris to plant both boots into another knight's helmet. He flipped off the stunned enemy and came down hard, stabbing his short sword through a visor.
"Go! Move!" he barked, covering the retreating group with throwing grenades drawn from every possible pouch.
Chen Mei dragged Anastasia behind cover. Blood soaked through the medic's gloves as she patched a deep gash in Anastasia's thigh, from a stray radion beam.
Adam dropped to one knee behind a broken console, sniper scope glinting.
"Eyes up!" he shouted, then squeezed the trigger.
BANG
One knight fell from the ridge, a clean hole through his helmet.
"More incoming!" Vivian screamed, ducking a swipe that scorched the wall behind her. Her flamethrower hissed and spat, catching two more. Yanking her shotgun from its holster with a click of the magnetic locks. She checked her remaining explosive shells. "I'm running low!"
"Don't stop!" Gilbert yelled, mowing down a knight who tried to flank Adam with his shoulder-assault rifle. Engaging the leader as sparks flew metal meeting bone. "We make for the northeast tunnel!"
William dove back into the fray, shielding Mei and Anastasia with his bulk. He let out a growl as a blade glanced off his pauldron. "Come on, you bastards! You want blood?!"
Then they came—more Deathwatch, dropping in from the high ground like a winter rain.
Gilbert's HUD screamed alerts. Too many.
"NOW, ADAM!"
He feinted a block against the leader's strike, then let the blade impale him instead—driving it deeper himself, all the way to the hilt. The move closed the distance. Before the leader could react, Gilbert pulled him into a brutal bear hug and slammed his forehead into the man's face, the headbutt snapping his balance and dazing him
The sniper lined up the shot, ignoring the chaos, the blood, the screams.
BANG
The leader's head jerked. A burst of red mist exploded from his neck. He staggered, stumbled—and collapsed.
"GO!" Gilbert howled.
The squad broke toward the northeast tunnel. Kean and William cleared a path, blades carving arcs of desperation and fury. Vivian lit the corridor behind them, setting everything ablaze. Smoke billowed, fire roared. When her flamethrowers finally sputtered out she blanked them with explosions.
They sprinted down the shaft, half-carrying each other. Armor dented. Weapons low. Wounds bleeding.
A knight lunged from a side passage—Anastasia shot him point-blank in the visor. Another reached for Chen Mei—Kean buried a blade in his throat with a furious shout.
Rubble crumbled beneath them as they reached the bottom of a broken service duct, sliding down into the dark like bullets down a barrel.
At the bottom, they crashed into the open—a collapsed comms room barely holding together. Their boots skidded across blood-streaked metal.
"Seal it!" Gilbert ordered.
Vivian turned and fired a charge into the ceiling. It collapsed with a thunderous groan, sealing the path behind them with molten rock and dust.
Silence followed.
Broken only by ragged breaths and the hiss of broken armor systems
Then Gilbert turned and limped back, Adam on his tail.
"Gil, Adam, what the hell are you—" Kean began.
But they were already gone.
Through the rubble, past the smoke, past the dying flames. Back to the body that had haunted this whole nightmare.
The leader still lay there, convulsing faintly, his armor cracked, his neck slick with blood.
Adam stood back as Gilbert knelt beside him. "How do you know my name?" he demanded, grabbing the man's chest plate. "Tell me!"
The leader's visor flickered. A twisted smile crept across his broken face.
"Be proud…" he rasped, voice wet and faltering. "You've cut down… a High Knight… Broken… but one nonetheless …"
Gilbert's grip tightened.
"Who told you about me?"
The knight didn't answer right away.
Instead, he gave one final, rattling breath.
"But do not celebrate… For death's grip… has yet… to fade…"
His head slumped to the side.
Gone.
Gilbert stared at the body for a long moment.
Then the world returned, the sound of pebbles falling, the strained breaths of his squad members, and the echoes of other creatures in the trench.
He stood.
And walked back to his squad, each step heavier than the last. The entire time Adam remained silent.
The squad did not stay for long, they simply allowed Chen Mei to fix wounds their suits could not manage before making their way towards the lift. Gilbert remapped their route sending it towards Kean who led them forward.
Gilbert remained further back, leaning on Adam as they walked. His armor hissed occasionally—slow leaks, worn seals.
Adam removed his helmet wearing it like wearing it on his back, lifting one side of his blind fold to show his remaining eye.
Silence hung between them, it wasn't awkward. Just heavy.
Finally, Adam said, "That was a Knight."
Gilbert didn't look at him. "Yeah, a rogue Knight."
"Even if he was ex-commanded he was not just a Knight. He was a High Knight."
Gilbert nodded slowly. "Hence he was an enemy who was once powerful but now weakened."
"He was trained like us. Fought like us. He even spoke like us."
Adam took a breath. "And I shot him. A Knight another human being and I shot him."
"You had to."
Adam leaned his head back, his helmet light shining across the ceiling. "I know. Doesn't make it sit any easier."
Another beat of silence passed. Then Gilbert said, "He knew my name, Adam. I should've been the one to cut him down—but even weakened, he was still a High Knight. I wouldn't have stood a chance. I'm still too weak. That's why I leaned on you… and now you carry the burden that should've been mine. For that, I am eternally sorry."
Adam stared at him with his good eye staring at Gilbert's through the visor.
"It is a burden I am willing to carry, for you or any from our home."