Darkness was their only ally.
Three teams, three prongs of an attack, were in position like three fingers of the same hand, ready to clench into a fist.
On a hillside overlooking the power plant, Jotun lay prone, his sniper rifle a deadly straight line in the night. Beside him, Rook double-checked his last grenade, his face grim but resolute. They were the hammer, poised to strike.
In a thicket a few hundred meters away, near a main telecommunications junction box, Wraith had connected her tablet to the system. The screen cast a blue glow on her focused face. She was the dagger, ready to pierce the enemy's nervous system.
And at the edge of the complex, hidden in the shadow of an abandoned building, stood Kael and Gryphon, their weapons loaded. They were the spear, aimed straight at the heart.
"Ghost Team, report," Gryphon's voice came over the short-range channel Wraith had set up, a fragile but secure link.
"Dagger is ready," Wraith replied.
"Hammer is in position," Jotun said.
"Spear is awaiting orders," Kael finished.
Gryphon took a deep breath. He looked up at the quiet complex, a sleeping monster. It was time to wake it up. "All teams, sync watches. The attack commences in thirty seconds, on my mark. Objective one: Create chaos. Objective two: Download the data. Objective three: Neutralize the 'Queen'. We go in and out. Fast and clean. No one gets left behind."
He paused, a heavy silence hanging in the air. "Good luck, Hummingbird."
In those thirty seconds of silence, Kael felt his heart slow, a strange calm before the storm. He no longer felt the rage. Only an ice-cold focus. He glanced at Gryphon, and the commander gave him a nod, an expression of absolute trust that needed no words.
"Execute," Gryphon's voice commanded.
Instantly, Jotun and Rook's world became thunder.
Jotun fired first. His armor-piercing round wasn't aimed at the generators, but at a large transformer outside. A resounding CLANG, followed by a flash of blue sparks and a small explosion.
That was the signal. Rook threw his grenade. It flew in a perfect arc and landed right between two bewildered guards. The explosion wasn't massive, but it was enough to knock them down and trigger the alarms.
Sirens wailed across the complex. Searchlights swept frantically.
"They're at the power plant! All units, to the power plant!" a voice boomed from the loudspeakers.
Their plan had worked. They had made themselves the most obvious target.
At the same time, Wraith's world was completely silent.
On her screen, lines of code flowed like a waterfall. The physical alarm outside had created chaos in cyberspace. Security protocols were focused on identifying the physical threat, creating an opening for her.
Access granted...
Bypassing firewall level one...
Active defense system 'Cerberus' detected...
"Come on, puppies," she whispered, her fingers flying across the virtual keyboard. She didn't attack it head-on. She set a "logic bomb"—an infinite data loop for the 'Cerberus' system to get stuck in. A door opened. She was in the internal network.
Outside, the gunfire grew more intense. Inside, her own battle had just begun.
"That's our cue," Gryphon said.
Kael and Gryphon broke from cover, running along the walls of the buildings, using the chaos to their advantage. Most of the guards had already run towards the power plant, leaving the path to the lab block almost clear.
They moved quickly and silently, the experience of hundreds of missions guiding them. The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and panic.
They reached the bunker-like building that Kael and Gryphon had previously infiltrated. The steel door was damaged, hanging open. Inside, the corridor was strangely quiet.
"Something's wrong," Kael whispered, crouching low. "This place should have guards."
"They've all been reassigned," Gryphon replied, but he too felt uneasy. "Or... they were ordered to stay at more important positions."
They moved deeper, their footsteps echoing on the concrete. They passed the lab where Kante had been transformed. It was sealed off, a biohazard cleanup team working inside.
They continued on, heading towards Subject Zero's containment area. With every step, the feeling of being watched grew stronger. The security cameras on the walls seemed to stare at them, even though Wraith had said she'd temporarily disabled them.
They were in the heart of the enemy. And it was beating abnormally.
At the power plant, the situation was getting worse.
"There are more of them than I thought!" Rook yelled over the comms, taking cover behind a concrete block. "And they're not just carrying guns!"
Two of Kante's MLF "death squad" soldiers had appeared. They didn't have secondary limbs like Kante, but their speed and strength were far beyond human. One of them had just ripped a steel door off its hinges with his bare hands.
Jotun, from his position, was forced to constantly switch targets. He had to pin down the advancing guards while also trying to hit the extremely fast-moving targets. "I can't hold them for long! Their plating is too thick!"
Meanwhile, Wraith was running into her own problems.
WARNING: SECONDARY DEFENSE SYSTEM 'HYDRA' DETECTED.
"Damn it," she hissed. "A hidden firewall."
This Hydra system wasn't trying to stop her. It was more sophisticated. It was trying to trace her signal. With every layer of protection she bypassed, a part of her location was revealed. It was a race. She had to download the data before Hydra pinpointed her exact position.
"Gryphon, I need more time!" she said over the comms. "Their system is tougher than I thought!"
"You don't have more time, Wraith!" Gryphon shot back, the sound of gunfire on his end. "Just do it as fast as you can!"
The pressure was mounting from all three sides. Their perfect plan was starting to fracture.
Kael and Gryphon finally reached the heavy steel door of the Level 4 containment area. The room holding Subject Zero.
"Wraith, open the door," Gryphon commanded.
After a second, they heard a soft click as the electronic lock disengaged.
They pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The room was not as it was before.
It was pitch black. All the machines were off. The cylindrical chamber in the middle of the room was empty.
"Where is she?" Gryphon whispered, switching on his flashlight.
His beam swept across the room. And then it stopped in a corner.
The little girl, the "Little Queen," was no longer floating in liquid. She was standing there. Alone. In the dark.
She was still wearing the white dress, but it was now stained. Her bare feet stood on the cold concrete floor. And her eyes... they were wide open.
They were not the eyes of a child. They were two deep, black pools, devoid of emotion, staring right at them.
"Hello, uncles," a voice echoed in Kael and Gryphon's heads. It didn't come from her mouth. It resonated directly in their minds, a voice as clear as crystal, yet carrying a terrifyingly ancient and profound wisdom.
"I've been waiting for you."
Behind them, the steel door slammed shut with a final BOOM, sealing them inside.