The Hunter landed on the floor with a heavy thud, concrete dust puffing up around it. It didn't growl. It didn't hiss. It just stood there, its glowing orange eyes locked on Kael with a cold, absolute focus. The chaos all around them seemed to melt away. Now, there was only the hunter and its designated prey.
"Kael!" Gryphon yelled, raising his rifle.
"Don't shoot!" Kael ordered, his eyes never leaving the Hunter. "It's too fast! Our bullets will only make it angrier! You go! Get to the server room! Complete the mission!"
"I'm not leaving you!"
"This isn't a request, Commander!" Kael growled, taking a step back as the Hunter took a step forward, a deadly dance beginning. "This is strategy! I'll hold it off! Wraith, do you copy? Support Gryphon! Clear a path for him to the servers!"
For a moment, Gryphon hesitated. Military discipline and camaraderie screamed at him. But he saw the resolve in Kael's eyes. This wasn't a pointless sacrifice. This was a gambit.
"Roger," Gryphon said through gritted teeth. "Stay alive, Spectre."
He turned and bolted down another corridor, disappearing into the darkness.
The Hunter didn't seem to care. Its target was Kael. It lowered itself slightly, muscles coiling under its gray skin, ready to pounce.
Kael smirked. "Alright, you bastard. It's just you and me."
And he started to run.
Kael didn't run blindly. He ran with calculation. He ducked into a narrow service corridor, where the large Hunter would have trouble maneuvering.
The sound of claws scraping on concrete was right behind him. Terrifyingly fast.
He knocked over a cart full of empty gas cylinders, creating a clattering obstacle. The Hunter simply plowed through it.
He ran through a junction. He could hear the gunfire and screams from the battle between the Plagas soldiers and the other Hunters. He was running parallel to hell.
"Kael, to your left! There's a steam pipe overhead!" Wraith's voice came through his earpiece; she was tracking him through the security cameras she had hijacked.
Kael looked up. She was right. He drew his pistol, not slowing down, and fired two shots at a rusted joint.
A blast of hot steam shot downwards, creating a blinding white fog, obscuring his vision. He heard the Hunter's enraged hiss as it charged through the wall of steam. It was scalded, but it didn't stop.
At the same time, Gryphon was in a race of his own. He moved through the main corridors, where the three-way battle was raging. He didn't engage. He was a ghost, slipping between confrontations, using the chaos.
A Plagas soldier didn't see him, and Gryphon smashed his rifle butt into the back of its neck, sending it crumpling to the floor.
A Hunter leaped out in front of him, but its target was another soldier. Gryphon dodged past it, adrenaline pumping through his veins.
He saw it. A reinforced titanium door, with the words "CENTRAL SERVER ROOM."
But standing before that door was a person. Ingrid Hunnigan. She was holding a handgun in both hands, aimed right at him.
"I knew you'd come here," Hunnigan said, her voice devoid of fear, even as the battle raged around them.
"Get out of the way, Hunnigan," Gryphon growled, his own rifle aimed at her. "It's over."
"Over?" She laughed, a bitter sound. "It's just beginning. You don't understand anything. You're just pawns, fighting a war you can't comprehend."
"Then explain it to me," Gryphon said, slowly advancing.
They didn't shoot. They both knew that in a space this tight, a gunfight would only end with them both dead. This would be settled another way.
When the distance was only a few meters, they both moved.
Hunnigan didn't fire. She lunged, using her gun as a bludgeon, aiming for Gryphon's temple.
Gryphon discarded his rifle. It was too cumbersome. He used his forearm to block Hunnigan's blow, simultaneously attempting a wrist lock.
They were two top-tier operatives, two fighting machines trained to their peak. Their fight was fast and brutal. No fancy moves. Just efficient strikes, aimed at joints, at weak points.
Gryphon was stronger, but Hunnigan was faster. She slipped out of his lock, spun, and delivered a kick to Gryphon's knee. He staggered. She used the opportunity, trying to break his arm.
Gryphon gritted his teeth against the pain, using his shoulder to ram Hunnigan, shoving her against the wall. He drew his combat knife.
Hunnigan drew a similar knife.
Two blades of metal flashed in the flickering light.
Kael was cornered in a dead end. A warehouse filled with old crates. No way out.
The Hunter entered, slowly, savoring the final moment. Its tail was gone, severed in an explosion, but its claws were still intact.
"Wraith," Kael gasped into his comms. "I'm out of road. I need you to do something. Something crazy."
"Name it," her voice came back, without a hint of hesitation.
"The Queen's control signal. I need you to jam it."
A pause. "Kael, do you know what you're asking? If I do that, I won't just jam the one chasing you. I'll jam ALL of them. The Hunters, the Plagas soldiers... they'll all go feral, uncontrollable. They'll attack anything that moves. Including Gryphon."
"I know," Kael replied, his eyes never leaving the Hunter. "But it's our only chance. Create absolute chaos. A reset. And in the middle of it, Gryphon might get his shot."
"Alright," Wraith said, her voice full of resolve. "But I can only hold it for a few seconds before their systems counter me. Make it count. Good luck, Kael."
Kael smirked. "See you on the other side."
He looked at the Hunter. "Come on, you son of a bitch. Let's see what you do when the puppet master is gone."
Just then, the Hunter, which was about to pounce on Kael, suddenly froze. It let out a pained hiss, clutching its head with its claws. Its orange eyes flickered. The command was gone.
At the same time, outside the server room, Gryphon and Hunnigan were still locked in their deadly dance. Gryphon had a deep cut on his arm, but he had also managed to stab Hunnigan in the side. They were both losing blood.
And then, Hunnigan froze too. She looked down at her hands, at the black veins that were beginning to bulge. "No... it can't be..."
"What is it?" Gryphon gasped.
"The signal... Subject Zero's control signal..." she mumbled. "It also stabilizes the low-level parasites... If it's gone..."
Her face began to contort.
Outside, the chaos multiplied tenfold. The Hunters and Plagas soldiers, no longer controlled, began to attack each other blindly.
Gryphon saw his chance. He didn't care about Hunnigan anymore. He lunged for the main server, holding a small device Wraith had given him. The data-spike.
He slammed it into a USB port. A green light began to flash. Downloading...
"No!" Hunnigan screamed, the pain of her transformation driving her mad. She charged at Gryphon.
Gryphon turned to block the blow, but he was too slow.
But someone else was faster.
Jotun. From a hole in the ceiling he had created. A single shot. The bullet slammed into Hunnigan's shoulder, throwing her away from Gryphon.
"Get out!" Jotun yelled.
Another siren blared. This time, a physical security alarm. Steel blast doors began to descend, sealing off the server room.
"Gryphon, let's go!" Jotun shouted, dropping a line.
Gryphon looked at the device. Download 80%... 90%... He looked up at the line, then back at the device.
He knew he didn't have enough time.
Download complete. The light turned solid green.
"Go!" Gryphon yelled at Jotun. He pulled the device out and threw it towards the door. "Get this to Wraith!"
The steel door slammed shut with a final BOOM, sealing Gryphon inside with a screaming, mutating Hunnigan.
Jotun caught the device. He looked at the sealed door, then turned and vanished.
The mission was a success.
But they had left their commander behind.