chapter 4: The Vault Job

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📍 Location: Ikoyi, Chief Donatus's Private Vault

🕚 Time: 11:45 PM

(The dark streets of Ikoyi were eerily quiet, save for the faint hum of power generators. Ghost and Viper crouched in the shadows, dressed in all black and armed to the teeth. In the earpiece, Kingsley's voice crackled to life.)

Kingsley: "Alright, you're in position. Cameras are on a 90-second loop starting... now. Move fast."

(Viper gave Ghost a nod, and they crept toward the high-tech security gate. Ghost planted a small device on the keypad. It beeped softly as it hacked into the system.)

Ghost: "How's it looking, Kingsley?"

Kingsley: "Two guards outside the main vault, one patrolling the hallway. I'm scrambling their radios now. You've got three minutes before the system resets."

Viper: (grinning) "Plenty of time."

(The gate clicked open. They slipped inside, moving with the precision of seasoned operatives. The hallway was lined with motion sensors, but Kingsley had temporarily disabled them. They reached the main vault door—a massive, reinforced steel barrier.)

Kingsley: "Alright, here's the tricky part. The vault has a biometric scanner and a passcode. I can override the passcode remotely, but you'll need the fingerprint of the Chief's lieutenant—Duke. He's in the building, top floor."

Ghost: (grimacing) "Of course he is."

Viper: "I'll handle it. Cover me."

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📍 Location: Top Floor, Black Mamba HQ

🕛 Time: 11:57 PM

(Viper moved like a shadow, her knife glinting faintly in the dim light. She spotted Duke in his office, sipping whiskey while staring at a wall of surveillance monitors. Two guards stood outside the door.)

(She glanced back at Ghost, who nodded. He raised his silenced pistol and fired twice. The guards dropped without a sound. Viper slipped inside the office, pressing her knife to Duke's throat before he could react.)

Viper: "Don't scream, or I'll slit your throat."

(Duke froze, his eyes wide with fear.)

Viper: "I need your fingerprint."

Duke: "Y-you'll never get away with this."

Viper: (smirking) "Let me worry about that."

(She pressed his thumb to a portable scanner, then knocked him out cold with the hilt of her knife. She rejoined Ghost in the hallway.)

Ghost: "Nice work. Let's move."

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📍 Location: The Vault

🕧 Time: 12:07 AM

(With Duke's fingerprint and Kingsley's override, the vault door hissed open. Inside was a treasure trove of cash, weapons, and confidential files. Ghost and Viper worked quickly, stuffing everything they could into their duffel bags.)

Viper: "Jackpot."

(She held up a file labeled Project Blackfire. Ghost frowned, taking the file from her.)

Ghost: "What the hell is this?"

(He flipped through the pages, his expression growing darker. The file detailed a plan to expand the Society's influence, using biological weapons to destabilize governments and eliminate rivals.)

Ghost: "This isn't just about money or power. They're planning to start a war."

(Viper's face hardened.)

Viper: "Then we burn it all down."

(Suddenly, Kingsley's voice crackled in their earpieces.)

Kingsley: "Uh, guys? We've got a problem. The system's detected a breach. You've got company—lots of it."

(The sound of boots pounding on the floor above confirmed his warning. Ghost and Viper exchanged a glance.)

Ghost: "Time to go."

(They grabbed the last of the files and bolted for the exit. The hallway was now swarming with armed operatives. Ghost took the lead, firing with deadly accuracy as they fought their way out.)

💥 (Bullets ricocheted off the walls. Viper threw a flashbang, disorienting the guards long enough for them to reach the stairwell.)

Kingsley: "The main entrance is a no-go. They've got it locked down. Head for the roof—I've got a drone waiting."

Viper: (grinning) "A drone? Fancy."

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📍 Location: Rooftop, Black Mamba HQ

🕒 Time: 12:22 AM

(Ghost and Viper burst onto the rooftop, their breaths ragged. The drone—a sleek black model equipped with a harness—hovered nearby. But before they could reach it, a new figure stepped out of the shadows.)

(A tall man in a custom-tailored suit, his face obscured by a black mask. His eyes glowed faintly red.)

Masked Man: "Leaving so soon?"

Viper: (raising her rifle) "Who the hell are you?"

Masked Man: (calmly) "The one who's going to end you."

(Without warning, he lunged. His movements were impossibly fast, his strength inhuman. He caught Viper's rifle mid-swing and tossed her aside like a ragdoll. Ghost fired at him, but the bullets barely slowed him down.)

Ghost: "Kingsley, we've got a problem!"

Kingsley: "I see that. Hang tight—I'm sending backup."

(The masked man closed the distance between him and Ghost in seconds, delivering a bone-crushing punch that sent him sprawling. Ghost groaned, struggling to get back on his feet.)

Viper: (gritting her teeth) "We're not dying here."

(She pulled a small, concealed blade from her boot and drove it into the masked man's side. He staggered, but only for a moment. He turned to her, his eyes burning with rage.)

Kingsley: "Drone's in position. Get on, now!"

(Viper grabbed Ghost and hauled him toward the drone. The masked man lunged again, but this time, Ghost was ready. He tossed a smoke grenade at their feet, obscuring their escape. The drone's harness snapped into place just as the smoke cleared.)

(The masked man stood on the edge of the rooftop, watching as they ascended into the night.)

Masked Man: (quietly) "This isn't over."

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📍 Location: Safehouse, Mainland Lagos

🕒 Time: 1:13 AM

(Ghost and Viper stumbled into the safehouse, battered but alive. Kingsley was waiting for them, his expression grim.)

Kingsley: "You guys look like hell."

Viper: "Feel like it too. Who the hell was that guy?"

Ghost: "Whoever he is, he's not normal. And he's working for the Society."

(Viper tossed the Project Blackfire file onto the table.)

Viper: "We need to take this public. If people know what the Society's planning—"

Ghost: "They'll just deny it. We need more than this."

(Kingsley hesitated, then pulled up a file on his laptop.)

Kingsley: "There's one person who might have what you need. But you're not going to like it."

(He turned the laptop to show a photo of a woman with cold, calculating eyes.)

Ghost: (staring at the screen) "No. Not her."

Kingsley: "It's the only way."

Viper: "Who is she?"

Ghost: (grimly) "Samantha Kane. My former partner. And the reason I almost died."

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