The tunnel was pitch black, the air thick with dust and decay. Bullets tore through the silence, ricocheting off rusted pipes and crumbling concrete. Echelon was waiting.
X pressed his back against the damp tunnel wall, gripping his silenced pistol. They were outnumbered. Outgunned.
Across from him, Raven crouched low, her own gun drawn. "We need to move. Fast."
X scanned the tunnel. Four mercenaries at least. Possibly more. Their night vision scopes gave them the advantage. But that also meant—
Flashbangs would level the field.
X signaled to Raven. On my mark.
She nodded.
X pulled a flashbang from his vest, yanked the pin, and lobbed it down the tunnel.
BANG!
A blinding white explosion filled the underground. Shouts. Confusion.
X didn't hesitate. He sprang forward, firing precise shots into the chaos.
One down. Two down.
A third mercenary spun, blindly firing. X ducked, rolled, and fired a single shot.
Three down.
Raven took care of the last one. A sharp crack of suppressed gunfire, and the mercenary slumped against the tunnel wall.
Silence returned.
Raven exhaled, shaking her head. "I hate tunnels."
X ignored her, searching the bodies. Echelon wasn't supposed to know about this route. Someone tipped them off.
X found a radio on one of the mercenaries. Static crackled before a deep voice cut through.
"Squad one, report. Have you secured the target?"
X didn't answer. Instead, he listened.
"No response," another voice said. "Squad two, move in. Kill anyone still breathing."
Raven cursed. "They've got backup."
X checked his ammo. Low. They couldn't afford another firefight.
"We move. Now," he ordered.
Raven followed without argument.
They sprinted through the tunnels, following faded red markers Lukas had told them about. The deeper they went, the more the tunnel narrowed, the walls closing in like a tomb.
Then—the markers stopped.
X frowned. "We should be close."
That's when he saw it.
A steel gate. Locked.
Raven rattled the gate. "You've got to be kidding me."
X examined the lock. Too strong to break. No time to pick it.
Footsteps echoed behind them. Echelon's second squad was closing in.
X turned to Raven. "We make our stand here."
She nodded. No hesitation.
X took cover behind a rusted pipe. Raven positioned herself behind a crumbling pillar.
The footsteps stopped. Then—a red laser dot appeared on X's chest.
Sniper.
"Down!" X tackled Raven just as the first shot exploded against the tunnel wall.
Gunfire erupted again. A full squad. Heavily armed.
They were trapped.
Then—a voice from the radio.
"Hold your fire. I want him alive."
X's blood ran cold. He knew that voice.
Commander Graves.
The man who trained him. The man who betrayed him.
Raven looked at X. "Friend of yours?"
X clenched his jaw. "Something like that."
The radio crackled again. "Agent X, let's talk."
X gripped his pistol. No way in hell.