The abandoned steelworks loomed like a rusted fortress against the stormy night. Lightning flickered across broken smokestacks and shattered windows. Alessandro crouched behind an overturned rail car on the perimeter, rain dripping from his hair as he scanned the shadows.
Rachel's voice crackled softly in his earpiece. "Infrared shows a dozen guards on the upper catwalks. More inside. They're expecting you."
He allowed himself a grim smile. "Good. Then they won't see what's coming."
Inside the steelworks' cavernous main hall, figures gathered around a massive steel table: Consortium leaders, their bodyguards flanking them like wolves. Alessandro recognized faces from surveillance photos—international financiers, ex-military commanders, crime lords from three continents. This was the beating heart of the organization.
A massive screen flickered to life behind them, showing grainy live footage of the safehouse attack, Consortium soldiers moving through the wreckage. One man—lean, gray-haired, eyes cold as a glacier—stepped forward. "Romano will come. He must. It's in his blood."
High above, Rachel moved silently along a rusted catwalk, rifle slung across her shoulder. She planted signal jammers on support beams, cutting off the Consortium's communications one by one.
Nico and two men slipped through storm drains beneath the steelworks, wiring C4 to structural columns. Alessandro moved with them, each step measured, heart pounding.
Rachel's voice buzzed in his ear. "Jammers active. They're blind."
Alessandro exhaled. "Then it's time."
He burst from the shadows, gun blazing. The hall exploded into chaos—guards spun to face him, muzzle flashes lighting the dark like strobe lights. Alessandro moved with ruthless precision, cutting down enemies as he advanced.
On the catwalk, Rachel picked off gunmen trying to flank him. Sparks rained from overhead as bullets shredded old steel beams. Nico triggered small charges, sending catwalk sections crashing down, blocking Consortium reinforcements.
The gray-haired leader retreated behind armored guards, shouting orders. Alessandro stalked forward, eyes locked on him. The man's voice carried over the gunfire: "Your father thought he could escape us, too. And we buried him. You'll join him tonight."
Alessandro's rage exploded. He charged, weaving through gunfire, vaulting over debris. He tackled the leader, driving him to the floor. They wrestled, the leader slashing with a hidden knife. Alessandro twisted his wrist, bones cracking, then pressed his gun to the man's chest.
"Your mistake," Alessandro growled, "was thinking I'd ever let you win."
A single shot echoed through the steelworks. The leader's body went limp.
Rachel's voice came through the comm, urgent. "We have to go! More of them are coming!"
Alessandro keyed his radio. "Nico, blow it."
Outside, the earth shuddered as the steelworks erupted in a chain of deafening explosions. Fire roared up broken smokestacks, and the Consortium's last stronghold collapsed into a raging inferno.
As they fled into the rain-soaked night, Alessandro looked back at the burning ruin. He knew the war wasn't over—but tonight, the enemy's heart had been ripped out .