— In the shadows... some deals are worse than death.
---
🕯️ Verdale City – Abandoned Shipyard – 2:11 AM
The storm howled like a beast let loose. Waves crashed against rusted hulls of forgotten ships. Lightning painted the sky in violent white, revealing shadows moving... hunting.
Liana pressed her back against a rusted cargo container, breathing sharp, shallow. Daniel knelt beside her, scanning the dark through the cracked lens of his thermal goggles.
— "Four shooters. Two on the cranes. One by the dock. One moving... fast."
Too fast.
Her eyes narrowed.
— "Not human fast... Specter."
A cold shiver crawled up her spine.
Suddenly—
CRACK! — A bullet ripped through the container, inches from Daniel's head. Sparks flew. Another. And another.
— "MOVE!" she barked.
They sprinted. Metal groaned beneath their feet. Another shot — ping! — missed by centimeters.
Daniel dove behind a forklift. Liana slid under a conveyor belt, drawing her sidearm.
Her comms crackled.
— "Did you really think... you could run?"
A voice. Metallic. Hollow. Death given form.
Specter.
— "You can't hide from the ghost... you built."
Her hands clenched the pistol tighter.
— "Not hiding. Just waiting..."
A grenade flew from her hand — BOOM! — flames erupted, masking her movement. She sprinted through the smoke, scaling a ladder to higher ground.
Daniel flanked right, dropping one sniper with a clean shot. But the second sniper — gone.
No... taken.
A shadow fell.
A whisper of metal.
Daniel turned—too late.
A boot slammed into his chest, sending him flying. He crashed into crates. His vision blurred.
Specter stood over him—towering, armored, masked. Skull faceplate. No eyes. No mercy.
— "Daniel Kross. Priority target. Directive: Terminate."
Daniel coughed blood, pulling a knife, but Specter stomped on his hand, crushing it.
— "Futile."
Suddenly—BANG!
A shot clipped Specter's shoulder—enough to stagger him.
Liana. From above. Rifle drawn.
— "Get the hell away from him."
Specter tilted his head.
— "Echo... You can't kill what's already dead."
She fired again — center mass. But Specter twisted, moving unnaturally fast, dodging bullets as if seeing them before they fired.
A throwing knife flashed — she ducked — it skimmed her cheek, embedding into metal behind.
Too close.
She jumped down, tackling Specter. Both crashed onto the dock — fists, elbows, knees, steel on bone. Brutal. No finesse. Just survival.
Specter's gauntlet grabbed her throat, lifting her like a ragdoll.
Her vision darkened.
His voice—
— "You should have stayed dead."
THUNK!
Daniel—broken arm, bleeding, but standing—jammed an electric baton into Specter's side. Sparks exploded. Specter spasmed, releasing Liana.
— "NOW!" Daniel roared.
Liana drew her blade. A black steel dagger forged for one purpose. Killing ghosts.
She drove it into the gap between Specter's armor plates — deep.
Sparks. A distorted roar. He staggered, glitching like a broken machine.
But... not dead.
Never dead.
— "System damage. Retasking... fallback... fallback."
Specter threw a flashbang — BOOM! — light swallowed everything. When the blindness faded... he was gone. Again.
Silence.
Only the storm remained.
---
🩸 The Offer No One Wants
Inside an abandoned shipping office, Daniel collapsed into a chair, clutching his broken arm.
Liana paced, wiping blood from her lip.
Her tablet vibrated — an encrypted call. Unknown ID.
She hesitated... answered.
A voice — cold, composed, male.
— "Liana Morgan... we have mutual enemies."
— "Who the hell is this?"
— "Someone who wants the Syndicate dead... just like you."
Pause.
— "But nothing is free."
Her eyes narrowed.
— "What do you want?"
The voice... smiled. You could hear it without seeing him.
— "A devil's bargain. I help you survive Specter... and in return... you do something for me."
Daniel shook his head violently.
— "Liana... don't. This smells like a trap."
The voice continued:
— "You have 24 hours. Meet me at Blacksite 9. Come alone. Or don't come at all. Your choice."
Click.
Call ended.
Liana stared into the storm. Jaw clenched. Fists tight.
— "Daniel... this war just got bigger."
— "Yeah... but so did the body count."
---
💀 Final Scene – Unknown Facility
Deep underground. Metal doors hissed open.
Specter stood before a shadowed figure — masked, wrapped in tactical black, watching monitors of Liana and Daniel.
The figure's voice... distorted, cruel.
— "Specter... reset your protocols. Repair. Reload."
Specter nodded silently.
The figure leaned forward into the light. Half his face scarred. The other... wore the same eyes as Liana.
— "My daughter thinks... she can run from her own blood."
Smirk.
— "Let's remind her... where she truly comes from."
---
✔️ End of Chapter 7
🩸 Next Chapter Preview:
The meeting at Blacksite 9 isn't what Liana expected. Traps, betrayals... and a face from her past returns. But this time... not everyone will survive.