Chapter 22: Countdown to Extinction

🕯️ Location: Verdale Safehouse – 3:07 AM

The world was noise. Concrete splitting. Metal screaming. Gunfire ricocheting in every direction.

Daniel's back slammed against the steel wall as Revenant Prime lunged at him again—an unstoppable force wrapped in flesh and armor. His fists were like sledgehammers. His presence alone suffocated the air.

—"MOVE!" Liana screamed, firing round after round. Her bullets sparked uselessly off the composite plating covering Revenant's chest. Armor designed for war. Designed to be unkillable.

Rin rolled to the side, dragging her wounded leg, frantically slapping another magazine into her SMG. —"I'm out of explosives!" she shouted. "This bastard doesn't die!"

Revenant turned his head, cold, mechanical breath hissing through his mask. His voice was deep. Broken. —"Terminate."

He lunged again. Daniel barely ducked as the reinforced fist punched straight through the wall where his head had been. Debris exploded everywhere.

—"There's gotta be a weakness!" Daniel grunted, scrambling for cover. His eyes darted to the server panel, flickering on the side wall—maybe...

Liana emptied her clip, threw the empty pistol aside, and sprinted toward the weapons rack. Revenant spun toward her, raised a grenade launcher, and—

BOOM. The wall behind him detonated.

Dust. Smoke. Chaos.

From the breach... footsteps. Steady. Confident. A figure stepped through, silhouette framed by the fire.

A voice—low, gravelly, dangerous:

—"Miss me?"

Daniel's eyes widened. —"No. Freaking. Way."

It was him.

A man they hadn't seen in years. A ghost, thought dead. A wildcard no one could predict. Codename: Rogue Wolf.

His rifle barked—PHAT PHAT PHAT—high-caliber rounds punched into Revenant's back, staggering him for the first time. Not enough to kill... but enough to buy time.

—"You idiots always pick fights with the wrong people," Rogue Wolf smirked, flipping a fragmentation charge and tossing it under Revenant's feet.

BOOM. Revenant stumbled, momentarily disoriented.

—"MOVE!" Liana shouted. She dashed toward the server console. —"Cover me! I'm pulling the data!"

Rin provided suppressing fire while Daniel scrambled to help. Fingers flying, Liana hacked into the Syndicate mainframe link before Revenant could recover.

Suddenly—screens flickered. Files unlocked. A flood of data filled her tablet. Names. Locations. Black sites. Sleeper agents. Kill orders.

And... one file. Locked tighter than anything else.

Labeled:

> "PROJECT OMEGA – SPECTER'S TRUE PURPOSE"

Her hand hovered over it. Her gut twisted.

But there was no time. Revenant roared, ripping a section of the wall free, flinging it like a missile. The slab crushed the weapons rack where Liana had stood just seconds ago.

Rogue Wolf snarled—"This guy's a walking tank!"—and fired again, aiming for joints and neck seals.

But it was like shooting stone.

—"Daniel!" Liana shouted. —"How long on the data pull?!"

—"Thirty seconds! Keep him off me!"

Revenant advanced, step by thunderous step. His eyes locked on Liana. His voice, deep and hollow:

—"Priority target... Morgan. Terminate."

He raised his rifle—

CRACK. A single shot. Revenant's helmet sparked. He staggered—briefly.

From the shadows, another figure appeared. Female. Lean. Deadly. Sniper rifle in hand. Cold eyes.

Rogue Wolf groaned—"Oh great. Her too?"

Liana blinked. —"Is that..."

—"Yep." Rogue nodded. —"Silver Viper. You're welcome."

Silver Viper winked, then fired another round—this time into Revenant's knee joint. Sparks flew. Metal buckled.

Revenant faltered... for now.

Daniel yanked the drive free. —"GOT IT!"

—"Fall back!" Liana ordered.

They sprinted for the breach Rogue had made, Revenant clawing after them, limping but not stopping.

As they burst into the alley beyond—

WHOOMP. A drone missile smashed into the safehouse. FIERY COLLAPSE. The building folded into itself, taking Revenant down in a storm of flames and steel.

Silence. Just for a moment. Heavy breathing. Hearts pounding.

Then Daniel broke it.

—"Tell me... someone PLEASE tell me that killed him."

Rogue Wolf shook his head, smirking. —"Doubt it. That thing's not natural."

Liana gripped the data drive tightly, staring down at it. Her hands trembled. Not from fear... but from the weight of what was inside.

Rin's voice was shaky. —"We... we're in so deep now."

Liana whispered—almost to herself:

—"This... changes everything."

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⚠️ Final Scene – Unknown Location

A steel door hissed open. Deep underground. Servers hummed. Screens displayed the aftermath of the safehouse explosion.

A man stood watching. Half-shadow, half-machine. Glowing eyes. Scarred face.

A whisper behind him:

—"Revenant Prime... offline. Temporary. Repairs initiated."

He didn't blink. Just stared at the screen showing Liana's face.

—"Let them run," he said coldly. —"Let them believe they're winning. They're playing right into the endgame."

His fingers tapped a button. On a far screen... a file opened.

> "Operation Extinction – Activate Phase Two."

The screen flickered. A silhouette appeared.

Codename: Specter.

Status: Active.

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✔️ End of Chapter 22

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💥 Next Chapter Preview:

As the team regroups, the true scale of the Syndicate's plan comes into focus. But with Specter now fully unleashed... no place is safe. No one is untouchable. The past and future collide—and not everyone will survive what's coming.