Gold took a long, slow drag of his cigar, the tip glowing a fierce orange. Can they actually defeat Skull? he wondered, a cynical smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. He thought about the report he'd received: the Aegis Prime, the absolute pinnacle of the Xenocides ,apart from the
captains ,the strongest team the surface had to offer, had been dismantled by Skull. If the "perfect" soldiers had fallen, what hope did these children
have?."
They are unorganized, Gold mused. They stand no chance. At the very least, Skull will kill them, and that solves one of my problems. It clears the board of a messy variable. He exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, watching it swirl against the glass. He knew that if—or when—the 10th failed, he would eventually have to step into the light and crush Skull himself. "I really don't like getting my hands dirty," he muttered to himself his solid gold teeth glinting in the dim light. "But sometimes, a businessman has to do his own collections."
Gold turned away from the window , Moments later, a man stepped out from the shadows of the corridor. He was a walking personification of the Underground's raw violence. Shirtless and heavily muscled, his skin was filled with black-ink tattoos that moved up his arms, across his neck, and onto his chest.
He wore heavy, gold chains around his neck that rattled with every deliberate step, and a jagged, scar-like signature was branded onto his cheek.
This was Malice, Gold's most loyal enforcer and a man who lived up to his name.
"Malice," Gold rumbled. "Take the 10th to the perimeter of Skull's hideout. Ensure they reach the front door."
Malice didn't speak; he simply gave a sharp, predatory nod. He led the 10th Division through the damp, echoing maintenance tunnels of the lower levels. The sound of their boots against the metal grating was the only music in the dark.
Just as they reached the final blast door that separated Gold's territory from the "No Man's Land" of the deeper tunnels, Gold's voice crackled over the intercom system, sounding distant and metallic.
"One last thing, children," the voice warned. "You are not to mention this arrangement—or my assistance—to anyone on the surface. My hospitality is a secret. If I find out you've been talkative, I will ensure you never have the chance to speak again."
"We won't," Elias said firmly, his silver eyes scanning the dark.
"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Vela added, crunching loudly on a yellow snack chip she'd pulled from her pocket. "As long as I can still come back here for the high-stakes games and those imported chips, your secret is safe with me.
This place has way better snacks than the surface ."
Sloane groaned, elbowing her. "Vela, can you focus for five seconds? We're literally in the middle of a covert operation."
"I am focused! Focused on my future winnings," Vela shot back with a grin.
Once the 10th Division had passed through the doors and disappeared into the deeper dark, Malice stepped back. Two figures emerged from a side passage behind Gold. They wore sleek, black tactical masks that covered their noses and mouths—similar to the reinforced gear worn by legendary vigilantes—with glowing green lights cutting through the darkness of their visors.
"Sir," one of the masked men said, bowing slightly. "They are close to the location."
Gold didn't look back. "Did you take their phones and their long-range communicators?"
"Yes, sir. We stripped every device while they where knocked out and replaced it with double,they won't notice a thing".
operative replied, holding up a bundle of 10th Division tech.
Gold turned, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He took the devices and handed them to the two masked men. "Good. Use these. Move toward the abandoned ruins of Sector 4. Lead the surface signal away from the subway hub. I want the xenocides chasing ghosts while the 10th and Skull have their private party. Once the xenocides are deep enough in the ruins, lock down every subway entrance.
No one goes in, and no one comes out."
"Understood, sir," the operatives whispered before vanishing into the shadows, heading in the opposite direction of the 10th.
High above, the rain had turned into a torrential downpour, flooding the trenches of the surface Command Tent.
Liora stood over the tactical display, her face pale in the blue light of the monitors. Beside her, Drayke paced like a caged animal.
Suddenly, a technician's station beeped frantically. "Ma'am! I have a lock! The 10th Division's signals just pinged! They're active and moving!"
Liora leaned in, her eyes narrowing as she tracked the blinking icons. "Where?"
"They're headed toward the Sector 4 " the technician reported.
"They're moving away from the subway entrance. It looks like they're on a chase with someone we've got another unfamiliar signal.
"Sector 4 ," Drayke growled, but there was a flicker of hope in his eyes. "If they're there, they're looking for cover. We have to reach them before Skull's scouts do."
Liora didn't hesitate. She didn't have time to wonder
What was going on.
"Signal the 2nd Division. Full deployment! We have the signal, they're moving! Everyone, go!"
Outside, the heavy engines of the xenocides transports roared to life, splashing up mud and water as they raced toward the ruins of Sector 4—miles away from where the 10th Division actually was.
Back in the depths, Malice stopped in front of a massive, bulkhead door of skulls hideout .
The air here was freezing and was filled with all kinds of smell.
"This is it," Malice growled, his voice sounding like grinding stones. "Skull's hideout. Don't make a mess down here. I've got orders to keep this place 'clean.'"
"We'll try," Nyx replied, a jagged, wild excitement dancing across her face. She unsheathed her daggers, the metal singing a sharp, hungry note in the silence. She looked like she was finally in her element.
Cipher stepped forward, his fingers flying across a portable hacking deck. He plugged a lead into the door's control panel. "Security system is weakbut tricky. Bypassing the encryption... and... I've shut down the internal sensors. We're ghosts now."
With a heavy, mechanical groan, the bulkhead door slid open. The 10th Division rushed in, weapons drawn. Jaxen had a bolt of blue lightning crackling between his palms; Kaelen's fists were wreathed in low, blue flames. They were prepared for an army. They were prepared for the man who had broken the Aegis Prime.
But as they swept the room, they found only silence.
The hideout was a massive, hollowed-out cavern, filled with the hum of high-voltage power lines and very neat. But there were no guards. There was no serum. The extraction tables were cold, and the vats were empty.
"Where is everyone?" Renji asked, his voice echoing off the high stone ceiling. "Did they know we were coming?"
"Look," Elias whispered, his silver eyes locking onto the back of the cavern.
Behind a series of reinforced energy bars sat a horror they hadn't expected.
It wasn't just a few prisoners, There were over a hundred kidnapped people—engineers, children, and dock workers—huddled together in terror. And next to them, in specialized containment cages, were the Valkari.
The alien species huddled together, their iridescent skin dim and grey from the stress of captivity.
They looked at the 10th Division not with hope, but with the hollow, broken eyes of those who had already lost everything.