I took the shot, and as the bullet sped forward, it struck a reflective mirror.

  My instincts kicked in. I muttered to myself, This... this is a trap.

  “Agent, it’s a setup!” Kai crackled through the earpiece. “Retreat now!”

  Bang!

  A bullet whizzed past my left side, nearly grazing me. I dove behind cover as shadows shifted—figures dressed in all black moved in.

  “Agent, abort!”

  Bullets tore through the air around me. I rolled and moved again, pushing through the upper stairwell, packing my gear with my sidearm drawn. I was aiming to escape.

  “Direction for exit?” I muttered, suppressing a groan as bullets bit into the walls beside me.

  “Yes! Based on the satellite vision,” Kai responded. “Take the south side of the building. Move right, then jump to your left—there’s a blind angle there!”

  I nodded silently and bolted east, dodging fire. A few bullets zipped dangerously close—one clipped my ankle.

  “Shit!” I cursed in pain, dropping as blood soaked my sock.

  “Agent, the surrounding perimeter is blocked,” Kai's voice returned. “You have five more minutes before they arrive. Nearest exit is down the west hall. Best solution: suppress and sweep through.”

  “No capture,” I growled back. “This ends with a kill.”

  I opened my case and injected a stim shot, dulling the pain and sharpening my senses. Then I shifted, triggering my suit’s tactical enhancements.

  I pulled up a weapon.

  “Zero,” I muttered. “Activating encounter protocol: Delta.”

  a female voice responded.

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  I locked my aim and grabbed the weapon—short barrel, rapid-fire, thermal vision equipped.

  The system chirped.

  I burst through the door just as more bullets slammed into the walls.

  Then—boom—an explosion rocked the southeast wing. Dust rained through the air like ash.

  I shut out the pain, coursing forward, rotating fluidly from door to door, clearing each room.

  I was moving toward the eastern wing; my extraction was imminent.

  “Coming,” I whispered into the comm, pushing forward through the smoke.

  “Yes, Agent,” the driver’s voice replied.

  “Meet at local cache point: Far East Wing, Building Five.”

  “Understood,” the driver answered, already pushing forward through the smoke.

  I pushed through the hallway in rapid motion. As I burst through the partition, dust clouded the air, and one of the lights flickered—casting strange shadows across the corridor. Cries echoed faintly from nearby rooms, the briefing collapsing into chaos.

  Another light sparked, then died with a small drain-snap, making the route ahead unclear and choked with dust.

  Then one shot tore toward the vaulted ceiling. Another followed, hitting low near the floor, scattering debris and warning shots.

  I grimaced through the pain.

  "This is premature. They were too well-equipped... It needs to be an inside work "

  “Who are you?” I demanded as I veered out of the stretch, dodging splinters of shattered frame.

  But they didn’t answer. One of the assailants appeared, his silhouette backlit in fractured glass.

  I flared my focus. They fired a lush shot—breaking through a soft panel near my side, the bolt spinning toward me. I twisted, drawing my pistol, and fired back. A flash tore through piercing one of them in the torso. They collapsed silently.

  I took a breath. No time to hesitate.

  One of the attackers carried tags with restricted military insignia. Mainframe sector. I knew the agency emblem—it wasn’t foreign. It was familiar.

  “Agent,” my comm crackled. “I’m en route to your location.”

  “Stand by,” I muttered as the last hostile shifted near the corridor’s end, running toward the exit vehicle.

  Overhead, the ceiling cracked again, debris falling. I looked up, something glinted above. I dove just in time.

  BANG!

  A bullet flared, piercing through me across the shoulder. I groaned, rolling through the dust. I tumbled into the bushes outside the exit path—my driver intercepted me just in time, catching me mid-fall.

  I grunted, half in pain and half in relief.

  “Got you,” the driver said.

  “Activate camouflage mode,” I ordered.

  The driver nodded, suit emitting a low pulse as the camo-shield shimmered back into effect.

  Behind us, the enemy scrambled in the hallway, masked agents sweeping the floor but losing my trace.

  They took the scene. The soft glow of the concealed intel node flickered once, then went dim.

  But elsewhere, on a private encrypted channel ....

  “Mal-16 responding,” a distorted voice came through. “Repeat—Mal-16 responding.”

  “Mal-16 in sight,” a voice answered, “Target Confirmed activate mission log: codename ‘Lena’.''

  ''Status: complete.”