Krishna’s footsteps were steady despite the pain that gnawed at his every muscle. His body screamed for rest, but the fire of purpose in his chest burned hotter than any exhaustion. The weight of what lay ahead pressed on him like an unbearable storm, but he refused to let it drown him. There was no going back now. The mission was clear. Dr. Machinist had crossed a line that could never be uncrossed. The resurrection of the Genocide Trio—if successful—would plunge the world into chaos. That was a fate Krishna could not allow.

  The team made their way through the SAAHO base, their movements quick, purposeful, and precise. They gathered their weapons, the cold steel of their knives, guns, and blades familiar in their hands. They were ready. Or at least, as ready as they could be.

  As they reached the tactical room, Martin wasted no time. He immediately accessed the base’s network, his fingers flying over the controls as he navigated through layers of encrypted data. Krishna watched as his older brother worked with the kind of efficiency that only came from years of experience. Martin’s sharp mind had always been a calming force during their most chaotic moments, but even he couldn’t hide the tension in his posture.

  "Got something," Martin muttered, his voice low, his eyes scanning the screen. "Dr. Machinist’s movements have been erratic. He’s been bouncing between multiple locations, keeping a low profile. But I’ve tracked a signal from a known safehouse of his, just outside the city."

  Krishna’s heart quickened. They were close. Too close.

  Takashi cracked his knuckles, a grin spreading across his face. "Sounds like a perfect place for a little chaos. Let’s make sure he knows the Kurushimi brothers are on his tail."

  Temna didn’t respond with words, but his calculating eyes spoke volumes. He was already running through their options, analyzing the possible dangers ahead. Krishna knew that Temna’s calm, methodical nature would be their saving grace. Every angle, every contingency would be covered. They weren’t just walking into this blindly. They were going to hit Dr. Machinist hard and fast. No mercy.

  "Let’s move," Krishna said, his voice commanding, as he grabbed his jacket and adjusted his weapons. "We hit him tonight."

  The team filed out of the room, moving with military precision. Krishna felt the familiar hum of tension fill the air as they left the safety of their base behind. Outside, the night was dark, the city bathed in shadows, and the wind whispered with the promise of something terrible waiting on the horizon.

  As they approached their target, the weight of the mission settled heavily on Krishna’s shoulders. He knew there was no turning back. Dr. Machinist had been a menace for far too long, but what he was attempting now—this desecration of life itself—was beyond anything the brothers had ever faced.

  It wasn’t just Anna anymore. It wasn’t just about stopping one man. Dr. Machinist had gone too far. He was meddling with forces that should never be tampered with. And Krishna knew—if they failed, the consequences would be devastating.

  They arrived at the safehouse in the early hours of the morning, the darkened streets eerily quiet. The building loomed in front of them, an imposing structure that reeked of secrecy and danger. Krishna’s eyes scanned the perimeter, but there was no sign of movement. No guards. No traps. It was too quiet.

  "Something’s wrong," Temna murmured, his voice a quiet whisper as he surveyed the surroundings. "This isn’t right. Machinist is never this careless."

  Krishna’s instincts flared. "He’s expecting us."

  Martin nodded, his sharp mind already calculating the best course of action. "We go in through the back. Quick and quiet. We find Machinist, take him down, and get the hell out. No chances."

  The brothers nodded in agreement, their bond unspoken but unwavering. They had a job to do.

  With stealth and precision, they made their way around to the back of the building, slipping past the shadows with ease. They breached the doors and moved quickly, every step taken with the calculated discipline of a well-oiled machine. Inside, the air was thick with the smell of metal, chemicals, and machinery. Krishna could hear the faint hum of electricity running through the walls, and it sent a chill down his spine. Dr. Machinist had always been obsessed with technology, but this—this felt different. There was something dark at work here.

  "Clear," Temna whispered as he moved down the hallway, his rifle aimed forward. The rest of the team followed close behind, their steps silent and deliberate.

  They reached a large, reinforced door at the end of the hall. The heavy metal was covered in scratches, dents, and burn marks, the kind of damage that came from years of constant use. Martin stepped forward, his fingers quickly working the controls on the side of the door. It hissed open with a faint, mechanical whine.

  The room beyond was dimly lit, the walls lined with cold steel and glass tanks filled with mysterious liquids. The air was heavy with the scent of decay and sterile chemicals. Krishna’s eyes immediately found what they were looking for.

  In the center of the room, suspended in a large tank, was a figure. It was Anna—no longer the woman he had fought, but something... else. Her body was covered in metallic plates, wires, and mechanical limbs. Her face was expressionless, her eyes vacant, but Krishna could see it—the faintest flicker of recognition in her eyes. It was her, still trapped inside that mechanical prison.

  Krishna’s breath caught in his throat, his mind struggling to process the sight before him. This wasn’t just Anna. This was the product of Dr. Machinist’s madness—a creature born from pain and torment, a weapon with no soul.

  "Krishna," Martin said, his voice filled with grim determination. "We need to stop this. We can’t let him finish this. If she’s like this, there’s no telling what he’s done to the others."

  Krishna’s hand curled into a fist, his fingers digging into his palm. "I’ll make him pay," he muttered, his voice filled with quiet rage. "But first, we save Anna."

  As he moved closer to the tank, he could feel the eyes of his brothers on him. They knew the risks. But they also knew what Krishna was capable of. No one—not even Dr. Machinist—could stand against the wrath of the Kurushimi brothers.

  The plan had shifted. It was no longer just about stopping Dr. Machinist. It was about saving what was left of Anna. And Krishna would tear the world apart if it meant bringing her back.

  The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood and chemicals as the Kurushimi brothers stepped deeper into the lab, their boots echoing off the cold, concrete floor. The room they had just entered was not the one they had been expecting. This wasn’t just a research facility—it was a graveyard. A place where lives had been twisted and discarded like trash.

  Krishna’s heart pounded in his chest as he stepped cautiously past the first row of surgical tables. He could barely keep his focus on the wreckage of machinery scattered across the room. His eyes kept darting to the mutilated bodies that littered the floor. Some were deformed beyond recognition, others barely more than shredded remnants of what they once were. All of them had been victims of Dr. Machinist’s experiments—horrific things that Krishna couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

  But his breath caught when he saw the familiar faces among the dead.

  Anna’s family.

  The sight of their bodies was enough to stop Krishna dead in his tracks. Their bodies had been butchered, their faces contorted in agony even in death. But it wasn’t just the carnage that made Krishna’s stomach churn. It was the unmistakable symbols of Dr. Machinist’s work—marks of his twisted brand of 'resurrection.' The scars on their bodies, the unnatural implants, the metallic limbs grafted onto once-living flesh. These weren’t just people who had been killed—they had been used, torn apart and rebuilt for some horrific purpose.

  Takashi cursed under his breath as he surveyed the scene, his usual cocky demeanor replaced with a grim, barely contained rage. "This is… wrong. This is way beyond anything we’ve faced before."

  Temna, ever the stoic, stepped forward and bent over one of the bodies, examining it closely. "It’s not just their deaths. It’s what they’ve become. Machinist didn’t just kill them—he turned them into something else. Something monstrous."

  Krishna’s hands balled into fists, his mind reeling as he took in the gruesome sight. His breath came out in ragged gasps, but he couldn’t look away. These weren’t just casualties of war. These were innocent lives—Anna’s family. And now, they had been reduced to grotesque experiments, pieces of a puzzle that Dr. Machinist was still assembling.

  "Anna…" Krishna whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. "Where is she?"

  His brothers were silent, but they could feel the weight of Krishna’s question hanging in the air. There were no answers. No signs of Anna’s body among the carnage. Her family was here, torn apart, but Anna? She was gone.

  Martin approached slowly, his face unreadable as he took in the massacre. He looked at Krishna, his voice calm but heavy with the knowledge that this was no longer just a mission—it was personal. "She’s not here. But that doesn’t mean she’s dead. It could mean that Machinist has taken her somewhere else. Somewhere we don’t know about yet."

  Krishna nodded, his jaw clenched so tightly that it felt like his teeth would shatter under the pressure. He had been hoping—praying—that he would find her here, that there would be some remnant of the woman he had fought alongside. But it was as if Dr. Machinist had erased her, just as he had erased the rest of her family.

  He couldn’t allow that to stand. Anna was still alive. He knew it.

  "Machinist will pay for this," Krishna said, his voice low and dangerous, filled with the rage that had been building inside him. "This isn’t just about stopping him anymore. This is about revenge."

  Takashi stepped forward, his hand resting on Krishna’s shoulder. "We’re with you, man. You know that. But we need a plan. We need to find her—before Machinist finishes what he started."

  Krishna took a deep breath, trying to steady his mind. His thoughts were racing, but one thing was clear: they couldn’t stay here. They had to move. They had to track Dr. Machinist down and finish this. For Anna. For her family. For everyone he had destroyed.

  Temna surveyed the lab once more before turning to the others. "We need to get more information. If Machinist has hidden her away, we need to find out where. There must be something in here—some clue about his next move."

  The brothers fanned out, scouring the lab for any piece of evidence that could point them in the right direction. Krishna moved with a focused intensity, his eyes scanning every corner, every piece of paper, every file that had been left behind. But nothing. The more he searched, the more he felt the overwhelming sense of dread. It was as if Dr. Machinist had anticipated their every move, leaving no trace behind.

  And then, as Krishna turned to leave, he noticed something on the far wall of the lab—a map. It was faint, scrawled in blood, as if someone had tried to write it in desperation. The ink was smudged, but there were still marks on it that were unmistakable.

  Coordinates.

  "Guys," Krishna called, his voice urgent. "I think I’ve got something."

  The brothers converged on the map, their eyes narrowing as they examined the coordinates. It was a location not far from the city, hidden deep within the mountains—a place that seemed to be off the grid. It was perfect for someone like Dr. Machinist, who thrived in isolation and secrecy.

  Martin’s eyes met Krishna’s. "This is it. We move now."

  Krishna’s heart pounded in his chest as he stared at the map. It was a lead—a glimmer of hope, however small. But it wasn’t enough. They needed to act fast. They couldn’t afford to waste time. Anna’s life was on the line.

  "Let’s go," Krishna said, his voice steely with resolve. "We’re not leaving until we’ve taken him down. And we’re bringing Anna home."

  With that, the brothers turned on their heels and made their way out of the lab, ready to face whatever awaited them in the mountains. They knew the road ahead would be treacherous, and the battle that lay in wait would be brutal. But one thing was certain—nothing would stop them from saving Anna. Not now. Not ever.

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  The journey to the coordinates on the map was grueling, the dense forest and jagged terrain serving as a natural barrier between the brothers and their goal. Krishna’s mind buzzed with thoughts of Anna—where was she? What had Dr. Machinist done to her? His hands gripped the steering wheel of their transport vehicle so tightly that his knuckles were white, his muscles taut with the strain of pushing himself forward despite the exhaustion clawing at him.

  As they drew closer to their destination, the oppressive silence of the mountains began to weigh heavily on them. There was an unnatural stillness in the air, as though the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for the storm that was about to arrive. The sun had already dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows that seemed to stretch forever across the valley.

  Temna, the sharp-eyed sniper, was the first to spot something unusual—a faint trail of smoke rising in the distance. It wasn’t enough to raise alarm at first, but then he saw it clearly: the smoke wasn’t from a campfire or a controlled burn. It was the blackened residue of something being destroyed. A fire that had been raging long enough to turn everything to ash.

  "That doesn’t look right," Temna muttered, narrowing his gaze. "We’re getting close."

  The brothers exchanged grim glances. This wasn’t just the remnants of an abandoned lab or hideout. This looked like the aftermath of something far more brutal. They quickened their pace, pushing on despite the darkening sky.

  When they finally reached the source of the smoke, what they found was a scene beyond anything they had prepared for.

  The remains of a small village lay sprawled before them, but there was no sign of life. Just death. The houses were burned to the ground, reduced to charred skeletons of what had once been homes. The air was thick with the stench of smoke and decay, and the ground was littered with bodies. Men, women, children—all lifeless, all disfigured beyond recognition. The brutality of the massacre was clear—there had been no mercy, no hesitation.

  Krishna’s heart lurched as his eyes scanned the scene. His gaze landed on one body, partially hidden beneath the rubble, its features just recognizable enough for Krishna to feel a cold jolt of recognition. It was one of the witnesses they had been tracking—someone who had been close to Anna’s family. Someone who might have known where she was or what Dr. Machinist had planned.

  But now they were all gone. Entire families, wiped out in an instant.

  "What the hell happened here?" Takashi’s voice was rough, his usual bravado faltering in the face of such horror. He was silent for a moment, as if trying to make sense of the wreckage. "No one survived…"

  Krishna’s fists clenched, his body vibrating with fury. "This was Machinist’s work. He couldn’t risk anyone getting in his way, not with his plans unraveling. He’s wiping out anyone who knows about him."

  Temna approached one of the bodies, kneeling beside it to inspect the gruesome scene more closely. "It’s worse than we thought," he said, his voice cold and clinical as he observed the patterns of violence. "This wasn’t just a slaughter. It looks like he took something from them—minds, information, possibly even… organs. This isn’t just about killing. It’s about extracting."

  Krishna’s blood ran cold. He had known Dr. Machinist was ruthless, but the depth of his depravity hit harder now. The idea that Machinist had not only killed but desecrated the bodies of those who had been close to Anna, who might have known something, filled Krishna with an overpowering sense of rage.

  "Where’s the rest of the evidence?" Martin asked, his voice low but urgent. "There has to be more—someone had to survive long enough to warn others or leave us a trail."

  Krishna’s eyes scanned the area, looking for any sign of life, any clue that might lead them to the next step. But there was nothing. The village had been completely obliterated, every trace of humanity erased like it had never existed.

  But then, Krishna spotted something—a piece of paper, half-burned but still legible, fluttering in the wind near the remains of a small shack. He rushed over to it, his heart pounding as he retrieved the piece of paper. It was covered in hastily scrawled writing, and though part of it had been destroyed by fire, Krishna could make out a few key details.

  A name.

  "Elizabeth," Krishna muttered under his breath. "It’s one of the last survivors—she left this message."

  The note was fragmented, but it clearly referenced a location. A hidden cave system just beyond the mountains. The rest of the message was indecipherable, but one thing was clear: someone had tried to escape, someone who might have known about Anna and where she was being kept.

  "We have a lead," Krishna said, his voice laced with renewed determination. "There’s a cave system just past the mountain ridge. Elizabeth—whoever she is—left this for us."

  Martin clenched his fists, his jaw tightening. "It’s not over. Machinist might have erased the evidence here, but he’s left us this trail. We find this cave, we find answers."

  Takashi flashed a grim smile, his usual swagger returning. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s finish this."

  Krishna nodded, his heart still heavy with the weight of everything they had seen, but the fire in his chest was reignited. This was no longer just a mission to stop Dr. Machinist. It was personal. He would find Anna. He would bring her home. And if Machinist had killed one more innocent person along the way, he would make sure he paid.

  The brothers readied themselves and set off toward the ridge, their steps quickening with purpose. The bloodshed, the destruction—they were just signs that they were getting closer. And Krishna would stop at nothing to ensure that Dr. Machinist’s reign of terror ended once and for all.

  The cave system was waiting. And with it, the answers they so desperately needed

  As Krishna led the brothers toward the cave, his mind raced with anticipation and dread. The darkness swallowed them as they stepped into the narrow entrance, the faintest sliver of light from the flashlight barely enough to illuminate the jagged walls ahead. Each of his footsteps felt heavier than the last, the weight of what they had witnessed already bearing down on him.

  "Stay sharp," he murmured, though he knew his brothers were already on edge. The silence in the cave was unnatural, punctuated only by the distant echoes of their footsteps. Something didn’t feel right, and Krishna’s instincts told him they were walking straight into the lion’s den.

  They ventured deeper into the cave, their flashlights cutting through the darkness. The air grew colder, thicker, as though the very atmosphere was suffocating them. Then, Krishna’s beam of light fell on something that made his heart stop in his chest.

  A figure, slumped against the cave wall, illuminated just enough to reveal the horror that had befallen her. Krishna’s breath caught in his throat, and he felt his stomach twist violently. It was Elizabeth. Or what was left of her.

  Her body was a grotesque, twisted masterpiece of suffering, dismembered and mutilated in ways that defied logic. The sight was so brutal, so beyond anything Krishna had ever seen, that for a moment, it felt like the walls of the cave themselves were closing in on him. Elizabeth’s limbs were arranged in disturbing angles, her skin stretched and torn, each scarred wound telling the story of unimaginable pain. Her face—what was left of it—was frozen in a silent scream, her eyes wide open, glazed with the haunting reminder of her torment.

  Krishna’s hand trembled, the flashlight almost slipping from his grip as he tried to comprehend what stood before him. His heart raced, rage boiling in his veins as he stepped forward, his mind screaming for answers, for anything that could explain this atrocity.

  "Krishna," Martin’s voice broke through his reverie, but it was distant, as though he, too, were struggling to process the grotesque scene before them. "What the hell…? This isn’t… this isn’t just a warning. This is…"

  "Machinist," Krishna whispered hoarsely, his voice barely audible, a sense of icy dread creeping up his spine. "This is his message. This is what he’s capable of."

  The cave walls surrounding them were not empty. As the beam of Krishna’s flashlight flickered over the stone surface, he saw something that made his blood run cold. The words were etched into the rock itself—scratched, gouged, smeared in the blood of the victims who had suffered before them.

  WRATH.

  The word was written across the walls in jagged, chaotic strokes, as though the stone itself had been torn apart by a madman’s hands. The letters were large, ominous, a declaration of the madness that had been unleashed within these cave walls. Krishna felt a chill race down his spine, an instinctual understanding crawling into his mind. This wasn’t just about resurrection or experiments. This was about something far darker, far more personal. This was about unleashing a primal force—a force of pain, vengeance, and destruction.

  The word seemed to pulse, almost alive with its malevolent energy, as if it were mocking him.

  "Who… who did this?" Takashi’s voice trembled, and for the first time, the usual cocky bravado was gone, replaced with raw disbelief. His eyes darted from Elizabeth’s maimed body to the walls, to the word that seemed to hang in the air like a curse.

  "It’s him," Krishna said quietly, almost to himself. "Dr. Machinist. This is the legacy he’s building—the legacy of rage, of wrath. The Genocide Trio wasn’t enough. He’s creating something far worse."

  Temna moved forward, kneeling beside the body of Elizabeth with a grim expression, his fingers brushing lightly over the writing on the wall. "This is madness. This isn’t just a message. This is a ritual. It’s his way of invoking something. Wrath isn’t just an emotion—it's a weapon. And he’s using it to transform… everything."

  Krishna’s mind spun. What they were seeing was beyond any twisted experiment or scientific ambition. Dr. Machinist wasn’t just trying to create weapons. He was trying to manipulate and weaponize the very essence of human suffering—of rage. The act of mutilation, of creating something so horrific, was more than just the result of some deranged mind. It was a part of his grand design.

  His eyes flickered to Elizabeth again, and he felt a pang of something deep and hollow. She had been a victim, but her body—her very suffering—had been used to fuel Machinist’s vision. The once-brave woman had been twisted into a living testament to his madness.

  Krishna swallowed hard, fighting to keep the bile rising in his throat at bay. He had seen death before. He had seen destruction on a scale that would break most men. But this… this was something else entirely. He had never seen such cruelty, such deliberate, calculated pain.

  "She’s dead," Temna said, his voice softer now, his hand hovering over the mangled body. "But we can’t leave her here."

  Krishna nodded sharply, struggling to hold back the storm of emotions within him. "We’ll make sure this bastard pays for this. But we need answers. Elizabeth… she knew something. She might have had intel on where Machinist is hiding Anna."

  He turned to the brothers, his voice cold and steely now. "We find that intel. We take Machinist down. No one deserves this. No one else will suffer like this."

  Takashi nodded, his face hardening as he clenched his fists. "No more innocent lives lost. I’ll make sure of it."

  They worked quickly, retrieving what little could be salvaged from the wreckage of Elizabeth’s remains. As they moved deeper into the cave, the sense of foreboding grew stronger, and they knew—without a doubt—that Dr. Machinist had crossed a line that could never be uncrossed. The wrath he had unleashed here was only the beginning.

  And Krishna? He would stop at nothing to make sure it was the end of Machinist’s reign.

  As they left the cave, the weight of what they had witnessed seemed to cling to their bodies, an oppressive, suffocating presence that refused to let go. The chill of the cave still lingered in their bones, and though they had stepped out into the open air, the sight of Elizabeth’s mutilated form—and the message carved into the stone walls—hung over them like a shadow that would never fade.

  Krishna’s mind was numb, but his body was still running on adrenaline, his heartbeat hammering in his chest as they walked in tense silence toward the spot where their vehicle had been parked. But as they approached, the sight of their car—mangled beyond recognition—sent a shockwave of fear through his veins. It was as though the scene in the cave had followed them, crawling out into the world. The car was barely a shell of what it once had been, crumpled metal and shattered glass strewn across the ground. There was no way in hell they could use it to get back to the SAAHO base.

  “Great,” Takashi muttered, surveying the wreckage with a sense of disgust. “This is just perfect. How are we supposed to get back now?”

  Martin stood silently, his jaw clenched, his gaze fixed on the twisted remains of the vehicle. Krishna could see the muscle tension in his brother’s body, the quiet fury simmering beneath the surface. He could feel it too. They had come so close to finding something—answers, a clue to Anna’s whereabouts—and yet, it had all been ripped away. The Machinist’s grip on their fate was tightening, and it was clear to Krishna that they were no longer just hunting down a madman; they were facing something far worse—a force of destruction, a nightmare they were barely able to comprehend.

  “We’ll find a way,” Krishna said, his voice hard and cold. He wasn’t going to let this stop them. Not after everything they’d already seen. “We can’t just sit here and wait.”

  He scanned the surroundings, looking for any sign of a nearby town or road. They had to get back to the SAAHO base, no matter what. His thoughts were clouded, but he forced himself to focus on the task at hand. They couldn’t afford to be bogged down by fear. Not now.

  Temna’s voice broke through the fog of their thoughts. “There’s a bus station a few miles down the road. It’ll take us to the nearest town, and from there, we can find transportation back to base.”

  Krishna didn’t hesitate. “Let’s move, then.”

  The brothers walked in grim silence toward the bus station, the weight of their mission pressing down on them more heavily than ever before. It felt like the world was closing in on them—like every step they took brought them closer to something they couldn’t outrun. The memory of Elizabeth’s body, of the word Wrath carved into the cave walls, haunted Krishna, and the thought of Anna—still out there, somewhere—made his stomach churn.

  When they arrived at the bus station, it was nearly deserted. The only sound was the wind whistling through the cracked pavement. Krishna didn’t care. They had no choice but to wait. The bus wouldn’t arrive for another thirty minutes, and there was nothing to do but sit in the uncomfortable silence that had settled between them.

  Takashi sat down on the bench, drumming his fingers impatiently against his leg. “What do you think Machinist’s next move is?” he asked, breaking the silence.

  Krishna glanced at him, then shook his head. “I don’t know. But whatever it is, we can’t be far behind. We need to get back to base, regroup, and plan our next move. We’re missing something—there’s a piece of this puzzle we haven’t found yet.”

  Temna leaned against the wall, his eyes scanning the surroundings with a sharp, calculating gaze. “We can’t underestimate him. He’s always two steps ahead. But whatever it is he’s doing, we need to stop it before it gets worse.”

  Martin remained quiet, as always, his expression unreadable. But Krishna could see the flicker of something in his eyes—a quiet determination. They all felt it. They had to stop this. No matter the cost.

  The sound of an approaching bus broke through the tension, and Krishna’s heart skipped a beat. They were finally going to make it back. As they boarded the bus and settled into their seats, Krishna’s thoughts drifted back to the cave, to the mutilated bodies, to the word Wrath that had been carved into the walls. The Machinist’s plans were taking shape, and they couldn’t let him finish what he started.

  The bus ride was long, silent, and filled with a growing sense of dread. Krishna couldn’t help but replay the images of Elizabeth’s twisted form over and over in his mind, as if trying to piece together the madness they were up against. The rage that had been burned into the walls of that cave… it felt like a fire that was spreading, one that would consume everything in its path.

  By the time they reached the SAAHO base, it was late into the night. The weight of their journey, the horror they’d encountered, and the urgency of their mission had left them all exhausted, but there was no time for rest. They needed to prepare. They needed to find answers. And they needed to stop Dr. Machinist, before he could unleash more of the wrath he had created.

  As the doors of the base closed behind them, the brothers stood together in the cold, dimly lit hallway, the heavy silence settling in once more. Krishna’s mind was clear now, sharpened by the fear and the horror they had witnessed. The storm wasn’t over. It was just beginning. And this time, they would be ready.