With the elimination of Genji, the fortress lost its elite edge. The mission to break Tony Sparrow finally barreled toward its climax. Magnus kneels over Genji's body, flicking blood off his trench knife, and slipping it away.
"You're lucky I showed up when I did or you'd have been filled with bullets," Roxie says as she walks up.
Magnus taps his earpiece. "Raven! Give me an update on Tony Sparrow's family now! Has anyone found them and finished them off yet?" His voice snapped like a whip.
Roxie rolled her eyes. He can't even be decent enough to reply to me—no wonder the man's got no hoes and smells like shit, she thought.
Magnus glances down where his left arm used to be. "Find me something to wrap this up," he says, eyes vicious.
"Tch. Fine," Roxie answered.
Raven's voice came through the earpiece. "I have the location of Tony Sparrow's family, but it's taking longer than we thought."
"What!!!" Magnus barked.
***
On the top floor of Leon's building, he barreled down a hallway with a pistol in his hand while gunfire stitched the walls behind him.
"Ahhhh!!! Why are there so many guards, damn it!" Leon cursed as he dove to a corner, breathing hard.
"Raven!!! How the actual fuck do you expect me to get to that room with a fuckload of soldiers? Why are there so many guards anyway?" he hissed, panic knitting his voice.
"I told you the room you're heading to is where Sparrow's family is hiding. Of course, there are guards in that hallway protecting it!" Raven snapped.
"I'm not getting past those guys—they're gonna shoot my head off! Why can't someone else do this?" Leon pleaded, then cut himself off and ran as bullets closed in.
"Yes, perfect—keep running that way. You're almost there," Raven said.
"Wait almost whe—"
Suddenly a concussion ripped the corridor behind him to pieces. The gunfire stopped.
"What!!!" Leon yelled, dumbstruck.
"Calm down and focus! I called in support," Raven said, voice tight.
Outside Leon's building, Axel grinned at the hole he'd made with a rocket launcher. "Aye, Leon, you better hope your frail, no-stamina ass isn't in the way—'cause everything's about to go boom!" he shouted, and fired again.
Victor stood behind him, hands crossed, expression blank. "Leaving it to the newbie—interesting strategy, Raven. I can't wait to see the results," he said, chuckling.
Back inside, Leon crouched beside a low air vent. Another rocket slammed into the hallway, tearing it apart.
"This is your idea of backup? He's gonna blow me up like I'm one of his fireworks!" Leon muttered.
"Keep your head on a swivel you brainless German! He's clearing the guards like I asked. Use the vent next to you, flank around, get to the targets," Raven ordered, voice steady.
"Ok, you don't have to be so hurtful," Leon sniffed, eyes burning.
He crawled into the vent as ordered. The metal was hot from the explosions; the tunnel cramped around him and his breath came quick.
Oh man, I'm starting to feel nauseous—please don't tell me this is where I learn I'm claustrophobic, he thought, double-checking his grip.
Explosions rattled the vents. Leon's thoughts iced over with the memory of his first mission. So let me get this straight I spent all this time trying to dodge the objective and spare myself, and now suddenly the whole thing's on me? This has to be a setup.
He remembered what he'd told Raven before. "You're wrong because I'll never let this squad take away my humanity."
Have I been doing this all wrong? The thought crept in. "I said those words, but did I really mean them? I'm scared shitless. My family's safe in Germany without me, but how can I sit there and put them above these people I have to kill? Every waking moment since joining this screwed-up squad feels like my life is over a fire. I wish I could hide in the darkest box and disappear."
"And you're telling me this why?" Raven cut in dryly.
"Oh crap. I forgot you hear everything. Sorry—just yapping," Leon answered, embarrassed.
"Look, I don't care about your moral crisis. Move to the objective and complete it," Raven said, blunt and cold.
Leon eased himself toward the vent above the door to the room Raven had located. Tight metal pressed at his knees. He listened for guards, counting his breaths.
No matter how scared I am or how pathetic I look, I'm an adult with kids waiting in Germany. When I got drafted, when I got dragged into this squad, I rolled with the punches. Sorry, Tony Sparrow—hands clean or not, family comes first, he thought, steadying the pistol in his hand and setting his jaw.
He braced himself and wormed the panel aside, ready to drop.
"Okay," he whispered to no one but himself. "Let's just get this over with."