The night over Delhi pressed down like a smoldering blanket, heavy with ash and the scent of distant fires. Within CGS Base, Ayush sat hunched at his small table, hands working in mechanical rhythm as he cleaned his Glock and sorted folded maps.
His mind kept replaying the bridge heist: the arrows slicing the dark, the roar of flames, Kartik's wild eyes — and behind it all, the chilling echo of Suraj's words: Power isn't survival. It's freedom.
A soft knock broke the haze.
Ananya stepped in, her hair pulled back loosely, eyes rimmed red with exhaustion and unspoken fear. She carried a chipped mug of weak tea and set it quietly beside his elbow.
"You haven't slept," she whispered.
Ayush didn't look up. "Sleep is when ghosts come back."
She edged closer, then sat on the table, forcing him to meet her eyes. "I'm here. You don't have to fight them alone."
For a moment, his cold focus softened. He nodded faintly but didn't speak.
Before she could say more, a firm knock echoed at the doorframe. Suraj stood there, his eyes sharp, the smirk absent.
"Ayush. Need you. Alone," he said, his voice low.
Ananya straightened, alarm flashing across her face. "Where are you taking him?"
Suraj looked at her, his expression flat. "This isn't for you."
Ayush squeezed her hand, stood, and followed Suraj into the corridor. As they slipped out, Ananya's whispered plea followed him: "Don't lose yourself out there."
They moved quickly through the deserted back alleys of the base. Ayush scanned the shadows, noticing subtle changes he hadn't before: small crates stacked in corners, faint scuff marks on walls, silent sentries in civilian clothing who looked away at Suraj's approach.
Suraj stopped before an old maintenance warehouse, mostly collapsed and overgrown. He knocked twice on a rusted side door. After a tense pause, it cracked open, revealing a narrow stairwell lit by red safety strips.
"This way," Suraj muttered.
They descended in silence. As they moved deeper, Ayush noticed patched sections of tunnel walls and fresh ventilation shafts — signs of careful construction hidden beneath everyone's feet.
Finally, they emerged into a vast underground hall.
Ayush froze.
Hundreds of people moved in the cavernous space. Some were loading crates of ammo and water; others serviced armored trucks marked with rough, hand-painted sigils. Makeshift dormitories lined the walls. Children sat silently as fighters checked weapons under hanging lanterns.
Above them, a giant steel platform bore an inverted crown split by a lightning bolt — a symbol Ayush had glimpsed on a few stolen supply crates years ago, but dismissed as rumor.
"How long have you hidden this?" Ayush whispered.
Suraj turned to him, a slow, controlled smile spreading. "Since before CGS fully formed. While you and Leon faced the front lines, I planted roots below them. Delhi needed an underworld king — so I became him."
Ayush's gaze darted to a line of black-market weapons, fresh UN relief crates, even old BSA tech scattered among the supplies. His hand twitched near his holster.
"CGS has surveillance everywhere," Ayush said sharply. "How did they miss this?"
Suraj's eyes glinted. "Because some of them were paid to look away. Small bribes. Quiet disappearances. You think an empire is built with brute force? No. It's built with silence and shadows."
A heavy door behind them slid open with a hiss. A massive figure stepped forward — Vikram, his face a map of old scars, eyes cold and analytical.
"Vikram," Suraj said, motioning casually. "My commander in this world beneath. To the surface, he's a forgotten smuggler. Down here, he's my right hand."
Vikram gave Ayush a curt nod but said nothing. His presence alone spoke volumes.
Ayush's chest tightened. "You've been planning this for years… without telling us. Why?"
Suraj stepped close, voice dropping. "Because I needed you free of this weight. You and Leon… you are hammers. I am the web."
Ayush's eyes darkened. "You've turned this into a machine of control, not survival."
Suraj's expression hardened. "Control is survival now. We live in a world where 'innocence' gets people butchered. If we don't decide who lives, we'll always be pawns in someone else's game — Fireflies, CGS, BSA… they're all the same."
A flicker of conflict crossed Ayush's face — images of Ananya's gentle touch, Leon's silent watchfulness, Kartik's fragile resolve, Shivam's wary loyalty.
"Tell me you haven't become what we fought to destroy," Ayush demanded, his voice low but shaking.
Suraj's gaze softened slightly. "I did this for us. So none of us ever have to kneel again."
For a heartbeat, they just stood — two brothers now separated by a chasm neither could cross.
Then, suddenly, Suraj pulled Ayush into a fierce embrace. "No matter how far I fall, remember… this empire is yours too. Always."
Ayush hesitated, then slowly returned the hug, his fingers clutching Suraj's vest.
When they pulled away, Suraj's smirk flickered back, this time tinged with sadness. "Go. Tell no one. Not even Leon. Not yet."
Ayush gave a small, conflicted nod and turned away, his mind churning with impossible choices.
As he climbed into the pale dawn, the city spread before him like an open wound.
At the gates, Leon stood waiting, eyes sharp as blades.
"Where the hell were you?" Leon demanded, scanning him with a predator's intensity.
Ayush held his gaze. "Scouting. Found nothing worth reporting."
Leon narrowed his eyes, searching for cracks in the lie. But after a tense beat, he simply turned and started walking back.
Inside, Ayush found Ananya waiting at his door, her fingers twisting in her shirt hem.
When he entered, she threw her arms around him immediately, her breath ragged. "You're different," she whispered. "Colder. What did you see?"
Ayush pressed his forehead to hers, breathing her in. "I saw a future that terrifies me. But one we might survive."
She looked up at him, eyes shimmering. "Please… don't disappear into that future."
"I won't," he said, though a small, uncertain tremor hid in his voice.
Outside, the early sun clawed at Delhi's ruins, painting them in blood-orange light.
Beneath their feet, deep in tunnels built on secrets and betrayal, a hidden empire stretched its arms and began to wake.