Episode 77 – Echoes in the Smoke
Sector 12 was quiet — unnaturally so.
The team moved in shadows, cloaked in darkness and silence. Dressed in black, with radios silenced, they crept along the outskirts of the abandoned industrial zone, where the Syndicate's newest operations hid behind rusted walls and biometric gates.
Aria's breath fogged faintly as she followed Raian, her pistol tight in one hand and med kit strapped to her hip. Ayan flanked them on the other side, signaling to the squad behind. Lina crouched next to Saira near the rear, her knife steady in her grip. Everyone had a role. Everyone had something — or someone — to protect.
"Two guards ahead," Ayan whispered.
Raian nodded. "Silently."
A blur of motion. A whistle of steel. A grunt — then silence again.
Ayan dropped the bodies gently and signaled the rest forward.
They moved deeper into the maze of alleys, toward the main lab entrance. The structure rose like a beast in the night — black glass windows boarded up, red security lights blinking overhead. At the gate, Raian scanned his forged ID. The biometric scanner blinked yellow… then green.
They were in.
Inside, the building smelled of chemicals and sterilized sin. Cold floors, humming machines, flickering lights. Aria scanned the interior, heart pounding at the sight of surgical beds with restraints, wires dangling like vines from the ceiling, and charts covered in codes and symbols only medical eyes could understand.
"Room 3B holds the main servers," Ayan whispered. "We download the files, destroy the backups, and trigger the blast on your signal."
Raian nodded. "Aria and I go for the files. Ayan, Lina, Saira — secure the hostages. Kill anyone who tries to stop you."
They split.
Raian led Aria down a corridor lined with reinforced glass windows. Behind them, she saw cages. Not cells — cages. Some empty, some not.
Children.
Elderly men.
Drugged, restrained.
Aria froze. "Raian—"
He turned, saw what she saw, and his fists clenched. "We get the files. Then we free them."
They reached the lab chamber. The servers buzzed, red lights pulsing along their frames. Raian moved quickly, plugging in the extractor device. Aria covered him, watching the door, breathing hard.
"I recognize some of these names," she whispered, scanning a monitor. "These weren't just targets… they were patients. Transferred from hospitals. From orphanages."
Raian didn't respond — he was focused, jaw tight. The progress bar crawled slowly.
35%…
41%…
Then—
Footsteps.
Raian spun just as the door flew open.
And standing there, dressed in a silver-black coat, was the last man Aria ever wanted to see.
Raian's father.
General Kwon.
"You always were predictable, son," he said smoothly, stepping inside with two armed guards.
Raian stepped forward. "Don't call me that."
General Kwon smiled coldly. "I'm not here for pleasantries. But I am surprised you brought her."
His gaze settled on Aria.
"Dr. Han. I reviewed your surgical records. Impressive precision. Waste of talent, really — to throw it all away for a man like him."
Aria raised her gun. "You turned medicine into murder. I saved lives — you twisted them."
Kwon's face darkened. "You think the world runs on saving lives? No. It runs on control. Power. Sacrifice."
"Then why do you look so afraid?" Raian stepped forward.
Kwon's smile cracked. "You won't shoot me."
"Try me."
Behind him, the server dinged — 100%. Extraction complete.
Kwon noticed too late.
Raian fired.
One guard fell.
The other reached for his weapon — but Aria's bullet caught him clean between the ribs.
Chaos erupted. Raian lunged, tackling Kwon to the floor as Aria grabbed the extractor and the data drive.
"You're a disgrace," Kwon spat beneath Raian's weight.
"You're not my father," Raian hissed, hand tightening on the collar of the man who raised him. "You're a monster in a uniform."
A siren blared above them — alarms triggered by the gunfire. Red light swept the hallway.
"Go!" Raian shouted to Aria. "Get to Ayan!"
"What about you?"
"I'll end this."
"Raian—"
"Go!"
She ran.
Behind her, she heard fists striking flesh, a shout, and then nothing.
—
Lina sprinted through the lower levels, Saira beside her, both of them dragging open doors and breaking chains. The hostages stared in confusion, fear, disbelief.
"Move!" Lina barked. "Now! This place is going down!"
The building shook — another alarm screamed overhead.
"Security is collapsing," Saira said. "We have three minutes."
Lina kicked open another cage. A girl clung to her mother, sobbing.
"I've got you," Lina whispered. "You're safe."
A blast echoed upstairs.
Then Raian's voice crackled over the comms. "Fall back to the rendezvous point. Everyone out."
Aria met Ayan near the back hallway, breathless. "He's still fighting him."
"We can't go back," Ayan said.
"I'm not leaving him!"
"Aria—"
But she was already running.
—
Smoke curled through the lab as Aria burst in.
Raian stood over his father, who now bled from a deep gash to his temple, body slumped against the server stack.
"You should've left," Raian said without turning.
"You should've come with me."
Raian's voice was hoarse. "I couldn't. Not until this ended."
"You ended it," Aria said. "It's over."
Raian staggered slightly. She rushed to his side and caught him as he slumped.
"You're hurt."
He nodded. "Cracked rib… maybe more."
Aria pressed a hand to his chest. "Then don't argue. We're leaving."
He didn't resist.
Together, they limped toward the back door. Behind them, the lab caught fire — flames licking across wires, swallowing the darkness. A fitting end for what had happened in that place.
—
The extraction van waited at the loading bay.
Ayan drove. Lina helped the last of the survivors into the back. Saira patched wounds. Aria kept Raian conscious, her hand never leaving his.
They drove for hours in silence.
Somewhere past dawn, when the sky bled gold through the trees, Raian stirred. Aria leaned in close.
"Still alive?" she asked gently.
"Barely." His voice cracked. "You came back."
"You'd do the same for me."
"I already have. Again and again."
He smiled faintly.
"Rest," she whispered, brushing the hair from his forehead. "It's over."
He didn't argue this time.
Outside, the world stretched open.
And for once, it didn't look like a battlefield.