**** /Cayo Serrana — Northern Ridge Forest/ /02:22 AM/ ****
The forest was unnaturally quiet. There were no bugs humming in the grass, no nocturnal birds calling out from the high branches, and barely any breeze moving through the heavy pine canopy.
The team crouched behind the thick tree trunks at the edge of the woods, staring out at the massive concrete complex.
Looking at it now, the truth hit them all at once. The intel Synapse gave them back at the Dome was completely wrong. This wasn't some rundown, mid-level cartel drug lab. The place was a heavy military fortress surrounded by a high circular wall, concrete pillars, and reinforced watchtowers posted at key angles along the perimeter.
High above, stationed inside every single watchtower, three heavily armed guards moved along the catwalks. They carried high-caliber tactical rifles and wore full body armor. Automated spotlights swept slowly back and forth across the asphalt patrol road.
Leo leaned back against a broad tree trunk, checking his boots.
Leo: (whispering) I can sprint across the road, take out the tower guards, and clear the gate before they even realize the spotlights swung past them.
Michael immediately held up a hand, his face dead serious.
Michael: No. Don't even think about it. A high-tier military compound like this almost always has sub-atomic vibration sensors laid under the pavement. The second you break normal human speed, you'll trigger the security grid and make things a lot more hard for us. We do this carefully.
Michael looked over the squad, his mind quickly breaking them into three separate breach teams to take out the perimeter guards simultaneously without raising an alarm.
Michael: We split up. Team One me, velocity. We take the left tower, and disable the guards there. Tectonic and Aegis, keep your eyes peeled, watch our backs and wait for my signal. Abyss, Flare. Take the right tower. Disable the three guards as quietly as possible. Are we clear on my instructions?.
Jade frowned slightly, adjusting the straps on her gloves.
Jade: So it's me and Kaeleb on watch duty. Ark and Sloane take the right tower?
Michael: Exactly. Abyss, Flare, you two take the high right watchtower. No flashy energy bursts, no loud solar blasts. We need those watchtowers dark before we breach the inner courtyard.
Ark didn't say a word. He just gave a slight nod, his white hood pulled low over his eyes, his twin swords secured tight. One against his back, the other by his waist. Sloane stepped up beside him, giving her gloves one last pull.
Michael: Now tap on your chest. It should activate the stealth mood Synapse put in our suits.
Leo: Neat
The colours on their suit disintegrated into dark night black matching the dark of the night.
Michael: one last thing, we adress each other by hero names only. This warning is especially for you Tectonic. We don't know what's happening or who's listening. Now everyone move out.
Sloane: (whispering to Ark) Let's move.
**** /Eastern WatchTower — Perimeter Wall/ /02:25 AM/ ****
Keeping low, Ark and Sloane moved like ghosts through the shadows beneath the heavy concrete wall. High above them, the three guards in the eastern watchtower were scanning the forest line, their heavy rifles rested against the railing.
Ark reached the base of the tower structure first. Instead of using any wild moves, he used pure, grounded physical agility. He grabbed the narrow steel rungs of the structural ladder, digging the reinforced rubber toes of his boots into the concrete wall.
He moved up the wall effortlessly fast, completely silent, and staying hidden right beneath the blind spot of the tower's lower railing.
Sloane followed right behind him, using her solar-flight manipulation just enough to lighten her body weight so her boots barely touched the metal rungs as she climbed.
Up on the catwalk, the three guards were talking in low, rough hushes.
Guard 1: Keep your eyes on the treeline. Command said we might get drop-ins tonight.
Guard 2: Drop-ins?. Out here?. Ain't nobody coming out to this island without us seeing the boa—
Before the guard could finish his sentence, Ark's hand shot up over the metal railing.
He grabbed the guard by his tactical vest, pulling him forward with sudden, leverage-driven force and smashing his head hard against the steel railing. The guard went instantly limp. Ark vaulted over the rail in one smooth motion, dropping low onto the catwalk.
The second guard swung his rifle around, but Sloane was already over the ledge. She stepped inside his guard, grabbed the barrel of his rifle to redirect it upward, and drove a swift, sharp elbow straight into his throat, followed by a knee to his chest. The man dropped to his knees, gasping for air, before she knocked him out cold with a quick strike to the side of his neck.
The third guard reached for his sidearm, but Ark was already behind him. Ark wrapped his arm around the guard's neck in a tight chokehold, pulling him back against his chest while using his other hand to muffle the man's mouth. Within two seconds, he snapped the guards neck leaving him limp in his arms. Ark lowered him quietly to the metal floor.
Three guards down. Zero shots fired. Zero alarms triggered.
Sloane caught her breath, looking down at the three unconscious men spread across the catwalk. She looked over at Ark, who was already wiping his gloved hands, his face as calm as if he had just taken a walk in the park.
Sloane: Did you have to kill them?
Ark looked at her, his eyes sharp under his hood.
Ark: The question is why didn't you kill your man?.
Sloane: Because I'm not the prosecutor. We're heroes. That doesn't give us the right to kill.
Ark: Do you think they wouldn't have killed us if they had the chance?.
Sloane: That's what makes us better than them.
Ark: Hmmm
Sloane: (sighing) As soon as we're done with this mission you're gonna be getting a hearful from me
Ark: Okay ma'am
**** /Eastern Watchtower — Perimeter Wall/ /02:27 AM/ ****
Sloane gave Ark one last sharp look before shaking her head and stepping toward the outer edge of the catwalk. She activated her flight aura just enough to negate her body weight, stepping off the railing and gliding down into the courtyard like a phantom, her boots touching the dark asphalt without making a sound.
Ark did the opposite. He simply Vaulted over the metal ledge, dropping thirty feet straight down into the shadows of the wall, absorbing the impact into a silent, low combat roll beside her.
Across the perimeter, near the western watchtower, Michael and Leo were already standing over three unconscious guards they had quietly neutralized. Michael stepped up to the massive inner concrete wall and tapped it twice with the metallic butt of his staff, the signal.
From the treeline, Kaeleb swept through the night air to scoop up Jade. He flew low over the patrol road, crossing the high concrete wall and dropping gently into the dark courtyard alongside the rest of the squad.
The moment Jade's boots hit the ground, she immediately went to work.
Jade: (whispering) Hold on. If anyone checks those towers from the central hub, they're going to notice the empty platforms.
She dropped to one knee, placing both gloved palms against the cool pavement. Drawing on the mineral deposits and granite deep within the foundation, she manipulated the earth beneath the perimeter wall. Solid stone surged quietly up the interior structure of both watchtowers, molding itself into six dark, sharp, stone figurines positioned right along the railings. From a distance, in the low light of the spotlights, they looked exactly like guards standing at attention.
Leo looked up at the stone figures, raising an eyebrow under his mask.
Leo: (whispering) Okay, that's actually pretty sick, Tectonic.
Michael: Keep moving. The bunker is straight ahead.
The six heroes moved in an orderly, tight tactical diamond across the paved courtyard, staying clear of the open industrial lights. They passed the secondary administrative blocks and the supply depots, keeping their eyes glued to the dark windows until they reached the massive, octagonal central building.
Standing before them was a heavy, reinforced steel blast door sealed shut with a glowing crimson digital keypad and dual pneumatic locks.
Michael stepped up to the control panel. He unclipped a thin, modular interface cable from his wrist-comm and slammed the magnetic jack into the door's maintenance port.
Michael: Flare, Aegis, watch our flank. Velocity, watch the treeline. I'll attempt bypassing the pneumatic seal now.
A small blue holographic terminal projected over Michael's forearm. His fingers blurred across the interface, running a brute-force decryption script to mirror the facility's internal access protocols.
CRACKING ENCRYPTION KEY...
BYPASSING BIOMETRIC OVERRIDE...
SYNCHRONIZING PNEUMATIC PRESSURE CYLINDERS...
Michael: The architecture is ancient military standard... layered behind a modern sub-level firewall. Whoever modified this door knew his stuff.
Kaeleb: Less talking, more hacking Archon.
A rapid series of green status lines flashed across his wrist-comm.
ACCESS GRANTED.
With a deep, heavy hiss of depressurization, the twin pneumatic locks disengaged. The massive steel blast door slowly slid open, revealing a dark, concrete stairwell spiraling straight down into the subterranean abyss. A cold, damp draft rushed out, carrying the metallic smell Ark had warned them about.
Michael pulled his cable free, locking his staff into a high guard.
Michael: Already done. Stay low. We're going in.
One by one, the Halo Squad stepped through the threshold, slipping into the dark subterranean corridor as the heavy blast door slowly clicked shut behind them.
**** / Mojave Desert — Command Citadel/ /02:30 AM/ ****
Inside the pitch-black citadel chamber, the endless hum of the Apostle's respirator echoed against the cold stone. The wall of tactical monitors illuminated his gaunt, shadowed face as he watched the six red tracking dots on screen enter the central hub of Site "BUTCHER'S HOUSE."
Theasa stood beside the main command console, her fingers resting over a glowing crimson switch. She looked over at the Apostle, her eyes glinting in the dark.
Theasa: They just breached the sub-level blast doors. Xavier's son bypassed the firewall, he's smart, I'll give him that.
The Apostle let out a raspy, painful intake of air through his respirator, his gaunt fingers tightening around the arms of his chair. A dark, twisted smile parted his cracked lips.
Apostle: Of course he is. He is his father's son... analytical to a fault.
He slowly turned his head toward the lower screen, which displayed a live video feed from deep inside the lowest wing of the island's subterranean compound.
Apostle: Tell Butcher to start disecting, I wanna see what makes this children heroes before they meet their end. Let's put their hearts to the test.
Theasa smiled coldly, slamming her palm down onto a crimson switch.
Theasa: Butcher. You're a go
**** /Site "BUTCHER'S HOUSE" — Subterranean Level 1/ /02:32 AM/ ****
Inside the dimly lit concrete hallway beneath the island, Michael held up a hand, bringing the squad to a dead halt.
He brought up his wrist-comm, projecting a glowing, wireframe 3D blueprint of the entire subterranean compound, the data he had quietly pulled off the door's internal drive during the hack.
Michael: I downloaded the structural schematic when I cracked the access panel. This level isn't simply a bunker. It's a three-tier subterranean research facility.
He pointed to a glowing red chamber highlighted on the lowest floor of the wireframe.
Michael: The main command module is on Sub-Level 3, right past the central ventilation shaft. If the target is anywhere on this island, he's probably holding out in that room. We keep the same formation. Abyss and Flare on the rear guard, Tectonic in the middle, Velocity scout ahead. Check for how many guards and traps and weapons we have to prepare for. Aegis take our front.
Leo nodded, blurring forward through the dark corridor without making a sound.
While Halo Squad began their quiet descent down the cold concrete stairwell toward Sub-Level 2.
Deep in another room, a brutal reality was unfolding. It was inside a sterile, blood-stained laboratory lit by flickering overhead fluorescent bulbs, one of the Apostle's lead lab "DOCTORS" wearing a rubber apron covered in dry brown stains dragged a small, terrified child across the tiled floor.
The boy, no older than eight, was crying frantically, his small hands bound with heavy plastic zip-ties as he thrashed against the "DOCTOR'S" grip.
Child: Please!. Let me go!. Mommy!. Please!
The lab tech didn't say a word. His eyes were blank, completely hollowed out by fanatic devotion. He hoisted the small boy onto a cold steel surgical table, slamming him down against the metal.
Without hesitation, the "DOCTOR" reached into a tray of rusted surgical tools, grabbed a thick, blunt steel rod, and drove it violently down into the child's chest.
A horrified, blood-curdling scream echoed through the lower vents of the facility.
Butcher: (shushing) Come on baby, it doesn't hurt that much. It's just a stab. Okay okay. I'll pull it out.
Making sure to move as slowly as he possibly can, he pulled out the sword only to forcefully plunged it into the child's stomach. Another batch of raw, unfiltered scream rushed out of the child's throat.
The Butcher cracked a smile before going into an uncontrollable cackle. Dancing around the already dead body, before ultimately stopping. He tapped the body to check for signs of life and when he found none he fell into a bliss of rage and pain stabbing the already dead body over and over again.
Butcher: (crying) why are you dead?. I stabbed you just twice. Why couldn't you take more of that?. Why!?. You were so beautiful. I wanted to have more fun with you. I wanted to enjoy you.
Almost as if something left his body he stopped moving, looking around in confusion.
Butcher: Why am i crying for you. Why should I cry for you?. I have more of you to spare. I have more of you to enjoy.
**** /Site "BUTCHER'S HOUSE" — Subterranean Level 1/ /02:34 AM/ ****
A tiny child-like screeching was blasting across all the vent and before they could even react to that, a blur of motion swept down the corridor.
Leo materialized from the darkness, coming to a sharp, skidding stop right in front of Michael, breathing a little heavier than usual.
Leo: (low-voiced and tense) Level 2 is locked down tighter than a prison vault. Guards are stationed at every single choke point, heavy automated machine-gun turrets are bolted to the ceilings, and tripwire pressure plates are crisscrossing the floor. But at the very end of the main corridor, there's a massive, heavily reinforced blast door. No windows, heavy digital locks. That's got to be where the boss is holding up.
Michael nodded grimly, bringing up his wrist-comm to project the tactical schematic over his forearm.
Jade: Why're you breathing like you ran across the world?.
Leo: Try running slow on purpose while keeping tabs on traps and guns.
Michael: That's enough. Listen up. This is what we're gonna be doing. We bypass the ceiling turrets by letting Velocity trigger the proximity sensors at li—
Before Michael could finish laying out the sequence, Ark stiffened. His head snapped sharply toward a dark, narrow secondary intake vent branching off toward the west wing of the facility. Without uttering a single word, Ark pivoted on his heel and broke into a fast, silent sprint down the dark side-corridor.
Kaeleb reacted instantly, flashing forward and throwing a hand out to block his path.
Kaeleb: Whoa, hold up!. Where the fuck do you think you're going to?. We're supposed to be moving as a unit, remember?.
Ark tried to sidestep him, his eyes flashing with a cold, urgent intensity under his hood.
Ark: Out of my way, Aegis.
Kaeleb: Not a chance, man. You don't just bolt off into the dark every time you feel like flying solo. We need to plan this out together.
Ark stopped, his gaze locking onto Kaeleb's with an unsettling sharpness.
Ark: I smell blood.
Jade crossed her arms, frowning as she looked between them.
Jade: Yeah, you said that outside on the ridge. Human blood, cartel slaughter, yadiyada. But right now we have a mission objective to clear first—
Ark cut her off, his voice dropping an octave into a low, harsh rasp.
Ark: Not that blood. This is different.
Michael narrowed his eyes, stepping closer.
Michael: Different how?
Ark: Fresh. Undeveloped. A child.
The words hung heavy and suffocating in the sterile, flickering hallway, instantly recalling the agonizing screech that had just bled through the vents.
Michael shook his head, holding his ground.
Michael: Abyss, no. Our primary directive is the target in the command vault. We secure the mob boss, lock down the facility intel, and—
Ark: I don't wanna sound rude but you go play soldier I'll go work this out.
Michael raised his voice, firm and uncompromising.
Michael: Negative, Abyss. That's a direct order. We stay together as a squad.
Kaeleb: Exactly. Think abyss, this may be a trap to split us up?. Drug runners use decoys and hostages all the time.
Ark didn't care about their tactical protocols. He turned toward the dark western corridor again, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade.
Before Michael could issue another warning, a sharp, steady voice cut through the argument.
Sloane stepped forward from the back of the group. She didn't look at Michael or Kaeleb, her dark eyes were fixed entirely on Ark.
Sloane: He's not going alone.
Michael turned to her, his expression tightening in disbelief.
Michael: Flare, be reasonable. We don't know what's down that hallway or how many hostiles are waiti—
Sloane: Exactly. Which is why I'm going with him.
She walked over, stopping right beside Ark and setting her jaw. She looked back at the rest of the squad.
sloane: What's wrong with you guys?. He said a child's blood was just spilled and you're talking about a mob boss and mission target. This mission was already gone the moment we lost contact with base and A.U.R.A.
Michael: Try to understand Flare.
Sloane: No. You try to. We became heroes to save lives right?. Shouldn't this be our first priority?.
Kaeleb: I understand your point but we can't just storm in blindly cause we heard a screech and an un-enhanced here smelled blood.
Sloane: Fine then. We split up. You guys handle your mob boss and secure the target. We find out what's down that hall, and we meet you back here. Cool?.
Michael: As team leader i don't agree to that
Sloane: With all due respect Archon. No one voted that. Let's go Abyss
Ark gave her a short, silent nod of acknowledgment.
Before Michael, Kaeleb, or Jade could argue further, Ark and Sloane turned and disappeared down the dark western corridor, melting into the shadows as the rest of Halo Squad stood frozen in the dim subterranean hall.