Streets Of Havel City

  Maya and Taz were having a furious argument across Havel that had been going on for several hours.

  "I'm not saying we inject ourselves recklessly," Maya remarked, her tone angry yet low to avoid drawing attention. "But we can't keep pretending we're going to win this because we are. Darris isn't just a step ahead of us; he's miles ahead, and he now possesses Lee's abilities. How do you see this ending if we don't balance the odds?"

  Taz's hands clinched at his sides as he paced with his partners. "What if you are wrong? What if it affects us, Maya? Lee just informed us how deadly this power is. Can you hear yourself?"

  The group travelled gingerly through the city's shadowy underbelly, a maze of abandoned train tunnels, neglected maintenance shafts, and decaying warehouses. The IPC's presence was evident; drones hovered overhead, Skull Soldiers patrolled in pairs, and surveillance cameras appeared to stare into every dark nook.

  “Stay low,” Lee said quietly as they went into an alley. His sandy-blonde hair reflected the faint illumination of a streetlamp, but the disguise was maintained.

  IPC Headquarters: Darris Command Centre

  Darris stood in front of a gigantic tactical display, with the bright map of Havel City dominating the area. Red dots indicated locations of interest, such as safe homes, abandoned structures, and subterranean tunnels.

  Amir entered the room, his motions as graceful as his silk-lined jacket. "Still no sign of your prey?" he said, his tone playful yet tinged with displeasure.

  "They'll make a move," Darris stated bluntly. His eyes studied the map, and his fingers traced possible paths. "Beckton is predictable. He will attempt to regroup and gather allies. Pierce is the only one remaining who could assist him."

  Amir lifted his eyebrow. "And you're sure Pierce hasn't gone off the grid permanently?"

  "He's hiding, but he's not unreachable," Darris said. "I've ordered all available units to tighten the net around potential targets. "If Beckton gets close to Pierce, we'll be waiting."

  "Interesting," Amir said, his gaze lingering on the chart. "A predator is cornered..." Let us hope your trap works. I would hate for the IPC to appear inept in front of the world."

  10th July 1997

  After days of cautious dodging and thorough searching, Maya and Taz found a lead. They discovered an encrypted letter hidden in a dead drop behind a corroded postal hole.

  Maya crouched next to the item, delicately unfolding the ancient slip of paper. The writing was a mishmash of numbers and letters, a code. "It's his style," she said, her voice filled with relief.

  Taz, resting on a neighbouring wall, scowled. "Are you sure this is pointing to him?" "Not another trap?"

  "It's legit," Maya insisted, immediately taking out her laptop. "He used an outdated cypher while he was active. Allow me a second to decode it."

  Lee stood at the alley's entrance, searching the street. The anxiety was oppressive, and every shadow was a possible threat.

  "Got it," Maya eventually murmured, her eyes brightening as the code unravelled. "It's a location an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city."

  Taz folded his arms. "Great. Let's go inside a decrepit building, hoping he's there and pray the IPC isn't."

  "It's our best shot," Lee said, turning to face them. "We move at dawn."

  The gang diligently plotted their journey, navigating the city's maze of abandoned infrastructure. Every turn was a gamble, and every shadow was a possible trap. The IPC's presence saturated the air with anxiety; patrol drones drew closer, and Skull Soldiers' muted conversation resonated down the tunnels.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Maya used her portable hacking gadget to disable cameras and sensors in real-time. Sparks flew as she chopped into an exposed wire box, rerouting the signal and buying them a few extra seconds. "That should keep them off our backs for now," she said quietly, motioning for the others to follow.

  Lee led the way. He couldn't afford to make a mistake now, especially when Luke's life was in danger. He looked over his shoulder at Maya and Taz, whose features were grimly determined.

  "Almost there," Lee mumbled as they emerged from the underground passages and onto the fringes of Haven City.

  Minutes Later – Unknown Location

  The edifice stood before them, a skeleton reminder of the city's industrial history. Rusted beams protruded like ribs, and smashed windows gave the structure an unsettling, empty appearance.

  Maya wrinkled her face as she surveyed the perimeter with a portable instrument. "There are no immediate signs, but that does not imply the situation is clear. The IPC's technology might be concealed."

  Taz unsheathed a tiny sword, the cool steel reflecting the moonlight. "Then let us be quick. "The longer we stay out here, the more exposed we are."

  They entered through a side door, the hinges creaking slightly as they wrenched it open. Inside, the warehouse was a vast expanse filled with heaps of neglected cartons and a slight odour of mildew. Dust motes whirled in the beams of their flashlights as they descended deeper into the building.

  "Luke?" Lee said softly, his voice echoing.

  A tiny rustling sound emanated from behind a stack of crates. The trio stiffened, their guns ready, until a person appeared from the shadows.

  Lee dropped his weapon, relief on his face. "Luke..."

  Luke raised a hand, his voice husky. "I Be damned, you guys found me."

  "Of Course we did, we never leave a man behind," Taz said.

  Luke sank upon an overturned box and rubbed his face. "I've been running for the past week."

  May 30th 1997

  "You left me in that alley, Lee," he said, his voice tinged with regret and a trace of disappointment. "I'm not blaming you; you had no choice. But what happened after... that's when everything got sticky."

  It was shortly after Lee vanished into the darkness, leaving Luke to fend for himself. The lane reeked of dampness and rot, with a fading streetlamp throwing long shadows on the brick walls. Luke adjusted his coat, concealing the revolver in his belt, and slid deeper into Havel's tiny backstreets.

  "I figured I'd head home, regroup, maybe get a plan together," remembers Luke. "But I didn't realise how fast the IPC was closing in."

  The streets were colder than normal, and Luke's every foot reverberated hauntingly. He lowered his head down to escape the bright glare of the rare streetlight. His senses told him that someone or something was observing.

  "I should've trusted my gut," he said bitterly. "When I reached my place, it was like walking into a trap I didn't know I'd set myself."

  Luke's house was nestled away in a calmer section of Havel City, a small two-story structure surrounded by overgrown bushes. Luke picked it since it was an area that most people would pass by. But when he neared the property, he felt uneasy.

  The entrance door was ajar. A thin trail of muddy footprints headed inside. Luke froze, with every nerve in his body on high alert. He went back into the shade of a nearby tree to survey his surroundings. That's when he noticed them: IPC troops stationed at the backdoor.

  "I instantly knew that IPC soldiers were on to me," Luke explained, looking at Lee and the others. "However, they were not amateurs. They know how to manoeuvre and secure a perimeter. They knew I'd come back."

  Luke circled the house, his feet remaining quiet on the moist ground. He discovered an open window that he had left unlocked weeks earlier just in case. Climbing through, he arrived softly in the little laundry room, the faint aroma of detergent disguising the tension in the air.

  "He's not here, but stay sharp," a soldier stated with a clipped tone. "Pierce does not make errors. He'll turn up sooner or later.

  Luke grinned grimly. "You got one thing right," he murmured under his breath, moving closer.

  He struck quickly, striking down the first soldier softly with the buttstock of his weapon. The guy collapsed to the ground, but the noise alerted another soldier patrolling the hallway.

  "I didn't have time to think," Luke explained, recalling the incident. "I just reacted."

  The second soldier lifted his gun, but Luke shot first. The gunfire boomed out, breaking the silence, and mayhem ensued.

  The remaining IPC team moved immediately, filling the home with tactical accuracy. As bullets ripped through the walls, Luke ducked into the kitchen, toppling a table to take refuge. He returned fire with measured and accurate rounds, but the odds were stacked against him.

  "They were good," Luke acknowledged. "It's too nice. I couldn't face them all head-on, so I had to improvise.

  He gulps.

  "After your struggle with Winston, I had explosives put in the houses in case the circumstances described above occurred to me. "The next thing I knew, I'd triggered the charges," Luke remarked, his voice weighted with remorse. "I had no other choice."

  The blasts shook the home, and flames licked at the walls as the building began to crumble. Luke utilised the pandemonium to escape via the rear, just escaping the crumbling roof as he vanished into the night.

  He leaned against the wall, his countenance grim. "That night, I lost everything." Despite losing my home and safety, I was fortunate to survive. Barely."

  Luke groaned and leaned back against the rickety box he'd used as a seat.

  "During my escape, I didn't just run blindly," Luke told me. "I paid attention. Listened. "And I have something…something big."

  Lee leaned forward, his sandy-blonde hair reflecting the faint illumination. "What kind of intel?"

  Pulling out a sheet of paper from the inside of a raggedy shirt, displaying satellite pictures and blueprints with coded comments. He scanned through the data until he came across a picture that drew the entire group in.

  The photograph depicted a gigantic undersea construction that was nearly extraterrestrial in design. It was a maze of interconnecting domes and tunnels, each filled with complex machinery. Surveillance drones and submersibles swarmed the outside, like worker bees in a hive.

  "Where did you get this?" Lee enquired; his voice guarded yet intrigued.

  Luke did not meet his eyes. Instead, he sat back against the box, his fingers tapping rhythmically on its fractured edge. "Let's just say I have my own ways," he murmured.

  Lee frowned but decided against pursuing the issue. Luke's history was unclear at best, and his information was currently too crucial to question.

  "Focus on the mission," he reminded himself, disregarding his worries.

  "Lee," Maya said nervously, her voice unusually mild.

  He looked up from the map, noticing the weight in her tone. "What is it?"

  Maya squirmed uneasily as her fingers fiddled with a stray thread on her sleeve. "With everything that's happening... the IPC's resources, their tech, Darris..." She paused, looking at Luke and Taz, then back to Lee.

  "Do you think we should use the Skull Mask powers?"