"Murder has a cycle just like water. In the same way water becomes a cloud, then becomes water again, when blood calls for vengeance the blood from that vengeance calls too. If you plan to give death, it will always return to you." ― Micaiah Johnson (The Space Between Worlds)

* * * *

Sadly, Leroy didn't know anything more than what Zest had already told them, or what Aegis could find out themselves. He did, however, load them with the necessary weapons and gear before they left for the Veridale region.

The entire way there, Aegis were checking and double-checking all their equipment and weapons, with Sera and Zest mainly looking at the maps they've gotten of the Veridale region, and the blueprints of the facility that they could get their hands on as they held their strategy meeting.

Around the wide circular table in the center of the kitchen area of the boathouse, the members of Aegis gathered. A large map of the Veridale region was spread across the surface—creased, annotated, and worn at the edges from constant study. Nearby, a hologram projection hovered mid-air—blueprints stitched together from fragments Zest had stolen, schematics Laura had found, and lines Raul had reconstructed through desperate data scrapes from hidden hunter network caches.

Sera stood near the head of the table, her arms folded, and her eyes narrowed as she studied the blueprint like it was a living organism. Her dark coat hung open, scarf trailing slightly at her side. Her heterochromatic eyes shifted as she tracked invisible paths of infiltration and risk.

Zest stood beside her, a step behind but never out of sync. His hand rested on the table, index finger slowly tracing the perimeter of the hidden hunter facility embedded in Veridale's unassuming outskirts.

"They always think they're clever," he said quietly, his voice low, tired but sharp. "But they're not original. Most hunter facilities are just copies of each other. Surface-level camouflage. Same structural skeleton underneath." He flicked his fingers, and the hologram adjusted. "Here. First floor, guard stations, security surveillance. Second floor, research and containment. Third, lab work, and their…testing chambers."

Ness let out a slow breath. "Third floor hell, then."

"They've got only one formal entrance," Zest continued. "South-facing access point, reinforced. Guarded as hell. It's the illusion of control, of power. But if they're doing experimentation, they need supply routes, waste disposal, and even ventilation."

"They can't risk fumigating their own staff," Laura said, stepping forward. Her voice was clear and calm, but the anger simmered just beneath. "There has to be other routes."

Sera's eyes flicked up toward her, something quiet passing between them—gratitude, perhaps. She gave a single nod. "The ventilation system."

"They wouldn't make it small," Zest agreed. "They need to move biohazard air, maybe even noxious gases. If it's a full-scale experimental site like Ethan's intel says, then the shafts could fit a person."

"It won't be a walk in the park," Raul murmured, his arms folded and golden eyes narrowed on the digital projection. "They'll have motion detectors. Infrared sensors. Any one of us breathes the wrong way and they'll be on us."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"They'll be on us anyway," Tatius muttered, cracking his knuckles. He leaned against the far wall, jade green eyes gleaming under red hair. "We're breaking into their nest. They'll fight like cornered rats."

Raul half-smiled, dry. "Cornered rats with automatic rifles, mutation tech, and authorisation to kill Gifted on sight. But sure."

A beat of tense silence passed.

Then Raul turned to Zest. "You think they'll have anti-Gifted tech? Power inhibitors?"

Zest didn't answer immediately. His gaze drifted toward the flickering projection of one of the containment cells—its design all too familiar. "It's possible," he said, his voice quiet. "I've seen them before. The older facilities used crude dampening fields. The newer ones? They've got Gift-null zones. Nano-seeded environments. Your Gift won't work. You won't even feel it ebb away—it'll just stop, like you were never born with it to begin with."

That silence returned. But this time, it was heavier. Angrier.

Lucie clenched her fists, the fire at her fingertips flickering for a moment before she forced it down. Claudia stood tall and still beside her, her arms folded, her gaze unreadable, but her eyes were storming.

"This is why we're doing this," Laura said softly. "Because they don't see us as people. They see us as subjects. Resources."

"No," Raul said coldly. "They see us as animals."

"They don't even see us at all," Sera murmured. Her voice was soft. Distant. "They build their lies, their facilities, their illusions of control… And they forget that we bleed. That we remember."

She straightened, nodding toward the map.

"We'll split into groups. Ness, Tatius—you'll create chaos on the north end on the first storey. Hit them loud, hit them fast. Make them believe that's where we're coming from. You'll be our first decoy team."

Tatius smirked, tossing his scarf back over his shoulder. "We were born for loud."

Ness gave a lopsided grin and nudged his twin. "You especially."

Sera smiled faintly before turning to the other end of the room. "Letha, Claudia, Lucie—you're the second decoy team. Approach from the west sector on level two, mirror Ness and Tatius. Get them spinning in circles."

Lucie nodded, her eyes steeled. "What if they call in backup?"

"Let them," Claudia said coldly. "We'll be gone before they even realise it wasn't the main force."

"And while they're distracted," Zest cut in, "Sera, Laura and I will enter from the ventilation shafts we scoped out. We're the demo unit. We destroy everything—servers, research, and equipment. Anything we can't carry or extract, we reduce to ash. And if there are any Gifted inside—"

"We bring them home," Sera finished, her voice hard.

Kailey looked worried, her eyes flickering toward Neil.

"You both are staying back," Sera said gently to Kailey and Neil. "We'll need healers. Someone, too, has to help Raul. And Raul?" Raul looked over sharply. "I know your Gift's not combat-focused. But you can override surveillance, tap into their feeds, lock doors, and reroute patrols. We'll need you on overwatch."

Raul didn't argue. Instead, he turned and walked toward his portable terminal, fingers already flying.

"We'll use modified communicators," Neil said, stepping forward. "Encrypted, non-traceable. Lucie, Claudia, and Tatius—you'll take high-frequency variants. The decoy teams need coordination more than the rest."

Sera tapped her knuckles on the table. "Zest and I will have main control. If anything changes, if we lose contact or if any one of us is compromised, fall back to the safe zone on grid seven. Do not try to be a hero."

There was a pause. Then Ness whistled. "Well, you really know how to throw a party."

"No one invited you," Claudia muttered.

"I just show up and bring the fireworks."

The room was quiet again. The thoughts about their upcoming mission weighing heavily on their minds.

"I heard stories about Nicolosi when I was younger," Lucie whispered. "I thought they were nightmares. People being taken. Chopped apart. Their Gifts harvested. Then the hunters and the ESA came for me, and killed my dad. And then I realised, those weren't stories at all."

"They weren't stories," Sera said. "I lived it. So did Rex. Nicolosi might not be involved with Project Nona, but he continued it. Took it over."

"And now," Zest added grimly, "he's ready to scale."

The words hung in the air.

Laura's voice was quiet, but resolute. "Then we make sure he doesn't."

They all looked at Sera now. Their leader. Their anchor. She stepped forward, placing her hand flat on the map. "This is it," she said. "For everyone who was taken. For every Gifted who vanished into the dark. For those who can't fight back. We'll burn Veridale to the ground."

Kailey exhaled shakily. "We need to be prepared for anything."

Zest nodded grimly. "And if they really are using Gift-null fields inside… I hope for your sake you're all good at hand-to-hand."

"Don't worry about that," Ness said with a wink. "Sera drilled that into our heads a long time ago."

Sera's lips twitched into the ghost of a smirk.

"This is it then," Kailey murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, but filled with a weight that shook the room.

There were no cheers. No calls of bravado.

Just quiet understanding.

Because war had already started. Eldario was bleeding—and tonight, they would strike back.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.