Chapter 12: KalinaVal D’Hérens, Switzerland – 0800 Hours (Local Time)Elias Granger’s Abandoned ChaletThe cabin creaked in the wind, half-eaten by time and snow. Ivy strangled the beams. Inside, it was worse—papers rotted, shelves collapsed, the air mold-thick.But the bunker door beneath the floorboards still worked.Knox led the way, his breath fogging the cold steel stairs. Lena followed, Jessa behind, covering rear.Beneath the chalet: a bomb-proof study, untouched.And in the middle——a desk.Jessa powered up the backup generator, dim lights flickering on overhead.“Place looks like it hasn’t been touched in fifteen years,” she muttered.Knox opened the central drawer.Inside: one object.A black cassette.LABEL: KALINA — CLASSIFIED TEST FOOTAGE — 19990805 Hours – The Forgotten FootageThey found an old player buried in a steel case. Jessa connected a portable screen. Static hissed as the tape began.Grainy footage. An old NATO holding cell. One chair. One girl.She looked eig

Chapter 14: The SignalUndisclosed NATO Medical Facility – 32 km Outside Brussels0720 Hours (Local Time)Knox sat outside the reinforced ICU unit, arms wrapped tight, jaw locked. Inside, Lena convulsed on the bed—strapped down, monitors flaring.Jessa emerged from the med bay, eyes sunken with exhaustion.“They sedated her again. Second time this hour.”“She’s getting worse.”“Knox, her neural patterns aren’t human. I don’t know what to compare them to. It’s not just seizure activity—it’s data.” She leaned in. “She’s broadcasting.”Knox’s voice was a low growl. “To Kalina.”Jessa shook her head. “No. That’s the part that scares me.”Knox turned.“She’s not sending a signal,” Jessa said. “She’s receiving one.”0735 Hours – Encryption Layer ZuluJessa pulled Knox into her secure field terminal, heart pounding.“I jacked Lena’s EEG into a quantum decoder array. It’s not brain waves. It’s a signal pattern. Repeating sequences. Vectors. Coordinates.”Knox stared at the screen. “You saying

Chapter 16: ResonanceRub’ al Khali – Subterranean Vault2155 Hours (Local Time)The air inside the ancient vault buzzed like a live wire, thick with energy and tension. Lena lay motionless inside the crystalline pod, her pale skin illuminated by a swirl of iridescent glyphs dancing along the walls. Each symbol pulsed in sync with her heartbeat, sending waves of alien light that bathed the cavern in an otherworldly glow.Outside the pod, Knox crouched behind a fractured obsidian pillar, weapon raised, breath heavy but steady. He sprayed bursts of gunfire toward the encroaching Sleepers — their movements were relentless, fluid, almost mechanical. Each round sent echoes through the chamber as they struck the dark, glassy walls.“Keep them off me!” Knox shouted into his comms. “Jessa, how long ‘til the lockdown?”Jessa’s voice crackled back, tense and urgent. “Almost there, but they’re closing in fast. This place isn’t built for a firefight.”Suddenly, the Sleepers surged, surrounding th

Chapter 18: BreachSIGMA Forward Operations Base – NightThe hum of machinery and the sharp clatter of boots echoed through the dimly lit operations room. Knox sat hunched over a glowing digital map strewn with red markers blinking like alarms across Istanbul, Dubai, and Lagos. Each pinpoint marked a dangerous, active sleeper cell — a legacy of Kalina’s fractured network spreading like a virus.Jessa’s slender fingers danced across the touchscreen, pulling up satellite feeds and intercepted communications. Her brows knitted as she relayed the news. “We’ve identified a high-priority target: an Echo command node hidden beneath an old Ottoman-era warehouse in Istanbul’s Fatih district. If we neutralize it, we could cripple their ability to coordinate in the region for weeks, maybe longer.”Knox’s jaw tightened, resolve hardening behind tired eyes. “Then that’s where we’re going. No more waiting.”Jessa nodded, loading weapon schematics and mission data onto their tablets. “I’ll provide o

Chapter 20: CrossfireSouthern Turkey – Mountain Border Region – NightA storm rolled across the Taurus Mountains, black clouds split by flashes of lightning. In the back of a camouflaged SIGMA transport truck, Knox locked eyes with his squad.“Viper’s trail leads through this sector,” he said over the hum of the engine. “Carter believes he’s en route to the Syrian border — off-grid, protected by mercs and ex-Echo loyalists.”Jessa checked her rifle. “We’re hitting a ghost with a private army.”Knox nodded. “Then we hunt like ghosts.”Echo Outpost – Underground Tunnel SystemViper stood in a subterranean command room, walls lined with servers pulsing like a heart. The monolith fragment hovered inside a suspension field, humming softly. A dozen loyal Echo operatives worked silently, uploading data, rerouting drones, encrypting feeds.He stared at a digital schematic of Damascus.One of his lieutenants approached, hesitant. “SIGMA’s closing in.”Viper didn’t flinch. “Let them. Every ste