“Fields! Rayson! I need your help!” Captain Williams yelled aloud. “Apply pressure to the wounds and wrap it all in clean gauze!”Calvin was still conscious, but the trauma and the blood loss were starting to take a severe toll on his broken body.Peeling his eyes open, he forced his lips open.“Captain…Leave me be. I…am no good with you. Just please…get my people out of here. I trust…Commander Payne. And as long as he is alive…victory shall be ours.”“You are my responsibility, and I am not letting you die on me, damn it!”Calvin gritted his teeth to suppress the pain as the commandos applied first aid, patching his wounds as best as they could.“He’s stable for now. But we need to get him to a hospital, Captain. I’d suggest a medivac.”“It’s impossible to get a medivac down here. We are 700 miles away from the nearest Alexandrian asset. We need to carry him ourselves and get him to a local hospital.”“Just stop…”Calvin forced the words out of his mouth, fighting through the pain.“

Raymond’s finger tightened on the trigger as his adrenaline shot up at the sight of Fields lying wounded on the floor.“This bastard is obviously lying. We should shoot him right here and end this, Captain!”But Captain Williams wasn’t ready to make a hasty decision.“He’s got a lot to lose if he lies right now. But so do the people of St. Jakob’s if he’s telling the truth.”Captain Williams lowered his gun and then, without warning, smacked Sergeant Nimitz in the face with the butt of his rifle.“Cuff him and bag him away!”As the rebels reclaimed the old city hall and unfurled St. Jakob’s original flag on its terrace, Captain Williams picked up Fields and lugged him over his shoulder while Raymond cuffed and taped Sergeant Nimitz.***Sergeant Nimitz opened his eyes to a growing darkness.His mouth was taped shut, and there was a jute bag covering his head.With both his hands cuffed and tied to a steel chair, he was completely at the mercy of his captors.“Mhmpf!”Captain Williams

Inside a secure war room on Santini Island, Xander stood at the head of the conference table surrounded by his most trusted military tacticians.General Ebenezer stood in front of him, while Captain Williams occupied the right side and Master Lukas stood to his left.Above the table, a holographic display of the global map flickered with a bluish hue, highlighting all areas of interest in throbbing red.“Gentlemen, I first want to congratulate you all on completing your missions with such clinical precision. Thanks to your efforts, we have been able to reclaim our three military bases on Nusca, Lemora, and Rovenia. And now, we have also managed to liberate St. Jakob’s. Valheim has effectively lost all its forward bases and research facilities, while we have gained both new allies as well as plenty of untapped resources. Which brings me to our next objective: eliminating General Kreig Varoose and crippling Valheim’s defenses once and for all.”“General Varoose isn’t like his other lack

All the pain and the hurt Xander had been hiding for so long finally resurfaced from the depths of his heart as Dr. Lucy held him in her soft embrace.“I’ve hidden my past for far too long. And if anyone deserves to know the truth, it’s you. Look into my eyes, Lucy.”Xander pulled her closer, and she stared into his stormy blue eyes like a mesmerized siren.“This is my story, Lucy. I want you to see it all and know who I truly am.”As Dr. Lucy continued peering into Xander’s eyes, she fell into a hypnotic trance, and the world disappeared around her.Everything blurred in the room, and a minute later, Xander’s voice whispered in her ears.“Welcome to my past. This is where my story began, Lucy. This is the dreadful legacy of the Payne family.”***When the darkness cleared, Dr. Lucy found herself in a hospital building.She was inside a critical care room with white walls and spotless tiled floors.There was a single bed in the room, and a pregnant woman lay on it, connected to differ

One hour.That was all the time Xander had to get to General Varoose.As soon as the call ended, Xander received a text from the same number. It contained the coordinates the General had promised.Xander immediately entered them into the digital global map on his phone.The location marker pinged on Valheim, zooming in on a remote rural location far away from the main cities.“Mist Fall,” Xander read, narrowing his eyes on the map and zooming in on the marker until it revealed an iron mine on the far end of the village. “I am coming for you, Priscilla. I promise, I won’t fail you again, sis.”Xander set a timer on his watch and started making the final calls.The first number on his list was that of Jakob Rashford.“Jakob, we need to talk. I am leaving Alexandria. Get to the military HQ in Glenmonte right away.”Next, he called up the chief organizer of the Blood Banner Auction from Glenmonte, Paul Sanchez.“Paul, I need something from your auction, and I am not in the mood to take ‘n