Achilles approached carefully. Margaret covered him. He patted her down professionally. No weapons or hidden devices.“You tried to kill my daughter.”“I tried to complete a mission. Your daughter was simply the target.”“She's seven years old.”“And? Children die in wars every day. Why should yours be different?” Commander Okafor’s weird smile never wavered: “You've killed children indirectly. Every bomb you authorized, every building you cleared. Collateral damage, they call it. So why is your daughter special?"“Because she's innocent and special. Uninvolved. She didn't choose this war.”“None of us chose this war. It chose us.” She leaned back: “Your government killed my children. British bombs. British soldiers. British 'peacekeeping' operations in my country. I watched them die. So yes, I wanted you to feel that pain.”Achilles felt his finger tighten on the trigger. It would be easy. One shot. Justice for his daug

“Two hundred thousand pounds over six months. Paid in monthly installments.”Achilles sat down heavily with thoughts booming in his head. Two hundred thousand pounds. A price of betrayal?“Could be a coincidence,” Margaret whispered with shock on her face. “Another Phillip Scott. Someone is using his identity.”Michael went on: “I checked. The account was opened using his passport, His signature, His personal information.” he looked at Achilles: “I'm sorry. But your man is dirty.”Investigator Anthony entered: “Warlord, I just spoke with the hospital. Brigadier Scott checked himself out two hours ago. Against medical advice. Security footage shows him leaving with two unknown men.”“He ran.” Achilles felt a cold fury building: “He knew we'd figure it out eventually. So he sprinted.”“There's something else.” Anthony pulled up his phone: “Hospital staff found this in his room. A burner phone. Only one number in the call log. We traced it. It belongs to a cargo ship in international wat

“This is what I've always wanted. A fair fight. No politics. No missions. Just two men settling old scores–”The warlord interjected: “This isn't about scores. This is about justice for my father. For everyone you hurt.”“Your father hurt me first!”“He made a tactical decision in combat! You made it personal!”“Because it was personal!”.Ethan's voice cracked: “He was my brother! My twin! And he left me to die!”“He saved over one thousand children and women that day! He fought against human trafficking! He made the choice a commander makes— the hard choice! And you murdered him for it!”Ethan's breath came in with sharp gasps: “I gave him justice!”Achilles sucked his teeth: “You gave him a noose!”They stared at each other across the distance. Two men. Same blood and training. Opposite sides of an impossible divide.Ethan raised his pistol: “One of us walks away from this, nephew. One of us dies here. Choose wisely.”Achilles raised his own weapon: “I already chose. Justice over rev

“Four left! But they have explosives!”Achilles assessed quickly. Four hostiles. One corridor. Limited angles.He pulled a flashbang from his vest: “Cover your eyes!”Threw it down the corridor. The explosion was blinding, deafening.Achilles charged through the aftermath. The four operatives were disoriented, stumbling.He engaged at close range. His pistol cracked repeatedly. Two operatives down then three.The fourth recovered faster than expected. Grabbed Achilles' gun hand. They struggled.The operative was strong. Trained in hand-to-hand combat. He twisted Achilles' wrist, trying to make him drop the weapon.Achilles drove his knee into the man's ribs. Once, twice, then the grip loosened.Achilles broke free, created distance. Raising his pistol, the operative lunged again.Achilles fired, point-blank. The operative fell.“Clear!” Achilles called out.The detention room

“You stand trial. But I'll testify about your cooperation. Recommend leniency.”The Lion considered this: “The codes change every twenty-four hours. But there's a master override. A backdoor was built into the system in case something went wrong. It's hidden in the main control server.”“Where's the server located?”“Liverpool. Underground data center beneath the old Royal Bank building. Third basement level. The Archelords lease server space there under a shell company.”Achilles pulled out his phone and called Dora Beauty: “I need a location traced. Royal Bank building, Liverpool. Third basement level. There should be a data center.”“Looking it up now,” Dora said. “Found it. The building houses multiple server farms. The third basement is listed as... got it. Leased to a company called African Trade Solutions.”“That's them,” The Lion confirmed: “The override code is in a file called 'Phoenix.' You'll need administrator access