The wind howled through the jagged peaks of the Caucasus Mountains, biting through the thick winter gear as Grimm and his team trudged through the frozen wasteland. The blast from the uplink tower had been loud enough to be heard across the border, but it hadn't been enough to stop Kessler from slipping into the shadows.
They had all seen the warning signs—Kessler was too methodical, too ruthless. The Protocol Phantom shutdown was just a blip on his radar, a temporary setback. The real war was still in motion. The AI was offline, yes—but the systems it had seeded across the globe, the drones, the sleeper cells—it was still alive in the bones of the world.
Their next destination wasn't a facility. It wasn't a hidden bunker. It was the heart of the beast.
Moscow.
Kessler's personal headquarters, an ultra-secure fortress within the Kremlin complex. It was his lair, the epicenter of the empire he had built with Phantom's data and power. And Grimm knew the time had come to destroy it, to eliminate Kessler once and for all. But that wasn't going to be easy.
Moscow had been heavily fortified since the collapse of Protocol Phantom, its streets crawling with mercenaries, intelligence agents, and all manner of surveillance. The city was locked down, every inch monitored. They were walking into the lion's den.
Grimm turned to his team, all of them bearing the weight of their past battles in their eyes.
"Everyone knows the plan," he said, voice low but unwavering. "We get in, disable their power grid, and make sure Kessler doesn't make it out alive. No backup. No exfil. We do this clean, or we don't do it at all."
Bull, still nursing his injuries, cracked a smile. "At least this time, I don't have to worry about getting hit in the head."
Reyes tapped his comms, eyes fixed on the map. "You'll worry about something worse—our route to the main entrance is blocked. Heavy ECM jamming. We'll need to take the old sewer lines beneath the city to get close."
Tanya stood up, adjusting her gear. "Old sewer lines? You're telling me we're walking through shit?"
"If it's the only way in, then yes," Grimm answered.
"Great," Tanya muttered. "Nothing like stepping into the heart of a city while swimming in its waste."
"Focus," Grimm snapped. "This mission isn't about comfort. We're going to get in, set the charges, and kill the target. That's it."
They moved out, shadows beneath the cold Russian sky.
Moscow was a ghost town, its streets eerily empty. The hum of drones echoed from the sky, a constant reminder of Kessler's presence. Every step they took was one closer to the heart of the city, but it was also one step closer to hell. Every inch of the old sewer tunnels was a reminder of how far they had fallen.
As they navigated the dank underbelly of Moscow, the air thick with the smell of decay and mold, Reyes's voice crackled through the comms.
"I've got eyes on the target building. It's heavily guarded. ECM interference is going to make this even more complicated. We need to move quickly."
"We'll make it work," Grimm said, scanning the dark tunnels ahead.
Tanya's sharp eyes swept the corridor, noting every shadow. "We can't afford to be seen. Not even for a second."
Bull groaned as he adjusted his rifle. "Then let's move faster, before they realize we're coming."
They pushed through the tunnels with ruthless efficiency, navigating through the maze of underground passages. Every corner, every rusted grate felt like it could lead them to death, but they pushed forward, determined to finish what they had started.
They reached the maintenance hatch beneath the Kremlin's power grid by dawn.
Grimm nodded to Reyes. "You're up. Disable the security."
Reyes knelt, pulling out his hacking tool. "It's gonna take a few minutes. ECM's still blocking me from full access, but I can break through."
Tanya kept watch. "We're sitting ducks down here. We don't have much time."
Grimm nodded. He knew the risk. The enemy was everywhere, and if they were discovered here, in the belly of the Kremlin, their mission would be over before it began. But he wasn't about to back down.
The seconds stretched into minutes, and then, finally, Reyes stood up. "We're in."
They entered the power facility. The place was humming with electricity, alive with the systems that powered the Kremlin. The walls were lined with banks of servers, and a glowing map of Moscow's grid was projected in the center of the room.
Grimm's eyes flicked to the door. "We move fast. Set the charges. Then we make our way to the heart of the compound."
The team moved quickly, planting explosives in key locations around the power grid. Bull handled the heavy charges, while Tanya set smaller explosives in the ventilation system. Reyes hacked into the central control system to trigger the overload.
Then they waited.
The first explosion shook the building to its core.
A blast ripped through the power grid, lights flickering as the entire structure came to life in chaos. Alarms blared, and soldiers scrambled to respond. But it was already too late. The team was inside, and they were on a countdown.
The Kremlin was theirs.
"Time to go," Grimm said. "Move out!"
They sprinted through the corridors, explosions rattling the walls around them as they made their way deeper into the compound.
Kessler's lair was ahead. The final confrontation was coming. Grimm's mind was focused—his mission clear. There was no room for mistakes. This was the end of the line.
At the door to Kessler's private chambers, Grimm's hand hovered over the handle. He could feel the weight of the moment pressing down on him—the culmination of everything they had fought for.
"Ready?" he asked, voice grim.
Tanya nodded. "Always."
Bull grunted. "Just hope we don't end up as Kessler's new lab rats."
Reyes was already plugging in his comms, scanning the blueprints. "In and out. You know the drill."
Grimm took a breath. "Then let's finish this."
With that, he kicked the door in.
Inside, Kessler sat behind a desk, his face bathed in the eerie glow of multiple screens. The man had expected them. He always expected them.
"Well, well," Kessler said, a smile twisting his lips. "It's been a while, Grimm. I didn't think you'd make it this far."
Grimm's gun was raised in an instant. "This is the end, Kessler. We're shutting you down for good."
But Kessler only laughed. "You think you've won? This is just a small part of the game. The world is already mine. You're just too late to stop it."
Grimm's finger tightened on the trigger.
"We'll see about that."