*Warner had barely targeted his mark when he found himself surrounded by two groups of armed men with unknown intentions.*
"Get away from Director Stracken immediately," said one of the men who had disembarked from the van.
*Victor immediately recognized the voice of the man, who turned out to be part of Global Grid's intervention team. In case something happened to the CEO, their mission was to find him within the hour. And they were damn effective.*
"Damn it, they know each other," thought Warner. How do I get out of this Mexican standoff?
"No, no, don't shoot, he's with me," shouted Victor. "Don't shoot, they're the enemy."
*They aimed their weapons at the group of mercenaries, and the mercenaries did the same.*
"Looks like we have no choice," said Warner.
*He grabbed Stracken by the collar and injected him with a serum that knocked him out before tossing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He then crouched as if to brace himself on the ground.*
"Calculate the route for optimal extraction," he said.
"Route calculation complete, sir," replied ICE.
*He suddenly began running at full speed toward the mercenaries, while the security team targeted him.*
"Don't shoot, he has the director!" shouted the head of security.
*The mercenaries, a bit bewildered by his move, hesitated to shoot, but Warner didn't give them time to think and opened fire, killing some of them. The others retaliated, but with his magnetic deflector activated, the bullets deflected around him. Moreover, he ran at a blinding speed for a human, veered left, ran up the wall, and landed on the veranda where his motorcycle awaited.*
"This is Cipher 03, we're passing Gremlin."
"This is 02. Received."
*The two groups watched in astonishment at what had just happened.*
"Damn it," said a mercenary.
"I'm seeing things," said a member of security.
"Don't care, shoot those guys and catch him."
*A gunfight erupted in the streets of Hamburg between the Global Grid security company and the Serbian mercenaries hired to kill ARC-HIVE's CEO. Warner, however, had already plotted his course on the motorcycle. He headed toward his extraction point with his unconscious target on his lap. As he moved away from the scene of the shootout, a figure watched him from a distance. It was a woman with a tanned complexion and white hair. She watched the scene with a smirk.*
"Looks like I'll have to intervene."
*Meanwhile, Warner was far from realizing he was not alone. White-Star was indeed following him, but it wasn't the only active drone in the area. About two hours earlier, at the local German intelligence cell, a female officer had managed to convince her boss to launch a field operation. She was brunette with long tied-back hair and wore a gray tactical hoodie and blue jeans. She also wore a tactical vest with her name "Falke" written on it. In the room were two dozen operators following the briefing.*
"I know for sure it's going to happen tonight. The target is Victor Stracken, the CEO of ARC-HIVE. He has already received threatening letters."
"He receives dozens of death threats in every country he goes to. Why should we take this one seriously?" asked one of the men.
"I've already conducted my investigation, and we've spotted several suspicious activities in the suburbs of Hamburg. Karlstein's analyst team decrypted the data, and we traced it to this…"
*She showed a series of photos depicting men of Eastern European origin, but all in uniform.*
"Russians?"
"Serbs. But we think the Russian government hired them. Putin probably didn't like that ARC-HIVE was becoming the new alternative to Russian gas in Germany, and he's trying to eliminate it."
"I thought AH was on good terms with Russia. They even supply them with medicine."
"Or maybe I'm wrong, and it's not that. But Stracken's life is at risk, as evidenced by the shootout I had this morning, right Berl?" she said, pointing to her colleague.
"We raided one of their hideouts this morning. We caught them by surprise, so we gathered a lot of data. These guys were heavily armed. On-site, we found plans and maps, routes—basically everything that indicates they were setting up an ambush for someone."
"But there are three locations," said an operator seated next to her. "And the director didn't provide enough personnel to cover the entire area."
*He was a black man with a bit of a beard.*
"I know, Mino, that's why we'll have a drone on-site," replied Carmen. "At least when Karlstein gets the authorizations."
"That's all well and good, but when is this attack happening?" asked one guy.
"Mayce is right," replied Mino. "We'll just camp at the ambush points and wait."
"No, it's too dangerous, and we risk getting caught in crossfire. I've placed an agent in front of the FAC where Stracken is right now. As soon as he exits, we'll act according to his route. Until then, stay ready and equip yourselves."
"Well, this sounds like one hell of a mess of a mission," said Mino.
"Stracken is a major energy partner for Germany. If you don't want to freeze next winter, you'd better get moving."
*Thus, as Warner continued his journey, he suddenly received a notification from Gael.*
"You're being followed," he simply said. "Change extraction route."
"Followed? By what?"
*He looked around, and even with the scout scanner and hacked cameras within a 2-kilometer radius, he saw nothing but a few vehicles.*
"There are two drones above your head."
"Drones?"
"The first is from Global Grid. They're not letting you out of their sight."
"That makes sense. And the second?"
"Well, you're not going to like it."
*Warner looked intrigued, but as he took his new route, he had to slow down his bike for a moment. Stracken was unconscious, sitting just ahead, when a sniper shot hit him squarely.*
"Hit," said the spotter. "But what the… He's still going."
*Although the shot hit him directly, he didn't fall off his bike, especially since the vest absorbed most of the impact. Warner took advantage of this to accelerate and get out of range, veering between buildings again.*
"Damn, what was that? If I hadn't had my vest, I'd be on the ground by now," he said angrily.
"It's the German federal police's tactical intervention unit, the GSG9."
"Cops?" wondered Warner.
"Yes, but they also handle counter-terrorism."
"So, they're like the RTCU?" That's just great. ICE, give me the position of all Bundespolizei operators within a 2 km radius.
*Warner saw them appear on the map projected on his helmet visor and changed his extraction route again. However, he was now closely followed by two civilian cars, which were actually police.*
"Damn, I don't have an angle of fire," said Mino.
"Don't be stupid. At this speed, if he falls, Stracken risks breaking his neck," shouted Carmen. "We need to force him to stop."
"And how do we do that?"
"I'm getting to that."
*Warner led them around for another five minutes but still couldn't shake them. It was then that a jeep came around the corner, hitting the police car. Carmen took a quick glance and recognized the hoodies of these men.*
"Serbs?" she said in astonishment. "How did they find us?"
"Watch out!" shouted Berl.
*Knowing their vehicle was not armored, she hit the brakes to slow down, a burst of machine gun fire hit the hood, and bullets penetrated the window. One of the bullets struck Mino seated at the front.*
"Scheisse. Mino!"
"I'm fine, it's the vest," he replied quickly. "But I'm going to bleed those bastards."
"Damn it, how did they know where we were? I thought they were dealing with Global Grid?" asked Mayce.
"It's as if they had a tracker on him," Carmen thought.
"We'll think about that later. Let's take them out and catch up with the bike," replied Berl.
*They opened the windows of the vehicle and began firing with the machine gun. Although she had considered the possibility of a tracker, the truth was that Gael had given the Serbs Warner's position. This way, he hoped for a confrontation between the mercenaries and the police, and it worked.*
"Don't even think of thanking me," he said sarcastically.
"Just give me my extraction point."
*Suddenly, he felt an electric shock.*
"What was that?"
*Stracken had just woken up. This wasn't planned as he was supposed to be asleep for a good ten hours. That's when he saw on his wrist a watch made by ARC-HIVE. The H-Watch had a resuscitation function; if the wearer showed no signs of activity after 10 minutes, they received an electric shock. And Warner was unaware of this, while Victor woke up seated in front, hands bound.*
"Where am I…"
"But he's mocking me," Warner groaned.
*Panicked, Victor tried to struggle. Ted had to brake to avoid hitting a truck, but the bike lost balance, and the two passengers were ejected at over 250 km/h. In his fall, Ted held onto Victor as he hit the ground at full speed, crashing violently before rolling several times. It was the second road accident he had experienced in a single night, and Vic was already fed up. He got up, frightened and confused. The man in the motorcycle helmet had indeed tried to abduct him, yet he had risked his life to save him from the accident. And now he was dead, lying on the ground due to the impact. Victor had only minor scratches.
"But damn it, who is this man?" he wondered.
A car arrived, followed by a black limousine. With his mind muddled, Victor didn't try to understand and took the first exit he found, stairs leading to the subway. The jeep parked, and mercenaries emerged. Meanwhile, the GSG9 police were stuck in place because the Serbs had deployed a light RPD machine gun.
"Who uses such heavy gear in Germany, huh?" Berl shouted.
"Ask our friends from Eastern Europe; they're right next door," Carmen complained.
"Shut up and find a shooting solution," said Mino. "Mayce, cover me."
Before he could rise to return fire, Warner stood up and approached the mercenaries from behind. He broke the neck of the first, the second noticed but grabbed his weapon before he could shoot, so he struck him on the head. He followed with a spinning kick to the head of the third approaching from behind, then grabbed the RPD from the last one and broke it in half with his bare hands before knocking him out with the weapon's stock. The impressed German police didn't know what to think and emerged from their hiding spots.
"Who is this guy?" Carmen asked.
"A Fucking Ninja," Berl said in awe.
Suddenly, he drew his gun and shot Berl in the knee, then in the shoulder. Before the others could react, he swiftly moved back, and his bullet hit Mino in the throat. Seeing this, Carmen retreated, but he had already hidden behind the Jeep's door and dashed down the subway stairs, disappearing.
"Damn bastard. Mino, are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, he just... scratched me. Damn, that's twice today."
"Speak for yourself," Berl grumbled.
"He didn't miss you guys, though," Mayce said. "Go after him; I'll take care of them. Go."
Meanwhile, Stracken was at the subway station. At this time of night, it should have been crowded, but the place had been evacuated by the GSG9 half an hour earlier due to its proximity to one of the ambush sites. As he was near the tracks, thinking, he suddenly saw the silhouette of the motorcyclist appear. At this point, he could take no more, and he started shouting with all his might.
"LEAVE ME ALONE. Damn it, what have I done to you? I'm not your enemy, why are you doing this to me?"
As he broke down in tears, the man approached and tried to grab him when a civilian man burst in, firing a shot in the air. The man in question was Jacob Wittman. He aimed his semi-automatic Sig Sauer at Warner.
"Get away from him, or I'll put a nice hole in your head."
"Jay," Victor said with a relieved smile. "You don't know how glad I am to see you..."
At the same time, Carmen Falke arrived and pointed her gun at Jay.
"Polizei. Put your weapon on the ground immediately."
"Damn, I don't speak a word of German," he thought. "Where is Francis when you need him?"
"Final warning," she said.
Jay thought about how to make himself understood.
"I know, Vic, tell her I'm with you, that I'm part of your security or something like that."
"But you're not part of..."
"Tell her."
Victor repeated the officer's warning to Jay, explaining the context, but she replied:
"This is a federal operation. Put down your weapon or you will be arrested."
"What did she say?" Jay asked.
"Basically, she doesn't care."
Suddenly, Warner positioned himself right behind Victor and put his gun to his neck. The young man panicked as the others aimed their guns at him. It was a shouting match in both English and German while Victor begged for his life. Warner's mind raced as the train approached.
"ICE, go."
ICE hacked the system so that the train wouldn't stop, using it as a one-way ticket. However, just as the train got close, a gunshot rang out. It wasn't Carmen or Jay, but Warner was violently thrown backward as if by a shockwave and was struck by the speeding train, disappearing from the two individuals' view. Shocked, they stood speechless, then turned towards the hall and saw a beautiful woman with tanned skin and silver hair. She wore a white sleeveless turtleneck and navy blue pants with heeled boots. She also held a kind of electric rifle, though with a different design from standard rifles.
"SIMA," Victor cried as he rushed into her arms.
She hugged him to her chest with a satisfied smile while she fixed her gaze on Jay.
"It looks like I needed to intervene after all," she said.
To be continued.