The dust choked the air as fire rained down on Nam's unit. The rocks beneath their feet trembled from mortar blasts, and every escape route had been sealed off with ruthless precision. Hiroshi hadn't fallen into the trap—he had reversed it, and now Nam's people were the prey.
Lan dove behind a fallen boulder, blood trickling from a cut above her brow. "They knew," she shouted over the din. "They knew everything."
Nam's face remained calm, but inside, his mind raced. Someone had leaked the plan. Only five people knew the full extent of the operation.
One of them was a traitor.
Elsewhere, Hiroshi stood atop the command outpost, watching through his tactical scope.
"They're panicking," he muttered. "Just like rats in a burning field."
Taro stood beside him, silent. The alliance was fragile, but for now, profitable.
"You did well planting the mole," Hiroshi continued.
Taro raised an eyebrow. "That wasn't me."
Hiroshi froze. "What?"
Taro's smirk didn't reach his eyes. "You really think I'd tell you everything?"
Back at the battlefield, Kaito's voice crackled through the comms. "Nam! Pull back northwest. There's a ravine—use the smoke cover!"
Nam nodded. "Go!" he barked.
Lan and the others followed, dodging artillery fire, leaping over the burning wreckage of what used to be their ambush site.
As they slid down the rocky ravine, Nam caught sight of a shadow ahead—someone waiting.
Shun.
"Welcome back," Nam said, catching his breath.
Shun didn't smile. "I brought you something."
He tossed a bloodied comm device to Nam. It still buzzed with static—and hidden within it, encrypted messages.
Lan's eyes widened as she skimmed the logs. "This is from HQ. It's… coded orders. Someone fed Hiroshi your entire plan."
Nam stared at the screen, then looked up into the darkening sky.
"Find the mole," he said coldly. "And when we do…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.