In Khatanga Outlands, Siberia – Russia
The wind across the Siberian permafrost carried with it a silence that felt ancient, as if the land itself remembered a time before humans ever walked it. The MI-8 helicopter hovered briefly, then descended onto a remote ice field laced with broken snow drifts and old Soviet-era wreckage.
Damien stepped off first, rifle slung low, eyes scanning the treeline. Beside him, Nora adjusted her satellite-link visor, decoding live seismic shifts beneath the earth.
"This is it," she said. "The coordinates Evelyn gave us match a subterranean chamber—30 meters underground. There's movement."
Kiyomi landed next, followed by Elijah and Evelyn. "There's an energy signature coming from down there," Elijah muttered, checking his modified drone feed. "And… something else. Biometric readings. One human. No ID match."
Nora went still. "It's her. My cousin. Rhea."
Location; Subterranean Access Tunnel – Blackridge's Hidden Siberian Lab
The tunnel stank of rust, ammonia, and ancient air. The walls were carved through both ice and rock, some places reinforced with titanium girders. Blackridge had spared no expense building this bunker beneath the world's most unforgiving terrain.
At the end of the tunnel was a biometric door—marked only with an old genetic rune.
Evelyn stepped forward. "It'll only open for someone of the bloodline."
Damien turned to Nora. She hesitated, then stepped up, pressed her hand against the scanner. It hummed, glowed blue... and unlocked.
Inside was a wide chamber bathed in green bioluminescence. Strange machines blinked quietly in the dark. In the center—suspended in a translucent cylinder—floated a young woman.
Her body was marked with pale veins of light.
Her eyes opened.
"Rhea," Nora breathed, rushing forward.
But Evelyn pulled her back. "She's not the same. Look at the neural interface on her spine. They've modified her."
As Damien stepped closer, the cylindrical chamber hissed open, and Rhea collapsed into his arms. She was ice-cold, barely conscious, her skin strangely warm to the touch.
"I... I didn't betray you," she whispered. "I tried to keep the gene-seal hidden… but he… Archer… he used me."
Kiyomi examined her. "Her DNA's been augmented. They were trying to blend ancient genetics with modern bioweapons."
"They used me as a conduit," Rhea gasped. "My bloodline goes back to the Vantari… the Lost Genome."
Evelyn looked sharply at Damien. "She's the missing piece of the Codex."
---
Suddenly, alarms blared. Red strobes flashed overhead.
"They know we're here," Elijah shouted. "Strike team inbound from the north shaft!"
Damien pulled Rhea over his shoulder. "We move. Now!"
They navigated back through the tunnels as the first wave of enemy drones zipped past, unleashing sonic pulses. Kiyomi dropped a mine, collapsing the tunnel behind them, buying seconds.
At the surface, Blackridge hovercrafts emerged over the ridge, snow kicking up in storms of fury. Elijah launched counterfire, but it was Evelyn who activated a dormant Soviet missile system from her remote.
Explosions erupted across the field, shredding half the incoming fleet.
"We've got one shot at this extraction!" Damien barked as the team boarded the chopper. Rhea coughed blood as Nora held her tight.
As they lifted off, flames consumed the icy bunker below—along with any trace of what had been done to Rhea.
---
Later – En Route to Geneva Safehouse
Wrapped in thermal blankets, Rhea opened her eyes in the chopper cabin, reaching for Nora's hand.
"He's coming for all of you," she whispered. "And he's not alone."
Damien stared out into the clouds, jaw tight.
"If Archer's weapon is part of our bloodlines... then the war just became personal."