P. The Fallen Base
『Commander, come in. This is Fox. We've reached the target site. All quiet so far.』
A woman's voice crackled through the radio.
White Fox.
The hero charged with leading the field assault for this operation — and, without question, the strongest fighter our organization had to offer.
Every ounce of combat power the Justice Corps could muster had been thrown into this mission. That alone told you how much it mattered.
Operation Guillotine.
A two-pronged assault on the heart of the BBC, designed to crush the syndicate in a single stroke.
The BBC.
A sprawling criminal empire that ruled the underworld — and worse. With money and narcotics, they had woven their tendrils through the political establishment, wielding influence that no legitimate power could match. If anyone had dragged South Korea into the dark age it now suffered through, it was them.
The drugs they'd flooded the streets with had gutted countless families. The illegal loan sharking and fraud they ran had driven an untold number of people out onto the pavement — or sold off to the highest bidder. If we could take them down in one sweep, the whole country would breathe easier.
I stole a glance behind me.
There stood a woman with long black hair and a beret, arms crossed, watching the operation unfold with the composure of a general surveying a battlefield.
Supreme Commander Lee Mia.
Head of our organization, the Justice Corps.
Her eyes met mine, and she gave a small nod.
"Command center here. Breach authorization granted, effective now."
『Copy that.』
After the transmission cut out, I found myself fidgeting with my hands, restless and on edge.
There was an unshakable knot of unease in my chest, and I couldn't say why. No — that wasn't true. I knew exactly why.
This operation had been too easy. Far too easy, considering the meticulousness the BBC had shown us time and time again.
Of course, maybe I was just being paranoid.
BOOM!
That was when it happened.
A distant explosion rumbled through the walls, and the room plunged into total darkness. The power had been cut entirely.
For a heartbeat I thought it was a blackout — but I realized almost immediately that it couldn't be. If it were, the backup generators would have kicked in by now. Which meant the power had been severed deliberately. And not from a single point — from multiple locations, all at once.
"We're under attack! Everyone, weapons up!"
The Supreme Commander was the first to grasp the situation, and her shout tore through the dark.
I drew my pistol from its holster. A moment later, the sealed door of the operations control room buckled with a violent screech of tearing metal and came flying inward.
Tense, I leveled my gun at the entrance — but what came through wasn't a person. It was an object.
"Flashbang! Heads down, everyone!"
the Supreme Commander barked.
The deafening blast slammed into my eardrums, and the pitch-black room was swallowed whole by blinding white light in an instant. Her warning had come a split second early, and that alone spared me from being blinded — but the shockwave was still powerful enough to rattle my skull loose from my spine.
I fought to collect myself and raise my weapon again, but for some reason, no strength would flow into my arm.
There was a smell in the air. Thick, acrid.
Only belatedly did I realize it wasn't some ordinary stench — it was something chemical — and I clapped a hand over my nose.
Too late. I'd already inhaled far too much of it. My consciousness blurred at the edges, and the world before my eyes went hazy and soft.
"Damn it…."
I tried everything to keep my grip on awareness, but my eyelids kept sliding shut, heavier with every blink, and there was nothing I could do to stop them.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed through the room.
Straining to lift my drooping head, I made out soldiers standing before me — heavily armed, gas masks covering their faces.
Shoulder patches on their sleeves read: BBC.
"So this whole thing… was a trap…."