Los Muertos

The extraction point is a prison bay buried deep under Los Muertos, all black steel, sick light, and the stink of ozone. Kay steps in expecting a dead drop. Instead, he finds an open cell, a dozen Yakuza rifles trained down the corridor, and Taled sitting inside like he owns the place.

Yma's hacked terminal glows on the wall beside him, a decrypted message scrolling in hard white lines. The last sentence hangs there like a knife: Taled is compromised. Let the beacon draw Kay in.

Behind Kay, the blast doors slam shut with a hydraulic hiss. Red warning strips bloom across the frame, sealing him in with the waiting guns and the man he used to call brother.

Taled leans forward in the cell, slate-brown skin lit by the terminal glow, tattoos pulsing under his sleeves. He does not reach for the bars. He watches Kay instead, calm enough to be dangerous.

The rifles tighten their aim. Somewhere deeper in the block, an alarm starts to climb toward a full scream.

Kay holds Taled's gaze and gives him the smallest nod, a private signal hidden inside all this crossfire.

Taled's face shifts, not into a smile, but into a decision. He turns his head toward the Yakuza line, jaw tight, as if the room has finally backed him into a corner he can use.

One rifle jerks a fraction off target as a soldier hesitates, and the commander snaps a warning before the bay can erupt.

Kay's sign lands, but the cost is immediate, the nearest soldier catches the movement and swings his barrel toward Kay first.

Kay moves on Taled's cue, snapping a soldier into his path and yanking him across the line of fire. The rifle comes up as a shield a split second before the bay cracks with gunfire, and Kay's burst slams toward the commander.

The commander jerks back behind his men, armor sparking under the impacts. Kay's shoulder clips the soldier hard, and the silenced Mac 10 chatters hot in his hands.

Taled explodes forward off the cell lip, using the opening Kay made. One Yakuza soldier stumbles as Taled slams into the line, turning their neat formation into a tangle of bodies and rifles.

Kay's shield takes the force of the return fire, the round cracking into the man's armor instead of Kay's ribs. The impact jolts Kay's arm, and the magazine runs dry with a sharp, empty click.

Taled drives deeper into the bay, buying seconds, but the commander is still standing and the soldiers are re-aiming through the smoke.