CHAPTER 1 — THE CARGO HOLD

The roar of the engines filled the cargo hold like a living beast, shaking the metal walls of the military aircraft as it cut through the black sky.

Sergeant Elena Carter sat strapped to the side bench, helmet resting against the cold steel, eyes forward, jaw tight. Across from her, the rest of Raven Unit checked weapons and gear in heavy silence. No jokes. No casual talk. This wasn’t a routine drop.

This was a black mission. No records. No questions.

Captain Mason Hale stood near the ramp, arms crossed, watching everyone like a hawk. His gaze lingered on Elena a moment longer than necessary.

“Two minutes to target airspace,” the pilot’s voice crackled through the intercom.

Elena adjusted her gloves and finally broke the silence.
“Captain, command still hasn’t told us what we’re retrieving.”

Hale’s lips twitched. “You’re paid to follow orders, not ask for bedtime stories, Sergeant.”

Private Lucas Reed shot Elena a nervous glance. “I heard the package is… sensitive.”

Elena leaned closer. “Everything’s sensitive when they don’t want witnesses.”

Hale snapped, “Enough. Final check.”

But tension wasn’t just in the air—it was between them.

Ever since Elena joined Raven Unit, things had felt… off. She was faster, sharper, and somehow always one step ahead during ops. Some admired it. Others resented it.

And Hale?

Hale hated anything he couldn’t control.

The intercom buzzed again. “Approaching drop corridor. Thirty seconds.”

Red lights bathed the cargo hold.

Hale lifted his hand. “Masks on.”

As they stood, Elena felt someone brush past her—too close, too rough. She turned sharply.

It was Sergeant Briggs. Big, scarred, eyes cold.

“Watch yourself, princess,” he muttered.

She met his stare. “Say that again.”

Before it could escalate, Hale barked, “Positions!”

The rear ramp began to lower, wind screaming into the aircraft, whipping straps and loose fabric violently.

But something was wrong.

They weren’t slowing.

Elena glanced toward the cockpit, heart ticking faster.

“Hale,” she shouted over the noise. “Why aren’t we stabilizing for drop?”

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he walked straight toward her.

Briggs and two others subtly shifted, blocking her escape path.

Her instincts screamed.

“What the hell is this?” Elena demanded.

Hale leaned close, voice calm, terrifyingly calm.
“Orders changed, Sergeant Carter.”

“From who?”

He smiled. “From people who don’t make mistakes.”

Briggs grabbed her arm.

She reacted instantly—twisting, slamming her elbow into his ribs—but another soldier seized her from behind, locking her arms.

“Let me go!” she shouted.

Lucas froze in shock. “Captain, what are you doing?!”

Hale turned cold eyes on him. “Stand down, Private.”

“This isn’t protocol—”

Briggs punched Lucas in the stomach, dropping him to his knees.

Elena struggled violently. “You can’t do this! We’re on the same unit!”

Hale’s voice dropped.
“You were never meant to be here, Carter. You saw something you shouldn’t have. And command doesn’t like loose ends.”

Her blood ran cold.
“The Yemen file… that was you.”

Hale’s eyes flickered for half a second—then hardened.

“You were warned to forget it.”

The ramp was fully open now.

Nothing but darkness and clouds below.

Briggs dragged her toward the edge as she kicked and fought.

“STOP!” Lucas screamed. “This is murder!”

Hale didn’t even look at him.
“Then don’t watch.”

Elena’s boots scraped against the metal floor, fingers clawing desperately at straps and cargo nets.

She locked eyes with Lucas.
“Remember this,” she shouted. “Every one of you will pay for it!”

Hale nodded at Briggs.

Briggs shoved her.

Hard.

She vanished into the black void.

Her scream was ripped away by the wind.

For a split second, the entire cargo hold was silent—just the thunder of engines and the hollow space where she had stood.

Lucas collapsed, shaking.
“You… you killed her…”

Hale exhaled slowly. “Mission continues.”

But then—

The cockpit alarm screamed.

“WARNING! OBJECT ATTACHED TO FUSELAGE!”

“What?!” the pilot shouted. “Something just hit the rear stabilizer!”

Briggs turned pale. “That’s impossible…”

Hale rushed to the ramp and looked down.

Nothing.

Just clouds.

Then a sharp metallic CLANG echoed from beneath the aircraft.

And another.

Like someone… climbing.

The intercom crackled again, panic in the pilot’s voice.
“She’s still alive! She’s on the outside of the plane!”

Briggs staggered backward. “That’s not possible! No one survives that drop!”

Hale’s face drained of color.

Another loud impact shook the fuselage.

And this time—

A gloved hand slammed onto the edge of the ramp.

Fingers tightening.

Pulling up.

Lucas stared in horror and awe.
“Oh my God…”

Hale whispered, barely audible—

“Impossible…”

But Elena Carter’s helmet rose into view, eyes burning with fury, rain and wind tearing at her as she dragged herself back inside the aircraft.

And the first thing she said—

“You should’ve made sure I was dead.”

CHAPTER 2 — NO WAY BACK

Wind howled through the open ramp as Elena dragged herself fully into the cargo hold, boots slipping on the wet metal floor.

For a moment, no one moved.

Then Briggs lunged.

“You should be dead!” he roared, swinging the butt of his rifle at her head.

Elena dropped, the strike smashing into the cargo crate behind her. She rolled, snatched a fallen sidearm from the floor, and fired.

BANG!

The bullet tore through Briggs’s shoulder, spinning him sideways.

He screamed and collapsed against the wall.

Chaos exploded instantly.

Two soldiers raised their rifles.

Hale shouted, “Don’t shoot her! I want her alive!”

Elena slid behind a crate as bullets ripped into the metal, sparks flying inches from her face.

Lucas crawled toward cover, shaking.
“Captain, stop this! We’re killing each other!”

Hale ignored him. “Flank her! Now!”

One soldier rushed left.

Elena waited.

As he rounded the crate, she surged forward, slammed her forearm into his throat, twisted his wrist, and ripped the rifle free in one brutal motion. She kneed him in the stomach and sent him crashing unconscious to the floor.

She aimed at Hale.

“Call them off, or I start dropping bodies.”

Hale raised his hands slowly, eyes calculating.
“You really think you can take the whole unit?”

“No,” she said coldly. “Just you.”

Briggs groaned, clutching his bleeding shoulder. “Captain… she’s not normal…”

Hale studied Elena carefully now, like he was seeing her for the first time.

“Who trained you?” he asked. “Because it sure as hell wasn’t basic.”

Elena’s finger tightened on the trigger.
“Last warning.”

Hale lifted his hand. “Stand down.”

The remaining soldiers hesitated… then lowered their weapons.

But the tension didn’t ease.

It thickened.

Lucas finally stood, eyes wide.
“Elena… how did you survive that fall?”

She didn’t answer.

Instead, she turned to Hale.
“You said command ordered this. I want names.”

Hale gave a bitter laugh. “You think you’re important enough for me to know who signs your death warrant?”

She stepped closer. “Then why were you so eager to carry it out?”

His smile faded.
“Because you’re a liability.”

She leaned in, voice deadly quiet.
“I saw your deal with the smugglers in Yemen. Weapons for intel. And I recorded it.”

Every man in the hold went still.

Lucas whispered, “Captain… is that true?”

Hale’s eyes hardened.
“You should’ve stayed out of it, Sergeant.”

“So you tried to erase me.”

“Yes,” he snapped. “Before you destroyed everything I built.”

Elena shook her head.
“No. Before I exposed you.”

The aircraft suddenly jolted violently.

Pilot over intercom:
“We took damage on the stabilizer! Controls are sluggish!”

Hale cursed under his breath.

Elena glanced toward the cockpit.
“Where exactly were you taking me when you threw me out?”

Hale didn’t answer.

She grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall.
“WHERE.”

His jaw tightened. “Extraction point Delta-Seven. Offshore platform.”

Her face darkened.
“That’s not retrieval. That’s interrogation.”

Hale looked away.

Lucas’s voice cracked. “Interrogation by who?”

Elena released Hale slowly.
“By people who don’t ask questions. They make you disappear.”

Briggs laughed weakly. “So what? You think you’re special? They’d kill all of us to protect the program.”

“Not all of you,” Elena said.

Everyone stared at her.

Hale narrowed his eyes. “What program?”

She hesitated for half a second.

Then spoke.

“Project Valkyrie.”

The name hit the cargo hold like a bomb.

Briggs whispered, “That program was shut down…”

“Officially,” Elena replied. “Unofficially, they kept training operatives off-grid. Deep cover. No records. No extraction.”

Lucas stared at her.
“You’re one of them…”

“I was,” she said. “Until I realized they were using us to clean up their own corruption.”

Hale’s expression shifted—from anger to something closer to fear.

“You were never meant to survive deployment,” he said slowly. “You were supposed to die in the field.”

Elena met his gaze.
“Then you failed.”

Suddenly, Briggs moved.

Fast.

He grabbed Lucas from behind, dragging him toward the ramp, gun to his head.

“Drop the weapon, Valkyrie,” Briggs snarled. “Or I throw him out next.”

Lucas cried out, terror flooding his face.
“Elena—please!”

Elena froze.

Hale spun around. “Briggs, don’t—”

“Shut up!” Briggs screamed. “This whole mission is blown! They’ll kill us all! I’m not going down for you, Captain!”

The wind screamed through the open ramp, pulling at Lucas’s legs as Briggs forced him closer to the edge.

Elena slowly lowered her rifle to the floor.

“Let him go,” she said. “This is between me and Hale.”

Briggs laughed hysterically. “Too late for that!”

He shoved Lucas halfway out.

Lucas screamed.

Elena moved.

Not toward Briggs.

Toward Hale.

In one lightning-fast motion, she grabbed Hale, twisted his arm behind his back, and drove a knife to his throat.

“Drop him,” she commanded. “Now.”

Briggs froze.

Hale gasped, blade pressing into his skin.
“Briggs… do it.”

Briggs’s eyes darted between them, panic rising.

Finally, he yanked Lucas back inside and shoved him away.

Elena kicked Hale’s legs out and sent him crashing to the floor.

She turned toward Briggs.

But he was already charging.

They collided hard, slamming into the cargo netting, fists flying, boots skidding on metal.

Briggs was stronger.

Elena was faster.

He punched her across the face, blood spraying.

She headbutted him, cracking his nose.

He grabbed her by the vest and hurled her into the wall.

Her vision blurred.

Briggs raised his rifle.

Before he could fire—

BANG!

Lucas stood shaking, pistol in both hands.

Briggs dropped.

Silence fell, broken only by heavy breathing and engine roar.

Lucas stared at his own hands.
“I… I shot him…”

Elena rushed to him.
“You saved my life.”

Hale struggled on the floor, blood at his neck.

Elena looked down at him.

“This isn’t over,” she said. “Not for you. Not for whoever sent you.”

Hale laughed weakly.
“You think they’ll let you walk away?”

She leaned closer.
“I’m not walking away.”

The pilot’s voice crackled again, urgent.
“Fuel leak detected! We won’t make Delta-Seven! We need emergency landing coordinates!”

Elena straightened.

Her eyes hardened with decision.

“Turn the plane east,” she said. “There’s a decommissioned base near the coast. I know it.”

Hale’s smile widened, dark and knowing.
“And that, Sergeant Carter… is exactly where they’ll be waiting.”

Elena met his stare.

“Then let them come.”

CHAPTER 3 — THE HUNTERS ARRIVE

The aircraft slammed onto the cracked runway, metal screaming as the damaged landing gear struggled to hold.

Sparks flew.

The plane skidded, veered sideways, and finally slammed to a stop in front of a row of abandoned hangars swallowed by darkness and weeds.

Inside the cargo hold, everyone was thrown forward.

Elena hit the floor hard, pain exploding through her ribs. She rolled, forced herself up, already reaching for her weapon.

Pilot over intercom, coughing.
“Engines are dead… we’re not taking off again.”

Hale laughed weakly from the floor.
“Welcome to the graveyard, Sergeant.”

Elena grabbed him by the vest and dragged him up.
“Move. All of you. We’re not staying inside this plane.”

Lucas helped the injured pilot down the ramp as the rest followed into the cold night air.

The base was dead.

Broken towers. Rusted vehicles. Empty windows staring like hollow eyes.

But Elena knew better.

Places like this were never truly abandoned.

She scanned the darkness.
“They’ll be here within minutes.”

Lucas whispered, “Who?”

She looked at him.
“Valkyrie clean-up teams.”

Hale smirked. “You always were good at predicting disaster.”

Suddenly—

A low hum echoed in the distance.

Then another.

Black helicopters emerged from the clouds, lights off, shapes barely visible against the sky.

Lucas gasped. “Oh God…”

Elena shoved everyone toward the nearest hangar.
“Inside! Now!”

Bullets ripped into the concrete around them as they ran.

They dove into the hangar just as explosions tore through the runway behind them, lighting the night in fire.

Inside, dust rained from the ceiling.

Hale laughed again. “They didn’t even hesitate.”

Elena shoved him against a pillar.
“You brought them here.”

“I told you,” he replied. “You don’t get to leave the program.”

Suddenly, footsteps echoed outside.

Heavy.

Organized.

Then a calm female voice cut through the chaos.

“Elena Carter. Stand down and come out. This doesn’t need to get ugly.”

Elena froze.

Her blood turned cold.

She knew that voice.

Lucas whispered, “You know her?”

Elena’s jaw tightened.
“That’s my former commander.”

The voice continued.
“You were one of my best, Elena. Don’t make me bury you.”

Hale’s eyes widened slightly. “Commander Reyes… so she’s real.”

Elena grabbed Hale and dragged him deeper into the hangar.

She turned to Lucas.
“If things go bad, you take the pilot and run through the service tunnels.”

Lucas shook his head. “I’m not leaving you.”

Elena met his eyes.
“Then don’t waste the chance I give you.”

Metal doors at the hangar entrance exploded inward.

Armed soldiers flooded in, moving with terrifying precision.

At their center stood Commander Sofia Reyes — calm, composed, weapon lowered but ready.

“Elena,” Reyes said softly. “Look at yourself. Bleeding. Surrounded. Still pretending you can win.”

Elena stepped forward, gun raised.
“You sent them to kill me.”

Reyes sighed. “I sent them to retrieve you. Hale acted without authorization.”

Hale shouted, “You said eliminate!”

Reyes glanced at him, unimpressed.
“You misunderstood.”

Then she looked back at Elena.
“You were never supposed to investigate Yemen. That wasn’t part of your mission profile.”

Elena laughed bitterly.
“My mission profile was to clean your mess.”

Reyes’s expression hardened.
“You were created to serve national security.”

“I was trained to murder without conscience,” Elena snapped. “There’s a difference.”

Reyes raised her hand slightly. The soldiers tightened formation.

“Elena, come with me now. I can still protect you.”

“From who?”

Reyes answered quietly.
“From what happens to operatives who refuse to obey.”

Lucas shouted, “She’s not your property!”

A soldier slammed him to the ground.

Elena screamed, “DON’T TOUCH HIM!”

Her gun fired.

The hangar erupted into hell.

Gunfire tore through steel beams and crates.

Elena moved like lightning, using cover, firing with deadly precision.

Two soldiers dropped.

Then three.

Reyes shouted, “Do not kill her!”

But they were already shooting to kill.

Hale took advantage of the chaos.

He grabbed a fallen rifle and fired wildly.

One of Reyes’s soldiers fell.

Reyes spun toward him.
“You idiot!”

Hale laughed, backing away. “You think I’m going back to prison for you? I know too much.”

He ran toward the service tunnels.

Elena cursed.
“He’s escaping!”

Reyes aimed at Hale but Elena tackled her, sending both of them crashing to the floor.

They grappled viciously, years of training colliding in brutal silence.

Reyes slammed Elena into the ground.
“You were my responsibility!”

Elena punched her across the face.
“And you failed me!”

Reyes rolled, drawing her sidearm.

Before she could fire—

Lucas slammed into her from behind.

They hit the floor hard.

Reyes kicked him off and aimed again—

But Elena was faster.

She disarmed Reyes and pinned her to the ground, knee on her chest, knife at her throat.

The gunfire slowly stopped.

Both sides frozen, weapons raised, waiting for Reyes’s command.

Reyes stared up at Elena, breathing hard.
“You kill me, and they will hunt you for the rest of your life.”

Elena leaned closer.
“They already are.”

Then Lucas shouted, “ELENA!”

Hale was at the tunnel entrance.

Holding the pilot at gunpoint.

“Drop your weapon, Valkyrie,” Hale yelled. “Or he dies!”

Reyes froze.

Elena’s hands trembled for the first time.

“Let him go, Hale,” she said. “You don’t want this.”

Hale’s eyes were wild.
“I want leverage. And I want out.”

Reyes shouted, “Hale, stand down! That’s an order!”

Hale laughed. “Orders stopped meaning anything when you tried to erase me too.”

Reyes stiffened.

Elena looked at her sharply.
“You were going to kill him as well.”

Reyes didn’t answer.

Hale smirked. “See? We were both expendable.”

He dragged the pilot backward into the tunnel.

“Follow me,” Hale shouted. “Or he dies in sixty seconds.”

Elena looked at Lucas.

Then at Reyes.

Then toward the tunnel.

Her decision was instant.

She turned and ran after Hale.

Reyes shouted after her, voice breaking for the first time.
“Elena! Don’t do this alone!”

But Elena didn’t stop.

The tunnel swallowed her into darkness.

Behind her, war was about to begin.

CHAPTER 4 — BORN FROM THE FIRE

The tunnel was narrow, damp, and pitch black, lit only by emergency strips flickering along the walls.

Elena sprinted, boots splashing through shallow water, breath steady despite the pain screaming through her ribs.

Ahead of her, Hale dragged the pilot forward, gun pressed to the man’s head.

“Stop running!” Hale shouted. “You take one more step and he’s dead!”

Elena slowed, raising her hands slightly.

“Hale, listen to me,” she said. “You don’t get out by killing hostages.”

He laughed, eyes wild.
“I don’t get out any other way.”

Behind them, distant gunfire echoed from the hangar.

Reyes and her teams were moving.

Fast.

Elena took another step forward.

Hale shoved the pilot to his knees.
“I said STOP!”

The pilot cried, “Sergeant… just take the shot…”

Elena shook her head.
“Not like this.”

Hale’s finger trembled on the trigger.
“You think they’ll spare me? Reyes already decided I was dead.”

Elena locked eyes with him.
“She didn’t give the order. Someone above her did.”

Hale froze.

“What?”

Elena spoke carefully.
“Project Valkyrie isn’t run by Reyes. She reports to Directorate Black. Same people who signed off on Yemen. Same people who told you to clean me up.”

Hale swallowed. “That’s… that’s not possible.”

“You were never meant to survive this mission either,” Elena said. “You were supposed to disappear with me.”

His face drained of color.

Behind them, a calm voice echoed through the tunnel.

“Hale… she’s telling you the truth.”

Commander Reyes stepped into the dim light, weapon lowered.

Her face was bruised. Her eyes were tired.

“I tried to stop it,” Reyes said quietly. “But Directorate Black already approved termination protocols. For both of you.”

Hale’s gun wavered.

“So… I was always expendable.”

Reyes nodded once.
“We all are, eventually.”

Hale laughed softly, broken.
“All this… and I was just another body to bury.”

He loosened his grip on the pilot.

Elena took a slow step forward.
“Let him go, Hale. This ends now.”

For a moment, it looked like he would.

Then his face twisted.

“No,” he whispered. “This ends with someone paying.”

He spun, aiming at Reyes—

Elena moved.

She tackled Hale, the gun firing as they slammed into the tunnel wall.

The pilot scrambled away.

Hale and Elena crashed to the ground, fists flying, rage and betrayal exploding between them.

“You ruined everything!” Hale screamed, slamming her head into the concrete.

Elena drove her knee into his stomach.
“You ruined yourself!”

They struggled, weapons clattering away into darkness.

Hale grabbed a fallen knife and lunged.

Elena barely blocked it, blade slicing across her arm.

Blood spilled.

Reyes ran forward.
“Elena!”

Elena shoved Hale back, gasping in pain.

Hale charged again.

This time, Elena didn’t dodge.

She stepped in and drove the blade into his chest.

Hale froze.

Shock flooding his face.

He looked down at the wound… then at her.

“So… this is it…”

Elena held him as his strength gave out.

“You didn’t have to choose this,” she said quietly.

Hale coughed, blood on his lips.
“None of us… ever had a choice.”

He went still.

The tunnel fell silent.

Reyes approached slowly.

She looked at Hale’s body, then at Elena.

“I’m sorry,” Reyes said. “For all of it.”

Elena stood, shaking, blood dripping from her arm.

“Sorry doesn’t erase graves.”

Reyes nodded.
“No. But it can end the killing.”

Sirens echoed in the distance — not military.

Civilian authorities.

Lucas burst into the tunnel, breathless.
“Elena! Police and international observers just arrived. Someone leaked everything.”

Reyes stiffened.
“Who?”

Elena met her eyes.
“I did. Yemen. Valkyrie. Directorate Black. Every file I ever copied.”

Reyes exhaled slowly.
“So that was your real mission.”

“Yes,” Elena said. “To burn the whole thing down.”

Reyes looked almost relieved.
“Then it’s finally over.”

Footsteps thundered closer.

Voices shouted orders.

Reyes turned to Elena.
“When they come, they won’t see you as a hero. They’ll see you as classified damage.”

Elena already knew.

Reyes stepped closer and pressed something into her hand.

A small data chip.

“Names. Accounts. Everything Directorate Black used to hide behind.”

Elena stared at it.
“This will destroy careers. Governments.”

Reyes gave a sad smile.
“Then let it.”

Sirens grew louder.

Reyes raised her hands as soldiers entered the tunnel.

“Elena Carter is not here,” Reyes said firmly. “She died during pursuit.”

The soldiers hesitated.

Then nodded.

Lucas stared at Elena, eyes wide.
“You’re… disappearing?”

Elena gave him a faint smile.
“You saved my life. That’s more than enough.”

She stepped back into the shadows of a side passage.

Before leaving, she looked once more at Reyes.

“This is your last chance to do the right thing.”

Reyes met her gaze.
“I intend to.”

Then Elena was gone.

✦ THREE MONTHS LATER ✦

A news broadcast played in a crowded café overseas.

“Multiple high-ranking officials arrested today following revelations of illegal covert programs, including the classified Project Valkyrie…”

Names scrolled across the screen.

Resignations.

Investigations.

Trials.

The system was bleeding.

At a corner table, a woman in a hooded jacket watched quietly.

A faint scar crossed her cheek.

Her phone buzzed with a message.

From Lucas:
They shut it down. Officially. And… thank you. For everything.

She typed back only two words.

Stay safe.

She stood, left a few bills on the table, and walked out into the busy street, blending into the crowd.

No uniform.

No rank.

No orders.

Just freedom.

And a past that would never stop hunting her.

But for the first time in her life—

She chose her own battlefield.