BLOOD AND STEEL: RISE OF THE UNDERDOG

THE TERMINAL TRAP

Leah's confirmation came at 2 AM.

*"Flight logged. Private jet registered to a shell company linked to Sterling. Landing at Northair Terminal, 10:47 PM tomorrow. Six passengers on manifest, but names are false."*

Jayden read the message twice. Then he called Andrew.

"Tomorrow night. Northair Terminal. We take him before he leaves the runway."

Andrew's voice was groggy but sharpened quickly. "You trust Zoe's intel?"

"No. But I verified the flight. It's real."

"Could still be a trap. He knows we're watching."

"Then we plan for a trap." Jayden walked to the weapons table. "We hit the terminal from three directions. You take the east side. Lucas takes the west. I go through the main entrance."

"And if Sterling has system hosts with him?"

"Then we adapt."

---

The next eighteen hours were a blur of preparation.

Leah hacked the terminal's security cameras, giving them eyes inside the building. Andrew recruited two new men from the Warrens—desperate, skilled, willing to die for a chance at Sterling's money. Lucas cleaned every weapon they had.

Jayden sat in the basement, staring at the map of the terminal.

Sera's voice came from the storage room. "You're nervous."

He didn't turn around. "I don't get nervous."

"Everyone gets nervous. Even the Revenant. Especially before a kill." A pause. "Sterling isn't your real enemy, you know. He's just a symptom. The council is the disease."

"I'll deal with the council after."

"After might be too late."

Jayden stood up, walked to the storage room door, and opened it. Sera sat in her corner, chains loose around her wrists. She looked smaller than before, diminished.

"What do you know about the council's plans?" he asked.

"They want the Crown. They'll do anything to get it. Sterling is just a tool—a rich man with connections. When he's no longer useful, they'll discard him."

"And Mira?"

"Mira is different. She's not part of the council. She's older. Stranger. Some say she was the first host. The one who found the Crown centuries ago." Sera's eyes met his. "If you want to survive, don't trust her. Don't trust anyone who claims to know the truth about the systems."

Jayden closed the door.

---

The drive to Northair Terminal took forty minutes.

Jayden sat in the passenger seat, Andrew driving. Lucas and two others followed in a second car. The night was clear, cold, the sky full of stars.

Leah's voice came through the earpiece. "Cameras are live. No unusual activity. Terminal is quiet."

"Any sign of Sterling's security?"

"Not yet. But there's a private hangar at the far end of the runway. That's where the jet is scheduled to park."

Jayden checked his rifle. "We hit the hangar before the plane lands. Secure the perimeter. When Sterling gets off, we take him."

Andrew glanced at him. "And if he doesn't get off?"

"Then we go in after him."

---

The terminal was a low building, mostly glass, surrounded by chain-link fence.

Jayden's team parked a quarter mile away and approached on foot. The fence had a gap near the hangar—Leah had found it during her reconnaissance.

They slipped through, one by one, moving in the shadows.

The hangar was huge—steel and concrete, big enough for three jets. The main doors were closed, but a side entrance was unlocked.

Jayden signaled. Andrew took two men to the east. Lucas took two to the west. Jayden went through the side door alone.

Inside, the hangar was dark and cold.

The smell of jet fuel hung in the air. Crates and equipment were stacked against the walls. In the center, a private jet sat on the tarmac, engines cold, stairs folded against the fuselage.

No guards. No lights. No movement.

Jayden crouched behind a crate, scanning. The Crimson Trial pulsed.

**[LOCATION: NORTHAIR TERMINAL HANGAR]**

**[ENEMIES DETECTED: 0]**

**[ANOMALY: NO SECURITY PRESENT]**

Something was wrong.

He whispered into the earpiece. "Andrew. Lucas. Do you see anyone?"

Andrew's voice: "Negative. East side is clear."

Lucas: "West side clear. This is too easy."

Jayden stood up. "Sterling knows we're coming. Fall back to the—"

Lights exploded across the hangar.

Floodlights from every corner, blinding white. Jayden shielded his eyes, rolled behind a crate. Bullets shredded the air around him.

"Contact!" Andrew shouted. Gunfire erupted from the east side.

The Crimson Trial screamed.

**[AMBUSH DETECTED]**

**[ENEMY COUNT: 12+]**

**[SYSTEM HOSTS: 2]**

Jayden fired blindly toward the lights, heard a scream, then moved. He crawled through the maze of crates, bullets chewing the concrete behind him.

A shape lunged out of the darkness.

Jayden rolled, came up with his knife. The shape was a man—large, bald, holding a machete. The blade whistled past Jayden's ear. Jayden drove his knife into the man's thigh, twisted, and pulled.

The man fell. Jayden took his machete and kept moving.

He reached Andrew's position—a stack of cargo containers near the east wall. Andrew was pinned down, his shoulder wound bleeding through the bandage.

"How many?" Jayden shouted.

"At least six on this side. Two hosts. One of them is fast—blur fast."

The Crimson Trial pulsed.

**[HOST DETECTED: SPEED SYSTEM]**

**[HOST DETECTED: SHIELD SYSTEM]**

**[RECOMMENDED: SEPARATE AND ELIMINATE]**

"Focus on the speed host first," Jayden said. "I'll draw the shield."

Andrew nodded.

Jayden stepped out from cover, raised his rifle, and fired toward the ceiling. The lights shattered, plunging the hangar into darkness.

His enhanced senses adjusted.

The speed host was a blur, moving between crates, impossible to track. But the shield host was slower—a massive man with a riot shield, advancing methodically.

Jayden ran straight at the shield host.

The man raised his shield, expecting impact. Jayden slid at the last second, went between the man's legs, and came up behind him. Machete across the throat.

The shield host dropped.

**[HOST NEUTRALIZED: SHIELD SYSTEM]**

**[ESSENCE GAINED: 200 UNITS]**

The speed host screeched—a high, keening sound—and charged at Jayden.

He couldn't track the movement. But he didn't need to. He swung the machete in a wide arc, felt it connect with something solid, and heard a body hit the floor.

The speed host lay twitching, machete buried in his chest.

**[HOST NEUTRALIZED: SPEED SYSTEM]**

**[ESSENCE GAINED: 220 UNITS]**

**[TOTAL ESSENCE: 2010 UNITS]**

**[NEXT EVOLUTION AVAILABLE]**

Jayden ignored it. The remaining guards were retreating, running for the exits.

"Pursue," Jayden ordered. "Don't let anyone escape."

Andrew and Lucas chased the fleeing guards. Jayden stood in the center of the hangar, breathing hard.

The private jet sat untouched. Sterling wasn't here.

His earpiece crackled. Leah's voice: "Jayden. The plane. Check the cockpit."

He walked to the jet, climbed the stairs, and looked inside.

Empty.

But on the pilot's seat, a single piece of paper.

He picked it up. Sterling's handwriting.

*"Did you really think I'd be on that plane? The Consortium sends its regards. The Revenant arrives tomorrow. Enjoy your last day."*

Jayden crushed the paper.

---

Andrew found him standing by the jet.

"It was a trap," Andrew said. "Sterling never intended to come back tonight."

"I know."

"Zoe's asset? The one who sent the message?"

"Either compromised or never existed."

Andrew's jaw tightened. "She played us."

"Maybe. Or Sterling played her." Jayden walked toward the exit. "We're going back to the tower. I'm going to ask her myself."

---

The Sterling Tower loomed against the pre-dawn sky.

Jayden stood across the street, watching the entrance. The guards had doubled since last night. They knew something was coming.

He called Zoe.

No answer.

He called again. Voicemail.

He texted: *"The terminal was a trap. Sterling wasn't on the plane. We need to talk."*

Three minutes passed. Then his phone buzzed.

Zoe: *"I know. Meet me in the parking garage. Level 3. Come alone."*

---

The parking garage was empty at 4 AM.

Jayden walked up the ramp, footsteps echoing off the concrete. The Crimson Trial pulsed, scanning for threats.

**[HOSTILES DETECTED: 0]**

**[WARNING: UNKNOWN PRESENCE – LEVEL 3, NORTHEAST CORNER]**

He approached carefully, pistol raised.

Zoe stood by a concrete pillar, her coat pulled tight against the cold. Her face was pale, her eyes red. She'd been crying.

"It was supposed to be real," she said. "The asset. The flight. Everything. He fed me false information. Used me to set the trap."

"How do you know?"

"Because I checked. After you texted me about the ambush, I called my contact. The phone was dead. The number was disconnected." She hugged herself. "Sterling knows about me. He's known for weeks. He's been feeding me lies, and I've been passing them to you."

Jayden lowered his pistol. "Then we're both compromised."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

"I know." He stepped closer. "Where is Sterling now?"

"I don't know. He hasn't been in the tower for days. His people are running everything. I'm a prisoner in my own home."

"Then leave. Come with me now."

Zoe shook her head. "If I leave, he'll know for sure. He'll kill everyone I've ever talked to. Every guard, every maid, every person who ever opened a door for me."

"They're already dead. Sterling doesn't leave loose ends."

She looked at him. Tears ran down her cheeks. "What do I do?"

"Come with me. We'll find a way to protect them."

"And if we can't?"

Jayden didn't answer.

---

A sound behind him.

Jayden spun, pistol raised. A figure stood at the far end of the parking garage, silhouetted against the exit sign.

The figure stepped forward.

Mira.

"I wouldn't," Mira said. "Shoot me, and the entire building collapses. I've rigged the support columns."

Jayden didn't lower the gun. "What do you want?"

"To give you a warning. The Revenant arrives tomorrow. He's not like the others. He won't send guards or set traps. He'll walk into your gym and kill everyone inside. One by one."

"Then I'll be ready."

"You can't be ready for him. He's been alive for a century. He's killed hundreds of hosts. He's forgotten more about the systems than you'll ever know." Mira stepped closer. "Your only chance is to run."

"I don't run."

"Then you'll die."

Zoe grabbed Jayden's arm. "Who is she?"

"The woman who's been playing both sides since before we were born." Jayden kept his eyes on Mira. "Why are you warning me?"

"Because I want the Revenant dead. He's been a stain on the systems for too long. And you're the only one who might be able to do it."

"Why would you care?"

"Because I'm tired. Three hundred years of watching. Three hundred years of waiting. The Crown will wake soon, and when it does, I want someone worthy to claim it." She smiled—cold and sad. "You're not worthy yet. But you might be. If you survive."

She turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows.

Jayden lowered his pistol.

Zoe stared at him. "What was that?"

"The future. And it's coming faster than I thought."

---

They left the parking garage together.

Zoe walked with him to the street, then stopped. "I can't go with you. Not yet. There's something I need to do first."

"What?"

"End this. From the inside." She pulled out her phone. "Sterling has a vault in the tower. Inside it, he keeps records of everything. Every bribe. Every murder. Every conspiracy. If I can get into that vault, I can destroy him without firing a shot."

"That's suicide."

"Everything about this is suicide." She kissed him on the cheek—quick, cold. "If I don't make it, tell Andrew I'm sorry. For everything."

She turned and walked back toward the tower.

Jayden watched her go.

Then he walked to his car, got in, and drove back to the Iron Pit.

---

The gym was quiet when he returned.

Andrew sat by the weapons table, nursing his shoulder. Lucas was cleaning blood off the floor. The others were asleep.

Jayden sat down across from Andrew.

"Zoe didn't betray us. Sterling fed her false information."

Andrew's eyes narrowed. "You believe her?"

"Yes."

"After everything?"

"She had no reason to warn me about the Revenant. No reason to risk her life to get into Sterling's vault. If she was working for him, she'd be safe in the tower right now."

Andrew was silent for a long moment. Then he nodded. "Fine. What's the plan?"

"The Revenant comes tomorrow. We need to be ready."

"How do you fight someone who can drain your power?"

Jayden looked at the basement door. "I have an idea. But I'm going to need Viktor's help."

---

Viktor listened in silence.

When Jayden finished, he leaned back against the wall. "You want me to fight alongside you. Against the Revenant."

"I want you to tell me how to kill him."

"I told you. You can't."

"Then tell me how to survive him."

Viktor was quiet for a long time. Then he said, "The Revenant's power works through touch. He has to make physical contact to drain Essence. If you can avoid his hands, you can fight him."

"He's fast."

"Very fast. But he's also arrogant. He doesn't expect anyone to fight back. Use that."

"And his weakness?"

"He's addicted to Essence. He needs to drain constantly. If he goes too long without feeding, he weakens. Slows down. Becomes almost human."

"Then we starve him."

"How? He has a city full of hosts to feed on."

"Not if we kill them first."

Viktor stared at him. "You're going to kill every other host in the city? To weaken one man?"

"To save everyone else."

Viktor laughed—a low, bitter sound. "You really are insane."

"Maybe. But I'm still alive."

Jayden stood up and walked to the door.

"Tomorrow night," he said. "Be ready."

Viktor nodded.

Jayden climbed the stairs.

The Crimson Trial pulsed.

**[NEW MISSION: SURVIVE THE REVENANT]**

**[OBJECTIVE: NEUTRALIZE HOSTILE]**

**[TIME REMAINING: 18 HOURS]**

**[RECOMMENDATION: PREPARE FOR EXTREME COMBAT]**

He sat down at the weapons table and began cleaning his rifle.

Outside, the sun was rising over the Warrens.

Another day. Another war.