Shadow of Honour

Chapter Three: The Silence Between Storms

The morning after the depot visit was quieter than Kain expected. He stood on the balcony of a nondescript safehouse on the edge of Emeran’s industrial sector, sipping coffee that tasted more like smoke than caffeine.

The city looked harmless in the early light, like nothing sinister could crawl beneath it; but Kain knew better. Cities wore masks just like people. Cole snored softly on the couch. Elira had taken the guest room and hadn’t stirred since last night.

He on the other hand couldn't sleep well because of everything going on in his head. So instead of staring at the ceiling, he preferred the breeze outside.

Kain’s eyes scanned the street below: construction workers, early delivery trucks, joggers. Ordinary scenes, but he’d learned to distrust anything that felt normal. Somewhere in that rhythm, he knew someone was watching. It was just a matter of time. He exhaled and thought back to the face of General Harlow, the applause from his promotion still echoing in his ears, now rendered hollow by everything unravelling around him.

Inside, Cole stirred. “Coffee’s still garbage,” he muttered.

“Try chewing glass,” Kain replied.

Cole chuckled and threw a nearby box of toothpicks at him.

Kain laughed, dodging the box.

Cole stretched, groaning. “You sure this isn’t all a dream? One day you’re getting promoted, the next we’re hunted by our people.”

“Nightmare is more accurate.”

There was silence. Then, “Sector 9.”

Kain nodded. “We need more from that place. The logs had pings we never followed. It might lead us to the handler.”

“Elira won’t go for it.”

“She already agreed.”

“You’re kidding.”

“She doesn’t trust the enemy,” Kain said. “Neither do I.”

—

Sector 9 was buried under the shell of an abandoned chemical research plant. Getting in again required a forged update, Mace rerouted through outdated military channels. They had five minutes of clearance before systems recalibrated. The building smelled of mildew and burnt circuitry. The concrete corridors groaned with age. It was a shadow of what it once was.

The infiltration was cleaner this time. Cole’s tricks gave them enough time to reach the server vault without raising alarms. But the corridor near the vault was not empty.

Three soldiers. Unmarked gear. Silent.

Kain motioned. They ducked into a side chamber. He glanced at Elira and Cole. They nodded.

“Knives only,” Kain mouthed.

They struck with precision. Elira was first, striking the nearest one with a jab to the throat. Cole swept low, dropping another. Kain hit the last one square in the temple with the butt of his pistol. The thud echoed too loudly.

Bodies down. No alarms.

“Unmarked,” Cole said. “That’s not regulation gear.”

“No patches. Mercs,” Elira whispered. “Why are mercs guarding a blacksite?”

This case seemed to keep getting more puzzling than she first thought.

They reached the vault again. Kain repeated the thumbprint trick. Inside the server room, files flickered to life. The hum of machines felt like a heartbeat.

One folder stood out: “CRIMSON VEIL – INTERNAL NOTES."

Kain hesitated, then clicked.

—

FLASHBACK: TWO YEARS EARLIER

The jungle air was thick and hot. They moved in formation: five men, tight, silent, exhausted. Crimson Veil was meant to be a simple recovery op: retrieve sensitive intel, extract. Regular stuff they'd probably done hundreds of times. But they were set up. Kain remembered the weight of sweat on his back, the adrenaline clinging to his spine, the cries in the comms.

Explosions had rained down. Ebo was the first to fall. Lang screamed, covered in flames. Hess bled out in Kain’s arms, whispering, “It was a trap, Kain... someone sold us out.”

Kain was in tears so he couldn't even think clearly. But one thing was sure; Hess might very well be right.

Command’s voice crackled in his earpiece: “Abort. No extraction. You’re off the grid.”

Kain had screamed into the void. No answer. They were ghosts before they died. It wasn’t just betrayal, it was abandonment by the very system they bled for and he was intent on finding out what really happened that day. No matter how long it takes.

...

Back in the present, the vault lights hummed quietly.

“They left us,” Kain said aloud.

Elira was reading a decrypted log. “Marr objected to the shutdown. He knew the protocol would be reactivated eventually.”

Kain pointed to a name on the list of handlers: “Major Delyn Voss.”

Elira froze.

“My father,” she whispered.

—

Back at the safehouse, Elira sat alone on the floor. Her sister’s voice came through the phone. The same voice that once read bedtime stories. Now it was tired, worried.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked.

“No,” Elira said. “But I have to know.”

“You don’t have to become him. You don’t owe him anything.”

“I need to find the truth.”

Their dad was also a soldier but they didn't have that father-daughter bond with him because he was always too busy for them and he took his work more seriously than he did them. Gaining higher ranks was always more important to him anyway. So they learned to grow and adapt on their own. At least before their mother died.

Her sister’s voice softened. “And Kain? Do you trust him?”

Elira hesitated. “I trust he wants the truth. And maybe that’s enough for now.”

After the call, Elira remained sitting in silence. She remembered her father’s medals, his papers, the day he stopped calling. She clenched her jaw.She hadn't spoken to him in over 5 years but this was more than duty. This was personal.

—

Night fell. They changed safe houses after Mace picked up a trace ping from the stolen server key. Someone was tracking them. The alley was dark and narrow, lit only by a buzzing street lamp. They entered their car to head out and see if they could out run whoever they felt was following them.

On the road to the new hideout, they were ambushed.

A black SUV slammed into their car.

Kain pulled Elira from the passenger seat as gunfire sprayed. Cole rolled out from the back, firing behind the wheel well. Glass shattered. Tires squealed. Kain moved like instinct—swift, low, precise.

“Multiple shooters,” Cole yelled.

Kain dragged Elira behind a concrete barrier. “You okay?”

She nodded, breathing hard. “Why does everything involving you end in bullets?”

He almost smiled. “Ask around. It’s a known pattern.”

They returned fire. The mercs retreated after Kain shot out the SUV’s engine. One fled. Cole gave chase but lost him at the corner.

He ran back to meet the others as they caught their breath. Elira leaned against the wall, blood trickling down her arm. A bullet had lodged into her arm. Her breathing slowed as Kain tore a piece of his shirt and wrapped her wound.

“Don’t get sentimental,” she said.

"This is just a minor injury".

“Wasn’t planning to.”

"We need to know who those were and why they wanted to kill us"

"Someone surely sent them," she said .

"Someone that has something to hide".

He briefly looked at her eyes before tying the torn shirt around her wound to prevent more blood loss. She needed medical attention but that couldn't be given judging by the weird situation they were in so first aid would do.

"I'll tend to this when we settle down if you're not too afraid " he teased.

"I'm definitely not"

"We'll see about that" Kain said, chuckling lightly.

—

That night, with the power low and paranoia high, Kain sat with Cole.

“You remember Crimson Veil?” he asked.

Cole nodded. “Can’t forget.”

“You ever blame me?”

Cole didn’t answer right away. “I blamed everyone. But mostly, I blamed the bastards who gave the order. You kept us alive. That was enough.”

Kain looked away. “Not enough for Ebo. Or Lang. Or Hess.”

“You think Elira will stay?”

“I think she’s looking for something bigger than answers.”

They both looked down the hall. Light flickered under her door.

She was fast asleep after she had exhausted her strength shouting with a cloth in her mouth as Kain tried to pull the bullet out and clean the injury.

Kain smiled a couple of times as he remembered telling her about it before now.

Cole added quietly, “She’s starting to believe in you, you know.”

Kain didn't respond. He just stared at the flickering light. As if the truth was hiding in the spaces between shadows.

Kain whispered, “We move at dawn.”

Cole nodded. “Where to?”

“Where the list began.”

“To the top?”

Kain looked him in the eye. “To whoever lit the match.”

Outside, thunder rolled across the Emeran skyline.

War had already begun.