Eve of the Storm

Lin Xiao handed the tablet back to Nightingale, unconsciously rubbing the edge of the keycard in his pocket. The lights in the room seemed to grow colder, and the air was taut with tension, like a drawn bowstring. He looked at Su Ying. Her gaze had sharpened like a blade, the dagger spinning between her fingers and reflecting a frigid gleam. Wolf placed the dismantled communicator on the table, its circuit board's green light resembling some kind of warning signal in the dim room. The wind outside grew louder, rattling the blinds as though something were closing in through the darkness. Lin Xiao took a deep breath, and the dry desert air stung his throat. "Everyone," he said, his voice especially clear in the silence, "the plan has changed. The purge may happen tonight."

No one spoke, but everyone's breathing quickened.

Nightingale's fingers paused over the keyboard. Screen light fell across her pale face. "'Can be carried out simultaneously'... Does that mean they could act at any time?"

"Or they've already started." Lin Xiao walked to the whiteboard by the wall and picked up a marker. Its tip scraped sharply over the board as he circled several locations on the base map—the command communications center, the main armory, the backup power station, and the administration building. "If I were Marcus, I'd seize these four places first. Cut off communications, lock down the weapons, control the power, and take command."

Su Ying stepped up beside him and sheathed her dagger with a soft metallic scrape. "Then comes the personnel purge."

"Right." Lin Xiao tapped the command communications center with the marker. "This is the key. Once it falls, the entire base becomes deaf and blind. The radicals can issue fake orders at will, create chaos, and pick us off one by one."

Wolf took several miniature communicators from his toolkit and laid them on the table. "I checked all our equipment. Our communicators are fine, but the base's public network has already been infiltrated. The order Nightingale intercepted was forwarded through internal channels, which means they control at least some relay nodes."

"Can we cut them off?" Lin Xiao asked.

Nightingale shook her head and rapidly typed, bringing up a network topology map. "They're too scattered. And if we force a shutdown, they'll immediately know we've caught on. I suggest... planting a few logic bombs."

She opened a program interface, complex code scrolling across the screen. "I left several backdoors in the system. I can remotely trigger false alarms, corrupt data, and even temporarily disable surveillance in specific areas. But the timing has to be precise—too early and we alert them; too late and it'll be useless."

Lin Xiao stared at the screen, his mind racing. Outside, the sky was darkening. The last rays of sunset filtered through gaps in the blinds, casting long orange streaks across the floor. Time slipped through his fingers like sand.

"Do it," he said. "But set multiple triggers. First, monitor abnormal communications traffic from the command center. Second, unauthorized access to the armory's security system. Third..." He paused. "Monitor the activation signal for the public-address system."

Nightingale nodded, her fingers flying across the keyboard. The tapping echoed through the quiet room like the beat of a countdown.

Su Ying turned toward the inner room and took two Glock 17 pistols from the weapons locker. She checked the magazines, chambered rounds, and moved as smoothly as breathing. The crisp, cold clink of metal parts filled the room. She holstered one pistol at her waist and set the other on the table. "I'll check the emergency routes. Wolf, come with me. We need to test signal strength at several critical nodes."

Wolf grabbed the miniature communicators and detector from the table and followed Su Ying out. Their footsteps faded down the corridor.

Lin Xiao looked at Nightingale. "Any news from Grey Falcon?"

"He sent an encrypted signal ten minutes ago." Nightingale opened another window. "He said the conservatives and neutral soldiers are at their breaking point. Two minor fights broke out in the cafeteria because someone badmouthed the radicals and got overheard. Patrol shift changes are taking longer, and people at some posts haven't been relieved."

"Where is he?"

"Near Dormitory Area Three. He said several comrades he normally gets along with have been asking around—whether the purge is real, when it'll happen, and what they should do." Nightingale looked up. "I told him to spread a vague warning. Just say he heard something, that there may be a 'drill' tonight, and that everyone should stay alert and keep their weapons close."

Lin Xiao nodded. It was the best arrangement they could manage—for now. They couldn't directly announce that a purge was coming and cause panic, but enough people needed to be prepared. He walked to the window and pulled the blinds apart slightly.

Outside, lights were coming on across the base one by one. Searchlights swept over the perimeter walls and watchtowers, cutting pale arcs through the night. The training grounds in the distance were deserted. Only the wind whipped up sand and dust, forming swirling yellow clouds beneath the lights. The air smelled of diesel and metal, along with the dry chill peculiar to desert nights.

He glanced at his watch: 18:47.

There was a little over an hour before full darkness.

"Send Grey Falcon a signal," Lin Xiao said. "Tell him to return to the squad area in an hour. Use Corridor Seven and avoid surveillance-heavy zones. If anyone questions him, he's on a night patrol assignment."

"Understood."

Nightingale began typing. Lin Xiao turned back to the whiteboard, picked up a red marker, and marked several points on the map.

The points were scattered throughout the base—an abandoned warehouse near the perimeter wall, a storage room beside an underground pipeline maintenance hatch, and a ventilation room near an emergency exit. Every location shared three traits: easy to defend, hard to attack; at least two escape routes; and far from main corridors and surveillance-heavy areas.

He needed to spread the squad across those positions.

They couldn't stay together—that would make them too easy to wipe out in one sweep. But they couldn't spread too thin either, or they would be unable to support one another. He had to find a balance, allowing everyone to react quickly once the purge began while still being able to regroup or withdraw as needed.

The marker moved across the board, drawing connecting lines and noting distances and times. His mind simulated every possibility: if the purge began at the command center, the nearby position would have to withdraw immediately; if it began at the armory, then...

The door opened.

Su Ying and Wolf entered, carrying the night's chill with them. Dust clung to Su Ying's combat uniform sleeves, and her knuckles bore faint scrapes—clearly, they had encountered obstacles while testing the routes. The detector in Wolf's hand glowed with a string of data.

"All emergency routes have been checked," Su Ying said, calm but tense. "The concealed door at Route Three was jammed. I forced it open with hydraulic cutters, and it's usable now. Route Five's ventilation system is malfunctioning. Carbon dioxide levels inside are high, so masks will be required. The others are clear."

Wolf set the detector on the table. "The signal strength tests... most areas are fine, but there's severe interference in the underground pipeline zone. It's probably electromagnetic fields from aging cables. If we have to evacuate through there, communications could be cut off."

Lin Xiao nodded and committed the information to memory. He pointed at the map on the whiteboard. "I'm splitting the squad across six positions. Two people at each location. Maintain radio silence, but send a safety signal every half hour on a specific frequency—three short beeps, two seconds apart. If you receive an emergency signal—five consecutive beeps, one second apart—move immediately to the designated evacuation point."

He explained each position's location, advantages, risks, and escape routes in detail. Su Ying listened intently, occasionally nodding or offering corrections. Wolf took notes and sketched a simple orientation map.

"What about weapons distribution?" Su Ying asked.

"Standard loadout: one pistol, two spare magazines, and one dagger per person. Each pair also gets a compact submachine gun and four magazines." Lin Xiao opened the weapons locker. Its metal door creaked softly, and the neatly arranged weapons inside gleamed coldly beneath the light. "Nightingale and Wolf's group will also carry a signal jammer and portable computer. Su Ying and I will take breaching cord and a medical kit."

He began distributing the weapons. The weight of the pistol in his hand felt reassuring, its cold metal seeping through his gloves to his skin. A sharp click sounded as magazines locked into the guns. Knife sheaths brushed against combat uniforms with a faint rustle.

Nightingale finished setting up the program and closed her laptop. "The logic bombs are planted. The triggers are set as you said, but I added one more—if my terminal loses signal for over ten minutes, all bombs will trigger automatically."

"What happens then?"

"The command center's surveillance system will be disabled for three minutes, the armory's access controls will lock down, and the public-address system will broadcast a fake notice saying the 'drill has ended.'" Nightingale said, "But it'll only last three minutes. Their system administrators are competent. They'll fix it quickly."

"Three minutes is enough," Lin Xiao said.

Enough to create chaos. Enough for some people to realize what was happening. Enough for the squad to retreat or strike back.

He checked his watch: 19:23.

Night had fully fallen. Outside, the base was swallowed by darkness, with only lights outlining the buildings. In the distant watchtowers, searchlights rotated slowly, their beams sweeping the black desert like enormous eyes searching for something.

"Grey Falcon is back," Nightingale suddenly said, staring at the screen.

A few seconds later, the door was pushed open. Grey Falcon entered, carrying the scent of night air and sand. His combat uniform sleeve was torn, and a small scrape on his face seeped blood.

"Run into trouble?" Su Ying asked.

"A patrol stopped me on the way back." Grey Falcon caught his breath and took a long drink from his canteen. "They were radicals. The leader was one of Blood Axe's minor bosses. They asked why I was in that area. I said I was on night patrol, but they didn't believe me. They wanted to inspect my identification and assignment slip."

"And then?"

"I showed them the temporary pass Fletcher issued." Grey Falcon took a keycard from his pocket and placed it on the table. "They studied it for a long time before letting me go, but they gave me nasty looks. I heard them muttering about 'people on the list' and 'high priority.'"

The room fell silent for several seconds.

Lin Xiao picked up the keycard. Its edges were worn, and the chip area glimmered faintly with a metallic sheen. It was one of the two temporary access cards Fletcher had given him. He had given one to Grey Falcon so he could move freely around the base.

Now, it seemed the card might have become a marker as well.

"A purge list..." Nightingale murmured. "They really do have a list."

"Of course they do." Lin Xiao set the card back on the table. "Marcus isn't a madman. He's a calculating executioner. A purge needs precision. He can't kill indiscriminately, or it will provoke mass resistance. He'll eliminate the most threatening people first—officers, technical specialists, influential soldiers. Then the wavering middle faction. The low-level personnel who can be absorbed will come last."

He looked at Grey Falcon. "What was the situation at the base when you came back?"

"Quiet," Grey Falcon said. "Too quiet. At this hour, there are usually people training extra at the grounds, drinking and talking in the cafeteria, music playing in the dormitories. But tonight... there was nothing. When I passed Dormitory Area Three, all the windows were dark, but I could feel people inside, watching through gaps in the curtains."

"What about patrols?"

"Fewer than usual. I only ran into two patrols on the way back, and both were radical groups. The conservative patrols seem to have... disappeared."

Disappeared.

The word fell into the room like a block of ice.

Lin Xiao walked to the window and opened the blinds a crack again. The base outside remained quiet, its lights flickering in the darkness. But on closer inspection, abnormalities emerged—some areas were dimmer than usual, some buildings had completely black windows, and some surveillance cameras along the corridors moved with stiff, unnatural angles.

He had seen this sight in his previous life.

On the night S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed, at the moment Hydra emerged from the shadows, the world had suddenly gone this quiet. Like the deathly stillness before a storm. Like a beast crouching before it pounced.

"Begin deployment." Lin Xiao turned around, his voice decisive.

There was no more time to hesitate.

He rapidly assigned tasks: Grey Falcon and another squad member would go to the abandoned warehouse; Wolf and Nightingale would head for the ventilation room; Su Ying and he would take the observation post near the command center; the remaining members would split into two groups and head respectively to the underground pipeline maintenance hatch and the ruined watchtower near the perimeter wall.

Everyone collected weapons, communicators, and emergency supplies. Backpack zippers, clattering gear, and footsteps intertwined throughout the room. No one spoke, but their eyes exchanged messages—vigilance, resolve, and a trace of suppressed fear.

Su Ying checked everyone's equipment, adjusted their backpack straps, and made sure nothing would hinder their movements. Her fingers moved precisely and swiftly, as though playing some instrument. Wolf tested every communicator and confirmed that the frequency encryption was functioning normally. Nightingale installed an emergency signal program on everyone's terminal.

Finally, Lin Xiao stood in the center of the room and looked at his squad.

Six people. With Su Ying and himself, eight.

They might be facing a hundred people, two hundred people, or more.

"Remember," he said quietly, every word driving into the air like a nail, "our top priority is survival. Don't play hero. Don't get drawn into a fight. If the situation goes bad, withdraw immediately and regroup at the rendezvous point using the planned routes. If the rendezvous point falls, activate the backup plan. Scatter and withdraw. Meet at the abandoned gas station twenty kilometers outside the base."

He paused, his gaze moving over every face.

"If... if anyone is captured, do not attempt a rescue. Continue the evacuation plan."

The words came out with difficulty. He saw Grey Falcon's Adam's apple bob, Wolf's fingers tighten, and Nightingale bite her lower lip. Su Ying stood beside him with no expression, but her breathing had slowed.

It was the cruelest order, but it was also necessary.

Once the purge began, every second would be a race between life and death. Any hesitation, any delay, could lead to everyone being wiped out. He had to choose—to sacrifice a few so the many could survive.

Just as in his previous life.

Just as when Su Ying had shielded him from that attack.

"Do you understand?" he asked.

A brief silence followed.

Then Grey Falcon nodded first. "Understood."

"Understood," Wolf said.

"Understood." Nightingale's voice was soft.

The other members nodded in turn.

Lin Xiao took a deep breath. "Good. Synchronize watches. 20:07. In half an hour, at 20:37, send the first safety signal. After that, every thirty minutes. If the signal is interrupted or you receive an emergency signal, act immediately."

Eight hands rose at once, checking their watches. The second hands moved steadily across the dials, ticking almost silently. Time passed like sand through an hourglass, like a countdown to death.

"Move out."

Doors opened one by one, and figures melted into the night.

Lin Xiao and Su Ying were the last to leave. They turned off the room's lights and let darkness swallow everything. Nightingale's laptop was shut, Wolf's toolkit was gone, and only an empty canteen and several discarded sheets of paper remained on the table. Wind blew through the open window, lifting the papers into the air. They spun before drifting to the floor.

Like a farewell.

Lin Xiao shut the door. The turning lock echoed through the empty corridor. He and Su Ying walked side by side toward the stairs, their footsteps dull against the concrete steps. The stairwell lights were dim, and faded safety slogans lined the walls. Some had been torn halfway away, fluttering faintly in the wind.

They descended to the first floor and exited through a side door.

The night wind hit them head-on, carrying sand and the smell of diesel. There was no moon overhead. Thick clouds covered the sky, with only a few stars glimmering through gaps like distant eyes. Base lights stretched into the darkness, but some areas had already gone black—areas controlled by the conservatives, whose power may have already been cut.

Lin Xiao and Su Ying moved along the buildings' shadows, avoiding the searchlight beams. Their steps were light, their combat boots making barely audible whispers across the sand. Patrols occasionally passed by, flashlight beams sweeping the ground. They hid swiftly and held their breath until the footsteps faded away.

Twenty minutes later, they reached their designated observation point—the roof of a three-story building. It was close to the command center but away from the main routes, making it relatively concealed. The rooftop was piled with discarded construction materials and ventilation ducts, forming natural cover.

Lin Xiao climbed the ladder beside a water tank while Su Ying stood guard below. The iron ladder was rusted and creaked faintly beneath his weight. He reached the top, lay prone at the roof's edge, and took out his binoculars.

The command center stood three hundred meters away.

It was a four-story building coated in light gray blast-resistant paint, with bulletproof glass windows. Communications antennas and radar equipment rose from the roof like a gigantic metal skeleton in the night. A wall and guard posts surrounded the building. Normally, there would be at least eight sentries, but tonight...

Lin Xiao adjusted the binoculars' focus.

Only four people occupied the posts by the wall. Their stances were loose; one leaned against the wall, while another looked down at a phone. There were only two guards at the building entrance, and one was yawning.

Too lax.

Or deliberately made to look lax.

He shifted the binoculars toward the armory. The lights there were normal, and sentries patrolled the entrance. Everything appeared ordinary. But he noticed the patrol routes had changed—instead of covering the entire perimeter as they should have, they were concentrated near the main entrance, leaving the sides and rear unguarded.

As though they were deliberately leaving an opening.

"How is it?" Su Ying's quiet voice came from below.

"Something's wrong." Lin Xiao lowered the binoculars and climbed down. "There are fewer sentries and the patrol routes have changed. Either the radicals already control those places, so they don't need tight security, or they're setting traps and waiting for someone to walk into them."

Su Ying considered it for several seconds. "Which do you think it is?"

"The first." Lin Xiao said, "Marcus isn't patient. If he's decided to act, he'll use the fastest, most ruthless method. Seize critical facilities, cut off any chance of resistance, then begin the purge. Traps take too long, and they carry risks."

He checked his watch: 20:35.

Two minutes until the first safety signal.

He and Su Ying sat behind cover in a corner of the rooftop, their backs against the cold concrete wall. The night wind slipped through the gaps, bringing the desert's chill. In the distance came the deep, steady roar of generators, like the heartbeat of the earth.

Su Ying took out a canteen, unscrewed the cap, and drank. Then she offered it to Lin Xiao. He accepted it. The water was nearly the same temperature as the air, cool as it went down, but it soothed his dry throat. He handed it back, and Su Ying's fingers brushed his—a brief exchange of warmth.

"Are you afraid?" Su Ying suddenly asked softly.

Lin Xiao looked at her. In the darkness, her face was hidden in shadow, with only her eyes reflecting faint light from the distance.

"I am," he admitted. "I'm afraid of dying, of failing, of not being able to save the people I should save."

"So am I." Su Ying rubbed the surface of the canteen with her fingers. "But I'm more afraid... afraid of becoming like them. Doing anything to survive, until we forget why we fought in the first place."

Lin Xiao fell silent for several seconds.

"We won't," he said. "As long as we remember why we started, we won't become like them."

Su Ying looked at him. "Why did you start?"

The question came suddenly. Lin Xiao froze for a moment. Images from his previous life flashed through his mind—war, ruins, the light fading from Su Ying as she disappeared, endless regret. But he could not tell her those things. Not yet.

"To survive," he finally said. "And to let more people survive."

Su Ying nodded without asking further. She raised her binoculars and looked toward the command center. Lin Xiao checked his own watch: 20:36:50.

Ten seconds.

Five seconds.

Three, two, one.

Three short beeps sounded in his communicator earpiece, two seconds apart. Clear. Steady.

Grey Falcon's side was safe.

A few seconds later came another three beeps—Wolf and Nightingale were safe.

Then came the other two groups.

Every safety signal had been received.

Lin Xiao let out a breath, but his taut nerves did not relax. This was only the beginning. The purge could begin in any second, the next minute, or the next hour. They had to remain alert and wait—wait for the moment that was destined to come.

Time passed second by second.

21:07, the second safety signal.

21:37, the third.

22:07, the fourth.

The base grew quieter and quieter. The occasional sounds of vehicle engines, voices, even the wind, gradually vanished. It was as though someone had pressed mute on the entire world. Only the generators continued roaring, but even that sound seemed distant, as if it came from beneath the ground.

Lin Xiao shifted his stiff shoulders. After lying prone for so long, his muscles had begun to ache. He glanced at Su Ying. She remained in a vigilant posture, binoculars pressed to her eyes, breathing steadily.

"Switch," he said. "Rest for ten minutes."

Su Ying shook her head. "I'm not tired."

"That's an order."

Su Ying looked at him, then finally lowered the binoculars and leaned against the wall. She closed her eyes, but her fingers remained pressed against her holster. Lin Xiao picked up the binoculars and continued watching.

The command center remained illuminated, though lights in some windows had gone out. The armory patrol changed shifts once, and the new guards seemed more alert, their posture more disciplined.

Time: 22:41.

Static suddenly crackled through Lin Xiao's communicator.

It was not a safety signal—it was interference. He adjusted his earpiece. The static continued for several seconds before disappearing. He looked at Su Ying. Her eyes were already open, one hand pressed to her earpiece.

"You heard it too?" she asked.

Lin Xiao nodded. "Maybe Nightingale was calibrating the equipment, or..."

He did not finish.

Because the base's public address system suddenly came on.

First came a burst of piercing electrical static, like metal scraping, like signal interference, like some agonized scream. The sound echoed through the night, spreading to every corner of the base, seeping into every building, pounding against every window.

Then the static weakened, and a cold, mechanical voice distorted by a voice changer rang out:

"For Hydra's purity and future—"

The voice carried on the night wind, like a proclamation of death.

"Operation 'Purge'—"

Lin Xiao's fingers tightened, the metal rim of the binoculars biting into his palm.

"Begin."