As Twilight, Mitchell, and Ilona sat down at a beachside cafe, Mitchell proceeded to hack into the surveillance cameras near the market to track the KVA comms signal they had procured earlier. Twilight brought up the cafe menu and ordered drinks for the three of them, her expression tight as she did so.

"Ease up, we're supposed to be tourists." Ilona said, noticing Twilight's expression and posture. "Mitchell, status on the Key-man?"

"I found him." Mitchell said, after a few moments of swiping through the Santorini Police cameras and using facial recognition tech on a few civilians before finding a man wearing dark clothing and a ballistic vest. "He's headed into the backstreet areas, near our position at the market. The safehouse has to be nearby."

"Then we're on the move." Twilight said, paying the tab for their drinks wirelessly. "Alpha, you're clear to proceed, moving to the safehouse now."

"Copy, loading up the van. Don't fuck this up." Gideon said with a hint of amusement.

Twilight, Mitchell, and Ilona left the cafe and headed into the backstreet, following the Keyman to his destination. In the meantime, Twilight brought up a video-feed from Irons.

"Team, I don't need to remind you how important this mission is. Hades is responsible for the Nuclear attacks four years ago. We bring him down, the entire KVA network goes with it. There's no room for error, so get it done!"

"Roger that." Twilight replied, looking down at the concealed Atlas .45 pistol in her jacket. She and Mitchell split up from Ilona so she could distract the guards, while Twilight and Mitchell took positions to quietly eliminate them afterwards.

"What are you doing here?" a KVA soldier barked at her.

"I was looking for the market, and I got lost." Ilona replied casually. "Can you point me in that direction?"

"It's not here, leave now!" the soldier replied, drawing an MP443 Grach pistol. Ilona covertly motioned with her hand, and Twilight snapped one of the KVA soldier's necks while Mitchell used a electrostun brace, a new invention of Twilight's, to subdue another. Ilona had snapped the last soldier's throat with a quick karate chop.

"Alpha, safehouse exterior is clear." Twilight reported. "We're proceeding to the interior."

"Copy. Clock's ticking." Gideon replied. As Mitchell swiped a KVA keycard he pulled from the last KVA soldier and opened the door, the three Atlas soldiers loaded their custom Atlas .45 Pistols, equipped with suppressors and red-dot sights. Twilight let Ilona take point as they entered the house and took cover to avoid detection.

"Hold position, painting targets." Ilona whispered, setting off a threat grenade. The holographic forms of four KVA soldiers appeared in their HUDs. As Ilona shot one once he was out of sight, Mitchell and Twilight then shot two others once a video call with who Twilight presumed was Hades ended. As they proceeded upstairs, Mitchell swiped another's legs out from behind and pulled him out of sight before shooting him in the head.

"Move up. This one's mine." Ilona ordered. She pulled a pillow out from under a KVA soldier on the couch and stuffed it onto his face before two-tapping him.

"Clear!" Mitchell whispered as he shot the last KVA soldier. "Alpha, safehouse is clear. We're setting up the WASP now."

"Check, we're almost there." Gideon replied. "Get ready to provide overwatch on my mark."

As Twilight magically assembled the WASP Drone, and then equipped her Exo-Suit and tactical rig, Mitchell and Ilona followed suit and loaded their weapons of choice. Ilona had chosen a Bal-27, modified for urban combat alongside Mitchell. Twilight had chosen an ASM1 with similar attachments for this operation. Twilight pulled the bolt and chambered a round into the breech before throwing the WASP out the window. The drone activated and cloaked before flying into the sky, away from the civilian market nearby.

"We're set, sending WASP to sniper position." Twilight said, taking control of the drone. "Ilona, call my targets."

"Copy." Ilona replied. As the truck carrying Gideon's team approached the KVA HQ, a soldier approached Gideon and began angrily talking with him.

"Yeah, I know, but I have a delivery on 14th Street. This isn't 14th?" Gideon replied.

"Of course this isn't 14th or wherever the hell you're going! Leave now!" the soldier replied.

"But I have to make this delivery!" Gideon replied.

Twilight rolled her eyes and shot the KVA soldier as the other Atlas units dropped his teammates and stowed them in the back of the car.

"Boring conversation anyway." Gideon smirked. "We're moving in."

As Ilona called to shoot the two soldiers on the overwatch, Twilight did so before quickly shooting a stray soldier who stumbled out of a building and went for his gun upon seeing the Atlas units.

"Alright, courtyard clear. Moving to the Atrium." Gideon said. Twilight affirmed, and swung the WASP Drone to the poolside area, dropping the KVA soldiers there. As Gideon approached the Atrium door, Twilight called for him to set a Mute Charge.

"Copy, you've got 45 seconds." Gideon replied. "Watch my back, Twi."

"Check." Twilight replied. "Moving WASP, standby."

"...go now." she then called as Gideon detonated the Mute Charge. As the KVA soldiers began to scatter in surprise and shock at all the noise being drowned out in an instant, Twilight sent several rapid yet accurate shots into the room. As she dropped the KVA she aimed at, Gideon's team cleared the rest.

"Time was 37 seconds." Gideon said. "Moving to the stairwell now."

"Hold up, Gideon. There's too many on the top floor. I'll trip a car alarm, see if I can draw some away." Twilight cautioned. "Starting now."

"Check."

Twilight put a round into a sedan, and it began to sound its alarm. Three soldiers broke off to investigate, leaving two behind.

"Take the two on the stairwell. I'll take the others." Twilight said, opening fire. As the area was cleared, Gideon and his team moved to the front door.

"Hold, confirming ID." Twilight said, moving the WASP to the glass window. As she caught a good glimpse of Hades's face, she growled.

"Confirmed. Taking the shot."

As she fired and Alpha threw in flashbangs before dropping the guards, Gideon moved to scan Hades's retina. After a few seconds, he drew backwards in shock and surprise.

"Negative! Not Hades, repeat, it's not Hades!" Gideon said. Then, a loud beeping could be heard over the radio. Twilight's eyes widened and she cried out into the radio.

"BOMB! Get out of there, now!"

"SHIT! He's rigged! Clear out!" An Atlas soldier by the name of Adams yelled, jumping on the body as the remaining soldiers dove out of the room.

Then, the bomb went off.

As flame, ash, and smoke enveloped the conference center, shards of glass and debris smacked into the WASP, knocking out its cloak and exposing it.

"FUCK!" Twilight cursed loudly as she adjusted the drone's damaged rotors to survey Gideon's team. Apart from Adams, they were okay, but that wouldn't be the case for long as the KVA would be flocking to them in no time.

"Alpha, report! Sitrep!" Prophet ordered over the radio.

"A body double was rigged with a remote bomb! We have a man down, repeat, man down!" Gideon groaned as gunfire echoed in the background. "We need a trace on the detonator's frequency, now!"

"Copy!" Mitchell replied. Then, several KVA escort cars drove out of a garage under the conference center. One of them, armed with a mounted quad MG, opened fire on Gideon's team.

"WASP, drop that gunner!" Gideon cried. Twilight fired several shots, and the Gunner fell, but in so she exposed the damaged WASP to the enemy. A missile swarm fired from a Humvee soon destroyed their only form of air support.

"Damn it!" Twilight cried. "We need to move!"

"Copy!" Ilona replied as the three of them prepped their weapons. "Let's move to cut Hades off! Head into the backstreet and watch for civilians!"

Twilight and Mitchell nodded and removed their suppressors, knowing they wouldn't be much use now that stealth wasn't an option. As they headed into the streets, KVA fireteams mixed with civilians began shooting anyone they could aim at.

"Come on, we need to move! Open fire!" Mitchell yelled. Twilight nodded and opened fire with her ASM1 as Santorini descended into chaos.

Author's Note

This should be more detailed and better paced. Part 2 should be out soon.

Next time - Mission: Manhunt, Part 2, and an Equestrian interlude.