Over at the entrance of the fortress, Magnus and Roxie stand in front of the massive steel gates.
"So, Raven… will this be enough?" Magnus asks, his tone sharp and calculated.
"Yes, sir. Your presence alone walking toward a secret base should pull every ounce of security to the front," Raven replies through the earpiece.
Magnus gives a cold nod. "Good. According to plan."
Roxie glances around, unease tugging at her gut. Something feels off… I just can't pinpoint it.
She remembers Magnus's briefing before the mission:
"I'll enter through the front door, draw their attention. The rest of you infiltrate separately and find the targets — the grandson and the wife. Kill fast, report back. Roxie, you're with me."
Snapping back to reality, Roxie spins around instinctively and throws two knives. They pierce the throats of two approaching soldiers before they can raise their rifles.
"Early flanks? Dickless behavior," Roxie mutters.
"This is why you're here," Magnus says flatly, eyes still on the gate. "That rare Ki-sensing ability of yours keeps us alive."
Suddenly, a loudspeaker crackles to life.
"This is restricted ground! State your purpose, or we'll use force!" a soldier barks through the mic.
Magnus crosses his arms, completely unfazed.
"Raven," he says into the earpiece, "get these doors open."
"I'm on it! Just gimme a second," Raven responds quickly.
The gates groan and begin to open.
"That was fast," Roxie remarks, raising a brow.
"Wait—! That wasn't me!" Raven warns. "Stay on guard!"
Roxie instantly draws her daggers. Magnus cracks his neck and continues walking forward as the gates fully open, revealing a battalion of soldiers aiming their rifles directly at them.
"Looks like they were waiting for us," Roxie mutters.
Magnus doesn't slow down.
"You expect me to back down because of guns?" he says, voice deepening. "Empty threats."
From behind the soldiers, a man steps forward, resting his hand casually on the hilt of his katana.
"So these are the intruders everyone's losing their minds over? There's only two of 'em," Genji says, his tone lazy and bored.
Magnus studies him. "You don't look like one of their regular soldiers… Echelon Four, I assume."
Genji smirks. "Whoa, whoa, chill, big guy. You're the one trespassing. How about you answer my questions first?"
As Magnus and Genji lock eyes, Roxie tries to contact Raven again.
"Raven, can you get me anything on this guy? …Raven? Wait, I'm not even hearing static anymore!"
***
Back at Squad Bastards HQ, Raven slams her fists on the table, her monitor flooded with error messages.
"Dammit! Something's blocking me out completely — I can't access comms, I can't even hack into the base systems. Shit! Shit! Shit! The squad's blind!"
***
Meanwhile, hidden deep within the fortress in a cramped surveillance room, a pale, wiry man rocks back and forth in his chair, surrounded by monitors. Doji, the fortress's top hacker, drools as he types furiously, one hand on the keyboard and… the other suspiciously off-screen.
"Ahhh, yeah, firewall bypassed, systems locked, and… ohhh, Bhad Bhabie dropped another video? Multitasking god, baby!" Doji mutters to himself, cackling like a maniac.
***
Back at the gates, Magnus overhears Roxie's failed attempts to reach Raven.
"Blocked out?" Magnus asks, his voice low and dangerous.
"Yeah," Roxie says quickly. "Whoever's inside is jamming comms and her access to the system. We're flying blind."
"Then stop sitting here trying to fix it," Magnus growls. "Find the bastard jamming our communications and deal with them. Now."
Roxie hesitates. "Wait, are you sure there's a loca—"
"Go!" Magnus bellows.
"Fine!"
Roxie darts off, sprinting along the fortress walls with incredible speed.
"Sir Genji!" one of the soldiers shouts. "Should we pursue her?"
Genji shrugs. "Yeah, try to cut her off along the border. But don't kill her — I might need someone alive to interrogate after this big guy here."
"Yes, sir!" Ten soldiers break formation, chasing Roxie.
Magnus cracks his knuckles, muscles tightening beneath his skin. "You don't know if you'll kill me, huh? Is that supposed to be disrespect?"
Genji smirks, resting his katana casually over his shoulder. "Oh, did that tick you off? Good. I lost a friend recently. Been itching to show off."
Magnus lowers into his stance, eyes sharp and unblinking.
"All I need to do… is keep you here and out of my squad's way."
He rips his shirt off, revealing his scarred, battle-hardened body.
The Tony Sparrow mission has officially begun.