The underground safe house trembled as an explosion rocked the foundation. Dust rained from the ceiling. Kade barely had time to react before Nova grabbed his arm and pulled him back. The walls blew apart, sending shattered metal and debris flying.
Through the smoke, Syndicate enforcers poured in—heavily armored, their weapons glowing with plasma charges. Kade recognized their insignia. The Ghost Division. The Syndicate's deadliest retrieval squad.
Nova cursed, reloading her pulse pistol. "They found us faster than I expected."
Kade clenched his fists. "They were already on their way. Reyes played us."
A figure stepped through the smoke. Commander Saren. His red cybernetic eye flickered as he assessed Kade with a cruel smirk.
"Kade Ronin. The Last Enforcer," Saren said mockingly. "More like the Last Mistake."
Before Kade could respond, Saren moved—faster than any normal human should. His reinforced fist slammed into Kade's chest, sending him crashing into a steel column. Pain exploded through his ribs, but he rolled before Saren's blade sliced through the air where his head had been.
Nova fired off several shots, but the Syndicate soldiers activated kinetic shields, absorbing the blasts. One of them grabbed her arm and slammed her into the ground. She let out a sharp gasp of pain as they restrained her.
Kade fought through the haze of pain. He wasn't losing like this. Not now.
He activated his neural combat protocol, and the world slowed. Every movement calculated, every attack anticipated. He twisted, using his plasma blade to deflect a strike, then countered with a precise slash across a soldier's throat.
But it wasn't enough. There were too many.
A sharp pain lanced through his shoulder as an energy round tore through his armor. He staggered. A Syndicate enforcer seized the opening and slammed an electro-baton into his back. A thousand volts of agony surged through his spine.
Kade collapsed to his knees. His vision blurred as Saren loomed over him.
"You always were a fighter," Saren mused, wiping blood from his knuckles. "But the truth is, you were never in control. The Syndicate owns you."
Nova struggled against her restraints, her voice raw with desperation. "Kade! Get up!"
Saren pulled out a small device and pressed it against Kade's temple. A searing pain shot through his skull. His memories, his thoughts—they were being rewritten.
"The war is over, Kade," Saren whispered. "And you just lost."
As darkness swallowed him, Kade's last sight was Nova's terrified face as Syndicate soldiers dragged her away.
Pain burned through Kade's skull, white-hot and relentless. His mind felt like it was unraveling, his thoughts slipping through his fingers like sand. Memories flickered and twisted—faces he knew distorted, events he remembered rewritten.
Saren knelt beside him, the device still pressed against his temple, his smirk widening. "Don't fight it, Kade. You were never meant to be free."
Kade growled, his muscles seizing as he fought against the invasive force tearing through his mind. But it was overpowering. The memories that made him who he was—his past, his mission, even his hatred—were being rewritten.
His vision blurred, and suddenly he was back in Syndicate training halls, kneeling before Reyes, reciting his oaths of loyalty. No! That wasn't real.
The device hummed louder, and the world around him flickered. Nova's voice felt distant now, as if she were shouting at him from another reality.
"Kade, don't let them take you!"
He barely heard her. Darkness was pulling him under, but somewhere in the recess of his mind, something resisted.
The Syndicate wanted to erase him. To turn him into their weapon again. But deep inside, the part of him that had fought for freedom—the part of him that had defied Reyes, that had **fallen for Nova, trusted her, bled for her—**it wasn't gone yet.
Kade clenched his fists. They would not break him.
With the last ounce of strength, he grabbed Saren's wrist and twisted. The commander's cybernetic arm whined under the pressure, and the device slipped from Kade's temple. The pain in his skull vanished instantly.
For a moment, there was silence. Then Kade's body gave out, collapsing onto the cold metal floor. His breathing was ragged, his mind still spinning between reality and Syndicate-forged illusions.
Saren clicked his tongue in mild disappointment. "Still resisting? Tsk. No matter." He motioned to his soldiers. "Load him up. The boss wants him alive."
Kade tried to fight back, but his body wouldn't obey. His limbs felt like dead weight. Two enforcers grabbed him, yanking him to his feet.
Nova screamed in defiance, thrashing against her captors. "Let him go, you bastards!"
Saren walked toward her, casually wiping the blood off his knuckles. "You should worry more about yourself, sweetheart. The Syndicate has… special plans for you."
He turned back to Kade with a smug look. "And you? By the time we're done, you won't even remember she existed."
As they dragged Kade toward the waiting transport ship, his vision darkened. But one thought remained, burning through the fog in his mind like a dying ember.
I will come back for you, Nova.
I swear it.