The station burned.
Flames clawed at the rafters, smoke curling black into the dawn sky. Cross crouched behind an overturned crate, rifle steady, ears ringing from the endless barrage. Bullets sparked across steel walls. Reyes was still at the mounted gun, half-conscious, firing in wild, furious arcs that kept Kane's men pinned.
But Kane himself was coming.
The scarred giant strode through smoke and fire as if untouchable, eyes locked on Cross. Soldiers flanked him, but none dared get too close—this was personal.
"Years," Kane said, his voice carrying over the chaos. "I built an empire from the ashes you left me. And all this time, Cross, I thought about one thing—watching you crawl before me."
Cross rose slowly, chest heaving. "Funny. I thought about you too. Every night. Right before I slept. Wondering how it'd feel to finally finish the job."
Kane smiled, teeth white against soot. "Then let's finish it."
The final firefight erupted.
Cross emptied his rifle, bullets hammering Kane's guards. Elena fought like a ghost at his side, blades flashing, pistol cracking in perfect rhythm. Reyes gave his last scream of defiance before slumping against the gun, spent.
Cross charged forward, smoke and flame swirling. Kane met him head-on.
The clash was brutal—steel against flesh, rage against rage. Cross swung his rifle as a club, Kane caught it, wrenched it away, drove a fist into his ribs hard enough to crack bone. Cross staggered, blood in his mouth, but slammed his elbow into Kane's scarred jaw.
They grappled in the heart of the burning vault, crates splitting open to spill rifles, gold, and encrypted drives. Billions in blood money burning around them.
Kane slammed Cross against a wall, hand crushing his throat. "You can't kill me," he snarled. "I am war. I am profit. Even if you end me, there will be another."
Cross spat blood into his face. "Then I'll just keep killing bastards like you."
With a roar, he drove a hidden combat knife up under Kane's ribs. Kane's eyes went wide, shock freezing him for the first time. Cross twisted the blade, ripping free.
The warlord collapsed, blood pooling beneath him, his empire burning with him.
Silence fell, broken only by fire crackling and Elena's ragged breathing.
Cross leaned against a wall, body broken but alive. Reyes was still, his last fight spent.
Elena stepped closer, eyes on Kane's corpse. There was no triumph in her face—only shadows. "You did it," she whispered.
Cross shook his head. "No. We did it."
She met his eyes, and for a moment, the walls between them cracked. But only for a moment. She turned away, snatching one of the hard drives from the wreckage.
"Where are you going?" Cross demanded, voice raw.
Her lips curved faintly. "Kane's dead, but his secrets live. And some of us still have wars to fight."
Before he could stop her, she vanished into the smoke.
Cross stood alone among the flames, Kane's empire collapsing around him. He looked at Reyes, at the bodies of his squad, at the ruin left in their wake.
The jungle wind carried the first light of morning through the shattered roof. Cross holstered his knife, bloodied but unbowed.
The war was over.
But for men like him, there was always another.
THE END.