According to the intel, this is the right place.

But how does he search with such little information? Almost everyone is dead, and half the building is under enemy control.

“It could be somewhere, Yoon! Just relax and think,” the man murmurs himself. He scrolls through the screen carefully, searching for the right keywords from the menu.

Right now, he’s on the third floor, in the archive room, looking for some clues over a small pieces of information left to him.

----

After hearing about the attack, Yoon couldn’t stay away any longer. He left everything behind; his work, and rushed back home, only to be met with a shock.

The Black Wolf building was destroyed, and the enemy has taken over the military. He had no choice but to retreat, signaling his team to gather at the most remote spot in Cosmos City—The Hill of Forgotten Soul.

The place holds its name in dark glory. Forgotten by the citizens, rumor has it the spot is haunted.

But in reality, it’s all a delusion, crafted by a secret operations team called The Black Knight, who’ve used it as their safe house for decades. The story was designed to keep people away.

This time, however, the enemy isn’t like the others. They’ve done their homework. They even know the truth about the Hill. When The Black Knight team arrived, they were ambushed. He was the only one who survived, having managed to get a small piece of intel from his dying comrade.

“XX…”

It’s just a tiny fragment of evidence.

With no glimpse of anything, it feels like an impossible mission for Yoon.

---

“XX… What the hell is XX?!” he mutters as he scrolls down the screen again. There are too many entries labeled "XX" in the archive. His head spins for a moment while searching in silence inside the archive room.

How am I supposed to put the pieces together? Yoon tries to recall anything else from the meeting, just in case that might help him.

According to his leader, the invasion may be linked to a mystery from long ago, even before he was born.

There was a spaceship, a troop of aliens, attacking Cosmos City. A legend that mentioned about a hidden object that supposedly attracts the enemy. The reason was still unknown, shrouded by government secrecy. It's their policy to protect the nation.

But still, the attack was inevitable. It was so devastating, taking the lives of many residents in Cosmos City and neighboring regions. Lots of children became orphans, just like him and his brother.

It was a darker era for everyone.

Talking about the information, it remains a mystery to this day. No one knows anything about it. The old generation slowly disappears from Cosmos, leaving the new generation who is clueless about the history of the war itself.

But, for a boy who grew up in a household that appreciates history a little bit too much, this business attracts Yoon's curiosity. He remembered the excitement when he managed to hack into the government’s server when he was in middle school. Something about an elite team called ‘Guardian’ had popped up on his screen, excite this very wicked young boy to go deep into the rabbit hole, thirsting for some more.

Rumor has it, this group helped Cosmos City win the war against the aliens. They were a powerful team, full of highly skilled soldiers Their legendary story impressed Yoon, until he dreamt of joining the Black Knight since then.

Talking about Guardian rings a bell to Yoon. Maybe... Somehow...

Quickly, he types "Guardian" into the archive search. A few files pop up. One catches his eye: "Classified." He clicks on it. Fifty more files appear. He types "XX"  and waits.

Two files remain unopened.

“These have to be one if it…”

He holds his breath, plugs in his flash drive, and begins the download. The computer is slow, all he can do is pray it will be finished before he gets discovered.

Suddenly, beams of light appear outside the archive. The room is large, he can hide anywhere, but he can’t risk being reckless to expose himself. So, he decides to hide himself even more deeper.

But even he knew it is just for temporary. They can find it in no time. The enemy has advanced tracking abilities, especially in a high-tech room filled with satellite connections. They miss nothing. It’s like their minds are wired to the network.

He glances to his right. 90% complete. He can’t wait for it to finish.

93%… 94%… 95%…

He slowly reaches for his gun. His right hand hovers near the flash drive.

99%… 100%. Download complete.

He unplugs the drive, but at the same moment, blinding light floods the room.

Oh, crap!

---

Smoke fills the air. Justin coughs hard, choking on the foul stench. Slowly, he opens his eyes, patting his chest with his hands, feeling the fabric of his uniform still intact onto his skin.

I’m alive! Thank God!

He lets a huge sigh escape from his mouth as he fumbles with the buckle on his seatbelt. In a second, he slams– face-first, into the ground. Groaning, he stands up and checks himself. Not only is he alive, but he’s also completely unharmed.

More reason to be grateful, I guess!

He breathes a sigh of relief and skims around. Something about the building nearby feels familiar. A huge white box-like building with two satellites aerials on the top of the building. It was hideous, almost unrecognizable with some ruins that almost destroyed the original shape of the building.

“Data House?” he mutters. He knew the place. He used to visit the building while he was a recruit to learn about telecommunications as a part of his subject as the Pegasus handler.

Justin careful checks his surrounding. Even if the building seems empty, he can't let his guard down. Enemies will be here anytime soon and he must look for a place to hide. After a brief scanning, no one is there, not even any quint jet visible before his eyes, except a black Humvee that is parked under the building.

Suddenly, Justin hears a quint jet flies overhead. He bolts toward the Data House, enters the building to seek for a cover.

At least for now.

To his horror, he realizes it too late—the enemy already controls the Data House.

He walks right into danger.

---

Yoon gasps for air, at the same time try not to gag after running less than a mile. He realizes how out of shape he is, running like an old man being chased by a little dog. Hey, at least he tried, anyway!

No enemy in sight now, so he slowly descends the stairs to the second level, panting heavily. He regrets not listening to his brother’s advice about dieting. He’s lost so much stamina which he needs the most at the time like this.

His legs move steadily, but he knows he is not swift enough to get out of here fast. It’s getting dark, and the enemy is everywhere. He left his infrared goggles inside his humvee, so his vision is limited for now. Unlike him, the enemy, though—each of them have an infrared-equipped blast.

He has seen it before. His brother’s best friend had shown him the design years ago.

Who could forget that hideous design? Yoon shakes his head, remembering the argument he had with his brother's friend about it. He regrets it by now, with every second, he regrets having a silly fight just because of the ugly blast that ends up in the enemy's hand now. Thinking about it makes his heart churns a bit. He misses them at this moment so much!

“Hope you guys are safe, wherever you are,” he whispers.

Finally, after a mile of walking, he reaches the second level.

Only one more to go, Yoon!

The staircase door suddenly flies toward him. "Damn it!" Yoon says as he manages to dodge it just in time as gunfire erupts around him. He presses himself to the side, waiting and holding onto his dear life for the firing to end.

Once the firing stops, he cautiously peeks out. A man with a firearm is fleeing himself from the enemy, trying to return fire. But the scale of attack is so severe, it’s nearly impossible for the man to fight alone.

So, Yoon grabs the man and drags him across the room on the second floor as the shooting resumes. They run like two madmen, desperately trying to stay alive, until Yoon spots a door. It creaks open, leaving a space for Yoon to pull the man inside and shuts it immediately. He signals him to stay quiet.

The young man stares at him with wide, scared eyes. They wait until the enemy passes.

“Who are you? How did you get here?” Yoon asks, eyeing on the younger man. The man notices the dog tag around Yoon's neck.

He’s a Black Knight! He murmurs inside.

“I’m Lt. Justin Finn. My Pegasus crashed, and I landed here. I thought this building was safe.”

“Flash news for you, even your house isn’t safe right now, believe me...” the man whispers back.

“I know. I saw it blown up with my own eyes.”

There’s pain in his voice, making Yoon suddenly feels pity on Justin. He inhales a bit before he looks at the younger.

“I’m Yoon, Agent Yoon. I’m from—”

“The Black Knight, I know. Saw your dog tag.” Justin points to the round dog tag with an armor symbol. He smiles before he stands steadily and scans the room with care.

“Are you new?” Yoon asks.

“Yes, I became a handler two years ago.”

“You look young. You must be the youngest handler.”

“I was 19 when I joined Pegasus.”

“Oh, I was 21 when I joined Black Knight,” Yoon says, impressed by the fact that he learnt from Justin.

“You must be the youngest Black Knight! I thought it took years of exams and training to join?”

“Yep. I joined Black Wolf at seventeen. It took me nearly four years to complete training to be the Black Knight,” Yoon says.

As they talk, Yoon's eyes keep searching for an escape route. He listens closely at each wall, looking for any loops that can save them.

“Looks like we’re stuck here,” Justin says.

“Are you fast?” asks Yoon, as he suddenly has something in his mind.

“The fastest in my squad,” Justin replies.

“How fast is your 100-meter dash?”

“Less than 10 seconds, I think.”

Yoon feels small—he can barely finish in 15 seconds!

“You ever run carrying weight?” Yoon asks again.

“Yeah, carrying a friend took me 20-30 seconds.”

Yoon's jaw flabber down. He looks at Justin with awe, cursing himself for being too lazy to take care of himself properly while he can.

“What are you, bionic?” Yoon asks, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m just human,” Justin replies, his eyes sincere.

“Listen carefully. We need to get out of here. I saw a window by the staircase. We’ll jump and run to my Humvee. How are we gonna do that?”

Justin calculates. It’s only 40 meters to the window. He can make it in under 10 seconds.

“I’ll attract them. I’ll run across the wing and circle back. You’ll have about 15 seconds to escape. Sounds good?”

“Are you sure? It’s risky.”

“Better to take a risk than die doing nothing.” Justin draws his gun, clicks it twice, and switches to silence mode.

“I saw cameras everywhere. They’re monitoring us.”

“Leave that to me. Just focus on your part,” Yoon says, pulling a small gadget from his cargo pocket. It looks like a tiny gun, but it’s built for something else.

“Let’s see what we can do,” Yoon nods at Justin.