It was dinner time, and all the recruits of Sector B gathered in the cafeteria as usual. The six of them sat at the table with their friends from Team Twenty-Two. During the meal, the group ate and talked merrily, until a sensitive topic broke the peace of the moment.

"I talked to the sergeant today and he told me about a secret mission" Maddox said, intriguing the entire group

"Why would he tell you?" McClaine asked him directly

"Because I'm his favorite" the captain of the twenty-two said ironically

"What's this all about?" asked Lucas curiously

"It's not an official mission, but the sergeant said it's an opportunity to train us in the field" Maddox began, "of course we won't have any cover" he added

"Are you going to tell us or not?" said Kenny impatiently

"Okay, calm down, it's a high-risk mission in a compound where the mafia is said to be working" the team leader continued

"They want to get us all killed" Isako said worriedly

"Relax Kynaya, this is a simple mission and we have a green light" Maddox said

"You mean we can kill them all?" asked McClaine

"That's right mate" Andrew concluded.

All the guys in Team Twenty agreed, for them it was a chance to learn and impress their superiors, as well as a good dose of adrenaline, but Team Twenty-Four had some doubts.  Shortly thereafter, the six main characters found themselves in their room discussing whether they should go with them that night.

"What do you think of Andrew's plan?" Lucas asked the group.

"I don't know, it seems far-fetched" Alex said. 

"If Julia's going, I'm going" Max pointed out

"Maybe it's not so strange, we could go" Kenny suggested

"It's crazy, who knows what could happen to us" Isako said, showing herself to be very worried

 "I agree with Isako, it's too dangerous" McClaine supported her

"Guys, we all have to agree, we're not leaving anyone behind" Lucas said firmly. The six reluctantly decided to agree and go with Maddox and his team. 

That night was windy, they could hear the rustle of the wind in the branches of the trees, but even though the moon was shining in the sky, they could see nothing. That place was in a desolate part of the Phoenix suburbs, it was a building that looked abandoned, but there were lighted parts that indicated the presence of someone inside the building. They knew that the criminals inside were dangerous, so they adopted a pincer maneuver to surround them and capture them at best.                                                                                                                                                        What they had learned served them well, the boys knew what to do and were confident, perhaps too confident.

They opened the gate with a bolt cutter and entered the perimeter, team twenty-four, through the main entrance, which had been left empty, team twenty-two, through the back entrance, which was completely isolated. Everything was going according to plan when they heard a noise in the distance. It was coming from the interstate, and the closer they got, the clearer it became: it was the police.

Police sirens echoed through the suburbs, and the criminals themselves heard them and armed themselves. The gangsters thought the police were there for them, and the boys thought the same.

"What luck, they came right at the most beautiful time" said an annoyed Julia

"We have to go" Isako shouted

"No" said Maddox, "let's finish the mission" he added in a defiant tone

"This is crazy" Lucas said

"And why, we're the good guys, what's the problem?" answer Maddox

"You can't listen to him, he wants to get us all killed" McClaine said, turning to Lucas

"We're here now, let's make this quick" Lucas announced.

Everyone reluctantly followed the two team leaders on their suicide mission, but it was too late. The mobsters started shooting at everything they saw. First they shot out the windows at the SWAT trucks, but when the guys broke in, it started raining bullets. Neither team leader had studied the place, they thought it would be easy, and like the Americans in Vietnam, they underestimated the mission, thinking they could get away with little, but it was a disaster.  The criminals knew the place like the back of their hand; the boys did not.

 Caught off guard, they were forced to retreat when the police also broke in. The two teams retreated under heavy machine-gun fire; it looked like real war, and the boys, no matter how well trained, would never be ready for it. The first team, the one that came through the front door, managed to return to the armored car with no casualties, but the same could not be said for the other team. Only half returned that night, and some of them were dying, carried by those who were still holding on. Maddox and half of the twenty-two died and some returned wounded, including Julia.                                                                                                                                                                They returned to the base and immediately alerted the infirmary, but there was little they could do. Only two soldiers from squad twenty-two were saved that night, and Julia was not one of them.

Max sat silently on the small wall outside of Sector B, looking down at his bloodstained hands and endlessly reliving the scene of his dying friend as he swabbed her wound. 

"Hey man, are you okay?" Kenny asked his friend, but he didn't answer, "I know what it's like to lose someone you care about" he added.

"Who?" asked Max

"My brother, it happened a year ago" Kenny revealed

"It hurts less with time" the Italian continued with tears in his eyes

 "I wish it were true, but the truth is it always hurts" the Mexican said. While the two were talking, the other boys arrived.

"We heard, I'm sorry Max" said Mason.

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have listened to Maddox" Lucas said regretfully.

"You couldn't have seen this coming" McClaine said to the foreman, "but you should have," Max said, standing up.

"I know, and I'll regret it for the rest of my life" Lucas said as he looked into his friend's eyes

"But it won't bring them back" Max admitted as he sat back down

"There's one thing I'm not explaining though, how did the police arrive at the exact time we arrived?" asked Kenny

"I actually did a background check" Mason revealed, "and I know where the call came from" he added

"From where?" asked Max

"From here, in Sector B, just before we went out" Mason said

"You're saying the sergeant called it" Lucas speculated

"I don't think so" said the Englishman

"How can you be sure?" asked Isako

"Because one of the cafeteria phones reserved for us in Sector B was used" Mason revealed

"We need to find out who did this" Max said angrily

"I can check the phone records if you want" Mason suggested

"It was me" McClaine revealed, silence fell over the conversation and everyone stared at Alex in disbelief

"Why?" asked Lucas

"No one was supposed to die" McClaine said as tears streamed down his face, Max, blinded by rage, punched him in the face and everyone had to stop him before he killed Alex.

That same evening, August 10th, Team Twenty-Four disbanded, both at the boys' own request and because the program was shut down a few days later when the Secretary General of the United Nations personally decided to shut down Project K.A.R. After an entire team died on an unofficial mission, the base was dismantled, General Sawyer was fired, and all the boys were sent home.

November 2003

Alex McClaine, now 18, returned to Seattle. He was alone, with his sister who knows where in a safe house. He decided to get his life back on track and decided to join the police force, hoping to one day become a member of a federal agency and find his sister.

Isako Kynaya returned to Tokyo and decided to honor her father by opening a new restaurant with money from the sale of the family home and the hope of one day opening a location in America.

Kenny Sanchez returned to Mexico City, decided to avenge his brother and take over his father's empire, it was certainly not what his brother wanted for him, but he had no choice, so a few days after arriving in Mexico he killed Claudio Sanchez and the entire Nuevas Mexico Cartel bowed to the new boss.

Mason Philippe returned to Machester, his own neighborhood, but this time he confronted the boys who bullied him and beat the shit out of them the way they had beaten the shit out of him. Used the hacker techniques he learned in the army to enroll in the best school, getting paid through an offshore account in the Caymans, hoping to one day invent a video game that would get his family out of that neighborhood.

Lucas Jackson returned to LA and, against his family's advice, decided to join the police force, coming to the conclusion that if he wanted to change the system, he had to be part of it.

Max Russo returned to Rome and learned that his brother had been arrested, so he decided to use the money he had hidden in their house to open his own gym, starting small with the hope that one day it would become the most important in the capital.