Chapter #59: The Price of Betrayal
The silence in the cells of Briggs did not last long.
Falken arrived escorted by two soldiers, his expression unreadable, hard as the steel walls surrounding him. He did not look at Olivier or Buccaneer at first; instead, he ordered the adjacent cell opened. Snake's and Armd's restraints were removed without ceremony.
"You may go," Falken said coldly.
Olivier stepped forward, incredulous.
"What are you doing, Falken?" she roared. "They're enemy spies!"
Falken turned to her slowly.
"I'm saving Briggs," he replied. "I've reached an agreement with Drachma. I will hand these two men over, and in exchange they will cease their attacks and withdraw their troops from the North."
"That's insanity!" Buccaneer cut in. "You're giving them living intelligence!"
"You didn't speak when you should have, Major," Falken snapped. "Now be silent."
The doors slammed shut. Olivier shouted his name one last time, but Falken was already gone.
Snake smiled with that crooked grin Olivier hated so much.
"In the end, General," he mocked, "I always knew you'd choose blood over duty."
Falken did not respond.
Minutes later, outside the base, the frozen wind lashed at them. Drachman soldiers waited in the distance. Falken advanced with Snake and Armd, ready to honor the deal.
Then it happened.
An explosion rocked the fortress.
The blast came from the armory.
"What was that?!" a soldier shouted.
Snake smiled and pressed his palm against the frozen ground. Without a circle, without a word, massive vines burst from the stone like living serpents, coiling around Falken and lifting him off the ground.
"Thank you for getting us out," he whispered. "But we never promised to keep our end."
Armd sprinted toward the interior of the base.
"I'll take care of the missile," he said grimly.
At the same time, Drachma's troops advanced. Briggs's alarms began to wail. The North became a hell of gunfire, explosions, and screams. Soldiers from both sides fell onto snow stained red.
Inside the cells, Olivier heard the chaos.
"This isn't an exchange," she snarled. "It's an invasion."
Buccaneer clenched his teeth.
"Then let's move."
With effort—using brute force and their surroundings—they managed to break free. When they emerged outside, the scene was devastating. Bodies of Briggs soldiers lay alongside those of Drachma. The air reeked of gunpowder and blood.
"Damn you, Falken…" Olivier muttered.
They spotted him tangled in the vines, struggling, unable to free himself.
"Cut them!" she ordered.
Together they shattered the vegetal prison. Falken dropped to his knees, gasping for breath.
"This… this is my fault," he admitted—for the first time without arrogance.
"Regret it later," Olivier said. "Fight now."
The three of them pushed toward the armory.
Then they saw it.
A mobile missile launcher was emerging from the hangar, its treads advancing slowly but relentlessly. Armd stood atop it, gripping the control system.
"If that missile leaves this base…" Falken said, pale, "we're finished. Drachma will replicate our technology, and Briggs will fall."
Snake appeared atop the metal structure, raising vegetal barriers that deflected incoming fire.
"Fire!" he shouted at Armd. "We have to escape!"
Armd hesitated.
He looked at Falken.
"I can't…" he whispered. "I can't kill my own brother."
That hesitation was his mistake.
Olivier ran, leapt over twisted metal, and hurled herself straight at Snake. Her sword flashed in the frozen air.
"This is for Briggs!" she cried.
Snake barely had time to react. The blade pierced his body. His eyes widened in shock as he fell from the launcher, his alchemy dissolving into silence.
"So… this is how it ends…" he murmured before going still.
Meanwhile, Buccaneer and Falken charged the missile launcher. Blows rang out—metal against metal—the screech of Buccaneer's automail echoing as they forced the structure.
"Push it!" Buccaneer roared.
With one final effort, they tipped the launcher over. The machine crashed into the ground, destroyed.
But the impact hurled Olivier through the air.
She slammed violently onto the frozen pavement of Briggs. The breath was knocked from her lungs. The world spun.
When she looked up, everything came into brutal focus.
Behind her, Drachma's soldiers advanced, weapons ready.
In front of her, the ruined missile launcher.
And between them, the battle for the North—still undecided.
Olivier clenched her teeth and forced herself to her feet, sword in hand.
The North would not fall.
Not while she was still breathing.
End of chapter