Chapter 10: The Final Chapter
The cold Prague night wrapped around Hawke like a second skin as he stood on the banks of the Vltava River, the worn parchment of the Project Tantalus directive clutched in his hands. The ink was faded, but its contents carried enough weight to ignite a global firestorm.
Behind him, Celeste Moreau, Vega, and Richter gathered in the shadows of a decrepit boathouse, catching their breath from the narrow escape. Scorpio’s men were still searching for them, but they had disappeared into the city’s labyrinthine backstreets.
Hawke exhaled, watching his breath fog in the frigid air.
“This document,” he murmured, eyes scanning the classified protocols, “it’s not just a blueprint for war. It’s a failsafe.”
Moreau stepped closer, her gaze sharp. “A failsafe for what?”
Hawke looked up. “For when governments collapse. A plan to control the chaos that follows.”
Vega frowned. “You’re saying this was meant to be activated?”
Hawke nodded. “Scorpio wasn’t trying to destroy the world. He was trying to reshape it.”
A heavy silence settled between them.
The document in his hands wasn’t just intelligence.
It was a weapon—one that powerful forces would kill to possess or bury forever.
No Safe Harbor
Moreau paced. “We need to go dark. Scorpio won’t stop. And the moment we try to move this intel, every agency in the world will know.”
Richter checked his watch. “We’ve got less than an hour before the perimeter tightens. If we’re getting out, it’s now.”
Hawke weighed their options. There were none. Not if they wanted to survive.
“We can’t run,” he finally said. “We take the fight to them.”
Vega raised an eyebrow. “You’re suggesting we go after Scorpio?”
Hawke tossed the directive onto a nearby crate, pulling out his sidearm.
“No. I’m suggesting we finish this.”
The Final Move
The coordinates on the directive weren’t just locations—they were rendezvous points for a global summit. A clandestine meeting where the final phase of Project Tantalus was to be set in motion.
And the final name on the document?
Scorpio.
Moreau’s expression hardened. “He’s attending in person.”
Hawke nodded. “Which means we have one shot.”
They moved fast. Vega secured a stolen transport, Richter pulled together forged credentials, and Moreau worked a contact in Geneva, where the summit was being held.
By the next evening, they were on a private jet heading straight into the heart of the storm.
Confrontation at the Summit
The Geneva summit was held in a secluded glass-and-steel fortress, overlooking the icy waters of Lake Léman.
Inside, diplomats, defense contractors, and covert power brokers moved behind closed doors—each with their own agenda.
Hawke and his team infiltrated under diplomatic aliases, their weapons concealed, their path set.
Then, they saw him.
Scorpio.
He stood near the central chamber, his demeanor as calculated as ever. A man who had orchestrated wars from the shadows, now preparing to pull the final string.
Moreau exhaled. “He doesn’t know we’re here.”
Hawke’s jaw tightened. “Let’s keep it that way.”
They split up—Vega and Richter disabling security, Moreau cutting off Scorpio’s escape routes.
Hawke moved through the crowd, his pulse steady. The game was almost over.
Then—
Scorpio turned.
Their eyes met.
And just like that—the war began.
The Final Battle
The moment Scorpio recognized him, he reached for a concealed pistol.
But Hawke was faster.
He grabbed a nearby champagne bottle, slamming it into Scorpio’s arm, forcing him back. The gun clattered to the floor.
The summit erupted into chaos. Guards rushed in, guests scattered, and Hawke tackled Scorpio, dragging him toward a private corridor.
Moreau followed, weapon drawn.
“End of the line,” Hawke muttered.
Scorpio, bleeding from a cut above his brow, smirked. “You think you’ve won?”
Hawke’s grip tightened. “The world won’t burn for you.”
Scorpio’s voice was calm. “You don’t understand, Hawke. You’re too late.”
Then, he nodded toward the monitor behind them.
Hawke turned—
And froze.
The Last Cipher Unlocked
On-screen, a live transmission showed servers activating in six major cities across the world.
Scorpio chuckled. “You stopped me, but the directive?”
He leaned in, whispering, “It’s already in motion.”
Hawke didn’t hesitate.
One shot.
One kill.
Scorpio collapsed, his smirk fading as he hit the marble floor.
Moreau rushed to the console. The servers were still online.
Hawke moved beside her. “Can we override?”
She hesitated. “Not entirely. But we can corrupt it.”
Richter’s voice crackled over comms. “We need an answer, Hawke.”
Hawke’s mind raced. If they corrupted the directive, every classified secret Scorpio’s network had collected would be exposed.
Governments would fall. Leaders would be ruined. The world order would shift overnight.
If they didn’t?
Project Tantalus would remain hidden—waiting for the next Scorpio to rise.
Hawke exhaled. No perfect choice. Only the least destructive one.
He gave Moreau a nod.
“Burn it.”
She hit the command.
The End of an Era
The servers crashed.
Data fragments collapsed into unreadable noise. Project Tantalus—erased.
Across the summit, phones rang, security scrambled, and powerful men realized their leverage had just vanished.
Hawke holstered his weapon. “Time to go.”
They slipped out in the confusion, disappearing into Geneva’s mist-covered streets.
As they walked, Moreau glanced at him.
“Did we do the right thing?”
Hawke’s eyes remained on the distant lights of the city.
“There’s no right thing in this world,” he murmured.
Only survival.
Only the next fight.
Epilogue: A New Shadow Rises
Weeks later, Hawke stood alone at a safehouse in the Alps, the embers of a small fire crackling before him.
A burner phone vibrated on the wooden table.
He answered.
A voice—calm, familiar, and unknown.
“You stopped this war, Hawke. But the next one has already begun.”
The call ended.
Hawke sighed, tossing the phone into the flames.
He reached for his coat, his weapon, his next move.
No rest for men like him.
Because in the shadows—the game never truly ends.
