Paris, France (The Parisian Institute, various locations)

Whispering Knife was right: Eris had been mispronouncing the phrase, and he demonstrated the correct pronunciation accompanied by a waive of his hand. The doors to the Parisian Institute cracked and shattered as if a giant hammer had knocked soundly against the frame.

Koschei stepped through the debris first, heaving her spear and pinning a guard to the wall as he reached for the wall alarm. The rest of the startled security guards barely had time to go for their weapons as the swarm of armed and armored Glory Shocktroopers poured into the room after her, firing steadily with suppressed weapons. Nova, their German-born leader and ex Hand of Glory loyalist ushered the Shocktroopers along with a few choice words.

Mute and Shadow followed them, weapons bared and ready for action. Whispering Knife came last, a rather large revolver in one hand, a glowing ball of light in the other.

"Move, people. We have a timetable," Whispering Knife ordered. The Shocktroopers swarmed up the stairs while Mute and Shadow went down, leaving Koschei, Whispering Knife, Nova and six Shocktroopers in the lobby.

Nova turned to Koschei. "You’ve recovered well. It appears my mistress’ ministrations weren’t enough to damage you permanently."

"No thanks to you," Koschei said. She pulled the spear from the wall. "How did your mistress enjoy the new breathing hole I gave her?"

Nova frowned. "Not very much. She did not survive your encounter; you should be proud of yourself. However, I was promoted in her place and I’ve gone on to serve with distinction as a member of the Fist. How does it feel to wear our standard again?" She nodded toward the armband on Koschei’s arm.

"Honestly? It feels just like the last time," Koschei said. I want to rip it off and choke you with it, she thought.

"Wunderbar! I’m glad your time with the Conspiracy has not softened you. Perhaps there’s hope for you yet. We shall talk, when this is over, of survival of the fittest and of your place in the new world order."

"Perhaps," Koschei replied and she sat down to watch the monitors. Perhaps you’ll rot in hell tonight.

Mouthymerc bounced his weight from right to left, testing the stolen Shop armor. It was certainly responsive and the servos seemed to anticipate his commands. Behind the mirrored visor, he grinned with pleasure.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself," Eris said, remaining still in her Iron Tiger. It gleamed, tall and silver, bristling with ordinance. She thought it an interesting coincidence that parking garage they stood on had been condemned only weeks before but she remembered who she was working with and what steps they were willing to take. At least this will minimize deaths of any uninvolved parties.

"I live for this shit."

"Yes, well, try not to enjoy it too much. These are human beings, after all."

"These are people who’ve killed friends of mine and yours and are willing to stop at nothing to pursue whatever agenda has them bent on our destruction. As my drill sergeant used to say, ‘If they’re shooting at you, they’re no longer human – only another target to shoot down.’ Dead men don’t shoot back."

"No, they use other weapons," Eris said, almost too quietly to hear.

*BOOM* The Institute’s doors blew open and the radio crackled to life. "Heads up, the clock is now ticking."

"You’re on, Eris," Mouthymerc said. "Now is the time for action, not philosophy."

"Don’t worry, you’ll have your action soon enough." She scanned the horizon and monitored the clock. Sure enough, five stealth helicopters appeared within three minutes, and the targeting mechanism had no problems locking on. She made a mental note to thank Hephaestus for the modifications to the radar and opened up with the 40mm cannon mounted on the Tiger’s shoulder.

Mute and Shadow were surprisingly quiet as they crept down the stairs. Shadow took the lead, his M1911A steady and sure as they descended the stairs and Mute followed closely behind, holding a SIG-Sauer P-226. Before long, they’d descended into the basement and were watching several technicians as they raced from machine to machine. Mute almost felt sorry for them as he rolled the flash/bang and Shadow rolled the concussion grenade into their midst.

Almost.

The world exploded for the technicians and they clutched bleeding ears and blinded eyes. Some were stunned, simply writhing on the floor and the two agents charged into the room, weapons firing. One technician, out of the shockwave’s effect, dove behind cover, but not before Mute could see his pupils grow dark with psionic power. When the mentalist popped back up he threw a charge of lightning that seared the patch on Mute’s shoulder.

Shadow’s bullet snapped the mentalist’s head back, leaving a smoking hole in the middle of his forehead.

"Thanks," Mute said. Shadow nodded in reply and moved forward.

Two guards tripped over each other as they scrambled out the back door. One of them pulled out a cellular phone, fumbling with it in his struggle to dial, when it shattered – along with the attached hand. The guard was too shocked to scream, but it didn’t matter since the next bullet took him in the heart. The second guard dropped to the ground, thinking to dodge the incoming fire, but unfortunately, he chose not to look up. As such, the last bullet took him in the back of the head.

"Why don’t you have someone else do the sniper work?" Avatar asked, lounging against a pillar just behind Equinox.

"Because some jobs require a personal touch and everyone else has a role to play," Equinox replied. He adjusted the sight on the Barrett and continued to watch the back entrance to the building. "Hephaestus. How are things looking?"

"Smooth as silk so far. Beta Team has reported their engagement with the enemy, Gamma Team has begun their egress and the troopers are ascending."

"Good," Equinox said. "Keep me posted."

"Will do."

Equinox spotted another runner and jerked the trigger again. Everything was going according to plan and that never happened. He sighed, waiting for the other shoe to drop.