Page 54 of Scaled Daddy's Secret Heir

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Two sentries.

One coughs.

I shoot him in the neck—plasma round muffled by a zero-grit sleeve. The other turns, too slow.

Snap. My blade punches through his visor.

Blood mists across the panel behind him in a crimson arc.

I drag both bodies into the crawl recess.

Kuron’s voice crackles: “Right flank cleared. Target confirmed in primary chamber. Civilians unaccounted.”

That’s odd. Civvies don’t belong on a secure tier.

I override the chamber lock, motion Kuron into cover, and we breach.

Flash. Smoke. Screams.

The target is already running.

And that’s when I see them—two kids.

Human. Unarmed. Mid-teens, huddled behind an old server stack. Their eyes are too big, too aware. Civilians. Non-combatants. Not part of this.

“Hold,” I bark.

Kuron spins, gun raised. “They saw us.”

“They’re kids.”

“Witnesses.”

He fires.

I tackle him.

The shot sears the server stack instead, ricochets.

“They’re not the mission!” I snarl, pinning his arm.

He glares at me like I’ve lost my mind. “They’ll ID us.”

“They won’t get the chance.”

The target’s gone.

Footsteps echo—metal on metal.

I chase.

Turn a corner?—

And it’s over.

The target’s dropped by another squad from Alpha insertion. Gun still warm in his hand.

Behind me, I hear a single shot ring out.

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