A/N: Darius, Katrina prepare to storm the outpost...

Observer's POV

Sayan Mountains, Ergaky, Siberia:

Darius sent their coordinates as soon as the blizzard had died down, in order for both the general and commander to get their troops in. Darius and Katrina made a pact to lead two separate groups into the outpost, attacking from two separate sides, as soon as it was dark, while the general and the commander would lead the other groups.

Darius was still wary of Katrina that no matter how intimate they had become physically, he could not allow her to influence any important decisions he had to make regarding this mission. He was not about to let her interfere with his judgment.

Soon the troops had amassed within the caves since the caves had provided the perfect cover for their operations. They then discussed their strategies together, while Katrina had given enough information regarding the plans of the outpost, all entrances and exits clearly marked and mapped for a quick escape if necessary.

The men were not going to allow this mission to fail, even if Katrina was on board. As the general had stated, she indeed was a wild card and they were all on their toes regardless. But Darius silently kept the information of Damien being their son due to the sensitivity of the situation if things got ugly.

Although Darius had confided in the general regarding certain things, he could not divulge such a secret even to the general since they all answered to Senator Thorpe.

He could not risk the danger it would impose upon them all. As he sat there, listening to the strategies being laid out and pieced together, one of the lookouts came back with a report confirming Senator Thorpe's presence during the packing and transportation of newly developed weapons from the outpost.

"What? Thorpe? That's not possible! How the hell is he involved in all of this?" The General yelled, bringing his fist down upon the table in utter disgust.

"Yes, apparently, he's very heavily involved" Katrina entered, handing over the latest images her operative was able to take during their observations.

"We must tread lightly gentlemen. The sensitivity of such a revelation will make heads roll within The Senate. Can someone contact The President? He's been asking us about the situation so far. We must let him know. What are the orders from The Pentagon, General?" Darius calmly asked, while perusing the latest documents.

"The Pentagon is sending more troops, D. They have assumed more firepower is required to overtake the bastards" General Adams growled.

"But who sent them the information?" the Commander cocked an eyebrow. The men suddenly turned towards Katrina.

"Look...I simply let it slip to my boss in The Kremlin that Count Egon Von Crum was making unnecessary waves in the mountains of Siberia and straining diplomatic relations with our US counterparts..." Katrina grinned mischievously.

"Phew...You sure know how to rock the Senate, Katrina..." Commander Bryant whistled, shaking his head vehemently, "They're not gonna take that lightly!"

"And so, they shouldn't, dammit! A Senator has breached protocol and involved himself in some serious shit! This is a major scandal that will tarnish the Presidency if we don't do something!!!" General Adams kicked a small rock in anger. Darius knew that the General was itching to get his hands around both Egon's and Thorpe's necks as soon as possible.

Darius nodded, and then they all decided that they were not going to wait. Soon four groups separated and surrounded the outpost. It may have looked like a small wooden cabin from the outside, but the bunker went down five miles deep towards the earth's core, housing personnel quarters, technical, biological and machinery laboratories, hidden hangars and storage facilities below ground.

Each group consisted of 30 army and navy personnel, armed with their own firepower and counter-technological systems, developed and tested in Darius' labs. They had to be ready for anything thrown at them, knowing Egon's liaisons with underground laboratories in the Middle East.

With their individual com-links on, the troops advanced towards the only existing exits above ground, quietly entering the outpost, after disabling the cameras outside. Two of Bryant's men were serious techies. They somehow managed to hack into the system and break the codes governing the force fields, entering some bogus codes that carried a virus that would deflect any errors in the system. Then, on Darius' command, they inserted a bogus outer perimeter video as a replacement into the viewing feed on the security computers, so that the four security stations could not tell the difference as to what they were actually viewing but a looped tape.

They then attacked the four security stations in a surprise counter-strike, knocking out their communications' systems permanently, before entering the premises. Darius and Katrina disabled three of the elevator lifts to the lower levels, all except one which was set to operate only on their command as a means of escape.

Then, they proceeded on foot down the several flights of stairs to each of the levels, dispatching a few team members to be stationed on each floor. The teams of three would then inspect and if necessary, engage the enemy in combat. So far, all of them had reported inactivity on those floors and sealed them off completely. Then they re-calibrated their efforts and met on the levels of the most importance.

General Adams and Commander Christensen led their teams towards the hangar bays in order to disable any planes or helicopters from taking off. They then proceeded to the storage facilities and ran into gunfire from Egon's men.

Both Darius and Katrina led their teams towards the laboratories where Katrina knew personnel were being held against their will and forced to continue their work. They too ran into heavy gunfire led by Egon himself. Thorpe had jumped into one of the robotic suits and began attacking the soldiers by grabbing them by their ankles and hurling them viciously against a wall.

"Take cover!" Darius yelled as he just barely dodged automatic gunfire, pulling Katrina down to the ground with him. He then motioned to her to get into the other robotic suit, which she did, successfully. Darius gave her the thumbs up and she began to operate the suit, striding into the line of fire, providing enough cover for Darius and his men to shift out of Egon's sight.

They then encircled Egon and his men, cutting off their means of escape as they continued to engage them in hand-to-hand combat. Darius jumped right in front of Egon, smashing the gun away from Egon's hand in a quick move which flustered the man. Egon fell backwards towards the ground, grabbing Darius with him. They wrestled on the ground roughly, with Egon threatening to knife Darius in the gut while trying to reach the weapon that was knocked out of his hand.

Thorpe abandoned his robotic suit once Katrina disabled and broke off the robotic arm which held a formidable-looking automatic machinegun. Her men successfully got a hold of him as he was desperately trying to escape through one of the pods but got grabbed back into the lab. The rest of Katrina's and Darius' men freed the scientists and all the workers, all of whom were her friends and brought them out to safety.

Meanwhile, Darius kneed Egon in the groin, kicking the knife away. Darius was about to end the fight by making Egon yield but someone screamed from behind. One of Egon's men had a struggling Katrina in his grasp.

Egon grinned as the man motioned to Darius, indicating that he would not hesitate to kill her if he didn't put down his weapon. Darius complied and slowly put his gun down only to flick a small knife (which he had up his sleeve) into Katrina's open palm.

She whirled around in a split-second, slicing her captor's throat cleanly. She roughly pushed him away from her. The man fell to his knees, grasping his throat, desperately trying to stem the flow of blood which gushed out of his carotid artery. He rasped, finally falling face down in his own blood.

She chuckled softly to herself, smirking in Darius' direction when the blood suddenly drained from her face, as a gunshot rang out from behind her.

"KATRINA!!!" Darius rushed forward, grasping her firmly as she slumped towards his chest. They both fell as Darius landed on his butt, cradling Katrina in his arms.

Darius raised his gun above Katrina's crumpled body and shot her assailant who was standing at the balcony on the above floor. He keeled over, grabbing his chest and fell headfirst to his death. Darius' men had cornered Egon and he finally surrendered and was cuffed so he could not escape.

"Katrina...no don't do this. You wanted to see him at least once, remember? That's what you said to me in the cave...Don't do this baby...Don't..." Darius pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and inserted it into her bra, trying to stop the blood from oozing out of the bullet hole in her chest. He groped her back, trying to find an exit hole but found none.

Katrina softly looked up into Darius' eyes, seeking forgiveness. She was fading...and she knew she had very little time. Reaching into her breast pocket she took out a small locket and pressed it deeply into Darius' free hand, while he cradled her.

"Give this to my son...our son..." She smiled, reaching up to stroke his cheek once more. Darius' eyes blurred with tears. He couldn't stop them from falling as they blessed her face. Her breath grew raspy, as the medics scrambled towards them. Darius could hear the shouts of troops closing in. The Pentagon had delivered too late.

He could hear the General barking remaining orders to his men. They had successfully completed their mission. The outpost had been won back with all of Egon's weapons intact for storage and study.

As the troops gathered all records, documentation and weaponry for filing and storage, Katrina's body had been air-lifted out of Ergaky with Darius still holding her hand. Her hand was cold now, her once-luscious lips turning a lighter shade of blue. Katrina had given up her last breath as she placed the locket into his hand earlier on.

The man was saddened by the loss, his heart palpitating rapidly in his chest as he perused her beauty one last time. He had hoped to tell their son of her existence, maybe even to introduce her to him gradually. But this was not the case. Katrina knew that one day, she would atone for her sins. Her body would be returned to Russia and given a heroine's welcome for burial in her birthplace.

Back on board the USS Dakon:

"Dad? Dad is that you?" Darius heard his son's voice several days later, as the submarine lunged forward into the ocean depths, back towards home base in Pacific waters.

"Hey kiddo, everything alright over there?" His voice cracked ever so slightly. He tried to sound pleasant but failed miserably.

"Dad, are you okay?" Damien could hear his father not sounding so well.

"I'm alright son. I just miss you a lot I guess...I have a lot to tell you when I see you. I love you!" He answered, his voice wavering.

"Sure thing dad. I miss you and love you too" Damien signed off, allowing Hawkes to continue his conversation.

"Sir, you don't sound well..." He concluded.

"No Hawkes. I don't think I'll be okay for a while. Thanks for looking after Damien. Who did you get to latch onto him eventually?" Darius inquired as he closed the file on the mission.

"My son, Nik..." Hawkes replied.