Jeanne woke up with a start. She sat up straight on her bed. Her head was burning. She was dizzy. She stood up abruptly. She didn't like feeling weak. She could barely stand. She took a step and almost collapsed. She barely held onto the dresser in front of her. She swore, insulted as she tried to get up. She finally stood on her feet. She looked around her. She no longer remembered getting to her bed. Everything was tidy. Someone must have come while she was sleeping. She noticed a jug of water and some medicine on the table. She dragged herself to the glass, swallowed her pills and glanced out the window. Outside, training had begun. Everyone was in uniform, some were shooting, others were fighting hand-to-hand. It must have been ten o'clock. She had to shower and get ready for her turn.
It took her a few minutes to reach the bathroom. She locked herself away. The sound of the shower bounced through the door. Vincent had entered without making any noise. He had heard commotion in the room and wanted to make sure she was okay. He listened. The shower had just stopped. He was going to leave. Then he backed away. He heard a sound of ceramics, of a pot unblocking, he listened. He heard a sound of inspiration. He felt his stomach knot. He heard Jeanne inhale sharply. Then get agitated. He left the room in a hurry. When she came out of the bathroom, her step was brisk, confident. She had put on her training outfit. Her pupils were dilated. She leaves in a hurry.

In the courtyard, everyone greeted her, like a war leader. Everyone respected her but she refused to be feared. She wanted everyone to be placed in the same grade. Everyone was in charge of protecting others. It's was the only rule.

The morning passed as usual, two hours of training. The meal, then after a strategic meeting, implementation of new operations. The new assault would take place in two days. Two endless days for Jeanne. She couldn't stand inaction. So she often took refuge in her bathroom. It was submerged in the mist of steam. Noises could be heard through the door. Vincent tried to keep a close watch, knowing that he was incapable of intervening. Just keeped her alive. Jeanne's suffering would never be cured. He could only let her help herself, and escape with substances so that she would suffer as little as possible.

The two days finally passed. There was no training that day. Each soldiers was in they quarters. Jeanne was seated at the table near the window, she was reading, Vincent was sitting in the background. He couldn't concentrate. An alarm sounded throughout the fortress. Vincent stared at Jeanne intently. The countdown had started, everybody had to be ready in fifteen minutes. She raised her head. Put down her book. Stood up. She headed towards the bathroom. Vincent, frightened, did not dare to move. He was apprehensive about her. 

In the bathroom, steam had invaded the room. There wasn't a sound. She stood in front of the mirror, wrapped in a bathrobe, her hair soaked, her head bowed. Her gaze was fixed on the edge of the sink. She was staring at a bag of white powder. Behind her, ready to be seized, her combat clothes, her boots, her military pant and her weapon were placed on the pile.Vincent was watching on the other side. He heard her sniffle.In front of the mirror, she quickly wiped her nose. Her eyes was hard, dark. She looked at herself for a short moment. Then, in an instant she became agitated. She left the room a few moments later, dressed, her movements quick and jerky. She grabbed her jacket, Vincent was in the hallway. He watched her pass. He looked at her sadly.

Everyone was ready, grouped, arranged, ordered, ready close to the helicopters. It was a small operation. This time, it was an operation ordered by a person and not Jeanne's organization. She rarely accepted this kind of request. She didn't need the money. So the reason someone employed their army had to be consistent with their ideals. She did not directly know the man in question. He had contacted her under a false name through her financiers in Switzerland. Her team had traced the man, but it was dying out in ancient Asia. She initially refused, but this man's request was to kill a major drug trafficker, named H.L, who was known for his deviant morals. She had been looking for him for years. He was untraceable until then. This is why she initially refused. She didn't want to be beholden to a man so powerful that he found someone she couldn't locate. And then, she was very proud and couldn't stand that someone could succeed where she had failed. But reason prevailed, she had such powerful hated for H.L that she accepted.

Her soldiers were installed. Vincent commanded team B. Jeanne the team A. The helicopters took off. Each time, watching the escort take off, she felt a power rising within her, she felt untouchable, overpowering. She was drunk with power and revenge.She transmitted final instructions through her headset. It was an hour's flight. She couldn't help but feel a sense of doubt regarding this mission. She had looked for H.L everywhere, on this continent and elsewhere. finally, she found him a few hundred kilometers away. She sensed a trap, she had briefed everyone. And yet, she went there, determined.

They were only a few kilometers away. Team B lands on the ground, in the ruins of the buildings. Huge black vans awaited them. They embarked towards the point of attack.The team remaining with Jeanne attacked from the sky. Everyone slipped from the ropes and landed on the roof. It was an old hotel, of a five-level, which had remained intact despite the bombings. The invasion had begun. The security door blew open. Jeanne was with her partner at the opening. The man before him was powerful and fast. She clung to his shoulder. Their infrared vision allowed them to find their way. They were quickly faced with a door, the pair behind them broke it down. Then everyone went deeper, leaving Jeanne behind. She heard gunshots, return fire. Then, calm.

The man waved at her. They advanced, weapons in hand. On the ground, dozens of men. She looked anxiously to see if they were hers. But she didn't see anyone from her team on the ground. Through her earpiece, she heard that Team B had started to invade the ground floor. The soldiers surrounded her. They moved forward together. They still had two floors to go down, presumably H.L would regroup in the secure room on the third floor. Team B had arrived on the first floor. They went down the stairs, the door was broken and the same execution happened again. It had gone faster. Team B went up to second. They didn't meet anyone. She felt fear invaded her. They arrived at the door to the third floor corridor. They waited. Let team B be in position on the other side to surround them. In a few moments, everyone would be in position. 

Now. The signal was given.

-Go go go!

The invasion was very rapid. B eliminated the guards on the east wing, team A took them from behind. They were plunged into darkness. Smoke bombs had been thrown. Jeanne and her partner had remained behind. She hated it but she understood that she couldn't risk being targeted. She couldn't hold still, she wanted to jump up, weapon in hand. finally, his partner touched his hand on his shoulder. They could move forward. His agitated gaze rested on each victim on the ground. Still none of his soldiers. She heard another burst of bullets whistling. Then nothing. Everyone was grouped together, armed, in firing position facing a secure door. It was not an impenetrable airlock. The door could pop off easily with a little shock. Jeanne still didn't like it. Too easy. They recovered, put down the load. They all stepped back.

-Down! The door exploded. A smoke bomb was thrown. The two teams entered at full speed. The atmosphere was tense, Jeanne could no longer hold back, she wanted to grab the man, punch him, break his neck, vent her rage and hatred on him, she tore herself away from her partner. But Vincent saw her jump and threw himself in front of her. He stopped her with his hand, and to look in front of her. The room was long, windowless, with a huge conference table in the middle. At the end of the table three men were almost suffocating under the smoke from the smoke bombs. Jeanne, under Vincent's insistence, took a better look at the three silhouettes. She moved forward slowly. The three men got up slowly.

- Sit down!! Hands in the air! NOW!!

Two of the three complied, sitting around the table and raising their hands. They were surrounded. Not the third. He did not comply. It was H.L. Jeanne began to understand what Vincent had wanted to make her understand. She looked at Vincent. He signaled her not to act and to remain calm. She gritted her teeth until she broke them. She felt her jaw lock. She looked at H.L. He was stuck in his chair, protected by the table and in front of him a small mass protected him. The man with the dirty, vicious look used a little boy as a human shield, pointing a gun at his head. Jeanne had difficulty holding back. His soldiers advanced very slowly, almost imperceptibly. She felt them getting closer, but she had lost control. She could no longer contain herself. The man felt trapped and screamed.

-I know who you are sweetie! 

Jeanne raised her head. 

-You think I don't know who sent you here! 

The man was very feverish. His hand sank deeper and deeper into the temple of the child who no longer had the strength to cry. Jeanne was fixated on the child. She wanted to reassure him. She wanted to tell him that everything was going to be okay, that she was going to get him out of there. She had to get him out of there. She wanted to tell him about the animal park in the fortress, about the school where he would learn everything he needed to know, that he too would become a great protector, she promised him that he would get through this. With tears in her eyes, she looked at him with pity. But the child who stared at him didn't believe it. With his dark circles around his eyes and his pale skin, he was already no longer there. Jeanne screamed. 

-Leave him alone!! 

H.L laughed sadistically.

 -You love them too... 

Jeanne threw herself towards the man but Vincent once again stood in the way. And ordered two soldiers to hold her back.

 -What do you want ? Yelled Vincent

H.L was exhausted, his skin was dripping with sweat and anxiety. 

-As if I could get away of this... 

He laughs a deep laugh. The tension was at its peak.

 -You don't wonder how you managed to find me, after all these years of looking for me... You looked for me everywhere but without giving anything... And you know why, if I don't want anyone to find me in me find... 

No one moved anymore. Jeanne looked at the child.

 -I'll tell you who threw me away... So that chaos breaks out when I'm dead!! This will be my wonderful legacy!! 

H.L unleashed a chilling, monstrous laugh, which made the child shudder, the soldiers straightened their weapons even more, all ready to tear his skin with their bullets. All had been victims of an ogre like H.L. under their combat gear, men, women, once children, once victims. They didn't need much to twist. Vincent felt it. He saw the carnage coming. He knew that Jeanne would not recover. H.L was an ogre, child eater, plague and cholera. He spread evil, he was the devil. Vincent was up against the wall.

 -Listen to me, little Jeanne... 

Jeanne felt dirty. The two soldiers redoubled their strength to hold her back. Her face was purple with rage.

 -Yes, I was told about you... about the taste of your skin... 

Jeanne released all the strength in her body. Vincent looked at her.

 -It's this same person who led you to me... 

Jeanne just choked out a "no...". H. L was jubilant to see her decompose like this. 

-No? He's dead, do you think? It would indeed be much easier... but no...! 

His voice bounced around the room.

 -Yes, little Jeanne... your father is alive! And if you fear me, then fear him 100 times, 1000 times more than me! IF I am the devil, then he has enchanted me!! I'm nothing compared to him!! Jeanne he will break you and his evil is already spreading!! HE WILL REBUILD TEAMS OF OGRES AND UNTIL THE END OF YOUR LIFE YOU WILL SUFFER! HE'S A MONSTER AND I'M HIS PUPPET! 

H.L shot the child without anyone being able to do anything. Jeanne screamed in a soundless cry. The soldiers shot the three men, hundreds of bullets flew, Jeanne was collapsed on the ground, hands over her ears, still screaming without being able to stop. Vincent and another soldier grab her by the arms. Everyone evacuated, there was more than the sound of their footsteps on the ground. The child was wrapped and protected in the arms of a soldier.Jeanne was taken into the van. The helicopters evacuated. When everyone was at a distance, Vincent triggered the explosives that had been placed in the building of horror. He collapsed behind them. He turned towards Jeanne folded in the van, her eyes empty, filled with shaking. He looked out the window. He would lose his life, but he would kill Him, for her.