Chapter 19 - The Flight into the Inferno
The tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey screamed through the night sky at over three hundred knots, flying nap-of-the-earth across the black swells of the Pacific Ocean. Maya stood behind the pilot seats, cinching a tactical tactical chest harness over her scrubs, a combat medical bag secured tightly to her thigh.
Beside her sat a four-man Quick Reaction Force from DEVGRU, their faces painted in matte-black camouflage, suppressors locked onto their short-barreled rifles. Every single operator in the cabin knew Axe and Miller; their eyes burned with an icy, unforgiving resolve.
"Five minutes out from Bunker Delta-Seven," the copilot announced over the tactical net. "Thermal imaging confirms smoke plumes rising from the perimeter. Demolition charges are active. Structural integrity of the sub-levels is deteriorating."
"Can we land?" Grayson asked, checking the chamber of his sidearm.
"Negative, Admiral," the pilot replied. "Drop zone is hot with structural fire and unexploded ordnance. We’ll have to fast-rope onto the roof observation deck."
Maya didn't flinch. She grabbed a pair of heavy leather fast-rope gloves and clipped her retention lanyard.
"Master Chief," the DEVGRU team leader, a veteran warrior known as 'Viper,' nodded respectfully at her. "You haven't fast-roped out of an Osprey in how long?"
"Seven years," Maya answered calmly, tightening her straps. "Which means I’ve had seven years of rest. Let's get my medicine."
The rear ramp lowered, unleashing a wall of hurricane-force wind and acrid chemical smoke. Below them, San Clemente's rocky cliffs were illuminated by orange flames chewing through concrete structures.
"Green light! Go! Go! Go!"
Maya grabbed the thick braided rope and plunged into the abyss, sliding down through the howling gale with muscle memory burned into her soul. Her boots hit the cracked concrete roof with a jarring thud. She rolled instantly, popped up, and drew her sidearm in one seamless, lethal motion.
Gunfire crackled through the smoke. Private military contractors hired by Vance’s syndicate were attempting to secure their escape chopper on the lower pad. The DEVGRU operators moved like shadows, their suppressed rifles spitting suppressed fire that neutralized the perimeter hostiles within twelve seconds.
"Breaching sub-level three!" Viper called out, slapping a kinetic breaching charge against the reinforced steel hatch leading underground.
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The charge detonated with a sharp *thump*, blasting the steel inward. A blast of toxic heat and burning lithium fumes billowed into the night air.
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