Chapter 38 - Breach at Sector Four
The reinforced steel door at the top of the ramp buckled inward with a second, massive concussive blast, tearing the hydraulic hinges free from the concrete frame. Thick, acrid smoke billowed into the cavernous bunker, masking the silhouettes of half a dozen heavily armed operatives moving down the incline with terrifying, synchronized discipline.
They weren't local police, and they weren't corporate security guards. They wore matte-black tactical armor bearing no unit insignia, carrying short-barreled assault rifles fitted with holographic suppressors.
“Mercenaries,” Ethan hissed, dropping flat behind the steel control console and drawing his sidearm. “Private contractors from the Vanguard syndicate’s black-budget security wing.”
“Hold your fire until they clear the pinch point,” I commanded quietly, resting the barrel of my carbine against the edge of the metal console, my breathing slow and controlled.
The lead operative dropped into a low crouch at the bottom of the ramp, scanning the cavern with night-vision goggles before signaling his team to fan out across the floor. There were six of them—professional killers trained to sweep an objective clean and leave no witnesses behind.
As the second operative stepped past the concrete pillar marking the edge of the hangar floor, I squeezed the trigger.
The suppressed carbine barked twice in rapid succession. The operative spun hard to the left and dropped heavily to the concrete, his weapon clattering across the floor.
The entire cavern instantly erupted into chaos.
Muzzle flashes strobed through the smoke like lightning as heavy rounds slammed into the concrete pillars and chewed up the outer casing of the control console. Sterling returned fire with chilling accuracy, taking out the second attacker with a clean center-mass shot before diving behind a heavy steel generator housing.
May you like
“Ethan, how much longer on the purge?” I yelled over the deafening roar of automatic gunfire, firing another controlled burst down the corridor.
“Sixty percent!” Ethan shouted back, his fingers locked onto the manual override keyboard as sparks showered down from the ceiling above him. “Hold them off for another thirty seconds!”
