32. Blake
THIRTY-TWO
Blake
The ready room has transformed into a war zone. Screens flicker with satellite imagery, 3D models rotate in mid-air, and the air is thick with tension and determination. Ethan and I stand before the main display, our faces bathed in the blue glow of data streams.
“Alright,” Ethan says, his voice low and focused. “We need to approach this smart. Malfor’s expecting us. How do we avoid playing into his hands?”
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to think tactically rather than emotionally. “We subvert his expectations. He’ll be prepared for a frontal assault. We need to hit him from multiple angles.”
Ethan’s eyebrow raises, a glimmer of interest in his eyes. “Go on.”
“A three-pronged approach,” I continue, warming to the idea. “We create a diversion at the main gate, loud and obvious. The second team comes in from the sea, scaling those impassible cliffs. The third team comes from above. Either parachuting in or hang gliding.” I point to the cliffs above Malfor’s villa.
Ethan nods slowly, considering. “It’s risky, but it might just work. The cliff climb is going to be a hell of a challenge, though. ”
“That’s why we put our best climbers on that team. Gabe and I have the most experience with vertical ascents. We can do this.”
Ethan shakes his head firmly. “You’re too emotionally invested. I can’t have you on the most dangerous approach. You’ll be with me, parachuting in.” Before I can respond, Walt calls out from across the room.
“Ethan, Blake. You need to see this.”
We make our way to Walt and Rigel, who are hunched over an array of screens displaying satellite imagery. The images show Malfor’s compound from various angles and at different times of day.
“What are we looking at?” Ethan asks, his eyes scanning the displays.
Rigel zooms in on one image, enhancing a section of the perimeter wall. “See these shadows? They’re consistent with mobile gun emplacements. And here,” he swipes to another image, “thermal imaging suggests automated defense systems on the roof.”
“Damn,” I mutter, the complexity of our task becoming even more apparent. “Any blind spots?”
Walt shakes his head grimly. “Not that we can see. This place is locked down tight. But,” he pulls up another image, this one focusing on the cliff face, “we might have caught a break here. See these indentations? They could be handholds, possibly left over from the original construction.”
Ethan leans in, his eyes narrowing. “Good catch. That could make our cliff approach more viable. Blake, what do you think?”
I study the image, my mind racing with possibilities. “It’s something, but we can’t count on it. We need to be prepared for a sheer climb.”
“Agreed.” Ethan nods. “Alright, let’s get the team together. Time to put all this intel to use.”
Minutes later, Charlie team is assembled in the VR training space. The VR world has been transformed into a precise replica of Malfor’s compound, every detail meticulously recreated from the bumblebee’s gathered intelligence.
“Listen up,” Ethan’s voice carries across the room. “We’re running full combat and rescue sims. I want everyone cycling through each approach—land assault, cliff climb, and aerial insertion. Gabe, Walt, you’re on Team One, land assault. Rigel and Hank, you’re on Team Two, cliff climb. Blake, you’re with me on Team Three, parachute insertion.”
As we don our VR gear, a surge of adrenaline rushes through me. This is it. Our first real step toward rescuing Sophia.
“Remember,” Ethan continues, “Malfor’s men will be using live ammunition. In this sim, if you’re hit, you’re out. Treat every engagement as if your life depends on it because when we do this for real, it will.”
The first simulation begins, and it’s a disaster from the start.
The simulation begins, and Ethan and I are suddenly in a plane, high above Malfor’s fortress. The night sky surrounds us, and the compound below looks like a malevolent spider web of lights and defenses.
“Team Two, you’re clear to start your ascent,” Ethan continues. “Team Three, you have the go.” Ethan’s voice crackles in my ear. “Begin your approach.”
Ethan and I jump; the rush of freefall sends my heart racing. As we near our drop zone, I deploy my chute. The sudden jerk as it opens feels all too real.
“Team One, begin your assault,” Ethan orders as we drift silently toward the compound.
In the distance, explosions and gunfire rip through the air.
The diversion has begun.
As we near the roof of the compound, I spot movement below. “Guards on the roof, nine o’clock.”
Time seems to slow as I assess our options. We’re exposed, hanging in the air with no cover. If those guards raise the alarm, the entire mission is compromised.
“I’ve got this.” I unholster my sidearm. Two quick shots, precise despite the sway of the parachute, and the guards crumple without a sound.
“Nice shooting,” Ethan approves. “But we need to move faster. More will be here soon. ”
We land on the roof, quickly discarding our chutes and readying our weapons. Just as we prepare to enter the building, alarms blare across the compound.
It’s a total shitshow from there on out.
Team One gets pinned down at the main gate, unable to provide effective cover. Team Two’s climb is painfully slow, leaving them exposed to sniper fire from the walls.
Our parachute insertion goes smoothly, but without support from the other teams, we’re quickly overwhelmed.
“Reset,” Ethan calls out, his voice tight with frustration. “We need to rethink our approach.”
We run the simulation again, and again, each time tweaking our strategy. But every attempt ends in failure. By the fifth run-through, the tension in the room is palpable.
“This isn’t working.” I toss my gear aside. “We’re spread too thin. We need more manpower.”
Ethan nods, his face grim. “You’re right. It’s time to bring in Alpha and Bravo teams.”
The next day, the training room is packed with all three Guardian teams. Max, leader of Alpha, and Brady from Bravo listen intently as Ethan outlines our new strategy.
“Alpha team will take the walls,” Ethan explains. “Your firepower should be enough to punch through their defenses. Bravo, you’ll come in from the sky—HALO jump, full tactical gear. Charlie will take the cliffs. It’s a hell of a climb, but it’s our best shot at a surprise entry.”
We run the simulation again, this time with all three teams. The results are better, but still not good enough. Alpha breaches the walls but gets bogged down in close-quarters combat. Bravo’s aerial insertion is more successful, but they struggle to link up with the other teams. Charlie makes it up the cliffs, but barely half the team survives the ascent.
“Damn it,” Max curses as we regroup. “We’re still missing something.”
The room falls into a tense silence, each of us lost in thought. It’s Brady who breaks it, his voice thoughtful .
“What about a distraction? Something big enough to draw their attention away from our main assault.”
“Like what?” I ask, intrigued.
Brady grins. “How about a ‘malfunction’ in one of their automated defense systems? If we could hack it, make it start firing randomly…”
Mitzy, who’s been following our progress from the VR command suite, perks up at this. “That—might be possible. Give me a few hours with the data we’ve collected, and I might be able to create a virus that could do just that.”
As the ideas flow, the energy in the room shifts from frustration to determined problem-solving. But then Max raises a question that brings us all up short.
“This is all well and good,” he says, “but we’re overlooking a crucial detail. How the hell are we going to find Sophia once we’re inside? That compound is massive, and we can’t afford to search room by room.”
The question hangs in the air. We’ve been so focused on getting in, we haven’t considered what happens next.
It’s Mitzy who breaks the silence, her eyes lighting up with that familiar spark of innovation. “I have the perfect solution for that,” she says, “but first, I’ve got some new tech that could help with our initial assault.”
She moves to a large case in the corner of the room, opening it to reveal a high-tech exoskeleton. “This,” she announces proudly, “is our answer to the wall problem. Exosuits that’ll give you enhanced strength and agility. Should make scaling those walls a hell of a lot easier.”
“For the cliff team,” she continues, turning to another case, “I’ve been working with the RUFI. We can modify them for climbing—think mobile anchors. They’ll reduce the risk of falling and help with the ascent.”
“Help?” I look at the guys. “How?”
“They’re more nimble than you. I can get them up the cliffs in increments, then pull you up on pulleys. Think of winches hoisting you up. ”
“I don’t know about dangling from a RUFI. There’s trust, and then there’s trust.” Gabe arches his brow.
“Trust me, it’ll work. We’ll run simulations on the rock wall at the gym. You’ll see what I mean.”
She then pulls out a piece of fabric that shimmers and shifts as she moves it. It’s a bit disorienting and makes me sick to my stomach if I stare at it for too long.
“And for our air team, meet our new stealth material. It adapts to match the surrounding sky, making you nearly invisible during your descent.”
The room bursts into excited chatter as we examine the new tech. It’s impressive, no doubt about it, but I can’t shake the nagging worry about Sophia’s location.
“This is great, Mitzy,” I say, “but what about Max’s question? How do we find Sophia?”
Mitzy’s grin widens. “That’s where this comes in,” she says, holding up what looks like a miniature version of our bumblebee drone. “I call it the Queen Bee. It’s designed to seek out and lock onto the signal from Sophia’s drone. Once it finds it, it’ll lead us straight to her.”
The room falls silent as we process this. It’s Ethan who finally speaks, his voice filled with cautious optimism.
“Alright,” he says, “let’s incorporate all of this into our plan. We’ll run more simulations to see how these new elements change things. But remember, people—no plan survives first contact with the enemy. We need to be prepared to adapt on the fly.”
As we break to prepare for the next round of simulations, I feel a renewed sense of hope. We’re getting closer. Each new idea and each piece of tech brings us one step closer to rescuing Sophia.
We spend the next several days running simulation after simulation, refining our approach. The casualties are still high, but we’re making progress. By the end of the week, we manage a run where we extract Sophia with only one casualty—not great, but a vast improvement over our initial attempts.
As we gear down from our final sim of the day, Ethan addresses the teams. “Good work, people. We’re getting there. But we’re not done yet. I want everyone to study the compound layout and memorize every detail. We drill again at 0600.”
The next few days blur together. We run combat drills, practice cliff climbing techniques with the RUFI, refine our HALO jump procedures, and put Mitzy’s new exosuits to the test.
Every spare moment is spent pouring over intel, discussing contingencies, and preparing for every possible scenario.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity of preparation, Ethan calls us all together. The room falls silent as he surveys the assembled teams, his eyes hard with determination.
“Listen up,” he says, his voice carrying to every corner of the room. “We’ve trained, we’ve planned, and we’ve prepared. Now it’s time to execute. In 48 hours, we launch.”
He pauses, letting the weight of the moment sink in. “This won’t be easy. Malfor’s compound is a fortress, and he’s expecting us. But we have surprise, we have skill, and most importantly, we have each other. Watch your teammates’ backs, stick to the plan, and we’ll all come home. Any questions?”
The room is silent.
“Alright then.” Ethan raises his right pointer finger and swirls it in a circle. “Gear up. We move out at 0200.” As the teams disperse to make final preparations, Ethan’s voice cuts through the buzz of activity. “Hold up, people. We’ve got one more briefing. Mitzy’s team has some updates for us.”
We reassemble, the atmosphere electric with anticipation. Mitzy steps forward, her usual excitement tempered by the gravity of our mission.
“Alright, folks,” she begins, “we’ve made some final tweaks to our tech. Stitch, why don’t you fill them in on the Trojan horse?”
Stitch steps up, her fingers dancing over a tablet as she speaks. “We’ve developed a virus that should give us access to Malfor’s security systems. Once inserted, it’ll create a backdoor for us to manipulate their defenses.”
“How sure are we that this will work?” Max asks, his voice skeptical.
Stitch’s grin is fierce. “Pretty damn sure. We’ve been testing it against simulations of their firewalls. It’s not foolproof, but it’s our best shot at giving you guys an edge.”
Ethan nods. “Good work. What’s the deployment plan?”
“We’ll need to physically insert it into their main server,” Stitch explains. “Once that’s done, I can remote in and work my magic.”
The room buzzes with murmurs as we process this information. It’s a risky move, but if it works, it could turn the tide in our favor.
Jeb steps forward next, his face grim. “We’ve also been working on psychological profiles of Malfor and his key lieutenants.” He taps his tablet, bringing up a series of images on the main screen. “Based on what we know, Malfor is likely to respond to our assault with overwhelming force. He’s not the type to cut his losses and run.”
“What about Sophia?” I ask, unable to keep the edge from my voice. “How’s he likely to use her against us?”
Jeb’s expression softens slightly. “It’s hard to say for certain, but given his pattern of behavior, he’s likely to use her as bait or a human shield. We need to be prepared for either scenario.”
The weight of his words settles over the room. We all know the risks but hearing them laid out so starkly makes them feel more real.
“Which brings us to extraction,” Ethan says, steering the conversation forward. “Once we locate Sophia, how do we get her out safely?”
Brady, from Bravo team, speaks up. “We’ve been working on a modified rappel system. If we can get her to the roof, we can have a chopper extract her while the rest of us provide cover fire.”
“And if we can’t get her to the roof?” I press, scenarios running through my mind.
“Then we fall back to Plan B,” Ethan replies. “Overland extraction. It’s riskier, but we’ll have vehicles standing by just in case.”
We spend the next hour going over every detail of the plan, refining our approach, discussing contingencies. By the time we’re done, I feel like I could navigate Malfor’s compound blindfolded.
As we break to do our final gear checks, I feel a hand on my shoulder. It’s Gabe, his face uncharacteristically serious.
“We’ve got this,” he says, his voice low. “We’re going to get her back. ”
I nod, grateful for his support. “I know. Thanks, man.”
The next hour is a flurry of activity as we make our final preparations. I check and recheck my gear, the familiar routine helping to calm my nerves. Around me, the other team members are doing the same, their movements precise and focused.
Finally, it’s time. We gather one last time before heading to the transport. Ethan looks at each of us in turn, his gaze steady and determined.
“Remember your training. Trust your team. And no matter what happens, we all come home. Clear?”
A chorus of “Clear” echoes through the room.