Chapter 16 #4
They loaded into vehicles and headed back to the airfield, where they boarded the aircraft with the speed of professionals who'd done it hundreds of times.
Willow ran through her pre-flight checks with the co-pilot. The engines powered up, and they were wheels up thirty minutes later, headed west across the Pacific toward the Philippines.
The flight was quieter than the first leg had been.
The mission was close now. Tomorrow morning. The team adjusted their focus, the kind that came before combat. They checked gear and reviewed plans, doing the preparation that couldn't be rushed or faked.
Dan moved through the cargo bay toward the equipment lockers at Raven's direction. “Time to gear up,” she said, which was true. It was time to become the man he’d almost forgotten.
The one who worked alone, focused on nothing but the mission.
His respite from the war had been brief, but he’d always known that to get to forever, he had to go through …
this. It was time to become operational.
The weapons were laid out in careful organization. Handguns. Rifles. Tactical gear. Body armor. Communications equipment. Medical supplies. Everything they'd need and several things they hoped they wouldn't.
Dan reached for a Glock 19. Checked it. Standard issue, reliable, the kind of weapon that worked when you needed it to. He holstered it then picked up a second Glock, which he holstered at his ankle.
Then he moved to the tactical gear.
He picked out throwing stars. Three sets, different sizes. He'd been carrying them most of his life. They felt right in his hands in a way modern weapons sometimes didn't.
He also grabbed three knives. Close-quarters work. Silent. Effective.
Raven geared up beside him, moving with practiced efficiency as she took two handguns, a tactical knife, which she strapped to her thigh, and a second knife that was put in a sheath at her waist.
They were mirroring each other as they armed up. The same weapons, the same placement in their tactical gear. They suited up the way they'd been trained.
Rook was watching, and Dan felt his attention before he saw it. He looked up to see Rook smiling slightly. He reached into his own kit, pulled out a second tactical knife, and tossed it to Dan.
Dan caught it by the hilt without thinking.
"She carries two," Rook said. "Figured you'd want a second."
Dan looked at the knife, then at Rook. At the gesture that was somehow both practical and meaningful.
"Thank you," he said.
"Don't thank me. Just don't get killed again." Rook laughed and kept gearing up.
“What he said.” Raven elbowed him lightly.
He glanced at her and then back to Rook. "I have zero plans of dying anytime soon."
Rook held his gaze for another moment before nodding and returning to his own gear check.
Z was at the far end of the cargo bay with what looked like enough explosives to level a city block. He was humming something cheerful while arranging detonators with the kind of care that suggested he knew exactly what he was doing and was enjoying every second of it.
Phantom was checking rifles. Demon and Jinx were reviewing tactical maps. Specter, the sniper Dan had barely spoken to, was silent, focused, and methodically breaking down and reassembling his rifle with practiced efficiency. He looked up briefly, caught Dan watching, and nodded once.
Acknowledged.
Accepted.
Part of the team.
The gear-up continued for another hour. When it was done, the team looked different. Not civilian travelers anymore. They were operators. Professionals. The kind of people who walked into dark places and came back.
Usually.
Willow's voice came over the intercom. "Thirty minutes to landing. Strap in."
The team secured their gear and took their positions.
Dan sat beside Raven. Their gear pressed against each other in the confined space. The weight of what was coming settled over all of them.
She looked at him.
He looked back. "Yes?"
"Scared?"
"A little."
"Good. That means you're smart."
He almost smiled. "Are you scared?"
She nodded. "Yup. That’s what keeps us alive."
The aircraft began its descent.
* * *
The landing was smooth on a private airstrip south of Manila. It was Guardian-arranged, and no questions would be asked. They touched down as the sun was setting, the Philippine heat pressing against the aircraft the moment the cargo doors opened.
The vehicles were already there. Three tactical SUVs, armored, equipped with everything the aircraft couldn't carry. Black, unmarked, the kind that blended into the background until they needed to be noticed.
The team offloaded in practiced silence. Gear into vehicles. Equipment checks. Final communications protocols. Raven gave him an earpiece. “You’ll be able to hear everyone. Comms protocol. Don’t talk unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
As he put the earpiece in, he asked, “Have you told Ring that?”
“She has. I have my own protocol. Welcome to the team. Your call sign will be Ghost. Copy?” Ring’s voice sounded like he was standing right beside him.
Dan chuckled. “Copy.”
Raven stood at the lead vehicle and looked at the team.
"From here forward, we're mission silent," she said. "Comms in an emergency only. Hand signals. No unnecessary noise. We drive through the night, stage two klicks from the target, and assault at first light." She paused. "Questions?"
No one spoke.
"Good. Whatever it takes."
Dan was startled when every person on the assault team said at the same time, “As long as it takes.” It had to be a credo or motto for the team. He’d heard her say it before when she was on the phone.
The team loaded into the vehicles. Dan was in the passenger seat of the lead SUV beside Raven, with Z and Specter in the back seat. Phantom and Rook were in the second vehicle, and the rest were distributed for tactical balance.
Engines started. Raven looked at Dan, seeming to give him one final chance to opt out. That would never happen. He was all in. He nodded.
She put the vehicle in gear.
They pulled away from the aircraft and headed north toward Cagayan Valley, toward an underground facility in the jungle, toward Alexei Mori and the Black Scroll Society.
Finally, he was heading toward the ending of something that had started years ago. Something he’d been unable to finish by himself.
Until now.