Chapter 98
Havoc
The mountain changes everything.
Terrain.
Visibility.
Sound.
Up here?
Mistakes get you killed faster.
We kill the engines a mile out.
No lights.
No noise.
No second chances.
“From here, we walk,” I say.
No one argues.
They know better.
The air is thinner.
Colder.
Sharp enough to cut through the lungs if you’re not ready for it.
We move in staggered formation.
Rangers take point.
CIA shadows us—still too close, still watching, still calculating.
I let them.
For now.
“Thermals are picking up heat signatures,” the agent whispers.
He hands me the tablet.
I study it.
Dots.
Multiple.
Layered.
Not random.
“Perimeter guards,” I say.
“Yeah,” he replies. “And more, deeper in.”
I nod once.
That’s expected.
This isn’t a hideout.
This is a fortress.
We drop lower.
Closer to the ridge.
The tree line thins just enough—
And I see it.
The stronghold.
Built into the side of the mountain.
Concrete.
Reinforced.
Lights low but steady.
Cameras rotating in slow, deliberate sweeps.
And movement.
Everywhere.
My jaw tightens.
“They’re dug in,” Briggs murmurs.
“Yeah.”
Too well.
Too prepared.
Which means—
“They’re expecting something,” I say.
“Or someone,” Briggs adds.
Same thing.
I study the layout.
Entrances.
Blind spots.
Elevation changes.
There—
North side.
Narrow.
Less coverage.
But tighter.
More dangerous.
Good.
That’s where we go.
“We split here,” I say quietly.
The team leans in.
Focused.
Locked.
“Alpha takes north ridge with me,” I continue. “Bravo flanks west.”
Briggs nods.
“Got it.”
I glance at the CIA agent.
“You take east.”
His brow furrows.
“That’s the most exposed side.”
“Exactly.”
Silence.
Then—
A slow exhale.
“Fine.”
Good.
Let him earn his place.
I crouch lower.
Eyes still locked on the compound.
Something doesn’t sit right.
Not the defenses.
Not the layout.
Something else.
“They’re too calm,” I say.
Briggs glances at me.
“What do you mean?”
“They’re not scrambling,” I reply. “Not tightening security. Not shifting positions.”
“They don’t know we’re here,” he says.
I shake my head slightly.
“No… they do.”
That lands.
Because now it changes everything.
Because now this isn’t just an approach.
It’s a setup.
“They want us to come in,” Briggs says.
“Yeah.”
Because this?
This is a trap.
Behind me, the CIA agent shifts.
“You’re thinking ambush?”
“I’m thinking layered defense,” I reply. “Kill zone at the front. Secondary teams inside. Fallback tunnels.”
His eyes narrow.
“That matches what we’ve seen.”
Of course it does.
Because they built this to survive something like us.
Because they expected someone to come.
Because they’re ready.
Good.
So are we.
I look back at my team.
Every man here knows what this is.
Knows what it costs.
Knows what we’re walking into.
No one hesitates.
No one backs down.
That’s why they’re here.
I check my weapon.
Lock it in.
Then—
“This ends tonight,” I say.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just truth.
Briggs nods.
“Damn right it does.”
I take one last look at the compound.
At the men moving inside it.
At the system they built.
The one that took people.
Moved them.
Broke them.
The one Tank died trying to expose.
The one that came for Aspen’s family.
My jaw tightens.
Because this isn’t just a mission.
This is personal.
All of it.
I glance at the horizon for a split second.
Thinking of her.
Of the promise I made.
Then I shut it off.
Lock it down.
Focus forward.
Because I don’t get distracted now.
Not here.
Not when we’re this close.
I raise my hand.
Signal.
Three…
Two…
One…
“Move.”
And just like that—
We descend into the dark.
Toward the stronghold.
Toward Black Division.
Toward the end of this war.
And this time?
We’re not walking into their trap.
We’re breaking it.