Chapter 16 - The Siege of Belvoir Ridge
Within ten minutes, the brass casing sat under the high-intensity ultraviolet lens. Marcus adjusted the focus on the digital monitor.
Inside the hollowed primer pocket of the dead casing lay a micro-etched titanium storage chip no larger than a grain of sand. It was an ultra-encrypted cold wallet holding thirty terabytes of raw data: flight logs, bank accounts, assassination manifests—and the names of twelve active United States Senators and four flag-rank military officers on the payroll of Ares Dominion.
"My God, Eleanor," Marcus breathed, looking at the decrypted screen in horror. "It’s not just illegal procurement. They’re planning a false-flag EMP attack over the Eastern Seaboard to trigger emergency powers during next month's NATO summit."
Suddenly, the red emergency klaxons began to wail throughout the subterranean bunker.
The overhead fluorescent lights flickered and plunged into blood-red tactical illumination. The main communication console hissed with static as the secondary generator kicked in.
The bunker's blast doors slammed shut with a concussive boom that rattled the concrete floor.
On the perimeter security feeds, the external cameras at the surface gate showed black-clad paramilitary operators wielding suppressed carbines, systematically clearing the exterior guard posts. They moved with terrifying speed—not street mercenaries, but tier-one black-ops contractors operating under direct orders to exterminate everyone inside.
"They cut the landlines and deployed wide-spectrum jamming," Marcus shouted, drawing his sidearm and racking the slide. "Security teams One and Two are down at the perimeter gate! They're blowing the elevator shafts!"
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I reached into the biometric wall safe behind my desk, pulling out my customized SIG Sauer Sauer P320 and two tactical assault rifles. I slapped a magazine into the receiver and chambered a round with a savage, practiced flick of my wrist.
"They made one fatal mistake," I said, my voice dropping into a deadly whisper as I handed Chloe a Kevlar tactical vest. "They brought a war to a General’s home."
