Chapter 8 - The Final Stand
The cartel boss, known in the military database as El Fantasma, glared at me through the pouring rain.
He did not care about the military politics or the drone blueprints anymore.
He only cared that his multi-million dollar investment had been completely ruined.
"Kill the women and take the child," El Fantasma ordered his heavily armed mercenaries.
A hail of bullets tore through the warehouse, shredding the wooden crates and shattering the concrete pillars.
I sprinted across the open floor, diving behind a massive steel shipping container just as the ground erupted in gunfire.
"Rostova, we need suppressive fire right now!" I yelled into my comms earpiece.
Rostova commanded the drones to intercept the armored vehicle, but the cartel mercenaries deployed EMP grenades.
A blinding flash of electromagnetic energy swept through the warehouse.
The experimental drones instantly sparked and plummeted out of the sky, crashing onto the concrete like dead birds.
"Comms are down, and we are flying blind, Colonel," Rostova shouted from the upper catwalk.
We were completely outgunned, and my primary defense system was destroyed.
El Fantasma stepped out of his vehicle, wielding a heavy automatic rifle.
He slowly walked past Mark, who was sobbing uncontrollably in his chair.
"Your husband is pathetic," the cartel boss sneered, kicking the chair over and leaving Mark helpless on the ground.
El Fantasma began to advance on my position, his mercenaries flanking me from both sides.
I checked my weapon and realized I only had three bullets left in the magazine.
This was exactly the kind of impossible situation my grandfather had trained me for.
I pulled a classified military beacon from my tactical vest, a device immune to EMP interference.
I pressed the emergency activation button and hurled it directly at the cartel boss's armored vehicle.
The beacon attached magnetically to the heavy metal hood with a loud clank.
"What is that?" El Fantasma demanded, raising his rifle toward me.
Before he could pull the trigger, the sky above the shipyard ripped open with the deafening roar of jet engines.
May you like
A United States military gunship, answering my priority one distress beacon, hovered directly over the ruined roof.
The gunship locked onto the beacon and unleashed a massive wave of targeted artillery fire.
