Chapter 19 - The Siege of the Airfield
The night sky above the abandoned logging airfield was suddenly torn apart by the deafening, rhythmic thumping of heavy rotor blades. Four Vanguard transport helicopters descended through the storm clouds like mechanical birds of prey, their searchlights sweeping over the cracked concrete.
Inside the armored SUV, Daniel gripped his pistol, his eyes locked on the monitors tapping into the mercenaries' tactical cameras. Beside him, Valeria was wrapped in thermal blankets, her breathing shallow but steady. The medic stood over her, shielding her body with her own.
"Stand by," Jax’s gruff voice crackled over the encrypted radio channel. "Let them get close. Do not fire until they commit to the landing zone."
The Vanguard pilots, highly trained but arrogant in their numbers, flared their helicopters to drop their assault teams in the center of the tarmac. Ropes dropped. Operatives in black tactical gear began sliding down into the rain.
"Now," Jax ordered. "Light them up."
The tree line erupted in a blinding display of muzzle flashes. The deafening BOOM of two Barrett .50 caliber anti-materiel sniper rifles echoed across the mountain. The massive rounds tore through the night, ripping completely through the engine block of the lead Vanguard helicopter.
The aircraft instantly lost power. It spun wildly out of control, crashing into the concrete with a massive explosion of fire and twisting metal, taking its entire crew with it.
"Contact! Heavy contact!" Vanguard operatives screamed over their radios as they hit the ground, instantly scrambling for cover behind the wreckage.
The ambush was perfect, but The Vanguard was a hydra. For every operative Jax’s men took down, two more repelled from the remaining helicopters. Heavy machine-gun fire from the choppers began chewing the tree line, suppressing the mercenaries.
Silas’s Blackhawk hovered safely out of range, orchestrating the chaos.
"Push the flanks," Silas commanded coldly over his comms. "Ignore the mercenaries in the trees. Focus all heavy fire on the three vehicles in the center. Flush out the asset."
A hail of armor-piercing bullets began hammering Daniel’s SUV. The ballistic glass spider-webbed, and the heavy steel chassis rang out like a giant bell under the relentless impact.
"The armor won't hold forever!" Daniel yelled, instinctively covering Valeria as a particularly heavy volley struck the passenger door.
Jax ran over to the SUV under heavy covering fire, slamming his fist against the reinforced window. Daniel rolled it down a fraction of an inch.
"There are too many of them, Danny!" Jax shouted over the roar of the gunfire, blood streaming from a cut on his cheek. "They have two more gunships incoming! We can't win a war of attrition against an army!"
"What's the play, Jax?" Daniel demanded.
"You run!" Jax pointed toward a narrow, overgrown dirt path at the edge of the tarmac. "That's an old logging switchback. It leads straight down the mountain and connects to the interstate. My boys and I will hold the line and blow the airfield behind you to block their vehicles."
"I'm not leaving you to die!"
"You pay me to kill, boss! I'm going to earn my check!" Jax grinned a terrifying, bloodstained smile. "Save your kid! Get out of here! GO!"
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Daniel looked at Valeria. She nodded weakly, her eyes filled with an unbreakable trust.
Daniel shifted the massive SUV into drive, stomped on the gas pedal, and tore across the tarmac, breaking through the perimeter and plunging into the dark, uncharted path of the mountain.
