Chapter 6 - The Ghost Vanguard
Thirty minutes later, beneath the rusted iron arches of Naval Shipyard District 4, two heavily armored black tactical vans pulled silently into an abandoned warehouse. The engines hummed with muffled power, their headlights completely blacked out.
Five men stepped out into the damp warehouse air, fully geared in tactical plate carriers, night-vision mounts, and suppressed rifles. These were the elite members of Gabriel’s former maritime special recon team—men who had survived ambushes, insurgencies, and covert black-ops missions under his command. When Gabriel was declared dead, they had quietly resigned their commissions, refusing to serve under the corrupt leadership that had betrayed him.
Leading them was Master Sergeant Leo "Bear" Kowalski, a barrel-chested veteran with a jagged scar running across his temple.
When Leo saw Gabriel emerge from the shadows with Elena, his stoic face cracked into a fierce grin. He snapped a crisp, razor-sharp salute, which Gabriel returned with solemn respect.
"Commander," Leo said, his voice echoing in the empty cavern. "Rumors of your drowning were greatly exaggerated."
"Good to see you breathing, Bear," Gabriel replied, gripping his friend's forearm in a firm warrior's clasp. "I wish the reunion were under better circumstances."
"We heard the news alerts," Leo spat, gesturing toward the tablets mounted inside the van. "The media is painting you as a psychotic madman. Ricardo Vance’s PR machine is working overtime. What are our orders?"
"Ricardo stole my infant son eight months ago," Gabriel stated, his voice stripped of all emotion, pure tactical steel. "He’s holding him at Saint Michael’s Orphanage on Crestview Peak. He’s running a squad of private contractors as guards. Within six hours, Ricardo will send a kill team to sanitize the facility and eliminate the child."
A collective murmur of disgust and white-hot fury rippled through the veteran team. Leo checked the magazine of his rifle with a violent snap. "That bastard won't live to see dawn. What's the infiltration plan?"
Gabriel stepped up to a tactical crate, spreading out an architectural blueprint of Saint Michael’s. "The facility sits on a sheer cliffside. The main gate is heavily fortified with steel barriers and thermal cameras. A frontal assault will take too long and endanger the civilians and the child inside. We take the mountain railway tunnel, emerge through the drainage culverts at the rear of the cliff, and breach the lower nursery level."
"What about the manhunt in the city?" Elena asked, studying the monitors displaying local police frequency scramblers. "If Ricardo tracks our movement, he’ll order the guards to execute our baby before we even reach the ridge."
"We give him a target he can't resist," Gabriel said. He turned to Leo. "Take the second van. Load it with our biometric tracking beacons and run the primary highway toward the state line. Make them think I'm breaking for the international border. Draw their helicopters and SWAT units away from the mountain."
"A classic rabbit run," Leo grinned, his eyes gleaming. "Consider it done, boss. We’ll lead them on a wild goose chase through three counties."
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As the team prepared their gear, Elena walked to the edge of the van, watching Gabriel load high-capacity magazines. "Gabriel... what happens when we get him back? We can't run forever."
Gabriel chambered a round into his sidearm, the cold click echoing in the cavernous room. "We aren't running, Elena. After I secure our son, I am taking back everything they stole. Tonight, Ricardo made himself the target."
