"Jack, Sarayev talked. The VX nerve agent is in Italy. A few days ago, Chechnya's number two man transported the batch to a villa in La Spezia. According to his confession, they weren't planning to use it themselves—it was meant to be sold to Al-Sayyid Yafa..."
"The Persian Gulf Will?"
"Yes. I've already marked the precise location in the system..."
Owen reported the whereabouts of the gas to Jack Bauer immediately, but he hadn't expected this case to involve another terror group—The Persian Gulf Will.
This was a radical extremist group driven by *** ideology, notorious for their brutality. The group had been around for fifteen years and was a veteran player in global terrorism. Their leader, Al-Sayyid Yafa, was a notorious terrorist whose name appeared on countless international blacklists.
Not long ago, The Persian Gulf Will had detonated a suicide bomb in London, causing major public outcry. CTU had designated them as a top-tier threat. Owen could hardly imagine what the world would become if VX nerve gas fell into their hands.
On the other end of the line, Jack Bauer asked Owen to hold for a moment—he seemed to be consulting with someone. After a brief pause, Jack's voice came through again.
"Owen, get ready. You'll be working with the SEALs again. We move out in thirty minutes..."
...
Thirty minutes later, a military transport aircraft roared down the runway. Amid the deafening sound of the propellers, the plane took off, climbing swiftly into the sky.
The mission team was once again composed of the two CTU agents and Lieutenant Colonel Travis's SEAL unit. Due to the time crunch, the mission briefing was conducted aboard the aircraft. Travis distributed the files and began the rundown.
"This mission is code-named 'Scepter of Light.' The Chechen militants have acquired a batch of VX nerve agent. Our objective is to locate the gas and secure it until CIA chemical weapons experts arrive. Let me emphasize: VX is extremely dangerous—any leak would have catastrophic consequences..."
At this, Valkyrie raised a hand to interrupt. "Sir, I want to know—what exactly happens in case of a leak?"
Travis didn't answer directly. Instead, he looked at Owen, who picked up the explanation:
"VX is a nerve agent, more potent than sarin. Exposure—whether through inhalation or skin contact—leads to severe poisoning. It causes the central nervous system to break down. Victims' skin begins to melt, respiration ceases, and death follows. As for how deadly it is—just a single drop, the size of a water droplet, is enough to kill every single one of us here."
Owen's explanation was calm and clinical. Everything he said came straight from CTU's intelligence reports. Travis continued:
"Our target is a villa about fifteen kilometers outside La Spezia, Italy. One bad piece of news: we don't have enough hazmat suits. Which means... this mission will be carried out without any protective equipment. Everyone must ensure the integrity of the gas canisters. If anything happens..."
After the briefing, the aircraft cabin fell into silence. Everyone closed their eyes to rest. This mission was thrown together fast, and the circumstances were unusual. Italy's coastline wasn't easy to infiltrate, and this time, they had neither hazmat suits nor SWCC support.
If successful, CIA specialists stationed in-country would arrive to handle the gas. Until then, the SEALs had to secure the canisters and make sure no one tampered with them.
Two hours later, the aircraft reached the drop zone. A green light lit up inside the fuselage. The SEALs lined up for the jump.
As the hatch opened, Travis signaled and was the first to leap out, followed by the others, one by one.
Soon it was Owen's turn. He jumped without hesitation—parachuting was nothing new to him.
Heartbeat, raised on an Air Force base by two military parents, had been trained for this kind of thing since childhood. Jumping was no big deal for him.
In the dark night sky, Owen watched for the red signal light below. Once it appeared, he pulled his chute and guided himself toward it, adjusting based on the faint glow. Nighttime jumps often led to team members drifting apart; the red beacon on the parachute canopy was the only visual marker, visible only from above.
After some time, all team members landed safely. Everyone had solid parachuting skills, so their landing spots were close together.
Owen packed up his chute, balled it tightly, and hid it. Then he regrouped with the others.
Once headcount was confirmed, the team moved toward the villa. Their gear was similar to last time—resupplied ammunition, and one major addition: each member now carried a GPNVG-18 panoramic night vision device.
This piece of tech looked straight out of science fiction. Four lenses converged into two eyepieces, providing a 120-degree field of view—vastly superior to the standard 45 degrees.
But it came with a sci-fi price tag too: over $60,000 per unit. Only special operations units, pilots, or airborne fire-control specialists could afford this kind of gear. Regular units wouldn't even dream of it.
Now mounted on their MSA MICH 2000 helmets, the panoramic NVGs were lowered, and the surrounding world turned luminous green. The wide field of view allowed them to clearly detect anything nearby.
Their landing zone was less than two kilometers from the target villa. The SEALs advanced quickly and soon reached the perimeter.
Ahead, acting as scouts, Valkyrie and Blackbeard held up their hands, prompting the entire squad to halt.
In the green-tinted world of their night vision, two Chechen sentries could be seen lounging beside a house on the path leading to the villa. One smoked a cigarette; the other sat with his weapon, leaning against the wall.
"Take them out."
Travis gave the order decisively. Valkyrie and Blackbeard crept in closer, then took aim.
Farther back, Owen removed his night vision gear. What had been a clear scene immediately went pitch black. Only a faint red dot flickered in the dark—that was the glow of the smoker's cigarette. As for the one sitting against the wall, Owen couldn't see him at all.
Pfft pfft, pfft pfft~~
Two suppressed shots. The cigarette butt hit the ground. The man sitting by the wall stayed in place, but his head slumped forward—his chest stained red.
This was the power of technology. Without night vision, you were blind—doomed before you even knew what hit you. With it, the darkness might as well be daylight.
Once it was confirmed that there were no other sentries nearby, the team moved forward.
They followed a small path into the villa's grounds. There was no perimeter wall—just neatly trimmed lawns and shrubbery marking the property's boundary.
Now hidden in the trees, the SEALs quietly observed.
The villa's surroundings were partially lit. It wasn't pitch black like outside, so the team flipped up their NVGs.
There weren't many guards around. Clearly, the Chechens hadn't realized the nerve gas was the real target.
After surveying the area, Travis confirmed that only two guards were visible on the lawn.
Three...
Two...
One.
Travis counted down with his fingers. When his hand dropped completely—pfft pfft—the two guards were silently eliminated with suppressed shots. Team members rushed in to drag the bodies into the shadows, out of view. The rest of the squad moved across the lawn and pressed up against the villa wall.
------------------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get early access to chapters by joining my Patre@n!
Find me at: patre@n*com/Mutter
You can read each novel for $5 or get them all for just $15.
Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]