The SEAL team pressed tightly against the exterior wall of the villa.
The structure had two above-ground floors, and according to initial intel, a basement below. As per Sarayev's confession, the VX nerve agent was being stored in that underground level.
Travis had decided on a simultaneous advance. The two SEALs who had scaled up earlier would clear the second floor, while the rest would enter from the first floor. Once inside, Owen would lead a team to sweep the first floor, and Travis would take another team straight to the basement.
The two SEALs on the roof successfully infiltrated the second floor. Travis gave a signal, and Valkyrie gently pushed on the door next to her—it wasn't locked. The team quietly filed in.
Not far ahead was a wide corridor with numerous rooms on either side. Most were dark, but two at the end were lit. One echoed with the sound of a television, the other with a woman's screams.
In the dim villa, visibility was poor. Most areas were shrouded in darkness, so the team switched back to night vision. Through the panoramic NVGs, the world became crisp and green once again.
The unit split into two groups and crept forward against the walls, moving like predatory shadows. Owen led the right-side team, his muzzle sweeping his sector—ready to fire at the first sign of danger behind any door.
Heartbeat took the rear. Unlike the others, he moved in reverse, watching their six at all times.
"Ahhh! Aaah! Ahhh!!"
A woman's shrill, terrified cries echoed from the far room. The horror in her voice was unmistakable. A man's laughter followed. Her screams came in intervals, suggesting she was undergoing some kind of torment.
Travis raised a clenched fist, and both teams froze in place. In the darkness, the SEALs' laser sights swept evenly across all doors, prepared for sudden contact.
Just then, a man came stumbling out from the lit room across the hall, cursing as he walked to the other lit room and shouted, "Chika, make that woman shut up already!"
"All right, all right," someone responded lazily.
The man muttered a few more curses and turned back to his original room. As he passed through the hallway, he casually glanced around—but didn't react.
In that moment, a dozen invisible laser dots covered his vital points. Through the NVGs, they appeared like glowing red lines—death aimed and waiting for Travis's signal. Ten rifles were poised to cut him down.
But the man's glance had been unfocused, seeing nothing. To him, the hallway seemed empty and dark—he had no idea he'd just strolled along the edge of death.
The SEALs collectively exhaled, relieved. Their presence remained undetected. The enemy's guard was clearly low. A seasoned soldier would've sensed something even without seeing it.
The man returned to his room. Voices exchanged questions, then quieted. Only the TV broadcast of a soccer match remained.
Travis waited a few more moments to ensure nothing was amiss before motioning the team to proceed.
The tortured woman's screams had stopped, replaced by sobbing and begging. Her pleas fell on deaf ears—male voices from the room laughed in response.
On a side wall, Heartbeat noticed a main electrical panel.
"Boss?" he whispered.
Travis saw and nodded. Then he activated his throat mic and spoke quietly: "All units, prepare to move. Power will be cut in five seconds. Attack on my mark…"
This was mainly directed at the two SEALs clearing the second floor. Travis began counting down with his fingers.
Four...
Three...
Two...
One.
Pfft pfft pfft... pfft pfft pfft...
Heartbeat yanked the breaker. The entire villa plunged into darkness. Red laser sights danced through the hall. Suppressed weapons chattered. Amid the chaos came thuds of bodies and the wet smacks of bullets tearing through flesh. Seconds later, all fell silent.
"B Team, secure. A Team, with me—go!"
Having neutralized the immediate threats, Travis didn't waste time with cleanup. He led his team directly toward the basement. The objective was the VX nerve gas—without it, killing every terrorist there meant nothing.
"What the hell happened up there?!"
A voice called out from the basement. The man clearly hadn't realized what was going on above.
Travis positioned his team at the stairwell. From below came a click—someone lit a lighter. Its flame briefly illuminated the staircase as the man began climbing.
The moment he turned the corner, he was met with a monstrous figure on the stairs. Pain bloomed in his chest, then nothing.
...
Upstairs, Owen and his team finished clearing the area. He kicked weapons away from corpses and confirmed all hostiles were down.
The TV continued broadcasting the soccer match in Italian, narrating the game with passionate energy—but its previous audience had become corpses.
Owen moved into the other room. Three bodies lay on the floor—the men who had just been tormenting the woman.
In the center, a woman was strapped naked to an iron chair, her body bruised and bloody. The right half of her face was unrecognizable. Owen glanced at the still-glowing welding torch on the floor and understood what had happened.
Heartbeat was collecting electronics—phones, computers, anything potentially useful for intel extraction. The tech team back at CTU might find something valuable.
"Help me... I'm American..."
The woman's voice was weak.
"American?"
Owen asked for confirmation.
"I'm CIA. Please… Are you SEALs or SAS?"
Hearing Owen speak gave the woman hope. She was gambling—praying her rescuers were either American or British. Even if they weren't, she had nothing left to lose. If they were U.S. special forces, she might survive.
"What happened? How did they capture you?"
Owen didn't confirm his affiliation—none of them carried anything identifying their unit. All personal items had been left back at SEAL Team Six's base.
"I was betrayed," she said. "Someone in the CIA tipped the Chechens off about me. There's a mole…"
Owen began unfastening her restraints. Her body was covered in wounds, and once on the ground, she could barely stand.
He instructed Heartbeat to watch over her while he led the rest of the team to support the basement team. There had been no updates from below—they didn't know if Travis had found the gas.
The woman was just a byproduct of the raid. The real mission was the nerve agent.
But when they arrived downstairs… all they found was an empty basement.
------------------
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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)
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