The Pentagon
Carol stared at the three rectangular markers on the big screen representing the Black Hawk helicopters rapidly approaching the White House. In the end, she couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Vice President, are we really not going to notify the CTU? After all, they've been trying to rescue the President, and with such a major operation from our side, we should at least inform them for friend-or-foe identification issues..."
The CTU she referred to was, of course, Steve Owen. Previously, President Palmer had already informed the Pentagon about his situation, but Vice President Larfson had flatly rejected it.
"No, the CTU isn't trustworthy. I seriously doubt the CTU's competence. We must handle this on our own, without involving them..."
Whether it was Vice President Larfson, the military, or other members of the government, they all expressed skepticism about the CTU's capabilities.
Terrorists attacking the White House—and succeeding—was something that had never happened before in American history. The blame for this historic catastrophe could only fall on the CTU...
...
White House, rooftop. The battle broke out the moment the Black Hawks appeared.
Three Black Hawk helicopters loaded with Delta Force operators sped in at low altitude and suddenly emerged above the White House. The helicopters' onboard cannons roared as they suppressed the terrorists below. Once control was momentarily gained, the helicopters hovered and thick fast-roping lines were thrown down.
From the doors on both sides of the Black Hawks, the well-trained Delta operators were ready for descent. At the command of their officer, the distinctive sound of gloves sliding against the ropes rang out as the soldiers descended headfirst.
But before anyone even hit the ground, a trail of white smoke shot across the sky, and one Black Hawk exploded into a fireball mid-air, with no survivors onboard.
Roughly a thousand meters away, behind a window, Swagger pulled the trigger with a "bang." The bullet spun out of the barrel along the rifling, flew for a few seconds through the air, and struck a terrorist square in the chest, bursting into a bloody mist.
Previously, the areas closest to the White House were all under terrorist control. If any military or police snipers showed up, the terrorists would immediately open fire. The military, on the other hand, was constrained and dared not retaliate on a large scale.
Swagger had no choice but to find a sniping position about a thousand meters away. He wasn't alone; the rest of the quick response team was also fully alert, waiting for Owen's order.
When he saw the Black Hawks arriving, Swagger immediately understood what the Pentagon was attempting. But through his scope, he spotted someone sneaking behind cover with a missile launcher. When he got a good look, he nearly jumped—the guy was carrying a Stinger.
It was clearly too late to warn the Black Hawk team. Swagger could only do his best to cover them. He personally shot that man dead, but others had already launched their Stingers.
The first Black Hawk was hit and broke apart mid-air, exploding into a fireball.
Fortunately, the shooters aiming at the second Black Hawk were taken out by Swagger, allowing it a moment to breathe. The first two Delta operators landed successfully and began establishing a defensive perimeter.
The rooftop battle was intense. In addition to Stinger operators, there were RPG shooters as well. Swagger prioritized targeting the Stinger operators—those anti-air missiles were guaranteed death for any Black Hawk they hit. In contrast, RPGs were a bit less dangerous. Their accuracy was poor; even at such close range, the RPG shooters weren't necessarily hitting their targets.
The enemies were overwhelming. Swagger quickly emptied one magazine. While reloading, he saw one of the two Delta soldiers who had landed and begun setting up the defense suddenly collapse.
This scene had happened a few times before. The two of them were the only targets on the ground and had always been key attack points for scattered enemy fighters. In previous instances, the soldiers got up quickly after being hit because their heavy body armor absorbed most of the damage.
But this time, the soldier didn't get back up, indicating he was likely done for.
Swagger reloaded as fast as he could, but in those brief moments, two more trails of white smoke appeared simultaneously.
"Fuck!!!"
Both Black Hawks were hit. The third one, like the first, disintegrated mid-air, with everyone onboard turned into a bloody mist. The second was hit in the tail; the helicopter lost balance, and no matter how hard the pilot tried, it couldn't stabilize. It spiraled out of control, soldiers being flung out along the way—it looked tragic.
Eventually, the helicopter crashed into the fountain in front of the White House. Although it didn't explode, no one inside was moving.
Whoa
The tragic scene caused an uproar among the media crews outside the White House. Camera flashes went off wildly—no one had expected the military's first rescue attempt to go so disastrously. TV viewers across America were dumbfounded.
"Shit
Swagger cursed and quickly ducked back behind cover. Earlier, the situation had been urgent, and he helped take out enemy anti-air shooters to cover the Black Hawk landings. But now that the rooftop assault plan had clearly failed, if he continued sniping, the terrorists would surely retaliate by slaughtering hostages.
...
In front of the underground safe room, Bobby stood guard with two men at the door. The safe room had only one entrance—so long as they held it, President Palmer couldn't escape. As for how they would capture the President, Martin had already made arrangements. At this moment, a cracking device was attached to the keypad at the door, and three of the six digits of the passcode had already been cracked.
Since Martin had decided to go all in, he had made thorough preparations. Although the safe room required both iris and palm print verification, it was still an electronic system. That meant there had to be an administrator override code. Once that code was cracked, it would bypass the iris and palm scans.
Bobby and his men were staring at the code-cracker. He knew there was fighting on the rooftop, but Staz had given him direct orders to guard this location and ensure the President stayed put.
Back when they were in Delta, Bobby and Staz had been comrades. Bobby was one of Staz's staunchest allies. The two had carried out many missions together and had even saved each other's lives. But later, due to changes in foreign policy, their missions were disavowed, and they themselves nearly became scapegoats.
From then on, their team could never return home. If the U.S. found them, they were as good as dead. They could only become mercenaries, struggling to survive in the shadows. Staz wanted revenge, and Bobby once again stood firmly at his side. Just then, the White Masks found them, and the two sides immediately hit it off.
(End of Chapter)
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