CHAPTER 282: GHOST PROTOCOL : VULTURE [ 1 ] BONUS CHAPTER

The southern winds off the Noctis coast carried a dry, metallic taste of iron and dust that clung to your tongue like an unwelcome reminder.

In the quiet outskirts of Kargath,a land where borders were more theoretical lines on a map than actual control,an abandoned shipping yard loomed under the dim glow of sodium lamps.

At its heart stood a warehouse, towering at forty meters with thick corrugated walls reinforced by composite plating.

Floodlights perched on the roof like vigilant sentinels, casting eerie shadows around.

Outside, two armored vehicles idled quietly, their engines humming softly as armed sentries scanned the darkness for any sign of trouble.

Inside, the air was cooler but just as sharp. This place felt like a cathedral of steel and shadows.

Crates were stacked in neat grids along the edges, leaving a massive oval table clear at the center,think war-room scale,surrounded by eight seats.

Seven were filled.

Gunner presided over them like a fortress himself,a blocky man with broad shoulders and a jawline chiseled from rock.

His hair was cropped short to regulation length, and his posture was as rigid as the assault rifle slung across his back; every aspect of him screamed soldier first, human second.

The table glowed with light from a holo-projector embedded in its surface.

Evolon’s feed flickered above them in blue-tinged clarity, displaying a 3D wireframe of the VULTURE lab near Varenya.

This wasn’t just any reconnaissance; it was information gleaned from something that saw the world through ones and zeroes.

A schematic shimmered before them, corridors and rooms annotated with pulsing red tags: security points, staff routes, camera angles,all vital data for their mission.

Even the flicker of a wall-mounted monitor in the footage appeared crystal clear.

"Cycle to thermal overlay," Gunner commanded.

The holo shifted; now the lab glowed with orange life signatures tagged with ID codes Evolon had intercepted from biometrics.

A woman seated two places down leaned forward slightly,her voice low yet carrying authority.

"Fourteen active staff on night rotation. Six armed,rwo in sublevel."

Captain Vos was her name,infiltration specialist extraordinaire.

Lean and pale-skinned with sharp cheekbones framed by sandy hair, her eyes were cool and calculating,never wasting a glance on anything irrelevant.

A thin scar traced from her mouth to her jawline,a souvenir from some mission she’d never bothered to elaborate on.

"Not much of a guard detail for a lab like this," chimed in the man next to her whose build made chairs seem too small for him.

Dark-skinned with closely shaved hair and forearms like steel beams,that was Commander Rask Draven, demolitions expert known for not just blowing things up but ensuring whatever he hit stayed gone.

"Which means," Vos said, her gaze fixed somewhere distant, "they either think no one knows this place exists... or they want someone to come knocking."

Across from her, Lieutenant Marek,youngest at the table,tapped a finger on the glowing projection.

"If it’s bait, they’ll have contingencies outside the immediate structure. Mobile teams, overwatch."

His posture was precise, almost academic, yet there was a restless energy in his darting eyes that hinted at his eagerness for action.

Gunner grunted in response. "Evolon already ran the perimeter scans; no mobile assets within five klicks. But that doesn’t mean they won’t bring them in fast if we trigger alarms."

At that moment, a deep voice cut through the tension,measured but edged with authority.

Commander Halric Stone, logistics and supply expert,a man who could move an army’s worth of gear across a continent without anyone noticing,sat straight-backed in his immaculate dark gray uniform and polished boots that gleamed like mirrors.

"The power grid’s on a dedicated line. Cut it, and you’ll trip redundancies that alert whoever’s funding this operation."

A faint chuckle came from down the table. Sergeant Lyra, close-quarters combat instructor with cropped copper hair and a jagged knife scar over her knuckles that looked almost decorative, shifted in her chair.

"Or we keep the lights on and ghost in,less noise, less mess."

Beside her stood Captain Mireille Dusk for the first time; tall and imposing at six feet with an effortlessly magnetic presence.

Her fitted black combat suit of Aegis-7 hugged every lethal curve of her body,the fabric engineered for function while keeping her silhouette deliberately understated.

With a high ponytail as dark as midnight and eyes like cold glass, she spoke with precision: "We don’t assume we’re unseen. We act as if every lens is on us until we’re gone."

Finally, Major Corvin Holt,the sniper and overwatch specialist,sat slightly apart with one elbow propped on the table and fingers drumming thoughtfully against its surface.

Lean and composed like a coiled spring ready to unleash precision strikes upon command.

He added calmly,"I’ll want high ground mapped before insertion. Somewhere I can see every exit."

These commanders weren’t just talking to introduce themselves; they were sharing their hard-earned wisdom from countless missions past,a collective experience layered over their analysis like a second map guiding their strategy.

Suddenly, the low buzz of boots on metal interrupted their discussion.

One of the soldiers from the outer perimeter strode in confidently before coming to attention and saluting.

"Commander! Operative Ethan requesting entry."

Gunner’s eyes flicked toward the main doors with anticipation. "Let him in."

The soldier saluted again before stepping out to fetch Ethan.

---

The echo of soldier boots faded into the steady hum of projectors, a rhythmic backdrop to the tense atmosphere.

Outside, the mechanical groan of reinforced doors rolling open sliced through the stillness like a knife.

A chill night breeze slipped inside first, followed closely by the low growl of engines, three matte-black transport trucks, their surfaces absorbing every flicker of light.

They rolled in slowly, tires whispering over concrete, coming to a halt in perfect formation just shy of the war table’s perimeter.

With a swift motion, the passenger door of the lead truck swung open.

Ethan sprang out before the vehicle had even fully settled.

In his mid-twenties and standing a shade taller than average, he wore a dark urban jacket that screamed casual but was clearly custom-tailored for concealed carry.

His hair was artfully tousled, and his grin was easy and disarming,unless you knew he’d brokered arms deals in war zones where smiles could get you killed.

He raised a hand in mock salute toward Gunner. "Yo, yo, yo...Commander Gunner! Aegis-7’s very own iron wall! I’ve heard so much about your grand reputation that my ears are practically growing calluses!"

The corner of Gunner’s mouth barely twitched. "Ethan."

Ethan’s gaze drifted to the table and locked onto Captain Mireille Dusk’s towering silhouette.

His grin sharpened as he made a beeline for her, sliding between Rask and Lyra like he belonged there all along.

"Mireille," he said with an exaggerated wink. "You look like trouble,the good kind! How long has it been?"

She didn’t blink an eye. "Long enough for me to forget your last line."

"Ouch!" Ethan pressed a hand to his chest as if wounded. "Guess I’ll have to work on my material."

Rask snorted while Lyra smirked; Mireille remained unmoved as she shifted her gaze back to the holo-map.

Gunner stepped forward, pulling everyone back to business. "I’ve heard about your escapades in the black arms market. You’ve been busy."

Ethan shrugged with mock humility. "A man’s gotta keep those lights on! And speaking of lights..."

He flicked a small holo-tab from his pocket and tossed it onto the table. The device pulsed once and synced instantly with the war table’s system.

The VULTURE schematics vanished, replaced by a slow rotation of weapons rendered in stunning detail.

"This," Ethan began confidently as he tapped on a hovering rifle model, "is the Mantis-X5: selective fire with coil-assisted stability..a silent mode that doesn’t sacrifice muzzle velocity at all! It slices through composite armor like warm butter."