In the depths of the base, the final roar of the steel behemoth shook the earth.
The rumble of the engines surged forth like overwhelming waves, causing even the gravel under Eitan's feet to tremble slightly.
The last massive armored convoy kicked up a cloud of dust that blotted out the sky, roaring southeast toward the distant boundary marked by faint artillery sounds.
The nacing outline of machine guns atop the vehicles flashed by in the taillight's red glow, while the shadows of soldiers cramd in the cargo trucks were barely discernible.
The clamor of human voices, commands, and the clash of tal inside the base receded rapidly like the tide, replaced by a suffocating stillness before the impending battle.
"All teams, attention! The operation begins now! 'Shadow Snake' (sniper team), eliminate the periter sentries! 'Sharp Fang' (first assault team), 'Poison Fang' (second assault team), infiltrate silently along the predetermined routes! Target: Core Command Center! Move!"
"Shadow Snake received."
"Sharp Fang received, moving."
"Poison Fang received."
The cold responses crackled through the encrypted channel one after another.
Eitan's voice, through the throat microphone (MBITR), was compressed into cold, unwavering electronic pulses that struck directly into the earpieces pressed against the operatives' jawbones.
"The nest has been emptied. Repeat, the nest has been emptied. Defensive forces in the target area reduced to a minimum. Action starts. Shadow Snake, clear the sightlines."
"Shadow Snake received."
The reply was equally succinct, like the collision of two pieces of ice.
On the base's periter, a concrete guard tower built against a massive natural rock formation stood like a crouching beast.
At the top of the guard tower, a rcenary sentry wrapped in a heavy desert camouflage cloak, hunkered down, peering towards the last convoy's retreating dust. He had just lowered his binoculars and instinctively reached for a cigarette, his fingers searching the edge of his pocket.
"Pop—!"
A faint, cork-popping sound was carried away by the wind.
The sentry's head suddenly jerked back, as if struck by an invisible hamr. He collapsed limply beside the cold concrete shooting port, a small hole near his temple oozing dark red viscous liquid and grayish-white matter.
He died without ever hearing the scream of the 7.62x51mm M118LR sniper round shredding through the night sky at three tis the speed of sound.
Almost in the sa millisecond, another sentry on the west side of the base, at the top of an observation post camouflaged as a weathered rock pile, shuddered similarly, the unlit cigarette dropping silently from his hand into the sand at his feet.
A similarly fatal penetration wound at the back of his neck was gushing blood.
"Shadow Snake 1, target eliminated."
"Shadow Snake 2, target eliminated."
The cold reports confird the kills over the encrypted communication channel.
In Major Eitan's night vision goggles, the heat signatures representing life signals of those two soldiers blinked out instantly.
"Sharp Fang, Poison Fang, follow the predetermined routes, infiltrate silently. Target: Core Command Center. Move."
Major Eitan issued the command, his voice slicing through the air like a scalpel.
"Sharp Fang received, moving."
"Poison Fang received."
Two ghostly assault paths, under the cover of dawn's final and deepest darkness, like two venomous vipers skimming the ground, darted out instantly from the shadow of the rocks.
Eitan personally led the six-mber "Sharp Fang" team, moving in the shadow of a row of low prefab barracks.
The Soloman Quest 4D GTX tactical boots made a nearly inaudible "sshh" on the gravel, perfectly masked by the wind.
His custom Tavor X95 assault rifle, equipped with EOTech EXPS3 holographic sight and LA-5 PEQ laser designator, pointed forward, his right eye catching the glow of the TREX Arms Nova micro-tactical terminal fixed to his left forearm, updating in real-ti with the base's precise satellite map and his teammates' positions.
The heartbeat pounded heavily and forcefully in his chest, the burning sensation from adrenaline rushing through his veins, yet was held firmly below freezing by his iron will.
The target was just ahead!
"Sharp Fang 3, at the corner, single patrol."
The whisper from Sharp Fang 2 ca through the headset.
Eitan halted instantly at the corner, pressing against the wall.
In his night vision view, a rcenary casually carrying an AK-74M rifle was humming a tune, swaggering over from the opposite side, the barrel pointed idly at the ground.
Eitan's left thumb gently pressed the pressure switch on the grip.
From beneath the X95's handguard, the Steiner DBAL-A3 laser designator projected a precise infrared laser dot, invisible to the naked eye and visible only through night vision, onto the target's chest.
"Pop!"
Almost the instant the laser dot appeared, Sharp Fang 2's AAC Ti-RANT 45M silencer-equipped MP7SD submachine gun briefly flared.
The 9mm subsonic round, under the dual effects of the silencer and subsonic ammunition, produced a muffled sound akin to a pillow being thumped.
The rcenary's bulletproof vest emitted a "pop" as his body jolted, a flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes, and the second bullet had already shot precisely through his slightly open mouth, exploding into a mist of blood at the back of his neck.
The corpse toppled forward, swiftly dragged into the shadow of the corner by the waiting Sharp Fang 3 and 4.
"Target eliminated."
Sharp Fang 2's voice was indifferent.
"Continue the advance."
Eitan's voice grated like cold iron. He rounded the corner, his gaze as sharp as a falcon's, sweeping over the open area ahead—a mandatory path to the core zone, devoid of any cover.
"Poison Fang calling Falcon, arrived at B3 zone drainage outlet, ready to enter."
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