Guatemala City, 4:17 AM.
Smoke was still rising from La Aurora Air Force Base. The wealthy residents living near the "El Mirador" manor were awakened by the brief sounds of explosions and gunfire at night. Looking outside through the gaps in their curtains, they saw flas in the direction of the manor, but soon it returned to darkness.
Soone dialed the ergency services, but the line was busy.
Soone tried to contact relatives working in the governnt, but there was no signal on their phone.
The city seed to have been put on mute.
In the underground safe room of the manor, Colonel Jas Water looked at the three handcuffed individuals and pressed the call button on his headset: "Vulture calling Nest, mission accomplished. All three target birds are captured, nest is controlled, evidence collected. Requesting evacuation orders."
After a brief static interference, Admiral Kitchener’s voice ca through: "Nest received. Transport aircraft will arrive in five minutes. Evacuate according to Plan B."
"Understood."
Water turned to his team and ordered: "Team A, escort the targets to the courtyard, Team B, continue clearing the periter, ensure the evacuation route is clean. Team C, prepare the incendiary devices, we need to ’clean up’ this place."
When Sir Salisbury was being lifted by two team mbers, he suddenly spoke: "Do you know the consequences of this? This is tantamount to declaring war on the United Kingdom."
Water stepped up to him, "Sir, according to the docunts we intercepted, you t the Portillo Brothers in a private capacity. The British Council ID? Unfortunately, we found your encrypted communications with MI6 in the manor. According to international law, spies do not enjoy diplomatic immunity."
"And besides, who the hell is the UK!"
This remark imdiately left the opponent unable to catch their breath from anger.
Hey, their face turned all sorts of colors like a rainbow.
Water shrugged, "Sir, you better pray our leader appreciates your gentlemanly conduct, otherwise you..."
Salisbury’s face turned red, and shivering at the thought of their brutality, "You... you can’t..."
Water interrupted him, "Take him away."
In the courtyard, two "Ghost Eagle" helicopters had already landed, their rotors still turning.
A third was circling above on alert, and a fourth was on standby at a nearby backup point.
When Alfonso Portillo was dragged out of the building, he suddenly struggled: "Wait! I can negotiate! I have intelligence! About the British plans throughout Central Arica!"
Water signaled his team to stop.
Alfonso panted heavily: "I know all their contact points in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador! I know their list of undercover agents in the Panama Canal Zone! Let go, and I’ll tell you everything!"
Herman looked at his brother in disbelief: "Brother! You—"
"Shut up!"
Alfonso shouted, "You think the British will really save us? They just want us to be cannon fodder! This is our last chance!"
Sir Salisbury coldly said: "Alfonso, you’ll regret this."
"Regret?" Alfonso laughed bitterly, "The only thing I regret is believing your nonsense! So-called independent power, so-called founder... it’s all bullshit! You just want to watch us and xico kill each other so you can sit back in London sipping tea!"
Water watched this farce, tapped his headset: "Nest, one of the targets is willing to cooperate, providing intelligence on the British network throughout Central Arica. Requesting instructions."
Kitchener’s voice quickly ca: "Bring him back. Take the other two as well. We’ll see in the interrogation room."
"Received."
Five minutes later, three helicopters took off, disappearing into the pre-dawn darkness.
The last "Ghost Eagle" circled above the main building of the manor and dropped several special incendiary devices.
A mixture of high-temperature thermite and catalysts.
They would trigger a highly controlled fire, burning the interior of the building down to its concrete structure without spreading to the surrounding jungle.
As the manor began to burn, Water’s helicopter had already flown twenty kiloters out.
Looking out from the cabin window, the blaze resembled an orange-red flower blooming on the pitch-black land, then gradually shrinking.
"Cleanup complete," the pilot reported.
Water leaned back in his seat, removing his helt.
Inside the cabin, only the roar of the engine and the breathing of the team mbers could be heard. No one spoke, but the eyes of everyone held a sense of exhaustion and relief after completing a daunting task.
"Get so sleep," Water closed his eyes, "We have another hour until we reach the base.
There’ll be plenty to do once we arrive."
London ti, 8 AM, 10 Downing Street.
The Pri Minister’s breakfast was interrupted.
Usually, he would take twenty minutes to slowly enjoy toast, scrambled eggs, and tea, while going through the front page of The Tis.
But today, the Cabinet Secretary almost burst into the dining room.
"Pri Minister, there’s an ergency situation."
The Pri Minister put down the newspaper, frowning: "Is it Diana again? I said, let the Duke of Windsor handle matters with the Royal Family—"
"It’s not Diana, Pri Minister."
The Cabinet Secretary’s face was pale, "It’s Guatemala. We just received an urgent report from the xican Ambassador. The xican Governnt held a press conference an hour ago, announcing they conducted an ’anti-terror operation’ in Guatemala."
The Pri Minister was stunned: "Anti-terror operation? In Guatemala?"
"They claim Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo and his brother, Defense Minister Herman Portillo, colluded with ’foreign intelligence agencies’ to stir trouble at the xican-Guatemalan border, intending to provoke an ard conflict. xican Special Forces took action last night, arresting the Portillo brothers as well as... a British citizen."
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