Chapter 10 - The Siege of Station Delta
A dull, heavy vibration shuddered through the solid granite floor of the bunker, followed immediately by a muffled, distant THUD that shook dust loose from the concrete ceiling overhead.
"They've located the surface vent shaft," Vance barked, moving swiftly toward the reinforced steel door of the redoubt. "Creger, can you stand?"
The injured petty officer pushed himself up onto his good elbow, his face pale as death. "I... I can shoot if I have to."
"Just stay down and keep out of the line of fire," Vance ordered, tossing an extra magazine across the concrete floor toward the cot.
Nora didn't wait for instructions.
She unholstered her sidearm, checked the magazine feed with automated precision, and moved smoothly into a defensive crouch beside the reinforced steel door frame.
Ranger rose to his feet instantly, his body coiling into a low, aggressive posture, his low, vibrating growl echoing off the damp concrete walls as the seismic vibrations from the surface grew louder and closer.
"How many?" Nora asked, her voice as steady as a surgeon's scalpel.
"At least a full tactical squad," Vance replied, his eyes fixed on the heavy mechanical deadbolts of the vault door. "They've brought thermal charges to burn through the hinges."
A blinding flash of white-hot light illuminated the narrow crack around the heavy steel door frame, followed by an ear-splitting screech of melting metal as industrial thermite charges began eating through the primary locking bolts.
"Get back!" Vance shouted, grabbing Nora by the tactical vest and jerking her away from the door just as a cascade of white-hot molten slag sprayed across the concrete floor.
The heavy vault door groaned, shuddered, and then slowly began to buckle inward under the immense pressure of hydraulic rams operating from the surface shaft outside.
"They're breaching!" Creger yelled, raising his pistol with a shaking hand from the cot.
"Hold your fire until the seal breaks!" Vance commanded, his weapon leveled dead center at the widening gap in the steel doorway.
The tension in the underground bunker was thick enough to cut with a surgical knife.
Every breath was measured.
Every heartbeat hammered like a war drum against the ribs.
With a final, explosive metallic shriek, the massive vault door blew inward, crashing flat against the concrete floor of the bunker in a cloud of thick, choking grey smoke.
Through the billowing fog strode three heavily armed operatives in matte-black tactical gear, their night-vision goggles casting an eerie, green-tinted glow across their featureless balaclavas.
"Clear the room! Terminate all—"
The lead operative never finished the sentence.
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Ranger exploded out from the shadows like a streak of black lightning, leaping straight across the fallen steel door and slamming his heavy jaws directly into the throat-guard of the lead intruder.
Simultaneously, Vance and Nora opened fire.
