Chapter 23
The implications of Donovan’s words hit Cole like a physical blow. A localized EMP satellite network meant the ability to plunge any city, any military base, or any financial hub into the dark ages from orbit, without warning and without a trace.
"The Vanguard built a kill-switch for the modern world," Cole whispered, his tactical mind racing.
"And Lazarus just put their finger on the button," Donovan confirmed, wincing as Cole applied a pressure bandage to her side. "I managed to intercept a decrypted communication relay before they burned my safe house. Lazarus is mobilizing their primary command team to a secure facility in the Swiss Alps. A subterranean bunker designed to act as the primary uplink to the satellite network."
"When does the network go online?" Cole demanded.
"Forty-eight hours," Donovan replied. "They need absolute synchronicity to execute the final handshake protocol. If they establish the uplink, they can hold the globe hostage. Every government, every military... they will be entirely at the mercy of a rogue syndicate."
Cole finished tying off the bandage. He helped the veteran NCO to her feet.
"We need to get you out of Berlin," Cole stated, his voice a low, vibrating hum of absolute resolve. "I have a sterile transport vehicle waiting two miles from here."
"I'm not leaving, Cole," Donovan argued, her eyes fierce. "This is my fight too."
"You are compromised and bleeding, Rachel. You are a liability in a high-altitude assault," Cole said coldly, leaving no room for negotiation. "You go back to Wyoming. You protect Sarah and Ava. They are the only family I have left. You hold the line there."
Donovan stared at him, recognizing the unyielding, terrifying authority of Task Force 9. She nodded slowly. "Understood, Ghost-Actual. Give them hell."
"I intend to."
Ten hours later, Cole arrived in Geneva, Switzerland. He didn't check into a hotel. He operated entirely off the grid, utilizing a network of abandoned alpine smuggler cabins he had memorized years ago.
He sat in the freezing, dark cabin, staring at the ruggedized laptop Sarah had provided him. He was connected to her via a heavily encrypted, rolling proxy network.
"I have the coordinates for the bunker, Cole," Sarah’s voice crackled softly through his earpiece. She sounded exhausted, but fiercely focused. "It's buried deep inside the Matterhorn massif. The architectural schematics show a massive, reinforced blast door and an independent geothermal power grid. It's a fortress."
"Every fortress has a weakness," Cole murmured, meticulously checking the action on his suppressed assault rifle. "How do they receive the satellite uplink?"
"There is a massive, retractable parabolic antenna hidden beneath a false peak on the mountain," Sarah explained, her fingers typing rapidly on her end. "It extends only during the synchronization window. Cole, if you can destroy that antenna before the handshake completes, you permanently sever their connection to the satellite network."
"I don't just want to sever the connection, Sarah," Cole said, his dark eyes turning to obsidian. "I want to bury Lazarus in that mountain."
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"The bunker is heavily guarded. Thermal imaging shows at least fifty elite operatives," Sarah warned. "You are one man, Cole."
"I won't be fighting them on their terms," Cole replied, a dark, predatory smile touching his lips. "I am going to bring the mountain down on them."
