Chapter 24
The ascent up the Matterhorn was a grueling, agonizing test of human endurance. The blinding blizzard howled, the sub-zero temperatures threatening to freeze the moisture in Cole’s lungs. He didn't use a helicopter; the radar signatures would have alerted the Lazarus bunker instantly. He climbed the sheer, treacherous rock face entirely by hand, utilizing specialized alpine stealth gear.
He reached the designated ridge two hours before the satellite synchronization window.
The false peak was visible through his thermal optics—a massive, camouflaged steel dome hidden amidst the jagged rocks and deep snow. Surrounding the dome were four heavily armed sentries, wearing white thermal gear, their assault rifles raised against the storm.
Cole didn't hesitate. He was a ghost in the snow.
He moved silently across the treacherous ice, closing the distance to the first sentry. The howling wind masked the crunch of his boots. He struck with terrifying, lethal precision, driving his ceramic combat knife through the gap in the sentry's armor, neutralizing him instantly.
He dropped the body into a deep snowdrift, leaving no trace.
The remaining three sentries were grouped near the massive steel access hatch of the dome.
"Sarah, I'm at the access point," Cole whispered into his comms, drawing his suppressed MP7. "Three hostiles."
"Copy, Cole. You have twenty minutes before the antenna deploys," Sarah reported anxiously.
Cole stepped out from the shadows of a massive boulder, raising his weapon. He fired three rapid, flawless bursts. Pfft. Pfft. Pfft. The armor-piercing rounds shattered the sentries' visors, dropping them to the snow before they could even pull their triggers.
He sprinted to the heavy steel hatch. It was secured by a complex biometric scanner.
"I need a bypass," Cole commanded.
"I can't hack it remotely, Cole. It's an air-gapped system," Sarah warned.
"Understood," Cole said coldly.
He didn't waste time trying to slice the lock. He pulled a specialized, high-yield shaped thermite charge from his vest and slapped it directly over the locking mechanism.
"Fire in the hole."
The thermite ignited with a blinding, white-hot flash, melting the heavy steel lock into molten slag in seconds. Cole kicked the heavy hatch open, stepping into the dimly lit, mechanical belly of the false peak.
The massive parabolic antenna loomed above him, gears grinding as the automated systems began to prep for deployment.
"I'm inside," Cole reported.
"Cole, the internal alarms just triggered!" Sarah yelled over the comms. "The thermal feed shows dozens of hostiles mobilizing from the lower bunker! They are coming up the primary elevator shaft!"
"Let them come," Cole growled, his eyes scanning the massive, hydraulic support struts holding the antenna in place.
He began planting heavy C4 charges on the primary load-bearing struts. If he blew the supports, the massive antenna would collapse, crushing the elevator shaft and permanently sealing the Lazarus operatives inside the mountain.
As he set the final charge, the heavy steel doors leading to the elevator shaft hissed open.
"Hold your fire!" a sharp, commanding voice roared.
Cole spun around, his weapon raised.
Stepping into the mechanical bay, flanked by ten elite, heavily armed Lazarus operatives, was a man Cole never expected to see again.
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He was older, his face scarred and weathered, but the intense, piercing blue eyes were unmistakable.
It was Commander Hayes. The former head of JSOC internal security. The man Cole had personally executed in the Cheyenne Mountain bunker.
