Strike

It seemed like hours crawling through pipelines and ventilation ducts before Xavier finally emerged inside the facility. He dropped quietly to the floor, landing as Quinlon had taught him to minimize the sound of impact. He crept closer to the office door, listening for movements and voices, while Dane and the other two members of the team slid up beside him. The sounds of distant gunfire rang through the halls. He looked back to Dane. "Nothing in the hallway. They must be all engaged with team one."

Dane nodded. "We'll have to move quickly," Dane began, voice barely above a whisper. "Quin's team won't be able to hold their attention for much longer. We need to be out of here by the time they start falling back, or we'll be overwhelmed. Stick to the plan and stay out of sight." Dane took a moment to look into the faces of his team, stopping to focus on Xavier's. "Xavier, lead us out... Quietly. Dev, Mace... Follow. I'll take the rear"

Xavier checked the small machine gun at his side, tapping the magazine with the palm of his hand. He opened the door slowly, taking time to scan the hallway thoroughly before waving the rest of the team up. His heart beat harder than he'd ever felt, his senses sharp. The hallways matched exactly the plans that they'd been given by Dane's contact. All he had to do was stay alert and stick to the plan...

"Xavier, hold up." Dane crept closer to him. "I thought I heard something..." A bullet bounced off of the wall, just above their heads. "Move!" Dane snapped to action, kicking through the nearest office door. He turned quickly, firing several rounds at the oncoming attackers while Xavier scrambled through the door behind him. On the other side of the hallway, Dev and Mace mimicked the maneuver.

Xavier took up a kneeling position beside Dane, returning fire through the doorway. "So much for the quiet method."

Dane nodded grimly, retreating from the doorway to reload his weapon. "We don't have time for this. The lab is just around the corner." Dane motioned to Mace and Dev, standing in the opposite doorway. "When I give the order, I want everyone running down the hallway. Xavier and Dev first, me and Mace following and returning fire. On my mark... three... two... one... Mark!"

Xavier wasted no time, hitting full stride down the hallway, ignoring the bullets hitting the walls, floor, and ceiling around him. He came to a halt as he rounded the corner, pulling his weapon in place to cover the team as they joined him. As the team regrouped, he continued to the lab, shooting through the glass door to make an entrance.

Dane was the last to follow through the lab doors. "Dev, Mace, at the door... Hold them off as long as you can." The two nodded, taking up their positions. He turned his attention to Xavier. "Xavier... Dump all of the data you can get off of those terminals. I'll look through the hard copy files."

Xavier nodded, pulling a small handheld from his pack and plugging it into the nearest terminal. He began the download, scanning through the various file names and data until something caught his eye... He looked up at Dane. "You didn't tell me this was one of my father's labs... His name is all over these things..."

Dane's jaw clenched tightly. "Only Dahlia and I knew what was here. We couldn't risk it getting out... If they knew what we were coming for, they'd have destroyed it all, just like they did when they murdered your father."

Xavier slammed his palm against the lab table. "What was he working on that's so damn important? What was so FUCKING important that he had to DIE?"

"If the two of you don't get your asses over here, we're all going to die!"

Xavier was stunned by Dev's yell. He'd rarely heard the man speak. He and Dane ran to the door, weapons at the ready. The guards were closing in steadily now, greater in number. The bullets seemed to fly endlessly.

"I'm out!" Mace dropped his useless rifle, pulling a pistol from its holster at his thigh.

"That pistol won't do much good... Go check on that download," Dane instructed him. "And pull out those charges. It looks like we'll have to make an exit the hard way."

Xavier took Mace's place and returned fire, the anger within him still burning. On each of the guards, saw the faces of the men who had been there that night, the men who killed his father and burned his legacy to the ground. He wanted to kill them all... Yet they kept coming... For each man who fell, there seemed to be two more guns firing in his direction. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

Dane looked down at him. "We've done all we can Xavier... We're leaving." He turned his gaze to Dev, who nodded his acknowledgement. He squeezed Xavier's shoulder as he turned back to him. "Come on." Xavier and Dev backpedaled, firing still at their attackers. Dane pulled a grenade from his back and threw it into the hallway, filling it with gas. The choking and cries of men outside confirmed that his throw was accurate. He nodded toward Mace. "Do it!" Mace hit a button on the controller in his hand. The blast from his makeshift bomb opened a gaping hole in the wall, exposing them to the night air. Dev went to work setting up a rope to repel down the building.

Xavier stopped at the terminal to grab his handheld, placing it in his pack. He turned to the wall, where Dev hooked up to the rope. Xavier watched as a rifle round tore through Dev's neck from the outside, his eyes widening as the man fell forward to the ground. He instinctively pulled Dane and Mace away from the opening as a volley came through. The three men went crashing to the floor.

"Shit! Now what?" Mace grabbed the rifle from beside Dev's body, returning fire through the opening. Feet shuffled in the hallway, the effects of the gas dissipating. The three men shuffled to find cover, turning over a thick metal table to shield themselves from the gunfire coming once again from the hallway.

Dane looked toward his two companions. "Stay away from the wall. We'll have to fight our way through these guys inside."

Xavier sighed loudly. Either way... we're dead... There's no way... "I don't guess you have any more of that gas?" Dane's head shook. Xavier reloaded his weapon, placing the nearly empty magazine into his pack. He took a deep breath, nodded to himself, and popped up from behind the table. He opened fire. At least I'll die fighting.