"Nitro, north side?"
"Locked in, Ghost. Say the word." Jax, running a little too hot.
"Siren?"
"West approach. In position." Mira.
"Chaos, primary breach?"
Xander taps the flashbang against his thigh beside me behind the concrete barrier. "Loaded and waiting, boss."
"Copy all." Kade runs the final count from HQ. "Thermal shows eight signatures clustered southeast corner, second floor. Reading as one mass. Likely victims. Four mobile signatures, armed based on posture. Eight minimum, possibly more." A pause, and his voice warms by exactly one degree. "Hellcat and our guest are monitoring."
Guest.Angelina. Sitting in the command center across the city, watching whatever feeds Vanessa can give her. Safe.
I key my comms. Let the thought finish forming before I say it.
"Copy all. We're coming home after this, Firefly."
Dead silence. Three full seconds of nobody breathing into their mics.
"Did he just—" Jax, incredulous, delighted.
"Focus, Nitro." Xander, flat. But his mouth twitches.
Another beat of quiet. Then Kade, dry as sand. "Blade. Confirm ready."
"Ready." I lean forward, center my stance, settle the SIG against my thigh. "Breach in three... two... one—"
Xander's flashbang arcs through the broken window to my left, bounces once on oil-stained concrete, and detonates. White light and concussion, the pressure wave punching my chest even from outside the doorway. The chemical bite of the charge rolls out a half-second later, acrid and hot.
I'm through the loading dock door before the light fades. Smoke hanging chest-high under the warehouse lights, shapes behind overturned pallets and rusted conveyor frames. Shipping containers stacked to my right, creating corridors I can't see down. The concrete floor is slick with oil and grime. I bring the SIG up, tracking left where the smoke is thickest, and find footing on the dry strip along the wall.
Movement left. A figure stumbles out from behind a pallet, still blinded from the flash, one hand over his eyes and the other fumbling for the weapon on his hip.
"Contact left." I fire twice. Suppressed shots, the sound like hard coughs against the metal walls. He drops.
Xander peels right into the container corridors, weapon up. "Taking the containers. Call if you need me."
"South clear, one down." Damian's voice carries across the open floor from the far entrance. I can see his shape in the thinning smoke, already moving to sweep the next section.
"Contact behind the conveyor," Xander calls from somewhere between the containers. Two suppressed shots. "Clear. He had a radio, by the way. Probably called upstairs."
Wonderful.
Mira appears from the west side. No sound, no warning. She's already at the metal staircase on the east wall, weapon up, waiting.
"Siren, hold," I call across the floor. "We go together."
Gunfire from the north side. Suppressed, controlled bursts. Jax engaging.
"Contact north. Two of them." A pause, two more shots. "One down. Second one's playing dead. Badly."
"Nitro, confirm when clear."
"Almost—" Another burst. "Clear. Both down. Real commitment to the performance, though. I'm heading for the fire escape, coming up on your north side."
"Copy. We're taking the east stairs."