“We could watch and wait,” Tiberius said, his voice filled with doubt.
Maximus shook his head. “We’ve already spooked them enough that they left their underground base. This place is a backup, but I doubt it’s anything permanent. Like I said before, they’re probably just finishing preparations to flee the island.”
“You think they were that prepared?” CJ asked.
“They dug a miles-long tunnel from an old storage facility, and they went through the trouble of preparing this warehouse in case something went wrong.” Maximus nodded. “Damn right I think they’re that prepared. If we don’t hit them tonight, they’ll be gone on a plane, sub, or boat back to the mainland by this morning or, worse, the middle of some jungle in some country engaged in a decades-long civil war where it’ll be impossible to find them.”
“We can’t go charging in there without more intel,” Cornelius said with a frown. “We were expecting close-quarters, not a warehouse assault. That changes everything.”
“It changes nothing in terms of our goals, but it won’t hurt to watch for a few more minutes.” Maximus inclined his head toward the warehouse down the road. “But see what they aren’t doing?”
Cornelius narrowed his eyes. “They’re reinforcing the area, but there’s nothing and no one moving toward us.”
“Exactly. They might have spotted us leaving the tunnels or we tripped a motion sensor or something, but they’re not sending a force out, just tightening defenses there. If they knew where we were, they could just fire this way and hope to get lucky.”
“They’ve got enough men to be annoying.” Cornelius lifted his rifle and peered through the scope. “Pretty loose line, though. Lots of holes. They outnumber us, but if they’re spread out that much, their numbers aren’t going to help them much.”
“They probably have a lot of people inside doing things,” Maximus said. “Especially if I’m right, and they’re already planning an evacuation.”
“We just sit here and wait?” CJ asked, sounding annoyed. “We could have done that with drones.”
“The drones wouldn’t have been able to get through the tunnels by themselves.” Maximus stood, gripping his rifle tightly. “Out here, we’ll be able to use normal comms. We’ll spread out in the same three teams and hit them from three sides.”
Headlights shone from down the road. The hybrids watched and waited as the source drew closer, a nondescript black van. It turned onto the road passing in front of the warehouse and stopped at front gate. One of the guards said something into a walkie-talkie before the gate opened, and the van slowly entered. It continued toward the side of the main warehouse where a large garage door slid open, but at this distance, even with the scope, Maximus couldn’t make out much of anything other than some crates.
“Getting some final deliveries before they run,” Cornelius said.
Tiberius growled. “Or it might be Quinen’s ride.”
“I don’t like the idea you might be right,” Maximus said. “We can’t wait around anymore. My team will hit the gate. Zephyrus will take his team and hit the east side. Thaddeus will take his team and hit the west side. Everyone sweep widely after that. Close the net.”
Zephyrus arched a brow. “How loud can we be?”
Maximus offered a feral grin. “As loud as you want. If the Corps went out of their way to keep anybody out of that forest, they’re not going to want cops showing up. I wouldn’t be surprised if they already made arrangements for that. We hit hard now, and worry about the cops once we’ve taken care of the Corps.”
“Understood.”
Maximus turned toward the others. “First, we get in position. Judging by the distance, I’d say ten minutes should be enough to get where we need and keep our heads down before we hit the fence.”
“We have to assume they’ve got thermals or night vision on those drones,” Cornelius said.
Maximus nodded at Seneca. While all hybrids had Viking size, not all of them had the brown hair, beard, and shaved sides of the head that helped give the full stereotypical look. If Maximus gave Seneca an ax and a longboat, he’d be ready to terrorize some coastal villages. For now, though, Maximus needed a distinctively non-Viking trait from the other man.
“Pick off those drones for us,” Maximus ordered.
Seneca gave him a hearty smile. “But I didn’t bring my sniper rifle.”
“If you can’t hit those drones at this distance with what you got, we’ll need to get your eyes checked.”
Seneca answered with a lopsided smirk before lifting his rifle, kneeling, and peering through the scope. He swept back and forth for a good half-minute before declaring, “Four drones.”
“Okay. Once the drones are down, we start moving. Everyone get ready.”
The hybrids all clustered into their teams, CJ, Tiberius, and Cornelius close to Maximus. These men had been raised together, trained together, and fought together. They’d been fortunate to have been rescued from the Corps before they had to use their skills against innocent people, but their campaign of revenge against their creators and rescues of Vestals had given them elite experience on top of their elite capabilities.
Seneca sucked in a breath and held it. A moment later, his rifle came alive, shattering the still quiet of the Maui night. Something sparked in the distance, the dark chunks of drone raining down like black hail. Another shot followed. The third came less than a second later. He jerked his rifle to the side and fired a fourth time.
“Tangoes down,” Seneca said.
“Move!” Maximus barked.
* * *
“In position,” Zephyrus transmitted.
“Also in position,” Thaddeus transmitted.
Maximus had expected more activity when Seneca took out the drones, but other than some guards going to inspect the wreckage, no one had changed position or acted concerned. The hybrid teams had moved in closer and not spotted any fixed heavy defenses like machine guns that might pose a serious threat. This
