The synchronized assault began at exactly 03:00 hours across three time zones.In Berlin, Team Alpha breached the apartment building in the Mitte district using a maintenance access code obtained through Marcus Thornhill's contacts. Six operatives moved silently up the stairs to the fourth floor, their weapons drawn and infrared goggles scanning for heat signatures.Jackson Moore led the team personally. He raised his fist, signaling a halt outside apartment 4C. Two operatives positioned a miniature camera under the door gap, feeding live video to Jackson's wrist monitor. One person inside, sitting at a desk, back to the door.Jackson made a quick hand signal. Three seconds later, they breached.The door exploded inward. The operative at the desk spun around, reaching for a weapon, but Jackson's team was faster. Two officers tackled him to the ground while a third kicked the pistol away from his reaching hand."Clear!" one officer shouted after sweeping the rest of the apartment.Jack

Derick was reviewing security protocols for the bait operation when his phone buzzed with an encrypted message from an unknown number. He opened it and saw two words: "Call me. - Raven"He remembered Raven, the former Ghost Protocol assassin he'd met in that warehouse near Prague weeks ago. The man who'd warned him about Phantom and then disappeared into the shadows.Derick dialed the number attached to the message. It rang once before connecting."Mr. Sekwiga," Raven's voice was rough, accented with Eastern European inflection. "I see you survived Prague. Phantom was disappointed.""You have information?" Derick asked."I have something that will interest you. A list. The Ghost Protocol's current priority targets." Papers rustled on the other end of the line. "Twelve world leaders. Eight business titans. All scheduled for elimination within the next eighteen months."Derick felt his pulse quicken. "Send me the list.""A

The Foundation safe house stood as a lonely stone sentinel amidst the Scottish highlands. No neighbors lived within a twenty-mile radius, and the horizon remained unbroken by cell towers or the intrusion of internet signals.Derick arrived first, steering a rental car he had secured under a digital ghost of an identity. He had taken every possible precaution, leaving his primary phone in a drawer in New York, navigating three separate international flights with three different passports, and swapping vehicles twice during the final leg of the journey.Jackson followed shortly after, then Charlotte, Lily, and finally Marcus. Each member arrived via a distinct route. They eventually gathered in the main room, where the scent of burning peat filled the air and the fire crackled with a steady, rhythmic heat."Everyone sweep yourselves right now," Jackson said. He began distributing handheld detection devices to the group.They spent the next twenty minutes checking every seam of their clo