Chapter 21: Shadows in the Wire
Author: Lucy
last update2025-11-12 05:21:01

The desert wind whistled through the ruins of Al-Rajim Outpost, scattering dust over broken concrete and twisted rebar. It had been a week since the raid on the convoy — seven days of silence and half-truths.

Echo Unit had found temporary shelter in an abandoned telecom bunker, ten miles from any road or satellite coverage. The place still smelled of rust, oil, and old electricity.

Inside, Rafe knelt by a generator, hands deep in its open panel. Sparks spat in protest. “If we’re gonna keep hiding, we need power, Cap.”

Mercer nodded from across the room, maps spread before him. “How long?”

“An hour. Maybe two, if this thing doesn’t blow my face off first.”

Jace leaned against a wall, cleaning his rifle. “Wouldn’t be the worst improvement.”

Rafe smirked. “You talk a lot for someone who missed half his shots last run.”

“Half?” Jace lifted a brow. “Pretty sure I saved your ass when you tripped on that landmine.”

Rafe scowled. “I checked it. You just shot first.”

Amir cut in, his voice cal
Continue to read this book for free
Scan the code to download the app

Latest Chapter

  • Chapter 48: Stormbreak

    The rain came down like falling bullets, hammering the rooftop as Echo Unit pushed through the night. The city below burned brightly, a wounded beast refusing to lie still. Iron Division banners were visible on half the buildings now—slick black flags illuminated by the firelight.Mercer led the way, soaked to the bone, but purpose made him unstoppable. Behind him, Rafe checked their rear approach while Lena secured sightlines with her rifle. Navarro supported Jace, who stayed determined even with injuries slowing him down. They had come too far to break now.Up ahead, a massive satellite uplink tower pierced the clouds—Zeta Relay. Their target. The last and only way to broadcast the truth to the world before Sentinel’s purge wiped Echo Unit from the records forever.“We get one shot,” Mercer reminded them. “One transmission. One chance to expose Iron Division and Command’s cover-up.”“And save Amir and Maeve,” Navarro muttered, tightening his grip on his weapon.Mercer nodded. That w

  • Chapter 47: The Mind of the Machine

    Cold air clung to Amir’s skin as he was dragged down a long, sterile corridor. The walls reflected harsh, white light like a surgical theater. Somewhere far behind him, he could still imagine the distant echoes of the desert — freedom fading into memory.Maeve stumbled beside him, her wrists bound with tight restraints. The guards didn’t speak; their helmets obscured their faces, making them look less like soldiers and more like machines moving with purpose.A reinforced door hissed open ahead of them, splitting apart like a lens focusing on a target.Inside was a chamber that felt undecided whether it was a prison or a laboratory. Screens filled the walls, flickering with digital code and satellite imagery. At the center of the room sat a man Amir recognized — though only from classified files he’d barely believed were real.Dr. Arven Cross.Chief architect of Project Sentinel.The man turned, glasses reflecting data streams cascading across his screens.“Well,” Dr. Cross said smooth

  • Chapter 46: The Ghosts of Sentinel

    Night fell like a curtain over the desert. The pop-up field hospital was dimly lit, generators humming just loud enough to mask every breath and heartbeat inside. Outside the canvas walls, Echo Unit’s temporary perimeter was spread wide — not to keep enemies out, but to brace for the storm they all knew was coming.Inside the main tent, Viktor Hale lay sedated on a cot, pale beneath the oxygen mask. Amir sat beside him, knees bouncing, exhaustion and worry tangled in every breath.“He’s stable,” Dr. Patel whispered, finishing a quick check of the IV line. “But barely. If his organs shut down again…”“We won’t let that happen,” Amir said, a fierce edge in his voice he barely recognized.Dr. Patel nodded once before slipping out, leaving Amir alone — or as alone as anyone could be in a war zone.Across the tent, Lena helped Maeve settle Navarro into a chair. He was awake again but weak, fatigue pulling at his eyelids.“You should rest,” Maeve said.Navarro shook his head. “Rest later. W

  • Chapter 45: Fire in the Blood

    Night cloaked the desert base, but the air felt electric — charged with the knowledge that everything was about to break. Inside the abandoned hangar they’d claimed as a hideout, Echo Unit prepared in silence. Every movement, every breath was deliberate. Purposeful.Mercer watched his men — his family — gear up for the most dangerous operation they had ever attempted. And for once, the danger didn’t scare him. What scared him was the stakes.Amir and Maeve were inside Black Mesa Detention Complex — held by Iron Division, tortured for information that would kill Echo Unit and erase any trace of Project Sentinel’s crimes.They were running out of time.Mercer tightened the strap on his vest and inhaled deeply. Sand and old aviation fuel. A familiar battlefield scent.Rafe approached him, rifle slung over one shoulder. “Navarro’s set with the route. Lena hacked the gate guard rotations. All signs point to us having maybe ten minutes of quiet before chaos.”“Ten minutes is enough,” Mercer

  • Chapter 44: The Fault Line

    Dawn crept slow and bruised over the burned ridges of the desert, painting the rocks in muted golds and long shadows. The world felt quieter than it should have. Too still. Too expectant. As if the earth itself was holding its breath.Echo Unit reached the edge of the canyon just as the sun broke fully over the horizon. Mercer led from the front, scanning the terrain with a focus that narrowed the world into angles, elevations, and potential threats. Behind him, Rafe and Lena supported Navarro, who was walking but still weakened. Jace—awake at last—moved on his own, though every step seemed to carry a weight deeper than injuries.They were battered, scraped raw by two days of running battles and ambushes, but still together. Still moving. Still Echo.But the canyon ahead told a different story.“What… happened here?” Lena whispered.Mercer didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.The canyon floor below was scarred by an enormous crater—fresh, jagged, steaming in places. The safehouse that ha

  • Chapter 43: The Broken Line

    Night settled over the canyon like a living thing, heavy and watching. Echo Unit crouched in the shadow of the collapsed ridge, dust settling across their gear, breaths slow and controlled as the echoes of distant gunfire faded into the dark. The ambush at the ridge had gone wrong fast—faster than any of them expected—forcing a retreat that felt more like survival than strategy.But they were alive. Barely.Mercer scanned the canyon entrance through his scope. “Movement?”Lena shook her head, pulse still elevated. “Nothing. They pulled back to regroup.”Rafe grunted as he tightened the tourniquet on his arm. “They’ll hit again.”“They always do,” Navarro murmured, propping himself against the rock, fatigue carved into his face.Mercer lowered his rifle and exhaled slowly. “We can’t stay here.”“Where to?” Rafe asked. “Arclight is compromised. The canyon route is blown. They boxed us in.”Mercer looked at the sky—pale, washed-out stars flickering through the haze. “There’s one path lef

More Chapter
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on MegaNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
Scan code to read on App