Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Eight

Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Eight
Dante's POV
The Nevada facility was isolated. Desert on all sides. Single access road. Perfect for privacy. Terrible for assault.
"We'll be visible for miles," Beck observed. "They'll see us coming."
"Then we don't come from the road." I pointed to the terrain map. "There's a ravine here. Runs to within half a mile of the facility. We approach through there. On foot. At night."
"That's rough terrain."
"Better than being shot crossing open desert."
We assembled the team. Twenty people. Best fighters. Most experienced. Evelyn insisted on coming. I didn't bother arguing. We'd had that fight already.
Victoria would stay behind this time. Her power was depleted from constant scanning. She needed rest. Emma volunteered to protect her.
"Don't let anything happen to her," I told Emma.
"I won't. I promise."
We moved out at sunset. Four vehicles driving to a staging point ten miles from the facility. From there, we'd walk through the ravine.
The desert was cold at night. Silent except for wind. We moved in tactical formation. Weapons ready. Alert for any sign of detection.
The ravine was treacherous. Loose rocks. Steep walls. Several people slipped. Grey twisted his ankle but kept moving.
Two hours later, we reached the facility perimeter. Chain-link fence. Razor wire. Guard towers.
"More security than expected," Beck whispered.
"They know we're coming. Question is whether they're ready."
I signaled the team. Silent approach. Breach in three minutes.
Beck's explosives specialist planted charges on the fence. Small. Controlled. Just enough to create an opening.
The explosion was muffled but still loud in the desert quiet. Alarms started immediately.
"So much for surprise." I led the charge through the opening. "All teams engage!"
The facility erupted with activity. Guards pouring from buildings. Spotlights sweeping. Gunfire erupting from multiple directions.
We fought through the outer perimeter. Took casualties. Two of our people went down in the first minute. Beck dragged one to cover. The other wasn't moving.
"Push through!" I shouted. "Don't stop!"
Evelyn was beside me, firing with precision. She'd become a good fighter. Too good. It meant she'd seen too much combat.
We reached the main building. The door was reinforced. My explosives wouldn't breach it.
"Grey! Ram it!"
He brought one of the vehicles around. Accelerated straight at the door. The impact was tremendous. Metal screaming. Glass shattering.
The door held but buckled. Good enough.
We poured through. Inside was chaos. Scientists running. Guards taking position. Equipment sparking.
"Find the research!" I ordered. "Everything on artificial timeline manipulation! Gather it or destroy it!"
The team split up. Beck taking half to secure the servers. Grey and I pushing deeper into the facility.
We found the research lab on the third floor. Rows of medical equipment. Screens showing brain scans. And in the center, three people strapped to tables. Conscious. Terrified.
"Test subjects," Evelyn breathed. "They're experimenting on them right now."
"Get them out." I covered her while she freed them. They were too weak to walk. We'd have to carry them.
A door burst open. A woman in a lab coat. Mid-fifties. Confident despite the chaos.
"You're making a mistake," she said calmly. "We're not your enemy."
"You're creating timeline manipulators against their will. Experimenting on innocent people." I kept my weapon trained on her. "That makes you exactly our enemy."
"We're advancing human evolution. Giving people the power to control their destiny."
"By forcing it on them. By making them unstable. By destroying their minds." Evelyn's voice was hard. "You're not advancing anything. You're playing god. Badly."
"You don't understand the potential. With enough manipulators, we could reshape reality itself. End suffering. Prevent tragedy. Create paradise."
"At the cost of free will. Of choice. Of what makes us human." I moved closer. "Where's your boss? The Restoration leader funding this?"
"Gone. Evacuated hours ago when we detected your approach." She smiled. "You're too late. The research is backed up. The technology distributed. Even if you destroy this facility, Prometheus continues."
"Then we'll hunt down every facility. Every researcher. Every piece of this technology." I grabbed her arm. "Starting with you."
An explosion rocked the building. Too big to be ours.
"What was that?" Beck's voice crackled over comms.
"Self-destruct sequence. Triggered when you breached the server room." The woman was still smiling. "This facility will be rubble in five minutes. Everything inside destroyed. Including you."
"Everyone evacuate!" I shouted into comms. "Now! Building's coming down!"
We ran. Carrying the test subjects. Fighting through guards who were also trying to escape. The building shook with secondary explosions.
Evelyn stumbled. I caught her. "Keep moving!"
"The research! We didn't get the research!"
"Doesn't matter! Not worth our lives!"
We burst out into the desert air just as the main structure collapsed. A massive fireball rising into the night sky.
Beck did a headcount. "Three missing. Johnson, Martinez, and Reeves."
They'd been inside when it came down. No way they survived.
"Damn it." I slammed my fist against a vehicle. Three good people. Dead because we'd been too slow.
"Boss," Grey said quietly. "We got the test subjects out. Three lives saved."
"And three lost. That's not a win."
"It's not a loss either. It's war. People die."
I knew he was right. Didn't make it easier.
We loaded up and drove away from the burning facility. The test subjects needed medical attention. Our wounded needed care. We needed to regroup.
"The woman was right," Evelyn said during the drive. "They have backups. Other facilities. This isn't over."
"It never is." I looked at her. Blood on her face. Dirt on her clothes. Exhaustion in her eyes. "But we keep fighting. Because that's what we do."
"For how long?"
"As long as it takes."
She leaned against me. "I'm tired, Dante. So tired of fighting."
"I know. Me too." I kissed her head. "But our children are safe. The timeline manipulators are protected. We're still alive. That's something."
"It's everything," she whispered.
We drove through the desert night. Behind us, Prometheus Medical's facility burned. Ahead of us, more battles waited.
But we'd face them. Together. Like always.
Because that's what survivors did. They kept surviving. No matter what.