chapter 8: Operation Severance

The wind howled over the black cliffs of Velmara's southern coast, masking the hum of the stolen stealth skimmer as it darted through the rain. No insignias. No registration. Just a borrowed ghost of a ship, fast and quiet.

Inside the cabin, the tension was sharp enough to cut steel.

Jeffrie stood at the front, gloved hands gripping the railing as the facility came into view—buried beneath the forested cliffs, shielded by natural terrain and cloaked tech. This wasn't just any target. This was the artery.

Sable's supply chain flowed through here—weapons, tech, enhanced serums. Cut this, and their war machine would bleed.

"We get in, hit the relay points, and ghost out. No hero moves," Jeffrie said, eyes scanning the glowing map Azul projected between them.

Azul, seated in the corner with her portable rig open, nodded without looking up. "Security grid is adaptive. I can break it, but once I do—they'll know. We'll have ten minutes before lockdown."

Scarlet leaned against the wall, flipping her knife. "Plenty of time to make a mess."

"Don't make a mess," Jeffrie shot back.

Sophia checked her gear. "I'll take the north flank. Low visibility, but I can cover the towers."

Ray and Trice loaded their gear in sync, sharing a grin. "We're the distraction?" Trice asked.

"Last resort," Jeffrie said. "We don't want them to know we were here."

Lily was already geared up, her eyes locked on Jeffrie. "So, we ghost in, ghost out. Severe the line. No fireworks."

Jeffrie's gaze met hers. "Unless they ask for it."

The skimmer dipped low, hugging the terrain. The trees thinned, revealing hidden concrete bunkers ahead—lights dimmed, guarded by enhanced patrols moving like clockwork.

Azul's voice crackled through their comms. "I'm in. Scrambling exterior cams now. Go."

They split into teams.

Jeffrie and Lily slipped through the southern tunnel—silent, surgical. Scarlet, Sophia, and Azul took the high ridge, setting charges near the control nodes. Ray and Trice held their position near the extraction point, ready to blow the entrance if things went sideways.

Inside, the facility pulsed with eerie quiet. Rows of crates—tech, weapons, illegal biotic samples—all marked with Sable's seal.

Lily whispered, "They're gearing up for something big..."

Jeffrie nodded. "Not anymore."

With practiced speed, they planted demolition charges near core distribution nodes. Azul whispered updates in their ears—cameras looped, sensors blinded, door locks overridden. But time was burning fast.

Three minutes to lock down.

"Fall back," Jeffrie ordered, as the final relay went dark.

The crew regrouped at the extraction point, just as the facility's alarms blared in the distance. Patrols scrambled too late to stop what had already been done.

As the skimmer launched into the sky, fire bloomed behind them—controlled detonations turning Sable's core supply hub into twisted wreckage.

Back in the air, no one spoke. Just the heavy silence of a crew that knew they hadn't ended the war.

But they'd just taken their legs out from under it.

The skimmer cut through the low clouds, soaked in rain and lit only by the occasional flicker of lightning. Everyone sat tense and quiet, adrenaline still thick in the air. No one smiled—not even Ray or Trice.

Jeffrie kept his eyes on the horizon.

Azul finally broke the silence. "We did it."

"No," Jeffrie said, his voice low. "We hurt them. Now they'll get smarter."

Sophia nodded. "They'll retaliate. Hard."

Lily leaned back against the wall of the cabin, her eyes closed but her voice sharp. "We didn't kill the beast—we just cut one of its veins."

"Still," Scarlet said, "it felt good."

They didn't return to any official base. They couldn't. Not after this.

Instead, they veered off the grid—deep into the northern mountains, to a hidden forward ops base only a handful of allies even knew existed. The kind of place you went to when you couldn't afford to be found.

It was cold, high up, tucked between jagged cliffs and thick clouds. A concrete bunker buried into the rock, shielded from drones and satellites. No signals. No noise.

They disembarked in silence, boots hitting wet stone, the storm still following them like a ghost.

Inside, the lights were low, the air dry, the tension mounting.

Azul set up her systems again, fingers flying across the keys. "Give me a few hours—I'll scan for chatter. They're going to shift their logistics chain. If they do, we can follow it."

Sophia dropped her gear on the table. "Or they'll cut us off from even seeing it."

Ray sat down heavily; Trice next to him. "I hate this part."

"What part?" Jeffrie asked.

"The part where we win," Trice said, "and somehow end up more screwed."

Jeffrie exhaled through his nose. He looked toward the frost-covered window, the storm outside refusing to let up.

"They're evolving," Lily said from the corner. "They'll move smarter. Hide deeper."

Azul's voice cut in, quiet but sharp. "I'm already seeing movement. Not much—but there's a forest signal spike. It's coded, high-grade, bouncing through dead satellites."

Jeffrie turned. "Where?"

Azul pointed at the flickering screen. "Middle of nowhere. Heavy forest. Zero settlements. But it's active. Guarded."

Sophia's brows furrowed. "Bait?"

"Maybe," Azul said. "Or maybe they didn't expect us to cut the line so fast. They might be scrambling."

Jeffrie stepped forward, jaw set. "Then we scramble faster."

Right as they're watching the facility burn.