Stokes was halfway through fueling his boat when the agents appeared. By the time he spotted them, it was too late.
Noah stepped onto the dock, vest on, firearm visible. “Nathan Stokes. Don't run.”
Stokes took one look at the approaching line of tactical vests and raised both hands, fake calm on his face. “You people have no idea what you’re walking into.”
“We’re counting on it,” Noah said coldly. “You were the ghost in the wires. You funded the shell companies. You coordinated drops, buried logs, and you lied to every single agency who trusted you.”
“I did what I had to,” Stokes spat. “You don’t understand the stakes.”
“No,” Noah said, stepping in. “You don’t understand ours.”
Stokes was cuffed and led off the dock under full escort. The walls had closed in.
Operation Eclipse: Phase Two – The War Room Command Center at the Technical Center of the College at Waverly Junction – 3:20 p.m.
The table was covered in blueprints. Topographical maps. Power grid overlays. Elias’s flash drive had revealed everything—entry points, sub-level layouts, rotating guard patterns. Even biometric access fail-safes.
Charlotte turned to Ethan. “You’re at the biggest risk. You’re disobeying a direct order. They could fire you. I’d understand if you stood down.”
Ethan folded his arms tightly across his chest, jaw locked, eyes sharp as steel. “If they fire me to protect this,” he said, voice low and unwavering, “the job’s not worth it.” He didn’t blink. Didn’t shift. He meant every word—and made sure everyone in the room knew it.
Graham pointed to the map. “Primary structure is buried beneath a wildlife refuge. Technically, it doesn’t exist on any federal registry. No heat signatures. No satellite movement. It was designed to disappear.”
Ethan nodded. “We’ll make sure it can’t disappear again.”
Brad leaned over the schematics. “We’ll split the team—Entry A through the old service tunnel. Entry B rappels in through the hatch line Monroe used to sneak dead subjects out.”
Noah tapped a highlighted section. “We disable power here. It’ll kill external comms and trigger emergency lockdown protocols. That gives us thirty minutes to get in and pull out survivors.”
“And plant the charges to blow the place sky-high,” Ethan added.
Tristan spoke from the corner, arms folded. “Sybil Vance is on the inside. She can guide you to the surviving subjects and the medications. Our IT will gather the server files, including the Echo files.”
“She truly wants out?” Graham asked.
Charlotte joined, still pale but steady. “She wants redemption,” she said. “And she’s going to help us get it.”
They all turned to her.
“You good?” Brad asked.
“No,” she said honestly, “but I’m ready.”
They all understood the difference.
This wasn’t just about taking down a facility. It was about ending a system. And they were going to war.
Next stop: the black site.
Forty-Three
Operation Eclipse: Phase Three – The Raid, April 16th, 03:42 a.m. Monroe’s Black Site Facility, Western Edge of the Black Rock Wildlife Refuge
The convoy movedin total silence. No sirens. No headlights. Only red tactical strobes on dash panels. Six black SUVs, two unmarked mobile command trucks, and an armored transport wound through the mist-covered trailhead, escorted by two State Highway Patrol cruisers.
Behind them, two mobile EMS units followed with triage teams. Overhead, a drone operated by the FBI’s Tactical Surveillance Unit relayed infrared scans of the underground structure.
Charlotte sat in the rear of the lead SUV, dressed in field gear, earpiece in place, eyes glued to the blueprint in her lap. Her jaw clenched with purpose, her pulse steady. This was the end of it.
