“Hey, something different than our usual guns-blazing exit. I like it.” Ty shifted his feet over so Jace couldn’t reach them.
Ethan zoomed in on the map. “For those who need the refresher—after our extraction, the villagers faced consequences. Our exit drew attention. The cartel wanted answers, and those people had to provide them.”
The room sobered slightly. Even Ty’s grin faded.
“How bad?” Andrew asked quietly.
Ethan’s pause said everything. “Bad enough. What was left of the cartel made examples, until local law enforcement finally shut them down.” He stopped, reassessed. “These people paid a price for helping us.”
“They sure as fuck did,” Logan muttered.
“Since then, the region’s been hit hard,” Ethan continued. “The Silva cartel’s collapse destabilized the local economy. Then the hurricane took what was left. They’ve been struggling to rebuild.”
“We owe them,” Logan said flatly.
“Yes, we do.” Ethan’s jaw tightened. “And Citadel pays its debts.”
The mood shifted again—focused now. This was the part that mattered. The part where good intentions met hard reality.
Jace stood, taking over the screen. “Cartel remnants are still operating in the region. Not organized like they used to be—more like scavengers picking at the bones. But scavengers can still bite.”
He pulled up satellite imagery, tracing patrol patterns with his finger. “Three groups running regular routes within twenty klicks of the village. They know this village cooperated with outside forces during the Silva takedown. They haven’t hit it yet, but that’s opportunity, not mercy.”
“If they see American operators near that village—” Logan started.
“Then these villagers become targets again,” Ethan finished. “This is still a tactical operation. The stakes are real. If we’re compromised, we don’t just fail the mission—we put those people right back in the crosshairs.”
Jolly shifted beside me, responding to the edge in Ethan’s voice. I felt the subtle tension run through his body. The playfulness in the room had settled into something more familiar—professionals preparing for a job that could go sideways.
“Mission window is limited. December 24th, 0200 hours local,” Ethan continued. “Village will be asleep. Minimal movement, optimal conditions for undetected entry and exit.”
“Rules of engagement?” I asked.
“Standard, with a caveat.” Ethan met my eyes. “If we encounter hostiles and have to engage, the mission is failed. Gunfire wakes the village, draws attention from the patrols, and puts those people right back where they were before us. We’re ghosts on this one. In and out as silent as possible.”
“Flight plan,” Andrew said, pulling us back to logistics.
“Low altitude approach from the east. We’ll use the river valley to mask our signature—same terrain we know from the previous op. Staged extraction point here.” Ethan marked a spot on the map, a clearing about two klicks from the village. “Helo holds until we signal. Emergency extract is here”—another mark, farther out—“but if we need it, we’ve already failed.”
“Sector assignments,” Ethan continued, pulling up a new overlay. “Same as we discussed. Ty and Jace, southern quadrant of the village. I’ve got western. Logan, overwatch and coordination.” He looked at me. “Ben, you and Jolly have the northern sector. Eight drop points.”
I studied the map, counting markers. Eight locations, spread across a maze of narrow paths and clustered homes. One marker was highlighted differently—priority designation.
“Elena, age nine,” I read off the screen. “Is that…?”
Jolly’s ears perked at the name, responding to something in my voice.
Logan’s eyes found mine across the room. “Yeah, it’s her.”
Logan had told me about Elena—the little girl who’d found them hiding in an abandoned hut when they’d missed their extraction window. She’d brought them food her grandmother had made, a tin cup for water, coffee stolen from her mother’s secret stash. She’d offered Lauren her one saved dollar—money she’d been saving for a pretty ribbon—because she thought they needed it more.
A nine-year-old kid, risking everything to help people she barely knew.
Logan held my gaze. “Prioritize that coordinate. Get it right. This is important for now and her future.”
There was weight in his words, but it wasn’t tactical. It was personal. This mattered to Lauren, and Lauren mattered to Logan, and that was enough.
“Lauren wanted to be part of this operation,” Logan said quietly to everyone. “Corazón meant a lot to her.”
