"Ghost helped," Izzy added, grinning. "The speakers in the air vents were his idea."
All eyes turned to Griff, who stood in the doorway looking uncomfortable.
"Tank's idea," he said quietly. "I handled logistics."
"You rigged an entire building to randomly play Gregorian chants at 3 AM," Maya countered. "That's more than logistics."
"The floating sheets were impressive," Ronan added. "Fishing line?"
"Dental floss," Griff admitted. "Harder to see."
"Wait," Sarah said, momentarily distracted from her panic. "You two ran a three-month psychological operation on your own base?"
"Tank thought morale was low," Griff explained, and for a moment, his face almost softened into a smile. "Gave everyone something to talk about besides deployment schedules."
"He would have loved this," Zara said softly. "The conspiracy, the tech angles, the impossible odds."
"He would have loved Bear Spray's takedown of Ghost more," Deke said.
"I was at a tactical disadvantage," Griff protested. "She had elevation and?—"
"And you got dropped by camping equipment," Finn finished. "Own it."
The laughter eased something in Sarah's chest. These people who'd faced death countless times were teasing each other about bear spray and haunted barracks. Maybe she could do this.
Doc emerged from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready. And I want clear role assignments while we eat. No ambiguity tomorrow."
They gathered around the table. Ronan stood at the head. "Positions for tomorrow. Maya and I take our assigned exterior posts at 1600 as scheduled. We're Buckley's visible security, right where he expects us."
"Izzy's already in as kitchen staff by then," Deke continued. "Axel with the medical team at 1400."
"Zara infiltrates IT at 0800," Kenji added. "Full system access before anyone else arrives."
"Finn floats between positions," Ronan continued, thenlooked at Griff. "You're on overwatch. There's a maintenance level above the command center with sight lines through the ventilation system."
Griff nodded. "I'll be in position by 1500."
"Sarah and I will be in the mobile command unit," Doc announced. "Parked two blocks away in my food truck."
Maya raised an eyebrow.
"It’s a magnificent way to hide in plan site," Doc clarified primly. "I dole out Lobster rolls and chilled lemonade and no one questions the arsenal hidden behind the commercial refrigerators. Sarah will monitor all data streams for the activation signal while I coordinate positions."
Sarah's hands shook again. The mobile command unit. Where she'd have to catch the exact moment?—
"You'll have backup," Griff said quietly, his eyes on her. "I'll have visual on the command center. The second Buckley enters, you'll know."
"But what if I?—"
"Then Zara catches it from inside their system," Kenji assured her. "Multiple redundancies."
"Like Prague," Axel said. "Three different exit strategies and we ended up using all of them."
"Because someone"—Ronan looked pointedly at Izzy—"decided to improvise with explosives."
"It was a distraction."
"It was a building collapse."
