Greenland. Sub-zero darkness. Winds howled like ancient ghosts across the frozen wastes.
Hidden beneath a jagged glacier ridge was the NATO Ice Hound facility officially decommissioned, unofficially used for storing black project tech. The radar cores Devon needed were buried deep inside a vault reinforced with biometric locks, pressure triggers, and rotating guard schedules.
Above ground, a snowstorm gathered. Perfect cover.
Inside the hidden base in the Zurich Alps, Devon stood before his crew, fully geared.
"We breach at 0200. Logan, Lacy-you're insertion team. I'll be running overwatch and driving evac. Rayen's already in position. Remember, no alarms. We ghost in, ghost out."
Logan gave a nod. "Copy that."
Lacy checked her sidearm. "No mistakes."
Rayen's voice crackled over comms from a mountain ledge overlooking the facility. "Winds are picking up. I've got visibility, but only just."
Devon smirked. "Then let's cause a little chaos."
0200 Hours. Ice Hound Facility Perimeter
Rayen's scope locked onto a patrolling guard. One pull of the trigger a soft thump and the man dropped silently into the snow.
"Perimeter clear. You're up."
From beneath a camo-covered snowdrift, a hidden hatch opened.
Logan and Lacy emerged in arctic-grade infiltration suits, moving like shadows. They sprinted across open ground and reached the utility access shaft. Logan planted a shaped thermite charge. Ten seconds later, the steel lock melted, and they slid inside.
Control Room, Zurich Base
Devon's fingers danced across his keyboard. The system synced with the Ice Hound surveillance grid, overriding motion sensors, rerouting heat maps, suppressing logs.
"Your window is ninety seconds. Vault corridor three turns ahead."
Inside the bowels of the facility, red light pulsed along the steel walls.
Lacy moved first, disabling a retinal scanner with a bypass she'd designed from salvaged IMF code. Logan knocked out two silent guards and hacked the elevator override, forcing it into maintenance mode.
They reached the vault.
Logan placed three microcharges.
Boom.
The door hissed open inside, four submarine radar cores sat in cryo-cradles. Sleek, compact, dangerous.
"Package secured," Lacy confirmed. "We're exfiling now."
Surface – North Ridge
The storm had hit full force. Visibility dropped to meters. Devon waited in a stealth-painted war rig a heavily modified hybrid truck outfitted with spike tires, infrared sensors, and a power core developed from Eteon schematics.
Lacy and Logan burst through the side tunnel carrying the cores in sealed crates. They loaded up fast.
But as Devon shifted into gear
ALERT TRIGGERED.
"Someone tripped a failsafe," Rayen's voice came over the comms.
"Snowcats inbound," she added. "Armed. They're not NATO."
Devon's eyes narrowed. "Private contractors. Someone knew."
Chase Across the Ice
Devon floored it. The war rig roared to life, cutting across frozen terrain with savage force. Behind them, four black armored vehicles gave chase, lights slicing through the storm.
"Rayen," Devon barked, "take the first one out."
"Copy."
A silent shot. The lead vehicle flipped, crashing into the glacier wall in a burst of flame.
Lacy climbed into the roof-mounted turret, laying suppressing fire.
Logan rigged two crates with detonation failsafes. "They want the cores? They better come with a suicide wish."
Devon triggered the terrain switch tires morphed into spike treads, cutting across a frozen lake as the ice cracked under the weight of the chase.
Behind them, a chopper emerged from the clouds.
Rayen's calm voice again. "I've got a shot."
"Take it."
Crack.
The rotor burst mid-air. The chopper spiraled down like a dying bird.
Devon grinned. "Good shot."
Canadian Border, 0400 Hours
Under the cover of night and blizzard, Devon's rig slid through a back route into Canadian territory. The buyer—a discreet contact flagged by the system only as "Crimson Operative"—received the radar cores without a word.
In exchange, the crew received a secure case. Inside: a black card marked with a burning phoenix and a biometric key.
Back at the Zurich base, the system chimed.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Mission Success: Operation Cold Core
Reward: $15 million deposited in ghost accountLegendary Skill Token AcquiredSystem Evolution: Upgrade Paths UnlockedCrew Trust Level IncreasedGlobal Threat Level: Rising
Devon sat in the operations room as the team celebrated. He didn't smile much but his eyes burned with purpose.
This was just the beginning.