Chapter 5 - The First Strike
The attack came less than twenty-four hours later. Silas was in the courtyard, watching Elara throw a tennis ball for Bane—a surreal sight that still made his armed guards nervous—when the perimeter alarms blared.
A heavy explosion shook the ground, sending a plume of black smoke rising from the southern gate. The compound’s automated defenses engaged instantly, the sound of heavy machine-gun fire echoing across the estate.
"Thorne! Report!" Silas barked into his encrypted radio, scooping Elara into his arms and sprinting toward the reinforced manor. Bane was right on his heels, his playful demeanor instantly replaced by lethal aggression.
"We have a massive breach, boss!" Thorne shouted over the radio, gunfire popping in the background. "Two armored SUVs just rammed the reinforced gates. Heavily armed hostiles, Russian tactical gear. They aren't trying to take the territory. They’re making a surgical strike toward the main house!"
Silas kicked open the steel-reinforced doors of his study and threw Elara into the panic room hidden behind a bookshelf. "Stay down, do not make a sound," he told her fiercely.
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Bane squeezed in beside her, licking her tear-stained cheek before turning to face the doorway, planting his massive paws and letting out a demonic growl.
Silas racked the slide of his customized assault rifle. The war had arrived.
