Chapter 16
The waterfront bar was a scene of unbridled euphoria until the heavy oak doors were kicked open with a violent, deafening crash. The music died instantly. Six men in heavy body armor, wielding automatic assault rifles, stormed into the establishment. The cartel hit squad had realized the GPS spoofing was a trap and split their forces, sending a splinter team directly to the primary target.
Ryan, who had defied Hayes’s direct orders and sprinted back from the base to warn his brothers, burst through the kitchen doors just as the gunmen opened fire into the ceiling.
"Get down!" Ryan roared, his deep voice cutting through the screaming crowd.
The newly qualified Navy SEALs, stripped of their weapons and armor, relied entirely on their grueling physical and mental training. They flipped heavy mahogany tables, shielding the civilian patrons and dragging them behind the thick wooden bar.
Ryan dove behind a booth, his pristine Navy dress whites instantly smeared with shattered glass and spilled alcohol. He was unarmed, pinned down by overwhelming, suppressive firepower. The gunmen advanced methodically, their boots crunching over the broken glass, intent on executing the golden boys of the American military.
"We have to flank them!" Ryan shouted to a teammate, his broad, athletic build coiled tight with adrenaline.
"With what? Beer bottles?" his teammate yelled back over the deafening roar of gunfire.
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The lead gunman kicked a table aside, raising his rifle directly at the cluster of unarmed SEALs. Ryan clenched his jaw, preparing to rush the barrel in a suicidal bid to save his brothers. He remembered Commander Hayes's words about the promise of the Trident, ready to die for it.
But before the gunman could pull the trigger, the main breaker box on the wall sparked violently and exploded. The entire bar was instantly plunged into absolute, suffocating darkness.
