Page 60 of Victorious: Part 3

“Warden, Bear, establish perimeter. Nothing gets in or outwithout my say-so.”

“Copy that, Pres,” they reply in unison.

I check my watch. Three minutes until simultaneous strike. Somewhere in Tampa, Houston, New Orleans, Chicago, and LA, my fellow presidents are making their own final preparations. We’re not just hitting targets tonight, we’re cutting out the cancer that’s been growing in our country’s shadow. Javier’s been stealthily building an empire that could cripple the entire United States if he manages to take control like he clearly wants to do.

We can’t let that happen.

“Axel, how’re those chemical detection readings?” I ask.

“High concentrations of organic compounds consistent with pharmaceutical manufacturing,” Axel reports, checking his handheld scanner. “Some shit I don’t recognize. Industrial-grade equipment for sure.”

“Hash, you ready for potential civilian casualties?”

“Hazmat medical kit is prepped. If there are kidnapped scientists down there like the intel suggests, I can stabilize them for transport.”

Nodding, we continue down the tunnel. The main entrance looms ahead of us, a converted mine shaft that descends into the earth like an abyss. Industrial lighting illuminates guard positions and camera mounts, but Ghost’s electronic warfare has turned them blind to our approach.

“Thirty seconds to go-time,” I announce. “Remember, civilians are the priority. We get them out first, then we collect evidence, then we turn this place into a tombstone.”

“Pres,” Deek’s voice comes through the comm with barely suppressed excitement. “I gotta ask… think we’ll find any of that blue stuff fromBreaking Baddown there?”

Even through the tension, I can’t help but grin. “Deek, if you make one more Walter White reference tonight, I’m leaving youtied to a fucking cactus.”

“Understood. But if we find an RV, I’m calling dibs.”

Glancing at my watch, the second hand hits midnight.

My pulse ticks faster. Not from fear,fuck no,but from the rush, the burn of anticipation curling tight in my chest. This is it. Days of shadow work, intel, and blood all funneling into this moment.

Right now, this is our war.

And it’s time.

“Move, move, move. Let’s go!” I bark, my voice hard and clipped, echoing down the rocky corridor.

The tunnels pulse with a dark heartbeat, silent and watching…

… and then they shatter.

Koa and Mace’s charges blow with synchronized fury, a twin detonation that splits the silence. The shockwave slams into my chest, even through our protective suits. The main entrance vanishes in a plume of flame, rock, and smoke that rolls outward like a sandstorm from the depths of hell.

We move before the dust settles, boots hitting gravel, lungs sucking recycled air through filtered masks. Flashlights sweep wide arcs, catching twisted metal and shattered stone. We pour down the shaft like a black tide, every man locked in, guns up, eyes sharp, hearts pounding with controlled violence.

The facility opens around us, bigger than any intel had suggested. A subterranean sprawl carved into the bedrock itself. Multiple levels drop away like a descending maze. Steel walkways, reinforced catwalks, elevator rigs humming with residual power.

The air down here tasteswrong.

Even through the filter, it carries a bitter chemical tang. My skin prickles beneath the suit. Not just the stench of pharmaceuticals, it’s the stink of secrets.

Dirty, rotten ones.

“Level one clear,” Bear’s voice crackles in through comms. “Administrative offices, basic storage. Nothing critical.”

“Copy that,” I reply. “Push deeper. Continuing to level two.”

We descend farther into the guts of the earth, past long-forgotten mining gear overtaken by high-tech infrastructure. This isn’t a Cartel base, it’s a goddamn Frankenstein lab buried in the desert. Rusted drills lie beside biometric scanners. Bloodstains streak across white tiles. It’s like someone took a horror film and welded it into a science fiction nightmare.

I feel my brothers tighten behind me.