Entering the hallway, the eight-man team automatically split into two rows, moving in perfect coordination. These large, heavily built men walked in combat boots without making a sound. However, their stealthy approach was soon interrupted. A guard, head down, unexpectedly stepped out of a room and ran straight into them.
Before the guard could react, Jack fired repeatedly, killing him before he could raise the alarm. However, even with the suppressors, the sound of the rifle shots echoed down the hallway, drowning out the music coming from upstairs.
Realizing the enemy was now alerted, the team instinctively picked up the pace. They passed through a floral-themed hall and came upon another corridor. At the end of this corridor lay a staircase leading to the second floor.
While modern drones and sensors can't yet provide a full x-ray view of building interiors, guessing the layout of a standard villa based on its exterior design wasn't difficult. Unless the windows were purposefully disguised, even an average architect could roughly infer the interior structure.
This second corridor was lined not with windows but with rooms on either side, forcing the team to slow down to clear each one methodically.
"Pop, pop, pop!" As Jack stepped into the first room on the right, his rifle aimed instinctively at the far corner. Behind him, Clay quickly opened fire, taking down a guard hiding behind the bar counter in the corner.
"Clear!" After confirming no enemies were left inside, Clay gave the signal. The two men exited the room together.
To be honest, working with these elite soldiers wasn't always easy for Jack. He often had to suppress his instincts. For example, his heightened perception told him someone was hiding behind the bar counter the moment he entered the room, but protocol dictated that he couldn't immediately aim in that direction.
CQB (Close Quarters Battle) tactics imposed strict rules on every team member's position, movement, and line of fire upon entering a room. Breaking these rules could disrupt the team's rhythm, creating confusion for his teammates. This wasn't a solo showcase of Jack's heightened abilities; he was just one cog in a well-oiled war machine.
The foundation of team coordination was absolute trust among teammates, a trust forged through countless drills and reinforced by eliminating individuals who failed to follow protocol.
A simple analogy would be this: Jack could easily outmatch any member of Team Bravo individually, but if six "Jacks" formed an impromptu team against Bravo, they might not win. Individual perception, no matter how strong, couldn't rival the drone providing 24/7 surveillance of the battlefield, nor did Jack have a magical inventory of weapons to adapt to every scenario. And unlike the Bravo team, Jack didn't have a dedicated operations center providing constant tactical intelligence.
More importantly, no single person could cover all angles in a chaotic combat scenario. In such situations, a well-trained, disciplined team was far more effective than a group of highly skilled individuals with no coordination.
Since World War II, the U.S. Marine Corps has followed an unusual motto: "Gung Ho." This term, borrowed from the Chinese resistance during Japan's invasion, translates to "work together" and was used as a rallying cry for cooperation.
Evans Carlson, a U.S. Navy officer, was the first foreigner to observe the Chinese Eight Route Army's democratic military practices in Northern China during the war. Inspired, he applied those principles to the Marine Raiders he later formed. Thanks to their successes, "Gung Ho" remains a popular saying among U.S. Marines today.
Jack had first learned this piece of history during his training with the SEALs. It reshaped his perception of the stereotypical Hollywood image of American soldiers as lone wolves driven by individual heroism.
Though clearing the rooms slowed them down, the delay was minimal—no more than three or four minutes. With a series of "Clear!" calls, the two-row formation reassembled. This time, Jason took the lead.
Turning a corner to the stairwell, Jason halted, allowing Ray Perry to take a knee beside him, covering the other hallway with his weapon.
At that moment, Jason opened fire. A guard descending the stairs to investigate the noise barely had time to step down a single step before Jason's shots riddled him with bullets. The lifeless body tumbled down the stairs.
"Clear!" Jason shouted as he stepped over the body. The rest of the team followed him up to the second floor.
The second floor consisted of a single large room, its heavy double doors slightly ajar. The music they had heard earlier emanated from within. Clay and Sonny took positions on either side of the door, pressing against the walls. After waiting a few seconds, the rest of the team lined up behind them, each soldier tapping the shoulder of the one in front to signal readiness.
The two men pushed the doors open simultaneously. Without glancing at the man standing in the center of the room with his hands behind his back, their bodies pivoted with the doors, sweeping their weapons toward the corners of the room to prioritize potential threats.
"Kneel! On your knees, now!" Jason barked, his rifle aimed directly at the calm-looking man in the center of the room. This was their target—the man they had been hunting for days: Andrés Dozza.
"I didn't even hear the doorbell," Dozza said smugly. But before he could finish his performance, Jack moved behind him and delivered a swift kick to the back of his knees.
"Hands up!" Jack demanded.
Dozza dropped to his knees with a thud, giving Lieutenant Lopez, who was entering last and now directly facing him, a moment of satisfaction. Lopez stared at him, momentarily overcome with emotion.
"Jackpot! Repeat, jackpot!" Jason ignored Dozza's theatrics and reported to the command center.
"Alive?" Mandy Ellis's surprised voice came through the comms.
"He's alive," Jason confirmed.
Jack secured Dozza's hands with plastic zip ties. His sharp gaze fell on a phone lying on the nearby table. The screen was still lit, making Jack's expression tense.
"He just made a call."
Lieutenant Lopez, unable to hold back his emotions, pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Dozza's head. But Jason quickly grabbed his hand, stopping him. "Prepare for extraction. Operations center, map us a safe route."
Dozza, seeing Lopez's shocked expression, smirked mockingly. "You've fought so hard to get in here, but all you've done is walk into your own deaths. This isn't America."
Thud! Jack struck Dozza on the back of the head with his rifle stock, knocking him unconscious. He then tied Dozza's feet with another plastic zip tie and thoroughly searched him for any hidden items.
When he was done, Jack flashed a mischievous grin at Lopez, his camouflaged face painted with streaks of dark greasepaint, revealing a set of white teeth. "Mind giving me a hand? Let's find a sturdy pole to carry him out."
Lopez hesitated, his lips moving as if to protest, but he said nothing in the end. Jack understood what Lopez was thinking but knew this wasn't the time to explain. Time was of the essence.
Major Blackburn's voice came through the comms again. "Team Bravo, be advised: a convoy of unknown vehicles—likely police from Chiapas State—is heading toward your position. Mandy is working on diplomatic channels, but you need to move now."
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Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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