Chapter 4
On the cliffs, the enemy commander stopped laughing.
His name was Qadir.
He had built the ambush for weeks.
He knew the canyon.
He knew American aircraft would not risk flying into it.
The walls were too tight for jets.
The turns were too violent for attack helicopters.
The updrafts could flip an aircraft sideways.
That was why he chose it.
That was why he had mocked the SEALs.
No one was supposed to come for them.
But the A-10 came back around.
Lower this time.
Meaner.
Qadir grabbed his radio and screamed at his men.
“West ridge! Hit the plane!”
Tracers rose from the rocks.
Emily saw them.
She did not flinch.
She rolled the A-10 slightly left, slipped between two jagged outcrops, then snapped back into line.
Her cannon spoke again.
The west ridge erupted.
Mercer watched an enemy machine gun position vanish under a wave of dust.
His throat tightened.
He had seen air support before.
He had seen brave pilots.
But this was different.
This pilot was not circling safely above them.
She was inside the grave with them.
Bleeding fuel.
Flying between stone walls.
Taking the risk everyone else had refused.
“Reaper Six,” Emily said, “status?”
Mercer grabbed the radio.
“Twelve alive. Two critical. Ammo low. Enemy still north ridge and upper mouth.”
“Copy.”
Overlord cut in.
“Hawkeye Two-One, you have done enough. Exit the canyon now.”
Emily looked at the fuel gauge again.
The needle sat near the red.
Then she looked at the north ridge.
A group of enemy fighters were repositioning with a launcher.
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If she left now, they would fire down into the SEALs and finish it.
Read Part 5 to find out why Emily refused to leave the canyon.
