Chapter 11 - The Echoes of the LostMount Sentinel was a frozen graveyard.
As Ethan snowmobiled up the sheer incline through the roaring wind, Maya running beside him despite her injuries, they passed the ancient, frozen remains of previous expeditions—men and beasts who had dared to climb the peak and perished.
Near the summit, concealed behind a massive, artificial avalanche wall, lay the entrance to the Iron Hive. Heavy steel blast doors, six inches thick, sealed the facility from the mountain's wrath.
Ethan didn't try to hack the doors. He knew he couldn't.
Instead, he bypassed the main entrance entirely, targeting the massive geothermal exhaust vents located on the sheer cliff face above the hive. These vents spewed superheated steam from the facility’s nuclear core.
Using magnetic climbing grips, Ethan scaled the icy cliff face, dragging a heavy bag of military C4 explosives behind him. Maya kept watch from the ridge below, her ears pinned back, watching for enemy patrols.
[ GEOTHERMAL VENT ] ---> C4 EXPLOSIVE PLACEMENT
|
v
[ REACTOR CORE PIPES ] ---> PRESSURE REVERSAL DETONATION
Ethan set the timer for five minutes, jammed the charges into the primary ventilation turbine, and rappelled down the cliff wall just as the charges detonated.
A deafening explosion shook the entire mountain peak. Flames shot three hundred feet into the freezing sky as the exhaust turbines shattered, sending a reverse-pressure shockwave tearing through the internal plumbing of the facility below.
Alarm sirens howled from deep within the mountain. The heavy steel blast doors at the base groaned and slid open as automated safety systems released emergency pressure to prevent a core meltdown.
"That's our way in," Ethan growled.
He and Maya stormed through the heavy smoke and fire, stepping into the high-tech nightmare of the Iron Hive.
The interior was terrifying. Rows upon rows of giant, glass containment tanks filled the subterranean cavern. Inside the tanks were not just animals, but human subjects—genetically altered, suspended in glowing green nutrient fluid.
And in the central chamber, suspended high above a pit of molten geothermal lava, was a spherical glass cage.
Inside the cage was Ava, bound to a steel chair, with dozens of biometric wires attached to her temples. Standing at the control console below her was a woman in a immaculate black uniform, her face scarred from ancient burns.
Ethan froze. The air left his lungs.
The woman turned around, her cold, blue eyes locking onto Ethan's face.
"Hello, Ethan," she said softly, a dark, terrible smile spreading across her lips. "I see you brought our dog back."
Ethan’s voice shook, breaking under the weight of a ghost he never expected to see again.
May you like
"Clara...?"
It was his wife.
