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He got on the network, reported the news, and General Keating chimed in, "Mitchell, trust those SEALs to get the job done. Just get out of there, son! Move!"
"Jenkins, hit it! Everything she's got!" Mitchell ordered.
"But, Captain, they haven't--"
"I know. Just do it!"
"Sir," called Diaz, who was wearing her own ENVGs. "The patrol boat's slowing, and they've launched a Zodiac with six guys. They're heading for the pier. What the hell are those SEALs waiting for?"
"There's a third guy. Don't know who he is. But we're out of time."
"Mitchell, Keating here," cried the general. "Remember those soldiers you took out? Well, we got new intel. Those guys were part of Admiral Cai's defense plan. And I got more bad news. Seems there's an R44 police chopper in the air--but there's a catch. We've intercepted their communications. Montana tells us it's being ma
Chapter Thirty-Three.
SAND SPIT PIER
XIAMEN HARBOR, CHINA
APRIL 2012
SEAL Chief Ta
In unison, they squeezed the triggers on their remote detonators and rolled under the pilings, out of the barge worker's aim.
The guy fired, the shot ricocheting off the rocks behind them, just as the first pair of detonations resounded so loudly that even Ta
It was the fuel, all that fuel, whose sound and detonation Ta
Then came the reverberation ripping through the pier like an earthquake, tearing up the farthest planks in succession as he and Phillips got back to their feet, dashed below the pier, and came up the other side, where the barge worker had turned to face the dozens of fireballs lighting up the entire spit.
Ta
After jogging a few dozen meters, Ta
Ta
FISHING BOAT
XIAMEN HARBOR, CHINA
APRIL 2012
Mitchell's mouth fell open, and he found himself clambering to his feet for a better look.
Fifty-five-gallon drums burst apart, catapulting others into the air, all part of a hellish fountain swelling up from the pier to spew orange and red showers of burning diesel fuel. Dozens of smaller bursts mushroomed up before walls of black smoke as the stench of fuel and hot metal finally reached them across the water.
SEAL Chief Ta
The fuel barge itself finally went up in a single, massive blast, the intense, near-white light coming first, followed by a boom that made everyone aboard flinch as it echoed off the opposite shoreline.
Thousand of pieces of flaming debris shot high into the air, like a swarm of bottle rockets, then tumbled down into the dark water, immediately extinguished, the hissing steam fa
The crew aboard the patrol boat, which had been gliding up toward the barge, was scrambling on the deck, the boat begi
But then the crane cabin tore apart in yet another thunderclap, shards of metal slicing through the air like throwing stars that tore into the patrol boat's hull and pilothouse as a dragon's breath of fire spread over the deck, igniting crew members who staggered to the rails and threw themselves overboard.
Ta
And if timing was everything, then Ta
Metal peeled back amid flurries of sparks and flames licking along the surfaces, but the boat's twin diesel engines kept on, dragging and bending the boom with it, waves suddenly rising up over her sides under all that added weight. Suddenly, her bow became entirely submerged, the water streaming up to her antiaircraft guns.
"Captain, I know fireworks," cried Hume. "And the navy's putting on one hell of a show!"
Not a second after Hume finished, the ammo stored in ready lockers on the patrol boat's stern deck began cooking off in dozens more pops, cracks, and bangs that lit up the shattered boat like a rock concert.
The bursting of more fuel drums on the pier, the roar of the still-burning fuel barge, and the creaking of the toppled crane, along with the patrol boat's exploding ammo, combined to form a brilliant beacon of devastation easily seen and heard for kilometers, especially by those situated along the powerless coastline.
And those in the air.
"There he is!" cried Diaz, as they sailed directly opposite of the burning pier. The marksman had already taken aim with her secondary rifle, the Cx4 Storm SD.
"Got him," replied Mitchell, spotting the helicopter, whose doors had been removed to allow gu
The chopper's searchlight painted a gleaming puddle in the harbor as thick smoke wafted through its beam. Mitchell squinted as the light momentarily blinded him.
And then, just as the beam shifted, two helmeted soldiers lifted their rifles.
"Weapons free, fire!" ordered Mitchell, cutting loose with his own MR-C, Diaz's weapon rattling a second after his.
The pilot reacted immediately, banking hard left and pulling up, the chopper's belly gleaming with ricocheting rounds for a few seconds until the pilot finally ascended out of the fire.
"Give him more lead, more lead," cried Mitchell, seeing how much faster the chopper was than his team had anticipated.
Jenkins, who was still at the wheel, turned the boat left, bringing them past several long piers crowded by old sampans and a few junks with crimson sails waiting to be unfurled. A trio of more modern ferries was moored behind them. Jenkins made one more turn, now heading directly toward the gap between Haicang and Gulangyu Island.
"He's not coming back," said Smith, lowering his rifle. "What the hell?"
The downlink cha
"Can't you go any faster?" hollered Beasley.
Jenkins shook his head.
"Aw, man, look at that!" cried Ramirez.