Shane grabbed his breaching ram as the assaulters stacked up at the door. Shane stepped forward to take care of that obstacle after Cowboy checked to make sure the door was, in fact, locked. Shane much preferred explosives or his modified Remington M870 loaded with breaching rounds but today they were using the ram on this door because that’s what acting Gold team leader Payne Novak had ordered. The closer they could get before the hostiles knew for sure they were coming, the more chance they had of saving innocent lives.

Shane didn’t think knocking a door off its hinges with a breacher was much quieter than blowing one off its hinges with a slap shot but, having served in the Green Berets prior to becoming an FBI agent, Shane knew when to follow orders and when to beg for forgiveness later.

Gold team’s other assaulter unit, Charlie, had been dropped on the opposite side of the roof and were preparing to abseil down the outside of the building and enter the courtroom via the windows. HRT snipers had the building surrounded, ready to take out any visible cultists as soon as the signal was given. Shane’s Echo assaulters were to work their way down the building, floor by floor, and neutralize any bad guys who’d fled the courtroom in a last desperate bid to make a stand or attempt a daring escape.

Shane took a deep breath in, held it, then released it. Repeating the process as his eyes scanned for possible danger. Deliberately calming his body, settling the adrenaline that wanted to ramp up his heart rate and influence his physiology. This natural response was why they trained all the time. A firefight was less shocking when you walked into one every single day.

Cowboy waited for Charlie unit to get into position to begin their rappel. As soon as Charlie unit reported they were ready, everything changed. Tension snapped through the air like static.

Game time.

They communicated using hand signals. Sound carried and they didn’t speak on an op unless they absolutely had to.

As planned, it went completely dark as the City cut the power to the block. HRT immediately activated their night-vision goggles. Cowboy counted down with his fingers and, with a single precision strike, Shane slammed the metal ram into the door beside the deadbolt. The wood around the lock shattered.

He stepped back, swapping his ram for his carbine as he followed his team inside and down the stairwell.