Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 520

Chapter 520

THORNE

I crouched in the darkness behind an abandoned warehouse on the eastern edge of Jerome’s primary operational territory, watching my strike team make final equipment checks, and tried to ignore the crawling sensation between my shoulder blades that suggested something was about to go

catastrophically wrong.

Comms check,” I whispered into my radio. “All teams report in.”

The responses came in sequence-Alpha Team positioned at the northern compound, Beta securing the western safe house, Gamma ready to breach the southern supply cache. Twelve separate strike forces spread across four territories, all waiting for my signal to attack simultaneously.

It was the largest coordinated offensive operation our coalition had ever attempted. And it was about to kick off in approximately three minutes.

“We’re really doing this, Marcus said beside me, his enhanced hearing probably picking up movement inside the warehouse that my normal senses couldn’t detect yet. Actually declaring full war on Jerome’s coalition.”

“We’ve been at war since he attacked a school full of children,” I reminded him. “This is just us finally fighting back properly.”

My radio crackled. Xenois’s voice, steady despite the magnitude of what we were about to do. “All teams, this is Alpha Command. You have authorization to engage on my mark. Rules of engagement-capture when possible, eliminate when necessary. Do not risk warrior lives attempting to take prisoners. Our priority is dismantling Jerome’s operational capacity, not building a prisoner collection.”

“Understood,” I confirmed, along with eleven other team leaders.

‘Strike operations commence in two minutes, Xenois continued. “May the moon guide your path. Alpha Command out.”

The formal blessing felt both archaic and appropriate. We were about to do something that would reshape the regional power structure. That would either end Jerome’s threat permanently or escalate into prolonged warfare that could consume multiple territories.

No pressure.

1 checked my weapons one final time-silver-edged combat knives, reinforced tactical gear, enough ammunition to fight through significant resistance. The rest of my team was similarly equipped, all of them veterans who’d survived everything from territorial disputes to the recent school invasion.

If anyone could pull off this operation, it was this group.

“Ninety seconds, I announced quietly. Everyone clear on objectives?”

A

Nods all around. We’d been over the plan dozens of times, but repetition built muscle memory. Muscle memory kept you alive when things went

sideways.

And things always went sideways.

“Primary target is the communications hub on the second floor, I continued. That’s where Jerome coordinates his cells. We take that out, his entire network goes dark. Secondary objectives are the weapons cache in the basement and any intelligence we can secure about future operations

“What about Jerome himself? Klaus asked. If he’s here-

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Chapter 520

ppp.

“Capture if possible,’ I said. “But don’t die trying. Our mission is disruption, not assassination.”

Though privately, I wouldn’t cry if Jerome ended up dead in the crossfire. After what he’d done-torturing Xenois’s parents, attacking a school, threatening Lumina’s life through cosmic manipulation-the world would be better off without him.

‘Sixty seconds, Marcus announced.

I felt my heart rate increase, adrenaline starting to flow in preparation for combat. Around me, my team was going through similar physiological responses-pupils dilating, breathing deepening, muscles tensing for action.

This was it. The moment we’d been planning toward for days. The beginning of the end for Jerome’s coalition.

Or the beginning of something much worse.

“Thirty seconds,” I said.

My radio crackled with check-ins from other teams. Everyone was in position. Everyone was ready. Across four territories, twelve strike forces were preparing to move simultaneously against targets that Jerome thought were secure.

He was about to learn that nowhere was secure when you pissed off an entire coalition of allied packs.

“Fifteen seconds.”

I gripped my primary weapon, feeling its familiar weight. Tried not to think about everything that could go wrong. Tried to focus only on the mission, the objective, the concrete reality of tactical operations.

“Ten seconds.”

The crawling sensation between my shoulder blades intensified. Something felt wrong. Off. Like we were walking into a trap despite all our planning

and intelligence gathering.

“Five seconds.”

Too late to abort now. Too late to call everything off because of a bad feeling.

“Execute,’ Xenois’s voice commanded. All teams, execute now.”

I surged forward, my team flowing behind me like a well-oiled machine. We hit the warehouse’s side entrance hard, breaching door and flooding into the interior with weapons raised and senses alert for threats.

The space inside was larger than expected-open warehouse floor with cargo containers stacked in organized rows, creating a maze of potential ambush points. Dim overhead lighting created shadows perfect for concealment.

And it was completely empty,

“No contacts, Marcus reported, his enhanced hearing sweeping the space. No heartbeats, no breathing, nothing. This place is deserted

My stomach dropped. “Alpha Command, Delta Team. Primary target location is empty. Repeat, completely empty. No personnel, no equipment, looks like

recent evacuation.”

Xenois’s voice came back tight with concern. Copy that, Delta. Alpha Team reporting similar findings. Northern compound appears abandoned.”

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Chapter 520

Other team leaders started checking in with identical reports. Empty safe houses. Cleared supply caches. Operational bases that had been hastily evacuated within the last few hours.

Jerome had known we were coming.

All teams, this is Alpha Command, Xenois said, his voice carrying the authority that made him an alpha worth following. “Abort primary objectives. Switch to intelligence gathering-find anything that tells us where they went or what they’re planning. And stay alert. This could be-

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