After sending out the bait through an emergency contact the night before and confirming that the other side had taken it, Nick and Dahlia had left their respective watchtowers overnight.
Wrapped in waterproof cloaks that blocked infrared detection, the two had lain in the mountain forests to the east and west respectively all night, finally seeing three helicopters arrive after daybreak.
The terrain on Dahlia's side was somewhat better and offered a clearer view, so according to the plan, she would strike first.
The instant he saw fire flare in the Canyon, Nick, who had been lying impatiently behind the observation scope removed from the lookout terrace, sprang to his feet. He rushed to the heavy machine gun position he had prepared, pulled the charging handle, and squeezed the trigger, firing a string of armor-piercing incendiary rounds.
He certainly lacked Dahlia's ability to hit a target with a single shot at the absurd distance of 3.6 kilometers, but that did not mean he could not achieve the same result by sighting in beforehand and operating a pre-positioned M2HB "Lao Gan Ma" heavy machine gun.
In fact, if the high-speed detonating cord in their armory had not been barely enough to connect all the "Big Ears," leaving no length to spare, he would not even have wanted to use this somewhat luck-dependent method of detonation.
Fortunately, it worked well in practice. Once he confirmed that the target on his side had also detonated successfully, Nick turned and ran, sprinting for his life along the route he had scouted earlier.
Behind him came an unbroken succession of explosions. "2... 3... 4..." When Nick counted sixteen, he started the countdown on his watch. The next two minutes would be a race against death in the truest sense.
At the Canyon's West Tower, the