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The next fifteen minutes of havoc passed as they always did—in meticulously ordered and well-orchestrated military mayhem fast enough to keep Lola sweating despite the cooling night air, but slow enough to allow no mistakes.
The monstrous C-5 jet transport, as large as a 747 but lower to the ground, rolled to a stop with its nose less than a rotor from the rear of the Vengeance. With a characteristic groan, four stories’ worth of nose cone detached from the fuselage and began swinging up into the air on giant hinges until the nose cone towered high above the cockpit. The raised nose exposed the cavernous cargo bay interior, lit softly in red light to preserve everyone’s night vision.
The moment the loading ramp hit the dust, a small tractor descended the ramp. Too small for a person
