Vale’s mistake was trying to move Raven Six.
The helicopter had been secured in a restricted maintenance hangar after the incident, officially grounded pending technical review. That should have made it safe. But hangars are only as secure as the people authorized to enter them, and Vale still had loyalists in logistics who believed the investigation would fade if the aircraft disappeared into a depot transfer.
At 23:40, a movement order appeared in the system.
Raven Six was to be relocated for “structural evaluation” at an external facility.
The order carried a valid maintenance routing number.
It did not carry Reed’s approval.
That was enough.
Reed let the move begin.
Not because he wanted the helicopter gone. Because he wanted to see who came to collect it.
At 00:12, two trucks arrived near Hangar Four. One belonged to a base maintenance unit. The other was civilian, marked with the logo of Meridian Aerofuel Services. The same supplier tied to the contaminated replacement stock.
Yoro watched the feed from a secured room with Reed and three investigators. He had not been told he would see the operation until minutes before it began. When the civilian truck appeared, his face changed.
“That’s the company from the invoice.”
“Yes,” Reed said.
“They’re just coming back?”
“They think they are cleaning up.”
On the screen, a civilian supervisor stepped out of the truck and handed paperwork to the base maintenance sergeant. Behind him, two workers moved toward the hangar doors.
Then Oliver entered the frame.
Yoro stiffened.
“What is he doing there?”
Reed did not answer immediately.
Oliver was not armed. He wore duty uniform and carried a folder. He walked toward the maintenance sergeant and said something the camera did not pick up. The sergeant frowned and looked down at the papers. The civilian supervisor turned sharply.
Yoro leaned closer to the screen.
Oliver held up his own authorization.
The civilian supervisor reached for his phone.
That was when Reed gave the order.
The hangar lights snapped on across the yard. Military police moved from three sides. The civilian workers froze. The maintenance sergeant raised his hands immediately. The supervisor tried to step back toward his truck and found two MPs already behind him.
Oliver did not move.
For one dangerous second, Yoro thought the civilian supervisor might run.
He did worse.
He reached into his jacket.
MPs took him down hard against the side of the truck.
A small drive fell from his pocket and skidded across the wet pavement.
Reed’s investigator picked it up with gloved hands.
Yoro’s mouth went dry.
“What is that?”
Reed looked at the screen.
“The part Vale could not afford to leave inside Raven Six.”
The drive contained a hidden maintenance capture from the night before the failed launch.
And on that capture, someone spoke clearly while standing beside the aircraft.
“Make sure Hart flies it. If it fails in the canyon, the case dies with him.”
Yoro stared at the screen.
Oliver had not been the intended survivor.
He had been the intended fire.